“Remember Moonshadow, the greatest weapon in the ninja’s arsenal is misdirection. The same principle applies to stage magicians, politicians, wacky cult leaders, kindergarten teachers and urban vigilantes.” — From the lessons of the Revenant, wanted for questioning by police in 35 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as in three Canadian provinces, Mexico, half the member states of the European Union, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Russia, and several of those tiny countries ruled by supervillains with hard to remember names. Oh and a blimp.
Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Also technically in Quebec, except there the warning posters are all for Le Revenant, thus allowing the Revenant to operate under the comforting protection of Francophone cultural chauvinism.
Interpol has multiple warrants for the arrest of the costumed vigilante known as “The Revenant”, “Le Revenant”, “La Revenant”, “L’Revenant”, “Ha Revenant Ha Amerika’i” (In Israel they need to distinguish him from “Der Yiddishe Revenant” who fought the Nazis as a member of the Jewish partisans in WWII), as well as other linguistic variants.
The Revenant (aka Le Revenant) is in fact wanted by the police for questioning in Ontario, Montreal and Nova Scotia. He’s wanted by the Royal Canadian Mounties for questioning in other provinces.
That list is out of date now…. That happens frequently. Ps The political powers you mentioned might want to question him but really, how does a blimp want to question him? I assume you mean the commander of a derigable (sp?) wants to question him.
The blimp belongs to the VonFogg clan. When they couldn’t get him for questioning, they held a trial on their own. he was found guilty and now has the death sentence if he ever goes back. That or slavery, depends on what mood their in.
Hey, Doctot Phillipe Von Fogg’s Zeppelin counts as a country for purposes of international law (blame the UN General Assembly for voting to grant the not-so-good Doctor “Non-Member Observer State” status). Too bad no country in the world is willing to sign an extradition treaty with the Von Fogg Zeppelin…
Back during the kidnapping of the Rainmaker kids by Harold Nelson and Doctor Irons, The Revenant mentioned he was wanted in 32 states. That number has gone up to 35 since then, and he wasn’t including Washington DC, Federal authorities or any other countries. Not to mention the deposed dictator of an Evil Empire spanning multiple parallel Earths, whom the Revenant managed to topple; said ex-dictator has placed a bounty on the Revenant’s head, but the TDDD has managed to put the word out that any dimension hopping bounty hunters or “freelance peacekeeping agents” trying to collect will face jail time.
Potential rebel movement? Figures. In comics, there’s no such thing as a dictatorship which works towards the benefit of the people. There are always malcontents, no matter what the actual situation.
That’s because, while stretching belief is part of the appeal of comic books, some things are just too ridiculous to believe! A dictatorship, run FOR the benefit of the people?
The reason you can never have a truly working dictatorship for the people is because those ungrateful people keep demanding ridiculous things like “Freedom” and “Democracy”, through protests and eventually rebellion, then revolution, because they never, EVER apprieciate a benevolent dictator. Thus, even the benevolent dictator is doomed to face rebellion.
So lets face it, one might as well just enjoy the dictatorship at the expense of the people while it lasts, ammassing the personal fortune and reasources required to live comfortablyafter the dictatorship collapses. Power is made to be abused!
Stalin and the Von Fogg family care to disagree. In any event, the “Softlings” aren’t rebelling because Argos is a tyranny (it isn’t), they are rebelling because Argos is a super-powered Apartheid regime, where a minority of F.I.S.S.’s rule a majority of non-superpowered people.
Argos is basically a constitutional monarchy, in which the nobles (and only the nobles) have constitutional rights. The nobles are a minority of Argos’ population, and those with weaker connections to the greater families (like Forak the engineer on the Valiant Lance) are looked down upon. The majority of the population, called by the derogatory term “Softling” by the nobles, have no rights. Many labor in the mines, or perform menial labor considered too expensive to have robots do.
There is an underground Resistance movement among the majority, but they lack the resources to challenge the nobles. So the nobles go about their war with the Emeral Ones, conspire against one and other for influence and launch wars of succession to seize the throne. In short, the non-powered people of Argos need a champion to stand up for them, someone who cares about Truth and Justice, someone who knows about doing an honest day’s work on a farm, someone like… Atlas!
The truths of society change depending on the perspective and justice is an ideal that doesn’t exist in reality. Farmers are no more honest than the next man; they steal from the earth without giving back and often slaughter countless innocents. But hey, that’s survival and I’m a cynic.
I’d like to see Von Fogg’s set up personally and see how the citizens live, but I don’t expect that to happen.
Your knowledge of ecology is less than stellar. All farmers do is change [i]what[/i] is growing in the soil, and the decay from the parts of the plants left behind after the harvest generally replenish the nutrients used (sometimes moreso, depending on the crop).
Right, because Victor will never find a small unprotected city to take over.
Heh.
Heh, heh.
HA-HA-HA-HAA!
MUH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Owning the trade is good.
Thanks to George Washington Carver, among other agricultural engineers, after cultural shattering events like the dust ball that forced a mass exodus of farmers in the midwest to places like California, I can say with absolute certainty that we plant replacement crops for everything we harvest __including the trees__ In fact, we use less than what we farm, and the American government pays people not to farm certain fruits and vegetables, meaning even though we ship most of the products globally, it’s not exactly slash and burn durring harvest time…
Which brings up another subject, if they’re cutting down the rain forests to have farm land, wouldn’t that land still be growing plants?
Powell I think… son of the former secretary of state controlled the media at one time. Not sure who’s in charge now. Alan Greenspan use to be in control of the federal reserve and was known as King Alan. I’m sure if your curious you can find out who’s running the show now.
A line from “Zorro and Son” (Yes, there was such a series) comes to mind where the Commendant is telling his minion that they’ll “crush the rebels.” The minon, confused, says; “What rebels?” And the Commendant replies; “Where there are people like us, there are ALWAYS rebels!”
The farmer plants the seeds that raise the crops that he then harvests. He also replows the unused portions of the crops back into the earth to nurture it. (There’s also fertilizer, which he adds, about which the less said the better.) As far as the animals, he has raised them, fed them and taken care of them. (Yes, for the purposes of slaughtering them later.)
Your definition more describes the “hunter/gatherer” who simply kills and/or harvests what is already there and then moves on afterwards.
It’s possible, the major problem is that even if you do find a ruler who works for the benefit of the people, there will always be those who covet the power for themselves, those who disagree with what ‘benefits’ the people and there is never a guarantee that the successor will follow the same path as that dictator. Too many individuals spoil the country.
How about I clarify what I meant by “Truth and Justice”: someone who defends the weak and oppressed without considering the cost to himself, who selflessly answers a cry for help without hesitation, who does so without asking for a reward of any kind, and who has the power to become a dictator the likes of which the world can not imagine… but can’t conceive of forcing people to do something because that’s 180 degrees opposite to how he was raised.
By contrast the Argosian nobles are selfish racists who flaunt their power in order to oppress those who are weaker than themselves. They can’t understand the concept of altruism, because they never do anything unless it benefits them in some way.
Interesting how the definition of those words bears no relation to the following paragraphs you just gave. Not criticizing you, just curious how we understand language and social narratives.
For the purpose of the superhero genre that is a very appropriate definition. More to the point, someone who pursues Justice without mercy becomes the sort of tyrant Jerden and Artificer-Urza were describing. Someone who is altruistically pursuing justice will not want to hurt someone unless it is absolutely necessary.
Atlas is an altruistic defender of Justice. He’s not a vigilante like the Revenant. They both seek to help people, but the Revenant actively breaks the law to do so. Atlas doesn’t; his funding comes from the US government, he cooperates with the NYPD and the Wonderberg police department (and other local law enforcement), he doesn’t leave criminals tied to lamp posts and waltz away before the police arrive. Instead he arrives at crimes occurring in broad daylight, rescues any bystanders, subdues the alleged perpetrators and waits for the cops. On Earth Atlas had no role in the criminal justice system beyond helping the police stop violent criminals and super villains. Once the cops read Atlas the suspects their rights, Atlas is done, unless the DA summons him to testify before a Grand Jury or at trial. Since Atlas worked for the government, he probably had a liason to contact him for court dates. In addition Atlas would protect people from fires, natural disasters, and the Septo Invasion.
The Revenant goes several steps beyond Atlas’ involvement in fighting crime. He actively tails suspected criminals (members of the mafia, super villains, paroled criminals, gang members, etc.), breaks into private dwellings, procures evidence in a way that renders it Fruit of the Poisoned Tree for any prosecution, and finally the Revenant considers himself a useful substitute for a judge and jury. Take the Crystal Skull for example; The Revenant defeated Mr. Godwin, but rather than beat him up and leave him tied to a lamp post, The Revenant convinced Godwin to move to Las Vegas and open a casino. In exchange Godwin allows the Revenant to use The Masquerade to surveil criminals in Las Vegas (thus breaking the city’s rules about leaving super grudges at the city limits) and probably in other ways as well.
Like I said, Atlas and The Revenant both want the same thing: a world where people are safe from criminals. But Mr. Peterson taught his boy to respect legitimate authority, whereas The Revenant considers rules as guidelines and laws as something that apply to other people. Who would you prefer to have trying to reform a world governed by petty nobles running an Apartheid regime?
Ironically, according to [SPOILER; YOU’VE MET THIS CHARACTER BY THE WAY, BUT THE CONTEXT OF THE REVELATION REQUIRES A SPOILER] the Argosian nobles are very devious at court politics. The problem is that they assume anyone who’s not a noble is a fool. That feeling is reciprocated by the opressed “Softling” majority of Argos. Whoops, was I supposed to redact that?
Tamar, the reason Lord Vetinari is so good, is that everyone else who wants the job is completely incompetent or an absolute monster. The only person who would do a better job than Vetinari doesn’t want it, and the only person who could measure up to Vetinari and might want the job is a pardoned criminal running the city bank and mint (and post office). Of course he would need to persuaded to take the job first, so that Lord Vetinari could retire…
Those are important reasons, but that’s not really it.
The reason that Lord Vetinari is such a good ruler is that what he *really* wants, at the end of the day, is a city that *works*.
As such, somebody can’t corrupt him with money to break the city, because that’s giving him what he *has* to not do what he *wants*.
The reason he’s a great ruler is because he’s a good judge of character and he has a great deal of training in scaring honesty out of people with talent but little honesty.
Three cheers for Moon Shadow! Now if they can just contact Atlas…
Okay, that was an awesome play, I must admit.
“Remember Moonshadow, the greatest weapon in the ninja’s arsenal is misdirection. The same principle applies to stage magicians, politicians, wacky cult leaders, kindergarten teachers and urban vigilantes.” — From the lessons of the Revenant, wanted for questioning by police in 35 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, as well as in three Canadian provinces, Mexico, half the member states of the European Union, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Russia, and several of those tiny countries ruled by supervillains with hard to remember names. Oh and a blimp.
Which 3 provinces?
I would presume Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia. More interesting would be which states is he not wanted for questioning in?
Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Also technically in Quebec, except there the warning posters are all for Le Revenant, thus allowing the Revenant to operate under the comforting protection of Francophone cultural chauvinism.
Except that he’s wanted by the Paris gendarmerie under the alias “Le Revenant” too…
Somebody must have found his calling card which violated the language laws. =P
Interpol has multiple warrants for the arrest of the costumed vigilante known as “The Revenant”, “Le Revenant”, “La Revenant”, “L’Revenant”, “Ha Revenant Ha Amerika’i” (In Israel they need to distinguish him from “Der Yiddishe Revenant” who fought the Nazis as a member of the Jewish partisans in WWII), as well as other linguistic variants.
The Revenant (aka Le Revenant) is in fact wanted by the police for questioning in Ontario, Montreal and Nova Scotia. He’s wanted by the Royal Canadian Mounties for questioning in other provinces.
That list is out of date now…. That happens frequently. Ps The political powers you mentioned might want to question him but really, how does a blimp want to question him? I assume you mean the commander of a derigable (sp?) wants to question him.
The blimp belongs to the VonFogg clan. When they couldn’t get him for questioning, they held a trial on their own. he was found guilty and now has the death sentence if he ever goes back. That or slavery, depends on what mood their in.
Hey, Doctot Phillipe Von Fogg’s Zeppelin counts as a country for purposes of international law (blame the UN General Assembly for voting to grant the not-so-good Doctor “Non-Member Observer State” status). Too bad no country in the world is willing to sign an extradition treaty with the Von Fogg Zeppelin…
Back during the kidnapping of the Rainmaker kids by Harold Nelson and Doctor Irons, The Revenant mentioned he was wanted in 32 states. That number has gone up to 35 since then, and he wasn’t including Washington DC, Federal authorities or any other countries. Not to mention the deposed dictator of an Evil Empire spanning multiple parallel Earths, whom the Revenant managed to topple; said ex-dictator has placed a bounty on the Revenant’s head, but the TDDD has managed to put the word out that any dimension hopping bounty hunters or “freelance peacekeeping agents” trying to collect will face jail time.
On another note, let’s give a warm welcome to the Argosian Resistance! Viva la revolucion!
Potential rebel movement? Figures. In comics, there’s no such thing as a dictatorship which works towards the benefit of the people. There are always malcontents, no matter what the actual situation.
So, very much like the real world then?
That’s because, while stretching belief is part of the appeal of comic books, some things are just too ridiculous to believe! A dictatorship, run FOR the benefit of the people?
The reason you can never have a truly working dictatorship for the people is because those ungrateful people keep demanding ridiculous things like “Freedom” and “Democracy”, through protests and eventually rebellion, then revolution, because they never, EVER apprieciate a benevolent dictator. Thus, even the benevolent dictator is doomed to face rebellion.
So lets face it, one might as well just enjoy the dictatorship at the expense of the people while it lasts, ammassing the personal fortune and reasources required to live comfortablyafter the dictatorship collapses. Power is made to be abused!
Stalin and the Von Fogg family care to disagree. In any event, the “Softlings” aren’t rebelling because Argos is a tyranny (it isn’t), they are rebelling because Argos is a super-powered Apartheid regime, where a minority of F.I.S.S.’s rule a majority of non-superpowered people.
Argos is basically a constitutional monarchy, in which the nobles (and only the nobles) have constitutional rights. The nobles are a minority of Argos’ population, and those with weaker connections to the greater families (like Forak the engineer on the Valiant Lance) are looked down upon. The majority of the population, called by the derogatory term “Softling” by the nobles, have no rights. Many labor in the mines, or perform menial labor considered too expensive to have robots do.
There is an underground Resistance movement among the majority, but they lack the resources to challenge the nobles. So the nobles go about their war with the Emeral Ones, conspire against one and other for influence and launch wars of succession to seize the throne. In short, the non-powered people of Argos need a champion to stand up for them, someone who cares about Truth and Justice, someone who knows about doing an honest day’s work on a farm, someone like… Atlas!
The truths of society change depending on the perspective and justice is an ideal that doesn’t exist in reality. Farmers are no more honest than the next man; they steal from the earth without giving back and often slaughter countless innocents. But hey, that’s survival and I’m a cynic.
I’d like to see Von Fogg’s set up personally and see how the citizens live, but I don’t expect that to happen.
Your knowledge of ecology is less than stellar. All farmers do is change [i]what[/i] is growing in the soil, and the decay from the parts of the plants left behind after the harvest generally replenish the nutrients used (sometimes moreso, depending on the crop).
@Artificer-Urza: Be patient, we’ll get to Alternate Omaha one of these years. 🙂
Right, because Victor will never find a small unprotected city to take over.
Heh.
Heh, heh.
HA-HA-HA-HAA!
MUH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAAAAAAAA!!!!!
Owning the trade is good.
Thanks to George Washington Carver, among other agricultural engineers, after cultural shattering events like the dust ball that forced a mass exodus of farmers in the midwest to places like California, I can say with absolute certainty that we plant replacement crops for everything we harvest __including the trees__ In fact, we use less than what we farm, and the American government pays people not to farm certain fruits and vegetables, meaning even though we ship most of the products globally, it’s not exactly slash and burn durring harvest time…
Which brings up another subject, if they’re cutting down the rain forests to have farm land, wouldn’t that land still be growing plants?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUSiCEx3e-0
Powell I think… son of the former secretary of state controlled the media at one time. Not sure who’s in charge now. Alan Greenspan use to be in control of the federal reserve and was known as King Alan. I’m sure if your curious you can find out who’s running the show now.
The rainforest grounds isn’t very fertile,after some years of farming it becomes useless and a new patch of rainforrest is cut down.
A line from “Zorro and Son” (Yes, there was such a series) comes to mind where the Commendant is telling his minion that they’ll “crush the rebels.” The minon, confused, says; “What rebels?” And the Commendant replies; “Where there are people like us, there are ALWAYS rebels!”
The farmer plants the seeds that raise the crops that he then harvests. He also replows the unused portions of the crops back into the earth to nurture it. (There’s also fertilizer, which he adds, about which the less said the better.) As far as the animals, he has raised them, fed them and taken care of them. (Yes, for the purposes of slaughtering them later.)
Your definition more describes the “hunter/gatherer” who simply kills and/or harvests what is already there and then moves on afterwards.
It’s possible, the major problem is that even if you do find a ruler who works for the benefit of the people, there will always be those who covet the power for themselves, those who disagree with what ‘benefits’ the people and there is never a guarantee that the successor will follow the same path as that dictator. Too many individuals spoil the country.
How about I clarify what I meant by “Truth and Justice”: someone who defends the weak and oppressed without considering the cost to himself, who selflessly answers a cry for help without hesitation, who does so without asking for a reward of any kind, and who has the power to become a dictator the likes of which the world can not imagine… but can’t conceive of forcing people to do something because that’s 180 degrees opposite to how he was raised.
By contrast the Argosian nobles are selfish racists who flaunt their power in order to oppress those who are weaker than themselves. They can’t understand the concept of altruism, because they never do anything unless it benefits them in some way.
Interesting how the definition of those words bears no relation to the following paragraphs you just gave. Not criticizing you, just curious how we understand language and social narratives.
For the purpose of the superhero genre that is a very appropriate definition. More to the point, someone who pursues Justice without mercy becomes the sort of tyrant Jerden and Artificer-Urza were describing. Someone who is altruistically pursuing justice will not want to hurt someone unless it is absolutely necessary.
Atlas is an altruistic defender of Justice. He’s not a vigilante like the Revenant. They both seek to help people, but the Revenant actively breaks the law to do so. Atlas doesn’t; his funding comes from the US government, he cooperates with the NYPD and the Wonderberg police department (and other local law enforcement), he doesn’t leave criminals tied to lamp posts and waltz away before the police arrive. Instead he arrives at crimes occurring in broad daylight, rescues any bystanders, subdues the alleged perpetrators and waits for the cops. On Earth Atlas had no role in the criminal justice system beyond helping the police stop violent criminals and super villains. Once the cops read Atlas the suspects their rights, Atlas is done, unless the DA summons him to testify before a Grand Jury or at trial. Since Atlas worked for the government, he probably had a liason to contact him for court dates. In addition Atlas would protect people from fires, natural disasters, and the Septo Invasion.
The Revenant goes several steps beyond Atlas’ involvement in fighting crime. He actively tails suspected criminals (members of the mafia, super villains, paroled criminals, gang members, etc.), breaks into private dwellings, procures evidence in a way that renders it Fruit of the Poisoned Tree for any prosecution, and finally the Revenant considers himself a useful substitute for a judge and jury. Take the Crystal Skull for example; The Revenant defeated Mr. Godwin, but rather than beat him up and leave him tied to a lamp post, The Revenant convinced Godwin to move to Las Vegas and open a casino. In exchange Godwin allows the Revenant to use The Masquerade to surveil criminals in Las Vegas (thus breaking the city’s rules about leaving super grudges at the city limits) and probably in other ways as well.
Like I said, Atlas and The Revenant both want the same thing: a world where people are safe from criminals. But Mr. Peterson taught his boy to respect legitimate authority, whereas The Revenant considers rules as guidelines and laws as something that apply to other people. Who would you prefer to have trying to reform a world governed by petty nobles running an Apartheid regime?
Haha! Most hilarious thing ever!
Moonshadow, “You want the ball? Huh, do you? Huh? You want the ball? Got get it!”
Argonians, “AFTER IT!!!”
I am laughing so hard…. I think some part of me just burned out. Good by cruel world!
I get the feeling that argosians don’t try to outsmart each other very often.
Ironically, according to [SPOILER; YOU’VE MET THIS CHARACTER BY THE WAY, BUT THE CONTEXT OF THE REVELATION REQUIRES A SPOILER] the Argosian nobles are very devious at court politics. The problem is that they assume anyone who’s not a noble is a fool. That feeling is reciprocated by the opressed “Softling” majority of Argos. Whoops, was I supposed to redact that?
“The finest superpower of all is the mind.” 🙂
Evil Overlord List #whatever: I will have an unintelligent five-year-old on my staff to point out flaws in my thinking and plans.
Really, the EOL is probably going to be Earth’s finest cultural export and required reading at any number of academies once we get off this rock.
The Revenant’s Rogues’ Gallery has read the Evil Overlord’s List (not that it usually helps; he’s the goshdarn Revenant after all!).
Except in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, where the Patrician runs Ankh-Morpork as a Not-Quite-As-Bad-As-The-Opposition Dictator.
Tamar, the reason Lord Vetinari is so good, is that everyone else who wants the job is completely incompetent or an absolute monster. The only person who would do a better job than Vetinari doesn’t want it, and the only person who could measure up to Vetinari and might want the job is a pardoned criminal running the city bank and mint (and post office). Of course he would need to persuaded to take the job first, so that Lord Vetinari could retire…
Those are important reasons, but that’s not really it.
The reason that Lord Vetinari is such a good ruler is that what he *really* wants, at the end of the day, is a city that *works*.
As such, somebody can’t corrupt him with money to break the city, because that’s giving him what he *has* to not do what he *wants*.
The reason he’s a great ruler is because he’s a good judge of character and he has a great deal of training in scaring honesty out of people with talent but little honesty.
http://txfellowship.blogspot.com/2012/06/top-215-rules-for-evil-overlord-repost.html
For those missing the list I compiled two lists into one here. If this isn’t allowed mod or mods please delete this comment
what odds do you give this being the “resistance” and not some opposing but nearly identical faction?
I’d say 100%. 🙂
Why hasn’t the comic updated?