Best Panel *EVER*
From Infinite Crisis 7:
I hate Superboy Prime. Sorry, I do. I think he makes a neat villain but as a character, I hate him. He's self absorbed, sociopathic, imbicilic and blind.
I know some people thought that the whole "Stop making me kill you"/"I'm supposed to be Superman" parts in IC4 (I think that's the issue) made Superboy Prime a little more sympathetic. Not me. As soon as he accidently killed one person, he should have backed down. The fact that he kept going, and kept blaming *them* for his actions made him irredeemably. It's like a bully going to a child, grabbing their arm and flailing it against the kid saying "Why are you hitting yourself?"
Sorry, I believe in personal responsibility. Once is an accident, if you continue and more people are hurt, you're a monster. Plain and simple. I have a lot of gray areas morally, but personal responsibility is an issue I percieve in very black and white terms. Right or wrong, you are responsible for what you do.
And he's so damn whiny. Alex might be crazy but he didn't whine. Kal-L was desperate, but he didn't whine. And Alex, Kal and Kara (PG) suffered the same damn thing he did. He had the same sort of angsty irritating quality Kara (SG) did in the first few issues of Supergirl, essentially seeming to have the notion that his painful past and losses excuse or counter everything he's ever done. And no one *ever* calls characters like that on their schtick.
So that made this scene in IC7 possibly the single greatest panel I've ever seen. EVER.
Because *finally* someone is calling him on it.
And it's Guy of course, because if anyone has enough balls or few enough brains to call a volatile kid who was already one of the most powerful people in the universe, in the suit of Doom, who's just broken through a gigantic wall and has started killing them a "crybaby."
And it's reason #546 why I love Guy: because he says what I think.
Guy does not care how rough your life is or how much you've lost. He doesn't care if you've got practically the power of a god in the body of an angry teen, he doesn't care that you could squash him like a bug. If you are emo, he's gonna call you names.
Because Guy has no patience for Emo.
I hate Superboy Prime. Sorry, I do. I think he makes a neat villain but as a character, I hate him. He's self absorbed, sociopathic, imbicilic and blind.
I know some people thought that the whole "Stop making me kill you"/"I'm supposed to be Superman" parts in IC4 (I think that's the issue) made Superboy Prime a little more sympathetic. Not me. As soon as he accidently killed one person, he should have backed down. The fact that he kept going, and kept blaming *them* for his actions made him irredeemably. It's like a bully going to a child, grabbing their arm and flailing it against the kid saying "Why are you hitting yourself?"
Sorry, I believe in personal responsibility. Once is an accident, if you continue and more people are hurt, you're a monster. Plain and simple. I have a lot of gray areas morally, but personal responsibility is an issue I percieve in very black and white terms. Right or wrong, you are responsible for what you do.
And he's so damn whiny. Alex might be crazy but he didn't whine. Kal-L was desperate, but he didn't whine. And Alex, Kal and Kara (PG) suffered the same damn thing he did. He had the same sort of angsty irritating quality Kara (SG) did in the first few issues of Supergirl, essentially seeming to have the notion that his painful past and losses excuse or counter everything he's ever done. And no one *ever* calls characters like that on their schtick.
So that made this scene in IC7 possibly the single greatest panel I've ever seen. EVER.
Because *finally* someone is calling him on it.
And it's Guy of course, because if anyone has enough balls or few enough brains to call a volatile kid who was already one of the most powerful people in the universe, in the suit of Doom, who's just broken through a gigantic wall and has started killing them a "crybaby."
And it's reason #546 why I love Guy: because he says what I think.
Guy does not care how rough your life is or how much you've lost. He doesn't care if you've got practically the power of a god in the body of an angry teen, he doesn't care that you could squash him like a bug. If you are emo, he's gonna call you names.
Because Guy has no patience for Emo.
posted by kalinara @ 4:21 AM
18 Comments:
At May 04, 2006 7:35 AM,
Anonymous said…
We have seen the face of Pure Evil...and,jeez,is it ever ANNOYING!
At May 04, 2006 8:25 AM,
CalvinPitt said…
I would have really enjoyed seeing every hero in the DC Universe line-up, and each one gets to bust a non-powered Whiny-Superboy in the nose.
Oh well, maybe that'll be a special event.
At May 04, 2006 9:20 AM,
Anonymous said…
Non-powered doesn't mean non-threat (see Robin 149 OYL, man every page and my grin just got wider!)) but I digress
Guy Gardner= Dirty Harry Calehan DCU style I LOVE IT! Now all we need is to team him w/ Alan for the most badass GL story ever:)
At May 04, 2006 9:27 AM,
ShellyS said…
I hate him, too. That's what makes him such a good villain. He's not gonna turn to mush at the end and beg forgiveness. He's psychotic, through and through.
At May 04, 2006 9:31 AM,
Sleestak said…
I dunno. Having read SBP's first appearence I'm having a hard time reconciling the hopeful, lonely kid with the psycho he is today. But if DC is going that route with him then please don't have Parrallax-Prime controlling his actions or something stupid like that.
If he is evil then he needs to be that way because of personal flaws. No redemption or "We don't like it but we have to work with him whether we like it or not" stories.
At May 04, 2006 9:55 AM,
joncormier said…
Guy is the DCU answer to Punk Rock. He's attitude and follow through. It ain't complex, it ain't high art, but it rocks the foundations harder than anyone else. It's hard on the sleeve, kick to the crotch attitude.
I was never a GL fan but I'm looking forward to the GL:Corps now.
At May 04, 2006 10:04 AM,
kalinara said…
anon: heh, I concur. That bit at the end with the S was nice and freaky
calvin: Yep. Still, his reaction to being called a crybaby was pretty great.
green: hee
shelly: Yep. He's really scary. But it is great to have *someone* call him on the twit he is. :-)
sleestak: I've got the advantage I admit, being such a newbie I'm reading a lot of this backwards, so reconciling the change isn't hard for me.
jon: Yep! GLC will be a blast.
(I also loved the weird brotherly moments between Hal and Guy in this issue too...)
At May 04, 2006 10:32 AM,
Steve said…
I have to admit to getting a lot of guilty pleasure out of Superboy-Prime in IC, because I've just never liked the old-school Superboy, so seeing the character (or an otherdimensional equivalent) reduced to a whining, murderous nutball is a bit of a kick for me.
He'd make an interesting villain, but even setting aside the legal entanglements...are they really going to have somebody named "Superboy" as a recurring villain? Given that his whole schtick is that he's insistent on becoming Superman, it seems unlikely that he'd pick a new name for convenience's sake.
At May 04, 2006 11:02 AM,
Steven said…
Well, DiDio seems to be calling him Prime, which I think is a hoot, considering the other character with the same name was an immature boy with the powers of Superman whose "universe" (i.e. comic book company) was erased after it was absorbed by a larger "universe."
"Parrallax-Prime"
And here I thought more could have been done with that, considering Hal's motivation for causing Zero Hour was so similar to Prime's. I guess I just wanted the line "I understand. I've been where you are. And I was wrong." There were a few callbacks to Emerald Twilight, including Hal's right arm in a sling, but nothing that mentioned that Hal, y'know, successfully destroyed the universe.
Maybe that's still to come, considering the two prisoners of Oa are Prime and Parallax...
At May 04, 2006 11:23 AM,
kalinara said…
steven: It is pretty interesting. :-)
jamawalk: Aww, the spirit of punk isn't just about who you vote for, I'd say Guy could qualify. :-)
But the cowboy thing works too. :-)
At May 04, 2006 12:01 PM,
joncormier said…
I have the benefit of not knowing his history. He is therefore punk to me.
Although he could just as easily be a REpublican or a Torie for the same reasons I gave. You know, all grassroots, I don't care what the "facts" tell you I'm going with my gut on this...
At May 04, 2006 1:39 PM,
Ragnell said…
joncornmier -- You just hit the nail on the head there.
He's really only politcally conservative because in the 80s that was the best way to make him obnoxious to the rest of the team (the GLC or the JLI). Especially when trying to work with the Russians. That was hilarious. I think he was banned from Russian airspace by the end of the first JLI issue where they met the Rocket Reds.
At May 04, 2006 3:15 PM,
Anonymous said…
Guy Gardener w/ ring generated Magnum .357 w/ Kryptonite hollowpoints, If I ever see it I will most definitely be a lucky punk:-)
At May 04, 2006 3:54 PM,
Anonymous said…
>sigh< Like Sleestak I've read Superboy Prime's original appearance. I was not thrilled at how the character was shat upon in this series. When he was first reintroduced in IC#1 I was excited to see this bright, likeable, optimistic kid back in the DCU. Seeing the character written as a whiny villain is irritating and I was kind of hoping to see him kick Guy Gardner's head clean off his shoulders. Boo on this series. Double-boo!
At May 04, 2006 6:13 PM,
Marc Burkhardt said…
One of the best Guy moments ever. Now if he could just turn his attention to faux-grunge acts like Nickleback, I'd be forever grateful.
At May 04, 2006 7:46 PM,
kalinara said…
steve pheley: Well, it'll probably be a while before they use him as a long term threat, so maybe the legal mess'll be cleared up by then.
jon: yep, grassroots all the way.
ragnell: Well, even without that aspect it makes some sense to view Guy as a moderate conservative. He seems closer to libertarian to me really, (fiscally conservative, ethically liberal). Besides, back even ten years ago the conservative/liberal divide hadn't yet exploded like it is now...
green: um...he conjured a yellow cowboy suit once?
anon: I suppose on some sense I can understand the frustration, though I admit the transformation makes sense to me.
And honestly, I'd much rather them do it to a character that was only really a feature in the last Crisis than one that's been around beyond that.
Fortress: Heh, I don't think Guy cares much about that sort of thing.
At May 05, 2006 11:40 AM,
Steven said…
Guy's a cop, yeah. But he's also the "bad" cop. The renegade cop, the one who is constantly chewed out by his superior for reckless endangerment, who constantly has to turn in his badge and his gun just when he would be most useful. The cop his straight-laced old school partner, his by-the-book black partner, and his wide-eyed rookie partner, are a little fearful of, and also grudgingly like and respect.
He respresents the authority, but he also represents rebellion against that authority (making him the perfect metaphor for the superhero!).
In short, he's a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll.
(okay, I'm a Kyle man myself, but Kal is slowly raising my opinion of this Gardner guy)
At May 05, 2006 12:08 PM,
kalinara said…
jamawalk: It's okay man, Guy doesn't care what you think of him anyway.
He'll keep you down whenever he damn well pleases and you're gonna *like* it. :-P
steven: brilliant analogy. :-)
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