Tuesday, January 21, 2020

"CRISIS" O'BSERVATIONS - SARGON THE SORCEROR




The CW show runners for “Crisis On Infinite Earths” threw in a lot of televersions for DC Comics characters into the mix to represent the expansive stakes of the Multiverse.  Most of them were already established in other shows and movies and thus most of them were the major players.

But in the final episode of the mini-series, passed off as an episode of ‘Legends of Tomorrow’, they needed a villain with magical abilities in order to have a way for Beebo to once more rear his furry blue head.

And so they tossed Sargon the Sorceror into the stew.

It was just an introductory cameo for the character, played by Raul Herrera, but he’ll be back in this season’s ninth episode (according to the IMDb.)


Here’s what the Arrowverse Wiki had to say for Sargon’s appearance in the mini-series:
"Sargon the Sorcerer" is an otherwise unnamed criminal and sorcerer who formerly operated in Star City.

In January 2020, Sargon created a giant Beebo out of a magical substance to act as a distraction for him to rob a bank, but was discovered by the Flash and White Canary, who knocked him out and presumably sent him to prison.


Wikipedia had more about his televersion:
Sargon the Sorcerer appears in the fifth part of the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event portrayed by Raúl Herrera. He was seen committing a heist while using an illusion of a giant Beebo as a diversion. When Supergirl, Batwoman, Flash, Sara Lance, Atom, and Heat Wave fought the giant Beebo, they found it wasn't real when they tried to trip it with some cable wire. Flash and Sara were able to find Sargon the Sorcerer in the middle of his heist. Before knocking out Sargon the Sorcerer, Sara stated that Beebo is off limits. Once that was done, the giant Beebo illusion disappeared.


Sargon serves as a good example of why I don’t like to blend “literary” sources into Toobworld.  The biggest problem has been from tie-in novels, especially for ‘Star Trek’, which don’t take into account details from other writers.

And the same holds true for comic books. Look at all the variations in the life of the Joker.  You don’t even have to include the movie or cartoon versions.  Look at the liberties taken in the 1966 ‘Batman’ as well as in ‘Gotham’.

We have yet to see more of Sargon’s story in ‘Legends Of Tomorrow’, but I doubt it will be filled with as much background detail as found in the comics.


More from Wikipedia:
Sargon the Sorcerer is a name used by multiple characters in the comics, namely John Sargent and his descendants, as magic-users and stage magicians.

Sargon the Sorcerer is a fictional character, a mystic, superhero and sorcerer appearing in DC Comics publications during the Golden Age. The original Sargon first appeared in All-American Comics #26, (May 1941), and was created by John B. Wentworth and Howard Purcell. The modern Sargon first appears in Helmet of Fate: Sargon #1 (April 2007) and was created by Steve Niles and Scott Hampton.

The name Sargon is of Mesopotamian origin, and one king of Akkad and two of Assyria bore this name.

Taking his professional name from the ancient king of the same name, Sargon has had a checkered career, acting mostly as a hero during the Golden Age aided by his cartoonish fat little comic relief sidekick / manager Maximillian O'Leary as he battled crooks, spies and his azure-skinned archenemy the Blue Lama, the Queen of Black Magic, but re-emerging in the Silver Age – as a villain, at least at first. It was later explained that his villainous activities were the result of certain side effects of possessing the Ruby of Life.


He was brought back for occasional guest appearances in the Silver Age and was awarded with an honorary membership in the Justice League in Justice League of America #99.

Sargon maintained contacts with several other mages in the DC Universe, notably Baron Winters, Zatara (a fellow faux stage magician), and the younger mage John Constantine. Sargon answered the summons of Constantine to participate in a ritual at the mansion of Winters to help deal with the effects of the Crisis on Infinite Earths, using the Swamp Thing as their portal into the war being fought in Hell.

Locking hands in a circle of power, and using the psychic powers of Constantine's drunken acquaintance Mento, the group of sorcerers (which also included Zatara's daughter Zatanna) observed the events unfolding, and attempted in turn to channel their magical powers into several other mystical characters present in Hell, including Etrigan, the original Doctor Fate, and the Spectre.

Their enemy, a primal form of evil (called the Great Evil Beast) that was surging upwards to obliterate everything in its path, sensed their interference and lashed out several times; its power raced around the circle, finding a weak link and incinerating it.

The first to fall was Sargon. At first panicking and crying out for the others to help him, and almost pulling his hands away from the circle, Sargon was rebuked by Zatara to maintain his composure and die like a sorcerer. In a final act of will, Sargon apologized for his outburst, calmly sat in place and was burned alive without a whimper, never letting go of his colleagues' hands the entire time. This ritual also kills Zatara and drives Mento completely insane.


That story alone would make for a great episode!I

At any rate, I wonder if there will be any mention of Sargon once being a good guy and working with superheroes in the past.  However the divergence between the DC comics universe and the CW’s “Arrowverse” is vast.  I’m sure there will be no mention of any superheroes in Sargon’s past because the Arrowverse isn’t that deep with superheroes from before ‘Arrow’ came along.

But this story could be adapted to fit the Arrowverse version of the DC Universe.  They have John Constantine already and this season marks the exits of Ray Palmer and Nora Dahrk.  So maybe Constantine and Nora with Sargon and a few others recreate that circle of power.  Sargon burns up and perhaps so does Nora.  At a loss, Ray walks away from being a Legend.

It would also be a way to bring one of my favorite DC characters, Dr. Fate, into the Arrowverse.

But that is all wish-craft on my part.  We shall see what we shall view.

BCnU!


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