BOOYAH!! Cyborg Appreciation Thread '19

[DragonsChi]

Well, I don't mind people posting changes they'd like to make, but it seems like they're to the point where you're changing the character so much, I wonder why people who post these things like him.

People don't like Cyborg's origin.

People don't like Cyborg hanging out with the Teen Titans (who he was created specifically to be with) because they think that holds him back.

People don't like Cyborg's look.

People don't like Cyborg's personality, at least much of the time.

They think his powers are boring unless he's becoming a New God.

What is it exactly that's drawing some to the character if there is so much with him that needs to be changed?

The only answer I can find are that he is Black and he is now an original member of the Justice League. Both of which are only things that will only get you in the door. They aren't things to keep you coming back for more.

It honestly feels as if some really don't like the character at all. Which is perplexing since its an appreciation thread.

[9th.]

We've outright stated this isn't the origin we want. Wakeneuron suggested a radioactive NPC transponder crawls underneath his skin and he becomes Cyborg, who can change between his human and cybernetic forms at will and thus will be happy.

I don't see a problem with his origin story, it seems fine to me and the connections still need to be explored as far as i'm concerned. I also get wanting Cyborg to be happy I just don't think he'd immediately be ok with body being taken away. Unless of course they changed his origin to someone looking to be enhanced for whatever reason.

[9th.]

So I've been thinking and even-though I fear this would make him seem too robotic, I wonder what Vic falling in love with an A.I. or sentient program what look like. Seeing as how he's more than a man or machine he's not bound by the normal constraints of love.

[Vampire Savior]

Because he is the face of black heroes. Because John Stewart will NEVER be that. Nor Vixen, Aqualad, Black Lightning and everyone else.

Well, at least we have admission that it's because he's black.

Um...Cyborg may be black, but he is still Cyborg, and the people aren't so much wanting to hold him back as they are wanting the character to live up to their expectations of him based on his history. Those who want to see him do things like hanging out with Raven, Starfire, and Beast Boy are looking at him as Cyborg, not the face of the black heroes, and being a Titan is something what everyone who knows the character knows him as.

So I think this dissent comes from some who want Cyborg to be a wish fulfillment god because he's supposedly the face of black heroes, while other people just want Cyborg to be Cyborg.

[Robotman]

The ideas in this thread alone show how many amazing things could be done with the character. I’ve said this for years but the hardest part of being a Cyborg fan is the wasted potential. In the right hands Vic could be one of the most interesting characters in comics. DC just doesn’t know how to take Cyborg beyond his most basic character facets.

[H-E-D]

I just think generally they should steer Cyborg toward the depiction of him in the cartoon. That's the most widely known, widely beloved, and widely recognized incarnation of the character.

This isn't exactly correct Superman rogue gallery is mostly powerhouses Mongol, Doomsday, Zod, Darkseid,etc Flash has acquired a bunch of speedster as villains Zoom,Reverse flash, Savitar, Godspeed, Batman primarily fights Crime Bosses with henchmen or themed supervillains. Spiderman mostly fights guys semi smart guys with tech suits. You are correct in that is not only thing that they fight but primarily they fight a type of villain. Aquaman is going to face off against villains who live in water ,Cyborg is going to fight against villains who have tech. Yes they do throw too many tech villians at Cyborg but it does make sense why and yes they should contrast them more. And the opposite of hero is common theme with villains as well Iron Man fight the Mandarin who use Magic, Superman fights Lex who is Brains, Flash fights Captain Cold and cold is opposite of speed in a sense.

The thing is that "powerhouse" is a much broader class of characters than "cyborgs". You list Mongol, Zod, Darkseid, but while all those characters are strong, they're all tremendously different in substance. Everybody has powerhouse villains.

The Flash? Yes, he has a bunch of speedster villains now, but those came long after the Flash had been established, and after a long time of non-speedsters being his iconic villains. The iconic villains that are well-reputed are the Rogues. And the reason they work so well is that each time one of them shows up, their significantly different powers leads to a significantly different story.

Batman fights a lot of crime lords, yes, but he also fights the Joker, Mr. Freeze, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Scarecrow. All very different from Batman. If all Batman ever did was fight variants of the League of Shadows, Batman would be boring.

Nowadays Spider-Man has a fair few spider-powered villains, but that's after decades of Green Goblin, Sandman, Electro, Doctor Octopus, etc.

I'm not saying Cyborg should never again fight cyborgs, but, there should be a long moratorium on them. It'll help Cyborg stand out more in his own book.

[Agent Z]

The Flash? Yes, he has a bunch of speedster villains now, but those came long after the Flash had been established, and after a long time of non-speedsters being his iconic villains. The iconic villains that are well-reputed are the Rogues. And the reason they work so well is that each time one of them shows up, their significantly different powers leads to a significantly different story.

It should be noted that the Rogues’ iconic status is fairly recent. Before that, they were considered rather weak villains and not as interesting as Reverse Flash or Zoom.

I'm not saying Cyborg should never again fight cyborgs, but, there should be a long moratorium on them. It'll help Cyborg stand out more in his own book.

Victor fighting other cyborgs and tech based villains would better help stand out amongst other super heroes since that is specifically his niche. I agree with Killer Bee that the problem was that the villains simply weren't well written rather than because they had too much in common with Vic.

[H-E-D]

It should be noted that the Rogues’ iconic status is fairly recent. Before that, they were considered rather weak villains and not as interesting as Reverse Flash or Zoom.

Oh? I admit, I'm not exactly a Flash scholar. Though, am I correct in assuming that regardless of their repute, the Flash historically faced more non-speedsters than speedsters?

Victor fighting other cyborgs and tech based villains would better help stand out amongst other super heroes since that is specifically his niche. I agree with Killer Bee that the problem was that the villains simply weren't well written rather than because they had too much in common with Vic.

Agree to disagree, I suppose. I think Cyborg's niche is well defined enough by his powerset. "Cyborg villains" as his niche is a lot narrower than any other major heroes. Batman's niche is "villains in Gotham"; maybe you can narrow it down to "villains with a dark/creepy theme", but that's still very broad. Superman, villains in Metropolis. Green Lantern, aliens. So on and so on.

I also think they should move him out of STAR Labs because I think it's important to give him a life outside of being a superhero.

[king81992]

I'd rather not see any of the robotic/mechanical/cyborg villains the writers created for Cyborg ever again.With the exception of Grid(and this is based on potential instead of actual feats/personality),they all sucked.

[Wakeneuron]

Appreciate what??? Dc does NOT get a gold star for failing to do what is required of them.

Don't scream Cyborg is A list or the big leagues and then do as LITTLE as you can to support that.

I can not sell this character to black kids. Not with some Wakandan King & Biracial Spider-Man & 2 nerdy black girls running around.

DC has to put up an EFFORT. Folks are asking for EFFORT. Because when I go into stores they are talking about ONE black person of DC-NAOMI. How does yet ANOTHER new person bypass Cyborg and did it in less than half a year.

Oh that is right no effort. You get tired of seeing the likes of Antman, Wasp, GOTG and others get support. So we are going have him as the ONLY leaguer to not have a film.

You pretty much go Inspector Gadget 2019 on your roster. He is a toyline waiting to happen. Yet no one cares.

When I say appreciate him now I'm talking about his body of work. Cyborg has been around since 1980 and he do have some good moments. But some of you guys complain for no reason and you haven't read any of his books.

[Wakeneuron]

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide and earlier this year I created a fan fic redesign of Cyborg after coming across images of a Rawandan hairstyle called Amasunza. In this fan fic redesign Cyborg is a first generation African American from Rwanda. His father came to America right after the genocide occured. He married an american woman and then his son Vic was born. Even though Vic was born in America as a teenager he had nightmares about the Rwanda genocides. In the mornings after experiencing the nightmares he often wake up with dismembered limbs but they were able to reattached himself to Vic's body. One day he decided to tell his parents, who were scientists, about his experiences. They examined him and found that inside the molecules of his body were very tiny microscopic cybernetic machines. They traced the machines back to an alien planet called the Technis that crashed into Earth billions of years ago. Soon after the cybernetics in Vic's body grew more powerful and he became the hero Cyborg.

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[Ascended]

What is it exactly that's drawing some to the character if there is so much with him that needs to be changed?

Cant speak for anyone else, but I like Vic quite a bit. I just think there's mountains of untapped potential in the character and it annoys me that DC can't or won't capitalize on that.

As he is, Vic's fine. He's interesting and has a cool powerset and visual and is a lot of fun when a semi-decent writer uses him. But he *could* be far more than he is. Tons of stuff in his publication history to draw from that would open doors for all kinds of cool, fun new stories and directions. Instead, DC just recycles stuff we already read thirty years ago.

We can like the character while also wanting to see him reach his potential, which right now he isn't.

[Iconic]

How about this:

It's like having a child and loving him the way he is. Now there are other children around him and as time goes on the children around him grow. They get taller. They learn to read. They gain social skills. They mature. But then your child...doesn't. You love him still but you would really love to see your child develop and you'll do anything to help that along.

It can be frustrating coping with that. You'll take your child to the doctor to see what needs to be done to aid the child along. You desperately will work at helping your child to develop as much as possible. That child is Cyborg.

Many of us would love to see him develop beyond this recycled-to-death stage he's been stuck in. You tell us he's the most advanced tech...then show us. You say he's such a core character...then show us. Develop him based on what you say he is. That's what we want for the character.

[9th.]

It's not even about what needs to changed its that so much more can be done.

[Tzigone]

Vic being a friend to Raven.
VicRaven1.jpg

Of course, I love his friendship with Gar, but it's nice to see him caring out and reaching out to Raven, who he's not that close to at this time. He's a good guy.