Editorial: Lack of Respect For Marriage in Comics

Warning: The Following contains spoilers from AvX #9 and more.

  Years ago, I went to my comic book shop and bought X-Men # 30, the wedding of Jean Grey and Scott Summers. For years, I would reread that very issue; merely enjoying the love of the characters had for each other and those around them. And then Grant Morrison's New X-Men happened and Scott Summers ended up having a psychic affair with Emma Frost, which became physical. Jean Grey died ... again and Scott moved on as he and Emma fell in love with each other.

Look at that. STAN LEE married Luke & Jessica! WTH Marvel!

  Fast forward to about 5 to 6 years ago. New Avengers were young in their first volume but Luke Cage's character rose. He and his long time love, Jessica Jones, tied the knot in New Avengers Annual # 1. They ended up having a daughter, Danielle, named after Luke's best friend, Danny Rand aka Iron Fist. They ended up buying the Avengers Mansion for a $1 ... I am not kidding. New Avengers Volume 2, # 1 for that one folks ... and they had become full fledged Avengers while Squirrel Girl became their babysitter.

  Go back about 7 years ago, during the time of Civil War where hero was fighting hero ... but the X-Men were out of it at this point. Captain America was on one side while Iron Man was on the other. The breather between the event happened to be the nuptials of T'Challa, long time Avenger Black Panther, and Storm, former leader of the X-Men. They had wed and became King and Queen of Wakanda. They also served a small stint on the Fantastic Four, allowing Reed and Sue to FINALLY have a honeymoon. The Watcher said they were gonna have children! The WATCHER! Freakin' Uatu! Said that T'Challa and Ororo would have CHILDREN! And they have been married since then ... UNTIL TODAY.

Black Panther's & Storm's Wedding

 Which gets to the bulk of my article. Marvel ... more so then any  Other comic book company, it seems, seem to not enjoy having their characters stay married anymore. And while I understand the divorce rate is 50% in the country of the United States and wanting to reflect society, some of these marriages desolving his troublesome. Now, motivations-wise, I can understand some marriage falling apart. Like Scarlet Witch and Visions.  Even Scott and Jean's I can understand.

 But there are some break ups that I'm just scratching my head over. Like Storm and Black Panther. THIS MAKES NO SENSE! Time and again, Storm has reached out to her husband and her husband is like I love you but I need to figure my way alone. Once I do,  I will come back to you. And Yet ... He annuls their marriage today. Why? I don't know?  Does he blame her for what happened or not telling him about the Phoenix? I don't know. And while in some cases, that translates to a relate-able marriage ... I do not believe that THIS would be true grounds for T'Challa to give up on his wife. Not after EVERYTHING they've been through together over the last several years. It just comes out of nowhere. Marriage counselling I see. Annulment? NO!

   Then, at the top of AvX, Jessica Jones decides to leave her husband, Luke Cage. Just 2 minutes before, he announced to the world that he wants nothing more than his wife and child. Granted, Jessica ran from him before but I figured that  1- Jessica knew what she was getting into when she joined the Avengers and married Luke Cage. 2- Even with a child, what makes her think she is REALLY any safer alone. Especially after having her face plastered on tv who knows how many times by now. So ... she ran. To take care of her child. Admirable. But still, logically ... she has a better chance WITH The Avengers than not. And Luke ... 2 minutes ago, you said you wanted nothing more than your wife and child ... on National TV .... but then you decide its important to fight the X-Men; when clearly ... the reason why is still kind of up in the air. Damn it Luke! You are better than that. *sigh*

  Oh. Marvel isn't the only culprit. Let's see ... ah yes. DC. Their reboot of Superman has brought so many new people to the book. And it is understandable ... to all but this.. . Lois and Clark had been married for nearly 15 FRELLIN' Years ... and that got all erased so they can have a new history. Sure ... we get to see Clark and Lois go through it all over again. But this time, there is no guarantee that they will end up together.

 And who can forget DC for breaking up Donna and Terry. Cause Terry suddenly decided, after them having a child, that super heroics was a no no ... even though Terry had stood by her as a hero for YEARS. Terry damn well knew what he was getting into when he married her. They had a child together. He even helped her with looking after the Team Titans (I know, obscure) but decided all of a sudden ... "Nope. Don't want to stay with you anymore after all these years."  So yay! Break up a marriage for convenience. Yay!

  And on top of that, let's go to the dozens and dozens of heroes and/or heroines who have had extra-marital or out of relationship affairs:  Omni-man, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Psylocke (twice), Gambit, Kyle Rayner, Havok, Kendra Saunders, Dick Grayson (how can you not know the person you are sleep with is not different when you have sex, even if they are a shape shifter), etc.

  But let me get to the easiest, most heinous of all marriage break ups that were pure and utter bullshit. Yes. I am speaking about THAT storyline. ONE. MORE. DAY.  And now, I have enraged probably half my readership by saying those three words. Yep. One More Day. The storyline that rebooted Spidey from long-time, happily married man, into the single man he has now become. Quesada has gone on print back when the storyline first came out stating that him being single will open more doors to Spiderman, storywise and him being married was holding him back. WHAT?! They were married for YEARS and you decided that that marriage couldn't work in upcoming storylines. WHAT?! They never even divorced. Spidey made a deal with the devil ... the freakin' devil ... to save Aunt May ... who had died before already. Sure, she was a clone but still ... save Aunt May for his marriage.

   What the frell?!

  While overall, some of these marriages coming apart are good and natural. There are these others that make me wonder what is on the minds of the writers and why do this. I understand divorce rate is 50% but it is looking like 80 to 90% in comics now. While life should be seen in multifaceted ways, this trend is starting to get REALLY disturbing. Makes you think about it, huh?

My name is Frankie Rodriguez and these are my thoughts.

COUNTDOWN : TOP 10 THINGS I WANT TO SEE IN THE NEW 52!!

  The New 52 have been out for a while and it has garnished a lot of attention and results. Yet, there are still things from the old DCU, Wildstorm and Milestone books that I would like to see pop up. Here are my list of the Top 10 things I want to see in the New 52.

by Frankie Rodriguez 


10 - STEPHANIE BROWN

     The Former Spoiler/Robin/Batgirl has been very much missed by fans since the New 52 began. She had a critically acclaimed series before the new 52 and people had just gotten used to her as Batgirl, being mentored by Barbara. But with Barbara back as Batgirl, Stephanie has not been seen . .. yet. Fans have clamored for both her and Cassandra Cain's return. Yet, it seems fans are speaking up louder for Stephanie. Will she return? DC says yes. I say ... it needs to be sooner than later.


9 - XOMBI

   David Kim had just come back about 7 months before the new 52. And it came back to much fan fare. Many of the original fans and new fans flocked to the book by John Rozum and Frasier Irving. What is even odder was that the book was a direct continuation of the original but with a time jump. With DC big on diversity and the Edge & Dark books doing so well (ie.Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Stormwatch) this book would fit right in. Heck. It does not need a reboot. Continue where it left off and fans would be happy.


8 - WILDCATS

    As much as Grifter is interesting and Voodoo is AWESOME, I still miss the rest of the team. Sure, I know that Warblade is gonna show up (as a villain) on Superboy and rumors are that Zealot is gonna appear soon, I'd love to see the WildCats come back together in the DCU in some fashion. I mean, where is Spartan? Where is Ladytron? Heck, Tao would make a great villain for not only the WildCats but for Batman and other members. I would just love to see the Cats back, maybe connected to an infamous DC company. Heck, Mr. Majestic and Savant would be welcome editions. I guess we will have to wait and see.


7 - STARMAN (other than Thom)

   I am sorry but we honestly can use a new Starman. I'd like to see a present day Starman. He's had such a great legacy. Whether it be one of the Knights or Mikaal, a Starman would be fighting and make a get edition to DC's cosmic universe or even Earth heroes. Mikaal had enjoyed some popularity before the New 52. It would be so much fun to see him in this new universe.



6 - L.E.G.I.O.N.

    Not R.E.B.E.L.S, L.E.G.I.O.N. Why? I know R.E.B.E.L.S. got cancelled but honestly, it just needed better promotion. And go back to calling it L.E.G.I.O.N.  We need to see Vril Dox in this universe to see how the bastard is doing. Plus, characters like Strata, Stealth, Captain Comet, Lady Quark, Adam Strange and more would all make a great collection of people in this book. To really tie in to the current DC cosmic landscape more, have one of the Lanterns join L.E.G.I.O.N. as well as possibly Lobo, who we have seen back.  Definitely a book that has a lot of potential.


5 -  ICON (& ROCKET)

    They just appeared on Young Justice. The title was the love child of the late great Dwayne McDuffie. A super powerful man on par with Superman who was also a lawyer can prove interesting in a day in age where Law & Order and spin offs were addictions for people for two decades. Apply it to the DCU, you have a book that can be versatile. Rocket always helped showed the way to Icon and vice versa. She is one of the strongest female characters that has ever been created and needs to be seen again. And with DC's objective to have diversity would make a great fit into this new world.



4 - SECRET SIX

    Suicide Squad is great and all but ... I want Secret Six back. I want Gail Simone writing it. I want Scandal Savage. I want Ragdoll. I want Catman being all bada**. And I want it now. Not tomorrow. Not in a year. NOW. Even with Bane, Deadshot and Harley not part of it, there are sooooooooo many characters that can be implemented into the Secret Six and make this team stand out in a new era. For the love, Simone made Bane cool again. Let her have her book back!!


3 - WALLY WEST

   There have been hints that Wally still exists. There have been drops that Wally will return. Yet, nothing. I want Wally West back. Sure, Barry is Flash and is awesome. Still, I want Wally there too. We need to see him. People love him. He doesn't need to be The Flash but bring him back. We still have Dick Grayson, we can do plenty with Wally. So much. Bring him back DC. Please. And if you bring him back, bring back ...



2 - DONNA TROY

    I know that Cassie got upgraded and Diana is now the daughter of Zeus. Zeus is a man-whore. Bring back Donna into the Wonder Woman mythos under Azzarello's control. We can make it interesting with Donna. She is such a beloved character that fans have asked about her as much as Wally West. Bring them both back would be amazing. Donna can always fulfill a new role in the DCU. I hope we get to see her.


1 - BLOOD SYNDICATE . . . & SNOWFLAME

  Yes. I could not choose between them or who I want more. So they both share the # 1 spot.

  Blood Syndicate was, without a doubt, one of my favorite books while growing up. It was my favorite Milestone book and I loved it cause it was so different. It was about a Super powered gang that was learning to survive in their world and keeping their turf  while being part of a bigger conspiracy. And you know what, they fight perfectly with the new 52. DC, you want Diversity ... this team is made up of so many nationalities that it makes the UN jealous. It can be gritty and dirty cause its about a gang so have it Teen +. Heck, if you can get the original writer Ivan Velez Jr. to write it and let him go off, that would be amazing. Even if not him writing it, allow the writers to let them play with this gang and the characters to build itself a new place in the DCU. I want this book ... NOW!


AND

 Snowflame was brought to my attention because of Linkara. A Super Villain powered by cocaine. Lord, what a glorious idea. Bring this man back. Make him an A Level threat. Let him being a cult figure like Brother Blood but more awesome. He is powered by cocaine; you can have everyone from Stormwatch to JLI to Superman to Batman fight this villain. He is insane. He looks like he's got a Santa suit. He's got super powers and he's powered by cocaine. He is EPIC! I WANT SNOWFLAME NOW!!!

  BOW DOWN BEFORE THE  SNOWFLAME. HE IS COOKOO FOR COCAINE!!!

Thanks To Linkara for producing such a fine video.


And these are what I like to see in the new 52. I enjoyed this list. How are you?

#43- JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: RISE OF ECLIPSO

JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: RISE OF ECLIPSO

Justice League of America (volume 2) #54-59 & Batman/Superman Annual #5

Written by James Robinson

Art by Brett Booth, Miguel Sepulvada & Daniel Sampere

DC COMICS

Review by Frankie Rodriguez

 TALE OF THE TAPE

            Welcome Clashers to another grand edition of Comic Book Clash. It’s Justice League Month and there are lots and lots of Justice League books to review. We recently review the current incarnations of the Justice League & Justice League International. I know we said we’d do dark this week BUT … we had a bit of a snag there. So the question becomes, what are we gonna review THIS week. As you already seen, Hector Ramirez reviewed the JLA Foreign Bodies one shot. And what am I gonna do? Well, I am gonna go on the WAY back machine to a year of grand spectacle. A year where the relaunch for DC had not happened yet and Marvel was still on top of sales.

            What am I kidding? I am talking about last year. Back in 2010, after the Cry For Justice miniseries and the firing of the now-late, great Dwayne McDuffie, James Robinson took over the book. And boy … it was different. The Justice League of America was different. At first, it seemed like a great mix of characters from the old Guard: Green Lantern, Red Tornado . .. to obscure characters: Dr. Light, Mon-El , Congorilla & Starman to the next generation: Dick Grayson Batman & Donna Troy. That changed after the first storyline as it moved into a crossover, written completely by Robinson: The Dark Things. It was at this point, the current team was really taking shape as Jade (taking over for Green Lantern), Jesse Quick (a speedster) and Supergirl ( in place of Mon-El) really came together. And while the line up of Batman, Donna Troy, Jade, Jesse Quick, Congorilla, Supergirl, Starman Mikkal Tomas & later Saint Walker do not seem like much .. . Robinson made sure every adventure was as epic and deadly as their predecessors.

            And while many fans were arguing about the line up, I found the line up fascinating. You have people with similar powers of the classic Big 7 but with VERY big and sometimes interesting differences. Jesse Quick is as fast as the Flash but also has super strength. Donna Troy died and came back. Jade’s powers are similar to a Green Lantern but are not from Oa and do not have to be recharged. And Let me point out that Dick Grayson could very well be the greatest team leader in comic book history. He’s lead the Teen Titans, the Titans, the Outsiders and now the JLA … twice. And while I can go on and on about the legimacy of the this league, we are here to talk about the story. And we shall as we embark on this incarnations LAST journey  … against a villain who was once the subject of an all annual storyline in the 90s, a catalyst for Infinite Crisis & even had his own ongoing. Get ready as we go dark for “THE RISE OF ECLIPSO”

CLASH FACTS

            Our storyline starts in issue # 54 with a quick little recap of the current Justice League. After the recap is done … we go to an named about the devil. That sounds like the ultimate vacation spot. We focus in on Bruce Gordon . .. No, he is not Jim Gordon’s son … and no, he is NOT an amalgamation of Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. Bruce Gordon happens to be the leading solar scientist on the planet. And he’s on the run … from angry natives. That’s what he gets for going to a place called Diablo Island. He calls his long time love (who oddly sports black hair now when it was red before) Mona and tells hints at the occurances that were happening during the Dark Things crossover. See … I tell you thinks we get back to eventually. With heroes, elementals and the planet having issues, Bruce starts feeling himself changing … while the sun is out.

Back Story Breakdown: Eclipso is a being that *normally* only arises during an eclipse.

   But thanks to the Starheart, the thing that made Alan Scott evil and a bunch of other heroes and villains go nuts during Dark Things (which, by the way, this scene starts DURING the Dark Things crossover), Bruce Gordon loses control and once again becomes the host of Eclipso. Instead of sporting a more traditional supervillain look, Eclipso went to the gym and is showing off his bare chest while wearing his signature cap and face still eclipsed. Come to find out, Robinson establishes that this possession is different from before as Bruce can actually talk with Eclipso while the fallen angel (yes he’s a fallen angel and it is a plot point) begins to murder every last native on the island. And it is gore as we see at least one panel where Eclipso is holding up a severed head. It replays how Bruce became Eclipso’s host and Eclipso’s history . .. which includes the fact that Eclipso said that Jean Loring as a host was a BAD idea, ending with the destruction of Diablo Island.

            And throughout the rest of the first part of Rise of Eclipso, we get interplay with Bruce and Eclipso collecting a bunch of shadow powered people for his plan … including The Shade; who seems to be the only Eclipsed being who can talk. Nightshade, Acrata, Shadow Thief, the monsterous looking Bete-Noire, Canadian hero Dark Crow & Elder God Syththunu … Oh my god … The thing looks straight out of Lovecraft! DAMN! The group gathers at the Emerald City, a newly formed City on the moon after the events of Dark Things that was created and maintained by the Starheart and Alan Scott (aka the ORIGNAL Green Lantern from the JSA, at a great time . . . months after Dark Things and while their ultimate target is .. . Jade. You thought it’d be Obsidian … so did I at first.

            Jade and Jesse Quick are visiting Alan, who was recently crippled because of the Starheart. They are attacked by Eclipso and his Shadow Army. Jade asks Jesse to take her father and get him away … and she does. Jade prepares to fight alone. Meanwhile, over in the remains of where New Krypton once stood, Dark Supergirl .. . *stops* Yes. Before the reboot, Kara had be evil for a short time. Once brought about by Darkseid, another time brought about by another villain of hers and now . .. after a recent battle with a being known as the Omega Man, Kara is Dark Supergirl again. Yet, this time . .. she’s not evil . . . just got lots of attitude. She, Alpha Lantern Boodikka (they made a lantern out of Rey Mysterio’s theme song?!) and Batman, who is Dick Grayson. Grayson laments that he misses his friend Kara, not the brat he sees before them when … they are attacked by Doomsday. Batman calls the Satelite to send for help when Boodikka is injured only to find Starman coming to their aid. Saint Walker joins the fray after Doomsday slaps Starman away. Starman, Dark Supergirl, Batman & Saint Walker find that Doomsday followed them to the Satelite which is being controlled by Cyborg Superman. It seems he infiltrated Boodikka in order to get into the League Satelite . .. and Doomsday wants to kill him.

            We get treated to a sub-plot that Dark Supergirl is dying from holograms of Doctor Midnite and Doctor Fate when we find the source . . . her own mind. It seems that Kara going dark is due to survivor’s guilt from being one of the few Kryptonians to survive. She finds her light and starts to beat back Doomsday . .. only to find that Doomsday had beaten Cyborg Superman to become . ..CYBORG DOOMSDAY. WTH? This subplot ends with Cyborg Doomsday taking Kara away with him while a distress call from Donna to the guys has them move out towards the moon.

            Back on the moon, Donna is doing her best to find off Eclipso’s Shadow Army in the Emerald City only to fall from sheer numbers. Then Jade arrives . ..only to be eclipsed. *sigh*  So Donna and eclipsed Jade trade blows and the denizens of the Emerald City try to run but the Shadow Army is winning. Shade mocks Donna, telling her to join them when the calvary arrives . .. but not who you expect. Congorilla comes in with a bunch of JL reserves, including Red Tornado, Cyborg, Zauriel and Dr. Light. Eclipso just mocks them as Bruce says that Eclipso will fall to the heroes. Eclipso says they will all darken.  We see the reserves get eclipsed little by little, including Red Tornado. Eclipso trades swords with Zauriel, who says his former angelic name of LLadiz. Congorilla fights the Elder God alone and looks about to be swallowed by a giant order of calamari when . . .Starman blasts Syththunu off of his friend. Dick leads the charge and we come to find out that all the JL reserves, save for Zauriel, have become eclipsed with the majority of the citizens of the Emerald City. All the Leaguers left standing are Batman, Donna Troy, Congorilla, Starman & Saint  Walker. Before Eclipso's Shadow Army can descend upon them, Obsidian, Jade's twin brother and one time partner of Eclipso, comes and sucks the remaining Leagues into the abyss . . .

         And while it looks like Obsidian is working for Eclipso, we come to find out he is not as he teleports the non-possessed Leaguers to Jesse Quick and Alan Scott. And it is thanks to Obsidian and Eclipso ... through the power of exposition and some really stunning panels by Brett Booth, we find out EXACTLY what Eclipso's plan is. And I have to say it is one of the most outrageous plans in the history of super hero comics. Using Zauriel, Eclipso calls his successor, The Spectre, to bring him over to the moon. The Starheart adds to Eclipso's power alongside Jade and the Shade. These things allow Eclipso to KILL his successor and then CRACK THE MOON IN HALF!

      Armaggedon has come on Earth with disaster after disaster while the JLA try to fight Eclipso for the final part of his master plan to . . . WELL, to KILL GOD!!!

     Yes. ECLIPSO'S PLAN IS TO KILL GOD!!!

    We have the moon split in half. One of the most powerful angels and beings in the DC Universe getting killed. I ..  . I can't say anymore about this story here.


CLASH TACTICS 

      This league was filled with controversy. As I said in the beginnning of the review though, most of these heroes are legacy heroes: Dick Grayson Batman, Donna Troy, Jade, Jesse Quick, Mikkal Tomas, Supergirl . ..  all holding fast to legacies. They also are very good replacements for their A-lister counterparts: Bruce Wayne Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Starman, Superman respectively. As such, having them be the JLA was a very BIG move by Robinson and DC. And this might be one of the stories which best displays that this team not only can deal with anything the Big 7 can, but that this team has more than earned their Legacy.

       With that out of my chest, I am gonna start with art. Brett Booth, Miguel Sepulveda & Daniel Sampere all pencilled portions of this story. Daniel Sampere penciled the least amount of this storyline and I will say this . .. the man has potential. While there were some panels that seemed not as detailed and unbalanced, over all Sampere did some really great work. His 2 page spread in issue #59 was amazing. Miguel Sepulveda was stunning with his pencils being able to convey so much emotion and power while giving some wonderful visuals. Although, coloring wise, I find Andrew Dalhouse's colors are more vibrant with Sepulveda's work than Jose Villarrubia, who's colors are a bit more subdued. The MVP of this storyline is definitely Brett Booth. I have been a fan of Booth's work for years . . . since he was doing art on Backlash for Image Comics back in the 90s. His work on Justice League of America has been nothing short of exceptional. The characters and settings are lively and multidimensional. The action is stunningly rendered. The emotional parts are full with that extra umph! Truly, a great job to Brett Booth and his team.

    Which gets me to Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson. Mr. Robinson. You were so on your way to a World Heavyweight contendership rating. You really were. Let me break down why you are NOT getting that:

  -First, there seems to be inconsistencies at times with certain parts of the story. One minute, Eclipso's old angelic name was  Lladiz, stated by Zauriel during a battle in issue # 56. But in issue #57, The Spectre then states that Eclipso's angelic name was Galid. So . .. which one is it? Is it both of them?

- Second, there were times were I felt that the cuts between scenes were so dramatic in some places that it felt a bit daunting. One minute, we see Jade about to leave for  action. Next minute, she's possessed by Eclipso. Which brings up my final point.

 - Finally, there are just points in this story where the pacing seemed so wrong. The sudden jumps at times or the fact that things happened a lot quicker than they should have. There is a sense that this storyline should have been A LOT LONGER!! And it does not seem apparent till the 3rd and 4th parts of the storyline. There just  seemed like there was a lot of cramming which really effected the pacing in the middle. We see the League reserves come in. We see them in action for one other panel, then we don't see them again till they are eclipse. Wait ...  what?!

 Yet, the follow are things that definitely work in Robinson's favor:

 - Robinson does a good job handling not only the Eclipso storyline but also the Reign of Doomsday storylines at the same time.

  - He truly does his best to make all the cast seem important with great amount of character development. If he decides to not have a character around, he does make sure there is a reason behind it. Well, for the main characters anyway.

  -Really does make this team stand up to their predecessors.

  - The fact that Robinson's final JLA story deals with his team stopping Eclipso trying to kill GOD is one of the most insane yet entertaining plots in history. And Robinson does his very best to make sure everything towards that plot connects and makes sense. Why he takes Jade? Why he takes Shade? How Earth and its people are connected directly to God? All these things were just so well displayed and explained it makes the storyline that much richer.

 - Robinson had Eclipso TRY To kill God after killing the Spectre and splitting the moon in half. OH DEAR GOD!!!

 So overall, why Rise of Eclipso does feel crammed at times and there seems to be so much more that could have been done; this storyline is entertaining with great character development, beautiful art and smart writing. It is not perfect but it is a great storyline that can stand with any of the Big 7's stories.


  I give Justice League of America: Rise of Eclipso an Intercontinetal Contendership (4 out of 5). You can find this story in trade.

NEXT WEEK: I promise, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK & more.