Cyborg #1 spoilers/discussion

[sifighter]

Thank you Dawn of DC for giving a favorite childhood character of mine a shot at a brand new series. Yes it’s from the early 2000’s cartoon but the version in Doom Patrol is also quite good.

It’s a big time for the Titans and now that means new spotlight for our former Justice League member Cyborg. I will say while there is action a lot of this first issue is trying to get to Victor personally/emotionally, especially when it comes to his dad and how that’s changed in this run.

Because the big reveal is that Victor’s dad is dead. And not through some plot to get at Victor, he just had an unexpected heart attack and now he’s gone leaving Victor with a lot of conflicting emotions. Especially since he’s still holding a lot of human resentment towards his dad.

A lot of that comes from Victors updated origin in this issue, which isn’t that big a deal/problem. It’s basically confirmation that the new 52 origin where he was changed and gained boom tube/alien tech powers happened but with the twist that he was a teenager going through a hard time and didn’t feel comfortable on the League. So he opted to join the Titans, Wolfman era, who were genuine friends for him and who he could connect with. It’s kind of like the animated movies I guess.

But a lot of what Victor’s anger comes from is he didn’t feel like he was given a choice to be Cyborg. He’s aware that it saved his life but why did he have to be a superhuman or join the Justice League? But it’s also kind of clear they weren’t close even before that. Which is why Vic is shown talking to a therapist. The creative team does a good job expressing how crazy Vic’s life is and how he’s trying to deal with it.

However things get pretty weird when Victor meets a robot who’s talking like his dad….yeah so maybe the grief and death aren’t exactly so clear cut in this run.

I think this is a good first issue that really dives into Victors character and treats him as a person throughout it all.

[Frontier]

I guess there's a lot of baggage now off the table with Silas finally dead.

[dkrook]

Still hates his father, even though he maybe dead, check.
Still rockin' patch work tin can man look, even though he has tech to upgrade to better look, check. I think if DC lacks the courage to make Cyborg the hero he deserves to be, why not just put him on ice. The writer sounds cool but wasn't allowed to lean in on what Walker was doing which was evolving Vic into what he should be already.

[skyvolt2000]

Still hates his father, even though he maybe dead, check.
Still rockin' patch work tin can man look, even though he has tech to upgrade to better look, check. I think if DC lacks the courage to make Cyborg the hero he deserves to be, why not just put him on ice. The writer sounds cool but wasn't allowed to lean in on what Walker was doing which was evolving Vic into what he should be already.

The writer in real life has a disability.

And the interview I linked in the Cyborg thread-that was SORT of addressed as to why he goes with that look that Walker addressed.

That he's scared to be something different to folks who know him as Cyborg-if that makes sense.

[dkrook]

The writer in real life has a disability.

And the interview I linked in the Cyborg thread-that was SORT of addressed as to why he goes with that look that Walker addressed.

That he's scared to be something different to folks who know him as Cyborg-if that makes sense.

All respect fam, yeah I heard that part too. I guess it was sounded on code with what DC wants anyway and maybe Morgan decided to just weave that narrative into real life relatable connotations. Leaning towards physically challenged is fine, It just seems like a take of convenience.

[Digifiend]

A lot of that comes from Victors updated origin in this issue, which isn’t that big a deal/problem. It’s basically confirmation that the new 52 origin where he was changed and gained boom tube/alien tech powers happened but with the twist that he was a teenager going through a hard time and didn’t feel comfortable on the League. So he opted to join the Titans, Wolfman era, who were genuine friends for him and who he could connect with. It’s kind of like the animated movies I guess.

So they've retconned New 52 Justice League as slotting in some time in the 1970s JLA run? After all, NTT started in 1980. You know what? That works. Superman was dating Wonder Woman in New 52, and that obviously doesn't make sense if he's married to Lois - and the wedding was in the 90s. So moving it to pre-NTT means more of it can still be canon.

[Mantis-Ray]

Pretty good start. All the introspection with Vic was some good character stuff.

Also seeing more pages of him in it, I'm liking his clothed look here.

Curious whats gonna be the main threat here.

[Johnrevenge]

It was a good and interesting start. I really liked the art here.

[Factor]

I guess there's a lot of baggage now off the table with Silas finally dead.

Quite the opposite if you read the issue.

I honestly was a bit disappointed because I LOVED the short story by the same writer.
But I was hoping for something fresher than yet another story about how Vic hates his father. It wasn’t bad by any means, just not the exciting new take I was expecting.
I don’t mind Cyborg looking like he does, but he needs to accept who he is and move on.
The continuity revision didn’t make sense to me. It would have been much simpler to keep his original NTT debut and establish that the time with the JL happened later and that’s when he got a power upgrade. It makes no sense that he’s had the boom tube technology the whole time he was a Teen Titans. Plus his JL stint was supposed to have lasted years. Unless they’re only keeping his origin with them and then scrapping all the rest or moving the rest to after his NTT adventures.
The art was ok, but I don’t know why Tom Raney started to draw heads so disproportionately big in his recent work. It looks kind of creepy sometimes and it’s distracting.

I’ll give it a 6/10 hoping it improves because I really wanted to like this.

[HereNThere]

I found this to be a really strong start the series. While it doesn't address every issue we've had with the character over the years, I can see that it is positioning him to move forward in new direction. I expect the Silas situation to be handled quickly, basically let the two hash out the beef, before he's fully put to pasture and Vic is allowed to move beyond that aspect. Of course, I could be wrong, but I do feel like that's the end game for this particular plot.

If the author is allowed to actually follow through, we'll hopefully see Vic in a series that actually covers new ground for him.

[Drako]

I liked this issue. The art is kinda weird, but not bad.
Since this is a mini-series, i hope they can make Vic move on with the hate of his father now that he is dead, if he really is, by the end of this.

[king81992]

I was enjoying the book until the last page. It fees like the tired 'man vs machine' narrative is back with a side dish of daddy issues(I thought Cyborg and his dad reconciled in the past, was I mistaken?)

[Holt]

Is this the first time since Death Metal reestablished his ties to the Titans that someone has actually tried to make sense of the timeline?

Really enjoyed the issue overall.

[Factor]

Is this the first time since Death Metal reestablished his ties to the Titans that someone has actually tried to make sense of the timeline?

Really enjoyed the issue overall.

Probably. They'll be explaining the timeline of all the main Titans in the Tales mini, but since Vic has his own mini, they used the funeral to establish his revised continuity.
Does it make sense? No. But at least we know the major bits to his history now.

[WonderScott]

I keep getting the feeling T.O. Morrow or Professor Ivo might show up in this.