Lewis Lovhaug: Linkara

Quotes 

• [opening lines] 

  Linkara : There is no easy way to do this episode. I've expressed before that I am not a fan of the 2004 miniseries, "Identity Crisis". I have many reasons for disliking it, not the least of which it being the starting point for a general and unnecessary darkening of the DC Universe and its characters. I've stated before that, essentially, the difference between DC and Marvel is a philosophical approach with their heroes, at least in how they started. Marvel's heroes are people you can relate to. They have issues, they have problems, they face prejudices and hatred for being different than the everyday man. DC's heroes, however, tend to be people you can look up to. They're the people you want to be like. Now, of course, there are exceptions to this on both sides and in the way they're written. You can look up to someone in the Marvel Universe and you can relate to someone in the DC Universe, but that's how I've always viewed the two different companies. As such, Marvel's stories tended to be a bit darker than DC, portraying more real-life circumstances that could crop up. Now, of course, DC has done their own fair share of darkening their characters and facing real-life situations, too. I'm not arguing that "Identity Crisis" is the only book that ever did this. "Identity Crisis", however, took the approach of darkening and making the heroes do things that are openly, morally ambiguous and went the wrong way with it. The idea is not bad in itself, but from what I've read, the impetus for this book was the misconception of "Marvel's stories are dark and that's why they're selling better than us," instead of "Marvel knows how to market their properties and get popular talent behind their books, and maybe instead of focusing all our time on trying to be number one, we should just focus on telling good stories."

• Linkara : If I disliked this book, why am I doing this as a list instead of a massive overview of all seven issues?

  [hesitates slightly] 

  Linkara : Well, it's because people... really, really like this series. And much as I hate to admit it, there are things that I like about it, too. The artwork by Rags Morales is beautiful. There's a lot of good character drama and emotion. And up until the end, you really get invested in these characters, and a good story should do that. The characters, for the most part, feel like real characters, and you truly do see the scope of the DC Universe, from lesser-known heroes to the big-named ones, with a heavy emphasis on iconography and, for a lack of a better term, cinematic visuals. But there are people who like it beyond those reasons. They think the story is genuinely good and, apparently, for a lot of people, this was their introduction to comics and the DC Universe, and as such, it has a special place in their heart. So, frankly, who the hell am I to come in, rain on their parade, and tell them this thing is a piece of crap not worthy of holding up an uneven table? I'm not here to make you feel bad for liking or disliking a comic. I am here to give my opinion.