Like Joker Do! – Clown Prince of Crime or Loving Partner and Stepdad?

Years ago, out to lunch with one of my best friends, he made an observation, “You know, I think you’d be happy never getting married.  You’re comfortable on your own.  You don’t need someone else to enjoy life.  But if you get married, I think you’ll marry a single mother.  Lots of guys wouldn’t.  Lots of people avoid dating single parents.  But you don’t.  You’re good with kids.  You love kids and you’d love her kids, which would be great for everyone.”  While this friend knew me better than most (at the time, we’ve lost touch a bit), he rarely weighed in on my personal life.  So it was unexpected but I didn’t disagree.  It felt authentic.  Still, I’d’ve never guessed this would be a bridge to see a little of myself in the Joker :8.  Gah!  The Clown Prince of Crime.  The Harlequin of Hate.  The Jester of Genocide.  The King of Arkham Asylum.  This is the guy – thanks to HBO Max’s mind-bendingly brilliant and sensationally subversive Harley Quinn – I’m now empathizing with??  Color me surprised.

She-Hulk Smashes the MCU’s Avengers: Endgame Problem

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is, in my humble opinion, the most important show (it’s finale in particular) to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It cuts loose the albatross which has hung around the neck of the MCU since Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were released.  If the MCU is to continue for another ten years, if it’s to stay relevant and interesting, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law must become the Bible for Marvel’s cinematic storytellers.  And ok, I see how my title and these opening sentences may seem a bit clickbait-y.  It may seem like a “hot take,” purposefully framed to invite shocked, curious, or even hate reads.  But here’s the thing; I honestly, completely, wholeheartedly believe this.  For all their EPICNESS, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame inadvertently set off a problematic chain reaction within the MCU’s fandom which will plague the MCU until it’s set right.  How do you stop this reaction?  She-Hulk SMASH.  Salvation, it turns out, comes in a sensational She-Hulk-sized package.

Note, this piece contains SPOILERS for the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law finale.

The Imperial Avengers Assemble!

Since I pushed Mike to present his Avenger’s Dream Team he, in turn, told me that I had to share my own squad of Avenging superheroes. As I have been soaking up Marvel stories lately, and not really interested in the Star Wars content being pumped out by Disney (which has resulted in my having absolutely nothing to say about Star Wars over on my site), I figured I would take Mike up on the offer and share my own team – “The Imperial Avengers.” That said, I should note that whereas I am a savant with Star Wars, my knowledge of the Marvel-verse is plebian compared to Michael. Soooo, you know, just bear with me here as I struggle to explain my rationale for choosing my team.

My Avengers Dream Team

Reading Brian Michael Bendis’ The New Avengers lately (first the issues in “Civil War” and now I’m wading through the equally lengthy “Secret Invasion”) I can’t help but think: He just picked whatever superheroes he liked and made them Avengers.  I mean, c’mon.  Spider-Man?!?  Wolverine?!?  Luke Cage and Jessica Jones?!?  I love Spidey but he’s a neighborhood guy.  The same goes for Luke and Jessica; they’re street-level heroes.  And Wolverine?  The guy’s not a joiner AT ALL let alone randomly becoming an Avenger.  Jason Aaron’s done the same thing with his new team.  Ghost Rider?  Doctor Strange?  What the heck??  But then I realized THAT’S WHY YOU’D WANT TO WRITE AVENGERS BECAUSE YOU GET TO DESIGN YOUR OWN TEAM.  Moments after this realization hit it naturally led me to consider – Who would fill my Avengers dream team?

Captain Marvel – A Trailer, A Hunch

Okay so obviously I know the Captain Marvel trailer(s) came out before the one for Avengers: Endgame.  And, in the wake of my feelings on Avengers: Infinity War, I’ve been pretty open about being more excited for Captain Marvel than Avengers 4.  So you may be wondering why, pray tell, didn’t I write about this trailer when it came out?  Well, when I watched it I had a feeling and this feeling informed what I wanted to write.  However, to write what I wanted to write, I needed to see if my hunch played out and for that I needed to see the Avengers 4 trailer.  Now, having basked in the glory and excitement of both the Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame trailers, I’m ready to talk about our first look(s) at Carol Danvers cinematic debut!

Revisiting (for no reason in particular) 1996’s Marvel Versus DC Event

You know when you have something stuck in your head and you can’t exorcise it until you experience it?  Like a song you need to listen to or a movie you have to watch?  Well, inexplicably, I’ve had 1996’s Marvel Comics VERSUS DC event stuck in my head for weeks.  It’s so strong I’ve even been thinking of those Amalgam Comics they ran between the third and fourth issues of the series.  So, like a particularly hooky song, in order to free my random mental musings from this event I decided to reread it.  Even as a kid it seemed more like a popularity contest than a legitimate story but now, as an adult, I wanted to look at that more closely.  Given these match-ups, do any of the victors make sense for any reason outside of who was the clear fan favorite?

The BIG Question: Which Superpowers Would You Choose?

I think this has to be a question as old as human imagination.  Right?  Once we began thinking of mythic beings, demigods, and superheroes – beings imbued with fantastic abilities – the next logical step after imagining their daring exploits would be to wonder what it would be like if we had those powers ourselves.  And that ties to the question this little post will consider – If you could choose, what superhero’s power set would you pick for yourself??