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Unless you happen to think that the Tomb of the Unknowns should be a place to respect honoured war dead who are unknown and could not receive burial by their friends and loved ones– in which case this comic seems cheap and disrespectful of the sacrifice of their lives.

yeah i agree…superhero made up of dead ashes?? bottom of the barrel anyone?

I dunno….I kinda agree with Graeme . I mean, the spirits of the Unknown Soldiers forming a hero, ala the stuff that happened in Ostrander’s Spectre all the time, I’m ok with..the actual ashes, though?

Yuck. No, it’s not. Jesus.

It’s…a little messed up.

Does that look like Billy Zane to anyone else? Come on, Greg Land.

Uh, yeah, is it a really cool idea? Because I’m leaning with the other posters here.

I have to agree with the poster here.

As a pulp EC idea it’s pretty creative.
The line has to be tread carefully though.

It’s not like it’s actual ashes of soldiers. It’s fiction, get over it.

I picked this ish up but haven’t had time to read it yet. I agree that it can be a cheap ploy, but I will give Chaykin the benefit of the doubt going in.

I watched an episode of Master’s of Horror recently (Homecoming, I think) that did something similar and seemed a little cheap on the face of it, although it was a fun show in the end.

I think Brian is joking. He can be pretty deadpan. Remember when he said that the teaser of Ultimates 3 looked very promising?

Remember when he said that the teaser of Ultimates 3 looked very promising?

Is that a lead-in to a Family Guy-style flashback, because I’m not getting anything. Also, it’s very cruel to do something like that on a day that isn’t April Fool’s.

And finally, for the record, I didn’t say it was a good idea, just that it might not be a bad idea.

How embarassing…

I don’t think it’s inherently cool or uncool-it would be totally boss if handled correctly and disrespectful if not. Grow some perspective, folks.

“It’s not like it’s actual ashes of soldiers. It’s fiction, get over it.”

Exactly.

People need to stop getting offended by things that don’t actually exist, on behalf of the people they think should be offended by them.

I think it’s a cool idea, but then again I thought the teaser of Ultimates 3 looked promising too.

Didn’t Image try something like this already sometime in the ninties?

I really like Kurt Busiek’s Old Soldier… this guy strikes me as a punk.

It’s a cool idea, if it doesn’t rain.

Actually, it’s a pretty lame idea.

Bugger offence or respect… it’s just a pretty lame idea.
What can you actually do with that character that isn’t ridiculous, preachy or tacky?
You can’t give him any actual depth without negating the fact he’s made from the ashes of others, and do we really need another ’spirit of justice’ type character running about?
It’s like the golgotha shit demon, but not done for laughs.

I don’t find the idea really original or clever but the thing that strikes me is that how can you garantee the nationality of the soldiers since they are unknown.

It’s not a playing with word joke of my part, I remember in History class that since the fallen where unknown…

The surpise is that it took 2008 to have that thing published.

To me, it just sounds like the kind of thing Rob Liefield would have done in the early days of image, it’s just silly.

And it’s true, there’s no way of knowing if the unknown fallen are even American, so why would he be draped in the Stars and Stripes? Surely he should be covered in the flags of many nations.

I don’t think it’s a matter of being too easily offended, you guys; it’s simply a disgusting idea. Y’all need to grow some good taste.

I really don’t understand why it would be considered disgusting. It’s not being done in zombie-style. It’s not that different from any other resurrected or spirit character.

i would like to clarify that i was never OFFENDED by the idea of a superhero composed of dead soldier ashes…i understand the comic book is not actually printed on the remains of dead soldiers.

i just think the idea is really stupid…how many endless permutations of the superhero concept do we need? havent we seen it all already

Are you reading Squadron Supreme? It’s all about retreading superhero concepts we haven’t seen. But with a Supreme Universe twist. It’s like 616, but Supreme!

It’s not like it’s actual ashes of soldiers. It’s fiction, get over it.

I’d rather ‘fiction’ find more respectful means of telling stories.

It’s also a dumb idea on top of being tasteless.

People need to stop getting offended by things that don’t actually exist, on behalf of the people they think should be offended by them.

Thank you for telling me how to feel. I appreciate getting the memo.

What is disrespectful about it? He’s not being resurrected as a terrorist.

For crying out loud. Ashes are ashes. Bodies are meat. Cemeteries are monuments to the fact that humans are still as primitive in their thinking as they were 5,000 years ago. Any soldier that ever died trying to recover the body of a fallen comrade died in vain.

And any preacher or funeral director who counsels some poor family to bankrupt itself so they can bury Grandpa in a casket that cost more than their car so he can “rest in peace” should be arrested.

when the anonymous comments section about a superhero becomes your soapbox, you know youre desperate for attention, mutt

i would like to clarify that i was never OFFENDED by the idea of a superhero composed of dead soldier ashes…i understand the comic book is not actually printed on the remains of dead soldiers.

although the first printing of Mark Gruenwald’s Squadron Supreme TPB has Gruenwald’s ashes in the ink. (sadly I have the 2nd printing)

Are you reading Squadron Supreme? It’s all about retreading superhero concepts we haven’t seen. But with a Supreme Universe twist. It’s like 616, but Supreme!

Actually it’s like the DCU. The main characters are direct copies of the main DCU heroes.

Well, I think the idea has potential because it could deal with a soldier without a sense of self so holding on to the idea of “country” is the only thing that keeps him going. He doesn’t know who the “real” him is or even if there is a real him, so he distracts himself with his work. Not sure if I’m being clear or not, but that’s why I think it’s a cool idea.

I guess the same territory has been covered with Rogue, but I think the soldier/resurrection part puts a different spin on it.

Actually it’s like the DCU. The main characters are direct copies of the main DCU heroes.

Yeah, to clarify, the Supreme characters up to this series have been DCU analogues. Now with SS #3, they’re starting to come up with 616 analogues, Cap, Iron man, Spider-Man, etc.

And I apologize if I seem like a thread hog. Some of the reactions to this topic have seemed really bizarre. I’m really curious about the negative reactions.

Hey, I just like watching puppies come running when I whistle.

While I’m okay with the actual general idea, I think they need to do a little bit more research…

Kind of like the thread a few days ago about the Magdalene being a secret weapon of the Knights of Malta for 2000 years, when they were established in the 12th Century and are completely pacifist…

If the Tomb of the Unknowns (which I am presuming is another name for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier??) is for soldiers of unknown nationality, etc., then why is there such an American theme?? Why not a sort of International (UN?) Peacekeeper style? Why not even call him “Peacekeeper”?

For a minute or two I thought it was a Marvel analogue of the Unknown Soldier… Pity…

The men laid to rest in the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery were all American servicemen - unfortunately, they had no individual identification, hence their unknown status. Not to get too morbid, but their bodies were presumably found in uniform, and that is how they were identified as American.

With regards to the series, however, I find it surprisingly unoriginal for someone like Chaykin. I’m just not finding a whole lot of fresh ideas. “Hey, how about an EDGY version of Iron Man? And Captain America? And the FF? And Spider-Man, except… wait for it… it’s a GIRL! And to top it all off… they all appear in what was originally a parody of the DCU! A parody of the Marvel U in a parody of the DCU published by Marvel! That’s so meta it hurts.” Seriously, I’m not getting anything out of this series that I wasn’t getting out of the Ultimate line. And besides that, none of the major characters from the original series are showing up. It’s like Chaykin just wanted to do his edgy Marvel U and is using whatever brand-associated goodwill the original Squadron Supreme (Strazynski’s version, of course) had built to try and sell it. I always like to give a series at least one story arc to prove itself, but this book is pushing it…

The first ad I saw for the new Squadron Supreme had this guy, drawn by Land, with a gun so huge that its butt crossed over the shoulder of the character below and to the right of him. That was very convenient as the two characters appeared to be the exact same figure, traced line for line, and the butt of Ash-Man’s gun lines up with Ultimate Ultimate Iron Man’s arm to cover up the area on Figure #2 that is obscured by the barrel of the gun on Ash-Man.

http://media.comicvine.com/uploads/0/40/426284-SQDSUP2001%5B1%5D_super.jpg

Please tell me those two characters are at least supposed to be the same person.

Yeah, to clarify, the Supreme characters up to this series have been DCU analogues. Now with SS #3, they’re starting to come up with 616 analogues, Cap, Iron man, Spider-Man, etc.

Ah - I didn’t know about that

“i just think the idea is really stupid…how many endless permutations of the superhero concept do we need? havent we seen it all already”

So nobody should bother making new super-heroes at all?