Dan's Stuff

Community's 2011 Christmas Episode

2011-12-25T17:04:00.000-08:00

If it’s all right with everyone, I’d like to take a few minutes to talk about Community’s 3^rd Season Christmas episode, “Regional Holiday Music.” How great was this episode? I mean, it really was quite fantastic. The premise: When the Greendale Glee Club has a nervous breakdown over the ASCAP ordering that they stop performing copyrighted material, the Study Group is asked to step up and put on the best Christmas Pageant ever; they refuse. Yes, this episode is a Glee satire.

Community and Glee, filmed on the same lot and both premiering in the Fall of 2009, are fraternal twins of sorts. Though loved by critics, Community has never been able to compete with the popularity of Glee. If the Nielsen Ratings System was a high school, Glee would be the football team and Community would be, well, the glee club. This ratings imbalance gives the students of Greendale a free pass to take a few swings at the New Directions. Community’s first jab came in episode 1-18: “Basic Genealogy.” Jeff, dealing with a bad breakup, expresses his emotions to Pierce:

Jeff: (weeping into Pierce’s shoulder) We always used to watch the shows she wanted to watch. I hate Glee.

Pierce: I’m not crazy about Glee either.

Jeff: I hate it. I don’t understand the appeal at all.

There have been a few more shots fired, but “Regional Holiday Music” is the first time that Glee jokes ran through an entire episode.

One of the wonderful things about Community is that there’s no such thing as a one-joke episode. Though the Study Group initially refuses to perform in the Christmas Pageant, one by one they fall under the Glee Club sponsor’s spell; not only is this episode a Glee satire, it’s also a spoof on Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There’s a moment when the group is reconsidering their dismissal of the pageant:

Shirley: I guess we did have fun last time.

Troy: Did we? I can hardly remember it. It’s all a weird, happy, musical

fog.

This sums up my understanding of Glee. I don’t dislike Glee; in fact, I’m glad to finally see a musical television series last more than one season. I’ve only seen a couple of episodes, and I liked those two well enough, but for a show titled Glee, it’s a rather depressing program. Those kids are dealing with some heavy shit: sexual identity, death, teen pregnancy, and there’s even a dude that will never walk again. I didn’t realize all this while I was watching because I was paying attention to the musical numbers.

Community criticizes Glee for only showcasing covers, so, rightly, all the songs in “Regional Holiday Music” are original compositions (this could also be because NBC doesn’t want to have to pay royalty fees). Though you could form an argument for how each of the songs attacks an aspect of Glee, only the first number overtly mocks Fox’s ratings giant. The truly brilliant songs come when Troy and Abed lure Pierce into participating and later when Annie works Jeff over lyrically.

“Baby Boomer Santa” is a manic cluster of buzzwords that pays homage to pop music from the mid-forties to mid-eighties, or at least it is at first glance. This song manages to call out the “well-documented historical vanity” of the baby boomers. Great music, according to this song, begins with “The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy” and ends with Bob Seger. It also plays with the idea that the millennials are equally self-absorbed and thus only have the faintest grasp of 20^th Century history. Examine these lines:

Santa fought at Woodstock and Vietnam,

And smoked a ton of acid, and burned his bra.

And then in 1970, he did more drugs

and his hair stayed long, and he grew a mustache.

This suggests that the only discernible difference between the 1960s and 1970s was that War and social revolution were replaced by the mustache. The song is beautiful because it both praises and buries nostalgia in a single stroke.

“Teach Me How to Understand Christmas” is a send-up of the sexy Christmas songs such as “Santa Baby.” As it mocks the sexualizing of Christmas, it really calls into question the American Sex Symbol. Alison Brie’s performance fuses Marilyn Monroe and Betty Boop in order to make a dim, giggling seductress. What begins as playful descends to childish and then deteriorates into incoherent babbling. Joel McHale’s straight-man reaction to the Annie’s self-degradation is the moment where I always laugh hardest, even though I now know it’s coming.

As to the ending: it is one of the best ever offered up by a television program: After escaping the Glee club’s spell, the gang shows up, caroling, at Abed’s apartment to keep him company and watch Christmas television specials. This is a sweet, but mundane, moment, and that is its genius. Looking to other Christmas episodes of years’ past, such as Boy Meets World, you find heartwarming moments of family togetherness, such as everyone sitting down and listening as Mr. Feeny reads Dickens’s A Christmas Carol; the problem with such an ending: now I feel guilty for watching television when I could be sitting ‘round a fire with my family and a good book. Community’s episode reinforces the practice of watching television specials. People see the tenderness involved in Jeff, Britta, Shirley, Pierce, Troy, and Annie’s arriving to comfort Abed, and, better yet, people are able to share in this moment because they too are watching television on Christmas.

Captain America Redesign

2010-08-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

Project Rooftop called for submissions to their latest redesign contest. For reasons unknown, I decided I'd try my hand. The subject of the competition: Captain America.

I wasn't the only interested party. My friends Cody Barnhill and Shane McDermott, both of whom are actual illustrators, each submitted entries. Check them out when you have a minute, until then, here's my stuff.

If I had my way, Steve Rogers would get to retire and enjoy a simpler life of painting and baseball games; but if he's staying in the game, he is going to remain Captain America. Steve operates at the physical peak of the human body, yet that still leaves him on a different level than his armored, mutant, robotic, and divine teammates. Captain America's true power lies in him being a symbol.

Symbols can change over time, but they have to remain recognizable; thus I kept the same colors a few of the design elements. Captain America has to feature red, white, and blue, so let's move on. The star dead center in the chest is absolutely necessary, but I'll get back to that a bit later. The gloves preserve his symbolic status in two ways: they are familiar, and they are red. The embodiment of everything good about America doesn't need to be seen with blood on his hands, therefore, red gloves are good. Steve has more of a claim on that shield than anyone, and I don't believe Barnes would let himself wield it if his mentor was still Captain America. Some things need to stay the same.

This is a redesign competition after all, so there are changes. Steve no longer has a secret identity, everyone the world over knows that he is the man carrying the shield. This is the reason for abandoning the mask. The zipper marks the top as a bit of attire more suited to quick changes than the spandex/plate-mail costume that he's been using. Captain America is one of the many comic book characters that is both superhero and soldier; opting for fatigues as the lower half of his outfit establishes his dual role.

The current Captain America, James "Bucky" Barnes, shouldn't have to give up the name. In fact, I think there needs to be more than one person bearing the title. Marvel doesn't have as many legacy heroes as their competitor, and they rarely have more than one person using a codename at a time. DC has 5 Green Lanterns, 3 Flashes, 2 Wildcats, and so on; Marvel could handle 2 Captain Americas (Captains America?). Furthermore, there needs to be more than one person in that role. From the Whigs and Tories of the 18th century to the Republicans and Democrats of today, America has always been a collection of viewpoints and opinions. To try and hold to all of these ideas, some of which are in direct opposition to one another, is too much for an individual. The United States is at its best when differing groups work together for a common goal. There needs to be more than one Captain America.

Bucky's costume, like Steve's, features red, white, and blue colors and the addition of some standard armed forces apparel. I opted to keep the mask in order to give James a chance to forge a life outside of the costume, but it's an easily-donned bandanna type instead of the balaclava-esque model currently in use. As I already mentioned, Steve's gloves are red in order to hide blood; still coming to terms with his violent past, Bucky wears white as a reminder to avoid bloodshed when possible. The cavalry style shirt is an obvious throwback to his days as Cap's sidekick, but, as those were the best days of his life, I don't think he'd object. This redesign features the return of the photonic shield utilized by Captain America in the late 90s. Barnes sees some of its practicality over the original shield, and it complements his bionic arm. Since he is still Captain America, and since I already established the superhero/soldier dichotomy being expressed through the addition of fatigues, I chose the urban camouflage.

His emblem is a stylized eagle consisting of red and white stripes and thirteen stars representing the original states. Captain America should always have a prominent insignia on his (or her) chest, or, to clarify, superheroes like Captain America should always have a prominent insignia on their chest. To walk about with a big target right over the heart is a mark of panache; it is both standard and challenge. That's the kind of guy Captain America has to be.

Evil Exes?

2010-07-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

Less than two weeks remain until the release of the final book, and the movie premieres three and a half weeks after that; so, I've been thinking a lot about Scott Pilgrim. To those unfamiliar with Bryan Lee O'Malley's tale of life, love, and video games, I feel so sorry for you. These five, soon to be six, digest format tomes prove to be the best primer for the post-graduate lifestyle. The bare bones of the plot follows that of the late 80s to early 90s 16-bit video games: the hero has to fight a series of progressively more difficult foes before reaching his or her goal. Scott Pilgrim, the hero, meets Ramona, his goal, but can only date her if he defeats her past relationships, the aforementioned series of foes.
There is a lot to be said, and probably has been, about the main characters, the nature of romance and friendship, and influence of pop culture on youth in reference to the series. However, I keep coming back to the League of Evil Ex-Boyfriends. I have no problem believing that these people would take turns trying to rub out their ex's current boyfriend; I get hung up on the fact that they call themselves "evil." I think it's common knowledge that the majority of people in the wrong believe that they are on the path of the righteous. It's been my experience that there are two main reasons for someone to refer to themselves as being evil: either they are ashamed or they get off on doing wrong. In my eyes it seems that the sum of guilt and pleasure determines each ex's level of evil.

I'm going to try and spoil sparingly, but I also have to back up what I say with the books. So, yes, this is a SPOILER WARNING.

My hypothesis of Lucas Lee being the least evil ex is easily proven by his fight with Scott. After hurling our hero into a tower, Lee calls for a timeout in order to offer Scott some juice and baby carrots. They then sit down and start talking about Lee's acting career and relationship with Ramona. He tells of his heartbreak and tries to talk Scott into getting out of this situation before he gets hurt. He gives the Scott and the reader the two reasons why he's sided with the antagonists, "They almost didn't let me join the league. But I knew they had to. I'm an important figure in Ramona's past. Plus I'm super tough and cool." Pairing this statement with what little regard Ramona has for him, it becomes clear that Lucas Lee is beating up suitors in order to receive a sense of validation; and, yeah, the League let him join because the dude is a tank. The only way that I would classify Lee as evil would be based on 1 Timothy 6:10, because, after all, he is still a sellout.
Guilt: Some. Pleasure: Little. Evil Level: -1. Designation: Probably an Okay Guy.

I'll be the first to admit that the twins, Kyle and Ken Katayanagi, really don't come off as nice guys. They're manipulative, prone to speaking with hidden meaning, use proxies to avoid a direct assault, and cheat. Yet they're not obsessed with destroying Scott or Ramona. Like Lucas, Ken and Kyle warn Scott of his girlfriend's past infidelities. Unlike Lucas, they also reach out to Ramona. It may be a ploy to drive the young lovers apart, but the twins do remind her that she came here to get away from the world and that the world is still out there waiting. The Katayanagis seem to be enjoying themselves while tormenting Scott and Ramona, but it reeks of bitterness more than sadism. They're both trying to make up for their past betrayals, for which they blame Ramona, by a.) working together as good brothers should, and b.) getting Scott away from the woman that hurt them.
Guilt: Some. Pleasure: Some. Evil Level: 0. Designation: Lovers Scorned.

Roxy Richter hates Scott Pilgrim. She also hates Ramona, Gideon, and herself. Roxy's a very angry girl. She attacks Scott half-heatedly, finding more pleasure in messing with him first rather than finishing him off from the get-go. When Mr. Chau walks into the room, she immediately assumes he was sent to be her backup, and proceeds to engage him in martial combat. She still cares for Ramona, evidenced by Roxy's trying to keep her from being hurt by Scott; also, Ramona alludes to making out with her during her stay. Even this bond is overwritten by her own rage when Ramona chooses to defend Scott instead of leave him. Her anger makes her a less effective warrior, causing her to have low self-esteem, which in turn makes her angry. She's sort of out of control.
Guilt: Little. Pleasure: Some. Evil Level: 1. Designation: Imbalanced.

In Marvel's Earth X series, Ross and Krueger explain the logic behind Magneto's choice to name his group The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. According to them, by calling himself evil, Magneto was locking his opposite, Professor X, into being good, and thus limiting Xavier's possible actions; the character of Todd Ingram reminded me of this. Todd grew up pushed to succeed by a father who held no faith in him. He worked hard and graduated top of his class. Now it's his time. He's going to do whatever he wants. Todd sleeps around regardless of his committed relationships, he breaks the rules of he and Scott's fight, and he eats whatever he wants whether it contains animal protein or not. And yet this Hedonistic lifestyle has yet to deliver the contentment for which he searches. He doesn't set out to hurt people, they just get caught in his telekinetic wake. Todd is evil only because of his absolute refusal to be good.
Guilt: None. Pleasure: Little. Evil Level: 1. Designation: Evil by Default.

Some friends and I disagree on this next point. As stated earlier, each boss offers greater difficulty than the last; this does not mean that each ex is more evil than the last. Matthew Patel is the first, and therefore least deadliest, opponent Scott must face, yet he is far from the least wicked. Of all the League, Patel's skill set is the only one that has overtly devilish tones(he summons fiery, demonic hotties to do his bidding). Furthermore, he's enthusiastic about what he's doing. He sends out letters announcing his presence and intentions, dresses up for the occasion ("Pirates are in this year"), and makes a grand entrance. He operates under the idea that malevolence is en vogue. If somebody enjoys acting evil, how long before they enjoy evil acts?
Guilt: None. Pleasure: Some. Evil Level: 2. Designation: Poser, yet Dangerous.

Gideon may very well be unapologetically evil. He appears to be Ramona's most recent ex and leader of the League. So far, he's only been directly involved in the story on two occasions. The third book's upbeat ending is taken down a peg by a mysterious stranger moving among the crowd; only Scott catches a glimpse of him. He does nothing overtly sinister, but the reader knows that his presence foreshadows trouble. Gideon's next appearance is in voice alone. He telephones Scott in order to check on how he's handling a hard time. He then ends the conversation with the question, "When would it be convenient for you to die?" I don't know much about Gideon Gordon Graves, but I'm laying money on him being able to differentiate between right and wrong, if only to aid in choosing wrong whenever possible: a true sociopath.
Guilt: None. Pleasure: Lots. Evil Level: 3. Designation: Absolute Evil.

By the way, I grabbed the above image from Comics Alliance; I hope they don't mind.

2010-05-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

This post is mainly for my benefit.

Important Dates:

Jun. 30: The Walking Dead, Vol. 12: Life Among Them - Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard

Jul. 2: The Last Airbender

Jul. 9: Predators

Jul. 20: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour - Bryan Lee O'Malley

Jul. 27: Batman: Under the Red Hood

Aug. 13: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Sep. 3: Machete

Sep. 7: Green Hornet - Kevin Smith & Jonathan Lau

Sep. 17: The Adjustment Bureau

Oct. 26: Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files - Jim Butcher

Dec.17: Tron: Legacy

TBA:

Summer: Scott Pilgrim Video Game

In Defense of Blackest Night

2010-04-11T16:02:00.000-07:00

For those that don't know, each year the two main comic publishers have what is now called anevent. These events are so large in scope that they touch upon every character currently in print. DC's latest event left some fans disappointed. Last year's event featured a high-concept apocalypse that played with the rules of storytelling and killed Batman. This year's event, The Blackest Night, almost seemed a rehashing of Marvel's "Zombie" franchise three years too late. I, however, thought Blackest Night was great.

The phrase, "struggle between life and death," is tossed around a lot in melodramas, but Geoff Johns used it as the setup for his story. Blackest Night shows the fight against death itself. This is Hamlet's most famous soliloquy in the form of a spandex clad free-for-all. That's it. I know a lot of people weren't crazy about the emotional spectrum of light. To say that all feelings can be broken down to seven emotions (a few of which aren't actual emotions) is a bit of a leap. Ethan Van Sciver, one of Johns's collaborating artists, agrees that referring to the driving forces as emotions seems flawed, he prefers to think of it in terms of motivation. Now, that leaves us with the idea that there are only seven motivating factors in the universe, which is still fallacious.

I want to take it a step further than motivation. I say that the real trick to lighting up a power ring is having a reason to live; after all, the whole story was about fending off death. It's easy to make a case for the positive (hope, compassion, love) and neutral (willpower) motivations. But what about the negative? Can it really be said that hatred, avarice, and fear make life worth living? Yep.

I did not enjoy reading Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, I want to get that out of the way early. But, like all dutiful high schoolers, I pushed through it. My memory always catches on one part, and that's the comparison between Hester and Chillingworth, particularly regarding love and hate. The following three sentences come from chapter 24:

Nothing was more remarkable than the change which took place, almost immediately after Mr. Dimmesdale's death, in the appearance and demeanour of the old man known as Roger Chillingworth. All his strength and energy--all his vital and intellectual force--seemed at once to desert him; insomuch that he positively withered up, shrivelled away, and almost vanished from mortal sight, like an uprooted weed that lies wilting in the sun. This unhappy man had made the very principle of his life to consist in the pursuit and systematic exercise of revenge; and when, by its completest triumph and consummation, that evil principle was left with no further material to support it,--when, in short, there was no more devil's work on earth for him to do, it only remained for the unhumanized mortal to betake himself whither his Master would find him tasks enough, and pay him his wages duly.

To paraphrase, hatred was the only thing keeping Roger Chillingworth alive.

Silas Marner, also not one of my favorites, features an outcast gradually transformed by love. But that's not in the first act. The eponymous character begins as an outsider concerned with one thing: his gold. He works harder and harder, later and later in order to earn more wages, which he promptly hides under a loose floorboard. He never spends any, and the only joy he has in life is counting his horde. In chapter 5 he returns home to find his gold missing. He doesn't take it well.

Silas's next appearance follows a lengthy discussion of ghosts and spirits among visitors to the inn. He goes unnoticed at first, then cautiously greeted. His arrival at that point in the conversation and his sudden appearance in the room both mark him as ghost. Without his gold, he's might as well be dead. It isn't until he finds a small, blonde haired child outside his cottage that his spirits lift. The primary reason for this revitalization is because he believes the golden haired girl is his gold given human form. He refuses to part with her, taking her in himself. Hoarding this child as if she were treasure.

In Bruges is a movie I love. It's a darker movie, meditations on life and death and whatnot. Colin Farrell plays a hitman laying low in Bruges, Belgium after a job turns South. Things went bad, really bad. He spends the moving questioning morality, atonement, and the afterlife. To top it all off, he's stuck in Bruges. Everything is history, cobblestones, gas lamps, and too many bridges and canals without a bowling alley to be found.

Nearly everyone is afraid of death to some degree, it's the cornerstone of caution. Colin Farrell's character searches for some reason to keep on living. He finds it in fear. After some bullets find their mark on his person, he is rushed to an ambulance. All he can think of is whether or not there is a hell, and if so, what if it's like spending an eternity in Bruges. He no longer wants to die.

I know, now the response is, "there are more than seven reasons to live." Fine, there are. But only seven can manipulate that particular type of energy. If you don't like that answer, I suggest you try to plug a lamp in to the socket using string instead of copper wiring. Lots of things conduct electricity, but some are better conduits than others.

Outakes

2009-12-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

We did much better this time.

Be Seeing You

2009-11-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

I've come to understand that AMC is re-imagining The Prisoner as a week long mini-series. Though surprised when I saw the full page ad, the timing isn't all that surprising.

The Prisoner, a trippy television series from the U.K. in 1967, is one of the more relevant pieces of pop culture for post-millennium America. I believe that the resurgence of "socialism" as a hot button topic provided the final push needed to get a Prisoner remake a reality. I may not watch AMC's version, but only cause I'm digging the original too much.

The premise of the show is what happens when the Crown's top agent all of the sudden resigns. Considering the secrets stored inside his head, it would be quite easy for him to become a risk to national security. He's abducted and deposited into what could be seen as an international retirement community for the intelligence services.

I think that the themes present in this show will hit home with Americans with any political leanings in either direction.

Patrick McGoohan's protagonist refuses to play the game set out for him by the system. Each episodes' opening features the main character shouting, "I am not a number, I am a free man." The first episode finds him explaining his position to his supposed new superior, "I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered. My life is my own." This rallying call for individualism appeals to our country's right wing. No. 2, the seeming (yet quite temporary) operations manager of the Village, often assures, "We're quite democratic, you know." The individual having to bend to the will of the majority, a majority that they don't understand, is an uncomfortable thought. This is what people are screaming about at town hall meetings now.

The philosophies of the Village are only half the problem. It's the forces backing up those concepts that lead to quiet chills. The opening sequence shows a man kidnapped from his home over political matters and then taken to a an unknown place where he is interrogated and threatened; today we call this an extraordinary rendition. One of the sets frequently employed on the show is that of the control room: a circular room of maps, monitors, and a seemingly motorized seesaw with cameras on either end. No. 2 and his associates often observe the protagonist from this location. That's the Patriot Act. The left wing is tired of shadow governments acting without the people's consent.

Benjamin Franklin is paraphrased as saying, "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." Both sides of the argument have been using this rhetoric, usually to try and shut down the other party. It gets me thinking about the American mindset. It seems the defining principle of being an American comes down to this:

We always think the other guy's out to get us.

I promised I wouldn't go "buy" a Ouija board.

2009-10-25T16:24:00.000-07:00

Last week I watched Paranormal Activity. Yes, the movie everybody's been talking about. Am I really making my first real blog post in over a year about a flavor of the week sensation that will eventually die down and render this entry dated and passe'? Yes, yes I am.

I guess this is sort of a spoiler post. Though the movie doesn't really hinge on too many plot points, I'd hate to ruin someone's evening by having them hear about it here first. The film's premise is that Micah and Katie have been experiencing strange phenomena, now they're going to videotape it in order to get to the bottom of it. What you're watching is the footage, found and edited by a third party, of the goings on in their house. The psuedo-spoiler is coming up, so you many want to stop reading... now:

It's a demon.

It's announced within the first twenty minutes of the movie, so it may not be a huge spoiler. It appears that Katie has been followed by a malevolent entity since she was eight years old. As things get worse, the question hanging in the air (for the audience and for the players) is, "How long do you stay in a relationship with supernatural baggage?"

I'm going to go ahead and toss another spoiler out there, cause if you've read this far you clearly don't care. Things don't end well for the happy couple. Things really do not end well. But they could have.

I can't find my notes from class to back this up, but I remember my studies in anthropology, mythology, and folklore concerning demon possession. One is at risk for demonic possession when existing in a liminal state. Liminality is the state of being in-between, not having a set identity or social status.

The New Testament holds the story of Legion, one of the more well known stories of demon possession. The setting for the encounter between Christ and the possessed man is a graveyard. A graveyard is a liminal place, a crossing between the land of the living and the land of the dead.

In The Amityville Horror, George Lutz moves his new bride and her children to a spacious house with a dark history. George is the new addition to the family unit, he doesn't yet have a place, and is targeted for possession by the residence's resident wraith. His lacking a definite, fixed position in the group makes him an easy mark.

Now, Paranormal Activity's two primary characters are Katie and Micah, a young, unmarried, though committed couple. When asked about their relationship, Micah says that they're "engaged to be engaged." Thus assigning them to the grey area between boyfriend & girlfriend and fiancees. This puts them in a liminal state.

I believe that had these two kids taken time to figure out their relationship, everyone would've walked away fine. Now, it may seem that applying what I learned in Humanities courses at a State University to a motion picture scenario doesn't guarantee success any more so than the next guy's suggestion. But I can totally prove I'm right on this one.

Even if my liminality argument falls through, taking their relationship to the next level or calling it quits would have thwarted the demon's attempts. Let's say Micah proposes and Katie says, "yes." The Psychic tells them that beings such as ghosts and demons feed off of negative energy. The positive energy introduced by the engagement would give the demon less juice with which to work. On the other hand, after a long and serious talk, they might have decided to just be friends. Yes, this would produce negative energy; however, it would remove another source of the demon's power. The Psychic warns against trying to communicate with the demon, for it may view this as an invitation for further interaction. Micah does not heed this warning. If they split up, Katie wouldn't have to deal with Micah taunting, teasing, and actively seeking out the wickedness surrounding them. The demon would not have a door to step through without Micah's shenanigans.

So, what can we take from this movie? Yes, having a loosely defined partnership not weighed down by societal labels is fun, but it will get you killed.

2009-05-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

This is us being silly.

Faith and the Fourth World

2008-08-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

On the second read of Final Crisis #1, I was drawn to the above exchange. The casual reader sees this as the request of a dying man. Knowing that it is a god which fell changes the scene's meaning. These words are no longer a request, this is a commandment. This is the sole commandment of Orion, War God of New Genesis. Fight.

This line of thinking progressed. Considering Kirby's New Gods in religious terms leads to interesting places.

Darkseid rules Apokolips by fear. He is absolute authority with totalitarian ambitions. In Morrison's JLA: Rock of Ages, he transforms Earth into dystopia similar to Orwell's 1984. One word stands out on all signs, posters, and banners: obey.
This is the image often associated with the God of the old testament. Ecclesiastes 12:13 states, "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

Mr. Miracle, whom I love, also resonates with biblical themes.

Aside from the obvious similarity of a son being given to the enemy for the sake of peace, Scott Free features other Christ-like attributes. Being sent to the armaghetto only to eventually escape with Barda compares to the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus, in which Christ goes to Hell to free the righteous. Freedom, of which Mr. Miracle is living embodiment, is often viewed as the focal point of Christ's message. The word free, or variations there of, appears 68 times in the new testament.

I don't mean to keep posting about church and comics, I'll change subjects soon.

The Gospel According to Stan the Man

2007-10-29T08:33:00.001-07:00

The current Wolverine storyline sets out to explain what happens each time when Logan is seemingly killed and then returns to life. It all starts on the war ravished fields of France in the second decade of the twentieth century. On second thought, there's too much backstory here. Wolverine beat the angel of death and now gets a second chance at life every time he dies, so long as he can beat him again.
I was explaining this to a church discussion group when some cynicism presented itself.

V: He killed the angel of death?
D: Not really killed, just defeated in battle.
V: Still, how can he beat the angel of death?
D: Well Jacob wrestled an angel to a standstill.
G: And Wolverine could totally kick Jacob's ass.

It was at this point when I realized something about myself. Each week that I've met with my church discussion group I've questioned the nature of God, religion, the church, faith, truth, etc. I never question the Marvel Bullpen. Some could argue that I don't question comics because I regard them as fiction, but the point remains. In all outer appearances I seem to have more faith in Marvel Comics than I do in my own religion.

A thought on supervillainy

2007-04-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Supervillains bother me. Not in the same way they bother someone like Daredevil mind you. The idea behind supervillains bothers me. Why would someone create a new identity in order to commit crimes?
If a person wants to remain anonymous, they hide their face. This is the basic concept behind the costumed persona. True, some people wear a mask to adopt a better identity (e.g. Bruce Wayne is a man, but Batman is something more), but most characters are disguising themselves. Following this train of thought one would assume that the supervillain wears a disguise to keep themselves out of jail. If this were the case then they would wear traditional ski masks or ladies' stockings. Supervillains choose to wear disguises that are distinct and recognizable. Why? Because they want to get credit for what they've done but not get caught. They could easily rob banks without using insignias or gimmicks, but they want to be noticed.
I know that not all supervillains fit this mold. Eric Lensherr isn't dressing up and calling himself Magneto in order to avoid getting into trouble. He does this in order to separate himself from the likes of us humans. Nor does this apply to Killer Croc, who actually sees himself as a crocodile. The prior statement refers to the those such as The Wrecker, Captain Cold, Bullseye, and KGBeast.
The original Red Hood had the right idea. A criminal organization would pick a guy at random to put on this suit and lead the gang for one job. This protected the identities of those involved as well as help maintain the belief that there's one guy running the show.