LSH #7 has destroyed my brain.
Jun. 23rd, 2005 03:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
greenygalI’ve occasionally commented that nobody working in comics today knows how to punch my emotional buttons better than Mark Waid. And this, right here, is what I mean when I say it.
Of course, it’s not hard to punch my buttons when you’re working with Brainiac 5. I play favorites with Legion and always have; any time period, any incarnation, the Coluan gets my full attention any time he’s on the page. I was pleased when he starred in last issue’s backup, and downright thrilled when Colu was targeted as the next planet to go--an opportunity for focus and backstory, ooh! The offhanded mention of "what they’d done to him" was just icing on the cake; Brainy-torture makes me such a happy girl. (And in retrospect of course that’s a clue, but there’s no reason I should have taken it as such; Brainy’s relationship with his home planet has never been the best.)
And so this issue there was focus, and there was backstory (sort of), and yes indeed, there was torture. It just wasn’t what I was expecting at all. And of course it’s my own damn fault because Waid told us that we couldn’t count on anything being the same, and he’s been busily showing us that for the last six issues, and I smiled and I nodded and I didn’t connect that to Brainy in the slightest, because look, there he was, standing there being so terribly Dox. (Perhaps as much Vril as Querl, admittedly. But Dox.) And then we get to this issue, and it’s still all business as usual, he’s smart enough to have left himself a note last issue and Colu is a hyper-tech place full of brilliance, and he’s (incredibly) arrogant about both. And I was happy watching everything go to hell and taking mental bets on how long he could maintain his control, and then I hit the middle of the book and blew every fuse in my brain. Mark Waid, you evil genius--you knew I’d never see this coming.
Oh, Brainy. Oh, Brainy. Still the smartest guy in the room...as long as the room’s not on Colu. On Colu he’s dumb, and that statement right there makes me need to sit down for a while. Brainy. Dumb. So much so that they threw him out, he’s that far below their standards. (Admittedly we don’t know how strict Coluan standards are, but still.) Dear god, is there a universe where it doesn’t suck beyond the telling of it to be Brainiac 5? Because this just--god, they told him intelligence was everything and then they told him he didn’t have it, and they dismissed him as worthless and they exiled him. And suddenly everything I think I know about his history, his personality, that unbelievable arrogance--everything, it all does a one-eighty. And involves magnitudes more defensiveness and pain. Particularly if Colu’s "foremost researcher" really is his mother--oh, Brainy. God, that must have messed him up six ways from Sunday; no wonder he’s so--so him, so impatient and arrogant and trying to run everything, because this is a world where he can, where he’s terribly impressive and not a useless disappointment to everyone around him. And he’s lied to keep it that way, too; in #2 Cos says he’s supposed to be exceptional even by Coluan standards. *shakes head* My poor damaged Querl.
I’m not upset about this at all. In shock, but not upset. This is kind of surprising, as I’ve muttered over lesser--much lesser!--alterations before, but I’m just not. Possibly because who am I to turn down this much potential angst for my boy? *g* But also because it doesn’t come across as a downgrade of Brainy’s smarts--good Waid, to establish that point clearly before he hit us with this, and make it all the more surprising--so much as an upgrade of Colu’s. He’s still a supergenius; they’re just better supergeniuses. (And incidentally, good call on establishing this point in a way that does not require it to be shown, at least not this issue. Writing Brainy convincingly is hard enough; writing people who are so smart they make him look stupid...is a problem.)
And watching him in this issue, knowing this, my heart just breaks for him, because he still believes everything they told him. He’s still so proud of Colu; granted that he’s covering up that he was thrown out, but he still has no need to give out such glowing accolades if he doesn’t mean them. If there’s bitterness there, he’s not letting a hint of it show--not even as he watches the people who cast him out him brought down in their turn. He’s not even smug about the chance to save them; he’s just panicked and horrified and so determined to save them from what he knows is the worst thing in the world. Which, you know, I’m not saying it’s not, what was done to the Coluans is horrifying from any perspective, I’m just so stuck on his wanting to protect them from the same thing--in kind, not degree--that they condemned him for. I love him so, so much, I really do; for all his arrogance and dismissiveness, there’s just such a bedrock core of decency in there. *hugs Brainy fiercely*
Other stuff:
--“Bottle planet of Colu”? *rolls eyes* The miniaturization of Colu is fine on its own terms (although it is stealing Imsk’s gimmick, if they’re ever revealed to actually exist), and yes, I get the appropriateness of the idea. But the blatancy of the in-joke threw me out of the story; a little less cuteness next time.
--I appreciate that the attempt to destroy Colu did not involve blowing it up (and also does not seem to have been permanent); doing that too often is, literally, overkill, and it stops having impact for the readers. Much better this way, with the Special Ironic Destruction.
--The cookfires in Colu’s streets echoed a scene from The Magic Wars, probably unintentionally. It was interesting to remember that that version of Brainy took the dissolution of his homeworld even more impassively, although in fairness it was technology breaking down that time, not people.
--The diatribe against Thom and Ayla’s use of their powers is interesting enough as a look into Brainy’s opinion of his teammates (and probably a pointed authorial suggestion that there’s really nothing wrong with the Light Lass powerset, as also witness the end of the issue), but it gains extra meaning in light of the above revelation; of course Brainy finds someone who has potential and wastes it to be infuriating.
--I’m inclined to like Brainy’s mom (if that is his mom) just because she sang him lullabies. Brainy really doesn’t get enough TLC in his life.
--It never once occurred to me that Cham’s “ooh, organic material!” routine was going to be relevant later on. Either I’m dumb or Waid’s really doing well with the world-building, for me to expect that to be random.
--Okay, I can see the thematic point of redoing the cover of #1 and replacing Brainy with Cos. However, that leaves Brainy dominating the cover of an issue he’s barely in and then not even appearing on this one. There’s something wrong with that picture (pun intended).
--The invasion of Brainy’s lab: hey, don’t come crying to me when you punch a button and destroy half the planet, Cos, that’s all I’m saying. I can see his motivation, here, but this is clearly a move born of desperation. Not only is it genuinely dangerous, but does Cos seriously think that he’s going to be able to learn “every last one” of Brainy’s secrets ever, much less learn them by poking around randomly in his lab for as long as it takes for him to get back from Colu? Granted it helps to have Lyle along, but still.
Of course, it’s not hard to punch my buttons when you’re working with Brainiac 5. I play favorites with Legion and always have; any time period, any incarnation, the Coluan gets my full attention any time he’s on the page. I was pleased when he starred in last issue’s backup, and downright thrilled when Colu was targeted as the next planet to go--an opportunity for focus and backstory, ooh! The offhanded mention of "what they’d done to him" was just icing on the cake; Brainy-torture makes me such a happy girl. (And in retrospect of course that’s a clue, but there’s no reason I should have taken it as such; Brainy’s relationship with his home planet has never been the best.)
And so this issue there was focus, and there was backstory (sort of), and yes indeed, there was torture. It just wasn’t what I was expecting at all. And of course it’s my own damn fault because Waid told us that we couldn’t count on anything being the same, and he’s been busily showing us that for the last six issues, and I smiled and I nodded and I didn’t connect that to Brainy in the slightest, because look, there he was, standing there being so terribly Dox. (Perhaps as much Vril as Querl, admittedly. But Dox.) And then we get to this issue, and it’s still all business as usual, he’s smart enough to have left himself a note last issue and Colu is a hyper-tech place full of brilliance, and he’s (incredibly) arrogant about both. And I was happy watching everything go to hell and taking mental bets on how long he could maintain his control, and then I hit the middle of the book and blew every fuse in my brain. Mark Waid, you evil genius--you knew I’d never see this coming.
Oh, Brainy. Oh, Brainy. Still the smartest guy in the room...as long as the room’s not on Colu. On Colu he’s dumb, and that statement right there makes me need to sit down for a while. Brainy. Dumb. So much so that they threw him out, he’s that far below their standards. (Admittedly we don’t know how strict Coluan standards are, but still.) Dear god, is there a universe where it doesn’t suck beyond the telling of it to be Brainiac 5? Because this just--god, they told him intelligence was everything and then they told him he didn’t have it, and they dismissed him as worthless and they exiled him. And suddenly everything I think I know about his history, his personality, that unbelievable arrogance--everything, it all does a one-eighty. And involves magnitudes more defensiveness and pain. Particularly if Colu’s "foremost researcher" really is his mother--oh, Brainy. God, that must have messed him up six ways from Sunday; no wonder he’s so--so him, so impatient and arrogant and trying to run everything, because this is a world where he can, where he’s terribly impressive and not a useless disappointment to everyone around him. And he’s lied to keep it that way, too; in #2 Cos says he’s supposed to be exceptional even by Coluan standards. *shakes head* My poor damaged Querl.
I’m not upset about this at all. In shock, but not upset. This is kind of surprising, as I’ve muttered over lesser--much lesser!--alterations before, but I’m just not. Possibly because who am I to turn down this much potential angst for my boy? *g* But also because it doesn’t come across as a downgrade of Brainy’s smarts--good Waid, to establish that point clearly before he hit us with this, and make it all the more surprising--so much as an upgrade of Colu’s. He’s still a supergenius; they’re just better supergeniuses. (And incidentally, good call on establishing this point in a way that does not require it to be shown, at least not this issue. Writing Brainy convincingly is hard enough; writing people who are so smart they make him look stupid...is a problem.)
And watching him in this issue, knowing this, my heart just breaks for him, because he still believes everything they told him. He’s still so proud of Colu; granted that he’s covering up that he was thrown out, but he still has no need to give out such glowing accolades if he doesn’t mean them. If there’s bitterness there, he’s not letting a hint of it show--not even as he watches the people who cast him out him brought down in their turn. He’s not even smug about the chance to save them; he’s just panicked and horrified and so determined to save them from what he knows is the worst thing in the world. Which, you know, I’m not saying it’s not, what was done to the Coluans is horrifying from any perspective, I’m just so stuck on his wanting to protect them from the same thing--in kind, not degree--that they condemned him for. I love him so, so much, I really do; for all his arrogance and dismissiveness, there’s just such a bedrock core of decency in there. *hugs Brainy fiercely*
Other stuff:
--“Bottle planet of Colu”? *rolls eyes* The miniaturization of Colu is fine on its own terms (although it is stealing Imsk’s gimmick, if they’re ever revealed to actually exist), and yes, I get the appropriateness of the idea. But the blatancy of the in-joke threw me out of the story; a little less cuteness next time.
--I appreciate that the attempt to destroy Colu did not involve blowing it up (and also does not seem to have been permanent); doing that too often is, literally, overkill, and it stops having impact for the readers. Much better this way, with the Special Ironic Destruction.
--The cookfires in Colu’s streets echoed a scene from The Magic Wars, probably unintentionally. It was interesting to remember that that version of Brainy took the dissolution of his homeworld even more impassively, although in fairness it was technology breaking down that time, not people.
--The diatribe against Thom and Ayla’s use of their powers is interesting enough as a look into Brainy’s opinion of his teammates (and probably a pointed authorial suggestion that there’s really nothing wrong with the Light Lass powerset, as also witness the end of the issue), but it gains extra meaning in light of the above revelation; of course Brainy finds someone who has potential and wastes it to be infuriating.
--I’m inclined to like Brainy’s mom (if that is his mom) just because she sang him lullabies. Brainy really doesn’t get enough TLC in his life.
--It never once occurred to me that Cham’s “ooh, organic material!” routine was going to be relevant later on. Either I’m dumb or Waid’s really doing well with the world-building, for me to expect that to be random.
--Okay, I can see the thematic point of redoing the cover of #1 and replacing Brainy with Cos. However, that leaves Brainy dominating the cover of an issue he’s barely in and then not even appearing on this one. There’s something wrong with that picture (pun intended).
--The invasion of Brainy’s lab: hey, don’t come crying to me when you punch a button and destroy half the planet, Cos, that’s all I’m saying. I can see his motivation, here, but this is clearly a move born of desperation. Not only is it genuinely dangerous, but does Cos seriously think that he’s going to be able to learn “every last one” of Brainy’s secrets ever, much less learn them by poking around randomly in his lab for as long as it takes for him to get back from Colu? Granted it helps to have Lyle along, but still.
