Put on some pants, at least.
Starriors #4
FINAL ISSUE
Marvel Comics Group (February, 1985)
“Quest’s End!”
WRITER: Louise Simonson
PENCILER: Michael Chen
INKERS: Akin & Garvey
COLORIST: J. Ferriter
LETTERER: Joe Rosen
EDITOR: Ann Nocenti
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, or rather the people working on it, have no set rules about time travel and the multiverse, another bit of proof that they no longer care about putting out a shared universe or even a competent product. With the upcoming release of a third Ant-Man movie, this one delving further into the multiverse, John F. Trent at Bounding Into Comics goes over all the contradictory statements about time travel and the nature of the multiverse between the movies and shows.
Here’s another compared to the comics: in a trailer or clip or wherever I saw it for Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, someone refers to the main MCU as 616, a joke based on DC calling their primary universe Earth-1 when they have a multiverse. That’s an intended nod to the comics…except that’s the comic universe. The whole point of Marvel’s numbering system is that each continuity, each show and comic and video game and movie (and probably other media formats as well) are in their own universe and thus have their own designation in the multiverse. According to the Marvel Database, the MCU is listed as Earth-199999 according to volume 5 of Official Handbook Of The Marvel Universe A to Z. So in other words, the people behind the MCU right now have absolutely no idea what they’re doing when it comes to time travel and the multiverse, and now they’re doing even more stories with that theme and introducing their version of Kang. I see this ending poorly.
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I have no idea what’s going on with ComiXology these days. Just recently I posted a BW Ramble v-log about how they finally fixed the Guided View feature they dropped when Amazon bought the digital comics service and decided to integrate it into Kindle, and now they’re cutting a huge chunk of their workforce. Almost 75% according to Bounding Into Comics. Yes, with people being allowed into that area of space we call “outside”, which I vaguely remember visiting once or twice, demand for at-home media has gone down. Streaming services are not making as much money as they were during the lockdowns and that’s only partly blamed on Netflix doing terrible anime live-action remakes and movies of dirty dancing pre-teens, Amazon working over Tolkien fans, and basically everything Disney is doing to their animated properties, comics, and Star Wars. Part of it can also be blamed on our current economic issues and I won’t go into a political rant here because I’ve discussed that stuff too much lately and yet will probably have to again.
Even people currently working at ComiXology is complaining about the layoffs, not to mention high ranking types who are already hitting the job sites for work. That’s certainly bad news in this climate and I wish them all the best of luck, but BW Media Spotlight isn’t a business site, it’s a storytelling site. Digital comics, for some, have replaced physical comics because they take up less floor space and are a bit cheaper since there isn’t printing costs to deal with…I mean, in theory they’re cheaper. However, with such a huge drop in people running the site this is a format of comics that may take a hit of its own, and frankly just pushes my belief that physical comics are still superior in the end.
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“At least I don’t have to be painted green this time.”
Lou Ferrigno: Liberator #0
Bluewater Productions (November, 2013; as posted to comiXology–for now; see tonight’s feature article)
WRITERS: Jim Cirile & Aaron Pope
ARTIST: Gerry Kissel
COLORIST: Jesse D’Angelo
LETTERER: Chris McCarver
LAYOUT: David Faught
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Note: There is a little swearing.
Catch more from TheMentok on YouTube
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What we know as “Future State” was the surviving elements of a leaked plan for what then DC Comics Editor-In-Chief Dan DiDio planned for the new status of the DC Universe. Known as “5G”, standing for “fifth generation” rather than the wireless network, it would have created a new status quo had the full plan been initiated. Just the parts we heard about was not sitting well with many DC fans, myself included. It was part of his brand new timeline that would have made Wonder Woman, not Superman, the first modern superhero of the DC universe and would have been yet another reset of the DC timeline, which apparently DiDio couldn’t stop doing.
Recently, Bleeding Cool dropped a multi-part article series examining the plans of 5G and what was eventually used in Future State and more recent stories. Future State became a story arc of an alternate future using elements of 5G because they didn’t have anything else at the time. Just at the leaked conception of the 5G event the backlash was huge and may or may not have led to DiDio’s long overdue departure. Now he’s working with Frank Miller to create a whole new comic company.
I didn’t read the whole series because just listening to Comicstorian’s video below was enough to annoy me. Having to read the finer details would probably have ticked me off and I’m trying to reduce the angry rants. So let’s listen to his summary, his review of what we got and why 5G would have killed DC Comics outright, and then I’ll chime in with my thoughts. No, using Comicstorian videos on this site isn’t going to be a weekly thing. If anything the last one was a few weeks old before I used it.
BW Media Spotlight 
How To Properly Satirize Superman
I have made my dislike of “evil Superman” stories clear: I am not a fan. It’s usually done by somebody who doesn’t get the character, is too cynical to believe someone with Superman’s powers wouldn’t kill and turn evil despite how many heroes are practically at Superman’s level in the DC and other universes with nobody complaining about how Captain Shazam isn’t evil, or characters like Marvel’s Guardian despite his changing sides depending who is on the Shi’Ar throne at any given moment. Nope, it’s just Superman they can’t believe, the “boy scout” who is kind, compassionate, and loves humanity.
Sucker, you better HOPE anyone with that level of power is more like Superman than Homelander. That’s how the fantasy works!
That’s not to say that you can’t tell a story that looks at someone with Superman’s powers and make an interesting story about someone without Clark’s morality, but you need that morality and Clark Kent/Superman himself as the template to base your hero on, especially if you ARE going with the moral superhero route. As proof I bring you the following video by Overly Sarcastic Productions, a channel I don’t usually follow but have seen videos for. I was pointed to this by a recent article by Caroline Furlong, so thanks for pointing out a new addition to my Defending Superman playlist over on my YouTube channel. Since I’m trying to get my schedule under control this admittedly long video (with some rather uneven swear censoring) is just what I needed.
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Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on January 27, 2023 in DC Spotlight and tagged commentary, Superman.
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