Black Panther: The Struggle of Faith When God Is Silent

Modern comics tend to focus on shorter, four-to-six issue story arcs.  The ever-present wariness about the mercurial taste of readers, accessibility to potential newbies, as well as the fact each title will be collected and sold as trades two or three times a year shapes how stories are told.  Yet Ta-Nehisi Coates has embraced a longer form of storytelling, with great success, since taking over Black Panther.  His first “season” (as he describes it) was “A Nation Under Our Feet,” a yearlong story exploring the nature of people and politics, what it means to rule and who has the right to do so.  His second season, “Avengers Of The New World,” is another thoughtful, multifaceted yearlong story.  In it Coates eloquently and gracefully depicts the struggle of faith when God is silent.

Jason Aaron’s Avengers #1 and Free Comic Book Day 2018

I’m not one for team books.  I used to be but, by and large, I just can’t get into them now (minus the incredible exceptions of Mark Waid’s Champions and Gerry Duggan’s Guardians Of The Galaxy).  I find them to be crossover hubs and often more action heavy then character focused.  However, like Lewis Black and candy corn, I can’t stop trying them.  This week, motivated by my love of his work on The Mighty Thor and knowing I’d see them in my Free Comic Book Day selections anyway, I decided to give Jason Aaron, Ed Mcguinness, and David Curiel’s new take on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes a try…sadly, I wasn’t impressed.  Thankfully, I have higher hopes for my other Free Comic Book Day picks!

A Tale of Two Caps

In the wake of Secret Empire’s conclusion, Nick Spencer stepped away from Captain America, the title he shepherded for Marvel from October 2015 through September 2017.  During this time he handled the majority of Sam Wilson’s iconic turn as Cap as well as the (infamously controversial) Hydra corruption of Steve Rogers, resulting in Steve becoming a fanatical white supremacist.  Amidst the most soul-crushing, hopeless storyline I’ve ever read in a comic, Spencer orchestrated the resurrection of hope in a way so authentically powerful, I felt as though I’d been reborn along with Steve Rogers.  Now, in the Marvel Legacy era, Rodney Barnes has taken over writing the brand-new Falcon series while Mark Waid has taken over Captain America.  For me, the results have been mixed.

…..really?? – Marvel Legacy Edition

I enjoy writing impassioned pieces here.  There is a special sort of joy that comes from something born of your heart and soul taking shape in your writing.  I also like to pride myself on writing informed and researched pieces.  I’m not one to rant emotionally with nothing to base it on.  However, one of the early posts on this blog was titled “…..really?” and it dealt with my shock and frustration over the (now infamous) Hydra Cap reveal.  I’ve come to deeply respect what’s come of the story and I’ll openly admit I was wrong.  Buuuut sometimes you just need to rant so I’m taking the title of that piece – “…..really??” – and turning it into an occasional series where I react to an idea before I really have any idea what’s up :).  Today’s focus is Marvel Legacy!

X-Men Gold: Will We Seek the Original Over the Familiar?

The idea of X-Men Gold and the whole “Resurrection” (I refuse to spell it with that stupid “X” – I get what you were going for Marvel but it’s dumb and I’m not playing) reboot seemed pretty exciting.  After years on the periphery of relevance, Marvel was returning the X-Men to the spotlight.  They were going to be battling super villains!  Teaching new mutants!  Symbolizing those rejected by society as they fought to protect a world that hated and feared them!!!  The tropes that made the X-Men a cultural juggernaut in the 80’s and 90’s were coming back baby!  X-Men Gold delivers wonderfully…but that’s all it seems to deliver.  In being so familiar at the expense of pushing new ideas, X-Men Gold has come to symbolize a major cultural problem for me.