[Reviews] End of Month Reviews #45 - September 2007 [spoilers]

[Tom Russell]

On Nov 12, 8:38 am, Martin Phipps <martinphip... at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Except that he actually had been in possession of a vibra jacket.
> Guilty.  But Roy Riddle could have been asked to testify at his bail
> hearing that he had found it in the snow and given it to him to give
> to the police.

That was a different jacket, and that jacket was previously connected
with the Green Knight.

> Maybe.  But it is also a right for a defendent to be provided with a
> lawyer: a defendent cannot even be questioned until he is provided
> with a lawyer and until then he is remanded at the police station, not
> in prison.

He may have waived his right to counsel; criminals considered
dangerous are still remanded to a prison when awaiting trial.

> > That's not the only reason, though.  Part of it is out of habit, sure;
> > part of it is to try and keep Ray's secret,
>
> Where did that come from?  At the end of Green Knight #3, Martin was
> asking Ray why he didn't make a mask statement as he got older:

Well, in that short conversation you quoted, Ray made it fairly clear
that he wanted his secret kept a secret.  And since then he's gone on
to respect that, not even telling Roy Riddle or Pam who Ray was--
though Roy is smart enough to probably figure it out on his own, and
Pam/Dani would figure it out if she has enough evidence to put
together.

>   "When the time comes, Mr. Rock, you will renounce
> my father's will and any claim to his property or
> fortune."
>    Martin burst out laughing.  "What?"
>    "I'm not joking.  You will do this, or else."
>    "Or else what?"
>    "I will tell every mob boss in Jolt City who wears
> the mask without a name."
>    Martin's face drains white.

Well, I think in this case it's less about wanting to keep his rep in
tact and more about not wanting the entirity of organized crime in
Jolt City coming after him in both identities.

> This didn't make a lot of sense to me at the time.  Now, mind you, we
> had been told earlier in Green Knight #6 that the Mask with No Name
> had killed four people in Jolt City but presumably he had killed "only
> when it was necessary" which to me suggests self-defense.

But in that same issue, we got to see Martin snap someone's neck from
behind to save an intended rape victim-- not precisely self-defense,
and it's only when he _felt_ it was necessary; even when using third
person, the summary is more-or-less from his point of view.

> Now, granted, I haven't read your Green Knight / Jolt City stuff as
> carefully as I probably should have to warrant criticising: I read
> Green Knight #'s 1-3, 5 and 7 and Jolt City #'s 1-9 all the way
> through but I did skim over parts of GK 4 and 6, JC 10-11 and the
> Annual.  That's not a bad sampling though I must say.

No, not bad at all, and I want to thank you for sticking with the
series even if there are parts you don't enjoy.  I really advocate
reading it slowly, perhaps printing it up-- if it takes a couple
months to get to it, it takes a couple months. :-)

> Anyway, the next time Martin's accused of murder there had better be a
> frickin' body. :)

Agreed! :-)

==Tom