Guy and Kilowog
Lately, in the current Green Lantern Corp book, there has been quite a bit of friction between Guy and Kilowog for some peculiar reason. I suppose the writer felt that Guy had to be obnoxious to SOMEONE, since that is more or less his job...but Kilowog? Seriously? Why him?
Normally of course, Guy and Hal are facing off, but Hal is off being a jerk all on his own, while the GLC is trapped in a previous Universe. All of them. And John is more or less in charge, and some pretty great Lanterns have been apparently lost, such as Arisia and Bd'g. And Kilowog is also being a bit of an...ass.
This is surprising, since Kilowog has always been the ROCK of the Corps. He was the one who kept his head when others were losing theirs, trained the newbies, had a comforting word for everyone, and more or less was the mainstay of the Corps, along with Salaak, and others. What he wasn't, and never was, was a jackass.
Furthermore, after a bit of a rocky start, Kilowog and Guy have been best friends for...well forever. Even back when Guy was a brain-dead twit with the Justice League, he was friends with Kilowog. Through the JLI days, through the destruction of the Corps, through the rebirth of the Corps, the two of them have been remarkably close. So why all of a sudden are they at loggerheads? Why is Kilowog taunting him and being rude and dismissive?
I really don't have an answer other than that the writer seems to have never read the older books, or simply doesn't care. With the reboot and convergence and all the other idiocy that DC has been going through, years and years and years of perfectly adequate continuity were thrown out of the window, and new relationships took over...and frankly, it is...jarring.
It's not all that much fun to read a comic book about some of your favorite characters and have them all acting completely OUT of character. In fact, it is not fun at all.
Once he got his brains back, Guy developed a good working relationship with the Corps and its members. He is respected. He is a leader. He's LIKED! So I do hope that in the new new new rebirth coming this summer, we can get some of that back. Make Kilowog something more than a big bully, and have the Corps be a Corps again. And I'll read it with great joy.
posted by SallyP @ 6:33 AM
4 Comments:
It's one of the many things that makes no sense not just because of characterization but it's another thing that was ignored from GLLA. That mini series was building up a conflict with Guy and John over the "who do we save" issue. Now it's like that never happened and John isn't the one in charge. Or at least their treating it like he's not the only one to have the only say in what their doing like it was previously shown.
Hal and Guy have more of a history of facing off that's built from years of rivalry. I can't remember Hal ever attacking Guy from behind when he was grieving, yelling at him for attacking a superior officer and taunting him when he couldn't' argue back. Not all at once. I think we're supposed to side with Kilowog because he's the last of his kind but that's not an excuse for his behavior. He's the one that's in the wrong, he doesn't even understand why Guy took his stance thinking it was decided because he's a bigot? Does Kilowog know what that word means? That it has nothing to do with Guy's arguement?
If Kilowog could put up with Guy at his worse I can't see him acting like this. He would understand why Guy hit him maybe even think he deserved to be punched. Kilowog cares about his people, their his family. Plus didn't they sort of make up last issue? Now he's gleefully rubbing it in that Guy can't defend himself because he's gagged?
Yeah, I'm having that problem with the bat books. Pretty much all of them have been written out of character when they team up. Barbara is screaming at everyone for no good reason. Dick has been acting like Bruce. Damian comes off like an attack dog that no one besides Dick will try to rein in. Tim is usually wallpaper that doesn't do anything. Jason is either reduced in skill/intellect and/or written like a stereotypical street kid.
It's VERY aggravating to see your favorites written out of character.
Aggravating indeed!
But yes, if anyone has a history of fighting, it is Hal and Guy, not Guy and Kilowog. Kilowog is the sort of person who will sit on you and slap you around if you need it... but only then. He is a drill sergeant, not a sadist!
Plus, Kilowog was close to Arisia too, and not a peep out of him over her possible death.
Yeah, that doesn't sound much like Kilowog to me. He's never stuck me as the sort to taunt someone. It really stinks when there's only one book a character you like shows up in, and the writer on that book doesn't get them, because there's no other new stuff to turn to as an antidote. Plus, if no one counteracts it, there's a chance it takes hold as the new status quo.
It is incredibly frustrating as a reader. I can understand wanting to make your mark as a new writer, but throwing away literally year of steady character development for a few cheap jokes just drives me insane. If you want that sort of thing then use one of the NEW corps members.
Post a Comment
<< Home