Our thoughts are scattered throughout the multiverse this week, so let’s indulge in a few mini-rants!
Mini-Rant The First
Civil War: Frontline earned the dubious distinction last week of breaking the Internet in half yet again.
The Keeper planned a long, vituperative spiel against Marvel’s dubious spins on patriotism and heroism … but really, there’s no point. If Sally Floyd truly represents Editorial’s world view, then the Quesada cabal is simply too far gone to give a damn about anything.
If Floyd’s “MySpace - Love It Or Leave It” scree is the company’s insincere attempt to appear “with it,” then the Keeper will stick with Robert Kanigher’s I Am Curious (Black).
Either way, we’re very depressed.
Mini-Rant The Second
Speaking of Marvel 2K7, Pillock at A Trout In The Milk wrote a fascinating essay that argued - among many other points - that Quesada & Co. have transformed the House Of Ideas into multiple pitches for Michael Bay films. It’s an interesting observation that demonstrates how the Q regime has thoroughly inverted the Marvel paradigm.
For decades, the company was known for ripping off popular trends to connect with the Zeitgeist. (Example: The Exorcist + Evel Knieval = Ghost Rider). In each instance, pop-culture concepts were warped to fit the peculiar demands of comic-book orthodoxy - i.e., “Let’s create our own Godzilla but make it wear purple pants!”
Civil War, however, warps the comics medium itself to better resemble such pop signposts as 24 or Prison Break. Now, the “whatever it takes” mentality of Jack Bauer is the apex of heroism, while idealists like Captain America are portrayed as blubbery old farts.
(Like the stereotypical authority figure who is unable to recognize the Way Things Really Work ™ - a staple in action movies since time immemorial.)
It’s an approach that certainly yields short-term success, but also sells out the comics medium. The best comics fuse illustration and the written word in a manner that easily matches other art forms. If Marvel is simply turning into “Bruckheimer on paper,” then the company will lose much of the intrinsic strength that attracted its legions of readers in the first place.
Mini-Rant The Third
If Marvel truly wishes to ape Hollywood, the Q Continuum should pay closer attention to Battlestar Galactica. Although the conclusion of Sunday’s episode was apparent long before the closing credits, the Keeper still found himself shocked and strangely moved by the latest chapter of Starbuck’s life.
The episode’s power is largely derived from the series excellent cast, with Katee Sackhoff doing an especially fine job as the rapidly unraveling Starbuck.
However, the writers themselves deserve substantial credit for possessing the foresight and skill to ensure the show’s overriding concepts do not force the characters to behave in an “unrealistic” manner. Nothing spoils serialized fiction more quickly than “shocking twists” that violate everything a character represents for little more than a momentary jolt.
Are you paying attention, Mr. Millar?
Mini-Rant The Fourth
Spurred by the Comic Treadmill’s way-cool Scaled-Down Smack-Down, the Keeper picked up the Marvel Essentials Ant-Man collection over the weekend.
Although Hank Pym is a complete tool these days, the guy fought the good fight each time he led an army of ants against such master villains as Egghead and The Porcupine.
If for no other reason, however, Hank deserves comic-book immortality for practicing his judo skills on a rampaging ant …
Clearly, Marvel has failed to grasp Hank’s true potential.
Mini Mini Mini-Rant The Fifth
The conclusion of Allan Heinberg’s Wonder Woman arc won’t appear until September? Kurt Busiek’s Krypto story shelved indefinitely? That’s lame … *grumble*
Mini-Rant The Final
Our not-especially-popular foray into Golden Age comics has unearthed MLJ’s Hangman, a masked vigilante who took the gruesome violence of those early Batman tales and dialed it up to 11.
His rogues gallery was populated with grotesque murderers who invariably met their ends as violently as possible. The conclusion of each adventure saw a remorseless Hangman proclaim that crime didn’t pay - a maxim he enforced with great enthusiasm.
In fact, the guy was such a tough SOB that he even took a bullet to the head …
… and managed to shrug it off!
Ha! We’d like to see the all-new, face-ripping Moon Knight top that!
(Hmmm … on second thought we don’t want to see that at all.)
At any rate, it’s hard to believe The Hangman was created by the same company that brought us Archie.
Oh yeah, we also bought a few comics last week as well. If anyone still cares, reviews are under the cut …
