The Reality Of Comics

It's interesting when modern storytelling ( like comics ) take on current issues. Most recently, Captain American issue #602 ( which is literally impossible to find outside of EBay ) had a developing story arch involving "government protests" that depicted, accurately, a Tea Bagger protest - complete with signage that could be seen at many rallies this past year. Naturally, conservatives were not happy with Marvel Comics holding a mirror up to them, so it will be interesting to see how Marvel Comics handles Peter Parker being unemployed.

Don't fret, the web-slinger will still be keeping New York City safe from Venom and Carnage and any number of other dastardly villains he's tangled with over the years. But beginning Wednesday, he's going to have to do it between trips to the unemployment line.

That's the day Peter Parker, Spider-Man's nice guy alter-ego, hears the words, ''You're fired'' from his cranky, long-suffering boss, Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. Worse still, Jameson not only sacks Parker, who makes his living as a photojournalist, he blacklists him with every news organization in town.

This of course raises all kinds of interesting questions:

-- How will Parker maintain his Spider-Man costumes? Dry-cleaning bills alone must run to several hundred dollars a year.

-- How will he keep buying the stuff he uses to spin those industrial-strength webs needed to hop from building to building? Surely he doesn't pick that up at the 99 Cents Store.

Wonder if there is going to be a double page spread showing Jim Bunning being an ass and Peter Parker losing his unemployment benefits?

Don't Let The Studio Door Hit You On The Way Out

Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire have both released statements explaining why they are leaving the Spiderman franchise that they systematically destroyed with part 3.

I am so proud of what we accomplished with the 'Spider-Man' franchise over the last decade," Maguire said in a statement Monday. "Beyond the films themselves, I have formed some deep and lasting friendships. I am excited to see the next chapter unfold in this incredible story.


Working on the 'Spider-Man' movies was the experience of a lifetime for me," Raimi, who directed all three "Spider-Man" films, also said in a statement Monday. "While we were looking forward to doing a fourth one together, the studio and Marvel have a unique opportunity to take the franchise in a new direction, and I know they will do a terrific job.

While Raimi took to the reigns with passion and an honesty for the character origins in the first two films, he turned in a completely pile of larks vomit with the third installment.

I should have known that it was going to be horrible when rumors began swirling that Venom would show up toward the end of the film. Having The Sandman as the primary villain was an interesting choice and I think he was portrayed somewhat faithfully by Thomas Hayden Church, but Venom was reduced to an ancillary character that was teased by a lackluster performance by Topher Grace. Anyone with even rudimentary knowledge of mid to late 80s Spiderman lore knows that Grace was a pathetic choice to play Eddie Brock.

None-the-less, the series is slated to continue, but I don't see this going anywhere else but down. This news is somewhat predictable to start with, as talks about Maguires bickering over the script and push back from the studio to make up for Raimi's hamfisted attempt during part 3 were obvious signs that someone was going to leave.

Toby Maguire's only two great performances were Wonder Boys with Micheal Douglas and Spiderman 2. Raimi should stick with horror and forget about ever making a comic related film again. This news for the Spidey franchise is both good and bad. Good in the fact that those that ruined the classic story for a new generation are now gone, but bad in that it had to end this way.

Fanboy In Cheif

I've been collecting comics since the mid 80's.

Never did the get the first printings of the Watchmen comics - for which i'm still kicking myself over - but I do have some nice gems in the boxes that rest in that warm and dry space in my closet.

No doubt that fans of Spider-Man, Barack Obama, and even his detractors will be itching to talk about next week's issue #358 of The Amazing Spiderman:

WASHINGTON — Spider-Man has a new sidekick: The president-elect.

Barack Obama collected Spider-Man comics as a child, so Marvel Comics wanted to give him a "shout-out back" by featuring him in a bonus story, said Joe Quesada, Marvel's editor-in-chief.

"How great is that? The commander in chief to be is actually a nerd in chief," Quesada said. "It was really, really cool to see that we had a geek in the White House. We're all thrilled with that."

The comic starts with Spider-Man's alter-ego Peter Parker taking photographs at the inauguration, before spotting two identical Obamas.

Parker decides "the future president's gonna need Spider-Man," and springs into action, using basketball to determine the real Obama and punching out the impostor.

Obama thanks him with a fist-bump.

No doubt this will be fodder for people like Sean Hannity, Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and the Fox and Friends stooges. What these predictable, reactionary, prattle-heads will not likely realize is that Barack Obama collects comics.

He's already been in an issue of The Savage Dragon.

But, McCain hasn't lost out competely in the comics arena:



The question stands though - who would other superheroes endorse? The answers might suprise your or be rather expected.