Stuff I Read This Week: The Stuff Returns

Guardians of the Galaxy #12: Refresher: In case you've missed it, Original Jean Grey (from the first days of the X-Men) is stuck in the present day, learning about the checkered future ahead of her. Of course, the Shi'ar is still pissed about how she grew up to kill a few planets...so they'd like to "talk" to her about that.

Marvel's crossover events don't always hit the bullseye the way they should (looking at you, Age of Ultron) and sometimes, if they go on long enough, they seem to lose steam (that means you, Battle of the Atom), but this one seems to have a wild card in that regard: Brian Michael Bendis. "The Trial of Jean Grey" story arc takes two titles that have flourishes during the Bendis era and amplifies the things that work the best about his books in particular. He likes to go back and highlight certain aspects of superheroes that comics, in their long history and often fast paced nature, glaze over.

Anyone whose read any X-comics in the past couple of years can see that Cyclops clearly has prevailing daddy issues (He's all "wah wah, my daddy was dead and then in space"....pussy). Now, it probably wouldn't be a great idea to have Grown Up Cyclops pissing and whining about his father, but watching Young Scott Summers experience catharsis while on his way to fight space aliens to save the future love of his life? Yeah, that might be kinda awesome.

Still, the BEST part of this issue was watching Gladiator and the dissent in the ranks of his Imperial Guard. Oracle is an intriguing character and works well, unwittingly serving as the Gladiator's nagging conscience. That'll definitely be a lot to see play out in the last two issues. Sara Pichelli and Stuart Immonen's respective art styles play well off of each other. Granted, Pichelli did the majority of the pencils, but the expressive faces came in very handy for this issue which featured some pivotal emotional responses.

Bottom Line: Although it took four out of six issues to get down to the titular event, Bendis has made some rather entertaining detours that make for an engaging crossover. 8 out of 10.

Origin II: Refresher: A look into the early beginnings of James Howlett aka Logan aka Wolverine's time in the wild, led to believe his feral nature left him unable to belong among civilization.

Okay, quite honestly, I have NO idea why this series needs to exist. In the past ten years or so, Wolverine has gone from being an enigma to being the most mysterious figure in the Marvel Universe that we know damn near everything about. We've seen some backstories in the past year that we were better off not knowing (Thanos Rising) and others that work purely off the steam of a good writer's fresh eyes (Batman's "Zero Year"). If ever there were a comic book character who NEVER really needs another flashback story ever again, it's Wolverine.

Having said that, this follow up to the decade old Andy Kubert masterpiece "Origin" is actually pretty good. In for Paul Jenkins is Kieron Gillen at the helm with Andy Kubert's artwork duties passed on to his brother Adam. The result is pretty satisfying. For the most part, it picks up where the first one left off with Logan silently living in the wilderness with wolves. However, as anyone who has ever read a Wolverine comic knows....peace doesn't last very long for this guy. This issue in particular highlights the bond forming between Logan and gentle hearted animal tracker, Clara as well as Victor Creed, the callous tool who come be known as Sabertooth.

This is an enjoyable read with framework comparable to that of Tarzan or maybe even Princess Mononoke. It serves as a nice break from the psuedo-superhero/father figure of the Jean Grey school we've known from recent years and reminds us of what's most intriguing about Wolverine in the first place. Adam Kubert's pencils manage to maintain his brother's aesthetic tone. Every panel looks extremely clean in a very old fashioned way we don't see very much of these days with some of the best facial expressions I've seen all week.

Bottom Line: Even though the concept as whole feels extremely "been there," it's still a really good read. 8 out of 10

A Few Other Things About Man of Steel (Yes, I'm Going to Talk About the Zod Thing)....

So, after my Man of Steel review, I instantly got a few criticisms about the movie and the review that deserve to be addressed. WARNING: There are spoilers ahead. If you don't want to know some parts of the movie, jump out now.

Last Warning...there are spoilers. Okay, you had your chance.



1). There were a couple of problems I had with the movie that I didn't mention.

-For one thing, the Lois/Superman romance was a little rushed. A kissing scene after he's just killed a man with the backdrop of a half-leveled Metropolis played out on screen a lot like the end of a Godzilla movie where, "Sure, he wrecked all of our shit, but we're alive and he beat up the monster, so thanks, Godzilla! You're alright."

-With the exception of Superman's costume, the color palette for this movie was really sepia. I don't have a good joke for that. I just found that kinda odd.

2). There were a lot of people who feel that the death of Krypton should have been skipped altogether and although I don't agree, it's a fair reaction to have. After all, you'd have to travel a long way to find someone that doesn't know that Superman's an alien raised by kindly midwestern farm people. However, it's also fair to say that the last time we saw an origin story on the big screen was over 30 years ago. I literally hadn't even been conceived the last time a movie depicted Jor-El shooting his only son off into space. There's a whole generation who hasn't had the chance to have the same experience we did. Furthermore, the larger reason it's important to, at least, glance at the final moments of Krypton is to add gravitas to the hero's journey. Not for the hero, mind you, but for the viewer. I detest the idea of risking a discussion about comparing Superman to Jesus, but please bare with me.

One of the prevailing ideas in the Bible is that the morals of the Judeo-Christian faith have an overwhelming impact on those who study them when they understand what Christ sacrificed to convey them. In turn, the idea in Man of Steel is that we, the viewers, are sympathetic to the idea that Clark will never truly know (not firsthand, anyway) what his parents gave (specifically Jor-El) to make sure his son didn't have to explode alongside his people. Glazing over the death of Krypton is tantamount to overlooking the fact that Batman's parents got shot.

3). I read several comments on Facebook and Twitter where people were groaning about all the product placement. I dismissed most of this as the bitter fan-tears of trolls. People whined about this as if product placement were some new phenomenon. The Lone Ranger is selling Subway sandwiches, Iron Man and Mister Spock are selling Audi sports coupes, Smallville was practically an hour long Old Navy ad each week, Batman and Robin (and Sylvester Stallone) sold Taco Bell and NOW people are whining about Corporate America's involvement? Yeah, okay. Next....

4). The complaints about Jonathan Kent being un-Kent-like....**sigh**...okay. There were more than a few people that found it a little left field that, when asked if he should have let the children on the school bus die, Pa Kent replied "Maybe." This was the first time in the history of the mythology I saw Jonathan portrayed as a real person and not what we think kindly midwestern farmers should be like. He sounded like someone my dad would know. My father is honest enough to know he doesn't have all the answers and replied to my questions several times throughout my childhood with "Fuck, I don't know...maybe." It's debatable that, perhaps, he offered mixed messages for his son throughout the movie, but what we saw was a man who'd come face to face with the possibility that he might not be properly equipped to give his son all of the guidance he needs. Just like many real fathers.

5). Another complaint I heard A LOT was about the Zod fight. Two specific things about the Zod fight seemed to rub people the wrong way.

-Apparently, some people were shocked by the wholesale destruction being so....well....destructive. Yes, you heard that right. People were actually mad that Superman beat a bad guy by punching him. I find that particularly silly after this.....


....and this.

  c

Even without the fact that Superman fights have traditionally been just plain destructive, I see where some fans would take issue with the final act in Man of Steel. As a Superman fan, I do appreciate those moments ("All Star" is full of them) when Superman can cure all ails with his never-ending well of compassion and feelings. After all, we've become accustomed to a mythology where Superman always has the right answer and is powerful enough to choose the "third" option that wouldn't always be available to everyday people. He's fast enough to usually get there just in time. He can hear well enough to get to wherever "there" may happen to be. In short, he's able to realize those "nick of time" moments we all wish for in real life. So, it's not unreasonable to consider people being a little turned off by all the death.

Consider the other end of the spectrum, though. I mean, sure, there were TONS of buildings being smashed and yeah, there were people clearly still in harm's way, but Superman was clearly fighting a guy who was a powerful as HE was and twice as dangerous because he a). was severely pissed and b). didn't give a single solitary fuck about hurting humans. The evil Kryptonians were pretty relentless already. I mean there were several times during the fight in Smallville where he tried to get some distance and wasn't allowed a single moment of pause by Faora and Other Guy. Did we really think Zod would be any less relentless? In fairness, Superman did try to knock him into orbit at least once, but it's like I said. Superpowered fights just tend to be really fucking dangerous.

-And of course, there is the death of General Zod. This was something I expected from the moment he killed Jor-El. It's a type of favored "eye for an eye" karmic symmetry in blockbuster action movies, certainly in superhero films. Granted, I wouldn't have predicted Superman snapping his neck Chuck Norris style, but the backlash is understandable. Even though I feverishly disagree with the comparison, I've noticed a lot of people (I know...not everybody) see Superman as a Jesus analog. Whether they're a fan of him or not, wondering what Superman would do is akin to asking what Jesus would do and while my theology is rusty, I'm pretty sure when the Good Book said to "turn the other cheek," it didn't mean "turn thy neighbor's cheek from one side of his body to the other." Having said that, I think that, as I mentioned before, often times, people expect Superman, with all his power, to have the option of an easy way out. But, once again, he was up against a foe every bit as powerful as he is and, in fairness, he pleaded with Zod to stop at least three times. And it's not like he wanted to kill the guy. For fuck's sake, he immediately fell to his knees and cried as Lois held him. I mean he was sobbing about the shit. I appreciate this dimension to the character. Storywise, I like the idea of a Superman that isn't instantly sure enough of the right thing to do to in every situation partly because he's still new.