The Four Color Media Monitor

On ComixFan (the mainly X-Men related website), they interviewed Keith Giffen about the new Blue Beetle series he's writing. And since it also mentions 52, the weekly series to show what the heroes have been through within a year, I guess it's worth mentioning that...interesting. He says that Elongated Man will be in it too:

Comixfan: Could you list those core characters for us?

Keith Giffen: Rene Montoya, the Question, Ralph Dibny (Elongated Man), Black Adam, Steel... some of the characters who went out into outer space [in Infinite Crisis]: Adam Strange, Animal Man, Starfire... Booster Gold! I just want to get the phone call after the interview goes up, saying 'how come you forgot to mention...?'

Look at the cover for the first issue of 52... that's them, they're lined up there, you'll see them. [laughs]

Considering that the material from which this all began really isn't funny, that's why I'd like to say, slow down Giffen, and watch your step! That aside, I see that he mentions Ralph Dibny. And it raises some interesting questions: will Sue Dibny - and the readership - be getting an apology from the company? Because they certainly owe us one.

Now, as for Blue Beetle, what's this here...

Comixfan: You said you were going to the past of Blue Beetle. Are you talking about Ted Kord? Are you talking about Dan Garrett?...

Keith Giffen: All the way back-- Dan Garrett and Ted Kord. Blue Beetle has, whether we like it or not, just by circumstances, become a generational hero. You can't ignore Ted Kord, you can't ignore Dan Garrett. Some questions are going to be answered... here's one that no one seems to ask... well, maybe they do ask, but they don't ask me... Dan Garrett had the scarab, Ted Kord had the scarab. The scarab gave Dan Garrett superpowers, it did not give Ted Kord superpowers. Why? And we're going to answer that. We're going to go back, and we're going to find out a lot more about the scarab than we ever found out before, and it's going to fit. You're not going to have to take any Blue Beetle books and delete them from continuity, because it's all going to fit. We are really trying as hard as we can not give the character dirt. That White Event mentality.

And, alright, I think a lot of my getting Blue Beetle might have had to do with 'oh God, they're screaming about Ted Kord. Put Keith on the book, and it will calm the screams down a bit'. There was that whole bit there when I was supposedly pissed at DC, which could not be further from the truth. I like to think it was 99% what I bring to the book, and 1% political.

I don't know whether this is a new character or Ted Kord himself, but I've got a suggestion for Giffen and company at DC: perhaps you'd like to apologize to the audience for how you offed Ted by giving him a new lease on his life, as even Sue deserves?

That said, if he avoids political overtones, as the last part of the quoted text suggests, I think that'll be a good thing.

Labels: dc comics, misogyny and racism, violence