Friday, February 4, 2011

2009 Black Lantern Razorsharp design by Joe Prado

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Maybe you've seen the 1994 segment from The Today Show where Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric try to figure out the internet. How about the 1995 cheeseball epic Hackers? VR.5? The Lawnmower Man? Damn it, I was promised flying cars!

Into this period of wildly inaccurate speculation about a future of virtual reality information superhighways was born Razorsharp, one of the least inspired or inspiring New Bloods, but not for DC's lack of trying. She was introduced in the second Robin annual back before Tim Drake even had his own series, and although instantly forgettable, Razorsharp just would not go away. Raelene Sharp, her T-2000 liquid metal arms, and her team of hackers somehow wrangled their own mini-series in 1995, The Psyba-Rats. I swear I'm not making this up. They even got a two part serial in Showcase '94 to promote it. Razorsharp and her geek squad got to be drawn by Jim Balent in a couple of issues of Catwoman, Peter David featured her in an issue of Young Justice, and more. Razorsharp even had a second team in the Blood Pack, another mini-series for her to co-star in. The chick had inarticulate scissor arms and could work a 56K modem. I fail to see the appeal.

Unlike the deaths of many C-listers close to my heart during Infinite Crisis, I was consoled that at least Razorsharp had finally been put down. Lo and behold, Joe Prado was tasked with resurrecting her in Blackest Night, and for a brief moment, I knew true fear. Then a chuckle, because adding a Black Lantern ring to the tip of one of her pokers is the most interesting thing anyone has ever done with this character. Superboy/man-Prime did her in a second time, and perhaps this long nightmare of '90s cyber-delusion has finally given way to the light of the eBay Farm Sexcapades blog we know the interwebs to truly represent.

1 comment:

LissBirds said...

I wouldn't have noticed the ring if you hadn't pointed it out.

I guess if you can get past the silliness, she has a rather cool-looking aesthetic. Or maybe that's just me.