BOOYAH!!!: Cyborg/Victor Stone Appreciation 2023

[Customizer]

I'm going to say this and leave it alone until the series drops - if this series keeps Vic in a face plate without an ability to remove it at will I'll drop this book. DC has received too many opportunities to win me over and failed for me to give them another extended chance.

I've got far too many other entertainment options to pay money for stories and characters that continue dated tropes and I absolutely don't need DC. If they want to retain or bring in new customers hopefully they'll make fundamental changes to the character. If not we can expect yet another solo failure.

[Ascended]

I really enjoyed the short story in DC power. I loved the parallels with the kid using hearing aids. Plus Vic’s relationship with his mother.
I’m very optimistic the new series will be good now.

Haven't read the issue. Haven't been to the LCS since before the holidays I think (really need to swing over). But this brings something up in my mind.

We talk about stuff like the face plate, or how much of Vic's body is still original (ie; does he have all his parts under the belt), and compare that to black troupes and stereotypes, and it's a bad look, absolutely. But it seems to me that maybe we're looking at it askew. Maybe Vic isn't a "black" character so much as he's a "disabilities" character, and we should try to view him through that lens first, and the lens of race second. Doesn't make the "black" troupes any less unfortunate, but it gives them less prominence and makes the prosthetics more palatable.

But in any case, Vic absolutely needs to be able to change his form, including looking entirely ordinary and "human" at will. Otherwise he's not on the cutting edge of technology, he's a relic from the days the internet still went "KRrreee---SSKKZZZZZZ"

[skyvolt2000]

Yup. Which is why it needs to remain in play. Not gonna sell any comics when nobody knows who's on the cover, and until a different design element is driven into the brains of the general public as deeply as the face plate is, it's Vic's most marketable visual. Before it goes, something else has to take its place or Vic's profile will be damaged.

Spawn, Savage Dragon, Saga, Something is Killing Children, Miles Morales, Miguel O'Hara/ Superman of China and others would disagree.

Many who have way more solo issues than Cyborg.

Earth One Cyborg does not have that face plate.
Lets go further 7 of 9 on Star Trek doesn't have it either.

Maybe Vic isn't a "black" character so much as he's a "disabilities" character, and we should try to view him through that lens first, and the lens of race second.

And that is the excuse too many want to use to shame folks.

Sorry folks see a black guy FIRST not a person with disabilities.

Folks want to toss that cape on for that but are SILENT on all the other disabled heroes that we haven't seen.

The New Warriors had one and when was the last time we saw HER?
Fantastic Four introduced one and she has not been seen in almost 10 years.
X-Men had a few and they are nowhere to be seen.

Folks see a black guy first. They see a black guy that in terms of usage in ALL media-he is the face of DC's black heroes. Because it will never be John Stewart nor Steel nor Vixen nor Jackson Hyde nor Jason Rsuch nor Duke Thomas.
Because they intimidate certain parts of the fandom and DC management.

It looks bad that here we got folks caping for Cyborg to stay a mess and not evolve based on what technology he has. While other black characters are waltzing past him.

[Johnny]

Because they intimidate certain parts of the fandom and DC management.

With your non-stop attacking on fans, characters, creators or management, you seem far more intimidated than they are. If Cyborg is a black character first before a disabled character, at what point are we allowed to refer to him as representation for disabled people. This doesn't need to be an either/or thing. The character of Echo is a deaf Native-American and she's not treated as only deaf or only Native-American, she's treated as both. Why is it okay with her but it's an "excuse" to treat Cyborg as a disabled man. I don't see the issue of bringing up other important aspects aside from his color.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

https://comicsalliance.com/justice-l...gn-aaron-diaz/

I like this guy's fan reboot of DC. I'm hoping a character similar to this guy's reboot of Cyborg gets to meet Vic.

[kcekada]

The element of both the Perez design and the animated series that works best is the white coloring. It contrasts nicely with Vic's dark skin -- and has a clean, modern/futuristic look to it. When they just color his armor as grey or metallic -- it's looks dated to me.

[Customizer]

Spawn, Savage Dragon, Saga, Something is Killing Children, Miles Morales, Miguel O'Hara/ Superman of China and others would disagree.

Many who have way more solo issues than Cyborg.

Earth One Cyborg does not have that face plate.
Lets go further 7 of 9 on Star Trek doesn't have it either.



And that is the excuse too many want to use to shame folks.

Sorry folks see a black guy FIRST not a person with disabilities.

Folks want to toss that cape on for that but are SILENT on all the other disabled heroes that we haven't seen.

The New Warriors had one and when was the last time we saw HER?
Fantastic Four introduced one and she has not been seen in almost 10 years.
X-Men had a few and they are nowhere to be seen.

Folks see a black guy first. They see a black guy that in terms of usage in ALL media-he is the face of DC's black heroes. Because it will never be John Stewart nor Steel nor Vixen nor Jackson Hyde nor Jason Rsuch nor Duke Thomas.
Because they intimidate certain parts of the fandom and DC management.

It looks bad that here we got folks caping for Cyborg to stay a mess and not evolve based on what technology he has. While other black characters are waltzing past him.

A small "7 of 9 " metallic piece above his right eye would be acceptable and satisfy people who want something on Vics face. This should have been done long ago (or he should have been given the "Cable from Marvel eye"). Again a small unobtrusive piece of tech that can glow red for those people that must have metal on this characters face. Either of those compromises would have eliminated the issue.

Instead DC has been pushing a percentage of fans away for over a decade who want to buy their product but wont due to their decisions. That percentage , whether 10% or 50%, wouldn't matter if Cyborg was so popular that the numbers didn't matter but he isn't . Every supporter lost because of DC being stubborn and refusing to change Vic or compromise on his changes *matters*. Vic isn't Batman in terms of units sold.

[Ascended]

Got to the LCS and read the Power one-shot. Vic's story was solid. A little basic, in a "here's who this guy is, in case you forgot" kind of way, but it was nice, and I enjoyed the focus on Vic's mother (we don't get that enough, nice to have a reminder of how close they were). I was gonna give this new series a shot already, but now I'm hoping that it's good enough to stick with, and turns out to be popular enough to last.

[Alan2099]

A small "7 of 9 " metallic piece above his right eye would be acceptable and satisfy people who want something on Vics face. This should have been done long ago (or he should have been given the "Cable from Marvel eye"). Again a small unobtrusive piece of tech that can glow red for those people that must have metal on this characters face.

It really wouldn't.

Instead DC has been pushing a percentage of fans away for over a decade who want to buy their product but wont due to their decisions. That percentage , whether 10% or 50%, wouldn't matter if Cyborg was so popular that the numbers didn't matter but he isn't . Every supporter lost because of DC being stubborn and refusing to change Vic or compromise on his changes *matters*. Vic isn't Batman in terms of units sold.

So, Cyborg's cyborgs bits and pieces are too big and you feel that affects sales.

The fact that the most well known and popular versions of the character, the cartoon versions (Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go) are even more cybernetic than their comic counterparts suggests you're wrong on this aspect. The Go version doesn't even have a complete head.

It sounds to me that you're more concerned with their characters actual race than you are the actual character. You don't want Cyborg you want Black Superhero.

[dkrook]

It really wouldn't.


So, Cyborg's cyborgs bits and pieces are too big and you feel that affects sales.

The fact that the most well known and popular versions of the character, the cartoon versions (Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go) are even more cybernetic than their comic counterparts suggests you're wrong on this aspect. The Go version doesn't even have a complete head.

It sounds to me that you're more concerned with their characters actual race than you are the actual character. You don't want Cyborg you want Black Superhero.

First, the Go version was goofy looking and mostly for little kids. Walker was spot on when he started what was long overdue and upgrading Victor in ways that made good sense. The clunky tin man "classic" look needs to be put in the moth ball bin. Strip away all the metal junk, give him a more flesh looking appearance, and just give him a great writer and villains. Guarantee you that nobody but a few will even care about his old fashioned look.

Finally, he is a black superhero...!!! What kind a statement was that?

[skyvolt2000]

It really wouldn't.


So, Cyborg's cyborgs bits and pieces are too big and you feel that affects sales.

The fact that the most well known and popular versions of the character, the cartoon versions (Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go) are even more cybernetic than their comic counterparts suggests you're wrong on this aspect. The Go version doesn't even have a complete head.

Unlike his comic counterparts for almost the last 30 years-Titans Go version is a way more interesting character and not the "my Daddy don't love me" or "I am the bus and internet for Batman and JLA."

Stuff will get overlooked when you make someone interesting. See Doom Patrol Cyborg.

It sounds to me that you're more concerned with their characters actual race than you are the actual character. You don't want Cyborg you want Black Superhero.

Nobody here said get rid of Cyborg-what they are saying is it's PAST time to get a new luck especially in relations to his powers and skills. Everyone else can get new looks outside of their "icon" looks.

Yet Cyborg has to stay the same. Even in Teen Titans OGNs he has better looks. Yet in the mainstream-he has to stay the same.

[John Venus]

-Possible hot take but I think the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon version of Cyborg was the best Cyborg in any medium be it comics, animation or live action. He was fun, intelligent, entertaining, a leader in his own right. He had his own enemies and he had several episodes dedicated to him and not all of them revolved around his angst over being half robot and even when they did stories that focused on that element, it was way more creative that anything the Nu52 comics did with him. Remember that episode where he tried to boost his productivity with an advanced computer chip or the one where he wondered if he could push him limits now that him limbs are automated? They feel very relevant nowadays, especially with so many people suffering from burn out these days.

The shows got it right; the cyborg limbs are just his prosthetics, the story is about *the man* and his life and how some aspects of his life has changed due to the accident.

-I know they did it for budget reasons but one thing I liked about the Smallville Cyborg (RIP Lee Thompson Young) was that his robotic parts wasn't visible. Even when you look at prosthetics in real life, some of the hands and feet are designed to have coverings that mimics flesh.

[dkrook]

-Possible hot take but I think the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon version of Cyborg was the best Cyborg in any medium be it comics, animation or live action. He was fun, intelligent, entertaining, a leader in his own right. He had his own enemies and he had several episodes dedicated to him and not all of them revolved around his angst over being half robot and even when they did stories that focused on that element, it was way more creative that anything the Nu52 comics did with him. Remember that episode where he tried to boost his productivity with an advanced computer chip or the one where he wondered if he could push him limits now that him limbs are automated? They feel very relevant nowadays, especially with so many people suffering from burn out these days.

The shows got it right; the cyborg limbs are just his prosthetics, the story is about *the man* and his life and how some aspects of his life has changed due to the accident.

-I know they did it for budget reasons but one thing I liked about the Smallville Cyborg (RIP Lee Thompson Young) was that his robotic parts wasn't visible. Even when you look at prosthetics in real life, some of the hands and feet are designed to have coverings that mimics flesh.

Case in point on that Smallville Cyborg! We barely got any metal at all and I was 100% cool with his depiction there. Matter of fact it made more sense. Onscreen, imagine if DC didn't have to drop an extra 4 million for Cyborg body effects and you could put that money towards his fighting modes. We might have been closer to a Cyborg movie.

[marhawkman]

Case in point on that Smallville Cyborg! We barely got any metal at all and I was 100% cool with his depiction there. Matter of fact it made more sense. Onscreen, imagine if DC didn't have to drop an extra 4 million for Cyborg body effects and you could put that money towards his fighting modes. We might have been closer to a Cyborg movie.

Heck... just look at the old Superfriends version. It wasn't some fancy costume, it was a form fitting bodysuit for the most part.

Ok, technically that's not a scene from Superfriends, but from a commercial tie-in for a not actually made New Teen Titans series planned for the 80s. Also, in a way similar to the DCAU in later years... this WAS the same Cyborg from Superfriends! So it's intentionally using the same design for Cyborg.

[John Venus]

Case in point on that Smallville Cyborg! We barely got any metal at all and I was 100% cool with his depiction there. Matter of fact it made more sense. Onscreen, imagine if DC didn't have to drop an extra 4 million for Cyborg body effects and you could put that money towards his fighting modes. We might have been closer to a Cyborg movie.

I agree. Or at the very least, giving him a jacket and a pair of pants alone would have cut some of the spending.

But noooo we had to see the CGI metal mess in it's full glory:



^How the hell does something from 2021 managed to look more outdated than something from 2003:



Even with the face plate, the 2003 design still looks fresh and modern.

Also, surprised that neither the comics nor any adaptations have ever really tried adapting the blue circuitry from the show. That was always one of my favorite design elements.