Black a Comic that Forces Us to Look at Race in America

Welcome Back to another edition of Comic Relief! where we talk about all the goings on in the world of nerd!

This edition is a bit of a throwback, this was a piece I wrote while I was still with Moviepilot, however, since it no longer exists, but I still support this author and what he was trying to do, I decided to republish it here. So enjoy!

Since their inception in the late 30's & early 40's, comics have been used as a force for social change. In the 30's and 40's they spoke out against Hitler, and fought the Nazi's right alongside our soldiers, in the 60's and 70's Superheroes fought for racial equality and upheld ideals brought about by the Civil Rights movement. So what is the struggle of our generation, of our today. Every day it is impossible not to scroll down a news-feed, or turn on a television to find more tragedies surrounding police violence and strife in African American community. Police brutality, racial profiling, and racial equality are topics that ceaselessly find their way on the tips of everyone's tongues, and in a country that boasts about it's equality, it becomes harder to accept that these transgressions continue. The comic book world is aware of this as well. That brings us to a graphic novel called BLACK.

Click me!

I first heard about this title back when it launched its kick-starter in February and now with it on the verge of release I felt compelled to share it with the community here at moviepilot. Anyways, I got ahold of series creator Kwanza Osajyefo, and I did a quick Q&A with him about his upcoming graphic novel: Q: So in the description of the comic, you say "In a world that already fears and hates them, what if only Black people had super powers?" (great concept by the way), would you mind expanding a bit about what is going on in this series? A: BLACK takes place in a world very much like the world we live in today. One in which we’re still struggling with race issues, in particular those involving Black people. The main character, Kareem, is a victim in a police shooting, and that’s where the story diverges from our reality: He wakes up in a ambulance, unscathed. That immediately thrusts Kareem into a world that’s been very purposefully hidden from public knowledge – a world where only Black people exhibit superhuman abilities. Q: Obviously we have seen several tragedies in the news, especially over the past year or so in regards to police shootings and racial profiling. Now I know that this concept has been brewing for a while, but was there any particular moment where you saw something like this happen that may have contributed to the story you put forward? A: I came up with the concept for BLACK about ten years ago. It was a combination of my experiences as a person of color in the US mixed with a love of comics. In those stories, heroes are shunned by society and still have to survive. In that context these characters wore flashy costumes that they could take off and pass as “normal.” It made me think about how eyebeams and retractable claws are not a strong parallel to the issue of bigotry they represent. Because, for the most part, they can hide in plain sight, mutants were not getting pulled over for driving a nice car, or murdered because they are in the wrong neighborhood. Black people don’t get to pass in society like an X-Man hoping to not be discovered. We walk down the street and there are people putting targets on our back for no reason other than skin tone. BLACK is my way of tethering sci-fiction to relevant and important issues. Q: To steer away from the story here for a second, I want to say I LOVE the cover. The use of the noir style emboldening with red conveys a certain eeriness and is the first thing that kind of drew me in, now I've seen the sketches that you have put up on the page, but will the final product keep that same kind of noir feel to it that you see in the cover, or what exactly would you say the tonal scheme will be for your book? A: The cover theme was brilliantly conceived by Khary Randolph. I had a number of suggestions -- mainly a single, impactful focal point -- but after telling him the plot he created a cover that succinctly incorporated the story and current events in a simple yet complex piece of art. And that’s tone of the book, a concept that is simple to grasp yet with many layers to peel back. Jamal Igle’s interiors help ground the fantastic because these characters don’t live in a world where they can thwart societal norms and the world isn’t fundamentally changed — for better or worse.

Q: Thank you so much again, it has been great chatting with you about BLACK, I look forward to reading the graphic novel when it hits shelves in September, and I wish you and your team the best of luck! However, I do have one last question for you, and that is if people take anything away from BLACK what would you hope it to be? A: That this is science fiction, but the issues it touches upon are not. BLACK does have a certain perspective but it is not a book for any one group of people. It’s part of the American story whether some are willing to acknowledge it. We’ve been fed a particular narrative for so long that something like BLACK may seem disruptive, but it’s been part of our story since before any of our time; we just need to listen — or in this case read. Once again, I want to thank you Kwanza Osajyefo for the opportunity to talk to him about his upcoming work, I realize time to be very valuable and for as talented a creative team as his it means a lot that they would take that time to talk to me about their project. As someone who was raised Jewish, I have learned most of what I know about prejudice through the history of my own people. Throughout their history, my ancestors struggled through hate, slavery, and flat out murder by the world around them. In the Jewish community we have a motto in reference to the holocaust: "Never Again." It is in reference to the fact that while we were being placed in ghettos, rounded up like cattle, and slaughtered by droves, the world turned it's head away rather than take a hard look and tell Germany: No More. Never Again is about ensuring that in the face of another such struggle, that we (not just the Jewish community, but the world) will not turn away again. Now I look around at the world, and more closely the country I live in, and what I see scares me. The hate that has been sewn over generations has been unleashed tenfold it seems, and victims are at every corner screaming upon deaf ears for help. I see this graphic novel as an opportunity to lend society a bunch of hearing aids and wake up to the world around them, to allow the cries of those victims be heard. I write this article because I feel that this comic embodies those words, that mission: "Never Again." Even the smallest voices can move the world to change, and I feel that this voice could be a loud one.

BLACK in a world that already hates and fears them, what if only black people had super powers? The Collection of this Run is now available in Trade Paperback!

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Comic Relief!

Thanos & Iphigenia: The Mad Titan at Aulis

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

Whenever I read a comic book or watch a superhero film, I always find it very hard to not compare the material presented to the great myths that came before. Comic books after all are a form of modern mythology, heroes that embody the traits that we as a society hold dear struggling against overwhelming odds and overcoming them, it's nothing new, but the romanticism of heroes has been a cornerstone of society since the beginning. After seeing Avengers: Infinity War a second time, I was allowed to be a bit more comprehensive in what I absorbed, and so like all the stories that have come before it, I began to draw parallels to certain myths. What I saw in that film had a certain familiarity to it, it resonated with a story that shaped my interests at a young age, Infinity War felt like a cosmic retelling of the Trojan War. Not all the pieces are there of course, there is no Helen, no city fated to fall, no conflict to last 10 years, but the scope of the conflict match, and the film does form its finale over a siege to gain the final Infinity stone (in a way I guess you could say that Vision is Helen now that I am thinking about it), but still the point is there are similarities. However, there is one in particular that I would like to focus on, and that is the MASSIVE similarities between this film's villain/protagonist: Thanos, and the Homeric hero, Agamemnon leader of the Achaeans.

In the stories of the Trojan War, the character of Agamemnon has a recurring narrative of sacrifice. It seems that in order for victory to be achieved, Agamemnon is constantly force to pay a price. It is important to note the first MAJOR similarity between these two is that like Thanos, Agamemnon is a very successful warlord and has a hold on a vast number of territories, the only economic power to rival his Mycenae was in fact Troy. It is important to remember that while Agamemnon may be fighting for his brother on the surface, sacking Troy has it's personal benefits and in several versions of the tale, control over Troy's trade routes is a massive motivator for his involvement in the conflict. It's because of this, that in order for Agamemnon to reach Troy, the gods demand a steep price. Artemis, having felt slighted by a lack of offerings made, has plagued the Greeks with unfair winds for travel across the sea. Upon reading the augurs, the high priest of the Greeks says that the virgin goddess of the moon demands recompense in the price of Agamemnon's daughter. While Agamemnon is against this and tries to fight it, his captains create a rouse to bring his daughter Iphigenia to Aulis under the auspice of a fake marriage to Achilles. Agamemnon eventually relents, and the long and short of it is that Iphigenia is sacrificed and the goddess grants the Greeks their favorable wind.  As the leader of the Greeks, sacrifice is what is expected of him, even in the Iliad, which starts 9 years into the conflict, Agamemnon again is to part with his favorite war prize Chriseis to appease Apollo and end his wrath of a plague. Sacrifice is his cross to bare, but his prize in doing so is the sack of the fabled city, and a place in legend that stretches an eternity.

So this is actually not Agamemnon, it's Achilles with Iphigenia, the art was just too damn good. check out the artist here

Thanos also bares that same struggle. He is the only one with the will to do what must be done, and to be the savior of the universe, he must pay a high price. When Gamora takes Thanos to Vormir, they are greeted by a spectral Red Skull (just as a side note, Skull is garbed in an ebony cloak that is very similar to the ones the high priests of old wore, so there are even parallels here to the Greek high priest relaying the augurs to Agamemnon). Red Skull informs Thanos of the price that must be paid to attain the soul stone, that Thanos must sacrifice that which he loves most. However, what's more is that Skull's wording implies that this thing cannot be material, it must have be a living being:

An equal price must be paid, a soul for a soul.

While there were probably more scenes initially to hammer this point home that were probably taken out due to time constraints, it is very clear from what is shown in the film that Gamora did in fact hold a special place among Thanos' "children." Out of all of them, Thanos saw Gamora as most like an actual daughter. Thanos drags his daughter to the edge of the cliff, and hurls her to her demise, and the sacrifice is paid. The soul stone reveals itself to Thanos, and this serves as the film's climax as Thanos knows where the last two stones are and can claim them himself. At the end of the film, as the dust clears Thanos has a vision of a young Gamora that asks him what the cost was to achieve his goal. Thanos weeps in his reply of a single word: "everything." Thanos has won, but what was the cost?

A similar question can be asked of Agamemnon. To sack Troy he had to sacrifice Iphigenia, and while he did eventually it took 10 years of his life to do so. Enough time for his wife to find a new lover, and in her resentment over the murder of her daughter, plot Agamemnon's murder. Agamemnon returns home where he is murdered by his wife during his evening bath. Agamemnon took Troy, and it cost him literally everything as well. It is interesting to think on if Thanos' own sacrifice of Gamora will have a similar cost. This is not me laying down any theories of what may happen in Avengers. It's just that the tragedy of these two characters is parallel in so many ways that I can't help but be fascinated. I hope it was intentional, but even if not, it's fun to see how much these old stories can effect us subconsciously while we create the legends of the next generation.

I hope you have found equal fascination in these revelations as well, this has been another edition of Comic Relief! We'll see you next time!

Infinity War: Ten Year Culmination Point of a Universe (SPOILER REVIEW)

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

10 years ago a journey began to bring comics to life with the release of Iron Man. With the success of the film, a spark was struck and the Marvel Cinematic Universe began. After a first "phase" of films we saw heroes unite in a way we had never seen before on the big screen in 2012's Avengers Assemble. The film showed that on a day unlike any other, when Earth was in it's most dire need, their mightiest heroes would come together and fight as one. The Avengers brought Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to the screen to save the world from a Chitauri invasion led by Loki, god of mischief. They won on that day, but from beyond the wormhole that the chitauri came through, we got a glimpse of this universe's endgame as we got our first look of the Mad Titan's grin, Thanos was coming for the Avengers. This past friday, we saw 10 years of story telling through film culminate in the true arrival of Thanos. It was time for Earth's Mightiest Heroes to meet their match. Avengers: Infinity War is a story you've never heard before, it's the story of how the Avengers were not enough, it's the story of how Thanos won.




It's very hard to find the words to talk about this movie. Since release I have seen it twice, and still it's definitely hard to bring my thoughts to words in a coherent matter. I guess where I should begin is that this movie is by far THE BEST Marvel film to be released. It has ambition, it has action, and it drags your emotions kicking and screaming through the film as you watch your favorite heroes struggle against this insurmountable might. Thanos is the villain we've all been waiting for, in both the time we have waited, and the expectations we have had for the character. Within the first five minutes of the film we see the mad Titan (without the use of an infinity stone) beat seven shades of green out of the Hulk, kill Heimdal, and choke Loki to death. Thanos is a force unlike any we've seen prior and this film wants you to recognize it.

When approaching a film of this MASSIVE of an ensemble, you must focus the narrative somehow. This leads to what makes this film so very unique. The protagonist of this film is none other than the mad Titan himself: Thanos. This is the story of his quest for power. He wishes to save the universe by a controlled genocide of half the universe' population. He can only do this in his lifetime with the use of all 6 infinity stones that he uses through a conduit called the infinity gauntlet. This is Thanos' story, and while it differs very much from the sadistically evil bastard we know from the books, it is a story that is compelling nonetheless. He is a villain that is convinced that salvation can only be achieved through his way, and he is the only one with the will to attain it. This is not an Avengers story, sure they are a big part of it, and certain members have prominent arcs: Thor is on his quest to avenge his fallen brother and friend, Iron Man is leading a team to stop Thanos on Titan, Cap is assembling who he can to protect Vision in Wakanda, all have a part to play in this tale, but it is not theirs. It's because of this that the movie shines the way it does. It's a villain piece, and what's more, with a snap of his fingers, he wins!



There are many things that stand out in this film, it's narrative, the effects, the fights, but none stand in toe with the film's greatest achievement, it's finale. There's a snap, and then a harrowing silence as half the heroes on screen fall to ashes, fading from existence. It's a quiet that is so loud it reaches out to the audience and takes hold over it. As the last avenger to die, Peter Parker, begs to be saved by his mentor, Mr. Stark, the silence is only broken by a sound of tears being snuffled, and then Thanos. Thanos enters his sanctuary, sits down, and looks out to his paradise he's earned, and sighs in relief. The screen goes black and the credits roll. Again there is silence, one of hope that the film can't be over, but it is. We have to wait a year for the story to conclude, without a single idea where the story may go.
To me, Avengers: Infinity War, is the film that defines and shapes a generation. The most notable example of another film like this is Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back. Just as "I am your father," has become an unforgettable moment in cinema history, so too will Thanos snapping his fingers to result in wiping half of existence. I give Avengers: Infinity War a solid 10. This film is what every major comic film should strive to be, and has set a new gold standard for the genre, leaps and bounds ahead of anything trying to compete.
This will not be the only post I write on this film. I am going to do one comparing themes in Infinity War to themes in the Homeric mythology, most notably Thanos' similarities to Agamemnon. However, I'll shelf that for then.
Till next time, this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you have enjoyed and we'll see you next time!

10000 Ships Sail to Troy in Netflix's Troy: Fall of a City

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

WE ARE BACK! Not regularly by any means, but after a few months of juggling baby, job, and personal time, I have finally found a little sliver of time to re dedicate towards writing. I will not be regularly posting, BUT when I have something written worth your time to read, I will post it. So that being said, there is something I need to say before I get into this piece.

The Iliad is a story that is VERY  precious to me. A special illustrated (very abridged) version of the book served as my favorite bed time story growing up, and if there is one thing I am as passionate about as much as I am for comics, it's my love of Greek myth/ history, in particular when it comes to this tale. So, whenever Hollywood decides to reopen the door to the iconic war poem, my ears perk up and I begin to listen. From the several lackluster Helen of Troy films and awful miniseries (shuddering at the thought of hearing Joe Montana scream "Kneel before Achilles"), to the most recent Troy (4 really great Achilles fights surrounded by 2 hours of utter garbage and destruction of source material), I have paid attention and sadly been disappointed whenever the Hollywood adaptation monster rears its ugly head. However, for the first time I am pleased to say that we finally have a very decently accurate representation of the myth of the Trojan war. Netflix released the BBC produced Troy: Fall of a City here the other day and after binge-watching through it something fierce while taking care of my son. I had some thoughts I wanted to relay to my community what I thought.

This is the Achilles from the book my dad read to me, He is how I always see the character internally

I first heard about this production a few months back when they announced the casting for Achilles. This was a subject of some great controversy that had initially turned me off to the show so hard that I completely forgot about its existence and only realized what I was watching when Achilles was officially revealed to be played by a black actor. Why is this a problem? Because Achilles' defining traits physically are pale skin and fiery hair, some interpret this as blonde, others as red. So, a bald and black Achilles is a bit off putting as someone who is as dedicated to the myth such as I am. However, I was forced to re confront this while watching the show, and it honestly didn't matter in the slightest, and I will get back to that later. For now let's talk about the show and what I thought of it.

The Victories

This show is quite easily the truest interpretation of the myth of Troy that we have had thus far in any Hollywood adaptation. The first two episodes alone show the story's beginnings better than anyone ever has. Then as the show goes on, it takes certain creative liberties that only hone the myth. They even managed to make this conflict feel like it took place over a very long period of time, maybe not a decade, but certainly five years at least which already puts it ahead of the last time we visited this time in history on film. However, if I were to rate this show a number from 1 to 10, I would go with a 7.9. There are two or three massive problems with the show. I do want to talk about these flaws, but I want to dedicate the time and reasons as to why they are a problem in it's own section. For now, let's talked about what I liked.

First of all design. Holy shit was the design of pretty much everyone and everything perfect. The armor looks period accurate, we don't see Corinthian style helmets running around good centuries before they were even invented, however you can see certain styles of helmets that tease the eventual evolution of this iconic helm. The set pieces are equally beautiful, and Troy looks like they took what has been portrayed in most films scaled down to a more realistic scale based off of the archaeological evidence left at the dig site for Troy. Along with design, we are gonna throw in cast. With exception to two characters that appear for all of 2 seconds, the cast of this film was tremendous (special shout outs to the actors who portray Priam, Agamemnon, Hecuba, Andromache, and Odysseus), and there is one cast decision I want to talk about: Achillles.

Troy made big waves by giving us some of the best Achilles focused fight scenes of all time, and for many people Brad Pitt's take on the character is the quintessential version. However, as great as those action sequences were, nothing about Brad Pitt's portrayal outside of them particularly stands out, and this is where these two portrayals differ. While we may not get something nearly as epic as the beach scene in Troy, we do get plenty of display of Achilles being a bad ass, but more importantly we get a guy who plays this character better than ANYONE before him. It became very clear to me that this man was chosen not to "blackwash" (a term I have seen on many internet forums of late in reference to this  decision), but because this man plays the shit out of this part and truly gets the character. Honestly you get that off of the first time you really get to spend any time with him. They are at a negotiation with Priam about the return of Helen, and Achilles is silent the whole time. When negotiations begin to crumble and Paris bursts in to try and keep Priam from sending Helen away, Achilles stands up and puts his hand on his sword and everyone shuts up. He proceeds to bow to Priam, and then he looks at Helen, smiles and promises that they will be back soon enough (a jab that this war will be over all to briefly). He is menacing in his armor, he has a warriors pride and stands by his honor, this Achilles is everything he is in myth and it's honestly he steals the show in most of the scenes he is in.

When one talks about Achilles, the question of how's the combat is one that goes hand in hand. This is the story of the Trojan War after all. When we get to see fights they are incredible. The first battle they show is amazing and feels like one of the passages of the Iliad as the three goddesses who drove this conflict to begin with cast their respective blessings to the heroes of both sides and they clash. Fight choreography for single duels is very well done as well, and they are really enjoyable to watch. However, I do feel that right here is the perfect place to transition to talking about the flaws this series had.

The Blows Taken

This series did a lot of things very well, however there are 3 major problems. Perhaps the biggest of these is that it doesn't fully commit to the "myth" aspect, it plays around in it and honestly it is a massive hurt for the show. We get this amazing first battle that's a slow mo clash of the two armies while these goddesses bestow their blessings, however this is the first and last time a battle is done this way. Don't get me wrong first impressions are everything, but one would hope you'd maintain the impression initially made. By not committing to the mythical aspect of the show it also really hurts the time we get to spend with the heroes of these books. Diomedes is probably my close second favorite character of the Iliad, he gets an entire chapter where Athena grants him the ability to see interfering deities so that he can drive them from the battlefield. While Achilles is on the sideline, Diomedes carries the action of the book. However, by not fully committing to the myth, we lose out on so many great scenes with these great heroes, which leads me to the second problem which is almost as massive. There is a immense lack of warfare for the first half of the show. 

This is a show about the Trojan War, and while it is a 10 year siege, and generally sieges are long stretches of nothing followed by sporadic bursts of conflict, the Iliad is the book it is because of it's graphic displays of war. While I understand the route they take (they focus far more on the statecraft and intrigue going on behind the walls pseudo Game of Thrones style), it's NOT  what people have come for. Why aren't we seeing more Armies bloody each other to the point where two champions are decided to win the day? Why don't we get to see the viciousness of men who, in the loss of their weapons, picked up boulders to bludgeon their enemies to death in hopes to survive. These are things that made the Iliad what it was. It's what etched this story into eternity. We wanted to see war, and while they give us a lot to compensate in the last 3 episodes, it would have been better to have some immediate pay off in the first half of the series. 

While this last complaint is a more minor one, it's one that I have to make. This show tries really hard to make Paris the hero of this story. However, it struggles in doing so (at least for the first half of the series) because when you portray the situation as close to the myth as this show does, it's very hard to route for Paris and Helen when they betray a good man's hospitality, endanger their home city, without any care or regard for the consequences. I understand eventually making Helen sympathetic as a woman who regrets her every decision after 9 years of conflict like she is in the Iliad, however, Paris should be portrayed as one thing: a piece of shit. One of the things that is unique about the Iliad is that between the Greek and Trojan heroes, there were no real bad guys. All of these characters were paragons of their time, embodying the traits of the most honorable and noble of men. However, there was one character that earned the ire of the reader/audience (this was a poem first passed down via oral tradition), Paris. Paris is just as adept a fighter as the rest of the Trojan heroes, and even better than a lot of the Greeks. However, he refuses to fight. He is too busy doting on Helen and hiding behind the walls. He is even where the negative  stigma against the bow comes from. While it has been misconstrued because Archery is a lauded craft in the myths even in the Iliad, the problem is that Paris would rather shoot people behind his wall where he cant really be touched than be out in the fray. This man is your villain! Even from birth he is prophesied as being the destruction of this great city, so stop trying to make him your Romeo protagonist! He is a piece of shit and deserves to be treated as such. The first part of the series he doesn't fight because "the other princes don't let him," but it would have been much better if Paris refused to fight because "you tried to send Helen away, I hate all of you I am gonna go hang out with her instead." It's far more organic to the narrative!

No property is without it's issues, while these issues detract from the show for me, greatly, it doesn't hurt it near enough for it to not be enjoyable to watch or from still being the most accurate depiction of the myth to date. I hope that everyone gives this series a shot as it is so close to the myth, or better yet, that this series inspires its audience to read the epics it's based off of!

This has been another edition of Comic Relief! We will be back when we can.

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

Lazy and Perverse: Why I Hate Crisis on Earth X

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

Well this is a party that I am SUPER late to, and I apologize for that, but it seems that I am glad I waited because there were so many great things to get caught up in that I feel watching this event back when it was happening would have completely derailed my vibe. I say this because I want it to be known that I feel that Crisis on Earth X is a repugnant and awful crossover, and if it weren't for the time I have invested in Arrow and Flash, this crossover would have derailed my support for any of the CW properties (let it be known that I have sworn off Legends of Tomorrow, which wasn't hard because I already found the show to be awful and that it should be replaced with a Booster Gold and Blue Beetle time traveling show, and most of all I have sworn off Supergirl). Let's get started.

To start off I am first going to laud the only things that this crossover did RIGHT. First off, I really enjoyed the Ray. This is how you write an LGBTQ character. His romance with Snart of Earth X isn't forced and completely takes you by surprise in the best way possible, the focus of the character isn't "Hey, I'm gay," (although it is mentioned when they address why he's in a concentration camp), it's "Hey I'm a superhero, and the fact that I am gay shouldn't matter." The reason why it's important to do that, before I get yelled at by someone who is going to misinterpret this and call me a homophobe, is because in the struggle of the LGBTQ community ACCEPTANCE is the most important thing. That being gay is just as normal as being straight. Anyone can be gay, and by having this play out naturally, unlike a certain romance that was incredibly forced into one of the shows in this crossover, we get a character that audiences can actually relate to.  The second and final thing I want to praise was the send off to Victor Garber as Martin Stein. Victor Garber, along with his copilot of Firestorm Franz Drameh, have been pretty much the sole silver lining of the train wreck that is Legends of Tomorrow. Seeing Martin Stein die to save Jefferson, and then Jefferson telling his family and standing with Martin's family during his funeral not just as Martin's partner as Firestorm, but as a surrogate son, was easily the best part about this crossover, and almost redeems just how infinitesimally awful everything else is.

(The scene above does showcase Ray and Snart's Romance, but is not the first revel)

Now let's dive in and start wading through this sewage of an arc. The whole premise of this story is that Barry and Iris' wedding gets crashed by these big bads from another earth. Apparently they come from another Earth, and that in the multiverse there this Earth is so bad that it didn't receive a number, it receives a letter, it's Earth X (evidentally roman numerals aren't a thing in any of the multiverses of the show as X means 10). In this Earth, the Nazis won WWII and conquered the world. While there are small pockets of resistance, it might as well have been Nazi Germany on a global scale. Why people didn't want to complain about this the way they did about the show The Confederates, is beyond me, but let's not get hung up on this. On this Earth there's a Nazi Arrow, a Nazi Prometheus, Supergirl, and Flash. Now this could have been an AMAZING opportunity to switch up things, make some MASSIVE returns of all these shows rogues' galleries, and for the Flash, that's exactly what they did. Tom Cavanaugh returns as the Harrison Wells version of Eobard Thawne, Reverse Flash who is also from Earth 1. This would be REALLY exciting if he played this part with even half the charisma that he did in the first season of The Flash. The rest of these people are complete wastes, Nazi Supergirl (whom I am going to have a gargantuan tangent about here in the next few paragraphs) is just Kara Danvers who grew up on this earth, and despite 16 years of solid parenting on Krypton before it's destroyed, decided that subjugating the oppressed was a better use of her time than setting a good example for the cousin she's supposed to protect. Arrow is just evil version of Oliver Queen, who by the way, is also the Hitler of that universe which makes for one helluva disappointing reveal when you could have had a glorious return of  John Barrowman's Malcolm Merlyn who had realized goals like the undertaking as the supreme leader of a Nazi regime. Tommy Merlyn ends up being the Nazi Prometheus, which is again disappointing as it would have had CONSIDERABLY  more of an impact if Malcolm Merlyn had played a part in this story.

/

The story was bad enough, but look at these horrifically distasteful costumes, like I get why, but... WHY?!

Before I can talk about why Supergirl's story in this crossover was horrific, I have to do a bit of a backtrack. In a list of Superman stories, there is one that I hold dear far above all the rest: All Star Superman. The story in question is that during a rescue mission near the son, Superman's combined exposure to kryptonite and the massive exposure to Yellow sunlight radiation, overload his cells so that he is at his most powerful, however, while he is becoming more and more powerful, the overload in radiation is causing his cells to deteriorate and so he is simultaneously dying. Throughout this arc he reveals his true identity to Lois, and accomplishes all these great and marvelous things to conclude his business on Earth before he dies. It's an amazing story that is a pure homage to Golden and Silver Age Superman. So now you are probably thinking, okay why is this relevant? And the answer is that after they adapted Superman's iconic story For the Man who has Everything by Alan Moore in the first season of Supergril, I had always expected the show to adapt this arc at some point. Crisis on Earth X  is evidently that adaptation, and it's not only in a very unexpected way, it's disgusting.

You may have been wondering why exactly these Nazi Earth X doppelgangers were after our heroes in Earth 1. Well, here's the reason: Nazi Supergirl's blood cells have been over exposed to radiation from their star, which while has made her more powerful, it's also killing her. When she dies there will be a supernova type event, and so they have come to this earth to kidnap this Earth's Supergirl (which is a real funny plot hole because she's not from that Earth or universe) and cut out her heart for a transplant, because evidently an organ transplant will fix the problem of essentially blood cancer. Kara and her doppelganger have many conversations that in a way are kind of meant to parallel Clark's conversations with Lex in All Star Superman, except while one is uplifting and has the villain realize the error of their ways, the other ends up with the hero realizing: "you're right, I should care about me more." I'll let you take a guess as to which is which. What's the absolute worst thing is that this reveal doesn't come into play until like the 3rd episode of this 4 episode arc, so by the time I watched it I had already invested 2 and a half hours of my time, and as much as it pissed me off to see, it would have been worse if I didn't see if they at least used this arc for something good. But no, instead they continued to drag All Star Superman kicking and screaming to a guillotine and cut off it's head in a grizzly manner that allows for the story to lose it's life and essence.

What's even sad is that the characters that get the most focus aren't even the characters I wanted to give a shit about. Sarah Lance, Alex Danvers, Felicity Smoak, and Iris West are the characters with the most screen time and ironically the one of the things that all these characters have in common is that they are easily my least favorite characters in all of their respective shows! Barry does nothing, Oliver just broods and wishes that Felicity will marry him the whole time, and Kara is strapped to a table for most of it. This crossover proves one thing to me, that TV shows are NOT the way  to facilitate a giant superhero crossover, because it was very clear that the reason why they couldn't do much of anything is because it would take WAY  more money than their budget would ever allow for. It's sad that critics and casuals think that this abomination is better than Justice League. Justice League may have had it's flaws, but it at least allowed for me to love the heroes and make them all enjoyable. I had to finish this crossover out of spite for the amount of time I had wasted on it. If you enjoyed Crisis on Earth X,  that's fine, this isn't meant to tell you that you are wrong. I greatly disagree with you, and these are my reasons. If you liked it, GREAT! I'm glad for you! I am glad you didn't feel like your time was utterly wasted as I did.

Anyways, this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you enjoyed, and we will see you again soon!