Victor Stone: Cyborg Appreciation 2020

[9th.]

That's a good idea. And yeah, I have the Target app.....my wife is addicted to Target. Like, we are on a first name basis with some of the people who work there, we go so often.

And Steele and Stone might just be the greatest tv show we never knew we needed. I have got to get into Doom Patrol.....

It's weird that all of Vic's best appearances are in larger media. I mean, I know the comics like to revolve around the "classic status quo" of a character but....do they not see the glory that is Vic in all these cartoons and shows? Do they not realize the opportunity they're wasting by forcing Cyborg to cycle through the same "man or machine" angst that the character outgrew before Wolfman left the Titans thirty f*cking years ago?? I swear, DC needs to hire me because they are straight up blind.

Well like dkrook said the writers have an outdated mindset, being half a face works in the 80's but nowadays technology is sleek and hidden. His needs a design overhaul or an "update" if you will.

[Ascended]

And now it looks like DC doesn't really know who to push as their premier black hero. Black Lightning has the show but outside of Outsiders, which is a Bat-adjacent book he's nowhere to be found. Mr. Terrific was handled nicely on his own team and now has a role with Tom King but he's not headlining a solo. Vixen is MIA as far as I know.

Well, with Lightning you've got all the crap with Isabella. Terrific likely could hold down the fort as DC's "premier black hero" and I suspect we'll continue to see Holt get a slow push. I think DC realized that just saying "this is our guy" and throwing them into the League doesn't actually make an A-lister, so with Holt they might try to ease into it more. The question in my mind is, would DC let Terrific encroach on Batman's "smartest guy in the room" territory? Vixen....I suspect DC views her as too similar to Animal Man or Beast Boy. I'm not sure why nobody has done more with Mari, she's pretty great.

They could push Naomi, who's got a solid foundation for a solo mythos and got a lot of attention last year with her debut mini. But that girl is really new, even if anyone is interested in her hitting the A-list it'll require a lot of time and quality investment, and DC struggles to do that with their established big names as it is.

But....I think maybe the entire idea of having a "premier black hero" is looking at it the wrong way. It feels an awful lot like saying "this is the one black hero who belongs with the League with the important heroes" and, well, aren't there several black heroes who deserve such lofty standing? Why do we only get one "premier" black hero? Feels kinda like tokenism to me. Well intentioned tokenism perhaps, but still.

[skyvolt2000]

Well, with Lightning you've got all the crap with Isabella. Terrific likely could hold down the fort as DC's "premier black hero" and I suspect we'll continue to see Holt get a slow push. I think DC realized that just saying "this is our guy" and throwing them into the League doesn't actually make an A-lister, so with Holt they might try to ease into it more. The question in my mind is, would DC let Terrific encroach on Batman's "smartest guy in the room" territory? Vixen....I suspect DC views her as too similar to Animal Man or Beast Boy. I'm not sure why nobody has done more with Mari, she's pretty great.

On Twitter there are more folks going nuts over Holt being shirtless and nude in Strange Adventures than the entire run of Terrifics. It takes making him cheese cake to get attention?

But....I think maybe the entire idea of having a "premier black hero" is looking at it the wrong way. It feels an awful lot like saying "this is the one black hero who belongs with the League with the important heroes" and, well, aren't there several black heroes who deserve such lofty standing? Why do we only get one "premier" black hero? Feels kinda like tokenism to me. Well intentioned tokenism perhaps, but still.

Here is the thing if you were to base it on powers alone-Cyborg, Vixen, Firestorm, Holt and Black Lightning all make strong cases. Batman said Jason was too dangerous to be left alone because of his powers.

Heck you really need a Justice League Unlimited team.

[Ascended]

On Twitter there are more folks going nuts over Holt being shirtless and nude in Strange Adventures than the entire run of Terrifics. It takes making him cheese cake to get attention?

I guess so? Hey, whatever, it's cool. Lots of female characters have been objectified for decades, it's fair game if the guys get to strut their stuff too, and we all know Mister Terrific is all about fair play.

Though maybe Nightwing needs to have a discussion with Holt about who DC's #1 male eye candy is.

Here is the thing if you were to base it on powers alone-Cyborg, Vixen, Firestorm, Holt and Black Lightning all make strong cases. Batman said Jason was too dangerous to be left alone because of his powers.

Heck you really need a Justice League Unlimited team.

There's so much overlap in the League's power set I don't even care if a black hero fills a similar role. How many flying bricks does the League usually have? Like, half their roster have those same powers, and I'm not down with limiting a black member just because their powers aren't unique enough, that's just BS. But you know DC would never let anyone step on Batman's toes; he's the smartest guy in the room by royal decree and DC will never let anyone challenge that.

[Robotman]

Well, with Lightning you've got all the crap with Isabella. Terrific likely could hold down the fort as DC's "premier black hero" and I suspect we'll continue to see Holt get a slow push. I think DC realized that just saying "this is our guy" and throwing them into the League doesn't actually make an A-lister, so with Holt they might try to ease into it more. The question in my mind is, would DC let Terrific encroach on Batman's "smartest guy in the room" territory? Vixen....I suspect DC views her as too similar to Animal Man or Beast Boy. I'm not sure why nobody has done more with Mari, she's pretty great.

They could push Naomi, who's got a solid foundation for a solo mythos and got a lot of attention last year with her debut mini. But that girl is really new, even if anyone is interested in her hitting the A-list it'll require a lot of time and quality investment, and DC struggles to do that with their established big names as it is.

But....I think maybe the entire idea of having a "premier black hero" is looking at it the wrong way. It feels an awful lot like saying "this is the one black hero who belongs with the League with the important heroes" and, well, aren't there several black heroes who deserve such lofty standing? Why do we only get one "premier" black hero? Feels kinda like tokenism to me. Well intentioned tokenism perhaps, but still.

Mr. Terrific is one of my favorite characters but his skill set as the genius tech guy will always be overshadowed by Batman. Thankfully he’ll always have a place on the JSA where he can have the role to himself. I like the idea of Michael being a multiverse hopping sci fi adventurer. It helps to separate him from the other super genius heroes. I think there is huge potential for a Mr. Terrific tv show.

Cyborg could have worked a lot better as the god of technology because he fits in with the Justice League pantheon. Sadly he was just used as their mode of transportation for the first few years on the team.

I’m super happy that Amazing-Man is a founding member of the JSA in Taylor’s Injustice: Zero Year. That character has so much potential. Interesting look, classic superhero name, and so many great and poignant stories can be told of a black superhero living through WWII and becoming a leader in the Civil Rights movement.

[9th.]

[Sodam Yat]

So apparently, Ray Fisher made a comment about Geoff Johns on twitter:

During the LA reshoots for Justice League, Geoff Johns summoned me to his office to belittle and admonish my (and my agent’s) attempts to take grievances up the proper chain of command.

He then made a thinly veiled threat to my career.

This behavior cannot continue.

A>E

What are you guy's thoughts about this? Do you guys think Geoff Johns is the type of guy who like to belittle people and threatened people's careers?

I believe Ray Fisher. I have no respect for Geoff Johns at all.

[Holt]

Inside the Nightwing, Starfire, and Cyborg reunion with Justice League and Death Metal

Nrama: The long-awaited reunion of Cyborg, Starfire, and Nightwing is finally coming to life with Justice League. What made 'Doom Metal' the perfect story arc for this to happen?

Williamson: It was a long time coming. They haven't been around each other for so long. I feel like getting them together in this twisted world - like getting them into Metal and they finally get back together, but it's in this horrible situation added to the fun of it.

Some of my favorite parts... there's a scene in issue two where the team go across this thing called the Valley of Starros and trying not to wake up all of these Starros and they're just trying to make their way through. To do that, they have to be quiet and have to kind of just make their way through. They can't be flying and blasting.

Then in the story, they actually have a gift from Wonder Woman. That's a robot horse named Comet that you actually learn little bits of and there are some secrets too. But at the beginning of the story, Dick is actually riding this horse because Nightwing riding a horse is just so awesome to me, and now it's a robot horse. I don't know I thought it was a fun visual and it would be fun to do.

There's a scene where it's the team that they're crossing the Valley of Starros, and it gives an opportunity for Cyborg, Nightwing, and Starfire to just talk for a moment, to catch up with each other. They've all gone into these crazy changes. If you think about what they've all gone through. All the things Cyborg and Starfire went through in Justice League Odyssey, and all the things that Nightwing went through in his own book.

All these really big changes and I wanted all of them to come together and talk about that and realize that about each other.

Like Starfire looking at Nightwing and be like, 'Oh, this thing happened to you. I can tell you're different because of this,' and him say the same thing to them.

And then having Cyborg have a different attitude.

It was just a fun opportunity to bring them together in a unique way, which definitely still presents a challenge to them.

https://www.gamesradar.com/inside-th...d-death-metal/

[BradleyFan]

So apparently, Ray Fisher made a comment about Geoff Johns on twitter:



What are you guy's thoughts about this? Do you guys think Geoff Johns is the type of guy who like to belittle people and threatened people's careers?

I believe Ray Fisher. I have no respect for Geoff Johns at all.

For some reason I'm not surprised. Johns has always struck me as the type of guy who plays favorite (with characters at least). I mean, New52 reboot was just a way for him to return everything to the Silver Age, and even though (from what I recall) Johns was the guy who placed Cyborg on the team, he seemed to have nothing but contempt for the character as a whole. Under Johns eye Cyborg's biggest claim to fame is being the JL's resident chauffeur.

And moving to the DC Films side, Ray Fisher has shown nothing but love and respect for the character and WB/DC comics has ignored the crap out of him. There was no reason at all WB/DC couldn't capitalize on the #Borglife branding that Mr. Fisher came up with. Not to mention the fact that Cyborg is the only member of the Justice League who WB didn't even pretend to care about. At least the other films had directors attached to them at some point. Cyborg didn't even get that curtesy.

[Holt]

You didn't need a crystal ball to know that Cyborg movie wasn't happening. It was a formality.

[Killerbee911]

There's so much overlap in the League's power set I don't even care if a black hero fills a similar role. How many flying bricks does the League usually have? Like, half their roster have those same powers, and I'm not down with limiting a black member just because their powers aren't unique enough, that's just BS. But you know DC would never let anyone step on Batman's toes; he's the smartest guy in the room by royal decree and DC will never let anyone challenge that.

To me Batman isn't even a good fit as the smartest guy room, I think Batman should be "The Tactical God" what Batman does the best would be seeing all the pieces of the puzzle and coming up with the best decision. That would fit his theme as the greatest detective and that would make very good leader because he can see all the outcomes. Heck you can play it up as well to why he is amazing fighter, He analyzes most of outcomes in his head and takes the best route (aka what Midnighter does but without needing a computer in his head.)

With Batman out of the way that would free up other characters to shine, Holt could be the best all around smart guy jack of trades all master of none, Cyborg could be smartest in robotic tech you could even limit that down to sonic weaponry and wormhole tech then give Steel robotics, Atom could get physics/nanotechnology, Flash could get Biology/Chemistry,etc. Superhero is general power fantasy, It is just bad business to make one character so much better than everyone else.

[Johnny]

So apparently, Ray Fisher made a comment about Geoff Johns on twitter:



What are you guy's thoughts about this? Do you guys think Geoff Johns is the type of guy who like to belittle people and threatened people's careers?

I believe Ray Fisher. I have no respect for Geoff Johns at all.

I think accusations of this magnitude should never be tweeted publicly with absolutely no evidence to back them up with. He's not claiming that him and Johns had creative differences or anything that could be perceived as shady on Johns' part, he's flatout accusing him of criminal behavior, which is what threatening someone's professional career is about. People can feel about Johns however they will, that's not the way to approach matters such as this. If Johns has truly done something of sorts, he should be taken to court for it and punished accordingly. If not, then you can't falsely accuse someone of something like this publicly and get away with it. You just can't do that. I can't express personal opinions on whether I think Johns is the type of guy to do that because I don't know him, but I believe this was the wrong approach to take on Fisher's part.

[HAN9000]

For some reason I'm not surprised. Johns has always struck me as the type of guy who plays favorite (with characters at least). I mean, New52 reboot was just a way for him to return everything to the Silver Age, and even though (from what I recall) Johns was the guy who placed Cyborg on the team, he seemed to have nothing but contempt for the character as a whole. Under Johns eye Cyborg's biggest claim to fame is being the JL's resident chauffeur.

And moving to the DC Films side, Ray Fisher has shown nothing but love and respect for the character and WB/DC comics has ignored the crap out of him. There was no reason at all WB/DC couldn't capitalize on the #Borglife branding that Mr. Fisher came up with. Not to mention the fact that Cyborg is the only member of the Justice League who WB didn't even pretend to care about. At least the other films had directors attached to them at some point. Cyborg didn't even get that curtesy.

>has shown nothing but love and respect for the character
>reluctant to say booyah

[Iconic]

>has shown nothing but love and respect for the character
>reluctant to say booyah

You’re right. I felt that him coming up with a catchphrase so soon after such tragedy was rather tone deaf.

[Ascended]

To me Batman isn't even a good fit as the smartest guy room

He shouldn't be, but alas, that's where we are.

Batman should be the team's main stealth operative, information broker, and co-tactician (along with Diana and maybe John if he's around). Not to mention the League's resident detective. That is more than enough for any one League member.

Cyborg and Holt are both more than unique enough to justify League membership; the only ways they really overlap with Bruce is in the fact that they use technology and Vic can pull data off the internet. But it's DC, and anything that could even remotely be a threat to Batman's position as the smartest/most important guy around is crushed with extreme prejudice. Can't have other characters rival Batman's skillz, they might start to sell well!