BoffoBlog's web host is having some temporary issues, so just so it's published, here's the BoffoBlog entry for....

Sunday, July 15, 1:15 AM:

You ever notice that when you really, really need something to come in the mail, it takes as slow as possible to get there? I really really need a certain piece of mail to arrive before my trip to Blizzcon and Disneyland (which takes place on the 2nd-5th of next month), preferably well before it. However, it *could* take as long as the 7th to arrive. And that's not even a guarantee, just it's late after that. Gah.

Anyhoo, just wanted to say I have not forgotten about comic reviews with all the recent unpleasantness, since I know that's what keeps all the Boffoketeers coming back. I'll be catching up Real Soon Now (tm).

By the way, folks, you might want to give a checkout to Dave's Barebones Pokemon Pearl Roster. Now that I've beaten the game (DarkHelm beat Pokemon Diamond not long after), it unlocked the ability to conceivably collect all the Pokemon ever made in the game (though not all of them are actually in the game. Some are in Pokemon Diamond, some will depend on playing some of the Game Boy Advance games and transferring them over). Therefore, I've started a color coded Pokedex to show just what I have and just what I need so you guys can bask in the awesomeness with me as I show you my Pokemans. The pride and joy of my collection, I have two "shiny" Pokemon. These alternate color Pokemon are really rare. As a bonus, both happen to be very powerful dragons, both are level 100, both have very nice movesets, and one just happens to be a Legendary Pokemon. Go check it out. I'll wait.

I did want to talk about a certain subject that irks me at times tonight. And I will warn you that if anyone has not heard yet what happened to Bart Allen in Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #13 last month, it gets spoiled here, so you may want to skip this entry if you want to avoid spoilage.

First off, a blurb on Newsarama about an upcoming Marvel story got my goat. It advertised that either Aunt May Parker, Mary Jane Watson or The Black Cat would be, and I quote here, "getting the Gwen Stacy treatment", and I further quote, "taking a dirt nap".

Why? Why are comics still stuck in this rut? Gwen Stacy's death back in June 1973 (thanks Wikipedia, though I bet someone out there knew that one off hand), all the way back when I was a mere FOUR MONTHS OLD, was such a watershed event for comics that we still talk about it today. It was new. It was original. It meant something. And it had a point.

When you talk about how you're going to make someone "take a dirt nap" AND compare it to Gwen Stacy, you're automatically saying you don't have a point, as well as demeaning Gwen Stacy's character (though certain factions of my readership might argue that Marvel's been doing that for years already.)

Admittedly, cheap deaths are going to cause a sales spike for curiosity factor in the short term. In the long term, it's going to cause your universe to be a lot less fun to read. Right now, the Marvel universe is not very fun to read, and stuff like this is just going the wrong way.

Marvel's got a very rich and glorious history here. It would honestly be a shame if they screw it up.

On the other side of the fence, even as the total DC brat I was growing up, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't acknowledge what they're doing. After a mere 13 issues as the Flash, Bart Allen has been killed. Now, DC actually seems to be going somewhere with the plotline in Countdown (I've seen some call it the best plot line going in the semi-flailing series). But right now, one wonders if Young Justice has become the new JLI in terms of editorial wrath by DC.

JLI scorecard: (leaving out members who were there for a relative cup of coffee, as well as legacy heroes like Batman and the Martian Manhunter)

• Blue Beetle: Dead, shot in the head by Maxwell Lord
• Guy Gardner: Ended up getting dumb powers and look as Warrior, forgotten, recently repowered as a Green Lantern. Not quite so much a jerk anymore.
• Booster Gold: Faked his own death. Will have to appear to be a moron to protect the timeline.
• Rocket Red: Dead, sacrificed himself to defeat 3 OMACs to save his friends (thus, it's Batman's fault)
• Fire: Black King's Knight in Checkmate, retconned into murderess. Murdered Colonel Computron.
• Ice: Killed by The Overmaster. Apparently has gotten better in Birds of Prey.
• Captain Atom: Blasted into the WildStorm universe briefly, has now apparently become Monarch like he was supposed to before a reveal made DC make Hawk Monarch instead in a poorly conceived plan.

(Note: originally, I excluded those who formed the JLE, but realized that that really only ruled out Captain Atom and Rocket Red, who show my point even more.)

Young Justice scorecard:

• Robin: Essentially untouchable due to backlash from Jason Todd's death.
• Superboy: Dead due to lawsuit destroying evil tower.
• Impulse: Killed.
• Wonder Girl: Alive, but having all sorts of fun these days.
• Secret: Turned into a regular, powerless human. Forgotten except for brief mention in Teen Titans.
• Arrowette: Retired due to traumatic event. Forgotten except for ancillary mentions in Teen Titans. Her niche in the DC Universe is now filled by Speedy.
• Empress: Totally forgotten after Young Justice.
• Slobo: Turned into a statue in the HQ of Young Justice One Million in the last issue of Young Justice.
• The Ray: Has joined the new Freedom Fighters.

Now, because of my... ways, I've read the entire run of Impulse. I've read the entire run of Young Justice. I've read the entire run of Teen Titans up to this point. I grew to really like Bart.

Was his run on Flash struggling? Sure. But that doesn't mean you blame the character. Thirteen issues of being the Flash... that's barely more time than Stephanie Brown was Robin.

The payoff here had better be a really super fantastic story. Even then, it might not be worth it. In a forum recently, I really didn't care about what someone was saying. I responded "My apathy has become so tangible that I think that I shall name it George. Hi, George!" Other posters, for some reason, (I credit lack of sleep) decided this was really funny and decided to run with it, and George took on a life of his own. Now, if I decide in a future forum post that I want to kill George, I can do this. George is mine.

Comics, especially working for the big two companies, you don't have that luxury. Even past respect for your fellow creators, to some extent, Superman, Batman, Captain America and Spider-Man belong to all of us. It's like a big shared toybox. If you respect the toys, you're respecting everyone else. You put the toys back in the toybox good as new when you're through and the next person who wants to use them can.

If you go killing characters willy nilly, if you go breaking the toys... let's say I write a DC story where I write the gruesome death of Snapper Carr, because I'm convinced it will spike sales. I've broken that toy. If some creator comes down the pike with just the most awesome story ever for Snapper Carr, they've either got to figure out some way to resurrect him, complicating and perhaps cheapening their story in the process, or even worse, they can't do the story at all.

Comic companies, death isn't cool anymore. It's trite. If you want to sell books, write good stories.

And if anyone ever seriously mentions "Gwen Stacy" and "dirt nap" in the same sentence again, please smack them in the head.