Greetings Fellow Comic Fans!
Before we get into this article, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to Stan ‘The Man’ Lee. He was the face of Marvel and co-creator of the most memorable characters in comic history. His creations and their stories shaped my childhood and ultimately helped me to become the halfway decent person I am today. While there are lots of other creators that are just as important, Stan Lee held a special place in my heart and he’s the reason I explored writing in the first place.
Back when I was in 3rd or 4th grade, we were told to write a paragraph about someone important to us. Fictional people were not approved, so I couldn’t write about Spider-Man. Most of my classmates wrote about a family members, friends, or someone they actually knew. I wrote about a man named Stanley Lieber, who everyone knows as Stan ‘The Man’ Lee. He was important to me at that time because he created my favorite comic book character, Spider-Man, and the content that he created told stories with morals and his work inspired and fueled my imagination. We need those morals now more than ever, in our world today.
He became more important to me as I got older because of who he was – a fellow geek who loved to create content for others to enjoy.
I was lucky enough to meet him in passing while in California. He had my writing portfolio given to him by another major company that I was interviewing for. He was an amazing person and cared so much about what I had to say and about my work. I was given genuine compliments and tips from him. I wish I’d gotten an autograph or a picture, but that wasn’t the time or place to do that.
Many don’t know about his Star Trek connection. Small though it may be, it’s there: http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Stan_Lee
I feel like I lost a family member on Monday. I’m sure many of you feel that way too. I wish I’d been lucky enough to actually know him or be friends with him. We all knew his time was growing shorter, but that doesn’t make his passing any easier.
I want you all to know, that if you need to cry with someone, I’m here. I’ll ugly cry with you. Don’t be ashamed of showing your feelings for someone you never knew. He’s important to lots of people because of his work. While he may be gone, his work is still here for us to continue to be inspired by.
Mr. Lee, go boldly, one last time.
~ Excelsior!
Art not mine. Credit to the artist.
In my Comic Box Recap article series, I want to talk about each of the comics that I read from my subscriptions that week. I don’t always read all the comics I order, because I’m only collecting some of them. Others are ones I may have started reading, but lost interest in but I still order them. You never know when you may want to go back and revisit a series at a later date.
*** SPOILER WARNING ***
Do not read any further if you are trying to avoid SPOILERS!
Marvel
Avengers #10 (#700)
This issue is crammed full of crazy goodness! Namor’s Ocean Defenders are a freaky lot that I am definitely digging as bad guys. I know Namor isn’t a bad guy and he shows it towards the end when he takes down some of the Piranhas. I love Echidna and Bloodtide! So, Bloodtide didn’t always look like she crawled out of a well in a horror movie. She was muscular and pretty, but I definitely prefer this version. I absolutely love Echidna’s look too. I’m not a fan of Tiger Shark or Orka, but they fit into the group’s meanie theme. King Crab is absolutely hilarious and I love him! I couldn’t find any previous appearances, so I guess he’s a new dude. Manowar didn’t do much except get destroyed by the Crimson Dynamo. I’m not sure how Andromeda fits into this group yet, but then again, Namor kind of doesn’t fit either – not the way I see him anyway. I guess it’s a good thing the Winter Guard showed up to help the Avengers or Namor’s merry band of meanies could have defeated them.
Speaking of the Winter Guard, I had never heard of them until now. But I don’t read Iron Man and I never read the Avengers until this run and that seems to be where you can find most of their appearances (according to Wikis). They are basically the Avengers of Russia and each one looks like a counterpart to one of the Avengers. But if you’re expecting to see the Avengers, just with a Russian accent, you’re going to be in for a surprise. They do not have the personalities of the Avengers at all. Crimson Dynamo may be the only one that acts like an Avenger, but the rest are rude, ruthless, and deadly. I don’t dislike the Winter Guard at all. I actually find them interesting and different enough that I’d read a book based on them alongside an Avengers title.
In this issue, the US government isn’t happy about the change in leadership within the ranks of the Avengers. They want Captain America to stay in charge so the government feels like they have ‘control’ over the super team. I support the Avengers in the change of leadership and I stand by Cap. He told General Ross, “And the Avengers don’t work for any country. We fight for the Earth.” I wanted to jump out of my seat and cheer because that’s exactly how superheroes should be. Governments have agendas and bias versus others that don’t agree with them. No government or country should have absolute control over a team of superheroes like the Avengers. I don’t like General Ross and I don’t like that he recruited Phil Coulson to bring in the Squadron Supreme of America. It looks like a bunch of the founding members of the original Squadron Supreme are there; Hyperion, Nighthawk, Whizzer, Doctor Spectrum, and Princess Power. I only know who they are because they are basically the Marvel version of the JLA; Superman (Hyperion), Batman (Nighthawk), Flash (Whizzer), Green Lantern (Doctor Spectrum), and Wonder Woman (Princess Power). It looks like there are going to be several clashes of super teams on the horizon!
After what appears to be the conclusion of the ‘main’ story content, we get several mini stories. The first one is about Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes, getting attacked by drunk Odin, but then sitting and having a nice long talk with him. I don’t see what purpose this portion of the book served, other that to fill close to ten pages. The only thing I got from it is Robbie wants to learn more about the Riders that came before him, but I thought I already knew that. The next mini story is about Loki, who is standing among the Celestials, and they just took his Infinity Stones… wait… nobody told me this would tie into Infinity Wars… But then, who should appear, but Wolverine! I was absolutely done with this mini story at this point, but I kept reading. I think there’s something going on with Star Brand, because the symbol is all over the art and Odin was trying to kill Robbie for killing Star Brand. But Loki refers to Wolverine as a host to the Phoenix Force because he calls him a Phoenix Wolverine. But then that’s it and it moves on to the next mini story with Wasp doing a recon mission, but going somewhat rogue and deciding to extract the target instead. We find out that it’s Blade and she’s trying to recruit him as an Avenger.
I could have gone the rest of my life without reading those mini stories. I didn’t like any of them and all the Loki/Wolverine one did was confuse me. But the first half of the issue was great, so I’ll just stick to reading that part when I go back to read it again.
Captain Marvel Prelude #1
I absolutely love these Prelude titles. They really help recap everything you should know prior to the release of a Marvel movie. This one hit me kind of hard though. It brought back all the raw emotion of watching Avengers: Infinity War for the first time. I was in tears in the theater and at the final scene where Fury pages Captain Marvel, I cried harder. The end of this book is basically that scene from Infinity War and with the recent passing of Stan Lee, seeing this scene again hurts really bad. It’s all because of this one piece of art that someone did.
Art not mine. Credit to the artist.
I can’t wait for the Captain Marvel movie. I love Captain Marvel and I’m excited to see her on the big screen. If you’d like a nice recap to get you ready for the movie, this is the book you want.
Fantastic Four #3
I love this title so much. I love how the Fantastic Four can come up with a solution that’s ‘out of the box’, so to speak. I couldn’t predict how they were going to defeat Griever because the information needed for the solution was too obscure and that’s how I like it. All you know is that Reed wants one telepod left in tact on the ship and he sends Val (Brainstorm) to the broken telepod. That’s all we know until the plan comes to fruition. I had a feeling he was going to strand Griever in the universe they were in, but he was actually more forgiving and gave her a way home to her own universe. They plan to use the telepod that Val repairs to go home, which is what I thought they were going to use the one on her ship for.
I have to give major kudos to Dan Slott. He’s got a talent for keeping me guessing and he also has the ability to mix the right about of serious and comedy. The panels with Spider-Man are hilarious! Especially when he’s getting ready to give his speech to Franklin, but he’s picked up by the scruff of his neck by Ben (Thing), and put to the side. I love it! Ben gives Franklin the motivation he needs instead of the pressure that Spidey’s speech would have put on his young shoulders. There’s nothing wrong with the “Great Power/Great Responsibility” speech, but it’s not always what someone needs to hear.
I also love the speech Reed gives about how he acknowledges magic as a science he doesn’t yet understand. It shows folks that it’s okay if you don’t understand something. You shouldn’t be scared of it, just know that it exists and you don’t have to explain it. That’s much like the entities that claim to be gods. They exist and he acknowledges their existence. Not to get all philosophical or anything on you folks, but it’s okay to acknowledge that others have a different belief in a deity or higher power without you adhering to that belief too. That’s the life-applicable message that I got from this, and it’s a very important one.
I also got the very obvious message that’s kind of thrown in your face – family is important. Everyone has a different view of family. You don’t have to be related by blood to be family. Reed pulled in his ‘family’ for help, which consisted of every member of the Fantastic Four that there had ever been (as far as we know). I have an extended family beyond my blood family. I totally understand this message.
I have to say, I was almost misty eyed when Franklin and Ben yelled, “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” together. What a great moment and it was captured beautifully. I know, I’m gushing a little over this book. It’s nice to have a book that has so much mushy stuff in it.
The only thing I didn’t like was the end. There wasn’t another page to read after the last page. I love when books leave me wanting more. I was only confused by one part in the book and that was when the Hulk (Bruce Banner, I assume), told Human Torch to keep it a secret that he was there. I’m not totally sure why that happened – unless it’s something to do with something going on in another book that I’m not fully aware of. I know the Hulk was dead, but I thought he came back already? Oh well, I’m sure I’ll figure it out at some point.
I loved the scene at the end, with all four of them together and I absolutely can’t wait for the next issue!
Boom! Studios
Firefly #1
I was so excited to get this book, but I think I let my excitement carry me away. It wasn’t terrible, by any means, but it didn’t feel like Firefly to me. It’s missing something and I can’t quite put my finger on it. The story has a decent start, so we’ll see how the upcoming issues pan out. I wish I had more than that, but I don’t. I just wasn’t excited or disappointed with this issue – just kind of, meh.
IDW
Star Trek vs Transformers #2
Now this is a series that’s been most entertaining for someone who loves Star Trek! I have almost no knowledge of Transformers, but I’m definitely liking a lot of what I see. I’m not surprised that the Klingons decided to help the Decepticons by letting them utilize their cloaking device. That’s totally something those smooth-headed dishonorable Klingons would do! I was also happy to see that Megatron isn’t a complete idiot like most villains from the 80’s. He actually wanted to know how the Klingons could be useful and I have a feeling he would have literally disposed of them if they didn’t have a good answer.
I don’t like the way Scotty comes off with his “they’re as human as us” speech. Vulcans aren’t humans… Neither are Andorians or Catians. Humans aren’t the only race in the galaxy and they’re not the superior race of the Star Trek universe either. That was poor judgement on the writers’ parts. It definitely feels like TOS/TAS with a comment like that, and maybe that’s what the writers were aiming for. If so, they hit the mark. But I was hoping for a little more updated writing. I honestly feel like I’m reading an episode that could have been made in the 70’s or 80’s though.
So, with my limited Transformers knowledge, I have to figure out if Jazz is always that much of a jerk, or he’s just like that in this series. I don’t like him at all because of his personality. I’m also not a fan of Bumblebee. He seems kind of annoying. The rest of the Autobots seem kind of cool though.
One thing Kirk is definitely known for is how much of a flirt he is, but he’s also well known for how much he likes to take risks. The final panel had me laughing so hard. You have Kirk with a raised eyebrow and sly grin asking Ratchet, “Okay, my large metal friend, what kind of risk do you have in mind?” I read that and saw that face and instantly burst into laughter. That’s exactly how I see Shatner’s Kirk and they captured it perfectly! It’s as if Kirk is flirting with danger!
Conclusion
Most of the comics I had this week were entertaining and great reads. I can’t say that I actually disliked any of them, but surprisingly, Firefly was my least favorite. I still can’t quite figure out what’s wrong, but it doesn’t feel right. Maybe it’s the interaction between Mal and Inara, or the way Inara and Book were just chilling during the whole ship crisis… I don’t know for sure. I hope the next issue is better or I’ll be extremely disappointed. At least I won’t go in with such high expectations for issue #2.
Fantastic Four was probably my favorite book for the week. I liked pretty much every bit of it and Dan Slott is a talent that I admire. But as I mentioned already, I didn’t really dislike anything from this week.
What are you reading?
Is there a series I should be reading?
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A good book is the best vacation!
Dice Dice Kitty 