JOURNEY INTO COMICS: I HAVE A DREAM

[MattBrady]

by Michael San Giacomo

I have a dream, which is an appropriate thing to say during the recently concluded Black History Month. Give me a day leeway, okay?

Though my dream is a little different from Martin Luther King’s.

I have a dream that Marvel will be able to pull together all its disparate, raggedy-edged storylines into a whole, complete, satisfying finale.

Call me crazy, but wouldn't it be magnificent to read a giant series of stories that provides a satisfactory ending to the Civil War, the fate of the Hulk, the Secret Invasion and Spider-Man's One More/Brand New Day?

I mean, really, everything interacts so such a story would make sense.

Spider-Man is back in the Avengers, but I don't think we've ever gotten a clear story on how Mephisto (if it really was Mephisto) reversed that whole secret identity revelation kerfluffle. As readers have so eloquently noted, BND is a Big Nasty Disaster in terms of continuity.

(Posters, this is your cue to go into the whole "if this happened, then that happened" thing.)

Rather than writers doing their own books with occasional nods to other books (although more and more, we're seeing characters that act vastly different between titles - are we to suspect that one version is a Skrull, but another version isn't?), how about one coherent story that puts all the pieces of the puzzle together?

Can Brian Bendis be the Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison (not that they don’t have a difficult enough task with DC Universe #0 and Final Crisis, and talking about DC issues is a column in and of itself) of the Marvel Universe and pull all these things together? Brian, put that down, don't throw that computer!

I'm enjoying the work from Marvel, but before we go all Skrull-y, shouldn’t we finish what’s on our plate?

Is Tony Stark just being himself or is there more to the story? Whatever happened to the Black Panther’s plan to unite the world against America over the Superhero Registration issue? How will the underground superheroes reconcile with the government? Or will they ever reconcile? Is Captain America really dead? I mean, really really dead? What's the future for The Hulk, green, red or otherwise?

The only solution I can see, beyond some massive time-travel storyline, is electing Tony Stark president. Then he could void the registration legislation, or make it less onerous, and get all the heroes on board to fight off the Skrull invasion. Toss in a pardon for the Hulk and a cabinet position for Reed Richards and we’re done.

Point is, we need resolutions, and then we can move on.

Roger Priebe, the guy I do a weekly comics-oriented cable television show with here in Cleveburg, (www.iklipz.com/videoaftermidnight) has this theory that Joe Quesada is a genius.

Roger believes that there's no way Quesada could have seriously screwed with Spider-Man as he did in One More Day and Brand New Day. He believes Joe is just "having us on," setting us up for some brilliant, massive storyline that will make everything that has happened in the past year logical.

First I thought he was crazy, now I really hope he's right.

Otherwise, Marvel is just jumping from event to event with no thought toward the big picture. I would like to think that somewhere down the road, hopefully within walking distance, is a storyline that will resolve everything.

Look, I love change and suspense as much as anyone, but these plotlines have been in play for quite a while and it’s time to bring it all back home.

Otherwise, we're just getting a comic version of Lost.

[Equinox]

Thank you. Evolution is a beautiful thing in comics, but if there's no resolution, then it's simply a waste of time. There has to be a definitive ENDING to a story, otherwise it won't make sense within the context of the story. Hopefully Secret Invasion and Final Crisis will give us some sort of resolution to the messy Skrull and Countdown stories, otherwise many fans will be very angry.

[Albert]

has this theory that Joe Quesada is a genius.

and that's all it ever will be.

[Bevbos]

I wouldn't be surprised if Quesada and Bendis had a big master plan for all these plotlines. But even if they don't, someone is likely to come along and tie them all together.

There are sooooo many plotlines out there that tying them all together would be a Heruclean task. But it would be awesome. And as one might expect, they're found in the "peripheral" books.

- What is going to become of the Inhumans now that Maximus is in charge, and who's that in jail? The real Black Bolt, I assume? The Skrull was beaten down in World War Hulk?

- What's going to happen between having Nicholas Scratch in hell, where Mephisto resides (right?), while above, the world of magic seems in complete disarray? How will Ian McNee and Dr. Strange and all the other magic types come together? This ties in to the Scarlet Witch of course...

- There's still the matter of Marvel Boy... what's to become of him?

- What impact is the Phalanx take-down of the Kree going to have on the Skrulls? Can't have Skrulls without the Kree... what role will the negative zone prison play in any of this?

- Just what exactly is going on with Spider-Man, anyways? I would agree with Michael San Giacomo that all is not as it seems... and this is something that could and should be said about both the Sentry and Layla Miller, too...

...anyways, yeah, I hope for a "tying together" of all these plotlines too. I just hope the X-men are involved this time and not shuffled off into their own "universe" as seems to be the direction indicated by Messiah Complex. They simply can't blow that much ____ up and not interact with the Initiative!

[AlexLothos]

Hey!!! Don't bring Lost into this. At least we know Lost is building up to something and everything will finally be resolved!

[nickmaynard]

isn't what you're complaining about like, a part of the medium since the beginning?

[Mark Cardwell]

Of course there's no resolution in comics: the whole publishing model depends on this. As the man said, the third act has to last forever. That, combined with the inevitable inconsistency of ever changing creative teams, means anyone who expects "closure" or "continuity" in superhero comics is a blithering idiot.

[FausticCaust]

The problem with this, I think, is the "then what?". Editorially driven, company wide Events notwithstanding, there's always going to be a substantial amount of unresolved material just rolling along because of the episodic nature of the art form. Unless these characters are going to spend the rest of their "post-resolution" days having little one issue adventures or multi-issue cocktail parties, then there'll always be sh** that hasn't hit the fan.

[Snowspinner]

The funny thing, of course, is that all of this tying together began with Avengers Disassembled. Before which Tony was Secretary of Defense. So the Tony as President reboot is not so far from where we began.

And, notably, I thought the Secretary of Defense plot in Iron Man was better than any Tony plot since.

[Legerdemain]

God, I wish your friend Roger is right. I can't see it though. Spider Man's BND to me just feels like it's set in an alternate universe. The actual stories aren't bad, but they're not worth the mess and continuity screwing to get there. To me, Spidey is living in a bubble that doesn't jibe with the rest of the MU. Mephisto-world.

As for there never being a pay off with the big events, I think they are just used to springboard the next couple of years worth of stories. The only problem is the new set ups are never allowed to breath before the next big shocker. Marvel feels like it's trying to pull itself in all directions at once.

Who knows, Secret Invasion may well tidy things up, but I think it will just lead into next years multi issue crossover. It's about sales after all.

[TheGrayHulk]

Secret Invasion will only be about the New/Mighty Avengers and their problems since Civil War, I don't think it'll touch the Hulk or Spider-Man's continuity at all.

[peaceonmars]

Originally Posted by FausticCaust

The problem with this, I think, is the "then what?". Editorially driven, company wide Events notwithstanding, there's always going to be a substantial amount of unresolved material just rolling along because of the episodic nature of the art form. Unless these characters are going to spend the rest of their "post-resolution" days having little one issue adventures or multi-issue cocktail parties, then there'll always be sh** that hasn't hit the fan.

Exactly. Any 'big resolve' has to include something to set up the next large event. This is a business, and large events and all of their tie-ins sell comics. If everything was fixed, there would be no point in reading these books.

That being said, I'd have to say that Lost is definitely looking up.

[mefixto]

What is needed is for Sentryboy-Prime to start wall-punching.

[BanMan]

I'm pretty sure we have to wait and see what happens in the comics in some of these cases - Red/Green Hulk, dead Cap, the heroes reconciling with one another and the government.

Anyway, like somebody said, the nature of the business kinda prevents true resolution. Each story builds into the next in some way, and it pretty much has to to keep people happy..

[Gordon Lee]

Originally Posted by mefixto

What is needed is for Sentryboy-Prime to start wall-punching.

good thing I wasn't drinking when I read this.......

[spider985]

errr....

This seems to me to be another attack on Marvel and their business model.

And I do not understand the reason why.

Why not attack DC for having just one event and not having different stories for different readers?

The question that should really be asked,

Are Marvel selling comics?

If not then start questioning their motives.

Otherwise people, really, just get off the bashing Marvel bandwagon.

[Whipsnakes]

When the writer of an event claims that everything for the last few YEARS has been slowly building to this, then I am pretty sure you are going to get a resolution.

[Richbob]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

The only solution I can see, beyond some massive time-travel storyline, is electing Tony Stark president. Then he could void the registration legislation, or make it less onerous, and get all the heroes on board to fight off the Skrull invasion.

I don't know how this affects your argument, but presidents can't just declare laws to be void. Tony would need Congress to go along for the ride. That is, unless the president in the Marvel U. functions more like a king than the one in reality.

Enforcement of the SHRA, on the other hand, is a different matter.

[Mr E]

That whole Skrull thing is a real turn off for me, making heroes look this ugly is not going to get me excited at all

[UltimateMatt]

Well, I definitely don't want Marvel to do a Crisis type thing. No thanks.

[SageShini]

Originally Posted by spider985

errr....

This seems to me to be another attack on Marvel and their business model.

And I do not understand the reason why.

Why not attack DC for having just one event and not having different stories for different readers?

The question that should really be asked,

Are Marvel selling comics?

If not then start questioning their motives.

Otherwise people, really, just get off the bashing Marvel bandwagon.

You...you really just saw what you wanted to in that column, didn't you? Nowhere in that did I see him comment on the *quality* of Marvel's stories, and he DID bring up DC but quickly changed the subject because--as he admitted--that's a WHOLE other column in itself. (And though I love what's going on at DC...it really, truly is.) Learn to read before you fire off a post--'cause unless you meant to post this in another thread...it really isn't applicable.


In fact, everyone really saw what they wanted to in that one. Or at least, interpreted it in a way I can only think of as "stupid". He's right. All of this stuff they've been doing since Disassembled--it needs a resolution. Feel free to make up NEW stuff to screw with the heroes at the same time, but at this point all these dangling plot threads with seemingly no coming resolution is making the entire Marvel Universe look like old-school X-Men, where there were all sorts of plot threads left in the air for years, and no one seemed to want to solve any of those, but rather create a new one to join all the others.

[Albert]

Originally Posted by UltimateMatt

Well, I definitely don't want Marvel to do a Crisis type thing. No thanks.

To late, it was called OMD

[Spy_Smasher]

1. Events make money. Lots of money.
2, As a result, the big two have an "event schedule" -- goals they have set (though perhaps not "set in stone") -- for both inter- and intra- series events for all the big titles.
3. So, yeah, Marvel is just leaping from event to event with little thought for the consequences.

After all, why worry? If it all goes horribly awry just ret-con the whole thing with a bit of magic.

[iHeartTalon]

I was at my local comic book store and a few of us regulars were jokingly having a conversation with the store owner on how Secret Invasion was gonna be The Retcon Of All Retcons. We joked how everything the fans hate about Marvel was gonna be resolved with the line "It was a skrull." Civil War, The Initiative, Spiderman, Hulk etc. will resolve with this resounding cop-out.

It could be as simple (and dumb) as Mephisto was really a skrull and blasted Peter unconscious. Now Peter trapped in some sort of machine where the Brand New Disaster universe is taking place in his subconscious.

They could even go back and say Nitro was a skrull who killed all those at Stanford and started the Civil War, making it easier for all the other skrulls to invade. Iron Man arrests those who don't register and sends them to dimensional prison, where in fact, Iron Man is a skrull and as soon as the detainees are imprisoned, they are replaced by a skrull for Captain America and his underground movement to free in the final battle of Civil War.

It wouldn't surprise me if Hulk was a skrull. The real Bruce Banner was pulled of Sakaar and is being held captive on Skrullos. Red Hulk? Skrull. A-Bomb? Skrull.

We all had a few laughs but none bigger than after we said that Joe Quesada is a the true skrull cause the real Joe wouldn't F--- things up this much. We laughed even more saying that we should go test our theory by shooting Joe in the face.

After all the laughs, we all let out a sigh that pretty much expressed our disdain for Marvel. I've decided to remove a substantial amount of titles from my Marvel pull list. Even if Secret Invasion does resolve anything, it won't matter. The damage is to severe to even think one big story pointing the finger at Skrulls will fix all the mis-continuity. I wanna read it but I'm afraid it will be a waste of time and money with all the titles Secret Invasion will most likely cross into thus being a huge money-maker for Marvel at the expense of loyal fans who have been sticking around hoping Marvel had not completely turned their back on them.

@Mark Caldwell: Wanting continuity in the Marvel universe doesn't make one a blithering idiot. It shows that we readers want to look back at the stories we've read and realize that Marvel truly has a bigger picture for us to enjoy. We don't want feel like all that time and money invested wasn't just wasted. Sure, there is no FINAL resolution but there is one in every minor and major story arc that should be pushing for that bigger picture, it's HOW that resolution is scripted out is what Marvel's biggest problem is: i.e. Civil War and One More Day.

[cbrant]

An earlier poster hit the nail on the head with the whole "Spider-Man is almost in his own universe feel". The problem with that is, I'm enjoying Spidey so much right now it overshadows anything else Marvel is doing. I haven't enjoyed X-Men since Morrison left, Bendis and Brubaker just haven't done it for me despite the heavy praise they get, and the other Marvel books just don't do anything for me.

So for me, I'm enjoying a not-so-connected Spider-verse, unresoved continuity notwithstanding.

Of course, I'm still very unhappy with how they got there, so I would rather not even mention pre-BND continuity.

I must also say that I really wish they got Ringo to draw these stories before he passed as opposed to throwing him assignments he should not have been doing (Punisher, some Warren Ellis book). They began these books way before he died, so someone (Wacker) should have given him a phone call. His style would have been great for Guggenheim's story, as opposed to Larocca.