DC vs. Vampires #6 Preview

[marvelprince]

This was great! This Nightwing fan is excited to see what they do with him. It may be an Elseworlds tale but I like the acknowledgement of Grayson as a player. He's a pillar of the community, has ties to everyone and knows how Batman thinks which right there is huge. It was shocking and I'm so excited to see how this goes as I really didn't expect Bruce to die. This has been a lot of fun so far.

[hareluyafan1]

I'd be shocked if they even acknowledge the Superman sunlight thing. Even the vampire lore in this series is inconsistent and nonsensical.

Last issue had Batman wound Wonder Woman with holy water. Stop and think...according to vampire lore, why does holy water hurt vampires? Because it's blessed. It's divine. You know, from god.
Wonder Woman, if she isn't a demi-god, is blessed by multiple gods. Her weapons, like the Lasso, were forged by gods. Going by this logic, she should be walking, talking vampire repellent. And yet....

Excellent point. Reminds me of an OC story I wrote where Dracula was burned by a pentacle because that's a symbol of my OC's faith.

[AnakinFlair]

What I found odd was at the end, Dick remarked about how he wanted at least one of his brothers to join him- after crushing Tim's skull. He couldn't have turned him, like he almost did to Jason? Of course, he still has Damien there- but would he want to risk it?

[ShaunN]

As much as I am enjoying this story, I am still very bothered by the very obvious difficulties presented by the ease with which the vampires are taking down the most powerful superbeings in the DCU. It just doesn't make any sense. For example, could Superman, a being whose power is literally dependent on the sun, really be turned into a vampire so easily? At the very least, wouldn't his newfound need to avoid the sun mean that he will gradually decline in power? Can Wonder Woman, a literal goddess who wields divine weapons and who has been shown to be immune to mind control time and time again really be so easily controlled and converted? Isn't it possible that her divine blood might burn a vampire from the inside out? Indeed, I recall a Constantine/Hellblazer story where the king of the vampires was inadvertently killed by Constantine because he drank Constantine's demon blood and poisoned himself. Though Swamp Thing has hardly appeared in this series so far, would he be so easy to (supposedly) control just by burning forests? Forests grow back, after all, and they often need fire to help them grow back better. Given that ST can make plants grow instantly, this seems to be a poor fix. There are just so many elements of this story that require us to believe that the heroes and powers we know so well are so weak -contrary to much of what has already been established elsewhere - that it is a bit difficult to suspend disbelief. If makes the story kind of disappointing as a result. Winning by underpowering key characters is something that Batman writers often need to do, but it's especially problematic here.

[Rac7d*]

What I found odd was at the end, Dick remarked about how he wanted at least one of his brothers to join him- after crushing Tim's skull. He couldn't have turned him, like he almost did to Jason? Of course, he still has Damien there- but would he want to risk it?

If I wanted a second in command I would pick Jason over tim.

[CPSparkles]

If I wanted a second in command I would pick Jason over tim.

That crunch when he stepped on Tim's skull was sickening.

Love how the internet is having a meltdown over sexy vampire Dick. Some people don't seem to grasp that it's an else world and he's supposed to be different from the guy w know and love.

[Rac7d*]

That crunch when he stepped on Tim's skull was sickening.

Love how the internet is having a meltdown over sexy vampire Dick. Some people don't seem to grasp that it's an else world and he's supposed to be different from the guy w know and love.

Tim is too smart to be trusted evil, much like Batman. I want loyal muscle Jason, Diana

[Felipe Silveira]

What I found odd was at the end, Dick remarked about how he wanted at least one of his brothers to join him- after crushing Tim's skull. He couldn't have turned him, like he almost did to Jason? Of course, he still has Damien there- but would he want to risk it?

I also think Dick should choose to turn Tim over Jason. But swapping Tim for Jason in this comic could put Rosenberg in a tough spot with Task Force Z readers.

[WonderNight]

That crunch when he stepped on Tim's skull was sickening.

Love how the internet is having a meltdown over sexy vampire Dick. Some people don't seem to grasp that it's an else world and he's supposed to be different from the guy w know and love.

Yeah I can't help but think of wwe edge new theme with vampire King nightwing lol

If dc was smart they continue vampire nightwing in a web comic or spin off and go after all that twilight money!

[ShaunN]

Once again, I have to reiterate how little sense this whole series makes. An article at CBR went over the many times that Superman has been bitten by vampires only to have his solar power prove to be their undoing. The author speculated that Supes might be the "secret weapon" that could be turned against the vampires. The author seems to have missed that, in #6, Superman destroyed the White House with his heat vision. So much for that, But the article served the useful purpose of underlining, once more, how incredibly inconsistent and even dismissive this series has been of established vampire/superhero interactions in the DCU. I'm really disappointed by this. Back in the last "I, Vampire" series, Andrew Bennett taunted Mary with the prospect of what would happen to the vampires if they ever launched a war against the superhumans. He had a much better fix on what the reality should have been - spoiler, the vampires lose badly. But this series has completely undermined everything we know about so many heroes in order to make them bizarrely vulnerable to vampirism. It would have been a lot more satisfying if the writers had found a way to make the vampires a threat without completely jobbing DC's most powerful heroes.

[Rac7d*]

Once again, I have to reiterate how little sense this whole series makes. An article at CBR went over the many times that Superman has been bitten by vampires only to have his solar power prove to be their undoing. The author speculated that Supes might be the "secret weapon" that could be turned against the vampires. The author seems to have missed that, in #6, Superman destroyed the White House with his heat vision. So much for that, But the article served the useful purpose of underlining, once more, how incredibly inconsistent and even dismissive this series has been of established vampire/superhero interactions in the DCU. I'm really disappointed by this. Back in the last "I, Vampire" series, Andrew Bennett taunted Mary with the prospect of what would happen to the vampires if they ever launched a war against the superhumans. He had a much better fix on what the reality should have been - spoiler, the vampires lose badly. But this series has completely undermined everything we know about so many heroes in order to make them bizarrely vulnerable to vampirism. It would have been a lot more satisfying if the writers had found a way to make the vampires a threat without completely jobbing DC's most powerful heroes.

There is a reason why we have no Superman game
Why Superman shows up to help at the very end of the justice league movie
Why he is the secret weapon against an evil version of himself injustice

Has anyone ever creatively written around his invincibility without it being just depowering temporarily

[Vordan]

Once again, I have to reiterate how little sense this whole series makes. An article at CBR went over the many times that Superman has been bitten by vampires only to have his solar power prove to be their undoing. The author speculated that Supes might be the "secret weapon" that could be turned against the vampires. The author seems to have missed that, in #6, Superman destroyed the White House with his heat vision. So much for that, But the article served the useful purpose of underlining, once more, how incredibly inconsistent and even dismissive this series has been of established vampire/superhero interactions in the DCU. I'm really disappointed by this. Back in the last "I, Vampire" series, Andrew Bennett taunted Mary with the prospect of what would happen to the vampires if they ever launched a war against the superhumans. He had a much better fix on what the reality should have been - spoiler, the vampires lose badly. But this series has completely undermined everything we know about so many heroes in order to make them bizarrely vulnerable to vampirism. It would have been a lot more satisfying if the writers had found a way to make the vampires a threat without completely jobbing DC's most powerful heroes.

None of that is canon to this though, this takes place on its own world and the rules are whatever the writer says they are. It is pretty dumb that they don’t even address Supes’ nature as a solar battery, especially since they say J’onn can’t be turned because he’s an alien which Supes is too, but whatever.

[JThree]

Would love to see Metamorpho, Red Tornado, and a few other DC Heroes that we suspect can't be turned, have a storyline in this saga. Wonder if NW figured them into his equation? If Barry Allen had to be terminated, doesn't the same hold true for Wally West? Would love to see those explanations. Can Vic (with a cyborg half) be turned?
--jthree

[Nullviahomo]

Just a few points before the next issue comes out.

1) Issue 5, Batman getting whacked upside the head with the idiot ball. Yes, the story required it, but Rosenburg should really have found a better way of taking down half of the League than "Batman's only plan is to do the vampires' work for them". Not sure if Superman is Undead? Ask him to x-ray the digestive tracts of Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. His response gives you your answer and if it's bad news you're no worse off. Then again, this all occurred during a fight where both Wonder Woman and Green Lantern were rocking the red eyes and dripping fangs look right in front of the rest of the League and not a one of them noticed, so maybe I expect too much.

2) As to how Nightwing actually became King of the Vampires when subservient loyalty to your Mistress/Master seems part of the Undead condition, well, why was Mary ever in Gotham in the first place? A series of events that takes the twist of Starfire's magic blood into account has Nightwing stumbling across some vampire activity during one of his nightly patrols, purely by coincidence, and getting turned during the course of a fight. He wakes up hungry, soulless, but still smart, so instead of going after Babs or the rest of the Bat Family he contacts his ever so trusting ex-girlfriend Kori and asks her to meet him. While he can't turn her, he is able to mesmerise her into being an obedient donor. Meanwhile the vampire who turned him is scared to death of what Mary is likely to do to him for screwing up so badly, and they're right to be, because the Queen of the Vampires descends immediately on Gotham to tidy up this problem before the superheroes find out about it, summoning her newest convert to a non-descript hotel room where she plans to deal with him. Unfortunately for Mary a gutful of Starfire's blood makes Nightwing immune to all of a vampire's weaknesses, including the subservience to a Master, so he turns up while the sun is still in the sky and drains her before staking her, assuming the leadership of the Cult of the Blood Red Moon in the process.

C) Was Bruce's body left behind when the remnants of the Bat Family fled from Nightwing? We certainly don't see it. Who wants to bet against Alfred and the Arrow Family seeking refuge with the League of Shadows and Ra's al Ghul giving Bruce a long bath in a Lazarus Pit?

D) It would be a nice twist if Superman did turn out to be mesmerised rather than turned, and that was what Nightwing was doing before returning to the Bat Hideout?

E) We never did see what happened to Cyborg after Batman blew up the Batcave, did we? Just like we never did find out who those extra pair of feet belonged to in the panel where Batman and Green Arrow are facing off against Wonder Woman with the rest of the League (sans Martian Manhunter) scattered across the floor.

[Rightoya]

There is a reason why we have no Superman game

There is an Asura's Wrath game where the end-boss throws stars at the player, literally.

Why Superman shows up to help at the very end of the justice league movie

Because the movie is trash.

Why he is the secret weapon against an evil version of himself injustice

Because the story of Injustice is laughably bad written.

Has anyone ever creatively written around his invincibility without it being just depowering temporarily

Several times because Superman's invincibility is just extreme high durability to begin with, and Superman is just 1 of many anyway, most of the Justice League should have never become a vampire in this.