Your DC-Only controversial opinions...

[BatmanJones]

I don't know if it's necessarily controversial, but I've always adamantly preferred Katar and Shayera to Carter and Shiera, and I believe with a similar passion that the two sets' of Hawks should be kept completely independent of one another. This obsession a lot of people seem to have nowadays of wanting to amalgamate the Hawks into a single concept is just baffling to me, not to mention counterproductive. Leave each of them alone, I say. All mixing them together will end up doing is confusing and disappointing everyone.

The poor Hawks (and Hawks) were slow-withering casualties of Crisis on Infinite Earths, as so many characters were.

It won't be long before they've been estranged longer than they were married and they were once as reliable a couple as Clark Kent and Lois Lane or Barry Allen and Iris Allen. When I was growing up it would have been heresy to see Hawkgirl dating a Green Lantern on a cartoon.

I liked it better when they were separate entities too and I also have a preference for the Hol's. But I liked it when the JSA was on Earth-Two and came to visit the Justice League once a year too.

Here's maybe a controversial opinion:

Crisis on Infinite Earths, while being the most exciting event published to date in 1985, had the ultimate effect of absolutely ruining DC Comics in a way from which they've constantly tried but never recovered. It's hard to really see it since the years that directly followed CoIE were maybe the best years for DC ever but the fallout -- mainly as represented by the rewriting of history to move the JSA and JLA to the same earth -- was extremely unfortunate. And by letting it stand (and not taking Marv Wolfman's alleged escape route) DC put itself on a path where it would continue to reboot (large and small ones) about every five years forever. That didn't used to happen before the '85 Crisis.

[manofsteel1979]

Crisis on Infinite Earths, while being the most exciting event published to date in 1985, had the ultimate effect of absolutely ruining DC Comics in a way from which they've constantly tried but never recovered. It's hard to really see it since the years that directly followed CoIE were maybe the best years for DC ever but the fallout -- mainly as represented by the rewriting of history to move the JSA and JLA to the same earth -- was extremely unfortunate. And by letting it stand (and not taking Marv Wolfman's alleged escape route) DC put itself on a path where it would continue to reboot (large and small ones) about every five years forever. That didn't used to happen before the '85 Crisis.

This. Ties right in to my Superman rant a page or so ago. I adore the era that came after the Crisis (1986-1994), however looking back, most of the good parts didn't require CRISIS to have happened and would have still happened if DC had just opened their universe and existing continuity to new creators with fresh new eyes which is why that era was so good. Mike Carlin had said many times that a majority of the things they accomplished during the Triangle Era with Superman could have been easily done with the Pre-Crisis version had they been able to use that version. Superman and the DCU did need some matainence and some pruning here and there, but instead for the most part, a chainsaw was used. DC COMICS continues to suffer as a whole due to this grave, yet well meaning, error.

[Auguste Dupin]

I'm betting if you gave Silver Surfer to, say, Fabien Vehlmann, he'd have something new to say about the character. If you release it as joint European/N American OGN, I'm sure it will sell a lot better in the European market where comics sell in the millions rather than the US market, where the very top comics sell 200,000. It would mean releasing a philosophically pregnant concept like Silver Surfer from the constraints of a market that doesn't have much use for him and a format that doesn't work particularly well for him. You mentioned in a later post that you're sure that there is a market in Germany for N American comics, but what seems to be the biggest resistance to N American comics in Europe is the format, above all. Germany has a thriving comics scene, one that is more financially robust that N American comics market. The same could be said about France, Belgium, Italy, etc. The idea should be to work on what the N American market can do to rival European numbers, not vice versa.

LIkewise, I'm not sure what the thinking was to have Sandman: Overture released as single issues when Gaiman's larger fanbase discovered his work in bookstores.

For what it's worth, the Silver Surfer is surprisingly well known in France, and at least used to be extremely popular back in the 70's, to the point that, after the cancellation of the Lee/Buscema run, the French publisher at the same actually managed to get Marvel's permission to create 2 more issues by a French team (which never happened again for any other comic as far as I know).

[Batmil]

I tried.. but I just can't stand any comics from before let's say, 1985. They are so incredibly cheesy and dumb in my opinion I can't comprehend how people endured them. I enjoyed the Batman 66' series but just because I was constantly laughing at how bad it is. It had a certain fun factor, but was that really all the people had back in those days?

*slowly walks out*

[dancj]

Joe Kubert was a better artist than almost anyone who's working today.

Nothing controversial there.

I am of the opinion that comics are made to a much higher quality than they used to be, but Joe Kubert's work still towers above most modern stuff.

[TRS80]

I like the new 52 hawkman. Intergalactic badass.

Barbara Gordon was at her best as Oracle.

Grayson is an excellent title and an unexpected surprise. If Archer and Batman had a baby. It would be Grayson.

The new Martian Manhunter is really good.

The DC cinematic universe needs to add TV shows.

It's tough to make a successful comic book.

I always thought Spoiler was a harlot.

[Vinsanity]

I wished comics would do that. If only there was a series that would have Dick's generation be the main heroes and have time actually pass.

If we had heroes growing up. Bruce would be long gone. The same for well practically everyone. However Cassie, Tim and Courtney would be still alive. She was 16 in 1999 by assumption, so Stargirl would be 32 or turning 32.

Yeahh.

I'm for that heroes shouldn't really grow up per se.

[joybeans]

Barbara Gordon was at her best as Oracle.

Grayson is an excellent title and an unexpected surprise. If Archer and Batman had a baby. It would be Grayson.

The new Martian Manhunter is really good.

Is this really controversial?

[Agent Z]

If we had heroes growing up. Bruce would be long gone. The same for well practically everyone. However Cassie, Tim and Courtney would be still alive. She was 16 in 1999 by assumption, so Stargirl would be 32 or turning 32.

Yeahh.

I'm for that heroes shouldn't really grow up per se.

I believe the poster was of the opinion that this series wouldn't be in continuity with the main 'verse. It would be canonically separate title like All-Star Superman, Ultimate Universe etc.

[Agent Z]

Is this really controversial?

Depends on who you ask. Especially in regards to the first one.

[Tuxedo Elf]

Saying Spoiler is a harlot is pretty controversial - and I'm struggling to see where it comes from to be honest.

[PlumeNoir]

This one will probably tick people off: "women in refrigerators" is not necessarily a bad thing. Hear me out; granted, without WiR, we wouldn't have Gail Simone and others, and I am in no way disagreeing with what she said and felt.

Specifically, I'm referring to the one that led to the coining of the term: Alex Dewitt. Major Force had always been this bad guy with no redeeming qualities; his stuffing of Alex was completely in character and was meant to be something far across the line to really mess with Kyle's head. (Although, I really wish we could have had the police's reaction and their involvement.)
I'm not going to say that it was the best written way to go about it - but it delivered what it was supposed to do: show idealistic Kyle that being a hero was not a game and had big stakes.

Endangered love interests are a trope going back to early storytelling days, before Greek myths and such. It seems bad because a majority of heroes are straight men; therefor have female loved ones that can be put in danger.

In the New52, Alan Scott's boyfriend, Sam, is, in my opinion, a worse case than Alex - because Alan becoming Green Lantern was tied directly to Sam's death.

[LoneNecromancer]

I don't see what's controversial about that. The complaint generally is about how pervasive the trope is.

It seems bad because a majority of heroes are straight men; therefor have female loved ones that can be put in danger.

Yeah, that's the point.

[Outside_85]

Superman should lose his weaknesses to magic...

Easy, he doesn't have one to begin with.

[PlumeNoir]

I don't see what's controversial about that. The complaint generally is about how pervasive the trope is.



Yeah, that's the point.

Actually, it wasn't. The point was originally women were merely used to advance the male hero's story and were not fully fleshed-out characters; they existed only to be endangered, hurt, etc. and to motivate the hero.

Like I said, I wasn't talking about the trope in general - just the case of Alex.