Here we are again. It's Sunday, and I am not working. I have more or less worked at home for years. The home office is here, IN THE HOME. I call it the command center as it has two monitors and other gadgets. When I can afford a new desktop, I am keeping the old desktop for music playing and You Tube playing and all that (Baseball game streaming), which means a third monitor. I love that idea.
And so, I have made a decision that except in a few cases of things like FINAL GRADES (and even then if I can avoid it), I am not working on Sunday any more EVER. I think it's wrong to work seven days a week.
Even more now than usual, I feel like I cannot escape the home office. It's always here. There's always things to do. I just need to step away.
And so, I stepped away. Half the day will be chores and then relaxing and reading comics.
Tons of things in this post, including a great article by my good friend New York Times writer George Gene Gustines on what comics can teach us. There's stuff on the dying direct market and current news on companies moving to digital comics. I am very worried about the direct market and recovery from this pandemic situation. I have resisted the digital comics thing for years not because I like how much space comics physically take up in my house but because I like paper. I spend so much time looking at screens (like right now) that I need a break with paper. Plus, I like the nostalgic appeal of the paper comic, the single issue, what people have been calling "floppies" for years even though I just heard that term. I am hoping the direct market does not die off. I want my single issues back.
Meanwhile, there are alternative ways to get comics.
Like here:
https://www.comicshoplocator.com/
https://www.indiebound.org/indie-bookstore-finder
These sites are ways to find independent sellers and support them before they go out of business.
As I show here, several of my local retailers have signed on with COMIC HUB and have their inventory available online.
https://stores.comichub.com/Store
https://stores.comichub.com/books_with_pictures/
https://stores.comichub.com/floatingworldcomics/
https://stores.comichub.com/cosmicmonkeycomics/
https://stores.comichub.com/i_like_comics/
Later on in the post, I have posts about new digital comics, and they are BEAUTIFUL (though not in the way the tests for COVID-19 are "beautiful" and everyone who wants one can get one).
I could pack in a lot more for this post, but it's pretty full and it's close to publishing time.
Enjoy my friends.
Stay home; read comics.
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| http://www.scottedelman.com/2015/02/05/a-truly-nasty-romance-comic-warns-fat-girls-theyll-be-lonely-and-unwanted/ |
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| https://www.pinterest.com/pin/21321798220764217/ |
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| https://www.kotaku.com.au/2018/04/the-story-that-made-me-realize-how-lonely-superman-must-be/ |
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| https://nusmedicine.nus.edu.sg/medias/news-info/2233-the-covid-19-chronicles |
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| http://www.theblabbingbaboon.com/?comic=daily-comic-journal-tuesday-june-22-2010 |
'Rearranging my Bookshelves' (my cartoon for yesterday's @guardian review).— Tom Gauld (@tomgauld) May 17, 2020
p.s. my new book of science cartoons is out now: https://t.co/IJW2wqyVfg pic.twitter.com/YGUIgka2zV
So the word is out...I'm doing a two part story in Aquaman starting in August! Eternally grateful to @kellysue, @whatthe_shea and @alexrcarr for this opportunity! And to get to tell this specific story about Jackson? I'm so excited for this. Wait till you see Marco's artwork!!! pic.twitter.com/Bg1BWrBCD8— Jordan Clark (@Jrsosa18) May 15, 2020
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| https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/7-major-marvel-comic-events-that-need-to-be-made-into-movies/ |
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| https://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-266-an-open-letter-to-c-b-cebulski-marvel-comics/ |
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| https://medium.com/panel-frame/marvel-has-an-event-fatigue-problem-12c42cb8ca52 |
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/learning/comic-books-teaching.html
How Comic Books Turned a Fan into a Professional, and Educated Him Along the Way
As part of the Learning Network’s collection about teaching
with comics and graphic novels,
we asked George Gene Gustines, The Times’s reporter on the comic-book industry,
to tell us about his job.
Though he writes about comics on the side of his full-time role, which involves managing budgets and logistics for Times graphics and video, any fan will recognize that being paid to read comics in any capacity is almost a superpower in itself.
Below, Mr. Gustines writes about growing up with a comic-book
habit he had to keep secret, how a few “lucky breaks” led to his beat at The
Times — and what immersing oneself in these characters and their worlds can
teach us about ourselves.
Teachers: We have posed a related Student Opinion question, “What Have You Learned From Comics?, and we’d love to hear from your class
How Comic Books Turned a Fan into a Professional, and Educated Him Along the Way
Comic books have been very, very good to me.
My first comic was Justice League of America No. 200, which one of my sisters, Elena, randomly bought for me back in December 1981 at a neighborhood newsstand. That 72-page issue was crammed with an assemblage of heroes (Aquaman, Hawkgirl, Martian Manhunter and many more) that blew the socks off my 10-year-old self. It introduced me to the work of the writer Gerry Conway and the artist George Pérez, though I learned both names only later, since I was too naïve at the time to read credit boxes.
It
was love at first sight. But I wish I had Batgirl’s “eidetic memory,” a
term I learned from comics, because I cannot now fully recollect how I leapt
from those pages to my next obsession, The New Teen Titans.
That series, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by Mr. Pérez, cemented me as a fan. The two creators crafted a grand soap opera with characters who felt very human: Changeling was insecure; Raven had daddy issues; Kid Flash debated heroism versus college; Robin and Starfire struggled with whether they could be teammates and romantic partners; and more. (I could relate to the insecurity and father issues.)
The Titans made me an eager reader, counting down the time between monthly installments. My love for them encouraged me to write letters to the editors of comics, which were sometimes printed with my address (and sparked a handful of pen pals).
One of those letters led me
to TitanTalk, an amateur press association. It was a labor of love by and for
fans, who would make copies of their commentary, stories or original artwork
and send them to a central mailer, who would collate everything and mail the
submissions to each member. I joined that group around 1987, made friends I
still have and got to meet Mr. Pérez, one of the nicest creators in comics,
when I was still a teenager.
All
of this, I should add, was fairly secret.
Growing up as a fan
of comics equaled being a nerd. This was long before today’s renaissance when
comic book characters, particularly superheroes, dominate television and the
box office. My family was poor, so my mother was horrified that I wasted money
on comics. I would like to make the argument that this was my way of
assimilating — my parents are from Ecuador and moved here in 1966 — but I
suspect they would’ve been happier at the time if I had any interest in sports
(or girls).
I
arrived at The Times in 1990 as a copy person and saw it as an after-school
job. I had no thoughts about any byline, let alone writing about comics. I wish
I had, because I could have reported on things like the birth of Image Comics or the death of Superman in
1992.
In
1995, my first article appeared in The Times, but my first comic-related piece
did not come until 2002. It was a lucky break. My editors were desperate to
fill a shopping column. I pitched the tactic of my partner (now husband), who
wanted me to like traveling more, and thought if I could find local comic
stores to visit, I would. It worked, and that idea became “Twisted Tales of a Comic Book
Connoisseur.”
A
DC Comics publicist, Peggy Burns, noticed that column, and when it came time to
publish a story about a hate crime in an issue of Green Lantern, she called to
see if I could write about it for the paper. I put together my first formal
pitch to an editor, Steve Erlanger, and much to my shock, he said yes. I wrote about the comic, and
then was surprised and delighted when the author, Judd Winick, ended
up on “Phil Donahue” discussing the issue. It drove home the power of The Times
to stir discussion and how these comic book characters resonate with so many
people.
That resonance is one of the
factors that I weigh when pitching my editors stories. I start by asking myself
three questions:
Why are we reporting on this today?
Is this comic
company or creator doing something vastly different from others?
Will the general Times audience be interested in this?
Sometimes the pitch
writes itself. In 2015, Marvel gave me the news that Ta-Nehisi Coates would be
writing a Black Panther series. In this case, not only did The Times
have the news first, but Black Panther was having a moment (the character was
on the verge of making the leap into the Marvel film universe) and Mr. Coates
is an author that Times readers are
interested in.
Wednesday is the day new comics are released each week, but, because of my job, I find myself reading material just about every day thanks to advance copies of graphic novels, creators sending me previews of their work and older comics I read as research (or for pleasure). Sometimes that pays off in articles on topics like how comics are reflecting the political climate or how comics are handling diversity. Other times, I get to write about how characters have evolved — like the way Nancy, who was introduced in 1933, is suddenly talking about Snapchat filters, or how Superman is turning 80.
Flash Facts and Wormholes: How Comics Can Teach
DC Comics once ran page fillers like this one, “Science Says You’re Wrong if You Believe That,” with a mix of science and general information.
Besides shaping a very
enjoyable part of my career, comics have also taught me a lot.
When
I was in school, comics gave me the first inkling of topics that would be
covered in depth by my teachers. I learned about the Cuban missile crisis in
1982 thanks to a Justice League time travel adventure. In 1987, an issue
of the Young All-Stars,
about World War II heroes, taught me about Japanese internment camps in the
United States.
There was also plenty of science. I know the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, thanks to the many “Flash Facts” that were in the adventures of the Flash. I also know that stationary satellites have an altitude of approximately 22,300 miles, thanks to the Justice League’s headquarters in space.
Even today, comics continue to inform. I’m part of two comic book clubs — one conducted by email, one in real life. During a recent reading of Zenith, the Generation X hero created by Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell, I marveled at the phrase “Einstein Rosen bridge,” which elegantly described a dimensional gateway. I presumed it was made up, but another member informed me of the error of my ways: wormholes — not science fiction! (Thanks, Allie!)
Today’s readers have seemingly endless options when it comes to comic books and graphics novels. There are series that slyly educate, while telling their larger story, and others that are designed specifically for learning. Here are a few of the ones I like best.
Recommendations:
Comics That Are Slyly Educational
Marvel
Moon Girl — who
is actually Lunella Lafayette — is a 9-year-old genius and is inspired by
characters like Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Tony Star (Iron Man), who are
heroic and scientific. Lunella is very smart and knows it — much to the
consternation of her teachers. But seeing her mature and learn to rely on
others has been a joy.
If the television series “My So-Called Life” had a teenager with superpowers, it would come close to the glory of Ms. Marvel, which is about Kamala Khan, a Muslim girl living in Jersey City. A great amount of care and attention is paid to Kamala’s family and balancing the immigrant experience in America: How much can you assimilate without losing your heritage? I tweet about the series often. One of my favorite moments took place in Kamala’s high school. The scene had a caption which read, “Imagine what would happen if compassion were normal?”
Finally, there is the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, who often uses her mind, not her fists, to solve problems. In her civilian identity as a college student, she studies computer science, which sometimes plays into her solutions for super-problems. The series is very funny and of the moment (she loves Twitter!) and always conveys a positive attitude.
Graphic novel memoirs do a tremendous job of introducing readers to difficult and personal subjects, as schools all over are beginning to realize. For example:
“Maus,” by Art
Spiegelman, is the tale of the cartoonist’s parents and their Holocaust
experience, with Jewish people depicted as mice and Germans as cats.
“Persepolis” chronicles the life of Marjane Satrapi in Iran during its 1979 revolution and its war with Iraq.
“Fun Home,” by Alison Bechdel, is about Ms. Bechdel’s life in rural Pennsylvania, her coming-out process, her obsessive-compulsive disorder and her relationship with her closeted father.
Recovering
from sexual abuse and struggling with anorexia are at the heart of “Lighter Than My Shadow,”
by Katie Green.
And “American Widow,” written by Alissa Torres and illustrated by Sungyoon Choi, is about the death of the author’s husband, Luis Eduardo Torres, on Sept. 11, 2001.
Comics Designed for Learning
DC Entertainment
The
publisher First Second has a wonderful line of Science Comics with
topics that include coral reefs, the brain, dogs and rockets.
It also publishes “Secret Coders,” by Gene Luen Yang, where students at Stately Academy solve mysteries — and not-so-slyly gain basic computer programming knowledge along the way. (I’m looking forward to his “Superman Smashes the Klan,” which was announced as part of a DC Entertainment initiative to attract younger readers. Mr. Yang also addressed a “yellow peril” caricature from 1937 in the pages of his Super-Man series, which stars a Chinese Man of Steel.)
I also recommend First Second’s Olympians series, by the cartoonist George O’Connor, who is working his way through 12 graphic novels that chronicle the gods and goddesses of Greece. See him in action!
Having illustrations to go with text can make almost anything bearable — even user manuals and terms of service. When Google was set to introduce Chrome, it asked the cartoonist Scott McCloud to create a 38-page comic explaining it. (Mr. Cloud is also the author of other explanatory graphic novels: “Understanding Comics,” “Reinventing Comics” and “Making Comics.”) Even more ingenious is “Terms and Conditions,” the graphic novel by R. Sikoryak about the fine print in the user’s agreement for iTunes.
“Manga Shakespeare”
recalls the Classics Illustrated graphic novels that would
adapt famous works. In this case, Manga Shakespeare offers abridged versions of
the bard’s classics. (If that lure works, the next step would be to read “Kill Shakespeare,”
an adventure that unites characters across all the bard’s plays in one
adventure.)
What have comics taught you? Which would you recommend?
Should schools incorporate more of them into the curriculum? Let us know by
commenting on our Student Opinion question. And to find many, many ideas
for teaching and learning about comics and graphics novels via New York Times
images, video, articles and essays, see our related lesson plan.
https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-coronavirus-journal-the-death-of-the-direct-market/
At this point, Danica and I started to realize more and more that we were going to be okay. That said, there was a reason for this: our whole operation was built upon the idea that Diamond wasn’t going to be around forever – and that single issues might not be long for this world. (Don’t believe me? Check out The Retailer’s View tag on this site. We haven’t been shy about this.)
It is a hard truth to confront, but the writing has been on the wall for a long time. Ever since our store opened in 2015 – and even long before that – we’ve been hearing about how comic shops were having a hard time, and would threaten to close. The direct market has been a hair away from catastrophe for years, but something always popped up to keep the plates spinning. It was just a matter of time before something occurred that would take it down, and the options ranged from “a bad year of sales” to “Marvel and/or DC deciding not to print single issues anymore”.
As everyone keeps saying, margins are slim in this industry, and there isn’t much wiggle room. In any other industry, that would be a huge warning sign. In here? We’re all blinded by love enough to let things slide, and… well, here we are. There are reports that only HALF of Diamond’s current accounts might survive this. At a guess, less than that will if Diamond closes up shop.
THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING, BUT IT IS A POSSIBLE REALITY.
Which is always a thing that folks seem to ignore in the comic book industry. So many people say “it can’t happen” as though that can change reality. It’s like being told you have cancer, and the response being “that can’t happen, because I might die”. That isn’t how reality works. The fact of the matter is… the direct market has been in rough shape for FAR LONGER than the current pandemic. Oh, and I say “current” pandemic, because chances are we’re due for at least another one like this within the decade, and even more in the longer future. Which is a fun thing to contemplate.
The DIRECT MARKET needs to go. It has been JUST BARELY handling stress tests for years, and can not take any form of large pressure. And I say DIRECT MARKET quite deliberately, because the comic industry is a lot bigger than this chunk of real estate. Graphic novels are taking hold more than ever before, and in significant ways. Between Raina Telgemeier and Dav Pilkey alone, the industry moves millions upon millions yearly. Which is to say nothing of all of the strong releases that occur otherwise.
Things have progressed so far from what was, and yet there are so many there that keep pushing for what was, even today. For the past month, I’ve been watching folks yell at companies attempting to make adjustments for the future, pushing to keep the status quo, and it has been infuriating. THE STATUS QUO WAS NOT WORKING, FULL STOP. It was surviving through inertia, and that inertia was going to come to an end eventually. The stopper just happened to be COVID-19.
What happens next, has to be different… because we can’t go back. The past DOES NOT WORK ANYMORE and the only way forward is by MOVING FORWARD. A lot of folks don’t like that idea for one reason or another. I’ve heard folks talk about how they hate mail order and selling online when THE TWO BIGGEST ACCOUNTS AT DIAMOND ARE MAIL ORDER AND ONLINE ACCOUNTS and I just… do not understand how folks can look at those data points and think “it’s the SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE who are wrong!” That makes no sense.
Anyway.
That about wraps up this installment of THE CORONAVIRUS JOURNAL. Next week, we’ll dig into DC’s alternative distribution plans and their general roll out plan, as well as our distinct response.
As a note: I will not be reading any comments on this article, nor will I be responding to any social media contact regarding it outside of “thanks for reading”, if that response suits. This is more for personal time and sanity reasons, so y’all just… talk amongst yourselves.
FROM WARREN ELLIS:
I have to say, though, there are probably worse times to drop out of the world. I have a lot to figure out, which I still be doing on Sunday when you get this note. I have some space to try some new things in the next few months, and, while I would rather have been working on my slate of original comics material right now, I have to take the opportunities currently afforded to me for what they are -- unexpected chances to make a different move. I have the privilege to look at this moment as potential, having broken my body to get me to this point, and I am aware of the privilege.
But, jesus, shit is getting right weird, and there's all kinds of things i can do and start. So can a lot of people.
I mean, I've mentioned this a few weeks in a row, but nobody seems to realise how big it is that Quarantine Comix is releasing on a turnkey Squarespace instance. Twenty quid a month to release and sell digital comics through your own store.
And then send me the damn links.
(Want to release them for free? It's not hard. Study Group Comics is built on bog-standard WordPress, and I bet there's a LINE Webtoon clone out there somewhere.)
FRIDAY is the new digital-first comics series by Ed Brubaker, Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vicente. It's on a pay-what-you-want download model at Panel Syndicate.
Friday Fitzhugh—girl detective—and Lancelot Jones—her best friend and also the smartest boy in the world—spent their childhoods solving crimes and digging up occult secrets. But that was years ago. And now Friday is in college and starting a new life on her own. She’s moved on. Until she returns home for the holidays and is immediately pulled back into Lance's orbit. This is literally the Christmas vacation from Hell and neither of them may survive to see the New Year.
Two different formats, double page (for desktop viewing) and single page (for tablet/mobile device viewing). And it's excellent.
2019: novel virus transmitted by bats in China
2020: beloved actor Tom Hanks has novel coronavirus. world prays
2021: Tom Hanks' secret bat-fucking holidays in China revealed, beloved actor named world's greatest monster
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THE NEWS, with Lordess Foudre
created for Orbital Operations by Lordess Foudre
Lordess Foudre Instagram - Lordess Foudre print shop
Sarah Jaffe has a new book coming out, and I love the title:
"She is the woman behind Memoria Technica, a shop in Seattle specializing in restoring and preserving some of the rarest horological and mechanical contraptions in existence. "
Kelly Sue De Connick has been busy, and, you know what, I'm just gonna gank the relevant portion from her newsletter:
###
...one thing that's been on my list for a while is to restart the #bgsdlist.
"BGSD" stands for "Bitches Get Shit Done," though we are inclusive of non-bitches as well. BGSD started... gosh, four or five years ago, probably? (Has it been that long?) Chris Sebela crashed with us for a bit between apartments and when he got into his new place he lamented no longer having me walk by his desk and ask him what he was working on -- effectively nagging him. I told him I'd be happy to nag him any time, and I volunteered to text him on occasion. This exchange took place on Twitter. Someone else asked if I could nag them too... I thought it was too funny not to, so I looked into mass texting services and, like, a year later we had 4000+ subscribers who called me Mama Shark.
Nagging isn't funny for long, so the list eventually morphed into something else. A way to send myself little encouraging messages in the guise of of sending them into the ether. Folks cross-posted the messages to Tumblr and Twitter with hashtags #bgsd and #bgsdlist and found each other and sent each other encouraging messages too. It was lovely.
And then the platform I was using pulled the plug. Totally fair -- it was intended for teachers, and the size of the list just became unmanageable for them.
"BGSD" stands for "Bitches Get Shit Done," though we are inclusive of non-bitches as well. BGSD started... gosh, four or five years ago, probably? (Has it been that long?) Chris Sebela crashed with us for a bit between apartments and when he got into his new place he lamented no longer having me walk by his desk and ask him what he was working on -- effectively nagging him. I told him I'd be happy to nag him any time, and I volunteered to text him on occasion. This exchange took place on Twitter. Someone else asked if I could nag them too... I thought it was too funny not to, so I looked into mass texting services and, like, a year later we had 4000+ subscribers who called me Mama Shark.
Nagging isn't funny for long, so the list eventually morphed into something else. A way to send myself little encouraging messages in the guise of of sending them into the ether. Folks cross-posted the messages to Tumblr and Twitter with hashtags #bgsd and #bgsdlist and found each other and sent each other encouraging messages too. It was lovely.
And then the platform I was using pulled the plug. Totally fair -- it was intended for teachers, and the size of the list just became unmanageable for them.
...we got a new platform. It's called COMMUNITY and it's pretty great. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to revive the #BGSDlist. If you want in, text BGSD to (503) 738-1029. It doesn't cost you anything (unless you get charged for receiving texts, but most of us are on unlimited programs so you should be fine--check with your carrier if you're not sure). I won't sell your info and you can unsub at any time. That's it.
If you sign up, I'll text you. Never more than once a day. Usually much less. And you can text me back.
If you sign up, I'll text you. Never more than once a day. Usually much less. And you can text me back.
###
And then Kel drops this:
##
if you don't want to be on the #BGSDlist, you can still just text me at that number. You'll only get on the list if you send BGSDlist, but I'll get the message either way. (If you just want info related to Matt (Fraction) and my comics work, text MILKFED to (503) 738-1029. You can sign up for both, by texting both MILKFED and BGSD to 503-738-1029... you get it, don't you?
###
Sorry, that was just a hell of a lot easier than retyping the info myself. You get it.
https://www.quarantinecomix.
If, for twenty quid a month, you can have a smooth and easy payment and delivery system for your digital comics... hell, why wouldn't you? I'll buy a PDF or a CBZ off you if I like your stuff. I have a laptop. Hell, everyone's at home, so laptops and tablets are in regular use. Phones aren't captor devices when nobody's commuting. Release the laptop comics.
(I reminded you about http://panelsyndicate.
Did you know my old mate Ben Templesmith (who I've been talking to a lot lately) still has his Patreon up, where he still releases pages of brand new comics?
And no, literally nobody anywhere is talking about releasing new print comics right now, so don't ask. The sole comics distributor has suspended operations and suspended payments to publishers. It is entirely possible that some people pointed out a de facto monopoly international comics distributor was a bad idea twenty five years ago. I may even have been there at the time.
This newsletter goes out to 22K people for free, but it does have costs, and buying me a cup of coffee will dull the pain. The tip jar's here if you want it. No obligation.
People kept emailing to ask where the coffee jar bit went! Well, i figured everyone had their minds on their own finances right now. But there it is, for this week, and then it will vanish again for a while. Thank you.
Cory Doctorow surfaced this on Pluralistic the other day, and it's fascinating:
Donato Sansone's Ghostcrash is a brilliant, Ballardian 2018 video in which the visual artist digitally removes all but one of the cars from several real car-crash videos.
https://mikedeodatojr.tumblr.com/
https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-resistance/list?title_no=404179
https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2020/05/at-worlds-end-there-come-gatherers.html
Monday, May 4, 2020
At World's End, There Come... The Gatherers!
Whatever we may think of the quality of Marvel's publications in the 1990s, which continued to be produced and released in the midst of the company's financial turmoil, some worthwhile reading could still be found in the early years of that decade before the uru hit the fan. For myself, I remain partial to the Bob Harris/Steve Epting run on Avengers, circa 1992-93--which includes eight issues celebrating the title's 30th anniversary (embossed covers and all) that comprise the story of the Gatherers, a saga which played out over a span of nearly two years.
I admittedly didn't have a high opinion of this storyline when encapsulating it as part of another post--and indeed, it still seems to me that it need not have lasted as long as it did, doling out bits and pieces of a mystery that would hopefully culminate in a memorable climax (while putting its faith in the assumption that readers by that point would recall the gist of a story that lasted over twenty months). Yet all things considered, it was arguably the last notable Avengers saga to take place before things went south for the book; in addition, and to their credit, writer Bob Harras, along with artists Steve Epting and Tom Palmer (with guest artists shuffled in), expended no small effort in bringing it to fruition, though I imagine mapping it all out must have been the mother of all staff conferences.
Today, of course, we all have the option of binge-reading overly lengthy storylines that, back in the day, strained our attention span with a thirty-day lag between issues. And so with today's post, I won't deprive you of the satisfaction of discovering for yourself the events of each issue in sequence, but, rather, offer a taste of where things stand with the Avengers at the point where the Gatherers have made their move on our world in force.
As the cover to issue #361 symbolically suggests, the story of the Gatherers revolves around three principal characters: Dane Whitman (the Black Knight), the Eternal named Sersi, and Proctor, leader of the Gatherers and, he insists, the husband (so to speak) of Sersi. For now, however, it's the Eternals who grab our attention, as they arrive to confront Sersi with a startling accusation--assuming they can put aside their disdain for the Avengers.
As is apparent, there is and will be a fair amount of posturing and threatening to wade through before we can finally reach the pertinent scene with Sersi--a hindrance which the arrogance of Ikaris and Arex (the brother of Ajak) has made unavoidable.
Though it may seem a minor name drop at this point in time, the term "Gann Josin" is nevertheless conspicuous, and will prove to be revealing as well--not only in Sersi's situation, but also where Proctor and his activities with the Gatherers are concerned.
Meanwhile, the Avengers are unaware that they have a viper in their midst--one of the Gatherers, actually, in the form of the Vision of an alternate world, put in place when our Vision was captured and detained by the rest of the Gatherers. This Vision is obviously more laid back in both manner and tone than the original, though he is careful to maintain his cover in mixed company. It's also clear that he's not necessarily interested in following Proctor's orders to the letter.
As for the Eternals, they fear that Sersi is afflicted with the Mahd W'yry, a type of progressive senility resulting from the few Eternals who remain* no longer being able to manifest their group consciousness known as the Uni-Mind, which among its benefits also helped to wash away their anxieties and fears in order to prevent the onset of the Mahd W'yry--anxieties brought on by immortals such as the Eternals being saddled with all-too-human brains which are not equipped to deal with several lifetimes' worth of experiences and consciousness.
*It's news to me that the Eternals ever dwindled in number--one of you alert readers can hopefully educate me on the whys and wherefores.
For her part, Sersi totally rejects the "archaic" fears of her cousins, though it seems a textbook case of denial--both herself and the Avengers could name a recent incident that saw Sersi experience a kind of "fit" that had her savagely attacking her team members without warning or explanation. In addition, it's possible that Sersi may be unaware of acts of homicide that she's been committing throughout the city. But there is another complication that her cousins have had no choice but to name: the necessity in such cases to invoke the Eternals' Rite of Cleansing, which mandates the elimination of the "mad one" from their race by molecular discorporation (i.e., death). And with Ikaris's insistence, however reluctantly, that the procedure be carried out, what do you think seems likely to happen now, if the pattern of behavior here holds?
Right--more posturing and threatening.
All of which leads to the peacemaker of this delegation, Sprite, to offer a compromise, at least for the time being, which will serve to monitor and confirm Sersi's symptoms should they ever rise to the fore as the Eternals fear. (Pity they didn't show up in time for the earlier episode.)
Becoming Sersi's Gann Josin is not an ideal situation for Dane, on several levels, which will become clear as this story unfolds.
Meanwhile, we check in with the bona fide Vision, whose costume now reflects that of the Vision who stole his identity (and quite an improvement, I might add), where he remains a prisoner in the Gatherers' citadel--and who will become witness to a revelation which will bring us closer to the answer behind the mystery of Proctor and his reasons for seeking out Sersi. (But, in keeping with Harris's plot, not too close.)
As for Sersi's new Gann Josin, there is a development that has been brewing with the Knight and Crystal for some time which, in true soap opera fashion, is given the green light at the point when it can cause the most consternation for themselves as well as others--particularly evil-Vision, who has his own plans for Crystal, as well as an unidentified woman taking in the scene, whom we can likely assume is Sersi. Or did Dane not get that memo on the Gann Josin signifying "a mental union between two people" which "makes them lifelong soulmates"?
Fast-forward two issues later, where we find the Avengers approaching the Gatherers' citadel in the Andes mountains--thanks to intelligence, er, gathered from evil-Vision, whose subterfuge was finally uncovered by the Avengers and who was dealt with by Sersi's ability to molecularly transmute a form or object to whatever she wishes. Given that the Avengers are about to have a confrontation with the Gatherers at their stronghold, and the tone of the "next issue" blurb on the letters page:
...you'd think that this story was about to reach its pinnacle, no?
Boy, are YOU living in a dream world.
Seven issues in, we're not even at the halfway point, folks.
Seven issues in, we're not even at the halfway point, folks.
NEXT:
The story that didn't really end this story, much less all stories.
(But it's not bad.)
— Anj (@dranj70) May 6, 2020
— Mike Maihack (@mikemaihack) May 7, 2020
What emotions did Curt Pires really want to highlight in his characters in "Youth?" Find out as we kick off our interview series about his new comiXology Originals series. https://t.co/rEacjoEAo6— Multiversity Comics (@multiversitycom) May 15, 2020
Anybody else find it weird when people say an artist’s talent is “God given?”— Erik Larsen (@ErikJLarsen) May 16, 2020
I don’t think most artists who worked on their craft for decades would credit that to God.
They did the work. They put in the time and the effort. They deserve the credit for their achievements.
Marvel House Ads always gave us goosebumps! pic.twitter.com/4YOTdVRB30— THE SPINNER RACK (@RackSpinner) May 17, 2020
https://peerlesspower.blogspot.com/2020/05/evil-isnt-as-evil-does.html
Friday, May 15, 2020
Evil Is(n't) As Evil Does
Before they were Avengers, the mutant brother and sister known as Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were cooperative if unwilling members of Magneto's first grouping of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants*, and only because they were obliged to honor the debt that Wanda felt she owed Magneto for once saving her life while in Europe:
*It took awhile for the Brotherhood to actually call themselves "the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" by name--the cover to The X-Men #4 notwithstanding, they were originally only referred to by others as "the evil mutants" or "Magneto and his evil mutants," and didn't formally adopt an actual name for their group until later. (Can YOU recall the first instance when they were tagged in a story as "the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants"?)
While this flashback obviously depicts the superstitious villagers assuming the worst of Wanda, in their defense it does seem as if this woman has deliberately set fire to their homes (her startled cries aside) without cause--nor does a later portrayal of the incident in The Avengers clarify the scene.
However, a later retelling by writer Roger Stern adds some important context, by not only clearly indicating that the damage wasn't intentional on Wanda's part, but also by including Pietro in their obligation to serve Magneto.
And so, not long after Magneto commits acts of incursion on the world stage, he begins gathering other mutants in order to eventually form an army of such beings banded together in his service--evil mutants, as Charles Xavier declares them to be.
We have colorist Stan Goldberg to thank for the coloring "error" in regard to not only Wanda's costume but also Pietro's. Yet it appears to be intentional on Goldberg's part, reportedly having to do with the need to balance the elements on a cover in order to make it look pleasing overall for everyone--in this case, not having two characters clad in bright red standing next to each other (which, when addressed, trickled down to Pietro's costume coloring being changed accordingly, as a result of the change to Wanda's), a practice briefly acknowledged in a subsequent X-Men letters page:
Though both Pietro and Wanda are definitely seeing red in terms of the company they're now keeping. Magneto would briefly abandon his intention to seek out other mutants when he returned from his captivity by the Stranger--but in this early period he was completely committed to it, while demanding absolute fealty with an iron fist. And so Wanda and Pietro found themselves alone in a nest of vile personalities (with terrible table manners, to boot), not wishing any association with either their leader or his other subordinates.
Yet the pair were still between a rock and a hard place--uncomfortable with being in Magneto's service, but nevertheless feeling bound to carry out his orders, which inevitably brought them into conflict with the X-Men. As we'll see, their moral dilemma became easier to suppress whenever it was clear that one of them was in danger of being harmed by these other mutants tasked with stopping them; even so, the X-Men came to believe that Pietro and Wanda didn't really have their hearts in being part of Magneto's criminal agenda.
As the X-Men's conflict with their evil foes escalates, the Angel is captured and brought to what happens to be our first look at Magneto's orbital base, Asteroid M. Yet Quicksilver and his sister have already begun to intercede with Magneto in an attempt to convince him to back off from his search for the X-Men and their headquarters--though Magneto makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he won't be swayed.
Eventually, the X-Men are successful in reaching Asteroid M and are determined to find and free their comrade. But during the conflict, there are signs of a widening rift growing between Magneto and the brother and sister he's kept on a tight leash--giving the X-Men the opportunity to turn the tide in their favor.
But having been daunted by the X-Men once again, there are two other prospects that Magneto means to bring to his side:
While I've gone on record to disagree with the assertion that the Sub-Mariner is a mutant, Magneto is nevertheless convinced of it, and so he intends to conscript Namor before Xavier can reach him and extend the same offer--and he is successful, though not in the long run. In addition to Namor's regal bearing that frustrates Magneto's attempts to bring him under his control, Namor develops a certain amount of sympathy for Wanda's harsh treatment by Magneto and consequently severs the budding alliance between them. And when the X-Men arrive, and Magneto's plans have been foiled, the team leaves the door open for Wanda and Pietro to hopefully take advantage of someday.
As for the Blob, the X-Men have previously met and fought with the circus attraction, who by the end of their battle had his memory of the encounter wiped by Xavier. But in an altercation with Magneto, the Blob's mental block is broken, and he chooses to join forces against the X-Men. All the while, Wanda and her brother grow more weary of their servitude--most especially Wanda, who has been fending off the advances of Mastermind. (While the X-Men have been busy with giving us our first look at a most unique apparatus which went on to merit its own sizable chamber.)
But when Magneto chooses to sacrifice his new ally in order to wipe out the X-Men at a stroke, he proves once again to be his own worst enemy.
The breaking point for Wanda and her brother finally comes with the arrival of the Stranger, who has Magneto virtually salivating to bring into his circle. Yet Magneto has severely misjudged the nature of this being--as well as the extent of his power.
Meanwhile, the X-Men arrive to investigate the threat, and once again Pietro and Wanda are compelled to engage them. But it will be their final clash--and the final battle they undertake for Magneto, at least for the near future.
Yet Magneto, as you might guess, hasn't finished with this pair, and will return for them when the time is right. But if they should ever waver in their resolve to reject him, they only need to recall a time in the past when they were in his camp of their own volition, and came to regret it.
COMING UP:
Flash back four months (our time), where Wanda and Pietro approach the Fantastic Four for help with their situation! If only they'd called for an appointment...
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2005.17 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1779 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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