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Sunday, June 11, 2006 

So THAT'S why the Silver Age Atom's getting shafted!

It's kind of a surprise that a journalist as PC as Bill Radford of the Colorado Gazette would have a blog of his own, knowing how most MSM reporters like him would surely despise the blogosphere, because of its ability to compete with the newspapers, and to counter the propaganda espoused by knee-jerkers like him. In any case, the news I found here, first posted in April, does give a bit of understanding about why Dan DiDio, the one who said he only got "a greater sense of dread" decided to go and replace Ray Palmer with a new protagonist:
DC Comics this afternoon posted its solicitations for July. There are exciting new teams on “Batman” and “Detective Comics” and some new series, including “Omac,” “Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters” and “The All-New Atom.”

That last, as the title indicates, features someone other than Ray Palmer as the Atom. I asked DC executive editor Dan DiDio about the change a month or two ago. DC tried to replace Oliver Queen as Green Arrow and Hal Jordan as Green Lantern, and neither change stuck, so why replace Ray, the Atom many of us grew up with? His answer: “Ray Palmer as a character never really supported his own series for an extended period of time, and if any character seemed like we could make some changes and do something new, this seemed to be the character.”
Dan, I gotta congratulate for telling us all this. You've just summed up why I may not be able to buy the All-New, Multicultural, Because it's the only Politically Correct thing to do, Atom. I think I can tell what he's saying here too. Translation: "because the World's Smallest Superhero allegedly couldn't support his own title, so it makes very little difference who's using the size-and-weight control belt, we'll just throw out Ray Palmer into the wilderness like the little piece of trash he is and nobody'll notice because he's just too little to matter to anyone, whether they buy the new series or not."

Yeah, that's it, right? Ray Palmer is just an expendable character, just like, come to think of it, Al Pratt, the Golden Age Atom was when DC went and killed him off during Zero Hour, another crossover that looked like little more than an excuse to kill off various characters as well, and to villify at least one.

ZH was probably also a leading precedant for artistic disasters like Identity Crisis as well, as the editors also chose to ignore any argument against pointlessly doing in characters for shock's sake. As long as they're unwilling to discuss that part of it, it'll be difficult to clean up the mess they're constantly making.

And getting back to the All-New Atom, let's be clear here. I have nothing against making him a minority group member, knowing that he may be Asian-American (I do have to wonder though why not a European immigrant, which the new Dr. Mid-Nite actually is), but to do it at the expense of the Everyman star who began the role in the first place is ludicrous, and that's where it all descends into political correctness.

Now of course it's possible that DC does intend to give Ray Palmer a good, respectable ending, but, why should we have to wait for it for so long a time, when it could all have been done without resorting to crossover-related monstrosities, and with just a miniseries instead within the past two years? I'm sorry, but, DiDio's logic is faulty as usual, and it shows that he just doesn't get comics.

On the subject of who's writing the new series, that being Gail Simone, let me also be clear that, she's a very talented writer, and she's got much more rationale than most other writers today, but, considering that this seems to be done under a mandate imposed by DiDio, that's what could end up blocking me from buying this, even in trades. If I buy it, do I end up legitimizing DiDio's whole scam as a result? Maybe, maybe not. If he were more honest and willing to tell what's going on, which is certainly not illegal, then maybe he could have a better impact upon me and others in the audience, but so far, I'm not seeing that.

Oh, and as for his loyal suckup, Radford, what did he have to say about Brad Meltzer writing the Justice League relaunch?
I’m most jazzed in July about the return of “Justice League of America,” with Brad Meltzer writing. Meltzer basically tore apart the Justice League with his “Identity Crisis” miniseries. Now he gets the chance to build the JLA back up.
Firstly, when was it ever a good thing that Meltzer tore the League apart? Secondly, how do we know that he'll build them back up properly? Radford isn't making any discernment, and knowing what his standings on IC were, having studied the column he wrote in 2004 a week ago, and even earlier, the one he wrote a year afterwards, that's why his statement here falls flat on its face.

Topic linked with: 7 Deadly Sins, bRight & Early, Cao's Blog, Free Constitution, The Mudville Gazette, Stop the ACLU, Third World County, Wizbang.

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About me

  • I'm Avi Green
  • From Jerusalem, Israel
  • I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.
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