Darkness
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water; Jack fell down and broke his mind and Jonas tumbled in after Ha Ha. He’s not the first you know, oh no. I crossed the Rubicon with Caesar and have pranced and prattled in my motley robes in the courts of kings; I once even stalked the alleyways of Whitechapel with my medical bag. This one is different though, stronger, I am as much a prisoner within his mind as he is held captive by me. He makes me feel good, he makes me do good….am I a good boy now? We do good now in this body but Jonas is not a do-gooder, laws are not made for us, our brand of retribution is our own. Will we take a life?...If the mood takes us and the moon is full and vengeful; but it will be a life worth taking Ha Ha. An eye for a lie and a tooth for the truth. Can we die? Perhaps our flesh can? But can our essence? Not unless a cure for madness can be found Ha Ha.
Our pretty costume drips with diamonds of many hues which shift and blur, our rictus expression concealed behind a mask of many faces; these are the faces of our many parts, all mad Ha Ha. We live within the wonderland of the city at night; don’t believe in the dark, the neon glitter and reflected dazzle of streetlights and signs which reflect in the puddles and the rain make these hours as vibrant and colourful as a fairground arcade. Be afraid of it though, evilworkers, bastards and rascals crawl out from their dens and bawdy-houses at this time making the night seem a little darker. They discard the light, seeking the dark places, content in the knowledge that their spreading pox can be seen by none but the lonely shop mannequins and those who live on the edge of the abyss and see nothing for fear of losing their grip. It is time that they too learned to fear the dark…for here be monsters HaHa!
Sometimes I see things inside my realm of meandering dreams and spiralling nightmares and I am compelled to wake him. I see the couple, the young lovers, tomorrows human carrion, taking a shortcut home past the fountain in the park and I see the canker which lurks at the night’s dark edges. I see it pounce and I see the stamping and stomping, I see the flash of the chib in the moonlight, I smell their blood, I see it ooze and crimson spray, I see the grins and hear bones pop and I hear the laughter, it echoes in my head, it wakes me and now I must wake him, Together we must wait by the fountain and escort the young pair home safe and sound for they should see nothing but the reflection of the stars upon the Clyde and the reflection of love in each others eyes tonight.
Our colours are hidden by our tame shadows, stalwart and constant companions, they writhe and twist around our form, they move with us, their tendrils reaching out embracing wantwits and lackbrains, they steal the very breath from their lungs as their fear and our madness envelop their thoughts. The mind is threatened by its own fragility is it not? Ha Ha. We need not show ourself to those who wish not to view our being, we can cause such delightful chaos with our macabre puppetry from within our cosy miasma or can bend and distort their dreams and waking thoughts leaving them terrified by the thought of sleeps embrace for eternity if we choose; but it gives us such a thrill to stamp and stomp that sometimes we forget this and dance with them the timeless dance of fear, whirling and pirouetting with abandoned self consciousness and chilling precision. We possess no weapons, save a razor edged tongue and a guiltless insanity which flushes our brain, hastens our steps and strengthens both his body and my resolve; we are Jonas Shade Ha Ha.
Other rattlebrained gallants and costumed thief-takers have often misunderstood us, some even mistaking us for a miscreant or a knave. They attempt to interrupt our revelry but we are too quick of wit and fleet of foot, Ha Ha, and they too full of self importance and unquestioning belief in the righteousness of their own actions, fools to their own lies. Let them keep their putrid morals and petty restraints and leave us be in our quilt of dark vapours, alone with our voices, to dance our giddy dance. They have their law and Jonas has his, all we have in common is that no one appointed any of us as custodians of the peace and enforcers of justice…the difference between us is that we know that we are mad, but they refuse to free themselves by recognising the same malady in themselves. The man in our mirror smiles back at us; all be it with sad eyes.
Light
Is he gone? Where do I start? I have no idea who I am or where I come from. I have no knowledge of any family except the hazy recollection of a woman’s face; my mothers? I carry with me a photograph of a child, of myself as a child, but it’s ripped concealing from me anything or anybody else who may have been there, that I could use to identify myself. I live the life of a vagrant, drifting from town to town, taking work where I find it and seeking succour with those who live on society’s fringes. If I have any powers at all in daylight it is only the power of not being seen, or not being noticed anyhow, I guess most people who live on the streets possess that ability. I have no name but I use Jon Doe now and again, heh, I sometimes use the name Bruce Wayne when signing into a hostel, just for the irony. Occasionally they will lock me up, tell me that they will help me find what I’ve lost. Once after a fall, or was I mugged, it’s all hazy now, they locked me away in a big house somewhere near Glasgow, I think. It was nice there; they cared for me, fed me. They gave me tablets to help me sleep. That was when he came at first; Jonas.
God does he even exist or have I truly lost my reason as well as my memory. I guess he does, the papers say he does. They say that the city’s criminal fraternity are in terror of him, I’m not surprised, so am I. He speaks to me at night, first as a whisper and then louder and louder, pumping through my dreams like blood through my veins. Once my eyes open, he is in control, distorting my thoughts and urging me to join him in his unholy covenant. I fight him though, I have to, without anyone holding his chains, he could be terrible. As it is I can just about keep him in check long enough for his will to become malleable. By this method I am able to insure that the symbiotic creature that we combine to become is a force for good, all be it Jonas’s interpretation of the word. I am driven to discover who I once was and to repair my broken mind, however my greatest fear is that this will drive Jonas out, to find a new host, and in the wrong hands there is no telling what he may be capable of.
At the moment I am stuck with him though, even if I rip his diamonded rags from my body and throw them in the river, come night-time, when he rouses me, there they’ll be, under my shirt. If I try to rip his mask from my face all it reveals is another. He gains in strength all the time and as he does so I feel less and less able to rein him in.
OK OK...Something has been bugging me...something is rotten in the state of DC!
The JLA has undertaken many changes over the years but I do think it should remain in the DC universe as the epitome of soopaheronish! It should also remain in reality a showcase for the best of the best that DC has to offer us. In my opinion a hero must distinguish themselves in their own title not only to cult status but to God-dom (I realise that I'm inventing a lot of words..tell that to Samuel Johnson), before they get the call up to the JLA.
The originals should always be available for membership, folks like Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal!!), Martian Manhunter, Flash, Aquaman etc. along with DC stalwarts and early members like Supes, Bats, Green Arrow,hawkman, Atom and the lovely Black Canary.
Obviously the most powerful should be there: firestorm etc. plus those who have a pedigree in cult following and can offer light relief (not in the mucky sense!) such as Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, Guy Gardner and Buddy Baker...however..
I must question the most recent incarnation. It seems that the JLA is now a training ground for heroes that DC can't justify a solo book for. Ahem..I mean, I like Black Lightning but he's no Firestorm ability wise and no Batman intellect wise and both you and I know that he's an Outsider. At least Geoforce has had the decency to rejoin the Outsiders where he should be.
That brings me on to Hawk Girl and Red Arrow, I know these two have been around for a while in various guises and although I've enjoyed their flirty and endearing relationship, is it really any substitute for Green Arrow and Hawkman's political and often explosive exchanges...I think not.
Last but not least..Vixen. I like the girl, I really do but although she shares the same abilities basically with Animal Man (she gets her power from a totem and he from yellow aliens apart), she shares none of Buddy's character development (Morrison is God). Let's face it the whole cool thing about Buddy is that his powers were slightly crap and he was slightly akward as a result in the company of Superman etc. (hence the jacket worn over his costume - Mr self-concious) He was/is endearing and that is what makes him a fantastic character and eligble for inclusion in the JLA. Also his profile and characteristics have been developed so superbly that his interaction with the other members would be brilliant...like Oliver Queen, Buddy Baker has his own personality which transcends particular stories. Vixen doesn't come close and won't until she is written in her own book by a writer of exceptional class...then she can be in the JLA, not now.
There are other teams where minor characters can grow and prove themselves, but they must, I feel, do exactly that, prove themselves, not just as capable comic book heroes, but as credible and fully developed characters which fans feel attached to before they get the call up for the greatest team of all. It's partly DC's fault for not being able to kill anybody off for very long that I feel this way. I would have loved Roy joining the JLA as a replacement for Ollie, if Ollie was actually still dead; as it is I can't help thinking I'd rather see Ollie kicking Ass until he's in a wheelchair! If it's not broken...don't fix it.
I do though like the present role of Red Tornado. Reddy has proved himself I believe over the decades as a trusted member of the team. Now, connected up with the satellite's computer system and controlling all the tech stuff opens up the juicy possibility of a 'Hal' (2001 not Jordn!) type situation where he could get a virus and attempt to start a machine rebellion...be wary of your toaster for it may be lying in wait!
All right, I know it's an age old question, but arguing who's quickest between Superman and the Flash is pointless, is like asking who would be 2nd and 3rd. Lets face facts NASA says that the reason that we can't travel outside of our own solar-system is that even travelling at many times the speed of current vessels it would take years; to reach the next galaxy, moving at many hundreds of times the speed of light would probably take hundreds of years.
Now if Green Lantern (Hal,Kyle, John or Guy - you pick) can leave earth put down a rebellion several galaxies away, drop the miscreants off at Oa and be back home for dinner, or JLA monitor duty (if it's a Tuesday)then I put it to you that he's moving at a fair old pace there. He'd be out of our solar system before Supes was out of the phone box!
|
Great art as usual plus I'm beginning to think that the story of forgiveness and redemption which is surely following the Civil War will be far more interesting in terms of personal loyalties and private soul searching than the main event ever could have been. You'd be forgiven yourself for missing some of the gentle realisations that must surely be dawning on Tony Stark during this issue amidst all the action (Go giant Wasp...Uh-Oh Giant Wasp just turned into giant carnage..bummer). Not only do the rebels, the outlaws, the free spirits, namely the New Avengers, stand in line against the threat of a world wide infection of Venomness with the Official, Autority figures of the Mighty Avengers (representing 'The Man')but after fighting toe to toe with those who are officially the good guys, they are allowed to walk away without a word or a challenge. Just look at Tony's eyes peering from the protection of his helmet when Ex-friend and fellow avenger of old suggests that it was his actions that led to the death of Captain America, someone they both had previously placed on a pedestal, as the epitome of all they ever hoped to be. It is this moment, captured in a couple of frames rather than the two page spread of Iron-Man asking himself if he'd been 'played' that is the bullet point in this issue. Mind you someone is going to pay it seems, a certain Doctor Doom has, it appears, picked the very worst time to pick on the Avengers...Methinks he's about to have his arse handed to him on a plate! I do enjoy reading the Mighty Avengers as a companion to both the Avengers Initiative and to the New Avengers, but as we no longer have to see both sides of the coin...we've made our minds up, not over who's right and who's wrong (that would be Spidey's crew right?), but over who's the coolest team, and that would be the New Avengers everytime! I wonder just how long Marvel are going to make us splash out on two (or more)Avengers comics a month before they kiss and make up and we have an amalgamate of the 2 teams? I'm looking forward to seeing who makes the cut in that book!
|
|
Thrud is tremendous fun and Carl Critchlow's art is brilliant. I was always a huge fan of Thrud from his days as a one page strip in White Dwarf magazine and was surprised to find him still going years later and finally appearing in his first full length book. I bought the book out of nostalgia seriously doubting that I would still find him as appealing as I did when I was a teenager or that he would work in a book this length after the compact one page fun of old. He hasn't changed a bit and he's even better over the course of a full length story. I loved this! My only complaint if any is that this isn't a monthly title, the world needs more Thrud. Go out and track down every Thrud comic you can you will be chortling for days after reading it. THWOP! 'Right More Beer'.
|
|
All I want is a good old soopa-hero story. All these alternate realities and heroes are wasting the essence of comicdom. I have 2 rules of comics which are really simple and I wish both DC and Marvel would adopt them: No.1 When a character dies..they die! fullstop! (mind you I did like Kevin Smith bringing back Ollie Queen..but he's a favourite! lol). Think of the poor blokes who have to carve gravestones or sculpt memorial statues 4godssake! No.2 There should be only one earth! Get over it! We want great writers and artists, bringing us great stories which we can love, even if we miss an issue. I live in rural Scotland and getting every issue, even mail order is a tall ask. Phew! Next paragraph takes us on to the review. Great..Superman Prime (or whoevever..one of them...a superbloke..not the real one)gets a bit ticked off in this issue. The Art is really good, the story is..I don't know I've forgotten after following '52' etc. and now this..God I wish Grant Morrison was handling this; if it was Morrisonesc I could take it..weird good...drawn out for no reason..bad! Yeh! Red Robin..I should be excited but the way DC are going, they'll just kill him off, then bring him back, then kill him off, then bring him back; who cares any more! It pains me to write like this because I deeply love DC comics and characters and have done for nearly 40 years, but it seems competing for sales with marvel drives their buisness now; the world is sadder for it. Saying this, as I mentioned earlier, the art is superb. However I believe the best thing to come out of this story arc is 'Countdown to Mystery', which is awesome, not only does it feature some of DC's best characters: Creeper, Plastic Man, the new Spectre and the new Doctor Fate; but it has great great art, fantastic storylines (I believe that the Dr Fate is reminiscent of Morrison era Doom Patrol!)and offers the best hope for post countdown DC in my book...but I'm depressed in the knowledge that any day now they plan to make the storylines converge in a car crash of confusion and indifference...take me back to 1990 now. Saying that...I will bldy well have to buy the rest of this series now, so that I'm all up to date with DC world (they're not daft). I hope to the almighty comic God that the next issue features 'The Pied Piper' and 'The Trickster'who have been the revelation of this series. I know that the Trickster is now dead, but that means nowt to the writers in DC land, although I suspect he's now part of a Pied Trickster amalgamate as that's a nice and easy solution. Cynical Moi?
|
|
The Booster Gold/Blue Beetle era JLA was the one I grew up with and I've always had a soft spot for the pair of rogues. They always add a air of fun to their books and I love the artwork by Dan Jurgans, so this should be a winner...however Although I have found this series hugely enjoyable, largely due to Booster's antics always being able to muster a chortle or two, the writers, Geoff Johns and Dan Jurgans seem to be falling into that all too familiar modern trend with DC of meddling with past story lines (pesky kids). Both the 'Infinite Crisis' and 'Omac Project' stories get tampered with i this run of BOOster Gold. STOP THIS TINKERING DC BEFORE YOU RUIN A CLASSIC. DC also seem unable to kill anyone off, please when you make a decision, stick to it. We not only meet 2 dead Blue Beetles in this issue, but the current one and one from the future!! I don't know about anyone else but all these alternate worlds, timelines and multiple heroes are beginning to all blur now. Get back to writing great stories without feeling the need to link them to any other storylines or publications (but then I guess thats how you sell books). Sorry rant over. It looks like another Booster Gold will be joining the fray too if Rip Hunter has anything to do with it, he turns up at Boosters descendants home where he hands both a Booster uniform and a Supernova outfit out to Daniel and his girlfriend. I like Rip Hunter and I feel that Booster should have listened to him when he warned him at the start of the issue not to tinker with time and save Ted Kord. Rip is an expert on time travel after all and Booster is ..well...a bit thick, isn't he. Still Ted is his best friend and off he goes with the Beetles to save him. The future Blue Beetle explains away Rip's fears all very conveniently (I'm a tad suspicious of that one). Rip says that Kord's death is captured in 'solidified time' which can't be breached; Future Beetle says s'okay I have tech from the future that can make it malleable (a likely story). Off they pop for a showdown with the dastardly Max Lord (funny I never thought he was that bad back in his JLA days). SPOILER ALERT! IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK YET DON'T READ THIS BIT. Needless to say Booster's interference saves Ted, he deflect's Lord's bullet making it miss Ted but gets hit himself. Luckily his goggles take the impact allowing Ted time to graciously 'stick the heid' on Max. I'm sure that now the dynamic duo are together again action, and arguments are going to follow with hilarious results (BWAHHAHAHA), but I would like to see a writer like Gail Simone (The All-New Atom) or John Rogers (The Current Blue Beetle)handle the material which is bound to unfold in the next 'Blue and Gold' run. These writers know how to handle characters as big and round and loud as these two and would give the characters room to develop without losing their humour. I pray that this next chapter is unfettered by constant links to other storylines and alternate realities and that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold are allowed to have a free flowing and simple plot line because as any fan knows with these two it's them and not the story arc that truly matters, but I fear the worst. I guess all I want is for the dialogue, or banter between the two of them to take me back to those great JLA stories I grew up with. Ohhh...I just thought...they have to introduce Guy Gardner to this book, the potential for mayhem could be tremendous!
|
| Date Joined: | Jan. 14, 2008 |
| City: | shadows & madness |
| Gender: | Male |
| Alignment: | Good |
| Points: | 5,940 Points |
| Ranked: | Ranked #221 of 51,074 |
|
Batman character - 286 points |
|
|
Mike Grell person - 190 points |
|
|
Green Arrow character - 148 points |
|
|
Hulk character - 142 points |
|
|
Superman character - 122 points |
|
|
ABC Warriors team - 122 points |
|
|
Justice League Of America team - 110 points |
|
|
Hal Jordan character - 104 points |
|
a list of 16 items by Jonas Shade
a list of 12 items by Jonas Shade
|
Red L.A.M.P.
1 day, 7 hours ago Red L.A.M.P. is listen to the ComicVine Podcast cause it's FUNNY! |
|
|
SuperCoonce
4 days, 5 hours ago SuperCoonce just deployed some special code for CV. |
|
|
G-Man
2 weeks, 5 days ago G-Man is working on a review. |
|
|
Captain Cascader
4 months, 2 weeks ago Captain Cascader is so proud of what Comic Vine has become! |
|
