Retire the Title: The Answer to "Who Will Wield the Shield?"

Welcome back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all things going on in the world of nerd!

I know what you're thinking, "hold on, you said the last post was your last one," or "WOW that was a very short hiatus." First off, this is not an end to the hiatus, and this will truly be the last post for a while. However, there is something that has come up, that I have really wanted to talk about, and honestly should have been my final article. However, with Black Panther releasing tonight, I figured now would be a good as time as any to talk about this. Before we get to that though, I would like to dedicate my final post of Comic Relief! to my son James who was born at 2:36 pm on Friday, February 9th. James, if you ever find yourself reading this in the future, I want you to know that while I hope that comics serve as much an inspiration to you as they did to me growing up, that I won't expect you to follow down the same footsteps. I want you to pursue things in life that inspire you, whatever they may be (within reason). I love comics, that's why I started this blog, but you are my son, and at this point there is no greater passion of mine than being your father. So this last article is for you. It may not be my final one ever, but until there is a time where I feel like one won't infringe upon the other, you have my undivided attention.

That being said, let's move on to the purpose of this article. Ever since it has been stated that Chris Evans' departure from his role is imminent, fans have argued over who should succeed him as the Sentinel of Liberty. A large part of the community, including myself, really wants to see Bucky take up the mantle as he did in the iconic Death of Captain America arc: Burden of Dreams written by Ed Brubaker (probably one of the best authors to write for Cap since his inception). While there has also been petition for Sam Wilson to take up the mantle as he did briefly over the past few years, a third option has presented itself.

Black Panther director Ryan Coogler stated in an interview, a week back or so, that initially he intended to introduce Elijah Bradley, The Patriot (if you recall I wrote a character appreciation of him), in the film. Now, I was very excited when I heard this, but I also wasn't disappointed that it didn't happen as Eli Bradley honestly has no place in a Black Panther. I mean for one, he lives in New York city, and for another, he has very little connection to Black Panther in the books. No, Eli Bradley has far more of a place in a series like Luke Cage, or perhaps maybe even his own film altogether. The Patriot could take the mantle that Cap had in his films, a leader and a representation of the spirit of his country.

Times have changed, and it's about time Marvel start to focus on bringing in a next generation of heroes to the spotlight. Perhaps the answer to Cap is that Cap is actually done, his chapters are over, however that does not mean he didn't inspire so many others. The great thing about Eli Bradley is that while most people associate him to a Captain America protege, it's not the one you would think. He wants to be like his grandfather, the black Captain America, and while he has come to look up to Steve as well, he still aspires to be the man he grew up seeing as his hero.

If this film is made, I do hope that Ryan Coogler is tapped to direct. His formula he used for Creed, the Rocky spinoff about Apollo Creed's son, is an amazing template for a film about The Patriot. Having a young Eli Bradley seek mentorship from Steve Rogers, or Sam Wilson because of the damage the super soldier serum did to his grandfather's mind later in life would be a great premise for a film and would provide a nice contrast to what they do with Tony Stark and Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Not only that but you could use the film as a commentary on more localized issues such as gang violence, police/minority relations, and social activism. There is a quote I have used about Captain America in several of my articles at this point:

He was the American Truth. The face behind the mask was our own

However, Steve Rogers may not be the best representation of that truth anymore. The current truth of America is far more diverse, so maybe it is time for a new champion to arise in his place. Perhaps the mantle of Captain America should retire, perhaps it is time for the rise of The Patriot.

This has been my final post of Comic Relief! AGAIN! I hope you have enjoyed all that I have had to say over the past year and a half. Stay nerdy!

A Step in the Wrong Direction: A Commentary of Logan a Year After the Fact

Welcome to the final edition of Comic Relief! where we have talked about as much about the world of nerd as I could do.

Before we get to addressing the modified greeting today, I want to first thank everyone that has come out to support me on this page. My posts have collectively gathered over 4,000 reads, and to be able to reach such a wide audience on my own feet with you to support me has been a truly humbling experience. However, I feel like I have been unfair to you. This pages mission statement was to give my readers the low down on all things going on in the nerd community and in that regard I have utterly failed. It's not a failure that truly weighs on me as it was an impossible task for me to achieve on my own, and even though I had offers to help run the page, life proves to be a gargantuan obstacle that gets in the way of small hobbies like writing a blog. This will be my final entry, FOR NOW. Within the next 6 days or perhaps even the next few hours I am going to witness the birth of my son: James Scott Oden. Between my wife's pregnancy, and my hours at my new job, writing these posts have been very hard to do, and now with my first kid being on the horizon, I feel that the amount of times I'll be able to open a web browser, let alone write a post will be few in number. So this is a close in the chapter of writing for me in Comic Relief! and while there is a lot I would love to talk about (Black Panther's great opening reception, the god awful Venom and Solo trailers, or the AMAZING Deadpool 2 or Avengers: Infinity War spots), there has been an issue that I have very much wanted to discuss, James Mangold's scrutiny over the super hero genre and whether or not Logan is a testament prove the worth of his words.

Over the past few months Director and Screenwriter of Hugh Jackman's final hurrah as the Wolverine has made some very public displays in interviews on his opinion of the superhero genre. To save you a lot of time drudging through a lot of explicit remarks that to a degree are downright distasteful, we'll just say that he doesn't like anything about them. He feels that they are super saturating the medium of film, that they lack any emotional weight, and most recently that he despises post credit scenes with a venom reserved by most people for things of actual detriment like terrorists or rapists. With Mangold's Logan being nominated by the academy for best original screen play, it begs to question by many: does he have a point? and while there is certainly glimmers of truth in what he says, the short answer of it is: no, and furthermore it should be noted that James Mangold additionally doesn't have a particularly great platform to stand on as, well, James Mangold has yet to make a good, TRUE superhero film.

If you made it to this paragraph without foaming at the mouth and rage quitting before I get to explain myself, I want to thank you for taking the time to actually hear out an opinion that may heavily differ from your own, please give yourself a pat on the back from me in thanks. Anyways, there are a lot of elements to creating a good super hero film. However, there is one thing that surmounts all others in that regard: respect of source material, of legacy, and of characters. All it takes is for you to watch Logan closely, and it is very clear that James Mangold holds none of these things sacred. One scene in particular stands out in support of this. There is a scene where Daphne Keene's X-23 is reading a comic book. It's an X men book and the characters are dressed in the iconic garb that you'd see in a Jim Lee book from the 80's & 90s. Logan takes the book and says "Look at this, this is all a bunch of bullshit - it wasn't like this!" Now to the plain observer this is trying to show the exaggeration of the truth that goes behind building a legend, but if you look behind the scenes of it all, it's very clear that Jame Mangold incorporated this scene for one reason: he HATES super heroes. Hugh Jackman has petitioned countless times over the years to adopt his iconic costume in film, and Logan was no different. However, this scene was a way for Mangold to give fans the middle finger and say: THIS IS MY MOVIE  I DO WHAT I WANT! Ultimately, what he wanted was to make a good movie, and a good western at that. In these aspects he succeeded. Logan was a brilliant film, and a gritty homage to the spaghetti Western with love notes to films like Shane and The Magnificent Seven, however, delivering a good super hero movie requires the one thing Mangold didn't have, nor was he interested in bringing to play: love for the character and the universe that surrounds him.

However that's not to say that Mangold didn't have his points. The success of the film does speak volumes to it in fact. It's interesting to see that the thing that so hindered the original X men films, an inability to commit wholly to the story's super hero routes, is the thing that made Logan so well received. Several critics lauded Logan because it did not feel at all like a superhero film, and since its release many have clamored for more films like it. It's sad really because this film is literally a step backward for the genre, so why does it seem that everyone sees this as a pioneering film in the genre? The answer is that Manigold is right about one thing, the genre has become super saturated. Super hero films are almost getting to a point where the might as well be a completely different medium to critique by. After the negative reviews by critics of Justice League, but the fairly positive fan reception, many have begun to question if Super hero movies should actually be critiqued in the same fashion as other films because the audience that goes to see them has entirely different expectations from a film like that. I don't have a solution to that problem, but I do know that while a film like Logan may be a breath of fresh air, the grass always looks greener from the other side, and having seen both sides of this fence, I much prefer the shade of green we have now to then.

I hope you have enjoyed this article and the content I have provided over the past year or so. Hopefully I will be able to post again sooner rather than later, but until then, this has been Comic Relief! stay nerdy and TTFN