Should the Phantom Blot should be shown unmasked or not?
Jul 13, 2017 17:12:18 GMT
Spectrus and sim like this
Post by Scrooge MacDuck on Jul 13, 2017 17:12:18 GMT
Since whatevs rightfully reminded everyone this thread is about giving our opinions on the Phantom Blot, I'll give my two cents. Spoilers ahead for Dangerous Currency, though.
Do I find it was a questionable decision to make the Phantom Blot into a "Villain Sue"? Well… yes, kind of. But I like what they did with it. While he does kind of upstage Pete and Co. at times, it's nice to see an actually competent villain for the Disney Comics universe, and it's not like others (Emil Eagle, Glomgold or even Pete himself) don't sometimes manage to deal as much damage as the Blot too. He can be the diabolical mastermind and still not be the main villain: underused though he may have been, the Blot is one of the few things Dangerous Currency did ruddy right in that respect. He loses nothing of his threateningness and gravitas even as he turns out to have been played for a fool by Magica all along.
I love the idea of the Blot as a supergenius akin to James Moriarty, except much more megalomaniac, but also a touch more human. And a bit comedic. My Blot escapes from prison on wits alone and scares the underworld so much that only Pete and other named characters dare sometimes disobey him. But he's also the type of guy to own the Rorschach Club. He's quite mad, and often in entertaining way, though that doesn't make him any less of a threat.
Actually, while I'm at it, here's my headcanon backstory/character study of the Blot.
———
Basil Blackspot, the man (well, dognose) under the hood, isn't really all that evil. He used to be a normal, mostly honest businessman (cf Pippo Reporter), and still has a loving daughter to show for it (cf The Big Fall/A Phantom Blot Bedtime Story). But then he dabbled in illegality to increase his business's wealth, and eventually took this one gig as a spy for foreign powers (cf Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot). His public persona was destroyed when he was unmasked by Mickey, probably driving his wife away forever. Then the Blot escapes, still enraged at "the mouse" for ruining everything. His scruples against murder gone like the wind, he hatches a plot to kill Goofy and get Mickey executed for it. (cf The Blot's Double Mystery). But lo and behold, the rat foils that too.
And when Blackspot goes back to prison, likely for life, something just snaps. Fine, let him be the Phantom Blot. If he can't get rid of the rat, get some money and go back to what things were, then he might as well use his corrupted genius for something. The world just won't know what's coming to it. All limitations off, the Phantom Blot hatches a billion schemes. He'll kill the Mouse, gain the obedience of the underworld through an odd and striking "Blot" persona, replace the President with a robot, build a bajillion different death rays and variations thereof. Most plots fail, but that's alright, he keeps coming up with more of them, and enough comparatively smaller heights go off well enough that he's gaining quite the reputation. He never runs out of minions, stolen plans from the world's top scientists fill the gaps in his own already impressive knowledge, and with the amounts of giant diamonds he's filched over the years, he never runs out of money.
Sure, the world isn't his yet, but that's a long-term plan. He expected it would take this long. On the other hand… will that goody-two-shoes rodent DIE ALREADY? He knows it's not reasonable, he knows all the crooks in Mouseton and Duckburg have tried it at some point, but he just can't get over his inability to kill Mickey. Taking time and worry away from his greater schemes, he keeps trying, in an obsession worthy of Magica's for the lucky dime. This keeps getting him into jail, but that's just an inconvenience. He's lost count of the times he's busted out of the cardboard boxes Calisota calls jails. A relentless villain-stopper like Mickey has made other enemies, and the Blot sometimes allies with them — why not? It's as good a plan as any. But his heart is never into it. They're just pawns, to him. And sometimes he's a little too overconfident with it, and the pawns fight back… and it's back to the old drawing board again.
The one thing he still cares about — aside from the mouse and his schemes — is his daughter. She's the only thing he's got left of his old life. And on some level, the Blot knows what he's doing his wrong. His daughter, he decided early on (and never found the heart to change his mind about), will not know about her father's evils. She'll grow up happy and innocent. Either he'll succeed in taking over the world, and she'll know him as the benevolent emperor… or he'll fail, well, for good, and she'll be free to live a happy, law-abiding life like her mother wanted. He can't quite stop himself from glorifying himself (innocently) in his tales, but that's as far as he'll go.
Do I find it was a questionable decision to make the Phantom Blot into a "Villain Sue"? Well… yes, kind of. But I like what they did with it. While he does kind of upstage Pete and Co. at times, it's nice to see an actually competent villain for the Disney Comics universe, and it's not like others (Emil Eagle, Glomgold or even Pete himself) don't sometimes manage to deal as much damage as the Blot too. He can be the diabolical mastermind and still not be the main villain: underused though he may have been, the Blot is one of the few things Dangerous Currency did ruddy right in that respect. He loses nothing of his threateningness and gravitas even as he turns out to have been played for a fool by Magica all along.
I love the idea of the Blot as a supergenius akin to James Moriarty, except much more megalomaniac, but also a touch more human. And a bit comedic. My Blot escapes from prison on wits alone and scares the underworld so much that only Pete and other named characters dare sometimes disobey him. But he's also the type of guy to own the Rorschach Club. He's quite mad, and often in entertaining way, though that doesn't make him any less of a threat.
Actually, while I'm at it, here's my headcanon backstory/character study of the Blot.
———
Basil Blackspot, the man (well, dognose) under the hood, isn't really all that evil. He used to be a normal, mostly honest businessman (cf Pippo Reporter), and still has a loving daughter to show for it (cf The Big Fall/A Phantom Blot Bedtime Story). But then he dabbled in illegality to increase his business's wealth, and eventually took this one gig as a spy for foreign powers (cf Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot). His public persona was destroyed when he was unmasked by Mickey, probably driving his wife away forever. Then the Blot escapes, still enraged at "the mouse" for ruining everything. His scruples against murder gone like the wind, he hatches a plot to kill Goofy and get Mickey executed for it. (cf The Blot's Double Mystery). But lo and behold, the rat foils that too.
And when Blackspot goes back to prison, likely for life, something just snaps. Fine, let him be the Phantom Blot. If he can't get rid of the rat, get some money and go back to what things were, then he might as well use his corrupted genius for something. The world just won't know what's coming to it. All limitations off, the Phantom Blot hatches a billion schemes. He'll kill the Mouse, gain the obedience of the underworld through an odd and striking "Blot" persona, replace the President with a robot, build a bajillion different death rays and variations thereof. Most plots fail, but that's alright, he keeps coming up with more of them, and enough comparatively smaller heights go off well enough that he's gaining quite the reputation. He never runs out of minions, stolen plans from the world's top scientists fill the gaps in his own already impressive knowledge, and with the amounts of giant diamonds he's filched over the years, he never runs out of money.
Sure, the world isn't his yet, but that's a long-term plan. He expected it would take this long. On the other hand… will that goody-two-shoes rodent DIE ALREADY? He knows it's not reasonable, he knows all the crooks in Mouseton and Duckburg have tried it at some point, but he just can't get over his inability to kill Mickey. Taking time and worry away from his greater schemes, he keeps trying, in an obsession worthy of Magica's for the lucky dime. This keeps getting him into jail, but that's just an inconvenience. He's lost count of the times he's busted out of the cardboard boxes Calisota calls jails. A relentless villain-stopper like Mickey has made other enemies, and the Blot sometimes allies with them — why not? It's as good a plan as any. But his heart is never into it. They're just pawns, to him. And sometimes he's a little too overconfident with it, and the pawns fight back… and it's back to the old drawing board again.
The one thing he still cares about — aside from the mouse and his schemes — is his daughter. She's the only thing he's got left of his old life. And on some level, the Blot knows what he's doing his wrong. His daughter, he decided early on (and never found the heart to change his mind about), will not know about her father's evils. She'll grow up happy and innocent. Either he'll succeed in taking over the world, and she'll know him as the benevolent emperor… or he'll fail, well, for good, and she'll be free to live a happy, law-abiding life like her mother wanted. He can't quite stop himself from glorifying himself (innocently) in his tales, but that's as far as he'll go.