OFFICIAL IDENTITY CRISIS ISSUE 7 SPOILER THREAD----SPOILERS---

[Aman619]

miniature jungle babe.... mmmmmmm.

[Kevin Boyd]

Atom and the Hulk could go on a double-date with their miniature jungle babes.

[Hobgoblin]

I too was very disappointed when I found out who the culprit was. But after thinking about it, a mysterty book could not have been much better. I mean who in their right mind would have expected "Ms. Atom," who had also been a victim of her own attacks ..........

[chrisco37]

It would have been better to have some contrived "Deus Ex Machina" resolution than to simply say "well, Jean was crazy."

 

That's not a murder mystery ending, to me. There was no REAL motive, because the killer was INSANE. That takes ALL the fun out of the guesswork and it's an incredibly cheap (and easy) plot device.

 

I don't think so at all. The motive was that she wanted to be back with Ray. How she went about it is not out of the realm of possibility. She was, to use a (lame) cliche, 'blinded by love'.

 

Have you ever dealt with a 'crazy ex'? I mean crazy enough to be admitted? I have. It's not fun, and it doesn't "make sense". They rationalize behavior in a way that we cannot comprehend. It's frightening and painful.

 

I think Meltzer did a good job in the final Jean/Ray scene of capturing that.

[Illiterati-migration]

Robin was affected.

Elongated Man.

Atom.

Firestorm.

 

Robin - Okay, fine. I'll give you Robin.

 

Elongated Man - Not a "mainstream" character. It's sad what happened, but he's insignificant.

 

Atom - What will come of this? Another "Sword of the Atom" mini-series?

 

Firestorm - He's already back, isn't he?

 

 

DC has been hyping this book as the book that will "CHANGE THE DC UNIVERSE"... it didn't.

[plitch]

Touche'

[Kevin Boyd]

Well, what it's done is eliminate the sense of trust that existed before. Turns out that "off camera" the previously untarnishable DC heroes are a lot more manipulative than previously shown. Is that a good thing?

[Hobgoblin]

Firestorm - He's already back, isn't he?

 

Yeah, how do you kill off a character who has a current on-going series?

 

I don't think the Identity Crisis is over though. Events from this miniseries are supposed to continue for the next several months in Flash, i.e. the official first appearance of Captain Boomerang II, which we've really already seen and the upcoming Rogue War.

[Kevin Boyd]

Yeah, how do you kill off a character who has a current on-going series?

 

The Firestorm killed in IC was not the same Firestorm that has a monthly title. The original Firestorm Ronnie Raymond "died" in Identity Crisis and when he "exploded" part of his essence merged with a civilian and created the "new" Firestorm - the central character in the current series.

 

However, Ronnie Raymond IS returning in the February issue of Firestorm.

[Illiterati-migration]

It would have been better to have some contrived "Deus Ex Machina" resolution than to simply say "well, Jean was crazy."

 

That's not a murder mystery ending, to me. There was no REAL motive, because the killer was INSANE. That takes ALL the fun out of the guesswork and it's an incredibly cheap (and easy) plot device.

 

I don't think so at all. The motive was that she wanted to be back with Ray. How she went about it is not out of the realm of possibility. She was, to use a (lame) cliche, 'blinded by love'.

 

Have you ever dealt with a 'crazy ex'? I mean crazy enough to be admitted? I have. It's not fun, and it doesn't "make sense". They rationalize behavior in a way that we cannot comprehend. It's frightening and painful.

 

I think Meltzer did a good job in the final Jean/Ray scene of capturing that.

 

Crazy exes are fine for some types of stories (see "Fatal Attraction"), but not for a murder MYSTERY. When you're trying to figure out a killer's motive and reasons for actions via clues and hints along the way, you (the reader) NEED to have the ability to rationalize the actions.

 

Meltzer took the "mystery" element out of this book by making the killer insane. By doing that, there was no rationale for her actions, no "real" motive, no reason for her to do the things she was doing... so why bother calling it a mystery?

 

This is exactly the ending I was afraid of all along, and the reason I was suspecting it was because the clues just didn't add up. Nothing added up. It still doesn't add up, particularly with the revelation that the killer was "merely" insane. Meltzer followed SOME of the rules of a mystery (the killer makes an appearance in the early goings, etc.), but not ALL of them, and that's incredibly frustrating.

[Ares]

Firestorm - He's already back, isn't he?

 

Yeah, how do you kill off a character who has a current on-going series?

 

I don't think the Identity Crisis is over though. Events from this miniseries are supposed to continue for the next several months in Flash, i.e. the official first appearance of Captain Boomerang II, which we've really already seen and the upcoming Rogue War.

 

It was his death in IC that lead to the powers being given to a new Firestorm!

[Hobgoblin]

Yeah, how do you kill off a character who has a current on-going series?

 

The Firestorm killed in IC was not the same Firestorm that has a monthly title. The original Firestorm Ronnie Raymond "died" in Identity Crisis and when he "exploded" part of his essence merged with a civilian and created the "new" Firestorm - the central character in the current series.

 

However, Ronnie Raymond IS returning in the February issue of Firestorm.

 

Oh, well that's just retarded. I've actually never read the Firestorm book, is it any good?

[Illiterati-migration]

Well, what it's done is eliminate the sense of trust that existed before. Turns out that "off camera" the previously untarnishable DC heroes are a lot more manipulative than previously shown. Is that a good thing?

 

He eliminated the "sense of trust" for whom, exactly?

 

The Flash.

 

I mean, am I missing anyone? Was anyone else let in on the mindwipe? And hasn't the idea of "The Human Hero"-- complete with human emotions and capable of making human mistakes-- been done before... a LOT? (In every damned book since the Modern age began, even?)

[Kevin Boyd]

Didn't I warn you to brace yourself for the worst?

 

Don't get me wrong, I liked IC, and I'm not that upset at the end (I've had a few weeks to think about it though), but I agree that making Sue's death an accident at the hands of a manipulative ex-wife of another b-level DC hero is a bit of a cop out. Especially given all of the build up we've given the events over the last 6 months.

 

All I can say is thank god it wasn't the Atom who was the killer. It would have been an even worse cop out to make another silver age hero the villain in a DC "event" series.

[Hobgoblin]

Khoas, I just have to say that everytime I see one of your posts now, I think it's Chrisco, b/c his name is at the bottom. Confusing man!

[Kevin Boyd]

He eliminated the "sense of trust" for whom, exactly?

 

 

I don't trust the DC characters anymore. There's now precedent for them to be as mercenary as they deem necessary to protect their secrets. The sky's the limit for any writer who wants to touch upon this. If mindwiping and personality changing can now be rationalized as an acceptable means to protect one's secrets, what's next? Murder? Blackmail?

[Hobgoblin]

In the end, I really did enjoy Identity Crisis. I was just starting back up on comics about a month before issue 1 was released. I thought I'd check it out and I've been waiting patiently for it every month. I've always been a fan of Batman, and to some extent Superman, but this really was my first experience with the JLA and the rest of the DC Universe (aside from the Superfriends cartoons). I am now an avid reader of not only Bats and Supes books, but also Flash and JLA. I have a new found respect for DC comics which I didn't have during my first run of collecting in the early 90's.

[plitch]

The "Accident" is what Jean called it. She "only" increased her size 12% or some such thing. Do we believe her?

[chrisco37]

Khoas, I just have to say that everytime I see one of your posts now, I think it's Chrisco, b/c his name is at the bottom. Confusing man!

 

He's been called worse.

[Hobgoblin]

The "Accident" is what Jean called it. She "only" increased her size 12% or some such thing. Do we believe her?

 

Yeah, increasing your size by even that slight amount is enough to block an artery. If she was smart at all, she knew what she was doing. Had she ever used the Atom's suits before?