Yearly Archives: 2011
Arkham City Continues to Impress
By releasing a Robin action figure! Readers may already know me as a comic book and video game geek, but I also have a fondness for action figures. So at the risk of sounding especially dorky to all the hot babes who are reading this blog, I’m definitely going to be trying to order this action figure.
Also, I continue to be impressed by Robin’s Arkham City costume.
The hood is a nice touch, though I'm a little miffed on the super short cape
The Defenders are Back, for Some Reason!
Spinning out of Fear Itself will apparently be a new Defenders series from Marvel Comics. The Defenders has always been one of their B-list superhero teams. Always sort of around but never able to maintain a monthly book. They get relaunched every few years or so. I can’t really remember the last time there was a Defenders book. But whenever it was, Marvel is bringing it back! They’re giving the keys to Matt Fraction (the writer of Fear Itself) and Terry Dodson (lover of drawing boobies)!
I am modestly curious. I think this was announced months ago, but here is some cover art.
Silver Surfer is a good way to start a team!
-Spinning out of the stunning end of FEAR ITSELF! The final Worthy on a global rampage!
-Matt Fraction (FEAR ITSELF, THE MIGHTY THOR, INVINCIBLE IRON MAN) reteams with TERRY DODSON (UNCANNY X-MEN, SENSATIONAL SPIDER-MAN)!
-Everyone’s favorite Marvel characters banding together to solve a mysterious conspiracy deep at the heart of the Marvel Universe!
-The last line of defense against the forces of the unknown!
The lineup looks pretty spiffy. You’ve got Dr. Strange, Namor and the Silver Surfer from the original Defenders lineup, or at least the famous Defenders lineup. Replacing the Incredible Hulk is Red She-Hulk. I remain luke warm on the idea of Red She-Hulk. I don’t like the idea of multiple Hulk characters in the first place. Give me Bruce Banner as a lone figure, thank you very much. And what’s wrong with regular She-Hulk? My guess is familiarity. Everybody knows Jennifer Walters and what she’s like. Red She-Hulk is still an unknown commodity. She’ll add new style and character to a series. Plus it looks like she’s keeping her Mighty weapon. Cool.
Iron Fist and giant purple monster man are just OK.
This is the sort of book I might pick up on a whim. We’ll see how broke I am when it hits the stands. I just wanted to let people know it’s coming. That’s the kind of helpful comic book geek I am.
New Writer Already on Green Arrow – Possibly My Fault
Update: J.T. Krul posts on his Facebook
The DC comic book solicitations for December have come out, and it looks like writers Keith Giffen and Dan Jurgens have replaced J.T. Krul, who wrote issue #1. Giffen and Jurgens will be taking over as of issue #4, which is solicited for December. Comic news website Newsarama has confirmed that Krul has been totally replaced by the new creative team.
Perhaps Krul wanted to write a lot of swearing and boobies
And it’s not the first writer to be leaving one of the new series. John Rozum, the guy writing Static Shock, left that title too. But he said it was his own decision and had nothing to do with Static or DC. What’s with all these writers leaving so early into this rejiggering? Hey DC! I won’t leave you! Hire me!
Anyway, I blame myself for Krul’s departure after my scathing review of Green Arrow #1. Perhaps either he just couldn’t take it, or DC had a light bulb moment after reading my blog entry. Not that I have any reason to believe that either J.T. Krul or DC Comics reads my blog.
In fact they probably don’t…
J.T. Krul had this to say on his facebook about leaving the book:
Hey everyone! Effective as of issue #4, I will no longer be writing Green Arrow. As many of you know, Oliver Queen is one of my favorite characters in the DC Universe, so this decision was not easy to make. Getting the chance to do the fall of Green Arrow and my run during Brightest Day was a dream come true, and I was excited to bring a new yet familiar take on Green Arrow in the new 52. But, I’ve been writing him for a few years now and an opportunity came up that I really wanted to tackle. I had to make a choice. In a way, my decision to leave is more a testament to how incredibly thrilled I am about Captain Atom. I don’t think I’ve been more excited about a project. Working with Freddie Williams is amazing and I really think it’s among my best work at DC to date. It was a tough call – like picking a favorite child.
I can’t talk about my new project just yet, but it perfectly exemplifies what DC is all about with the New 52 – taking the best characters in comics and presenting them in new and exciting ways. The ability to think outside the box, take chances, and tell different kinds of stories is why it’s a great time to be writing for DC Comics.
For sure, I’ll miss Oliver Queen – and working with the likes of Dan Jurgens, George Perez, David Baron, and Dave Wilkins – but I’m sure the Emerald Archer will be in good hands for more globe-trotting, James Bond, high adventures.
And, at the very least, I got to include my version of the boxing-glove arrow.
Review: Fear Itself #6
I bet if I was reading this story all in one sitting it would be a lot more awesome. Instead, the same disjointed feel is evident everywhere. The penultimate chapter of Fear Itself is written like a big, bombastic movie epic starring my favorite superheroes…it just doesn’t read like one. A lot has happened in both my life and in the world of comics since Fear Itself #5. So, frankly, Fear Itself #6 has a lot to contend with in the battle for my attention. That it falls just short is not its fault. I bet it will read great in collected form.
Fear Itself #6
Shame I won’t be buying it in collected form. Single issues for me.
Everything is still top notch in Fear Itself. The art by Stuart Immonen is clear and beautiful, and the writing by Matt Fraction is well-paced and exciting. The heroes of the Marvel Universe are facing a diabolical threat that’s cutting the world asunder. New York City is in ruins. The heroes are tired and feeling blue. And the villain, The Serpent, is ready to declare his victory. He has but to attack the Norse World Tree with his army of empowered super-villains and the entirety of existence will fall in his name! Only a battle weary but seriously pissed off Captain America stands in his way.
Fortunately for Cap, the cavalry is just around the corner. Thor and Iron Man are gearing up for the last stand.
I like the issue, but as I said, it felt disjointed. There isn’t a feel of where all of the characters are in relation to one another. We know where they are, but it just doesn’t feel connected. The problem, to me, is that everything sounds much more awesome as an idea than what’s actually on the page. The events look like they’re supposed to be epic, they just don’t feel epic. As if the pitch was a lot stronger than the finished product. I think all of it probably sounds really awesome in Matt Fraction’s mind as he’s writing it, and I know he’s having a blast, I’m just not feeling it.
Again, it would probably be better read all in one sitting. Maybe I’ll have to try that some day.
What is the Secret of Multiple Man’s Powers?
What are the dark secrets of Multiple Man’s powers? Writer Peter David, who has been in charge of Jamie Madrox’s recent revival, has hinted for years that he has some hidden revelation left to play. Though I was unable to find the actual quotes, he’s hinted at this revelation in multiple interviews across the Interwebs. David has told us that Madrox is something more than just a mutant. That his powers have some special origin. Even the character himself knows that something is up. But all we’ve gotten are hints and teases.
What could it be? How will it change the character? Is everything I know and love about Multiple Man going to come to an end!?
Sorry, that was a little overdramatic. To compensate, here’s Multiple Man as a kitty cat.
He has ALL the cutes!
Anyway, I don’t have any theories about what this secret could be. I just wanted to do an article examining what’s been hinted at so far. I know some Multiple Man fans have found and read my blog, so I want to do more articles and entries about my favorite comic book character! Maybe some others out there can help me think it through. Maybe we can get a discussion going on what people think it might be. PAD has said he’ll get around to the story eventually. But a little pre-discussion never hurt anyone!
Who is he and what can he do:
Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, has the mutant ability to create duplicates of himself. Walking, talking, living, breathing duplicates who are capable of their own independent lives and thought. Typically, especially back in the day, most people just wrote Multiple Man as a one-man army, or a one-man technical crew. In his first appearance, he’d gone a little loopy and fought the Fantastic Four. But ever since then, he’s been a definite good guy. Even when he was in X-Corps, it was for a good cause. So Madrox has always been a good guy mutant, though he was never a member of the X-Men. Just a fringe sort of character.
And sometimes he annoys Wolverine
In movies and some cartoon shows, he’s been used as a villain. And again, he’s just a villain who can become a one-man gang.
Peter David changed everything with the MadroX miniseries in 2004. He had an idea that – since Madrox absorbs memories and such from his duplicates when he reabsorbs them back into his body – what if he were to send out several duplicates into the world to learn new skills and then absorb them at a later date? He’d gain a lot of knowledge with little work. So Madrox sent out duplicates who became monks, magician apprentices, detectives, priests and more. When their time came, they returned to the original Madrox and he absorbed them, combining all of their new knowledge into one person.
Madrox the Monk
David has used this idea to give Madrox something of a splintered, indecisive mind. If he could do anything, live and experience all sorts of lives simultaneously, why bother doing anything at all? Plus whenever he creates a duplicate, they tend to be some specific part of his personality, which had never happened before. He’d create a dupe and he’d get an angry dupe or a bitter dupe or a happy-go-lucky dupe or a dupe focused on cooking the perfect stew. It’s created a wonderful conflict for the comic book series. And he’s able to create multiple dupes when he needs them without having to worry about too much craziness.
What’s the secret of his powers:
Jamie Madrox is a mutant, which means he was born with his powers. He comes from the X-Men franchise: superheroes who are a different race from human beings. Mutants are born with their powers, and then a lot of them just happen to become superheroes or super-villains. That’s how Madrox has always been and I hope he’ll always be.
But Peter David has insinuated that Madrox is something more than just a mutant. Chief among the issues at stake is the fact that Madrox can also seem to duplicate objects. His dupes don’t come out naked, they’re wearing his clothes. And he can duplicate other physical objects as well. What’s up with that? And unlike most mutants whose powers develop at puberty, Madrox has been creating duplicates since he was born and the doctor spanked him on the butt. David explained this at one point, stating that the puberty thing was part of evolution. If a baby was born weird back in the old days, the parents would probably kill it. So to spare mutants, they started developing their powers later in life.
But Madrox is one of several mutants who had their powers from birth. Other examples are Nightcrawler, Marrow, Leech and other Morlocks.
Along with the interviews, here are three panels from the entire run of X-Factor that seem to indicate the secret origin. The first is from issue #17. I mentioned how Madrox sent some duplicates out into the world to learn different things. Well the dupe who studied to become a detective became such a good detective that he learned the secrets of Multiple Man’s powers.
And it drove him to drink
The detective duplicate doesn’t want the real Madrox to find out the truth. So he gets himself killed by shooting a corrupt police captain, resulting in him getting shot and killed by the corrupt captain’s men. So Madrox never gets to reabsorb the dupe and his knowledge.
The next panel comes from issue #204. (The series jumped from #50 to #200 as part of a marketing stunt, so don’t get weirded out about the numbering.) Basically, some bad guys are planning to take down Madrox and X-Factor and they’re running a simulation. The bad guys are surprised that Madrox is able to pick up one of their own weapons and then duplicate that rifle along with himself.
They are perplexed
The third panel comes from the most recent issue, #224.1. Madrox is explaining his powers to a family.
There's always a chance that kid might be a robot
So there you have it. Peter David has definitely been hinting at something more with Multiple Man’s powers. But what could it be? I don’t think it’ll be something as obvious as revealing that the Madrox we’ve been following all along has actually been a duplicate of some higher Madrox. But I have no other theories. There’s another duplicator in the series, Clay, who has the same powers, and he’s hinted at something larger. Could both Multiple Man and Clay be some kind of descendants of a Grand Multiplier? I just don’t know.
Why I don’t like the idea:
Madrox rose to prominence as my favorite character in part because he’s just a regular mutant. The X-Men franchise is full of hundreds of mutants. Most of them join a team, like the X-Men or the Brotherhood or the Marauders or whoever. Most of them are pigeonholed into some specific superhero or super-villain role. But in everything, Madrox has only ever been just a guy. Yes, he’s on X-Factor and yes, he’s been one of the good guys. But he’s purposefully turned down membership in the X-Men. He’s not just another member of the X-Men. He’s more of a regular Joe. And I love that about him. He’s not special. He’s not super unique. He’s just another mutant trying to live his life.
So to make him unique, give him some special secret origin to his powers, would just ruin that idea.
It’s like the original idea of having Wolverine be the first homo sapien who has simply survived this long. Or to make him an actual wolverine who was hyper-evolved into human form. Both are cool comic book origins, and both were actually considered at one point, but Wolverine is better as just a regular, normal mutant who then accomplished everything Wolverine has accomplished.
There’s something special with being mediocre.
Henchman-4-Hire 