Some toys the world probably doesn't really need

[jducoeur]

When I got my comics home last night, I found that Steve had dropped a free Black Lantern ring into the bag.

Now, I appreciate free toys as much as anybody, but I find myself a bit weirded out here. In the current storyline, this is an artifact of pure evil, that raises the dead wearer to make war on the living. Not exactly inspiring, or even especially cool.

Serious case of "eww". As giveaways go, I don't find this one of DC's cleverest...

Comments

In the land of Marketing where the shadows lie

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

And yet, there has been a lot of profit in selling variations of The One Ring -- I have a pair of earrings, for example....

Re: In the land of Marketing where the shadows lie

[jducoeur]

I actually mentioned that in an earlier draft of this note. But the One Ring is at least *cool* -- it gives you power of invisibility, lets you rule the world, stuff like that. This one turns you into an evil (if not quite shambling) zombie: not really quite the same level of panache...

Re: In the land of Marketing where the shadows lie

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Aha! Evil Losers aren't as compelling, eh?

Re: In the land of Marketing where the shadows lie

[learnedax.livejournal.com]

Yes, although Tolkien himself would not, I think, have enjoyed such items.

... I had a similar disappointment when a drinking goblet arrived (from a fan) which proved to be of steel, engraved with the terrible words seen on the Ring. I, of course, have never drunk from it, but use it for tobacco ash

Re: In the land of Marketing where the shadows lie

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly sure a little hunting would have turned up other things in Elvish script which could have been used. Pity.

[querldox.livejournal.com]

At DC's booth in San Diego, I asked if, similar to the Flight Ring replica of a few years ago that had on the box "Warning: Ring does not actually enable the wearer to fly" or somesuch, the black rings had "Warning: Ring does not actually let you raise the dead".

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Don't worry. We trust you with the Ring. You should slip it on and see how it feels. Go on. It's just a little ring. What could happen...?

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Zombies are cool.

The Green Lantern is cool.

Ergo, Lantern + Zombies = supercool!

[hfcougar.livejournal.com]

Don't use it to reanimate dead squirrels and then upload their souls onto the Internet. That always ends badly.

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

Um, no, I don't want one of those either. Eew.

What I do really want is a ring with a green laser built in. Seriously, is that doable, I wonder....

BTW (this may be old news to you and your LJ circle, but) they're finally making a GL movie, after decades of tsuris and angst. Ryan Reynolds as Hal, apparently. Yeah, I know, doesn't look like him at all: I woulda cast either Nathan Fillion or the guy who starred in "New Amsterdam". But it coulda been worse: the runner-up in the casting war was Justin Timberlake. Yes, really.

[jducoeur]

What I do really want is a ring with a green laser built in. Seriously, is that doable, I wonder...

Getting moreso. They just (like, last week) managed to invent a practical green laser. Apparently, the previous "green" lasers have been low-efficiency affairs that took infrared lasers and mucked with their wavelength. But the new ones are realer, and they seem optimistic that they'll be able to commercialize them...

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a prop. Then again, I see things in the grocery store that would make good props.

[hungrytiger]

According to my comic shop, DC is planning a whole series of the giveaway rings as "Blackest Night" tie-ins. So expect to see all of the other color rings over the next few weeks as well. Personally, I want a green one and don't give a fig for the others. I used to dig the GL mythos, but the explosion of the power ring into a whole spectrum of rings has just gotten silly.

[jducoeur]

I've found it an interesting story, and give it its due for that. But it does have a certain fan-fic'ishness to it that I suspect will get very tiring if they don't retire it immediately after Blackest Night...