If you aren't reading Will Pfeiffer's "Catwoman", then start.
I ADORED his work on Aquaman. In ONE issue, he set Aquaman squarely on the road to recovery after the disastrous Veitch run. Aquaman became one of my favorite characters almost overnight, solely due to the strength of Pfeiffer's writing.
Finally (or so it seems), Pfeiffer will do what's been needed for Catwoman; make her a villain again. Bravo, Will!!!!!
Speaking of villains, I must confess ...
I can't identify all the villains on the two page spread in "Villains United" this week. Can you?
Somebody PLEASE tell me the guy in the front wearing the red jacket that says "Foul Play" is the new Sportsmaster! I've wanted them to use him as a Mr. Terrific for since the new Mr. T was introduced!!!
I'd also love to see Catwoman be a villain again, but somehow this feels like a plot-cocktease (plocktease?). They've been doing the Catwoman-as-antihero thing for so long that her flipping at the drop of a hat is too sudden; there's got to be more to it than this.
ReplyDeleteOn a similar note, Villains United has been incredibly weak. When I'm reading a bad guy book, I want to see villains being villainous; I don't want to see a group of scrappy lovable bad guys become good guys by default by fighting the "worse" bad guys. What makes the "Secret Six," in this context, that much different from a particularly backstabby team of second-string heroes? What sets these people apart from one of the bitchier X-Factor lineups?
It must also be said that there is a right way and a wrong way to revamp lame C-list characters, and this really is the wrong way. Having every other character in the book tell me that Catman is now a badass does not convince me that Canman is a badass, or that I should be watching him more than Luthor, Talia, Black Adam and the rest of the headliners.
And do any of these characters have more than one personality trait? You have the self-consciously cool guy with the obscure code of honor, the gruff loner, the crazy bitch who wants to have tons of sex and babies, the arty freak, and the big guy who has developed a bafflingly random fixation with the arty freak and will go into a murderous rampage when the freak is killed off in the last issue. And then there's the second woman, who apparently missed the meeting when the other personality traits were being handed out.
To answer your question, I have no idea who the "Foul Play" guy is, but I hope he's used to kill Mr. Terrific in Infinite Crisis.
Post a scan of that two-pager, and I'll give it my best shot!
ReplyDeleteMy expertise is more in the range of villains like Mr. Who, Dr. Glisten and Nyarl-Amen, and I doubt they're in there, but I'll try....
TotalToyz, who are you strange, strange man?
ReplyDeleteI'm sort of miffed that, what with, what, countdown plus 4 issues of two series' and 5 of two more, this here issue is the first time during any of this whole countdown to infinite crisis that there's been any hint that, you know, there might actually be some kind of, um, crisis coming. [Apart from, as recounted in the Prelude trade, a couple of instances of Myxtklptk {...whatever} showing up in one of the superman books, seeing his shadow and predicting six weeks bad comics]
ReplyDeleteAnd it looks like Luthor's gang is considerably more on top of said coming crisis than any of the actual heroes and such...
They've been doing the Catwoman-as-antihero thing for so long that her flipping at the drop of a hat is too sudden; there's got to be more to it than this.
ReplyDeleteThey could always have the Joker brainwash her again.
*rolls eyes*
"What makes the "Secret Six," in this context, that much different from a particularly backstabby team of second-string heroes? What sets these people apart from one of the bitchier X-Factor lineups?"
ReplyDeleteWhile I feel the force of this remark, to me, it is not an argument that the Secret Six are heroic, but rather merely an argument that Marvel "hero" teams are often NOT heroic.
With which I agree!
"Dr. Glisten"?
ReplyDeleteUm, yes, er...
Madame Fatale's archenemy, the Master of Lip Gloss.
Yes, of course, I know who Dr. Glisten is...
Good lord,
ReplyDeleteI completely and immediately adore
Mr. Terrible.
Thank you, Gail.
And the guy in the green outfit, consensus has it, is an "old foe" of Aquaman's, the Torpedo--
assist me to the couch, I feel faint!
Villains United has one quality to it that makes up for any flaws it may have: It's fun. Even the issue where the team gets tortured was more fun than anything else that came out that week.
ReplyDelete"It's fun. Even the issue where the team gets tortured was more fun than anything else that came out that week."
ReplyDeleteI'll agree with that, Shron, but for me that's less an endorsement of Villains United than an indictment of the general decline of fun.
I'm assuming the guy who looks like a bald Captain Nazi is merely Captain Nazi with a shaved head and not a different character, like Captain Bald Nazi or something. Who's the woman with the fiddle? Did they replace the Fiddler already? Jesus, the guy died like three or four issues ago and they've got a new one lined up already? They don't even wait 'til the bodies cool for the C-listers.
Wait a minute -- how can you attack the House of Secrets? Unless you're the new kill-crazy Spectre, that is, in which case, why haven't you taken it down already?
ReplyDeleteDr. Glisten was a one-time enemy of Hourman. His story appeared in Adventure Comics #72, 1942; reprinted in Wanted #7, 1973. His body was surrounded by a golden glow which made people do his bidding. In fact, his hypnotic control was so strong, it defied the laws of physics. At one point, Hourman was leaping down on him from above. Dr. Glisten ordered him to stop; and he did, in mid-air! Hourman defeated him by using his hourglass to reflect Glisten's glow into his own face.
ReplyDeleteGod, I love the cheesy Golden-Age stories!
That's beautiful. I now want a revitalization of Dr. Glisten even more than I want the return of Mr. Fish.
ReplyDeleteCaptain Bald Nazi is probably Ubermensch, who fought the All-Star Squadron.
ReplyDelete