Ian Sattler blows it
Now, let's focus a little on DC's side of the Emerald City Comicon too. Editor Ian Sattler slipped by uttering a now cliched line in defense of the awful Cry for Justice:
And I don't think Robinson was making it any better by joking about killing Speedy (Mia). The joke's long worn thin, and has become insulting by now.
And on the subject of Green Arrow, I can't say I'm surprised how things are turning out, with Ollie now hunted by the League for murdering a monster who'd slaughtered his town. This is another leading problem with Cry for Justice that bothers me, especially in at least one review I'd read of it: as distasteful as Lian's and Star City residents' deaths are, why is it being implied that Ollie's a murderer? That's not the problem and it's stupid to cite it as though it were, given that Ollie already killed enough criminals during Mike Grell's run on GA during 1987-93. What is the problem is how this is the umpteenth example of DC mandating contrived stories with mass deaths in a very short time from one to another. So to brand Ollie a murderer only makes it even more defeatist and trivializes the seriousness of Prometheus's crime, and even the deaths of the victims themselves. It also makes the League look utterly brainless. But that's DC for you, which is clearly more interested in character destruction these days than development.
I won't be surprised if this spells trouble for more of DC's upcoming publications like the relaunch of Birds of Prey. Whether it mentions Cry for Justice when it premieres, it'll be very hard to ignore that Black Canary and Green Arrow's likely breakup was done over such contrived, tasteless circumstances. It may have been a bad idea to take Dinah out of the book's previous volume 3 years ago, but after Cry for Justice and the subsequent bad characterization, it'll be very hard to overlook that either.
Sattler said he disagreed with the assessment that the character was “fridged” (i.e. that her death was pointless). Robinson (the writer of the story) quickly added, “The decision has been controversial and one that I know has been greeted with displeasure by some. I'm sorry if it upset people. In all honesty, they wanted to kill Speedy too, and I said no, so give me some credit for that."So not only does Sattler fall onto that wobbly comment of how they're glad they upset people, which is actually rather alienating, he clearly subscribes to the "no such thing as bad publicity" school of thought.
It appeared that Robinson was joking about wanting to kill Speedy, although some in the crowd were unsure. Sattler jumped in and said, “I’m proud of the story and stand by it. I'm happy it upset people because it means that the story had some weight and emotion.”
Robinson and Sattler also added that this story needed to be told to get Green Arrow to a specific place story-wise, as the character is going to have a “big” year.
And I don't think Robinson was making it any better by joking about killing Speedy (Mia). The joke's long worn thin, and has become insulting by now.
And on the subject of Green Arrow, I can't say I'm surprised how things are turning out, with Ollie now hunted by the League for murdering a monster who'd slaughtered his town. This is another leading problem with Cry for Justice that bothers me, especially in at least one review I'd read of it: as distasteful as Lian's and Star City residents' deaths are, why is it being implied that Ollie's a murderer? That's not the problem and it's stupid to cite it as though it were, given that Ollie already killed enough criminals during Mike Grell's run on GA during 1987-93. What is the problem is how this is the umpteenth example of DC mandating contrived stories with mass deaths in a very short time from one to another. So to brand Ollie a murderer only makes it even more defeatist and trivializes the seriousness of Prometheus's crime, and even the deaths of the victims themselves. It also makes the League look utterly brainless. But that's DC for you, which is clearly more interested in character destruction these days than development.
I won't be surprised if this spells trouble for more of DC's upcoming publications like the relaunch of Birds of Prey. Whether it mentions Cry for Justice when it premieres, it'll be very hard to ignore that Black Canary and Green Arrow's likely breakup was done over such contrived, tasteless circumstances. It may have been a bad idea to take Dinah out of the book's previous volume 3 years ago, but after Cry for Justice and the subsequent bad characterization, it'll be very hard to overlook that either.
Labels: bad editors, conventions, dc comics, dreadful writers, golden calf of death, Justice League of America, misogyny and racism, violence
Sattler needs to fuck off!
Posted by
Kory Stephens |
1:07 PM