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Something rather amazing happened last week that mainstream comic book websites ignored: Marvel Editor Tom Brevoort likened Cyclops to Adolf Hilter — the infamous man responsible for killing six million Jews.
For some inexplicable reason, Mr. Brevoort thought it was a good idea to sell the upcoming “Champions” book on more political activism and “Kid Hitler.” Seriously.
Entertainment Weekly reported July 5:
BREVOORT: This is the young Scott Summers pulled from the past. In my head, he’s kind of the first challenge the group faces. Which is to say that when they get together and start to do this, what they’re doing is not just putting together a superhero team, they’re more like activists. They’re making an inclusive statement that they mean to be for all members of their generation: it’s time to get together and stand up and fix the world. This is a message that goes out and people come in response to it. Cyclops shows up and goes, “Boy I love what you’re putting down, I’d like to be a part of it.” It’s kind of like Kid Hitler showing up at the door. The older Cyclops has done some stuff. He’s a hugely divisive figure in the Marvel universe, so the first question these kids have to answer for themselves is, should we let him be a part of this? Is his very presence going to taint what we’re doing? His older self became a radical and a revolutionary and did awful things, but is it the same guy? And that’s kind of why he’s there I think. He wants to go down a different road than his older self did.
A comic book fan does not even know what has happened in the X-Men books for the past few years to understand how pathetic it is that Scott Summers is “Kid Hitler.”
- At what point in time did the Holocaust essentially become an Entertainment Weekly punchline for Mr. Brevoort? Oh that ‘Kid Hitler.’ Tune into to see if the other super-kiddies welcome him into the club after what he’s done!
- At what point did Marvel decide that it was “fun” to read heroes who earn Hitler analogies?
Marvel is in such sad shape these days that heroes seem to fight heroes more than villains, Hydra-Cap gimmicks are required for quick sales, Doctor Octopus spent over a year in Peter Parker’s body, and now Cyclops is “Kid Hitler.”
If you get a chance, ask Marvel’s writers and editors how much money they estimate Mr. Brevoort’s Holocaust analogy in Entertainment Weekly will net the company. My guess is that they will somehow try and portray you as the bad guy, but if they do then just keep in mind who you’re dealing with — men who turned Cyclops into “Kid Hitler.”
Douglas Ernst Blog 
Marvel is doing so many dumb things so soon after the other that I can’t even feign shock or surprise anymore. It’s just another day.
“Marvel is doing so many dumb things so soon after the other that I can’t even feign shock or surprise anymore. It’s just another day.”
That is a very bad sign for the comic division’s future. It’s getting to the point where fans expect the company to do stupid things on a regular basis. Ouch.
I haven’t read the X-Men in ages, I always did like Cyclops though. I wonder what he did to become history’s greatest monster in Marvel comics.
“If you could go back in time, would you let kid Hitler join your super-awesome radical superhero tree house club?”
“I haven’t read the X-Men in ages, I always did like Cyclops though. I wonder what he did to become history’s greatest monster in Marvel comics.”
I was hoping Chuck would weigh in on this topic since I know he’s a big X-Men fan. The last thing I heard was that Cyclops tried to start a revolution an then he did something off panel that made everyone hate mutants.
If it’s what I saw, the Phoenix force came and possessed a bunch of mutants, and they did the whole “take over the world by force to make everyone be nice” thing. I remember Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, Colossus and Magik being possessed, but I think there were more. In some cases they killed a bunch of people to try to “make a better world.” Cyclops killed Professor X because he resisted their plan. Eventually they sort of turned on each other (since the power was split between each possessed person) and then the whole thing was stopped. For some reason, mutants taking over the world and killing people to enforce a new world order made people not like them very much.
What doesn’t make sense to me is that they treat Cyclops as a monster because he did a lot of that stuff, but a) he was possessed by an alien force at the time and b) he wasn’t the only one possessed who did similar stuff. I’m not sure why he gets the blame for that considering how many heroes have committed atrocities when possessed by various things. It seemed like they were making the possessed ones scapegoats for the whole thing to try to pass the blame off of mutants in general. But I only skimmed some of it so I may have missed part of the situation.
“For some reason, mutants taking over the world and killing people to enforce a new world order made people not like them very much.”
How odd! 😉
I’m old fashioned, I guess. I remember the days when you could actually tell the difference between the heroes and the villains.
I was hoping that when Disney bought Marvel, that they would taken editorial control and maybe even clean house. Unfortunately they did not do that. I haven’t bought a comic in about 10 years and with the current state of Marvel it looks it will be another ten years. I do enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe because they are closer to the true spirit of the characters.
Thank you for keeping me informed on the decline of Marvel. I am hoping some day soon you will be writing about the return of Marvel, but that will only happen with a massive turnover of people there.
“I do enjoy the Marvel Cinematic Universe because they are closer to the true spirit of the characters.”
Well have to cherish these moments while they last. Thank goodness Kevin Feige has control over the wheel when it comes to MCU.
I wonder how long we’d have to wait for some of them to leave Marvel. I’d imagine a long time, which makes me sad.
What makes you think Disney would improve things? These are the people who put pressure on Georgia to quash a law the people wanted because they didn’t like it, threatening to leave and take their jobs elsewhere. They are officially evil. They’ll do all the same stuff that Marvel Comics is doing now, just as soon as they think they can get away with it.
They’re probably sitting on Frozen 2 until they think they can get away with making a lesbian princess. They’re going to be pushing all this stuff in their kiddie movies as soon as it won’t be catastrophically unprofitable. There’s no use appealing to Disney to fix things when they’re on the same track, just a little further back.
As a child of the late 80s and 90s, we grew up thinking Cyclops was kind of a weenis (“Guys, I’m the leader of the X-men! Wolverine, why do you never listen to me!?”) but never Literally Hitler.
“As a child of the late 80s and 90s, we grew up thinking Cyclops was kind of a weenis (“Guys, I’m the leader of the X-men! Wolverine, why do you never listen to me!?”) but never Literally Hitler.”
Heh. I think Mr. Brevoort and his writers have overcompensated for the 80s. “You think Summers is a weenie? Well you’re wrong — he’s Hitler!”
The next thing you know, we’ll hear that Rocket Racer runs secret gulags across the U.S.
Awhile back, some blogger who has long since disappeared, did in-depth summaries and review, with lots of pictures, of the original X-men run up until its original cancellation; was Cyclops a badass, and holy crap, Eric the Red!
Seriously, the people writing comics these days don’t understand superheroes.
Also, now that Modok is Donald Trump, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that DC will follow suit, rebooting the Force of July and have Trump be the mastermind behind them while they try to deport the Outsiders or something.
“Also, now that Modok is Donald Trump, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that DC will follow suit, rebooting the Force of July and have Trump be the mastermind behind them while they try to deport the Outsiders or something.”
If Trump wins, there will be a Cosmic Cube story where every villain is unmasked and revealed to be a Donald Trump clone… 😉
“A man constantly on the verge of saying something stupid- for your entertainment!”
Truer words were never spoken, Tom! Comparing Cyclops to “Kid Hitler” is pretty dumb, and just the latest gaffe from Brevoort.
Also, I can’t stand the whole time-displaced original X-Men storyline they’ve been pushing lately. Just resurrect the adult Jean Grey and stop repeating the Phoenix storyline. It’s been played out.
To be fair it is not Modok, it is a different thing in Gwenpool called Modaak. With that said it is still incredibly dumb.
So there’s a version of Gwen Stacy who’s also a Deadpool now? That’s lame.
Marvel is clearly out of ideas, They really need a new team.
You ought to look at the new ASM cover. It’s X-23 (Girl Wolverine, IOW), in a submissive, exhausted pose, her chest-clothes half ripped off, and all covered with penetration wounds. (Don’t ask me why X-23 is on an ASM cover, it makes no sense). Tell me that doesn’t qualify as violence porn.
I just caught up on this post and the Americop post. Marvel really makes me sick. I was just in the comic store yesterday asking the owners son if people actually liked this crap Marvel puts out. He said he sees a lot of complaints. The owner told me he actively promotes just about anything besides Marvel and DC because people get sick of it and drop the books.
Has there been that much writing and editorial change at Marvel in the last 10 or so years? I remember the 2000’s being a much better product. In the middle part of the decade it seemed most heroes were depicted in a classical kind of way and I was reading 6 or so books a month from Marvel.
I am down to 2 books from Marvel right now. I am reading The Vision, I have always liked the character, and it focuses on Vision’s personal life and little on super hero stuff. I am also reading Deadpool, which hasn’t really been injected with full on liberalness and SJW crap yet. I am going to finish with The Vision and ride Deadpool until I get tired with it (again).
I don’t plan on looking for new Marvel books to read. I am done giving these morons money until things start to change. I am on the fence about my Marvel Unlimited subscription, I get good mileage out of that reading old titles. I will continue to support the MCU, they’ve been getting it right.
Doug, thank you for the news. I hope someday the good will start to outweigh the bad.
“Has there been that much writing and editorial change at Marvel in the last 10 or so years? I remember the 2000’s being a much better product. In the middle part of the decade it seemed most heroes were depicted in a classical kind of way and I was reading 6 or so books a month from Marvel.”
I really think the emergence of Facebook, Twitter, etc., turned writers into activist-writers because of the “wave of love” Bendis talks about. I think these guys are addicted to the bubble-celebrity they can blow for themselves by becoming hyper-partisan. If they insert partisan politics into their books and Twitter feeds then the ego massages begin. They don’t care about the long-term damage they’re doing to the brand because they’re getting Twitter sponge bathes…drowning in “waves of love,” etc.
I’m really not sure the books will improve until Marvel hires professional writers who couldn’t care less about online fame. Such men and women will be happy to engage with fans, but there will be no internal drive to win approval for saying the “right” cultural talking points.
“Doug, thank you for the news. I hope someday the good will start to outweigh the bad.”
As always, thank YOU for reading. I’ll be here writing for the foreseeable future, God willing, whether the news is good or bad. 😉
sigh…why? Why can’t this guy just get the hell out of Marvel already and take Quesada with him? Why can’t they just clean house with the comics division and put Kevin Feige and Jeph Loeb in charge of all creative decisions?
But on the plus side though, it would appear that Renew Your Vows will be getting an ongoing title come Fall, and it’ll be written by the same man who laid the groundwork for the Peter/MJ relationship many decades ago:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/07/11/scoop-gerry-conway-and-ryan-stegman-revisit-renew-your-vows-for-marvel-now/
So maybe there’s still hope after all?
“But on the plus side though, it would appear that Renew Your Vows will be getting an ongoing title come Fall, and it’ll be written by the same man who laid the groundwork for the Peter/MJ relationship many decades ago.”
I saw that thanks to Spider-Man Crawlspace’s Facebook feed. 🙂 It looks like I’ll have a new title to review. It would be rather interesting to see if there is an exodus from ASM if Conway delivers the goods. ASM sold something like 65K copies last month, correct? Hmmm…
If it’s a good title, I’ll more than happy make the exodus.
You are correct, without the many variant covers and new #1’s the title continues to drop like it has since Slott has been on it.
Because Tom and his pack of fat f*** SJW ingrates want to be ‘in with the kewl kids’ that they have to be ashamed they have penises, ashamed they are white, and ashamed they like women. As such, because Cyclops is a unique MUTANT that you can’t really replicate (because in their warped hive mind you can just stick anybody in any OTHER superhero uniform but mutants are a no go for that,) HE has to be the metaphor stand in for WHITE GUILT. They need to have a token white straight cis male to shame throughout the book and tell him “THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE! BE ASHAMED YOU WHITE PIECE OF PRIVILEGED TRASH!” Ummm, Cyclops is a Mutant? Mutants have been the metaphor for the oppressed in Marvel since Day One? When the hell was he EVER privileged?
They use the Hitler allegory to hide something worse: White Guilt. So much for creating a diverse society. If anything their tactics, which is in line with a Tumblr #BlackLivesMatter generation, as if they truly know what that means and forget the fact that social media is just as powerful as what happens in the real world (otherwise Cyber Crime WOULD NOT BE REAL!) and thus they are agents of oppression themselves, only this time to straight white men. Oh the irony and humanity!
Oh well, DC Rebirth is doing insanely well because SOMEBODY there realized that maybe turning your comic into an SJW regime when most comic readers are Apolitical and spewing nonsense and ironic hatred in the name of equality over good stories and developed characters, you know, MIGHT PISS PEOPLE OFF! DC Rebirth ALSO introduced and re-introduced SEVERAL ethnic and diverse heroes, only one or two of whom are technically replacements. WHY do people not get mad at these? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT JUST A PALETTE SWAP OF X HERO AND THEY EARN THE MANTLE! Plus, they don’t try to REAM them down your damn throat! Chinese Superman? Oh yeah he’s a Satellite title whose entire concept and story hinges on the idea of China trying to create their own Justice League. He also isn’t JUST a rehash of Clark Kent as a personality and his origins are so NOT Superman that it allows him to grow. Jessica Cruz as Green Lantern? She spent 3 years as Power Ring and growing as a character with a full range of emotions and quirks BEFORE a Lantern ring was jammed onto her finger. Hal hasn’t really been on Earth for so long he can’t really relate to humans anymore, same with ALL the Lanterns eventually, so it makes sense THEY go off into space while the new kids stay on Earth. And guess what?! THAT BOOK IS ACTUALLY GOOD! Simon Baz? He WAS what happens when DC tries to SJW Marvel a character, and FANS HATED THE IDEA! How is he treated? LIKE THE FANS TREATED HIM! Either with straight hatred, or treat him like he’s part of the wall. What does that do? ALLOWS HIM TO DEVELOP A PERSONALITY AND EARN HIS PLACE AMONGST THE GREEN LANTERNS! Black Wally West? EVERYBODY, black and white, HATED the idea that Wally was turned into a black stereotype, and what happened? The classic WHITE Wally West returned and declared black Wally a new character because he was so NOT Wally it hurt! How did the fans respond? THEY LOVED IT! It allowed Wally 2 to not be tied to preconceived notions and become his own man. Cyborg got his own title and those were actually really good! The new Doctor Fate is black! Batwoman is and always has been a lesbian and she was adored by fans! Same with ALL of the Gotham Girls, who are bisexual. Cassandra Cain is Asian! DC Proves TIME AND AGAIN that organic storytelling that just HAPPENS to feature ethnic and diverse casts is what wins ALL people over of EVERY race, NOT political pandering to Tumblrinas and Entertainment Weekly who never buy your books anyways!
If you want superheroes BEING superheroes and a few HAPPEN to be ethnic and more socially acceptable in today’s climate as a byproduct rather than a publicity stunt? Go read DC Comics. The New 52 was declared dead and buried with the 80 Page Special and fans are returning in droves. It really shows what Quesada once said about Spider-Man, not realizing the deafening irony of his words back in 2001: “We felt the character was dying on us; and fans just wanted good Spider-Man stories, and the moment we gave them good Spider-Man: Bam. There they were.”
“Oh well, DC Rebirth is doing insanely well because SOMEBODY there realized that maybe turning your comic into an SJW regime when most comic readers are Apolitical and spewing nonsense and ironic hatred in the name of equality over good stories and developed characters, you know, MIGHT PISS PEOPLE OFF!”
My wife was under the weather this weekend so I went to the comic shop for a bit. While I was there I was talking to a guy who basically told me I should dump Marvel and head on over to DC. I have always been a “Marvel guy” my whole life, but DC is really looking good right now. I can’t lie.
It’s better if you do. I am a fan of both my entire life in nearly equal fashion (51% DC/49% Marvel) and while the MCU (at least until they burn through the material when Marvel actually gave a damn, or until mounting pressure from the butthurt comic editors pushes them over the edge) is still a good source of these characters for the most part, DC actually remembered they were a COMIC BOOK company first and gave themselves a much needed swift kick in the ass and remembered their own words:
“You cannot just wait for the next big thing to come along; You NEED the comics to stay relevant and have new voices and ideas flow through them otherwise [these characters] are just going to remain in amber and fade away,”
I think Marvel should be listening. Now I’ll be the first to rectum shred Zack Snyder’s Murderverse, and clearly I wasn’t the only one since everybody’s been shredding it from the lowest of comic geek like myself to the highest exec at Warner Bros. And even mid level talent like Geoff Johns. EVERYBODY has given him das boot and now he’s creatively handcuffed. I always find it fascinating whenever DC fails, they actually TRY to make it up to their fans and often times do so. But Marvel can do no wrong because it’s Marvel. Ummm, no, sorry, that’s not how that works. Marvel has the MCU, for now, but how long until that hits a bump in the road? Hence why you can’t just disassociate yourself with your core audience, because they’re the ones who keep you alive. Yes it’s okay to bring in new readers, but not at the expense of the old. DC learned that lesson. Took them 5 years to do it, but they did in a big way. DC Rebirth’s 80 Page kickoff comic reads as the biggest apology to fans I have EVER seen in a comic book PERIOD.
“DC Rebirth’s 80 Page kickoff comic reads as the biggest apology to fans I have EVER seen in a comic book PERIOD.”
That’s pretty cool. I may seriously check it out now.
I would suggest before reading it do a simple google search of why fans HATE the New 52 and why fans were consistently downright insulted and that despite a FEW good things in it, we as fans were never attached to the world. And you will need to shift the narrator’s perspective as the metaphor for that burned fanbase, who loves that world and characters, but cannot find an anchor to grow attached to it. But then again you could apply it to the state of Marvel and STILL feel that appeal.
If anyone in Marvel could ever be compared to kid Hitler it would be Scarlet Witch. Not Cyclops.
“If anyone in Marvel could ever be compared to kid Hitler it would be Scarlet Witch. Not Cyclops.”
Avengers Disassembled was written by Brian Michael Bendis as well. Does he just have a weird thing with trashing the reputation of Marvel’s stable of superheroes? Scarlet Witch, Cyclops, Iron Man…
So ComicBookResources held a poll asking how many people are excited about the upcoming All-New Marvel NOW era and holy crap, look how many no’s there are.
And speaking of which, get a load of this:
http://www.theouthousers.com/index.php/news/135760-thanks-to-rich-johnston-only-10-of-cbr-readers-excited-for-marvel-now.html
I mean I know Slott has had meltdowns on social media before, but this? This almost borders on hilarity.
“I mean I know Slott has had meltdowns on social media before, but this? This almost borders on hilarity.”
Dan is certainly not the messenger for that lecture, given his online behavior. Haha! Dan thinks that his online buffoonery doesn’t count because his Spider-Man avatar has a rainbow background, but it doesn’t work that way. You can telegraph that you’re superawesometolerant all day and still, in reality, act like a “douche canoe.”
Marvel’s problem isn’t that someone leaked a story (or multiple stories) — its that countless fans have a “whatever” attitude towards the company at the present moment. Stupid gimmicks and the behavior of guys like Dan Slott have sapped tons of good will. Dan just chooses to ignore that stark reality because it’s easier to think, “I say all the right things on Twitter, so the people ‘who matter’ **hurrrrrm** all love me.”
I don’t think I’ve disliked a writer on a more personal level than I do Slott. I mean, it’s one thing to write s****y stories, it’s another to just BE a s****y person. Even to people who calmly explain their problems with his writing.
“I don’t think I’ve disliked a writer on a more personal level than I do Slott. I mean, it’s one thing to write s****y stories, it’s another to just BE a s****y person. Even to people who calmly explain their problems with his writing.”
That last sentence really explains much of the problem: He doesn’t know how to take criticism like a professional.
My job requires me to sometimes see rather annoying feedback. There was one time someone sent me a very graphic description of my birth, my mother’s anatomy, etc., that I found both hilarious and repugnant, but I ignored it. I walked away because there is no point in engaging someone like that.
Likewise, there have been people who sent me really mean emails who I did engage and, over time, actually got them to apologize for being unnecessarily harsh out of the gates. A little humility can go a long way, but for whatever reason Dan refuses to learn that lesson.
“My job requires me to sometimes see rather annoying feedback. There was one time someone sent me a very graphic description of my birth, my mother’s anatomy, etc., that I found both hilarious and repugnant, but I ignored it. I walked away because there is no point in engaging someone like that.”
I’ll never forget you telling me about that guy who sent you Silence of the Lambs-esque emails, and how frustrated he became when you wouldn’t engage with him. And now, he’s disappeared completely. Probably got sent back to the institution or something.
“I’ll never forget you telling me about that guy who sent you Silence of the Lambs-esque emails, and how frustrated he became when you wouldn’t engage with him. And now, he’s disappeared completely. Probably got sent back to the institution or something.”
That guy was a certified digital stalker… I told him that all his comments would go to the spam filter, and yet he would still send in comments for days even after I banned him. The first few days I checked my spam filter (I almost never do that), just to see if he would give up, but no! 🙂 It was bizarro-land stuff.
I’m actually kind of annoyed that when someone Googles my name that his hate blog still comes up. I think that’s not cool on Google’s part. I honestly wouldn’t care if the dude was still writing, but he hasn’t done a thing in years as far as I know. Meanwhile, I churn out content every single day for a newspaper and run this blog. It makes no sense for a defunct hate blog to get good Google positioning.
Yeah you should definitely check out the new DC stuff, I am really enjoying it. I am actually excited to get the issues of the month and just have fun reading stories about characters I actually care about.
When I look at most of the stuff coming out from Marvel, all I can do is look on in disinterest (and the only book I have been getting is “Carnage”, and it looks like it may have been cancelled.)
Almost every announcement from DC has made me excited to read comics again. It’s a lot of the old stuff I know and love, but also with new stuff that isn’t shoehorned in or groan-worthy. I think DC really is doing a great job so far.
“Almost every announcement from DC has made me excited to read comics again. It’s a lot of the old stuff I know and love, but also with new stuff that isn’t shoehorned in or groan-worthy.”
I’ve seen that sentiment a lot online and it’s also been said to me in person by at least a half-dozen people from my local comic shop. I’m going on a trip soon to attend a wedding, so I’ll probably stop in my old comic shop while I’m there and pick up a couple books.
“But on the plus side though, it would appear that Renew Your Vows will be getting an ongoing title come Fall, and it’ll be written by the same man who laid the groundwork for the Peter/MJ relationship many decades ago…”
I’m looking forward to that; I really liked the original “Secret Wars” installment and have been hoping that it would get some kind of followup. Wonder if it was part of the plan from the beginning, or if they decided to commission the sequel series after the original did so well?
“It looks like I’ll have a new title to review.”
Hope you do decide to review it; I’d be very curious to hear what you think of it when it comes out.
“It would be rather interesting to see if there is an exodus from ASM if Conway delivers the goods.”
Since the current iteration of ASM has found its fanbase, I could see the two titles co-existing (esp. since I’m sure there will be a mix of readers who want to read both along with those who’ll want to pick only one of the two). It will be interesting to see what the RYV series sales are like in comparison to the original and to the rest of the “Spider-Man” titles and spinoffs, given that it’ll be the first time that RYV will be competing against the franchise’s flagship series.
“My wife was under the weather this weekend…”
Sorry to hear that. Hope she’s doing better.
“While I was there [a comic shop] I was talking to a guy who basically told me I should dump Marvel and head on over to DC. I have always been a “Marvel guy” my whole life, but DC is really looking good right now. I can’t lie.”
I haven’t been following the comic book industry that much. Is it possible that it’s currently in an off-season and could swing back into gear in the future?
Since I like the Marvel characters, select comics, movies, etc. in general (if not all the franchises and stories that exist in it), I don’t know if I’d switch to DC personally, rather than take a hiatus until Marvel starts producing stuff I can enjoy. Of course, my thoughts on DC can be summed up as: love the “Supergirl” and “Flash” TV shows, “Batman” cartoons are cool and the “Suicide Squad” movie looks awesome, but I’m not that interested in much else (unless they did a “Detective Chimp” series; that I would want to take a look at).
Darn it. An X-men related post and I’ve been on vacation
Well yeah, Cyclops is Hitler, everybody who leads mutants is. Here’s an exercise in originality:
To bring an ‘edge’ to his acclaimed run, Grant Morrison had professor X kill his unborn sister in the womb cause she’s bad! (LOL…I’m sorry, every time I see this story I just laugh)
Then Joss Whedon had Professor X enslave a sentient AI cause he’s an evil scumbag!!!
Then we find out that Professor X sent a bunch of pre-X-kids to die and hid the secret!! YOU EVIL EVIL MAN!
At least when they character assassinated Professor X, they tried to make a story out of it. Still, you can see the pattern: “gee, I have no idea how to generate conflict within the books’ protagonists! lets make a story-line where Prof X has a deep, dark secret!!!! No one has ever done THAT before!!!” …Joss Whedon? Grant Morrison? those guys? maybe we are too forgiving of even the ‘good old days’.
After Prof. X’s death (with the laughably bad Avengers vs. X-men), they were at a conundrum: How do we do an X-men story today with the exact same elements has every other X-story if Prof. X isn’t around to have a deep dark secret! Lets give CYCLOPS a deep dark secret!!!
But this is a special secret…no one knows what happened! and no character in any book is going to tell you! He just did something…BAAAAAD. It was SOOOO BAAAAAAD. No one can face it BAAAAD. (if you’re guessing that the authors of this idiot plotline don’t know what happened either, you are correct!!).
EVERYONE…even the fanboys, KNOW…when we find out why Cyclops is soooo bad…it’s going to be stupid, cheap, and completely insulting to the intelligence of the reader. There’s no way to make something good of this. There are however, many chances to watch fools like the marvel writers and editors provide us with unwanted entertainment in the form of their stupidity and overbearing ego.
I’m watching Anime, it’s great. Let go of this morass. Let the market sort these unoriginal losers. Even bad anime tropes are just swinging body parts and cute girls for cheap nosebleeds. Marvel is just insulting crap. Brand loyalty simply feeds a standard problem with free market capitalism…the tendency of the company to abuse your loyalty. The only way to keep it honest is to take your business elsewhere.
Hey, maybe Marvel will release an Avengers comic written by a guy who tells everybody to go eat unmentionable human members! Naw, that could never happen.
“Hey, maybe Marvel will release an Avengers comic written by a guy who tells everybody to go eat unmentionable human members! Naw, that could never happen.”
So true…
They’ve been trying to liken \cyclops to some horrible dictator for the longest, but they haven’t shown him doing anything that’s that atrocious. I feel like over the last few years they’ve been telling us than showing us, and they keep pushing for him to be the next Magneto, but overall he’s never tried to kill humanity to save mutants.
His most extreme stances have been trying to use the Phoenix Force to save the planet, which the Avengers fouled up by repeatedly attacking him and the other Phoenix Five. And then they showed him trying to show the world mutants are powerful but always here for humanity.
So it’s killing me how much they’ve ruined the franchise, ruined the characters, and tried to paint this picture I don’t believe. Beast messed with time and space–something we’re still dealing with since the young time-displaced X-Men are still here in the present–and it took a solid two years for any character to really, assertively say “Beast, you kind of f++ked up and potentially could ruin the fabric of reality.”
When Marvel finished Secret Wars they had the potential to take that time/reality component, mixed it into the bigger event, and then use it to reset the X-franchise from the ground up. But it’s just lingering on, broken and out of steam, and as a major lifelong fan I’m disappointed.
“When Marvel finished Secret Wars they had the potential to take that time/reality component, mixed it into the bigger event, and then use it to reset the X-franchise from the ground up. But it’s just lingering on, broken and out of steam, and as a major lifelong fan I’m disappointed.”
Ugh. I feel for you, man. I wonder how much of this is due to animosity over the movie rights.
I was telling my wife that kid cyclops looks like the biggest doofus. He really just needs a pocket protector and he’ll be all set. I think about some of the X-Men books I got to read as a kid in the 80s and then compare it to this stuff and I just shake my head.
“I was telling my wife that kid cyclops looks like the biggest doofus. He really just needs a pocket protector and he’ll be all set. I think about some of the X-Men books I got to read as a kid in the 80s and then compare it to this stuff and I just shake my head.”
Me, too, Doug. I have quite a few X-Men comics (all in trades) from the Claremont era, and it’s a LOT better than the crap they’re pushing now. You hear professional critics saying that “comics have matured,” but I really don’t think so. The quality has dipped considerably in recent years. I think I stopped buying modern X-Men comics around the time Joss Whedon left the book, when Matt Fraction and Ed Brubaker started retconning everything (such as Professor X having a secret X-Men team) or inserting their political views into the stories (remember Proposition X?) Yeesh.
If one wishes to participate in this battle.. one needs to look no further than the state of universities.
To which you’ll find many of the writers participating in cultivating those young minds… the new school maintains its bell hooksian rage.
DC had a taste of it. Still does. Don’t hold any high hopes for them, either.
bitter and ancient, remember when they rebooted the series after Chip Delaney’s involvement?
D.C. is playing the open angle to what ‘horror’ films have become; moral conquest. of course, it has backfired for them repeatedly as the villains are maintain complexity and its ‘heroes’ are always beyond humanity… there’s no room for them to evolve because they’re overpowered from the start. Their motivations are black and white, while there have been attempts to humanize them… in many ways, it often only makes them more ‘alien’
— in some ways, that could be argued as the difference between the american conservative parties and the alt-right… it’s really a shame, tho, so many temporary characters in various d.c. properties had a chance to stand out but are often eliminated, forgotten or traded out and adapted/absorbed into one of the leading characters… so, all we really see is a rehash of its golden age.
Marvel is mostly circling the drain in regards to the film versions… most of which have been better received by the public. The changes to Big Hero 6 for instance, albeit I’m dreading its upcoming revisions to be made in a cartoon format. But the same could be said for many of its other properties.
The writers have largely become ‘sjw’ or attempt to become acknowledged as such, more scared of losing their gigs than an university administration should they voice their real opinions or even omit any opinion at all — look at the hiring practices over the last decade as well as the firing and subsequent ‘retiring’ or otherwise walking away…
— it’s one part protest of the mainstream, which the movies have become… but they aren’t fans of the comic dweebs either… its somewhat of the irony that most of these kids never so much as picked up a comic before they started working for marvel – defensive, they hide those reasons under a sjw banner and rather than admitting they just weren’t interested, proclaim that its a problem in its packaging… and seek to sjw-fy it.
Cyclops is kid hitler because he’s the archetypal lawful good character… Personally, I have hated Cyclops for that, his recognized attributes are more his attitude than his ability. he’s the most d.c. like character in the whole of Marvel’s existence… without really trying. Still, that crowd would be grossly oversimplifying that character.. and perhaps themselves as he’s long been the poster child of what sjw hate – someone with leadership skills, with his only real weakness being Logan… yes, some would say ms helen of troy, Jean, but you know those two really need to just get it on and get the tension over with to accept that Ms Grey wants a suburban life with Mr Summers and his rose tinted glasses.
Sure, part of it, maybe a large part of it plays into a manifestation of white guilt.
People try to make the analogy with Magneto, albeit they could do better with Apocalypse but the sjw wank machine wouldn’t allow for that one… for Magneto maybe, since you’ve got the whole bs in which the protest over the peoples of palestine has been reduced / hijacked to palestine itself and seeking the destruction of israel and its peoples, which has taken up the symbol of ‘western imperialism’ … and the love of the hate of the great states – i.e. first world problems are still very much the same conceptual problems as developing nations… which kiddies that believe Stalin wasn’t so bad of a guy as most of us live in countries that thought it was a good idea to deny history… usually through censorship extending to even acknowledging such things happened.
the second part is destroying all those dweebs that keep holding them back for acknowledging the history, alternate histories and otherwise being apart of the fandom… — you’ve seen their own works, right? The large majority aren’t even considered good fanboy material. It’s a wonder how some of them got their jobs. Aside from Stan’s misguided attempt at affirmative action that became an unstoppable beast of its own… long after his formal departure. (tho, another aspect to note.. Disney does give him a nod, M-Now? are still playing out the brooding child vs omnipotent father; all these kiddies have way too much ego and yet scared sh-tless of everything, if you really want to open up a can of worms, ask them Where did Stan & Kirby go wrong in achieving what the new marvel is achieving today; they won’t disappoint.)
the third part… the teams are lacking the depth to ask the question what would they do if all the battles were won? And how would these people fit into society and actually make use of their skills beyond just fighting… survival or taking the olympics to new heights.
it’s rather obvious that all they want to do is destroy the legacy characters in order to remake them anew… so, they’re bound to history or the ‘logic’ of the multiverse… which is pretty much like sjw outside of the fantasy scene. They don’t want to be beholden to anyone. of course, they don’t quite get that being complete sh-ts to their fanbase doesn’t pay their bills.