Beloved and Beloathed
I thought of this concept the other day, and figured I'd run with it a bit more. If the DC Universe has been reset...then perhaps formerly dead characters will NOT be dead! I can certainly get behind that.
So...on my Beloved list...is Ralph and Sue Dibny. The Nick and Nora Charles of the Comic book set. All they need is an adorable little dog. Great clothes and a lot of booze wouldn't hurt either.
But anyway. I loved that Ralph didn't bother to hide his identity. I loved that Ralph got a kick out of BEING recognized. I loved that Sue fell for Ralph instead of Barry. I loved the fact that SHE was the heiress, and that they got to go around and do cool stuff, and have fun and investigate things together. I loved that they were desperately in love, and that Ralph didn't have to go through the sort of crap that Barry, and Hal and Ray and Clark had to go through with their unwitting girlfriends.
To this day, the retroactive rape and murder of Sue still drives me into a frenzy. The death of Ralph also upsets me, because I love Ralph, but unlike Sue, at least his death had some meaning to it. And I was all set during Blackest Night to see their triumphant return. Then I was all set during Brightest day...for their triumphal return.
I'm...still waiting.
Dammit, Batman may be the world's greatest detective, but he doesn't have TIME to do all the detecting stuff! We Need Ralph! He and Sue can go back and live in Opal, which is my favorite fictional city. They can interact with the Shade, and the O'Dares, and occasionally team up with the Justice League, or heck, maybe THEY could take over for Oracle!
Plus, other than Aquaman and Mera, they're about the only married couple left. Granted, they're dead...but still married! So please...bring back my Beloved Dibnys!
This is by Chris Samnee. Isn't it adorable?
posted by SallyP @ 12:43 PM
12 Comments:
That really is a great picture. I think I like Samnee's work better in black and white than colors. Not sure why.
As to Ralph and Sue, I'd love to have them back. The booze is easy, ralph can carry that flask he had in "52". Sure that turned out to be Gingold, but that's part of the fun. Crooks would never know if it was Gingold he was swilling, or gin.
Or at least have someone do something with the Ghost Detectives idea. That seemed like it had potential, but it never went anywhere.
Other than Batman (and his various proteges, I guess) are there any detectives in the NuDC? I haven't heard anything regarding Detective Chimp, either.
Guess it says a lot if my first thought was. Don't use stretch-heroes with the way DCnU depicts women, please?
The Question, Martian Manhunter, in some incarnations, come to mind as detectives. If you want to stretch it then some of the Spectre hosts (Jim Corrigan, Crispus Allen).
Speaking of which I'd love a Spectre series again in the vein of Ostrander's run. Probably the series that hooked me to comcis.
Ohhh... new DCU. Nope then. :P
"The Nick and Nora Charles of the Comic book set. All they need is an adorable little dog."
G'nort, perhaps?
I'm rather fond of G'Nort, but I'm not quite sure that he's quite what the Dibnys had in mind. He's...high maintenance. Besides...he's in love with Guy.
Calvin, the hip flask with the Gingold would be perfect. And I had forgotten all about Detective Chimp! He's quite amazing.
Shiraste, is there a Spectre at the moment? Hard to say. But yes, we need more detectives. And stretchy heroes. I like Plastic Man well enough, but he's a bit too cartoony for me. Ralph had a sense of humor, but he could be serious when he needed to be. And dammit, he and Sue were just...fun.
I miss fun.
Damn. Now you've got me missing Ralph and Sue all over again. I'll never get over losing them at this rate. *sniff*
If you love all that, you're probably going to love my all-Dibny blog.
Great minds think alike, I was thinking just the same as you and made a similar post (one of my latest 3, I believe).
DiDio just told me (don't ask) that there are no plans for the Dibnys (or so he claims). Either they are planing a revamp (wich is unlikely since they are not that notorious) or they hate the Dibnys. During 2003 - 2006, in comics and other media, they were the supporting characters at the center of everything, but after 2007, save for minor cameos, WB-DC alost pretend that they never existed. Mattel collectors seem to be furious, since EM is basic to complete 4 Justice League rosters (satellite, Detroit, Europe-International and Super Buddies), not to mention that he's a silver age classic.
I like IdC as a story, but the bum-rape is intolerable as part of the DC history. I wish the story ended like the first 2 Superman movies.
Ralph WAS on a whole lotta justice Leages, wasn't he? He's been around for a VERY long time, and dammit, we need him back! Oh, and Sue too. She's an honorary member of the Justice League. LOIS isn't an honorary member of the Justice League.
More than that, Sue was the Bureau Chief of the JLE! As I understand it, this meant that, as long as they were not in the field, she called the shots!
Not even Snapper got that honor.
I never thought of them like Nick and Nora before, but it makes perfect sense!
I miss them, too, and I'll never get over Identity Crisis.
It would be nice to see some married couples in the DCU. *coughAdamandAlannaStrangecough*
I think it was Gardner Fox who first portrayed them as then-modern versions of the Charles. Before that, Brome didn't really portray Ralph as a detective, just an extravagant superhero friend of the Flash.
I always thought that the Dibny's would make a great mystery show for tv, you could introduce the DC cites of Gotham, Star City, Coast City, Opal, Metropolis maybe even Themescyra?
You could have Bruce Wayne, Zatana, the Flashes, Ray Palmer. The could go to Markova, Qurac, travel to the future and visit the legion, go to Oa and solve a crime for the green lanterns. So much for them to do within the DC universe introducing it to more people. Think of the fun.
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