I have no compunction about giving away my print copies since I've slowly been replacing my entire collection with digital versions over the last several years. I knew I'd never read another print version again, so this seemed the best use for them.
RideASpaceCowboy's forum posts
For those of you who listen to the podcast, you'll recall that I wrote in two or three weeks ago encouraging ComicVine members to donate their old issues to their fellow film-goers during the premier of major comic book movies. At both Dawn of Justice and Civil War I made sure to be first in line with a long box in hand - Batman, Superman, and Justice League issues for the former, and Captain America and Avengers issue for the latter. Many who picked up an issue told me they had not read a comic in years, if ever, despite loving the Marvel movies. The General Manager of the cineplex took notice and now he and I are coordinating an official promotional giveaway for the X-Men: Apocalypse premier.
I highly encourage all of you to likewise hand out any of your old or unwanted issues. You'll find yourself striking up conversations about comics with all sorts of folks who'd never otherwise talk about them (again, despite loving superhero movies).
Since neither the major publishers or the local comic book stores are making the most of the opportunity these movies offer them, it's up to all of you to be evangelists for the comics medium. These back issues are your gospel tracks, and the folks in line need to hear the good news. Now go win some converts!
The Hub City Review recently ran an article entitled "We're Living in the Postmodern Age of Comics: The Current Battle for Personal Truths, Social Justice, and a New American Way."
Do you agree with the claim that the Modern Age of Comics is over and that we're living in a new age? Is "The Postmodern Age of Comics" the best term for such?
Deathstroke and Terra
@rideaspacecowboy said:
I did some research into Hal's alleged pedophilia, and came across this article:
http://www.cracked.com/article_18957_the-8-most-awkward-sexual-moments-in-comic-book-history_p2.html
Under the specific circumstances, I would say Hal Jordan is only amorously attracted to adult women, as he was able to resist Arisia's advances until her appearance changed to that of a woman, as opposed to preferring her pubescent body.
Looking at the other entries in the article, however, it would appear that Ultimate Wolverine and Silver-Age Superman both have some Ephebophilic, possibly even Hebephilic, tendencies (and Superman incestuous ones at that).
It appears that mainstream comics aren't afraid to depict parahphilia, but for some reason only the super-heroes are allowed to be paedophiles.
Evidently Superman realized at some point Kryptonian laws don't apply on Earth.
Originally published at The Hub City Review
There was nothing. Followed by everything. Swirling, burning specks of creation that circled life-giving suns. And then, we raced to the light. It was a spark that started the fire – a legend that grew in the telling… It started with two men. One was life… and one was death.”
– Avengers #3
Secret Wars #9 is not the final chapter of a story that began in issue #1. Nor is it the conclusion to Hickman’s acclaimed Avengers run, begun three years ago. No, this is a story that’s Hickman has been telling month-in and month-out since Fantastic Four #570 in October of 2009, an issue titled “Solve Everything.” And indeed, everything is exactly what’s on the line. The problem to be solved, in Richards’ own words:
Everything dies. You. Me. Everyone on this planet. Our Sun. Our galaxy. Even the universe itself. This is simply how things are. And I accept it. What I will not tolerate – what I find unacceptable – is the unnatural acceleration of that end… the untimely end of everything is what we now face.”
– New Avenger #2
A lesser writer than Hickman would have made such stakes a puzzle to be solved, the ultimate test of Richards’ immense intellect and indomitable resolve. Such certainly could have proved compelling; some of the best films of last year were tales of survival through wits and will, such as The Martian, The Revenant, and Into the Heart of the Sea. But Hickman knows the real heart of the character is not the genius which sets him apart but rather his heart and humanity. Impending extinction, whether of a single soul or the whole world, is rather a test of character and conviction; of moral fiber and fortitude.
Such had been the central conflict throughout Hickman’s duology at Marvel, writ small in his run on Fantastic Four/FF and writ large in Avengers/New Avengers. In both cases Richards’ utilitarian inclinations are pitted against his deontological duties. In the former, he alone of every other Reed Richards in existence, according to whom “The cost of solving everything is everything” is unwilling to pay the price his humanity, unwilling to abandon his friends and family – including Victor von Doom. Whereas the rest of the Reeds say of the Latverian dictator, “There is no greater threat in the universe than Doom – his appetite is unmatched. He will never break. He will never yield,” our Richards, because he still has a loving relationship with his daughter, is able to listen when she tells him “All hope lies in Doom.”
And indeed, that faith in his foe is vindicated. Even in their final confrontation here in issue #9 of Secret Wars, Richards does not regard Doom as an evil to be eradicated, but rather as hero who helped save what Reed himself could not, buying him the time to set things right. But such was possible only because of Doom’s essential nature – his appetite, his unbreakable and unyielding will – by which he bested the innumerable omnipotent opponents who’d the omniversal destruction designed.
Nor is it a deus ex machina on Hickman’s part that allows the most moral Reed to see his universe survive Celestial slaughter or Beyonder butchery. Rather, time and again throughout his works, Hickman implicitly demonstrates that the moral goodness of an action is precisely what empower it to produce a preferable outcome. Per Fantastic Four, our Reed’s unique love for his children is directly related to his offspring growing to become the preeminent heroes across all timeline.
Such also was why the climatic clash between Richards and Doom was never going to end with the former killing the later. It was Hickman’s central thesis that winning the moral argument is always ultimately more important than winning the fistfight, especially when the stakes are at their highest. That is why, as great as the temptation was to surrender to consequentialist calculations of the cost of lives, such was the one sin it was important he not commit. With bomb in hand, the destruction of a planet possible by the press of a trigger, Richards concludes:
“I know I would be saving hundreds of trillions of lives at the cost of mere billions. I know there is no shame in coming to that conclusion – in making that choice. But even with all things hanging in the balance – there is a line.”
– New Avengers #21
Namor was the first to criticize cowing to one’s own conscience at the cost of all creation. Off the printed page on internet message boards, many fans seconded his pragmatism and practicality in the interest of survival. But having suffered such temptation and survived with his soul intact is precisely what imbibed Reed and Doom both that the former is the better man.
Doom: You think you’re better than I am… If you had this power, you think you could have solved it all – solved everything. You think you could have done So. Much Better. Don’t you? Don’t You!
Reed: Yes. And we both know it, don’t we?
Doom: yes. damn you….
And it’s as easy as that, the solution to everything: Be a good man. All of the good that came about at the end of Secret Wars – the Richards family’s apotheosis, the restoration of the multiverse, the healing of Molecule Man and even Victor himself, the promise of a universe where everything expands and endures and everything lives – is all simply the ultimate outcome of one man simply choosing to always do the right thing.
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