(Ultimate) Spiderman in the News: Much Ado About Nothing.

Comic books have been in the news a lot lately, and all too often, this is as a result of the convergence of our politically polarized society and popular culture, as I wrote about during the “Superman renounces US citizenship” hullabaloo. The latest round in all this centers on an event that the majority of comic book fans seem to care less about, but has appeared on the evening news and in articles written all across the web and old media. This is the biggest story that doesn't really matter to anyone in the geek world. I am, of course, talking about the death of Spiderman and his replacement by a young teen of mixed african-american and latino descent. On its surface, it seems like this is a big story. One of the most popular characters in comics is killed off, and his identity and costume is picked up by a new person.

Miles Morales, the new face of Spider-Man and scourge of racists who don't read comic books anyway. There may be instances of forced "political correctness" worth getting mad about. This ain't one of 'em.

Fact is, most of us couldn't be bothered to care. Most of the people making a big deal of the whole “death and replacement of Spider-Man thing” aren't comic fans. You can tell because there's no mention of the most important word in the whole fiasco. That word is “Ultimate.” The Ultimate Marvel Universe is an alternate, parallel universe unaffected by and that itself does not effect Core Marvel Universe Canon. What this means to non-geeks is that Marvel Ultimates stories are set in a world that by design have no association with the original visions of the characters, their comic books, their stories. Characters in the Ultimate Universe change appearance, origin, powers and personality, and some of the changes are there to “update” characters, while others seem frustratingly arbitrary.

The idea behind the Marvel Ultimates line is essentially the same reasoning behind this fall's massive DC relaunch/reboot. After decades of history and complex plots, comic books were deemed too intimidating to attract significant numbers of new readers. No influx of new fans, younger people with changing expectations and without the jaded grumbling common to older fans means inevitable attrition. Old fans get frustrated and stop collecting, or as years pass, simply die, and there is no generation waiting in the wings to replace them. Too many young people don't want to jump in on the middle of a story, and as a result, potential converts of kids who saw various Marvel Universe movies are opportunities wasted. This is the logic behind the creation of a 2^nd Marvel Universe. The blank slate, lack of established canon that needs to be followed and enthusiasm for new creators to tell stories with familiar characters in their own way on its surface makes a lot of sense.

"Updated" art and costumes, redesigned characters and Colossus is gay!
With jokes about "Will and Grace," the hamfisted portrayal of the gay superhero would offend everyone...
If anyone cared.

Thing is, most comic geeks today hate Ultimates and couldn't care less about whatever happens in it. In the early launch (2000-2005) of the Ultimate Titles, they sold like crazy. Traditional, “core” Marvel books were dying on the vine, and the idea of a relaunch seemed to be a runaway success. Several popular video games tied in nicely with the new setting, and it didn't hurt that Marvel Ultimate Alliance (and its sequel) were really good fighting games with RPG elements. The new wave of Marvel films plays it real close to the vest on which canon they are a part of, incorporating just enough from each Universe to satisfy fans of either. The problem is, the Ultimate Marvel books themselves had a crisis of identity. Having already alienated fans who didn't like certain characters seemingly randomly changed from their classic characterizations, new fans were slowly turned off when the writers who launched the new line in the first place left to work on “core” titles.

The energy once brought to Ultimates brought new life into previously slumped comic books, and the Ultimate Universe responded by borrowing more and more from the core continuity. Core and Ultimate Marvel were each starting to look like each other, and the Ultimate books did not benefit from the comparison, or the change in philosophy. To the uninitiated, Marvel comics appeared schizophrenic, and the Ultimate titles got the worst end of it, in addition to the lion's share of the blame. Fast forwarding to present day, core Marvel titles outsell their Ultimate equivalents, and with film and game tie-ins, the brand appears healthy again. In order to keep both lines relevant, Ultimates had to get back to what made people like it in the first place. It had to be more “different.” In this context, new writer Jeph Loeb interpreted “different” as “kill everybody.”

"Relaunch it again! Kill more heroes! See! We have characters from popular movies!
Love us again! LOVE US!!! *sob*"

The last few years have been marked by so many catastrophic events and character deaths that most of the remaining few who hadn't already thrown their hands up and given up on Ultimates threw in the towel. Titles that owed their success to failing books in the mainstream continuity resorted to increasingly desperate-seeming tactics to remain relevant. This is why when word came down that Peter Parker was being killed off the reaction went something like this: “What? Oh, Ultimate Spider-Man... I'll go back to not caring now.” Sales spike every time these cries for attention hit the shelves, but it seems that no matter how many popular characters are killed, a few issues later, sales are down again, and most comic book fans are happily ignorant of the happenings in the Ultimate continuity.

This is why this is such a non-issue. So what if the new Ultimate Spider-Man is a minority? Nick Fury has been Samuel L. Jackson with an eyepatch for over a decade in that world. The chest-thumping from conservative politicians and pundits make a whole lot of noise about it, with vaguely racist undertones, and most comic book fans are thinking: “What? Who? You think this matters? That's not even funny, it is kind of sad...” There's a story here, but it is a story that is aimed at people who couldn't care less about comics, because to the vast majority of the people who do care about comic books, there is no story here. Political commentators have taken up arms to defend... well, no one. The fact that so much (including this article) has been written and said on a subject that matters to so few says less about the comic book industry, and more about how disconnected politicians and cultural commentators have become from the rest of the population.

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Blog Gadgets

Review for Captain America – The First Avenger.

Last night, my wife and I made it out to the Midnight showing of Captain America. Midnight shows have always been something kind of special for me, as you get the fans who are really into whatever the film you are about to see is about. No one in there just trying to kill a few hours or to not have to interact with their shrieking offspring for a few hours, just... fans. It is different going to one of these when unemployed. You don't have to worry about how the late night out will affect you at work the next day, and you've probably gotten into the habit of staying up too late already. At this stage of the game, if I can manage it, I'll try to see all my movies as Midnight showings. More respectful audience and I can go out at my leisure? Yes, please. But what about the film itself?

There were a lot of ways they could have gone with this, and I
respect the choices made to bring this to the big screen.

Marvel faced a unique set of challenges in the making of Captain America: The First Avenger. Set in front of them was the task of doing an origin story for a character set in World War 2, giving that character his due as a major superhero, and getting that same character from the 1940s to being ready to return for the Avengers Movie next year. Given that Cap has a 70 year history and his backstory has taken many crazy twists and turns in all those years, this is a tall order. All the other usual comic-book film challenges are present as well, incorporating a costume that might look great in a comic book (but ridiculous on-screen,) developing the main character without neglecting important secondary characters and villains, etc...

The brains behind this film knocked it out of the park. Not only did they hit the high points I list above, but they also managed to tighten up the connections between Captain America, Thor and Iron Man to set the stage. Let's be frank for a moment. There were changes made, though not many to Steve Rogers, his origin, and the essence of the character. Most of the significant changes were made to explain or justify elements that, had they been 100% true to the comics, would have taken hours of exposition to explain minor points or would have looked like nonsense and disrupted the flow of the story. Most of the significant changes were in Captain America's specific actions in the war, and in the motivations and background of The Red Skull.

Instead of ignoring Cap's origin as a pulp-action bit of WWII propaganda, the film
embraces it, reframes it and makes you care about the character because of it.

In the comics, both Cap himself and the Red Skull had a whole lot more to do with the war and the fight against Nazi Germany than their film counterparts. The Skull from the comics was personally trained by Hitler, and remained one of his top agents throughout the war, and Cap regularly fought on the front lines, with nazis as his stock enemy. In the film, the Red Skull is still, of course, a nazi in terms of origins, but he breaks away from Hitler in favor of allegiance to HYDRA, which he leads in pursuit of using super-science to conquer the world and destroy his enemies. The shift in focus from Cap fighting Nazis to fighting HYDRA troopers keeps the story on-task. (If I need to pick nits at this stage, I could complain that the "Hail HYDRA" salute looks a little silly.) This is a story with a lot of respect for the original material, but one that can't sacrifice telling a comprehensible story to comic-book accuracy.

Those original 1940s comics, with Captain America as propaganda tool punching out Hitler and with the kite shield rather than his now-iconic Vibranium round shield are paid homage to in a clever and unexpected way that also explains the costume in a world that is otherwise gritty 1940s pulp. The transition from “war movie” to “superhero movie” is aided by the Red Skull and Arnim Zola (played by Toby Jones, perfectly cast as the version of the Nazi scientist before he started impanting himself into android bodies with a big face in the chest.) The origins of HYDRA are linked to the Red Skull's obsession with the occult and how it can be bent to evil scientific ways. The source of the Skull's superweaponry is The Tessaract, a piece stolen, according to legend, from Odin's treasure room, which ties in nicely with THOR.

Zola and the Skull years after the war. I was geeking out over how well they handled Zola without
going too far and showing him in his final supervillain form.

The supporting cast manages to work in not only “Bucky” Barnes, who is a necessary component in a story about Captain America, but also some of the top characters from other WWII-era Marvel titles and a link back to Iron Man. The presence of Stark Industries as a military weapons contractor fits with what we know from the Iron Man films. Tony Stark's grandfather is an important character whose presence is only natural in a science-based program in the war effort. I was more impressed with how neatly many of the iconic members of the Howling Commandoes were worked in, in particular Dum Dum Dugan, Jim Morita, Gabriel Jones and Montgomery Falsworth. Though in the comic universe these characters were led by Nick Fury, their placement in the film does the characters justice and they get to be heroes on-screen in a support role to what could have been a one-man show.

All of the characters from this era who, in the Marvel continuity, survive from the 1940s to the present day are handled neatly in a “for this story, their role is complete, but you didn't see a body now, did you?” manner. The film opens telling us that the classic method of getting Steve Rogers from hero of the past into the present is maintained with him, and his shield, encased in ice. By the end of this movie, Cap's own story has been told and all of the pieces are in place to properly launch The Avengers as a single film, and if the story told there is as well done as the work on Iron Man, THOR and Captain America... hopefully a series of movies. I know I'll be lined up to see Joss Whedon's take on bringing all these characters from their own movies into a superteam ensemble... most likely, at Midnight.

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Blog Gadgets

What if DocStout Wrote About Alternate Marvel Universes? - A Look at Marvel's "What If?" titles.

Even back in the late 1980s when I started reading comic books and following several storylines, there was a whole lot of catching up to do for anyone just getting started in order to fully understand what was going on. No one had thought of publishing trades to collect popular stories and the internet wasn't yet up to the task, so hanging around the comic shop looking at back issues and listening to the conversations of older comic geeks was one of very few ways to fill in major events in comic continuity. Fortunately, it wasn't the only way, as one of my very favorite titles Marvel ever produced showed key events as they happened... and then examined what would have transpired if things had gone differently.

The very first issue, nearly as old as I am.

What If? from Marvel has run off and on as a regular series or limited editions (one shots or short runs) from February 1977 through a five issues published in December of 2010. The cover typically shows a classic moment from Marvel history with some shocking twist, and the question is posed 'What if...?' things had gone just a bit differently, and in many cases, the point of divergence seems minor or very nearly happened in this alternate way, and the story is taken to a logical, if extreme, conclusion. Typical rules set up for characters in Marvel stories do not apply in the alternate universes and fan favorites can (and do) die, commit murder, destroy worlds or realities, etc...

For quite a long time, Uatu, a member of an alien interdimensional race called The Watchers who observe all realities but whose laws permit them from interfering, served as the series' narrator. The first few pages of each issue would provide a concise summary of events as they really happened in the Marvel Universe, which is what drew me to the title initially, and then the story focuses on the point of divergence. Uatu walks the reader through the tale pointing out important events necessary to comprehend the changes in the alternate story, and usually wraps up the story whether the ending is happy, tragic or bittersweet. Uatu himself has appeared in many other titles over the years, most notably in Fantastic Four comics, where he has broken his non-interference oath at least once.

For a character that turns up mostly as a plot device, he's been in a lot of  comic books.

More recently, the standard framing and plot device of a character narrator and focusing on events as they happened and a point of divergence has been phased out over time. After the end of What If? as a regular monthly or bi-monthly title, individual issues may have a narrator or not, and frequently the issue covers are made to look like issues within the comic series they are diverging from. On occasion, realities focused on in particularly popular issues of the comic have returned for “sequels” of a sort, where a new tale is told in the world that resulted from a particular What If? scenario. One of these, “What If?” #105 told the story of Spider-girl, daughter of Peter Parker, and spawned the MC2 spinoff continuity.

I found through the years of reading What If? that I had a better grasp of key moments in a lot of titles that I never collected than some of the fans of those particular comics did. Character motivations become clear when you see the same hero thrust into many different crises, some with no possibility of any happy resolution. The issue that hooked me initially was titled “What if Wolverine Had Become Lord of the Vampires?” and it made the strengths and relationships between a host of different heroes and villains apparent in the rise of a Vampire Lord with all Dracula's powers as well as all of Wolverine's tenacity, instinct and his admantium skeleton. This series, and how it captured the imagination was the precursor for Marvel events like Marvel Zombies. Showing how a hero fails sometimes tells you more about them than consistently seeing them win.

Aside from 1990s Ghost Rider comics, this was one of the most important comic issues for me, ever.

More recently, the title has been revived for limited runs of one-shot comics, typically giving the alternate universe treatment to whatever major Marvel event is taking place at the time. These titles will likely fall into the “must have” lists of the collectors who seek out every issue in crossover events like Civil War or House of M, and I would expect that within the next few years we'll be seeing a What If title for Fear Itself (which I'll return to once enough of it has come out to warrant a full review.) Other one-shots have returned to the classic formula with titles like “What if this was the Fantastic Four?” featuring Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider and Hulk, which was dedicated to the passing of Mike Wieringo in 2008.

I haven't read this one, but I like to believe that it is really
"What if Tony Stark wasn't such a douche during the Civil War story?"

It has been a little while since I gave out more of my 10 required nominations for The Stylish Blogger Award, so I figure I'll take this opportunity to nominate two more. Another link back here (near the bottom) to the “strings attached” rules for this award, and congratulations to the deserving recipients!

First up, we have The Lead Will Walk The Earth, an amazing blog about zombies, and more particularly gaming with zombie miniatures. Great photgraphy, scenario battle reports, and lots of rotting flesh.

My second nomination is to Rob's Nerd Blog, which goes from Song-a-Day to movie reviews and quite a few miscellaneous interesting articles.

Check these guys out, let 'em know I sent you, and sound off in the comments about Marvel's What If? or anything else in today's post.

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Blog Gadgets

The God of Thunder – THOR: A Movie Review

Back to writing after an unplanned “technical difficulties” outage on Google's end, I'd like to talk about what exactly it was that I did with my “day off”. I've written before about my excitement regarding the Avengers Movie Crossover project that Marvel Studios is in the midst of, and my wife and I took some time out yesterday to go watch the newest installment of that line of films, Thor.

Now I kinda wish I'd gone to this panel at C2E2.

Thor is one of those characters that I never got into reading, at least not in his own books. I've got at least one friend who is very, very into the character, and if you are at all into the Universe-wide crossovers that Marvel sometimes does, (and I am) then you'll find yourself reading an awful lot about him over a period of decades as a comic fan. Before seeing the movie, I brushed up on the Thor basics that I didn't already know, filling in a few gaps to feel qualified to watch the movie from my typical comic-geek default perspective.

I like to watch comic book films from the perspective of someone who has a great deal of respect for the source material, and will be keeping an eye out for “authenticity”, but that's about where I stop. In my opinion, some leeway has to be given to account for the fact that a 100% faithful translation of precise costumes, plots and dialogue from comic to film screen would in most cases be completely unwatchable. Thor is an excellent example of a comic that would see a completely faithful translation not only completely fail in feeling like it could exist in the same world as the Iron Man films, but would come off as kind of... silly. If your knee-jerk reaction is to disagree, I have only one word. Volstagg. I love the comic character, but making this character more “faithful” by casting him as morbidly obese and then dressing him in a pink waitcoat and bright yellow trousers would not have improved this film.

Insisting on this, or Hogun's Mongol Cap and Fu Manchu mustache makes you "that guy."

For those people who haven't seen the movie yet, would like a quick and dirty opinion on it, but don't want any spoilers, I can oblige. I liked the movie a lot, it had a lot of elements to juggle, and I feel it did an admirable job balancing them while telling a story worth watching. If there is any criticism the film deserves, it is perhaps that too much screen time was lent to “Avengers Crossover” subplot at the expense of the films core story, and the development of some of the supporting characters. So, if you are concerned about spoilers about particular plot points, this is where you may wish to stop reading, you have been warned.

Thor tells three stories, with three villains. The first is “Thor protecting Asgard from the Frost Giants”, with the villainous King Laufey as antagonist. The second, which is probably the main plot is “Thor protects Two Worlds” with his brother Loki, the piece's main villain and most interesting character as villain. The last is “Thor Gets Grounded to Earth, runs afoul of SHIELD, and learns to not be a douche”, with Thor vs. himself as primary conflict. The movie had to balance and connect these plots while working in a lot of detail for a large supporting cast, while making sure principal characters didn't get shafted.

Thor, Loki and Odin... I initially didn't like the idea of Anthony Hopkins for the role. He was a good choice.

We get a good dose of CGI action, introduction to most of our primary cast and the fighting styles of Thor, Loki, Sif and the Warriors Three in the action sequence near the beginning that keeps the first third of the movie from being too slow. Most comic movies have to spend half the first film doing the “origin story”, where Thor tells us, “he's Thor, he's a god, he lives in Asgard, 'nuff said.” I particularly liked getting to see supporting characters perform their own schtick, and Loki's use of deception, magic and misdirection even in the middle of a comic book punch-up was really cool. (More about him later.)

When Thor is banished to Midgard (Earth) for disobedience, arrogance and foolishness indicating that he is unworthy of his powers, we have the first major opportunity for the film to fall flat. What could have been a long sequence of painful forced humor about “Thor doesn't understand modern culture” (there's some of this, but it is kept to a tasteful level) and “A world that has superheroes all over the place refuses to believe in a god of thunder” is handled well. What passes for an origin tale occurs here, as Thor comes into his own, SHIELD becomes aware of him and he of them, and he becomes a hero in fact as well as name. Thor's “human secret identity” is worked in, his place as Ancient God and Modern Superhero is explained, and we're set up for sequels, ready to go back to Asgard. In a rare misstep in this part of the film, my wife and I agree that his kiss with Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) would have been more romantic had they left it as a kiss on her hand.

We thought for a moment that they'd leave it here, instead of having them start making out. Dammit, Hollywood.

The last sequence with the confrontation with Loki and restoration to his rightful place was made good because the plot did right by Loki along the way. The Frost Giant prince stolen at birth and raised as Asgardian has everything from origin through motivation, method of operation and even costume nailed by the producers, and they managed to be faithful to all of it without it being convoluted or silly. His deception and betrayal (which is kind of “his thing”) of everyone, including his real father, the King of the Frost Giants is all out of a desperate need to prove himself to the only father he's ever known. His revelation of what he really is plays into his existing feelings of inadequacy in Thor's shadow, and makes him behave... well, like a comic book villain.

The cameos from Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye (blink and you'll miss it) and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (we knew we'd see him pop up again) were an additional nice touch, but the real SHIELD agent standout returns from Iron Man 1&2. Agent Phil Coulson gets even more screen time than usual, continuing to walk the line between “I'll kill you if you don't cooperate” and “No, really... I'm a good guy.” We're pretty much solidly set up for The Avengers here, whether Thor gets a proper sequel of his own or not. I look forward to, and am curious about what role SHIELD will play in the upcoming Captain America film, seeing as how it seems to be set in WWII.

"Expect me to show up a LOT, as Samuel L Jackson with an eyepatch popping up everywhere is distracting."

So far, a great start to the summer blockbuster season, and I'll probably wait until Cap makes his way to screens for my next big geek film, as I'm not sure I care about DC's Green Lantern, and as a child of the 1980s, I despise the Transformers movies. Anyone else see Thor and have something to say?

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Blog Gadgets

Superman Renounces US Citizenship and Other Political Moments in Comics

I wrote not so very long ago that I don't particularly care for discussing politics (and religion) online. That statement needs a little clarification. I don't like debating about, or putting my personal political philosophy out there for public reactions. Refusing to talk about politics at all while commenting on any kind of culture, even geek culture, would be like covering my eyes and ears and pretending it doesn't exist. If I did that, I don't think I could approach any subject that crosses over into real-world issues in games, movies... or comics.

Now we get to the heart of the matter. What has me thinking about politics in geek culture and frantically insulating myself against accusations of hypocrisy? Action Comics #900. Even if at heart, I'm a Marvel fanboy, a story like this from DC can't escape my attention. It makes for a great headline: “Superman Renounces United States Citizenship.” I'll get back to that, specifically in a bit, but this sort of story in superhero comic books has been increasingly more common these last few years. American media is becoming increasingly polarized, with extreme viewpoints politically to both the left and right projected as the norm, even if most people see themselves as “moderate”. Comics are a form of media that has not proven itself immune to this effect.

Expect this guy in the news Real Soon Now.

When a reader encounters politics in comic books, it is likely to manifest with comic characters interacting with political issues in their own stories, political figures represented in comic book form, or a combination of the two. Though there's been a lot more of this recently, this isn't really a new phenomenon. All the way back to the 1940s we had Captain America punching out Adolf Hitler. It might be fair to say that in times where the culture is politically charged and propaganda is a useful tool, these elements are a lot more likely to turn up in comic books.

More than a few comics have stories based on real world issues. Political issues have turned up frequently in the X-Men which tackles the stories of mutant superheroes head-on as a discussion about race relations and civil rights in America, sometimes subtly, other times... not so much. Batman has dealt with privacy and surveillance issues in the “Brother Eye/OMAC” plotline that had Batman's own spy satellite turned on heroes as a means to track and wipe them out, culminating in Wonder Woman snapping the neck of the villain responsible for it... and the footage of the “murder” broadcast round the world. Captain America and Iron Man found themselves on opposite sides of Marvel's Civil War, with the government requiring heroes to unmask or register by law, and some fighting back by going underground. This story famously ended with the assassination of Captain America by sniper's bullet after turning himself in.

Don't worry, he got better.

In a different light, American political figures have been cast as comic book characters in several ways. In the 2008 presidential election, comic books were released for both John McCain and Barack Obama, discussing their lives in mostly non-partisan ways. Since Obama's election, he's turned up in multiple comic books, most notably on the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #583 as the focus of the story “Spidey meets the President.” Sarah Palin, McCain's running mate and former Governor of Alaska has been in many, many comic books as herself, as a zombie, and perhaps most unusually... as a steampunk hero fighting against the evils of Big Oil.

I totally didn't make that last bit up.

The news about Action Comics #900 breaks at a time where social issues and politics are a normal part of major comic storylines. “Fear Itself” promised to touch on real problems and the role of comics and the politics of their creators has been a frequent news item. Superman is something else. He was born on Krypton, but raised in Smallville, and his motto has been to fight for “Truth, Justice and the American Way.” This aspect of his character had a future Superman re-imagined as a tool and puppet for a corrupt dark future American Government in Frank Miller's “The Dark Knight Returns.” The current situation stems from the story “Grounded”, where Superman decides to walk across America, thinking about what he does and whether he's making any difference at all. He's been disillusioned by the US Government's anger when he appears in Tehran to non-violently support protesters there, and his presence is considered by Iran as an Act of War by the US.

I wonder what Perry White would have to say about this. Probably "Great Caesar's Ghost!"

Fans of comics have had decidedly mixed feelings on these sorts of stories. There has been criticism of comic books as a medium in the past as stagnant. Superhero comics marketed toward a fanbase that has grown up and who want mostly more of the same proved profitable. This led to nothing else being released, little innovation and no effort being made to reach out to new potential fans. The long-term consequences to the medium of this short-term profitable strategy changed comics, and many think the changes weren't for the better. Telling new sorts of stories publishers are trying to remain relevant by telling “not the stories that comics want, but the stories comics need.” Fans criticize the current trend with the argument that comics are escapist entertainment, and injecting real-world issues into them diminishes their power in that role.

What do you think?

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The Doctor is In. Not Dre, not Doolittle, not Demento... but Doctor DOOM!

When pondering the list of the greatest comic book villains of all time, a few names naturally spring to mind. The Joker, Magneto, Lex Luthor, and even The Red Skull, depending on your preference. For me, there's a name that tops the list, even if I understand the case made for other characters. That name is Victor Von Doom. I've already outed myself as primarily a Marvel Fanboy, so the fact that my favorite is a Marvel Villain shouldn't come as a huge shock, but why, of all the classic villains in the Marvel Universe, do I favor Doom so heavily? Wasn't he that lame European astronaut guy from the Fantastic Four movie?

Dammit Hollywood! THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS.

I've got a few reasons, specifically: depth of character development, character impact on the setting, successful completion of difficult-to-achieve goals, and general aesthetics (the “cool” factor.) While some of these are a function of how the character is written, some weight has to be given to the consistency over the years of his portrayal, and how that affects an average fan's view of the character. Any comic writer can write a villain that is ultra-powerful and wins all the time and is super-strong and super-smart BECAUSE THE WRITER SAID SO ARGLBLBLBLBL..... However, that doesn't make a villain great. Doom is a great villain.

Any well developed character has a consistent motive for their actions, a method of doing things, one or more character flaws, and the ability to grow in the context of a story. Doom's goals flow from his motives, and his primary motivation contains his defining flaw. As the son of a gypsy sorceress whose life was unfairly stolen and whose soul was damned in a deal with Mephisto, Doom spends his life in pursuit of revenge. He learns early on that having power over others allows you to do things others cannot, and pursuit of redress against any real or imagined slight is one of those things. He uses his intellect to develop both sorcerous might and scientific prowess, and turns those powers to accumulation of political and military power as well. His inability to tolerate perceived insult or wrongs perpetrated against him sets up his rivalry with his nemesis, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. Despite all this, he has adjusted his outlook over the years, even teaming up with Richards to protect or fight for something he wants even more.

He's intimidating even when he's not being actively evil.

I talk about character impact on a setting, in particular the Marvel Universe in the context that most superheroes participate in one, and only one facet of the world. One of these facets is the standard “crime and politics” level where most of the heroes and villains such as The Avengers, X-men and Spiderman, as well as the Fantastic Four and Iron Man operate. Another is the supernatural world of gods, demons and magic where Doctor Strange, Ghost Rider and even Blade typically do battle. The final “major” facet of the Marvel Universe is on a Cosmic level, Silver Surfer, Adam Warlock and other heroes and villains who operate on a galactic or even multi-dimensional level have their stories set here. Dr. Doom has proven time and time again that he is one of the greatest threats and most powerful figures in ALL of these areas.

Doom's success in each of these parts of the Marvel Universe is accompanied by his completion, at one time or another, of each of his goals, and he didn't exactly aim low. Dr. Doom has been driven primarily by three goals: Rescue the soul of his mother from damnation, best Reed Richards (and by extension, the Fantastic Four), and rule the world. Doom's facial scarring, sorcerous might, pursuit of science and start as a villain all came from trying to rescue his mother from Mephisto's clutches. This goal was finally accomplished when Dr. Doom entered a sorcerous contest to become Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. Doom defeated all challengers except Dr. Stephen Strange, and revealed that he was actually playing for 2^nd place, as the runner up earned the right to ask a boon of the winner. Doom named his boon, the assistance of Earth's Sorcerer Supreme in a team-up to rescue his mother's soul from Hell itself, an operation that was ultimately successful.

Oh yeah, still going even in the future.

As for his other two goals, Dr. Doom frequently bests Richards, if only temporarily, and has sent the Fantastic Four away in defeat more than once. In fact, in more recent confrontations, Doom insists that whatever rivalry or accounts there were to settle with Richards are long since closed. This isn't all that unusual for a comic book villain, but the completion of his third goal is a little more unusual. Dr. Doom has been successful in his bid to rule the world at least twice in two worlds (He ruled Counter-Earth with Storm as his queen.)  He has outsmarted and stolen (and later lost) the powers of such mighty cosmic beings as The Beyonder and Galactus, rules his home country of Latveria, and commands an army of robotic duplicates... and a time machine. One of his greatest triumphs was the successful domination of Earth through mass mind control, when he solved most of the world's problems with lessons he'd learned as a ruler, until he found the mindless servitude of a mind-controlled world unfulfilling, and essentially just let it all go. He ruled the world, and DEFEATED HIMSELF BECAUSE HE WAS BORED.

As for cool factor, the crimes against his character perpetrated by the Fantastic Four Hollywood film notwithstanding, he's a tough one to beat for character design. Originally inspired by images of the Grim Reaper, with cowl and cape, and vaguely skeletal mask with a suit of armor that also gives him a bit of a medieval look. His look has remained consistent, virtually unchanged since his first appearance in 1962, which is a feat all its own. He also holds the singular distinction of being one of the primary visual inspirations for another of the most important villains in popular culture...

...this guy.

Any other amazing villains out there? They won't take the title away from this guy in my mind, but I'd still like to hear some opinions. Sound off in the comments. Special Note: many thanks to the Marvel Wiki and Wikipedia for filling in the gaps in my memory. I did most of this from the top of my head, but rechecking details is always nice.

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All We Have to Fear...

 So, I talked a bit last week about C2E2. One of the more exciting things out of it was some of the details on this year's big crossover event. Yeah, I know. Marvel said they weren't doing those anymore, and frequently any major changes as a result of these things is retconned out of existence within a year or two. I know these things, but the little kid in me that read the original Secret Wars back in 1984 just doesn't give a good god-damn, so these events always get me excited about comics again.

This year, the big thing in Marvel is 'Fear Itself', which focuses, to no one's surprise, on the typically popular heroes in Marvel's bullpen, and highlights the characters with movies opening in the next year or so. This event is cast in the same mold as Civil War, where real-world concerns and yes, fears will be confronted by superheroes, and we'll get to see how having superpowers makes these fears worse, or better.

Picking which one of these to add to the article was tough, I recommend Googling the rest.

Early teaser images focus on two different themes, “Do you fear?” which shows some of the mightiest heroes confronting their own personal demons, and “Who Are The Worthy?” which has various Marvel heroes and villains struggling with each other to reach for these mystical hammers, which will feature heavily into the event. I like both of these campaigns to promote the books, and I'm especially fond of seeing some of the Marvel “B-list” characters right there in the fight with the big names. Marvel's version of Dracula, Grey Gargoyle, and Absorbing Man are right there in the fight... and it looks like one of those three will be a huge featured player.

The “Prologue” to the event is out, and I've read it and enjoyed it a whole lot. Fear Itself: Book of the Skull gives us a look back into a classic World War 2 Captain America/Red Skull story, and lays the groundwork for how the Red Skull's past affects the current events in the Marvel Universe. I've personally always liked the Skull a LOT, he's right behind Dr. Doom as my favorite villain in the Marvel Universe, and way back in the day, I owned the Dr. Doom/Red Skull Super Villain Team-up comic.

Much as I like him, this image is more badass than anything I can remember Red Skull ever doing.

Seeing Red Skull get his due as a major villain again after many years of mistreatment is really, really cool to me. Re-imagined from “ultimate Nazi mastermind” to Communist and later, common criminal gave Skully a few bad years there, but he's back, after a fashion, and his daughter Sin is one of the major villains of the piece, at least until we see the direct influence of who or what-ever the God of Fear turns out to be.

It looks like we're going to see fears from the mundane “state of the world today” variety to “what have I done, or might I do with my powers”, and I look forward to both. I'm sure that there will be criticism from political pundits, just like there was for Civil War, about the manner in which Global Events and their associated politics are presented, but this is to be expected. People's opinions are divided and polarized, and not even comics will be safe from those who want to throw out accusations and arguments.

...and then, there's Deadpool's take on the whole "hammers" thing.

So we've got a story with modern politics/current events, magic hammers a la Thor, The Red Skull and the God of Fear and a massive crossover with characters from all over the Marvel Universe fighting their fears both literally and figuratively. I am so in.

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5 Things That Ruled About C2E2

 I've returned from a weekend spent involved in plenty of geeky pursuits, but the big one was my trip to C2E2 on Saturday. For those unfamiliar with the convention, the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo is a massive show featuring comic books, sci-fi and fantasy celebrities, webcomics and games.

1. The Costumes. Any Comic or Anime Convention is going to have their share of fans wandering around in costume, of varying quality and from any number of original sources. This year had the usual suspects of dozens of stormtroopers, attention-starved “hot girls” in skimpy outfits and of course, even Sailor Dude. There were Wolverines and Rorshachs, and a few people who should not wear tights or spandex in any color, but there were so many clever and creative costumes, feats of craftsmanship and technical ability, just the other attendees were worth watching.
   
   

   

   When I said "Sailor Dude", you wish I'd meant some guy in a sailor suit, right? Yeah, me too.

   
   
   
   
2. The Exhibit Hall. The hall itself is the centerpiece of any successful big show, and this year's attractions did not disappoint. Marvel and DC Comics of course, had huge, incredibly slick booths with lines to stand in to pick up swag, talk with creators and see previews of what's coming next. (I especially liked the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent recruiting line, where I think they were giving away a car.) There were tattoo artists, vendors selling everything from the popular to the obscure in pop/geek culture, and plenty of different people and companies contributing to the show.
   
   
3. The Gaming Rooms. There were gaming facilities in both the “plugged” and “unplugged” varieties, available to any gamer who wanted to take a break from the other show areas. Video Gamers could get a quick fix with Free To Play game consoles running solo play, multiplayer and tournament play on a wide variety of titles. I saw a LOT of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 play, previews of the new Thor game and the usual Call of Duty/Modern Warfare gaming. The Tabletop Game Room had Magic:The Gathering Tournaments, Dungeons and Dragons sessions available to players at levels of skill from “What's All This Then?” to “Been There, Done That, Killed the Dragon.”
   
   

   

   One of the highlights of the show, if you get a chance to see her give a Q&A, don't miss it.

   
   
   
   
4. The Panels. There were panels and seminars given on comic creation, costuming, writing, Science Fiction Fandom and even Why Zombies Are Hilarious. My personal favorites were the celebrity Q&A panels in the IGN Theater. In my hours camped at my pretty decent seat for those panels, I watched Laurie Holden (Andrea) and Jon Bernthal (Shane) from AMC's The Walking Dead talk about character development, loss, and why Jon reflexively wants to bash in the skulls of people cosplaying as zombies. Later, Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), Brit Morgan (Debbie Pelt) and Kristen Bauer (Pam) from True Blood talked about their families' response to the show, the incredible fan reception and Sam always having to run around the cold woods in the nude. My favorite panel, though, was Tahmoh Penikett and Eliza Dushku, moderated by Chris Hardwick of Web Soup. Both of these actors have done a lot of work in sci-fi, really knew how to connect with the fans, were likeable, composed, and the whole Q & A session was hilarious, with a lot of talk about Dollhouse, Buffy and Battlestar Galactica. (I especially liked the running gag of Eliza discussing trying not to throw her “P-Word” around... she meant “producer”, and initially seemed ignorant of what everyone else present thought she meant.)
   
   

   

   Q: "What would you do in a real-life Zombie Apocalypse?" A: "Call up my buddy's wife, see what she's doing." THAT REALLY HAPPENED.

   
   
5. Hi-Chew. This Japanese candy had a booth and many people in unusual costumes passing out samples. I'm a fan of snack foods from Japan anyway, from Pocky to wasabi peas, but somehow I'd managed to miss this one. Wow. Imagine something between a Starburst and a piece of Bubbleicious gum, with more intense flavor than either. Great texture, I managed to try Mango, Grape and Strawberry samples, and they sold packs for a buck, profits headed to disaster relief in Japan. By the time I decided to actually purchase some, unfortunately I learned that He Who Hesitates is Lost, as they completely Sold Out.
   
   

   

   OMG Bliss. I'm getting fatter just thinking about these.

   
   

Another longish article, I will probably revisit my trip a few times this week, and for sure, come on back tomorrow to get the counterpoint to this one in “5 things that sucked about C2E2.” Overall, I really liked the show and had a great time, but... nothing and no one is perfect.

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Avengers Assemble! - Marvel Comics' Huge Movie Crossover

 One of the core questions I asked in my Geek Wars post was concerning the great comic book debate was: Marvel or DC? (Yes, I know hardcore geeks will argue that we get better stuff from smaller studios, and on some level I agree.. but I'm not a frakkin' geek-hipster. To most of the world, there's only the Big Two.)

Personally, I've always held strong feelings on this subject. Though the best 4-5 DC Comics characters are my flat-out favorite superheroes (c'mon... BATMAN) if I had to choose an allegiance to one comics book universe over the other, I'm a Marvel fanboy. The sheer number of interesting characters featured in Marvel's comics outweighs the few interesting members of DC's Justice League, for my tastes.

Make Mine Marvel. Excelsior! Yeah... I'm a dork.

This brings me to the Avengers Movie project. Marvel has done a pretty good job in putting the characters in its back catalogue on the big screen these last few years. Not all of the movies have been good, but fan response has taught them a few things. Namely, the more faithful you are to an original property, the better the fan response will be. Since the successful reboot of the Hulk movie franchise and the wild blockbuster that Iron Man turned out to be, Marvel put together a crazy dream. At least it is the sort of dream that geeks like me might have.

What if Marvel's biggest non-mutant superteam got its own movie? The first concern, of course, is that quite a few members of the Avengers have their own solo titles, deep backstories and rich character histories... to put them up on-screen as bit parts in an ensemble piece would do them a grave injustice, as far as fans are concerned. No problem, says Marvel. We'll do individual movies for each of the best characters in The Avengers, lay the crossover angle on thick, then bring all those characters together like a 1960s Supergroup and make the movie that ties them all together.

Better than Cream... but no Clapton.

Did I mention Joss Whedon was directing?

Before I crumble under the weight of a massive nerdgasm, there's a little bit of a reality check. Marvel purists will note that some of the characters are getting unusual rewrites, especially certain elements of Thor, which releases this year. Also, some elements have been taken from the Marvel Ultimates universe, which a lot of old-school comic geeks despise as an unnecessary pandering to the “X-treme” new generation... but since Ultimate Nick Fury was based on Samuel L. Jackson, I'd give that one a pass. Also, Edward Norton won't be coming back on as Bruce Banner after negotiations with the studio broke down.

Remaining films this year in the Avengers Project are the previously mentioned Thor, and then Captain America: The First Avenger. I'll likely do individual articles on each of these once I've seen them for myself, but some of what I've seen so far is at least encouraging.

Aside from Dr. Doom (who Hollywood did wrong by), one of my very favorite Marvel villains.

The studios claim that they've been listening, that they know how to hit the sweet spot between satisfying us hardcore geeks, and the blockbuster-hungry general moviegoing public. I've heard it before and been let down...(Ghost Rider... damn you Nicolas Cage) but this time around... I want to believe.

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