Make Mine Marvel... No More!

I spent the better part of an hour trying to articulate my thoughts on why, effective immediately, I will not being supporting any product made by Marvel Comics including comic books, novels, merchandise or movies.

I've read a number of convincing arguments from other people as to why they can no longer support the company in the wake of Secret Empire #0.  From the Veteran who was inspired to serve his country because of Captain America to the Jewish and LGBT comic shop owners who balked at being asked to dress as Nazis in order to promote the comic, there are a lot of people who have legitimate, personal reasons to be upset by this comic.

I sympathize completely. I was similarly torn by One More Day and the idea that Peter Parker - who lived and breathed the idea that With Great Power, There Must Also Always Be Great Responsibility - would sacrifice his marriage in a Faustian Pact rather than work past the guilt of having indirectly caused the death of his Aunt May.

I boycotted all things Marvel from that point on until I was convinced to lift the ban so that I could see The Avengers movie. The argument from a fellow Browncoat that I shouldn't deny myself a new Joss Whedon movie over some comic that would be changed back to normal sooner or later swayed me. I still abstained from all things Spider-Man, but I would read titles written by writers I enjoyed under the Marvel banner.

The problem I face now is that any rallying cry I make for a boycott will ring hollow. Until recently I'd only been reading two Marvel Comics on a monthly basis and I'd already dropped one of them since it looked like it was going to start requiring me to read other titles. I lack the words to make up for my lack of gravitas.

Thankfully, I have an image that captures my feelings perfectly.

Gone To All-Con 2017 - Back With Comic Reviews On Monday!

Gone to All-Con and want to see me?  Here's my panel schedule!


THURSDAY

11 AM - Pin Oak - Wonder Woman 101 
6 PM - Pin Oak - Lost In Time: An Introduction To Doctor Who


FRIDAY

1 PM - Dogwood Room - All About Arrow
7 PM - Addison Room - Marvel Cinematic: Strange Things Have Happened!
8 PM - Addison Room - Buffy! The Tribute Returns!
9 PM - Addison Room - Doctor Horrible Returns! 
10 PM - Addison Room - Do You Want To Play A Game? - Let's Plays For Beginners 


SATURDAY

9 AM - Oak Ballroom - Doctor Horrible Returns! 
1 PM - Meredith Room - Beauty And The Beast: The Live Action Movie Discussion
4 PM - Elm Room -  Lost In Time: An Introduction To Doctor Who 
7 PM - Elm Room - Critical Writing: How (NOT) To Make Enemies And Alienate People


SUNDAY 

12 PM - Elm Room  - Wonder Woman 101

Doctor Strange - A Review

Generally, I liked it.

Was it great? No.

Was it good?  Yes.

The visuals were stunning and they did a fantastic job of emulating the classic Steve Ditko style in the backgrounds. Unfortunately, most of the best moments were shown in the trailers. The same is true of the jokes. There is a lot of humor in this movie and sometimes the movie goes for jokes at times it would have been better to play the drama straight.

The script does a good job of retelling Stephen Strange's origins from the comics. As some have noted, Strange seems a lot like a magical Tony Stark and in terms of backstory that's a fair comparison - an arrogant jerk is humbled by an injury and unwittingly becomes a hero while trying to save himself. The difference in the comics came later, with Strange attaining true humility and Stark being... well, Stark. Time will tell if the same thing happens in the films.

The cast is excellent, though I think Rachel McAdams is completely wasted here as the love interest. Nobody is really challenging themselves as an actor or breaking any new ground, with Benedict Cumberbatch playing an American Sherlock Holmes (see the above comment on arrogant jerks) and Chiwetel Ejiofor basically playing Baron Mordo as the order-minded Operative from Serenity. Benedict Wong steals every scene he is in as bad-ass librarian Wong and Tilda Swinton has the appropriate gravitas for The Ancient One.

One thing that did occur to me regarding Swinton's casting as The Ancient One and the resulting outcry over Hollywood white-washing Asian characters. Acknowledging that the "white man goes to the East and becomes The Chosen One" trope is highly overdone and that there is a case to be made for trying to eliminate the equally cliched stereotype of The Wise Old Master by casting a woman in that role, I wonder why I haven't heard any similar complaints about Baron Mordo - Doctor Strange's arch-enemy, who was Transylvanian in the comics - being cast with a black actor?

All controversy aside, I would recommend seeing this movie on the big screen. And be sure to stick around through the credits for two special sequences.

Rediscovering The Magic: Special Edition! Marvel Cinematic: We Don't Need Your Civil War!

Back at All-Con 2016, Rick Gutierrez of United States of Geekdom & Rediscovering The Magic and I did a panel on the original Civil War comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general.

Here now is the audio of that panel: Rediscovering The Magic: We Don't Need Your Civil War!