All righty, lots of thoughts about IC #1. Up to this point, I'm not sure what to do with the story. Mostly, it's just a matter that there are lots of things in there, and it's really going to depend on how they play them through in the following issues. I don't think it was a brilliant start, (not nearly as strong as Identity Crisis #1 IMNVHO), but it leaves room for alot of interesting stuff.
However, what intrests me about the story is that it's playing around in some territory that comic books have long "winked" at, though the last few years, as comics have gotten "grittier", we've seen more of it.
The very nature of comic books creates one of the largest "problems" or weaknesses. Of course, the problem is created out of one of comic's greatest strengths (isn't that the way that it always goes?) The problem really comes out of the nature of the conflicts in the books. Superhero comics, are, by definition, about heros and villains. As such, good villains are vital for a book, and can make or break a given issue. That pretty much calls for having villains return again and again. You could have an unending series of baddies who die at the end of their arcs (excuse me, did I just hear Frank Castle's nurse call for another drool rag?), but you really lose a lot by doing that.
However, recurring villains create their own problems. While the great villains, like Dr Doom, Magneto, Lex Luthor or the Joker have stood the test of time, it raises the inevitable question of how they keep coming back. There are several different ways to handle it.
1) Even when beaten, the baddie always manages to escape... (Dr. Doom has a degree in this one)
2) The threat is not an individual, but a group. Take the Skrull. Sure, you can beat a Skrull squad, but that doesn't mean that another squad can't show up in 15 issues.
3) The threat is too big to be stopped, but only pushed aside for the time being. Galactus is an example of this... though his first story really should have kept him away for good.
There are others as well. However, the "breakdown" in the DCU of late is in many ways based upon one of the other possibilities. For all intents and purposes, the legal system in the DCU is absolutely worthless. The Prisons can't keep villains in, and they don't rehabilitate them either. So, after 15-20 issues, the baddie is back at his old tricks. Likewise with Arkham. Has anyone ever been cured there? So, when the heros do the "heroic" thing, and turn baddies over to the authorities for justice, everyone knows it is absolutely worthless. Soon enough, they'll be back on the street.
That's the tension they are using in the DCU to set up IC. Wonder Woman knows that there's no place to put Max Lord where he won't b able to take control of Superman again, so she decides to kill him. Dick Grayson has been a headcase ever since Blockbuster died. People always wonder when Batman (or someone else) will jsut flat out kill the Joker and end his rampages.
There's a huge amount of storytelling meat in there. On the other hand, it is a bit risky, since it's nibbling at one of the primary areas of Willful Suspension of Disbelief that's required to read those kinds of stories. Time will tell how they pull that out.
Of course, it is also opening up the larger ethical questions. "Would it be right for Batman to execute the Joker?" Now, Bats won't, just because of his nature, but the argument is out there now. If Diana is justified killing Max, then surely Bruce can kill the Joker. Those are some heavy questions, and things that are going to be sitting in the foreground of IC.
Combine that with Black Adam's coup, and it's easy to see how the Supers in the DCU are putting themselves into a very "Days of Future Past" situation. I didn't get OMAC (I'll get the Trade), but from what I saw of the crossovers, it's drawing from the same well as the Sentinals, and Max isn't all that different from Senator Kelly.
Oh, my vote for the Baddie in IC?
Earth 2 Superman. I just have a gut feeling that he's going to try to restore order the hard way, and go over the top. Though, it's possible that Alex Luthor will be pulling the strings on him.
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