[D8alus]

Long, but worth a read if you like comics. I find myself agreeing with most of his opinions about comics and heroes.

Gregg, this is NOT a gaming thread.

Howdy, folks. Going through all my old COH Beta and pre-Beta stuff, I stumbled upon a little .txt folder I had saved named 'Statesman's Statements'. "Woah," I says to myself, I says, "I remember those! When Statesman would post his own opinion column on the old-school forums! Way, way back in the day!"

Well, in the spirit of 'Way, way back in the day', I now present you with...

Statesman's Statements

[As a side note, I seem to remember there being an 8th Statesman's Statements posting that I missed... if you've got a copy of this rare, elusive and possibly nonexistant transcript, please, send me a PM.]

Stateman's Statements #1: Top Ten Trade Paperbacks
One of the greatest things about today’s comic book market is the resurgence of the trade paperback. Ten, fifteen years ago, we had them – they just weren’t that popular. Now, it’s
almost a given that great storylines will be given their own trade paperback. Instead of rooting through my collection, I can just reach over to the bookshelf to reread my favorite
storylines.

I’ve noticed on these forums that there are a lot of people who were once comic book fans – but they just don’t know how to get back into it. Maybe you’re not really into following what comes out every week in your local comic book shops – trade paperbacks are your salvation!

So what I’ve compiled are my ten favorite trades. Notice I didn’t say “best,” because I know they’re not – I can’t say that Maus, for instance, isn’t an amazing piece of work; it’s just not my cup of tea. I’m a superhero guy at heart and this list reflects that (sort of). Without further ado, here the list!

10. Ultimate Spider Man Hardcover – I know, I promised to give a list of trade paperbacks, but this hardcover encompasses the first 12 issues of the new series. Essentially, Ultimate Spider Man, starts us off at the beginning of Spider Man’s career. The series is completely separated from the ornate mythology that alienates some new readers. But what makes this series so phenomenal is the magical way that Brian Michael Bendis manages to turn back the clock; I literally feel Peter Parker’s teenage angst on every page. Every thought, every action that Peter Parker seems uncannily “real.” This is a triumph in every way; too often, teenage heroes are given the personalities of adults (mostly because of the writer’s limitations) – but not here. Buy this book! It will make you remember the way comics used to be.

9. Torso – Another Brian Michael Bendis tour de force. Now he’s done a few other “noirish” crime books – but Torso really sticks to me. The story retells what happened to Elliot Ness AFTER his famous takedown of Al Capone. Ness was assigned to stop a serial killer in Cleveland – though Torsocovers so much more than that. What makes this book great is the tone and mood – perfect.

8. Age of Bronze – Anyone who’s read my bio on Cryptic Studios webpage knows my background – I have a Master’s degree in Ancient History and another in Greek and Latin. I’m EXTREMELY picky with mythology stuff, because, quite frankly, people do it very badly. It’s not their fault – the Edith Hamilton’s of the world have condensed mythology down into snippets that don’t accurately capture what the tales were about. Age of Bronze, though, is light years beyond that. Painstakingly researched at every step, Age of Bronze takes us into the years leading up to the infamous Trojan War. But don’t look for gods manipulating helpless mortals in these pages; Age of Bronze is about how the war might have actually happened. A lot of scholarly research was spent unearthing even the most obscure facts about the heroes of the Trojan War – even more was done on making everything accurate (right down to the necklaces). You will literally be walking back in time with every page.

7. League of Extraordinary Gentleman – Imaginative, creative – I can’t go on enough about this book. The League brings together the “superheroes” of the nineteenth century: Alan Quartermain, Dr. Jekyll, Captain Nemo, the Invisible Man and Mina Harker (of Dracula fame) to combat – well, I don’t want to give that away. Yep, it’s well written – and the story is ultra cool – but to be honest, it’s the idea that fascinates me: taking heroes out of the pages of novels and bringing them to life in comic book format. Brilliant.

6. From Hell – I was working in a comic book shop when this book was coming out – that tells you how long ago that was. I never had much interest in it; it wasn’t superheroes and it came out way too infrequently. On a lark, I purchased the trade last year. Holy smokes. Perhaps the best characterizations I’ve ever seen. Forget about the fact that From Hell is about Jack the Ripper – because that sort of takes away from the sheer brilliance of it. We think, “Oh, it’s a retelling of history.” No, no, no. From Hell tells a story so phenomenal, so brilliant that it outshines the myth of Jack the Ripper. What is most terrifying is how Alan Moore takes us into the mind of a madman – and makes us understand him.

5. Crisis on Infinite Earths – It’s tough for anyone but long time comic fans to appreciate this tale. By the 80’s, the DC universe was crippled by its ornate, and haphazard, history. The Crisis maxi-series was intended to solve these problems by synthesizing a new history for the DC universe; and boy did it. This series was, and still is, an amazing piece of comic book mythology; Crisis brought together every bit of the DC universe and made it into a consistent whole. But Crisis took it one step further – and killed off not one, but two core heroes: Supergirl and Flash. That was about the most daring thing that DC could have done; and they’ve stuck by the death of the Flash. DC allowed Kid Flash inherit his mentor’s role; Barry Allen, a beloved Silver Age figure, has never been brought back from the dead.

4. Death of Phoenix – Before the death of Phoenix/Marvel Girl, superheroes just didn’t die. Oh, there was the occasional cliffhanger, but we never had any doubts that our hero would somehow return. At the time of this series, X-Men was on top of the comic book world. Chris Claremont and John Byrne were revitalizing the art form (much the way that Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar and J. Michael Stracynski are today). The previously drab Marvel Girl had been reborn into Phoenix – and made infinitely much cooler. But Claremont took the daring step of actually killing off the character. I was shocked; I’ll never forget the day I read X-Men 137. A really good story – but an even more importantly, the death of Phoenix marked a turning point in comic book history. We couldn’t have the comics we have today without it.

3. Dark Knight Returns – Coming down to these last few, which are almost universally acclaimed as the best trades out there, it’s hard to say something that hasn’t already been said. But I think a lot of people misunderstand Dark Knight and think its grittiness is its main reason for success. What Dark Knight did was make us realize how important, how mythical superheroes really are. Batman became more than a man, more than a hero – he became an idea which Gotham City united behind. We trivialize superheroes too often; Dark Knight reminded us how awesome, and terrible, these people can be.

2. Golden Age – Any reader of the forums knows my love of the Golden Age. Well, James Robinson managed to do what had never been done; tell us what happened to all those WWII era heroes after the war. Robinson is perhaps the best writer at using the history of comics as a backdrop, rather than an obstacle (Robinson’s Starman is another example of this). Comic writers so often know very little about the characters they write about; Robinson clearly knows his comics. And Golden Age is just a fitting way to say “farewell” to those heroes of yesteryear.

1. Watchmen – I can’t even begin to tell you what a shock this comic was. I wasn’t a Swamp Thing reader, so Alan Moore’s style hit me like a thunderbolt in Watchmen #1. I’m still astonished at the brilliance of this book. What amazes me is that Alan Moore took the oldest pulp/comic story in the world – a megalomaniac bent on brining about world peace (through any means possible) and made it into a tale who’s end I never saw until I was there. If you haven’t read this yet, go out to a store now, buy it, read it, and cherish every page. This book is a classic.

That’s my top ten – in two weeks I’ll talk about what’s different about today’s comics – and why we’re in a new comic renaissance. See you in Paragon City!


Statesman's Statements #2: Top Ten Villains
On the heels of my “Top Ten Trade Paperbacks” article, I’ve decided to put off writing about the difference between today’s comics (and those of yesteryear), and why we’re in a new comic renaissance, to instead grant the request of one of our forum members who asked that I post my Top Ten Villains. Now, the obvious thing to do would be to list the “cool” villains; but, to be honest, I’ve never bought a comic BECAUSE it had a particular villain. And even the coolest villains can be quite lame in the wrong story. So this list is context oriented – the coolest STORIES with those villains in them. Without further ado…

10. Frightful Four – I’ve always loved the evil counterpart super groups – the Injustice Society, the Masters of Evil, The Squadron Sinister…there’s just something about the bad guys lining up one on one against the heroes. The Frightful Four was something more than that; after all, these were pretty bizarre foes. The Wizard and Trapster were otherwise bit villains in the Marvel Universe – and the Sandman was a Spider Man guy. But put together (along with an always rotating fourth member), the Frightful Four was intriguing. Their powers were quite original; it isn’t like they were the exact opposite of the Fantastic Four. I’ve loved them ever since the early days of the FF – by the way, what happened to them?

9. The Badoon – Who remembers this classic Marvel alien race? For a while, the Badoon ranked up there with the Kree and the Skrulls as the “baddies” of the universe. What got me hooked on the Badoon was the fantastic storylines where they conquered the Earth and battled against the Guardians of the Galaxy. Oh – and don’t forget the epic storyline that ran in the Defenders, too, where we got to see the Badoon homeworld. They just popped briefly in a recent Captain Marvel issue, so I can only hope I’ll see them again.8. The Fatal Five – The five deadliest and evilest villains in the Universe. It was only through the combined might of the entire Legion of Super Heroes that these guys could be put down. Whenever the Fatal Five popped up in the pages of Legion, I knew I was in for an all-battle issue. I’ve never yet seen a good story that flushed out these bad guys; I think it’s just their sheer power that’s always intrigued me.

7.The Brute – Now here’s an obscure one – and a special City of Heroes no-prize to anyone who remembers him! The Brute was Counter Earth’s Reed Richards (literally). The High Evolutionary created his own planet that circled around the sun exactly opposite to our planet. Counter Earth, however, wasn’t flooded with heroes or villains; the Reed Richards of that planet decided to make the journey into space on his own. The cosmic rays gave him the ability to transform into a hulking Brute! For about six issues, the Brute teamed up with the Frightful Four and took the “real” Reed Richards place on the team during a spectacular George Perez run on Fantastic Four. Unfortunately, the Brute went off into obscurity when he escaped into the Negative Zone. Ah, well.

6. Ra’s Al Gul – Now, I admit that I don’t like Al Gul inherently; the wise old villain who really isn’t a villain has always seemed a little too hackneyed for my taste. But Neal Adams made Al Gul a pretty significant presence in Batman’s life during the 70’s, though that sort of faded away over time. What really has me geeked on Ra’s Al Gul is the recent storyline in Justice League, where he just about took the JLA apart single-handedly, and the current storyline in Legion. If you are not reading Legion of Super Heroes, go out and get it this week. It’s the best comic out there that doesn’t get any publicity. Trust me. There’s one splash page at the end of issue 3 or 4 that dropped my jaw – and made me an instant Ra’s Al Gul fan.

5. Deathstroke the Terminator – Before DC turned this guy into another hero in tights, Deathstroke was an absolutely brilliant villain. Marv Wolfman and George Perez re-imagined the Teen Titans in the early 80’s and made them one of the defining titles of the era. Along with the innovative new characters, Wolfman and Perez re-did the Titan’s rogue’s gallery – I think Deathstroke was their best creation. He had the killer costume and the killer attitude. Sure, Deathstroke was somewhat superhuman, but it was his mercenary attitude and total confidence that kept him two steps ahead of the Titans. I used to buy any comic with this guy in it. Unfortunately, Deathstroke’s popularity meant that he’d be given his own comic, where the character languished. His recent appearance in Nightwing was a welcomed return to his roots.

4. Shade – Up until James Robinson’s Starman series, Shade was pretty much a grade B villain. Yeah, he had pretty cool powers – but the Flashes (Barry Allen and Jay Gerrick) pounded this guy with great regularity. He didn’t seem to have much personality – but then came James Robinson. WOW! I don’t think anyone could read the Starman series and not think Shade was the coolest. Nasty powers. Immortal. English. Polite. Deadly. Awesome.

3. Magneto – In the early days of my comic book reading, I wasn’t a big Magneto fan. In his original X-Men days, and his conflicts with the Defenders, Magneto was pretty much your bargain-bin madman who wanted to conquer the world. It wasn’t until the 80’s that Magneto really got some personality. The noble mutant who sees that he must fight in order to ensure his survival – with the constant memory of WWII’s concentration camps – now seems to exemplify the man. I’m particularly enjoying Mark Millar’s interpretation of him in Ultimate X-Men, but it’s really hard to mess up a character with such depth and history.

2. Surtur – Who? Surtur the Fire Demon? That loser in Thor? Yep. Walt Simonson wrote a groundbreaking series in Thor during the late 80’s, introducing the then ultra-popular Beta Ray Bill. Sounds strange now, but those Thor comics were HOT! Anyway, the back story to Thor for over a year was this mysterious, powerful being creating a giant sword – no one had any idea who it was. At the end of every issue, we’d see a few panels of this shape forging a sword. After almost two years, Surtur revealed himself and attacked the earth. Now he might have been a run of the mill type foe for Thor, but Walt Simonson masterfully re-introduced this character. By the way, Walt Simonson is a seriously underrated story teller (just my 2 cents).

1. Dr. Doom – Ah, I know. This was obvious from the start. Well, I actually don’t like Dr. Doom much of the time. It seems that whenever a Marvel writer has no idea where to go with a book, Dr. Doom makes a tired appearance. Well, let me tell you about the couple of stories that really makes Dr. Doom shine. One of them is the Dr. Doom/Dr. Strange graphic novel – where the two of them attempt to free Dr. Doom’s mother from the clutches of Hell. It’s a poignant tale of an all-powerful man incapable of getting his mother back. As a recent episode of the Sopranos just reminded us, it always comes down to our mothers. The other great tale was around issue 200 of Fantastic Four. Once and for all, the FF defeated Dr. Doom and Latveria was freed from his evil clutches. Later, however, the new ruler, Prince Zorba (I think that was his name) pretty much became even nuttier than Doom ever was. The FF joined up with Doom to put him back on the throne of Latveria. The gist of it all is that the Latverians really wanted an autocrat like Doom in charge – yeah, he’s the absolute ruler and pretty harsh – but he’s also fair. And every once in a while you’d see Doom really, honestly care about his subjects. Oh – there’s one other time that I just loved Doom – Marvel’s shortlived late 70’s/early 80’s Supervillain Team Up book. Doom was constantly banging heads with Red Skull – I just thought it was great that the series illustrated how two villains might both be “evil” but that doesn’t mean they like each other!

That’s it for this edition. Send your suggestions, as always – though next time, I’ll be talking about History in Comic Books!


Statesman's Statements #3: A New Comic Renaissance
I’ve sort of mentioned in passing how we are today entering a virtual renaissance in comics. That statement isn’t just hyperbole or even just plain hype. As readers of this column, and my interviews already know, I’ve been reading comics for a pretty long time. And there’s never, ever, been a time like the present - when each and every week there are so many good comics on the racks.

Now, the obvious explanation for this is that we are now in the age of the Writer. Ten, fifteen years ago, it was the artists that drove the industry. People flocked to the “hot” illustrators – while the writers got somewhat of a short shrift. How many people remember that the New Teen Titans book was a George Perez/Marv Wolfman co-creation? In the latest Wizard, Perez was quoted about the recently announced line up for the Cartoon Network’s upcoming Teen Titans cartoon. What about Wolfman? Why was Perez quoted? ‘Cause art ruled the day.

But that’s no more. Alan Moore started the ball rolling, oh, I’d say… with his marvelous Swamp Thing run. Around the same time, Frank Miller put together that little masterpiece called Dark Knight. Moore returned for a gig with Watchmen. DC grew pretty bold and decided to take a chance with a more mature title: Sandman. In those days, it was DC making the strides, while Marvel was stuck in “let’s get another Punisher appearance in a book” mode. DC realized that adults read comics, too – and even better – they had money. So why not write stuff aimed at those adults? Soon, an entire line, Vertigo, was launched with the only the adult reader in mind.

And if DC started the trend, nearly everyone has followed. Marvel, Wildstorm, Image – just about everyone has fallen into the same line. Books are just flat out great. Brian Michael Bendis. Mark Millar. Warren Ellis. Garth Ennis. Geoff Johns. Kevin Miller. It seems that a month doesn’t go by before some new talent is unearthed (hey, read Exiles if you don’t believe me, or the latest Green Arrow).

Now there’s a huge quality difference in the writing – but that’s not the only thing that’s changed. Nearly every series seems to be catered to an eventual trade paperback. Not that this is a bad thing; I love reading a whole storyline at once. The pacing, however, is ssssoooo much slower than it used to be. Once upon a time, a six issue story arc was rare as hen’s teeth. Normally, stories were one shots or part of a two issue story. I remember what a big deal it was every summer when the annual JLA/JSA crossover would come out.

The Ultimates is a good example of this. If you read any single issue of the Ultimates, not much really happens. Heck, the first couple of issues are basically just background. Pretty much the biggest thing that happens in the first six issues is a single battle with the Hulk. Compare that with the first six issues of the original X-Men or Avengers. The Ultimates is moving at a snail’s pace.

This focus on long term story development and the eventual republication of popular storylines has led to a boom for the comic book stores. People who’ve been out of comics for a while can come in and pick up a trade without having to bother with buying stuff every week. A few store owners that I know have confided that maybe 25% of their business is now in trades.

That’s amazing considering that it was only ten years ago that trades tended to just sit on the shelf and wilt. Oh – there were a few popular ones – like Watchmen – but it wasn’t like every comic got a trade paperback.

To be honest, I wonder what all of this will do to the industry. Right now, it’s obvious that long, involving story lines really work well in the trade paperback format. But what about the young readers? Can they plunk down $16.95 for one these things? And would they enjoy it? My favorite comic when I was a kid was Marvel Two in One; it had the coolest hero (the Thing) and plus one other Marvel hero. Stories were almost always contained in a single issue. So if I missed an issue, it wasn’t catastrophic. But now, I’m not so sure. If a young person just picks up a random issue of, say, Superman, is it fun to read? I’m really enjoying it right now, but that’s because the storylines of all the titles are somewhat tied together and the themes are pretty adult. If I was 12, I’m not sure I’d appreciate it. I’m relatively sure that Green Arrow, which is a phenomenal book, wouldn’t have appealed to me at 12, either.When a hobby loses its young readers, klaxons go off. Look at Dungeons and Dragons – absolutely everyone between the ages of 25 – 35 played it at least once when they were kids (er, well, men – D &D was never big with the female crowd). And the game at the moment has never been more creatively vibrant. The latest edition of the game sold like gangbusters. Why?

Because it rejuvenated the interest in the game among those adults who had once played it, but had lost interest as they aged. But now, the game is NOT attracting the youths that it once did. My own little brother is a great example of this; he would never dream of playing a role-playing game (loves computer games though, god bless ‘im). Comics have a huge advantage over D&D: the primary subject matter, superheroes, is now becoming prevalent in mass media. The success of Spider Man and X-Men movies ensure that these names remain icons in the mass market consciousness. The question, however, is – have these movies substantially impacted the sales of those comics? And are those readers sticking? I really don’t know.

Hey, I’m going to enjoy the ride until it ends. And I can’t really envision the day when I won’t love opening up a comic book. Every single comic I read in some small way brings to me the very same wonderment that comics did when I was 8.

As always, thanks for reading and I’ll see you in two weeks.


Statesman's Statements #4: The Developing Nature of Comics
Last column, I sort of touched on how comics today are losing a little bit of touch with their history. To be honest, that isn’t completely true. Over the past several years, I’ve been literally shocked to see what has been happening over in the company I used to dub as a youth “Dumb Comics,” but better known to all of you as D.C.

When I was younger, I almost exclusively bought Marvel with my hard earned allowance (50 cents!). Occasionally, I’d pick up a Justice League, Batman or Green Lantern. For awhile, I bought Flash when Firestorm was a backup story. But these stories just didn’t compel me like the Marvel books. Now, I could spend a lot of time elaborating on this point, but I think that even people at DC would admit that the seventies and early eighties weren’t the finest times in DC’s storied history. The company that had single handedly ushered in the Silver Age was pretty much mired in stagnant storylines and cardboard characters.

Crisis on Infinite Earths really changed my perception (well, that AND the phenomenal New Teen Titans). Crisis tried to solve all of DC’s numerous continuity problems – and ended up creating a few new ones. But what made Crisis so momentous was the death of the Flash and Supergirl. Barry Allen, the Flash, was the face of the Silver Age; it was this hero that rejuvenated DC and comic readers. Many fans had a nostalgic attachment to Barry – he was stolid, dependable and heroic. Nothing flashy (no pun intended) –Barry Allen seemed to represent the best qualities of a bygone era. And yet the powers that be at DC said, yup, his time had come. Oh, how the fans howled! How could they kill the Flash?! Now I wasn’t such a DC fanatic at the time, but even I was pretty amazed at their decision. As we all know, the Flash didn’t exactly die – Kid Flash took on the hallowed red and yellow mantle. Fifteen years later, Wally West seems to fit into Barry Allen’s shoes quite well, thank you.

Supergirl’s death wasn’t nearly as important as Flashes, and her death has been undone in numerous ways (even I can’t keep track of her origin now) – but Supergirl was still a part of what you’d think was the most sanctified mythos in the DC universe: Superman. Crisis demonstrated that DC was no longer going to sit on its laurels; they’d take challenges with their characters like they never had before.

Look at Green Lantern. Like Flash, Green Lantern and Hal Jordan were synonymous with DC and the Silver Age. Yet DC didn’t quail when the storyline came up that Hal went mad.

Distraught over the destruction of his hometown, Hal Jordan turned on his former bosses, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and tried to become an omnipotent universal despot; he became Parallax. There was never any turning back; Hal was no longer and would never be Green Lantern again. The impulsive and slightly insecure Kyle Radner took his place. Hal Jordan always seemed to be too good to be true; Kyle seems more like the people I grew up with.

DC was not done with Hal; after saving the universe as an act of redemption, Parallax became the new Spectre! Imagine that – an icon of the Silver Age assuming the mantle of an icon of the Golden Age! The Spectre comic has ever since then been a terrific existential introspective of Hal Jordan’s guilts, faults and hopes.DC has allowed its characters to grow up – to move their mythology along. Little Robin is now the confident and capable Nightwing. Green Arrow’s kid sidekick, Speedy, has grown up into the sometimes government agent Arsenal. Hawkman has died and been brought back badder than ever. Virtually every hero of the Golden Age has been recast for the modern world in the current series of the JSA.

Change isn’t easy, especially when dealing with characters as monolithic as DC’s. After all, a good bit of their income isn’t tied to comics. It’s merchandising. T-Shirts, towels, mugs, sheets, posters, action figures, etc. Every time a core character changes, there’s a risk that the merchandising might drop off. Now maybe you’d say “shucks – they’re just making the character better” – but there’s still a risk about making the licensors ticked off. Just read JMS’s interview in the recent Wizard about writing for Spider Man to get an idea of the hurdles involved when dealing with an icon.

Basically, I’m praising DC for their decision to allow time to take its course – to allow the younger generation to take up the masks of the old. Sure, the heroes aren’t the same – but the world isn’t either – why shouldn’t the DC Universe grow along with us? It’s a daring risk DC – I’d like to thank you for taking it.

See you in Paragon City.

[Arzen]

tl;dr

[D8alus]

and the rest:

Statesman's Statements #5: Top Ten Favorite (But Overlooked) Heroes!
A few columns ago, I did a “top ten” favorite villains list, so I thought I’d follow that up with a top ten heroes list. I’m going to do a little bit of a twist on this, though. I’m going to focus on my top ten favorite, but overlooked, heroes. These are the heroes I love – but are somehow given short shrift in some way shape or form. Now some of these were once “prime” players in their universe, but have slipped off the proverbial map.

10. The Outsiders – Remember Katana, Halo, Geo-Force, et al? This was a great group that sort of filled the gaps that the JLA and Titans didn’t cover. Whatever was odd, strange or full of angst – that was the purview of the Outsiders. Each and every member came with their set of baggage and much of the team dynamic was based around this. Sort of like an updated Doom Patrol. I miss these guys.

9. Rom – Boy, now this is a golden oldie. Rom was a space knight, whose civilization had been brought to the brink of destruction by the Dire Wraiths. One of the few licensed comics that far outlasted the toy it was based on (Micronauts being the other). In fact, Rom brought a lot of great stuff into the Marvel Universe – the Dire Wraiths and a host of Space Knights. I miss the old guy – trapped in a robotic body, but bound by a sense of duty to battle his mortal foes.

8. Blue Devil – I absolutely loved this guy. Never wanted to be a hero – but a mystical blast fused him to his stuntman “devil” costume. DC has updated him to be more of a supernatural type of hero, but I sort of liked the bumbling aspect to Blue Devil. He really had no idea what to do or how to do it – a sort of “realistic” hero, I think.

7. The Question – Absolutely phenomenal DC series in the late 80’s/early 90’s. He was the last good guy in a city gone totally corrupt. But The Question had a philosophical bent to his heroics that no other hero has really approached (though the current Spectre series comes really darn close). He still appears now-and-then as a sort of “wise sensei” figure, but I’d love to see him come back.

6. Moon Knight – The first, and only multiple personality disorder hero. You think Batman was a tortured soul? Holy smokes – Moon Knight took the cake. Marc Spector – at one time a mercenary for hire – is chosen by the Egyptian moon god Khonshu to be his champion. For some time, Moon Knight was just a poor man’s Batman – and Marvel seemed to struggle with how to make him really unique. But I loved the early characterizations of him in the Rampaging Hulk magazine (now that dates me).

5. Project Pegasus – The subject of not one, but two great epic storylines in Marvel Two in One. I absolutely love the idea of a special government organization devoted to the studies of new energies and what not – that would seem to be a natural in a world where people are regularly exploring the universe and other dimensions. It’s now degenerated into a super villain prison, unfortunately. But I think it’s really fertile ground for science storylines and heroes.

4. Firestorm – Thank goodness he’s been gracing the pages of JLA. I love this guy. A young kid with the greatest powers in the DC universe (behind maybe Green Lantern and Spectre). Probably the most interesting rogues gallery outside of the Flash – Killer Frost, Hyena, Multiplex, Typhoon, etc. And I just loved the sort of youthful enthusiasm that Firestorm has – much like the Peter Parker in Ultimate Spider Man.

3. Doc Sampson – A brilliant psychologist and one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. “Bricks” like the Hulk, Thor, and the Thing tend not to be brainy sort of guys – and that’s what makes Doc Sampson so interesting to me. I’d love to see a series with him – how exactly would a smart person use their super strength? The Peter David issues of a Banner controlled Hulk were so cool…and Doc Sampson has the further interesting aspect that he’s never actually tried to be a hero. He still sees himself as a psychiatrist. Fascinating stuff.

2. Namor – The recent Black Panther series proved that political thrillers can work in comics. Why not use that with Namor? It seems as if Marvel has struggled with this guy’s identity for ages – hero, villain, anti-hero – but without much success. To me, Namor is a king first and foremost of an underwater version of ancient Rome (just read Namor’s name backwards – that was how they came up with Namor’s name). What could be a more fertile source of political intrigue, conflict and wars than a Rome-like empire under the waves of the sea?

1. The Invaders – There once was a time when WWII comics were a staple – each comic book company had their own modern retelling of Golden Age events – but there hasn’t been anything since the demise of Sandman Mystery Theatre. I miss the Invaders, though. There was something magical about the teaming of Namor, the Human Torch and Captain America. And the extended invaders family was even more intriguing – Spitfire, Destroyer, the Crusaders, etc. How about the villains? There was nothing better than seeing the Invaders triumph over one of the Axis villains. After all, what’s more evil than the Axis?

That’s it for now, gang. I’d love to hear about your favorite heroes and teams – who knows, maybe we can start our own little campaign to bring ‘em back! Ya listening out there comic book publishers!

See you in Paragon City.


Statesman's Statements #6: Comic Book Camp
I remember reading the boards awhile ago and the subject of “camp” heroes came up. A few people opined that it didn’t seem as if City of Heroes was going to contain any humorous elements; most of the plotlines seemed very serious. Then someone commented that because I was a huge Golden Age comic fan, it seemed unlikely that camp would not find its way into the game. So, I thought I’d make my own feelings towards “camp” well known. In short, I don’t like camp. I’m convinced that it was the Batman television show that did all of this. Wildly successful for a couple of seasons in the 60’s, that baneful television show has now become the way that mainstream America views superheroes. It’s probably why superheroes have not successfully translated onto the silver screen until recently. People were so tainted by the image of “Pow,” “Zap” and “Wham” exploding across their television screens that it seemed difficult to take heroes seriously. There was a dramatic series that did have some popularity – the Hulk (remember Bill Bixby) – but that didn’t generate the hype or the image of Batman. Batman, if you recall, was even on the cover of Time Magazine! Regretfully, the Batman series still lives on in reruns.

The effect of the campy series still permeates our culture today. The Batman movie series, intensely popular at first, waned over time. Tim Burton’s crusading Dark Knight became nothing but the butt of jokes. Who can forget the dreadfully awful Batman & Robin with George Clooney and Alicia Silverstone? Eek. I remember reading an article on the director, Joel Schumacher, and was shocked to see that he wanted to bring back the feel of the television series. Huh? Why would you willingly diverge from the formula which brought the movies their initial success?

Now, some of you might rightfully point out that the Batman and Superman comics of the Silver Age were quite hard to take seriously. Bat-Mite? Ace the Bat hound? Blue kryptonite? And quite often those tales were pretty much played for laughs – puns and visual gags were the norm. But those comics are an example, to me, of BAD Silver Age comics. The Silver Age, in my mind, was ushered in by the Flash – and later Green Lantern. Batman and Superman languished creatively throughout the decades. To be honest, those characters didn’t appeal to me until much later when they each went through a makeover in the 80’s. The Flash and Green Lantern, while at times fantastic, were never corny or campy. The consequences and perils were real; the characters were actual people that you felt for.

What’s even more important to recall is that DC is only part of the Silver Age equation – what about Marvel? Yes, Stan Lee was – and is – the master of bombastic adjectives – but the comic stories themselves weren’t. Look at the Fantastic Four – a family torn apart by an accident that somehow triumphs over adversity. The Thing is a poignant figure – never comic. Or how about the Avengers – and the rebirth of Captain America? I don’t see a moment of anything but sheer seriousness in the reappearance of an American legend and icon. The plots might be “bigger than life” but Marvel rarely degenerated to the level of camp.

Does that mean that I don’t like humor at all in a comic? Certainly not. I think there’s humor in everyday life – why shouldn’t there be in comics? But I don’t like camp – where the players in the tale seemingly understand the joke and seem to thrive in it. I like my stories to be believable and plausible – not over the top flashy. Is it realistic that people fly? No – but once I accept certain assumptions, I’m willing to go along with it, as long as the author maintains those very assumptions and carries them to their logical conclusions.

This ideology has been the underlying principle since the inception of City of Heroes – our background is that of a real world struggling with its problems.

That’s it for now. See you in Paragon City.


Statesman's Statements #7: Comics and Heroes
It’s a strange thing that the comic book medium, has been shackled so deeply to a genre, namely, revolving around heroes. The two are mutually interchangeable in most people’s eyes.

No one thinks, though, that novels should be exclusively mysteries or vice versa. You’ve got novels about everything you can imagine: fantasy, romance, science fiction, history, etc. And mysteries occur in just about every medium – television, film, short stories, etc. The only reason why this is so curious is because right now the comic book industry is poised to be seen not just as a hero dominated genre – and heroes are right now being considered far beyond just comic books. We are in interesting times, indeed.

Comics in the golden age consisted of funny animals and heroes; the former slid into animated features and comic strips, and the latter hung on until the 50’s. Strangely, hero comics weren’t just kid stuff; the GI’s read them voraciously. The comic book distribution numbers for the times were absolutely insane – far beyond even today. Superman, Batman and Captain America captured something new and vital in the American subconscious. Film serials and radio shows followed, but with varying degrees of success.

Heroes died in the 50’s. Sadly, comics other creative spark, horror, was put to a quick end by the threatened interference of government “oversight” and the creation of the comics code authority. Comics by this point were clearly seen as entertainment for children only; I’m not sure why, but that’s the way it was. The Silver Age of the 60’s and the growth of Marvel into the 70’s was definitely kid-oriented.

So what happened? How are we getting adults to read comics now? And how are non-hero stories appearing in the hallowed pages of four-color comics? To a degree, I always turn back to Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing. Sure, Gaiman’s Sandman really ripped the roof off in terms of popularity and mass market appeal. But Gaiman followed Moore by quite some time. Many of the Sandman themes and ideas can be discerned in Moore’s magnificent Swamp Thing issues. That was the first time that I could ever remember a comic so expressly aimed at older, mature readers; I don’t think your average twelve year old could have appreciated Moore. Once Swamp Thing proved that you could cater to a primarily adult market, then the possibilities became endless. Gaiman’s Sandman soon followed – and other titles of varying success.

Still, comic books remained – and still are – primarily about heroes. I remember the “glorious” launch of Valiant and its sci-fi slant. As a comic book store employee, I didn’t think it would survive. Valiant’s first year made me look like fool, but the end came quick for Valiant. Magnus Robot Fighter just didn’t take hold in the mind of most readers. It’s sort of a new world – there’s CrossGen, who expressly avoids heroes, and Vertigo, that continues the tradition of Sandman, but yet the major amount of comic book sales continue to revolve around hero-oriented comics.

What do I think about it? Frankly, I don’t know. I’ve listened to Scott McCloud, of Understanding Comics fame, speak about the future of sequential art (which comic books most certainly are). There’s no real reason for comic books to be shackled to heroes – why shouldn’t the medium open up beyond a limited genre? Bendis’ thriller/criminal dramas are outstanding – and so is 100 Bullets. But those really aren’t my cup of tea.

Why? Because I’ve realized I love heroes – it isn’t just comic books, it’s the idea of mythical champions protecting the world that thrills me each and every week. And the idea that
Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men are something much greater than just “kid’s stuff” – they represent the collective social subconscious manifestation of a deep need for justice. Our world isn’t just black and white – it’s made up of infinitesimally subtle shades of gray. The joy of heroes is that they delve into that morass of gray and emerge with a distinction: this is right, this is wrong. The heroes stand for something. Maybe Moore’s Swamp Thing brought adults back into comics, and in turn back into heroes – or maybe the time is right for heroes. I look back at the Golden Age as the only comparable period when heroes reached any sort or real mass market consciousness. Sure, there was a Superman television show and a Batman one later – but neither successfully started any trend. Movies? Heroes have been absent until Burton’s reinvisioning of the Dark Knight in the 90’s. Now, we’re seeing heroes everywhere:

TV, movies, books and, of course, comics. Heck, throw computer games into it, too – there was Freedom Force not too long ago and then there’s (ahem) us. There’s a lot of similarities between the climate of the 40’s and the climate now. We hear constantly that America is “at war” – that the idea of democracy itself is being jeopardized. The GI Joe’s and Janes turned to heroes to give them a world where the red, white and blue would triumph. Now? I don’t see patriotism as much as a part of it as then – but clearly, I want the clarity that heroes can provide. I can’t understand American politics, terrorism, racism and economic crises. Sure, I’m an adult, and yes, I know what those things are – I just wish there was some grand solution out there for everything. Admittedly, that’s not going to happen. But I do know when I go to the theatre in a couple of weeks that Daredevil will somehow find a way to defeat Bullseye and the Kingpin (albeit in a terrible, dreadful costume).

That’s one of the beauties about City of Heroes. Everyone will, well, be a hero. We can go to a place, just for a little while, where there will be evil to be fought – and at the end of the day, we can all rejoice in the triumph – and then march off to the next fight. For just a little while, we can hold back the grayness of the real world and immerse ourselves in the four colors of City of Heroes. I simply can’t wait, and hope you can’t either.

That’s it for now. See you in Paragon City.


And they were all signed lovingly by Statesman.

[Arzen]

that's like four times as long as my tl;dr threshold. Unless it's a subject I care about.



I guess dellis might like this thread.