It just bugs me
Jul. 13th, 2011 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficSo, rereading 52 for Femslash 11 and it reminded me of a pet peeve I hate enough to write a blog post about. And that is the Villain With Good Publicity. Now, I don't mind this when it's just fooling your average schmoe and the hero trying to bring him down--that's the trope, after all. But I hate, hate, hate when they'll have, say, Batman trying to expose the Penguin as a criminal deviant while Superman goes "Why, that Penguin fellow seems alright! The Iceberg... what a clever name for a nightspot!"
Maybe it was acceptable back in the old days, when comic book storytelling was less self-aware and the superhero "community" wasn't as tight-knit as today's steady stream of massive crossover events have made it. But now it is just so hacky. It's like, does Superman never mention that Lex Luthor is an asshole? Does Lois Lane, greatest reporter of all time, never write an article insinuating Lex is an ass? Even if they don't talk about it, wouldn't you ask about the time Metropolis got attacked by giant robots? "Oh, that? Lex Luthor. Yeah, he's secretly an evil asshole. Steer clear of him."
Because Superman is supposed to be this combination of your big brother, your dad, and that grandparent that sent you a big cash bill with your birthday card. If he says someone is evil and shouldn't be trusted, you would listen. Especially if it's someone who "has nervous breakdowns" and accidentally tries to take over the world, just to name one example. Think about it, in the real world, that'd be like Mr. Rogers, Shigeru Miyomato, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan all telling you that the CEO of BP Oil is up to no good, then you listening when the CEO of BP tells you to bomb Pixar headquarters.
That would be the equivalent of the story where a bunch of superheroes decide to attack Superman because Lex Luthor said he was bad. Yes, it was by Jeph Loeb.
Even worse, sometimes they'll do stories where the villain doesn't quite get defeated, but he's 'exposed', like the Kingpin at the end of Born Again. So you'd think that would mean they'd stop with stories where the public loves and adores Crazy McPsychoPants. But no, they just wait a few issues, then they'll handwave it with a one-liner about a PR team. C'mon. If you want to keep telling stories about a Villain With Good Publicity, don't write a story specifically altering that status quo just to snap it back. That's straight-up Voyager level bad writing.
ETA: What really bugs me is that when villains do actually reform and even join a team of superheroes, they'll be pariahs and no one will trust them. This actually happens in the same exact title as Lex Luthor - Swell Guy. Black Adam decides to try being a nice guy for a while and for no reason, Amanda Waller sends a team of supervillains to antagonize his family. As his country is in detente and he's being a total mensch. What exactly else could she want him to do? I thought she was morally ambiguous Lawful Evil, not too stupid to live Chaotic Evil. She shouldn't care about bringing him to justice, as long as he and his country are stable and peaceful. Go kill the Joker, that'll justify your entire shady government spookery budget for the next ten years.
Oh, or a superhero who's spent years being a complete sweetheart will spend fifteen minutes being mind-controlled and suddenly everyone will act dickish to them. Or when someone gets framed for a crime and the entire city turns against them, after they've been framed and then cleared their name ninety times. I'm just saying, if you're going to go 99 times out of 100 treating continuity as a big hairy deal, don't give people the memory of goldfish for the other one percent.
Maybe it was acceptable back in the old days, when comic book storytelling was less self-aware and the superhero "community" wasn't as tight-knit as today's steady stream of massive crossover events have made it. But now it is just so hacky. It's like, does Superman never mention that Lex Luthor is an asshole? Does Lois Lane, greatest reporter of all time, never write an article insinuating Lex is an ass? Even if they don't talk about it, wouldn't you ask about the time Metropolis got attacked by giant robots? "Oh, that? Lex Luthor. Yeah, he's secretly an evil asshole. Steer clear of him."
Because Superman is supposed to be this combination of your big brother, your dad, and that grandparent that sent you a big cash bill with your birthday card. If he says someone is evil and shouldn't be trusted, you would listen. Especially if it's someone who "has nervous breakdowns" and accidentally tries to take over the world, just to name one example. Think about it, in the real world, that'd be like Mr. Rogers, Shigeru Miyomato, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan all telling you that the CEO of BP Oil is up to no good, then you listening when the CEO of BP tells you to bomb Pixar headquarters.
That would be the equivalent of the story where a bunch of superheroes decide to attack Superman because Lex Luthor said he was bad. Yes, it was by Jeph Loeb.
Even worse, sometimes they'll do stories where the villain doesn't quite get defeated, but he's 'exposed', like the Kingpin at the end of Born Again. So you'd think that would mean they'd stop with stories where the public loves and adores Crazy McPsychoPants. But no, they just wait a few issues, then they'll handwave it with a one-liner about a PR team. C'mon. If you want to keep telling stories about a Villain With Good Publicity, don't write a story specifically altering that status quo just to snap it back. That's straight-up Voyager level bad writing.
ETA: What really bugs me is that when villains do actually reform and even join a team of superheroes, they'll be pariahs and no one will trust them. This actually happens in the same exact title as Lex Luthor - Swell Guy. Black Adam decides to try being a nice guy for a while and for no reason, Amanda Waller sends a team of supervillains to antagonize his family. As his country is in detente and he's being a total mensch. What exactly else could she want him to do? I thought she was morally ambiguous Lawful Evil, not too stupid to live Chaotic Evil. She shouldn't care about bringing him to justice, as long as he and his country are stable and peaceful. Go kill the Joker, that'll justify your entire shady government spookery budget for the next ten years.
Oh, or a superhero who's spent years being a complete sweetheart will spend fifteen minutes being mind-controlled and suddenly everyone will act dickish to them. Or when someone gets framed for a crime and the entire city turns against them, after they've been framed and then cleared their name ninety times. I'm just saying, if you're going to go 99 times out of 100 treating continuity as a big hairy deal, don't give people the memory of goldfish for the other one percent.
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no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 04:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 04:33 am (UTC)Either way, though, their public face is someone who paid his debt to society, reformed, and shouldn't be seen as a villain any more. THAT, I'm just fine with!
no subject
Date: 2011-07-14 03:15 pm (UTC)There was one time Supes got blasted with magic, and Metropolis' Science Police, IIRC, promptly jumped him, just in case he was mind-controlled. After he brushed them off like Jay-Z brushes dirt off his shoulders, they explained who they were, and that he had just blown through millions of dollars of research performed against the day he was mind-controlled. Despite being a little bit bummed, there weren't any hard feelings on either side.
Turning against Supes? Silly. Being ready in case he's mind controlled again? Perfectly sensible.