The Comics Professor

Predestination and responsibility in Captain America #616

This week's mammoth 70th anniversary Captain America #616 is packed full of great stories and art, from Ed Brubaker's updating of Bucky's situation and Steve's continued dilemma about donning the stars and stripes once more (continued thematically from the terrific Captain America #615.1), to the surprise reprinting of commissions of Cap from two of my childhood favorites, Jim Aparo and Curt Swan, to an assortment of short stories from an wide range of creators and drawing on a variety of eras. (I'll admit the tears didn't come until the last story, by Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel--see if you can guess where in the story I started to well up.)

See the extensive preview of the issue at Comic Book Resources if, for some reason, you haven't picked up the issue yet. (No, don't tell me, I don't want to know... there is no way you can explain...)

The most interesting story from a philosophical point of view would have be to Frank Tieri and Paul Azaceta's modern tale of Steve and Sharon discovering a very mysterious person lurking in the New York City art circles... SPOILERS and more after the fold.

Matt Murdock's self-loathing in Daredevil: Reborn #3

This post, which I had intended to write since Daredevil: Reborn #3 came out last Wednesday, was inspired by recent comments on one of my posts on self-loathing at Psychology Today, and also serves as a companion piece to my post on Green Arrow from earlier this year.

I really doubt revelations of tortured self-loathing on the part of Matt Murdock will come as a surprise to anyone who's familiar with the character, whether or not they've read Daredevil: Reborn #3, but nonetheless, spoilery discussion below the fold...

Amy Adams: An Enchanted Lois Lane

Sorry--I've watched Enchanted a thousand times with my daughter, and dammit I like it. (I also liked Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and Sunshine Cleaning, but those are harder to work into a title. And don't ask about Leap Year.)

Via the LA Times, Comics Culture's The Beat is reporting that Amy Adams will play Lois Lane in Zack Snyder's Superman reboot opposite Henry Cavill. That's it--back to your regular browsing...

(I'm not crazy about superhero films, something I'll try to discuss later, but inspired casting does lure me in, and this film has some great casting so far!)

Aquaman #1 coming later this year from Geoff Johns [UPDATED]

A bit of good news from DC for once: Geoff Johns announced at Megacon and over Twitter (which was later confirmed by Newsarama... uh, based on his tweet) that he will relaunch an Aquaman series later this year:

Announced at Megacon: After BRIGHTEST DAY I'll be moving over to a new book - AQUAMAN #1 coming later this year!! :)

Aquaman was (literally) given a new lease on life in the past year's Brightest Day, and is one of the characters fans most hoped would continue on into a new series. I just hope Ivan Reis or Joe Prado is on pencils, as they did as much as Johns and Tomasi to bring a new, regal dignity to Arthur Curry. Let's have the rest of the Aqua-crew (Mera, Aquagirl, and the new Aqualad) is there too (and bring back Tempest, please!).

UPDATE: And I'm completely agreed with DC Women Kicking Ass regarding including Mera in a major way (including in the title if not her own book)--Johns shone that spotlight on her, so let's hope he keeps featuring her as prominently as she deserves.

UPDATE 2: Check out this interview with Geoff Johns on Newsarama about the new series, which follows Flashpoint.



Daredevil relaunches with Mark Waid

Just announced at C2E2 (and anticipated by Rich Johnston), Mark Waid will helm the relaunched Daredevil title, joined by artists Paolo Rivera and Marcos Martin. Read the story at Marvel.com for more details--interestingly, Waid wants to amp up the superheroing (presumably compared to Bendis' epic run as well as Brubaker's, both emphasizing the crime aspect of Daredevil's world as well as his life as Matt Murdock). [UPDATED with link to a Newsarama interview with Waid, here.]

Waid gets very existential in this passage from the news story:

Matt's a man who desperately needs the order of law to give him the illusion that complex things that seem out of control—including, say, his life—can make sense. Matt's a man who wants justice for others because there's still a small but flickering flame in him that, while he's made his peace with it, knows how unjust it was that a young boy lost his sight just because he tried to help an old man across the street one day. Matt's a man who wants to believe that there's a purpose to everything in the universe, including the freak accident that changed him as a child; because if there's not a purpose and unity to it all, if everything really is random and unconnected, then that way lies madness and bitterness.

I'm definitely looking forward to this--Daredevil was my entry point into the Marvel world, and still a sentimental favorite.

The Avengers and Transhumanism

With a tip o' the hat to Daniel Hawes, I bring you this article by Kyle Munkittrick on transhumanism (human enhancement) with examples drawn from the "prime" Avengers--Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor--plus the Hulk. I would take issue with some of the author's descriptions of the four characters--especially the Big Three--but he makes some excellent points about hopes and fears reagrding human enhancement.

From the introduction:

Transhumanism is a big, complicated, sprawling idea. The central concept – that humans can be made better with technology – touches on a lot of hopes and fears about the future of humanity. Though I’m always going on about how great human enhancement could be, I’ve got my fair share of fears myself. But my fears are probably way different than many of your fears. But how in the world can we represent those concerns? As it turns out, I’ve found a pretty good set of archetypes that represent our hopes and fears: Marvel Comic’s [sic] Avengers.

How we frame scientific progress changes how we see individual technologies. When we think about science changing people, our minds naturally go to that group of individuals constantly being bombarded by gamma radiation, genetic mutagens, cybernetic interventions, and biological acceleration. I’m talking, of course, about superheroes. Superheroes are modern mythology. And because of that, they make great metaphors for understanding big issues. With The Avengers movie officially announced, I can’t help but notice that the four main members* of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes – Thor, the Hulk, Captain America, and Iron Man – are great examples of the different ways different people understand (or misunderstand) enhancement. Respectively, they are The God, The Monster, The Soldier, and The Robot.

Now, in the case of the Avengers, I don’t mean that they each represent a kind of enhancement, like cognitive enhancing pharmaceuticals or genetic engineering for athleticism. I am talking about the mindset people have around enhancement. Will transhumanism make people into monsters or Gods? Is science on the right track or out of control? The Avengers represent how you think enhancement works. Not only that, each Avenger symbolizes the hopes, fears, and problems enhancement may have. Whatever your dreams or nightmares about enhancement are, at least one member of Marvel’s wonder team has got you covered. So which Avenger represents you?

Spidey and J. Jonah go to extremes in Amazing Spider-Man #655-656

Wow, Dan Slott knows how to make you think. In his current arc on Amazing Spider-Man, both Spider-Man and J. Jonah Jameson make some extreme pledges. Are they reasonable? Are they noble? Or are they just spinning webs in the wind?

SPOILERS BELOW THE FOLD...

Superhuman Ethics Class is in session in Avengers Academy #10!

Wow, I thought Christos Gage was just kidding when he had Hank Pym mention Superhuman Ethics Class in Avengers Academy #8 (noted here), but he was serious: in this week's Avengers Academy #10--pencilled by the incomprable Sean Chen, by the way--class is in session! And how do our students (and teachers) do? Let's see...

--- SPOILERS BELOW THE FOLD ---