Business Ethics

[capmicro]

Long time reader, first time posting though. You'll forgive me if I interrupt the learned discourse about continuity to discuss the actual story...

It seems as this tale could actually become quite important in the future of Metrobay, giving the Superheroine Squad a set of actual rivals. Of course if it came down to actual numbers the Squad would have the edge but I'm imagining that Ms. Metrobay and Alpha Woman are counselling a '"hands off" approach since it wouldn't do them any good to be shown picking fights with other superheroines.

Of course with the big media splash this is going to cause the Squad had best stay vigilant as it'd be only natural for members to switch sides...whether of their own will or not. All it would take is a few of the more powerful members such as Omega Woman or Valient Grrl to agree to join the Alliance for the Squad to face a serious lack of power as well as credibility issues.

Interesting though that Max never came up with the idea of his own team before, especially since he had at least 2 other heroines "on ice". Perhaps he was waiting for Pink Pussycat...if that's the case, the Action Cats need to be wary as well.

And of course the fall of Azure Avenger only proves that ANYONE in Metrobay is vulnerable, even the big hitters.

I'm afraid that I'm woefully uneducated in Valiant Woman's mythology...is Maven the real name of Valiant Girl or is that Hot Cocoa (whom I'm assuming will garner a great deal of attention from Brown Sugar...can ya dig it? )? The spit take from Valient Grrl was was a nice touch but not very visible against the background.

And, of course...Patriot Princess. Since she's already a parody of Wonder Woman I suppose it was only natural for her to sink even lower. I find her transformation a bit crude for my tastes, but then vive la différence, eh?

On the opposite end I find myself fascinated with Lady Payback. I'm wondering if she'll continue to use lethal force as part of the Alliance or if she'll modify her weaponry in public to suit Max's more 'genteel' image that he wants for the ladies.

VERY interesting so far. Kudoes, Trishbot. I will be sure to keep track of how this plot develops.

[sohta123]

I absolutely love the idea of Apex and R.O.P.E. having their own "Superheroine Team".
And the dynamic of people switching sides is awesome too.
Maybe the clone controversy will cause some of the conflict within the teams.

[Trishbot]

It seems as this tale could actually become quite important in the future of Metrobay, giving the Superheroine Squad a set of actual rivals. Of course if it came down to actual numbers the Squad would have the edge but I'm imagining that Ms. Metrobay and Alpha Woman are counselling a '"hands off" approach since it wouldn't do them any good to be shown picking fights with other superheroines.

True, but I doubt Max has been telling HIS heroines to keep their "hands off" Superheroine Squad affairs... *cough* I mean, I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Of course with the big media splash this is going to cause the Squad had best stay vigilant as it'd be only natural for members to switch sides...whether of their own will or not. All it would take is a few of the more powerful members such as Omega Woman or Valient Grrl to agree to join the Alliance for the Squad to face a serious lack of power as well as credibility issues.

I think most know Max is bad business, but younger, more impressionable heroines are certainly game. Beyond that, heroines like Azure Avenger and the original Valiant Girl command a lot of respect in Metrobay and around the world. There's probably just as many young heroines out their that look up to them as there are ones that admire Ms. Metrobay. Max is certainly not ignorant of their influence either...

Interesting though that Max never came up with the idea of his own team before, especially since he had at least 2 other heroines "on ice". Perhaps he was waiting for Pink Pussycat...if that's the case, the Action Cats need to be wary as well.

I'm sure he'd like that, but there IS a certain Action Kat that may join their ranks eventually...

And of course the fall of Azure Avenger only proves that ANYONE in Metrobay is vulnerable, even the big hitters.

What would happen if Ms. Metrobay cast her lot in with Max's Alliance, I wonder... and could the Squad stand a chance if Omega Woman joined up? Questions, questions...

I'm afraid that I'm woefully uneducated in Valiant Woman's mythology...is Maven the real name of Valiant Girl or is that Hot Cocoa (whom I'm assuming will garner a great deal of attention from Brown Sugar...can ya dig it? )?

Maven O'Riley is the name of Valiant Girl. You can find out more info about her here:
http://metrobay.wetpaint.com/page/Valiant+Girl

Hot Cocoa is definitely going to have some connection and interaction with Brown Sugar...

And, of course...Patriot Princess. Since she's already a parody of Wonder Woman I suppose it was only natural for her to sink even lower. I find her transformation a bit crude for my tastes, but then vive la différence, eh?

She's not my character, so I don't have control over THAT aspect of her, but I did get to redesign her "superhero" outfit, which was fun. If things go as planned, you'll be seeing how she "sunk so low" very soon, courtesy of Dumbtime.

On the opposite end I find myself fascinated with Lady Payback. I'm wondering if she'll continue to use lethal force as part of the Alliance or if she'll modify her weaponry in public to suit Max's more 'genteel' image that he wants for the ladies.

She's a "superhero" now. I doubt she'll be gunning anyone down. We've determined she'll be much like Hawkeye in that regard, where she's going to have a ton of trick-bullets that will help her along. To say anything more would be to ruin the surprises.

VERY interesting so far. Kudoes, Trishbot. I will be sure to keep track of how this plot develops.

Thanks! Trust me, it's going to develop much further than this. The wheels are already in motion, and we'll just have to wait and see how big this thing gets.

[Mr. Cryptic]

This is a very interesting development. The new team reminds me of "Freedom Force", the re-branded Brotherhood of Evil Mutants that went from being outlaws to government agents.

[sohta123]

This is a very interesting development. The new team reminds me of "Freedom Force", the re-branded Brotherhood of Evil Mutants that went from being outlaws to government agents.

Yeah, that's along the lines of what I'm hoping for. Government controlled supers.

[dumbtime]

This is a very interesting development. The new team reminds me of "Freedom Force", the re-branded Brotherhood of Evil Mutants that went from being outlaws to government agents.

Yeah, that's along the lines of what I'm hoping for. Government controlled supers.

Government controlled Supers...hmmm...interesting...very, very interesting...

[dumbtime]

I think that this is possibly one of the greatest story arc of the Metrobay saga. A mastermind villian with his own superheroine force. I know Max is a mastermind and had almost all of his ephiphanies early on in life but, the latest one is insanely fresh and it adds to the countenance of the superheroine comic world that we so enjoy here at McComix.com.

Continuity aside, this is quite a piece of work. You can take your shots at the few miniscule shortcomings but, the superb fit it plays in the scheme of what is to come overshadows everything. It challenges and changes the dynamic of what a superheroine is and should be considered as. Are they to be moral and virtuous in appearance and affible when it comes to fighting these villians or are they supppose to get the job done in the eyes of the citizen, even if they are brainwashed to do so? It all depends on how you work the politics and who better to do that than the one and only Max Indeks. What's ethics have to do with anything if it means taking care of what needs to be done. Proper is in the eye of the citizen, not the reader.

[mns_95125]

Given the nature of the site I'm pretty sure that "proper in the eye of the reader" doesn't have a lot to do with successful or effective crime-fighting.

[Sumatra]

Now arc's finished, outlining positives and negatives:

Positives were interesting technology. Problem with it was it's too powerful, doubled as a negative for me. Why would Max waste two of these things on a rival and her assistant when he's failed so many times with Ms. Metrobay? Think a member of the squad would have been a higher priority for this.

Another positive, interaction between Andrea and Nicole. Also Andrea's conversion was done well.

Negatives were the storytelling. Andrea was ultimately a plot device to introduce "new" heroine Onyx. Again. Why would Max go to this much trouble with this OP technology just for a rival, while the mayor functions for months or years now wearing a greentooth earpiece? They first thought Andrea and Nicole were both civvies, so why not just greentooth them? It's hidden. Tried and true. If that fails just put a ring on her like Love and Obey.

Max with his own superheroine force was too far fetched. He gets hounded by the squad every arc, why draw more attention? He should have used Andrea to set a deeper cover story and run her business quiet from the inside. As it is, it makes the squad look dumb as hell, no offense.

-Sumatra

[MacroLass]

Sumatra:

I think you have the relationships a bit backwards there.

The Squad is not a serious threat to him. There may be some ebb and flow to who is on top but it's all a game to Max.

Andrea Carmichael, on the other hand, was NOT a rival. She was a billionaire leveraging a hostile takeover of APEX. There was NOTHING he could do legally or financially against that kind of juggernaut (the risk of having your company trading stock publicly). It's the fictional equivalent of Bill Gates deciding that he REALLY doesn't want you to be in business any more. And now he can ill afford to lose APEX with there starting to finally be some serious political maneuvering in ROPE to oust him from power. He was willing to *kill* someone to keep her from winning, a step we've never seen before in his dealings with Metrobay's heroines. That indictates that this was a whole level of magnitude more important to him.

Azure as a "plot device to introduce heroine Onyx" is only a minor facet of what was going on. There's much more to the story than that.

The thing with the greentooths, the visors, and the rings is that people have to ACCEPT them. That's how Max had them got them onto people before, by giving them away to the Squad and city hall officials. It's unlikely that Andrea is going to accept anything like that kind of "gift" from him especially if she's suspicious of him.

I'll let Trishbot herself speak to your last point.

[dumbtime]

My suggestions to Sumatra good points -

Comeback and revisit them after you see how the dynamics work out in future story arcs. This was the introduction to the idea.

[Trishbot]

Hey Sumatra! Thanks for the feedback! Allow me to address some of your points (both the negatives and positives).

Positives were interesting technology. Problem with it was it's too powerful, doubled as a negative for me. Why would Max waste two of these things on a rival and her assistant when he's failed so many times with Ms. Metrobay? Think a member of the squad would have been a higher priority for this.

Max Indeks isn't the type to want to mind control the whole city; he likes to see his victims resist and squirm when he ties them up and has his fun with them. He also knows that, without complete proof, he's simply too powerful and the city too corrupt to allow the Squad to get the better of him, and he relishes this power. It's the same reason that he let heroines under his control, like Hypnotica, Solaria, and Snowflake, go... so he can play the "game" with them another day. Max will not "permanently" control someone unless it's for a very good reason... and this story had one. Max has no desire to permanently enslave Ms. Metrobay or even Pink Pussycat... he WANTS them to challenge him again and again and to lose so he can have his kinky fun with them over and over. In more blunt terms, the fun of the game is in the hunt itself.

The "nano-leash" enslavement requires a lot of resources. Max outright states that they didn't have enough to enslave Violet Star with one, so he saved it for the one that really needed it. The only reason Nicole was chosen first was because they needed a test subject to ensure it DID work on the "bigger prize" that was Andrea. Andrea was too public, too valuable, and too well-known to risk any mistakes... and APEX HAS made many mistakes before (Super Freak comes to mind). Max was being cautious. I'll explain why I chose this method instead of the others down below...

Another positive, interaction between Andrea and Nicole. Also Andrea's conversion was done well.

You'll continue to see interactions between them. Glad you enjoyed Andrea's conversion too!

Negatives were the storytelling. Andrea was ultimately a plot device to introduce "new" heroine Onyx.

Andrea's role in this is far from over. Onyx is certainly going to be very important too, but Andrea's one of the most popular and powerful superheroines in the business... and now she's in league with the Squad's biggest enemy. That status is going to haunt Onyx and the rest of the Squad for a very, very long time to come.

Again. Why would Max go to this much trouble with this OP technology just for a rival, while the mayor functions for months or years now wearing a greentooth earpiece? They first thought Andrea and Nicole were both civvies, so why not just greentooth them? It's hidden. Tried and true. If that fails just put a ring on her like Love and Obey.

MacroLass summed it up perfectly. Andrea was far from a simple "rival". She was an outright THREAT. She was about to strip him from his pedestal of power and glory and take away everything that he values. This was the first time Max has ever encountered someone who, in all honestly, was just more influential and powerful than he was. It was a hostile takeover, and Max was made desperate.

Because this was so big of a threat, that's why the "nano-leash" was involved. Like you said, it's powerful and effective. Possibly too powerful (and hence why it's limited and another will take time to create). The reason another method wasn't used is because those carry the risk of removal. How many times has a greentooth been shaken loose? How many times have they taken one off to take a shower or go to bed? Even the rings from Love and Obey can simply be removed, and we saw how the heroines responded to their captors after getting their minds back (ouch!). Those devices carried with them a bit of a risk that Max knew he simply couldn't afford. If a ring or a greentooth on her was removed, Andrea would come gunning for him. There's even a very good reason why Max has used secondary-parties to enslave others, while in this case he was forced into a confrontation due to Andrea's public statements. This method will ensure no heroine can easily free her, and thus, in Max's minds, it settles the matter for GOOD. No risks, no fears... it's a problem dealt with. Now he can go back to his fun and games with rings and greentooths.

Max with his own superheroine force was too far fetched. He gets hounded by the squad every arc, why draw more attention? He should have used Andrea to set a deeper cover story and run her business quiet from the inside. As it is, it makes the squad look dumb as hell, no offense.

Max Indeks may not be loved by the Squad, but the people of Metrobay by and large ADORE Max and view him as a great humanitarian that has given much to the city of Metrobay. The citizens of Metrobay look up to and admire him. Men wish to be him, women wish to be with him. He's popular and well-liked.

Max has now leveraged his popularity and resources into his own squad, "generously" funding the creation of a superhero group that already has Metrobay's citizens comparing the Superheroine Squad unfavorably to. Max's goal is not to FIGHT the Superheroine Squad; the APEX Alliance will be going about doing the same job the Squad does... and possibly better. Heroines like Azure Avenger are world-renown. Valiant Girl is a Metrobay legend. Max loves to humiliate his opponents, and the Squad is going to have trouble looking good to the public when Max's APEX Alliance is being shown getting the job done and looking far more competent than they ever have. There's a reason page 102 has Andrea stating Max set up a villain for her to capture so she looks good to the public. It's another game for Max... his "heroines" are shown to be competently arresting criminals he himself employs, while his connections to the Funhouse allows them to escape again. Meanwhile, the Squad is continuing their misadventures of being tied up, outsmarted, and mind controlled.

It's all one big deception to the public. Max's heroines are "getting the job done" while Max is painting the Squad as "incompetent" and continuing to sway public opinion to his side. In many ways, that's why I feel he's one of the most dangerous adversaries the Squad has faced. He attacks them indirectly, subversively, and can manipulate the public at large into turning against these selfless heroines of justice. It's all part of his game, and now Andrea can't threaten it by taking over his playground.

[Hector2]

Dear Trishbot:

I loved the principal idea behind Business Ethic # 7: The idea of a “superheroic team” sponsored by the villain to be competence to the superhero team has been developed a lot of times in mainstream comics (Lex Luthor and the JLA, McCauley at the Legion of Superheroes, Osborn and the Dark Avengers, but I think the best one was the Thunderbolts.

Then some things I loved:

The graffiti: “Draven will rise”, who are those guys and why do they know so much about the plot? Are they the same guys from Watchmen?

The idea of the heroines in pod like containers: That was great! Thinking about this, is the worst thing you can do to an human being: to freeze them in time, and release her after everything and everyone he knows has died (Yes, I’m talking about Hot Cocoa Afro… and his name, Blaxplotation anyone?

And Valiant’s girl reaction about hearing her name: Delicious, not so above it all, aren’t we?

Now, I don’t want to initiate another controversial discussion, but you delivered your promise: Andrea really have some tricks: She put a videowill to ask Onyx Thunder to rescue her. She had the evidence against Max, only that it will be difficult to get. She had a good reason to surrender so fast.

So, you delivered your promise, and I think this is just the beginning of a great story! Please comment us a little more about your plans for Onyx Thunder and Hot Cocoa (I love a 70’s afro).

[NoneNeeded]

So, when will we be seeing this story continued?

[NoneNeeded]

My suggestions to Sumatra good points -

Comeback and revisit them after you see how the dynamics work out in future story arcs. This was the introduction to the idea.

But will there be any future arcs? My major gripe with the Metrobay stuff is that there is so little continuity. Arc ends with major plot elements unresolved and then you have to wait two years to have it mentioned again. Great individual stories, art and writing but nothing really tying it into a coherent narrative over time. I can't think of a story line other than Chained Reaction/Island that managed to jump between arcs and tie things up.

AND now we will have to go elsewhere if we want to see how this plays out. Probably sometime in 2015 if I had to guess. I am giving Metrobay.com a try but doubt I will stick for just this reason.

Sorry, that is more negative than I meant it to be but it is a major point of frustration that so little ever concludes or resolves. I swear, if you looked at all the heroines that were left enthralled at the end of some story, the entire cast would probably be enslaved and many by more than one master.