I've been enjoying, "Avengers: Armageddon." It discusses the usual interesting, "Why don't superheroes actually do anything?" concept that various famous mini-series have done, but we see less in ongoing comics because, well, if the heroes change too much, the comic quits working due to a lack of conflict. When you have a comic where the superheroes end up taking over or solving the World's problems, there isn't much to do from there. You can tell a story about the heroes trying to hold onto power, ruling a dull Utopia, or blowing up the World and destroying everything. The Authority took over Wildstorm, and it was boring, so they gave the power back...and then the whole Wildstorm continuity was literally blown up, and the comics persisted a bit in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. In, "Watchmen," we witness Doctor Manhattan tricking Earth into World peace, and then there is little else to tell, so the story ends (until we got the television show with its remix of some past elements and a story set in the future/present that shows the undoing of Manhattan's work). The character David Colton gained a bunch of mysterious powers in a previous mini-series, and the fourth issue that came out today had a big reveal about his powers. Another hero who once took a lot of action.
Yes, one hero who did a lot was Marvelman/Miracleman when Alan Moore and Gary Leach took over the series in the 1980s and did an epic deconstruction of superheroic tropes. It ended up being unfinished. Then the work was in copyright Hell for years; Marvel got the rights in 2009, but seemed to have little clue what to do with them. They reprinted old stuff, started publishing some new material (with writing by Gaiman that now will most likely never conclude due to...yeah). In 2021, a one-shot hinted at Miracleman coming to the 616 Universe... then, crickets. Until now in, "Avengers: Armageddon," #4. When it looks like the Red Hulk (Thunderbolt Ross) has almost successfully killed Colton, he says the magic word, "Kimota," to turn into Miracleman/Marvelman, or some version of the hero. Fun, sure, but...huh?
Buckle up because this gets weird. Okay: David Colton first appeared in the early issues of the latest, "Captain America," run as a man who tried to be a replacement Captain America while Steve Rogers was, "In the ice," before thawing shortly after 9/11 (yes, the Marvel timeline always is shifting; don't think about it too hard). He quit and was given some tech by Tony Stark to keep him alive, due to the super-soldier treatment significantly shortening his lifespan/weakening his heart. In the, "Weapons of Armageddon," mini-series that set up "Avengers Armageddon," he nearly died fighting the latest nefarious organization experimenting on mutants (this time in an attempt to make some newer super-soldiers) but was saved by a mysterious Origin Box. What is an Origin Box, you may ask? Well, they came over from the new Ultimate Universe and contain various mysterious powers that are granted to the people who are supposed to open them if they so choose--Miles Morales brought some over when he stopped over in the latest Ultimate Universe, and one with unclear powers was used on Colton--it made him superhuman and now into Miracleman/Marvelman. Why was there an origin box for such a hero in the latest Ultimate Universe and that wasn't discussed at all in any of those comics? I have no clue; maybe the fifth issue of, "Avengers: Armageddon," will explain this mess of continuity I have (poorly) attempted to summarize. In short, a dude who was a replacement Captain America is now possibly the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe--maybe rivaled by Sentry, depending on which writer you ask?
From seeing all this happen, especially considering how long Marvel had the rights, all I can ask is something along the lines of that, "Simpsons," meme with, "Why now? Why not seventeen years ago?" when they first acquired the rights and did F-all with them for nearly two decades? If I squint really hard I can kind of see how David Colton and Mircleman/Marvelman align as heroes who want to make a big difference in a World that has grown indifferent to superheroes. That said, this is the 616 Marvel Universe, the main continuity! Any big change usually finds itself undone and reverted to a status quo (or something very close to the status quo) within a year or two.
Every big event is discussed as, "Changing everything forever/nothing will ever be the same!" and then does not last, with minor exceptions (the OG Captain Marvel has been dead since the 1980's, Skrull impersonator aside). It is being revealed that Colton/Miracleman/Marvelman will be joining the latest iteration of the Avengers in a new, "The Avengers," comic that launches at the end of this year, so it appears he's sticking around. We might get some good stories from this, and we'll see a big boost of interest in the character and some classic yarns that feature him! That, or it could be like when Marvel got the rights to Angela from the, "Spawn," comics, and after a year or two, pretty much nobody cared. As I said, besides wondering why Marvel waited so long to do this, I don't have strong feelings on Miracleman/Marvelman popping up in this continuity now; it was quite messy how this occurred, and I hope it's explained and ends up working.
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