Friday, April 8, 2016

Top 5 Fridays: Top 5 DC Comics Plot Points That Sounded Stupid, But Were Awesome



Welcome back to another Top 5 Friday! Those with fantastic memory might remember that before the Batman v Superman themed Top 5s, I did a list on the Top 5 Plot Points That Sounded Cool, But Weren't (if you want to read that list click here). That seemed like a very negative list, so I thought maybe it was best if I did a reverse list of it. This week we'll be going over the Top 5 Plot Points that I thought sounded stupid, but turned out to be really friggin' awesome. The rules are if it sounded stupid, it qualifies, and as always there is no way for me to read every single story out there, so if you don't see something you like, I apologize. Enough babbling, lets get to it!



5: Robo-Batman


Jim Gordon was a pretty good Batman. He's brave, pretty smart, and acted like something I haven't seen Batman as in a while: a detective. His adventures are something that define Jim's take on the Batman. While Bruce has taken on oddities before, it's more seen in the Justice League comics. Gotham has been pretty tame, craziest being the Joker Endgame. So when the city grows craziness such as the Robin War, the traveling circus assassins and Bloom, a new kind of Batman is needed. I'm happy Bruce is back, but I will always consider Jim a Batman who could stand his own. So why so high on the list? Because I was more on the line with him while everyone else was tearing him to pieces when he was first revealed (even though he's the second Robotic Batman, and everyone enjoyed the first: Batman Beyond) 


4: Bizarro White Lantern 


You know what's a stereotypical archetype for a villain? A Mirrored version of the character. Superman has Bizzaro and Batman has Wraith, so Kyle Rayner should have Black Hand, right? The insane leader of the Black Lantern Corp, who is the opposite of Kyle in every way? Nope! Enter Oblivion. When I first saw oblivion, I thought he was entirely unnecessary... But then the truth of how he was made came out and it began to make me accept him more. He's a being made out of the most negative emotions in Kyle's repertoire, made flesh when the Life Equation entered him. It showed that despite the name and power the Life Equation, it really was just as dangerous as the Anti-Life Equation we always heard about. Now showing it in the form of a creepy doppelgänger intent on ruining everything in his life with things that are important in it. 


3: Reverse Flash's New Identity


I probably have mentioned my love for the new 52 version of Reverse flash quite a few times in my run of Top 5 Fridays. What I never mentioned though is my impression when I first laid eyes on the evil scarlet speedster. Yes, I called him that, because to those who might forget, his suit was actually black and red rather than the traditional yellow and red. I thought he looked dumb, but that's when I learned his identity. At first, I was boycotting him, claiming Eobard is the one true reverse flash for Barry Allen, but "Damn Daniel! back at it again with the sad backstory!" When I learned his origins I began to drawn lines between both speedsters, a lot more than the fan-gone-rogue Thawne. Not only that but thanks to the story in Flash Volume 4 and  his actions in the suicide squad, he quickly overtook my like for Eobard, becoming one of my favorite villains of the New 52 timeline. He might not be back for a while since the Flash comic has Eobard in the form of Zoom, but a guy can dream, right? 


2: Behind-the-Scenes Organization in Gotham

You know what always seems cool? Evil organizations. The older the better. Cool ones such as Spectre, Aim, and Hydra fill our stories... Then came the Court of the Owls... Guys in a bunch of Owl masks, plotting control of the city... Doesn't sound too scary when you say it out loud does it? In fact, it sounds pretty dumb. And that's what I thought until the last two issues of the first story arc. In the last 2 issues, you see how powerful the Court actually is, and I don't mean by strength. You see how tight their grip on Gotham is as well as how strategic they are in breaking the man who defies them. It's with these traits, the group has settled next to the Joker in my favorite Batman villains and with Rebirth coming up I can't wait to see what they have in store next. 


1: Green Arrow's Higher Purpose 

His name is Oliver Queen. After be stranded on an island with pirates, he learned how to survive with the goal to get off the island and save his city from gangs, mercs, and the occasional Metahuman. But to do that he had to become someone else. He had to become some THING else... He had to become the Arrow Clan Leader... Wait what? 
I won't try to claim to be the biggest Green Arrow fan, my interest for him mainly coming from Arrow and the Justice League cartoon, but he never seemed like someone who faces off with mystical forces. Technically no magic is thrown around, but the legends of the weapon clans make the whole thing feel at home but still new for a green arrow story. Sure it changed an iconic origin, but it also added its own twist and created new characters that I wanted to learn about. Jeff Lemire took a huge risky step when creating this new strange chapter in Oliver Queen's life, but I think it was a good one nonetheless. 

That's it for this week's Top 5 Fridays! What plot point surprised you? Leave a comment and I'll see you next week!

4 comments:

  1. On paper, Justice League 3000 sounded kinda of a dumb idea. Clones of the justice league brought to the future by the Wonder Twins. But the jokes on the reader, because while almost all justice league stories always leads to the heroes winning and staying alive, in this case you never knew who would potentially get killed. This made it one of the best readings from the New 52.

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  2. Robo-Bats was never explored fully, I think there could have been a more compelling story that was neutered for one reason or another. I don't know that it would have been the greatest story ever told, but I feel like it didn't get its due.

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  3. Other color corps I'm sure sounded like blasphemy to hard core GL fans but it turned out to be the best thing to happen to the GL universe!

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  4. There have been a few I can think of that where a part of the Dark line up when the New 52 Started. Justice League Dark, Demon Knights and I-Vampire. JLD had potential but really never found its footing. Demon Knights was great, who would have thought a book in medieval times in DC continuity would make for great stories because I didn't. And I hate the fact that I was one of those people who judged
    I-Vampire before I read it because when I finally caught up the series was cancelled. It was definitely not what I expected at all.

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