So it's been a bit since my last post. My free time has been going towards creating more original content and making it good, so I've been away from the "news" side for a little bit.
However, I just finished reading Civil War II #6 and I have feelings.
First of all, I'm confused. Comic books have allowed us to have a discussion about social and political issues in a fun and creative way. A healthy way. Now Marvel is being accused of falling into the "Social Justice Warrior" or "Politically Correct" movement by the younger generation of comic readers. I see it every day on social media. Mostly younger readers that have only been reading comics from the late 90's through today, failing to acknowledge the decades of stories and characters that have come before.
But that's not why I'm confused.
I'm confused because I don't know how I feel about the changes Marvel has made with their Legacy characters. By Legacy characters I mean: Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine (and the X-Men in general), and the Incredible Hulk.
The latest trend at Marvel has been to re-invent these characters. For example, Bruce Banner took a break from hulking out and a new "Totally Awesome" Hulk took over (not my moniker for him, but the actual title of the series). This new Hulk was a young Asian American boy named Amadeus Cho. Obviously a diversity move. Same thing with Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man. The new "iron hero" is a 15 year old African American girl calling herself Iron Will. Captain America was replaced by Sam Wilson aka Falcon, and of course the most popular character to come out of this: Miles Morales the Spider-Man from the now defunct Ultimate Universe. Miles is a mix of Puerto Rican and African American and as well as a really great character.
Now don't get me wrong. I have absolutely 0 problems with Marvel's choices here. It's just that, aside from Miles Morales, I don't really care for any of the other new heroes. Maybe RiRi Williams (Iron Will) will be a fun read, but she was just introduced so I have no idea yet.
Ok, so the argument here is that Marvel is forcing this PC agenda and SJW characters down "our" throats while at the same time killing off (sometimes literally) our beloved Legacy characters. Seriously, Civil War #2 actually killed the Incredible Hulk, I'm still stunned.
Also, these same people that have this problem also have a problem with one of Marvel's biggest writers. Brian Michael Bendis. Their argument against him is that he literally destroys the heroes that we love so much. Example: Bendis has a famous run on the Avengers series. Or more like an infamous run on the Avengers. Specifically the story Avengers: Disassembled. Where, on page 3, he literally blows up the Avengers' Mansion, and then the following story is the Avengers breaking up and all going in different directions. He followed up this story with The New Avengers, where he stirred up more controversy by adding completely new members to the famous team like Wolverine, Spider-Man, DareDevil, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Doctor Strange. The common complaint became, "who can't be an Avenger now?" Before Bendis, becoming an Avenger was an aspiration for ALL Marvel super heroes, and now people feel like ANYONE could be an Avenger.
Well, I think that's dumb. No, I'm not saying you're dumb if you agree with that argument. I just think the argument itself is dumb. As is the argument that Marvel is forcing a PC agenda on their readers. Characters HAVE to evolve or else we're going to get the same old stuff all the time. I suppose you could argue that this post is about Civil War II, so in a way Marvel IS DEFINITELY doing the same stuff. You could argue that way, but then you would be wrong. The events are the same in title alone.
I am really enjoying the writing in Civil War II. I don't like the shocking splash page reveals in almost every issue, nor do I like the major changes to my favorite characters, but I really like the turmoil that exists between each character. I love that the words and actions of these characters reverberates through the pages of each issue. I love seeing the pain in the faces of these characters as they are forced to choose sides, or feeling the hurt behind the words they're saying to each other. What I love most is the sense of fear of the uncertain that each character displays. They all do their best to put a strong face on, but each issue it gets harder and harder.
Another positive point to make is the addition of much younger characters interacting with established Legacy characters. I loved seeing Ms. Marvel aka the young Kamala Khan stick up for Miles Morales or Tony Stark admitting he was proud of the young Avengers (Ms. Marvel and the new Nova along with Cyclops) when they snuck off to find and help Miles Morales themselves.
So do you understand why I'm confused? No? hahahaha yeah I kind of ranted on this one. Well here is a simple way of what I am finding so confounding: is this a good book because of what I'm reading, or is it a bad book because of what's happening to my favorite characters? Nostalgia vs. good story. Looking at that last sentence answers my question I guess. Story is king. Without a good story, the character changes don't mean a thing.
What do you think? Are you following Marvel's Civil War 2? If so, how do you feel about it? If not, are you intrigued? Maybe not enough to run out and by the last 6 issues, but enough to wonder where the story goes? Well stay tuned then, because I'm sure I'm not done talking about this.
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