Comic d00d

Heirs of Thor

2009-07-06T19:56:00.000-07:00

I've made no bones about how I'm enjoying the new spin on Thor and if you haven't been reading these comics then I'd suggest at least picking up the big paperback when it comes out. Long story short, Odin is dead, Ragnarök happened, Thor broke the cycle of Ragnarök and is now the new ruler of Asgard. He gets himself exiled, breaking his hammer off his resurrected Grandfather (killing him) and has saved the lady Sif from dying, while trapped inside a mortal shell.

Ok, so now that Sif is safe it's time for this comic to get even better. How can it get better you ask? By completing the next cycle in Thor's life... having children.

Now before you get all 'paternity sucks' and 'oh great, the mighty Thor, diaper changer', sit down and have a belt of whiskey... chill the F out. Let's think about this.

Some of Odin's greatest triumphs were while Thor and Loki were boys, through the decades there are dozens of stories on how Odin continually finds wisdom, glory and spends time teaching his children (sometimes with horrible results) on how to be a God. There are tons of things you can do with a much more serious and powerful Thunder God and telling some child rearing morality tales could be very cool.

“Father, why do we smite the Frost Giants?”
“Because they're evil, son.”
“Isn't Uncle Loki a Frost Giant?”
“No, well... yes... but he's different... well no.... ummm, here take this sword and kill something.”

Of course Thor's kids will be balancing even more God to humanity issues than even he had to contend with. Asgard being on Earth now, the next generation of Norsemen will be extremely odd and potentially amazing characters.

There have been kid based comic heroes in the past, they all sucked pretty hardcore with Spider-man being the only exception. I'm not saying to spin off Thor's kids into their own books... not at all. In fact they should age at the same incredibly slow rate that Power Pack and Franklin Richards has. The kids should be a sideline in the main Thor storyline, personalities to be brought up slowly... like good pulled pork. Let it simmer, let lots of writers and artists have their shots at it, layer the children's personalities while at the same time adding another dimension to Thor's own personality. You can't take short cuts and expect people to fall in love with a character, right off the bat.

Personally I'd like to see Thor have both a boy and a girl by Sif, but before either of them I'd like to see Thor adopt a kid in a similar way that Odin did. Taking on unexpected responsibility for a child that isn't your own, that you may indeed have had a hand in putting the child in mortal peril.

This adopted son would ideally be from Latveria, a human boy brought up under the dictatorship of Dr. Doom. Having worshiped and feared Doom his entire life he would be ideally suited to have a very skewed idea of how power and station should be used. Having come from farming stock, this child would have no idea how to be the son of a god, but his one example of power would be that of the iron fist. Thor could help mold this young man, not only saving him from a life as an orphan but perhaps show him how power and responsibility should be metered out, as a son of Asgard.

Obviously the boy would be un-powered (no mutants please, pure human) and completely at the mercy of other Godlings, but human kind has always persevered by the use of ingenuity and persistence, a muscles Gods rarely have to exercise.

Quick and Dirty Reviews

2009-04-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hawkeye Dark Reign
I'm happy to see something I bitch about actually being done (one shots on the Thunderbolts/Avengers), I don't pretend to take the credit but I like to think my brain waves are reaching people.

That being said... meh.

We already know Bullseye is a cold blooded killer, having him run around in purple tights, doing what everyone expects him to do is boring. Capital B. boring. What was the point of this issue? It brings nothing new to the story line, it offers no real plot twists or motivations.

Bullseye kills a few folks and has a disagreement with Osborn. Woop dee doo.

Try again, this time channel a little bit of Dexter into the character, get into motivations and develop his psychology more. Maybe Osborn has some sort of traumatic information he's holding over Bullseye, or the other way around.

Just don't write another one of these.

All New Savage She Hulk
This concept has real promise, there is very little I hate about this book and many things I like. Thundara & Hulks kid? Fantastic. Much better than that idiot Skarr rag, you call a best seller. This character could be everything She-Hulk should have been and more. Ditch the talking tamogachi bracelet and pump up the femdom-rage and I'm a happy guy. I think She-Hulk is going to get her clock cleaned, unless she's hulking out she's just another rate C strong person. Thundara blood however is strong enough to take on the Thing.

I'd love it if this character could be taken seriously, even turned into a Wonder Woman of the Marvel Universe. My gut tells me this is only a limited thing and poor writing is going to drag it down into forgettableville. If you took some time and developed the character more, this could be an amazing comic book.

Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine #4
Hahahahahahahahaha.... hahah... ha... hold on... let me catch my breath.

A) I hate all things Ultimate, so I wasn't expecting much.
B) The fact that this book has taken longer than a Blizzard game release to show up on shelves is punctuated by the fact that Wolverine and the Hulk do not fight... at all, in this issue. Too funny.

Wait for it... wait for it.... no. really. Wait for it. Next issue, maybe. ;)

No-Kill Heroes

2009-04-21T06:19:00.000-07:00

I've been reading some of the introductory notes for several different college classes teaching about comic books and history. Many of them rotate around the central theme that: throughout time humanity has created heroes that embody the ideals of their time. Gilgamesh, Hercules, Goliath, Samson, Jesus, Pecos Bill, Wild Bill Hitchcock and now the modern day super hero.

On the whole we've moved away from the blood thirsty conqueror type of hero to the 'no-kill' hero. There are a few exceptions to this rule, of course, which are a throw back or a 'nod' to the respect a warrior garners in the male psyche (Conan, Wolverine, Punisher, Deadpool, etc). The no kill hero is like Superman (who in turn is like Jesus), Batman, the Fantastic Four, Spiderman... heroes that are willing to sacrifice everything for a set of principles and always find 'another way' to stop evil without the need to kill.

As a society, what does it say about us that we've created these no-kill supermen? Is it really a fantasy for many of us to solve all our problems without the need for bloodshed? Are we, as a human race, beginning to make a fundamental shift in what we 'wish we could be'?

Or is this just a golden age prelude in American society, heroes produced by a fat and relatively safe citizenry. Do people in Iraq dream of heroes like Superman or the Punisher?

I would argue that since much of the world wants what American have, that they also idolize American super heroes. Obviously not EVERYBODY feels the same way, but I'm thinking the majority of people want a nice safe home, three squares a day and some mind-numbing cable television. If only I could get this long ass question on the Wii's 'Everybody Votes' app.... then I could garner the opinions of those rich enough to own a $500 game system, lol. Or Twitter... I'm sure I'll get a wide and varied world demographic there... .

I think the creation of no-kill super heroes is a positive sign for our future. Go humans go.

Work in Progress

2009-03-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

I've started a new webcomic project called 'Work in Progress'.
Read it here: http://work-in-progress-philly.blogspot.com
or start at the beggining.

With Great Responsibility

2009-03-20T06:15:00.000-07:00

The recent issue of Dark Avengers #3 brought up a nice twist in the whole “with great power comes great responsibility”. Sentry and Harry Osborn having a heart to heart about their roads to 'recovery', controlling their inner demons (the Void and Green Goblin). Now if you've been reading Thunderbolts you know just how 'well' Osborn is handling his alter ego, but aside from that I was interested in the idea of super hero responsibility.

When one of the Super's goes rouge, it's usually the responsibility of the rest of the Super community to set them right or put them down. The Avengers were split up, reformed, and put back together by Osborn and the government into the bastardized version we see today. In the process the good guys left behind Sentry, who has been so mentally 'out of it' that he barely noticed that he's now associating with sociopaths. So here is Bob, being talked down from a ledge by Mr. Crazy pants Osborn, who will likely lead them all into a Voidapocolypse by whispering the wrong thing in his ear, or twist Bob into doing evil acts that negate the need for the Void. Either way it's a bad thing and Iron Man, Spider-man, Dr. Strange and the other good guys are not in the least bit concerned with it.

At what point do the 'good' Supers have to step in to head off a problem?

Do they have to take a reactionary stance and wait for Bob to REALLY f$%*# up or can they be more pro-active? This is played out in the X-men's reactions to Magneto over the years, time and again. Magneto shows up and Cyclops musters the troops and doesn't even both to ask him if he's up to anything. See Magneto = Beat on Magneto. Pro-active.

The New Avengers, the 'good avengers' are playing the reactionary side of the coin. Now I'm not a big fan of Wolverine being an Avenger, but it seems to me that he might want to nudge the boys along here. We've even got Spiderman, who coined the philosophy to back him up, so when will people start getting serious about getting the Sentry out of Osborn's clutches?

This fan will keep reading...

Also, so far my predictions of how Dark Reign will go down are pretty accurate. All bang boom, very little character development on the side of Bullseye, Venom, Ares, Moonstone or the new Marvel. Come on guys... let's all take a minute and get into the heads of the 'lesser' villains.

It's been a while since I've been this happy.

2009-03-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

For many years, the word webcomic has meant a variety of things, but mostly it's defined as amateur works by artists and writers cutting their teeth. I've read a few notable exceptions, each in their own way turning the pages on a new chapter of storytelling. But very rarely does anyone who has achieved any amount of success in the comics industry return to the land of 'beginners' and continue work on perfecting a 'free' art.

Warren Ellis has returned from the land of MARVEL to work on a webcomic named Freakangels. It's not about the money it seems, although Ellis and Paul Duffield are trying many alternative forms of turning a buck with this medium.

It's some of the best stuff I've read in a long time. At first, the premise of telepaths in a post-apocalyptic world stinks of a trite sci-fi mini-series, but in true Ellis fashion he's able to take a simple idea and twist it into something worthwhile. Characters feel rough, breath air and have the wet noise of humanity rattling about their flawed frames. To spend a day in Whitechapel, London is to invite strangers into your head, where they complain about food, sex and 'pick-up stix' morality.

The brush is as mighty as the sword and a big nod goes to the various artists who have come and gone to make this webcomic look professional and powerful.

Earlier today I was musing at what it would take to start a new 'universe' of super heroes. Something other than MARVEL and DC, but still addressing super beings as a focal point on humanities struggle with itself. I think the world of Whitechapel has possibilities in regards to being a wide open canvas, at least for now. Starting three or four more stories within this same setting would anchor a fresh world for writers and artists to play in. Freakangels would take point, for now, but the other title, if written well and colored with a delicate hand, would soon fill out a larger idea.

The trouble with this, of course, is that no one knows where Ellis is going with Freakangels. He's admitted to the public that he could easily be writing this story for years and years on end, and never be finished. Warren is hording all the toys and nothing can really start until he finishes up a few mysteries. How did the apocalypse come to be, are the Freakangles all powerful and will the world be destroyed yet again?

Honestly I'd like to jump in on this story in America, start writing up a Philadelphia based story line, being a local would help me add lots of flavor. Steering clear of telepathic powers, I'd concentrate on a group of heroes in a more traditional sense. Non-powered, exceptional people who use their wits, vicious natures or just plain 'try' to make their corner of the world better. Eventually I would bring in powerful 'supers', but not until Ellis gives up a bit more of the goods on the origins of the Freakangels.

A good idea should be shared and improved upon by like minded artists. I'd invite any one who reads this article to start jotting down notes and sketching up character designs, because today is the best day to start a new project.

New Look!

2009-03-12T12:15:00.000-07:00

Well I thought I should put a bit more work into the way my blog looks, so here it is.

Faith and Marvel Comics

2009-03-10T07:51:00.000-07:00

NOW WITH SPELL CHECK!

So we have War of Kings coming up and then I read about the new Nightcrawler feature in X-men Manifesto that will be released tomorrow. My mind decided to take these ideas and pancake them together, then turn on the blender.

War of Faith.

There are a few deeply religious people in the Marvel universe and others have had passing mention of the christian God. So with a Universe populated with actual Gods, celestial beings treated as gods, allusions to a 'true' God, dimensional beings who are worshiped as Gods... why not have a 'Crisis of Faith' limited run series?

Faith has a lot of pulling power as a marketing tool and from a financial standpoint, these books would sell on notoriety alone.

The really interesting bits would be in finding out which characters held cherished beliefs, heroes and villains we had never really considered. There could be some obvious touch stones such as Rahne, Kurt and Thor, but then branch out into currently unaffiliated heroes such as Logan, Banner or Stark (which I think is an atheist, a ridiculous idea when you've fought next to gods like Thor, but there could be an interesting spin).

I'd start this off with an event that would make characters defend their beliefs. The easiest way to do this would be to confront the Earth with a being that claims itself as God. Or a new character that claims to be the resurrection of Christ, Muhamad, Budda... some sort of centralized religious figure. We could also go with a large scale 'miracle' but that's harder to sell as 'religious' in a world with Reed Richards and the occasional bout of 'Beyonderism'.

How will it end? The realization of a new celestial power? An alien poser? A current character, like Molecule Man or Thanos making a bid for divinity? Or will the reader and characters be left to wonder at something unexplainable, with no clear resolution other than our own brand of morality.

Molecular Therapy – A New Hero

2009-03-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

Owen Reece is a flawed individual and the last anyone heard of him, he was incarcerated in the Raft during the Skrull invasion. It's been a long time since we've heard what is going on in the life of the Molecule Man. We assume he's been getting therapy, and that he escaped for a brief moment during the mass jail break from the raft several years ago. With the Molecule Man's powers, we have to also assume that he was either stuck in an inhibitor collar or went back to prison voluntarily, because quite frankly Owen could have taken apart, anyone chasing him, with a thought. Complete control over all molecular particles, it's an Omega level power even if Owen's mind is hovering around Rate C intelligence. So perhaps the Molecule Man is reformed, waiting out his days till he's released from prison, so that he can start a new, honest, life for himself.

At least, that is the way I see the current Molecule Man, a character lost to obscurity in the MARVEL universe but in a perfect position to make a comeback.

Let's face it. This is a guy who took on the Beyonder, but he's been forgotten and shuffled to one side like so much rubbish. It's time to bring this potential gold mine to the front with some good writing and even better pencil work. I'd give him his own book, but I'd lead up to it with having a few cameo's in the background of whatever crap fest MARVEL cross-over is going on. Don't write him into the story, just place him the backgrounds, a shot here of him dropping his coffee during a battle. Find him incidentaly saving someone from a brick wall falling on their head and then have Owen scurry off before he's noticed. Seed his presence and then launch a whole new title about this former, semi-criminal who is now attempting to integrate himself back into society without being caught up in some galactic catastrophe.

Which of course would fail. Because with someone this powerful, this interesting, this flawed... you just have to toss him back in with the big boys. Sentry gone rouge? Call out Molecule Man. Dark Avengers about to level a piece of NYC to get at the New Avengers? Put Owen's apartment in the way and watch him shine. He's a looser and a fumbler and weak-willed, but by carefully chanting his therapists advice... Molecule Man could become an exciting new hero.

Molecule Man has always had a very jaded view of the world, it's full of unfriendly people who he both fears and hates. But with therapy he's trying to move past that, to see the good in this shit heap we call a world. Doing good , will lead to good thoughts and good thoughts will lead to less stress and anxiety and as long as Owen keeps repeating that to himself... he won't disassemble himself... or the Universe.

Fictitious Heroes: The Inevitable Rise of Supermen.

2009-02-25T07:13:00.000-08:00

Below is an article I wrote years and years ago, but is still circulating on the internet from one place to another. I thought I'd reclaim it and put it here on my current blog.

I've heard it argued that the current generations are growing increasingly juvenile due to their preoccupation with toys and comics. The recent success of several superhero movies in Hollywood show remarkable turns in the type of diversions both young and old are demanding from the entertainment industry. The accepted argument, for this trend, is that intense marketing campaigns from the past are now infecting the minds of adults.

There is a certain conceit in the notion that today's youth are brain washed zombies who want to buy back their childhood. Infatuation with the story of Superman, Spiderman or the Hulk could be seen as neglectful towards our roles as adults. There is a long held belief that at a certain age a person must leave the trappings of youth aside. This conjecture however needs to be seen from another angle, that superheroes are a symbol, not a passing fancy. Ulysses flaunted the Gods; Captain Ahab fought his demon, Sherlock Holmes out witted the scum of London and today Superman serves the common man from seemingly unassailable evils. Every century needs its heroes whether they are honest and honorable or disturbed and misunderstood. Aside from fictional 'men of steel' who is left in the real world of offer the people hope? We live in a time where large corporations and government officials seem oppressive and more powerful than ever. The people grow poorer, their powers are stripped away is it any wonder that our new heroes reflect conflicts with the establishment. Our current presidents are no Roosevelt or Jefferson and war had lost it's glamour as a highly respected profession. The youth of the world turn their eyes toward the efforts of Optimus Prime, because there is lack of Martin Luther King's left to look up to. A nation devoid of heroes will inevitably create their own. You're twenty something child may be collecting action figures but before you dismiss it as a childish obsession get to know the hero they've decided to idolize. It's a window into the desires and conflicts affecting their daily lives. Inevitably some of them will rise to be their own supermen, and save the planet in their own unique ways.

Moonstone as Ms. Marvel? You must be on crack.

2009-02-20T15:59:00.000-08:00

Surprise, surprise I didn't hate everything this month, I'll try harder in March.

This was the month that MARVEL rolled out the Dark Avengers #1 and... it was pretty good.

Now, I've seen this in the past. A good idea comes rolling down the pipe all shiny and full of promise but then lingers a tad to long and is finished off with an implausible situation (Onslaught taking out all MARVEL heroes... yeah, I'm sure they'll all stay dead ) or a failed climax (sooo... the Hulk saves the Earth, not destroy it?).

I don't mean to sound cynical (yes I do) but now that the Dark Avengers are formed and costumed up... what are you going to do with them? Yeah, Bullseye as the new Hawkeye is a good fit but what are you going to have him do? Are you going to have him circumspectly killing people for shits and giggles or will there be some sort of interesting character development. I know what you're saying to yourself right now, "Character development? WTF is that?"

Lately the sad sack group of writers who have been churning out mass murder as 'cool' and random violence as 'shockingly original', have turned their eye toward the beloved Avengers. Here is how I see this going down.

Osborn in his very insulting, eye twitching, armor (which I love, although I loath it with all my heart) will setup a few situations where the new Avengers beat the ever loving tar out of superheroes. It'll be random, they'll throw as many rate B, 'shelved' characters into the mix as they can and try to build up tension to a showdown with the New Avengers in Exile. What I'm expecting is 8 books of random violence for the sake of random violence, it's HIGHLY unlikely there will be even the slightest attempt to redefine or understand these 'Dark' characters. This will be, one huge pile of eye candy that I will have completely dismissed as drivel in the long run. Which is EASY to do, because MARVEL almost ALWAYS rolls back any major changes.

Mutants are gone? Well who cares, we only followed a few dozen anyway.

Civil War split up your favorite band? Eh, well they're still good people, we won't hunt you... for now.

Secret Invasion? With some fresh paint you'll never know it happened.

Ditto for WWHulk. Shouldn't NYC be a big smoking pile of rubble at this point?

In other news, Thor is now a free agent again. I'll be interested to see where he comes down in the land of mortals. Will his story arc remain separated and secretive or will he actively seek out the New Avengers, giving them the serious muscle they need to take back the Sentry's tower? I'm hoping for the latter because Thor has been out of commission for a long time and now that he's the bearer of the Odin power, is a hundred times more powerful than before. Sentry vs. Thor? Fuck that. How about Thor taking Sentry aside to teach him what being a hero really means. I know people have a hard on for Iron Man lately but let's get serious, the original Avengers had two infallible symbols. Cap and Thor.

I actually picked up some DC mags this month, catching up on Final Crisis. Usually I'd rather scoop my eyes out with a hedgehog but there was this rumor mill about the death of Batman. Now there are two books worth reading in DC, Superman and Batman. There are like 12 batman titles and only 1/4 of them are readable but those few are worthwhile. You could put every stupid superhero and villain in the DC universe, blow it up, flush it and blow it up again and still not find an single atom of worthwhile material amongst the quarks. DC's quarks are tainted, filthy subatomic comics.

So Batman dies. Sort of. There is a bit where it looks like he may have been flung into the past... or at least a native cave somewhere in the multiverse. Nobody seems to care. Do you remember the Death of Superman? People who never read a single comic book were crying over it... the public shock... oh what will we do! Bruce dies and I at least expect to see it show up on Slashdot or BoingBoing... but no, nothing for the character that has sold the most movies out of any other superhero in existence. meh.

Well you've listened to me long enough, get out there and read something worthwhile. Demand more, for crying out loud.

Never invite Superman to play Rockstar, he friggin' wails!

Where do the X-men go from here?

2009-02-09T21:39:00.000-08:00

Cyclops, the paragon of leadership, the prodigal son of Xavier, a mutant with a mission. There are some very deep seated problems with Scott Summers and the death of Xaiver has unleashed any kind of hold that might have kept him in check.

“What...” you say, “...the heck am I talking about?”

I'm talking about the guy that everyone who ever wore an X-men uniform has looked to for guidance. Scott will have a plan, he'll take charge, lead us into victory against overwhelming odds. And so Xavier taught Cyclops how to do those things to make him most useful in the battlefield. Over the past few decades he's become the greatest mutant strategist of his generation, but if Xavier had spent a little more time teaching Scott about diplomacy... we may not be in the situation the X-men now face.

Scott has been trained to fight, but Xavier's dream is of peace. So it's natural enough to see that Scott will attempt to bring peace about through force, in fact it's his default option in any situation. Only 198 mutants left in the world? We had better fight for our survival! Fight fight fight. With Cyclops green lighting X-force, the mutant hit squad, we see a fundamental shift away from 'human and mutant co-existence' to a more liberal interpretation. Human and mutant co-existence at gun point. You stay in your yard, I'll stay in my yard and neither one of us have to talk to each other ever again.

I feel the X-men have setup a North Philly ghetto, where tolerance is only accepted so far as there is the constant threat of police and jail. So what is Scott going to do? Is this a growing period for him or will he be forced to step aside when his decisions carry him too far over the line?

How does a mutant trained to fight, temper himself to the ways of diplomacy? A better question, has Marvel even thought about this quandary yet?

The End of Secret Invasion - Meh.

2009-02-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

Sorry for those who were following this blog, I've been busy with life recently and haven't given any attention to my writing in a while. I'll try to be much more timely from now on.

So Secret Invasion is finally over, we won... meh. I give this a big whoopdy doo, not only was it expected that we'd finally win it has very few lasting repercussions. Yes I know... they 'say' that there are, but I've yet to see anything other than Hank Pym having trouble re-integrating (which was a fantastic writing job). As usual Marvel has swept as much of the lasting damage of Secret Invasion under the rug and it's back to the usual... which I'm quite glad to accommodate. It would have been more interesting to have ended up with an occupation of Earth by the skrulls for say or year or two, but what can you do? Beat Marvel's management to death with their own performance reports comes to mind. Couldn't we at least have a large contingent of skull soldiers left on earth that we had to figure out what to do with? Like any prisoner of war scenario you have to release those soldiers after the war is over, so where would we put them? Would the skrulls come back for them or would they be left on Earth to form a skrull Genoshua situation?

Out of all the titles during Secret War my favorite was Black Panther, which was thoughtful and original. Getting a gimps of Wakanda's defenses in action was an excellent romp through fresh territory, which I highly recommend.

The entire Front Line Initiative was a load of crap, I think the writers did the most they could with the idea... but the idea is so bad that there was not a lot to work with. Really, do we need an entire comic about superhuman boot camp? And if we do work with that premise, why in gods name was it so boring? I've seen one shots of the Danger Room that had me more excited than that entire series.

Coming up next is Dark Reign, which seems to be an evil Illuminati... . Classic comic book stuff here folks, why don't we bring back the Frightful Four while we're at it. I'm going to pray that we go back to learn more about The Hood and his new criminal underground, come on Marvel... dazzle me.

Secret Invasion: No longer a secret...

2008-08-15T11:55:00.000-07:00

Marvel's newest cross-over extravaganza, Secret Invasion is based around Skrulls invading the earth. They've hidden themselves among us for years and positioned themselves to strike our most important assets (heroes, technology, government, military...etc).

A heavy handed writing attempt by the masterminds behind this story arc, I've found this series oddly compelling. Usually cross-overs are money sucks that, in the end, have very little effect on the future of the Marvel Universe. The last prominent one was when the Scarlet Witch de-mutated 90% of humanity, which was a major change for the X-titles but had little effect on everybody else. The war with the Hulk has practically been swept under the rug, nobody talks about it, there seems to be nearly zero effect on NYC or the heroes of the other books... in other words booooooring. But Secret Invasion has the seeds to change things in un-alterable ways, much as Civil War did.

Currently the question is now, will we win against the skrulls, but rather when. Next month? Next year? How long will Marvel keep the invasion going? The longer it lasts the more people and attitudes will change. I'd love to see this invasion lasting years, with the skrulls establishing serious beach heads and the Marvel heroes banning together (registered and unregistered) to fight at 'the front' and in a 'french resistance' (occupied territories).

A protracted war would solve the wandering and disillusioning problem of having two different Avengers teams. Reed Richards being down for the count would be an opportunity for new geniuses or old geniuses that have been languishing for a while (Forge, Doom, etc) a chance to save the world for a change. The entire world could be brought into a new era via a superhero/villian infantry and air force. The asgardians could go to war for humanity. The inhumans, Eternals and even Atlantis could be brought into the mix. This is a chance for a Intergalactic World War, the kind of thing that made characters like Cap in WWII and broke others (Toro).

But will it be that cool... doubtful. As usual, wait it out, see what happens, then buy the books when the come out in Graphic Novel format. Marvel has proven again and again that a good idea can be left to rot, so cross your fingers and wait for more reviews.

Wanted: Movie Review - Hollywood sucks

2008-08-15T11:38:00.000-07:00

I'm not joking when I say that Hollywood is the stupidest, laziest, most god damned backward creative force ever to exist (in it's modern incarnation). Not only could I come up with better and successful ideas, my wife, friends and family can think up better movies.

But I digress.

Let's forget about the fact that i found the comic book reprehensible from a moral stand point.
That's over and done with, the movie is a whole other beast. Literally. It has nothing to do with the comic book... at all.

There is no future loom that tells people who needs to die. TOTAL fabrication. The genius who came up with this idea, obviously didn't enjoy the comic or maybe didn't even read it. I've gripped about Galatactus being a cloud and Spiderman having 'organic' web shooters... but this movie just didn't even TRY to be like the book.

The only thing I found interesting about the comic book was the fact that supervillians won an all out war against superheroes in their universe and then went back to re-write history to suit their desires. On top of that they expanded out to other dimensions and killed the superheros on those alternative earths.

The movie doesn't touch on ANY of that. The only thing that is the same is that the main character gets his ass kicked to learn how to be a super killer. Everything else, including his moral delema are fabricated by the crack monkey writers and directors and producers in la la land California.

Complete rubish, how can you make a moraly ambigious comic book into and even less interesting movie?

Batman 2008 & Hellboy 2

2008-07-21T13:01:00.000-07:00

Might as well do a movie review or two.

First one is quick: Hellboy 2, utter crap.

Second one: The Dark Knight (couldn't I have named this something else so that we could of used that title for the 'actual' The Dark Knight comic book movie?)

The plot, dialogged, character development, lighting and over all story are VERY well done.

The actor who played the Joker? Not so good. Far too understated and subtle. The Joker is not subtle, he's a performer and in this movie he really never got out of the starting gate. Plenty violence, very devious, very evil but no pizazz. Without style the Joker falls flat as a garden variety psychopath. He's like the Vin Diesel of Jokers, all the attitude with no personality. I feel like the Joker could have been a disgruntled Uncle who's been a clown for fifty years and has decided that the world needs to die. Except I can't feel ANYTHING for this Joker, which is a huge problem, because if you can't identify with a character that character doesn't become real. The "Wouldn't It Be Cool!" factor got a hold of the director, but even though watching a pencil being rammed into somebodies skull says "Woah." It doesn't make me say "I understand".

Violence without a reason is just plain boring and unapproachable. There is always 'some' reason. The Jokers is that he claims a philosophy of no rules, in this movie, that he just seems to enjoy the carnage. Even the Terminator had a better reason for killing and he wasn't entirely human. Joker is more like a robot than a man.

One other scene in the movie really excited me (among many) and this is when Morgan Freeman argues that ethical ramifications of the 'sonar cell phone network'. Some people see this as a heavy handed addition on government wire tapping. But those of use who are more comic savvy are seeing another parallel. Superman. See all, hear all and no man should have this much power... sounds like the exact ethical problem Batman has with Superman. I really hope they make a Batman vs. Superman movie because they're starting to really touch on the philosophical roots of their personality differences.

Wanted: Nihilism on Crack

2008-07-08T12:33:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

"Nihilism (from the Latin nihil, nothing) is a philosophical position which argues that existence purpose, or intrinsic value. Nihilists generally assert some or all of the following: is without objective meaning,

Objective morality does not exist.
No action is logically preferable to any other in regards to the moral value of one action over another."

This is the bedrock of 'WANTED' a comic book based on the premise that the bad guys win an all out war with the good guys and then re-write history to their own liking. Altering the time-line you find that nobody believes in superheros or villains in the first place, except in comic books. The real super villains have gone underground and secretly rule the world as 'the fraternity', a badge that gives you the right to kill, maim and rape as you please without consequence. So what happened to the superheroes? Most of them never figured out their powers, suffered 'accidents' or are in mental wards.

Thus our hero is not a hero at all, but an villain. An everyday worker bee who gets trained to be a murder machine. To say that the comic has lost it's moral compass is to state the obvious, there is zero accountability for anything done in this comic. In fact you can expect the most evil decision to be the frequent one for all the characters.

As a juxtaposition to regular comics, this is a very good book. On the whole I wish there had been something redeeming about the story. Some new insight into evil, a moral gray zone or three... but the author simply wasn't skilled enough or thought it unnecessary to present a more advanced plot. Read it if you're bored of the same old thing.

Personally I'm in the mood to go back and read 'Hellblazer' and 'Lucifer' for some good old fashion evil with a mix of infernal responsibility.

DMZ: Manhattan Under Fire

2008-07-08T12:17:00.000-07:00

DMZ is a comic with hit or miss writing but wonderful illustrations (at least the first 20). If your into eye candy then this is the place to go for some of the best urban landscapes I've seen in a long time. I really enjoyed romping along the sniper infested neighborhoods of NYC, discovering the local flavor of an occupied DMZ with that famous 'up-yours' New York attitude.

The basic summary is that America is in the midst of another civil war, with undefined battlefronts, with the exception of NYC. Here the main forces of the US army and the Free States have declared a tentative ceasefire. Our photojournalist intern/hero is plopped down in the middle of the DMZ and promptly cut off from the safety of his escort. Now alone he makes friends with locals and tells the 'real' story about what is going on in this bullet riddled no-man's land. Citizen journalism at it's finest.

There is a great story arc that references Blackwater, in the story the mercenary force is called Trustwell, and the danger of putting private security in charge of public well being. My favorite element is that the mercenaries have the word "TRUST" emblazoned on their flack jackets.

More and more it seems that we have to fight to keep our country from becoming a police state. There are several comics and sci-fi movies coming out of Britain and the US that mimic this subconscious fear. I've always believed that these kinds of stories are like a canary in the cave on serious social issues. If you see it enough in literature and tv then you have to worry about the future of freedom in our country. Already Big-Brother is watching our phones, email and ISP's, in direct violation of the our Constitutional right to privacy. Sooner or later you're going to see curfews in effect, travel restrictions and the requirement of paperwork to move about the country... sounds an awful lot like the Soviet Union to me.

Transmetropolitain - Inspiring Independent News

2008-06-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to read the entire Transmetropolitain comic series, which previously I had been reading in dribs and drabs. Easily one of my favorite recent comic books and it gets me itching to write commentary about the abysmal state of the human soul. But I digress...

What I really wanted to talk about is the idea of writing for change. Specifically I want to pose the question: Why aren't there more Independent Newspapers?

There are tons of bloggers, more writers putting their words together than ever before. Yet very few of them will come together and produce a product together, just one voice in a cloud of voices. Credibility is also an issue, but that could be solved with being able to track a strong fan base through Google Analytics.

Every day I hear about 'the talent' being laid off from newspapers around the company. I also hear that journalists, columnists and writers don't want to get into newspapers or the media because they're hamstrung by the corporate powers that be.

So why don't these people start their own newspaper? It seems as American as apple pie, Ben Franklin started a paper in his basement. The Simpsons did an episode on this issue as well where everybody and their brother created their own publication.

It doesn't have to be paper, you don't have to have overhead for a physical product. Although I do enjoy the feel of the printed page. You can do this online, even more effectively than the New York Times because the tools they use are the same you can use. There is hardly any learning curve at all.

I think there are only two major reasons why there arn't more Spider Jerusalems and "The Hole" online feed sites.

1) Fear of lawsuit. Big companies have lots and lots of lawyers, smaller writers don't and so can be sued for a variety of un-american things that I would consider Freedom of Speech and a lawyer would see as slander.

2) Lack of Organization. Too many people are just pissing in the wind, waiting for their big break... somebody will notice me and my blog, eventually. Hey, wake up! Find a couple of other writers and become a destination of note, rather than some footnote on Blogger's category list.

I'm seriously considering giving this a go, taking what I've learned from my day job in the tech industry and my creative talents in the art community and bringing it all together. As Spider would say, the New Scum need a voice and I am one of you.

Nailing Down Marvel's Moral Compass

2008-06-18T19:12:00.000-07:00

With the death of Captain America Marvel is left with a void that it will have a hard time to fill (for the record I don't buy that Steve Rodgers is dead, but I'll play along). Cap is a character that is easily dismissed by the casual comic reader as 'the flag wearin' poster boy' for patriotism. But if your like me and have kept up with him through the years, he's really the American embodiment of freedom and fair play. Cap was a man who would never kill without need, there was always a better way, in his own words, "It's what separates the good guys and the bad guys." In the 80s Rodger's actually walked off the job and became The Nomad, the powers that be having asked him to become a Captain America he didn't believe in. Again, recently, we saw Cap walk away from Shield and the law to defend freedom in The Civil War series. He was a man of principles and when America failed in it's duty to uphold the constitution, Cap led the charge to get us all back on the right track.

But now Captain America is dead.

I'm aghast at the ramifications of this, it's like having your father die suddenly. A man you looked up to your whole life, the compass which you checked your bearings against in everything you did... just isn't there anymore. And now the Marvel Universe has to rely on their own sense of right and wrong... they cut the cord, Marvel kicked every hero out of the nest and now has to fly or fall.

I don't think there is a single character that you can bring to the foreground to replace Captain America. Thor may be noble, but he's not human and no matter how good his intentions humanity just won't connect with the Thunder God. Iron Man? Pfwah! Not a chance. Maybe someone young, innocent, that could show us the errors of our ways... nah. We need someone to look UP to, someone above the norm but still have their hands dirty from the labor of being human. Someone who will defend our freedom, who can inspire others to be better than themselves... a Superman.

The great thing about Marvel is its flawed characters, but right now that ain't cutting it. We need another Captain Amercia. You can't have chaos without order, you can't have a Universe of heroes without an incorruptible compass to balance things out.

I'm voting for Hawkeye.
The student becomes the teacher.

The Incredible Hulk - Movie Review

2008-06-17T12:51:00.000-07:00

My wife said it perfectly, last night "There is a point where action just gets boring."

Banner gets stressed, Banner changes into the Hulk.
Hulk is angry, angry angry angry...
Until he sees Betty then he's edgy, then calm.

That's the whole movie. That's "The Hulk". I guess Marvel figured that creating any depth to Banner's character was too much work for the average moron. Is anyone else insulted that Hollywood doesn't think that the general public can't handle substance in their movies?

How much better would this film have been if they had gotten into the reasons behind Banner/The Hulk's rage. Oh yeah, it's not just an angry monster, there is a suppressed angry human involved. A little boy who was beaten by his father with a belt. Told he was worthless, that he'd never amount to anything, that he was the reason his mom left. Behind that innocent scientist, there was a boiling rage well before the Hulk came along.

But I guess Hollywood/Marvel though that children and adults wouldn't understand the complexities of child abuse. After all it's not like any of THAT goes on in the real world. It's not like anyone would benefit from having a character some people could identify with... (hold on, my sarcastic meter just broke). Its not like people might get the parallel between Banner's abusive father and the over-bearing General Ross who hits the Hulk with a bazooka, tank shells, sonic waves, punishing him, trying to control him.

Marvel stripped out the Hulk character to nothing more than a big green monster, created by Banner's over-zealous scientific nature. A curse to live with.

What the Hulk character REALLY is, is a complex human being, giving voice to his unstable mental state through a gamma infused version of his own subconscious. Banner didn't turn into the Hulk from a lazer beam, he was turned into the Hulk by trying to save a sleeping soldier inside a Gamma Bomb test zone. Banner is a feckin' hero, right from the start, not some cursed monster.

What Kind of Hero

2008-06-17T06:09:00.001-07:00

Recently I sat in a theater to watch the new Iron Man movie and was not at all surprised to be sitting next to two young children and their bedraggled parents. About 1/3 of the theater was under the age of 16, carrying on and throwing candy at each other while the movie finally started rolling up from green to black. Things were getting off to a great start, bombs, witty man in shades, hummers and shoot-outs, all the stuff I've come to expect from an action packed blockbuster.

Then we came to the scene where the guerilla terrorist faction is attacking a local village. Families running, children torn from the arms of their fathers, people being lined up against a wall to be shot, being shot while running away, implied rape… I instantly turned to the couple next to me with their two children to look for a reaction. The kids seemed to be confused, they didn't quite get some of what was going on, the younger girl seemed a little shaky (about 6). Confusion was on the parents face as well as they glanced from screen to child to screen wondering if one of them would start to cry. Their reaction has gotten me thinking about how badly Marvel is trying to appeal to all audiences.

In the past super heroes were the domain of children, a moral compass with a POW of entertainment and a SMACK of mystery. These days Marvel's main audience is a lot older, because instead of comics remaining children stories they've evolved into more complex shades of gray, comics grew up. Super heroes have sex, murder, pay taxes, deal with genocide, plague, get pregnant, beat their wives and deal with the day to day grind. This gritty reality suits an older audience, tough choices have to be made as you get older, compromises you may never have wanted to make are a reality.

So why is Marvel trying to sell it's characters to kids?

The end results merely dumb down complex characters for older audiences and for younger kids they're stuck with odd situations that are a tad too complex or violent than they might be ready to deal with. There are plenty of safe characters like Spiderman, Captain America, Dr. Strange, even Power Pack for Marvel to play with. But soon there is going to be a Wolverine movie… and that scares the hell out of me.

What kind of hero is Wolverine for a six year old?

Wolverine has always been billed as the guy who will do anything to survive, go through any obstacle by any means necessary. He's got six claws that can cut through anything and a healing factor that means he's nearly un-killable. But my real problem with this character is that Wolverine is a murderer. With all his advantages he will take the shortest, most direct route to solve a problem and if that means carving a path of death and destruction, he'll do it without remorse. There is no sugar coating it, not unless Marvel plans to completely re-write the character. Is that the kind of hero I want my kid to see? To idolize? To play make believe at the park with the other kids? Is Maya going to cut down Superman and sharpen her claws on Spiderman's bones?

The character was created in the early 80s as a 'shock jock' character, older, meaner, un-tempered. As we progressed into the 90's Wolverine got more 'extreme' and a spin off of his own comic appeared that pretty much had him hacking off body parts left right and center every other issue. Now Wolverine has become one of the most popular characters in the Marvel line up, adults like it, kids like it, everyone likes the furry little runt. Most kids have been exposed to a very tame and very kid friendly version of Wolverine through day time cartoons, but those of us who still read the comics know that the upcoming movie has to reflect Wolvie's darker impulses or loose the adult readership at the box office.

When Iron Man hit the theater it created a huge swell of demand for the flagging comic book. Kids wanted to know more about the cool hero in the metal suit. When Wolverine comes out they're going to do the same thing. Do you want your kid to say things like, "I'm the best at what I do." I doubt that my little girl will know what the unspoken meaning of that phrase is… but I do.

The Most Overlooked Character in Marvel

2008-06-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of Marvel characters who deserve the attention of their own comic book, but one sticks out in my mind as the most overlooked.

Reed Richards.

Passed around as the ‘smartest man alive’ he’s involved in every high level encounter and cross-over, the go to man for answers, the guy everyone looks to to solve the world’s ills. Yet nobody has taken up the reigns to write about the genius that is Mr. Fantastic.

What got me thinking about Reed was actually a comic centered around Quicksilver. I forget whether it was an X-title or Avengers but they spent the time to explain why Petro lost his marbles back in the eighties. His having to cope with a world that moves at the speed of a snail, day in and day out. They illustrated all the various ways he had to change his life to adapt and cope with a mind numbingly boring world.

Reed is the same way, a man who’s surrounded by a world that doesn’t operate on his level. Pocket universes, the Negative Zone, time machines, the multi-verse, machines that can level mountains and transform the very fabric every superhero wears into battle. What is Reed always working on in his lab, he’s always busy doing something but half the time Marvel just chalks it up to ‘science stuff’. This is leaving the reader out in the cold, I want to know what is going on behind the scenes in Reed’s lab. Why is it that he’s working so hard but not reaching out to reconcile with his wife? Has he in fact been traveling to an alternate reality where another Sue, who lost her alternative Reed, has taken him in? Has Reed been meddling in the affairs of extra dimensional beings without anyone knowing it? Is he keeping certain technology back from everyone because he’s deduced it would destroy the world… or just change it in a way that doesn’t suit him? Remember we’re talking about a man who is smarter than Doom, Reed has to straddle the dividing line of ethics every single day. Does he use his mind to influence the world or leave it run it’s own devices?

The smartest man alive would have some pretty interesting stories and I want to hear them.

Skrull Invasion - The Secret Weapon

2008-06-15T14:42:00.000-07:00

Wolverine Movie - Know Your Heroes

2008-06-15T13:03:00.001-07:00

Philadelphia Comic d00d - First Post

2008-06-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

I've got a bad habit of creating blogs, posting twice and never returning to it again. So here we go again...

A little background on me, I've been reading Marvel comics since I was a child which was around the late 1970s. My father, god bless him, was and still is to this day a comic maniac. At one point he was buying over 25 different titles every month, he had thousands of comics before I knew how to read. So when I finally was able to put M with ARVEL and understand what HULK SMASH meant, I began the long road to reading every one of those comic books... several times.

It's safe to say I'm something of an expert on the Marvel Universe and a few odd titles from DC, Dark Horse and Image.

This blog will be dedicated to my thoughts on current comics today in all their various forms. I'd been wanting to do something like this for years but it wasn't till recently that I got a Marvel online subscription as a present. I'm not my father, I don't find it necessary to collect physical comic books and I don't want to reward bad writing and art by purchasing say... X-men, even though I want to keep up on the general storyline (and how they're stupefying good characters).