The final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows has finally arrived, but borderline diabetics may need to withhold their cash. Dan Slott ends his defacto “What if … the Parker family lived in an Orwellian police state ruled by a super-powered despot?” with plenty of sugary sap — and cheese.
Renew Your Vows continues a trend for Mr. Slott, which is that he has a tough time at the finish. If he were a baseball player for the New York Yankees, then he would not be a closing pitcher. It’s almost as if he’s saying, “Let’s wrap it up. Wrap it up. Wrap it up-up-up-up-up! Love and happiness, strength and family, yadda, yadda, yadda — those plot holes never happened.”
It was only one issue ago that Regent was using telekinesis to immobilize Peter Parker and Sandman with a thought, perhaps the mere seed of a thought. He was, for all intents and purposes, a god. And yet, because the script calls for a “love conquers all”-type ending, readers are supposed to cheer its slap-dash construction.
Perhaps one of the weirdest moments comes when MJ turns to Peter at the end of the tale and says, “I have to know…if our daughter was in real danger, would you have killed him?”
Regent took out all of the Avengers. He took out almost every superhero in existence. And yet, a small child who just randomly decided to rush into battle against him was apparently never in any “real” danger. That begs the question:Then why should readers have bothered to care?
Renew Your Vows had some fine moments. Dan Slott hit a “home run” with the second issue and performed adequately in the third and fourth installments. Regardless, the story ended up as little more than a sweet treat for fans who wanted to see a few flashes of “Parker power.”
Buy the issue if you’ve already followed it this far, but make sure to have an insulin injection nearby.
It was only weeks ago that Marvel’s Dan Slott “killed” off Peter Parker in Amazing Spider-Man #700 and handed the hero’s mantle to a villain who wanted to transcend Hitler and Pol Pot in terms of evil perpetrated upon the world. It was only a few weeks ago that Dan Slott thought long-time Spider-Man fans would be okay reading a rip-off of 2003’s “Freaky Friday” starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan — only with Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus. (Or was that 1988’s “Vice Versa” starring Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage?) And it was only a few weeks ago that Dan Slott assumed that no one would care if an American icon’s arch enemy took over the hero’s body and then put the moves on his true love. (Doctor Octopus isn’t a rapist — yet — he’s just a wannabe rapist, you “crazy town banana pants” little fool.)
Well, now the “Superior Spider-Man” has had two issues come out, and while fans haven’t yet been treated to the the “Superior Spider-Rapist,” Mr. Slott has assured us that we will forever have the Superior Self-Pleasuring Spider-Man. As the guys over a Spider-Man Crawlspace observed:
Everyone was so worried that a rape-by-deception would occur between Otto and MJ, this other possibility never even occurred to them: if you take over someone else’s body and then masturbate it in, is that rape?
Yes, this is how far Marvel has fallen. Narcissistic man-boys like Dan Slott are in control of the wheel, drunk on their editorial power. They’re so dizzy that they don’t even realize they’ve gone over a cliff and are careening for the pavement. The character of Spider-Man over the past six years or so has been talked about not because of his spell-binding stories, but because of the antics and gimmicks of the writers in charge.
And so, it was with great pleasure that I watched a comic fan absolutely destroy Dan Slott on YouTube for all the world to see. Dan Slott, the guy who trolls the internet looking for excuses to talk about how great he is or how dumb his detractors are, finally stalked the wrong dude.
Behold: Mr. Slott is intellectually pummeled into a pile of goo. For those who read Amazing Spider-Man #700, please recall the scene in which Doctor Octopus (in Peter’s body) punches the Scorpion’s jaw clean off with one blow. Imagine someone verbally making contact like that with Dan Slott’s body again … and again … and again, because that’s what The Main Event video is like.
If you’re a fan who has heard about the bizarre behavior of Dan Slott, you’ll love it. And if you’re like me, who was blocked from his Twitter account — even though I never even interacted with the guy (i.e., he finds stories about himself online and blocks people who disagree with him) — then you’ll enjoy it even more.
Dan Slott finally stalked the wrong guy. In one extemporaneous speech, the creator of The Main Event tore the Marvel writer’s online behavior to shreds. It was like he took his big strong hands, wrapped them around Mr. Slott’s head, and just squeezed until all that was left was a giant puddle of ego on the floor.
First, the abridged version:
Dan Slott, you are not worthy to don the shirt of Captain America on your chest. You’re not. Especially with the way you act. You didn’t learn anything from Spider-Man. You didn’t learn anything (obviously) from Captain American. With your actions — the way you act — you should be ashamed of yourself. You are way too old to be online picking fights with people because they have a difference of opinion. It’s that simple. I’ll put it like this: I spent my eight dollars on ASM #700. It was not up to par. It was unsatisfactory — to me. Okay? I have a right as a consumer, to my opinion. It’s that simple. That’s how it works. If you don’t like it, deal with it. It’s that simple….
Apparently, Dan Slott does this all the time. That’s right. He goes on the forums and fights with people on the internet over stuff that is said about him. Mind you, I didn’t even say anything about him … but now he’s going on Spider-Man Crawlspace. … Apparently, he has a history of flaming people and fighting with people. At one point he does try to act somewhat like an adult until he tells the guy to f**k off. Literally: F**k off. You’ve got to be kidding me. This old man is acting that way. …
In another interview he complains so much about the fan backlash and death threats … And this is what a person said to him. They said to him on Twitter that they would take a pencil and ram in through his eye. This is what a person said to him. Do you know what Dan Slott said? He’s “old.” He’s “out of shape.” All right. So you should know if you’re out of shape you should be taking care of yourself. He’s out of shape and he can’t defend himself. That’s what he said. But what he would do, is sue.
So let’s get something straight here. You go online, you troll people, you fight with people, but when someone tries to bring it to you in the real you want to sue them. That’s the most cowardly thing I’ve seen in my life. And if that’s how you act, and you bring that behavior to your fan base (and that’s how they act) then there’s a problem.
And Marvel, I’ll put it like this: You need to take care of this. Because as far as I’m concerned, I will never buy a book with Dan Slott’s name on it ever again. … Understand Marvel, you hired Dan Slott. He represents you. And this is how he acts. Online. An old man. This is how he acts. Understand that this is not the way things are supposed to be. It’s time to put some of these dudes out to pasture. It really is. Dan Slott, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Boom. Smack down. Pile driver. Whatever you want to call it, this guy is spot on. The only thing that would make this video better would be if it turned out that he’s liberal. Then, given the conservative nature of this website, we can say that Dan Slott’s behavior is so strange and so odd and so worthy of condemnation that it transcends ideology.
Bravo, Dan. Bravo. You are truly a sight to behold, even if it’s for all the wrong reasons.
And now, the full video. Well done, sir. A classic.
The ‘Ends of the Earth’ storyline in Marvel’s Amazing Spider-Man has severely damaged the character’s credibility, due almost entirely to writer Dan Slott. I took flak from fans for mentioning that Spider-Man’s dangerously naive “no one dies” mentality is a war zone liability, and that only a fool would jeopardize a time-sensitive mission by worrying about the well-being of North Korean soldiers — when over six billion lives were on the line. Only a few weeks ago I said: “A hero is still a hero, but some of them are meant for city streets, and some of them are meant to determine the fate of the world.” And now, Dan Slott’s Spider-Man proved it through his own dialogue and actions:
“I’m not used to ‘End of the World’ stuff. Gimme a bank robbery or one of my regular bad guys. Now that I can handle,” (Dan Slott’s Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man #687).
Sadly, truer words were never spoken. Only pages later, Spider-Man is put in a situation where he must choose between saving Silver Sable’s life as she is held beneath rising water by the immovable Rhino, or stopping a satellite launch that will doom billions. Our hero feebly pulls at his enemy’s forearm like a little boy who yearns for a toy until Sable uses one of her last breaths to berate his idiocy: “If you don’t go — EVERYONE DIES! GO!”
Look at Spider-Man with that blank stare on his face. You can almost see the wheels turning as he realizes what a fool his “no one dies” mantra is. Even in the face of death, Silver Sable has a clear enough head to know the correct course of action to take.
As I said before, Dan Slott’s Spider-Man is so myopic that he only sees the lives right there in front of him. He’s like a baby, tricked by peek-a-boo because his mind isn’t fully developed; if there are lives to be saved right in front of him, there’s a good chance he can be distracted.
With the climax of ‘Ends of the Earth’ at hand, Slott delivers — in the wrong way. The blinded fan will only remember Spider-Man finding an inner reserve of strength to break free from his bonds to save billions — again, thanks to the Silver Sable’s clear thinking at death’s door. What they won’t remember is that Doctor Octopus admitted he is pure evil right before Peter decided to save his life — instead of using the opportunity to return to Silver Sable. Doctor Octopus says: “I shall live on in infamy — a mass murderer worse than Pol Pot, Hitler, and Genghis Khan combined.
Only moments later, as Peter attempts to save the genocidal maniac from the crumbling fortress, he says: “I made a promise. As long as I’m around no one — … Come on. I’m getting you out of here.”
Note the pause. Peter obviously thinks of his teammate possibly drowning a few rooms over. I say ‘possibly’ because Spider-Man doesn’t know what happened after he left the room, and neither does the reader. Perhaps Silver Sable had one last trick up her sleeve. Perhaps another hero found a way to come to her aid. In that moment, wouldn’t the true hero have ditched the man who hoped to transcend Hitler, in an effort to check on his ally? In that situation, would it not have been better to at least recover her dead body over saving the man who was willing to subject billions to a burning death just seconds earlier? Let’s not even get into the many people who have been resuscitated after having been submerged in water for lengths of time conventional wisdom says is impossible…
It’s fitting that ‘Ends of the Earth’ would feature a character who (seemingly) died from drowning, because Dan Slott’s Spider-Man walks around like there isn’t enough oxygen going to his brain. Here’s to hoping that one day Spider-Man will come to his (spider) senses.
A week ago I covered Spider-Man, and how liberal writers have turned him into a walking war zone liability. In a situation where 6 billion lives hung in the balance, the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man did the “neighborly” thing and thought to use precious seconds wondering whether a bunch of North Korean soldiers (those same guys overseeing the world’s most notorious gulags) were ushered to safety before explosives took out the weapons … they were guarding. He then saw fit to warn his soldierly teammates “no one dies,” precisely the kind of all-or-nothing delusional thinking that sets the stage for death to occur.
Issue #686 of Amazing Spider-Man takes place right after our heroes believe half the world has been destroyed. With carnage surrounding them, Black Widow tells Spider-Man they must leave immediately, as time is not on their side if they want to save the roughly 3 billion people remaining on earth. Spider-Man’s response? He’s not budging because he has people to save right there. Dan Slott’s Spider-Man is so myopic that he only sees the lives right there in front of him. He’s like a baby, tricked by peek-a-boo because his mind isn’t fully developed; if there are lives to be saved right in front of him, there’s a good chance he can be distracted. The Black Widow knows it and, sadly, his deadliest foes take advantage of it.
With 3 billion lives at stake and with every second counting, Dan Slott’s Spider-Man wanted to play search and rescue. It’s an honorable job, but the problem with that is this: At that moment in time Spidey was the guy who was supposed to be saving the world — not Black Widow.Even Spider-Man’s deadliest foes know that while his heart is pure, his mind is clouded with the quixotic belief that “no one dies” on his watch. Like a heroic Spider-Man-Pigeon, he’s easily distracted by lives in immediate danger, never acknowledging that by “saving” the few to his front, he may very well condemn 3 billion to his rear. A hero is still a hero, but some of them are meant for city streets, and some of them are meant to determine the fate of the world. Dan Slott’s Spider-Man may save the world, but an honest writer would have penned the more logical conclusion: utter defeat caused by unforced errors.
In the end, Dan Slott gives Spider-Man a reprieve, and the hero is given a chance to save the day by taking advantage of the vanity, greed and hubris of his enemies. The “end of the world” was an illusion meant to distract the heroes and buy time for the machinations of evil men to materialize. It would have worked, but the enemies who literally have the world in their hands want more, overreach and lose it all. Spider-Man takes advantage of his second chance, but it feels like a Deus ex Machina of sorts, freeing the character of the consequences of his short-sighted actions. In the real world we often don’t get second chances.
Even Black Widow can’t resist rubbing Peter Parker’s nose in the evidence of his ignorance — in his own book, no less:
Spider-Man’s complete lack of foresight nearly cost his team the chance to save the world. Black Widow makes sure to let him know it. Lectured by a supposedly-lesser hero in his own title. Sad.
At $4.00 a pop, The Amazing Spider-Man hurts the wallet over the course of a year. These days, it also hurts just to read the title, period. Here’s to hoping Peter learns something from the experience. If not, look for books featuring Black Widow. She deserves it.
According to Marvel, Iranian immigrants in New York City are “used to living in fear.” Not because of the real fear societies they came from in the Middle East…but because you never know when a mob of New Yorkers might use any excuse to pummel a Muslim. Dear Marvel: Google “Neda” and see what you find (besides the realization that you’re a bunch of ignorant clowns).
Back in December I wondered if Marvel’s next “big” event, Fear Itself, would be just another round of liberal claptrap force fed to us for $4.00 and issue. I was partially right—the claptrap was there, but it only cost me $2.99!
Let me set the stage. Something is very wrong in New York City. Citizens have been taken with fear, and they’re acting out in irrational ways. Spider-Man is working overtime (what else is new?) to keep the city from tearing itself apart. Cue Naveed Moshtaghi, a taxi driver and Iranian immigrant. Naveed’s vehicle is hit by an angry white guy, who then blames the accident on Naveed: “He’s one of the terrorists. He wants to kill us all!” says the aggressor. A mob swarms around Naveed, swallowing him whole until Spider-Man saves the day.
At this point I’m willing to give writer Chris Yost a break. Maybe the “God of Fear” is really behind it all. I’m even willing to shrug off a narrator who begins, “Naveed Moshtaghi is afraid of the same thing he’s been afraid of for ten years,” (i.e., Americans are just itching for an excuse to bum rush Muslims post-9/11 to infinity and beyond), right before the story unfolds that way.
But then something interesting happens. All alone on a rooftop, Spider-Man tells the man he’s dealing with the crisis very well. Naveed responds:
“I’m a second generation Iranian in New York City. Living in fear, that’s what I’m used to. What is happening down there, sometimes I think it was only a matter of time.”
Has Marvel been reading DC’s Superman (the kid from Krypton with a super-sized crush on the United Nations, even though they put countries with the worst human rights records on human-rights councils)? What’s with the Iranian love fests as of late, whereas police state goons respond to Superman’s “peaceful protest” by handing flowers to protesters, and Marvel Universe’s New York City stokes more fear than an actual fear society?
Dear Naveed (or should I say Chris Yost and Matt Fraction and Joe Quesada?),
You’ve probably never heard of Neda. And I’m not just saying that because she’s dead, murdered by police state thugs. Or because you couldn’t recognize her as she went into shock. Or because her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she died. Or because she was covered in blood as her friends cradled her in their arms.
No, my liberal writer friends at Marvel, you don’t know Neda because you apparently don’t want to know. You stay willfully ignorant, creating fictional universes imbued with a liberal interpretation of what you think the world is really like. In the limited panel space you have, you chose to highlight an immigrant whose family left the Middle East so they could walk on eggshells in New York City. You write characters whose deepest darkest fears about what really lurks in hearts of Americans end up being true! Meanwhile, officers at West Point have to deal with a civilian population that increasingly doesn’t understand (or was that “fear”, Mr. Yost?) their mission. I wonder why that is, Marvel.
While I certainly don’t want a sanitized Marvel Universe any more than I want the “C” in DC Comics to stand for “Chomsky,” I find it just a little bit distasteful how often the liberal worldview is shoved down my throat by the “creative officers” and “talent” with each publication.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch video of Neda dying again. In Iran. In the real world. Where there isn’t a Spider-Man to save her or a Superman to sit idly by in peaceful protest. Perhaps it will remind me how much different America is from the authoritarian black holes littering the world.
Frank Miller is a gem. He’s not perfect (e.g., The Spirit), but he’s certainly something rare that should be highly regarded, as I’ve explained before. He already has Ahmadinejad’s panties twisted into a knot, and with Holy Terror he’s going to have a fatwa or two placed on his head. And, like the South Park creators, we should honor our modern day defenders of Western Civilization. Decades from now we’ll look around at Europe, a hollow husk due to moral relativism. We’ll look at what happens when headstrong Islamic extremism butt heads with a Europe that won’t stick its neck out to stand up for itself, only to have its cultural head ironically severed with Taliban-esque precision.
And at that time writers like Frank Miller will be admired that much more for their contribution, no matter how small, to the defense of Western Civilization and American Exceptionalism.
For those of you who don’t know, Frank Miller was supposed to write a book featuring Batman, who would go on a search and destroy mission for al Qaeda terrorist scum operating in Gotham. This was years
Marvel Comics and DC now tend to op for the John Kerry Global Test when crafting stories. Sad. Thank God Frank for Frank Miller.
ago…and it’s not nearing completion until now. While I admit that Frank has been busy for the last decade or so, I can’t help to think that the hangup over the story had more to do with political correctness than a creative epiphany. Here, Frank talks about his decision to replace Batman with a different character, named The Fixer:
“I had a talk with [former DC president and publisher] Paul Levitz and I said, ‘Look, this isn’t your Batman,'” Miller said. “I pushed Batman as far as he can go and after a while he stops being Batman. My guy carries a couple of guns and is up against an existential threat. He’s not just up against a goofy villain. Ignoring an enemy that’s committed to our annihilation is kind of silly, It just seems that chasing the Riddler around seems silly compared to what’s going on out there. I’ve taken Batman as far as he can go.”
Frank knows as well as anyone else who loves comics that there once was a time when Captain America knocked Hitler’s lights out. And it was awesome. And it still is, because it’s cathartic to see pure evil bashed and punched and kicked and yes—killed—when existential threats face the nation. Both DC and Marvel Comics seem to have decided that modern day superheroes need to abide by the John Kerry “Global” smell test, which, while sad, I’ll deal with (by exposing it in this blog). However, we should all be worried when the two biggest comics publishers out there shy away from using al Qaeda as a punching bag for their casts of heroes.
If DC sat Frank down in a quiet room and said, “We love you Frankie, but we can’t just pull the trigger on this whole “Batman vs. Terrorism” story line you got going on inside your head,” then readers should be livid. Why should DC be scared to pull the trigger when our enemies show no hesitation to pull out the box cutter, or the dull knife, or…Foot Locker hijacking shoes with Semtex plastic explosive soles! (How scary would Jordan have been in his prime if he was running around the court with some plastic explosives in his shoes?)
At the moment the only good thing about naming this character The Fixer is that my favorite liberal band, Pearl Jam, has got to be upset. Eddie, you still haven’t responded to my blog post regarding The Mullah Baradar Curiosity. I guess I’m just a Nothingman to you, huh…
In short: I’m reading Frank Miller’s comic when it comes out, and I hope you give it a shot too, if for no other reason than to send Marvel and DC’s weak-kneed editors a message. God bless ya, Frank. And if I was Anne Rice I’d say, “God Bless…Me.”
Frank Miller stands up for Western Civilization. He's a rare breed, my friends. I tip my hat to the man.
Ayman Al-Zawahiri is at it again, threatening another round of terrorist attacks
Translation: Allah hates new Chocolate Cheerios, another dastardly invention by the infidels to distract us with chocolate-y goodness.
on U.S. soil, as if he’s offering up something new. Has this guy come down with a case of The Wikileaks? The last time I checked, at least 30 foiled plots are part of the public record. Regardless, we should at least pay attention to what he’s saying since it’s been my experience that liberals like Inception’s Ellen Page like to accuse conservatives of fear mongering when America’s enemies are on record as stating they’d like to turn your home into a smoldering ash heap sprinkled here and there with bubbling infidel blood splatters:
“Oh American people…We offered you a peace plan, and mutual benefit; but your governments were proud and haughty, and so the attacks against you followed one after another, everywhere – from Indonesia to Times Square, by way of Madrid and London. And the attacks are ongoing, and more will come one after another.”
While it’s sadly within the realm of possibility that someone like Ellen would mention Ayman’s “peace plan,” I’ll save you the trouble of actually looking it up. In short, al Qaeda peace plans usually involve a.) impossible demands because “peace” isn’t really what they want, or b.) defacto world wide submission to Islam.
As I mentioned the other day, in a sane world Marvel’s Captain America would be chalk full of stories pitting the super hero against terrorists and Taliban sympathizers the world over. Perhaps The Mole Man and his underground followers (not to be confused with the Neal Gabler Mole Men) have given them sanctuary within the caves of Afghanistan… Perhaps The Red Skull has used vast reserves of Nazi gold to fund training camps across the Middle East… And perhaps Cap saves the day by unearthing the MTP (Mother of all Terrorist Plots). Or was that “Motha”?
Or not.
When the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil happens (and it will happen, unfortunately), just revisit your mental checklist of all the liberal Hollywood types who downplayed the insatiable desire guys like Al Zawahiri have to wreck havoc on American interests at home and abroad.
While Danzig isn't a terrorist, guys like Al-Zawahiri want see the "Mother" of all terrorist plots realized on U.S. soil.
Dear Marvel: American Exceptionalism is real. Courting Jihadi movie goers, Euro-weenies, and moral relativists to make a few extra bucks is the wrong answer.
“He wants to serve his country, but he’s not this sort of jingoistic American flag-waver,” Johnston said. “He’s just a good person. We make a point of that in the script: Don’t change who you are once you go from Steve Rogers to this super-soldier, you have to stay who you are inside, that’s really what’s important more than your strength and everything. It’ll be interesting and fun to put a different spin on the character and one that the fans are really going to appreciate.”
Congratulations, Joe Johnson, you’re making Captain America without the American Exceptionalism. You’re giving the fans a “spin” they’ll “appreciate”? Well, I’m a fan and I don’t appreciate Captain America hollowed out and watered down into a United Nations Smurf Blue version of his former self so you can make a few extra bucks overseas. We already have DC turning Wonder Woman into World Community Consensus Woman in order to make an extra dollar when her movie finally gets the green light—we don’t need Marvel courting American Jihad sympathizers, terrorist wannabes, and the South Park meltdown extremists in the Middle East.
And, while I’ve said it before I have to ask again: When will the Black Ops Cap pulled off in Afghanistan be told in a Marvel comic? When do we get to see Taliban heads cracked? Wouldn’t it be nice to see Captain America’s shield decapitate terrorist scum just before they were going to chop off an “infidel’s” head (as a propaganda video was streaming online, to boot)? How great would it be if, just as the dull knife drew blood of an innocent Western woman and the hoots and hollers of “Allah Akbar” rang out if a red, white, and blue adamantium disc did what it was meant to do—preserve freedom while protecting the innocent and punishing monsters.
But that will never happen. I love you Marvel, but you’ve fallen on hard times. I always thought Captain America’s greatest enemy was the Red Skull. Who knew he’d be toppled by moral relativism?
Cap spent too much time concentrating on the Red Skull and got blind-sided by moral relativism.
If you’ve read this blog before you know I’m a comic nerd. And you know that I’m a fan of exposing the industry’s liberal bent, usually as it pertains to Marvel Comics. I’m also inclined to point out why certain characters embody the best of America, despite liberal writers’ uncanny ( X-Men-ish?) ability to ignore such traits.
So, although I’m not a “DC” type of guy, I feel as though the Wonder Woman costume hubbub needs to be addressed:
“The American-ness of her costume really dates from World War II, and it feels like it’s part of her roots, even if she is supposed to have come from an island full of Amazons,” Anders told FOX411.com. “I think making her look more ‘globalized’ isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but you have to be careful not to sacrifice what makes her distinctive and thrilling in the process,”…
“This new sleek and fashionable Wonder Woman will translate well to a film franchise centered on a female action hero. That wouldn’t have worked as well with the bright and flashy red, white and blue costume, and it definitely wouldn’t have played in the very lucrative international markets,” said the artist, who wished not to be named because of ties to DC. “
I think the question that needs to be asked is this: As comic books become more popular and are distributed around the globe, how will editorial decisions be affected by concerns of “international” readers?
I’ve talked about this before, but how many Captain America comics are in
Lasso of Truth around a jihadi nut? Naaaah. But Lynda Carter wants one around Bush. What a surprise.
existence of Black Ops in Afghanistan? During World War II Cap was punching Hitler’s lights out. Today? He’s scared of the Tea Party movement. Part of this has to do with the industry’s artists and writers liberal dominance, but over the past few years I think many editorial missteps are due to a desire not to offend the sensibilities of a more “globalized” readership.
One would think that in the wake of the September 11th attacks that Captain America could find some jihadi heads to crack overseas, possibly saving some American servicemen or innocent civilians in the process…but I guess not.
In the case of Wonder Woman’s new duds, I’m willing to cut DC some slack simply because Jim Lee was involved. Wonder Woman’s potential, for whatever reason, has never been realized, and a costume shake-up now and again is an easy way to generate interest (at least in the short term). Spider-Man sometimes dons his black costume—which happens to be very cool—but he always goes back to the classic red and blue. I’m more interested in the quality of the stories than Wonder Woman’s outward appearance…but then again, I am a writer. When the Justice League of America starts wondering if they should get the United Nations’ approval before acting to stop pure evil that threatens the world I’ll be concerned. Oh, wait, that sort of thing already happened…
Finally, the thing that’s most misleading about the Wonder Woman costume story isn’t in the analysis of the character or her history, but the lack of context for Lynda Carter’s attitude toward the controversy in the first place:
Lynda Carter, the actress who portrayed Wonder Woman on TV in the 1970s, declined to answer Fox 411.com’s question about the removal of the American flag from the Wonder Woman costume. In a previous interview, Carter said she thinks Wonder Woman would want all the upset fans to just “get over it.”
“She’s got an attitude, and if this is the new thing she wants to wear, well by God she’s going to wear it,” Carter said. “And I like that. And I hope somewhere in the story someone mentions, where’s the old one? And she says, ‘Get over it.’”
What isn’t noted is that Lynda Carter is a liberal.
Lynda Carter says she’s never used the Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth on her two children, now teens. “I don’t think it would work on them.” But, referring to President Bush, the talkative actress adds, “I’ve often thought how nice it would be during this administration if it worked,” (Heller, Billy. Kicking Heroine: 70’s Star Turns to Cabaret. New York Post.)
We all know how liberals feel about proudly displaying the flag. The ignoramuses (myself included) unabashedly displaying the Stars and Stripes on any old day of the week are a hinderance to the “international community” the Beltway intelligencia believes we should defer to as we chart out our nation’s future. (Because, who doesn’t want dysfunctional nation states essentially run by warlords on equal footing with the United States?)
Of course Lynda Carter doesn’t care about the muted-flag aspect of Wonder Woman’s new costume. Just as there are a lot of liberals who wish Captain America would simply don a smurf blue helmet and call himself Captain Appeasement, there are a lot of liberals who wish Wonder Woman was Moral Relativist Woman, substituting the Lasso of Truth for the Lasso of Whatever.
In the end, I predict the new costume will disappear. Liberal stories, however, aren’t going anywhere…unless more people take notice.
PS: Great PR move, DC, at having this story hit right before the Fourth of July weekend.
Lynda wishes you would "get over it" when it comes to symbols of American strength and character. I couldn't get hold of her because she was counting the royalty checks her old (flag inspired) costume made possible.
Stallone rocks. Why? Because unlike most of Hollywood, he knows the world has some pretty scary characters in it.
Do I write a post about Stallone’s new flick The Expendables, or do I cover the Obama administration’s Secret War tactics in the War on Terror? How about…both!
In the new trailer The Expendables, Stallone’s voiceover begins:
“We are the shadows…and the smoke in your eyes. We are the ghosts…that hide in the night.”
What does this mean? It means that the world is a dangerous place, and sometimes we need people to go in an clean up messes the civilized world would like to pretend don’t exist. Think the BP oil spill is a threat to humanity? Okay. But oily terrorists operating in lawless regions around the world can also cause messy explosions, gushers (of blood) on city streets, and black-charred coatings where beautiful things used to stand…
about the world’s scum buckets and dirt bags who’d like nothing better than to make Americans take dirt naps in densely populated urban areas. And people get angry, because if you acknowledge how susceptible free societies are to jihad nuts with a desire to return to the dark ages…it means you have a lot of tough decisions to make.
Even liberal writers like Brian Michael Bendis seem to know (really, really, deep down) that we live in a world where a Secret War or two or three or more…is being waged between competing visions for humanity’s future. The only problem is, when guys like George W. Bush are in office, liberal comic book writers come up with weird Bush-Gitmo allegories that inadvertently make the case for conservatism!
Can someone tell me when Brian Michael Bendis is going to lampoon Barack Obama in the comics for the very real “Secret War” that he’s apparently taken to another level? Don’t hold your breath:
Beneath its commitment to soft-spoken diplomacy and beyond the combat zones of Afghanistan and Iraq, the Obama administration has significantly expanded a largely secret U.S. war against al-Qaeda and other radical groups, according to senior military and administration officials..Obama, one senior military official said, has allowed “things that the previous administration did not.”
How many young voters pulled the lever for Barack Obama under the liberal auspices that we can live in harmony with jihadi head choppers if we just try really hard to “understand” and “reach” them? (My favorite is Richard Gere’s infamous post-9/11 suggestion that guys like Osama Bin Laden just need to be loved.)
It’s all a lie. The world is a dangerous place. Evil exists, despite what the Neal Gabler moral relativist Mole Men tell you. And it’s better to be honest and frank about that, because otherwise you create bizarre realities where “peace activists” (who try to slice through your liver with gigantor-knives when their cargo is about to be inspected) can play the victim-card. You also have scenarios play out where young people say, “Umm…what happened to all that hopeandchange?” (Yes, that’s one word):
The Obama administration has rejected the constitutional executive authority claimed by Bush and has based its lethal operations on the authority Congress gave the president in 2001 to use “all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons” he determines “planned, authorized, committed, or aided” the Sept. 11 attacks.
Many of those currently being targeted, Bellinger said, “particularly in places outside Afghanistan,” had nothing to do with the 2001 attacks.
Weren’t there a lot of Democrats that voted for that? Hmmm. Nevermind.
The hopeandchange never materialized because it was never there. I bet the kiddies are feeling pretty numb, right now. It’s okay Thunder Kiss, conservatism will welcome you with open arms when the reality hits that it’s a strange, strange world (incompatible with “planned” economies and Youtube Diplomacy).
Hey Bendis, do you mind telling me when you’re going to roast Barack Obama for his Secret War? Want to weigh in, Marvel? Didn’t think so. Hypocrites. Deep down, all of these guys are furious that George W. Bush is going to be largely vindicated.
Douglas Ernst Blog 