The Big Picture: The New Green

[octafish]

I would actually like to hear Bob's opinion on why the New 52 is "underwhelming" I've only been reading the Green and Red lantern single issues lately, everything I've found out about the New 52 just makes me want to not touch any of the rest (well the main ones anyways, like JLA and JSA and all the main super heroes we know) I mean I guess I'd touch the lesser known ones like Frankenstein Agent of SHADE AND JLA Dark JUST because of John Constantine (although is the John in JLA Dark the Hellblazer John or the original DC 1980s John?)


I hope someone reads this and gives me an answer. Also if anyone could recommend some of the New 52 that'd be great because like I've said, I've only been reading Green Lantern stuff and Red Lantern also I heard The Flash had a hand in merging, WildStorm, Vertigo, and the DC universes together, in what comic book arc did that happen? I really need to catch up, still haven't read Flashpoint.

EDIT: Also for on topic, I'm glad it's NOT the Allen Scott I know and love who's gay (not that there's anything wrong with it but I love the kick ass old man version)

I'll have a go...The New 52 sucks because they fucked up Suicide Squad. Does there need to be another reason?

It is one thing to remove the most iconic mustache in comics (that is bad enough on its own) but making The Wall just another comic book fembot is just downright insulting. I mean if you want to talk diversity why did DC change one of their strongest characters, a menopausal, African-American single mother who is also the most ruthless tactician and patriot, into just another skinny chick? Sure gay men get a voice but what about larger women? I call bullshit DC...Bullshit! Now hang you heads in shame, make Amanda Waller LARGE, and give Deadshot his mo back.

At least I still have the eighties.

EDIT:...and I didn't even start on what they did to Babs.

 

[lastjustice]

I haven't kept up with recent events of the reboot enitely. So is Earth two just a side story like the Ultimate Universe for Marvel, or is this the current main earth all stuff happens on? I was under the impression it was the main universe after the reboot. Which if that's the case, I don't have a problem with Alan Scott being gay, I have a problem with them bulldozing Jade and Obsidian out of existence with this nonsense and deaging him. It's basically Brand New Daying Alan scott's entire history out of continuity. That sucks if that's the case.

I'd rather they made existing character Gay (which could explained alot of the tension between him and his so.)than reboot his whole history away. I don't have a problem with Alan Scott being gay,(Or gay chaarcters in general as NorthStar has been Gay for as long as I could remember.) I have a problem with bulldozing continuity simply for the sake of change. If this just a side story to main universe, then whatever, as I didn't care that Ultimate collusus was gay. I mean they made Wasp Asian, Nick Fury black,Captain America is an A hole and the replacement for Peter Parker in the Ultimate universe Hispanic/Black mixed. They tweak the heck out of alternate versions of characters. (like there's whole evil versions of characters on earth 3.) I think it carry more weight then if it happened in the main continuity.

So yeah, no problem with them changing characters, I have a problem with it being done sloppy and drilling away characters history to do it.

 

[Darth_Payn]

In regards to the "why don't they come up with new heroes who are representative of this group or that group" it's probably a two-fold reason. 1. It's quite hard to come up with a brand new character in this day and age when pretty much every superpower you can think of has been used and 2. That new character would likely get a slating because of the people who'd see the new character as only being there just to fit that demographic gap.

Isn't that kind of what they did with Batwoman/Kate Kane and the Question/Renee Montoya? But they're great characters, so we let any pandering slide.

And on Power Girl: Have you guys been reading the relaunched World's Finest? It stars Earth-2's Supergirl and Robin, aka Power Girl and The Huntress. What's the big change to PG? The boob window is closed, gentlemen.

 

[Safaia]

How would the fallout to Wonder Woman coming out as at least bi look I wonder.

 

[longboardfan]

Who's alan scott and why does anyone care? Something about an alternate version of the original 1940's green lantern is gay in DC's temporary reboot that doesn't actually reboot DC or its main continuity. So basically nothing important happened. Am I missing anything?

Are people really freaking out over this? Are there really people going "omg teh gays are coming!"? Am I going to be allowed to care less than nothing, because my ability to care about forced gender/race/sexuality role changes is non-existent. Mostly because comics are boring.

 

[Gatx]

Wasn't he actually dealing with his son coming out before the new reboot?

I think it's cause the son doesn't exist in the new 52, so they decided to fold over that quality into him.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

Wasn't he actually dealing with his son coming out before the new reboot?

I think it's cause the son doesn't exist in the new 52, so they decided to fold over that quality into him.

Congratulations, you are the first person besides me to NOT claim this is being done to compete with Northstar's marriage. Since James Robinson also wrote Starman (Mikaal version) it's really not too much of a stretch that this really was just positive re-inforcement. But the internet will be cynics. Especially people who don't even sodding read the comics any more >_>

Hasn't Moonknight been 'out' for like a decade?

I don't see what the big deal is anymore.

Somebody better tell Marlene. And Echo. And... actually, just read a Moon Knight comic, odds are 1/3 he sleeps with a woman in it.

Also backing up the new 52, Animal-man and Swamp Thing to ALL of the naysaying. And when he finally gets his own book Captain Marvel/Shazam! looks good imo.

Maybe some Teen Titans, not for the 90's tastic character designs but for Bunker a surprisingly well adjusted Gay teenager with a 3 dimensional personality who... nobody has even heard of because he was an original character. Hmmm.

 

[Brad Shepard]

>dissing PG
>using the word "cisgender"


Why haven't I dropped this show yet?

Because its fun to hate on Moviebob?

 

[TwiZtah]

I don't care about anything except to see One Million Moms flipping their shit, it's hilarious.

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

And suddenly I feel like a "not really fussed" rant. The most pointless of all rants...

Movie-bob mentioned that up until recently, it's been all white male oriented stuff. And in the last couple of decades the media has been trying really hard to undo that. And movie-bob isn't fussed about them doing so.

...I care even less...

I don't care what gender (mental or physical) the character is; its still more or less the same character. And save for a few situations, none of which apply to me except in ungodly rare circumstances; it seems purely cosmetic. (Why those circumstances are rare are bellow.)

I don't care what sexuality the character is; its a minor detail that I rarely notice until the question of romance comes up. And I don't bring it up often. And when I start thinking about the possibility; I begin to predict- or joke to myself, I can't tell- that any girl I get attracted to is going to have a higher chance of being lesbian than others; not good for me unless I can shape-shift, a dream as elusive as any other I have; possibly taken, which is what happened the last few times; or has no interest in people like me. But you know what happens most often? The girls I would be interested in don't seem to show up anywhere near me, they just seem to not exist at all... and so I gave up... And that, my fellows, is why sexuality doesn't matter to me: I never get close enough to a girl I might be attracted to for the possibility to even matter.

I don't care about race... Unless its a fantasy race like cat-folk, in which case that's just a mild turn on; but otherwise I'm not fussed as its a situation I'm not likely to get into in real life, and if I did I'd probably still give up on hopes of that because I've given up on those kinds of relationships (see above), and thus I'd end up no more fussed than with them than anyone else.

In short, I don't care; Because, ultimately, I feel like I will NEVER, EVER, end up in a situation where any of it even matters. And the only situation I feel it would matter, is the one thing that I KNOW, I will never get any kind of chance at. Cause i have seen not a single person in real life; male or female, or whatever, that has the kind of personality I am attracted to. It just! Doesn't! Happen! ANYWHERE! NEAR ME!

...I'm so alone...

 

[Dangerious P. Cats]

As the possibly somewhat token Superhero fan who's entire experience of these characters (other than Batman) comes from either comes from the cartoons and movies (mostly the cartoons which is why I'm more familia with DC heroes) it really doesn't seem any less significant that this is a reboot of the original Green Lantern as opposed to Hal Jordan. I was introduced to Green Lantern through the Justice League cartoon and think of John Stewart as the "real" Green Lantern. Obviously Hal Jordan has appeared in Cartoons and so I'm familia with him through that, and the other Green Lanterns because of reading wikipedia after Bob's Going green series (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/3390-Going-Green-Part-I). By and large though, I think of green Lantern as a super hero, not in terms of his secrete identity, which frankly only matters to the people who read comics. Most of the general public have heard of green Lantern, enough to justify a movie attempt, but don't know who his secrete identity is, and when they hear that Green Lantern is now gay they won't know to care which Green Lantern it is. I suspect the purpose of all of this was to send a message to the public at large about where comic books are in terms of diversity rather than speaking to comic fans. Comics have a bit of a PR problem in terms of diversity and this sort of thing will help to counter that (especially since they chose to have gay men).

 

[idodo35]

actually they changed powergirls costume to be a litlle more... um practical...
new v----------------------------------------------------------------old v

improvment?

 

[Thespian]

I agree with a lot of this.
Some points:
1 - Oh no! Things are becoming TOO DIVERSE! God help us all! <--People need to stop sounding like this. Some forced diversity beats an eternally whitewashed sausagefest. Well said Bob.
2 - I actually really like what they are doing with Earth 2. I'm actually preferring the idea of this new Justice League with Jay Garrick, Alan Scott and Hawk Girl than the current one in the real Earth. I also like how they are making the JSA characters young so we get to hear their stories again. I hope Sandman and stuff are in it.
3 - I think it's better remaking already popular characters as gay/racially diverse rather than introducing new ones. A lot of new characters these days just sink into the depths of diversity, and it's hard to get one well known. Plus it'd be cool to have a representative of homosexuality in the big leagues, you know? It means that story potential would be tapped into more often.

Ghah! Established canon? That's no way to appeal to the youth! Make everything new and 'hip' and make Power Girl's boobs bigger while you're at it. Hell, MAKE ALL THEIR BOOBS BIGGER!

Except they made them smaller and less provocative. Huh.

 

[jmarquiso]

My thought was pretty much "Good for them, now why are they being so righteous about it?" Why not make it happen and not make a big deal about it? Because if they didn't they wouldn't get press out of it. Its not like people are going to go out and buy it because he is gay. Make a genuinely good character and it doesn't matter if they're black, white, gay, straight, man, woman, alien. A good character is a good character.
Also, WHY THE F*CK ARE YOU BRINGING BACK THE EARTH 2 BULL SHITE???
*adjusts tie*
It just seems foolish.

The main reason? Marvel just had the first comics gay marriage, using a minor character. That's really it in a nutshell.

The two companies are courting controversy for dollars, and for once, it seems to be to lead things in a good direction.

As for bringing back Earth 2, it's their prerogative, and it's a way to not get rid of characters that people a) love, and b) can potentially lose the copyright on.

 

[jmarquiso]

I haven't kept up with recent events of the reboot enitely. So is Earth two just a side story like the Ultimate Universe for Marvel, or is this the current main earth all stuff happens on? I was under the impression it was the main universe after the reboot. Which if that's the case, I don't have a problem with Alan Scott being gay, I have a problem with them bulldozing Jade and Obsidian out of existence with this nonsense and deaging him. It's basically Brand New Daying Alan scott's entire history out of continuity. That sucks if that's the case..

Sort of. Earth 2 is a reboot of the previous version of Earth 2 which allowed for the aging 1940's character's to exist today. The New 52 reboots that a la the Ultimate verse, with the exception that the two Earths regularly cross over and that makes the characters - at the very least - recurring.

 

[Charisma]

Bob I love you and I will continue to quietly watch every video you make, and I know I'm one chirping voice among millions, but I have to say that every time I hear "X.... IS.... WEIRRRRRD" I cringe and/or roll my eyes. Others may like it but for me, it has become by far the worst part about your videos. It's to the point where if your videos represent a lifetime of whaling, the phrase is the white whale upon which I pile all of the hate and rage of my entire species etc etc.

Please, above all else create the content you'll feel best about, but if you're interested in fan feedback this is mine.

 

[Morbira]

If I may interject on something a little non-sequitur... Am I the only one who really hates the term "LGBT"? I mean if you spell it out it sounds atrocious and cumbersome ("algae-beaty"), and if you try to physically pronounce it you sound like a drooling invalid. Just a pet peeve...

And thus the term QUILTBAG was invented, by someone other than me:

Queer/Questioning, Undecided, Intersex, Lesbian, Trans, Bisexual, Asexual, Gay.

Pros: Humorous, Humorously Quicker to Say than LGBT (humorous, as it contains more components), All-Encompassing(ish), Everyone Knows How to Pronounce It.

Cons: Not Yet Universally Accepted, Sounds F**king Silly.

I'll leave the decision of which acronym to use to you.

Half the syllables... rolls off the tongue... fun to say...
You, sir, are a genius. If I may shake your hand.

 

[Britisheagle]

Some very interesting points raised, and I'm glad that people who enjoy comics, and not just Bob, are willing to accept that a character is gay and are actually defending the move if not saying it should have been more of the more promonent characters.

Social acception will grow the more it is established as "normal" in that people are still people regardless of gender, sexuality, race etc.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

actually they changed powergirls costume to be a litlle more... um practical...
new v----------------------------------------------------------------old v

improvment?

They just moved the window to somewhere the viewer can't see it. Now she has ass cleavage hidden beneath the cape.