Just Stay at Home: Vibe

Showing posts with label Vibe. Show all posts

My Meat

C'mon, admit it...

You miss Vibe.

And I bet J'onn does, too....

Y'know, it's days like this that I wish Scipio was still blogging (but then, that's really every day). I feel that I -- or at least one of my co-bloggers -- can do a Black Lantern Doctor Polaris or Black Lantern Azrael justice. But a Black Lantern Vibe?

Only Scipio would've had the right words for this momentous occasion.

EVEN VIBE

"Are you planning on bringing back some of the '40s heroes who have died, like Sandman or Starman?" Johns: "Yes."

"Even Vibe is going to come back." Johns said.

EVEN VIBE IS GOING TO COME BACK.

Thanks, Ryan!

Negra Linterna

Usually, I pride myself on confining myself to discussing the inane (e.g., Dazzler), the irrelevant (Aqualad), and the unpopular (e.g., Vibe). But even I cannot resist the urge to discuss, well, the only thing anyone's discussing: Blackest Night.

I should hate it. I mean, really: zombies? [Of course, they're actually revenants, not zombies in the classical voodoo sense, but thanks to all those movies, everyone calls revenants 'zombies' nowadays.]

Yet I do not hate it. I love it. Why?

1. The proper groundwork has been laid. Lordy, the roots of this story are deep within the DCU's history (including elements that I can't mention because they would be spoilers for some inevitable reveals about the Black Lantern). Plus, writers (well, Johns) have built this story brick by brick out of recent year's developments and intentional additions (the death of the Dibnys and many others, the Spectre's punishment of Black Hand, Parallax, the 'emotional color spectrum', the Sinestro War, "Engine City", Xanshi, JLI, the trouble between the Hawks... really, just about everything). This doesn't feel like some external "event'' imposed upon the DCU by editorial fiat that doesn't jibe with anything else. Quite the opposite; it pulls together many loose threads in the DCU and puts them in a overall context that helps it all make more sense and seem more cohesive.

2. The metatextual element. I appreciate when DC takes advantage of an 'event' to do more than simply tell a story. Legends, for example, made complex points about heroism. Blackest Night is a commentary (criticism?) of comic books' Revolving Door of Death. As longtime readers may remember, I am an admirer of the Ivory Soap Method of marketing. "Blackest Night" is an astonishingly bold example. DC has said, "Let's take out two most damning criticisms == that we violently kill off our characters with foolish abandon and that we keep bringing people back from the dead == and make those the central issues in our coolest company-wide story of all time." That's sheer genius.

3. It's not zombies; it's zombies with power rings. Which is, um, totally different. Somehow. It makes you wonder: what side is Driq on?

4. The possibly of fixing, well, almost everything. Ever since 1985, I've been waiting for DC to "fix everything". Crisis on Infinite Earths was the first time DC told me they were going to give themselves a chance to fix everything that needed fixing. I remember being very excited by the idea that DC would "fix everything" by eliminating everything dumb (which is to say, Things That Didn't Make Me Happy in My Comics) and reorganizing and reemphasizing everthing cool. They didn't, of course. Like any legislative body (such as Congress), DC's editors focused too much on changing the situation they didn't like (accumulated Bronze Age continuity) and too little on the new situation they'd be replacing it with (post-Crisis continuity). They gave themselves another chance during Zero Hour (but didn't really fix everything). They gave themselves yet another chance with Infinite Crisis (other than bringing back Barry and Bart Allen, no one has any idea what happened there).

Now, in Blackest Night they have a chance to fix, well, not everything, but almost everything (since most things that "needed fixed" are the pointlessly sensational killings off of characters). I continue to hope that DC will use this opportunity to fix things, much as a battered wife returns to her abusive husband confident that he's sorry, he's changed, and this time it's going to be different. However, this time, I have some evidence on my side: certain things pretty much have to be fixed. Specifically, the currently-dead status of Bruce Wayne and Arthur Curry.

I'm not going to get into an argument here about whether these characters should remain dead and whether DC heroes are really legacies, blah blah blah, and neither are you. Because, frankly, our chatter doesn't really matter. It's just a fact: Bruce Wayne and Arthur Curry aren't going to remain dead, and anyone who thinks otherwise is just being naive. Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash, and Green Arrow didn't stay dead and neither will their two colleagues (J'onn Jonnz? Him I'm not so sure about...).

So, some characters are going to come back from the dead as a result of Blackest Night. That means, in theory, that ANYONE can. Which means, of course...

5. Vibe is comin' back, meng!

Vibe: The Musical

Vibe!

Break-dancing sensation,
every little step he takes

One
thrilling combination,
every move that he makes

One smile and suddenly nobody else will do

You know you'll never be lonely with you-know-who

One
moment in his presence
and you can forget the rest

For the boy is second best to none, son

Oooh! Sigh! Give him your attention

Do I really have to mention
he's the one

He walks into a room and you know he's

uncommonly rare, very unique

peripatetic, poetic and chic

He walks into a room and you know from his
maddening poise, easy elan

(One
thrilling combination,
every move that he makes
he's a special man)

strolling

Can't help all of his qualities extolling

Loaded with charisma is my

jauntily, sauntering, ambling, shambler

Vibe, and you know you must

Shuffle along, join the parade

he's the quintessence of making the grade

This is whatcha call trav'ling!

Oh strut your stuff!

Can't get enough!

Ooh! Sigh! Give him your attention

Do I really have to mention

Vibe's the one!

Vibe vs. Geo-Force

Today, number of fans of Vibe on Facebook?

50.

Number of people in the Geo-Force fan group?

2

Really. And yet Geo-Force continues to get things like Final Crisis tie-in one-shots, while Vibe lies, waiting, in that glass container at the Secret Sanctuary...

Ollie. Hal. Barry. Arthur. And, now it's time to bring back the final missing member of the Iconic Justice League: Paco.

VIBE NEEDS YOU!

Vibe had NO fan page on Facebook?!?!?

Unacceptable!

Well, I fixed that: Vibe's Facebook page.

Gerry Conway, Vibe's creator, sent me a message yesterday: "Vibe has fans???"

YES, Gerry Conway, Vibe has fans. He lives, like Santa, in the hearts of small children everywhere. Every time a Latin child does his first pop and lock, Vibe is there. Whenever an inner city youth thinks, "I want to leave this gang-life behind and put my banana-colored parachute pants in the service of justice," Vibe lives again.

His joy in living, his Golden Age devil may care attitude, his devotion to heroics; Vibe was-- IS --an inspiration to us all.

I wasn't able to get Seth Johnson (Hi, Seth!) to make a Vibe heroclix figure (which is why I have to have mine custom-made... both of them), but I will NOT let this unique hero be forgotten.

Please befriend Vibe, as Vibe befriended the world.

Which Earth is this anyway?

Well, the folks at MTV wasted no time in spoiling whatever glory I might have felt from being among the Comic Blog Elite.

They sent an email to the CBE folks trawling for "young people obsessed with a pop culture phenomenon", to convince them "this was their chance to be heard" on some new freak-show designed to make their viewers feel better because at least they aren't, you know, that guy who dresses up like a Klingon.

On the one hand, this is great validation for CBE. On the other hand, it's still demeaning that producers looking for obsessed fanboy freaks to make fun of go straight to comic book bloggers. It was so upsetting, in fact, that I spent my entire evening last night bitching about it to my life-sized mannequin of Vibe, ruining an otherwise lovely candlelit dinner for two.

Of course, among our own little troop, it's easy to admit that our fondness for comics has colored our worldview. Heck, that's part of their purpose!

But, sometimes -- admit it -- you can forget for a second just which Earth you're on...

The other day, I glanced at some text in an ad for a certain backpack line named Velocity 9, and, before I could realized what it was, my first thought was

"Great Rao, Vandal Savage's drug cartel has reached Earth-Prime!"

How embarrassing.

I remember another from quite a few years ago. A distraught friend call me on the phone to break the news to me: "Princess Diana is dead!" I replied, "Um, yeah, sure. I know that already, Michael. But don't worry, she'll be back within a year or so, I'm certain."

So, I've shared some of MY "Which Earth is this, anyway?" moments with you. Now, it's your turn. When have you suddenly caught yourself confused or miscommunicating because your head's just a bit too close to the staples in your comics?

The Ominious Black Sun

Well, I got suddenly and dramatically sick yesterday. (Dramatically? Shyeah, there's a shock.) Like, fainty sick, as in a Ted Knight style "Assist me to the couch!". That's what happens when you read more than one Starman story in a row; the constitution can only take so much.

As a result, I wasn't able to finish My Diatribe Against Art that I've been thinking about. (Other bloggers rant; I have diatribes). So, instead, I'll have to release this post early...

Annuals used to be a big deal. In an era before nonstop company-wise crossovers and weekly series, annuals were the place were Big Stuff happened. Take, for example, the Justice League of America Annual of 1985.

Lesson? Do not feed Steel chili.

Lots of Things Whose Shock Value is Severely Diminished by Familiarity happen. Red Tornado is destroyed; the JLA satellite is destroyed; Vixen cops a feel.

Do you think she bought the strap-on herself, or was it a gift from Dale?

Many great Vibe moments, of course. Vibe fighting with that jerk, Green Arrow. Vibe working with Black Canary (as he should be, instead of that jerk, Green Arrow). Vibe's jealous face as Vixen cops a feel ("!Don't tell ME to back off of Dale, puta!").

Even Geo-Force gets a moment, during his double date with Black Lightning and Batman.

Finally, I understand why Geo-Force is on the team!

But most of the action centers around the Leaguers and Co. fighting a giant violently pink hole that's sucking in everything it can.

Hmm; what does that remind me of...? Oh, yes, of course...

Zatanna

But none of that is really our purpose for revisiting this issue today. Our real interest in this issue is that contains one of the great Comic Book Haikus of all time, folks...

The space warp is still
hanging there, pulsing like an
ominous black sun.

Leave it to Dale Gunn to produce a haiku that's not just inappropriately florid, but sexually suggestive of, well, of what apparently Vixen wasn't able to resist early. 'Cuz, you know, Dale, that Space Warp is not black; obviously your mind is elsewhere.

What haiku can YOU offer to celebrate this issue, these characters, or the giant pink sucking hole?

VIbe Poll

I need your help.

Much more important, VIBE needs your help.

The good folks at HCRealms -- a well-known Heroclix forum -- are having a poll as to which character should be made in a clix figure for the first time.

Naturally, Vibe is one of the choices. Unfathomably, he is not winning. Very much not winning. Losing, in fact. As in, "last place".

Golden-Age Atom	40	14.13%
Ocean Master	21	7.42%
Gizmo	48	16.96%
Golden-Age Johnny Quick	20	7.07%
Negative Man	29	10.25%
Killer Moth	56	19.79%
Ferro Lad	32	11.31%
Toyman II (Jack Nimball)	14	4.95%
Vibe	8	2.83%
Cyclone	15	5.30%

Behind Toyman II (who I've never even HEARD of?)* Behind CYCLONE?! And you do not want me to start on "Gizmo". This must not stand.

Now, we all love Killer Moth. In fact, if Vibe were not on the list, KM would get my vote.

But Vibe is on the list. Vibe, who sacrificed his life to save an innocent. Vibe, who represented the Latin community as a superhero decades before Jaime Reyes. Vibe, who helped hold the Justice League together when most other heroes -- and editors -- had abandoned it as an outdated concept. Vibe, symbol of the Joy of Comics. Vibe: liver of life; lover of liver; breakdancer.

Go. Go now. Register (yes, it's free, silly) at HCRealms and represent the Absorbascon. Vote your conscience, vote for joy, vote for Vibe.

Or at least for Killer Moth or Ocean Master, cuz I'll be DANGED if Gizmo wins this...

*Please don't give me a lecture on who Toyman II is. I have internet access, too, you know.

Just Stay at Home