Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Blue Beetle

Today's Wizard broke it, so there you go. I may be the only guy who's gotten a job by mocking his future bosses into it. Shows you how cool the DC folk are, however.

No spoilers today. Thread is here for reactions and sniping.

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am soo out of the loop that I can't FIND the loop!! Today's Wizard broke what? Put in a link for us backward folk to follow and catch up! Please! How else can I react and snipe intelligently?

Jameson said...

Based on an earlier post, the implication is that John will be working on a new series at DC (of whose characters the Blue Beetle is one). John mentioned he'd been reading up on Infinite Crisis, which features Blue Beetle as a major character. So, this is just a guess because I'm not holding a copy of today's Wizard, although its website indicates the issue includes information about new creative teams and new books from DC.

If so, hooray! The Zombie Tales stories have certainly been fun to read, with lots and lots more potential yet to come in this flirtation with "sequential art." So, nice going! Congratulations! Can't wait to hear more. (Or, actually, anything.)

Ian said...

Please tell me this involves Ted Kord after Booster uses time travel to rescue him.

Please.

(or at least make Ted the new Spectre, dammit!)

Sizemore said...

John told me about this a while back and I've had to bite my tongue more than once around my comic-happy buddies.

Glad the Beetle is finally out of the bag.

Now he was the drummer before Ringo, right?

Unknown said...

Now he was the drummer before Ringo, right?

Yes.

Please tell me this involves Ted Kord after Booster uses time travel to rescue him.

Booster Gold would never do anything to violate causality. You know that.

But to paraphrase Butch in Pulp Fiction: "Ted's dead, baby. Ted's dead."

Anonymous said...

For the sake of the fans, please have Ted and Booster get together. It is fate.

Eugene said...

Blue Beetle? Damn. And I was certain he was writing a revamp of Ambush Bug.

Is Ambush Bug still around? They didn't merge him with Earth 2 Ambush Bug or something in the Never Ending Infinite Crisis, right?

Ian said...

"Booster Gold would never do anything to violate causality. You know that."

Guffaw.

So, err, Ted as Spectre, then? Or Warren's zombie-Ted. That'd be cool too.

WordsSayNothing said...

Blue Spectre would r0xx0r.

Cunningham said...

John,

New hero. New costume. Please.

I'm just sayin'...

Geoff Thorne said...

Told you I could keep a secret. Now I can exhale.

Unknown said...

New hero. New costume. Please.

Got it in one, ya mad pulp bastard.

Mark Cook said...

New costume? Well, I'll miss the Ditko one Ted had, but the costume design for the Blue Beetle is hardly inviolate.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure the science in it will be bullshit. Beetles aren't blue, hack.

Plus, well all know you're just doing this for the money, like Jackie Chan Adventures. So, be a little honest, and don't act like this is a passion project or that you actually like comics.

Anonymous said...

Dear God of Duck Hunt. I wasn't being serious, I forgot to use the sarcasm font.

Cunningham said...

"Got it in one, ya mad pulp bastard."

Now now, let's not bring my family history into this...

Congrats, and here's to you shaking a few things up over at the "House of Ideas"

Unknown said...

already hit Ross up for it. He's neck deep in the final Zombie Tales and three other books, so probably not for another two weeks.

Anonymous said...

I'm looking forward to checking this out. Ted was cool, but someone new seems best to me.

-Skyrocket

GM Doug said...

Sent an e-mail already.

Was hoping you'd land Flash and / or JL.

But BB - oh WOHO!!!!

Unknown said...

I want to know more about this NOW. :-p C'mon...give us at least a really enigmatic hint about the new Blue Beetle.

Unknown said...

He's someone who's never appeared in the DCU before, using the beetle scarab in a way it's never been used before.

Doc Nebula said...

It's.... Underdog! And he uses the Blue Beetle scarab as a suppository. It shrinks down real small so he can keep it in his ring most of the time. When Polly's in peril, he is not slow, so it's... nggg... rggg... ooohh... and up it goes!

If I've revealed anything prematurely, I apologize.

Unknown said...

dammit highlander! Now we have to rebreak the whole 6 issue arc! Like Giff and Johns aren't already going without sleep ...

Doc Nebula said...

::hanging head:: Me vewwy sowwy.

See what happens when you get drunk and maunder at strangers in bus station lobbies? ;)

My confirmation word is 'trbzgiyz'. If anyone can figure out how to say that backwards, I think you'll go back to your home dimension for 90 days.

Anonymous said...

It'll be either fantastic and funny and Ted, or it'll be EXTREEEEME and stupid and not-Ted. Even if it's Giffen. Me no want new Beetle.

Unknown said...

Hey. I'm not the one who shot him.

Anonymous said...

I think Rogers should be writing a new AMBUSH BUG book.

Yeah, that's it.

Unknown said...

i don't have the chops for AMBUSH BUG.

Dweeze said...

Hey. I'm not the one who shot him.

Can you prove that? Do you have an alibi?

As a faithful reader, an occasional commenter, and a Ted Kord fan, I'm looking forward to this.

Although I think you could have pulled off Ambush Bug.

Unknown said...

do not totally trust me. Never totally trust me. I've said it before I'll say it again: comics writing is a BITCH. The only reason I agreed to even try such a high-profile title is that I'd be working with Giff, and he is the steady hand on the tiller. If I can manage to hit the bar of "not completely screwing it up" in the fans' eyes for my first book, I'll take the win.

Anonymous said...

o.k. - just to give a different perspective...

i'm a fan of comic book movies - im not a collector of comics at all, but have many friends that are and i've read many of their comics, but...

who the hell is blue beetle and why would i ever care to see a movie about him??

sorry, but that was my reaction after waiting to hear what this "big" comic book movie was going to be. if it's an interesting organic movie with character and story, then it has the same chance as any other well-crafted movie of doing well...

but if studios are thinking titles like this are going to do big box office because of their built in name recognition - holy shite, good friggin luck!!

none of which is to comment on john's capability for the job. just thought i'd give a different perspective here since i wasn't seeing it represented.

Isaac said...

For the record, DC editorial has caused permanent damage to my love of superhero comics over the past two years.
When I, and I suspect a fair number of others, reject a new Blue Beetle book out of hand, it isn't a reflection upon the author.

Unknown said...

well, a.) christopher, it's not a movie. so I'm with you on that, nobody'g going to go see it. And, frankly, it would be insane to even TRY a BB movie.

b.) isaac, if you go up into my index page and find WOMB CAZY and YEAR OF THE BUMMER -- and I'm not sure what else, I think there's one in there where I postulate that the DC editorial board saw the Silver Age murder their father and then have rough sex with their mother all while dressed in a clown suit -- I think you'll be able to tell I'm coming into this with a very definite ... perspective. That's one of the reasons Giff roped me into this.

We want to make a fun comic with a clean start, which is why the new lead character and facet of the existing mythology. There'll be a little bit of Infinite Crisis clean-up (with hitting and smacking and blasting and other super-hero-y things, less with the angsty talky-talk) and then we're off in our own little adventure world.

I appreciate some people may reject the book out of hand because it's not Ted. But, some people rejected the FLASH and missed the amazing Waid/Johns runs, and hell, Kyle's been the Green Lantern for 10 years, yet people still whinged for Hal's return. All we can hope is people tune in for a few issues and dig it.

Isaac said...

You raise excellent points, my good man.

I'll give the book a shot.

Doc Nebula said...

To be fair, we whinged for Hal's return because, well, Kyle sucks. The fact that I now can tolerate Kyle slightly is yet ANOTHER tribute to Geoff Johns' genius.

And, you know, it may have taken a decade, but whinging for Hal has finally paid off. Are you sure bringing up Hal Jordan in a thread where you're trying to tell people to get over Ted Kord and accept that he's really truly dead forever is your best move?

Just AKSing, officer. I LOVE kids. ;)

Unknown said...

Yep. Because although I also dig what Geoff's doing with the GL (He PUNCHES the ROBOT in the FACE in MIDAIR to RECHARGE HIS FRIKKIN' RING! I nearly wet myself with glee at that moment), I don't relish a comic book industry frozen in time for a decade. Regardless of individual likes and dislikes, we need some new guys on the block. That Ted's death is the doorway for this particular new guy just means we have to respect what was heroic about the character as we move on.

Doc Nebula said...

He was, for a long time, heroically fat.

I suspect those who are screaming loudest for Ted's return want the lean, mean Ted. Give them Bouncing Boy Kord back again and they'll scream even louder.

As to comics universes holding still for a decade... sigh. Yeah. The 2D metaverse pays no heed to time, the 3D metaverse provides the illusion of change, and the 4D actually incorporates time... one of my favorite Martian Vision articles is all about that. I'm biased towards DC's 2D universe, and Marvel's 3D, because that was the Silver Age, and that was my childhood.

I admit, there is nothing inherently wrong with the 4D model (although, neither is there anything intrinsically flawed about the 3D or 2D; they just aren't popular right now because the superhero market has become so narrow). However, 4D comics are more demanding; where you could be a mediocre writer and do 2D and even 3D stories in a competent and entertaining fashion, writing good 4D superhero comics requires, well, brilliance. And there isn't a lot of brilliance to go around.

But I'm a middle aged geezer and I'm not getting any younger. I'll like nearly any superhero story if it's written well. I didn't hate Kyle Ranier because he was the new GL; I hated him because he seemed to be a character designed for a Modern Age audience full of overstimulated young idiots suffering from attention deficit syndrome. And I feel that's true of probably 90% of Modern Age characters and comics.

Why I like Johns, other than him simply being a brilliant fucking writer, is that he writes the 4D stuff, but he clearly loves the history and he grounds all his work in it. Plus, he has an intelligent grasp on continuity, and a great respect for what has come before. You're not going to catch Johns turning a beloved Silver Age character into a drug addicted patricide, or remaking a beloved Silver Age superteam into something horribly grim n' gritty just because grim n' gritty cyberpunk futureverses have suddenly become fashionable with the current contingent of adolescent weenies buying comics.

I have no emotional connection with Blue Beetle or Ted Kord at all. I wish you the best of luck with the new book. But Giffen's writing has never done anything except revolt me, so I won't be checking it out. Sorry.

Anonymous said...

lol! my bad - i thought this was the script described in the "this is what we do for a living" post. shite! :)

so im guessing we're still waiting to find out what that is, ya?

Anonymous said...

Well. I plowed through the first four issues.

Doesn't take much to describe what this new BB is all about. It's crap, begining with page one and never ending.

No surprise, but it was a letdown. I had let myself hope DC could do SOMETHING right. Probably lots of concepts presented to the decision makers and THIS is what they went with?

My god, I'd have more respect for a stack of old Space Ghost than this garbage.

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