Ok… As if my opinion on this mattered to the “head shed” at Marvel… And as if my previous musings on the whole Captain America thing hadn’t already been made abundantly clear… LEAVE THIS GUY ALONE! HE’S DEAD!

The whole Marvel Civil War thing seemed to me to be a case of blatant political bullshit, but in spite of itself, having an overarching storyline provided a lot of room for some fairly significant development of both the minor and major characters. Of course, when you basically “out” over half of the worlds’ superheroes, you introduce a human element that makes the characters a bit more believable. And the assassination of Steve Rogers, Captain America, was the capstone to this whole shebang. Kill a major character, let the world mourn, have some random heroes carry the mantel of the fallen hero for a while… Boo freakin hoo! So all that’s left to fill the cookie cutter plotline that’s been used for oh, fifty years or so, is for the fallen hero to be resurrected.

So guess what?

Bucky Barnes was the sidekick to the Cap’n for a number of years during the WWII era. He was just an orphan kid (another tired sidekick theme) who hung around the Army base where his Dad was stationed. He accidentally walked in on Steve Rogers changing into his Captain America outfit, and vowed to keep his secret if the Captain would train him. So Bucky Barnes became one of the few Marvel teen sidekicks. However, as destiny would have it, he didn’t last long. During the same ill-fated mission that left the Captain in suspended animation, frozen in an iceberg, Bucky was supposedly killed, never to be brought back… Until it was convenient.

So we have the story of the Winter Soldier, who is really Bucky Barnes. After the accident that supposedly killed him, the Soviets found a body floating in the Arctic, missing an arm. They nursed him back to life, gave him a cybernetic arm, and reprogrammed his mind, occasionally reviving him from his semi-permanent suspended animation to go on missions of ultimate importance.

Eventually he meets up with Captain America, who eventually is able to restore Bucky’s memories, but before they can fully reconcile, Steve Rogers is shot and killed. Blaming Tony Stark (Iron Man) for Steve’s death, Bucky plans to kill him, but ends up just stealing the Captain’s shield, hoping to keep Mr. Stark from appointing someone else to replace Steve. It is finally revealed that before his death, Steve had secrety written Tony Stark, asking him to take care of Bucky. Bucky decides to take on the mantle of the red, white, and blue, and Stark decided to secretly support him, even though it would be illegal for him to do so since Bucky intends to keep his secret identity.

So now we’ve got a new Captain America.

But if you’re really going to kill off a major character, then do it. Make it final. Retconn him or her in 20 years, not in 6 months. Captain America’s “resurrection” is only slightly justified by the fact that it’s really Bucky under that shield and mask. But I guess it was destined to happen – many have worn the shield from the Punisher to Power Man, to the cadre of miscellaneous guys in the 50’s and 60’s. They could at least give him some long-forgotten vial of the Super Soldier serum to give him something other than a shield, gun, and a cybernetic arm. I’ll bet it doesn’t even shoot lasers!!! Sheesh!

I’m usually not a huge fan of mixing apocalyptic biblical metaphors with current events, or even fiction. I get enough of that watching overdressed, overweight, sweaty TV preachers with prophecy charts trying to convince me that Saddam Hussein is the antichrist, that there are 88 reasons why Jesus is going to come in 1988, and why the european union will somehow become the devil’s political pawn. But after recently reading the Kingdom Come story, I’m going to bend this particular rule just a bit.

We’re told the story through the eyes of a preacher, who comes to the aid of the Specter, and is assigned the task of viewing the events and passing judgement on the evil doers. The story is set some decades in the future, where the current generation of heroes have aged a bit, and the world is a considerably different place. Superman is in self-imposed exile. Green Lantern has established an outpost in space, and guards against an alien invasion that may never come. The Flash can no longer even move at normal speeds, and is in constant motion. Etc, etc. Most, if not all of the superheroes we know and love have “stepped back” from active duty for one reason or another.

But the beat goes on, or so the story goes. The vacancy left by these heroes is filled by a younger, more brazen group of super-powered beings, some of whom are hard to discern whether they are hero or villain. One super-dude in particular, Magog, becomes the catalyst for much of the conflict. We’re also told that Magog was the reason that Superman went into retirement, when, after killing several people that worked at the Daily Planet, including Lois Lane, the Joker was brought to trial. As he was being escorted into custody, the Joker was killed by Magog. Superman brought Magog in to be tried for murder, and found out that the public sided with Magog. Hopelessly depressed by the public’s loss of confidence in him, and by the death of Lois, Superman went into retreat at his fortress of solitude.

The point of crisis in this story comes as a group of semi-heroes, called the Justice Batallion, led by Magog, attempt to capture a villain known as the Parasite, and in the ensuing battle, Captain Atom is killed, his nuclear energy released on the surrounding Kansas countryside. The fallout kills many and leaves a significant portion of the Midwestern United States irradiated and unlivable. This event drives Superman to come out of retirement and confront the new heroes – his “second coming” of sorts.

Of course, these new heroes think that Superman is hopelessly outdated and clueless about the nature of reality. And a new conflict is birthed out of the ethical and moral cleansing that Superman begins to institute. Essentially anyone who refuses to submit to the “higher” morality that he presents is captured and imprisoned.

And in a nefarious sub plot, Lex Luthor has plans of his own to eliminate the heroes altogether, and give humanity “freedom” from the oppressive presence and rule of the meta-humans. The climactic battle – Armegeddon – comes as the villains escape the prison built for them, and are confronted by Superman. The United Nations are convinced to launch nuclear weapons sufficient to kill all of the metahumans, and as they are being launched, Lex Luthor initiates his plan, and releases Captain Marvel, who has been brainwashed by Luthor, and is sent to keep Superman from diverting the nuclear warheads from the battlefield. Captain Marvel almost defeats Superman, and at the final moments of their battle, is forced back into his human form, Billy Batson. With insufficient time to divert the warhead from the battlefield, Superman forces Billy to make the decision to either save the metahumans by allowing Superman to sacrifice himself, which would allow the metahumans to rampage without control, or to allow the metahumans to die in the explosion. Batson decides to become Captain Marvel and save both the metahumans and Superman by sacrificing himself. However, Captain Marvel was not fast enough, and was only able to contain part of the blast, and few of the metahumans survive.

In the aftermath, Superman flies to the UN building to confront the humans that launched the nuclear weapons. Not realizing that some of his friends survived the blast, he flies into a rampage, until the Specter shows him that he had become what the humans feared in the younger metahumans- a vigilante above the law. Dismayed at his own behavior, Superman vows to cease being a “god”, and will more fully participate in human affairs. He takes it upon himself to renovate the Kansas landscape, hitching himself up to a giant plow (swords to plowshares reference anyone?)

So… We’ve got an apocalyptic event of HUGE proportions, almost as big as The Day After, the 80’s TV movie. You’ve got Superman in a ponytail. Wonder Woman on some kick-ass battle armor. And sub plots involving most of my favorites DC heroes – all the makings of a shut-me-up comic burrito/enchilada combo. Me like!!!

And I can’t help but comment on the ending – a little too much “peace on earth goodwill to men” to suit me. Essentially the message we’re left with is that after the end battle, good will prevail and the earth won’t need heroes to curb evil anymore, and they will focus on bettering mankind through humanitarian deeds. Although I agree with this vision on a personal level, I say “Keep that crap out of my comics!!!” I mean- Lex Luthor as a nurse in Batman’s hospital? Come on… All it cost was the genocide of the majority of the metahumans, (read bad guys), on the planet. I’ll leave the political commentary for some other time.

As of late I have been caught up in many a debate, often resulting in blood and bruises, as well as some knife fighting, over the use of literary style in Comics. It seems that comics come in two flavors: Monthly Soap Operas, or a conglomerate of themes and ideas woven continually through development.

Some Genre Concepts to start us off:
The Archetypal Characters:

• Hero (whether anti, or noble) is the one who ends up being the holder of virtues
• Sub-heroes – aid in cultivating mentor/pupil virtues
• Villain – That which holds the anti-virtues of the hero
• Empathetic villain – that which is a good person who goes bad
• Engrained villain – that which is always opposed to the virtues of the hero

So now that we have the basic dichotomy spelled out, there are other plot devices used in order to hold the reader.

Icon – that which the reader identifies as the symbol of virtues/anti-virtues
These would include the X for X-men, the Shield of Superman, the Bolt of Flash, the WW of Wonder Woman, as well as mantras – Green Lantern, Spider Man, and so on.

Character – That which is under the mask, the person who develops the virtues into the icon.

Okay. Hopefully you like my definitions, if not, argue below.

As I see it there are two ways of writing a good comic story:

The Constant Character: (Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Iron Man, Wonder Woman, etc.) In these stories, there is one character who does not age, nor do the other plot characters around him. This character goes through an initial development into a hero, bringing out the virtues in which they believe. They then take up an icon and develop it into the symbol of virtues. In development, there is also a character who travels in the opposite direction, into the villain, doing much the same thing as the hero. Over time, other villains, tests, characters, and plot devices come along in order to challenge the hero’s virtues, to test the strength of the character’s will, and ultimately to test their loyalty. However, the development of the character has to keep up with the pace of changing times. Thus the change in the new Superman Returns film – Truth, Justice, and All That Stuff (not the American Way.) Thus, as anthropology shows a more conflicted and psychologically- understanding reader base, then the character’s psyche must be developed and tested.

And, just for fun, new powers are added and taken as needed just to be cool.

The Legacy: (Green Lantern, Flash, etc.) These stories are not as common as the Constant Character stories. But in these, the same character development happens, except that new people are introduced to take over the Iconic hero. The most familiar for me is the Flash. It first started when Flash comics were cancelled in the ’50’s, but picked up by the comic company soon to be known as DC in the ’60’s. This transition moved Jay Garrick, (the first developed hero), out of the hero role and into the influential role, (through meta-stories in comics.) Thus, Jay influenced Barry into the Flash role when Barry was struck, and Barry mentored Wally until Barry died in 1987, (a noble and teaching death that added to the legacy the idea of “sacrifice.”) Wally has then been the Flash, but tried to develop Bart, and now has two children to develop into the Icon.

Thus, the legacy is not a revamping of the character, but of the Icon itself, allowing multiple voices to speak into what the icon should look like. It involves the mortality of the hero, the ability for one character to develop, and another to take it a new direction. It gives lenses to understand the icon.

While I find that both of these styles are necessary, I’m much more a fan of the legacy. But much more, I’m just for a good Story – I want them to be literarily diverse and interesting, using a plethora of different devices.

Whew…

I need to find a younger Rambler to develop… or maybe I’ll just be ageless

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/genreism/feed 0 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/comics-in-the-digital-world http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/comics-in-the-digital-world#comments Wed, 21 Nov 2007 00:04:30 +0000 Amdnarg Toh http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-43/comics-in-the-digital-world

Marvel is doing a – pardon the pun – marvelous thing… They are going to start publishing their older comics online. See the CNN article.

This can’t be anything but good for everyone-the proverbial win-win. But really – it’s about time. The world wide intra webs have been around now for at least forty years or so since Big Al invented them in college. And a lot of folks had access to their favorite comics online anyway, just not in the most “legal” way, if you know what I mean.

It’s the age old problem – how to get readers to buy new stuff so the companies can pay the writers and artists to produce quality stories and product. If you don’t have readers to pay for product, your quality suffers, and then you lose readers, which causes quality to suffer even more as the dollars dwindle furiously.

Part of the problem with getting new kiddos (and I mean kiddos in the most liberal way) interested in comics is that most, if not all, of the more mainline comic book heroes have SIGNIFICANT back stories, many of which reach back to issues decades old. How accessible are twenty, thirty, or forty-year old comics to the newbie who simply wants to read such stories? Impossibly inaccessible I tell you. Even if you could find the one person who has all of the issues you want to read, it’s likely that they are one of those picky types who don’t really read their comics, but place them in hermetically-sealed containers for safekeeping. Perhaps that jazzes some folks, but it’s only depressing for the kid who can’t afford the $50-$100 eBay price for that back issue. Nevermind that the multi-dollar price for single NEW issues is probably out of the range of a lot of youngsters.

So… Now we have Marvel and DC finally coming around to the digital age. With their archives available digitally on the internet, my prediction is that they’ll see a huge influx of new readers. Not only those who are interested in the back stories of more popular characters/groups, but they will find interest in the less mainline groups and characters. One of the effects of the decline in comic book readership in the late 80’s and 90’s was that many of the less popular titles were dropped entirely because it was too costly to produce titles that didn’t sell in volume. Remember PowerMan and Iron Fist? Captain Carrot? If DC and Marvel follow the best of what the music industry has done, they will make considerably more titles available at a much reduced cost. Eventually, I can envision that paper copies will be only for dyed-in-the-wool collectors, and that all new publishing will be done digitally over the internet. Cheap comics for the masses = more sales = more money to introduce new titles and pay artists and writers better for their product.

Hopefully they won’t go the way of the music industry and try to hold onto a profit model that is based on control of the distribution medium. Once you go digital baby, you have to embrace all if stands for – liberation from tightly controlled distribution channels, more power given to the artists, etc…truth, justice, and the American way…

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/comics-in-the-digital-world/feed 1 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/booster http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/booster#comments Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:03:37 +0000 The Rambler http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-42/booster

DC Comics: Holding those Characters that defined the Modern Day American Hero, with the rules of holding up Truth, Justice and the American way. They have rules like “Never take a life,” and “Save everyone at all costs,” which throw the heroes into a moral struggle with justice and vengance. They are noble, and almost unreachable.

Almost…

No hero can just do it for the sake of doing right. Right? Well that’s what Booster Gold said. So for all you shining Capitalists out there who find that one should really just be out to make the money: here is the hero for you, The true defender of the American Way.

Michael Jon Carter was a football star in the 25th Century, but that wasn’t enough. He needed more money, so he bet on one of his own games in order to really get a cut. But, getting Caught, he was fired from football and became a security guard at a museum that had the old Hero Artifacts. Hijacking a security robot (Skeets), a ton of Historical data, A forcefield belt, flying ring, and wrist blasters, he illegally jumped back into the 1980’s. Oh yes, the era of the individual and money. So, using historical records, Booster would become the greatest hero and sell his name for endorsements.

He became a C-D list hero in the 90’s, only being revived in Infinite Crisis to stop Max Lord, and witnessing his best friend’s death (Ted Kord, Blue Beetle). However, reinstated in 52, Skeets’ historical files were beginning to become inaccurate. Booster was exposed as a fraud and then died in trying to truly be a hero. However, in a move by Rip Hunter, Booster survived and saved the multiverse from mister mind.

In the attempt to truly become a hero, to make a name for himself, to really be a part of the JLA, Booster was again abducted by Rip Hunter in order to stop the historical deaths of the JLA. Thus he became the Greatest Superhero Never Known.

So if you enjoyed Back to the Future, and most comic heroes, then Booster Gold is the right one for you. Driving the Time scientist Crazy, out to right history, and drunk driving a time sphere into Silver Age Flash and Kid Flash’s cosmic treadmill, are all apart of this great story.

Truly a Hero of the American way, the Capitalist who in the end is never known. Who learns what really doing the heroic thing is, but always being seen as a dunce of a hero.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/booster/feed 2 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/supergirl http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/supergirl#comments Thu, 18 Oct 2007 02:01:37 +0000 Amdnarg Toh http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-41/supergirl

During my decade-long hiatus of being involved in the reading, collecting, and generally being owned by comic books and comic book characters, some really weird stuff happened…

Comics got really dark.
X-Men changed costumes at least 12 times.
The only Avenger I knew was Captain America.
The original Robin became Nightwing, and replacement Robin #1 was killed by the Joker.
And… Superman died. It was the Death of Superman that awakened me from my lethargic non-comic book involved state.
And why? Not really because Superman died. I knew it was a ratings ploy from the start.

Because Supergirl wierded me out!

A bit of explanation first…

Doomsday was the mysterious monster being who began to terrorize the countryside around Metropolis, Superman’s adult hometown. The Justice League of America was dispatched to take care of him and they ALL, collectively, got their asses handed to them by this unknown beast. Of course, Superman was unavailable at the time, but eventually got the message and showed up to make Doomsday’s – well— er— day. Kal-el found out he was WAY in over his head, and sacrificed himself to stop Doomsday, dying in the arms of his wife, Lois Lane. But that’s not THIS story…

In a critical moment of the battle between Superman and Doomsday, Supergirl intervened. I figured “Hmmm… There might just be enough power between TWO Kryptonians to take care of this menace.” Within about two nanoseconds of her joining her cousin’s defense of Metropolis and humanity itself, she gets KO’ed by the big grey guy. And turns into a grey putty like substance, smoking like she had escaped from a fire!!! And she’s picked up by none other than Lex Luthor, but he’s got long red hair and beard!!! I had to figure this one out, so I turned to the Internet, which at the time was a bit in its infancy, and didn’t have the mountains of comic related information readily available, so I had to do my research the old fashioned way – by collecting and reading the different issues that had information in them about Supergirl.

A short bit of research on today’s Internet yields the following Supergirl “lineage”:

Kara Zor-El – The original version, who was Superman’s cousin from Krypton. Some story lines indicate she lived in the bottled city of Kandor, some have her being sent to Earth in a rocket, much like Kal-El. In the original story line, a small part of Krypton survived its explosion, was eventually in jeopardy, so Kara was sent to Earth by her parents to be raised by her cousin. She holds a secret identity, Linda Danvers. This Supergirl died in the Crisis on Infinite Earths series in 1985. However, she has been recently reintroduced into the DC comics storyline, (2004.)

Matrix – The Supergirl encountered in the Doomsday story. Turns out this incarnation of Supergirl was a being called Matrix. She was a created lifeform with shape shifting abilities who took on the persona of Supergirl to help her hero, Superman. She had telekinetic abilities, which allowed her to mimic a number of Superman’s powers. Her story takes a number of twists, eventually leading to her “merging” with a human named Linda Danvers, losing some of her powers, gaining them back, and eventually being wiped out of the universe by the 2005 Infinite Crisis storyline.

Cir-El – A short-lived Supergirl who was initially thought to be the daughter of Kal-El and Lois Lane, returned from the future, but was found out to be a genetically modified human.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/supergirl/feed 2 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/all-hail-the-queen http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/all-hail-the-queen#comments Mon, 17 Sep 2007 23:01:26 +0000 The Dude http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-40/all-hail-the-queen

If you have not heard, Ms. Munroe recently married T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, and is now Queen of Wakanda, quite a step up from princess of some remote tribe in Kenya…oh, and smoking hot leader of the X-Men. Some would not have seen the beauty of little Orphan Ororo, but T’Challa fell in love at a young age. When a little 12-year-old street thug saved him from racist gang bangers. Storm was always the hero, even as a thief.

If you have lived in a hole, or some country that has no outside contact, like Wakanda, then you may wonder who this enigma of a woman is. Daughter of Princess N’Dare and Dave Munroe, Ororo Munroe is orphaned at a young age, and grows up as a pickpocket in Cairo. Some time in her teens Ororo begins to manifest some weird… ummm… talents, and heads out into the Serengeti, where savage cannibals kill and eat… wait that was a different African woman. I mean she was worshipped as a goddess. What would you do if some beautiful young African teen came wandering into your village and she could control nature, ride the winds, sometimes hers eyes glowed blue and she had pure white hair? Worship her until Professor X comes recruiting, that’s what.

Storm first joins the X-Men in Giant Size X-Men #1. She quickly becomes a fan favorite, and a powerful member of the team. So it’s not surprising that she eventually replaces Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, as team captain. She continues to be on the X-Men line up in some form or fashion for over two decades, (in real world time), and most often as team captain. She even beats out Scott as team captain during a period of time when her powers are lost.

The loss of her powers is due to her being shot by a weapon of Forge’s. She is clueless to his involvement. So she has no reason to not fall madly in love with him as he nurses her back to health. Things don’t go so well for him, though, when she does find out. Thus starting an on-again, off-again relationship depending on who is writing the X-Men and which arc of the story line you are reading. Luckily Forge, Storm, and the writers all came to their senses and moved on.

Storm did this punk stint in the 1980’s, were she went with a black leather halter-top, skintight black leather pants and white Mohawk. I am sure you saw her guest appearance in Mad Max Beyond ThunderDome. (I think that was her.) It took her a while to grow that hair back, and reestablish her image as a regal African princess. If you came across her for the first time during the punk era, (me), it may have also taken you some time to see her as anything more than some bee with an itch. Looking back on it now, you may appreciate the significance of an African female leading a team of 90% white guys as far back as the 1970’s.

Now back to the present. After a whirlwind tour of the world where Black Panther and Storm visit other powerful mutant, and sometimes royal allies, they honeymoon as Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic. So Stretch and Peek-a-boo, (my pet names for Mr. Fantastic and Mrs. Invisible), get some much-needed alone time. After which, they returned to Wakanda to live happily ever after… and then they invited Wolverine to visit.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/all-hail-the-queen/feed 3 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/comrade-of-steel http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/comrade-of-steel#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:03:21 +0000 Amdnarg Toh http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-38/comrade-of-steel

Comics in the 40s, 50s, and 60,s were a fairly homogenous group. There weren’t many black, asian, or even redneck heroes. Most of the male heroes were handsome, with square jaws, barrel chests, and the females, (although not displaying the gratuitous amounts of flesh that they would in the 70s and forward), were generally drawn to be easy on the eyes.

The homogeneity extended to the types of villains that our heroes battled – Chinese, Vietnamese, Russians of all sorts, Germans, etc. Basically any non-white ethnic group was subject to villainization at the hands of the comic story writers.

However – since the world is now becoming one big global village, (someone wipe the smirk off my face), we’ve been faced with the reality that when a villain comes on the scene that’s about to enact his plan of world domination, more than just the United States’ cadre of super heroes should be responsible for saving the world.

We’ve also had to deal with some interesting “what-ifs.” One of the most interesting plot twists is: “What if Kal-El’s rocket were launched from Krypton several minutes later than it was, and instead of being found in a Kansas cornfield by John and Martha Kent, he were found in the Ukranian wilderness by a group of collective farmers?” In this tale, young Clark Kent is not taught truth, justice, and the American way. Rather, he is taught the values of communism.

The story is set in three scenes, the first being in the early 1950’s, when things appear to be fairly in line with the “normal” universe. However, the Soviet Union’s secret weapon is revealed – Superman. Instead of a cold war of nuclear proportions, the cold war becomes one of Superheroes pitted against another. Superman appears to be fairly benevolent, helping out problems in his country, and making his world a better place. He meets Wonder Woman, who falls in love with him, and they form an alliance of sorts to rule the world. Lex Luthor becomes Superman’s nemesis in the Unites States, using his super genius to try to thwart Superman’s power, eventually making a clone of Superman called Bizarro.

We then fast forward to the 1970’s, where Superman’s influence has caused major shifts in the continuity of the timeline. The USSR has grown to include all known countries except for the Unites States, and Chile. Stories are told about how dissidents in Superman’s regime are lobotomized and reprogrammed into obedient servants of the republic. Superman sees this as bringing order and stability to his world. Batman becomes a terrorist rebel, leading a group of Batmen in an attempt to overthrow Superman’s regime. Eventually he is captured and killed.

The final part of this sordid tale is set in a super-powered showdown in the year 2000. Lex Luthor has taken over as president and ruler of the United States. He has secretly been building up a legion of super-powered beings as the United States’ last line of defense against Superman invading the country. He forms the Green Lantern Marine Corps, headed up by Colonel Hal Jordan. Superman eventually defeats all of Lex’s super heroes, and the battle shifts to the White House, where Lex finally confronts Superman with the fact that he’s done little more than exert control over people in the name of freedom, all the while removing the freedom he wants for them by controlling them. In a last act of defiance, Braniac, who was captured and reprogrammed by Superman back in the 1970’s, reveals that he was not truly under Superman’s control, and triggers a destruct mechanism in his ship, which would destroy the planet. Superman takes the ship into space, where it blows up. It is assumed that Superman dies in the explosion, finally redeeming himself.

Luthor’s scientific genius eventually brings about the utopia that Superman wanted. Eventually it is revealed that Superman didn’t die in the blast, and is still alive. Lex’s descendants become smarter and more powerful. After a couple thousand years, it is revealed that the Earth is being torn apart by tidal forces, and Jor-L, one of Luthor’s great-great-great grandchildren, launches a rocket back in time, intending to rescue humanity, but the rocket falls into the countryside in the Ukraine, in 1938, which triggers the events in the story all over again.

Somehow this story has drawn a lot of accolades, mostly due to the careful writing of Mark Millar. Careful attention was paid to making parallels of a lot of DC comic characters and plot devices which made realistic extrapolations as to how those elements would play out in this alternate universe. Most noted was the portrayal of Superman’s unwitting good guy gone bad.

If it isn’t already abundantly clear, I’m kind of “drawn,” (bad pun – I know), to these alternate universe stories, mostly because of the tired story lines I sometimes see in mainline comic writing. This one was an artfully done realistic alternate universe that was pulled off without being campy at all, which seems to be a fairly common theme in alternate universe stories.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/comrade-of-steel/feed 7 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/learning-how-to-be-a-hero http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/learning-how-to-be-a-hero#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:01:17 +0000 The Rambler http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-38/learning-how-to-be-a-hero

Bart Allen: 4th Flash, First appearance, Flash V.2 #91 June 1994

There are days when I sit back and wish that I could still be a child, living out my dreams and fantasies. Most men do, and probably most women. However, in Bart Allen’s case, that’s what gets him into the most trouble and ends up being his most noble quality.

Bart is the Grandson of Barry Allen in the 30th century. He inherited speed from the time he was born. The Earth Government wanted Bart in order to study him and learn how to engineer his speed. Within two years, he aged to age 12. The scientists placed him in virtual reality in order to keep him sane and accelerate his learning. His grandmother, Iris, abducted him and illegally time traveled back to the 20th century in order to have Wally cure Bart of his accelerated growth, before it kills him. Wally understood that it was his accelerated metabolism. He forced Bart to run to the breaking point, where his body wants to give up. Finally, he pushes Bart past this point, jerking his body into a normal growth rate and taming the speed inside.

Now, the problem with Bart is the fact that he believes that reality works like virtual reality, where nothing will hurt him, and the world works according to the rules that no one really gets hurt. He runs headlong into problems without formulating a plan, and ends up depending on instinct. He Assumed the identity of Impulse and was put under the tutalige of Max Mercury in order to learn how to plan, think things through, and how to channel the speed force. Max moved him to Manchester, Alabama, and taught him to appreciate civilian life as well. He made good friends with Carol Bucklen, who helped him tap into his past with his Mother, Maloni Thawne. Maloni is the daughter of the Earth Government President, Who is a decendent of the Cobalt Blue legacy that comes from Barry Allen’s twin brother. President Thawne has genetically engineered Bart’s twin, Thaddeus Thawne, or Inertia. The problem with Inertia is that his goal is to kill Bart and become him. In these efforts, he nearly has trapped Bart in the Speed Force along with Max Mercury.

Bart assumes the role as the Flash, after he, along with the help of Wally, Pushes Superboy Prime into the Speedforce. He comes back aged to 20 years old, and has lost his speed. He tries to deny his call to be a hero, but in a bombing at the car factory that he works at, he goes into speed mode and nearly explodes. However, after assuming the mantle of the Flash, he valiantly becomes the hero, and moves to LA. Here, Inertia talks the other rogues into building a machine that will “Stop time.” In reality the machine absorbs the Speed force that is now fully imbodied by Bart. The machine works, taking away Bart’s Speed, and leaving him vulnerable. His girlfriend, Valarie Perez, deactivates the machine, releasing the Speed force, but it does not save Bart, who is killed by being beaten to death. He knew his future because his Grandmother from the future told it to him, but he tried to be the hero anyway.

Bart died, giving another name to the Flash legacy for Wally to embody. The nobility of Barry, and the childishness of Bart. Bart was idealistic and appreciated life for the sake of life. Bart left the Flash legacy with a call to return to the nobility of the silver age of Barry, and the lightheartedness of the joy of doing good.

Bart’s powers were dominantly Super Speed, but he could also control his body to vibrate through solid objects.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/learning-how-to-be-a-hero/feed 0 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/the-dark-flash http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/the-dark-flash#comments Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:02:56 +0000 The Rambler http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-37/the-dark-flash

Flash: Wally West, First Appearance: Flash V.1 #110 (Kid Flash) January 1960

So we’ve seen that college students and police scientists enjoy reading their comics for relaxing from work. However, this one is more true to form. Wally was a kid, like most kids, with a wild imagination and dreams to follow. He read the Flash and heard about him on the news. His room was full of childish drawings and writings about the Flash. He needed a hero, especially when his father was abusive and a scam artist. Rudolph West, Wally’s father, constantly crushed Wally’s dreams of being great.

This all changed when Wally visited his Aunt, Iris West, and her boyfriend, Barry Allen. Barry took Wally to his lab at the Police station, and Wally incurred super speed from the same accident that gave Barry super speed (lightning and chemicals.) Wally joined Barry as Kid Flash and ran with him until Barry passed away in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Wally then assumed the role of the Flash in the legacy of Barry. As Wally was developing speed under Barry, his body began to reject the effects of the speed, and Wally had to push through the pain, running until it almost killed him from the inside out. It jumped his body to get used to speed.

Wally was cocky and brazen, bouncing from relationship to relationship, and keeping shallow friendships. He revealed his identity and made “Super Hero” a job. He moved to New York, and battled Velocity 9, (Vandal Savage’s Speed drug), on the streets. Winning the lottery, he moved into a mansion and continued his big lifestyle. Eventually, Wally lost his speed out of fear of using it. Friends Tina and Jerry McGee doused Wally in chemicals and recharged him with lightning, causing him to speed across the nation, destroying everything in his path. The cost of damages destroyed Wally’s wealth, and he moved to Keystone City to be the Flash.

It is here that his character changes from arrogant to noble. Wally constantly strives to be like Barry, taking the weight of everyone in Keystone on his shoulders. He continually runs to stop all bad things, but fails when he does not check a fire and a woman is scarred in it. It is here that Wally’s nobility shines, for he forces himself faster and faster, until Max Mercury catches him and teaches him that he can’t be everywhere at once.

Key to Wally is his relationship with Linda Park, (reporter), and his connection to the speed force, (the plain of energy that gives speed.) Many times, Wally is forced to run so fast that he is absorbed into the speed force, but his love for Linda grounds him back to earth every time. They finally get married, and begin to start a family. However, a friend, Hunter Zolomon, loses his ability to walk, and pleads for Wally to go back in time and change it. When Wally refuses, Hunter tries to take the Cosmic Treadmill back to fix it, and it explodes, fusing Hunter with the ability to use time as speed. He assumes the mantle of Zoom and desires to teach Wally to be a better hero. In the fight, he causes Linda to have a miscarriage. After Wally defeats Zoom, The Specter comes to him and grants him his wish to erase his identity. Thus, Wally must relearn who he is and teach his family to accept it, especially after they blamed the miscarriage on the Flash. In another fight with Zoom, Wally is forced to re-watch, over and over, Zoom killing the future kids of the Flash. In an attempt to stop the present Zoom from tampering with the past, Wally trips him and causes the past Zoom to mess up. Immediately Wally is transported back to the present, Linda goes into labor and they have twins, (Jai and Iris).

Later, Wally sacrifices himself to the speed force with Linda and the children, forcing Superboy Prime into the force, and saving the world from him in Infinite Crisis. Only recently has Wally returned and taken the mantle of Flash again, with his wife and children.

The unique thing about Wally was that he befriended his enemies and helped them reform. The Pied Piper, Hartley Rathaway, became his best friend. This backfired many times as the Rogues thought that Flash was using them, or belittling them. So the rogues reformed late in Wally’s career.

The struggle with legacy made Wally a more noble hero than Barry, and a more real human than most masked heroes. He taught grace to enemies and love to friends. Wally truly is the Idealistic Hero.

Wally’s unique powers: He can run so fast he can pass through time, lending and taking speed away from objects and people, fast healing, and a direct channeling of the Speedforce. He seems to be an Avatar of the Speedforce on earth.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/the-dark-flash/feed 0 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/hero-of-all-heroes http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/hero-of-all-heroes#comments Tue, 17 Jul 2007 00:03:27 +0000 The Rambler http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-36/hero-of-all-heroes

Flash: Barry Allen (1956-1985) First Appearance: Showcase #4 1956

Have you ever found yourself bored at work, overwhelmed with the sheer amount that you have to do? So what do you do? Crack open the tales of the icons you love so much. However, beware of the thunderstorm that may sneak up on you as you read your comic at work, for it may strike you with lightning and, if you are lucky, bathe you in chemicals from a nearby shelf, thus giving you super speed. Yes, my friends. While Barry Allen was slacking, reading Jay Garrick Comics, at the Police Lab in Central City, Missouri, he was struck and bathed. Once again, he discovers his powers by running late, and trying to catch a cab. Suddenly he passes the cab as if it isn’t even moving. Amazing!

So this blonde-hair, blue-eyed square becomes the quick-witted and cocky hero of justice. He creates a suit out of an expandable material that reacts with Oxygen to expand. This he keeps in the gold ring on his hand. So, quick costume change before a second passes, and voila – The Flash. Barry eventually started courting the News Reporter, (I don’t understand what it is with the News Lady, but it’s a recurring theme in comics), Iris West. They soon married and became an iconic couple.

Barry’s powers grew out of his determination to control his body. Not only could Barry run beyond the speed of light, but he could also vibrate his molecules – making it easy for him to pass through solid objects, or phase to other dimensions, (thus discovering Jay on Earth 2.) He also was a pioneer of time travel, creating the cosmic treadmill that was powered by his running.

Barry had developed a rogues’ gallery of petty crime. None were bent on world domination, but more on bank heists and thievery. These consisted of Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Captain Boomerang, The Pied Piper, Weather Wizard, etc. However, the most threatening was Eobard Thawne – descendant of Barry’s unknown twin who develops a science to make himself a speedster. He wears a yellow uniform, black circle, and red lightning.

Eobard – known as Prof. Zoom, constantly threatens Barry. Zoom kills his wife, Iris, and then tries to kill his next fiancée, Fiona Webb. But Barry, trying to stop him, accidentally grabs his neck and kills Zoom. He is then put on trial for murder, but acquitted. As the story goes, Barry travels to the 30th Century, finding Iris living there. They marry again and have twins.

Barry returns to the present to fight in the Crisis of the Anti-Monitor who is destroying the multiverse. He is imprisoned, but finds a way to the Anti-Monitor’s anti-matter canon. Running in reverse rotation of the cannon’s engine, Barry thwarts the weapon, destroying it. But he sacrifices himself, running so fast that he becomes pure kinetic energy. It is said that he becomes the lightning bolt that transformed him into the flash.

The death of Barry Allen is hailed as a noble death, for he has never returned from the other side. He may come from the future, or appear in the speed force, but never does he come back from his death. This is the constant reminder of the mortality of the hero. Once again, the hero is human. The hero is really just like us. Thus, Barry is the noblest of heroes, and the most humble.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/hero-of-all-heroes/feed 3 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/record-setter http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/record-setter#comments Tue, 03 Jul 2007 03:02:43 +0000 The Rambler http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-35/record-setter

So…stuck in traffic again, running late to pick up the flowers, the paycheck, the kids from school, and now home is going to be a wreck for the evening. Now would be the time for a chemical accident of some sort to either melt your skin off or give you some sort of super speed, even if just for the moment. Please, help the loser out, be on my side, the side of the little guy. Well, that’s who the Flash is for, the loser for the losers.

This is a multiple part series for the Super Hero Information Initiative covering The hero for the Blue Collar, The Crimson Comet, Sultan of Speed, The One Who Rides Lightning… The Flash.

Part 1: I Want an All-American

Jay Garrick, science geek extraordinaire, skinny, slow, and non-athletic. He was trying to win the heart of a college cheerleader- Joan, who wanted an All-American, not an oaf. After getting rejected, Jay goes to the lab to work on Hard or Heavy Water. Leaning back, and taking a puff of a cigarette, he passes out due to the vapors of the Hard Water. After a week passed-out in the hospital, Jay wakes up and, in the heat of a drive-by shooting of a group who is trying to kill Joan to get to her dad, Jay moves so fast that he catches the bullet and saves her. He then joins the football team of Midwestern University of Keystone City and becomes a star. His adventures were against gangsters, kidnappings, robberies, and common criminals. But Jay was the hero of the patient people of Keystone, the flatland, the wheat-field.

Jay wore the metal helmet of his father from World War I, putting golden wings on the sides, and he wore a red shirt with a yellow lightning bolt coming out of the belt line of his jeans. He also wore winged shoes, like the Mythical Hermes/Mercury. However, the extent of his powers ended with super speed. He could just run really fast, catching bullets and outracing cars. His top speed was 700 Miles an hour. Eventually he married Joan and worked as a chemist, joining the Justice Society along with the original Hawkman and Green Lantern. They fought the Nazis in World War II and championed the causes of truth and justice. This was the Golden Age. The Hero could do no wrong. This was Jay Garrick.

However, the comic companies of the time tanked and the heroes died with them, until DC rediscovered them. Jay’s villains- The Fiddler, (played a mind controlling fiddle), The Shade, (manipulated Shadow to blind people), and the Thinker (had a thinking cap that made him a genius, and later became Jay’s good friend)- all put the city in suspended animation, and it passed out of existence from the rest of the world. Jay was read in the comics by Barry Allen, the Next Flash, and Original of Earth 1. Barry discovered Jay on Earth 2, and helped revive the city and beat the villains. So Jay returned- now a mentor and aid for the Flashes to come.

Thus, the First Chapter, the Flash that starts it all, fulfills our dreams of the every-day person becoming what we all wish: fast enough to accomplish the every-day tasks, bring home the bacon, and save at least a city full of people in under a day’s time. So next time you’re stuck in traffic and feeling like a failure, remember: all we want is an All-Star. Maybe lightning will strike us and give us our dreams.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/record-setter/feed 3 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/avengers http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/avengers#comments Tue, 19 Jun 2007 02:04:32 +0000 Amdnarg Toh http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-34/avengers

No superhero team ever conceived has gone through as many iterations as the Avengers. The membership of this oft-forgotten group of “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,” has been more fluid than a Spring day in Seattle. Its initial stable included Thor, Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. It seems that the old adage applied to them, and the only thing that remained constant with this team was change. However, there has been enough consistency in the core group of heroes to keep the story from becoming more than just random groupings of heroes by the same name. Some interesting team dynamics ended up making this “gaggle of gallantry” a quite intriguing group to follow.

Ant-Man, scientist Henry Pym, is in an ever-fluctuating identity crisis. He’s Ant-Man one issue, Giant Man the next, then Goliath, and finally YellowJacket. His identity crisis seemingly comes from a deep-seated inferiority complex, which is seen in several stories through the years, resulting in an eventual nervous breakdown. His on-again, off-again relationship with the Wasp eventually resulted in their marriage, which didn’t last due to his mental instability.

The Hulk almost immediately left the group, realizing that the others didn’t think he was cut out for teamwork, given his wild personality and mood swings.

One of the most important events in Avengers history came with the reintroduction of Captain America, who was found frozen floating in the North Atlantic, was revived, and almost immediately became the leader of this band of heroes, and also its most stable member.

Several reformed villains came into the Avengers fold for a time- Hawkeye, an uber-archer, and the Scarlet Witch along with her brother Quicksilver, both the long lost children of X-Men bad guy Magneto.

With the inclusion of the Vision, an artificial life form created by the robot Ultron, (who was himself created by Henry Pym), we have the makings of a nice love story. After becoming a part of the team, he fell in love with the Scarlet Witch, another former villain who had joined the team some time earlier. Their romance, marriage, and eventual copulation and conception of children became its own story line.

The Avengers also went through their own “blaxploitation” phase in the 70’s, adding characters such as the Black Panther and the Falcon. However, the writers actually addressed the affirmative action issue within the comics themselves, with the Falcon actually being aware of his inclusion into the group because of his race, and finally resigned after realizing he was the “token” of the group.

There are more – many more – heroes that have graced the halls of the Avengers mansion in New York, a sweet, swingin’ hero pad funded by Tony Stark, the alter ego of Iron Man. And not only did the group eventually encompass almost every known hero, there were spinoff groups such as the West Coast Avengers, Force Works, and the Young Avengers.

Rather than making major character shifts, and having to re-invent specific characters as writers have difficulty coming up with new material, they simply shifted the membership of the team around to include some new lesser-known character, repentant villain, etc. It allowed fans to have character consistency without the complications of a stale storyline. All in all, Avengers stories seem to hold the interest of the fan base, without any plot revamping, or time loops, or any other lame plot devices used to recreate characters to give them fresh identities and story fodder.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/avengers/feed 5 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/snikt http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/snikt#comments Sat, 02 Jun 2007 18:04:15 +0000 The Dude http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-33/snikt

I imagine if you are reading this, at some point in your childhood you dressed up in a red cape, or blow-up green muscles. You probably climbed on your roof in red sweats, or patrolled your neighborhood on the Batbike. Also you must identify in some way with the word “nerd.” So let me ask you, what did you do in the seventh or eighth grade when some Neanderthal freak started shoving you around? I bet your fist slowly curled up, and you had a very lucid daydream: Were three Adamantium-coated claws slowly sliding forth from your forearm? Why didn’t you dream about freezing him, running away really fast, or tying him up with the lasso of truth? Because, deep down you want to just go berserker. You want to be at the giving end of a Fastball Special. You want to be Wolverine.

It almost feels wrong to inform you about Wolverine. A list of cold facts about names, dates, enemies, teammates, and so on, takes so much away from the mystery and allure. Maybe it just doesn’t do justice for this nerd. Yellow and blue are not only my favorite costume colors, but also my favorite team colors. I remember sitting in my friend Brian’s bedroom watching football in seventh grade. We were watching the Sooners, and at a commercial break he starts flipping to other games. I saw this team with three claw like strips on their helmets, decked out in yellow and blue uniforms, and they went by the name Wolverines. Brian flipped back to the Sooners. I went home to watch my team play.

The only issue with Wolverine, a.k.a. (here we go), Weapon X, James Howlett, Death, Agent Ten, Patch, Hand of God, Emilio Garra, Mai’Keth, Logan, and most recently Dad, is his Adamantium laced skeleton. Not because it slows down his healing factor, which I imagine is quite sufficient considering he can rejuvenate from a skeletal state. No, the issue is: how do you say “Adamantium?” It always comes out admanaman, abdomen, autobahn, or some other ridiculous phonetic cluster. Here is a phonetic spelling, which I would like to dedicate to the Fantastic Four movie, to help next time you see the perplexing word add-uh-man-tea-um. I am sure even Hilary Clinton could say that. (I know, I am a Google sellout.)

You may have noticed the word dad in the last paragraph, and thought “what?” Let me give a brief explanation: while most mutants lost their powers during the House of M series, Logan regained his memories. At about the same time Civil War takes place, Wolverine goes to the closet, puts on the ol’ yellow and brown suit, and tells the X-men “I got to do this on my own. There is going to be some killing, I don’t want you to be involved.” (Or something to that effect.) Wolverine takes off to make the world pay. Along the way he discovers someone is also hunting him, and wants to make him pay, his son Daken. Read the Wolverine Origins series if you want to catch up on this. It’s only on issue #14.

Logan’s family is headed towards population level “Superman.” You got X-23, Daken, and I am sure a brother will show up soon. Makes you wonder when we will see Grandpa Wolvie light up a cigar, and tell the grandkids about his love affair with Jean Grey.

]]> http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/snikt/feed 0 http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/bibleman http://www.nerdcityusa.com/sii/bibleman#comments Tue, 22 May 2007 01:03:25 +0000 Amdnarg Toh http://www.nerdcityusa.com/issue-32/bibleman

(Warning – Ranting and raving to commence below.)

Every adult survivor of a conservative religious upbringing has bemoaned the fact that they couldn’t play Dungeons and Dragons because of its satanic overtones, or that they missed out on all of the good music. (I hadn’t even HEARD of Rush until I went to college.) In fact, it could be posited that almost anything from playing cards to Smurfs were lauded as the tools of Satan. As a result of this castigation, all sorts of religious equivalent toys, music groups, and activities were introduced as safe alternatives to the Satan-inspired filth that pop culture was spewing out. I could say more, like how I miss my Beach Boys and classic rock music collection that was destroyed because somewhere I got the idea that listening to secular music was wrong and would lead me down the path to perdition, or how I went to the church sponsored prom “alternative” in lieu of my school’s prom. But this isn’t the editorial column, most esteemed readers, and you’re due some super hero related information, so I’ll let you in on a little-known character called Bibleman, and I’ll kill two birds with one stone.

Miles Peterson, a typical wealthy businessman, finds himself at an ebb in the tide of life. Depressed, he finds he has no direction, no purpose in life. After he finds a bible, via miraculous circumstances in a rainstorm, he finds that he has been transformed, and becomes Bibleman. Endowed with superhuman strength, he dons his armor, the Shoes of Peace, Waistbelt of Truth, Shield of Faith, Breastplate of Righteousness, Helmet of Salvation, and the Sword of the Spirit, and battles the forces of evil with the Word of God. He has a sidekick named Cypher, who basically provides logistical support from the Biblecave, and several other minor support characters. We’re not given a very detailed view into his origins, or past storyline. The forces of evil are personified in the series’ villain, Luxor Spawndroth, who embodies a particular sinful trait in each episode. Bibleman, using the all powerful word of God, defeats the villain with a pithy saying, laden with cliché.

It seems that the folks churning out this stuff are probably more interested in selling merchandise than in really providing a healthy alternative to mainline superhero-dom. There are Bibleman action figures, videos, books, a Bibleman branded Bible, costumes, DVDs, and now a video game… Everything to make this guy a real-world superhero – except for a plausible story line and characters with more than one dimension. Most of the plot devices are direct rip-offs from other more popular similar characters. Cypher looks amazingly like Cyborg from the Teen Titans. Biblegirl? Come on! Amazingly enough, the most interesting character in this wacky line is Luxor Spawndroth, the series’ recurring villain. I’ll take a not-so-rare issue of Captain Carrot over any of this Bibleman crap any day of the week. At least Larry-Boy doesn’t make any pretense of being serious, and is up front about its comic use of mainline narrative devices.

So… I salute all of the closeted nerds out there who survived the wonder years by secreting away copies of Aquaman and Green Lantern comics, shrouded in the cover of Bibleman. Come into the light! Hide no more! Your day has come!

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