1.  WOLVERINE 2. Yes, it’ll be in Japan.  Yes, it’ll star Hugh Jackman.  Yes, it’ll start filming in January.  January!  Why not now?  Claremont/Miller’s classic miniseries (and the best Wolverine story ever told) is practically a storyboard!  Even McG could direct it without screwing it up!

2.  UGH-D. I saw Alice in Disney Digital 3D (not iMax), and left annoyed and with a headache.  It’s barely 3D.  It’s more like 3 layers of 2D.  Then, the next day, new research came out showing that 3D causes eyestrain and may affect proper eye development in young people.  Now I learn that Green Lantern will be in 3D.  Not to mention the next Spider-Man and the Alien prequel.  I hope they still show them in “regular D.”  That’s how I saw Avatar, and it was still an amazing visual film.

3.  WB FAILS TO KILL SUPERBOY. They moved him from Thursday to Friday night, but that didn’t kill him.  Smallville has been renewed for Season 10.  Frankly, the move helped me (it no longer competes with so many other good Thursday night shows).  But it’s got to change if it’s going to keep me for another year.  Let him wear a cape, already, and let’s see lots more guest stars.  We want Nightwing!  Oh, and replace Lex Luthor, too.  The show lacks a solid villain, and Zod is kinda mealy mouthed.  I say they turn it into a Teen Titans show.  How great would that be?  And can anyone really argue that this would hurt D.C.’s chances at making another Superman movie?

4.  MORE UGH-D! And speaking of 3D, I saw a 3D preview of Tron Legacy.  Feh.  It doesn’t look so great.  It looks like an excuse to use that damn 3D.  Our kids may be entertained, but they’ll grow up blind.

5.  FRANKENCASTLE UPDATE. Warning: Spoilers ahead (sort of)!  If you read Punisher #16, you already know that the gem at the center of the drama has restorative powers.  I have been assuming that that will be the device used to restore Frank Castle to his original, scarred but bolt-less self.  But now, with issue #17, they’re changing the title of the book to “Frankencastle.”  I’ve been enjoying the storyline, mostly because it was a great way to bring back The Legion of Monsters, but I’m not sure how much longer I want to see Punisher as a superhuman.  Part of the fun of Remender’s Punisher run has been the way he’s helped Frank adapt to fighting in the world of superhumans—beginning with stealing a stash of supergear including Ant Man’s helmet, Doc Ock’s arms, etc., from the Red Hood.  Frankencastle is, essentially, a gimmick.  I’m not sure it can sustain.  But it will be cool to watch the next arc: Frank gets revenge on Daken for slicing him into little bits during the Dark Reign: The List one shot (one of the best-drawn non-Max Punishers I’ve ever read).  Oh, and if he’s staying in the supernatural world, a team-up with Blade seems highly appropriate.  The art in the new arc will be handled by three guys: Tony Moore, Dan Brereton, and Roland Boschi.  They’re all solid, and best of all none of them are Steve Dillon.  Why do people like him?  He’s the reason I don’t even want to bother with Jason Aaron’s reboot of Punisher Max, no matter how good the story sounds like it could be.  Seriously, any of you know why Steve Dillon gets so much love?  He’s not gritty, his art is flat, and it’s cartoonish!

6.  AVENGERS CARTOON. The Avengers have always been my favorite “group.”  I even bought a bootleg transfer of the old Avengers cartoon on e-bay, knowing it would suck, just because something is better than nothing.  So I’m psyched that Disney XD will finally release the new “The Avengers : Earths Mightiest Heroes” cartoon this fall.  52 episodes featuring Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Giant Man and Wasp, preceded by a 20-part “micro-series” telling each of their origins.  This is a huge commitment.  Can’t wait!

7.  THE YEAR OF PATTON.  Do any of you watch the new BSG spin-off/prequel “Caprica”?  Because if you’re not watching it, you’re missing the best new show on T.V.  You’re also missing Patton Oswalt’s best role.  It’s the role he was born to play: A smarmy, cynical, liberal talk-show host.  And now he’s  signed on to write a comic book based on Joss Whedon’s highly underrated movie/TV series “Serenity/Firefly.”  Dunno if it will be any good, but it definitely has a high curiosity factor.

8.  THANK GOD! Deadline Hollywood reports that The Office’s John Krasinski won’t be throwing the shield for Marvel in the Captain America flick.  I had no problem with his age—he’s far younger than the hfolks he’ll be teaming up with in the superflicks (Don Cheadle, Robert Downey, Jr., etc.) because, after all, he was frozen in ice back in his prime, but John K. just doesn’t have the look.  Or the biceps.  I’d rather have seen The Rock in the role than him.  Or a Baldwin brother.  Or Zombie Cap.  Hell, I’d rather have them pick a black actor.  (Actually, that might be kinda cool.)  My first choice is still Jeremy Renner or Sam Worthington.  But John could be Batroc the Leaper.

9.  JACK BAUER. I dunno if “24” counts as comic-type news, but some of you might want to know that the show won’t be back next season.  I say, good riddance—this season is awful.  But they’ve also begun a script for a “24” movie.  Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of a serialized, real-time show?  Are Keifer Southerland’s two expressions (“Grrrr!” and “Ouch!”) really worth seeing on the big screen?

10.  SUPERMAN: LAST BATTLE FOR KRYPTONZZZZZZZ. Finally, a question: Why is it Marvel can handle several simultaneous events, like the Death of Cap/Rise of Bucky alongside Civil War or the current Fall of Hulks/Battle for Olympus/end of Dark Reign, but DC can only seem to manage Blackest Night (and that, just barely)?  Superman is the publisher’s flagship character, and yet nobody seems to care that Supes left Earth a year and a half ago, and now seems poised to return.  I know I don’t care.  (But at least the Nolan/Goyer team has confirmed they’ll reboot Superman after Bat3 wraps.)  Batman, too, has left his own books and is getting ready for the big “Bats: Reborn” treatment.  Yet, again, the only DC “event” that’s making any kind of news is Geoff Johns’.  Seems sad.  I was a big fan of the Braniac story that led to World of Krypton, but as soon as that ended it seemed like Superman went off the rails.  They need to invest in that character, make us care again….What do you all think?

I know I’ve already written about this, but now that we’re almost in The Heroic Age, I thought I’d revisit who is appropriate for the main Avengers title.  I mean, who would best represent what the team is supposed to be: The best of Marvel, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, protectors of our world from cosmic threats like Thanos, The Collector, Baron Nefaria and the Masters of Evil (and Egghead)?  More importantly, who do I want to see Brian Michael Bendis write about?  That’s the key part of this.  After all, having multiple, interlocking Avengers titles just wouldn’t have worked during Dark Reign without a single vision guiding the ship.

I know this isn’t the lineup—that’s already been announced, pretty much–but this is who I’d go for on the main team.  I’d make the team big, like it was back in its heyday, so that we could have multiple simultaneous missions.  Hell, if this was the team, I’d probably read it if it came out weekly!

1.  Captain American and Iron Man. Obviously.  It will be great to read Bendis’ take on how Tony and Steve re-forge a relationship of trust and respect.  But I wouldn’t include Thor.  I like him out on his own, being all Godlike and aloof.

2.  Hawkeye. Bendis has handled the return of Marvel’s archer with superlative skill.  Clint is a fan favorite, even if he doesn’t have powers, and he’s always been a major part of the team.

3.  Yellow-Jacket/Giant-Man or -Woman/Wasp/Ant Man. Or some variation thereof.  They need a size-changer.

4.  Vision. Even if he’s a robot, he was always part of the soul of the team.  Part of that was due to his marriage to Scarlet Witch, and that obviously can’t happen again, but I’d love to see how Bendis could engineer a comeback here.  Maybe the Young Avengers’ version?

5.  Ms. Marvel. Her solo series sucked.  Someone’s got to maintain her rep.

6.  Storm. She needs to get back in the mainstream, and this is a good way to do it.  Black Panther could come in once in a while, too, but I don’t see him as a regular.  Or if she’s unavailable, how about Psylocke?

7.  Hercules. First of all, we all know he isn’t really dead.  Second of all, he would provide some much-needed levity to the proceedings.  Third, this is the heroic age, and who likes being a hero more than Hercules?  I’d say that The Beast could add jokes, but Hank hasn’t been jovial in a long, long time.  If they don’t go with Herc, how about Valkyrie?  They need some Godness on the group.

8.  Quicksilver. I’ve lost track of the character and I’m not sure what he’s up to nowadays, but I always like it when he was on the team.  ‘Cause he’s such a jerk.  He provides the Guy Gardner ingredient.

9.  Amadeus Cho. He could be their Martian Manhunter (or “Chloe” on Smallville)—the genius behind the scenes who keeps it all together.

10.  She-Hulk. Nuff said.

11.  Puck and Shaman (from Alpha Flight).

Note the omissions: Wonder Man (enough already with this reluctant hero); Dr. Strange (borrrring); Sentry (more borrring!).

SIDE TEAMS!

Side teams could include:

1.   Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, and Wolverine. I really enjoyed them on New Avengers, but Wolverine is over-exposed and they never really made good use of him on the team—he never really got a chance to shine.  And Cage and Spider-Woman already got too many chances to shine—he’s not really a “cosmic challenge” type of guy, and she’s certainly not one of Marvel’s “mightiest heroes.”  And both of these qualifiers apply to Spidey, too, who is terrific in Bendis’ hands, but it’s time to let the boy go.

2. And how about Dazzler for some Bendis rebooting?  I always liked her.

3.  Power Pack/Young Avengers. This seems like a potential crew on its own—a young team that needs a solid mentor.  (Maybe this is what “Avengers Academy” will be about?)  Luke and Jessica Jones, perhaps?  Or maybe Bucky Cap and Black Widow?  Anyone but Nick Fury.

4. Speaking of Nick Fury, I could see him in charge of a SHIELD Avengers team—some kind of strike force for special, Earth-based missions, with a group of stealthy and/or hard-to-control fringe types like Ghost Rider, Deadpool, Nightcrawler, Mystique, Elektra, White Tiger, Taskmaster or Bullseye (don’t know where they’ll end up after Siege), the now-reformed Silver Samurai, and Iron Fist.  With Wolverine as a hanger on.  Fur will fly.

5.  War Machine! (That’s a gimme and a given, I think.)

What do you all think?

DO UPLOADS

In our last episode we left you at M.  Picking up where we left off . . .

M is for Josh Milland’s take on O Superman (Laurie Anderson cover).  Laurie was one of those weird thoughtful chicks that girls with hairly legs liked.  And Peter Gabriel liked her.  For a while at least.

M is also for mash up: To the Taxmobile!-Beatles vs. Batman.

N is for No One Likes Superman Any More-I Fight Dragons. I just love the name of this band. And the name of this song.

N is also for New World Symphony’s Theme from Wonder Woman. Maybe the greatest campy theme song of all time.

O is for one hit wonder (sort of).  Superman’s Song-The Crash Test Dummies. This song was released independently in Canada before a major label picked the band up. It was a minor hit. Then they released that hugely popular “mmm mmm” song, and went to shit. The rest of their catalog is Godawful. I hear they’ve got a new record coming out soon, but I haven’t heard the music.

P is for Paramore’s cover of “My Hero” by The Foo Fighters.

P is also for Pocket Full Of Kryptonite-Spin Doctors (live-direct link)

Q is for nothing. Sorry. I got zero here.

R is for Red Krayola’s Portrait of Wile E. Coyote. This is just weird. Not superhero, cartoon. But ok.  And really, with all his devices from Acme, he’s kinda like the Looney Tunes version of Batman.

S is for Da Superfriendz-MF DOOM. The Masked rapper draws his name from Victor Von Doom, so you can always count on him. His “Hey!” song samples Scooby Doo, he’s got tons of cartoon soundbytes and drops . . . And then there’s this typically esoteric, conceptual song about a battle that has little to do with the Superfriends, other than it’s name and the last two words of the songs. Instead, there’s references to JLA, Doomsday, Inspector Gadget, G.I. Joe, The Little Rascals . . . Lots of folks. A terrific rap, featuring Vast Aire.

S is also for Sub Mariner. One of a few classic themes I’m tossing in here: Namor, The Submariner.

T is for Time Loves a Hero-Little Feat (live version).

T is also for Libby Johnston’s “Twenty Superheroes.” Her new album, Perfect View, is a nice collection of female singer-songwriter folk, on Wrong Records. For more information, go to her site.

U is for the umlaut I can’t type in Husker Du’s bandname. They, like a bunch of people, covered Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman.” In the zipfile, you’ll find the Husker Du version along with Bob Walkenhorst, The Films, and Charlie Hunter’s jazz jam version.

V is for versus: Jukebox Hero versus the 1980s, by DJ John. One of my favorite extended mashups. Is a jukebox hero a superhero? I guess not. But it’s fun anyway.

W is for probably my favorite true Super Hero rap ever. I’ve posted it here before. Who’s a Hero?-MF DOOM and Trunks. I have no idea where you can find the EP it’s off of, “Unicron,” but if you can, I highly recommend it. Haven’t heard of this Trunks chap before or since, but dude spits fiya.

W is also for Will Power’s “Spider Man” song. From that great old TV show, The Electric Company.

X is for the X in Coxon. A Time for Heroes (Libertines cover)-Graham Coxon.

Y and Z are for Your Zip file! Hoo-rah!

1.  FLASH NEWS FLASH! Rumor is that before it even hits the screen, the Green Lantern movie is so good that one of its writers, Great Berlanti, has been tapped to make a Flash flick.  And the movie is on the (ahem) fast track.  It’s about time D.C. stepped up.  Of course, it may be too late.  If Kick-Ass is a hit, we may be seeing an end to unrealistic cape capers, and a movement towards neorealism.  (Which would be a boon for a Daredevil reboot!)

2.  LET’S RAP ABOUT CAP. Another rumor says that the Captain America has been put on hold.  I hope they’re firing the director.  The Wolfman sucked, and dude has not been doing the hero justice in his public discussions about Steve Rogers.

3.  GHOSTBUSTERS 3!(?). There have been dozens of rumors about a third “Ghostbusters,” especially around the time the video game came out last year, so it’s hard at this point to give credence to any of them.  But this time it was Bill Murray himself spreading the news that he’d come back for a threequel as the ghost of his character, Peter Venkman.  Who knows if it’s true at this point.  All I know is, Murray was fantastic in Zombieland.

4.  METRIC VS. SCOTT PILGRIM. Finally, a way to combine my two favorite things: Music and comics!  The soundtrack to the upcoming comic-turned-Michael-Cera-film ,Scott Pilgrim, features a band you’ve never heard of, “The Clash At Demonhead,” whose music is actually played by a band you have heard of, on this site, many times . . . Metric!  The band posted a song, “Black Sheep,” on their Facebook page.

5.  MOUSE GUARD. And in a paragraph for my wee ones, the exceedingly high quality kids graphic novel series, David Petersen’s “Mouse Guard,” promises to grow by two titles this year.  First, “Legends of the Guard” will be a gonzo book by Petersen’s friends and associates consisting of one-and-dones.  Second, “The Black Axe” will take place before the first Mouse Guard book and will feature the origins of Celanawe.  One of the Legends tales will be featured on Free Comic Book Day.  Now, when will the movie be developed?

6.  WANTED 2! Apparently, the movie is a go, sans Jolie.  She was hardly the best part about the first one, anyway, which I thought was a really solid action flick.

7.  MORE WOLVERINE! I guess Logan got jealous of all the Deadpool books out there, ‘cause they’ve announced yet another Wolverine monthly.  In addition to Weapon X, Wolverine, X-Men, whatever Avengers book he’s in, and Dark Wolverine.  Oh, and X-Force sometimes, too.  And guest shots.  What makes this one special?  Neal Adams!  I wouldn’t really associate his clear, muscular style with the gritty and dirty Wolverine character, but I’ll take a look at anything Neal does.  He’s a comic God, and he’s been out of the Marvel biz for about three decades now.

8.  PREDATORS. This summer will see the release of “Predators,” and all of my readers who will be at SXSW have a chance to see a preview screening.  It’s produced by Robert Rodriguez, which is a good thing if it’s produced by the dude who did El Mariachi and Desperado, but bad if it’s the dude who made that crapfest with Tarantino a few years back . . . And it stars Laurence Fishburne, which, again, points only to ambiguous potential.

9.  BATMAN AND ROBIN. And not last but least, a brief review of Grant Morrison’s B&R so far: I like the ideas.  The story is cool.  The villains are terrific throwbacks to vintage Bob Kane.  The art is undependable, but when it’s by Cameron Stewart, it’s great.  So why don’t I love this series?  Because, as usual, Morrison expects me to be able to read his mind (and/or know every little bit of Bat-lore) in order to understand the story.  Grant, all the elements of a story are well and good, but they’re just elements.  Story matters.

10.  I’M A BLACK LANTERN . . . WOULDN’T YOU LIKE TO BE A LANTERN, TOO?  Done reading?  Go HERE TO find out which Lantern you are!

Finally, Ekko! That’s what you’re saying, right? It’s about time you combined the two things you dig most in life! Here goes a superpost . . . I limited the inclusion of “themes” because, frankly, that’s just too damn easy.

And this post is just too damn big to be contained in one single day . . . So this is just part one.  You’ll find some of the songs here, but you’ll have to wait for part 2 for the zipfile.

A is for Adam Selzer’s nerd ballad, “Stop Talking About Comic Books or I’ll Kill You.”

A is also for Art Brut-D.C. Comics and Chocolate Milk Shakes. “Some things will always be great! Even though I’m 28!” I’ve never been a big AB fan, or a big DC fan for that matter, but this song is hilarious.

B is for Backyard Tire Fire and Batcapes . . . Walking Up Wearing a Batcape.

C is for comic books.  “Basement bw Comics” by MC Esoteric is pretty much my life story.  See also E.

C is also for Casper the Friendly Ghost-Mike Doughty. Not a super-hero per se, but I couldn’t resist including it.  And what’s the deal with this picture of Casper, anyway.  Just what kind of pictures are they taking?

D is for Tenacious!  Spider-Man-Tenacious D (direct link).

D is also for Superman-Drive-By Truckers (direct link) You know, researching this post taught me that there are a boatload of songs about Superman that have nothing to do with Superman.  This is one of them.  I only posted it because it’s the Drive-By Truckers, and Patterson is like a God . . .

E is for Esoteric.  MC Esoteric is a lot like MF DOOM in that he uses sueprhero themes with frequency.  He’s also a deft producer and skilled rapper.  It was hard to pick just one song of his to throw up here, so I picked two.  The first is under “C” and the other one is “Selling Spidey.”  Fantastic stuff.

F is for the Foo Fighters-My Hero.  See, I’d do Flaming Lips’ own version of Waiting for Superman here (covered under “I”) but I don’t have a bootleg of it and, sadly and surprisingly, the band is part of the RIAA mafia.

G is for David Gillis’ acoustic guitar take on the Spidey theme.  Love this song.

G is also for Superman-Grateful Dead (direct link)

G is for a third thing, too!  Super Hero Brother-G Love and Special Sauce.

H is for the hip hop superhero gang-bang of Super Heroes-Planet Asia. A great name-dropping rap.

H is also for Heroes (David Bowie cover)-The Magnetic Fields.  No, not superheroes.  But I couldn’t resist posting some MFs.  Other than MF DOOM, of course.  Or not:

H is for ho!  Space Ho’s-Danger DOOM. I could probably fill this page with MF Doom songs . . . I love this song, and the whole “DangerDOOM” album.

I is for Iron and Wine!  (Betcha thought I’d post Iron Man, didn’t you?)  Waiting for Superman-Iron and Wine. A Flaming Lips cover.  Not happy with that.  OK, fine . . .

I is for Iron Man.  Turns out I did post it.  But this is the Four Tet song.  Cool electronic instrumental.

I is for, alright, already!  The classic Iron Man theme song! 

J is for Jimmy Swift Band’s romantic-then-jazzy take on the Spider-Man theme.  A seven-minute exploration(!)

J is also for Spiderman-Jill Sobule. A song about those dudes on Hollywood and Vine who dress up like heroes. There’s a great documentary about these folks called “Confessions of a Super Hero.” Highly recommend it.

K is for Kiss the Girl-Undercover Superman.

K is also for Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe, a band that posed the question: Hulk or Thing?  (Clearly it was Hulk.  Any comic nerd who read that great Fantastic Four two-part story knows that.)

L is for Lost in the Sauce by Foul Mouth Jerk, featuring Breeze Evahflowin.  “Streetlight Music” is a fantastic record.  This is the only song about Batman on it.

L is also for Los Lobos-Superman (live version).

M is for . . . More in part two!  But here’s today’s ZIP FILE!  (If any of the above-listed songs are missing, it might be because I accidentally put them in the part two file.  Catch that post, unzip it, and see if it’s there before you complain.  Not that complaining will get you much of anything.)

1.  CONFESSION TIME. I will not be as good a comic-book blogger anymore.  Economics require that I stop buying as many single-issue books.  Therefore, I’ll be focusing on the “trades,” paperback collections of single issues that tend to come out 3-5 months after the last issue contained in the collection.  That means I won’t be reading “Siege” until about August.  I’ll still be up on the buzz and all, but I won’t be as current with the details.  But I’m not sure that you, my readers, really care anyway.  I used to get lots of comments on comic posts, but not so much anymore.  This is more about my own love now, not yours, I guess.

2.  DEADPOOL IS GREAT THIS MONTH!  (ALL THREE OF THEM!) This May, Marvel’s Heroic Age begins–the antidote for the “Cynical Age” which began (formally) with Civil War.  Exploring the difference between a hero and a cynic is Deadpool, who hung up his mercenary status (but only in his main book—“Deadpool Team Up” and “Merc with a Mouth” seem to exist in their own continuity) and tried to join the X-Men (DP #15-18).  Needless to say, it didn’t take.  So now, he’s harassing Spider-Man, trying to learn how to be a solo hero.  Deadpool #19 was laugh-out-loud funny, and although many will complain about Hitmonkey, I thought he was perfect villain for this madcap, unpredictable series.  Daniel Way is terrific—I can’t figure out why I dislike his “Wolverine” work so much—at weaving in Deadpool’s schizophrenic internal dialog and Pool-O-Vision.  Art-wise, we got Carlo Barberi, who was also behind the Deadpool: Suicide Kings
miniseries.  Very solid stuff.

3.  UNBREAKABLE 2???? Bruce Willis let it slip recently at MTV that there might be an Unbreakable 2.  I think he was fishing for work—U2 won’t ever happen.  Don’t get me wrong, the first film is one of my all-time favorite flicks.  But it’s a little late for the sequel, and M. Knight hasn’t made a really good film in quite a while.  Or at least a really good dark film—Airbender looks like it may be good.  I remember reading an interview with M. a long time ago where he said that Unbreakable was actually a trilogy.  If so, I think he’d be better off releasing it as a comic book.  Willis is long in the tooth for the role, unless the sequel takes place many years later . . . Aw, who am I kidding.  I’d sleep outdoors to see the sequel to Unbreakable!

4.  SUPERMOVIE. David S. “Batman Begins” Goyer has, supposedly, written a script for the next Superman movie, “The Man of Steel,” modeled after John Byrne’s classic 1980s take on the character.  Words can’t express how disappointed I was with “Superman Returns.”  I mean, there’s been great Superman films (the first two Richard Donner ones), terrible ones (Richard Pryor??) but never before had there been a boring one.  DC should forget that film ever existed.  Goyer’s script is not an origin story, which is a good thing.  We’ve had too many of those on the screen, and book-wise we just got one last year from Geoff Johns and we’re getting another one next year from JMS.  Enough!  Let’s see Superman be super, already!  The rumor is this one will have both Braniac and Luthor, and Christopher Nolan may also be involved if he finishes with Batman 3 first.  But then again, this could all just be rumor.

5.  RINGS. What isn’t a rumor is that DC is going to be adding White Lantern rings to the rainbow of Green Lantern promo plastic.  I’ve got all seven so far, hanging on the staff of my wife’s statue of the Mayor from Nightmare Before Christmas.  Woo-hoo!
6.  CAPTAIN AMERINERD!  I’ve said before that I’m not impressed by director Joe Johnston’s public statements about the greatest superhero of all time, Captain America.  I’m very nervous about the film.  And now I’m reading that John “The Office” Krasinski is in the running as Steve Rogers?  Please, God, no.  Captain America is supposed to be huge.  I could break Krasinski in two with one hand tied behind my back.  He’s also supposed to be inspiring, not a squishy, loveable goofball.  John K might make a good Fabian Stankowicz, though.  (Anybody catch his clash with Deadpool this month?  Hilarious!)

7.  THE LOSING TEAM. There’s a whole bunch of trailers for The Losers floating around now.  Am I the only one who thinks it looks less interesting than The A-Team?  I might be . . .

8.  SPIDEY (AGAIN). I talk a lot about Amazing Spider-Man here because none of you ever comment on it, which makes me think you’re not reading it, and you should be.  And a good place to start is with this week’s #622, a one-and-done interlude in the “Gauntlet” series, which is bringing back and rebooting all of Spidey’s classic foes.  This issue is about Morbius The Living Vampire, who is an old but not exactly “classic.”  The art chores are picked up by Joe Quinones (there are rotating creative staffs on the Spidey book) and the writing is by Fred Van Lente, who is fast becoming one of my favorite new writers.  (He worked with Greg Pak on Incredible Hercules, picked up the Marvel Zombies series and made it go from just good to great, and has done some really solid kid-oriented comics in the Marvel Adventures line.)  It’s far from the best issue of AmSpM, but it’s a nice introduction into how they’re handling Marvel’s best
character these days.

9.  BLACKEST NIGHT #7. The penultimate issue arrived this week.  This is a series that started out waaaaaay too slow.  I know it’s an epic, but give us some meat with our exposition, please!  Then it picked up speed (almost too quickly) more than halfway in.    Now, just about every dead DC character worth raising (and many who aren’t) is back, has a ring, and is looking for . . . What exactly?  Like most DC epics, I have a hard time understanding why I’m supposed to care about all this, and what the villain really wants.  Marvel does this so much better.  Call it simplistic if you want, but the stakes in everything from Secret Wars (the first of these kind of gang bang sagas) to Siege have always been clear.  Now, we see that Black Lantern Luthor is kind of an idiot—I guess the ring makes you lose IQ points along with any shred of morality, decency, or good hygiene); are told that the real goal of the “evil” lanterns is not evil but death, which is apparently the status quo for the universe (life is unnatural and fleeting, death is a constant); and the meaning of life is nothing more than a collection of our most extreme and identifiable emotions: Rage, Fear, Love, etc.  At first I thought this was deep, but now I see it as just facile.  It’s not that Blackest Night is bad, it’s definitely one of the best DC stories in many years, it’s just that it doesn’t look like it’s really going to change much of anything.  Except that, at the end, Guy Gardner will get his own book, alongside my favorite Green Lantern–Kilowog.  I even have a mini-mate of the snout-nosed powerhouse.  So at least that’s something.

It’s been a while, due to snow and slush and sludge and general hell here on the East Coast, but the News is back . . .

1. DVDs COMING SOON . . . DC and Marvel have been outdoing themselves, and sometimes each other, quite a bit lately. Marvel’s DVD movie line has been of exceptional quality, with the latest solid release being Planet Hulk (co-starring Beta Ray Bill!). DC’s new Justice League DVD “Crisis on Two Earth,” arrives in a few days (can’t wait!), and it will be followed by “Batman: Under the Red Hood.” The script is actually penned by Judd Winick (who authored the 2005 comic book story arc upon which it is based). This was one of the best, and least nonsensical, Batman stories of the past decade, and I think it’s going to be the first DC DVD featuring Nightwing as a main cast member. The next Marvel DVD will be Thor. Not looking forward to that so much—it’s very hard to make Thor good. Only two creators have succeeded, in my book: Walt Simonson and JMS. We’ll see how Matt Fraction does on the book, post-Seige . . .

2. THE BOOK OF AKIRA. All of the reviews I read of The Book of Eli were bad, but I liked the movie. I thought the way it was filmed was interesting, the story was as inventive as post-apocalypse stories can be (sort of a cross between Fahrenheit 451, Road Warrior, and The Road), and who doesn’t like Denzel? Of course, I think most Hughes Brothers projects are good—but I admit that they can be hard to get into. The team is now negotiating an adaptation Atsuhiro Otomo’s “Akira” done as a futuristic Western.

3. SPIDER-MAN IN 3D. The reboot will be in 3D. Ugh. I hate 3D. Stupid glasses. The screen is enough for me, thank you very much. I may actually have to sit this one out. I can’t believe I just wrote that.

4. ANT MAN! Stan Lee discussed (via Twitter) Edgar “Shaun of the Dead” Wright’s work on the Ant Man movie. With him at the helm, it will have to be good, right?

5. NOT ULTIMATE, ASTONISHING! Marvel has announced a new “Astonishing” line, geared towards new readers. Joss Whedon and John Cassaday did this with the X-Men a while back, to great effect (best X-Men run ever, in my view). I’m not a huge Warren Ellis fan, which may be why I haven’t thought much about the Astonishing X-Men post-Joss, but the new books will be two miniseries. The first is Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis by Ellis and artist Kaare Andrews (3 issues). The second, a 6-issue miniseries called, “Astonishing Spider-Man/Wolverine.” The book will be created by Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert. I’m a big fan of Kubert but Aaron, not so much. I don’t get all the hubub over his Wolverine stuff. I find it pretty unimaginative. The Astonishing mini will take place within the regular Marvel Universe continuity but will be self-contained, so new readers can jump right in. Seems like Marvel’s real plan to attract top talent to do a short stories about their favorite characters, which, if true, is a terrific idea.

6. TOO FAT TO FLY. Lastly, I couldn’t resist reporting that director/former Daredevil scribe Kevin Smith was ejected from a Southwest Airlines flight on Saturday because he was too fat to fit in one seat. The airline later apologized. Apologized? I wish they’d do this more often! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat next to someone who pushed me half into the aisle!

Wherein I opine, and you can comment on how stupid I am . . .

Caveats and regulations:

1. For a show to be on here, it has to have sustained quality for its entire run—not just have had a few good episodes or one good season.

2. This list is accurate and scientific, and if you disagree, you’re just wrong.

3. If you think Heroes is one of the best series, you must not have seen the last two seasons.

4. If you think Smallville is one of the best series, you must only watch every third episode. Because, like Harrison Ford movies, that’s about how often this show is actually good.

5. There are only two reasons that Wonder Woman even came close to making this list. And neither of them was Lyle Waggoner.

6. If you think Bill Bixby’s Incredible Hulk series should be on the list, you must not have watched it since you were, like, nine years old. Because by any modern measure, it’s stupid.

7. If you think Batman Beyond should have been on this list, you’re almost right. It was number 11.

Now, let’s do this:

THE TOP 10 T.V. SUPERHERO SHOWS OF ALL TIME.

10. The Greatest American Hero (1981-83). This show turned the notion of campy superheroics on its ear. It was silly, yes, and campy, yes, but the actual characters took themselves seriously—unlike on the live-action Batman series of the 1960s (see #6). This show, about a regular guy with an extraordinary pair of pajamas, is ripe for a comeback.

9. The Super Friends (1973-1986). Because there’s nothing wrong with superhero shows being made for kids. And this show turned an entire generation of kids into lifelong comic-book fans.

8. Batman the Animated Series (1992-95). Based on the brilliant artwork of Bruce Timm and coproduced by Paul Dini, both of whom have made their bones in actual comic books, this show took Frank Miller’s Dark Knight and made it reasonably accessible for children, without sacrificing serious, noirish stories. Incidentally, this show was on at the same time as another quality animated program, Superman: The Animated Series, and even had a cross-over with that show. A truly iconic show.

7. Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (1981-83). Yeah, the 1960s Spider-Man animated series had the theme song that’s been covered by everyone from The Ramones to Aerosmith to MC Esoteric, but the show itself? Meh. SP and HAF, on the other hand, was consistently cool—especially for its time. It could be corny, and some of the made-for-T.V. villains were maximum lame (Video Man, anyone?) but the show could also be counted on for guest shots by Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, and The X-Men, not to mention all the great Spidey supporting characters and villains like JJJ, Electro, Doc Ock, Mysterio, Kingpin . . . And it’s not just a nice piece of history. For younger viewers, the show is still captivating.

6. Batman (1966-68). The best show never released on DVD is the one that set the pattern for all Superhero TV shows until Tim Burton’s Batman smashed the pattern. Yes, it’s corny and silly and the costumes are ridiculous. But it managed to regularly feature A and B-list actors including Burgess Merideth, Frank Gorshin, Julie Newmar, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis, Vincent Price, Jr., Don Ho, Edward G. Robinson, Art Linkletter, Cesar Romero, Eartha Kitt, and even Bruce Lee. It was “The Love Boat” of supershows!

5. The Tick (1994-1996). No, not the live-action one starring David Putty, the hysterically funny and completely demented cartoon, featuring a supporting cast of clowns like Moth Boy, Chairface Chippendale, Dinosaur Neil, Paul the Samurai, Chainsaw Vigilante, and many others. I know the comic was good, but this is the singular historical moment when a T.V. show was better than the comic it was derived from.  And don’t confuse it with the horrible live action Tick from Fox.

4. X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-1998). Five seasons. 76 episodes. Multi-episode arcs telling fairly faithful, if tamer, versions of Days of Future Past, the Apocalypse story, the Dark Phoenix saga, and the Legacy Virus. A willingness to include lesser-known mutants like Longshot, Forge, Snowbird, Banshee, Master Mold, Archangel, Psylocke, Cable, Bishop, Mister Sinister, and others. This is the most faithful translation of comic book heroes ever. Period. It even used the same logo. Plus, it had a kick-ass theme song.

3. Justice League: The Animated Series/Justice League Unlimited (2001-2006). With more superheroes and better writing than The Superfriends, this is the cartoon to beat as far as translations of DC comics are concerned.

2. Teen Titans (2003-2006)–a.k.a. Teen Titans Go! Based on the Marv Wolfman/George Perez 1980s reboot of the team, this show was heavily stylized (borderline anime) and emphasized humor—by which, I mean real humor not cutesy jokes for babies. The vocal work and scripts were flawless and meticulous, with one-and-done episodes seamlessly woven through ongoing storylines (like the betrayal of Terra and the team’s ongoing battles against Trigon and The Hive). This was the T.V. show that got my kids into superheroes, really. We were flipping around and the Master of Games episode came on, our jaws collectively dropped, and we were hooked forever. Since then, every member of my family, regardless of age or gender, who has bothered to watch this with us has become a fan. If it’s possible for a T.V. cartoon to be perfect, then this is what that must look like.

And how about this: Two D.C.s and no Marvel in the top 3?  And I’m a Marvel guy!  Step it up, Ari Arad.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003). Smart, funny, provocative, scary, genre-breaking, and musical. I’m not gonna say anything more about it, ‘cause if you don’t know by now, you probably never will.

And the worst:

FAT SHAZAM!

Yeah, I ran a chronological “Best Comics of the Decade” post already, and tons of bloggers have done a decade retrospective, but I haven’t seen one that focuses exclusively on Marvel. Marvel is the most important comic book publisher out there, and not just because it controls the market share. When it comes to superhero books, they have consistently proven that they can tell (and sell) stories to the mainstream that don’t (always) offend their base. And the last decade showed a company willing to take risks as well. Here begins the decade retrospective, to help you figure out what trades you want to run out and buy (hint: PunisherMax by Warren Ellis and the Ultimates hardcover omnibus by Millar and Finch are great places to start). I decided also to do this in order of what I think the impact of these events were. Sure, some items may be interchangeable, but generally I think I’ve ranked ‘em correctly.

As always, praise and bellyaching is welcome in the comments section.

25. THE RISE OF THE MINOR CHARACTER. Between Brubaker/Fraction/Aja’s work on Iron Fist, Bucky becoming Captain America, the inclusion of Luke Cage and Spider-Woman in New Avengers, the reinvention of folks like Captain Britain, She-Hulk, Punisher, Moon Knight, and Ghost Rider, and the explosion of Deadpool, Marvel has done a great job at keeping its minor characters in the forefront this decade. And with such a rich cast of supporting players, this is a welcome addition. They’ve even done a great job at establishing some new characters, such as the afore-mentioned Young Avengers, The Sentry, and The Immortal Weapons.

24. JLA/AVENGERS. All right, this may not have been that important, but come on. You know you wanted it. But don’t buy it for the story—it’s one of those cosmic space epics that doesn’t make a lot of sense. George Perez is the master of large group shots—he’s not an intimate artist, he’s a “stand back and watch the widescreen” type—and that’s exactly what this book needed.

23. KICK-ASS. Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s creation on Marvel’s Icon imprint was the first comic to sell movie rights—and get the movie made, to boot–before finishing its first story arc. Marvel deserves kudos for supporting these creators in their vision.

22. THE ADVENT OF THE YOUNG AVENGERS. Why is this on my list of decade-defining events? Because it is almost impossible to get people to spend money on new characters. Think about it. How many new hero books get launched and last more than a year? Almost none. And those that do, are usually independent. Here, Marvel took a pretty dumb idea (baby Cap! baby Vision!) and turned it into something pretty cool. The creative team, Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, deserved their Harvey award for best new series by creating characters who modeled themselves after Marvel’s JLA but who were individuals—nothing like the persons they based themselves on. Not to mention, they won an award from GLAAD for portraying a gay character in a positive, well-balanced way (I won’t give away who it is) and formed the basis (kind of) for a surprisingly good Marvel all-ages DVD (“Avengers Next”). The book lasted only 12 issues, but four miniserieses later,
there are hints that the group will return. Let’s hope it does. I mean comics are about icons, but Marvel’s icons are, well, old. It’s great to have a book about kids again.

21. PRESIDENT OBAMA APPEARS IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. First of all, to have a world leader admit that he enjoys reading comic books was a truly amazing event. But Spider-Man’s team up with the POTUS ended up being the best-selling comic of the entire decade. Not to mention the great hype Marvel generated behind the cross-over. Their publicists deserve a standing ovation for this, along with their promotion of the Death of Captain America, The Spider-Man/Colbert team-up, and all the creepy posters they used as the “Secret Invasion” campaign.

20. PAGE ONE RECAPS. Another editorial decision that has made comics more readable and accessible is the one-page recap, which Marvel now does for nearly all its titles and, at least in the Deadpool and Spider-Man books, inserts creativity as well, making the recap a must-read even for regular subscribers.

19. ROBERT KIRKMAN’S “THE WALKING DEAD.” No, that’s not a misprint. Without Kirkman’s indie title, there would have been no Marvel Zombies, which served as the jump-off for several horror-fusion titles and characters, from Zombie Headpool to Frankencastle and the revival of the Legion of Monsters. And probably Marvel Apes, too. A lot of campy fun!

18. MARVEL DIGITAL COMICS UNLIMITED. Perhaps this is more likely to be an important event for the 2010s than it was for the 2000s, but Marvel’s attempt to provide on-line back-issues and some new content deserves a mention not because it successfully changed the game, but because it showed how the game might change in the near future.

17. THE RISE OF TRADE PAPERBACKS. Along the same line as “growing the hell up,” Marvel in 2002 launched an aggressive trade paperback program that today has all but superseded the monthly serialized format. In some ways, this is sad. It’s led to comic books being worthless as collector’s items, killed the back-issue industry, and led to markedly decreased monthly sales. On the other hand, the trade books put comics into bookstores and made them viable in online markets like Amazon. In short, the trade format may have saved the industry by killing it.

16. GROWING THE HELL UP . . . By 2000, everyone pretty much knew that kids weren’t the main readers of comics any more. But in 2001, Joe Quesada took official notice by launching the MAX line and dumping the outdated and condescending Comics Code Authority, which was designed originally to establish that comics were okay for little ones to read. The first action allowed Marvel to take in the team responsible for the indie book “Preacher”– Ennis and Dillon—who made The Punisher into a character worth reading about for the first time since . . . Well, ever. He was no longer a lame Batman ripoff, and although the stories Ennis told were generally straightforward violent crime sagas, they had the kind of grit that made them cinematic. Dropping the Comics Code was a signal to the world that comic books were now grown up, and could be seen as legitimate literature—not as pulp to occupy the kids. I’d argue that this trend really began way back
with Frank Miller’s Daredevil, but it wasn’t until Quesada had the vision to transform not just individual series but the entire Marvel Universe that it really took hold. This change in perspective made just about everything else on this list possible.

15. . . . BUT STAYING YOUNG AT HEART! Yeah, Millar and Bendis are serious cookies with an eye for bleakness and major change. But at the same time, Joe Quesada gave Chris Eliopoulos a license to make us laugh with his charming “Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius” series. The books get a little stale after a while, but there’s at least seven issues of wonderful reading here. Add to the mix the rebirth of Power Pack in a series of kid-friendly mini-series, the Marvel Adventures line, Mini Marvels (brilliant!), the Super Hero Squad, and X-Men and Wolverine First Class, and you’ve got some solid books for all ages that don’t dumb down the Marvel Universe.

14. GRANT MORRISON AND FRANK QUIETLY TAKE OVER THE X-MEN. Many credit Morrison’s “New X-Men” run as a game-changer. I have to admit, I’m not a huge fan of the series, but I recognize that he was able to make manageable the convoluted, unwieldy, ridiculous and boring X-Universe, and completely reorganize it—just like Chris Claremont did in Giant-Size X-Men #1. What did Morrison do? He turned the Sentinels into something savage and uncontrolled; hooked up Cyclops and Emma Frost; killed thousands of mutants in one fell swoop and one single issue while at the same time reversing the polarity of the North and South poles; and made the first Shi’ar space saga worth reading since Claremont introduced them all back in the ‘80s. One more thing: nobody interprets Morrison better than Frank Quietly, whose crisp art often adds clarity to Morrison’s more obtuse tendencies. He was the perfect artist for this series.

13. MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE. Marvel makes the first super-hero video game that doesn’t suck, and Deadpool’s popularity quadruples.

12. DISNEY. The possible implications of the Disney/Marvel merger are alternately fabulous (more movies and cartoons, and maybe even more kid-friendly superheroes!) or terrifying (the House of Mouse were key members of the anti-Communist censorship movement in the 1950s). But right now, it’s hard to tell whether it will affect the Marvel Universe at all—or even whether it will pan out for stockholders—but the fact that a company like this could ever buy a company like that . . . Was surprising to all.

11. SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY AND THE SPIDER SUMMIT. In 2007, Marvel took an action that many considered brutal and awful: They ended Peter and Mary Jane’s marriage not by divorce but by deus ex machina as Mephisto erased much of Straczynski’s generally celebrated run on the series. The story itself, though, was unimportant. The critical part of Brand New Day was that Joe Quesada was right: Spider-Man had become too dark, and too married. He needed to be a young, single, geek-about-town, and this was the way to do it. Regardless of what you think of brand new day, it’s impossible not to notice that The Amazing Spider-Man, as a thrice-monthly title, is worlds better now than it was in 2006. Or 2005. Or pretty much any time since the Roger Stern era. It also marked the first time Marvel went three-times-a-month with a book, rotating the creative team under one editorial board and holding regular “summits” about the character. This has
worked much better than having several different Spidey titles coming out each month, each with their own continuing storyline. In fact, I think they should do this other over-exposed characters like Wolverine and Deadpool.

10. DAREDEVIL. Beginning with Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev’s run and all the way to the end of the decade with Brubaker, no other character left the 2000s so much better than he’d come in—and this was a decade marked by radical reinvention and reinterpretation. After Frank Miller essentially defined Daredevil as Marvel’s darkest street avenger, nobody seemed to be able to step in and tell a good DD story. Bendis’ work on Daredevil showed that old, stale characters could become rich despite the baggage they carried around. This is another example of a reboot, in amy ways, but the themes Bendis played with (and Brubaker built on later) became the ones that helped shape the decade: The purpose, value, and function of a secret identity; the thin line between hero and villain; the inability to escape inner demons; and difficulty of being heroic in a violent, desperate world.

9. DARK REIGN. Norman Osborn saved the world and became the new face of S..H.I.E.L.D., reworking the secret agent agency in his own image. This made the MU a sad and depressing place, but it also made possible so many big changes in tone, and allowed younger creators to reshape old heroes like Iron Man and the cast of all of the Avengers books into newer, more modern versions. Yeah, it was hard to let go of the past, but Bendis and Millar had been bracing us for this ever since the Civil War. This was just the next logical step. It was hard to pick between this and “House of M,” but since Grant Morrison already killed a ton of muties in New X-Men, I knocked M off the slot here. But M did prove that big events could be self-contained, and it was the first event that Marvel handled really, really well with regards to creativity and maintaining the integrity of the affected characters.

8. SPIDER-MAN: THE MOVIES. Sam Raimi is the one to credit with finally delivering a live-action Spider-Man worth watching, and with making superhero films for all ages that are not at the same time infantile. Eschewing the “adult” orientation introduced by Tim Burton’s Batman and avoiding the cartoonish pitfalls of Clooney’s Dark Knight, Raimi did for superhero movies what Stan Lee did for superhero comics: He made a film that could speak to young(ish) kids and (not overly serious) adults at the same time. It also established that superheroes could still bring in dollars without sacrificing their nerd integrity. I’d put X-Men (the 2000 movie) here, too, because it made tremendous amounts of money and showed that team-live-action is feasible, but it was really Spidey who broke down barriers.

7. JOSS WHEDON ON ASTONISHING X-MEN. Why is this 2004 series important? Because it was one of the early examples of Hollywood coming to Marvel, rather than the other way around. Celebrated T.V. and film writer Joss Whedon teamed up with artist John Cassaday to expand upon Grant Morrison’s work on the New X-Men and create 24 of the best comic books of all time. It gave comics a little more legitimacy—they could be works of art on their own, not just serve as inspiration for popcorn flicks.  Plus, it was funny.  Funny X-Men.  Think of it!

6. AVENGERS DISSEMBLED/NEW AVENGERS/MIGHTY AVENGERS/DARK AVENGERS. During the 1990s there were some decent Avengers stories, but the book wasn’t the flagship title it was always intended to be. When Brian Michael Bendis took a hold of it, he killed off several characters that he didn’t want to play with (including fan—and person—favorite Hawkeye) and reintroduced the team with a cast that, while it included the biggest names in Marvel, also included some seemingly mismatched and/or minor characters. But the book has become the most important book at Marvel in terms of both continuity and sales statistics. More importantly, New Avengers became one of the most fun superbooks on the market. And the Marvel Universe showed that it was so big, it took several books to really tell the story (although Might A is pretty dispensible).

5. THE IRON MAN MOVIE. Everyone knew Spider-Man with Tobey McGuire would be a hit. It was a no-brainer. But this is the movie that made Marvel attractive to Disney. If they could do this for one B-Lister, then why can’t they do it for their whole stable? To be clear: I liked X-Men, X2, and Spider-Man a lot more than I liked Iron Man, but there were several things that made Iron Man special. First, it was made by Marvel. Sony proved long ago that it could make a blockbuster, but with this film Marvel Studios established that it could attract top talent and sell a movie to the public that would be enjoyed by fanboys, critics, and even (gasp) ladies! Second, it wasn’t about Spider-Man. Most of America didn’t know Tony Stark from Tony the Tiger, and if they’d heard of Iron Man they probably thought he was the dude from the Black Sabbath song. Finally, although Tobey McGuire was somewhat of a name before he became Peter Parker, the Iron Man
crew were really out there. Jon Favreau was an indie director with no action cred and Robert Downey, Jr., was best known for getting wasted and dressing up as Wonder Woman.

4. BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS INTRODUCES ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN AND THE ULTIMATE UNIVERSE IS BORN. In 2000, one of Joe Quesada’s first (and most important) acts was to hire Brian Michael Bendis and unleash the first “Ultimate” book. Ultimate Spider-Man may have been more “realistic” or “modern” than the initial Lee/Ditko take on Spidey, but it was still light fun, as Spider-Man needs to be (and hadn’t been, arguably, since Clone Wars). In this way, it’s quite distinguishable from Millar’s Ultimate universe, a categorically dismal and menacing world. Bendis also introduced a different way of telling stories: One that focused on intimate close-ups rather than pan-shots and widescreen action. As a reboot, this book (and, obviously, Bendis) was one of the most game-changing plays of the last fifty years. Where previous reboots (D.C. has retold Superman’s origin how many times?) ignored aspects of a hero’s history to suit a creative
vision, Bendis took Spidey into a new universe all together—without relying on Uatu. This became a pattern for Marvel in double-O decade, and many of the decade’s most interesting books are examples of that (e.g., Neil Gaiman’s brilliant 1602). In fact, I bet D.C.’s acclaimed All Star Batman/Superman books wouldn’t have come to pass without it.

3. CIVIL WAR. With The Ultimates, Mark Millar had established himself as a man with a decidedly dark vision and a willingness to take beloved characters and make them, well, assholes. In Civil War, it was Iron Man’s Millar moment. Unlike similar “events” that preceded it, Civil War not only incorporated every single hero in the MU, it changed them, fundamentally. It’s a testament to the editorial coordination in Marvel that this thing worked at all. Many have complained that the ending was weak—that Cap should have died here, not in his own book—but I dispute that notion. Yeah, ending a war with a surrender is a little anticlimactic, and it certainly made me stand up and shout angrily when I read it. But looking back, Civil War paved the way for the rise and fall of Iron Man (the most compelling take on the character since the 1980s), turned the New Avengers into antiheroes (a status far more normal and acceptable for members like
Spider-Man, Cage, and Spider Woman), and for Dark Reign—certainly an important storyline in its own right. You can’t say Civil War ended with issue 8—the series, in retrospect, was actually a prequel to Siege.

2. JOE QUESADA ASCENDS TO EDITOR IN CHIEF. Far and away the most important Marvel staffing event of the decade happened at the beginning. In 2000, Joe Quesada took over as EiC of Marvel Comics, after starting the “Marvel Knights” line, a moderately successful “reboot” franchise, in the 1990s. Unlike many EiCs (in fact, unlike all since Jim Shooter, I believe), Quesada was a creator first, executive second, so he understood the connection artists have to their work. His reign has been characterized by hiring bold talent and allowing them to completely dismantle all of Marvel’s conventions. And remember, the company had declared bankruptcy and was all but dead in the 1990s.

1. THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA. Can there really be any question here? Cap was always important to fans of Marvel, but he was hardly as iconic as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Superman, Batman (or pretty much any JLAer).. Yet his death was front page news (at least in New York) and got mentions in every form of media—including extended segments on The Colbert Report. It made Cap a bestselling series (and it had deserved to be one already, if only for the 25 issues Brubaker and Epting did prior to killing Steve Rogers). It also brought back many people who’d stopped reading comics because they’d gotten stale and boring. It was proof that anything can happen. Even more tremendous were that the news didn’t leak—the event was a true shock to the world, just like a real assassination—and the fact that later issues proved that the series was even better without its title character. It was one of the few comic books that almost made me
cry. Almost.