Hard-Core Half-Blood Prince Tease
Warner Brothers Pictures today released a new trailer for the sixth film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Unfortunately, the trailer did not come with a press release admitting that they were just kidding about moving the film’s release to next July. But, take heart: Mugglenet is doing its best to tide us over with goofy, fun stuff like fan reactions to the trailer.
Geek Force Utterz #043 - A View Askew Column?
We’ve started columns for Apple (The Cider Press), Nine Inch Nails (NIN Oeuvre Blog), Marvel Comics (Marvel Mythos and Media), and Lost (Spoiling Season Five), but we still haven’t gotten around to doing any sort of regular feature on the fifth member of our Geek Force Five, View Askew Productions. Today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz has me wondering what to do about that. Listen in via the embed above or by visiting Utterli.com.
Geek Force Utterz #042 - Lost Premiere Date
The premiere date for the fifth season of Lost has been set, and that should be cause for excitement, but some fans are upset that they’ll have to wait until January 21, 2009 for new episodes. Um, hello?!? Think, McFly. Think! When did it premiere last year? At the end of January. It’s actually coming back on air a week earlier this year, so let’s not get our panties in a bunch. Today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz is all about this hullabaloo. Listen via the embed above, or by visiting Utterli.com.
Marvel Mythos and Media #4 - Ms. Marvel, Part One
Mythos:
New to Marvel Mythos and Media? Please check out my previous columns!
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be taking a look at Ms. Marvel. While previously abused and maligned by the Marvel Universe, she has reemerged in recent years as a major character in Marvel, even being tapped by Tony “Iron Man” Stark to head up the Mighty Avengers! Clearly, Ms. Marvel has become a major mover and shaker in the Marvel universe.
She’s back, and she apparently has the same plastic surgeon as Demi Moore.
Who is Ms. Marvel, though? If you’re a casual fan and you’re scratching your head, don’t feel lost. Most hardcore comic fans know precious little about the origins of the character. In fact, to trace the crazy evolution of this character, we’re going to have to journey all the way back to the popularization of superhero comics themselves. That means traveling back to 1938 and the creation of a character named Superman. I know he’s not a Marvel character, but bear with me.
With the success of Superman and others, superheroes started springing up all over the place. One of these mighty heroes went by the name of Captain Marvel. Possessing similar powers to Superman and a similar look, he had a much different origin involving magic. Though there were stark differences, the similarities were obvious to all.
Totally different color scheme means no copyright infringement, right?
With a hefty amount of litigation, the publishers of Superman pulverized Captain Marvel into oblivion. Thus, Captain Marvel was fundamentally buried under legal tape while Superman went on to become the most recognizable superhero icon from comic books. Eventually, this Captain Marvel would become owned by DC Comics, the very company that owned Superman. Thus, in a crazy bit of irony, the supposed Superman copycat has become a contemporary.
The only mortal badass enough to hold his own with Superman!
Well, we’re going to be looking at another Captain Marvel. Confused? Well, during the time this Captain Marvel was hung up in litigation, Marvel Comics had a great idea. It was 1967 and the copyright had been shot to hell on the Captain Marvel name, so they created their own Captain Marvel!
Marvel’s Captain Marvel. Getting an ice cream headache yet?
Well, this Captain Marvel was a Kree warrior by the name of Mar-Vell. The Kree are an alien race that exists in the Marvel Universe and is quite warlike. While on Earth battling another Kree, a NASA security chief named Carol Danvers was caught in the middle. After the battle, she ended up with superpowers as the result of an explosion and fought crime as a female counterpart of Captain Marvel.
Bared midriff? Scandalous!
Why is Ms. Marvel important? Beyond her importance in Marvel today, the reason is that she was Marvel’s inept attempt at recognizing women’s liberation. Intended to be written as an enlightened and modern woman, Ms. Marvel is handled shabbily in spots and stretches. This is shocking, because much of this early history is penned by the great Chris Claremont. For those unfamiliar, Claremont would eventually have a heavy hand in the history of X-Men, creating characters such as Jubilee, Gambit, Rogue, Sabretooth, etc. If you’re a casual fan who has seen the movies, he’s the writer that penned that famous Jean Grey turns into Phoenix storyline, the inspiration for X-Men III.
Originally, Carol’s powers were explained as being the suit she wore as Ms. Marvel, but it’s eventually revealed that she herself possesses the strength and flying ability. However, here is where things get tricky: Carol is suffering from a split personality. Carol is unaware that she is Ms. Marvel. Spontaneously changing into this super-being, Ms. Marvel will begin flying around, speaking of her Kree heritage while unaware of Carol.
With an origin this hung up and confusing, this series needed some serious grounding. The original writer of the book, Gerry Conway, sent Ms. Marvel to that favorite of Marvel superhero spots: New York. As a career switch to magazine editor, she created the magazine Woman for renowned misogynist J. Jonah Jameson, the editor of the Daily Bugle and boss to one Peter Parker, aka Spider-man.
Not only does he have to hire a woman, he has to pay one? What is the world coming to?!
Clearly, the women’s lib message is being crammed down the throats of the reader at this juncture. The title is also affected by a glut of male villains spouting insults about her gender, saying such drivel as “I’ll never be defeated by a woman!” Considering this “woman” can punch holes in a building, I’m not sure there’s a lot of shame in getting your butt handed to you. Furthermore, the series is harmed by a series of Carol’s “dates”, a line of anonymous men with zero personality, meant to showcase her sexual liberation. A ho-hum psychiatrist was the most consistent suitor.
Yeah, he figured it out. It doesn’t matter, though. He’s a loser.
In another ridiculous allusion to the powers of the fairer sex, Ms. Marvel was granted a “seventh sense” that would give her premonitions about upcoming events. Why is it called the seventh sense? Answers are elusive, but one would guess that it’s a tongue-in-cheek reference to a sixth sense, ESP. In my experiences, the possession of a sixth sense is used most often in reference to females.
I sense the cancellation of this series...
Over the first few issues, armed with her powers, Ms. Marvel is forced to slog through poorly written feminist-oriented personal situations and several lousy villains. Firstly, as seen in the shot of her seventh sense, Ms. Marvel ended up with a B-list Spider-man villain by the name of the Scorpion. While he’s become more respectable in recent years due to his parading around as the new Venom, at this juncture in time, he was nothing more than a goon with a goofy suit.
Get used to this move. The tail swipe is about the only move this guy has.
Still, even the Scorpion was better than the Destructor. With the tired evil scientist handle, this Cro-Magnon looking fool got himself a special “beam” weapon, mounted it on his melon, and figured he was good to go. I could make fun of this gentleman for entire paragraphs, but I’ll let the picture tell the story.
I was going to rag on him for being the Destructor, but I guess anything’s better than Kerwin Korman.
By the end of the first few arcs, Ms. Marvel was still suffering and so were the readers. The split personality was resulting in havoc for Carol and Ms. Marvel and leaving readers with a spot of irritation. After Claremont came on board for Ms. Marvel #4, there would be a general improvement. Come back next week to take a look at how Carol and Ms. Marvel would inevitably become one.
I wouldn’t trust that cabbie. He has that “date-rape” look to him.
Media:
This is going to be a depressingly thin media this week because of the lack of attention given to Ms. Marvel. Her appearances in other media forms have been brief and lacking pop. Drudging through my personal memories, I do know that she made a brief appearance in the X-Men cartoon that ran during the early 1990s, but it’s nothing more than quick encounter with Rogue, a member of the X-Men. The two have quite a history, one that we’ll explore in coming weeks.
I loved this show so much as a kid, but God, it looks so goofy to me now.
Carol Danvers has also appeared in numerous “altiverses”, differing versions of the Marvel universe. For instance, her character in the Ultimate Marvel universe is a kick-butt Shield agent. While she’s appeared and is as physically and mentally competent as her regular universe counterpart, we’ve yet to see her appear as Ms. Marvel.
She just has government spook written all over her in that get-up.
Thin, huh? Well, with the depressing past wrapped up, let’s look at the future. In recent film hits such as Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, an Avengers movie is a foregone conclusion. This is cemented by the fact that the remainder of the original Avengers, Captain America and Thor, will be receiving their own treatments in film. With a dearth of female members, there just might be a chance for Ms. Marvel to slip into the line-up and provide some punch. Fans of Ms. Marvel, start your email campaigns now and let them know that “The Wasp” isn’t enough! See you next time!
*All black and white images used are from Marvel Comics’ Essential Ms. Marvel.
Geek Force Utterz #041 - Comic Book Coverage
Can a guy who has stopped collecting comic books keep writing about comic books on his Website? That’s the question I’m pondering in today’s episode of Geek Force Utterz, which you can listen to via the embed above or by visiting Utterli.com.
