Marvel to Revisit Their, "Civil War," Event and Seems Low on Ideas in General

I remember when the Marvel event, "Civil War," was a big deal and selling lots of copies back when it kicked off in 2006. Focused on Superhumans being required to register their identity with the government and how that leads to a rift between Tony Stark (in favor of it) and Captain America (opposed), it was somewhat adapted in a popular Marvel flick years later. When it was coming out years ago, it was a hit. Then it got delayed and took forever to finish, with a ton of fill-in one-shots and mini-series. The event had a lot of stuff that tied in and basically got to the point where there were comics saying, "Hey, what is this D-list hero doing about the Superhman Registration Act?" Well, apparently not all the stories were told because in honor of the 20th anniversary of the series (in real-time, not the floating continuity of the comics) we're getting, "Civil War: Unmasked,"  a five-issue series by Christos Gage, Edgar Salazar, and original Civil War colorist Morry Hollowell. Wait, we didn't even get Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (the original writer and artist) for this cash-grab?

Yes, "The comic will offer a different story in each issue, respectively revealing more of what Tony Stark/Iron Man, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Bill Foster/Goliath, Greer Nelson/Tigra, and Steve Rogers/Captain America did during the 2006 event." Oh, and this is somehow going to tie in the X-Men event, "Days of Future Past," for...reasons. I'm all for revisiting a fun event, but back when, "Civl War," happened, it just took forever and (I thought) covered everything there was to discuss. The, "Civil War II," event, some years later, was a hot mess as well, so I guess going back to a successful event (and working in an even older one) is the best idea Marvel has right now?

Sorry if that's coming across as overly sarcastic, but outside of the Ultimate Universe (which is ending), Marvel's comics have been struggling to get much hype/attention/etc. I love the current, "Moon Knight," comics (despite constant relaunches), but that's more of a cult character, and I struggle to think of any Marvel books getting the kind of buzz DC has been receiving--especially with their Absolute books. Even Marvel's movies were an unstoppable box office juggernaut, and now lots of people seem cautious about, "Avengers: Doomsday," no matter how many characters/actors are being promoted as coming back for more. Marvel just seems low on ideas, overall, and is throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. We're giving the Scarlet Witch a turn as Sorcerer Supreme, and Norman Osborn is Spider-Man. The house of ideas indeed.

I Flipped Through, "Secret Empire," and Only Like Two Things About It

I previously did a, "Tale From the Dollar Bin," discussing an issue of, "Secret Empire," and how terrible I thought it was. Curiosity had me wondering if reading a collection of the whole event might help change my mind even a little, so I checked a copy out from my awesome local library and proceeded to kind-of read it and kind-of aimlessly flip through the book when I found it too atrocious to pay my full attention. There are only two thing I think I like about, "Secret Empire." Let's discuss.

1. It has an utterly insane scene with Hank Pym/Ultron hosting a Thanksgiving-styled dinner to a bunch of trapped Avengers.
Some years ago there was that weird thing where Hank Pym and Ultron merged into a single person (it was called, "Rage of Ultron," and it is pretty forgettable) which then was mostly promptly forgotten about except for his popping-up now and then. In the 4th issue of, "Secret Empire," he entraps both the Nazified Steve Rogers and a bunch of Avengers fighting against him (a robotic Tony Stark who I think was still in a coma from, "Civil War II," and other folk) in a replica of the Avengers mansion and proceeds to cheerily serve them a Thanksgiving-esque dinner.

He proceeds to go on a variety of angry rants about feeling unappreciated before having sudden mood-swings and being happy again. It is just completely bonkers enough that in this terrible event full of awful decisions it is deliciously absurd and actually kinda works. I mean, we've already got a Nazi Captain America and a hologram Tony Stark who apparently is running off of a program that simulates him being drunk, so why not throw-in Pymtron (as the internet calls him) and just have shit get even more crazy? If, "Secret Empire," is a mess, at least this dinner is a delightful moment of embracing the sheer chaos.

2. Elements of it are drawn-upon in Ta-Nehisi Coates current stellar run on, "Captain America."
When Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote the newest re-launch of, "Captain America," he could have tried to completely ignore the mess that was, "Secret Empire," but instead he leaned-into certain aspects. Coates introduced us to an America that felt confused and betrayed by the idea that someone who looked just like Steve Rogers spouted hate. Coates played-up the fact that a lot of people would wonder if the Captain America who was supposedly back and beat the evil one was a good-guy. With that concept Coates has been doing a stellar job on the book creating a complex mystery full of conspiracy and deceit.

In a world where even the symbol of all that is supposedly good--Captain America--could be used for evil who can the people of America trust? Coates has dived deep into this concept and the way he has taken a God-awful event and seen the potential in it to create a masterful story is as impressive as it is wonderful to read. If we had to go through, "Secret Empire," to get to Coates run on, "Captain America," I guess it was worth it.

Thoughts and Links, Wondrous Links!

Sharing My Reflections

I don't think I've posted some assorted thoughts and links in awhile, so how about I do that?

Musings and Linkings

In honor of this day for Martin Luther King Jr. I thought it would be worth pointing out something others have discussed, namely that as he has become a bit of a cultural icon there has been a, "Softening," of his image and how much he did to push boundaries. The man was advocating breaking unjust laws, knowing he would face prison, violence, etc. Sometimes I think people don't realize how revolutionary what he did was. That is one reason it really irritates me to see Republicans claim he would somehow be a conservative today, whilst he was considered a dangerous radical back in the recent past by the very people who now say how great he was--but oh, those, "Black Lives Matter," peaceful protesters are simply thugs--as writer Kovie Biakolo puts it, "So please, put away your convenient whitewashed version of Martin Luther King Jr...his legacy deserves more than feel-good sayings."

I myself have always loved video game manuals and miss that era of thick ones with maps, stories, and artwork. This article reminds me of that love. Oh, and in case you wondered, in my opinion the, "Arcanum," game manual is the best of any (I found a site with a zip file of it, should you want to see).

Faith Erin Hicks was really cool and fun to chat with when I met her at the 2015 Project Comic-Con. This upcoming book from her, "The Nameless City," looks and sounds like it would be worth a read for sure.

I pretty much liked the movie, "Cloverfield," even if the sheer-annoyance of the camera constantly moving around literally made me a bit nauseated at points--it was one of those, "Found footage," movies before the market got utterly saturated with those. Imagine my and everyone else's surprise then when a trailer ran for what surprisingly is a movie set in the, "Cloverfield," universe but not necessarily a direct sequel, titled "10 Cloverfield Lane." It thankfully ditches the found-footage concept and appears to have a very angry John Goodman, which is always fun. What astonishes me is how in this day and age they were able to keep what the movie is really about such a secret.

Donald Trump is somehow going to force Apple to make their, "Damn computers," in the United States if he is elected President. How in the Hell is this man still doing so well in the polls? Are that many voters really so ignorant, so scared of Muslims, and so easily fooled they could enjoy this blowhard jerk? I swear, if this man were to somehow become President I would weep for this nation.

Marvel will officially be launching, "Civil War II," on Free Comic Book Day this May 7th, 2016. This of course won't be too long after, "Captain America: Civil War," which comes out on May 6th, 2016. It is almost like they purposely wanted these two things to line-up!

I downloaded but have not yet played, "Pocket Mortys." I of course love the television show, "Rick and Morty," and it is interesting to read this article that points out how if Nintendo would release an actual Pokemon game for the iPhone it would probably do gangbusters (they maybe should just give up on the handheld devices at this point, I and many others feel). I mean, back when I played the game--when it was just 150-ish critters--it was good fun, and you can find plenty who feel it still is the bee's knees.

There you go!