Andrew_A

Well, don't get me wrong, I love a good debate that starts with "Wait, hold on, let's suppose a man CAN actually fly, now...."  I guess as long as there is internal consistency, I'm good.  For example, let's just say that later on in the series, we discover that Supergirl can't have sex with a normal human for fear of physical injury.   This would be inconsistent because it has already been shown she has unbelievable control of even casual strength and nobody ever gets hurt when she saves them with super-speed.  Why?  I dunno.  But I also dunno how she projects lasers from her eyes, breathes liquid nitrogen, and hides her identity with glasses.  For that matter, how do those eye-lasers perfectly heat an entire turkey and not just punch a whole through it?  For some reason though, as I'm watching or reading, my mind just handwaves all of it. *shrugs*

Comic book storylines that have existed for more than ten years, with or without time travel, have equal or less continuity than time travel stories.

I'd venture to say that a vast majority of the superhuman stuff in a typical comic book universe won't hold up to any sort of rigorous intellectual scrutiny.
 
I'm reminded of an argument between the GM and a player in a Champions game.  The player had tripped a foe running super-fast, and was using physics to argue that the foe should have slammed face first into the ground at effectively terminal velocity.  Eventually the GM pointed out, "Your character creates wind blasts out of a wooden staff.  Please, use physics to explain to me how that works."

"Hey, you were the one who said it should be 'Common' because, and I quote, 'Hey, I'm from Krypton, so it should be, like, common for me.'  Maybe next time you'll think twice before you munchkin your character.  You're almost as bad as Joey and his 'powers don't work against the color yellow.'  I mean, honestly, guys?"

All I know is that if I were playing Superman at this point, I'd be telling the GM that I'm not getting enough points for my susceptibility and vulnerability complications

Superman character to GM:  Yeah, ummm, can I switch to playing the green Martian guy?
GM:  What?  Why?
Character:  Fire seems much less common.

Dr. Light exemplifies a problem that occurs in nearly every superhero show ever created, namely that the heroes and villains are dumber than the average Champions player in terms of using their powers.
 
When faced with a Speedster (or anyone with an insanely high DEX), you use mental powers or AoEs. That's just Superpowers 101. Dr. Light has AoE attacks but she only used them once against Barry. And she wasted way too many Phases and way too much END direct-firing at his speed mirages when she should have just been knocking him on his butt with an AoE and then toasting him with direct shots while he was Stunned. But she's like every other superpowered character on tv and fights with the imagination of a tv writer rather than a Superhero RPG player. I've been living with that disappointment for 30 years and it never fails to suck.
 
I didn't know that barista chick was going to be Hawkgirl, but in any event I wasn't thinking, wow! I'd love to see more of her on a show! I don't think I'm going to even bother with Legends of Tomorrow given how the only thing in it I don't already hate (from what little I know about it) is Caty Lotz and she's just not enough to make me put up with everything else about it.
 
I like that this new Harrison Wells is unlikeable because it creates an interesting dramatic tension, not just with the characters, but within us as viewers. It would have been too easy to make this version charming and likeable and trustworthy, but this is more interesting. He isn't evil but he's unpleasant and arrogant and unlikeable, which is completely different. But we're conditioned to behave the same way around either type of person which is sort of fascinating to me.
 
And I agree with Rob Bricken that there is way more chemistry between Barry and Patty than between Barry and Iris. But I think that's for two reasons: 1. We get to see their relationship grow from the start rather than it being pre-established and something we're just expected to accept apriori, and 2. Patty is way more into Barry than Iris is/ever was and she can't hide it, which is both adorable and refreshing. The only part I found annoying was the extent to which Barry avoided her until now.
 
I like Cisco. I do. But pairing him up with Lisa Snart or future Hawkgirl doesn't really work for me. He needs his Simmons, if you know what I mean. Neither of those two women are Simmons to his Fitz.
 
As for Zoom, I'm sure they are going to try and surprise us with who from Earth-2 is under that mask, but I'd rather not know. I'd rather he be a mysterious villain that continues to torment and plague Barry forever, than an excuse for one season of drama concluded with a shocking reveal and two-episode defeat.

I respect your conviction even if I may not agree with your opinion. Folks complain about fumbles in football games, They complain about how a beloved character is being written in current comic books. They complain about a lot of unimportant things. I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised that they'd also complain about the big stuff too. Some on this thread might be doing more than that for all we know. Protesting, writing emails, or even just trying to learn more about the specifics of each situation. The last, I know that more than one has done. We're not just 'OMG! RAAAAGE' We're "WTF? Wait, how did ...." 
 
and that quest for knowledge aspect of it renders it more than simple complaint imo.  We're not instantly accepting things. For example, I recently asked for verification if anyone had heard that girl in the most recent incident had thrown the first punch, to my mind something that might explain (even if it might not excuse) the escalation. But innocent people are dying, and some not so innocent are dying when even if they are scum, they didn't deserve it. Complaining about it might not get a damn thing done, but it's a lot better than sticking our heads in the sand I think.
 
If some cop is being railroaded unfairly, I want to hear about it. I really do, just like if some citizen is set up for a fall for something he or she didn't do either, I want to know. But I'm not going to learn diddly about the truth by closing my eyes and wishing the bad  news away.
 
That's my take on it, and I know you have yours which I can respect.

So your point was to enter a discussion about a serious and systematic problem in our culture and downplay the seriousness and pervasiveness of said problem?  Sounds more like an attempt at satire gone wrong than "levity". 

I get that you're not serious, but...taxpayers raising legitimate concerns about a function of government with the power to end lives (be it literally, or effectively) that is increasingly revealed to be abusing it's power and generally averse to greater transparency in public matters are hardly a medieval Transylvanian mob.
 
Now, if you want to discuss folks saying "kill all police" or "get rid of publicly funded police", then i'll be right there with you.
 
 
 
That's good to hear. I don't know if anyone else in most any other profession would get off with just being fired and not having formal charges pressed against them, but at least it's a clear message that behavior of that sort has no place in an institution we should feel fully comfortable with.

http://boingboing.net/2015/10/29/lawsuit-homophobic-hawaii-cop.html

Pattern Ghosr, he didn't do things how he was trained, that's why he was fired.
When apprehending a suspect, once physical contact is made you maintain control of the individual until they are secure. You never let the person go unless you have to for your own safety because they have a weapon or something.
The officer literally THREW her away from himself, not to the ground, to the other side of the room so he had to walk over to her before cuffing her. In no world is that a reasonable response, and it completely violates their training, he increased her chance of injury and did not maintain control of the suspect both while he was in no danger.

I agree that it did feel like it was a bit rushed in parts. Two episodes to get to know our potential  Firestorm halves would have been nice. But yeah, it was good. I loved the Killer Shark bit (And given Special effects cost can understand why it was brief) .
 
What's really interesting is that I think they've made it so Wally West will be Iris' half brother. He's on his way

Melissa Benoist is an absolute delight. She is the best thing about the show, without question.
 
But oh boy everything else was painful. Okay, I take that back. I like this new take on Jimmy, er, James Olsen. He gets to stand proxy for all the advice-giving The Big Guy would provide personally but can't because reasons. That's not a terrible way to go as long as it doesn't begin to feel like constant name-dropping. Unfortunately, that's where the good stuff ended for me.
 
There was so little logic to nearly everything in the show it hurt my brain (I think that's what having my intelligence insulted that badly feels like). In addition to all the things Orchid mentions, there's the whole "I'm the second superhero in the world" thing that really bothered me. I mean, this is still the DCU after all, and a quarter decade after Superman started heroing there were plenty of others out there with wild abilities and fancy costumes fighting supervillains. She is not the world's second superhero, and if she really is then this show is probably not one I'm going to watch. Even if they don't show us Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, or any of the others, the fact that they go out of their way to deny their very existance on any level is like a huge middle-finger to DC fans.
 
And let's see, there's a humongous space prison that crashed on Earth and unleashed hundreds if not thousands of superpowered baddies and we are supposed to believe that the DEO and Superman have succeeded in keeping that a secret from the entire world all this time?
 
The fight scenes and wire-work were pretty awful. Maybe they'll get a lot better as time goes on, assuming the series lasts that long, but at least in the pilot they were just awful. She was floating in that awkward "I'm on wires trying to look like I'm hovering" pose, and the scene where she's trying to keep the axe from slicing her head in half while she heats it up with her heat vision was really poor; I didn't see any sign of muscular strain at all. It was so phony I would have laughed if I wasn't so embarrassed for the actress.
 
And I'm not buying Jeremy Jordan here; he's too good-looking to be taking on the Ducky role.
 
Nor was I impressed with the stunt casting of Dean Cain and Helen Slater. I just rolled my eyes when I saw them.
 
The sister is not convincing in her role, and her one-dimensional DEO boss is one too many after watching Calista Flockhart own that stereotype in Act One. I'd also like to know where Kara got the blue material capable of deflecting bullets. Watch that scene again and you'll see what I mean; the cape would not have been riddled with holes, her blue top and red skirt would have been.
 
I'm also really tired of the everyone-has-kryptonite trope that any series about Super-whatever seems to require. You'd think that in 75 years writers would have moved beyond that plot crutch.
 
I could go on and on but I'm depressing even myself. Ms. Benoist single-handedly saved the pilot from being 100% garbage. I will watch the next couple of episodes to see if the production redeems itself.

Here is a bit of Canadian history.

Is that like a fanboy cross for a canon-heretic vampire?
 
This will probably be heresy to many, but while Christopher Reeve's costume looks okay, I think the darker blue of the more recent films, and then the costume in Man of Steel, look better.
 
I don't oppose tradition when it works, but I'm not so doggedly devoted to it that I'm not willing to consider "new looks" or make cosmetic changes to aid in adapting it to a medium or changing times.
 
But, then, who am I to talk? I think most comic book superheroes look ridiculous -- and tend to run settings where pajamas and capes aren't really a *thing.*

On the bright side, all of the arguing about the costume and the trailer means that people aren't apathetic about the series. Hopefully, that translates into an audience when the show does arrive.

Also, I would add, that I find reality TV way sillier than anything Jack Kirby, Gardner Fox, or Otto Binder ever wrote.

I wasn't going to comment on this, but I have 30 minutes to spare.
 
I think the real problem is that since the 70s, comics fans have wanted to be seen as oh-so-very grown up. We can't stand the idea of people thinking that we like something "childish" and "silly" like superheroes. A lot of us, when we were younger, were looked down on and mocked for liking stories about people in tights fighting other people in tights. We prefer to move away from anything that smacks of "silly" or "juvenile".
 
Jump ahead several years and a lot of these same people are now working in Hollywood or running the Big Two comic publishers. They grew up with Miller, Moore, Morrison, Waid, Claremont, Byrne, etc. They remember how much they loved Dark Phoenix Saga and Dark Knight Returns, and Kingdom Come and so many others. They don't want to remember a time when the Avengers fought a Nazi whose ultimate weapon was really powerful glue. They want you to forget the time Superman had a super-monkey or Batman had a dog who wore a mask (to hide his secret identity).
 
So they make everything "serious" and "profound" and "deep". Muted colours enhance that. Bright, primary colours remind people that these characters, these ideas, came from somewhere silly. They'll say, "We're trying to appeal to a wider audience." They forget that comics sold better when things were "silly" and "ridiculous" and fun.
 
Keep in mind, I'm saying this as a huge fan of Watchmen, Kingdom Come, and Final Crisis.
 
But I'm also a fan of 60s Legion of Superheroes, All-Star Superman, Supreme (the Alan Moore version), Tom Strong, and the 60s Doom Patrol.

Flash is dark and gritty like brown sugar is dark and gritty.  Mostly, it's just sweet.

Exactly! Chefs don't use new ingredients when coming up with a dish, just combine them in new ways.

I actually did watch that one. I was impressed with the ability to self-analyze. But then it ruined CinemaSins for me.

Ripping things apart in the name of "realism" seems to be the new hobby of the early twenty-first century.
 
That said, when it comes to a superhero flick...if the acting of the superhero(es) is good, the story is decent/good, and the setting is consistent, most folks are going to stop bellyaching over a bright costume after the first five to ten minutes.
 
While we're at it, maybe we can get scriptwriters to stop being so afraid of having characters use superhero names .
 
 
Speaking of which...the recent Batman film trilogy featured what was basically customized military armor as the titular hero's duds.

This comment is dead to me!
 
Obviously the show can only succeed if Comet the Super-Horse turns into Supergirl's boyfriend, and she flies around in a miniskirt showing off her belly button and her cleavage window while being 15 and hiding in an  orphanage while her own cousin exploits her. 
 
I mean, it may sound disturbing and creepy when I put it that way, but canon is canon.