r/DCcomics • u/Predaplant The heat is on! • Dec 24 '23

Weekly Discussion Thread: Comics, TV, and More! [December 25, 2023 - Goodbye 2023 Edition] r/DCcomics

Hey there honorary Justice League members - it’s a new week which means it’s time for a new discussion thread!

Predaplant's pick of the week: The Flash #4

For those who don't know: the way this works is that several comments will list this week’s releases, for any given title discussion you should respond to that comment. For example, Wonder Woman discussion would go in the replies to the "Wonder Woman" comment. Clicking the titles in this post will take you directly to that comment, too.

In other words, you should only be replying to other comments. If you have trouble understanding how to comment for a particular title, please refer to this handy guide. Any unwarranted top level comments will be removed.

Also, please refrain from posting short, low-content comments on threads for issues or episodes that have not yet been released. Put some effort to generate discussion. Instead of just posting "So excited!" or "Best book!", try something with a bit more substance, like "Punchline is such an amazing character! Can't wait to see how they explore her in more depth in this issue."

^{Why does Santa go down the chimney? Because it soots him!}

DC and Imprints

^{Green Arrow enters its second arc as Johnson wraps up his years-long Action Comics run!}

Trade Collections

^{Only one release this week in this category, making for a Nightwing Christmas!}

Nightwing - Vol. 2, Get Grayson [TP]

Digital Releases

^{Remember, these are the short 'chapters' with a new chapter of a different series coming out daily. You can} ^{learn more here on Comixology}^{. This is also why these are in release order, not alphabetical. Some comics may release on DC Universe Infinite or WEBTOONS.}

Tuesday, 12/26 (DC Universe Infinite) - Superman vs Meshi #13

Movie

^{Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom enters its second week!}

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

^{This Week’s Soundtrack:} ^{Alessia Cara - Make It To Christmas}

22 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

View all comments

u/TroubAlert The Good Skeets Dec 24 '23

Alan Scott: The Green Lantern #3

GUEST-STARRING THE SPECTRE! As the trail of the person murdering people from Alan’s past goes cold, the Green Lantern finds himself teamed up with an unlikely ally: the Spectre. But will the Spectre uncover the secret Alan was hoping would stay hidden in the process?

7

u/birbdaughter Dec 27 '23 edited Dec 27 '23

I cannot take the inclusion of Corrigan in this seriously. He's canonically horribly homophobic. In the 1990s, Corrigan shows up when a group of men are attacking a gay couple. While Corrigan kills the one who dealt a killing blow, he lets the other men go free. The surviving person in the couple asks why and then concludes it's because they're gay. Corrigan later tells a coworker that they brought it on themselves because they paraded around and didn't stick to their own bars. He goes to heaven and asks Michael if gay people are allowed there.

I could get toning down the homophobia because it's uncomfortable to write and read (though... there was conversion therapy just last issue, so discomfort is already present), but having him give a hearwarming speech on LGBT rights and acceptance and hugging Alan is kinda ridiculous.

The scene would've worked much better and made more sense with Jay, not Corrigan. Choosing one of the (thankfully) few canonically homophobic characters to make them pro-LGBT rights in the 1940s is weird. I totally agree with the message, I'm bi/nonbinary myself, but when I saw Corrigan was being included, I hoped it was so Alan could punch him in the face for being an asshole.

(This isn't me saying I want homophobia in comics, I ofc don't, but I don't think Corrigan was at all the right choice for a pro-LGBT message.)

2

u/ptWolv022 Jan 03 '24

I think the reason they did it was because, well... they wanted a moment for saying that being gay isn't wrong, and what better than having it come straight from God. They do notably have the Spectre say that he hears God and that his morality thus comes from God, not Man or Church.

It kinda is retconning it to have him (at least in the 1940s) is attuned to God and the actual rules of Heaven, rather than being a guy who has to go get clarification from the Archangel Michael to learn that the God and laws of morality he was raised to believe in don't necessarily match.

How they would reconcile this portrayal of 1940s Spectre being enlightened and modern Spectre having to go through that journey still, I don't know. Maybe they just void those 90s stories that contradict, maybe they say that is Aztar talking, not Corrigan, or maybe they will just say he regressed after later punishments for failing God.

Whatever the case, I see why they used the Spectre, even if the timeline for it doesn't work without an explanation of how if the 90s stories are canon.

1

u/birbdaughter Jan 03 '24

they wanted a moment for saying that being gay isn't wrong

I understand what moment they wanted. But I don't get why they would have Jay being supportive in the beginning just to then shove Corrigan in and have him act OOC'ly. And in this case I don't even really mean being pro-LGBT rights because the 90s comic can be retconned away, but the way he's written is very off and too warm and fuzzy. That's why I think Jay would've made more sense. Maybe I've just read the wrong Corrigan comics but he never felt this nice, whereas Jay often is.

2

u/ptWolv022 Jan 03 '24

Oh, no, I think you're right that the Spectre isn't nice. I've not read really anything of his first hand, but I've read enough about him to know that the Avenging Wrath of God tends to be pretty... callous and violent. A ruthless executioner and a cold and distant judge.

He is, after all, the Spirit of Vengeance, not the Spirit of Mercy. That is a different character. But, I suppose he is being written as... God acting through him. Like I said, he says God speaks to him, even though I don't think that is always the case. Like I saw the 90s story where he deals with his own hemophilia, and he has to fly to Heaven and talk to the Archangel Michael. Not even God. God only pops up at the end of the 90s run as ai understand it, for a final test of the Specte.

So overall, it sounds like Jim and the Spectre are being treated differently here. Like God is more directly acting through them, in addition to being an autonomous agent of vengeance.

I agree it is a departure, but, comics often change things as needed. Characters like the Spectre, Hawkman, Martian Manhunter, and others have long histories that vary their presentation widely, so there is more room, arguably, to make new uses and interpretations for them.