Marvel previews upcoming events

This Wednesday, Marvel released a 64 page comic entitled Marvel: Point One, a collection of short stories that lead into Marvel’s major upcoming storylines throughout the next year or so.  The $6.00 price tag is a little steep, but it’s the type of thing that regular comic book readers definitely want to check out.

Stories in his anthology come in wide variety, previewing future story arcs such as Ultron in Avengers and exciting new series such as Defenders and Scarlet Spider (which from the preview, looks just as good as I was hoping! J) Each of these stories are accompanied by the writer and artist of each accompanying titles, so it gives readers a good taste of which books they want to check out. 

For me personally, I definitely have to add Defenders and Age of Apocalypse to my pull list.  Defenders especially was awesome, and writer Matt Fraction’s Dr. Strange was very entertaining.  The book also made me excited about books already present on my pull list, such as Avengers and the soon to be Scarlet Spider.  I mean, did you see that Ultron art by Bryan Hitch?  And Kaine is still just awesome, a great psychological character that somehow also works as a badass.  It's good thing too that most of these stories seem exciting and generate interest; Marvel is going to need something to combat DC Comic’s massive sale lead.

Animated Green Lantern Looks to Deliver

That Green Lantern movie sucked.

Okay, well maybe that’s a little harsh, but don’t take me saying that lightly; my green lantern tattoo isn’t just for show you know! (Okay, well, yeah it kind of is….)  To be fair, I wasn’t expecting that much walking into the movie.  Few exceptional cast members, paper thin and predictable story, and a needed emphasis on special effects led to a shallow super hero movie that was easily outclassed upon it’s release this past July by the likes of superhero epics such as Thor and X-men: First Class.

Still, this mainstream attention was enough to garner further marketing interest in the character, and DC is set to air a new Green Lantern animated series in just a few short weeks, aptly titled Green Lantern: the Animated Series.  While that information is certainly interesting, what has got me most excited is a certain animated mastermind’s attachment to the project; at the executive producer’s helm sits Bruce Timm.  If there is one guy you want attached to a DC animated project, it’s this guy.

In the 1990’s, Timm produced and co-created not only the legendary Batman: the Animated Series, but also not quite as successful Superman: the Animated Series and Batman Beyond. Timm later went on to be the sole creator and producer of Justice League, and it’s later incarnation Justice League Unlimited.  Justice League and it’s later incarnation, along with Justice League Unlimited are generally considered the best of an impressive bunch, with darker storylines and character arcs than those typically found in these types of Saturday morning cartoons. 

 For fans though, the best part was that these cartoons all took place in the same continuity.  In other words, the Batman and Superman that but heads in a three part storyline in Superman: the Animated Series are the same ones that display friendly bickering when they appear side by side in Justice League.  Justice League Unlimited took things a step further, bringing in plot lines that dated way back to Batman: the Animated Series.  For fans of super hero comics, Bruce Timm helped create what can be considered the most faithful representation of these characters and storyline in any media.  Not a feat to be taken lightly. 

With such a big name backing the series, things are already looking good for Green Lantern: the Animated Series.  The premise of the series involves the Red Lanterns as the primary enemy, with lead Atrocitus set to take center stage as the primary villain.  I was initially displeased at first because this meant fan-favorite villain Sinestro would surprisingly NOT be the main villain, nor would the Sinestro Corp.  Apparently, the reasoning for this is that DC was unsure they wanted the direction the character to go in at the time, which makes sense to those reading the comic; I guess DC wasn’t sure whether they wanted Sinestro to continue on his sort of kinda redemption storyline that he’s had going on for a while now.  Disappointing, but the inclusion of the Red Lantern Corp is still exciting, and likely means that various other corp can show up, such as the Blue Lantern Corp, the Indigo Tribe, or the sort of loveable Orange Lantern Larfleeze. 

Voicing Hal Jordan aka Green Lantern is Josh Keaton, the former voice of Peter Parker from the latest Spider-man cartoon, which is also fairly exciting for nerds such as myself.  Oh, and the guy that voices SpongeBob Squarepants is also voicing this guy….head.  Also aiding the series is the fact that it will be the first DC animated series produced entirely in CGI.  This gives the show an almost Jimmy Neutron look to it which may seem goofy at first, but leads to fluid and exciting fight sequences.  Not to mention some of those Red Lanterns still are looking quite badass.  Check out this video to see what I mean.

Marvel deals with layoffs and the cancelation of a number of titles

Marvel Comics has not been having the best time as of late. 

           

This past month Marvel Comics announced that they were laying off 15 members of their staff from the editorial and production departments, due to cost cutting reasons and not staff performance.  Shortly hereafter, Marvel revealed the cancelation of it's current titles, including critically well-received yet underselling comics such as Iron Man 2.0 and Alpha Flight, also due to budgeting reasons.  Times are looking quite dire for Marvel, to overdramatize it. 

           

While Marvel’s financial woes are unsettling, from a fan’s perspective the cancelation of some of these titles are extremely disappointing.  Iron Man 2.0 was a fun companion title to “Invincible Iron Man.”  Though you would probably never guess this from the title, this comic follows the going ons of Tony Stak's pal James Rhodes, aka War Machine (see Iron Man 2) and was filled with advanced technology and a military esque atmosphere. 

I have not read “Alpha Flight” personally (I dropped it after the first couple of issues due to, ironically enough, budgeting reasons….huh) but it’s been he recipient of vast critical acclaim since it’s debut.  Strangely enough, three months prior to his Marvel had announced that “Alpha Flight would be extended past it’s “limited series aspect into a regular ongoing monthly series.  Given that, I can’t understand why Marvel would choose to cut this title so quickly after making this decision, especially given that Marvel has titles selling less than Alpha Flight…..second thoughts I guess.

Marvel even announced the cancelation of two mini-series that have not even seen release; Victor Von Doom and Destroyers.  Destroyers certainly did have an interesting concept (monster type characters such as She-Hulk, the ever-lovin blue eyed Thing, and the X-men’s Beast are united by an obscure World War 2 character the Destroyer), but I’m more bummed about the cancelation of Doom’s new mini-series,  The last mini series that focused on a younger Doom, Ed Brubaker’s Books of Doom, was a great read, and gave the already rich character of Doctor Doom even more depth. 

Plus, read this interview with Victor Von Doom writer Nick Spencer and tell me that series doesn’t sound like it would totally be an awesome read! Still, the continuing cancellation of these titles certainly doesn’t make Marvel’s financial future seem very bright, and it would not surprise me if Marvel continues to cancel a few more in the coming weeks.  Just please, please do not cancel Scarlet Spider…

Generic blog about the Walking Dead

In terms of live action television, those based off of a comic book have never seen much mainstream success.  Shows such as Adam West’s Batman, The Incredible Hulk, and the more recent Smallville are often remembered more for their camp value than their quality storytelling.  That’s not to say that these shows did not have their high points (Smallville’s Clark Kent/Lex Luthor frenemy relationship comes to mind.  For proof of that here's a creepy fan music video), just that for the most part these shows failed to fully capture the heart and imagination of the characters and story in which they were based upon.

               

That’s why it feels so surprising that The Walking Dead has turned out so damn good.  Week after week, the show succeeds in leaving me hanging on the edge of my seat with anticipation.  It makes sense though.  On paper, the show has all the right ingredients for success; a (mostly) likeable cast, characters that are very much three-dimensional, gratuitous blood and gore, and perhaps the only monsters that could rival Edward Cullen in popularity; zombies.

While a comic book show succeeding so well in and of itself is unexpected, it’s only fitting that it happens with one based off of a post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled world.  For whatever reasons, zombies have gotten their cold, clammy hands on virtually every form of popular culture, it’s only natural that they would creep their way over to ongoing television.  The show is based off of what was originally somewhat of a cult-classic comic book of the same name, and the comic is still going strong to this day, growing ever closer to that elusive issue #100.  Robert Kirkman, creator of the series, has helmed the series since the very first issue, and has been very hands on with the show since the beginning, trying to stay true to the spirit of the comic.

The spirit of the comic that is, not the storyline.  In terms of storytelling, the show jumps back and forth between staying true to the original comic’s storyline and veering off into completely different directions.  Without a doubt, this is my favorite aspect of the show.  On one hand, it’s just very cool from a fan’s perspective to see landmarks that look as if they were ripped straight from the page, such as a ruined Atlanta City and Hershel’s farm. Even more exciting still is the liberties that the show is taking with it’s storyline.  Important plot points from the show such as Jenner and the CDC, and Sophia going missing were completely absent from the comic.  

However, the most drastic departure from the comic is the presence of Shane.  In the comic book, Shane was killed at the end of the very first storyline at the hands of seven year old Carl, yet here he is still alive and (sort of) well on the show, serving as the resident anti-hero type character.  Sitting somewhere between deplorable and sympathetic, Shane is by far the most interesting and three-dimensional character on the show.  There are many different aspects of the character that were barely touched upon within the first six issues of the comic; his brotherly affection and rivalry with Rick, the clear devotion he has to Carl, and the dangling love triangle between Rock, Shane, and Rick’s wife Lori.   

All of this is very emotional stuff, and for fans of the comics, it makes the show infinitely more interesting.  I’ve always thought the Harry Potter movies would do better if they did not try to stick so close to the original storyline, and I feel like The Walking Dead is proof of that.  Rather than just retelling what readers of the comic already know, the show gives us a new take on a familiar world, a fun companion to an already great storyline that is in some ways superior to the original.

To be honest, I feel like much of the show’s success has little to do with it’s status as a live action comic book show; in fact, quite the opposite.  I think the show’s success is correalated to the series mainstream zombie appeal, as many people I have spoken to that were unaware that a comic book even existed.  This would be rather fitting; after all, most people are not even aware that the popular horror show Tales From the Crypt was based off of a horror comic of the same name from the 1950’s.  Still, recognized in it’s status or not, if you’re a fan of good television, you owe it to yourself to check this show out.  So far, I have not seen one person regret it. 

               

Everybody Hates Clones

Coming out of New York’s Comic con this past week, comic book nerds like me have a lot to be excited about.  However, despite all the major announcements that go along with these events, what has gotten me most excited was a rather low-key announcement,  What’s gotten me most excited is the confirmation that there is going to be a new Scarlet Spider ongoing debuting this January.  See?  Most of you are probably like”You’re ridiculous.”

Quick recap; the Scarlet Spider was the clone of Spider-man, aka Ben Reilly, from the much reviled Clone Saga chapter of Spider-man from the 1990’s that wore a hoodie with ripped sleeves for a costume. Based off that summary alone, you’re probably wondering why on earth I am excited by this at all.   But those were the comics I remember reading back when I was a kid.  My dad used to have bins for all his comics, so I was able to browse through them at my leisure, and I always took a fancy to clone stories, and Ben Reilly as well.

Recently these books have started getting collected in trade paperback form, and reading them now the comics feel very dated.  A lot of the storyline elements are very silly and some are just stupid (lol Spidercide), and there are plenty of story elements that just don’t make sense.  But there were certain elements I still found that worked really well, and one of them was Ben Reilly.  He may have originated out of a bizarre and overly complex storyline, but the character himself is very likeable, sometimes even more so than Peter.

However, Marvel has pretty much confirmed that Ben Reilly is going to stay dead, so this new Scarlet Spider obviously isn’t him.  After a teaser was released of the Scarlet Spider a couple of weeks ago, one writer posted an article on bleedingcool.com saying that he knew the identity of this new Scarlet Spider, with the nominees ranging from very likely to completely ridiculous.  Included in the candidates was Ben Reilly.  Personally though, I felt there were only two likely choices from the list; the aforementioned Mr. Reilly and his disfigured clone brother, Kaine. Okay, yeah, that sounded completely ridiculous.  

But Kaine was one of the other elements I thought really worked in the clone saga.  Kaine was the first clone of Peter Parker created by the Jackal, one that became disfigured due to cloning degeneration.  Unlike Peter and Ben though, Kaine is definitely not on the side of the angels.  The laundry list of his wrongdoings include stalking Ben while he was wandering the road on his exile, trying to frame Ben but accidently framing Peter for murder, and basically just a fair amount of killing.  But still, that was then. 

He came around recently in the grim hunt storyline, seemingly giving his life for Peter’s, and he’s in the current Spider-Island event storyline that the Scarlet Spider series spins out from.  On top of that, he went from being a weird big spider monster called the Tarantula to being completely normal looking after being dropped into the Ant-Venom cure.  Normal looking as in, no scars.  Now it seems that much more likely that this no Scarlet Spider is Kaine, as he now looks the same as Peter and Ben (he even shrunk either a bit or a lot…Kaine used to tower over those guys) and has more or less been helping Peter out lately. 

After being initially bummed, upon thinking I realized this probably has the potential to be more interesting than Ben returning.  The new Scarlet Spider is the guy that stalked the old one for half a decade, so what could persuade Kaine to take on his enemy’s old name?  Not to mention Kaine is a very dark character, and Marvel has said that the new Scarlet Spider is going to be somewhere in between The Amazing Spider-man and Venom, which is a much grimmer book than Spider-man’s.  This is further evident given the writer of the new Scarlet Spider series; Chris Yost, who wrote X-force, an assassination team of X-men, so he definitely knows how to do violent.  I expect this Scarlet Spider to be noticeably more violent than Ben. 

Also, with this set up there are easy ways to keep the character of Ben Reilly alive via flashbacks, maybe some that could somehow be connected to the main story.  I honestly think it’s the best possible solution they could have come up for this book.  This way, the Ben Reilly aspect of the Scarlet Spider gets to live on, and we get to see a familiar character in a very different scenario and from a different perspective.  It allows not just the Scarlet Spider to live on, but two fan favorite (well cult fan favorite) aspects of the clone saga storyline also gets to see the light of day after not being paid attention to for quite a while.  A smart and awesome move by Marvel, and I for one totally cannot wait for January. 

I mean, if I'm right.  Come on Marvel just tell us!

Event Comics....Meh

Sometimes, reading comic books can be an unfulfilling hobby.  This past week saw the release of X-Men: Schism #5. Schism is an X-men event series that will chart the way for future X-men books by launching brand new series, such as Wolverine and the X-men, relaunch old mainstays such as Uncanny X-men, give books like Generation Hope a new creative team, and give series such as Uncanny X-Force and New Mutants new directions.  Furthermore, every book’s line up of characters will be altered in some way, in some cases more drastic than others.  The overall storyline that ties these books together is called “Regenesis.”

When Schism was first announced, it was already revealed how this change to the X-men mythos will go down.  The set up for the series was that it would pit Cyclops aka Scott Summers and Wolverine aka Logan against each other, after having grown as close as they have ever been these past few years.  Traditionally, the relationship between Cyclops and Wolverine is an antagonistic one, with much of their rivalry having to do with their differing methods and Cyclops’ late girlfriend Jean Grey. 

This all changed in 2005, when the House of M mini-series ended with mutants on the brink of extinction.  This forced Cyclops to take a more general type of approach to leading not only the X-men, but the entire species of mutants.  During this time, Logan became Scott’s most trusted ally in fighting for muantkind: If Scott needed someone to disappear forever; all he had to do was call Logan.  If he needed someone to lead a team of secret assassins, call Logan.  If he needed someone to teach a class full of kids….uh, call Logan.  Effectively, Logan became Scott’s most trusted soldier in the survival for their species.

The Schism series finally turned this relatively newfound friendship on it’s head, with Scott and Logan at odds about a variety of events that transpire over the course of the series.  However, what it fundamentally comes down to is that Logan no longer agrees with Scotts view on the future of mutantkind: he feels that Scott’s militaristic approach will cause more young mutants death than it is worth.  He no longer feels that these young mutants should have to risk their lives instead of enjoy their youth.  Naturally, this climaxes in a brutal battle between Cyclops and Wolverine while a giant sentinel looms over them, in traditional comic book fashion, and Wolverine decides to leave the group with anyone that would like to join him.

While this is all good and fine, I felt cheated out by this being how Wolverine and Cyclops part ways.  Instead of building on the foundation that had already been established between the two characters, a seemingly random conflict between Cyclops and Wolverine is constructed and the only other X-men characters that have any major contribution to the storyline are extremely minor ones.  Also, it is never explained why “x” character choices to go with Wolverine or Cyclops, which left me with an odd and unfinished feeling. 

It is just another instance of something getting hyped to the point that when the actual event occurs, it goes out with a whimper.  The battle between the two characters was still enjoyable (I mean, look at how brutal this is), but I’ve been aware of Logan and Scott’s break up for a while, and when it actually happened it was as inorganic as the entire second Matrix film.

Am I still going to read the new “Regenesis” storyline that launches as a result of Schism?  Yes, and I’m actually excited as hell.  The idea of Wolverine leading his own team is one that has not really been explored outside of the Wolverine and the X-men cartoon, so that it will be interesting to see.  It will also be interesting to see how Logan’s group reacts to returning to Westchester and how their relationship with the other teams (especially Scotts) will be.  It just leaves readers with a bittersweet feeling knowing that the end result is the most exciting part of an entire event (whoa déjà vu). 

Sexism in Comics

After already setting the comic world aflame with the relaunch of their entire line, DC Comics has already managed to unintentionally spur itself up yet another controversy. On September 21, DC released Catwoman #1 and The Red Hood and the Outlaws #1, both of which since their release have been accused of being sexist towards women. Catwoman #1 ended with Catwoman and Batman raaaannndomly hooking up towards the end, and we learn that this isn’t the first time, and they always “keep their costumes on.” The Red Hood and the Outlaws’ new interpretation of the Teen Titans mainstay, Starfire, was of an amnesic alien that could not distinguish one human from the next with an extremely high sex drive.

The main complaint against these books is obvious here: they are objectifying women in these portrayals. Catwoman went from barely escaping explosions, going undercover, and brutally taking down bad peeps to simply throwing herself at Batman, complete with the costume (which also bringing up questions regarding DC’s new continuity, as previously Batman knew Catwoman was really Selina Kyle, and Catwoman knew Batman was really Bruce Wayne. Not too mention how odd it is to think that someone as serious and professional as Batman would even go along with that…).

On the other hand, Starfire went from being a fully developed mainstay of the Teen Titans to a character that is not even really capable of having any type of relation with ANY DC character now, as she can’t even tell them apart. Somehow these types of accusations lead to long-standing accusations of sexism in comics based on the fact that pretty much every female comic book character has a miniature waist and extremely over-exaggerated other parts.

Now typically, this is the part where one would talk about how either sex is wrong and comic books are sexist, or attempt to disprove such claims that comic books are sexist. But at his point, every time I hear these types of claims, my first instinct is usually to assume that someone is overreacting. I think it's because one of my favorite hobbies is video games, and time and t ime again you hear claims that video games are causing violence, and that they are ruining our youth. Sexism in comics is not quite as prevalent an accusation as violence is with video games, but it is one that I hear enough that I've just become kind of numb to it and automatically don't think much of the claim.

But if you were to ask me if I thought these comics were in fact sexist, my answer would likely be….kinda. To me, they are just stories like in any other media. And in any other media, such as television or movies, these types of plot lines and characters prevail. Pretty much every television show oversexualizes its characters at some point (Even Sara from CSI makes sure she looks nice before going to see a dead body). With that in mind, doesn’t this make it likely that the writer of books such as Catwoman #1 did not have any sexist intent, but was merely trying to keep in line with the type of storylines and themes that are successful in other forms of media, which seems like a perfectly logical thing to do? Doesn’t that make it seem like maybe, just maybe, there was no sexism intended here, all that was intended was entertainment?

Starfire’s situation is a lot more precarious. It’s hard to defend a character that no longer can tell people apart and successfully beds two characters in the span of 22 pages. I still stand by my assumption that, creatively, writer Scot Lobdell did not sit down to write Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 with the intent of being sexist. Likely, he was just trying to emulate themes from other media in comic book form. The result is a pretty sexist portrayal of a character, but I cannot believe this to be the intent.

Nor should one jump to the conclusion that all comic books are sexist based on these two cases. In the past month DC Comics has offered other titles, such as Batwoman #1 and Batgirl #1 that portray strong, independent women that are plainly not being objectified. I don’t think comic books are sexist anymore than I think television is sexist for putting shows on such as Desperate Housewives or Jerseylicious. Maybe the shows themselves are sexist, whether intentionally or not, but one should not judge the entire medium that way.

So are these comics sexist? Well, yeah, kind of. Sexism in comics is nothing new, just as it is nothing new in any form of any media. However, are comics as a whole sexist? I wouldn’t say so, at least not more than, oh, anything else.