Tag: Captain America

Captain America 700: Mark Waid’s political wish upon a mushroom-cloud star comes true

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Here is a social experiment for you: Ask your average person on the street what they would expect from the 700th issue of Captain America. Ask them what the cover might look like. Ask them about the themes a writer would be expected to highlight by his editors. Ask them how they should feel after closing it.

More than likely the individual will telegraph that a 700th issue of Captain America should be a celebration of Steve Rogers.

What they won’t tell you  is that it should be a lament over the election of President Donald Trump.

What they won’t tell you is that Marvel Comics should design a cover that puts the hero into the background as a new character basks in the limelight.

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Sadly, writer Mark Waid has delivered a book for long-time Captain America fans that is little more than a Trump allegory for angry people who don’t buy comics. He wished upon a mushroom-cloud star for the ability to shoehorn his personal politics into an important issue and the wish came true — at the expense of loyal customers.

You can get the full rundown in my latest YouTube video. Be sure to subscribe for regular updates if the format is up your alley, and let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Captain America #699: Marvel writer Mark Waid is ‘King Baby,’ aka Trump

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Mark Waid Captain America

Regular readers of Marvel Comics know all too well that its writers have been obsessed with Donald Trump since his primary campaign. Twitter rants coincided with weird editorial decisions (e.g., turning the man into an alternative-universe M.O.D.O.K.), and writer Nick Spencer used multiple books — including the Secret Empire event — to throw political tantrums.

Marvel scribe Mark Waid, however, has taken the industry’s Trump Derangement Syndrome to a whole new level for the company’s “Legacy” run. Captain America #699 is a fascinating read for all the wrong reasons.

Yes, it is boring. Yes, it is predictable. Yes, it comes across as if it were written by a freshman college student who just completed his first semester of political sciences classes.

What makes Captain America: Out of Time it interesting, however, is the psychology behind it all. Mr. Waid does not seem to even realize that all of his irrational fears regarding the president are rooted in his own ideological extremism. He fears Mr. Trump because he sees much of himself in the man.

Mr. Waid is, whether he wants to admit it or not, eerily similar to the villain referred to as “King Baby,” aka Donald Trump. Check out my latest YouTube video for the full rundown, and as always feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Marvel’s Tom Brevoort and ideologue pals blame “toxic” fans for comic woes; hypocrisy exposed on YouTube

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Thoughts become words. Words become actions. Actions become habits. Habits become character, and character becomes destiny.

Therefore, it’s incredibly sad that Marvel’s Tom Brevoort and his activist friends make a habit of lying — to themselves, to fans, and anyone else who is willing to listen.

The House of Ideologues has attempted (and failed) for months to defame YouTube creators who are exposing its hypocrisy, and the latest effort involves blaming “toxic fandom.” It’s not going to work because, as my latest YouTube video demonstrates, the partisan propaganda spewed by Marvel’s writers and editors can always be juxtaposed with their laughable moral grandstanding.

As always, let me know what you think of the latest developments in the comments section below. If you like the format, make sure to subscribe for regular updates since I don’t always have time to cross-post onto the blog.

 

Marvel’s ‘Clerksification’: Dante Spencer’s and Randal Zdarsky’s effect on comics

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Over 20 years have passed since director Kevin Smith made Dante Hicks and Randal Graves famous. Clerks put him on the Hollywood map and endeared him to a generation of young writers, but there is no doubt that many of them learned the wrong lessons from his 90s “slackers.” Two contenders include Nick Spencer and Chip Zdarsky, who are guilty of what I’ve deemed the Clerksification of Marvel Comics.

To give you an idea of what my latest YouTube video is about, consider the tagline for Clerks, which goes as follows:

“Just because they serve you doesn’t mean they like you.”

Indeed, Marvel creators these days make no secret of their disdain of long-term customers, and will even tell fans not to buy the product during political disagreements. To better understand what’s going on, we must examine Mr. Smith’s work and how its sensibilities continue to reverberate in the minds of Marvel’s employees.

If you read through Secret Empire and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, then you should see the creative fingerprints of Mr. Smith, Quentin Tarantino, and a slew of others. Unfortunately, instead of Pulp Fiction-quality work fans received Hydra-Cap and Hipster Spider-Man.

Marvel’s Secret Empire 4th of July: Celebrate Hydra-Cap, Post-Modernism or you’re a rube

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It’s the 4th of July, which means Americans everywhere are celebrating independence and all things red, white and blue. Sadly, Captain America is not available this year because Marvel’s “Hydra-Cap” era is still going strong.

If you want to see what post-modernists have done to Marvel Comics, then check out my latest YouTube video. There are only so many times a company can blow up a hero’s integrity before it’s nearly impossible for a writer to put together what a long string of post-modernists have broken.

As always, I’d love to hear what you have to say. Sound off on Marvel’s Secret Empire, its post-modernist writers, and anything related to the subject in the comments section below.

Editor’s Note: There is a “roast” of Capn. Cummings after the main video. Do not watch if strong language offends you. 

Secret Empire #3: Nick Spencer event is really his ‘Secret Lecture’

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Marvel’s Secret Empire #3 came out this week, although at this point it really should be called Secret Lecture. As I have said before, writer Nick Spencer is an intelligent man who knows a thing or two about the technical aspects of storytelling. The problem, however, is that he uses his gig at Marvel as a psychiatrist’s couch and a college professor’s podium. He seems to care less about entertaining readers than he does about working out his own political issues and lecturing America for electing President Donald Trump.

There’s much more to say, but for that I invite you to check out my latest YouTube review. If the format is up your alley, then make sure to subscribe and leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Secret Empire #2: Nick Spencer sells the joy of joylessness

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Is it possible to do convincingly write up a review for Marvel’s Secret Empire that requires references to C.S. Lewis’ Surprised by Joy, Viktor E. Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning, and Elie Wiesel’s Night? Excellent question! Your friendly neighborhood blogger gives it a try in the YouTube review below.

Be sure to check out my analysis of writer Nick Spencer’s monument to post-modernism, and then let me know what you think in the comments section below.

Secret Empire #1: Hydra-Verse and Marvel PR damage control in full swing

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Marvel’s comics division has been taking it on the chin in terms of bad press for well over a year now, and the official kickoff to its latest event is no exception. This week saw the release of Secret Empire #1 and a tie-in issue for Free Comic Book Day, which theoretically should bring elicit smiles across the country. Wrong. In fact, the project is so controversial that Marvel had to put out a statement earlier this week asking fans to be patient (even though the story has been building for well over a year).

My latest Youtube review covers the good, the bad and the ugly of writer Nick Spencer’s reality-warping Hydra-Cap tale. And yes, on some level it is good — but the whole situation is a bit complicated.

Anyway, check out the review and let me know what you think in the comments section below. Also: If anyone knows YouTube’s exact rules for using music clips without getting copyright infringement strikes, then let me know — I don’t want to make a habit of joke-singing songs like “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses…

Secret Empire #0: Nick Spencer pens love letter to postmodernism

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Marvel’s next big event, Secret Empire, has arrived with issue #0. For those who wondered over the last year if writer Nick Spencer could craft an interesting Hydra-Cap tale, the answer appears to be “yes.”

The problem, however, is that once again a hero’s legacy is offered for sacrifice at the alter of postmodernism.

Just because a man could do something, it doesn’t mean that he should. While I must admit that Mr. Spencer is an intelligent and organized writer, at the same time he is rightly being criticized by fans who are disgusted with the idea of turning a cultural icon into a tool of Nazi Germany. No matter how much Marvel protests the Nazi-angle, there really is no denying it.

There’s much more to say on the topic, but for a full run-down I invite you to check out my latest YouTube video. As always, feel free to sound off with your thoughts in the comments section below.

Marvel’s ‘America’ by Gabby Rivera: Sales VP David Gabriel’s ‘diversity’ lie exposed

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Marvel comics made quite a bit of news this week after its Vice President of Sales, David Gabriel, gave an interview with ICv2 on sluggish sales. He completely distorted the cold hard reality that fans are tired of politicized comics to say that we really just have a problem with “diversity.”

To see just what a disingenuous liar Mr. Gabriel is, I have provided a review of Marvel’s America by Gabby Rivera. I purchased the first two issues, which appear to be a perfect storm for social justice activism.

Check out my latest YouTube review to learn all about the “privileged” and evil white cyborgs who try to destroy Sotomayor University, or the being of “white energy” that imprisons an entire planet until it is defeated with America’s “brown fist.” I wish I were joking, but I’m not.

As always, I look forward to hearing your feedback in the comments section below.

Editor’s Note: Our good pal Dave Huber just wrote a piece for The College Fix that touches on Marvel’s partisan politics problem: Don’t be fooled: ‘Get Woke’ campaigns really mean ‘Agree With Me (or else)’. He was also kind enough to reference my review of America.