Massive SPOILERS for Death of the New Gods #1.
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They killed Big Barda.
Off-panel.
Without a fight.
To kick off her husband's quest for vengeance.
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WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU, DC?!?!!?!?
We are talking about the character who is possibly the most empowering super-hero for female comics readers short of Wonder Woman. A consumate warrior -- the greatest warrior of all the New Gods -- who can stand to be second to no one, man or woman. A woman who can trade punches with SUPERMAN and stand a good chance of winning. One-half of the DCU's most celebrated married couple after Lois and Clark.
YOU DO NOT STUFF BIG BARDA IN A REFRIDGERATOR!!!!!!!!!
What the fuck were you thinking, Starlin?! The woman is a WARRIOR! She should at least go out swinging! If Barda should die, her death should mean something more than a "you touched my stuff" plot for her husband! Her death should have been nothing less than a blaze of fucking glory!
God fucking damn it, I am incensed. I am furious. This is unthinkable.
Oh, for the love of Jack Kirby, where's Gail Simone when you need her?
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16 comments:
I refuse to believe she's gone for good... or even until this Crisis Is Over. But STILL, how unbelievably LAME! Barda shot through the boobs and surrounded by groceries!
Scott, that paragon of serenity and love, swearing vengeance and contemplating use of the Anti-life equation, only to dissolve into "She wouldn't have wanted this!" Oh, bite me. That's NOT DRAMA, DC!
DC Hates Women... It’s the only explanation that makes sense
I don't think it's that DC hates women, so much as DC just doesn't give a shit about women. It's a boys' only club and they're determined to keep it that way, and they don't even realize it because that's how it's always been for them.
I also think the blame for these kinds of things should be placed as much at the feet of the writers as the editorial. If DC hated women, they wouldn't have writers like Greg Rucka and Gail Simone and Brian K. Vaughn on their payroll. Jim Starlin chose to kill Barda this way; it would have happened differently, I'm sure, if Simone were writing. Likewise Steph Brown's death if someone other than Bill Willingham had written it.
Wow. I know it's a Comics Death and can easily be undone but still... Big Barda? Why not anyone else?
I'm with Zhinxy, too. That's not drama, that's cliched crapola.
DC doesn't hate women, that would mean that they think about women when they write the scripts. :\ This was about Scott and giving him angst™ and what better way than to kill of a woman in his life? e_e
Wow. I know it's a Comics Death and can easily be undone but still... Big Barda? Why not anyone else?
Um... but there were others. Black Racer and Magnar (who was also killed off panel) died in this issue as well. This isn't including Lightray and Sleez, who've already died in the pages of Countdown. But since they were all males I guess they don't count. >shrugs<
The book is called "Death of the New Gods," folks. The only ones who will be assured to "go down fighting" are Darksied (who is the main bad guy within their world), Orion and Mister Miracle (the only ones to ever carry their own titles respectively). If you are expecting pomp and circumstance endings for all the other lesser known New Gods, like Takion, Kalibak, Metron, (yes, even) Big Barda and all the others, you obviously are new to superhero comics.
Darksied, Orion and Mister Miracle are the "stars" of the New Gods world. Everyone else is just a "supporting actor." If you expect anything else, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment.
As for me, the only thing I can find fault with the issue is that it was pretty much predictable throughout the issue. Not much in the way of any shocks or surprises, really. I hope Starlin isn't planning to drag this out like this, or I won't be here past issue #2.
...Oy.
Um... but there were others. Black Racer and Magnar (who was also killed off panel) died in this issue as well. This isn't including Lightray and Sleez, who've already died in the pages of Countdown. But since they were all males I guess they don't count. >shrugs<
Don't put words in my mouth. Look, bub, I'm pretty pissed off about Lightray going out like a bitch, too. Waste of another good character. But he wasn't a consummate warrior like Barda. Lightray was Orion's sidekick. Barda was Scott Free's partner. She may not have shared billing with Scott, but she was every bit as important as him in their relationship. She was a super-hero in her own right. She had her own story, her own motives, her own relationships, her own adventures.
Furthermore, Lightray at least got to die on-panel. Barda went out off-panel on her goddamn kitchen floor. Does the significance of that escape you?
I'm more pissed about Black Racer than I am about Lightray, but at least his death was about him. We got to see how he reacted to it. Not Barda.
And who the hell is Magnar? Did anyone anywhere ever give a shit about Magnar? No. That is not the same.
If you are expecting pomp and circumstance endings for all the other lesser known New Gods, like Takion, Kalibak, Metron, (yes, even) Big Barda and all the others, you obviously are new to superhero comics.
Just an FYI: Some people might stand for this kind of condescending bullshit, but I don't.
See my point above: Big Barda is just as important in Scott Free's adventures as Scott himself is. They're a package deal. As far as I'm concerned, she's more than just a "supporting actor." That's like killing Lois Lane off-panel, only moreso.
They're a package deal. As far as I'm concerned, she's more than just a "supporting actor."
The key words in what you just said: "As far as I'm concerned." Yes, for YOU she is more than that, but who exactly are you? Unless you are:
a) The owner of the rights of the character(s) involved
b) The publisher who has control of what see print
c) The writer of the story and in control of what will happen in it
All your "as far as you are concerned" means nothing to anyone, save yourself.
All I really need to say at this point is what i already said before, which is: "Darksied, Orion and Mister Miracle are the "stars" of the New Gods world. Everyone else is just a "supporting actor." If you expect anything else, you are only setting yourself up for disappointment."
If this is a reality you cannot accept, which your words would seem to indicate, then you probably shouldn't continue to read this series. You are probably just going to be disappointed at the results.
Barda went out off-panel on her goddamn kitchen floor. Does the significance of that escape you?
No, I just don't find it significant in the first place. Of course, I also don't buy all the feminist-minded venom that anything that even remotely touches on something which is seen as a "classic gender role stereotype" is automatic grounds for flying off the handle, either. But then, I don't go foaming at the mouth after reading the first part of an eight part story, either. Guess I'm funny that way.
I'm pretty pissed off about Lightray going out like a bitch
>snip<
I'm more pissed about Black Racer than I am about Lightray
Well, if you feel this way already, you probably should not read the rest of the series, simply for the sake of your mental health, not to mention your blood pressure, because more and more New Gods (some of whom I'm sure you like) are going to continue to die off (a lot of them off-panel, even) before this is all over.
As for me, well, I don't get "pissed off" about what a writer does to a company owned character made of paper and ink all that much (certainly not to your level). Especailly since I know pretty much anything done in a work of fiction can be undone. But, again, I guess I'm just funny that way. I'm only looking for an entertaining story to be told (although, as I noted, this first chapter was pretty predictable), not raging for things to be done how I'd like them. Where's the fun in that?
Don't buy all that feminist clap-trap about Barda being Kirby's favorite New God!
Or any of those LIES about her being based on his OWN beloved wife - Who was supposedly one kick ass woman.
Scott is the STAR, and Barda is HIS LITTLE WOMAN! IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE THIS, YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT KIRBY'S MYTHOS!
BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT ART HAVING AN AUDIENCE, ONLY THE CREATORS CAN...
BLAH BLAH BLAH...
:)
Don't buy all that feminist clap-trap about Barda being Kirby's favorite New God!
Or any of those LIES about her being based on his OWN beloved wife - Who was supposedly one kick ass woman.
All of which is fine and dandy, so long as Kirby was the one make the work. Once he was no longer doing it, the choice was no longer his (at least, not since he didn't own the rights to the characters). And as time has gone on, Darksied, Orion and Mister Mircale have become the stars of the New Gods show. Everyone else... supporting actors.
Could that be made different, maybe. But unless you fit into the catagory of Rights Owner, Publisher, or Writer (of the work in question), there's really nothing you can do, save to either enjoy the work or not. And if you don't, you certainly shouldn't let it get to you to the point that you become "incensed" over a work of fiction, which is constantly changing with the whims of corporate bean-counters and/or a creator's artistic desires.
I save my "incensed" feelings for something that actually does harm to real people, not works of fiction, about people made of ink and paper, I'm easily able to simply ignore if I don't enjoy them.
Art can have an audience, but the audience and their wishes are not paramount to what is most important to what art is created. Nor should they be. I'm sorry if that reality bothers you so.
"I save my "incensed" feelings for something that actually does harm to real people"
Hi James! I bet I know something Filby doesn't! :)
@zhinxy: Right on.
@Meeley: I've got better things to do than waste time with trolls, and if you're going to continue being so obnoxious and condescending I'm not going to bother. Refer back to zhinxy's last post because I've got nothing more to say that'll register on your radar.
@Ragnell: I'm aware of the WFA linking kerfluffle, yes, and I appreciate the hypocrisy, yes.
There is no way Barda is REALLY dead, but still, DC is WAYYY Bogus for that crap. Starlin is a legend, but he needs to get with the program or should I say BUCK the program of having to kill women for the "man" to have motivation...
I've got better things to do than waste time with trolls, and if you're going to continue being so obnoxious and condescending I'm not going to bother. Refer back to zhinxy's last post because I've got nothing more to say that'll register on your radar.
This might be a waste of time, if you actually mean what you say here, but what the hey...
Well, I'm sorry that someone expressing the reality of this and the somewhat pointless (not to mention unhealthy) excerise of getting "incensed" over a work of fiction is condesending to you. But it's your blog, it's your call.
As far as obnoxious goes, I think making that a work of fiction, which can (and probably will, at some point) be overturned, is something which is some form of "threat" to people is way more obnoxious than anything I've written here. I mean, what are you so fearful of? People will think it's cool to kill a woman in her kitchen? If anyone is taking something they read in a comic (and a superhero one, at that) as a model for their "life lessons", then I would strongly urge that person (or those close to them) to get mental help immediately. A work of pulp fiction (which superhero comics are just one form of) is nothing to base your views of life on. Just as they are not something worth getting "incensed" over, either. And if you truly are getting that feeling from reading this series (or any other one), it really would be for the best for you to stop reading it, as to generate that feeling over something you know isn't real is very much unhealthy.
Finally, as to the WFA thing, that only really proves my point, not makes me into a hypocrite. I was incensed by actions taken towards me by real people. People who took those actions to do me harm (even if the harm was really only that of being a couple of two-faced pests). This wasn't a work of fiction that I was angered by, but the actions of real people which were taken in a very devious manner towards me.
So, I stand by my eariler remark about what incenses me. Real people and the real actions they take towards others. A work of fiction isn't even on my list of things that deserve such a reaction. Not the least of which is because I don't have to read it, if I don't want to. The same choice you have here.
James, I think you spelt condescending wrong.
I read somewhere that Starlin wanted the killer to be absolutely unfightable, of such power that no battle could even take place. That may have been the point of Barda not having a fight scene, and keeping it off-camera keeps the killer a mystery. There should not be any New God, of any gender or power, who can begin to fight with this killer.
I say, good luck giving us a villain who will be convincing in that role.
I'd like to see Barda and Scott together again, somehow, but I'm still more hacked off about Conner Kent. The New Gods are more likely to be reconstituted someday.
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