Smallville - Warrior
Aug. 21st, 2010 11:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
daibhidcWell, that was odd.
I spent most of it worrying about this comic book. So apparently, the Smallville-verse version of Action Comics #1 had a print run of one copy, which no-one has ever read. It's not explained why; yes now it's because it's a rare collectable in a sealed Mylar bag, but why did no-one read it when it was first published? And why was there only one copy? And if his first appearance was in a comic that nobody read, how did Warrior Angel become the major fictional superhero of this 'verse?
But then, we're also expected to believe that, once he became popular, Warrior Angel's origin was never retold, rewritten, or revised to fit in with "Cataclysm on Multiple Worlds". Apparently, the mere knowledge that an origin existed, and was in this single comic no-one had ever read, was enough to prevent anyone having another go at it. (Which doesn't jibe, because we already know the published Warrior Angel is a strange visitor from another planet - you'd think Alec would be worrying about the continuity issues[1], not acting as though the mere idea of Warrior Angel having an origin was news.)
And we're also expected to believe that a comic called Warrior Angel #1 would feature a story in which the presumed hero turns into the archvillain of the eventual Warrior Angel series, with a final page announcing the story would continue in Devilicus #1. It's the sort of thing a comics company might do today, in what the company would call a bold experiment in storytelling and everyone else would call a marketing stunt, but it's not very likely in the Golden Age. Clark comments that he can see why Zatara's friend couldn't get it published; the unanswered question is how the guy who ripped it off did.
(It's probably intended as a parallel with Superman; before creating the Man of Steel, Jerry Seigel wrote a prose story called Reign of the Super-Man, whose title character was a bald villain [the villainous Warrior Angel isn't bald, unlike the "strange visitor" version]. But that story was written as a standalone, and had no direct connection to the eventual Superman story - it didn't have its title character in the Superman costume, or end with the announcement that Bill Dunn's story would continue in Ultra-Humanite #1.)
Anyway, beyond all that, it was still a weird story. There was some interesting stuff about fantasy and reality, which might have worked better if "reality" wasn't, er, being a superhero. Zatanna just didn't click for me this time, and I don't know why because I loved "Hex". (I was also disappointed that the subtitle writer totally gave up on working out the backwards spells - if indeed they even realised that was how it worked - and just wrote "She speaks indistinctly".)
The Chloe and Alex stuff was funny in a haven't-I-seen-this-movie? sort of way, and I had a brief chuckle at Lois dressed as a Xenafied Wonder Woman, but that was it - weirdly, given the setup, it seemed very short of comics injokes.
And ... they've just used up the idea of a pre-teen with an alliterative name who magically transforms into an adult Flying Brick. So no chance of Billy Batson showing up any time soon, then?
[1]Much as I am here, which is at least the level of metafiction I expect in a Warrior Angel based Smallville episode.
I spent most of it worrying about this comic book. So apparently, the Smallville-verse version of Action Comics #1 had a print run of one copy, which no-one has ever read. It's not explained why; yes now it's because it's a rare collectable in a sealed Mylar bag, but why did no-one read it when it was first published? And why was there only one copy? And if his first appearance was in a comic that nobody read, how did Warrior Angel become the major fictional superhero of this 'verse?
But then, we're also expected to believe that, once he became popular, Warrior Angel's origin was never retold, rewritten, or revised to fit in with "Cataclysm on Multiple Worlds". Apparently, the mere knowledge that an origin existed, and was in this single comic no-one had ever read, was enough to prevent anyone having another go at it. (Which doesn't jibe, because we already know the published Warrior Angel is a strange visitor from another planet - you'd think Alec would be worrying about the continuity issues[1], not acting as though the mere idea of Warrior Angel having an origin was news.)
And we're also expected to believe that a comic called Warrior Angel #1 would feature a story in which the presumed hero turns into the archvillain of the eventual Warrior Angel series, with a final page announcing the story would continue in Devilicus #1. It's the sort of thing a comics company might do today, in what the company would call a bold experiment in storytelling and everyone else would call a marketing stunt, but it's not very likely in the Golden Age. Clark comments that he can see why Zatara's friend couldn't get it published; the unanswered question is how the guy who ripped it off did.
(It's probably intended as a parallel with Superman; before creating the Man of Steel, Jerry Seigel wrote a prose story called Reign of the Super-Man, whose title character was a bald villain [the villainous Warrior Angel isn't bald, unlike the "strange visitor" version]. But that story was written as a standalone, and had no direct connection to the eventual Superman story - it didn't have its title character in the Superman costume, or end with the announcement that Bill Dunn's story would continue in Ultra-Humanite #1.)
Anyway, beyond all that, it was still a weird story. There was some interesting stuff about fantasy and reality, which might have worked better if "reality" wasn't, er, being a superhero. Zatanna just didn't click for me this time, and I don't know why because I loved "Hex". (I was also disappointed that the subtitle writer totally gave up on working out the backwards spells - if indeed they even realised that was how it worked - and just wrote "She speaks indistinctly".)
The Chloe and Alex stuff was funny in a haven't-I-seen-this-movie? sort of way, and I had a brief chuckle at Lois dressed as a Xenafied Wonder Woman, but that was it - weirdly, given the setup, it seemed very short of comics injokes.
And ... they've just used up the idea of a pre-teen with an alliterative name who magically transforms into an adult Flying Brick. So no chance of Billy Batson showing up any time soon, then?
[1]Much as I am here, which is at least the level of metafiction I expect in a Warrior Angel based Smallville episode.
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 10:31 pm (UTC)I thought it was a light hearted fluff breather episode after the heavier two parter about the JSA.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-21 10:34 pm (UTC)"Warrior" was about the importance of having fun, but for me at least, that didn't translate into actually being any fun.