>>ditched the Black
>>Canary/Doctor Mid-Nite relationship as quickly as possible
>
>As much as I hate to play devil's advocate, this was probably:
>
>A) driven by external forces (namely the return of Ollie Queen); and
>B) for the best, since Ollie and Dinah are one of the best couples in
>comics when they're handled right.
>
>... and by "right" I mean "the way Kevin Smith handled them," not "the
>way Judd Winick screwed them the fuck up."

Ah, yes...I remember that Kevin Smith's run on GA piqued my interest, Meltzer's "Archer's Quest" was met with mild intrigue, and Winick's butchering left me just short of apoplectic outrage.

(In retrospect, the Archer's Quest arc was one of the few outings by Meltzer that would not inspire an involuntary twitching of the bird finger.)

Ollie came back from the dead for Dinah. Then Winick had him involved in an affair. I'm certain that apologists and defenders of Winick would state that stability does not sell or something to that degree. While I agree that some conflict is required for most plotlines, having it done in such a manner as to be blatantly out of character is, quite frankly, inexcusable.

"Dude, where have you been? Look around...affairs happen all the time! Comics are only reflecting what's happening in the real world!" people may tell me.

I would reply with an opinion that has been voiced elsewhere, that comics are entertainment. I am not entertained by that crap.

I list below a link to Peter David's insight on Didio's supposed thought processes, especially when it came to the late, lamented, Young Justice:

http://peterdavid.malibulist.com/archives/004625.html

For those of you who think that it's all about the bottom line, it's not necessarily true. It's certainly high on the list, but for Didio et al., it's more a case of them doing it because they can. As long as there are readers out there who think that this sort of tripe is "cool," they'll keep putting it out.

Will the bright, shiny days of heroism past ever return? I doubt it. After all, according to Meltzer, they weren't so shiny and they weren't really so heroic. Oh, and no Flash villain ever really reformed of his own free will back then.

If there is a fitting punishment for the perpetrators of this travesty, it should be having their arms break from patting themselves on the back too much. Mind you, that's the gentlest thing I can think of.

That's just my 2 cents.

--DocMui