I think one way the weekly format hurt the series, or at least the crossovers, was that all the tie-in issues had to be published within a span of 2-3 months. On paper it’s a good idea; at the time storylines weren’t normally spread over 6 issues, so publishing a series whose events take place in a short period of time over 8 months would make it hard to schedule the tie-ins, and the storyline didn’t dominate the DCU for over half a year.

The trouble, though, is that the exposure of the Manhunter agents had to be handled in one tie-in issue, both the revelation and the denouement (except in cases where it led back in to the main story). I seem to remember this didn’t make for very good drama–even in the days before decompression, squeezing “reveal-fight-hero wins” into one issue while dealing with other parts of the story at the same time came off as kind of abrupt, and there was no room to develop the Manhunter agents as a serious threat to the heroes.

It also meant that there wasn’t much time to develop the agents in advance; most of the agents (especially those who turned out to be imposters rather than brainwashed) were supporting characters the writer could afford to jettison without seriously affecting their ongoing plotlines. There was no slow development of the idea that one of the characters might have a dark secret so the reveal would have greater impact; just “Whoops, the sleazy guy who hangs around Blue Devil is actually a Manhunter…no, really.” (In some cases the character was barely introduced before the revelation–remember the Rocket Red who preceded Dmitri in the JLI?)

You know, where one character was bitten by an AIDS vampire.

And where the series suddenly ended with the revelation that these WEREN’T the humans who’d help the human race evolve, just the caretakers for some bunch of random hideously deformed genetic experiments (created by the mechinations of the evil South African bigot) or some such.

Even back then, it was clear the plan for the Chosen kind of well… blew. The Guardian and Zamaron wanted 10 people… and yet a third of their selections died before the final ascension, or washed out. So you were left with a plant, a Dreamtime spirit, the magic gay guy, a computer guy, and three hot chicks (including Harbinger). Yeah, that’s my recipe for the next step of evolution also.

No wonder the team broke up and vanished into obscurity. But at least two of the hot chicks have found mild success as part of the new Global Guardians. More than I can say for the big floating spirit head, magical gay guy, computer guy, plant guy….

(Re-reading the Booster Gold part of the crossover, it was really funny to see how that anonymous little Chinese woman was transformed into a hot redhead with lots of cleavage… all of those transformations were a little wacky.)

Now I want to pick up the TPB when it comes out later these year, for laughs.

I think you touched on the real problem here. But it’s not what you thnk.

“All things considered, well, it probably is just as well. Steve Englehart is obviously interested in the idea of ‘humanity’s next step,’ it’s a theme that’s cropped up all kinds of places in his work.”

Every writer has that problem- returning to the same themes, to the same character voices in different “costumes”, to the same base plots. And when they run dry of that, they recycle others’ stuff that they liked, be it from comics, film, television, or novels.

While execution is important, it ‘s even more so to know when you’ve gone to a well too many times. And unfortunately, most writers are caught in the web of expectations. If something works, the publishers expect more of the same. Which is the wrong approach. If the writer is any good, you have to challenge them to continue expanding their abilities. Not ask for more of the same thing, over and over.

Because eventually, you’re going to get tired of that theme, that writing style, that plot structure. No matter how well executed.

Maybe I was giving the benefit of the doubt too much, there. But at the time I found it excusable.

Still didn’t want to read about them just being superheroes, though.

Weeklies were unheard of at the time. How many people thought it was a money-grab by DC to expect people to scoop up an extra four comics per month?

It sounds a bit absurd, considering the .75 cover price, but there were a LOT of comics coming out every month at that time. The independent explosion was still expanding en force and both Marvel and DC were cranking out as many titles as they possibly could.

For comic book writers, there’s probably just not as much compelling story material in the popular model as there is in these throwbacks. I guess what I’m trying to say is that they aren’t necessarily ignoring evolutionary theory, they’re just not accepting the most popular version

For one thing, it doesn’t occur in sudden steps – sorry, Professor Xavier. (That idea is called saltationism, by the way, and is generally not accepted by biologists.) The other problem is the idea of evolution being aimed at a particular goal, or at a form of perfection. Evolution is supposed to represent ongoing adaptation to changing circumstances, it doesn’t really have a “goal”. Changes happen, some mutations are poorly adapted and die (most mutations, actually), and some are better adapted and live. (It doesn’t matter whether you accept or reject evolutionary theory here – I’m just describing what it is.)

The point being that arguing about whether those two characters were good choices, based on “science”, is a bit off the mark. Instead the question should be whether those characters were good choices based on the art of storytelling. (Based on Greg’s review, it sounds like the answer to that question is a resounding “no!”)

There have been a couple movies where a man and woman are the last people alive and one of them is gay. If done well it would be interesting to have a gay character in such a dilemma. “I’m not attracted to someone of the opposite sex but I have a duty to pass on my genetic code” could be an interesting plot if done well.

All speculation at this point, but if I was betting, I think that plot point would have come up in the uncensored version of New Guardians.

I am mostly going from memory here, but as I recall, the objections to Gregorio were not so much about “Why is the gay guy picked as one of the ten people who’re supposed to breed a new and better human when he’s not a breeder?” so much as, “Why is the gay guy a flouncy queen in a purple blouse who wants his teammates to call him Auntie?” At that point, he was the ONLY out gay character in the DCU, don’t forget. There was a lot of I’m-gay-and-no-WAY-did-that-guy-represent-ME! letters flying around the fan press.

And as P-tor points out, the plant-guy genes combining with human genes idea came up in Celestial Madonna, as well. Truthfully, it struck me as goofy then, too, but I think the Madonna story sold it a little better.

I should also note that it was the one-two punch of Millennium and Secret Wars II that drove me away from (then) contemporary super-hero comics. That we’re still talking about continuity-altering crossover events 22 years later goes a long way towards explaining why I continue to stay away.

Nice column, Greg.

There have been a couple movies where a man and woman are the last people alive and one of them is gay. If done well it would be interesting to have a gay character in such a dilemma. “I’m not attracted to someone of the opposite sex but I have a duty to pass on my genetic code” could be an interesting plot if done well.

Another bonus of being tree-like might be extended life-span.
Many trees have been alive for well over a thousand years (a few, like the Fortingall Yew in Scotland has been alive for over 2000 years, and the Wattieza trees have even been alive for over three thousand years, OR the Prometheus tree in the United States that was nearly 5000 years old when it was cut down by well-meaning, but a bit unfortunate in their selection, scientists).

Imagine NOW the benefits of evolution by adding plant “nature” with human nature.

~P~
P-TOR

Think about it for a second beyond the “boy & girl make baby” aspect of generational progress. If the baby is to be a new evolutionary step towards “perfection”, think about WHAT perfection MIGHT entail.

If a gay guy were to *somehow* be the progenitor of either a hermaphroditic or asexual entity, that would be the next stage towards what ANGELS are perceived as being; asexual (or nethersexual). They’re usually seen (outside of Renaissance paintings) as being neither male nor female but a sort of mix of the two (slender, perfectly delicate features, beatific and lithe).

Angels are considered to be (by many) as “perfect” beings, and as close to the Divine as can be imagined.
(Or, if you don’t believe in Angels, then I’ll posit some types of ALIEN “grey” lifeforms – which, oddly, many sci-fi/conspiracy/atheist/etc… theorist types believe Angels to BE.)

And the PLANT man?
Why couldn’t mankind aspire to a harmonious mixture of flora and fauna?

That was also one of the aspects to Englehart’s “Celestial Madonna” storyline with Mantis.
She married Quitiati (or something like that) which was a plant-man entity and their mixed genetics would (and did) produce a plant/man hybrid who was supposed to represent the savior of the universe, kinda like a Green-haired Christ-like figure.

So, from a writers (and really any “outside-the-box” thinker’s) frame of mind, the inclusion of a gay guy and a plant guy would be a good idea for “next step” genetics.

Don’t forget that the theory of having a MAN be able to gestate a baby within him is something that I recall reading in old OMNI science magazines in the late 1970′s, and according to recent news releases lately, IS indeed a possibility. SO, take some plant-man DNA and place it into the gay-guy (hopefully the plant-man DNA will be sufficient to fill in any needed genetic requirements that may only come from a woman) and there ya go.

Just my 2cents.

~P~
P-TOR

Otherwise, it looks pretty good.

i didn’t vote in the Greatest Runs sweepstakes, but i’ve been hoping that it shows up in there SOMEwhere (probably not likely at this point, but i’m glad to see it receiving some kudos here)…

Not that comic books have ever dealt with evolution accurately but it does have the requirement of reproduction.

And as for Englehart and caricatures…well, I haven’t read much of the man’s work, but he is the writer who, in a fairly recent issue of JSA: Classified, had Gypsy say a line that was something to the effect of “I’ll steal it, since that’s what gypsies do!” Ummm…okay, Steve….