My thoughts on Rising Son #3
Jul. 2nd, 2008 08:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
agt_spookyLast night I finally had a chance to sit down and read Supernatural: Rising Son #3 and thought I'd share my thoughts with you guys.
Again I want to say how much I'm enjoying this series. It's night and day from Origins and I'm glad Peter Johnson got his act together and started telling a good story that makes me eager for the next issue instead of dreading it.
Anyway, issue three picks up immediately where issue two left off - with the demon trying to take Sam and a huge metal creature trying to crush John, with Dean watching the whole thing.
John yells for Dean to hide in a trench and throws him the journal, telling Dean to read from the page John had marked - an exorcism. Without missing a beat, twelve year old Dean rattles off the Latin flawlessly, while John makes a pentagram (or is it supposed to be a Devil's Trap?) out of chains.
Dean finishes the exorcism and the demon, and the metal creature, are vanquished. Not bad for a 12 year old, eh? This was the first time we'd seen Dean do something like that and it really did leave me in awe. And sadden me as well, that this young kid really is on his way to leaving his childhood permanently behind to become a hunter.
Sam wakes up and John comes up with some lame story as to why they all have to suddenly leave town, because Sam is still too young to know the truth.
I nearly squealed with the next scene, when John calls BOBBY!!! Yes, Bobby is in this issue! With his beard and his baseball hat and everything. :-) I've often wondered what it was that caused the split between John and Bobby, and maybe during the course of this series we'll find out.
Anyway, while John is at the payphone calling Bobby (and wondering to himself why the demon wanted Sam to begin with), Dean was apparently asleep in the Impala and didn't notice that Sam had gotten out of the car. John finds Sam talking to some man in the shadows and calls him back over.
I love this line from John to Sam: "What have I taught you? Never, ever leave your brother's side. You hear me?"
So everyone ends up at Bobby's place and there's an interesting bit of conversation between John and Dean as they pull up:
Dean: "Why don't you just tell us where we're going some time? We're always just showin' up places."
John: "This is Bobby's place. He's a friend of mine."
Dean: "You gonna leave me in the car again?"
John: "Stop. Not in front of your brother, Dean."
We always talk about Sam being the rebellious one, but look at the evidence of Dean being the one to talk back, to question things. It's a theme that continues throughout the rest of this issue, too.
So everyone gets settled at Bobby's, the boys put to bed and John and Bobby talk about what the demon could've wanted from Sam, why Sam's so special. Bobby tells John that he needs to go talk to Silas, who is a soothsayer who can see the past and future.
Dean has snuck out of bed and has heard this whole conversation and tells John that he wants to go with him to see Silas, that this is about Sammy and he wants to be there, too. (God, I love how protective Dean is of Sam) But John says no, that Dean needs to stay at Bobby's.
John goes to see Silas, only to find out the man has been in a coma since November 2nd, the same day Mary died. But when John approaches Silas's hospital bed, the man opens his eyes and comes out of his coma, saying he knows why John is there.
He tells John that Sam is special and John needs to be ready and that Dean ("Your other son, the one like you" - which I found very interesting, as so many people say that SAM and John are the ones like each other) needs to also be ready for what's to come. Before John can ask Silas what all that means, the man falls asleep.
John takes Silas's words to heart, realizing that he needs backup in this life he's living, so he decides to start training Dean. He wakes Dean up and takes him out into the woods (unbeknownst to John and Dean, Sam heard the conversation).
He gives Dean a shotgun, which is hard for Dean to hold, and he even says that the gun's too heavy, but John says he'll get used to it.
They find a huge buck and John tells Dean to shoot, which he does, but completely misses. John yells at Dean to run, to go after it, that he's on his own. You can tell Dean's pissed, not understanding why he's out here doing this, but he obeys his father and goes charging after the buck.
Dean trips over a branch and loses the gun, falling down and tumbling down an incline, landing right in front of the buck.
Now here comes the part that was truly ridiculous, and there always seems to be one thing in each issue that is - all of a sudden a gunshot rings out, buckshot slamming into the buck and killing it.
I, of course, assumed it was John, but no, it's SAM. There's little Sammy, standing as calm as could be, shotgun in hand, smoke coming from the barrel, saying, "Got 'im, Dean. Got 'im."
WHAT?? We've never even seen Sam pick up a weapon and now he's out there killing wild game?? Is this supposed to be more about Sam being "special"?
John and Dean are like, what are you doing here?, and Sam says he wanted to go hunting with them and the man from the shadows, with the black car, offered him a ride outside Bobby's house.
Back at Bobby's, John is talking with Bobby, trying to understand why Sam would go off with a stranger.
Bobby tells John he needs to go see Silas - he's out of the hospital and back home. Silas tells John that he and Sam are somehow connected to his awakening, and maybe to whatever caused him to fall into a coma in the first place. He again tells John that Sam is special and that John needs to understand him. He asks to see Sam and John brings him inside the house, then takes Dean to get lunch.
Silas sits down with Sam and asks Sam what he wants to be when he grows up. Sam says, "What do YOU think I should be?"
Cut to John and Dean eating lunch, and Dean's not saying a word, so John calls him on it.
Here is my FAVORITE part of the whole comic, this conversation:
Dean: "What the hell do you want me to say? Or maybe you'd rather just throw me back into the wilderness alone with a gun?? Couple days ago, seems I was good enough to help you and Sam. We all coulda died but I did what you said. Read from your book and we killed that thing. Together. Ever since, it's all about Sam. You leave me behind. Or you push me into the woods, or tell me to get in the car. Well I don't want to be alone."
John: "Dean, you're NOT alone. You got ME. And your brother. Always. There's some stuff I can't explain yet. But the reason I've done what I've done is that I TRUST you. More than anyone else on this earth. We're in this together now. I need you, Dean."
Wow. Just...wow. In the show we've seen more than once Dean's fear of being alone, but I never knew that it started back when he was so young. And Dean also voiced what I'd been thinking - it's all about Sam, all the time, and it's hurting Dean that he's slowly meaning less to his father.
After this conversation they're back in the Impala, heading back to Silas's house and they pass the mysterious black car, heading in the opposite direction. John is panicked, but Sam is just sitting on the porch when they arrive. John asks where Silas is and Sam says he's inside.
And here's the requisite bloody scene, as John goes inside to see Silas completely ripped apart, blood everywhere, and written on the wall is KILL HIM.
And that's how issue three ends!
So besides Sam suddenly turning into Rambo I give this issue a thumbs up, especially because of Dean. I think the writers are doing a good job with him and I hope that continues.
So...your thoughts? Did you guys like this issue?
Again I want to say how much I'm enjoying this series. It's night and day from Origins and I'm glad Peter Johnson got his act together and started telling a good story that makes me eager for the next issue instead of dreading it.
Anyway, issue three picks up immediately where issue two left off - with the demon trying to take Sam and a huge metal creature trying to crush John, with Dean watching the whole thing.
John yells for Dean to hide in a trench and throws him the journal, telling Dean to read from the page John had marked - an exorcism. Without missing a beat, twelve year old Dean rattles off the Latin flawlessly, while John makes a pentagram (or is it supposed to be a Devil's Trap?) out of chains.
Dean finishes the exorcism and the demon, and the metal creature, are vanquished. Not bad for a 12 year old, eh? This was the first time we'd seen Dean do something like that and it really did leave me in awe. And sadden me as well, that this young kid really is on his way to leaving his childhood permanently behind to become a hunter.
Sam wakes up and John comes up with some lame story as to why they all have to suddenly leave town, because Sam is still too young to know the truth.
I nearly squealed with the next scene, when John calls BOBBY!!! Yes, Bobby is in this issue! With his beard and his baseball hat and everything. :-) I've often wondered what it was that caused the split between John and Bobby, and maybe during the course of this series we'll find out.
Anyway, while John is at the payphone calling Bobby (and wondering to himself why the demon wanted Sam to begin with), Dean was apparently asleep in the Impala and didn't notice that Sam had gotten out of the car. John finds Sam talking to some man in the shadows and calls him back over.
I love this line from John to Sam: "What have I taught you? Never, ever leave your brother's side. You hear me?"
So everyone ends up at Bobby's place and there's an interesting bit of conversation between John and Dean as they pull up:
Dean: "Why don't you just tell us where we're going some time? We're always just showin' up places."
John: "This is Bobby's place. He's a friend of mine."
Dean: "You gonna leave me in the car again?"
John: "Stop. Not in front of your brother, Dean."
We always talk about Sam being the rebellious one, but look at the evidence of Dean being the one to talk back, to question things. It's a theme that continues throughout the rest of this issue, too.
So everyone gets settled at Bobby's, the boys put to bed and John and Bobby talk about what the demon could've wanted from Sam, why Sam's so special. Bobby tells John that he needs to go talk to Silas, who is a soothsayer who can see the past and future.
Dean has snuck out of bed and has heard this whole conversation and tells John that he wants to go with him to see Silas, that this is about Sammy and he wants to be there, too. (God, I love how protective Dean is of Sam) But John says no, that Dean needs to stay at Bobby's.
John goes to see Silas, only to find out the man has been in a coma since November 2nd, the same day Mary died. But when John approaches Silas's hospital bed, the man opens his eyes and comes out of his coma, saying he knows why John is there.
He tells John that Sam is special and John needs to be ready and that Dean ("Your other son, the one like you" - which I found very interesting, as so many people say that SAM and John are the ones like each other) needs to also be ready for what's to come. Before John can ask Silas what all that means, the man falls asleep.
John takes Silas's words to heart, realizing that he needs backup in this life he's living, so he decides to start training Dean. He wakes Dean up and takes him out into the woods (unbeknownst to John and Dean, Sam heard the conversation).
He gives Dean a shotgun, which is hard for Dean to hold, and he even says that the gun's too heavy, but John says he'll get used to it.
They find a huge buck and John tells Dean to shoot, which he does, but completely misses. John yells at Dean to run, to go after it, that he's on his own. You can tell Dean's pissed, not understanding why he's out here doing this, but he obeys his father and goes charging after the buck.
Dean trips over a branch and loses the gun, falling down and tumbling down an incline, landing right in front of the buck.
Now here comes the part that was truly ridiculous, and there always seems to be one thing in each issue that is - all of a sudden a gunshot rings out, buckshot slamming into the buck and killing it.
I, of course, assumed it was John, but no, it's SAM. There's little Sammy, standing as calm as could be, shotgun in hand, smoke coming from the barrel, saying, "Got 'im, Dean. Got 'im."
WHAT?? We've never even seen Sam pick up a weapon and now he's out there killing wild game?? Is this supposed to be more about Sam being "special"?
John and Dean are like, what are you doing here?, and Sam says he wanted to go hunting with them and the man from the shadows, with the black car, offered him a ride outside Bobby's house.
Back at Bobby's, John is talking with Bobby, trying to understand why Sam would go off with a stranger.
Bobby tells John he needs to go see Silas - he's out of the hospital and back home. Silas tells John that he and Sam are somehow connected to his awakening, and maybe to whatever caused him to fall into a coma in the first place. He again tells John that Sam is special and that John needs to understand him. He asks to see Sam and John brings him inside the house, then takes Dean to get lunch.
Silas sits down with Sam and asks Sam what he wants to be when he grows up. Sam says, "What do YOU think I should be?"
Cut to John and Dean eating lunch, and Dean's not saying a word, so John calls him on it.
Here is my FAVORITE part of the whole comic, this conversation:
Dean: "What the hell do you want me to say? Or maybe you'd rather just throw me back into the wilderness alone with a gun?? Couple days ago, seems I was good enough to help you and Sam. We all coulda died but I did what you said. Read from your book and we killed that thing. Together. Ever since, it's all about Sam. You leave me behind. Or you push me into the woods, or tell me to get in the car. Well I don't want to be alone."
John: "Dean, you're NOT alone. You got ME. And your brother. Always. There's some stuff I can't explain yet. But the reason I've done what I've done is that I TRUST you. More than anyone else on this earth. We're in this together now. I need you, Dean."
Wow. Just...wow. In the show we've seen more than once Dean's fear of being alone, but I never knew that it started back when he was so young. And Dean also voiced what I'd been thinking - it's all about Sam, all the time, and it's hurting Dean that he's slowly meaning less to his father.
After this conversation they're back in the Impala, heading back to Silas's house and they pass the mysterious black car, heading in the opposite direction. John is panicked, but Sam is just sitting on the porch when they arrive. John asks where Silas is and Sam says he's inside.
And here's the requisite bloody scene, as John goes inside to see Silas completely ripped apart, blood everywhere, and written on the wall is KILL HIM.
And that's how issue three ends!
So besides Sam suddenly turning into Rambo I give this issue a thumbs up, especially because of Dean. I think the writers are doing a good job with him and I hope that continues.
So...your thoughts? Did you guys like this issue?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-02 02:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-02 06:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-02 02:33 pm (UTC)What the hell?!?! I don't care how good the story isonce again they screw up Dean's part of it and SAM picks up a gun and shoots the buck first time out? No freaking way.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 04:38 pm (UTC)Shame on me for not remembering how old Dean was in Something Wicked, since i've seen that ep about a zillion times. But I can forgive myself for the reference in No Exit, since I've seen that episode exactly one time, the day it aired.
So yep, you're totally right - the comic doesn't match with canon. Again. Grrrr....
And yes, we're in complete agreement that the part with Sam and the shotgun is completely ridiculous.
It frustrates me because I really enjoy most of this series, then they have to go and screw it up with canon. [sigh]
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-02 03:38 pm (UTC)Also, I was confused by Silas and his coma. Were we supposed to infer that Silas had been in a coma since Mary died? Eight years? And then suddenly wakes up when John arrives, and nobody questions this? Or, was it only a few months that Silas was in his coma? It kind of makes the whole November 2 connection null if it was only a few months. What was the point? Especially if he was able to wake up and talk to Sam before he was killed? Seemed like wasted intrigue to me.
That said, I did enjoy this issue for all the Dean connections. I couldn't help but wonder what must happen to him to change his attitude so completely. Right now, he's belligerent and questioning of John's motivations and actions, something the Dean of 26 would never do. At some point he loses this part of his personality, which I thought had really happened as part of the whole Something Wicked plotline. But since that was when he was 9, and this comic takes place when he's 12, I was wondering--again--if it was just a matter of incontinuity on the author's part. Bah.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-02 04:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-02 04:56 pm (UTC)If this writer is a Sam fan, then all his comic books are suspect and he really isn't a very good source. I do hope that the writers of the show totally ignore this guy's version of how things went.
What the hell, don't these people even watch the show before they start writing?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 04:49 pm (UTC)Yeah, that's pretty much when my jaw hit the floor and I started shaking my head.
I do hope that the writers of the show totally ignore this guy's version of how things went.
Which is kinda sad, since Peter Johnson's been involved with the show since the beginning. He should know what's already come before in canon.
I so wanted all of these comics to be outstanding, but they're pretty much peppered with flaws. :-(
Also
Date: 2008-07-02 04:57 pm (UTC)By messing up canon, the author actually messes up all the reasons why things happened and why Dean has done certain things. Dean was well beyond nearly all this stuff by the time he was 12, because he'd been part of it since he was half that age.
Sorry for ranting in your journal but this annoys me because it makes me worry about whether Kripke pays any attention to his own canon, or if he really is, I HOPE, too busy to actually take a good look at what happens in the comics. I'd much rather believe he is too busy to do more than take a quick glance and sign off than believe he could forget some major aspects of his own canon and one of his 2 lead characters.
Re: Also
Date: 2008-07-02 08:12 pm (UTC)I've decided to treat it like an AU. A cop-out, I know, but if I don't do that, I'm going to drive myself crazy.
Re: Also
Date: 2008-07-03 02:38 am (UTC)I wish I had Peter Johnson's address, I'd give him a piece of my mind. LOL
Re: Also
Date: 2008-07-07 04:52 pm (UTC)Hey, no problem! I love discussions like this!
but this annoys me because it makes me worry about whether Kripke pays any attention to his own canon, or if he really is, I HOPE, too busy to actually take a good look at what happens in the comics
And honestly, he really shouldn't have to take a close look at the comics, since the person he put in charge of them, Peter Johnson, has been involved with the show since the beginning! If you can't trust someone like that, then who can you?
(no subject)
Date: 2008-07-07 04:44 pm (UTC)You're totally right, and I can't believe I completely blocked the fact that I knew Dean was only about 9 in Something Wicked and was already handling a gun.
Also, I was confused by Silas and his coma. Were we supposed to infer that Silas had been in a coma since Mary died? Eight years?
Actually, I don't think so. I think it was only supposed to be a few months he was in the coma. It just happened to fall on November 2nd of that year. But that wasn't really made clear.
It kind of makes the whole November 2 connection null if it was only a few months. What was the point? Especially if he was able to wake up and talk to Sam before he was killed? Seemed like wasted intrigue to me
I guess it was just for us to go "wow, of all the dates..." kinda thing. [shrug]
Right now, he's belligerent and questioning of John's motivations and actions, something the Dean of 26 would never do.
Exactly! I was so surprised by his attitude in this comic. But like you said, could just be yet another inconsistency in the writing. Hmph.