Fanboy

Okay, this morning I’ve been to both movie sites and I gotta say that I was really impressed with the tailer for Transformers. Is it going to do as well as the third installment in the saga of everyone’s favorite webspinner? Probably not, but that’s not to take anything away from Transformers, it’s just that it’s up against the immovable object in what is the third in the Spidey series ( dare I say Marvel cash cow! ) but I predict that what Transformers doesn’t do at the box office, it will make up for in dvd rentals and sales, when it is finally released. And expect everyone to pick up the ” Special Edition ” of the Transformers Movie.

” Look….up in the sky…. it’s a bird…. it’s a plane…IT’S SUPERMAN! “

Yes, I used to loved that simple statement and still do today. I think that when we think of iconic superheroes, the first name that rolls off our lips is Superman, but why is that?

Okay here comes my shameless plug now…one might only read the story of “ Kingdom Come ” to get the real answer to the above question….

As a baby, sent from the doomed planet Krypton, baby Kal-El, would be found by a kindly couple in the fields of Smallville, Kansas. The baby is adopted by this couple, Martha and Jonathan Kent, and the baby is raised as their own son. They name him Clark, and they teach him the lessons of right and wrong, and as Clark’s powers and abilities start to manifest under the Earth’s yellow sun, he is taught to use his abilities for the good of man. And thus, a legend is born…..continued here

When I stopped into my local comics shop hangout a few weeks back, my friend and sales person Pete and I got into another conversation about ” Civil War “, albeit short but Pete threw out this little thought…” what if Civil War is actually a ” House of M ” event?

How many of you have ever watched the evening soap opera/drama ” Dallas “?

In it’s heyday, Dallas was one of the few shows that I just had to watch, but it also had it’s lame moments….like the ” it was all a DREAM ” Bobby season, where we find out that his wife Pam, isn’t actually dead…it was a year long dream!

Well, here’s an unlikely ( and probably twisted )view of how this might become a 7 issue

” House of M ” dream…..Steve Rogers steps out of a shower, goes to his bathroom mirror and see’s a 48 year old, lanky person and is totally dismayed….what has happened to me and shouts out ” Honey!”…..” Wanda, what’s happened to me? “

An overweight Wanda Maximmoff walks into the room and slaps Steve in the face and yells at him I’ll tell ya what’s happened to you, I stopped giving you your medicine because I’m tired of my worthless excuse of a husband thinking he is a World War Two hero, who ran around in tights with a Red, White and Blue shield, and your not some SUPER HERO fugitive, running from the government and someone named Tony Stark! She slaps him again and yells snap out of it, there is no CIVIL WAR!

Than, Steve Roger’s world goes WHITE…..and in the next scene we see Magneto standing over his still insane daughter, Wanda in his safe-hold on the island of Genosha. He stares at his sleeping daughter, wondering what she might be dreaming of that has put a smile across her lips….in a large, padded cell we see a person tied in a straight jacket, gagged, his eyes wide, tears streaming out, and Steve Rogers can only scream in side his mind…and the last scene is a fade out of the cell, which has a clip board hanging on it that says the following…..Shield Containment cell, subject Steve Rogers, Captain America; Diagnosis: Constant Medical Breakdowns:Dementia, Memory Lapses: …..

Physician….Doctor Stephen Strange….and we fade to black….How’s that for a dream sequence!

This is part two of the saga of the Punisher War Journal ” Civil War ” special series.

Frank Castle, the Punisher ( as if you didn’t know that ) and the symbol of America, Captain America working together?

Well in issue #2, it happens albeit for a very short period of time.

Cap is the leader of this little rebellion against authority, ironic in and of itself, and the question is can the Captain actually trust the Punisher?

Cap – ” I’m not sure I can have you Throwing In with me castle. “

Punisher – ” Why not? We’re both soldiers. “

Cap- ” I’m a soldier. You’re a Vigilante. A Criminal. “

Punisher – ” Yeah. But so are you these days. “

this was some of the dialog from page two of the comic, and sets the stage for the uniting of these two characters in book two, with the Punisher being Cap’s Bucky ( well sort of! ) as long as the Punisher doesn’t use ” Lethal Force “, yeah……good luck with that idea Cap!

Castle makes it clear that he ” really doesn’t care ” which side wins in this little Civil War, just that ” all this just gets in my way ” referring to his little war on crime vendetta, which kinda reminds me of a certain ” Dark Knight “, and makes you wonder when the Batman and the Punisher will cross paths again?

At one point, Cap even gives Frank a compliment by saying ” Good Work, soldier. Move out. “

But in the end, the Captain and the Punisher ( or is that Tennile ? ) work in and come from very different worlds, and kinda like that often referred to leopard and his spots…well the Punisher is the Punisher, with his own code of ethics and he doesn’t lie down with criminals, no matter what the circumstance might be.

After Castle guns down two criminals that had come to offer their help to Cap in his fight against the registration act, Caps ready to beat the snot out of the Punisher, and the Punisher is almost daring him to….more to come pilgrims!

What happens when one of the most feared characters in the Marvel universe takes a side in a battle?

The other side is in lots of trouble!

Welcome to The Punisher War Journal, Civil War Edition, featuring artwork by Ariel Olivetti, who makes me remember Mick Zeck’s art ( who’s art on the DC series Space Ghost had first caught my eye ) and story by Matt Fraction, this is the Punisher at his kick ass best!

So far I have read the first issue , but that was enough. The scene of the Punisher bringing a beat up and battered Spiderman to the Captain America’s resistance safe house ( maybe it’s safe ) and the startled looks on all the heroes faces was just priceless.

Castle decides that he wants to join the resistance against the ” Hero Registration ” act when he see’s Spiderman being apprehended by a group of villains ” sanctioned ” by the government and Shield. After doing some bad-guy ass kicking and saving Spidey’s bacon, he takes the webhead back to Cap’s place and decides he wants to be on Cap and the resistance’s side, but the real question is………DO THEY WANT HIM?

I know that there are alot of the Marvel universe comics tied into this important storyline, but for my sawbuck, this will be one of the best.

I will be picking up the second issue this week and I will be giving another update.

I’m talking about this issue today about comics due to a new storyline running thru the Marvel line of comics.

What happens when a comic book address real world social issues? Heck, you get a hell of a read!

The storyline Civil War is probably one of th most hard hitting and socially thought provoking books to hit the comic shelves in some time.

Dealing with the issue of Superhero Registration and the heros splitting on whether to register or not, is just like looking at real world politics.

The storyline pits , and for all intents and purposes ( at least for now ) splits the heroes of the Marvelverse into two groups:

a) Tony Stark- Iron Man

Stark is all for the registration act and gathers a like minded group heroes with his mind set together.

b) Steve Rogers- Captain America

Cap is totally against the act and gathers his own stable of heroes.

And so the Marvelverse of heroes splits down the middle…….