tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post8292691084979688200..comments2024-03-27T21:12:28.287-05:00Comments on Collected Editions: Review: Titans: Villains for Hire trade paperback (DC Comics)collectededitionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-78494546303254367442011-05-11T10:28:56.382-05:002011-05-11T10:28:56.382-05:00Next volume has that Osiris solo issue, I think. ...Next volume has that Osiris solo issue, I think. <br /><br />I keep waiting for DC to "get serious" about their Captain Marvel franchise. I don't know if the Marvels can support their own series, but I don't think anyone loves Billy Batson as the Wizard, Freddie as Shazam, and Mary Marvel off wherever. Time to return them to the status quo, I think, even if the next step is sending them off to limbo.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-2635224467943969612011-05-06T02:39:55.695-05:002011-05-06T02:39:55.695-05:00The entire reason I was interested to pick this up...The entire reason I was interested to pick this up was the continuation of the Dark Marvels' story. I'll follow it for at least another volume, I suppose. My curiousity is also piqued by the promise of Ray Palmer's investigation of Ryan's death. Justice!!!!!!Hixnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-12521479934680870672011-05-05T16:09:48.135-05:002011-05-05T16:09:48.135-05:00I don't discount the possibility that Wallace ...I don't discount the possibility that Wallace intends a conversion for the Titans characters -- am rather sure of it, actually -- but for me this book didn't make me want to follow them up to that point, vs. Secret Six.<br /><br />It is amazing, on one hand, that there is a Shazam-focused book currently ongoing in the DC Universe (a good thing), and on the other hand, this is it (not such a good thing).<br /><br />Probably I'll follow Outsiders through to its cancellation. When it's bad -- the introduction of Freight Train -- it's bad, but when it's good -- the tension between Owlman, Katana, and Geo-Force, for instance -- it's good. Knowing it's ending, I can stand one more volume.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-51122851665298813632011-05-05T16:03:48.260-05:002011-05-05T16:03:48.260-05:00I was really disappointed with this book when I ha...I was really disappointed with this book when I had thought maybe it would be worth reading. I'm a fan of Deathstroke, the scheming super assassin with grey morality. Putting him in charge of a team would make for some great spy thriller commando fun. Instead the end their one shot off with Killing one of my other favourite characters. And Ryan Choi was just told by Ray Palmer in Cry for Justice that there wouldn't be an issue of them both co-existing. I digress though...<br /><br />I thought the book was going to be about characters we wouldn't like evolving INTO characters we would. Arsenal is at his lowest, Tattoo man is finding his place and starting off on an awkward foot, Osiris is misguided and naive, and Deathstroke... strokes death? But instead the book feels like you said: Flat, which I felt was a good way of describing it. Nothing really gets done and I really don't care about who they fight besides the Atom.<br /><br />Maybe the book will show more evolution of the characters later, but this trade felt very blah.Liang Xiuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14356479769962765014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-19906201278126185062011-05-05T15:53:46.522-05:002011-05-05T15:53:46.522-05:00I was looking forward to this one the same way as ...I was looking forward to this one the same way as I was to SUICIDE SQUAD, but I don't think that's going to be the case. I have yet to meet one person who tells me this is good. Same for DiDio & Tan's Outsiders, which finally did have something to like, the original Outsiders getting back together.Aalok Madhusudan Joshihttp://aalokmjoshi.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-73322144224223911322011-05-05T15:44:34.221-05:002011-05-05T15:44:34.221-05:00I was thrilled at Deathstroke's resurgence in ...I was thrilled at Deathstroke's resurgence in Identity Crisis, but since then he's been over-used, often without nuance. I increasingly miss the days of the morally-gray Deathstroke comic -- especially when you compare the dynamic Deathstroke/Arsenal/Cheshire story from those days versus the same characters falling flat in Villains for Hire.<br /><br />I second that Wallace did a great job on Final Crisis Aftermath especially, and that's one reason I thought maybe Titans: Villains for Hire wouldn't have as many problems as I'd heard; maybe it was just misunderstood. Not the case, unfortunately.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-75064786578618083572011-05-05T14:56:38.118-05:002011-05-05T14:56:38.118-05:00I think I just hate Deathstroke. He reminds me of...I think I just hate Deathstroke. He reminds me of the worst excesses of Batman. He's a villain that isn't allowed to lose, even when going up against superior foes. And he never really answers for any of his dastardly deeds. I think what made Deathstroke originally pretty interesting was that he was a very human character who just ended up a villain because of some bad choices and a twisted sense of honor. He doesn't really have that anymore. People can criticize the 'Batgod', but at least at the end of the day Batman is an admirable figure and you can root for him when he overcomes all the odds. Deathstroke is just a thug, and I hate how they've built him up into this unstoppable force.<br /><br />I don't know if that's how they portray him in this book, because I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, but I can't imagine things being much different from how the character's been portrayed the last few years.Nathanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12156770999605798425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-36076264394884247632011-05-05T14:20:12.903-05:002011-05-05T14:20:12.903-05:00No doubt, and you're right, it's not the b...No doubt, and you're right, it's not the biggest issue here by any means. I was just pointing out what I (and Gail) considered a flaw, but not the biggest flaw. And if you've not found many reasons to follow this story, I certainly won't find any. And that's a shame, because Wallace did good work with the Tattooed Man following Final Crisis as well as Osiris during Blackest Night (remember that Osiris was one of the few Black Lanterns that resisted the urges of a black ring).Robert Youngnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-13874399293087691592011-05-05T14:07:06.833-05:002011-05-05T14:07:06.833-05:00Back when DiDio announced the Titans ongoing serie...Back when DiDio announced the Titans ongoing series would feature a team led by Deathstroke, I was pretty intrigued. I expected something interesting like the time Magneto led the New Mutants, or heroes and villains begrudgingly working together to achieve some common goal.<br /><br />What we got instead was a unpleasant, tone-deaf, one-dimensional villain-centric book, with the added offense of gratuitously killing a great character like Ryan Choi, ruining Arsenal even further and turning Osiris into a joke. DC can't cancel this soon enough.shagamuhttp://mbbforum.com/mbbnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-17070184265770327962011-05-05T12:11:18.937-05:002011-05-05T12:11:18.937-05:00Yeah, OK, there's gradations, I grant. I take...Yeah, OK, there's gradations, I grant. I take Simone's point, only I think there's bigger issues at stake than the physics of how a scientifically-enhanced assassin kills a man who shrinks with help of a special belt. But yes, gradations.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-26059631976798669242011-05-05T11:46:02.886-05:002011-05-05T11:46:02.886-05:00And by that same logic you can kill Galactus with ...And by that same logic you can kill Galactus with a coat hanger and some duct tape.Robert Youngnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-77637775116290986692011-05-05T11:39:19.865-05:002011-05-05T11:39:19.865-05:00I agree with you about Ryan Choi, Robert, though S...I agree with you about Ryan Choi, Robert, though Simone's argument doesn't quite work for me. "How do you kill a superhero who has complete control over his mass and density, with a sword?" Easy -- Deathstroke treated his blade with special mass-and-density killing formula, and we just didn't hear about it. That we're willing to posit a person can control his own mass and density, and shrink down to microscopic size, but not also that someone in this same world can kill them with a sword, seems like too much picking and choosing of the comics laws of physics for me. Any book could be torn to shreds <i>that</i> way.<br /><br />Still, quite too bad about Ryan Choi.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-44496578936838842372011-05-05T09:05:46.271-05:002011-05-05T09:05:46.271-05:00I couldn't justify buying anything to do with ...I couldn't justify buying anything to do with this after the one-shot. No less a figure than Gail Simone (who has written the Ryan Choi Atom) commented on this issue by posing the following question: How do you kill a superhero who has complete control over his mass and density, with a sword?Robert Youngnoreply@blogger.com