Hello and welcome to the 07/20/2016 edition of The Comic Shop Blog!
I am happy to be back and I have oh so many things to talk about today.
First… Recent events with Captain America, and other characters radically delineating from the status quo has really got me thinking about the way that I look at comics in general. I think for the better part of 20 years I’ve been looking at comic history the wrong way. Every time there is a radical change we hear the outcry “Iceman was never gay in his history” or “Thor was never a woman”, and so on. The thing is that this line of thinking is right & wrong. True in the publication history these characters never had these character traits thrust upon them, but false in the sense that it is not true history. Comics by their very nature are folklore or legends that are molded & shaped by the person telling the story. Each volume resets the meter to zero and allows the next storyteller or storytellers to impart their own unique vision, values, and thoughts into the narrative. If you happen to not appreciate the current folklore vote with your dollars, and wait for the next volume to come around & the next story to be told.
Second… I chose not to see X-men: Apocalypse as I just dreaded another affair with the entire universe in the balance. These movies have been as dark & dreary as a Zach Snyder wet dream, and this was a summer that I could not take another go round with destruction porn. I’ll check it out for $1 out of the Redbox, but by most reports from friends I’m not missing much. I very much enjoyed “First Class”, “DOFP”, & the first two X-men movies. I find; however, that they suffer from the same fundamental flaw as the Transformer franchise and the DC Snyder Murderverse in that they get that these are characters, but they misread who they are at their core.
Third… I did; however, see “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows” and I really enjoyed for the most part. They did a lot to change the things that bothered me most about the first one, and I have to say Beebop & Rocksteady were very cool to see in a live action form. That said I thought Stephen Amell’s prepubescent, wannabe detective version of Casey Jones was grating and annoying, and Tyler Perry was absolutely over the top as Baxter Stockman. Also how is Shredder alive? Kind of glossed over that one.
Fourth…DC’s “Rebirth” has begun and your humble blogger is sooooo happy. The return of Wally West, the reemergence of Nightwing, and seeing all kinds of “hopeful” changes to what had become a tedious Universe to navigate has me feeling quite good. With that though…
Fifth… DC has unleashed a hellish middle finger to “Watchmen” creator Allan Moore with the new norm of the Dr. Manhattan being the unseen force causing all the grief for the DC heroes over the last few years. Not that this particular use of his character is a middle finger, but that they are using the characters explicitly to hold on to the rights is kind of a low blow. Not that Moore deserves any pity, but it’s a crummy way to do business. To add to it Moore’s Batman story “The Killing Joke” is due for a limited theatrical release followed by a DVD/Blu Ray that will surely make a nice bit of coinage for DC’s movie division.
Sixth… Speaking of divisions as a consumer I am very concerned about the divided nature of Marvel’s house. Dr. Strange will represent the first Marvel movie made without the input of the comic division, and I’m not sure how comfortable I am with the leading comic book franchise bailing out on the people that understand the source material. It hasn’t worked for DC and they reversed course by bringing Geoff Johns onboard for future film products, and it gives me pause to see Marvel moving in that direction. At the same time the TV & Movie people have had a clear rift and it’s a little disheartening as well as it looks increasingly less likely that there will be much crossover in the future despite the marketing that “it’s all connected”. I’m okay with Daredevil remaining as a sole defender of an urban area, but Luke Cage, Punisher, & even Jessica Jones have had major impacts on the main Avengers storylines in the past. That said both divisions seem to be doing quite well for themselves it’s just frustrating to have awkward lip service wedged in once a year on “AOS” to promote the main movie narrative while that courtesy does not go both ways.
I think that’s plenty for today so farewell, godspeed, happy reading, and I will see you next time at The Comic Shop!
