Post by DocQuantum on Mar 18, 2024 9:02:49 GMT
I'd like to see a Mister E story told in a similar way to the originals by Bob Rozakis and Dan Spiegle. Mister E is a blind paranormal investigator who humbly considers himself a mere historian and despite his blindness is able to "see" evil in one's soul with an extremely high degree of accuracy, though sometimes he is unable to pinpoint it to one person in a group of people. He also has strange abilities that are never really explained, such as always being in the right place at the right time to save someone, or having knowledge of something that he wasn't present for. It's all part of the mystery of Mister E, and that's what makes him an interesting character.
Unfortunately, thanks to what I call the "Vertigo Effect," Mister E's reputation was thoroughly trashed back in the 1990s, and even after the DC Universe was rebooted, Mister E is now only known as a villain.
The Vertigo Effect (which isn't confined just to those with the Vertigo label, since it preexists Vertigo) is basically the deconstruction of heroism, something popularized in comics by Alan Moore, although Neil Gaiman is the one to blame in this case. Mister E just couldn't remain the noble character he was, but instead was treated as if he had ulterior motives, and in the original BOOKS OF MAGIC mini-series tried to murder Tim Hunter merely because of the risk that he might someday turn bad. It's a complete mischaracterization of the character, and really was done because the plot demanded it, so his character had to be changed to fit it. In a follow-up mini-series called MISTER E, the mischaracterization was even worse, adding to the heroic deconstruction an utterly terrible origin story in which his own zealously religious father blinded him by scooping out his eyes for looking at a dirty magazine (slandering the Bible in doing so), as well as a hatred of women that is completely at odds with how he actually treated people. It's really terrible what they did to him.
I'm glad that when Mister E was used in the story that introduces Timothy Hunter to Earth-1, he had his original noble characterization once more. I just want to see the character return as the star of his own story again, a story that includes his charming secretary, Kelly O'Toole. The story could include his old enemy Judge Kobold, known as the Twice-Cursed Man because he was cursed with both vampirism and lycanthropism at the same time a few hundred years ago, and has returned from death many times thanks to being both a vampire and a werewolf.
However, a nice short tale focusing on almost any mystical threat would be welcome.
Unfortunately, thanks to what I call the "Vertigo Effect," Mister E's reputation was thoroughly trashed back in the 1990s, and even after the DC Universe was rebooted, Mister E is now only known as a villain.
The Vertigo Effect (which isn't confined just to those with the Vertigo label, since it preexists Vertigo) is basically the deconstruction of heroism, something popularized in comics by Alan Moore, although Neil Gaiman is the one to blame in this case. Mister E just couldn't remain the noble character he was, but instead was treated as if he had ulterior motives, and in the original BOOKS OF MAGIC mini-series tried to murder Tim Hunter merely because of the risk that he might someday turn bad. It's a complete mischaracterization of the character, and really was done because the plot demanded it, so his character had to be changed to fit it. In a follow-up mini-series called MISTER E, the mischaracterization was even worse, adding to the heroic deconstruction an utterly terrible origin story in which his own zealously religious father blinded him by scooping out his eyes for looking at a dirty magazine (slandering the Bible in doing so), as well as a hatred of women that is completely at odds with how he actually treated people. It's really terrible what they did to him.
I'm glad that when Mister E was used in the story that introduces Timothy Hunter to Earth-1, he had his original noble characterization once more. I just want to see the character return as the star of his own story again, a story that includes his charming secretary, Kelly O'Toole. The story could include his old enemy Judge Kobold, known as the Twice-Cursed Man because he was cursed with both vampirism and lycanthropism at the same time a few hundred years ago, and has returned from death many times thanks to being both a vampire and a werewolf.
However, a nice short tale focusing on almost any mystical threat would be welcome.
