It's too bad, really, because I really liked her concept. It was, dare I say it... fresh? Well, unusual, at least. I can't think of any comic book character, hero or villain, that had trash-based powers.
*sets stopwatch and waits for Chris Sims to correct her*
No, I don' t think the Tatterdemalion counts.
But anyway, as much as I liked her, and as much as I think Hygena is an utter joke... I can't fault Stan's logic. While every other hero took time out of his or her schedule to help find the lost little girl, Basura hesitated, and that's something that just doesn't fly in Stan Lee World.
(If I had been her, I would have said the following: "Stan, I had the choice between helping find a lost girl in a park full of security personnel, and stopping the theft of my compatriots' secret identities. If that information got out, not only would the lives of my teammates be endangered, but also the lives of their loved ones. I did not think the little girl's life was in danger, and that is why I did not volunteer to help." Who knows, it might have worked....)
PS: Her exit interview can be found here, if you can stomach that horrible dress she wears. How can an artist wear something that indescribably ugly?
PPS: Her name is Aja, pronounced "Asia"? That is such a porn name! What were her parents thinking?
Thursday, August 16, 2007
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Well, since Sims is on vacation, I'll step in...
ReplyDeleteThere is a villain in Astro City, called the Junkman. IIRC, he was a toymaker who was forcibly retired by his employer when he hit mandatory retirement age, and committed crimes using gadgets made out of salvaged junk in order to demonstrate that, just because something's old and well-used, doesn't mean it's useless.
So, there you go. There are no truly original ideas left.
I don't know if it was trash-based, but didn't Marvel Boy (Noh-Varr I think) eat trash? Something about cockroach DNA or something along those lines..
ReplyDeleteMind you, I do think it's odd that a female superhero should have a power like that, and be drop-dead gorgeous (relatively speaking).
ReplyDeleteShouldn't we at the very least dirty her up a bit, if as the show describes, she "lives in a pile of trash."
I mean, the last super hero I knew of that lived in a pile of trash (not counting Tony Stark on a bad day) was Spawn, and he wasn't exactly immaculate.
Well, maybe her trash powers allow her to keep herself clean, despite wallowing in a trash heap. I know that's one stunt I'd definitely want to practice if I had those powers and that living arrangement.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was thinking about the name thing, and I had the idea that her parents may have named her after the Steely Dan album "Aja". Then I remembered that rumor that Steely Dan named themselves after a dildo, and that whole argument fell apart on me. Clearly, one way or another, it's a porn name.
Oh, just remembered another trash-based villain! The Clockwork King, from City of Heroes. His robots are made from whatever junk is handy, and then sent out to acquire more bits to make more robots.
Ehh. I really wouldn't count the Clockwork King as a trash villain; he's a powerful psionic that telepathically/telekinetically controls his minions... who just happen to be, essentially, junkpile versions of Von Neumann machines.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think "trash powers," I think of Klutter, Garbage Golems, Excrement Elementals, etc.
Sometimes the medium is not the message, ya know?
I thought Stan changed her powers to make her kind of a bug-Aquaman?
ReplyDeleteI think trash powers are much cooler.
And they're not superheroes, but don't forget about the Junkers Deadlands/Hell on Earth.
As far as I know, the phrase "Steely Dan" did appear in William Burroughs' novel Naked Lunch, before the band appeared.
ReplyDeleteSteely Dan in the novel was a very scary dildo.