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Jul. 15th, 2004 02:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dewinged-10:43 AM
Okay, hello, boredom! I'm at work, it's relatively quiet, and I need to get the writing push out of my system, I suppose. I'm still stuck on some things, which irks me to no end, so I'm figuring a little essay-ing bit should kick my brain back into gear. And, I've been putting some things off, which means now it might not have as much oomph as it would have 3 weeks ago, but still.
And yes, it's on issue 1. I haven't seen issue 2 yet, but I've been wanting to write this for some time.
.
Okay, let's start with the news from this.
Sue Dibny is dead.
...why do we care?
Now, before I get a lot of really nasty responses to this, I ask you to please let me explain. I'm not asking why /should/ we care, but why /do/ we, as readers, care.
Because we do. Holy crap, do we care.
The reaction to this issue from people online, whether it be reviews, or friends of mine commenting on it, has been mind-blowing with the expressions of shock and sadness. I did the stupid thing and read online spoilers before I read the issue, which is my own fault.
Let me give some examples. One friend (Friend A) said publicly that when he read this issue, they were in tears by the end. Another friend (Friend B) talked to me a few days later. Friend B thought Friend A was exagerrating...until Friend B read the issue for themselves, and realized Friend A was not, because they felt the same exact way.
One online review started this way: Oh God, I hope they find whoever did this and kill them.
And that's one of the nicer ones, kids.
But, it brings me back to my opening thought. Everyone has been up in arms about the murder of Sue Dibny. I've been working on it since then, to explain exactly /why/ everyone's so whipped into a frenzy by this. I've come up with some things, a lot of them surprising me because it means Brad Meltzer, who is writing the Identity Crisis miniseries, is crafter and a lot more insightful of his audience than I admit I gave him credit for. Heck, I don't give that credit to most writers in general, but I am picky that way.
Let's face it. Sue Dibny is not exactly a household word, even among comic readers. I mean, comic readers, and most of the general public know the names Peter Parker, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, folks like that. Icons. Sue Dibny is the wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. The average person off the street who doesn't know comics, specifically the DC Universe that well, will more than likely confuse him with Plastic Man or Mr. Fantastic, due to similar powers. (Because long long ago, when I was a newbie to comics at 10-11 years old, darned if I didn't think the same thing.)
Ralph Dibny isn't the most well-known of comic book heros. His non-powered wife, less so. But her death has raised the ire of fans across the board. And it's not in a negative vein towards the writer. For the most part, readers aren't angry at Meltzer for writing her death. A lot of writers in the past have been lambasted for killing off so-and-so; we all know of examples. But, people loved this story, this tragedy. They're angry at the murder: they're feeling for what happened in the book, and it's rare that I've seen anything in a comic get such an emotional response in a long time.
Why? Why why why? There's a lot of those.
For one, I'll start here. Ralph and Sue Dibny have, in my head, always been a pair. Never apart from each other, always considered a matched set/group unit whenever they appeared in comics. This is whether it's in stories on their own, or on a team, or even mentioned in passing. Now, to be honest, I don't know if there were pre-Sue Elongated Man stories, or stories before they were married. The flashback of their first meeting in Identity Crisis #1 is admittedly the first time I had heard it, and my DCU knowledge before the 90s is spotty at best. If Ralph and Sue were a high school couple, we'd have called them 'RalphandSue.' You know the type of couples: they existed as a single entity.
Sort of. Ralph and Sue loved each other unconditionally, and had the kind of relationship that seems so rare. They knew each others faults, foibles, and they knew how each other thought better than themselves. They were an ideal, in their own way, but realistic to the reader. And Sue was no slouch herself, especially in the Giffen/DeMatteis (sp) Justice League days. Sue was no 'token victim waiting to be rescued;' she was shrewd, smart, and resourceful in her own right. She had no powers, but she had been underestimated more than once.
There was something stable to the Dibnys. Barry Allen said in some comic that Ralph and Sue were the mortar that held the League together at times. Both of them. They were the kind of couple that the readers knew would always be one, no matter what. You would never even consider the idea they they would ever break up, or that one would cheat on the other: neither of them were the type. Unconditional, matched, perfect. There was something about the two of them that was stable, safe, constant. Forever.
See, that's the first point: More than any, ANY couple in comics, Ralph and Sue Dibny were destined for the 'Happy Ending.'
More than Scott and Jean
More than Ollie and Dinah
More than Peter and Mary Jane
More than Hank and Jan
More than Roy and Donna (because we know it will happen, eventually)
More than Reed and Sue
More than Garth and Imra
More than Vance and Angelica (how it pains me to say that)
More than Lois and Clark.
Yes, you heard me. Even more than Lois and Clark.
A reader could see Ralph and Sue together, and just know that those two were going to live well into their nineties, growing old together and watching the sun set for decades and never, ever grow tired of each other's company. Ralph said it himself: She's my Lady. Truer words are rarely said in comics. The thought of other women or men never crossed either of their minds since the day they met, and it never would. You could see them in a story, and just know it.
Meltzer knew what the heck he was doing when he was writing this. Had the victim been Lois Lane, as cool of a character as she is, he wouldn't have gotten the reaction that he has with this story. Lois is always known to associate with Superman, so of course villains are going to strike at him through her. It's tradition. But, the mystery and the reaction comes from that thought: Who the hell would want to kill /Sue Dibny,/ of all people?
There was something final about this: Sue's not coming back. The couple was considered 'safe,' and this issue proved that nothing is safe, which is why the fans are on the edge of their collective seats, to see what happens next. In some ways, this was a message. All bets are off.
We're worried, now. Ralph and Sue were a set, always have been. Without Sue, we wonder what will become of Ralph. It smacks of Change; an irrevocable altering of the Status Quo that all comic readers are unconsciously hardwired to. That's why comic fans react the way they do to changes. It's why we're reacting the way we are now, with this story.
The killing of Sue Dibny has struck a lot of chords with the readers. Even readers who don't know the characters involved, or are even much of DC fans in general are picking this up, and are affected by it. For the fans, it's the sudden sundering of the most stable relationship in comics they've seen. For fans in general, it goes a little bit deeper than that.
Meltzer could have written the murder of any character, really. But after reading this, I really do suspect he did his homework on making the decision he has with Identity Crisis. He wanted his audience to care, and I think he wanted his audience to be righteously angry at what happened, holding their interest throughout the seven-issue limited series. Much like a mystery writer has to hook his readers in at the beginning to make them want to find out whodunit. (If I remember right: Meltzer is a mystery novelist, so he knows how to do this kind of thing.) He chose his victim very carefully, and he knew his audience when he did it.
And he sums it up in one line in Identity Crisis #1. Ralph is telling Firebird about how he met Sue, years ago. It was a Charity ball that was attacked, and Ralph, who could stretch himself, helped fight them off. All the other wealthy folks gathered around the Flash (Barry Allen at the time), because they were in 'The Flash's City,' Central City. Flash was the celebrity, Ralph...was probably not taken as seriously as Barry was, despite his intelligence and versatility. See, that's part of the point of Ralph Dibny as a character: among the heroes, these icons, he's the one the public sees as 'not quite at that level.' They're wrong, natch: he was on the League more for his detective skills than his metahuman abilities. He's seen as humorous. Not in the slapstick Plastic Man way, but more of the 'sitcom husband/Mad About You' way, which Sue was The central aspect of.
Barry/flash is being surrounded by fans, but one woman stays behind, not able to take her eyes off of Ralph, even when the Flash is in the room. Sue.
Ralph says it then: "It's why ice cream shops don't have just vanilla and chocolate. Every once in a while, someone walks in and orders Butter Pecan."
That's why this story is affecting readers the way it is. Because every comic reader, or fan in general, has felt like that. That in a world of vanilla and chocolate, they're outsiders, they're different. Comic readers...we've all felt, whether it's now or at some point in our lives, that we are 'Butter Pecan.'
It's not the death of Sue, but more of what she represents. That there is someone out there for everyone. That there are people who like Butter Pecan, or Rocky Road, or Mint Chocolate Chip, or whatever flavor you can think of. It's the ideal that even as folks on the outside, we're not really all that alone, nor are we going to be.
I know a few readers who are married, or have someone special in their lives. I'm willing to bet that after reading this, they took their wife/husband/partner, whom they probably thank God every say that they like Butter Pecan, and held them close, and told them how special they were.
Meltzer knew his audience. He knew just what to do to draw fans in, and keep them for the long haul. It worked on me, I'll admit.
Sue Dibny is dead.
Why do we care?
Plenty of reasons. But the point is, we do.
I know I do. I can't wait til Ralph and the others find the bastard (or bastardess, to be fair and equal) who did this. I can't wait to find out.
Rest in Peace, Sue. I sure as heck will miss you. The revenge will happen soon.
-Copyright, Kyle Cinelli, 2004
Okay, hello, boredom! I'm at work, it's relatively quiet, and I need to get the writing push out of my system, I suppose. I'm still stuck on some things, which irks me to no end, so I'm figuring a little essay-ing bit should kick my brain back into gear. And, I've been putting some things off, which means now it might not have as much oomph as it would have 3 weeks ago, but still.
And yes, it's on issue 1. I haven't seen issue 2 yet, but I've been wanting to write this for some time.
.
Okay, let's start with the news from this.
Sue Dibny is dead.
...why do we care?
Now, before I get a lot of really nasty responses to this, I ask you to please let me explain. I'm not asking why /should/ we care, but why /do/ we, as readers, care.
Because we do. Holy crap, do we care.
The reaction to this issue from people online, whether it be reviews, or friends of mine commenting on it, has been mind-blowing with the expressions of shock and sadness. I did the stupid thing and read online spoilers before I read the issue, which is my own fault.
Let me give some examples. One friend (Friend A) said publicly that when he read this issue, they were in tears by the end. Another friend (Friend B) talked to me a few days later. Friend B thought Friend A was exagerrating...until Friend B read the issue for themselves, and realized Friend A was not, because they felt the same exact way.
One online review started this way: Oh God, I hope they find whoever did this and kill them.
And that's one of the nicer ones, kids.
But, it brings me back to my opening thought. Everyone has been up in arms about the murder of Sue Dibny. I've been working on it since then, to explain exactly /why/ everyone's so whipped into a frenzy by this. I've come up with some things, a lot of them surprising me because it means Brad Meltzer, who is writing the Identity Crisis miniseries, is crafter and a lot more insightful of his audience than I admit I gave him credit for. Heck, I don't give that credit to most writers in general, but I am picky that way.
Let's face it. Sue Dibny is not exactly a household word, even among comic readers. I mean, comic readers, and most of the general public know the names Peter Parker, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, folks like that. Icons. Sue Dibny is the wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. The average person off the street who doesn't know comics, specifically the DC Universe that well, will more than likely confuse him with Plastic Man or Mr. Fantastic, due to similar powers. (Because long long ago, when I was a newbie to comics at 10-11 years old, darned if I didn't think the same thing.)
Ralph Dibny isn't the most well-known of comic book heros. His non-powered wife, less so. But her death has raised the ire of fans across the board. And it's not in a negative vein towards the writer. For the most part, readers aren't angry at Meltzer for writing her death. A lot of writers in the past have been lambasted for killing off so-and-so; we all know of examples. But, people loved this story, this tragedy. They're angry at the murder: they're feeling for what happened in the book, and it's rare that I've seen anything in a comic get such an emotional response in a long time.
Why? Why why why? There's a lot of those.
For one, I'll start here. Ralph and Sue Dibny have, in my head, always been a pair. Never apart from each other, always considered a matched set/group unit whenever they appeared in comics. This is whether it's in stories on their own, or on a team, or even mentioned in passing. Now, to be honest, I don't know if there were pre-Sue Elongated Man stories, or stories before they were married. The flashback of their first meeting in Identity Crisis #1 is admittedly the first time I had heard it, and my DCU knowledge before the 90s is spotty at best. If Ralph and Sue were a high school couple, we'd have called them 'RalphandSue.' You know the type of couples: they existed as a single entity.
Sort of. Ralph and Sue loved each other unconditionally, and had the kind of relationship that seems so rare. They knew each others faults, foibles, and they knew how each other thought better than themselves. They were an ideal, in their own way, but realistic to the reader. And Sue was no slouch herself, especially in the Giffen/DeMatteis (sp) Justice League days. Sue was no 'token victim waiting to be rescued;' she was shrewd, smart, and resourceful in her own right. She had no powers, but she had been underestimated more than once.
There was something stable to the Dibnys. Barry Allen said in some comic that Ralph and Sue were the mortar that held the League together at times. Both of them. They were the kind of couple that the readers knew would always be one, no matter what. You would never even consider the idea they they would ever break up, or that one would cheat on the other: neither of them were the type. Unconditional, matched, perfect. There was something about the two of them that was stable, safe, constant. Forever.
See, that's the first point: More than any, ANY couple in comics, Ralph and Sue Dibny were destined for the 'Happy Ending.'
More than Scott and Jean
More than Ollie and Dinah
More than Peter and Mary Jane
More than Hank and Jan
More than Roy and Donna (because we know it will happen, eventually)
More than Reed and Sue
More than Garth and Imra
More than Vance and Angelica (how it pains me to say that)
More than Lois and Clark.
Yes, you heard me. Even more than Lois and Clark.
A reader could see Ralph and Sue together, and just know that those two were going to live well into their nineties, growing old together and watching the sun set for decades and never, ever grow tired of each other's company. Ralph said it himself: She's my Lady. Truer words are rarely said in comics. The thought of other women or men never crossed either of their minds since the day they met, and it never would. You could see them in a story, and just know it.
Meltzer knew what the heck he was doing when he was writing this. Had the victim been Lois Lane, as cool of a character as she is, he wouldn't have gotten the reaction that he has with this story. Lois is always known to associate with Superman, so of course villains are going to strike at him through her. It's tradition. But, the mystery and the reaction comes from that thought: Who the hell would want to kill /Sue Dibny,/ of all people?
There was something final about this: Sue's not coming back. The couple was considered 'safe,' and this issue proved that nothing is safe, which is why the fans are on the edge of their collective seats, to see what happens next. In some ways, this was a message. All bets are off.
We're worried, now. Ralph and Sue were a set, always have been. Without Sue, we wonder what will become of Ralph. It smacks of Change; an irrevocable altering of the Status Quo that all comic readers are unconsciously hardwired to. That's why comic fans react the way they do to changes. It's why we're reacting the way we are now, with this story.
The killing of Sue Dibny has struck a lot of chords with the readers. Even readers who don't know the characters involved, or are even much of DC fans in general are picking this up, and are affected by it. For the fans, it's the sudden sundering of the most stable relationship in comics they've seen. For fans in general, it goes a little bit deeper than that.
Meltzer could have written the murder of any character, really. But after reading this, I really do suspect he did his homework on making the decision he has with Identity Crisis. He wanted his audience to care, and I think he wanted his audience to be righteously angry at what happened, holding their interest throughout the seven-issue limited series. Much like a mystery writer has to hook his readers in at the beginning to make them want to find out whodunit. (If I remember right: Meltzer is a mystery novelist, so he knows how to do this kind of thing.) He chose his victim very carefully, and he knew his audience when he did it.
And he sums it up in one line in Identity Crisis #1. Ralph is telling Firebird about how he met Sue, years ago. It was a Charity ball that was attacked, and Ralph, who could stretch himself, helped fight them off. All the other wealthy folks gathered around the Flash (Barry Allen at the time), because they were in 'The Flash's City,' Central City. Flash was the celebrity, Ralph...was probably not taken as seriously as Barry was, despite his intelligence and versatility. See, that's part of the point of Ralph Dibny as a character: among the heroes, these icons, he's the one the public sees as 'not quite at that level.' They're wrong, natch: he was on the League more for his detective skills than his metahuman abilities. He's seen as humorous. Not in the slapstick Plastic Man way, but more of the 'sitcom husband/Mad About You' way, which Sue was The central aspect of.
Barry/flash is being surrounded by fans, but one woman stays behind, not able to take her eyes off of Ralph, even when the Flash is in the room. Sue.
Ralph says it then: "It's why ice cream shops don't have just vanilla and chocolate. Every once in a while, someone walks in and orders Butter Pecan."
That's why this story is affecting readers the way it is. Because every comic reader, or fan in general, has felt like that. That in a world of vanilla and chocolate, they're outsiders, they're different. Comic readers...we've all felt, whether it's now or at some point in our lives, that we are 'Butter Pecan.'
It's not the death of Sue, but more of what she represents. That there is someone out there for everyone. That there are people who like Butter Pecan, or Rocky Road, or Mint Chocolate Chip, or whatever flavor you can think of. It's the ideal that even as folks on the outside, we're not really all that alone, nor are we going to be.
I know a few readers who are married, or have someone special in their lives. I'm willing to bet that after reading this, they took their wife/husband/partner, whom they probably thank God every say that they like Butter Pecan, and held them close, and told them how special they were.
Meltzer knew his audience. He knew just what to do to draw fans in, and keep them for the long haul. It worked on me, I'll admit.
Sue Dibny is dead.
Why do we care?
Plenty of reasons. But the point is, we do.
I know I do. I can't wait til Ralph and the others find the bastard (or bastardess, to be fair and equal) who did this. I can't wait to find out.
Rest in Peace, Sue. I sure as heck will miss you. The revenge will happen soon.
-Copyright, Kyle Cinelli, 2004