Vixen, a former Justice League member joined the Squad in issue 11 (1988) and later into the series a romance started up between her and Bronze Tiger. But unfortunately in issue 38 (1990) Turner was subjected to a particularly brutal debriefing by sergeant Steele that caused him to have a mental break down due to the brain washing that Turner underwent by the League of Assassins years before he joined the Suicide Squad. Waller helped him come back to his senses and put him back on The Squad but Turner was not quite the same man he was before his breakdown. He had become defensive and emotionally distant which put a great strain on his relationship with Vixen.
In issue 58 (1991) Mari decided to leave the Squad and gave Ben a kindly worded "Dear John" speech on her way out. She would eventually rejoin the Justice League as Ben soldiered on with The Squad. Years later hey would eventually meet again as the two teams clashed over Operation Salvation Run.
I'm really glad the the writers at DC maintained the post relationship narrative of these two characters. It was quite clear that they had feelings for each still but had a mutual understanding that their respective lives are on different paths. Sometimes that's just how it is between two people who care about each other and mean well but realize their just not compatible for whatever reason. It's not always like The Jerry Springer Show.
How about that Ben Turner? One of the top 3 martial artists in the old DCU and an all around stand up guy. He just blew a great chance with Vixen to have some of that "sex with the ex" action. As far as I know before the old DCU came to and end they never got back together but as you can see here at least they were able to have some sort of reconciliation and be on good terms before the dreaded DC relaunch happened.
This was one of those things that actually played out perfectly in a comic book even though I didn't want them to break up. the Justice League at that time was shaping up to potentially be something special.
ReplyDeleteWhen DC put so many restrictions on and then replaced Dwayne McDuffie, it was a tragedy in comic book history. Thankfully those two guys that produce Young Justice (cartoon) made it happen, and hopefully in the near future come full bloom.
Vixen is (was) the perfect representation of a female heroin. The relationship between her and Ben should never be separated. Meaning, in her solo books he should have been a supporting character at some point. Their friendship slash love story should play out even when she is on a team book. That keeps Vixen whole'some, real, and important. Right at this moment DC has dirtyied up the character and it's going to hurt her if they don't get it right.
I can definitely relate those two; didn't think I ever would, but I do:(
ReplyDeleteYeah I still don't get why editorial was all up in McDuffie's kool-aid. Did they not like his stories/scripts? The direction he was going? If so then they shouldn't have hired him on in the first place, especially if they didn't have faith in his abilities to tell a story. The mind boggles at that, yet he was pretty much left alone along with Bruce Timm and co, on JL and JLU. Crazy.
Does anyone know what editorial's beef w/McDuffie at the time was, other than him being vocal about not liking his run being interfered with?
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Deletei'm a little out of my element with the discussion you gentlemen are having at the moment but thanks for dropping by none the less.
ReplyDeleteWhat, if no ones's grabbing your ass, then who's grabbing mine? Shlomoooooooooo? 'Cause I know it's not Omega; he's into sexy magicians and freaky catwomen.
ReplyDeleteOn a more serious note, McDuffie was screwed by DC near Alan Moore-like levels with editorial interference, thus why his run was cut short after being ham-strained so damn much.
Now I'll readily admit some of the stories he did put out weren't all that good in all honesty, but I'll lay a good portion of the blame on Didio and friends for not letting McDuffie use the cast of characters he wanted, and then forcing him to interrupt his story arcs with tie-ins from company-wide events. And yes, since the title was named JLA you can expect that to happen, but still.....
Looking back now in hindsight, and maybe it's just me, but there's a scene in one of the later issues of his run, where deputy leader Black Canary complains about Batman always undermining her in the field, and that if him and the others have such a problem with her being the leader, then they should replace her already. I'm paraphrasing here, but that's the jist of it. Well that's maybe McDuffie's sly knock at editorial for always interfering w/ him. Of course Batman downplays it by saying he's just testing her, but we all know that's bullshit, even if that was Batman's m.o. back then. But yeah meta-commentary is real folks, damn real!
i miss Vixen, DC was shaping her up for something huge it seemed alongside Black Canary in Justice League and it all fell flat.
ReplyDeleteWhat got Dwayne fired was he wad airing editorial problems on the Dccomics.com chat forum for Justice League. but it was bizarre I had been reading his rants there for months and suddenly it was a big deal overnight. Were the boards their that unmoderated?! I shouldnt say rant he was protecting his career from fans angered over what it seemed were his words.
It was eye opening stuff. last minute tie-ins, forced reshuffles of the league roster and more. Ive never looked at comics the same again.
Exactly. Sure stuff like that can kind of hurt or kill the magic for comic readers, but I also look at it as exposing the reality of this business, and showing that people don't always get along in these corporate settings; especially when certain higher-ups are deliberately interfering with a professional who was hired to do job, but isn't allowed to do that job due to that interference.
DeleteAgain, if they didn't implicitly trust McDuffie or care for his JLA pitch, then why hire the man?
Exactly.
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