The Great 90s Comics 'Event'-Splosion

[RossaLincoln]

The Great 90s Comics 'Event'-Splosion

Batman versus a Lucha Libre madman and Superman killed? It was a crazy time.

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[Kenjitsuka]

Recently read through all of Knightfall, and LOVED it!
Plus, it's got the Bane you know and love from the Animated series

 

[Falterfire]

Recently read through all of Knightfall, and LOVED it!
Plus, it's got the Bane you know and love from the Animated series

What, all of it? Even the frequently bizarre tie-ins? Some of Knightfall is some of the most 90's stuff ever to appear in comics. You even liked Ballistic?

I liked the general arc and themes of Knightfall, but there were a lot of the individual pieces that really felt like they could have been handled a lot better.

 

[Eleuthera]

The Great 90s Comics 'Event'-Splosion

Batman versus a Lucha Libre madman and Superman killed? It was a crazy time.

Read Full Article

Like the last Doomsday article, you're using Equus again. This time in the main page image.[sub]Easy way to keep them apart, Doomsday has no cybernetics[/sub]

EDIT: I've actually read the article now. I was 14 when Superman was killed and coming home from a holiday with my parents. At the train-station I saw the Dutch version of Superman 75. I read it on the way home. I've never been that impacted by any piece of fiction before or since. I had shivers for at least 15 minutes.
The Monologue at the end (last few pages) I still know by heart.

It might have been a gimmicky story but for 14 y.o. me it was fantastic and horrible at the same time.

 

[4173]

Bane is a fantastic character, and this explains why far more eloquently than I can.

 

[tdylan]

It might have been a gimmicky story but for 14 y.o. me it was fantastic and horrible at the same time.

I remember being oblivious to the line between Marvel and DC, and wondering "why the X-Men didn't intervene to help Superman?" A remember it was a monday morning, fresh back to school and on the playground. A friend was telling me about Superman being killed, and when I asked why didn't the X-Men help, he said that they tried, but Doomsday was killing X-men left and right with single punches (6th grade minds misremembering, gotta love it). he also said that it was on tv and he watched it. Of course, this was way back in the day, when only a few had satellite tv. Where I lived, we had one local channel, and didn't get "American tv" unless you had an expensive satellite dish. I mean the big ass satellite dish that would turn in order to acquire a signal. Not this tiny roof mounted stuff of today.

Not knowing that superman had heat vision I, in desperation, asked "but Cyclops could attack him from afar with his optic blasts, right?" The friend replied "It had little to know affect on him. That's how bad ("bad" meaning awesome, of course) he is."

I was stunned.

And about the comic bubble busting: does this mean that those transformers action figures that i bought and still have in the box from the first Michael Bay movie won't be worth "40 year old virgin money" in 20 years?

 

[Nurb]

Aren't comics still doing the "grimdarkness" thing, just in a different way?

 

[FoolKiller]

Bane is a fantastic character, and this explains why far more eloquently than I can.

I agree. I liked how he used a strategy and brains to defeat Batman. It was unique for its time.

 

[Kameburger]

You know the one thing I would say is that even if the new man of steal movie rubbed you the wrong way, the doomsday story would probably fit perfectly within that particular in-visioning of the character and with that in mind how F-ing cool would it be to see, Superman and Dooms day slug it out for a 90 minutes, just destroying all of earth as collateral damage. Fine gloomy superman bad blah blah blah, but give me a blue guy in a cape punching a grey guy with bones sticking out of his face and I'll be quite happy.

 

[shrekfan246]

Recently read through all of Knightfall, and LOVED it!
Plus, it's got the Bane you know and love from the Animated series

What, all of it? Even the frequently bizarre tie-ins? Some of Knightfall is some of the most 90's stuff ever to appear in comics. You even liked Ballistic?

I liked the general arc and themes of Knightfall, but there were a lot of the individual pieces that really felt like they could have been handled a lot better.

I've been reading through it (all bizarre tie-ins included) for the first time myself these past few weeks, and the only things I don't really care for at the moment are the stories involving the alien parasite guys that look like not-Xenomorphs. I am only about a third of the way through the entire thing, though.

Seriously though, Bane was bloody awesome in that. Little sad that he hasn't been a big threat since then, and I was actually discussing the other week how, excluding comics, The Dark Knight Rises Bane is probably my favorite portrayal of him because, in my eyes and despite the twist, he's menacing. The Animated Series is the only other one that really approaches the same level, and they criminally underuse him in my opinion since he only appears in a single episode (two if you count the Scarecrow episode of New Batman & Robin Adventures).

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Bane is a fantastic character, and this explains why far more eloquently than I can.

Great read! Bane has certainly undergone better character growth than his fellow hero-killer Doomsday following his debut arc, eventually recognizing that his venom habit was destroying him and trying to wean himself off it, though he occasionally backslides. Another sign of his 'dark mirror' qualities- for a time, he was allowed to marry Talia and head the League of Assassins as the heir of Ra's al Ghul. He even plays the same role in the Secret Six now that Batman played in the Justice League- the 'comically serious' one.

 

[Anachronism]

Some of Knightfall is some of the most 90's stuff ever to appear in comics.

Azrael himself is basically pure, concentrated '90s. LOOK AT HIM.

Spoiler: AzBats

To me, that's basically the '90s in one image. That said, I do think DC made him look that ridiculous on purpose. They were targeting the zeitgeist and making fun of the trend for grimdark antiheroes, and made him in response to people wondering what Batman would be like if he were darker. It's basically them going, "Ok, this is what you want? Have it. Enjoy." In that regard, AzBats is kind of brilliant. He's a character made of pure sarcasm who existed only to troll the readers.

 

[Winnosh]

Argh why do people only talk about the Death part of the storyline. The Death of Superman is the least importaint part of that story.

Both Death of Superman as well as Knightfall are for the most part telling the same story.

Both stories were done at times where everything was going dark and gritty. A time in which people were beginning to clamor for the Iconic heroes to follow suit. Well here's what happened, DC put out a pair of stories using their flagship characters and did just that, with a twist.

Death of Superman shows just how far and what he's willing to do to uphold his ideals and protect people and has him die.
Then we get the Funeral for a Friend

Funeral for a Friend was the reaction. How does the world deal when Superman, someone even the villains care about dies, who picks up the slack

Return of Superman shows why he was needed how those quick and easy vigilanties that were used to replace him just aren't the same. Why we need good old fashioned heroes still in the modern age.


Knightfall is the same thing with Batman

Both stores were great at delving into what made the characters great.

 

[Falterfire]

To me, that's basically the '90s in one image. That said, I do think DC made him look that ridiculous on purpose. They were targeting the zeitgeist and making fun of the trend for grimdark antiheroes, and made him in response to people wondering what Batman would be like if he were darker. It's basically them going, "Ok, this is what you want? Have it. Enjoy." In that regard, AzBats is kind of brilliant. He's a character made of pure sarcasm who existed only to troll the readers.

Exactly! Whoever made Azrael was intentionally being pure 90s and his UltraGrimDarkness was written as part of the story. Ballistic, on the other hand?

Spoiler: Ballistic

I think they were being dead serious.

 

[Winnosh]

It might have been a gimmicky story but for 14 y.o. me it was fantastic and horrible at the same time.

I remember being oblivious to the line between Marvel and DC, and wondering "why the X-Men didn't intervene to help Superman?" A remember it was a monday morning, fresh back to school and on the playground. A friend was telling me about Superman being killed, and when I asked why didn't the X-Men help, he said that they tried, but Doomsday was killing X-men left and right with single punches (6th grade minds misremembering, gotta love it). he also said that it was on tv and he watched it. Of course, this was way back in the day, when only a few had satellite tv. Where I lived, we had one local channel, and didn't get "American tv" unless you had an expensive satellite dish. I mean the big ass satellite dish that would turn in order to acquire a signal. Not this tiny roof mounted stuff of today.

Not knowing that superman had heat vision I, in desperation, asked "but Cyclops could attack him from afar with his optic blasts, right?" The friend replied "It had little to know affect on him. That's how bad ("bad" meaning awesome, of course) he is."

I was stunned.

And about the comic bubble busting: does this mean that those transformers action figures that i bought and still have in the box from the first Michael Bay movie won't be worth "40 year old virgin money" in 20 years?

If you're trying to make money off of Transformers toys, don't buy the movie ones, those are the crap cheapo ones that no one wants. You buy Generations and Universe figures. They're sold at the same price but go up in value far faster because they are just flat out better figures.

It's funny. The Toys based off of the comics are Far better than the ones based off the movies, The ones based off the shows are sorta in the middle.


Actually No it's not funny, Transformers toys have always owed more to the comics than anything else and have always done better there.

 

[tdylan]

how F-ing cool would it be to see, Superman and Dooms day slug it out for a 90 minutes, just destroying all of earth as collateral damage.

That's exactly what we got with him vs Zod. Personally, that fight was boring as hell. There were no personal stakes in it. I don't know how to describe it, but for all their building leveling, there was never a sign that either of them was in danger, taking any damage, or even fatiguing. It wasn't some epic clash between 2 titans. It was guys running around with sledge hammers breaking things. I hate drawing the "marvel does it better" comparison, but I rewatched the original spiderman, and the final fight between he and goblin was pretty good. We not only saw spiderman taking a beating, but we saw him being beaten, and the toll it was taking on him. We saw his costume being damaged, him being fatigued, and near the point of utter defeat. It wasn't until Goblin threatened Mary Jane that we saw Parker "dig deep," and personally, I was thinking "Aw yeah! Now his actions carry weight."

It's because we saw the ass whipping that he had taken before, that him suddenly getting a second wind was so exciting. Superman vs Zod was:
- I just knocked you through a building.
- Okay, now I'll knock you through a building.
- Well played. Now I'll drag you face first down a building.
- Excellent. Now I'll spin you around by your cape and slam you into the ground.
- Cool. Should we take this fight into outer space and destroy a satellite?
- Sounds like fun. Meet you there.

We finally ended up to the place the Superman v Zod ended, and if you looked at them, there is no way in hell you would think "man! those 2 just destroyed a city throwing each other through buildings." As far as you knew, their fight must have just been starting because they bought looked "fresh," not a hair out of place, or even a piece of debris on their costume. To me, that is not an exciting fight. And watching Superman do the same thing all over with Doomsday sounds terribly boring.

Also on the Marvel front, we saw Captain America getting worn down in the fight with the aliens. We saw Loki stab Thor, and then later when Thor assembled with the others, we saw him clutching at his side. We see Iron Man's armor taking damage, and him struggling when overwhelmed. In those cases you feel as though there is something at stake. There is tension. Never once in Man of Steel did I feel as though "Oh man! Zod is really doing a number on him. I wonder what he'll have to do in order to survive this." It was like a war of attrition, where each of them had infinite lives.

 

[happyninja42]

To be fair the death of superman was in itself a great and impactful event. I mean the idea of supes being up against a villain he couldn't simply out tank or out punch was absurd at the time and and when it came down to it Supes 'died' as he lived, giving his all to save others. WHat ruined it was the 'return of superman'.

Agreed, I remember reading this when it came out, and I actually teared up at the final page, with that eulogy in the corner over the image of Superman's broken body, cradled by Lois and the other heroes standing around stunned.

It was really moving to me, but I've got a soft spot for stories of heroic sacrifice, so it was specifically hitting some of my buttons.

If you disregard the idea of him coming back, and just view that book as "the end of Superman", it's actually pretty moving IMO.


Also, I actually really liked the Man of Steel spinoff title afterwords. With that guy who just made himself a steel suit and went out fighting crime. The part about it that I loved was in the comic where all of the "new Supermans" were on the talk show, and the host was like
"And why do you think you're Superman, Mr. Guy in a Steel Suit?"
"I don't think I'm Superman."
*host blinks, slightly confused* "Then what are you doing?"
"I'm continuing his work, defending people and fighting for justice and truth in the world. He's dead, yes, but his legacy lives on, so I will do what I can to continue his struggle to protect the people of this world"
*host is against slightly off balance by the very direct and simple declaration of purpose*

I just loved that bit xD