[ SECRET POST #1747 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1747 ⌋


Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 13 pages, 316 secrets from Secret Submission Post #250.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 2 - not!secrets ], [ 1 2 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 - too big ], [ 1 2 3 - repeats ]
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I will always hate Blockbuster for what he did to Dick Grayson. Nightwing was involved in a fight (to stop an assassin from killing their next mark, if I recall) that spilled out of a skyscraper and onto the street. Further down this street and in the back of a car, Blockbuster's extremely elderly, extremely unwell mother has a heart-attack (allegedly from the excitement/stress of seeing this fight going on). So Blockbuster decided to blame her death entirely on Nightwing, not the fact that his mother was already ill and had a history of heart problems. He set out to systematically destroy Nightwing. After learning his real name, he sent an assassin after Dick's girlfriend (she decided to get between them and make them break up rather than kill Barbara, which Blockbuster accepted), burned down Haly's circus, hired Deathstroke to kill Dick's boss and good friend Amy (Dick had to buy Slade off), and fucking blew up an entire building of innocent people just because that was the building Dick lived in. And then he tracked Dick down, just to gloat that he would never let Dick have another moment of happiness and would kill everyone and everything Dick ever loved. Even in death, he was still responsible for tormenting Dick into a mental breakdown because Dick wouldn't stop punishing himself for not doing enough to stop Tarantula killing Blockbuster.

Loki and Magneto are shades-of-grey villains who have actually helped the good guys before, so I like them for that, for being complicated characters who I can still be pissed at when they're in full-blown I Am Evil mode and yet cheer for when they actually do good.

The Joker used to be interesting, in that he was a wildcard who would do literally anything if it amused him, not an I-want-to-bone-him sort of way, but he's become ridiculous and I wish they'd just kill him off for a while (because he'd inevitably come back). Death In The Family and The Killing Joke should be the peak of his evil and DC should really stop trying to top it by coming up with the most disgusting shit possible. That tetanus-baby thing in Gotham City Sirens fucking turned my stomach.

If Muraki is the guy from Descendants Of Darkness (sorry, don't remember the original title) then I don't like that molesty bastard. But he's also from a manga, where the treatment of villains tend to be different than it is in Western comics. It also has yaoi elements, and if Fandom Secrets has taught us anything about yaoi fandom, it's that dub-con/non-con elements are extremely popular.

If Lucius means Lucius Malfoy, he was at best a glorified henchman who had his entire life destroyed by following Voldemort and he winds up broken and pathetic. He's not really on a par with the other villains - it would be a more accurate comparison if you'd said Voldemort. Also, Harry Potter is actually a larger and more vocal fandom that comics (despite comics having been around far longer) and more people in a fandom means even characters that might not be traditionally popular have more people to gush over them.

I will admit that having Loki, Magneto, the Joker and Lucius portrayed by handsome and charming actors might add to their appeal, but those movies also take the time to portray the villains in a more sympathetic light so I don't think it's fair to say it's only their looks that affect the way people see them. It's the scripts and people who aren't familiar with the characters in their original source material seeing a very specific portrayal of the character. Or even fans of the original source material being able to recognise the movies as a separate canon and a different, more likeable version of the character.

But at the end of the day, Blockbuster tried to ruin the life of one of DC's most beloved heroes (and one of my favourite characters). I think people not liking him is a little more complicated than "we're all shallow".

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Man, sorry for all the ~feelings~ guys.

I just remembered, I should have pointed out (for clarity's sake) that when it comes to the Joker, Death In The Family and The Killing Joke happened something like 20 years ago. For a lot of readers, that means they were established canon before they even started reading comics. In comparison, Blockbuster's attack on Dick was much more recent and so still fresh in the mind. Also, Death In The Family happened over 4 issues and The Killing Joke was a standalone graphic novel, whereas Blockbuster's building hatred of Nightwing, his snapping over his mother's death, his attack on Dick and the fallout lasted over a huge number of issues. I didn't particularly like that storyline, but holy shit did they commit to patiently setting it up for maximum emotional gut-punching. I also believe the Joker was discretely benched for a while after Death In The Family because so many readers were upset at what the character had done. So while what the Joker did was disgusting and awful, it's often viewed in a different way because it happened so long ago, so it's not still a fresh wound for readers.

apparently I am ~full of feelings~ when it comes to Lucius Malfoy

[murderershair.livejournal.com]

Glorified henchmen? Dude, some days I wish Lucius was the primary villain of HP. He got closer to achieving his goals than Voldemort ever did. Harry couldn't actually get him in trouble for the diary thing, if Hermione hadn't happened to take enough classes to need a Time Turner, Buckbeak would have died, Lucius totally got away with the terrorism at the World Cup, and Voldy wouldn't have gotten Harry into the Department of Mysteries if it weren't for Kreacher going to Narcissa in OotP.

Re: apparently I am ~full of feelings~ when it comes to Lucius Malfoy

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, sorry, it's true that Lucius did start out as one of the series main villains and caused a lot of shit. But once Voldemort was back on the scene, there was a pretty fast downward slide. He was the lead-in villain for Voldemort, as it were, and once the 'Real Villain' showed up, he got sidelined. But I feel liked Lucius was always a different sort of villain to the others mentioned in this secret. He was petty and vicious and most of his actions were either out of a lust for power and prestige or because of a grudge. He was never a "I want to take over the world!!" kind of villain, you know. Which is probably why, like you say, he actually got closer to his goals - because his goals were more realistic!

[bunnymcfoo.livejournal.com]

GodDAMN I love comic book geeks. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3


In other words: yes, this. I like complexity and shades of gray in my villains - or I like them to be like the Joker used to be, so I can hate them with a blazing passion.

(Note: Sometimes the Joker is complex and awesome, for instance in Arkham Asylum. However, most of the time in the 80s and early 90s he was just made of undiluted psychopathic sadistic rapist evil and that's its own kind of awesome for a comic book baddie. I object to portrayals of the Joker that don't make clear that yes, HE thinks he's funny, and occasionally he is, but mostly the dude is just FUCKED UP.)

[(Anonymous)]

Love you too, bb! ♥

Yes, this is exactly how I feel about the Joker. He can be written as a character you want to read about, because he's a dynamic, unpredictable villain who is literally capable of anything, and sometimes, just sometimes, he'll actually make you laugh and then you feel bad about it and then you feel awful. When he's written well, the reader should hate him but in a way that makes them want to keep reading. But recently they've made him the personification of all evil who does things because they're evil, not because they make sense to his twisted brain. They slap him in a book when they want to up the stakes, and it can feel cheap and pointless, especially when he's not acting like himself. DC (and Marvel as well) seem so determined to go Grim Dark that they've crossed lines that can't really be uncrossed. Like Identity Crisis and the scene with Dr Light and Sue Dibny or Steph being tortured by Black Mask in War Games. When you've gone to the place with rape and torture, there's not really much lower you can sink. But it makes everything else seem almost trivial in comparison - "ooh, hero, you got shot in the leg? Tsk, whatever, did you see what Black Mask did to Maggie Kyle?!?" It's like you can't go anywhere after that, down, up or just trucking along.

Urgh, I equal parts love and loathe DC.

[tastylogic.livejournal.com]

Daaaaamn this comment is all shades of awesome. I agree that the more popular villains become so popular not just cus of the smexy actors, but because they have excellent writing behind them. I like my villain complex and awesome, not murdery for no reason.

[veronica-rich.livejournal.com]

..... Sheldon, is that you?

[captain-emily.livejournal.com]

I agree so freaking much. Fuck Blockbuster. There is nothing even remotely sympathetic about him, especially when you consider that his target was Nightwing. Everybody loves Nightwing, in canon and out. (Except Didio, but no one likes him anyway.)

I don't usually fangirl for villains (I like my Big Damn Heroes too much), but I can still see the difference between Pure Evil and Shades of Gray. I can understand why someone might fangirl Magneto or Loki (even though I'm sure the pretty actors are a part of it), but I do not get the love of flat characters whose only defining characteristics are evil, evil, and more evil.

Also, the Joker can be awesome in the right hands, but he can also be a Class A Disaster. It just depends on who is writing him.

[captain-emily.livejournal.com]

And damnit. I totally meant to use this icon.

[(Anonymous)]

So I did not know who Blockbuster was before reading this (I'm a Marvel fangirl, barring occasional trips into the DC-verse for Batfam antics and Young Justice), but now I hate him too. ;D Thank you, anon. Nicely done.
<3 Dick Grayson.