Comics are awesome.

[Shockwave]

I do not mind nuanced characters, so long as they are being used well,

If they're just tools to be swapped out, why bother with characters at all? Why give them names? Why bother with backstory? Development? Any of it? If it's all about the "point" writers might as well just write stories saying "person A did this to person B and then this happened". That's just boring regardless of what the "point" or plot might be. If all you want is a book full of stories whose sole purpose is to illustrate some larger moral or ethical commentary, well there's a word for that: The Bible. If I wanna be preached at, I'll pick one up.

and we are not just getting stories about how the characters are just awesome..

A story that focuses on character development isn't just "Teh characterz iz ossum!" A good story STARTS with good characters. Characters drive the plot and the plot is where the writer gets to make their all important point that you keep coming back to. BW Gathering and Ascending is a good example of what I'm talking about. I just re read that again and, sure, Furman had something to say with it, but he just jumped into his point without taking any time to develop the characters. Sure there's a larger point there about how "drugs are bad, mkay?" and then there was the epic "OMFG THERE'S THE BIG BAD GOING TO END ALL OF CREATION EVAR!!" bit, but without developed characters, I found myself not caring about them, I didn't care what they did and I was really just wishing the whole time that Unicron would roll up and eat everything like breakfast cereal. It was a toy parade, plain and simple and every other issue had some event that was like "look! Here's 20 more guys you don't care about!"

But, I have a hard time reading something if the writer does not have something to say.

I know, that's why I stated that in my previous post.

[SynjoDeonecros]

I have a friend who reads Sonic semi-regularly, if only because he's a fan of the games. (And for the record, he thinks SNOO-PINGAS is hilarious.) It also helps that he is not a furry.

Anyway, I just randomly thought of that issue of Transmetropolitan where there's (almost?) no words and Spider Jerusalem gives a teddy bear to a girl who, I think, was homeless. I always liked that one.

Please, no furry bashing. It has no relevance to the discussion, nor did I intend it to be brought up when I posted.

Personally, I'm intrigued about two things, with Ken's statement: first, they didn't go the obvious route and made Rotor flamboyant (which shows some nice respect on Ken's part), and second, why Ken chose Cobar, a member of the Dark Legion, to be Rotor's lover (I would've loved to see an origin story to their relationship).

[BWprowl]

I'm don't really have any issue with the Technicolor Dream Corps (Scourge thought up the BEST name for them!), but I do agree with Dom that it's not a startlingly fresh, original concept. Pretty much anyone who's seen Green Lantern in a comic book has likely entertained the idea of a separate corps with their own color (and I can all but guarantee that WAY too much fanfiction has been written on the subject). I don't understand why they decided to tie it into the 'emotional spectrum' when the original (green-willpower) wasn't an emotion in the first place.

Also, I'm calling it RIGHT NOW that we'll see White Rings before this event is over. C'mon, you were ALL thinkin' it!

Anyway, since bringing up random comics in addition to arguing about the latest Great Disaster seem to be a common tac in this thread: Anybody else here been keeping up with the Batman comics lately? I'm rather sad that they already replaced Judd Winnick as the writer on 'Batman'. That guy seemed to have a real knack for writing Dick Grayson as Batman, as opposed to just Batman that everyone says is Dick Grayson now. And while Tony Daniel did okay on 'Battle for the Cowl', I think his style is more suited to a more closed storyline like that one, as opposed to the ongoing main event he's been given here. Hopefully his run is short and sweet. "Batman & Robin", meanwhile was doing alright, Grant Morrison seemed to really have found a flow with that series. But now, barely five issues in, he seems to be slipping. I know that Jason Todd's character seems contractually obligated to change completely depending on who's writing him, but his current incarnation is one that I'm less fond of. Especially the hair-retcon, which is my first sighting of that Silver-Age Fetish that Dom once accused Morrison of having. Meh, we'll see how it plays out. At least the new 'Batgirl' is pretty good so far, although I might be biased since I'm a shameless fan of Stephanie Brown.

I've got a heaping helping of praise for whichever author kills off Damien. I effing HATE that kid. I was mostly enjoying Battle for the Cowl right up until the end there, where Dick made him Robin. Argh!!

[Sparky Prime]

I don't understand why they decided to tie it into the 'emotional spectrum' when the original (green-willpower) wasn't an emotion in the first place.

I've explained this once before in this thread... What do the GL rings always say when recruiting new members? "You have the ability to overcome great fear". What overcomes fear? Courage, which is an emotion. Now, courage can also be described as one's will. Therefore, Willpower in this context is also Courage.

[BWprowl]

I don't understand why they decided to tie it into the 'emotional spectrum' when the original (green-willpower) wasn't an emotion in the first place.

I've explained this once before in this thread... What do the GL rings always say when recruiting new members? "You have the ability to overcome great fear". What overcomes fear? Courage, which is an emotion. Now, courage can also be described as one's will. Therefore, Willpower in this context is also Courage.

So why the hell don't they just refer to the green rings as Courage?

Anyway, courage isn't really an emotion either. It's a quality you have that allows you to overcome fear and so forth. It's not really a 'feeling'.

I'm telling you, bring on the White Lanterns of Life!

[Sparky Prime]

So why the hell don't they just refer to the green rings as Courage?

Cause using Willpower to fight evil sounds better? Seriously, obviously the concept has evolved since the comic's inception, but the Willpower=Courage thing still makes sense.

Anyway, courage isn't really an emotion either. It's a quality you have that allows you to overcome fear and so forth. It's not really a 'feeling'.

How do you overcome fear with a "quality"? Haven't you ever heard of feeling courageous before? You overcome fear by feeling courageous (or brave, confident... all those are just synonyms though). Courage most certainly can be an emotion, although it can be defined to cover a bit more than just the feeling of courage.

[BWprowl]

Obviously we're operating with different guidelines for what defines an 'emotion'. I'm a bit more strict with my qualifications that you seem to be, mainly because I like discrediting this silly, silly idea.

I really like how the Star Sapphires, who have always been pretty pink up to this point, got repurposed as 'violet' for the Technicolor Dream Corps. Someone buy DC a box of Crayolas!

[Sparky Prime]

Obviously we're operating with different guidelines for what defines an 'emotion'. I'm a bit more strict with my qualifications that you seem to be, mainly because I like discrediting this silly, silly idea.

I did my 'google research' on the subject. It's not just my qualifications I'm basing my point on.

And because I'm a Trek geek, I also recall a line from "Star Trek: Generations" in which Data was struggling to control his emotions and Picard told him he needed to have courage "but then courage can be an emotion too".

I really like how the Star Sapphires, who have always been pretty pink up to this point, got repurposed as 'violet' for the Technicolor Dream Corps. Someone buy DC a box of Crayolas!

And yet a sapphire is primarily a shade of blue (but can be any color of corundum except red), with purple, violet and green as normal secondary hues.

[BWprowl]

And yet a sapphire is primarily a shade of blue (but can be any color of corundum except red), with purple, violet and green as normal secondary hues.

I know, right? It's like they were making this up as they went along, or something!

[Sparky Prime]

I know, right? It's like they were making this up as they went along, or something!

I think you missed my point. Although most commonly blue, a sapphire can be violet. It still works with the whole emotional spectrum idea. Johns put more thought into this story than you give him credit for.