Luck Be A Lady: Domino Appreciation...

[CraigTheCylon]

More scans! Just a quickie today - got my mitts on the first trade of Edmondson's Punisher so here's Neena's all-too-brief appearance, drawn by Mitch Gerads (who's very good, though as we'll see, he seems to have a problem with remembering where straps on a bikini go).

From issue 4:


And from issue 6:

[Sea Hound]

Thanks Craig. Your time spent slaving over a hot scanner is really appreciated. I didn't know anything about that issue, and I really enjoyed the scans and your commentary.

The Stelfreeze art is quite lovely isn't it? I've never seen his work before. And the colourist, whoever it is did a really wonderful job with it. There's some lovely panels, which I appreciate because not all of Dom's past is as lovely.

Speaking of which, here's some Liefeldian pouch madness. I can't believe this was ever cool. Collective madness.

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[CraigTheCylon]

No prob, S.H., this stuff's like an addiction for me now. Gotta collect alllll the minor appearances like they were Pokémon.

Speaking of which, here's some Liefeldian pouch madness. I can't believe this was ever cool. Collective madness.

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Hehe. Y'know, when it comes to Domino back in those heady, foil-&-poly-bagged days, it's not the pouches that weird me out (though she does have a fair few of those), it's the huge flared shoulders and, especially, the tiara-headpiece-thing. There's a few other characters that wear those, and the main names that stick out are Scarlet Witch, Enchantress, and Polaris. Two magic-users and a potent magnetist (who, thanks to a combo of levitation and invisible matter-bending, kinda comes off as magical at first glance). And then there's Domino, who is all bullet time and kung fu. I doubt they were ever going for a theme with costume trends like that, but they had one by accident, then kinda screwed it up by adding Neena to the pile. The only real practical reason for it I can think of is keeping her hair out of her eyes, and even then, has she never heard of a scrunchie?

(yeah, I'm arguing practicality in regards to Liefeld costumes...although now I think about it, I'm sure some old issues added a targeting-HUD cyber-monocle to Dom's tiara, so, there's that)

[Sea Hound]

You know, if you can ignore the hypermachismo, impossible anatomy, over inking, awful costumes, sinewy faces, no feet, and generally awful drawing, there is a kind of vitality about Liefeld's pictures. Some sort of weird energy.

I don't know about the face framer. What are they for; and how on earth does it stay on? I assume Lorna's is metal and she holds it with magnetism, Amora and Wanda use Magic, and maybe Dom's is some future tech, anti gravity, front scrunchie brought back by Cable? I'll admit to a weird fascination with awful 90's costumes.

I do like how her pouches are that bit more dainty and feminine than the boys'.

[CraigTheCylon]

I don't know if they're dainty as such, or it's just the big red fella at the back there, with his correspondingly suitcase-size pouches, throwing everything else into a different perspective. It's nice that Dom found a utility belt that colour-coordinates with her gloves and face-framer though.

And yeah, however bad Liefeld gets - which is often very bad - there's an undeniably vitality to his art that draws the eye. It's how a teenage boy would draw a professional comic, if he could. No subtlety or nuance, and sloppy continuity, but everything's loud and in-your-face like rebellious graffiti. It deserves its place in a time capsule, as a reminder to future generations of what the '90s were all about, along with some Power Rangers on DVD and the Spice Girls' first album.

On a more relevant point, what do we all think comes next for Domino? There doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in her around the X-office right now (not that this bothers me, given how tiresome so many X-books are at the mo), and we're still waiting to see what Spurrier's got in mind for her. I know Bl00dwerk was disappointed by her X-Force #7 appearance, and yeah, it sucks seeing her get worked over like that, but I've got more faith in Spurrier than I do in almost any other writer, and he plots things tight. There's no way he'd throw in a character with any name value into his book just to make them a sacrificial lamb and increase a bad guy's threat level or whatever. There's more going on here. We still don't know why Cable supposedly put her on Mystery Villain Man's trail, nor how Cable subsequently forgot the whole thing (and if it's a side-effect of his current exploding-clone snafu, then what else has he forgotten?). I figure it's a safe bet that she turns up as an antagonist next, though; given how the X-Force squad isn't what you'd call heavy hitters (with Hope stuck only using MeMe's powers, Psylocke is the most powerful of the bunch) it would be pretty plausible for Domino by herself to work them over, under the right circumstances.

Beyond that, I'm assuming she'll show up in Punisher again; I'm behind a little with that series so if she's been in #7-9 I haven't noticed yet, but again, there's a lot we don't know about her involvement. What did AIM actually ask her to do? I'm assuming 'save Electro' was a side-goal added purely for convenience. And what does she get out of it? Merc or no, Dom's got a moral code and isn't prone to working for obvious 'baddies', which AIM absolutely are, and if she just needs money, there are plenty of other shady types with deep pockets who aren't nearly as objectionable, and association with which is much less likely to put you on the Avengers' s***-list. On a side note, since (again) there doesn't seem to be much room in the X-verse for Dom right now, I think it'd be pretty sweet to put her on a tour through a few of the non-mutant titles. Punisher just crossed over with Black Widow, which has the same writer, and is low on powers and high on spycraft. Domino would fit right in (and I've been kinda itching to see her throw down with Natasha in any context for years). Elektra and Secret Avengers would suit her too, though I think the latter is on its way out...but then there's that new Agents of SHIELD book coming. That's another possibility. Thoughts?

[CraigTheCylon]

Picbump for the day: Summery Domino art for the Marvel: War of Heroes card game by Gonzalo Ordóñez Arias. Her left hand looks kinda broken-at-the-wrist in the first one but I like how they go for more cheerful and fun rather than 'sexy'. Also like that Neena brings a knife with her on holiday. That shark don't know who he's messing with.

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[Sea Hound]

I'm hoping Domino ends up as a team member in Spurrier's X-Force, and he gets as much time and space as he needs to tell his story; because I'm loving that book. It's absolutely my favourite X-book right now. At the moment it's a team of 6 including Nemesis (hooray!) and meme, so I think he could go to 7. (6 or 7 is perfect for a team book I think.) If she were to get brainwashed and become an antagonist for a while, I can live with that, because she's sneaky, and capable, and very very lucky; and I think she'd be extraordinarily difficult to fight.

I'm completely incapable of guessing what Spurrier is going to do in his stories, he always surprises me. I'm just happy to go along for the ride without too many preconceived notions about what he "should" do. His ideas are much better than mine anyway.

[CraigTheCylon]

See, I'm torn...much though I love Neena, want her to be a regular somewhere again (anywhere!) and <3 everything Spurrier touches, I don't want to feel like I'm forcing him to add extra core cast members to this book, especially since I get the feeling that the particular personality dysfunctions behind this squad are the core building blocks of the longform story he's telling...so, unless (please please please) Domino joining the squad is something he was planning on from the start, I figure the current roster is the one we're stuck with until Spurrier's done, or at least until someone smarts up and kills Fantomex. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the guy the way everyone else does - I actually like him! - but I don't see how there's a way out of his current plot trajectory besides him getting murdered. But yeah, I believe there is a plan for Dom, and hopefully it will involve much ass-kicking and more made-up words like 'smugalogue'.

And, while I wait and see what to scan next (I was considering some stuff from Cable & Deadpool but you can find a lot of that through Google already), here's some more crap I found around the net. Firstly from this Tumblr person (I think) is a nice B&W fan art of Neena and X-23 in their civvies:
domino_x23_casual.jpg

And here's Domino drawn by Bruce Timm, in his typical DC Animation style. Her boobs are a bit wacky (like she's wearing Madonna's conical bra under her catsuit) but I'm a sucker for Timm's work.
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[Anarchist]

Domino is the best C-Lister and X-Lady ever

[LoganAlpha30X33]

I'd rather see Domino replace Betsy in the book, Cable not be a new clone every day, and I don't see taking a knife diving as being out of the ordinary.

[Bl00dwerK]

I'd rather see Domino replace Betsy in the book, Cable not be a new clone every day, and I don't see taking a knife diving as being out of the ordinary.

I would also like to see Neena replace Betsy. Psylocke is already in X-Men so why does she have to be in X-Force, too? I would like to see them have a "one title" rule when it comes to the X-Men...

[Bl00dwerK]

I've noticed Edmonson likes to have his characters get their asses kicked. Black Widow has been getting, pretty much, owned...

[CraigTheCylon]

I'd rather see Domino replace Betsy in the book, Cable not be a new clone every day, and I don't see taking a knife diving as being out of the ordinary.

1) Already discussed this. Plus, Betsy's telepathy has been a fairly important tool in X-Force's arsenal thus far. If they got rid of her they'd need to add someone/thing else to replace it, and Neena's no brain-borker.

2) So basically, you want to deprive Cable of his main story going forwards? Also, Cable has always been defined by constantly being on the verge of death. His T-O virus is killing him for years, then he loses the virus but now his powers are overcharged and will tear him apart, then he gets the virus back and it does kill him, then he's cured but he's got new precog powers that are making his brain inflate...this exploding clone business is just a variation on his main theme.

3) Yeah, she's not 'diving', she's playing beach volleyball, and if you think bringing a knife to THAT is normal...buddy, you got some issues. :P

I've noticed Edmonson likes to have his characters get their asses kicked. Black Widow has been getting, pretty much, owned...

I guess it means more when the hero finally gets to 'win' if they've been taking a beating for ages beforehand. Also, the page after the second one I scanned has Frank musing, 'This is a world of superheroes and supervillains...sometimes I don't think I'm cut out for it.' So Domino decking Castle with little effort is a not-subtle way of showing that the Punisher's out of his league here interfering with the AIM Empire's business.

Blah, all this non-Domino talk annoys me! I need some gifs to calm down.




Better now. (miss that show)

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Couldn't Cable just use his powers...the virus almost killing him hadn't been a storyline in years so that's no big, as for the knife I thought that she was going diving, hence the no surprise with the knife, with volleyball...yeah that's be weird. Betsy is there partially due to her connection to Fantomex, sadly, Betsy has been stuck in X-Force for long enough imho, she needs a fresh start.

[Bl00dwerK]

(miss that show)

Awesome gifs, man...