wow, week 2! maybe we’ll make it [i’m speaking too soon]. hope everyone’s doing well, i noticed the subscriber count jumped to 15, which is really cool! welcome everyone, glad to have you here! feel free to reply to posts and engage with me, i don’t bite :]
the past weekend, i went on vacation! i was at the beach, it was really nice to relax and sort of do nothing. i stood in the waters under the pale moonlight and just took it all in while waves kept crashing up to my knees, and leaving, ad infinitum. very, very relaxing, and i really needed that. good refresher.
i’ve got a couple of things on the itinerary today, so let’s dig into it!
i. tackling the history of a lived in, cohesive universe
a really cool book i read last week was MARVELS by kurt busiek, alex ross et al. i read the 25th anniversary edition, which collected all four issues, as well as issue #0 which came out after [drawn by alex ross, written by steve darnall based on alex ross’ guidelines], the annotations as well as other behind the scenes for the book.
my elevator pitch would basically go something like this:
“think the history of the fictional marvel universe, filtered through the history of marvel’s publishing”
in essence, it’s history as it was told. none of the retcons that were introduced after are present here, it’s just as is. so for example: wolverine’s world war 2 adventures aren’t documented here, as far as this book is concerned, that was the era of captain america, the original human torch, namor, etc.
of course, it’s not a ‘history book’ with facts and all that, it’s actually a story — told from the perspective of phil sheldon, a journalist. we get to see through the eyes of a human how a regular world suddenly becomes a world filled with people beyond our wildest imaginations, from the original human torch all the way to galactus! alongside that, we get to see his growth as a person and the very human fears that come with an evolving world.
it’s a real phenomenal story, but what i want to focus more is the conceptual idea behind it all - and how, to me, it does the whole “history lesson” right.
in the 25th anniversary trade, they included the four proposals kurt busiek wrote up for it. in the very first paragraph of the first one, he says this:
MARVELS is a six-issue bookshelf-format fully-painted Limited Series that celebrates Marvel's greatest characters - taking the opportunities offered by fully-painted art (along with the considerable skills of artist Alex Ross) to show a different side of the Marvel characters than is usually seen.
a few paragraphs later, we get this key point:
We want to show the Marvel heroes as marvels, in the literal sense of the word.
celebration is the key thing here, and that’s on top of busiek being a very big continuity-head [which should come as no surprise, have you seen the annotations page on avengers forever?] but the other thing they do is not let this story get bogged down by “continuity” or any of that nonsense. it’s a love letter to the marvel universe - earth 616 specifically, but also a love letter to marvel’s publication history, that anyone can pick up, even if they haven’t really read many marvel comics.
you may ask: “well, since this story is so rooted in continuity, how come you’re saying it’s not held back by it?”
to answer this, let’s take a look at wolverine. he’s a character whose history has been built up on year after year, and to put into perspective in context of this book, has existed before the original human torch [the android]. now, a book so loving to continuity could have pointed that out, but instead it takes what i consider to be the correct route:
it frames the original human torch as the first hero in this universe [and then namor as the second]. it’s not concerned with ‘retcons’ or whatever. it takes real world publishing history of the human torch being marvel’s first hero, and makes that textual.
it gives so much texture to the universe this way. like yeah, obviously the first hero because of which marvel comics exists today is also the first hero (literally in this instance, but in a wider scope - the first one that matters) in the universe. in the same ways we say b.c. and a.d., there’s a time before the torch, and after the torch. it’s an idea deniz camp carries onto the new ultimates book too!
in fact, to quote him about it from the interview i took of him:
With the Human Torch, I thought there would be some wonderful symmetry that my first story in this world was going to be the Free Comic Book issue, where they would be bringing back Marvel’s first superhero. When you think about the thematics of this book, which is so, so deep into revolution and freedom fighting. There was a resonance there with the lighting of the torch, you know, lighting of the fire. And I love Marvels. So on one level it was a nice callback to Marvel history, and the series Marvels, which kind of proposes that the Human Torch was the first Marvel superhero, and also the first superhero in actual Marvel history. It just worked thematically, the torch, the molotov cocktail, and also it made logical sense to me at least that Captain America would want to reactivate someone that he knew was one of his good friends if he knew about it. So everything kind of fit into place to make that a perfect choice, I thought.
it comes to mind a lot because of the constant discourse surrounding superman and the justice society of america - where people like to argue that superman shouldn’t be the first hero because in the “lore” [terrible word, yuck] the jsa showed up, and that stuff is just such bullshit to me, i’m sorry.
if someone were to do ‘marvels’ for dc, superman should absolutely be the first. he’s not only dc’s first superhero, but he’s also the world’s first superhero. there’s a world before and after superman, and that’s something that should be woven into the fabric of the dc universe. sure, have your heroes before superman, but as far as what really matters, superman’s the one that kickstarts the “heroic age”, so to speak, that’s who he should be.
anyway, tangent aside, the other reason why it works is because we see it through the lens of phil sheldon. in our superhero comics, we almost always view these fantastical things from the perspective of our heroes (and in some cases villains), so to have phil be the narrator and protagonist allows us to really see the scale (which alex ross portrays fantastically). it’s practically objective, but also so much is filtered out — it’s the perfect encapsulation of marvel’s motto, “the world outside your window.”
cool book, go read it.
ii. what did i read this week?
ultimate spider-man #6, that’s what!
i talked a bunch about the arc as a whole over at gatecrashers so i won’t waste your time here. it’s so good. it’s so cool to be a spider-man fan. i love it here.
batman #149
i know people have their problems with this book, but i’m just having a blast. this issue centers around bruce and his clone created by zur-enn-arrh. his clone’s aging is accelerated, so it’s a story of bruce trying to cure him against time, only to essentially live with him up until his death. it’s really sweet, and i dug that.
what i didn’t dig is the return to the ‘billionaire’ status quo. i do understand why, it’s been a while, but between james tynion iv’s batman run, mariko tamaki’s detective comics and ram v’s detective comics, there was a lot they did with the set up. alas, all good things must come to an end.
i don’t necessarily mind ‘pennyworth manor’ or the family living together, but one of my complaints of this run as a whole is how much it seems like it’s trying to tackle “fandom complaints” and the like. i just hope this doesn’t go down that line, but otherwise, pretty good!
amazing spider-man #52
another book with a lot of people that hate it - but once again, i am not that guy. killer art, and a killer story too. for once, as someone who really likes chasm conceptually (as well as the design, it’s an awesome design), it was cool to see him utilized well. i wasn’t annoyed at him for once, and seeing him face off against peter was awesome. can’t wait to see where the next issue takes us!
destro #1
[don’t ask me about the cover’s quality, i pulled it off of image’s website]
this was really cool! energon universe continues to be my favourite new initiative in american comics alongside ultimate universe. i love watters’ work, and utilizing the set up of this universe to tell a story about privatized militaries and the arms race that would very obviously exist fucking rules. go read this.
wonder woman #10
okay, it has to be said. when i first read this issue, my immediate initial reaction was: “how did the most heterosexual comics writer of our time write an issue with the most intense sapphic undertones i’ve read in a wonder woman comic in a while?”
wild stuff. i do think it’s still plagued by the same problems i’ve been having - the narration is annoying, and the dialogue is too stiff, but that aside, this is the best issue so far. i liked the backup too [but i usually do, they’re fun backups!]
other stuff i read were: batman/superman: world’s finest #28, immortal thor #12, nightwing #115, doctor strange #16 and invincible iron man #19. i don’t have much to say about these to be frank. really liked doctor strange, nightwing was stupid - which sucks because i thought the previous was decent, world’s finest was fine, iron man felt like it speedran through events.
immortal thor… i think i need to let that book build up and binge it, because the monthly model for this simply is not working for me unfortunately.
speaking of comics initiatives though, the horizon initiative, spearheaded by pornsak pichetshote got announced recently. the idea is doing these genre stories with diverse characters, but stories that are rooted in those character’s backgrounds, that are impossible to do with other characters. it’s really cool, and involves a lot of creators who’s work i’ve read [and some who’s work i haven’t]. very excited to see where it goes!
iii. chappell roan!
after weeks of hearing about her on twitter [now known as x], i finally listened to her debut album, ‘the rise and fall of a midwest princess’ during my road trip to the beach, and i’m surprised how much i loved it. in fact, i loved it so much that i’ve listened to the whole album at least six times by now [in fact, i’ve been listening as i write this].
it’s so high energy, it’s so bold - i love the way she’ll zip through various styles throughout her tracks, it’s fucking awesome. i still don’t know how to really write about music, but i do know this:
chappell roan’s gearing up to be one of the best pop stars of our time if she keeps this up. i can feel it in my bones.
iv. cool reads
between vacation and work, i admittedly have not read much, so this will have to be short.
piper, a very close friend of mine reviewed batman/superman: world’s finest #28! i’m not too big on this book, but i always love reading a different perspective on it — something piper delivers every month.
jordan, another friend of mine wrote a retrospective on mad max: beyond thunderdome. jordan’s always got smart things to say, and this is a real good, insightful look into that movie, so if you like mad max (or just want to read good pieces on movies), go read it!
quinn, another close friend and my gatecrashers editor for marvel stuff wrote a review on the first episode of season four of the boys! if you’ve been on the fence on whether you should check this season out, go let him convince you.
v. what’s next for me?
hiX-men essay. it’s in the works. i’m very excited. i’m gonna do some cool graphics for it, hopefully cooler than the ultimate spider-man one i made for this week’s piece. but this one should be out next week, or atleast, by the end of june.
i’ve also been playing a.i. the somnium files, which is an interesting little game. i’ll talk about it more next week.
speaking of next week, i thought i’d ask what you guys want to read me talk about next week:
batman’s timelessness - and superman’s lack thereof
characterization in today’s superhero comics - and something that’s missing
anyways, that’s all from me this week. let me know what you’d like to read next week in the replies, and also just talk to me in general. what’s up!
chat soon,
zee.
vi. consider donating!
united nations reliefs and works agency for palestine refugees in the near east