Villains United: Why Should I Buy it?

[Darkseid]

Hello Ms. Simone,

I have been reading comic books for over 30 years. Yep, I used to buy my comics from a newstand before the U.S. comic book industry transformed itself into one which cannbalizes itself!

Hype, death of characters, return of these same characters or any other tag line such as 'The (insert publisher) universe will never be the same' is ineffective. Works pretty well with the simpleton lemmings though....

My reason for stopping by is to ask the following; Why should I buy Villains United?

Although I was not entertained by Countdown To Infinite Crisis, the advertisement for Villians United peaked my interest because two of my most cherished series in my collection is Secret Society Of Super-Villains & Super-Villain Team-Up. The good guys must always win but nothing like the baddies to give them a hard time!

Will Villains United lean more towards a dark & cynical tone such as Mark Millar's Wanted or will it be twisted fun like Super-Villain Team-Up?

And if it's a dry run test to see the feasibility of a new Secret Society Of Super-Villains ongoing, well Hell's Bells, I'm buying two copies!

Thanks,
- Brian

[Justin D.]

Will Villains United lean more towards a dark & cynical tone such as Mark Millar's Wanted or will it be twisted fun like Super-Villain Team-Up?


I'm not Gail (*checks mirror* Nope, not her), but from what I gather, the tone will be somewhere inbetween those two books and neither . . . . .

Yeah, hope that clears things up for you.

[Phoney Bone]

Buy it ... or this kitty will be sad.

http://www.pusscats.com/Kitten_Pictures-Purrfect_Kitten.jpg


(And welcome to the 'boards ... have fun!)

[Kyuubi]

These quotes from Gail are the main reasons I am really looking foward to this series.


“And the truth is, I do like it. DC has some fascinating nutjobs and despots, and it’s about time they were allowed to be role models for our children. So when this concept came up, it sounded too fun to pass by. That’s something I’ve learned right away, grab the fun assignments and nurture them.”

“We have our work cut out for us, because so many people say, ‘I hate crossovers.’ But I think what most people actually mean is that they hate bad crossovers. When they’re done right, when the stories and art are intrinsically good, and you don’t have to follow every single title, then that’s another thing entirely, and that’s what we’re all striving for. OMAC, Rann/Thanagar, Day of Judgment, and Villains United are all just extremely entertaining stories that would be impossible to tell without the big canvas of the entire DCU. It’s simply one of the most amazing shared universes in fiction history, and these books each look at that map through a wide-angle lens for a change.

“We wouldn’t be doing this if it was just some marketing thing...everyone working on these books is having a blast, and is determined to do something special. There aren’t any gimmicks in these stories.”

“My take on this book is, this is what happens when super-villains stop being dumb,” Simone said. “When they stop working against their best interests. Past attempts to bring the villains of the DCU together have never been on this scale...we have everyone from Crazy Quilt to Gorilla Grodd. They come together for self-preservation - or through other forms of persuasion.

“But the fun part is, out of all the people asked to join the huge villain association, the Society, six refuse, and want nothing to do with it.
These Six would rather take their chances than live under the Society’s rules. So, there’s friction.

“And with these guys, friction leads to bloodshed.

“And bloodshed leads to darn good entertainment.”

“In the Society, you have any number of villains who can hold their own against the JLA by themselves,” Simone continued. “They’re not going to take orders from anyone, so even though the core group is an incredibly dangerous band of sick minds, there’s always the possibility of an explosion or a betrayal. Most of these people aren’t known for their loyalty.

“For the Six, the villains who refused to toe the party line, there’s a shadowy figure called Mockingbird who has allowed them a safe haven. For a price. The identity of Mockingbird is one of the most fun things in the story, I think.”

[Gail Simone]

The truth is, much as I love the 'realistic' take on superheroes, that's not what VU is. It's more of an intentional guilty pleasure. It's just a lot of fun, and it looks fantastic.

That's really all I can say!

Best,

Gail

[Darkseid]

Buy it ... or this kitty will be sad.

(And welcome to the 'boards ... have fun!)

Thanks for the welcome! I had no idea CBR had message boards. Glad I checked.

My friend (pictured below) says he'd like to be friends with your kitty so they wouldn't be so sad anymore! :D

http://www.unleasheddogs.com/Smith%20in%20grass.JPG

[Darkseid]

These quotes from Gail are the main reasons I am really looking foward to this series.


“And the truth is, I do like it. DC has some fascinating nutjobs and despots, and it’s about time they were allowed to be role models for our children.”



Thanks for the reply!

After going through such a bad day, this quote by Ms. Simone brought on a chuckle.

Is this the whole interview? If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to read the entire thing if you would be so kind as to provide a link.

[Michael P]

“For the Six, the villains who refused to toe the party line, there’s a shadowy figure called Mockingbird who has allowed them a safe haven. For a price. The identity of Mockingbird is one of the most fun things in the story, I think.”
If it's Hawkeye, I just might have to start a religion.

[Darkseid]

The truth is, much as I love the 'realistic' take on superheroes, that's not what VU is. It's more of an intentional guilty pleasure. It's just a lot of fun, and it looks fantastic.

That's really all I can say!

Best,

Gail

And that's more than enough to give it a try. As much as I enjoyed Wanted, I just didn't want to read another clone of that series.

In the U.S. comic book industry, whenever a formula works, the publishers are quick to milk that cow dry until only dust emits from the udder.

Thanks,
- Brian

[Kyuubi]

Thanks for the reply!

After going through such a bad day, this quote by Ms. Simone brought on a chuckle.

Is this the whole interview? If you wouldn't mind, I'd love to read the entire thing if you would be so kind as to provide a link.


The whole interview is at Newsarama.

http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28500&highlight=villians+united

Gail's interviews are always as entertaining as her comics. Also, check for the post she made on the first page of the thread, it has a correction to a mistake in the interview.

[steeler80]

The more I hear about this series, the more I'm looking forward to it (I'm also in the generation that remembers the old Society book, even though I understand this isn't going to be exactly like that).

Plus I hate sad kitty cats. They should be happy.