whoa! WWIII!

[Grod_The_Giant]

setting aside the question of how many times this has happened in the DCU (I know it's at least the second...)

How the hell is Black Adam kicking everyone's ass? Teen Titans, JSA, Great Ten...

I mean, what's he have? Superman level strength, speed, invulnerability, and that lightning strike. He should have got taken out by the Marvel Family, who have similar powers and outnumbered him.

And what was Donna Troy doing? She has a lasso of truth, right? If she was in the fight, she could have taken him (saw Wonder Woman do it to Captain Marvel...
*lasso*
"what's the name of the wizard who gives you your powers?"
"shazam..." *lightning* "oh ****...")

[Closet_Skeleton]

The DCU is full of 'wanktastic' (not my word) characters that could in theory wipe out the universe. When they start to have a free for all then some have to be misrepresented or the plot will go nowhere.

[ravenkith]

Actually, I think if you check the last couple of comics, specifically the scenes where he beats 'death', it's hinted that he has become the new death...

and death is an unstoppable force of nature, as you know: at best, it can only be delayed for a while...

<shrug>.

Whatever, I gave up trying to understand crossovers/big events years ago: I just wait for the fallout to settle, then reacquaint myself with the new status quo.

[TheEmerged]

Whenever you start talking about the "world-beater" characters, their exact power level starts differing greatly depending on who writes them.

Take Amazo's last couple of appearances, in particular the one in JLA. That "fight" almost had me breaking out in hives. HE'S AS FAST AS THE FREAKING FLASH! No way Wonder Woman pulls that stunt with the lasso, she's at best 1/3 his speed. HE'S AS TOUGH AS SUPERMAN! So that must be one freaking powerful laser Batman is cutting his legs off with. And on and on...

Back to Black Adam. He's supposed to be as powerful as Captain Marvel would be if Marvel didn't split his powers. Captain is established as being on the same physical level as Superman, without the corny limitations but also without the senses (and Superman's senses are VASTLY underrated).

And say whatever you want, most of the characters shown on that 2-page spread on pages 2-3 in the WW3 issue had no reason to be within a couple of miles of Adam. I mean, Halo? Outsiders was one of my favorite books in the 80's but come on... And why is Dr. Light that close to him? She might could actually do some damage if she was depicted intelligently.

So it boils down to three things. Half the characters shouldn't have been in that fight. Some of them were not acting intelligently. And Black Adam really is a pretty serious threat.

[Beleriphon]

So it boils down to three things. Half the characters shouldn't have been in that fight. Some of them were not acting intelligently. And Black Adam really is a pretty serious threat.

Yep. Green Arrow in a fight with Black Adam should produce a green and red splorch on the nearest wall.

WWIII was poorly handled and unnecessary. There seems to be a lot of that going around these days.

[Shinfai]

I have not read the WW3 comics, I had a look at them in my local comic book store, but I am not really into the whole super hero comics, not the traditional ones at least. So what I mean to say is, who is this 'Adam' guy ?

[Blue Paladin]

How the hell is Black Adam kicking everyone's ass? Teen Titans, JSA, Great Ten...Because he's Black Adam? He's got all of Captain Marvel's powers and (thanks to the death of everyone he cared for... again) has none of the restraint.


I mean, what's he have? Superman level strength, speed, invulnerability, and that lightning strike.Divine stamina, speed, strength, wisdom, power, and courage. And never underestimate the ability of a man who doesn't care if he dies.


He should have got taken out by the Marvel Family, who have similar powers and outnumbered him.It's been long established that the Captain loses some of his power in order grant it to Mary and CM3. Do you play D&D? Do you think two level 10 Fighters can take on a level 20? Three level 6?


And what was Donna Troy doing? She has a lasso of truth, right? If she was in the fight, she could have taken him (saw Wonder Woman do it to Captain Marvel...
*lasso*
"what's the name of the wizard who gives you your powers?"
"shazam..."
*no lightning bolt appears*
adam smiles and grabs Donna's neck
"oh ****...")
Fixed.

It's further established in WWIII that the Egyptian Gods have no problem with Adam running amok, and in fact refuse to take back the powers they grant him. That's why they have to "bring the lightning" to Adam instead.

The only problem I have with WWIII is that Adam didn't kill enough people. Because really, there should be hundreds more bloody smears on the landscape than just Terra and Frankenstein...

[Viscount Einstrauss]

With how these crossover events have been going from DC lately, it shouldn't be too long before all of the nobody heroes and villains are permanently culled. They're on the edge- I just want them to take a few dozen more steps and get to the part where MASSIVE DEATH levels the DC universe down by about half or less of the present cast.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Fixed.

It's not that the Gods want to take back his power. Transformation from mortal to super-powered form happens whenever a Marvel says "Shazam," irregardless of anyone's will. My example actually happened in the JLA/JSA team-up Justice for All.

[Blue Paladin]

It's not that the Gods want to take back his power. Transformation from mortal to super-powered form happens whenever a Marvel says "Shazam," irregardless of anyone's will. My example actually happened in the JLA/JSA team-up Justice for All.The situation in question is for World War III, not Justice For All. In this case, Adam saying Shazam does -nothing-, because the Egyptian gods (I guess that's Atun in particular) won't send the lightning. The whole resolution of the fight revolves around pinning Adam in place long enough for the lightning to be brought to him. Err... spoiler.

[cthulu_mt]

And what was Donna Troy doing? She has a lasso of truth, right? If she was in the fight, she could have taken him (saw Wonder Woman do it to Captain Marvel...
*lasso*
"what's the name of the wizard who gives you your powers?"
"shazam..." *lightning* "oh ****...")

Aside from my objections to World War III (big let down) I think the more important question is what about Cassie Sandmark. Her lasso turns the persons rage back on them... I think Black Adam was pushing phenomenal, cosmic rage at that point. She could have put a serious hurt on him.

[Koga]

DC fails, put a bunchof D&D munchkins into a room and you got a DC universe.

[cthulu_mt]

Power creep comes into just about everything. DC had a bad start: Superman is practically omnipotent (result: It can only get worse from there) and Batman who is "omni-competent" at anything a normal human could do.

I've gone back and forth over the years on who I prefer. Right now DC has me because the story writing is better. Identity Crisis up to the present has just floored me. Focusing on "scrub" characters to the point of giving the Big 3 a whole years vacation. I've never felt the same sympathy for Clark Kent as I have for Ralph Dibny.

Marvel on the other hand has not impressed me lately. I'm just waiting for the ret-con on Civil War.

They get points for better continuity maintenance. DC should hire some competent editors so they don't need a "Crisis" every few years.

[Gavin Sage]

WWIII is a crappy leech attached by an editorial decision to the 52 story. My guess is to counter-program against World War Hulk. And its the weak point of 52 besides that.

Though for the general godmodding, rage is a very powerful motivator in comics. Despite what about every comic fan thinks there is really not a strict hierarchy of who should be able to beat who. If only because it would make for even crappy story telling in the long run. So somebody Superman class without anything near Kryptonite as a weakpoint out for murder and with nothing to loose, can tear through a whole lot of heroes. And why do they bother showing up, because good is dumb and needs to or they'd all angst over it.


And what was Donna Troy doing? She has a lasso of truth, right? If she was in the fight, she could have taken him (saw Wonder Woman do it to Captain Marvel...
*lasso*
"what's the name of the wizard who gives you your powers?"
"shazam..." *lightning* "oh ****...")

Wouldn't work, Marvel's can dodge their own lightning and its hard to immobilize someone who with that much power and can fly by levitation.

Only solution would be possibly for Captain Marvel to do it, but 52 established that Billy's Shazam is different than BA's Shazam. So he had to reach into whatever weirdo powers he can draw on now (though DC doesn't want to tell us how this works) to do it.

[Logos7]

I actually really enjoyed wwIII just cause he managed to kill some newbs. It shouoldn't have been stopped by the lame we bring the lightening to him.

As for Power i thought Black Adam became the new death as well explaining his power creep. Might also explain why the martian man hunter got his mind kicked in like a infants soft spot when he tried his silly little psi powers.

As it is however, I enjoy the powering down. It's nice to see someone humbled and i would love for dc to weed out it's loser heros. I see the amulet of Isis also being picked up , guess well see where it ends up.
Any guesses on what the new Shazaam is? I'm guessing it's " I'm sorry" and im preety sure Black Adam's gonna get there sooner than later.

Logos

[Gavin Sage]

"Death" was built by a bunch of scientists. Its not some magic entity (that's the goth chick who's name got stolen, seriously) so Adam basically killed a really advanced robot. He can claim to be death but he isn't, we know who the real Death is.

[The Corinthian]

True, but I doubt DC feels beholden to Vertigo continuity.

[Gavin Sage]

Well the Endless are most definitely still in it. In the current Brave and the Bold we have Hal Jordan (first with Bats then with Supergirl) chasing after the Book of Destiny.

On a side note, nice name.:smallbiggrin:

[Kkreuzritter]

I have not read the WW3 comics, I had a look at them in my local comic book store, but I am not really into the whole super hero comics, not the traditional ones at least. So what I mean to say is, who is this 'Adam' guy ?

Black Adam is basicly what would happen if you gave Conan the Barbarian powers equal to superman, shifted the alignmet to lawful evil, and dropped him in the present day. easily a top-ranked villain

the plot arc here is that Adam had spent the better part of a year trying to make amends for his crimes, become the hero he once was in ancient egypt, while at the same time leading his homeland out of the middle eastern hellhole it had become. he'd even taken a wife who was more his soulmate than a spouse.

then in the space of a day, it was all ripped out from under him. magi-tech monstrosities based upon the four horsemen of the apocalypse devastated his country and brutally murdered his wife, under the orders of some of the many, many enemies adam had made over the past year.

suffice it to say, Black Adam was furious. and I mean enraged Miko furious. in tracking down the last horseman, he decimated an entire country to the sort of degree one reserves for erythnuul.

the World War III books are about the rest of DC's heroic community stepping in to bring Adam down, before he erases another nation from the map.

the full story is contained in 52, with the abridged ww3 being told in week 50.

somebody find pax_chi, he's the resident marvel family expert

[BardicDuelist]

Yep. Green Arrow in a fight with Black Adam should produce a green and red splorch on the nearest wall.

WWIII was poorly handled and unnecessary. There seems to be a lot of that going around these days.

Even though GA is my fav. even I was like "Uh, what's he doing there?"

[Tallis]

"Death" was built by a bunch of scientists. Its not some magic entity (that's the goth chick who's name got stolen, seriously) so Adam basically killed a really advanced robot. He can claim to be death but he isn't, we know who the real Death is.

From what I remember the scientists just built a body for an existing entity from Apokolips. He really was a demi-god of some sort (though not THE Death as defined by Vertigo).

[Finn Solomon]

"Death" was built by a bunch of scientists. Its not some magic entity (that's the goth chick who's name got stolen, seriously) so Adam basically killed a really advanced robot. He can claim to be death but he isn't, we know who the real Death is.

Yeah! The cute Goth girl is the only real Death, all the rest are just imatatin'. Spread the word.

[Mr White]

Actually, I think if you check the last couple of comics, specifically the scenes where he beats 'death', it's hinted that he has become the new death...

and death is an unstoppable force of nature, as you know: at best, it can only be delayed for a while

Are you really thinking about what you are saying?

X is unbeatable because he beat Y who was at that time unbeatable.

I know that those comics can be very illogical (at best) but if someone is beaten he/she wasn't unbeatable.

[Ranis]

.....people still read DCU?

[Overlard]

.....people still read DCU?
Yep. Millions do apparantly.

You're kinda slow for not realising... :smallwink:

[TheNovak]

Wait, people still read Marvel?

I it was just zombie lovers and Stephen King fans nowadays, since the company's given up on actual superheroes and all... :smallwink:

[Scientivore]

Wait, people still read Marvel?

I it was just zombie lovers [snip]

Oh, of course! Tsukiko is a Marvel fan. I should've guessed.

[Foeofthelance]

Personally, I cheered when Black Adam pulled the Punisher Imitation. I was more annoyed that the other Marvels didn't back him up on it. Ok, granted leveling an entire country might seem a bit extreme, but when you've just had your entire family torn apart by your enemies, well, an eye for an eye is what I say. (Ok, granted, I'm also currently cheering on the Hulk.) Certain lines are not meant to be crossed, and going after Isis and her brother wasn't even close to where it was drawn. Seriously, what does people expect when you tick off a god? Or worse, a whole bunch of them all at once? Black Adam had just brought new glory to the Egyptian pantheon, and then had it all taken away. I can't wait to see what the consequences of him repowering Mary are.