Re: Reed Richards is a smarmy git

2004-02-27T08:17:55+00:00

Hey now. Clark is an orphan whose PLANET SPLODED. That’s angst, man!

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2004-02-26T14:39:00+00:00

I root for heros who have made sacrifices to get what they have. Reed has yet to make any serious sacrifices, to my knowledge. Sacrifice is what separates the heros from the twinks.

Reed Richards is a smarmy git

2004-02-26T14:36:33+00:00

The reason I can’t stand him and pretty much refuse to read the Fantastic Four is that Reed Richards is, in essence, the archetypical twink. I can’t imagine anyone with the emotional maturity of a 15 year old remaining genuinely interested in him as a character for more than two issues. His current troubles (which I hear about second hand from my wife) are vaguely interesting. But, at the same time, they frustrate me. Felicity is right; Marvel won’t leave the Thing dead. There will, in the end, be no consequences for Reed’s hubris, because it’s not that kind of title.

Batman (since that’s the contrast of the moment) has his ups and downs. People get pissed at Batman. He loses friends. In recent history, he kept files on how to take down every member of the JLA (in case they go bad), and those files were stolen and used against his friends. As I understand it (not being a JLA reader), it took time for that trust to be rebuilt. Batman suffers for his actions on a regular basis. Batman’s is a story of tragedy and sacrifice. And after all, sacrifice is what (in my eyes, at least) makes a hero.

I don’t find Superman compeling for similar reasons; he hasn’t sacrificed enough to make him a hero. Sure, he has alienation issues (he is, after all, an extra terrestrial), and I’m sure he and Lois have their share of emotional fuckwittage, but he hasn’t paid enough for his powers.

Though it’s not canon, Superman I (the movie) pretty much underscores my point. Superman saves California and Lois by breaking the rules, and there are no consequences. Thus, the movie has very little emotional impact.

In contrast, Smallville, and Lois and Clark have Clark Kent sacrificing relationships for his secret. This is interesting, but not as interesting as, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer in which Buffy has to, for example, send her true love to Hell to save the world.

Agent Smith: Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world, where none suffered; where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program.

I don’t buy Reed’s perfection; it bugs me.

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Re: Reed Richards is a smarmy git

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Reed Richards is a smarmy git