Sunday, August 27, 2006

What I'm Reading...

As you will quickly learn in these blogs, I am a tiny bit of a comic book fanatic. Okay, take that last sentence and replace “tiny bit” with “massive.”

I think comics often get a bum rap and are considered childish because people make snap decisions about them. They think that every line of dialogue still ends in an exclamation point or a question mark. That is not true. It might have been that way back in the ‘60s but no more.

I feel that comics have all the depth, intrigue, characterization, and storytelling flair of any media. And right now, for me, there is nothing bigger than Marvel Civil War. Civil War is a seven-part story that is echoing throughout the Marvel Universe. You can see its effects in New Avengers, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Thunderbolts, all sorts of books.
In the story, a film crew captured video of a young group of inexperienced heroes attempting to apprehend a powerful villain. When the fight turned ugly, half of Stamford, Connecticut was vaporized and Ground Zero was an elementary school. Now this is some pretty serious stuff, far and away bigger than your average bubble-gum pop story meant for kids.

Because of this event, the government passed into law the Superhero Registration Act. It required all super-powered individuals to register into a secure database, receive training with their powers, and… reveal their secret identities. Half of the Marvel Universe praised the idea. The other have gave the government the finger. Battle lines were drawn. And this is not just bad guys vs. good guys. This is good guys vs. good guys. Failure to register became a crime, so those that failed to register became criminals.
The Defenders of the Act: Iron Man, Spider-Man, Mr. Fantastic, Ms. Marvel.
Opponents of the Act: Wolverine, Daredevil, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman… and the leader of the opposition is none other than my man Captain America.

So it’s Iron Man vs. Captain America. Best friends for years and this division is just causing a downward spiral in the Marvel U. Big events have happened in the series including but not limited to Spider-Man unmasking in front of a live press conference and the return from the grave of Thor the Norse God of Thunder. (I'm hoping against hope that we will see the return of Hawkeye -- one of my all time favorites who died several yeas ago during Avengers: Disassembled.)
Translation: Man, it is a great time for comics.
This has been a fantastic read, I’d highly recommend picking it up or wait a few months for the Trade Paperback to become available.
Ryan Foley -- Comic Geek

1 comment:

Brandon Midgley said...

Wow! It's like accidentally discovering satan's email address.

You are totally "hip" and "with it" and "groovy" as the kids say.