Creator of the Soulfinder graphic novel series.
Marvel’s Civil War II #3 was released today, which means Bruce Banner is officially dead (until he’s alive again). Your friendly neighborhood blogger might do up a write-up in the future, but I figured the occasion offered a good excuse to experiment with uploading my first real YouTube review.
Imagine you are a writer on a Marvel comic book that can’t even sell 17,000 copies in its second month of release. Now imagine what would happen if you logged onto your social media account and mocked “liberal black people” while flippantly telling them to “eat a bag of d***s” if they were offended by your work.
Question: How long do you think you would last before Human Resources said you were fired?
Answer: It’s a trick question — Marvel does not hire openly conservative writers. If you are David F. Walker of the basement-dwelling Nighthawk (16,522 copies sold in June), however, you can insult “conservative white people,” instruct them to “eat a bag of d***s,” and then get rewarded with an Avengers title: Occupy Avengers.
Bleeding Cool reported Monday:
Occupy Avengers, a new Marvel Avengers comic from David Walker and Gabriel Walta, is hoping to be rather political. And certainly seems to be spinning out of events in Civil War II. Rather visibly.
Because someone who some people thought wouldn’t be there, is there. Up front and central.
Here is an uncomfortable truth: Marvel’s editors think so little of black people that they refuse to let go of an author whose atrocious online behavior and anemic sales would get anyone else terminated in a heartbeat. Emasculated white men within the former “House of Ideas” look the other way when a black writer embarrassingly manages to comport himself like Hooper X from Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy.
You can almost hear Mr. Walker’s internal monologue: “Black rage! I kill any white folks I lay my motherf***king eyes on!”
I seldom make predictions, but it seems safe to say that any buzz Occupy Avengers will last about as long as Occupy Wall Street. It’s hard to sell comic books to white people when you spend obscene amounts of creative energy trying to portray them as “the white devil.”
Where do you think Occupy Avengers will bottom out? Let me know in the comments section below.
If you have never seen “Hooper X” in action, then make sure to check him out in the embedded YouTube video. It still holds up after almost 20 years.
Exit Question: How come liberal black guys can make homophobic cracks like “eat a bag of d***s” with impunity? Someone needs to ask activist-writers Dan Slott and Nick Spencer, or Editor Tom Brevoort, why Mr. Walker is exempt from the few rules governing the rest of Marvel’s staff.
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.”
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.”
Marvel writer Nick Spencer, the guy who uses his Twitter feed to say all Republicans are “evil,” recently made national headlines with the company’s “let’s turn Steve Rogers into a Hydra agent” gimmick. He somehow managed escape the media radar with his tenth issue of ‘Captain America: Sam Wilson,’ which creates a nameless, faceless group of racist cops — ‘Americops’ — for hunting down minorities.
The end of the issue even features “Rage,” who tells a group of black kids that it’s “time we start hitting back” against the racist, left-hand saluting police patrolling their streets.
Ask yourself this question about Marvel Editor Tom “capture the zeitgeist” Brevoort as the nation comes to grips with the Dallas shooting of 12 police officers by Micah Xavier Johnson, which killed five: Why is it off limits to “capture the zeitgeist” of Islamic terrorist groups — real evil — in Marvel comics due to fears about how it will reflect on all Muslims, but yet it is fair game to create “Americops”?
The vast majority of cops are good men and women, and yet every single time someone like Alton Sterling is killed in Baton Rouge or Philando Castile is killed in Minneapolis, the Nick Spencers of the world use the moment to rhetorically slime over 12,000 local police departments across the country.
Here is another question for you: Have you ever seen an issue where Nick Spencer’s Sam Wilson must combat super-powered gangs of black kids in Chicago or Detroit who deal drugs, murder innocents, and make life a living hell for the majority of good citizens (and cops) in the city?
Answer: Of course not.
The lesson at Marvel under Tom Brevoort is clear:
If you are sick and tired of Marvel hyper-politicizing its books while engaging in obscene double-standards, then stop buying any title that fills its pages with partisan bile. Sound off on social media and let everyone know exactly why you are walking away from the title.
Invincible Iron Man #11 should have been an action-packed extravaganza with War Machine, Captain America, Nova, Ms. Marvel, She-Thor, Vision and War Machine all joining forces with Tony Stark to destroy “Techno Golem” and her network of terror. Writer Brian Michael Bendis had other things in mind — action for Riri Williams, and a tepid climax for Tony. Long-time readers should be chafing.
Here is what you need to know for IMM #11:
The best way to describe Invincible Iron Man at this point is disappointing. It had so much potential, but Mr. Bendis essentially over-promised and under-delivered. There needed to be serious action in IIM #11, and instead it was just talking…and more talking…and Tony scratching the back of his neck while in deep thought.
It’s nice to have witty and intelligent banter, but at some point it seems like endlessly watching two cats pat around a ball of string.
Perhaps the worst aspect of the issue is that it takes place before James Rhodes dies in Civil War II (i.e., the timing called for something special that never transpired).
This was a “rescue” operation to bring Tony out of hiding and wipe out a deadly foe, but readers are not given a memorable battle for a man who has meant so much to Mr. Stark. Instead, the book features Riri Williams punching the engine of a getaway vehicle in the desert, and a snapshot of the Avengers in action.
“That was my first superhero thing. I’ll do better next time,” Ms. Williams says after sending two convicted felons through a windshield. Meanwhile, Rhodey must embarrassingly hem and haw when he is informed that he captured the wrong High Value Target.
Your friendly neighborhood blogger wrote “Invincible Iron Man: Bendis’ superb work lures back old Tony Stark fan” on Oct. 22, 2015. I published positive reviews in the months that followed, but somewhere along the line the book began to offer diminishing returns. My guess is that Mr. Bendis has been allocating the bulk of his creative energy to whatever he is doing with Riri Williams behind the scenes.
If you are a fan of Tony Stark, then I suggest staying away from Mr. Bendis’ efforts until the billionaire has his undivided attention.
It is a good bet that when Marvel writer Dan Slott was a kid that he was the one who always changed the rules of whatever game he was playing with friends. The Amazing Spider-Man #15 is a perfect example of a story crumbling into a schizophrenic mess because the writer altered established realities to get to a desired end.
Readers last left their beloved web-slinger knowing that he and Iron Man were defeated at the hands of Regent. The same villain who defeated a god — She-Thor — Vision, Wolverine, Captain America, Daredevil, Deadpool, Human Torch and countless other superheroes (and villains), also took down Peter Parker and Tony Stark.
Regent has been established as a force to be reckoned with, right? Keep that in mind as we move forward with this review.
Here is what you need to know for ASM #15:
ASM #15 fails because Dan Slott sets precedents and then disregards them when it suits his needs. He pens stories for an older-skewing audience, but then expects the average reader to accept deviations from established rules like a child.
To add insult to injury, fans of the marriage between Peter and Mary Jane are punched in the gut at least twice.
The fact of the matter is not that Mary Jane “moved on” — it’s that Marvel’s editors and Dan Slott are telling readers to move on.
The message is clear: “Stop spitting up Tom Brevoort’s medicine. Take it. The beatings will continue until morale improves!”
If you want to see some stunning cover art by Alex Ross, then make sure to buy ASM #15.
If you don’t require a writer to stick to his own set of rules as long as characters are punching each other and “zany” hijinks ensue, then buy ASM #15.
If, however, you expect writers to offer creative cohesion and linear logic, which can easily be traced to acceptable premises, then you might want to read Charles Soule’s Daredevil instead.
Marvel’s editorial team may share nothing in common with Matt Drudge, but there is no doubt they were thrilled on Wednesday when the media mogul gave Riri Williams (aka, the soon-to-be Iron Man) a ton of free publicity.
Mr. Bendis sat down for an exclusive interview with Time magazine, where he said that his 15-year-old MIT genius, Riri, would soon take the reins from Marvel’s coolest billionaire entrepreneur. Yours truly wondered in March if Riri would soon replace Mr. Stark, but for some reason Marvel doesn’t send scoops this way. How odd… **cough**cough**
What is most striking about the writer’s discussion with Time, however, is the giant straw-man argument he used to slime critics of his work as racists.
Mr. Bendis said:
“Some of the comments online, I don’t think people even realize how racist they sound. I’m not saying if you criticize you’re a racist, but if someone writes, ‘Why do we need Riri Williams we already have Miles?’ that’s a weird thing to say. They’re individuals just like Captain America and Cyclops are individuals. All I can do is state my case for the character, and maybe they’ll realize over time that that’s not the most progressive thinking.
But increasingly we see less and less of that. Once Miles hit, and Kamala Khan hit and female Thor hit — there was a part of an audience crawling through the desert looking for an oasis when it came to representation, and now that it’s here, you’ll go online and be greeted with this wave of love.
Translation: “I’m not saying you are racist if you say [insert critique that Mr. Bendis doesn’t agree with], buuuuut, you’re probably — hurrrrm — racist. You’re most certainly not — hurrrm — progressive.”
The vast majority of critics, who are tired of “wave of love”-driven decisions being shoved in their face, do not say things like, “Why do we need Riri Williams — we already have Miles?” Most readers get upset with Mr. Bendis for turning a Spider-Man derivative into a God-like being for the “more power means cooler hero” crowd, but they do not have a racist or sexist aversion to his characters.
With that said, even the “weird” comment Mr. Bendis cites is only “weird” at a cursory glance. Mr. Bendis lies by omission by not really explaining the whole situation to Time.
As was already mentioned, Miles Morales is a derivative of Spider-Man. Likewise, She-Thor is a derivative of Thor, and Amadeus Cho is a diversity-upgrade for Hulk. Heck, even Falcon cannot be Falcon — he must be Captain America — because Marvel has decided Steve Rogers is generally just fit to be … dead … or a Nazi-sympathizing Hydra agent.
The point is this: Rational people might begin to wonder why classic superheroes all need a female or minority replacement when creating cool new characters is always an option.
It is actually more patronizing to women and minorities to pat them on the head and say, “Here you go my special goo-goo, ga-ga, coochie-coo. Here’s a Spider-Man and Iron Man and Captain America and Thor just for you. Don’t you cry, little ones.”
When Brian Michael Bendis talks about going online and being “greeted with this wave of love,” it is important to remember just how much Marvel writers want it. They crave the wave. They seek it from Time magazine. They seek it from mainstream comic book websites. They seek it from Tumblr kids. They seek it in their Twitter stream and every other digital tributary — because it is addictive.
Do not let Mr. Bendis use straw-man arguments. Do not be cowed when he implies or outright calls you a racist over legitimate criticisms of his work. There are right ways and wrong ways to create a more diverse Marvel universe, and fans should not be shamed into silence because writers are quick to start talking about racism at the least bit of criticism.
Douglas Ernst Blog terrifies and irritates Marvel writer Dan Slott to no end. The man stalks this blog in the wee hours of the morning, keeps tabs on my professional life, and consistently tries to smear me every time someone cites my work.
Your friendly neighborhood blogger walked out of Steven Spielberg’s newest film, The BFG, this afternoon to see traffic spike for a post titled “Dan Slott trolls random woman on Twitter, then has the gall to bash GamerGate supporters.” I knew immediately that a really good Reddit conversation was going on somewhere or that Dan Slott was once again lying about me on Twitter. It turned out to be the latter.
Here is how Mr. Slott responded to the DC Women Kicking Ass blog when its creator called him out for his unprofessional Twitter antics.
Yes, Dan Slott is calling me a “Right Wing extremist” — because a Catholic guy who believes in free markets, a strong national defense and the rule of law somehow equates to extremism in his mind.
As usual, the writer attacks me from afar because the evidence is not in his favor.
Since Mr. Slott knows deep down that a quick internet search can easily prove him wrong, he then goes to his bag of logical fallacies — after “ad hominem” usually comes “poisoning the well.”
In today’s case we have Dan Slott referring to a previous employer I had (for eight months), that has dozens upon dozens of op-ed contributors from across the conservative spectrum — some I vehemently disagree with (e.g., Ann Coulter), and others (like economist Thomas Sowell) who are intellectual giants.
Regardless, I challenge anyone to go through my Twitter feed and find “extreme” work — it’s not there.
Like any writer who works for online magazines or newspapers, I am sometimes given assignments that I dislike, but I always try my best to stick to the principles espoused on this blog. Dan Slott’s insinuation that I’m a “birther” is pathetic, but at this point it is to be expected.
Finally, Dan’s tweet-screed shows that despite being exposed as Slottian misrepresentation at its finest (even CBR readers have called him out on his sad attempts to deflect criticism), he still insists on twisting my response to Peter Parker’s “No One Dies” mantra.
Dan Slott says Douglas Ernst Blog “distorts” everything he does, which is weird because a.) I said he hit a “home run” with Renew Your Vows, and b.) his definition of distortion apparently is “quoting a man word for word and linking to the source material whenever available.”
A good example might be that time he said Peter Parker’s love for Mary Jane is “anti-Marvel.”
I quoted the man at length, linked to an hour-long YouTube video, instructed readers to view the entire thing, and he still accused me of taking him “out of context.”
That, dear reader, is “distortion” to Mr. Slott.
Note to Dan Slott: You obviously have learned nothing from the time you stalked The Main Event and then exploited his charity run for Twitter sponge bathes. The guy tore you to shreds, but yet you continue to act like an online buffoon.
Keep talking, Mr. Slott. I will continue to expose your lies. I might even have to do my own YouTube takedown soon. If I can deliver half as well as The Main Event, then I will be happy.
Update: Look who is stalking my blog again (despite blocking me on Twitter) — Dan Slott.
The name of this website is Douglas Ernst Blog. There is nothing weird about referring to it by its proper name. Anyone who knows about branding understands that. How strange is it that Dan Slott mocks me for being a single person when it is glaringly obvious that my writing is constantly on his mind? What are you going to do, Dan Slott, when I continue to expand my social media presence in the years ahead?
Side Note: Here is a brief glimpse into the mind of Dan Slott’s most ardent supporters. This individual tried to say that Mr. Slott does not resort to ad hominem attacks. When I said that calling me a “Right Wing extremist” is, in fact, an attack on my character his response was that it was “probably” used as a pejorative. Classic.
It was a mere “slight.” That’s all, old chap! Academics and all, you know. Hurrrm.
It was only one month ago that activist-writer Nick Spencer turned Red Skull into a Donald Trump stand-in. Objective readers wondered just how deep Marvel’s well of partisan hackery might go. Spider-Gwen Annual #1 by writer Jason Latour offers the clearest evidence yet that it is deeper than anyone can imagine.
Comic Book Resources reported Saturday:
In this week’s “Spider-Gwen Annual” #1, writer Jason Latour and “an awesome assemblage of artists” offer a tour of Earth-65 with a collection of short stories that includes She-Hulk as a pro wrestler, the origin of Koala Kommander, and an all-too brief showdown between Captain America and M.O.D.O.K. — wait, make that M.O.D.A.A.K. (Mental Organism Designed As America’s King).
Illustrated by Chris Visions and colored by Jim Campbell, the two-page sequence depicts M.O.D.A.A.K. as an orange-skinned, tiny-handed villain sitting in his floating chair, leading the forces of A.I.M. near the United States/Mexico border. There he declares, “If American will not act — M.O.D.A.A.K must!”
However, just as he begins to utter a familiar slogan (“Must make America–“), he’s cut off by a well-placed shield throw from Captain America. Crashing to the ground, M.O.D.A.A.K. leaves us with a parting threat (and a jab at Trump): “Crush you … in … my … powerful handsss …”
Regular readers of this blog know that I have no love for the billionaire’s campaign, which is why it pains me to have to defend the man. Although, truthfully, it’s not really about Mr. Trump. What this is about is Marvel Comics filling its ranks with pathetic partisan trolls whose bright idea for keeping the company afloat is to cultivate loyalty with the lowest common denominator.
Note to Jason Latour, Nick Spencer, Dan Slott, Tom Brevoort, and everyone else within Marvel who thinks dividing people is a great business model for long-term growth: The internet exists. When you create stuff like Trump-M.O.D.A.A.K., those stories end up in news feeds next to ‘White House reveals number of civilian deaths from drone strikes.’
CNN reported Friday:
President Barack Obama’s administration estimated Friday that between 64 and 116 civilians have died during the years 2009-2015 from U.S. drone strikes outside of Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the same time span, the administration said between 2,372 and 2,581 militants had been taken out by drones. …
Human rights groups, however, were unsatisfied by the government’s disclosed figures, which came in far lower than independent estimates of civilian causalities.
Selective moral outrage and Marvel-approved hypocrisy are easy to expose thanks to the internet. Whether one loves him or hates him, Donald Trump has never dropped bombs on 116 civilian heads.
President Obama decided long ago that he would rather splatter suspected terrorists into a blood-red mist than capture and interrogate them like George W. Bush, but yet it is Mr. Trump who gets the M.O.D.A.A.K treatment. Telling.
Readers get what is going on, which is in part why Spider-Gwen had estimated sales of a whopping (drumroll please) … 33,797 copies last month.
The moral of the story is this: There are many, many, many readers who are fed up with immature antics of writers like Nick Spencer and Jason Latour. We do not have an affinity for Donald Trump, but we also don’t want to see him turned into a de facto Red Skull or alternate-universe M.O.D.O.K. (Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing).
Superhero comic books were once used to unite readers of all ages and from all walks of life, but these days Marvel employees work to divide — and that is one reason why so many life-long customers no longer care and are walking away in droves.
Brian Michael Bendis wants “Spider-Man” readers to know that Miles Morales, one day, will be the most powerful superhero in the Marvel universe. How do I know this? Because the kid can take down anyone with a single touch, turn himself invisible, regenerate limbs, he’s (allegedly) immortal, and now he can randomly project giant bursts of energy.
It’s dumb, lazy, and just screams, “My Spider-Man will be the best Spider-Man ever and you will respect him!”
Spider-Man #5 exemplifies everything that is wrong and everything that is right with the title. On one hand Mr. Bendis excels at planting seeds for future conflict, but on the other his efforts are negated because there is no conflict with an immortal being with an endless string of powers.
The situation is so embarrassing that Marvel Wikia lists Miles’ one weakness as … inexperience.
Translation: Miles Morales is Marvel’s Big Dog — and and you, dear reader, just don’t know it yet.
Here is what Bendis said in a recent interview with CBR about criticism about Miles’ powers:
I already got an e-mail tonight from somebody in England who gets their comics a day early b****ing to me, and I was given this a little bit in the last volume too, that some people don’t like when Miles wins a fight with his venom blast. They think it’s bulls**t.
That’s like saying you’re mad because Thor won a fight with his hammer. I don’t understand that criticism. He has a tool and he used it. It’s not like the readers didn’t know he could do it. We’ve known since the character’s first appearance. So I’m calling bullshit on people calling bulls**t on this particular thing. It’s a very weird criticism.
Note to Brian Michael Bendis: The validity of your argument is not positively correlated with the number of times you say “bulls**t” and “b***h.”
If Miles Morales only needs to touch an opponent to beat him (e.g., the demon Blackheart, Hammerhead), then he becomes boring.
If there are no chains that can hold Miles Morales because he might decide to become a levitating burst of god-like energy, then it is kind of lame.
When the message is: “You cannot defeat Miles Morales — you can only hope to contain him!” then the book becomes a snooze-fest. That is not “bulls**t.” That is the truth.
Here is what you need to know about Spider-Man #5:
Am I interested in seeing what happens when Jessica Jones tails Miles? Sure.
Does it pique my interest to know that Miles’ father is a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent? Sure. I think it’s weird for a husband to have giant secrets from his wife and son, but for entertainment purposes I suppose it works.
The problem Spider-Man has, however, is that it appears to be trying too hard to establish Miles Morales as “the” Spider-Man. Unfortunately, just adding power after power after power to the kid actually ends up doing him a disservice.
When it becomes apparent that a writer is desperate to have his pet creation immediately enter the upper echelons of Marvel greatness, it becomes a turnoff for readers. This reviewer may be jumping off the book soon if the trend continues for much longer.
Douglas Ernst Blog 