BW’s Daily Video> Marvel Misuses Black Characters

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One comment stood out for me: “It’s not that they give diverse characters [crappy] stories. It’s that they have [crappy] stories, and use diverse characters to hope to deflect criticism.”

Comics Silver Surfer A Victim Of The Media Pecking Order

No sooner do I launch a post about Marvel Studio’s latest failure that the comics have to follow suit. They do suffer many of the same issues.

For the record I have never really gotten into the Silver Surfer. I blame too many writers focusing on the “woe is me” nature of his existence, but that’s another conversation. No, we’re here to talk about the latest news, that Norrin Radd isn’t just being replaced in the movies but in the comics…but not with Shalla-Ball

I’ve gone over the history of the Silver Surfer and various heralds of Galactus, most notably the female ones. The women have never taken on the Silver Surfer roll in the main universe comics. There have been other heralds or other continuities, but Silver Surfer is Norrin Radd, a bald space dude.

This is about to change.

“Death Of The Silver Surfer” will see Norrin Radd killed off (who knows for how long given the nature of comics–I think everybody’s died at least once by now, even characters only introduced this century) and replaced with Major Kelly Koh, member of the Bureau of Alien Neutralization (or BAN for short because subtlety has yet to get through the revolving door of comic death) according to appearances. I’ll let you read the article if you want the full story thus far on that.

Instead we’re here to look at the media pecking order. The article’s writer suspects this is due to brand synergy, by having a girl Surfer in both continuities, but in that case why make a new character to replace Norrin instead of the gender swap they’re already going with? Even if that is the case, it’s another example of Disney’s Marvel doing it backwards, and it will only further injure comics’ reputation as a storytelling source.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Quantum & Woody #1 (Acclaim Comics)

That’s not solidarity. They’re trying to kill each other.

Quantum & Woody #1

Acclaim Comics/Valiant Heroes (June, 1997)

“Klang”

SCRIPT/PLOTS/PENCILS/CO-CREATORS: Christopher Priest & M.D. Bright

INKER: Greg Adams

COLORING: Atomic Paintbrush

LETTERER: Dave Lanphear

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Omar Banmally

EDITOR: Lynaire Thompson

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BW’s Daily Video> Kevin Feige & The MCU Reboot

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A Reboot Will Not Save The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Doctor Doom holds court.

Back in February I noticed a rising trend among critics who used to be fans of the MCU before the current direction it took post-Perlmutter. They were calling for a reboot of the universe in light of actors dying or just getting too old to continue the roles. I said back then, and I maintain this perspective, that this will not save Marvel movies. There are a lot of other factors to be considered, and unless those are addressed it’s just going to be another gimmick. Rebooting the DC movieverse hasn’t done them any favors. If anything, Gunn’s DC Universe is rather confusing. The first two productions, Creature Commandos and James Gunn’s Superman By James Gunn, haven’t exactly made a huge impact, the Superman and friends movie only hanging on because Superman.

Plus Marvel Comics has managed to go without rebooting their universe this whole time. While DC has huge and minor reboots going as far back as Crisis On Infinite Earths, Marvel has taken the sliding timeline approach, moving up when Tony Stark got his armor pacemaker and when Captain America was awakened through the power of retcons. Neither is really a perfect systems if you absolutely have to keep the same characters close to the same positions or resetting them for the next generation of readers (which is not what they target anymore, but that’s another conversation) but it seems to work for the former House Of Ideas before being absorbed into the nearly-former House Of Mouse.

Well, it seems Kevin Feige has confirmed that after the big multiversal event of the next two Avengers movies, a reboot is exactly what’s about to happen for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The baseball-capped head of Marvel Studios provided this update as to the MCU’s future casting plans during a recent sit down with the press, as hosted by at Marvel’s headquarters in Burbank, CA.

Per a recap of the event provided by Deadline‘s Anthony D’Alessandro and Justin Kroll, after an opening assurance that the studio currently has “a seven-year plan” for its films and television shows – “I think it goes to 2032,” he added. “It’s on magnets, it can move around.” – Feige was eventually pressed as to whether or not said plan included recasting any of the canonically dead or ‘oldhead’ Avengers like Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, T’Challa, and Thor.

In turn, the producer offered an answer that essentially boiled down to ‘Yes for everyone except the God of Thunder’:

This is not going to go well. Not on its own, anyway.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Sonic The Hedgehog #100

Remember when comics celebrated numbers this high as an achievement?

Sonic The Hedgehog #100

Archie Comic Publications (October, 2001)

EDITOR: Justin “J.F.” Gabrie

“Reunion”

WRITER: Karl Bollers

PENCILER: Rom Lim

INKERS: Andrew Pepoy & Pam Eklund

COLORIST: Stephanie Vozzo

LETTERER: Jeff Powell

Knuckles: “Welcome To The Dark Side!”

WRITER/ARTIST: Ken Penders

COLORIST: Frank Gagliardo

LETTERER: Vickie Williams

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BW’s Daily Video> 10 More Forgotten Doctor Who Facts

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