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But yall ain't ready for that conversation

You know I didn’t really think I’d be writing a post about Virgil anytime soon. Not with OW2 hitting in October, and Street Fighter 6 primed to come out in 2023 of next year. Hell…the only thing happening with Static soon will be the much anticipated Season 2 of the milestone Static relaunch. And I’ll really want to read all of that first before talking about it in any sort of vein on here. So what prompted me to talk about this subject just out of the clear blue?

I think it’s because with Season 1 of the Static comic wrapping up and Season 4 of Young Justice wrapping up, I can sit back and think about how they went down more clearly. And the more I’ve thought about how they went down…I realize there was some clear character assassination. That we don’t really talk about. We know we don’t care for YJ Static. But do we really know why?

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: Young Justice’s Static is not much of a smartmouth. He’s not very flippant. He’s BARELY playful. And usually whenever there is an attempt for him to be humorous it’s caught up in the idea of him being an awkward to the rest of the group. Now on the flip side, (Milestone Returns) Static is not much of a smartass at the begining either. But there’s a little bit of a different angle to it. See Milestone Returns Static is is a little edgy. He’s a little angry and no nonense. But within the context of the story there’s a lot of sense in it. We see that he’s been constantly bullied and made fun of. And now all these people are bothering him while he’s trying to figure himself out. This includes his friends and family. This Virgil doesn’t have much of a secret idenity when compared to the prior Statics. And he just wants a second to process how the hell his life is going to play out now.  But instead he has his asshole opressor showing up to his front door to burn his house down. For that alone, the fact that this Virgil is more snarly than snarky for the first quarter of the season? Isn’t all that surprising. But alright. Maybe YJ Static has something like that going on with him too. And that’s why he’s so standoffish in all the apperances we see him in.

No. He has absolutely no reason.

And let’s detail that for a second. Because YJ Static could have had a viable grounds for being more subdued than we see usually see Virgil. But it’s actually  actively undone. See there’s a little bit in Season 2 where all the kids involved with the Reach were going to therapy. Virgil wasn’t not an exception. And he has a little bit of angst when talking about what he went through. But then within the same season…we find out that Virgil doesn’t want to be cured of his powers. He likes them. And this even tracks when he tells Black Canary he didn’t ‘have it as bad as the other kids.’ Season 2 ends with Virgil joining the team. After Black Lightning tells him he has a knack for superheroing. So effectively…YJ Virgil has no problems trying to figure out what the hell he’s going to do. He doesn’t need quiet, space, or relief from his own powers. Homeboy has found his calling. In a way…this should be one of the happiest Statics we’ve ever seen - obviously his parents know he’s a superhero. He has teammates to watch his back and pick up slack. But he doesn’t seem like the happiest Static you’ve ever seen. In fact he seems like a Static that’s just there.

Because that’s >in fact< just what he is.

Milestone Returns Static doesn’t offend me, because it legitimately was a choice to make him feel more human and less of a Saturday Cartoon Hero. Young Justice Static is just there to…just be there. The writers haven’t thought about him one bit. And you can see this more clearly when you think about how Virgil has NO hard distinguishing personality traits to be shown. He’s never shown to have an interest in science. Never not once talks to any of the scientists at S.T.A.R or in passing makes a scientific obseveration about the situation. (Which in contrast is what we see someone like Wally West do as early as Episode 4 of Season One.) He never talks geek with Beast Boy or…even shows that he’s into comics or D&D. His ONLY personality traits are that he 'has a common sense of humor’ and that he likes girls. These are traits that go on basically anyone. His funniest line: “Yeaaaah, this is a sympathy bump,” to Cassie; made me chuckle. But I’ll still tell you that 90% of the cast could say this - and it wouldn’t be unfitting. It’s generic. Whereas if you took what I think was Virgil’s most smile worthy moment in Milestone Returns:

-there’s no one else but Virgil who is going to say that memey shit.

Not to put a finer point on it, but this is what I highly appreciate about Milestone Returns Virgil. There wasn’t a line in relauch that surpassed Dwayne McDuffie’s: “Kawarimi: Ancient ninja art of misdirection. All you need is something some idiot can mistake you for…and some idiot.” But that’s not what I’m reading the book for. I don’t wanna laugh harder than I did at Static in the past - I just want to see the spirit be captured. And Season 1 does that. At the end of the issues you’ve seen Virgil’s wisecracking. You’ve seen his science loving analytical brain. You’ve seen his swag. His love of geekdom. All these things that identify Virgil are there in some fashion, some reference. But Young Justice can’t even be assed to try and give his character an idenity through his own signature brand of humor. It’s the one thing they lightly touch on, but it’s as generic as his powers even go. They make no effort for the character of Static/Virgil at all, aside from trying to get the little brownie points from - I assume Static fans like myself. Just so they can say: 'Hey. He’s in the show. He’s there. Happy?’ And it’s token as hell. Not even from a RACE aspect; I say that sheerly from a fan aspect.

And it’s very transparent this is how they felt about Static. Because as I touched on a second ago, they had what is really one of the most powerful characters in the show and boil said powers down to two traits. Did you ever think Static was just a guy that zaps people and moves metal around? Guess what? So does Young Justice. And these two traits are even portrayed in the most bland and unworthy way you’d ever see of the character. Quite literally> making him the weakest Static we’ve ever seen.

But this is going into a post for another day. I have a lot to say on that subject. Maybe not even nessecarily just to do with Young Justice. But with an >assumption< that people make about Static in general. Young Justice however certainly didn’t help make people not dive into those wild assumptions. But I feel like it’s more of an issue of Static being a little too powerful in the eyes of inexperienced writers and thinking he needs to be toned down for the sake of being vulnerable or interesting.

I think the show wants us to think that.

It's more annoying that no one can find it. That there wasn't a map in that thick, official-looking government folder. That a senator didn't tell his closest aides in case something happened to him. That he would let in strangers to help them, but not bother to tell anyone about "Padre." Right.

If its Padre, and its Texas, it has to be on the island. Unless "Padre" is an anagram, like

PLEASE ALICIA DEPART RUN EXIT

It all depends if she's really leaving the show. I can see them pulling some ish where they leave it ambiguous (like Madison), but after two or three versions of "Oh God I'm Dying Now" (radiation poisoning in season 5, left in the bunker, now being bit and surviving three months longer than anyone who ever got bit has), something has to give.

Turning the story back to what happened with Daniel and Ofelia (and how Madison failed them both) would be a decent comeuppance, but I doubt they have the guts.

I'm also not sure if they announced that Madison is returning as a lead or just some guest appearances. I figured earlier if they did get her back, it was to see Alicia off, but if they are giving her starring role status again (after dropping Alicia's character development and wasting the Clark storyline), will she be given the story Alicia could have had?

Bigger question: are Chambliss and Goldberg out?

Where to start reading Virgil Hawkins/Static?

His first appearance was in Static v1 #1

Static v1 #2-45

Hardware #19, 44, 47

Icon #10, 19-20

Kobalt v1 #7

Superman: Man of Steel #35-36

World’s Collide arc (World’s Collide #1, Steel v2 #7, Superboy v4 #7)

Heroes #1-6

Static Shock: Rebirth of the Cool #1-4

Terror Titans #1-6

Teen Titans v3 #68-87, Annual 2009

Titans v2 #12-13, 17

Brave and the Bold v3 #24

Flashpoint v2 #5

Static Shock Special #1

Static Shock v1 #1-8

Teen Titans v4 #6

Hey Static fans who aren’t familiar with the comics, todays I’m gotten tell you about Virgil and Frieda’s relationship in the comics and why they make a good couple. Basically why you should ship them. I’ve talked about me shipping them before but I’ve never given actually reasons why.

I’ve already mentioned this in past posts but if you didn’t already know Frieda is a major supporting character which means she is just as important as Richie and Virgil’s family. She’s his best friend, kinda his main love interest and the show did almost nothing with her and gave her role to Richie. So no one knows Virgil’s relationship with her and why they’re good together.

So why are they good together ?

Like a good love interest Frieda helps Virgil grow as a person/character. She’s not afraid to call him out on his bull. She helped him learn not to be anti Semitic and homophobic.

With the anti Semitic part Static was dealing with a racist villain that was anti Semitic and was trying to start a race war between black people and Jewish people. Virgil was starting to believe that conspiracy but after talking to Frieda and Rick he learned that it was wrong. When Rick came out as gay Virgil didn’t like it. Comic Virgil is a good person but he can also be a jerk. This was also the 90s and the 90s wasn’t as accepting as it is today. Frieda was mad at Virgil for being homophobic and after thinking about what Frieda said he came to the conclusion he was wrong. He eventually apologies to Rick.

They have good chemistry together. Out of all his love interests Static has the best chemistry with Frieda. 

How could you not ship them after reading this ? A mutant bug thought they couple even though they won’t.

They have a great friendship with each other. A good relationship is built on a good friendship. If they are not your OTP they should at least be your BrOTP or both or OT3 with Richie.

They are really good friends. They really care about each other. Virgil and Frieda’s relationship is slowburn built up type relationship, so they have to be friends and get character development first before they can get together. Their relationship is developed really good in the comics. I’m worried if they do it again in a reboot, it won’t be written good. I actually really hate the best friends to lover trope, especially when it’s a guy and girl best friends but Virgil and Frieda are really good together. Frieda is different than other love interests. Virgil likes her right away but she doesn’t. She falls in love with him over time, after getting to know him. 

They become canon. If you like canon ships they eventually become canon but not in Static’s comics. Milestone shutdown before they could get together. A lot of books ended on cliffhangers including Static’s. I think if Milestone hadn’t shutdown when it did I think they would’ve became canon in his book.

They become canon in the second issues of Milestone Forever. Milestone Forever is basically the ending of the Milestone universe. The final fate of the characters before they merged into the DC Universe. If you read all of Static’s comics and his appearances in other comics and than read Milestone Forever, it feels like a ending to his character. Same with the other Milestone characters. It’s a good ending to his character, the only thing I don’t like is that he’s quit being Static as a adult when he should’ve become a great powerful hero in the future. He should also be a scientist and a doctor. Besides that he’s got a good future. He’s married to Frieda and two beautiful kids, Larry and Sadie. Static’s kids are twins and have his powers. I like to call them the Electric Twins, like how Barry and Wally’s kids are called the Tornado Twins.

 If they ever bring Static back which they are, I want Static and Frieda to get together a bit sooner. I think they had him be with Daisy a bit too long. If Frieda is truly meant to be his main love interest they should get together sooner and on panel. We never see how they get together on panel, we just see them married. I would gotten them together when Static was with The Teen Titans, if it couldn’t be his old book. You can have Static be with other people but at the end of the day he’s going to be with Frieda. Them being married in Milestone Forever means they’re endgame.

This is why I think Static and Frieda are a good couple. Why they should be a couple. Frieda makes Virgil grow as a person/character. She helps him learn not to be anti Semitic and homophobic. She gives him good advice when he needs help stopping villains. They have a good friendship. A good relationship starts with a good friendship. They have a strong bond. They have good chemistry together. They’re always there for each other when they need each other. They are cute together.

You know I’m all for people’s differing opinions and individualism - I don’t think humanity can be a thing without it. But lately (probably because of the hype surrounding Spider-Man: Miles Morales for ps5) I’m getting very irritated with people stating that Static and his series is a poser and that he’s a pale imitation. Y’all are ignorant and disrespectful.

the sequel’s whole sense of tension is built around Who Rey Is because i guess the writers thought we want a Luke I Am Your Father moment, when the Luke I Am Your Father moment was never a driving force for the ot - we’re not interested in lineage but in personal connection. the only reason it matters that vader is luke’s father is what luke does with that information. we don’t question luke having force powers in a new hope because he’s a ““nobody”“ (granted the concept of a skywalker lineage doesn’t exist yet, but still), we don’t even assume in empire that luke’s force power comes from vader. i don’t think we ever came close to assuming that force sensitivity is lineal at all - it’s not a question of a force dynasty, luke doesn’t get any power or importance from being vader’s son, it’s literally never brought up by anyone in the movies aside from luke, leia, vader, and palpatine. it’s so close to being a non-issue it kind of blows my mind the more i think about it. it’s not even because vader is his father that luke ultimately stops from killing him - maybe the final vader/luke duel would have had the same ending if vader had been just a big scary villain with no personal connection to luke, because luke doesn’t think “oh i can’t kill my father”, he thinks “oh i can’t kill anyone in anger”. at least strictly in movie canon, no one gives a shit about luke’s lineage other than luke and leia and the bad guys. 

the prequel trilogy on the other hand also doesn’t give a shit about lineage past the first movie, and it’s no big secret. anakin is just Force Jesus and that’s that on that. shmi virgin birth’d him and we never hear ANY of it EVER AGAIN even in phantom menace. it’s 100% a non-issue. the prequels take place when the jedi order is, if not thriving, at least at some amount of strength, and we see hundreds of jedi whose presence in the jedi order is never explained by force dynasties or lineages. i can’t stress this enough but it’s a non-issue. no one gives a shit about “anyone can be a jedi” because literally anyone can be a jedi. do we care where obi-wan “got” the force? qui-gon? mace windu? fucking yoda? hell no. we don’t need their breeding papers ffs. they’re just jedi and they came from anywhere (unless we get into tie-in materials but a lot of people don’t). i just noticed that there’s (i think) a kaminoan jedi on the council in phantom menace which doesn’t really prove anything, i just thought it was cool. so one more time for jj abrams, rian johnson, chris terrio, lawrence kasdan, etc - no one. gives. a shit. about. force. lineages.

in the sequel trilogy, everyone is so wrapped up in Who Rey Is that they never actually give her a personality past tfa, just a ~mysterious past~ and a poorly executed identity crisis, all for the audience’s sake, because the writers think we care about Who Rey(’s Parents Are) when we couldn’t give less of a shit, we just want a fun flawed desert girl getting force powers and kicking space nazi ass. the whole “rey nobody subverts expectations because it shows jedi can come from anywhere!!!!” thing subverts NOTHING because there was no previous expectation that she was a skywalker or a kenobi or (god help us) a palpatine or a whatever, because there is no belief that only skywalkers can be force-users because most of us have seen the prequel trilogy, or have heard about that thing called the jedi order which was def not populated solely by skywalkers and palpatines, or have, you know, at least heard of obi-wan kenobi and yoda, because we’re not fucking imbeciles and we understand that anyone can be a force-user…… until tfa went to great lengths to set us up to expect something from her lineage. rian fucking johnson didn’t go “you elitist fucks, thinking every main star wars jedi has to be a skywalker for no reason!!!!” and then really give us what we deserved for being skywalker snobs by making rey a nobody. he was like “you know that hint that you were given in good faith in tfa that rey’s parentage was a plot point? well fuck you, it was nothing, don’t you feel silly sitting there with your snobbery around your ankles", like an asshole. i don’t want to talk about tros.

so, yeah. rey’s lineage was not and never was an organic element in the actual story of the sequels. it was thrown in because of some misguided idea that Skywalker Lineage is an important thing in star wars lore when it’s absolutely 100% not, even just in the movies. it was an example of writers talking down to the audience - us - and telling stories based on inaccurate/questionable star wars tropes, preconceived notions, and surface-level assumptions instead of by people who actually cared about the messages and ideals of star wars and have more than two star wars-themed brain cells to rub together.