Top 5 Stupidest Decisions In Comics
Hey guys from Planet-M, like last week I’ve decided to do a Top 10 list only this times it’s going to be shorter, basically a Top 5 list. This week’s list is on a subject that doesn’t really come up that much for me when I’m reading comics, but when it does come up I definitely notice. Just remember this is a list based on my own personal opinion and if you have any suggestions for other Top lists then please leave them in the comments down below. So let’s get started on my Top 5 list of stupid decisions made in comics. Also there are spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read these comics.
5: Identity Crisis – Ray Palmer sends his Ex-wife to…
Why: Identity Crisis is a story where the Justice League are investigating the death of a long-time friend and wife of Elongated Man, Sue Dibny. By the end we find out that it was Ray Palmer’s Ex-wife Jean Loring who had murdered Sue in a convoluted plan to get herself and Ray back together, now by the end it is obvious that she’s had a mental breakdown and she has no super powers, so what does Ray Palmer, the Atom, one of the smartest men in the DC universe do, he takes Jean to Arkham Asylum…and that’s it, after which Ray Palmer is never seen again until Countdown.
Jean was very capable of manipulating people and acting like she was sound of mind in this event, so just because she had a mental breakdown doesn’t mean she belongs in the same place as the Joker and after she was committed to Arkham she wound up becoming a magical super villain known as Eclipso. Ray’s decision was the dumbest made in this event as he could have just handed her over to the police and let the law deal with her as she was a non-powered individual who murdered one of her friends.
But the worst part is that Ray is a member of the Justice League and his decision to put Jean in Arkham ensures absolutely no Justice for Sue Dibny, Tim Drake’s (Robin’s) father and the many others that she killed and later went onto kill as Eclipso.
4: Civil War – Unmasking Spider-Man
Why: Civil War to me was a comic with many concepts and issues that didn’t make sense, the film handles its issues better, but the comic just comes off as a bit of a mess as many heroes don’t act like themselves such, as Captain America acting like is Ultimate Universe counterpart, Characters like Iron Man subjecting his friends to the mental torture of the Negative Zone and of course Spider Man unmasking himself on live Television.
One major aspect in comics is the heroes struggle towards maintaining a secret identity, this is because if their secret identity is revealed to their enemies then they will try to hurt them by hurting those they love and care about.
We as the reader have seen first-hand the results of Peter’s identity being revealed to super-villains, Green Goblin knew Peter’s identity and then went onto kill Gwen Stacy, that alone should be enough to remind Peter to keep his secret, but in Civil War he ignores it because Iron Man assures him that his loved ones will be safe under the avengers protection and a few issues later Aunt May is shot with a bullet that was intended for Peter.
My reason for why it was a stupid decision was because of something else though, the Superhuman Registration that was forcing them to reveal their identities was actually given in full detail to the readers and it basically said that Superheroes had to reveal their identities to the Government, meaning there was actually no reason for Spider-Man to reveal his identity other than for a publicity stunt, in other words Peter just revealed his identity to the entire world and put the lives of his friends and family simply because Iron Man said it would all be ok, nice one Spidey.
3: The Dark Knight Returns – Letting the Joker Out
Why: We all know the Joker and what he’s done, so what would you do if you were the man’s psychiatrist, well take him on the DC Universe equivalent of the late show with David Letterman. This is a stupid decision because his Psychiatrist actually believes that he’s different from the man he once was, the joker is manipulating him of course, making him think that he is a changed man, the Joker then goes on to murder everyone in the audience, but not before killing his psychiatrist.
The Joker is known for mass murder, the police have known that for years and yet they don’t even do anything to make sure he can’t harm anyone when he is outside of Arkham, the only security precautions they take is to make sure that the Batman (the only one capable of stopping him) can’t get to him.
2: Flashpoint – Barry creates Flashpoint
Why: Basically Barry Allen (The Flash) went back in time and prevented his mother’s death at the hands of the Reverse Flash, in doing so his abilities caused ripples of distortion to change things that happened before that and thus changed the DC universe completely from what we knew it to be, Barry created a world at war teetering on the edge of destruction, a world with no Superman, no justice league and no hope for a future.
What can I really say about this, Barry saving his mother is a good thing, but how he went about doing it was not good, when Batman lost Robin (Damian Wayne) his son he acknowledged the fact that people are brought back to life all the time in this universe (and yes I know that happened after flashpoint, but even before the death of Damien Wayne nobody was dead for long), so Barry couldn’t have found another way instead of using a method that he himself knows can have negative consequences on himself and people around him.
By causing the flashpoint not only did he change his universe, but when he tried to turn it back it left the universe open to be tampered with and thus we got the New 52 where people were erased from existence, relationships never happened, people’s entire personalities were changed and 10 years were stolen from everyone. Like Superman once said they are not gods, they don't decide who lives and who dies, so what gives Barry the excuse to mess with the lives of everyone in the universe. This one decision changed the entire universe because Barry never stopped to consider his actions and resulted in his friend Wally West being not just erased from the world, but from the memories of those he cared about. At least DC Rebirth is looking to rectify this decision.
1: One More Day – A Deal with the Devil
Why: Well here we are this to me is by far the worst decision ever made in comics, after the events of Civil War Aunt May had been shot by a gunman who had intended to kill Peter, Peter basically went everywhere and apparently no one in the Marvel Universe was capable of saving, so that’s when Mephisto shows up and offers Peter a deal, he will save Aunt May and even undo the events of him revealing his secret identity under one condition, Peter and Mary Jane would have to give up their marriage, not just their marriage, but the entirety of the life that they have had married up to this point. Peter goes through with the deal and he wakes up the next day with no memory of his marriage to Mary Jane, Aunt May all right, dead friends alive once more and his identity secret again.
As I’ve established in the Flashpoint section I don’t like it when heroes make decisions that change the course of the universe around them, because they don’t know the full details of what is being changed and whether or not those changes are truly for the better.
In sensational Spider-man a tie in to One More Day was published in which the One Above All, the creator of the Marvel Universe talked to Peter and told him that death was a natural part of the universe and the best thing to do was to come to acceptance with the way things were and to be with his Aunt in her final moments, instead Peter chooses to ignore the words of the One Above All and denies the fact that Aunt May cannot be saved. Like a child he ignores the words of the creator of the Marvel Universe and later proceeds to take the easy way out.
The reason why I think Peter’s decision is the worst on this list is because of the fact that he sacrificed the life he had (to the Devil mind you) and the life that he could have had instead of coming to acceptance with the way things were. He childishly blamed Iron Man and those around him for his own mistakes (like revealing his identity to the public) and stubbornly denied that Aunt May couldn’t be saved, blamed himself and chose the easy way out, this event showed nothing more than the worst attributes of our hero.
Well that’s my Top 5, I hope that you liked the listings this week and stayed tuned for next week, Thank You for Reading.
