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Yeah, that posturing at the end where someone's like "were we so especially terrible?" and the specter says "oh hey good point maybe I should destroy the world" is an especially eye-rolling sign-off. It's not exactly bad-rear end to say shades of grey are hard so kill everyone, from the soldiers down to the children and newborns in their mothers' arms. And if Heaven then acquits him that just sounds like some kind of embarrassing, adolescent pseudo-philosophy. Badassery is hard to define, though, I suppose your mileage will vary.
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Dec 10, 2014 19:54
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Chinaman7000 posted:On one hand, I think Ostrander is one of the best writers the medium has been lucky to have, and I also really liked scenes I've seen of his Spectre run in a lot of places. It makes more sense when you realize The Spectre is more about Vengeance than Justice. He's literally (in the comics anyway) the spirit responsible for killing the firstborn children of Egypt (yeah, from that story). So you basically end up with stories about how that particular spirit would react to specific semi-modern situations. He isn't meant to be thought of as an actual hero so much as a foil against which to judge a society in which specific situations can happen. Like the bit about how the people endorsing and supporting a death penalty are all guilty of murder if they ever execute an innocent man.
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Dec 10, 2014 19:55
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Wade Wilson posted:He isn't meant to be thought of as an actual hero so much as a foil against which to judge a society in which specific situations can happen. Oh good, my only real exposure to the Spectre is from Kingdom Come, and these stories were making him out to be a pretty  hero. Like vaporizing the whole of
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Dec 10, 2014 20:08
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Two from Hickman's Secret Warriors that demonstrate that Nick Fury is a badass. Not a hero in any sense of the word, not someone to admire or to emulate or even to be happy he exists. Just someone who always does what he thinks is right for the bigger picture, no matter how hosed up that is. Hydra has co-opeted SHIELD and Nick Fury is trying to deal with that. First, SHIELD is now HAMMER. Stark's out, Osborne's in — yup, the Green Goblin is in charge of what was SHIELD. But Fury (and the Howling Commandos PMC) want some Helicarriers. Only thing is, plenty of SHIELD folks stayed behind and accepted the change in management. Naturally, this leads to a bit of a difference of opinion, and a demonstration that Nick Fury has no time for other points of view.   Second, the very end of the series. Everything from the series is explained (no mean feat in and of itself, but Hickman can tie a story together), and you're left with Fury and Strucker. Two people. One room. 
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Dec 10, 2014 21:29
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Secret Warrior Dark Reign The List 
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Dec 10, 2014 22:12
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Worth noting that Fury does all of the things on his list.
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Dec 10, 2014 22:13
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bobkatt013 posted:Secret Warrior Dark Reign The List I see both of them are saving the best for last.
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Dec 10, 2014 22:39
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DigitalRaven posted:Worth noting that Fury does all of the things on his list. He calls it "Wednesday."
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Dec 10, 2014 22:40
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I'm willing to bit Norman doesn't even have a list that doesn't end with "Kill Spider-Man."
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Dec 10, 2014 22:42
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Professor Wayne posted:I'm willing to bit Norman doesn't even have a list that doesn't end with "Kill Spider-Man." I am now imagining his grocery list - milk eggs bread kill spider-man.
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Dec 10, 2014 22:43
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New Leaf posted:If he was really that quick, every other hero on the planet would be useless. He could simultaneously prevent every accidental death at once. He could end world hunger, he could wreck every terror cell on the planet. He could gather and disarm every IED in the desert. There would be no more conflict. I just... I would quite like to see this. I think it would be neat. A story where Flash is at the very top of the hierarchy of all Earth superheroes instead of Superman. I think there could be some good stories in that concept 
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Dec 10, 2014 23:11
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bobkatt013 posted:I am now imagining his grocery list - milk eggs bread kill spider-man. God damnit they're out of kill spider-man again.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:17
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Phy posted:God damnit they're out of kill spider-man again. Have to go to the out-of-town place, see if they've got some in stock.
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Dec 10, 2014 23:25
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Phy posted:God damnit they're out of kill spider-man again. And he had a coupon that expires tomorrow, too 
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Dec 10, 2014 23:25
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Isn't there another bit in Dark Avengers where Norman is telling them they have to act like real heroes and Daken goes "Oh, you mean like Spider-Man?"
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Dec 10, 2014 23:34
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Dolash posted:Yeah, that posturing at the end where someone's like "were we so especially terrible?" and the specter says "oh hey good point maybe I should destroy the world" is an especially eye-rolling sign-off. It's not exactly bad-rear end to say shades of grey are hard so kill everyone, from the soldiers down to the children and newborns in their mothers' arms. And if Heaven then acquits him that just sounds like some kind of embarrassing, adolescent pseudo-philosophy. I felt the badassery was not in the earlier genocide, or even in the threat of further genocide, but rather in the Spectre figuring out a way to transcend his boundaries and thereby actively save someone's life, rather than punishing someone reactively. What's interesting with the Spectre is not when he wreaks horrible vengeance on murderers, but when stuff happens that he didn't expect. Like the 95-year-old woman who committed a single murder when she was 20. The body was never discovered, she was never even suspected, let alone arrested or prosecuted or convicted. And then she spent the next 75 years trying to atone. Does she get mindbogglingly torn to bits, even though she's on her deathbed already? Or, for that matter, the woman who shoots her 95-year-old great-grandmother so as to spare the old woman from the Spectre's mindbogglingly brutal vengeance? Was that murder, or mercy? Or the time that the Spectre found a group of gay-bashers who had just beaten a man to death... and the bashers said "yes sir, Mr Spectre, we absolutely DID kill that man just now! Thank you for noticing! He was a homosexual, and homosexuality is a sin, and we're following your example by killing sinners! We want to be instruments of God's vengeance, just like you!" (long pause) Spectre says "YOU WILL SURRENDER YOURSELVES TO THE POLICE FOR THIS MURDER. IF YOU DO NOT, I WILL KNOW." (That's not badass, but it is an interesting narrative development.)
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Dec 11, 2014 00:27
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Django/Zorro #1    
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Dec 11, 2014 00:46
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smashpro1 posted:Django/Zorro #1 Well there're two words I didn't expect to see today
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Dec 11, 2014 05:00
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Opopanax posted:Well there're two words I didn't expect to see today And yet they sound so perfect together.
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Dec 11, 2014 07:45
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Professor Wayne posted:I'm willing to bit Norman doesn't even have a list that doesn't end with "Kill Spider-Man." I'm a little surprised that "Kill Spider-man" isn't on there more than once. It should really be Kill Spider-man Take over S.H.I.E.L.D. Neutralize Clint (Barton?) Kill Spider-man again, just to be sure Kill Frank Castle Neutralize Bruce Banner ... KILL SPIDER-MAN!!!
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Dec 11, 2014 17:22
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The last exclamation point and the underline are punched/torn right through the paper
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Dec 11, 2014 18:00
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I want the next Spectre to be a Redditor, so that the scene goes like this:Parahexavoctal posted:Or the time that the Spectre found a group of gay-bashers who had just beaten a man to death... and the bashers said "yes sir, Mr Spectre, we absolutely DID kill that man just now! Thank you for noticing! He was a homosexual, and homosexuality is a sin, and we're following your example by killing sinners! We want to be instruments of God's vengeance, just like you!" (Spectre pulls back cowl, dons spectral fedora) "Well ACTUALLY, homosexuality as a sin is an invention of..."
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Dec 11, 2014 18:27
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FilthyImp posted:I want the next Spectre to be a Redditor, so that the scene goes like this: "Spectre! Is this about justice, or is this about simple vengeance" "Well, ACTUALLY its about ethics in videogame journalism..."
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Dec 11, 2014 19:37
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#not all spirits of vengeance
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Dec 11, 2014 20:38
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Opopanax posted:Well there're two words I didn't expect to see today Django gets his own cool moment in the opening of the issue, too. He basically pulls a fake hitch-hiker routine on Diego because he knows his current marks will see the rich Spaniard as an easy target.
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Dec 12, 2014 00:11
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DC's March cover variants. http://io9.com/dcs-march-variant-covers-are-movie-themed-and-they-loo-1670728033
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Dec 13, 2014 22:40
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Ugh. The Wonder Woman one is awful, AND an uninspired choice.
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Dec 14, 2014 04:22
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Chinaman7000 posted:But I don't think anything to do with the stories mentioned are badass or cool or even interesting. The antagonists are all strawmen and the Spectre gets away with broad stroke simple solutions that work not because they make sense but because the character threatens and is capable of genocide to get his way. edit: didn't notice there was a new page. Django/Zorro #1 was a fun issue, specially Diego's reaction to paper money. Vincent fucked around with this message at 04:30 on Dec 14, 2014 |
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Dec 14, 2014 04:23
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10 Beers posted:DC's March cover variants. Don't they dine in Themyscira all the time though
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Dec 14, 2014 04:34
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AnonSpore posted:Don't they dine in Themyscira all the time though She never said it was out of the ordinary.
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Dec 14, 2014 05:40
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AnonSpore posted:Don't they dine in Themyscira all the time though Seems like a diss considering it's replacing Hell. Gaz-L posted:Ugh. The Wonder Woman one is awful, AND an uninspired choice. Agree completely, but it does represent just how bad that book has become now that it's the Finch poo poo show.
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Dec 14, 2014 06:13
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10 Beers posted:DC's March cover variants. The last three make up for it. Hell, the Bill and Ted one alone makes up for it.
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Dec 14, 2014 07:55
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Cabbit posted:The last three make up for it. Hell, the Bill and Ted one alone makes up for it. The Bill and Ted cover may be the greatest variant cover I've seen all year.
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Dec 14, 2014 10:25
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I like how Batman is still wearing the cowl on the justice league cover.
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Dec 14, 2014 16:20
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I now know what's bothering me the most about Superman's New52 design: that mop of hair that belongs on a teen pop star.
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Dec 14, 2014 16:25
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David D. Davidson posted:I like how Batman is still wearing the cowl on the justice league cover. Well, it's part of the mask.
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Dec 14, 2014 23:35
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goldenoreos posted:The Bill and Ted cover may be the greatest variant cover I've seen all year. You seem to be forgetting Barbara Gordon Purple Rain.
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Dec 15, 2014 20:27
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Cadavers4Algernon posted:You seem to be forgetting Barbara Gordon Purple Rain. I like that one a lot. And the Bill-and-Ted one is also great. But Catwoman-as-Bullitt is so cool.  (You probably have to be older to get it, but Steve McQueen was the coolest guy in the world at one point.  )
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Dec 15, 2014 20:48
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prefect posted:(You probably have to be older to get it, but Steve McQueen was the coolest guy in the world at one point. Its not like he would ride a motorcycle after attempting to escape from Nazis!
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Dec 15, 2014 21:12
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CzarChasm posted:I'm a little surprised that "Kill Spider-man" isn't on there more than once. Prank calls to Otto. You may think he's dead Norman, but we've been there haven't we? Kill Spider-man. To make sure. Clone Spider-man. Kill Spider-man
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Dec 15, 2014 22:47
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