Friday, July 14, 2006

Reasons to read "Manhunter" #12

In issue #12, Kate discovers that Dylan's barn, where he keeps his tech stuff, is larger on the inside than on the outside due to some tesseract tech, procured from Warp, whom Dylan used to work for.

If you're like me at all, you can't help but think about some of the ramifications of stuff in the DCU, particularly all the super-tech they have lying around. I mean, the JLA has teleporters. TEL E PORT ERS. Even if, for some reasons those can't be shared or duplicated easily for regular folk, the knowledge that teleportation is possible would lead (in our world) to furious investment and research until it became feasible and profitable.

Only occasionally do we see such matters explored in the DCU. That makes sense, because if you start to follow through on things like that, and the world the characters live in becomes too unrecognizable for us to relate to it. It's okay if some superheroes teleport on occasion, as long as schoolteachers aren't all teleporting to class every day. I don't really want to read about a world where heroes and villains are upstaged by their props.

But Manhunter's a place where you get to see some of those ideas come into play. It's, well, sort of a lint trap for the DCU; weapon, villains, concepts, characters that have shaken out from stories elsewhere are finding a home there, and a world is being built around them.

Sure, it's not the kind of "essential" reading that something like Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman is supposed to be. But it's a clever "literary orphanage" that feels more and more like a home as you read it, and helps the whole DCU feel like a "real" place, a place that you're comfortable in and that makes sense to you.

Buy Manhunter.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where did your new banner image come from? Vibe in the center place of honor with the Big Seven is way cool. Can't place the artist, though...

Anonymous said...

One of my favorite things about the orignial Watchmen--the existence of a single metabeing has a pronounced effect on history, technology, and even culture.

But I agree that it wouldn't work in general--that these ridiculous characters and events are taking place in an otherwise mundane setting is central to the charm.

Jeremy Rizza said...

"A lint trap for the DCU." That's so awesome, they should put that on the comic, right over the title. It's a "World's Greatest Comics Magazine" for today's generation.

I love Manhunter but I still haven't forgiven them for whacking the Monocle.

Shameless blog promo: I just got a Flikr account, so now my giganto Clock King and Green Arrow post is up for your perusal.

Anonymous said...

Huzzah, BB! I'm on my way over.

Scipio said...

Oh good, BB, I was just about to suggest that.

Some people may say, "all lint traps collect is worthless fluff". But someone can make a nice sweater out of it, that's okay by me.

The logo image is from the recent Detroit League storyline in JLA Classified. It's Vibe's mind's-eye version of the JLA; mine, too, I might add.

David said...

Is there any hope for more manhunter trades? I bought the first one after seeing your posts, and I'm dying to have more... I gotta get me some of that...

Scipio said...

If DC thinks it'll be profitable, they'll do it. The best way to convince them it would be profitable is

1. Buy the first one (check).
2. Write them and tell them you want another.
3. Buy the current comic as it comes out.

Dekko said...

The technophile aspect of Manhunter is just another reason I'd love to see interaction with Jack Knight, even if just in passing, and hopefully the recent familiar revelation will lead to that. Ted Knight's asseriton that everything that happens in the DCU can somehow be explained by technology seems to be supported by the lint that Manhunter digs into, and I'd be neat to see what Jack thinks of all this.

I'm more and more convinced that Marc Andreyko could pull off another Starman-type epic, though Manhunter may be to engrained in DCU crossoverness to be that. I'll be curious to see what he comes up with after the inevitable cancellation.

justwill said...

Tesseract technology? Finally an explaination on how Central City can fit inside the continetal US!

Scipio said...

Wow. All of Central City, contained in a quonset hut off Interstate 510; there's a concept!

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