The Official Flash thread

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No, I said that both Kyle and Wally have had a lot of character success as team characters, so being on a team book should hardly be considered a bad thing for them.

You're forgetting Kyle and Wally weren't treated the same in their solo titles.

I've already explained why Wally has had the better deal there.

Those two are not equals in the eyes of DC.

Being on a team isn't a bad thing it just doesn't mean it's all a character needs when they have proven again and again they can do well solo in their own title.

For some reason, this got turned into people trying to argue that one had more success than the other so the point somehow doesn't count or...something.

It counts. It's just not on the same level as a solo title.

It's just one giant continuous stream of giant pissing contests, one after another. Topics like these keep turning into irritating pissing contests over and over again, and then people act shocked and affronted when I say just that.

The only person here making it a pissing contest is you.

Kyle has a book right now which by a lot of people's reckonings is better than Hal's book,

Kyle is in a team book. He's sharing the spotlight. Hal gets the spotlight by himself.

Tomasi is a great writer, he isn't A-list, though.

it just so happens that Kyle isn't the headlining star as if that should have anything whatsoever to do with how much one enjoys a book or its characters.

How can Kyle be a headliner when he's not given a chance to do it?

He was kicked off his solo title permanently, his ongoing Ion was canceled with #12 because he was turned into Parallax and never given another solo title after he was no longer possessed, he was stripped of Ion in SCW where his unique high level status in the GLC gave him a good new direction, he was replaced in the JLA by Hal and John, the only ongoing title he's in Kyle has less to do then Guy in it despite Guy being much lower in the DCU character hierarchy.

A headliner character isn't treated like that.

It's funny because if you had asked half the people in this thread a week ago what they thought of GL Corps, they'd be singing its praises right along with me. But now, hey, we have to make it look like Kyle's got the worst circumstances imaginable so all of a sudden it's become that book with all those side characters and isn't that important 'cause it ain't Hal's book.

Being a supporting player in a good team book is still a demotion for a successful character who had their own title for ten years.

He can also show up in GLC while having his own solo title, too.

Hal can keep Green Lantern. DC could give Kyle another ongoing.

I have to say, I'm glad that everyone has been so quick to marginalize Countdown, wherein Kyle not only played a big part but also interacted consistently with a messload of DCU characters.

Being a big player in a series that's marginalized by the people who read it is not good.

No, seriously, I'm not even being sarcastic, Countdown was an embarrassing truckload of crap and I'm glad that people can just sporadically forget about how big a deal it was just a few months ago.

It was a big deal. Unfortunately it was, as you say, "crap". That isn't going to help Kyle's image in the DCU. In fact it probably hurt it.

He was used by Black Mary as a bludgeon to hit Donna Troy in it! How are readers who are introduced to Kyle in that series meant to take him seriously after that?

http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/5390708.html

And, just to clear something up, Hal as a character currently has no more "major impact" on the DCU outside of his own book than Kyle does. His appearances in Final Crisis and JLA are practically perfunctory, showing up just for the fact that he has to show up, and in both instances John Stewart either matches his panel-time or often even surpasses it.

While Kyle is nowhere to be seen in those books. Did any characters even briefly mention him at all?

And Hal hasn't shown up in Trinity at all as opposed to John who has been highlighted there.

True.
 
Kyle has a book right now which by a lot of people's reckonings is better than Hal's book
Kyle has a book in the same sense that Vixen has a book.

it just so happens that Kyle isn't the headlining star as if that should have anything whatsoever to do with how much one enjoys a book or its characters.
The problem here is that you want us all the have a really simplistic, straw-man viewpoint that you can just dismantle without having to think about it. No one enjoys Kyle less because he's only in GLC. Nobody enjoys GLC less because Kyle's not the star. Nobody's even saying that we like the mainline Green Lantern book less because Kyle's not the star of that book (as opposed to not liking it for other reasons.) What we're saying is that we think Kyle deserves his own book. What in the hell is so offensive to you about that idea?

It's funny because if you had asked half the people in this thread a week ago what they thought of GL Corps, they'd be singing its praises right along with me.
Did any of us say we didn't like GL Corps? I don't remember anyone saying that.

But now, hey, we have to make it look like Kyle's got the worst circumstances imaginable so all of a sudden it's become that book with all those side characters and isn't that important 'cause it ain't Hal's book.
I'm gonna blow your mind here and say that both are true! I love GL Corps. However, it is not a Kyle book, and it's tangentially important to the DCU. Holy **** complexity.
 
Kyle went from having his own book to being a background character to the DC universe at best. F*** that. He needs his own book. Anything less is bulls***.
 
Kyle went from having his own book to being a background character to the DC universe at best. F*** that. He needs his own book. Anything less is bulls***.
Don't worry BW, I got it covered for you.

"Pissing contest, dick-measuring, character jealousy, why do you all hate Green Lantern Corps."
 
Is there any actual evidence behind this belief that DiDio wanted to kill Nightwing?

Yeah, he said it and also, Paul Levitz confirmed it when he announced he was the one to ***** slap Didio on the whole thing.
 
Tomasi is a great writer, he isn't A-list, though.
It doesn't matter if Tomasi is A-list or not. The guy is freaking awesome.

He was kicked off his solo title permanently, his ongoing Ion was canceled with #12 because he was turned into Parallax and never given another solo title after he was no longer possessed, he was stripped of Ion in SCW where his unique high level status in the GLC gave him a good new direction, he was replaced in the JLA by Hal and John, the only ongoing title he's in Kyle has less to do then Guy in it despite Guy being much lower in the DCU character hierarchy.
Ion was never an ongoing in the first place. So it was never canceled either. It was always meant to be 12 issues.

Hal can keep Green Lantern. DC could give Kyle another ongoing.
I'm down for that.

He was used by Black Mary as a bludgeon to hit Donna Troy in it! How are readers who are introduced to Kyle in that series meant to take him seriously after that?

http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/5390708.html
I found that kinda cool actually :csad:
 
You're forgetting Kyle and Wally weren't treated the same in their solo titles.

I've already explained why Wally has had the better deal there.

Those two are not equals in the eyes of DC.
How could I forget, when you seem intent on reminding me for no apparent reason? I never claimed that they'd both been treated equally well by DC, and I wasn't even talking about their solo titles. I said that both of them have done very good on teams, and so being on teams is not a bad thing for them. That's all I said. Nothing about who did better than the other. You're having an entirely different conversation than me, like I said "Jordan and O'neil have both had great basketball careers," and then you replied with "But Jordan has done better than him, and by himself too!" as if it had anything at all to do with what I was trying to say.

The only person here making it a pissing contest is you.
"Wally has had much better treatment"
"Guy was never in Kyle's position."
"We all know Hal would have the edge in the franchise with Johns' anyway."
"I've already explained why Wally has had the better deal there."

Every response you've made -- every one of them -- to either me or anyone else has either been to complain that Kyle isn't getting it as good as another character, or to claim that he deserves more than another character. Hal's name comes up, you complain that he's doing better than Kyle. Wally's name comes up, you complain that he's done better than Kyle. Guy's name comes up, you complain that Kyle outclasses him. The punchline is that I don't even care that much, all threads of this nature become nothing but inane competitions eventually and I compare characters a lot myself anyway...but don't try and pretend that it isn't what it is.

Kyle is in a team book. He's sharing the spotlight. Hal gets the spotlight by himself.
The spotlight doesn't make me like Hal more. The spotlight is not the end-all and be-all of a character. Sometimes it isn't even a little of a character. If there's anything I truly wanted to say in midst of all of this, it would be that.

Tomasi is a great writer, he isn't A-list, though.
Why should that matter?

Being a big player in a series that's marginalized by the people who read it is not good.

It was a big deal. Unfortunately it was, as you say, "crap". That isn't going to help Kyle's image in the DCU. In fact it probably hurt it.
Again, this is not what we're discussing. If the question is "Has Kyle been in the spotlight lately?" then the answer is "Yes, he absolutely has." Whether or not the material is good is irrelevant. Concurrently, he also played an extremely large role in Sinestro Cors War, with two one-shots dedicated to his story there, and guess what? Most people absolutely hated how he was portrayed there. I know I did. Kyle had the spotlight that you so passionately wanted, and the story turned out bad.

Which is exactly what I'm saying; being in the spotlight does not automatically guarantee good characters, story, or treatment; Hal himself is a testament to that. He is the headliner, and his stories have been boring for the most part. Bart and Wally, also prime examples: virtually no one liked Bart's Flash series, and Wally himself is struggling along.

If all you want is for Kyle to have good stories that treat him well, it shouldn't ****ing matter if his name is at the front of a book or not, because that's absolutely no guarantee at all that he'd have good stories or be treated well; the last years of Kyle's own book is a testament to that!

He was used by Black Mary as a bludgeon to hit Donna Troy in it!
Well, some would say that was Countdown's best part..

Kyle has a book in the same sense that Vixen has a book.
Seeing as how Vixen has completely taken over the JLA plotline as of the last couple months and is currently the single most important member of the team, I'm not sure you really thought through this comparison...

The problem here is that you want us all the have a really simplistic, straw-man viewpoint that you can just dismantle without having to think about it. No one enjoys Kyle less because he's only in GLC.
"[Kyle has only been] a guest star or supporting player in titles which were nowhere near the quality Hal's title had been given."
"It's a backward step as a character. he should have got his own solo series."
"Why must Kyle settle for sharing a book with the GLC when they could have given his own ongoing title?"
"It the best thing that's happened for Guy. For Kyle it's a demotion."
"Kyle does not have his own book. He co-has a book. Not the same thing."

Nobody enjoys GLC less because Kyle's not the star.
"the only ongoing title he's in Kyle has less to do then Guy in it despite Guy being much lower in the DCU character hierarchy."

Nobody's even saying that we like the mainline Green Lantern book less because Kyle's not the star of that book (as opposed to not liking it for other reasons.)
"Is there really anything that wasn't accomplished by Kyle's already having brought the Corps and Guardians back that was accomplished by Hal's return?"
"Hal's GL could have been done with Kyle with minor changes."
"Sinestro Corps. War could have been just as great with a Kyle solo title involved in the story or Kyle in Hal's position."

What we're saying is that we think Kyle deserves his own book. What in the hell is so offensive to you about that idea?
Nothing about that idea offends me. What irritates me is when people start acting dumb about it and lets their fandom overrun their sense whenever something changes about the status quo, particularly with legacy characters. You all sound exactly like Hal fans did when Kyle was the main GL, and can't even see it. I've said it before and I'll say it again: fans like to pretend that they are only averse to bad change, but the fact is that they...we...will freak the hell out about any kind of change whatsoever. It's happened over and over again and it will continue to happen in the future, and I suppose I'm just sick and tired of it after all this time.

I think the dumbest and most biased opinion I've encountered here yet is that Sinestro Corps War could have been done just the same with Kyle instead of Hal. That is dumb, even disregarding the fact that Sinestro was as dead as Hal before GL Rebirth, and you are all letting your fandom completely overwhelm your understanding of the characters if you think otherwise. Sinestro is not Kyle's rogue! They barely even know each other! He barely even knows Guy or John! An entire event focused on Sinestro while somehow excluding Hal would be like asking for a Joker event without a Batman, or a Rogues' story without the Flash. And the idea that you could have just substituted Kyle in Hal's place for that story and have things still be the same...wait, what, you mean rewrite every line of dialogue and characterization and action that Kyle would have done instead of Hal, and somehow it'd still end up being the same story? Seriously, people? Seriously?

Did any of us say we didn't like GL Corps? I don't remember anyone saying that.
Nevertheless, the entire gist of this conversation is me saying that GL Corps is good for him, while everyone else thinks that he deserves better. Christ, way to marginalize one of the best books on the shelf. What's more, it's utterly ****ing hilarious that, apparently, popular opinion holds that it should be good enough for Guy but not good enough for Kyle. That's the exact sort of petty fanboy bull**** that I'm talking about; Kyle can't just be peers and comrades with another character, nope, he has to outshine him! He has to outdo the little people! **** that noise.

I'm gonna blow your mind here and say that both are true! I love GL Corps. However, it is not a Kyle book, and it's tangentially important to the DCU. Holy **** complexity.
Hal's book is tangentially important to the DCU as well. Other than the Sinestro Corps War, which Kyle was a part of, absolutely no issues of Hal's book has tied into any other DC stories. Hal himself as a character has appeared in JLA and Final Crisis as practically negligible nonentities, alongside John Stewart who has had a stronger presence than him in both stories so far. Kyle, by comparison, has starred in Countdown and Search for Ray Palmer which have been a few of DC's top projects and the single most significant DCU books as far as company direction and ongoing continuity. Just because you don't like it -- and I seem to recall you of all people doggedly defending Countdown not too long ago -- does not mean that Kyle has not been present. It does not mean that Kyle has been neglected, which was what this entire conversation was about, back when we were talking about Wally. Remember that?

Both you and The Major want it both ways. When I say that Kyle has had a significant presence in DC, you complain that those stories were bad. When I say that Kyle has been in incredibly good stories, you say that those don't count 'cause they aren't "big" enough. I would love Kyle to have a solo series someday, but that does not mean that I'm unhappy about his current situation, nor will I pretend that his presence itself has somehow been neglected by DC just because Hal is back; that is simply inaccurate and unfair.

Ion was never an ongoing in the first place. So it was never canceled either. It was always meant to be 12 issues.
See, I totally forgot about that. It just goes to show, when people spout the same misinformation that many times, it tends to slowly become fact.
 
My sentiments exactly. I thought you were Aristotle there.
 
The fact is regarding kyle is that no one will truly be happy unless kyle gets the same big creative teams, the same useless cameoes in other books,and his image plastered all over mags like wizard...and thats not gonna happen...as Dc sees it,kyle rayner is to hal jordan what dick grayson is bruce wayne, what wally will be to barry
 
Eh, maybe in twenty years people who grew up under Kyle's run will take over the comic industry, kill Hal off again, and restore order to the universe. :up:
 
My sentiments exactly. I thought you were Aristotle there.
For quick reference in the future, you can tell which posts are mine by the absolute correctness radiating off of them.
 
The fact is regarding kyle is that no one will truly be happy unless kyle gets the same big creative teams, the same useless cameoes in other books,and his image plastered all over mags like wizard...and thats not gonna happen...as Dc sees it,kyle rayner is to hal jordan what dick grayson is bruce wayne, what wally will be to barry

John Stewart is Hal's Dick Grayson. Kyle is Hal's Cassandra Cain.

Corp:

Yup.
 
Eh, maybe in twenty years people who grew up under Kyle's run will take over the comic industry, kill Hal off again, and restore order to the universe. :up:

They don't need to kill Hal off again. That would only make the cycle continue and in 20 years we'd be in the same position as we are now.

The sooner Kyle and Hal are treated as peers the sooner this pointless rivalry ends.
 
Seeing as how Vixen has completely taken over the JLA plotline as of the last couple months and is currently the single most important member of the team, I'm not sure you really thought through this comparison...
I know you think you're cleverly subverting my argument, but the fact of the matter is, JLA is not a Vixen book. It happens to have Vixen in it, and it happens to have a Vixen-related plotline at the moment, but only an idiot would mistake it for a book about Vixen.

"[Kyle has only been] a guest star or supporting player in titles which were nowhere near the quality Hal's title had been given."
"It's a backward step as a character. he should have got his own solo series."
"Why must Kyle settle for sharing a book with the GLC when they could have given his own ongoing title?"
"It the best thing that's happened for Guy. For Kyle it's a demotion."
"Kyle does not have his own book. He co-has a book. Not the same thing."
Yep, no one's actually saying they like Kyle less because he's in GLC.

"the only ongoing title he's in Kyle has less to do then Guy in it despite Guy being much lower in the DCU character hierarchy."
That's all you could come up with? But again, the person does not actually say they like GLC less because Kyle's not the star.

"Is there really anything that wasn't accomplished by Kyle's already having brought the Corps and Guardians back that was accomplished by Hal's return?"
"Hal's GL could have been done with Kyle with minor changes."
"Sinestro Corps. War could have been just as great with a Kyle solo title involved in the story or Kyle in Hal's position."
And you fail again! Nobody here says that the GL book is worse because Kyle isn't in it. Rather, they say that it could have been JUST AS GOOD with Kyle as the star.

You all sound exactly like Hal fans did when Kyle was the main GL, and can't even see it.
Except that Hal already had his time. There was a fundamental difference in that the change was moving forward, while this change moves backward. If Kyle had been replaced by John as king-**** Green Lantern, I would be just fine with that. If Kyle had been replaced by Guy, I would have had a problem with it, but because it's Guy, not because of the change. If Kyle had been replaced by a completely new Lantern, I would not have had a problem with it, and would have been quite excited. And I know this is gonna mess with your head, but I love Johns' Green Lantern run. I just wish it didn't have to mean that Kyle got sacrificed into oblivion.

Christ, way to marginalize one of the best books on the shelf.
See, no one here has said it's a bad book. I know I read it every month. But it's too bad that it's the only place we see Kyle Rayner.

What's more, it's utterly ****ing hilarious that, apparently, popular opinion holds that it should be good enough for Guy but not good enough for Kyle.
That's because Guy Gardner is a lame-ass character. Guy Gardner should only be on team books the way Wolverine should only be on team books.

That's the exact sort of petty fanboy bull**** that I'm talking about; Kyle can't just be peers and comrades with another character, nope, he has to outshine him! He has to outdo the little people! **** that noise.
Yeah. Of course we want Kyle to do well. We're Kyle fans. We want him to outshine Vibe too.

Hal's book is tangentially important to the DCU as well. Other than the Sinestro Corps War, which Kyle was a part of, absolutely no issues of Hal's book has tied into any other DC stories.
Kyle was a part of SCW just to get his ass handed to him. He was utterly useless. Hal, meanwhile, has clearly taken the role of "Top Green Lantern" on Earth, appearing in JLA until only recently, and is soon to get a Justice League that he runs with Ollie. That status is down to the fact that he is the only GL with a book.

Kyle, by comparison, has starred in Countdown and Search for Ray Palmer which have been a few of DC's top projects and the single most significant DCU books as far as company direction and ongoing continuity.
Almost no interaction with the mainline DCU, which for the most part never even appeared to notice the events of Countdown even in its earlier stages when it still had promise and potential. Kyle's very presence in the book was due to his status as an outsider and a character that wasn't "supposed" to exist, which is clearly how DC editorial feels about him.

Just because you don't like it -- and I seem to recall you of all people doggedly defending Countdown not too long ago
I doggedly defended Sinestro Corps War, too, which is what makes your attempt at straw-manning me all the more silly. Countdown is not as bad as people make it seem it was, at least not until the end, and Sin Corps War was downright awesome, but none of that changes the fact that DC editorial doesn't give a **** about Kyle and doesn't do anything productive with him, and when they do, they put him on a project with no oversight or direction and cast him as a character who isn't even supposed to exist.

It does not mean that Kyle has been neglected, which was what this entire conversation was about, back when we were talking about Wally. Remember that?
So your whole point has been that I can look forward to Wally starring in a directionless weekly series that ends up being all but relegated to Elseworlds status and getting his ass handed to him and sidelined by one of Barry's villains in the first issue of the first major Flash event post-Rebirth? Oh, well, that makes it all better then.

nor will I pretend that his presence itself has somehow been neglected by DC just because Hal is back; that is simply inaccurate and unfair.
Wait, you're seriously going to pretend that Kyle would not be the star of the Green Lantern book, would not be the Green Lantern of choice for at least one of the two Justice Leagues, and would not be appearing in most of the major DCU events, if Hal hadn't been Rebirthed? Are you seriously going to pretend that, if Rebirth hadn't happened, someone else just would have magically kicked Kyle to the curb?
 
The sooner Kyle and Hal are treated as peers the sooner this pointless rivalry ends.
I see you've given in to BrianWilly's absurd optimism. Two characters sharing a name CANNOT be treated as peers. When a person becomes a comic-book creator, they lose their ability to treat two characters sharing a name as equals, and become FORCED to choose a favorite.
 
Too long, didn't read.

Kyle deserves his own book.
BrianWilly said:
OH MY GOD WHY DO YOU HATE GREEN LANTERN CORPS AND GUY GARDNER AND HAPPY THINGS PISSING CONTEST ANGRY STUPID MACHO CHARACTER JEALOUSY I LIKE KYLE BUT I ALSO DON'T LIKE KYLE AND THAT MAKES SENSE.
Don't worry, BW, I got you covered on this one too.
 
Holy crap. Can we get a 3 inch maximum on post length?
 
I see you've given in to BrianWilly's absurd optimism. Two characters sharing a name CANNOT be treated as peers. When a person becomes a comic-book creator, they lose their ability to treat two characters sharing a name as equals,

Depends on the creator. Some are better with this then others.

Editorial interference and their power within the company they work for would also be a factor.

and become FORCED to choose a favorite.

Who would be forcing them?
 
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