tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56337090808763439132024-03-12T23:59:54.839-07:00The Masks BlogA blog about reading, writing, and the nerdy life. Also superheroes, pop culture, science fiction, fantasy, magic, explosions, fur-bearing animals, and anything else that crosses my mind. Supposedly it promotes my writing, including my serial, MASKS. Actually it just lets me run off at the keyboard. Be afraid. But visit me on Facebook and read MASKS on Pocket Coyote while you're at it.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.comBlogger246125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-68157555376275682492015-05-13T09:19:00.000-07:002015-05-13T09:19:00.145-07:00Age of Ultron is a B-plus, and here's why.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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So I saw <i>Avengers: Age of Ultron</i> on Friday night and much as I liked most of it, and much as I thought I'd never need to say this—Joss Whedon, you need to move on.<br />
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I know, I know, Joss <i>is</i> moving on; this is his last contracted Marvel movie, and the Russo brothers (of <i>Winter Soldier</i> fame) will be taking over future installments in the Avengers franchise. But this isn't the sendoff I would have liked. I wanted to miss Joss when he was gone.<br />
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Okay. Time to put on my big-fangirl pants and deal. I had very high expectations for this movie and they weren't met, that's all. Most of my disappointment here is that I expected this movie to be as awesome as the first one and it was just kinda goodish. Goodish isn't so bad. It's only bad when you expected better.<br />
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For those who want the capsule description, <i>Avengers: Age of Ultron </i>mostly focuses on what happens when the ad hoc superteam of the first <i>Avengers</i> movie has to grow up and deal with the world in a systematic, adult way. Spoiler: it doesn't go well. When Tony Stark decides to use a little evil science to kickstart his world-defending AI system (because what could possibly go wrong with <i>that</i>?), the world pretty much goes to hell in a handbasket and the good guys spend two hours trying to fix it, with mixed results. I'm going to start with the good before I move on to the problematic.<br />
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Now, because this is me and I tend to dwell on the things that annoy me, I'll probably have more to say on the negative side of the balance sheet, so I want to establish right up front that as much as I dislike the problematic stuff, <i>I consider AoU a pretty good movie overall. </i>If the first <i>Avengers</i> was an A, this is a B-plus. It's good, okay? You'll have fun. It's just not without its problems, is all. And one or two (or three) of those problems are significant.<br />
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All right. Here we go. This is your last spoiler warning ...<br />
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The good:<br />
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<b>1. This is a really darned good superhero movie.</b> Seriously. Everything you look for in a tentpole popcorn flick is here. And it's all done really well. A lot of stuff blows up. There's a whirlwind tour of the endangered globe. There are moments of real excitement and humor. If there's a checklist for how to make a good superhero movie, this one checks nearly all the boxes. Anything involving the Vision, in particular, is damn near perfect (and gorgeous to boot). It's just a well-made superhero movie by the standards of what makes a good 'un.<br />
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<b>2. Nice action sequences. </b>That's an understatement. This movie doesn't just go for spectacle—it pays real attention to how the Avengers would function in combat after some practice together. They use their strengths and compensate for one another's weaknesses. Whether it's Captain America using a motorcycle as both personal transportation and blunt instrument, or Iron Man having a contingency plan for the Hulk losing his few remaining marbles, or Hawkeye doing his mere-mortal schtick in places where the superpowered gods can't go, this movie has everything you want to see in the way of the Avengers in action.<br />
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Early on, a bad guy asks his henchman why their defenses are failing, and his baffled henchman replies, "They're the Avengers, sir." And that pretty much sums it up.<br />
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<b>3. Hello to the funny. </b>It's a Joss Whedon movie, so this shouldn't be a surprise, but there are more than enough jokes. I'd guess I had to lip-read maybe fifteen to twenty percent of the dialogue because the people around me were laughing so loudly at what had just been said. It's funny, okay? There's plenty of funny.<br />
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<b>4. Hawkeye!</b> If you felt there wasn't enough Hawkeye in earlier Marvel movies, this movie will be your jam because he's everywhere. He gets a lot of the best action and the best snark. And as the movie delves into his personal life, including glimpses of his home (yes, he has one), he carries a lot of the film's emotional weight, too. And he does it well. Jeremy Renner, I would start a petition to give you your own solo film except that this movie kind of was that film.<br />
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<b>5. Ultron is a hoot.</b> James Spader is hilarious. If you've ever snorted a drink out your nose at something he said or did in The Blacklist, you'll be happy here. There's nothing quite like hearing him say, <i>"Stop it!"</i> like the annoyed parent of a toddler after Captain America tries to kick him in the face for the fourth or fifth time. Spader does for Ultron what Tom Hiddleston did for Loki—take a two-dimensional megalomaniac and turn him into something complex, sympathetic, and charming. I don't think Ultron will be getting a fangirl army any time soon, but it's not for lack of effort on Spader's part.<br />
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<b>6. Sam Wilson is an Avenger.</b> <b>I repeat, SAM WILSON IS AN AVENGER. </b>Yes. He makes it. Anybody who's been rooting for the Falcon to make it to the big show, you will be pleased. He's in the final roll call, with a new set of wings.<br />
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<b>6. NEBBISH! </b>This is a personal thing, but I was delighted (and actually screamed in the theater) to see the return of one of my favorite minor MCU characters. Remember the SHIELD technician who refused to launch the helicarriers? The guy who started the "captain's orders" meme? He doesn't have a name in the canon, but after I saw him in <i>Winter Soldier</i> he quickly became my personal Figwit. I loved the fact that he was obviously scared out of his mind, the last person who should be fighting somebody like Rumlow, and yet he was the first speaking SHIELD agent we saw resisting Hydra's takeover. While everyone else was looking at each other and wondering what to do, this little nebbishy guy proved himself more heroic than Captain America (and nearly got his brains blown out for it, in a nice touch of realism). It was established that a lot of SHIELD agents died when the Triskelion fell, and unlike named characters like Agent 13 and Maria Hill, Nebbish didn't get an epilogue in <i>Winter Soldier</i>. He wasn't important enough to be shown, alive or dead, at the end.<br />
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Well, it looks like Nebbish made it out okay, because he's shown (briefly) working for Nick Fury in the climax of the film. And that was probably my favorite part.<br />
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Yeah, Nebbish was the best. Because a lot of the other good in this movie was soured by ...<br />
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<b>The bad:</b><br />
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<b>1. It's too many movies in one movie. </b>Maybe there's a way to do Ultron <i>and</i> the birth of the Vision <i>and</i> the introduction of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch <i>and</i> the foundations of <i>Civil War and</i> build Hawkeye into a fully developed character—but this wasn't it. There was just too much going on—so much that it was hard to care about any one plot thread when the next action scene (however excellent) was barreling at you before you could process. This was about a movie and a half packed into only one flick, and not in the good way.<br />
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<b>2. Wait, are there three SHIELDs now? And other plot holes.</b> Let's just say there was insufficient attention to detail, which is a lousy thing to say about a Joss Whedon production. But there are plot holes you could drive a truck through. Like the part where Bruce finds Natasha in the oh-so-secret dungeon in the middle of Ultron's base. How? She was unconscious when she was brought there, so she couldn't have correctly described her location to Clint. How did Bruce find the place? How did he get in there? How did he find her inside a sprawling building? Honestly, would one shot of Bruce creeping down a hallway have been too much?<br />
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Similarly, when Nick Fury randomly shows up out of nowhere with a helicarrier, it's a little weird. Seriously, dude, where were you an hour ago? And does this mean that you have your own SHIELD faction now, to replace the two that have been squabbling all season on <i>Agents of SHIELD</i>? How did you suddenly become a slick and well-funded operation again at the end?<br />
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And perhaps most importantly, why does nobody notice that <i>smashing robot bodies does absolutely no good in the age of cloud computing?</i> There's nothing to suggest Ultron hasn't backed himself up somewhere online. Breaking the hardware shouldn't do anything of substance. So the movie ends with only token evidence that the bad guy has even been defeated, yet everyone relaxes like they won.<br />
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I could go on, but ... seriously, there's just a lot of plot holes. Enough to be distracting.<br />
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<b>3. Why is there a romance in this movie? And why is it <i>this</i> romance?</b> One of the things I liked best in the first <i>Avengers </i>movie is that there wasn't much in the way of romance. The whole thing happened over, like, two days, and there was just no time for it. I liked that a lot better than a typical action movie where the love story feels shoehorned in.<br />
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Well ...<br />
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The big romance in this movie is between Natasha and Bruce. And I don't care whether you ship that or not, but I have two problems with it strictly from a filmmaking perspective. First, Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo don't have that much chemistry together. Their scenes feel dull and forced. So you're adding a romance that doesn't work, from a strict filmmaking standpoint.<br />
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Second, the romance is pretty much all Natasha does in this movie. Seriously, even Bruce gets to weigh in on the creation of Ultron and how to defeat him. Natasha just gets kidnapped and turned into Bruce's damsel in distress. I don't care what your view of Joss Whedon's self-described feminism is—that is a waste of a good character. Why is Natasha even here if this is all she does? You could have swapped her for Betty Ross and gotten the same results.<br />
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<b>4. Tony Stark is an idiot. </b>This is the first of many signs that Joss Whedon hates his job. Tony was the darling of the first Avengers movie, the wisecracking scene-stealer who got all the best snark. That is a sign that Joss loves you right there. <i>And</i> he got to make the big dramatic sacrifice to save the world.<br />
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This time? Tony is still snarky, but it's pointlessly mean snark—lines like a joke about reinstating <i>prima nocta</i> when he rules Asgard. There were a million jokes Tony could have made while trying to lift the hammer, but somehow we ended up with a rape joke. And yeah, Tony then turns out to be unworthy, which has led a lot of online pundits to suggest that this was Joss trying to undermine Tony's jerkishness, but that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is that <i>Age of Ultron</i> makes Tony out to be the kind of jerk who would make a joke like that. Never mind his development over four previous movies—none of that counts now, because Joss Whedon needs a straw man to tear down.<br />
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And then there's the stupidity! In <i>Age of Ultron</i> we get a Tony Stark who is literally unable to learn from his mistakes, even in engineering, which is supposed to be his primary area of genius. Bruce even calls him on it, saying he's "stuck in a time loop" when Tony suggests countering an out-of-control AI with another out-of-control AI, effectively repeating an action and expecting different results. And yeah, it turns out okay this time—but not because of anything Tony did.<br />
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Apparently, this movie just couldn't get along without a version of Tony Stark who was so obviously wrong about everything that no rational person could agree with him on anything. That's a terrible way to set up an antagonist for the upcoming <i>Civil War</i> movie. What's the matter, Joss? Couldn't be bothered to write a little complexity and nuance into someone who had to be on the wrong side of the argument?<br />
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<b>5. Steve Rogers is unrecognizable. </b>I guess not, because Steve got an even rawer deal than Tony. I noted in my review of the first <i>Avengers</i> that my one major issue was that every one of the Big Six got a serious character arc except Cap, who just kind of piddled around until it was time to punch aliens. When the <i>Avengers</i> Blu-ray came out with a bunch of deleted scenes that appeared to show Cap's arc, all was seemingly forgiven. It was cut for time. Understandable.<br />
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I'm not so understanding now.<br />
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The Captain America we get in <i>Age of Ultron</i> is nothing like the one we see in the other MCU movies. He's the most hidebound member of the team, primly correcting Tony's casual profanity (and reacting with very little grace when ribbed about it later). This is just dumb. The guy fought through World War II (in the American infantry!) and casually says things like "light the bastards up", but he has a problem with Tony saying "shit"? That's so far out of character that it's a non sequitur.<br />
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In fact, there's very little of the Steve Rogers we've come to like in other movies. The guy who tried to drink an entire pub and cried himself hoarse when Bucky died in <i>The First Avenger</i> is now saying things like, "If you get killed, walk it off." The guy who dismantled an Orwellian intelligence organization in <i>Winter Soldier</i> ends up apparently running one. And even when Sam Wilson says he's happier not being an Avenger, Steve goes and makes him one (presumably because he knows Sam can't tell him no). There's no indication that he's still actively trying to find the person he nearly killed himself saving in his last movie; Bucky's not so much as mentioned by name. Even during the downtime on Clint's farm, Steve never seems to pause and reflect on his gaping emotional wounds. He's the Tin Woodsman to Tony Stark's scarecrow—no heart, no brain.<br />
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This isn't The Wizard of Oz, Joss. Heartless Steve Rogers is not what I bought a ticket for.<br />
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<b>6. Natasha Romanoff is ... I don't even know what. </b>All right, before the whining starts, I am going to be absolutely clear about what bothers me about Nat's role in this film. It's not what happens. It's that<i> this is not Natasha Romanoff.</i><br />
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Let's discuss the elephant in the room—the "monster" line.<br />
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At one point, Bruce tells Nat they can't be a couple because he can't have children. Nat replies that she can't either—the "graduation ceremony" in the Red Room was a mandatory surgical sterilization. Okay, fine, bad people do bad things. But Nat then goes on specifically to say that the sterilization was done <i>so she would be a better assassin </i>(because having a hysterectomy makes you a better murderer?) and tells Bruce that he's not the only monster on the team.<br />
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And that is where I put down my popcorn.<br />
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I'm sorry, but "monster"? Let's be charitably dense and say this isn't what it looks like—this movie saying an infertile woman is a monster because she's infertile. Let's say Nat thinks she's a monster <i>strictly</i> because she's killed a bunch of people. Let's ignore the fact that she was discussing her infertility right before she switched to the topic of monsters, and that she explicitly said she was rendered infertile so she'd be better at doing monster stuff. Let's assume that Joss in no way meant to imply that non-motherhood equals monsterdom, that he never meant to say that a woman who can't have children should consider herself no longer human. Let's even assume that this is not a reflection of the movie's view, just a moment of character for Nat—that she holds this idea, true or not, because that's just how she feels and feelings don't have to be logical or popular with the audience if they work as part of a character's overall arc.<br />
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That still leaves the fact that <i>Nat calls herself a monster, on a par with the giant green rage machine that just destroyed a city, and nothing and no one in the rest of the movie contradicts that point of view.</i> Bruce never says, "I don't think you're a monster" (even though the Hulk is shown in a middling positive light in other scenes). No one is shown treating Nat like a hero, unless you count Clint naming his next kid after her (sort of), which was apparently the plan even before the M-word entered the conversation. Steve makes her his second-in-command, but since this is the Steve Rogers who tells hypothetical dead people to walk it off, he might as well be amending "monster" to "useful monster". Of the two people in the movie who appear to care about Nat, in the end, one leaves her and the other is understandably distracted by all the kids he's got.<br />
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This is a movie that pretty much lets Nat call herself a monster, entirely or in part because she can't have babies, and replies, "Yup, you are."<br />
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And that's about 50% of Nat's role in this film (the other 50% being her damsel-in-distress routine).<br />
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Sorry, but that's not the Natasha Romanoff I bought a ticket for. I want to see the version that's slowly discovering she isn't a monster—the consummate spy of <i>Iron Man 2 </i>who became a steadfast best friend in <i>The Avengers</i> and whom Steve Rogers explicitly trusted to save his life in <i>Winter Soldier</i>. I want to see the Natasha Romanoff who's never perfect, but who keeps growing. Who doesn't accept the "monster" label. Who takes her vicious, sexist codename (Black Widow, poisonous man-eater) and shoves it down the throats of everyone who dismisses or underestimates her.<br />
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Natasha Romanoff is not resigned to being a monster. And damn you, Joss Whedon, for implying that she is, or should be.<br />
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<b>7. I just don't care. </b>Maybe it's the movie overload, maybe it's the fact that several characters went off the rails, but I just wasn't emotionally invested in this movie by the end. I wanted to be. I was sitting in that theater in a superhero hoodie, holding a teddy bear dressed up as my favorite Marvel character, in a row full of friends who were doing the same thing. I wanted to like this movie. I expected to like this movie.<br />
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And it had its moments. The Vision was gorgeous and very well done. There were moments of joy and wonder and fear. But when it comes right down to it, a group of characters I loved—had come to consider my friends, in the way really good fictional characters become your imaginary companions—either didn't show up or were treated so poorly that they'd have been better off staying home.<br />
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It's a pretty goodish movie. If it were anything other than an Avengers movie made by Joss Whedon with the Avengers in it, it would be an excellent movie. But it's not.<br />
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So I give it a B-plus. And after I saw it, I went home and Googled Chris Evans' tweets about filming the next Captain America flick.<br />
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Maybe my imaginary friends will show up for that one.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-11061728201977377552015-04-09T14:11:00.000-07:002015-04-09T14:11:54.676-07:00Everything you need to know before you watch Daredevil on Netflix<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, there's no way to explain everything you might possibly need to know about Daredevil before April 10, but this blog entry should cover the basics. For more of everything here, I recommend you check out the awesome fansite <a href="http://www.theothermurdockpapers.com/" target="_blank">The Other Murdock Papers.</a> Tell Christine I sent you, and be nice.<br />
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How about a nice trailer, huh?<br />
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Now, to answer the most pressing questions ...<br />
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<b>1. Who is this Daredevil guy?</b> Short version? Daredevil is a Marvel Comics superhero created by Stan Lee and in print since 1964. His origin is weird, even by the standards of the mid-sixties. As a boy growing up in poverty in New York's Hell's Kitchen, Matt Murdock was struck in the face by radioactive waste and blinded for life. In true comic-book fashion, he developed superpowers instead of cancer: all his other senses are now cranked up to eleven. He can hear heartbeats, finger-read ordinary print like it's braille, identify even the most subtle smells, and ... well, his sense of taste is equally awesome, but all the examples are stupid. He also has a kind of crude "radar sense" that tells him where things are and some rough details about them. After training with ninjas (yes, really) and surviving his boxer father's murder by mobsters, he is now working as a criminal-defense lawyer. He upholds the law by day and breaks it by night as the vigilante protector of Hell's Kitchen.<br />
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Daredevil is a big deal for a lot of reasons, including the unusual level of artistic experimentation that's gone into his stories over the years and his status as one of the first mainstream superheroes to have a serious disability. In the new series, he's played in and out of the courtroom by the usually suave Charlie Cox.<br />
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<b>2. So it's basically a superhero legal drama? </b>Well, no. The thing I keep trying to explain to non-comics readers is that <i>comic books are not a genre</i>. They're a medium, like TV or movies or novels or plays. Any medium can tell stories in multiple genres, and this is especially true of comics. Although the basic setup of Daredevil's world—blind crimefighter who's also a lawyer—lends itself to legal hijinks, surprisingly little of the comic's time is spent in the courtroom. (This may be because most of the people who've written it over the years know very little about how the legal system works. Oops.)<br />
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The early stories written by Stan Lee were standard colorful superhero goofery with a side order of soap opera. The early to mid-1970s saw more outré villains and kind of a disco feel. Then, in the late '70s and early '80s, a hot young writer named Frank Miller came along and began deconstructing the B-list hero piece by piece. Miller's stories delved into Daredevil's origins, adding the mysterious blind ninja master Stick as Matt's teacher. He also explored Matt's relationship with his father, his ambivalence toward the law, and his complicated lifelong dance with Catholicism. Miller retconned in Elektra, an assassin who was Matt's first love and in some ways the defining archetype of his love life. As the stories went on, Miller's run delved into psychodrama and some insanely gritty crime fiction.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also some kung-fu movie cliches like the staff to the head.</td></tr>
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That last thread was picked up by later writers, and for much of the 1980s and early 1990s Daredevil was basically living in a Tarantino movie (or sometimes <i>RoboCop</i>—also created by Miller, by the way). In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a series of writers tried various approaches—funny, tragic, metafictional—but nothing really stuck until Brian Michael Bendis came along and made the entire comic the grimmest political and crime drama you've ever read in your life. Follow that up with Ed Brubaker (yes, the man who turned Bucky Barnes into the Winter Soldier, and one of my all-around favorite comic writers), who fused his career-long fascination with noir with a deep insight into Matt's broken psyche, and you have one hell of a ride.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looked like this.</td></tr>
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Then there was some nonsense with ninjas (it was called <i>Shadowland</i>; don't read it) and the whole comic was rebooted by Mark Waid, who has taken a brighter, cheerier, but still very humanistic approach to our favorite blind superhero.<br />
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So really, a Daredevil series could occupy any genre. The best material has been crime-infused, noirish, occasionally mystical and deeply psychological, and that's where the Netflix series looks to be headed, but there have also been stories where Daredevil fought circus clowns and made psychic connections with Old West vigilantes like the Two-Gun Kid. And a few stories involving actual courtrooms. So the field is wide open.<br />
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<b>3. Welcome to Hell('s Kitchen).</b> No description of Daredevil and his world would be complete without the neighborhood he inhabits. For most of his publishing history, Daredevil has been firmly rooted in the working-class (now somewhat gentrified) New York neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen. The place has changed a lot over the last half-century, obviously, but Marvel held on for way too long to the mid-century image of the neighborhood as a working-poor district heavy on Irish immigrants and their kids and noticeably lacking in residents of color. By the late 1970s and 1980s, the Kitchen was portrayed as a crime- and drug-ridden hellhole, in keeping with a lot of mass-media portrayals of inner cities at the time. Only in the last couple of decades has the fictional Kitchen slowly caught up to the real one. But basically, imagine a stereotypical working-class slum, populated by immigrants, poor people, drug dealers, organized-crime figures, and anybody else you might find walking around a crime novel. Add more shadows than usual, and you've got Matt Murdock's home turf.<br />
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The Netflix series appears to have gone for the grimmest, grittiest Kitchen imaginable. Watch where you step.<br />
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<b>4. Foggy Nelson for the defense.</b> No hero can be without his supporting cast, and in Daredevil's case, that list (somewhat unusually) starts not with a sidekick or a love interest, but with Matt's lovable, bumbling law partner. Franklin "Foggy" Nelson met Matt when they were freshman roommates at Columbia University, and they've been almost inseparable friends ever since—in spite of the fact that Matt kept Foggy in the dark about the whole superhero thing for decades. Foggy is Matt's best (often his only) friend, and his defining characteristic is his unshakable loyalty to a man who often doesn't deserve it. Foggy is the voice of the ordinary man in the story, the reality check. He's sometimes the comic relief, too, but more and more in recent decades he's been the story's heart. Matt's a classic obsessed hero, and all too often it's Foggy who pulls him back from the edge—or, in a few memorable cases, goes bungee-jumping off it to save him when he's already fallen.<br />
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We haven't seen much of the Netflix Foggy, played by Elden Henson, but he is there and the fans have high hopes for him.<br />
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<b>5. Karen Page.</b> Matt's dated a lot of women over the years, including the Black Widow (yes, imagine Charlie Cox snogging Scarlett Johansson), but somehow his original love interest, Karen Page, holds a special place in the fans' hearts. Karen started out as a generic pretty secretary, the receptionist at Matt and Foggy's law firm, and the angsty point on the comic's awkward love triangle. It worked like this: both Matt and Foggy had the hots for Karen, but Karen only had eyes (no pun intended) for Matt. Matt, meanwhile, had to keep pushing Karen away, partly because of the complicated life of a Marvel superhero but also because, in a bit of not-at-all-funny retrospective comedy, he didn't want to "burden" a nice girl like Karen with a blind boyfriend.<br />
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Yeah, that's right. As big a deal as Daredevil is to visually impaired comics fans—and as a reader who dealt with her secret childhood terror of deteriorating eyesight by reading Daredevil comics, I can tell you he <i>is</i> a big flippin' deal—he also engaged in some pretty spectacular ableism. He routinely assumed he couldn't be accepted or loved simply because his eyes didn't work. Handsome, well-educated, wealthy, successful, superpowered—none of that was enough for Matt Murdock. He couldn't pursue Karen because he just wasn't "man" (read: sighted) enough.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because DRAMA.</td></tr>
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Karen eventually got sick of waiting and left the book to become a Hollywood starlet. She returned a few years later during Miller's classic "Born Again" storyline, where she appeared as a heroin-addicted porn actress who sold her ex-boyfriend's secret identity for a fix. (This may be the most Frank Milleresque sentence I've ever typed.) Karen stumbled back into Matt's life after his enemies destroyed it, and the two rebuilt each other over the next 15 or so years of comics.<br />
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Karen was killed off by one of Matt's recurring foes, Bullseye, in the late 1990s. The Netflix version, played by Deborah Ann Woll, looks to be a cross between the original sweet Karen and her tougher, more streetwise later self. It's also worth noting that Woll has a more personal stake in the project than a lot of performers—her boyfriend, EJ Scott, is legally blind and apparently something of a Daredevil fan.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthzIAvEDwVrwUtYRDnk1A4LtLuSS-YZ0miqs3SPKHx5z5qIfhDgrGEf2RiBac3f9O-vrH_tkJonO21IV3AYU_Qr0bX4cKetk2p6O_b8HnBgum8VF2e8qMz8bRm0n2-WrttZ0a47QAZEs/s1600/nightnurserocks.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhthzIAvEDwVrwUtYRDnk1A4LtLuSS-YZ0miqs3SPKHx5z5qIfhDgrGEf2RiBac3f9O-vrH_tkJonO21IV3AYU_Qr0bX4cKetk2p6O_b8HnBgum8VF2e8qMz8bRm0n2-WrttZ0a47QAZEs/s1600/nightnurserocks.png" height="190" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Night Nurse being awesome and showing Dr. Strange a few things.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>6. Night Nurse? There's a character called Night Nurse?</b> Yes, and she's awesome. A revamped version of a 1950s Marvel romance character, Night Nurse is (in the comics) the major healthcare provider for superheroes who don't want their secret identities to show up in an ER with unexplained gunshot wounds. When you get injured as often as Matt Murdock and you can't really explain acid burns to your HMO as a byproduct of your law practice, you're a Night Nurse regular. On Netflix, she's played by Rosario Dawson and looks to have a big role. Sounds like Matt's going to take a lot of beatings.<br />
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<b>7. Bring on the bad guy.</b> By now, you've heard Vincent D'Onofrio's voiceover and, if you're anything like me, you've noticed how much he sounds like he could be the gritty hero of the series. That's no accident. Wilson Fisk (also known as the Kingpin) has a lot in common with Matt Murdock. They faced similar levels of poverty and violence in childhood, and both have been tempted by the wrong side of the law. The difference is, Matt had a caring (if occasionally abusive) father who insisted that he study hard and better himself, while Wilson was the son of a hapless career criminal who brought young Willy into the family business. Both men discovered they were very, very good at their chosen occupations, and both men thrived in them—right up until they ran into each other. Wilson Fisk at one point had pretty much all of New York's crime families under his thumb, and Matt at various times had a successful law practice and an Avengers membership (though not simultaneously). But they've also taken each other apart a couple of times each. Matt's lost his money, his identity, and his sanity to the Kingpin's operations, while Wilson's lost his U.S. citizenship, his criminal empire, and his wife, Vanessa, to Daredevil's adventures.<br />
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I would say that by now, the antagonism is a personal one, except that it basically started being personal five minutes after these two met. Short version? Matt Murdock sees himself as the protector of Hell's Kitchen, Wilson Fisk sees himself as its king ... and each man thinks he owns it. This will get messy.<br />
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<b>8. Who the hell is the Purple Man?!</b> Wait, is there really a supervillain named the Purple Man, and is he really played by David Tennant? Yes, and yes, and be afraid. The Purple Man is a silly-sounding villain who is absolutely terrifying in the right hands. He has one bit of schtick—mind control. Thanks to exposure to an experimental nerve gas (oh, Marvel and its appalling lab security), Zebediah Killgrave began emitting pheromones that make anyone in the vicinity susceptible to his verbal suggestions. Basically, he's got hypnotic body odor. Sounds dumb, right? Especially when Daredevil's physiology is so weird that the pheromones don't actually work on him? Well, it gets scary. For one thing, Killgrave's powers can affect almost everyone around Matt—so Killgrave can do things like tell Karen and Foggy to jump off different roofs and force Matt to choose whom he's going to save, or just start a riot and get the mob to attack Daredevil.<br />
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But it gets much more sinister. At least twice, Killgrave has kidnapped people and subjected them to long-term enslavement, usually with a sexual component. (In fact, he has about half a dozen kids with different mothers, all fathered under the influence of his mojo.) Imagine all the awful things that can happen when the bad guy can make just about anyone do just about anything ... and he's getting increasingly frustrated by a random blind guy in a devil suit beating him up two or three times a year. One of Killgrave's best-known long-term victims was a minor superheroine named Jessica Jones, a.k.a. Jewel, who's getting her own Netflix series soon. Jess probably suffered more torment at Killgrave's hands than anybody else before he sent her to kill Daredevil, and her inclusion in the Netflix corner of the MCU suggests that her terrifying version of the Purple Man is the one we'll be seeing.<br />
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Now imagine David Tennant in that role. And if you don't know why that should creep you out, do a quick Google search on the phrase "Time Lord victorious" and see what comes up. Enjoy the nightmares.<br />
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Which seems as good a segue as any into ...<br />
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<b>9. Oh, my God, so much violence!</b> Yes, those trailers—and by all early accounts, the series itself—feature staggering amounts of screen time devoted to guys whumpin' on each other. And it's not the pretty, almost balletic violence you'd expect from a character whose fight training is heavily influenced by boxers and ninjas. Daredevil violence comes in two flavors—graceful and appalling. And it's usually the second one.<br />
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There are a lot of reasons for this. First and foremost is the way the stories have to be told. Although comics are a visual medium, the stories' narrator literally can't see what he's doing. He perceives the world through sound, touch, smell, taste, and radar. If the visuals overwhelm the narrative, it doesn't feel like a story about a blind superhero anymore. That means the fight scenes have to be narrated non-visually—think of things like the crunch of breaking teeth, the coppery scent of blood, the buzz and spin of a concussion. That's the only way Daredevil can perceive a fight, so his fights must include those visceral elements. The fights have to get dirty if you want your hero in danger. Either Daredevil is dancing around his foes because he's so much better at this than they are, or somebody's on the ground bleeding. Usually the latter.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is me saying "I told you so".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The second reason the fights are brutal is because Daredevil is one of the more underpowered superheroes out there. His superhuman abilities make him vulnerable even as they make him strong. Yes, he can hear your heartbeat and tell whether you're lying, but he also can be paralyzed by an unexpected air horn. His radar can (sometimes) see through walls, but he can't read street signs. And even though he's one of the best hand-to-hand fighters in the Marvel universe, he is acutely aware of his own mortality. He's not Captain America. He doesn't heal fast, he can't bench-press a bus, and bullets definitely don't bounce off his skin. He punches people ... with hypersensitive hands. Everything he does, on some level, <i>hurts</i>.<br />
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And he goes out there and does his thing anyway. A regular undercurrent in the Daredevil stories is the idea that <i>this guy should not be a superhero</i>. Ideally, he should be in a white room somewhere. But he does the job, even though it hurts him more than anybody else, because it needs doing and he believes it's right. He pays a ridiculously high price to fight the good fight—friends and family murdered, body broken, sanity in tatters—but he keeps paying, keeps fighting. So don't expect that fight to be pretty.<br />
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Speaking of not pretty ...<br />
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<b>10. Wait, wasn't this a crappy Ben Affleck movie?</b> Yes and no. Yes, there was a 2003 movie allegedly based on the comic book. Yes, the movie sucked. But very importantly, <i>Daredevil fans talk about that movie as little as possible</i>. We're all exasperated by it. I said when it came out that we'd spend the next ten years trying to live that movie down, and what do you know? I was right. So don't watch the crappy Ben Affleck movie. Not even the director's cut. If you can't live without seeing previous screen portrayals of Daredevil, I suggest you track down the TV movie <i>Trial of the Incredible Hulk</i>, which co-starred pop singer Rex Smith as Matt Murdock and actually did a darned good job of portraying the character (albeit on a low budget with a so-so script). And it may or may not be coincidence that a lot of the promotional materials for the Netflix series have Matt in a costume that looks more like Smith's than Affleck's. (I will never not be a fan of eyeless Daredevil costumes. They're just awesomely spooky. Shut up—we all have our tastes.)<br />
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<b>11. So what do I read?!</b> You've got lots of options after fifty years of comics! I recommend:<br />
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<i>Daredevil: The Man Without Fear</i> (Miller/Romita)—The ultimate "gritty" take on Matt's origin. This one has it all—his father, the accident, Stick, the murder, Matt's training, Elektra, and the first encounter with the Kingpin. It's also a pretty clear stylistic forerunner of the Netflix series. It doesn't hurt that this was, after a couple of random back issues from the mid-'70s, my own entry point into the character.<br />
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<i>Daredevil: Born Again</i> (Miller/Mazzuchelli)—probably the high point of Frank Miller's Daredevil run, a great entry point into the classic world of Hell's Kitchen, with Matt, Foggy, Karen, and the Kingpin prominently represented. This is, in many ways, the definitive Daredevil story.<br />
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<i>Daredevil: Yellow</i> (Loeb/Sale)—The <i>other</i> major take on the origin. This series goes for more of the brightly colored, nostalgic, early-sixties feel of the earliest Daredevil comics. The frame story is Matt recalling his earliest days as Daredevil (he wore a yellow costume for his first six issues, hence the title) and particularly his early romance with Karen. It's basically a fluffy, bittersweet romance story, but the Purple Man plays a prominent role, too. If you want to make your head spin, read <i>Yellow</i> and <i>Man Without Fear </i>back-to-back and realize that these two protagonists are the same guy and both stories are canon.<br />
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<i>Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev</i>—If there's any run that influenced the Netflix series as much as Miller, it's the nearly decade-long Bendis story that starts with Matt Murdock's identity being leaked to the New York tabloids. From there, it's a magnificently gritty tale of Matt's life going violently to hell. Read it. Just read it. It's the updated Frank Miller in the best possible way.<br />
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<i>Daredevil, vol. 1</i> (Waid/Rivera)—The current writer, Mark Waid, is winding down his run on the title, but this is where it started back in 2011 and damn it is good. Great writing, great art, great storytelling—if there's a perfect way to tell Daredevil stories without a lot of blood and psychosis, this is it. And oh, hey, it's a <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/comic-books-you-should-be-reading.html">Comic Book You Should Be Reading!</a><br />
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So what's the takeaway from all this? Don't expect Netflix's <i>Daredevil</i> to be much like the cinematic Marvel universe, but do expect it to be a solid companion piece, focusing on the street-level world and the heroes who get the job done while Spider-Man and the Avengers get all the headlines. Expect lots of blood and broken teeth, and probably a bit of romance and psychodrama. And expect a hero who perceives the world in a way you've never quite thought about.<br />
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If all that appeals, you're welcome to join me and a bazillion other people as we start streaming the series on Friday, April 10. I'll be the one kvetching from the peanut gallery and wearing this bracelet (quick plug for the fabulous Alice of <a href="http://www.brailletshirts.com/">brailletshirts.com</a>) which says, in braille, the two words every Daredevil fan has taken to heart:<br />
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"Without Fear."Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-31685411856222761262014-06-09T11:57:00.000-07:002014-06-09T11:57:09.254-07:00Comic Books You Should Be Reading: All-New Invaders<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Hello! I’m not dead! Wow, I say that a lot.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
This week’s blog is both another installment in CBYSBR and the start of what I
hope will be a semi-regular tradition—Bottom of the Stack. Check the end of
upcoming blog entries for an informal list of comic series I’m really enjoying
at the moment. I won’t post everything I buy—just the two to five series at the
bottom of my monthly comic stack. (I read in reverse order of preference, so
the best stuff is at the bottom.) I hope it’ll help those of you who are
contemplating getting into comics to find a way in. Not everything I read is
for newbies, but my very favorite comics are usually well-written and
all-around fun, so if you’re not too picky about needing to know all the
continuity in advance, they should all be a good read.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Cool? On we go!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bZmKghO0D0xJRTr3yEXLsxrz6y3t6xAlQB3CQg11KswhUnBFVph3Cb4GsSEWLU9DvnBT9DVkYmZcYJUzBtlWTDMWXEwi0rGeM_1Z4CFG3lcw9i1ApZ9tSZVImLVR83YGDIuAhvFyazM/s1600/ani02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3bZmKghO0D0xJRTr3yEXLsxrz6y3t6xAlQB3CQg11KswhUnBFVph3Cb4GsSEWLU9DvnBT9DVkYmZcYJUzBtlWTDMWXEwi0rGeM_1Z4CFG3lcw9i1ApZ9tSZVImLVR83YGDIuAhvFyazM/s1600/ani02.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
I’ve agonized over whether to add </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">All-New
Invaders </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">to Comic Books You Should Be Reading. It is, hands down, my favorite
monthly comic book at the moment. Hell, even Flatmate’s gotten into it—she asks
me every couple of days when the next one hits the shelves, and complains
loudly that she’s gotten so sucked into the plot and characters that she wants
a new installment every week, like a TV show.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
On the other hand, I yet cling to the last shreds of my journalistic
objectivity, and I know that </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">All-New
Invaders</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">, for all its virtues, is not going to be everyone’s favorite comic
in the universe. I buy it for specific reasons, I love it for specific reasons,
and some of those specific reasons are personal to me rather than universal to
comic readers, or even general to the readers of my blog. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0mTbZRLsDJUX1CocLLHk1u6jzXqgq0s5l2cdX4aM1hv7lXCozVzM3FDhspbqd3cTytt1OjJT6nnT0ICs22Q1O0YNXsOMTXswGK3fOzjePnUkJztqJZLzA-deYqq3IaFfNecEb-_CAAY/s1600/ani03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN0mTbZRLsDJUX1CocLLHk1u6jzXqgq0s5l2cdX4aM1hv7lXCozVzM3FDhspbqd3cTytt1OjJT6nnT0ICs22Q1O0YNXsOMTXswGK3fOzjePnUkJztqJZLzA-deYqq3IaFfNecEb-_CAAY/s1600/ani03.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
But what the hell. It’s my blog, and you wouldn’t be reading it if you couldn’t
stand to hear my opinions now and then.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Here’s the SparkNotes version: </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">All-New
Invaders</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> is a standard Marvel superhero comic, done extremely well, with a
strong flavor of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Band of Brothers </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">and
just a touch of Joss Whedon about it. If that sounds good, buy it. Seriously.
Go buy any or all of the first five issues. I’ll wait here until you come back.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOswRx2gBWeHawY207hZX5oYjkeTla6uxcw4QKmR3XOS7zbThdBPodAET20rqbT_zAoqXrj4sCjV78E2g0VjkXc-l_jjDXJ8FwNpPfVqPaM4F92eEf4MVgo-ks25kSm4podJVdHG2K4Kk/s1600/ani04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOswRx2gBWeHawY207hZX5oYjkeTla6uxcw4QKmR3XOS7zbThdBPodAET20rqbT_zAoqXrj4sCjV78E2g0VjkXc-l_jjDXJ8FwNpPfVqPaM4F92eEf4MVgo-ks25kSm4podJVdHG2K4Kk/s1600/ani04.jpg" height="137" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain America and the Human Torch will have coffee while they wait for you.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s the backstory for the uninitiated: back during World War II, there was a
superhero team called the Invaders whose membership included, among others,
Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Prince Namor the Sub-Mariner, and the Human
Torch. (There were also other members who came and went but don’t much matter
right now.) The group broke up around the end of the war, and the heroes mostly
died or disappeared. In the present day, the core team has been resurrected
and/or recalled from obscurity in various Marvel books, and now they’re banding
together again to handle stuff they can’t trust anybody else with. That’s where
the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Band of Brothers </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">homage comes
in—the core of this book is the relationships among the team’s central players
and the fact that they trust and understand each other in ways that are utterly
alien to most modern superheroes. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCgyfAfRgE_YiiHsrtP9INl1X5Jp6HYcPIpg-slWlONizr-UsDReG-8TMOZU7tYoyyJR5lKWoVPDwo9Foe5n6lDOQs8CY_eSqck0iEHJ_Q1D21rRu1M0XI_xC-u7L410UWfHW5Se1w64/s1600/ani05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCgyfAfRgE_YiiHsrtP9INl1X5Jp6HYcPIpg-slWlONizr-UsDReG-8TMOZU7tYoyyJR5lKWoVPDwo9Foe5n6lDOQs8CY_eSqck0iEHJ_Q1D21rRu1M0XI_xC-u7L410UWfHW5Se1w64/s1600/ani05.jpg" height="640" width="420" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Don't worry, Jim." "We've got your back."<br />-Scene from <i>My Little Invaders: Friendship is Explosive.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">So while the main plot of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">All-New
Invaders </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">is standard superhero fare, the engine that drives the story is
the friendship between four extraordinary men. I’m a big fan of this kind of
storytelling, not least because I think the Western world would be less screwed
up if there were more cultural space for intimate platonic male friendships. And
the fact that writer James Robinson manages to balance excellent World War II
flashbacks and present-day action with the complexity of those relationships bodes
well for the future of this series.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmPRZ28RGMR1ZLJ-syXNlwRBfG5jHm_kYA6NgjImmJZ577oWQAVfBBwPreSjJpcVRDZxxwBk4GK5GhkPJqOKC1_RyKxMfP0q-h0Zu-dq3pJfBKxa6VueMMCCv5-d9zdNbedS3y8kZ06M/s1600/Omnibus1Starman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpmPRZ28RGMR1ZLJ-syXNlwRBfG5jHm_kYA6NgjImmJZ577oWQAVfBBwPreSjJpcVRDZxxwBk4GK5GhkPJqOKC1_RyKxMfP0q-h0Zu-dq3pJfBKxa6VueMMCCv5-d9zdNbedS3y8kZ06M/s1600/Omnibus1Starman.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.866666793823242px;"><span id="goog_1336183507"></span><span id="goog_1336183508"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Robinson is best known for his series </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Starman
</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">for DC, which itself balanced the legacy of a Golden Age superhero with a
hip modern sensibility and beautifully delineated family dynamics. It’s no
surprise, then, that he can turn that knack to a new family—a group of
superpowered freaks and loners who essentially adopted each other in the middle
of a world war, and have found those bonds unexpectedly resilient despite their
decades spent apart. Robinson has also gotten lucky in his artist, Steve Pugh,
whose work incorporates both gorgeous anatomy and action shots that make the
book a smooth read and distinctive, expressive faces that add another layer of
meaning to Robinson’s dialogue. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Don’t believe me? Take this panel, which takes place after Captain America has
spent several pages insisting that another World War II hero, Aarkus the
Vision, will help the Invaders out just because they palled around with him
during the war. Nobody has believed Cap because Aarkus was always kind of weird
and now he’s fully off his nut. But when asked, Aarkus basically says, “Of
course I’ll help—you guys are my brothers,” and this panel happens:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBpZNyFCiKXxwi3wL7QEJ91BmgeLeZF5jYxRa9QNRDeqvVbkAdi6bcFy45a8rBxrKPpDBndE0Z441Mkep00meih4h4BcSGXAf86aE9kLKB0XG8WMUwYNiZM0PMLw246h3FpBSilJdrbc/s1600/ani06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXBpZNyFCiKXxwi3wL7QEJ91BmgeLeZF5jYxRa9QNRDeqvVbkAdi6bcFy45a8rBxrKPpDBndE0Z441Mkep00meih4h4BcSGXAf86aE9kLKB0XG8WMUwYNiZM0PMLw246h3FpBSilJdrbc/s1600/ani06.jpg" height="320" width="153" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">See that wry, slightly smug smile on Captain America’s face? That’s how the
nicest guy on the Avengers says, “I told you so.” It’s not easy to get that
kind of expression out of a face that’s 75% covered, but Pugh does it.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Here’s the casting rundown, with what makes each character distinctive and
interesting:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95Lann150xo_avjR6jWZAFxTrkdAd24UpnJYzDPY0JwsiFCiexG9Rz6HSh385cjFr2M6m_j4upvvwTCghyKIuj-vSg8kwXeaZ0Ok13cL1VOlZO6mQOinJecsqfOFjkVvOY5PZm5ztxg4/s1600/ani07.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95Lann150xo_avjR6jWZAFxTrkdAd24UpnJYzDPY0JwsiFCiexG9Rz6HSh385cjFr2M6m_j4upvvwTCghyKIuj-vSg8kwXeaZ0Ok13cL1VOlZO6mQOinJecsqfOFjkVvOY5PZm5ztxg4/s1600/ani07.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: not Johnny Storm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Jim Hammond/The Human Torch. </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Jim was
one of Marvel Comics’ first hit characters, way back in 1939. He’s a “synthetic
human”—android? robot? accounts vary—who, thanks to a design flaw, can burst
into flame and fly. In this comic, he’s a sweet and slightly world-weary Frankenstein’s
creature who likes people but doesn’t really understand them and is on the
brink of giving up on ever being one himself. By the end of the first arc,
he’ll be reconsidering his lost quest for humanity, and wrestling with the
question of what kind of man he wants to be.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg75L-YERKdvC4KeAfPrnS0UD1GFRqdn3mwbp8DmhM93FycF0E4o5TyMJwYkYXddVj2KCNcIZps4ZExo2E_S9FVZ9TQB6oCJfMMu9OGs1SO-ZSe_iMAevaePf3AoLytmy8f6hGjBxBeIQI/s1600/ani08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg75L-YERKdvC4KeAfPrnS0UD1GFRqdn3mwbp8DmhM93FycF0E4o5TyMJwYkYXddVj2KCNcIZps4ZExo2E_S9FVZ9TQB6oCJfMMu9OGs1SO-ZSe_iMAevaePf3AoLytmy8f6hGjBxBeIQI/s1600/ani08.jpg" height="640" width="337" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Arrogance! Stupidity!" Namor's life words.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Namor the Sub-Mariner. </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Another
classic, Namor is a human-Atlantean hybrid (his parents were Romeo and Juliet
with more salt water involved) who’s strong, tough, and able to fly and breathe
both water and air. He’s also the most arrogant, imperious character you’re
likely to meet thanks to the fact that he’s the honest-to-God king of Atlantis,
with a lot to prove to his people because of his half-breed status. Oh, and
he’s technically a mutant—among Marvel’s first. All of that translates to a
massive chip on his shoulder that he removes only for the guys who knew him
before he was king. In the first story arc, his customary arrogance takes a
real blow when his stubbornness gets him captured and results in the death of
one of the few people he genuinely likes.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3HqrL45OIzrVJMN8A9437Xju9T4Sfs73HgxcvH7MIrqSmbCXZMcOtjqskoE-sH-tbFWzmjTi61Buw0xXxgFENEzP4mPWBCtYjUI5wQXmauOb7Dmbd2FlRtWzZ_9RQDoB1nP-AK2EbkQ/s1600/ani09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3HqrL45OIzrVJMN8A9437Xju9T4Sfs73HgxcvH7MIrqSmbCXZMcOtjqskoE-sH-tbFWzmjTi61Buw0xXxgFENEzP4mPWBCtYjUI5wQXmauOb7Dmbd2FlRtWzZ_9RQDoB1nP-AK2EbkQ/s1600/ani09.jpg" height="400" width="386" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"So this is like the old days, gentlemen." Cap's favorite thing to say.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Steve Rogers/Captain America. </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">If you
don’t know who this character is, why are you reading my blog? There have been
a lot of interesting interpretations of Marvel’s super-soldier, but Robinson chooses
to strike a delicate balance between Cap’s military training and his feelings
for his friends. Cap is the team leader, the team strategist, and also the guy
who </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">always </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">believes his pals will
come through for him just because they’re his pals. Captain America is great at
reading soldiers and figuring out how they’ll handle a situation … but he tends
to see only the best in his closest friends. The unspoken question of the
series is who will be the first to let him down, and how he’ll cope.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucwAoXvhK6Bv8Eqqz6ouMdjXqL2EYaVuUPLChJQ65R8mTyxjQNCN0v5uPfeWsNUedXqEOOzk-u9Ek80JeYLjdKMtntPLsKAJBSiaV8bpauc4mTR1eBWRjlDxZmEpOWAfXBpUSCqzDSF0/s1600/ani10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjucwAoXvhK6Bv8Eqqz6ouMdjXqL2EYaVuUPLChJQ65R8mTyxjQNCN0v5uPfeWsNUedXqEOOzk-u9Ek80JeYLjdKMtntPLsKAJBSiaV8bpauc4mTR1eBWRjlDxZmEpOWAfXBpUSCqzDSF0/s1600/ani10.jpg" height="640" width="396" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Falling off a roof while shooting at aliens.<br />Must be Tuesday.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">James “Bucky” Barnes/Winter Soldier. </b><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Rounding
out the main team roster is Cap’s former sidekick, now a Marvel star in his own
right. Of all the team members, Bucky is the most personally loyal to the group
(or at least to Cap), but also the most problematic. He is legally dead and
supposed to be keeping so far off the radar that even his former allies in the
Avengers don’t know he’s still walking the shadows rather than pushing up
daisies. The first story arc will leave readers questioning Bucky’s
psychological stability even as he puts his life on the line for his team.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
The comic has just wrapped up its first story arc, “Gods and Soldiers.” The
plot involves a Kree device called the Gods’ Whisper, which can control the
actions of deities—Norse gods, Eternals, pretty much anything in the Marvel
Universe with god-level power. The Nazis got hold of it during the war, but
three Invaders took it away from them, broke it up, hid the pieces, and then
had their memories wiped so even the Allies couldn’t be tempted by the
possibility of controlling the gods themselves. The story begins when the Kree decide
they want their doohickey back and go after the three Invaders in question,
kidnapping one of them (Namor) in the process. Once the boys realize what’s going
on, Captain America leads the team to the Kree homeworld, Hala, to destroy the
Gods’ Whisper and rescue Namor. They’re after the Gods’ Whisper because they
don’t think anyone should have it, but they’re rescuing Namor because almost
nobody else on earth actually </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">likes </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Namor,
which means he’ll literally die of being a jerk if they don’t do something.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAHu4zbGL949FWe5ZyirxT0C4ojTcO0wdA8BpIXD7T66Z5w17ZZKvfVX6ifoWcOpT7zJi-BkwH2tX2SZJo8gLSvF5PitvWcHonNH9fNARnpEZSA6UDSS974DkaNTN8NVyn5ML04JGeYU/s1600/ani11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijAHu4zbGL949FWe5ZyirxT0C4ojTcO0wdA8BpIXD7T66Z5w17ZZKvfVX6ifoWcOpT7zJi-BkwH2tX2SZJo8gLSvF5PitvWcHonNH9fNARnpEZSA6UDSS974DkaNTN8NVyn5ML04JGeYU/s1600/ani11.jpg" height="308" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Captain America delivers the team's mission statement.<br />Also, "Namor being Namor" is going to be that guy's official cause of death.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">If that sounds a bit Whedonesque, that’s because it is. This story revolves
around a group of veteran heroes (and actual veterans) being there for each
other—including lots of shooting, face-punching, and death’s-head humor—because
they know nobody else can or will do the job. Oh, and they’re also saving the
world for pretty much the same reason. It’s a cross between a war comic, a
superhero adventure, and a slightly metafictional family drama.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Meta? Oh, yeah, it’s meta.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
Here’s an example. (If you can’t abide spoilers, skip down seven paragraphs
RIGHT NOW.) At a key moment in the fourth chapter of the story, the heroes have
been captured by the Kree and are being told the fates in store for them—imprisonment,
dissection, etc. Now, because this team includes the Winter Soldier, I got to
this chapter assuming that he would completely lose his composure at some point
because the central macguffin is a device that controls people’s minds. Bucky
does not cope well with the prospect of mind control, and the mere suggestion
that he’s going to get his head messed with again is usually enough to make him
go postal.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
And he does go postal, in spectacular fashion—</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6dbDGep6eQHm3U9qKkQQdPDI7D-WrD42mK1VFL_MuNuqlpGS2XL1ynKaTaPjC8h_ijfZ-6_dcgQnpSXw7Uxi0p6XZBt933eili1Ge_10a42wNtUXd-V8zMWqlLGOK-GDYpUQgZ4aj8k/s1600/ani12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn6dbDGep6eQHm3U9qKkQQdPDI7D-WrD42mK1VFL_MuNuqlpGS2XL1ynKaTaPjC8h_ijfZ-6_dcgQnpSXw7Uxi0p6XZBt933eili1Ge_10a42wNtUXd-V8zMWqlLGOK-GDYpUQgZ4aj8k/s1600/ani12.jpg" height="400" width="357" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leap BEFORE you look!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">AND HE DIES.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86n62H2y_KwHs85Oq1rkKtw-4QPP4Z1khThUqYfnNu4IRYd6fuzpCsTWKMTCJF3V7NXs84nuWUA5kT6tQ6o8LDY-6KlhgYYeI5CHMLQ0DIic7VsPNAYK-tCPDidGHyDdqmqbP0SGYRIE/s1600/ani13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh86n62H2y_KwHs85Oq1rkKtw-4QPP4Z1khThUqYfnNu4IRYd6fuzpCsTWKMTCJF3V7NXs84nuWUA5kT6tQ6o8LDY-6KlhgYYeI5CHMLQ0DIic7VsPNAYK-tCPDidGHyDdqmqbP0SGYRIE/s1600/ani13.jpg" height="138" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What, AGAIN?!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">I was laughing right up until the body hit the floor. Then I started wondering
whether such a popular character could be killed off with so little fanfare. It
had to be a fake-out, right? Even though if Bucky were going to get killed on
an Invaders mission, that’s exactly how it would happen …</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
But it turns out, of course, that he isn’t dead, that it </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">was</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> a fake-out, and that this is, in fact, all part of Captain
America’s plan. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34DjOJo4ed2sgd4JCg7ZEp0iw-xO65Gd-ymjRszLFa3asEZKkxJV3S2F3J4XOTCvmZv3wh19BtdvZyvGq9TB0f8BdHW4At4x8dXTpMkwN_JtggokLPBG7Kj_ZczoBN5wgWHnlgotFEks/s1600/ani15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34DjOJo4ed2sgd4JCg7ZEp0iw-xO65Gd-ymjRszLFa3asEZKkxJV3S2F3J4XOTCvmZv3wh19BtdvZyvGq9TB0f8BdHW4At4x8dXTpMkwN_JtggokLPBG7Kj_ZczoBN5wgWHnlgotFEks/s1600/ani15.jpg" height="640" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note the bodies on the floor.<br />Because Bucky Barnes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Let me be clear: </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Captain America planned
to have Bucky completely lose his mind, get shot, and die—because it was
exactly what everyone, including readers, expected of him.</i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZpj6CJC5xHshCiMocXCq70IpOT3DIUpoWC1Bk9WhYsdxGFPN6dvnCXyA77k-QXtDkE6Gw8WKd4dlzCnw9NSZ_6ln2qxAbWhGlXrzlREh4fQDTXZtqIj9GvCfrCtXlzsP5OxVwkgsjiA/s1600/ani14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZpj6CJC5xHshCiMocXCq70IpOT3DIUpoWC1Bk9WhYsdxGFPN6dvnCXyA77k-QXtDkE6Gw8WKd4dlzCnw9NSZ_6ln2qxAbWhGlXrzlREh4fQDTXZtqIj9GvCfrCtXlzsP5OxVwkgsjiA/s1600/ani14.jpg" height="136" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Why can't JIM die this time?" Because he lights himself on fire, that's why.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">This may be the best piece of metafictional humor I’ve seen in comics in a
while.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
All told, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">All-New Invaders </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">is a
wonderful blend of action, humor, and personal drama. The writing is crisp, the
art is both lively and technically proficient, and there’s very little
continuity that requires actual explanation—you don’t need to know precisely </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">why </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">these guys are friends to understand
that they </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">are </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">friends, and very good
ones. Sadly, the book is on the publishing cusp right now, not selling enough
copies to be a breakout hit but not an obvious failure either. If it’s going to
live up to its excellent potential, it needs some more readers. (Hey,
editorial! Would it kill you to slap Cap and Bucky on the cover more often?
Maybe pull in some movie fans?) It suffers a bit from not being a high-concept
book—I can’t sum up its appeal in one sentence that actually appeals to people
who haven’t heard of the Invaders. But every issue is like a visit with old
friends, combined with a really good action movie, and that’s a rare feat in a
comic these days. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
If you’ve got the budget for it and you’re in the mood for space adventure,
superheroics, and arguments about why it can’t be Jim who fakes his death this
time, this is the book for you. A new issue hits the stands this Wednesday.</span><br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Bottom of the Stack:<br />
</b><i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">All-New Invaders </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">(Marvel)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Loki: Agent of Asgard </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">(Marvel)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Winter Soldier: The Bitter March </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">(Marvel)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Original Sin </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">(Marvel)</span><br />
<i style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Daredevil </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">(Marvel)</span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-50522014809829067882014-05-05T12:22:00.000-07:002014-05-05T12:22:18.408-07:00Making the invisible really freaking obvious.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRJdnig4kHlZfGqxPsTofk_Ki5LkBOsRw-PP4gdxCM-7soYHNHkSRLjvkptq5zy1GG0w1n7w_mWu5pmN-V6WbLlSjdXjXimYZsdd3jDxhli65vSXFptJVZwxACg-FlkPvAWCr5tZWPyw/s1600/fcbdnd.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRJdnig4kHlZfGqxPsTofk_Ki5LkBOsRw-PP4gdxCM-7soYHNHkSRLjvkptq5zy1GG0w1n7w_mWu5pmN-V6WbLlSjdXjXimYZsdd3jDxhli65vSXFptJVZwxACg-FlkPvAWCr5tZWPyw/s1600/fcbdnd.jpg" height="400" width="338" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Saturday was
Free Comic Book Day. It was also the day I had a sadly revealing conversation
that got me thinking—a lot—about the state of the culture I so enjoy. Also
grammar. Bear with me here.<br />
<br />
I’ve mentioned Flatmate, my longtime friend and house-buddy. (We decided when
we moved in together that we couldn’t be roommates because we didn’t share a
bedroom and, because we watched way too much British TV, “flatmate” sounded
better than “housemate” or any variant thereof.) I have <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>mentioned what she does for a living. Flatmate is a speech and
language pathologist. Basically, if your kid has a speech impediment or a
speech delay, trouble pronouncing certain sounds or having certain
conversations or just talking at all, you’re probably going to take the kid to
someone like her. She works with a lot of kids who are on the autism spectrum
and a fair number of kids who aren’t. And because she lives with me and we are
both massive geeks who encourage each other in geekery, she’s started using
comic books in her clinical practice. <br />
<br />
It works really, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>well.<br />
<br />
Most speech therapy relies on traditional therapeutic tools like flashcards to
get kids to practice saying certain words and sounds over and over. That’s okay
for a while, but when you’re trying to get a five-year-old to say the “f”
sound, you can only show him so many pictures of fish before he gets bored. So
Flatmate recently pulled one of my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain
America </i>collections out of her tote bag, turned to a page that didn’t have
anything too objectionable on it, and pointed at a certain winged superhero. <br />
<br />
“See him?” she asked her kid. “His name is the Falcon!”<br />
<br />
“Falcon!” the kid repeated, excitedly. And suddenly he was way more interested
in saying his Fs. <br />
<br />
Flatmate does this kind of thing a lot. She’ll use popular cartoon characters,
movies, and the like to get kids to do what would otherwise be boring,
repetitive linguistic tasks that most of us learn to do by instinct as we’re
growing up. Any comic retailer can tell you that comics are good for developing
brains—good for visual and spatial processing, verbal development, the whole
shebang. It’s not news to geeks, but it’s just starting to penetrate practices
like speech therapy, largely thanks to geeky therapists like Flatmate, who has
superhero Mr. Potato Heads in her office right next to her TARDIS cookie jar.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAG42IR1TEt38f4oPp7g4ZOHPFAPbRGlzSesw6w_SpCrZScrPsHY694jjzuAgAZ0eIuvcyzgaEdbsxNenpX2tg2-SoKM-_QD3GTUgmIHoYOco62XVYO0bL3tlS7n2B_uAxXN1lqtSt3c/s1600/fcbd_tph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigAG42IR1TEt38f4oPp7g4ZOHPFAPbRGlzSesw6w_SpCrZScrPsHY694jjzuAgAZ0eIuvcyzgaEdbsxNenpX2tg2-SoKM-_QD3GTUgmIHoYOco62XVYO0bL3tlS7n2B_uAxXN1lqtSt3c/s1600/fcbd_tph.jpg" height="400" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thor, Potato of Thunder.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Anyway, because last Saturday was Free Comic Book Day, Flatmate and I roamed
from local comic shop to local comic shop, trying to collect as many
kid-friendly comics as we could for her to use on her kiddos (because Ed
Brubaker comics, while useful in a pinch, really are not appropriate for
five-year-olds, and there were only so many pages that contained the Falcon and
not anything that would freak out a little kid). We picked up most of the
appropriate free comics, but Flatmate was most interested in graphic novels and
books with sturdy bindings that could take a lot of abuse. I pointed her at
youngster-friendly comic lines like Marvel Adventures, Tiny Titans, and so on,
and I mostly wandered around the store looking at the grown-up stuff while she
sorted through the enormous pile. I bought myself a Winter Soldier bobblehead
that makes me smile every time I give him a cognitive recalibration—er, a bop
on the noggin. </span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYMIQUDwJM8MKN8kpvPOg3NkXNUz07ftMgDSr0PDhDitdmsvagt4M-hLnn7JhA6zPxbtBHG5VJ4jw7KE4CvI1l5xa56FVmQQk2DxVIUsmJ6RNfz3jd3X7ZQ7B_sxmejjfT_FwmVVbn_c/s1600/fdbd_ws.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhYMIQUDwJM8MKN8kpvPOg3NkXNUz07ftMgDSr0PDhDitdmsvagt4M-hLnn7JhA6zPxbtBHG5VJ4jw7KE4CvI1l5xa56FVmQQk2DxVIUsmJ6RNfz3jd3X7ZQ7B_sxmejjfT_FwmVVbn_c/s1600/fdbd_ws.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't normally like bobbleheads, <br />but he's just so cute and disturbing!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But on the way back from the last shop, Flatmate said something revealing. <br />
<br />
“I wish there were more girls in these comics.”<br />
<br />
I was familiar with the lament, and gladly joined in. Yeah, it’s a crime that
there aren’t more strong, well-developed female characters in comics; yeah, it
sucks that the gender ratios among creators and creations are so insanely out
of whack; yeah, it’s awful that comicdom so often presents itself as hostile to
anyone without a Y chromosome. I was just getting a good rant going when she
interrupted: <br />
<br />
“I’m not talking about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i>.”<br />
<br />
Then what, pray tell, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was </i>she talking
about? I wondered.<br />
<br />
“I’m talking about pronouns.”<br />
<br />
As it turned out, because Flatmate so often works with young children and kids
whose verbal skills lag seriously behind those of their same-age peers, she
often uses her geeky books as part of therapy with kids who can’t actually
read. So one of her favorite exercises is to use a series of pictures—including
those in a comic—and ask the kid, “What is [name of popular character] doing
here?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kid then replies, “He/She/It
is …” This gives the kid practice at connecting subjects and verbs, creating
grammatical sentences, and, yes, using pronouns. But because most of the
patients Flatmate sees are boys, she fills her office with superhero and Pixar
properties that appeal to little autistic boys … and therein lies the problem.<br />
<br />
“I’ve got some great Avengers books,” Flatmate said, “and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Toy Story</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Monsters Inc.</i>
… but aside from Boo and Black Widow, who don’t show up all that often, there
really aren’t any girls in these books. I want to find something that will give
the kids practice at saying ‘she’ and ‘her’.”</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxpVO83-RJkMbLzH7kwECT18YH7m5TTOhIwzqI2-o6laKD-hB3pk2UvTI88NPv6J-LdbLlVg4yTqeQdWZauOrbgOXakWr3xVWaOomcY3oCZEYq1s59utZ9y2hWxSAJNzF2hb7lC1POQw/s1600/fcbd_cph.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxpVO83-RJkMbLzH7kwECT18YH7m5TTOhIwzqI2-o6laKD-hB3pk2UvTI88NPv6J-LdbLlVg4yTqeQdWZauOrbgOXakWr3xVWaOomcY3oCZEYq1s59utZ9y2hWxSAJNzF2hb7lC1POQw/s1600/fcbd_cph.jpg" height="400" width="355" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture is only here because it's awesome. Carry on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Think about that for a second. We spent half a day collecting the very best
pop-culture detritus … and we couldn’t come up with enough female characters to
teach a male toddler that feminine pronouns exist. Not that girls can be just
as strong and competent as boys, or that rigid gender roles do no one any good
… I’m talking about teaching kids <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that
the English language contains the pronoun “she”.</i><br />
<br />
We finally found a Hello Kitty book. God knows whether Flatmate’s patients—and
remember, spectrum-diagnosed boys far outnumber spectrum-diagnosed girls—will
take to it. Iron Man and Captain America are pretty much a lock. Hello Kitty,
maybe not. But for now, the fate of the feminine pronoun rests upon a Japanese
cartoon cat. <br />
<br />
This isn’t a radical feminist agenda. Flatmate’s not part of the wild and crazy
liberal Left you hear about on conservative talk radio. She’s trying to teach
small children to use basic parts of speech, and she’s really quite innovative
about it … but she’s working with the product of a culture that, more often
than not, doesn’t admit that girls exist outside of highly girl-centric media
like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Little Pony</i>. Girls looking at
girl books will still learn to say “he” and “him”, if only because Disney
princesses usually end up with Disney princes, and they’re a lot more likely to
read boy books than boys are to read girl books anyway (because the Avengers
are awesome no matter what your chromosomes look like). Boys looking exclusively
at boy books, however, will not learn to say “she” and “her” because Iron Man
and Captain America tend to fly solo, at least in toddler-level stories. <br />
<br />
Is there a better indication that this culture is fundamentally FUBAR?<br />
<br />
Never mind the high-minded attempts to get more complex female characters into
pop culture aimed at grownups. I want to see some girls in the toddler market.
I want to see boy books that have girls in them. Girls who do things. Girls who
show up in a significant percentage of the pictures. Girls involved in the
action, whatever it is. I want to see boy books that acknowledge the existence
of girls in the same way that girl books acknowledge the existence of boys. I
want Flatmate to be able to point at an illustration in a boy book and, at some
point, ask a kiddo, “What is she doing?”<br />
<br />
Girl books are allowed to say “he”. It’s long past time boy books learned to
say “she.” <br />
<br />
Stories are the human operating system. What does it say that our operating
system, at its most basic level, denies the very existence of half the units
using it? There’s a theory in linguistics that holds that ideas that cannot be
expressed in words cannot, in most cases, be clearly thought. If you can’t say
it, you (almost) can’t think it. It’s certainly very hard work to think it. Not
something most people do without a really good reason. <br />
<br />
We’re starting an awful lot of humans out in life without the basic tools to
think about half the human population. Is it any wonder our culture treats
women the way it does if, for the first few years of our lives, half of us
don’t happen to learn that women (other than the ones we personally know)
exist? <br />
<br />
Come on, pop culture. The least you can do is use <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all </i>the damn pronouns. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And now, a photo of Winter Soldier Bobble with a tiny <br />plastic Groot on his head. You are welcome.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-49129169121783207122014-04-29T08:42:00.000-07:002014-04-29T08:42:01.176-07:00Eating crow on Winter Soldier<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvo6dNcS6zf_M5STs7aexVfgGGiVTG5sAmeost_087exwm1lEsr2Yc2dJ0lGif1hFjTnTJZ-ghTf6TYGCDPU7dpCZZ-yK_P20EL5AWAgFJwCYH1E6fdZ84OFa5cH5WV1rEZOhLeYfgjI/s1600/catwsimx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIvo6dNcS6zf_M5STs7aexVfgGGiVTG5sAmeost_087exwm1lEsr2Yc2dJ0lGif1hFjTnTJZ-ghTf6TYGCDPU7dpCZZ-yK_P20EL5AWAgFJwCYH1E6fdZ84OFa5cH5WV1rEZOhLeYfgjI/s1600/catwsimx.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I’ve decided
that if I’m going to devote a long blogathon to, among other things, my
predictions about this movie, I’d better check in on whether I was right or
wrong now that the movie is out. Honestly, I was shocked at how many of my
predictions turned out to be accurate … and that the accuracy rate was slightly
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">higher </i>with the batshit-crazy pet
theories. I did not have script access, I swear. Apparently I’ve just got one
of those brains. (But you probably knew that.)<br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So without
further ado, here’s a rundown of my predictions from the second, third and fourth days of the blogathon, and how they all turned out.
Spoilers ahead, of course.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PREDICTIONS FROM THE VIDEOS (from <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/winter-soldier-blogathon-day-2-what-to.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>):<br />
<br />
1. Paranoia and conspiracies abound. </b>Yeah, I think we can say this showed
up. I don’t know about you, but by the end of the movie I was watching every
blue uniform out of the corner of my eye.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. SHIELD vs. SHIELD is officially a
thing</b>. Well, considering that Hydra was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">inside
</i>SHIELD, I think we can safely say that one happened.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Cap goes on the run. </b>Yeah, he
took it on the lam, all right. Bonus points for the sight of Captain America
stealing a car … and walking around a shopping mall. The horror. And lying low
really did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>work out too well for
him. Of course, breaking into the Smithsonian didn’t help … <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Cap maybe falls in love (but probably
not). </b>Well, they kissed, but I did call the shot there—they weren’t kissing
for the most common movie reason. (It was the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">second </i>most common movie reason.) <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. The Falcon is Cap’s rock. </b>Yes,
yes, and yes. Falcon wasn’t a SHIELD agent (good thing, too), but he was
definitely the solid foundation Steve Rogers needed in this story. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Peggy Carter returns. </b>Briefly,
but yes. And not only was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Steve </i>a bit
wrecked by that scene, I don’t think I’ve been in a single screening where I
didn’t hear somebody sniffling by the end of it. Bravo, Hayley Atwell. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Robert Redford is a spook. </b>Eeeeeyup.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. Nick Fury has a bad day. </b>Oh,
hells, yes. And may I just point out that I said before the movie came out that
“Fury’s major weakness … is bureaucrats who go over his head to get things
done. How high do the bad guys go?” Pretty damn high, as it turned out. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9. The Winter Soldier is a sock puppet,
not the main bad guy. </b>Yeeeaaaaaahhh. I’m gonna call that prediction a slam
dunk. The main bad guy would be the guy smacking Bucky in the head for
misbehaving. <br />
<br />
No, not Steve! The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">first </i>guy to smack
him in the head!<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10. Black Widow plays a major role. </b>Yup.
Though we didn’t get to see as much of her backstory as I would have liked. <br />
<br />
All right, all right, I hear you saying. It’s hardly rocket science to predict
stuff that is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">obviously </i>in the
trailer. What about the stuff that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wasn’t
</i>in the trailers? <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE SAFE PREDICTIONS (from <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/winter-soldier-blogathon-day-3-stuff.html" target="_blank">Day 3</a>):</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1. Agent 13 plays a significant role. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I’m going to call this a split decision.
She <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was </i>there, and she <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was </i>important, but she wasn’t as big a
player as I expected, and her relationship to Peggy (if Peggy even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was </i>the “insomniac aunt” on the other
end of that phone call) was not explored. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
2. Agent Rumlow is not to be trusted. </b>This is a big ol’ check. You
definitely can’t trust that guy. He even rocked Crossbones’
crossed-straps-and-horrible-scarring look by the end. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Batroc is Batroc. </b>This wasn’t
much of a surprise, but check. He even did some leaping. And while he didn’t
betray an unscrupulous employer, he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">did </i>turn
out to be (probably) working for the good(ish) guys. Well, Nick Fury. As close
as you can get. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Hydra is back in some form. </b>Holy
hell, yes. Not even “in some form.” Actual Hydra, dumb salute and all. Nice. I
hereby pat myself on the back. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. The Zodiac is involved. </b>Big ol’
miss. Not a word about the Zodiac in this movie. Oh, well. Maybe it’ll show up
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the Galaxy.</i><br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Mind-control magic will show up. </b>Well,
it certainly didn’t <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">look</i> like the
means of mind control was Tesseract-related … though it did turn out that Hydra
had Loki’s scepter, and SHIELD had the Tesseract more than long enough for
Hydra to power their shiver-inducing brainwashing rig with it. I’ll call this a
miss, but it just might be a split decision. We may find out more in the next
movie, when Bucky’s set to appear again (and, presumably, Steve’s going to dig
into that file). <br />
<br />
And interestingly, the movie kept some of the Soviet trappings of the Winter
Soldier origin story—Bucky speaking what sounded like Russian during the bridge
scene, what looked like a 1950s Soviet soldier in Bucky’s flashbacks, Widow
getting the Winter Soldier files from “some friends in Kiev” (you decide
whether that means the recently booted Yanukovich government, or the new one
that booted him, or whatever the hell Putin tries to put in next) and what
looked like a dossier written in the Cyrillic alphabet. So I might be wrong
about the Russians being untouchable Marvel movie baddies. <br />
<br />
Of course, that last paragraph did include the word “Putin”. So who the hell
knows. And here ends my geopolitical rant.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Black Widow’s history will be
revealed. </b>Miss. We didn’t get much of that at all, except Zola revealing
her patronymic and her date of birth (which I totally don’t buy—more on that
later) and Natasha mentioning her past connection with the KGB. We got nothing
on a possible Red Room past, or whatever she was talking to Hawkeye about when
he was babbling about mind control in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Avengers. </i>And she wasn’t running a long con on SHIELD (that we saw). Sigh. <br />
<br />
All right, on to the main event … <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THE BATSHIT-CRAZY THEORIES (from <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/03/winter-soldier-blogathon-day-4-my-pet.html" target="_blank">Day 4</a>):</b><br />
Honestly, I was surprised at how on-the-mark these were. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. Robert Redford is the Red Skull (or
someone like him). </b>Well, he wasn’t the actual Red Skull, but he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was </i>the head of Hydra and he tried to
kill Captain America a whole bunch. That’s pretty like the Red Skull. I’m
prepared to call this one a hit.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. The nurse across the hall is Agent
13. </b>Yup. Called it. She was there as a bodyguard rather than as a starter
friend, but she was flirting with him, too. Call that a hit.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. The Steve-Natasha romance ain’t
happening. </b>Bingo. The kiss was a fake-out.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. The Bucky-Natasha romance might
happen. </b>Wrong. This was a big miss on my part, but I’m not terribly upset.
Like I said up above, I don’t believe Natasha was actually born in 1984 like Zola
said. Even if you can’t do the basic arithmetic involved (no more Russian KGB
after the early 1990s), here’s a simple illustration: half my friends were born
in 1984, by a remarkable coincidence, and if <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> ever worked for the KGB, they would have to have done it in
grade school. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Early </i>grade school. I
know Natasha “started early” in the spy game, but I’m not buying the notion of
her being an experienced and competent KGB agent at five to eight years old. As a result, I
think the birthdate Zola gave her was wrong. I still think Natasha has a longer past than she
seems, and I still think Bucky’s in it somewhere. Maybe next movie. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. Fake death(s). </b>Oh, look. A major character
faked his death. And another one conveniently disappeared. I’d call that a
palpable hit. It wasn’t Bucky under that sheet, granted, but it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> a fake death. Point to me. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Bucky is a super-soldier. </b>Ding
ding ding! And he was apparently supered up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before
</i>he fell off the train, at least according to Steve’s theory of how Bucky
must have survived. It’s pretty consistent with Bucky’s flashbacks, too. Go
Steve with the inductive reasoning! <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Arnim Zola resurrected Bucky. </b>Oh,
yes. They even used the same real-life history I cited. If you were in a
theater on the evening of April 3 and a random woman punched the air and
whooped when the Black Widow said “Operation Paperclip” … yeah, that was me. Sorry
for the interruption.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. The Winter Soldier is working for
SHIELD. </b>All right, it might be a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bit </i>of
a cheat to claim both the “Hydra’s back” and the “Winter Soldier is working for
SHIELD” theories as true when he was, in fact, working for the organization
that I credit as both Hydra <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>SHIELD
… but it was Hydra inside of SHIELD. I’m calling this a win. Look, it was even
Pierce pulling the strings, and he was the head of both Hydra and SHIELD. Stop
looking at me like that.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9. Peggy Carter and Howard Stark helped
build the Winter Soldier. </b>Okay, I was dead wrong about that one. I’ll have
my crow medium well, thank you. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10. The Winter Soldier is a false-flag
operative. </b>Yeah, more or less. He was working for SHIELD/Hydra (Healed?
Shydra?), but attacked Nick Fury under the guise of being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> working for them.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>Check.
<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">FINAL SCORE (not counting the stuff in
the videos and the split decisions): Hits 11, Misses 4. </b>Not bad for
armchair screenwriting. <br />
<br />
So what did you think of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America:
The Winter Soldier</i>? Let me know in the comments, while I try to stifle my
fannish squealing … </span></div>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-29111679030982294352014-04-04T12:05:00.000-07:002014-04-28T22:50:05.041-07:00Winter Soldier Review: Mouthguards, throat-cutting, and the hardest thing to do ... <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Really, there’s
only two things you need to know about my opinion of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America: The Winter Soldier. </i><br />
<br />
Thing one: First—and I say this as a huge Bucky Barnes fangirl—it could’ve used
about ten percent more Bucky Barnes than it actually contained. Just ten
percent. <br />
<br />
Thing two: That’s the only negative thing I can find to say about it. It is
otherwise perfect. In many ways, it’s better than perfect.<br />
<br />
Honestly, if you haven’t seen this movie yet, and you like superheroes enough
to read my blog, open a new browser window right-the-hell-now and buy a ticket
to see this. I’m not completely convinced yet that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier </i>is better than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers, </i>but it is definitely in the same intellectual,
emotional, and all-around <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fun </i>weight
class. This is the big-budget, high-stakes Captain America movie that you saw
in your head when you read the Brubaker/Epting comics, and the one you have
longed for in your heart. <br />
<br />
One completely spoiler-free example? This movie actually gave Bucky’s story a
better ending—well, a better ending-for-now, because you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know </i>it’s not over—than the comics. Yes, better than blowing up the
Cosmic Cube and reappearing at Fort Lehigh. Yes, better than Steve having to
convince everyone he knew that Bucky wasn’t dead <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">again</i>. All I have to say about this ending is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">stay all the way through the goddamned credits, because there is a
scene you have absolutely got to see. </i>Remember the shawarma scene in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i>? It’s got a sequel, only it
tears your heart out instead of making you laugh maniacally. Glue your butt to
the seat and watch <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both </i>credits
scenes. You can thank me later. <br />
<br />
And then there’s the overall awesomeness that is the Falcon (seriously, his
every scene is solid gold) … and the horror of Steve Rogers in an Apple store …
and the best car chase in years … and fight scenes that work on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">every</i> level … and some of the finest
character work in any Marvel movie, ever … <br />
<br />
Okay, I think I can breathe now. Time to pretend I’m actually reviewing this
movie, instead of just gushing my brains out.<br />
<br />
Because here’s the really important part I haven’t gotten around to telling you
yet—this movie is a lot more than explosions and car chases and Scarlett
Johansson kissing Chris Evans. This movie is after your brain, and your heart,
and it’s not one you’ll forget in a hurry.<br />
<br />
I really can’t spill too much of the plot in this review, not without spoiling
some really great plot twists, so I’m going to focus on theme instead. Because
it’s a big, big theme, and really the theme is a lot more important than the
plot. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier </i>is
fundamentally a movie about tackling the biggest question in heroic fiction—the
question of sacrifice. And the answer it gives, as much as it gives any kind of
answer, is one that simply must be seen. It’s what elevates this movie from a
standard superhero punchemup to something people will probably write
dissertations about in the next couple of years. And the punching’s damn near
perfect.<br />
<br />
As we all expected, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier </i>tackles
some big issues on the freedom-versus-security front. Pretty much everyone who
saw those trailers expected Captain America’s self-effacing, self-sacrificing 1940s
ideals to clash with twenty-first-century paranoia and pragmatism … but nobody
could have predicted the way that it actually drives the story. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier, </i>the central conflict
is between Cap’s morality and SHIELD’s, but the sides are not exactly drawn up
in the usual way. And the actual physical punching-and-kicking conflict, when
it arises, encapsulates the moral conflict perfectly—and in a manner even more
heartbreaking and thought-provoking than the original comics managed to do.<br />
<br />
For years, Captain America has held the moral high ground in Marvel Comics. Thanks
to his long record of unquestionably heroic service, he’s the ultimate arbiter
of right and wrong; morally conflicted superheroes regularly seek him out for
advice. But as a lot of readers have pointed out, giving Cap the moral high
ground in a typical comic book is more problematic than it looks; he fought for
years in a bloody world war, with all that entails. He’s not exactly pristine. Take
that ultimate superhero bugaboo—death. <br />
<br />
Unlike, say, Batman, there has never been any question about whether Captain
America’s killed people. You can count the number of people Spider-Man’s killed
on the fingers of one hand, but Captain America used to walk around with a giant
death-frisbee, backed up by a teenager with a machine gun, accompanied by two
guys who could light themselves on fire and a perpetually pissed-off sea king
who liked ripping Nazis limb from limb and who once tried to drown all of New
York City because he had a bad day. They killed a lot of people, is my point.
They did things that you do not usually want your superheroes doing, and they
were celebrated for it. Now, nobody who’s studied history thinks they were out
of line to do those things, of course (there’s a reason Nazis are everyone’s
favorite all-purpose movie villains), but it kind of blows a hole in the Captain-America-as-moral-paragon
theory to remember that he did his fair share of throat-cutting with that
shield.<br />
<br />
Well, guess what? He’s not so ruined anymore. The throat-cutting’s still
there—oh, my, is it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ever </i>still
there—but this is not the Steve Rogers you knew.<br />
<br />
In an early scene, after Steve complains about SHIELD turning a rescue mission
into a black-ops job, Nick Fury brings up this very point—the Strategic
Scientific Reserve did a lot of dirty work back in the day, so what’s Steve whining
about now? But for once Steve has an answer. Like a lot of good guys doing bad
things, he believed he was doing them for the sake of the greater good—so that
bad things would no longer be necessary. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Not</i>
so they could be institutionalized by the organization his friends founded, and
certainly not so they could be repeated on a planetary scale. Maybe you don’t
agree with him on that—maybe you think an organization like SHIELD is
necessary, and you believe you can’t run it without spying on everyone and
occasionally assassinating people who get in your way—but from that moment on,
you believe that Captain America thinks it’s possible, and you understand why. And
you very much want him to be right.<br />
<br />
All of a sudden Steve Rogers has his naïveté back, and the audience really
wants him to have it. By portraying Steve’s history of violence (and the
surprisingly large number of people he kills on missions in this movie) as a
deliberate act of self-sacrifice rather than a moral lapse, the movie places
him on the moral high ground even as he’s literally trying to scrub the
bloodstains out of his clothes. And by embracing that violent edge and going <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">way </i>past it, on a global scale and on a
daily basis, SHIELD is devaluing that sacrifice. No wonder Steve is pissed. Instant
conflict.<br />
<br />
Unlike the 50 years of stories that mostly portrayed Captain America as morally
perfect and absurdly claimed that he had never done anything so questionable as
killing anyone, this version of Cap has taken a long walk in the darkness, and
has gotten a good look at the abyss—and now he’s deliberately standing between
it and his spiritual descendants. No matter where you stand on the Patriot Act,
the NSA, or any other aspect of the way the world’s been run for most of my
life, you understand immediately why Captain America’s doing what he’s doing,
and why he considers it worth his life to do it. He is choosing, over and over
again, the kind of sacrifice that defines heroism. And you’re going to bloody
well root for him if you’ve got a sympathetic bone in your body. That’s the kind
of character Steve Rogers is.<br />
<br />
So whatever else happens in this movie—and especially in Cap’s inevitable
conflict with his brainwashed best friend, Bucky/the Winter Soldier—that
tension runs underneath it all. Can Captain America pull the world back from a
brink that few people know, or care, is there? Can he do it without having to
commit one last dirty deed—killing an innocent who also happens to be his oldest,
closest friend? Because even if you’re not going to care about the big abstract
questions of freedom and security and surveillance and control and destiny and
free will and whatall, you’re going to damn well care about whether Steve, the
kid from Brooklyn, has to put his best pal Bucky out of his misery. (Spoiler
alert: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">It’s a lot of misery. </i>I don’t
think I’ve ever been so creeped out by a Winter Soldier mindwipe scene. OMG, I wanted to hide under my seat when I saw that mouthguard …) And that’s the real genius of this
movie. It’s got a moral conflict on a grand scale … and it manages to play it
out on the most intimate human level.<br />
<br />
With a fairly clever twist, which I will not spoil because I like you guys way
too much, the way in which Bucky is brought back from the dead and the way in
which he’s used against Steve perfectly encapsulates the larger question at
work. This is something a lot of movies try to do, but few if any do it as well
as this one. If Steve can’t stop Bucky from fulfilling his mission, the world
burns. But if Steve has to kill Bucky to stop him, Steve will burn in its
place. The only way to save the free world <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and
</i>the soul of Steve Rogers is to save Bucky, both as he is now and as he was
in Steve’s memories. <br />
<br />
And here’s the good bit. Saving Bucky like that is just about impossible.<br />
<br />
Did I mention there’s no Cosmic Cube in this movie? No Tesseract? I was right
about a lot of my batshit-crazy predictions in the blogathon, but I was wrong
about one thing: Bucky is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>being
controlled by anything like that particular cosmic macguffin. There’s no
magical glowing box for Steve to grab and say, “Remember who you are.” If he’s
going to save Bucky this time, he has to do it the hard way. And the hard way
is a form of self-sacrifice that even Steve Rogers has never had to consider
before. He’s not crashing a plane into an ice field now, and he’s not doing his
country’s dirty work. He’s … well, I won’t spoil it. But it’s hard for anyone
to pull off, and it’s harder still when it’s Steve Rogers who has to do it, and
hardest of all when he has to do it while looking into the frightened, confused
eyes of Bucky Barnes. (And while Bucky’s trying to bash Steve’s skull in with
his metal arm. Because the plot doesn’t stop for angst.)<br />
<br />
I’m not saying he does it. I’m not saying he doesn’t. Hell, I’m not even saying
the movie actually makes clear whether he succeeds or not—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something </i>happens, but it’s kind of open to interpretation. And
that’s as it should be, I think. This question is one that’s put to the
audience as much as it is to Steve Rogers. Even Bucky gets a say, ultimately,
in its answer, but it’s not completely up to him. It’s up to us. <br />
<br />
Kind of heavy for a superhero movie, I know. But it’s that weight that makes
this movie so very deeply worth the watching. <br />
<br />
Okay, that and that one scene after the very end of the credits. Eeeeeeeeeee … </span></div>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-62484064329707275572014-03-24T08:08:00.000-07:002014-03-24T08:08:00.346-07:00Winter Soldier Blogathon, Day 5: What to Read, Where to Start, and Why to Care<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Wow,
you made it through! Or you skipped here. Either way’s fine by me. This entry
is designed to be a guide to the Winter Soldier’s appearances in the comics. I’ll
start with a chronological rundown of the graphic novels in rough order of
publication, and then do a short list of the best jumping-on points for this character.
I’ll conclude with one last bit of fannish gushing on why you should care about
this character, and a little bit of what he means to me. <br />
<br />
Be warned—there’s a lot of stuff to cover. Here’s a picture of my personal
collection of Winter Soldier graphic novels, in order:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrsrTzGF3avaKIz_NxR3GNVpXB4AVJ_3UIZMwWUrs3lvvftvT1U5hn1cSkW6V2GWHexqYzcOVdMWbHvAlAEPQOPpFgWw10gsqoToAjhhyl_92fhSnk9N1y9h7NdfnaQxAJ2ytMC6SYYs/s1600/ws502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrsrTzGF3avaKIz_NxR3GNVpXB4AVJ_3UIZMwWUrs3lvvftvT1U5hn1cSkW6V2GWHexqYzcOVdMWbHvAlAEPQOPpFgWw10gsqoToAjhhyl_92fhSnk9N1y9h7NdfnaQxAJ2ytMC6SYYs/s1600/ws502.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, I can lift the entire stack at once. Barely.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Yeah, there’s a lot of stuff. But I’ll guide you through it. And as always, I
recommend used booksellers like <a href="http://abebooks.com/">abebooks.com</a> and <a href="http://www.powells.com/" target="_blank">Powell’s Books</a> over paying
full price at new-book retailers. Onward!<b><br />
<br />
WHAT TO READ:</b></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKbIC5goAG1gv45pVLz4Bz2xfbhKrwPWF_JO05VCqBfquPHfHkp9GikVIZTCV7qThtpBosM_HBTK7wqSFhhMUmrCUOWuHbDp3lGQD7iBI94AbMlFW0bCMCwa3tySAznaVYnw1URuFzf8/s1600/ws102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinKbIC5goAG1gv45pVLz4Bz2xfbhKrwPWF_JO05VCqBfquPHfHkp9GikVIZTCV7qThtpBosM_HBTK7wqSFhhMUmrCUOWuHbDp3lGQD7iBI94AbMlFW0bCMCwa3tySAznaVYnw1URuFzf8/s1600/ws102.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What to read: This.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
</b>For once, Marvel has made your job easy. If you want to get started on the
world of Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier and you don’t want to do any hunting,
there’s a terrific new hardcover edition of the complete <i>Winter Soldier </i>storyline, put out just in time for the movie. It’s
$34.99, and worth every penny. (If that seems pricey for one graphic novel,
note that it’s got thirteen issues in it—the equivalent of two trade
paperbacks, either of which would retail for about $20. So even in hardcover,
it’s a bit of a cost savings.) There’s one issue missing from this book, but it
was a one-off “event story” that took place in an alternate universe and had
absolutely nothing to do with the Winter Soldier storyline, which I assume is
why it’s been omitted. The book does not suffer in its absence. Don’t worry
about it.<br />
<br />
If you’d rather go the cheaper route, Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the Winter
Soldier storyline are available in used paperback form, though they appear to
be out of print.<br />
<br />
If you like that story and want to keep reading, here’s a short rundown of
later volumes in the series:<br />
<br />
<b>3 and 4. Red Menace: </b>Crossbones
returns, and Steve and Bucky end up in London.<br /><br />
<b>5. Civil War. </b>Cap joins the
resistance to the Superhuman Registration Act. Bucky does some skullduggery for
Nick Fury. Contains <i>Winter Soldier:
Winter Kills</i>, a beautiful one-shot special about how Bucky spends his
Christmas. Hint: it involves violence and awkward team-ups with teen
superheroes.<br /><br />
<b>6, 7, and 8. The Death of Captain
America, vols. 1-3 (The Death of Captain America / The Burden of Dreams / The
Man Who Bought America). </b>This three-volume saga covers it all, from Steve’s
assassination to the hunt for his killers to Bucky’s transition to life as the
new Captain America. Some of the knottiest plotting in all of Ed Brubaker’s
run. I cannot summarize this, but if you really like twisty plots and a million
reversals per chapter, this is going to be your crack.<br /><br />
<b>9. The Man With No Face. </b>Bucky-Cap
faces the vengeful survivor of one of his nastiest Winter Soldier missions.
Guest-starring the Sub-Mariner, who adds a lot of comic relief. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3345dgq4vqpZSL2GIOVbTromHBbpls6-jLMYX6LvCLNHpSfgP7CIRtykYfmPBypF9XVg1lidYVTautr3Pr-lNFpNVVsqcxZsERT3WZNndmjurmNu5wUcGsjKNi3SZghXIeP1U6mx_n8c/s1600/ws510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3345dgq4vqpZSL2GIOVbTromHBbpls6-jLMYX6LvCLNHpSfgP7CIRtykYfmPBypF9XVg1lidYVTautr3Pr-lNFpNVVsqcxZsERT3WZNndmjurmNu5wUcGsjKNi3SZghXIeP1U6mx_n8c/s1600/ws510.jpg" height="185" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Namor reacts to Bucky and Natasha having a moment. Thanks a lot, Namor. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<b>10. Road to Reborn. </b>A more or less
random collection of stories, collecting a series of clues leading up to … <br /><br />
<b>11. Captain America: Reborn. </b>Guess
what? Steve’s not actually dead! There’s time travel and mad science and oh so
much crazy. It’s a fun story, though.<br /><br />
<b>12. Two Americas. </b>Steve insists that
Bucky keep the Captain America identity, so Bucky and the Falcon go hunt down
an insane doppelganger of Steve Rogers who escaped during a previous story.
Imagine Bucky and the Falcon fighting domestic terrorists in rural Idaho. Yeah,
it’s like that.<br /><br />
<b>13. No Escape. </b>Baron Zemo, the
grandson of the World War II villain who nearly killed Cap and Bucky at the end
of the war, decides to avenge his grandfather’s honor and kill Bucky-Cap off.
He eventually settles for second prize … <br /><br />
<b>14. The Trial of Captain America. </b>Once
Zemo has exposed Bucky’s past as the Winter Soldier, Bucky goes on trial for
his decades of Cold War crimes. Meanwhile, the Red Skull’s daughter, Sin,
proclaims herself the new Red Skull and goes on a rampage. Bucky must decide
whether being Captain America means a) going along with due process or b)
stopping a supervillain from blowing up the Statue of Liberty. Did I mention
Bucky has poor impulse control?<br /><br />
<b>15. Prisoner of War. </b>Bucky gets off
on the U.S. charges, but the Russians demand extradition. Bucky goes to the
gulag and gets thrown into a series of cage matches, which turn out to have a
motive even more sinister than bad guys just wanting to watch an American
superhero fight for his life. The Winter Soldier’s legacy just won’t leave
Bucky alone. Psychological games ensue. Meanwhile, Steve and Natasha try to
prove Bucky’s innocence. Espionage hijinks ensue.<br /><br />
<b>16. Captain America and Bucky: The Life
Story of Bucky Barnes. </b>After Bucky “died” during the not-very-good <i>Fear Itself </i>crossover, the monthly <i>Captain America </i>comic became <i>Captain America and Bucky </i>for a while.
The first storyline, “The Life Story of Bucky Barnes”, presents a series of
untold tales from Bucky’s past—including his childhood before he met Steve
Rogers, a couple of wartime adventures, and a Winter Soldier tale focusing on
his romance with the Black Widow. I have not included the next volume of <i>Captain America and Bucky</i> in this list because
Bucky Barnes isn’t actually in it. Long story. After that the title became <i>Captain America and Hawkeye, </i>and then
fizzled out. This volume is the only one relevant to this timeline.<br /><br />
<b>17. Winter Soldier: The Longest Winter. </b>With
Steve finally back in the Captain America costume (and a new <i>Captain America </i>monthly title), Bucky
sets off to clean up a few Winter Soldier-related messes. Natasha comes along
for the fun and because somebody has to stop Bucky from leading with his face.
Romance and a machine-gun-toting gorilla ensue. Also, Bucky meets Doctor Doom
and they get along as well as you’d expect. Ha. <br /><br />
<b>18. Winter Soldier: Broken Arrow. </b>A
Soviet sleeper agent, trained long ago by the Winter Soldier, is out to destroy
the world that replaced his. A key part of his plan involves getting the Black
Widow on his side, in more ways than one. Creepy and action-packed, with great
twists.<br /><br />
<b>19. Winter Soldier: Black Widow Hunt. </b>The
saga of the sleeper agent continues, as our heroes discover some nasty parts of
that plan that I won’t spill here. Bucky fights Hawkeye, Wolverine, Daredevil,
Cap, and the Black Widow. There’s really an unreasonable amount of fighting in
this book. Oh, and it also rips my heart out and crushes it before my eyes,
because … well, you should know by now.<br /><br />
<b>20. Winter Soldier: The Electric Ghost. </b>With
the Black Widow out of his life, Bucky sets about picking up the pieces of
another old mission—one that killed a SHIELD agent and left a little girl named
Tesla Tarasova orphaned. Tesla has grown up into the rather frightening
Electric Ghost, who can get into Bucky’s head like no one else. This storyline
is the only one on this list that Ed Brubaker didn’t write, and it’s also one
of the weakest.<br />
<br />
<i>Winter Soldier </i>was canceled after the
Electric Ghost storyline, so since then it’s just been individual comics not
yet collected in trade form. If you want to check them out, there are two
series:<br />
<br />
<b>21. All-New Invaders. </b>This comic,
written by James Robinson (a man who knows his World War II heroes) is a big
team-up between Captain America, the original Human Torch, the Winter Soldier,
and Namor the Sub-Mariner, among others. Lots of World War II flashbacks and
some really good <i>Band of Brothers-</i>style
camaraderie in a group of modern heroes whose bond goes all the way back to the
1940s. Right now the plot involves the alien Kree kidnapping Namor for plotty
reasons and Namor’s old war buddies invading the Kree homeworld to get him back—largely
because Namor’s such a jerk to most people that nobody else wants to rescue
him.<br /><br />
<b>22. Winter Soldier: The Bitter March. </b>I
wasn’t impressed with the first issue of <i>The
Bitter March</i>, written by Rick Remender, but the second has piqued my
interest. The story follows a lone SHIELD agent, Ran Shen, trying to smuggle a
couple of ex-Nazi scientists out of eastern Europe <span> </span>in the 1960s so SHIELD can have their magic
formula. Chasing Shen is a bunch of Hydra goons and the Winter Soldier. The
first issue focused mostly on Shen, and Bucky was basically playing the
Terminator, coming after him over and over again. The second issue, however,
got into the Winter Soldier’s head a bit more; it’s starting to look like Bucky
is trying to retake control of his own brain, and that’s not going to end well
for anyone. Seems like things are heating up!<br />
<br />
<b>WHERE TO START:<br />
</b>I’ll make this short and sweet. Find the quote that sounds like you and
read the answer:<br />
<br />
<b>“I want to know what’s going on when I
watch the movie, but I only want to read one book.” </b><br />
Read the <i>Winter Soldier </i>hardcover, or
its two trade-paperback equivalents. That’s you sorted.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnR3B4xW4uC1TNkbVucUwP-JYT8SVA7TmtTY5sj4Fg7GytKwUWbigDSE_WFL1mg05lzID24iAU445YyWh0PDQT7KQ0kz7zMEiiUvqvRqShTRWBfNF9V1KyxV-1XM1GOjL9ap6hIvnlWE/s1600/ws503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnR3B4xW4uC1TNkbVucUwP-JYT8SVA7TmtTY5sj4Fg7GytKwUWbigDSE_WFL1mg05lzID24iAU445YyWh0PDQT7KQ0kz7zMEiiUvqvRqShTRWBfNF9V1KyxV-1XM1GOjL9ap6hIvnlWE/s1600/ws503.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: You, sorted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>“I want the best Bucky-Cap storyline.”</b><br />
Read <i>The Man With No Face. </i>Action,
angst, and a pretty good mystery. This is good for the Bucky-Natasha shippers,
too.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDHU1i2Z0ScKK3RqNBBiZldxwcLGDOLP_icoGpbbpZJvvgR6dut56SiBn0F3r9zgHmyBR3m1xGdddOw8tbQKr4R3OxmZN1eSkA5XvfCVMEDqChr8oMIa3q3nrELdvTr2X6-EYKYxUjLc/s1600/ws504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLDHU1i2Z0ScKK3RqNBBiZldxwcLGDOLP_icoGpbbpZJvvgR6dut56SiBn0F3r9zgHmyBR3m1xGdddOw8tbQKr4R3OxmZN1eSkA5XvfCVMEDqChr8oMIa3q3nrELdvTr2X6-EYKYxUjLc/s1600/ws504.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, look, the cover is a Bucky fashion show!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>“I want a little bit of everything—a sampling
of the character from different periods in his life.” <br />
</b>Read <i>The Life Story of Bucky Barnes. </i>It’s
your one-stop shop. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltSdGtB-ktwf5QJk-sWE7opxlA5-vSDFJUNed1ghdxRFcAbJQygQ3hUNfQeNH5cMv76s95T_Oxgu4O7wKi2eJBbmIn3wIydoOPm_tkENZH6_2nFG1UO2ni9QU03YdyBBAaqmRokppAMM/s1600/ws505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjltSdGtB-ktwf5QJk-sWE7opxlA5-vSDFJUNed1ghdxRFcAbJQygQ3hUNfQeNH5cMv76s95T_Oxgu4O7wKi2eJBbmIn3wIydoOPm_tkENZH6_2nFG1UO2ni9QU03YdyBBAaqmRokppAMM/s1600/ws505.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also, there's interior art by Chris Samnee. You want that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>“I want the most kickass Winter Soldier action
you’ve got.”<br />
</b>Read <i>Winter Soldier: The Longest
Winter. </i>Then keep reading if you like what you see.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCunrt-q5BP-MnCewNWfq2a2kaPimDu_qC6FV5QZ_NGGiRs2j03sbQJmKyK-9_VBRbm9f6O2T57IyNobJLavkJnxlrVSNKxJA-GXi2JJMVOHt5wI59v15G7gjGih7vFPSbtbd2_Nua3E/s1600/ws506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnCunrt-q5BP-MnCewNWfq2a2kaPimDu_qC6FV5QZ_NGGiRs2j03sbQJmKyK-9_VBRbm9f6O2T57IyNobJLavkJnxlrVSNKxJA-GXi2JJMVOHt5wI59v15G7gjGih7vFPSbtbd2_Nua3E/s1600/ws506.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Including a gorilla with a machine gun. And a jetpack.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>WHY YOU SHOULD CARE<br />
</b>Aside from the fact that I obviously adore this character and these
storylines, it’s worth pointing out <i>why </i>I
adore them. The Winter Soldier storyline was, at the time, one of the most
complex ever to appear in mainstream superhero comics—both in terms of plot
twists and in terms of its characters’ emotional arcs. It set the pattern for a
lot of the really terrific stories that have come out of the Big Two—especially
Marvel—in the last decade. It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say that <i>Winter Soldier </i>gave a lot of people
permission to break the rules of comics—as long as they produced exceptional
stories in doing so. At the same time, it set the bar pretty high. As I said at
the beginning of this series, this is one of only two comic books that I hand
people in order to make them cry. Its cinematic scope and the neverending
gut-punch of its emotional impact cannot be understated.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbPK2oS4NhYLdy_eG5q7fa0xAH0B2VOC1MoiPfhm2otoYOqqK1tUr8aGqL7m64JWaNWpjlAcHGVkhSmlHQRWpTMQ5d4BCe5aPSKF9nV5ZkLWX8u9ORp1hBTWRwT9sMfQahe8N1MVFBzI/s1600/ws116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbPK2oS4NhYLdy_eG5q7fa0xAH0B2VOC1MoiPfhm2otoYOqqK1tUr8aGqL7m64JWaNWpjlAcHGVkhSmlHQRWpTMQ5d4BCe5aPSKF9nV5ZkLWX8u9ORp1hBTWRwT9sMfQahe8N1MVFBzI/s1600/ws116.jpg" height="265" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You will spend the entire storyline doing this. I am not kidding even a little bit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Don’t believe me? Look at this incredibly short summary:<br />
<br />
<i>In </i>Winter Soldier<i>, Captain America finds out that his long-dead kid sidekick, Bucky, is
actually a zombie cyborg assassin working for the Russians. Fight scenes and
angst ensue. </i></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkxCHqrE1f3WWPbRI2TnLq34bwb-YnqbaEFwHwqbbilUG9mwFLI5EZjU9Nx5k_Ussnx5_wj629F5SYULv_qoFV9omnG94YFLHeQRbiDg8UjNPc1jCp9jTxjLEYa7cCqUdkqrNj-W8-BY/s1600/ws110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKkxCHqrE1f3WWPbRI2TnLq34bwb-YnqbaEFwHwqbbilUG9mwFLI5EZjU9Nx5k_Ussnx5_wj629F5SYULv_qoFV9omnG94YFLHeQRbiDg8UjNPc1jCp9jTxjLEYa7cCqUdkqrNj-W8-BY/s1600/ws110.jpg" height="400" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pretty much what I thought would happen when I saw this.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Does that sound remotely interesting? No. In fact, it sounds completely batshit
insane. I’ve quoted this summary to non-geeks and gotten completely baffled
looks. And yet that’s the bare bones of this storyline. What makes it work—what
made me and a million other fans care about it—is the way in which that
batshit-crazy story was told. This book makes you care about one of the
permanent corpses so much that even the most rule-conscious nerd can be
persuaded not to care about the rules. Screw Steve Rogers’ angsty motivation
and screw the necessity of conflict; <i>by
the end of this book, you want Bucky to live and be happy, no matter what it
takes. </i>And yet we’re talking about Bucky the dead kid sidekick, butt of a
thousand nerd jokes. And <i>yet</i>, when
Steve Rogers came back from the dead in 2011, there was significant fan outcry
against killing Bucky off <i>because so many
people liked Bucky-Cap better than Original Cap</i>. He had earned their
allegiance. Nerds almost never shift their loyalties like that—but this
storyline got them to do it.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFyzziGjV2h3-PJHN3Wi1D6JfxXU9olxFQwtbivl3Cg6dIJ-cEQAfjwC7fH5aXBoBBMnUZn2xhwMmqJXBpICfjD3473mUO1l6OU0c3_isNY2b5Y4aa076CxET_8FcZam-11QNiiBcy0w/s1600/ws135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFyzziGjV2h3-PJHN3Wi1D6JfxXU9olxFQwtbivl3Cg6dIJ-cEQAfjwC7fH5aXBoBBMnUZn2xhwMmqJXBpICfjD3473mUO1l6OU0c3_isNY2b5Y4aa076CxET_8FcZam-11QNiiBcy0w/s1600/ws135.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I own the T-shirt of this.<br />I MADE the T-shirt of this. And people bought it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">On paper, this story should never work. And yet it did, and it still does, and
it’s inspired a lot of great work from a lot of other writers. <br />
<br />
I promised myself when I started this series that I wouldn’t talk about my most
personal reason for being a diehard Winter Soldier fan, and I won’t. It’s not
something you need to hear, especially on a blog whose audience includes
children, and in any case I probably won’t be able to talk about it in public
for a while yet, if ever. But I will say this: For a lot of fans, especially
younger ones (by which I mean under the age of 35), there’s something in the
saga of Bucky Barnes that resonates. If you’ve ever felt like you couldn’t
escape some horrible piece of your past, he’s a character for you. If you’ve
ever been expected to measure up to an impossible standard, he’s a character
for you. If you’ve ever had to sit and wrestle with your demons in silence
because, for one reason or another, you just couldn’t speak up about them to
anyone—here’s Bucky Barnes. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TlaBDjSQ7cjcjbgH0sQUg8vGlUm3v3Ol0ZMsLf05At4vbXWLR9J6qVoBgLe2Zdd0sPfOd5jZ42aeUjj4RgBv99R3GztzRFiOqnghsV7aXc1S3uxqP5MjMb76uduxQbexUfRPQD8ODbc/s1600/ws508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TlaBDjSQ7cjcjbgH0sQUg8vGlUm3v3Ol0ZMsLf05At4vbXWLR9J6qVoBgLe2Zdd0sPfOd5jZ42aeUjj4RgBv99R3GztzRFiOqnghsV7aXc1S3uxqP5MjMb76uduxQbexUfRPQD8ODbc/s1600/ws508.jpg" height="640" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This page probably sums up James Buchanan Barnes better than any other.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">He’ll match you ghost for ghost, burden for burden, demon for demon, and he’ll
still get up again the next morning. He’ll make fun of himself sometimes, and
he’ll play the hardened cynic, even though he’s really got a squishy romantic
heart that’s far too close to his brittle surface. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaCzh5FI036L9G-3T7CLNkL6tfM_9RWwX9-sFDTFx1Lc8eUyruVdHHRqC2ZwvhPStuz514qHccwDfkZhQb_ifG0tR-7TA3Uc5IuO1afAbbKhibQWTsTYuWbai_oks3Gmiwm_mtBdFqzg/s1600/ws507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTaCzh5FI036L9G-3T7CLNkL6tfM_9RWwX9-sFDTFx1Lc8eUyruVdHHRqC2ZwvhPStuz514qHccwDfkZhQb_ifG0tR-7TA3Uc5IuO1afAbbKhibQWTsTYuWbai_oks3Gmiwm_mtBdFqzg/s1600/ws507.jpg" height="640" width="558" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bucky and Natasha go for a walk in the rain. Squishy romanticism ensues.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">He’ll never be the hero Steve Rogers is, and he’ll never live up to Captain
America’s example, and he knows both those things—but he usually has no idea
how deeply he inspires the man he admires most. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fIl8SYpnYKXnV4a_59uk_haNXzlQHX0SHr9h_Xw3Rhiep6QAKaj4mDFHzRYq9oK8Y8M6sLhjOc2CDIjDllzFmi7xlwE3qEmqU3bKEKeRHbN-avH44OCjND3pE9igxi7R7D5_Md55T8s/s1600/ws509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7fIl8SYpnYKXnV4a_59uk_haNXzlQHX0SHr9h_Xw3Rhiep6QAKaj4mDFHzRYq9oK8Y8M6sLhjOc2CDIjDllzFmi7xlwE3qEmqU3bKEKeRHbN-avH44OCjND3pE9igxi7R7D5_Md55T8s/s1600/ws509.jpg" height="311" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steve works on his eulogy for Bucky, just before finding out Bucky's not dead.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">“This is what it is to be human,” Spider Robinson once wrote: “to persist.”<br />
<br />
Bucky Barnes persists. Half man and half machine, half monster and half hero,
he is one of the most human characters in modern comics. So here’s hoping his
movie turns out half as good as it looks.<br />
<br />
And hey, would it kill anyone to get Natasha back in the book? Come on!</span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-54304730227430477142014-03-21T08:15:00.000-07:002014-03-21T08:15:00.032-07:00Winter Soldier Blogathon, Day 4: My Pet Theories<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCMuZuUtMdvkxFhonUD99X3rVMm7x_G6Lnm61lXFNKOHYQ4Ws1GdApmoejHlDGQ2s7-RnU4RlMoB1tYm-PJ2QiKir4iKu8zPu9yiTYSRMmwBBlLs2Cxv9JfK3g690xoY-4I-b4J9Cg0I/s1600/ws401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCMuZuUtMdvkxFhonUD99X3rVMm7x_G6Lnm61lXFNKOHYQ4Ws1GdApmoejHlDGQ2s7-RnU4RlMoB1tYm-PJ2QiKir4iKu8zPu9yiTYSRMmwBBlLs2Cxv9JfK3g690xoY-4I-b4J9Cg0I/s1600/ws401.jpg" height="640" style="cursor: move;" width="444" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">C'mon. Who did you THINK was going to be at the top of the conspiracy post?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Let's just dive right in, shall we? Here are the interesting, but not terribly well-supported, theories about this movie that appeal to me most.<br /><br /><b>THE LITTLE THEORIES</b></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT5GLjFGuXsqdBRLhyFqhTREn9JZdihpkGsfyXsc1KB3r_TK9FYserL_oJJE3a75l6QtBXR-JY2YwCtejBrEkxoNZvgMguzs6zyxXQYE6_a3JpLQpik0Zj4n73t6DT3T7l7PQumZwzOk/s1600/ws403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyT5GLjFGuXsqdBRLhyFqhTREn9JZdihpkGsfyXsc1KB3r_TK9FYserL_oJJE3a75l6QtBXR-JY2YwCtejBrEkxoNZvgMguzs6zyxXQYE6_a3JpLQpik0Zj4n73t6DT3T7l7PQumZwzOk/s1600/ws403.jpg" height="232" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's start with Mr. Ominous View of the City.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">1. Robert Redford is the Red
Skull (or someone like him). </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">All right, this isn’t so much <i>my </i>theory as the entire <i>internet</i>’s theory, which makes me a bit
suspicious of it, but here it is. Alexander Pierce, played by Robert Redford,
is apparently some kind of SHIELD mucketymuck. He seems to be more on the
political and administrative end than Nick Fury, who’s more of a hands-on
director. And he’s said some fairly innocuous-sounding things with fairly
obvious double meanings—things like, “Are you ready for the world to see who
you really are?” Now, SHIELD might be a bureaucracy, but the storytelling style
in SHIELD stories is pretty anti-bureaucratic. I don’t think anyone’s counted
the number of times Nick Fury has had to cut through red tape with a machete
(or an M-16 … or a nuclear missile …), but it’s got to be big. So a
SHIELD-connected bureaucrat is likely to be an enemy of Nick Fury’s, and even
more of an enemy to Captain America. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR1oEAbUsEkyNvj3aSxTXuHpOBK0h5CBzloQ6RzCpD0JQI3RfIaoMCAC3jBIcVlLR5H-lJ-emg03d2zt4hXTsoKtvI_pYzY68xrkUgUMd1ZyofFn9Uk5Et2E4npAOuSDRr3N0nWae57dg/s1600/ws402.jpg" height="266" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: the Handshake of Evil.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So why do I, and the internet, think he’s the Red Skull? First, because the
Skull absolutely loves impersonating people in power—senators, Cabinet
secretaries, powerful CEOs, you name it. Second, there’s no conclusive evidence
that the Skull is actually dead. Oh, sure, we saw him get apparently vaporized
by the Tesseract in the first movie, but that means bupkes in comic-land. The
Skull has placed his consciousness inside the Cosmic Cube at least three times
that I know of, and we know SHIELD has <i>that</i>.
Third, the Skull was pulling the Winter Soldier’s strings for quite some time
while Bucky was under Lukin’s control and the Skull was living in Lukin’s head.
He’d be a good candidate for the job in the movie, too. Nazis make perfect
villains.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiD9T2GAlbhll1O4apwX3V-KdUABykGgiq-pby_3xQkZVnw55e_ViIcpxaa6B2lrY3uLDP8T498gK8zS_mkYul6PmF0rBW1luUziCm1qDEPR0qD0EUncXD7Wes1WQiNT9aqSaU0Ch7M0/s1600/ws405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZiD9T2GAlbhll1O4apwX3V-KdUABykGgiq-pby_3xQkZVnw55e_ViIcpxaa6B2lrY3uLDP8T498gK8zS_mkYul6PmF0rBW1luUziCm1qDEPR0qD0EUncXD7Wes1WQiNT9aqSaU0Ch7M0/s1600/ws405.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look, he's even mean to Nick Fury. Classic Red Skull, right there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now, I’m not 100% sold on this. I’m pretty well convinced that Alexander Pierce
is <i>somebody </i>big and bad, but I’m not
dead certain it’s the Red Skull. It’s too obvious, not least because that’s just
about how it went down in the comics. I’m not all that sure the filmmakers are
interested in repeating a villain this early in a film series no matter how
many times Cap fought the Skull in the funnybooks. But it’s sure fun to think
about.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8cZw21gF5EFkI2v9WYCguDrTb2jsOR5gGe4MIfTLcHWAq8K40NMbtg_7C090PnIu6KfS1BB_y78fAlIXxJN2zcEHsZ4dJ6P_pfWC-kVS-Iau3Zd5ZiNoxm2vsqaeddR4pu07edUdUDU/s1600/ws404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx8cZw21gF5EFkI2v9WYCguDrTb2jsOR5gGe4MIfTLcHWAq8K40NMbtg_7C090PnIu6KfS1BB_y78fAlIXxJN2zcEHsZ4dJ6P_pfWC-kVS-Iau3Zd5ZiNoxm2vsqaeddR4pu07edUdUDU/s1600/ws404.jpg" height="310" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And now, a transition.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>2. The nurse across the hall is Agent 13. </b>Pure speculation on my part, I
admit, but I’m a lot surer about this. Emily van Camp is listed in the cast of
this movie as “Agent 13”, but she hasn’t been seen at all except for that
extremely brief shot of her in the UK trailer. Considering the huge importance
of Sharon Carter in the Winter Soldier comics storyline, her absence is
conspicuous. So I’m calling it now—whatever Sharon’s doing in this movie, it’s
supposed to be a surprise reveal. And I’m having some trouble believing that
the writers would go to so much trouble to set up some random neighbor of Cap’s
in an opening scene if she <i>weren’t</i>
important somehow. So my current theory is that Sharon is a plant, keeping an
eye on Steve Rogers from across the hall while pretending to be a civilian
nurse. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhf_j6l1FG0huwUnVfarT_ccQnTZxPVDR3U79-dWS9WuCOzJtYkGVKxORqiO7h-bKIZNDh-dqoEBMd0-t8nQCa-gAMqszS_svYQ37cmC1w2xK9waXjCz2BjqPWkZMF1zI0pfARdoyARM/s1600/ws301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuhf_j6l1FG0huwUnVfarT_ccQnTZxPVDR3U79-dWS9WuCOzJtYkGVKxORqiO7h-bKIZNDh-dqoEBMd0-t8nQCa-gAMqszS_svYQ37cmC1w2xK9waXjCz2BjqPWkZMF1zI0pfARdoyARM/s1600/ws301.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not pictured: nurse outfit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span>W<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">hy would SHIELD do this? There are any number of reasons, but the first one
that comes to my mind is that, aside from the Avengers, Steve has no friends in
the twenty-first century, and doesn’t seem interested in making any. He apparently
spends his free time alone in the gym. That kind of isolation is going to cause
some real psychological trouble down the line, so I wouldn’t be surprised if
SHIELD tried to set a valuable operative up with some “starter friends” to ease
him into his new situation. The last thing SHIELD needs is a self-destructive
superhero. Besides, why would Captain America have normal neighbors? Wouldn’t
they at least need to be vetted by SHIELD just to live in the same building? I’m
calling it now—that nurse is no nurse. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKWrdRhQZSNkkHVuSV26tOcNVvwr1FHbve7wi9lw81UaZ-f98NBtfDGbTcxikD5ILcQ0ji2AeN7kXczswpDrj5cnSH6rs4gStW831oMROnvvM2YhX85kz4-jPKn1NjnHIRykKs1ufwTQ/s1600/ws205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDKWrdRhQZSNkkHVuSV26tOcNVvwr1FHbve7wi9lw81UaZ-f98NBtfDGbTcxikD5ILcQ0ji2AeN7kXczswpDrj5cnSH6rs4gStW831oMROnvvM2YhX85kz4-jPKn1NjnHIRykKs1ufwTQ/s1600/ws205.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still not buying it, Marvel.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>3. The Steve-Natasha romance ain’t happening (but the Bucky-Natasha romance
might). </b>Yeah, I know there are set photos of Steve and Natasha making out
(like that’s not the world’s oldest way to hide your face from security cameras
and/or passersby). And there’s a shot in the UK trailer that shows Natasha
sitting on the bed of what appears to be a shared motel room. But while all
that’s a pretty good indicator that Steve and Natasha go on the run together in
this movie, and it might even lead to the beginnings of a romance between them,
I’m calling the ball now—that relationship is going <i>nowhere</i>. For one thing, if my theory about Agent 13 is correct,
Natasha’s actively trying to set Steve up with somebody else. For another, I
think Natasha’s past with the Winter Soldier is too good a twist for the
filmmakers to pass up. I mean, is there a better way to ratchet up the drama
than to find out that the guy who’s been trying to kill you all movie is a)
your former best friend <i>and </i>b) the
former lover of your current whatever-Natasha-is? No. No, there is not. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAXuguAlCGnldXJKyl0RJLJW4J8CDC8oRO-uhttAvZ4_nQKY7PAqr46P1aXlV87J22HmfYRQh4yhHtfnRfi1I4zuA-Q_JjmCTJx-Zzpk3oWP69EiktNA4yAzl6Im2EWfWfM7_hnXSoDw/s1600/ws406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAXuguAlCGnldXJKyl0RJLJW4J8CDC8oRO-uhttAvZ4_nQKY7PAqr46P1aXlV87J22HmfYRQh4yhHtfnRfi1I4zuA-Q_JjmCTJx-Zzpk3oWP69EiktNA4yAzl6Im2EWfWfM7_hnXSoDw/s1600/ws406.jpg" height="265" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't tell whether Cap is looking at the Widow, the body, or the middle distance. It's quite distracting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Plus there’s that body-under-the-sheet scene. Natasha’s touching the face like
it’s someone who matters to her, and Steve’s right there, so it’s not him. Open
speculation is that it’s either Fury or Bucky, and my money’s on the latter.
Which brings me to:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR245aGKhPhF7efTN05flCITws-pS0Ey1NZLUu6Avp8Fgv5SdABlAMoGZkudOs1Xo8gCpQbzjnZcJyr4H8UrhDAz2n-DltBJB4YyK0KuY5-BR2u-zBo0gv0QimYSHEvUsK4Ze9gjLTDgc/s1600/ws407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR245aGKhPhF7efTN05flCITws-pS0Ey1NZLUu6Avp8Fgv5SdABlAMoGZkudOs1Xo8gCpQbzjnZcJyr4H8UrhDAz2n-DltBJB4YyK0KuY5-BR2u-zBo0gv0QimYSHEvUsK4Ze9gjLTDgc/s1600/ws407.jpg" height="266" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Does Maria Hill never change her clothes?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>4. Fake death(s). </b>Fury gets visibly bashed
up and possibly killed in those videos. Bucky’s always been high on the
casualty list. Neither character is actually someone whom the writers would
want to throw away, and both characters are known for faking their deaths on
multiple occasions in the comics. You heard it here first—that’s a fake body
under the sheet. And it might not be the only one in the movie. Didn’t <i>The Avengers </i>mention Life Model Decoys?<br />
<br />
*************<br />
And now, the <i>big</i> theories. I
apologize in advance if I spoil something for you—I have no advance knowledge
of this movie that the rest of the internet doesn’t have, so if I end up
calling it right, just assume I’m psychic. Or psychotic. One of the two. But if
you’re interested, here are the primary ravings of my mad, fannish brain.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LIN40tn8gLFSnWJjud3Ff-ji0pWb4jgwoRL9URW8DX4wZZYxHcpJ9lOhYUZByJoRWj-ExRw4Cst58avX1QH40fxBCTI6q8AlQNLH9aQy0yhh_v6FOKgfJ4xBmKfgP0jE3XPzemI_OZs/s1600/ws408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6LIN40tn8gLFSnWJjud3Ff-ji0pWb4jgwoRL9URW8DX4wZZYxHcpJ9lOhYUZByJoRWj-ExRw4Cst58avX1QH40fxBCTI6q8AlQNLH9aQy0yhh_v6FOKgfJ4xBmKfgP0jE3XPzemI_OZs/s1600/ws408.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">OF COURSE my big theories are about this guy.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>BIG THEORY ONE: Bucky is a super-soldier. </b>I’m not just talking about the mechanical
arm here. My personal pet theory—and the one I most hope to see on the big
screen on April 4—is that James Buchanan Barnes was already a kind of super-soldier,
sort of a B-list Captain America, <i>before </i>his
apparent death in <i>The First Avenger. </i>Why
do I think this? Well, let’s start with my (admittedly speculative) evidence,
and then deal with the major objections to the theory.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifC8bk20ddI0mfTsl1evJ_Rr9oUxs39-D-lUp04kXGX0JEBKXlWNPQ9Tg6Vves8IRd7uzKZLTRltgSFbprjMu9eDZBQMcwdOKHfWmNVGuNKlygGiFkh76pm0oK529pv1TGpoxwfZKkmm4/s1600/ws409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifC8bk20ddI0mfTsl1evJ_Rr9oUxs39-D-lUp04kXGX0JEBKXlWNPQ9Tg6Vves8IRd7uzKZLTRltgSFbprjMu9eDZBQMcwdOKHfWmNVGuNKlygGiFkh76pm0oK529pv1TGpoxwfZKkmm4/s1600/ws409.jpg" height="215" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seriously, what drugs is he on here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">First, we know from <i>The First Avenger </i>that
Bucky was a victim of some kind of Hydra medical experimentation. When Cap
comes to break him out, he finds a bunch of prisoners (the future Howling
Commandos) being used as a slave labor force … and he mysteriously finds Bucky
in a separate medical wing, from which no prisoner has ever returned. When Cap
enters the right room—from which mad scientist Arnim Zola has just conveniently
removed a bunch of papers—he finds Bucky strapped down on a table, apparently
drugged and deliriously babbling his name, rank, and serial number. It’s not
likely he was just being tortured—the setup is too elaborate, and Bucky’s not
likely to know anything the Skull wants to find out. But what kind of
experimentation would Hydra be performing? What makes me think Hydra was trying
to make Bucky into a super-soldier, in particular?</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2hAFMo1RieIDG03_unYLpB1hYJ-SeSK8AObYYB3Gp6u5ic4mcbIlNyL9TkEiluIu37RdsgYPliX4BYWdgGhz5hSL7FqVSIbBXLfGkLbZ9sV5qS964H2ddKcIg6wXfEes2UHJkeTSqxA/s1600/ws411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho2hAFMo1RieIDG03_unYLpB1hYJ-SeSK8AObYYB3Gp6u5ic4mcbIlNyL9TkEiluIu37RdsgYPliX4BYWdgGhz5hSL7FqVSIbBXLfGkLbZ9sV5qS964H2ddKcIg6wXfEes2UHJkeTSqxA/s1600/ws411.jpg" height="177" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aside from the fact that he was dating Clara Oswald from <i>Doctor Who.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">First of all, we know the Red Skull was obsessed with the super-soldier
formula. That makes the formula, or a version of it, the most likely prospect
for any human trials Hydra might be conducting. And no altered humans appear in
Hydra’s forces in the movie aside from the Red Skull himself. That suggests
that whatever the Skull was doing didn’t work, or (perhaps) that he couldn’t
replicate the process—possibly because Zola took his notes and the primary test
subject busted out and rejoined the U.S. Army before the Skull could dissect
him. Again, Bucky as super-soldier looks good.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItebEOHCjEhGXz3iIK4Z4aS3S-lyZOSExLO5ma-GiLW6yWu5DF1Fv73_B79-qlJONj1Mhev_8dN6QbJqrSV873dFq-jloPDpAoJT3pI7uuo_ZZGoMNvm1n_ZpxQWDQ6HL0P6Wh_CxxTY/s1600/ws410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjItebEOHCjEhGXz3iIK4Z4aS3S-lyZOSExLO5ma-GiLW6yWu5DF1Fv73_B79-qlJONj1Mhev_8dN6QbJqrSV873dFq-jloPDpAoJT3pI7uuo_ZZGoMNvm1n_ZpxQWDQ6HL0P6Wh_CxxTY/s1600/ws410.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, how are you walking and focusing your eyes now? Seriously, how?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Then there’s Bucky’s own behavior immediately after being released. He recovers
insanely fast—goes from delirious and staggering to walking and asking
pertinent questions inside a few minutes. (Kind of like how Steve came out of
his procedure woozy, but quickly recovered enough to chase a taxicab. Of course,
this might just be Movie Concussion Syndrome.) And what are the questions he
asks? They’re all about Steve’s transformation. “What happened to you?” “Did it
hurt?” “Is it permanent?” “You don’t have one of those [a Red Skull face], do
you?” Never anything like, “How are we gonna get out of here?” or “Did you
bring a division with you?” or “Where can I get a gun around this place?”</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_bMZU-zIA0xjs8qa5mXY9aSGCK5aZoWd_Y0htv1KUkgnn5Vgm_LsWFNatstpeHuQKxK1OK35Nfy6BuR7rnwAzSdKZcj6oJ3CMbpQOw3UnDavr5bE0eB3ktLfun78RUQxwpNT_4pZFq4/s1600/ws412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB_bMZU-zIA0xjs8qa5mXY9aSGCK5aZoWd_Y0htv1KUkgnn5Vgm_LsWFNatstpeHuQKxK1OK35Nfy6BuR7rnwAzSdKZcj6oJ3CMbpQOw3UnDavr5bE0eB3ktLfun78RUQxwpNT_4pZFq4/s1600/ws412.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Or even, "Nice hat".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Now, I’m sure that if <i>my </i>suddenly
superpowered best friend rescued me from an evil mad-science lab, I’d be
interested in his well-being and ask about the superpowers thing. But I’d be <i>way</i> more interested in how we were going
to get the hell out of Dodge. I would save my questions about long-term side
effects for later … unless, of course, I thought I might be in for said side
effects myself because I’d just been on Arnim Zola’s table. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGvCRB2Ei3CP2kEm80J8ERvwB1H5bqNrAbT2Dyy-wyTFX_-xZdH8BuVj-WYChYI9aYWHjEvkdJNq4QCIRlFM3IeCzSMWv9u6jiW2pLNUlU3kIrJ_cIfVAfCfdlGoLfr46-lrStMH-Xfo/s1600/ws417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYGvCRB2Ei3CP2kEm80J8ERvwB1H5bqNrAbT2Dyy-wyTFX_-xZdH8BuVj-WYChYI9aYWHjEvkdJNq4QCIRlFM3IeCzSMWv9u6jiW2pLNUlU3kIrJ_cIfVAfCfdlGoLfr46-lrStMH-Xfo/s1600/ws417.jpg" height="236" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bucky denies my theory with his closed captioning.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This would also explain (though it doesn’t necessarily need explaining) why
Bucky drinks alone in the bar scene—if, like Cap, he can’t get drunk, he may
not want his buddies noticing. And it explains why the last thing Bucky does
before he gets blown out of the train car in his final scene is pick up Cap’s
shield. Yeah, it’s great cover and he’s being shot at—but is he also trying the
shield on for size? The comics have made a big deal out of how Captain
America’s shield is nearly impossible to handle it correctly unless you’re a
super-soldier. I can picture Cap letting the other Howlers try out the shield
in camp some night, and everyone laughing when someone accidentally knocked
over a tree with it … and I can just imagine Bucky lurking in the background,
biding his time to try the thing in private, just in case he turned out not to
suck. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGeUyrER8PSbjxOKZ7nBpoLf-N_fjk9zwssx6UiefJLxaDH94ofg7ztRdyfQMpCcv_jlr22ymcpgclmERkY2rYAVcO5MOXlv8JTSPw8dz6oDC11vkSdOVcQ-hl7QJNnTvKwwhi6penVKk/s1600/cli06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGeUyrER8PSbjxOKZ7nBpoLf-N_fjk9zwssx6UiefJLxaDH94ofg7ztRdyfQMpCcv_jlr22ymcpgclmERkY2rYAVcO5MOXlv8JTSPw8dz6oDC11vkSdOVcQ-hl7QJNnTvKwwhi6penVKk/s1600/cli06.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And look! He doesn't!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But now we come to the primary objection. If Bucky did have some
super-soldier-lite characteristics, why weren’t they covered in the first
movie? Why wouldn’t Bucky tell his best friend what was going on with him?</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRjW6DZTFiApVbIoobrFMHwVPk92odenJUXFzex2OBEpOSDWUoJhT9eISRnWKBv9v1BUvwawEFHV5y4Mct2U9UKcxeldgO4U_nK0TbcF43vFjUm_dkbrppYcOuo4jCDQU8pQ35mbSG-c/s1600/ws416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTRjW6DZTFiApVbIoobrFMHwVPk92odenJUXFzex2OBEpOSDWUoJhT9eISRnWKBv9v1BUvwawEFHV5y4Mct2U9UKcxeldgO4U_nK0TbcF43vFjUm_dkbrppYcOuo4jCDQU8pQ35mbSG-c/s1600/ws416.jpg" height="242" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe not right now, but there had to be some downtime.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Well, the first question’s an easy answer—time. If you’re going to compress two
or three years of war into a two-hour movie, you’re going to lose a lot of
stuff. And it was Steve’s movie, not Bucky’s. And if we’re explaining, as of
the second movie, why Bucky didn’t tell Steve about his burgeoning superpowers
before, there are a hundred different potential explanations. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQSpL9bX5R4fIOBmYxAHC1DSg0YUs0mB9aIettaMxO-k8xbJd6cgCtzjh5GVHIrHg7bHNR1uVnjadhXcWrJxb121QN4e629kf5DuAKfctz6kpZeSgR00erHro0LtRlKIF0quWBFyND0c/s1600/ws418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQSpL9bX5R4fIOBmYxAHC1DSg0YUs0mB9aIettaMxO-k8xbJd6cgCtzjh5GVHIrHg7bHNR1uVnjadhXcWrJxb121QN4e629kf5DuAKfctz6kpZeSgR00erHro0LtRlKIF0quWBFyND0c/s1600/ws418.jpg" height="235" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like the fact that the talk would have given him this awkward face.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Maybe Bucky didn’t know, or didn’t know at first, that anything was different.
Maybe he didn’t want to bring it up when it wasn’t interfering with the
effectiveness of his unit. Maybe he didn’t want to admit weakness. Maybe he
didn’t want to be packed off to a stateside lab. Maybe he was keeping his
powers in reserve, as a surprise; he was always a hell of a poker player in the
comics. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHzeETVRBE8PxOmlu9UiANdVjA5HWudUmBlMTwMiMJ0BMm5QRKjEh6nutTKPo2ljSEPhDt9KvOiqmyvHskHtdhHdMKKbzhyphenhyphenP3yYIgXmaKR6KeYaEVd7ADG1lHVUoPSWSmHGWXu1u3Vyk/s1600/ws435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHzeETVRBE8PxOmlu9UiANdVjA5HWudUmBlMTwMiMJ0BMm5QRKjEh6nutTKPo2ljSEPhDt9KvOiqmyvHskHtdhHdMKKbzhyphenhyphenP3yYIgXmaKR6KeYaEVd7ADG1lHVUoPSWSmHGWXu1u3Vyk/s1600/ws435.jpg" height="419" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bucky wins Nick Fury's Hershey bars. There are a LOT of Bucky-winning-at-poker panels I could've used.<br />He won a hundred euros off the Falcon one night, and Hawkeye still owes him $50. The moral of this story? <br />NEVER PLAY POKER WITH BUCKY BARNES.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Or perhaps the reason’s even simpler: maybe Bucky just wanted to kill or
capture Arnim Zola and/or the Red Skull to avenge his treatment at their hands …
and he knew his best chance of doing that was being the guy who went in right
behind Captain America. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1eaEbWxTWXbCVYOUY66QRsChFEUZ2hsMAickfWdAjkBie-emZGmlebqzg1H6pEQjckNV0YFsbiEH91BhSG4uXgvy4x0d2XE0cEuk5Lt7UNQrCbn-6uGfkr6O3Q_EF6AV7Fy2w9P9cDc/s1600/ws415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj1eaEbWxTWXbCVYOUY66QRsChFEUZ2hsMAickfWdAjkBie-emZGmlebqzg1H6pEQjckNV0YFsbiEH91BhSG4uXgvy4x0d2XE0cEuk5Lt7UNQrCbn-6uGfkr6O3Q_EF6AV7Fy2w9P9cDc/s1600/ws415.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, look where he is.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Perhaps the strongest possible explanation for Bucky’s silence is what Erskine
says about the serum—that it exaggerates physical and psychological attributes.
(“Good becomes great, bad becomes worse.”) Before the war, Bucky obviously had
a darker temperament than Steve, but was strongly loyal to his weaker friend.
After his escape, he becomes even grimmer, except when he’s kidding Captain
America, but openly says that he’ll follow Steve anywhere. If that loyalty has
been dialed up to eleven, did he keep the details of his ordeal quiet in order
to avoid burdening his friend?</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYlqaJJOt5ErUZ9o3wMMn8CNacJ7-cJLlFluZzuWH7WkP9KFVzCaIgPSlWy5YHCZrEH6azx5PAa9UcqA1cUhd87X3_FgZJGqZkzka5xA-8NNXX6J6yf4TJ-MXwUL6idbEtfbk6QsegyQ/s1600/ws419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoYlqaJJOt5ErUZ9o3wMMn8CNacJ7-cJLlFluZzuWH7WkP9KFVzCaIgPSlWy5YHCZrEH6azx5PAa9UcqA1cUhd87X3_FgZJGqZkzka5xA-8NNXX6J6yf4TJ-MXwUL6idbEtfbk6QsegyQ/s1600/ws419.jpg" height="256" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And so people wouldn't stop giving him guns?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But now we have that second objection. Does Bucky <i>need </i>to be a super-soldier, in order for <i>Winter Soldier </i>to work? Nope. The comics made it work with a
biologically normal 19-year-old, and the movie could do that, too. But the
Marvel movieverse seems to have a slightly different approach to death that
might make this solution necessary. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRq-snn9zjgpmyfdtt1mZZqsD0IpdO-wNaJUYT782OJfoiDaUYZVItbM2WAsGaUkFXw2_u2YEfM3Cj95ZZs6gWoVBkphPqkRF2YJZAQLg-F5CX1CxIH_yhitq53vIe9lujwD3jO0aZ84/s1600/ws420.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggRq-snn9zjgpmyfdtt1mZZqsD0IpdO-wNaJUYT782OJfoiDaUYZVItbM2WAsGaUkFXw2_u2YEfM3Cj95ZZs6gWoVBkphPqkRF2YJZAQLg-F5CX1CxIH_yhitq53vIe9lujwD3jO0aZ84/s1600/ws420.jpg" height="400" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Tuesday at the X-mansion</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
While <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_death" target="_blank">comic-book death</a> is an established concept, and comic writers can bring a
character back from the dead with little more than a wave of the hand (really,
what made Bucky’s resurrection so unusual was that it involved <i>so little</i> hand-waving), the movies so
far have reserved resurrection only for very special, usually superhuman characters
like Thor and Iron Man. The only mere mortal I can think of who got the Lazarus
treatment is Phil Coulson, and the rather squicky details of that have taken
most of a season of <i>Agents of SHIELD</i>
to uncover. This more serious approach to death means the writers of <i>Winter Soldier </i>must jump a higher bar in
order to bring Bucky back. We saw him get blasted with a Hydra weapon and
dropped from a great height, at high speed, into a frozen river. That’s usually
pretty fatal in movieland. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcsVo2VNNGO1XeHZZDtyfp8VxFgdjcTSSnZpJG4WND0wahzdvwBvSuIgTiffnWZQ4T9iwOjqIdTAbNMhLzTtF6yqf1N0lmRiYrtXSWvXfgvumMoKiIx1l9iXdTXKaUJ4jFz0khs3nT0Y/s1600/ws421.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKcsVo2VNNGO1XeHZZDtyfp8VxFgdjcTSSnZpJG4WND0wahzdvwBvSuIgTiffnWZQ4T9iwOjqIdTAbNMhLzTtF6yqf1N0lmRiYrtXSWvXfgvumMoKiIx1l9iXdTXKaUJ4jFz0khs3nT0Y/s1600/ws421.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OH, WAIT.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Unless, of course, you’ve already seen someone get dropped from a great height,
at high speed, into an Arctic ice field … and survive. The only difference here
is that Captain America is a super-soldier, and his survival might be
attributed to the biological differences between super-soldiers and the rest of
us. But Bucky <i>isn’t</i> a super-soldier. Unless
he is.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Esu-Cs0M4Y87YnsaupeVzfchEXUPRgqII2Bg_3d3WnHyG51KJkSMGIRTTrmyx3wCoTgWxly65y-s8hN8DqZ0iYcfAzCiDGp9JEcg0mH1b1hpZKakKTVaa9Ii2rCS7uZ11T3g3BCMAR0/s1600/ws422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Esu-Cs0M4Y87YnsaupeVzfchEXUPRgqII2Bg_3d3WnHyG51KJkSMGIRTTrmyx3wCoTgWxly65y-s8hN8DqZ0iYcfAzCiDGp9JEcg0mH1b1hpZKakKTVaa9Ii2rCS7uZ11T3g3BCMAR0/s1600/ws422.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep freeze in five ... four ... three ... </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And even if we’re going to argue basic logistics—who pulled him out of the
river and revived him? Who even knew where to look? Why would they care?—we’ve
got a candidate with this theory. The mission where Bucky died was the mission
that captured Arnim Zola, the one person who would have known the most about
whatever was done to Bucky <i>and </i>the
man who saw Captain America come running in personally to rescue this random test
subject. And General Philips told Zola during his interrogation that his
capture cost the life of “Captain Rogers’ closest friend.” Zola’s not dumb. He
probably knew who Bucky was. And if something in those experiments made Bucky
valuable, then Zola had motivation to retrieve Bucky’s body—or at least sell
its location to the film’s bad guys.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yrbXs1BIUBiln2K5lXJFqkBb_lpR6bwAWvl9T85WCRFY8rzLq0p9hfZUjF7vfhaF3IB_t-HiIp5KPqDC_6RfD7igk-MNBZlaawLopzuB_0wE1XOtgBnolcdNDdqslBYwtqIqbQO-fvg/s1600/ws311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yrbXs1BIUBiln2K5lXJFqkBb_lpR6bwAWvl9T85WCRFY8rzLq0p9hfZUjF7vfhaF3IB_t-HiIp5KPqDC_6RfD7igk-MNBZlaawLopzuB_0wE1XOtgBnolcdNDdqslBYwtqIqbQO-fvg/s1600/ws311.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Told you we'd see him again.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And the mention of those ultimate bad guys—who still haven’t been revealed in
any of those trailers, remember—brings me to my absolute favorite batshit-crazy
conspiracy-theory never-gonna-happen-but-wouldn’t-it-be-awesome-if-it-did
hypothesis …</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgg6QMEc5Qxri-Meq31SsR2dW1XTDxzLVd98QbNMe6s4dwFxdacRC1XuIAbcVwhM9JR5kdQ1imzrGkRzxIghcSbkBVFI4zS3HPczH_KudslnfGmYZNK563KGdddP1PPa1RJdpHYuO9ok/s1600/ws423.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRgg6QMEc5Qxri-Meq31SsR2dW1XTDxzLVd98QbNMe6s4dwFxdacRC1XuIAbcVwhM9JR5kdQ1imzrGkRzxIghcSbkBVFI4zS3HPczH_KudslnfGmYZNK563KGdddP1PPa1RJdpHYuO9ok/s1600/ws423.jpg" height="640" width="438" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>BIG THEORY TWO: The Winter Soldier is
working for SHIELD. </b>Not just the bad guys secretly running one of the
SHIELD factions. SHIELD itself. The people pulling Bucky’s strings are the nominal
good guys—and that makes everything worse for everyone.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hngX1yQUnvXNhtEkmv5gnsgQpunh1yyro8P60So5UzTwNpFnor9eUG5Wqy5NNIKRoHL4RQ_vIprZR4NARAg1ORJaq_dfLimdsjnpVRv-6iPqxCv1b9bJSJThdyfGN-_6lMhtyOpPDwg/s1600/ws426.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_hngX1yQUnvXNhtEkmv5gnsgQpunh1yyro8P60So5UzTwNpFnor9eUG5Wqy5NNIKRoHL4RQ_vIprZR4NARAg1ORJaq_dfLimdsjnpVRv-6iPqxCv1b9bJSJThdyfGN-_6lMhtyOpPDwg/s1600/ws426.jpg" height="283" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Nazis and the (possible) Nazi who sent Armstrong to the moon.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This theory begins with a bit of real-life history. After World War II, the
various Cold War players rushed to recruit as many German scientists as they
could. One of the best-known of these efforts was Operation Paperclip, which
whitewashed many scientists’ Nazi pasts in order to bring them to the United
States. (The most famous beneficiary of this was rocket scientist Wernher von
Braun, who went from designing V-2 rockets for the Nazis to building spacecraft
engines for NASA.) So it’s not unreasonable that the Marvel Universe version of
the U.S., and possibly even SHIELD itself, would end up with former Hydra
scientists in its ranks—like Arnim Zola.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2b8ja198J5Dmw1vc_5qPocqZjbdA1n2f-Hv51DilIYYrF75g9aOpA-mkQ5KzHDkg9UWNDjvW1pFDGDvnlUX7-PDi7cO4Ls1_ByrOv9L8bXgeP3G03QSrd6m3pxC4Nu8FEzFOpflWomM8/s1600/ws427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2b8ja198J5Dmw1vc_5qPocqZjbdA1n2f-Hv51DilIYYrF75g9aOpA-mkQ5KzHDkg9UWNDjvW1pFDGDvnlUX7-PDi7cO4Ls1_ByrOv9L8bXgeP3G03QSrd6m3pxC4Nu8FEzFOpflWomM8/s1600/ws427.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And his fedora.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">As I mentioned above, Zola knew what (if anything) was done to Bucky in that
medical ward, and knew approximately where and when he fell from the train. He knew
the value of an abandoned asset and where to look for it. That’s something that
might interest SHIELD. After the war, they were in a prime position to recover
Bucky and turn him into the Winter Soldier.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIqbiUjCPtf2ZKVZQDIEzzZj0tSvsk4k9kxuCJ0AQoZWgYkaOX_Hf9xoOdIrw2OpfF3d586z0goI-hiXw0ePsdGOPZ9CL6z7oczQRTlR4ab1STCxGFiME9arzoOWl-MWqMM6PwgF2X1o/s1600/ws424.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBIqbiUjCPtf2ZKVZQDIEzzZj0tSvsk4k9kxuCJ0AQoZWgYkaOX_Hf9xoOdIrw2OpfF3d586z0goI-hiXw0ePsdGOPZ9CL6z7oczQRTlR4ab1STCxGFiME9arzoOWl-MWqMM6PwgF2X1o/s1600/ws424.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they didn't even give him a haircut.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But wait, I hear you saying. SHIELD is the good guys, started by the good guys
after they beat the bad guys. And that’s true. Marvel’s “Agent Carter” short film
shows the founders of SHIELD as Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and possibly
Dum-Dum Dugan. Surely they’d never be a party to brainwashing Bucky Barnes into
doing their dirty work for them. They’d never do that to Steve Rogers’ best
friend. Not to their comrade-in-arms. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNg4sCYmgXxNeaauhDjDCCeOzsS1f3FlfbZbuZoH9LAeOI6IwLEtQl-7pMsxiNBsXHxoIMzeU9Gdnmfq4ODDUAw0jTJP8ghUchfkFHUo1RDBAlAX_1qyao3ViQJt5tX9wdCtJ7aaUufk/s1600/ws428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLNg4sCYmgXxNeaauhDjDCCeOzsS1f3FlfbZbuZoH9LAeOI6IwLEtQl-7pMsxiNBsXHxoIMzeU9Gdnmfq4ODDUAw0jTJP8ghUchfkFHUo1RDBAlAX_1qyao3ViQJt5tX9wdCtJ7aaUufk/s1600/ws428.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: Bucky's best friend and his two other friends. Except maybe not.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But as it turns out, they might. Even in the comics, Bucky’s transformation
happened over several years, as technology became available and the needs of
his captors changed. Why wouldn’t it be the same here? All that’s needed for
this theory to work is to get SHIELD involved in the recovery of the remains
and start the ball rolling. If Zola offered up a dead super-soldier, Howard
Stark (who, according to his son Tony in <i>The
Avengers</i>, “never shut up about” Captain America in later life) might well
jump at the chance to preserve tissue samples. Peggy Carter might see the
recovery as a chance to bury Bucky, as Steve would have wanted—particularly since
she never got to bury Steve. Dugan, if he were involved, would likely be on
board with bringing a brother soldier’s bones home. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fJy2vbVHuk-wPRKTEO6lciiFNEgtzxnziec-KoMtWT2_qyW9UtDYKHMWbZgmNaQ8z4fb9c1H9psMzBR2Pos3GUjz94m6MsxqcsEF_n2thw_HCNz9MZ4pKAyCoyYt7TMacwPFAbVrdaQ/s1600/ws429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4fJy2vbVHuk-wPRKTEO6lciiFNEgtzxnziec-KoMtWT2_qyW9UtDYKHMWbZgmNaQ8z4fb9c1H9psMzBR2Pos3GUjz94m6MsxqcsEF_n2thw_HCNz9MZ4pKAyCoyYt7TMacwPFAbVrdaQ/s1600/ws429.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Oh, look, new toys to play with!"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And then … well … whatever happened, happened. Maybe somebody took a chance on
reviving Bucky, and it worked, albeit without his memories. Again, I could see
Peggy and Howard putting Bucky back on ice until they could figure out how to
bring him all the way back. I could even see Howard building Bucky’s metal arm
for when he woke up—hell, it looks like the kind of design that might have
inspired Iron Man a generation or two later. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xQP1Qk7Lg0AwNzokN4IVTOLJKmoW0bXP3jPC-t9KGZNdFSOB6UNInPb3UIXzPvDf_N7RgsBmzemAufjC4RfseYQhohPLnl9ekijeHN4HprDcv7iujvN7OIk9VnkosCrLOURCFn5SUEI/s1600/ws430.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-xQP1Qk7Lg0AwNzokN4IVTOLJKmoW0bXP3jPC-t9KGZNdFSOB6UNInPb3UIXzPvDf_N7RgsBmzemAufjC4RfseYQhohPLnl9ekijeHN4HprDcv7iujvN7OIk9VnkosCrLOURCFn5SUEI/s1600/ws430.jpg" height="167" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paint it red and gold and put it over an actual arm ...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And a few years after <i>that </i>… we know
Peggy didn’t stay with SHIELD forever. We know Howard ended up in the private
sector. We don’t know what happened to Dugan, but all in all it seems possible
that one frozen semi-super-soldier got lost in the shuffle. Lost, and then
found by someone who didn’t know him, didn’t care about him, but looked at him
and thought: <i>What a wonderful opportunity
… </i></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjHGQfwdrcXoqYY6fAeOxFjIW1CKNuykHP8XU-B7TzHIsUnBJhhImggpOLcjTnyfdeNeyGnCJav7ndRsRPm7q-AUWeuWYnrPDYGnX6WPxrIy0UellHAo0VkRnuYFvcHE3j1RLgXQQqac/s1600/ws414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVjHGQfwdrcXoqYY6fAeOxFjIW1CKNuykHP8XU-B7TzHIsUnBJhhImggpOLcjTnyfdeNeyGnCJav7ndRsRPm7q-AUWeuWYnrPDYGnX6WPxrIy0UellHAo0VkRnuYFvcHE3j1RLgXQQqac/s1600/ws414.jpg" height="310" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Obviously, his shirt had gone AWOL by then.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">By this point, we’re getting into the 1970s, let’s say. An era of dirty tricks,
in fact and fiction, and the decade that produced some of the spy movies that
made Robert Redford famous. The oeuvre matches. Now Bucky comes out of the ice,
perhaps under the control of a younger Alexander Pierce, and begins building
his legend. Most people in the intelligence community don’t know about him.
Most people in <i>SHIELD </i>don’t know about
him, though the Black Widow hears about him somehow. And when the Cold War
ends, Bucky’s put back into storage … </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtOYNwrYD903b9dTVGDgvfYfhiHEuNJXguJCho3metcav0A0Xpd9hgVKR7OlbpQagalPHstoAICNzOaLblUwlV1l28Whh3KQpzLHeebBgBY_CZKQglJue8A9dAqHwqtkY9uQj0UT-Fdk/s1600/ws431.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtOYNwrYD903b9dTVGDgvfYfhiHEuNJXguJCho3metcav0A0Xpd9hgVKR7OlbpQagalPHstoAICNzOaLblUwlV1l28Whh3KQpzLHeebBgBY_CZKQglJue8A9dAqHwqtkY9uQj0UT-Fdk/s1600/ws431.jpg" height="161" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is only here because it's awesome. Carry on.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
And he stays there right up until Steve Rogers comes out of the ice, and Nick
Fury catches a mild case of idealism in <i>The
Avengers</i>. Then Pierce, or whoever is working through him, needs to
consolidate his own power, and that means knocking Fury off his perch. The best
way to do that is to make Fury fail, and publicly. And what better way to do <i>that </i>than with a big, splashy terrorist
attack that nearly kills Fury himself? The Winter Soldier would make a good
false-flag operative. The pieces all fit. Maybe Pierce (or whoever) knows that
this move forces Captain America to fight, and possibly kill, his closest
friend. If Pierce <i>is </i>the Red Skull,
he’d enjoy that; anybody else might just find it amusing. Either way, it
ratchets up the tension. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_ZkNKBhIS3Hc45VvjOCmnpN843f5BwZhGVuhfmm8YIBJNN1sv_ehwx3cfQvfc-mq5Io1PDHXdHj9sH87KBA5IhINpoI4v3U4TSC7Efgwd6E0xrNgvYzGe0jfzBx8IpcXseFJqNEuLTs/s1600/ws425.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS_ZkNKBhIS3Hc45VvjOCmnpN843f5BwZhGVuhfmm8YIBJNN1sv_ehwx3cfQvfc-mq5Io1PDHXdHj9sH87KBA5IhINpoI4v3U4TSC7Efgwd6E0xrNgvYzGe0jfzBx8IpcXseFJqNEuLTs/s1600/ws425.jpg" height="253" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everybody run. Bucky's got a gun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Because the one big advantage to this batshit-crazy theory is that it actually
ups the ante. If you thought the comics were emotionally excruciating, with
Bucky working for the bad guys, I can guarantee it’ll be even harder with him
working for the <i>wrong good guys</i>. This
theory is actually harder on Captain America than the original books, because
this time he has to save Bucky, and the world, with no SHIELD squad to back him
up, no brilliant scientists or huge resources to fix what’s been done to Bucky’s
mind, no friends he can trust. He’s alone in an unfamiliar world, with his past
about to eat him alive … and if that’s not the man out of time, I don’t know
what is. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAXRPueSWraNO0HTP28mpenRK5Cz0J-b_OoZiqbAx5V7oG2fYcXibUFN8BwzC_NjjbehQJXFGZMoPr6yM0UD5DBqZpshexu7Oic6nW22_LGfHxXVRjB42C45HH8ml6zH1EBY-dXENSdqI/s1600/ws434.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAXRPueSWraNO0HTP28mpenRK5Cz0J-b_OoZiqbAx5V7oG2fYcXibUFN8BwzC_NjjbehQJXFGZMoPr6yM0UD5DBqZpshexu7Oic6nW22_LGfHxXVRjB42C45HH8ml6zH1EBY-dXENSdqI/s1600/ws434.jpg" height="303" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But at least he knows that if they're shooting at you, they're bad.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Either way, I’ve got tickets to a pre-midnight premiere screening on April 3.
And you’ll probably hear the squealing a long way off.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8HOauAjFHS6ubsYQQUGECQF84pMuCG1aV_hU1fSRYqymfWotZU12hW6Ue0BhT0L33Eh7_O78DeiQ_8rjwH7LL1zceYkADTPn7L0lmcU4OlJQZ15ZuObYJxjGjBjkEQTOX9P-dkz1jZg/s1600/ws432.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW8HOauAjFHS6ubsYQQUGECQF84pMuCG1aV_hU1fSRYqymfWotZU12hW6Ue0BhT0L33Eh7_O78DeiQ_8rjwH7LL1zceYkADTPn7L0lmcU4OlJQZ15ZuObYJxjGjBjkEQTOX9P-dkz1jZg/s1600/ws432.jpg" height="234" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One last angsty face. The angstiest of them all. Eeeeee!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>MONDAY: THE READING LIST</b></span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-52407714341021094162014-03-19T23:29:00.003-07:002014-03-20T00:29:48.453-07:00Winter Soldier Blogathon, Day 3: Stuff That's NOT in the Videos (But Probably in the Movie)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_M6kgjAfocSUbWOWNG60Y44wMz315n5X4UA-OsLRmhWEKiR15-TsTknK7jgodZy0iJbhu59vjKd8mfYAFeWdG4NidabTe-aifs9ssaOkbSdI42Q7DUESKD5R6J0usEf1Lz6C-V4NM3E/s1600/ws211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_M6kgjAfocSUbWOWNG60Y44wMz315n5X4UA-OsLRmhWEKiR15-TsTknK7jgodZy0iJbhu59vjKd8mfYAFeWdG4NidabTe-aifs9ssaOkbSdI42Q7DUESKD5R6J0usEf1Lz6C-V4NM3E/s1600/ws211.jpg" height="400" width="273" /></a></div>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And
now, a brief rundown of stuff that’s not in the videos (or only briefly in the
videos) but probably in the movie. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCazhnDz6zShqqf1NIOWzSN8m-et4kfT3QYLKzgCvPH1T9JXSO3EoqfJemT1020X_CD3vn1mrUXuu4JzfOjVpYOH7Sl7hJet194U9p2aUFc8FaSYPks0NiDrAPAMUhOtfdg_e4laM8Wo/s1600/ws301.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieCazhnDz6zShqqf1NIOWzSN8m-et4kfT3QYLKzgCvPH1T9JXSO3EoqfJemT1020X_CD3vn1mrUXuu4JzfOjVpYOH7Sl7hJet194U9p2aUFc8FaSYPks0NiDrAPAMUhOtfdg_e4laM8Wo/s1600/ws301.jpg" height="217" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: OUR ONLY IMAGE OF THIS CHARACTER.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Agent 13/Sharon Carter. </b>C’mon, she’s
in the cast list, but so far her appearance has been confined to a single shot
in the U.K. trailer. Yet much was made of Emily van Camp’s casting as the
mysterious Agent 13, and there’s no way she’s not going to play a major role in
events. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwrM2fEgEtOnVpZqDvGDYueSe75BzvUDc9IcPhglXSx-1Of166y3TQU0BdRnRivlRjp6kyoIj_NxyxEq1hvwvSqeLJvPEq4-r_yU45HPg85LNXRMPLgK-2xwHjAS0t1oZ4T1Qw3fBebo/s1600/ws302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfwrM2fEgEtOnVpZqDvGDYueSe75BzvUDc9IcPhglXSx-1Of166y3TQU0BdRnRivlRjp6kyoIj_NxyxEq1hvwvSqeLJvPEq4-r_yU45HPg85LNXRMPLgK-2xwHjAS0t1oZ4T1Qw3fBebo/s1600/ws302.jpg" height="277" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharon wants Steve to PLEASE STOP DOING ACROBATICS<br />
WHILE SHE'S TALKING.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the comics, Sharon was usually Steve Rogers’ primary love interest—and she
was always a bit weird. Steve first met her after he thawed out in the 1960s
and mistook her for her older sister, Peggy—his girlfriend from World War II.
(Peggy was later retconned into being Sharon’s aunt, and I think she’s been
promoted to great-aunt now. She was killed off, after a long battle with
Alzheimer’s, in 2011.) And very few people seemed to be weirded out by the fact
that Captain America was dating the little sister of his World War II flame,
perhaps because Sharon was also following in her relative’s footsteps as a
badass SHIELD agent. Over the decades, Sharon stood out as one of the most
competent girlfriends in comics, frequently saving Cap’s butt when his idealism
(or lack of future-savvy) got him into trouble. She was apparently killed off
in the 1970s and brought back in the 1990s, claiming she’d been in deep cover
for years and bitter that Steve hadn’t gone looking for her. Things eventually warmed
again between them, and Sharon played a major role in the Winter Soldier
storyline, which included a reconciliation with Steve. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJQFChuupDTQsbSC3dEzcsIpPueseVFPUUvfW0mZNXZwuKD9dI2MKRT6bgF58PoFG6OHvsnm4F_rg6JSXp6w0aPL0QFFMvGeypSKiBaHihmCJ24OZdgLyCXQNphMyu_MazriCMtFdJVU/s1600/ws303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuJQFChuupDTQsbSC3dEzcsIpPueseVFPUUvfW0mZNXZwuKD9dI2MKRT6bgF58PoFG6OHvsnm4F_rg6JSXp6w0aPL0QFFMvGeypSKiBaHihmCJ24OZdgLyCXQNphMyu_MazriCMtFdJVU/s1600/ws303.jpg" height="400" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looked kinda like this. I'm sure Peggy would approve.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And <i>then </i>it turned out Sharon was the
second shooter at Steve’s assassination. She’d had some deep mind-control
programming implanted by the bad guys. And she was pregnant with Steve’s child
(probably a daughter, but its sex was never officially confirmed) at the time,
though she later miscarried. Oh, and she once saved Bucky’s life by throwing
him out of an airplane (yes, really). With all of those options in her
character—sweet romantic interest, badass spy, angry ex, unwitting murderer,
and mother-to-be—there’s no way to predict which way Agent 13 will turn in the <i>Winter Soldier </i>movie. But it’ll be
important. And you’ll get to hear my theory on her character tomorrow.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0d125sompd13ZfhXEZUJDNIsRdITMGqEmyWZAD81P89sMKnLx03CdPLfbsNBDpiSkRjFCm8WRjs8jTS6asUKc03OZtt6YBiWmZbKdX_sxsDvwZ95XdfNIM1Dp42b2QEj4CW-htRFrQbI/s1600/ws305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0d125sompd13ZfhXEZUJDNIsRdITMGqEmyWZAD81P89sMKnLx03CdPLfbsNBDpiSkRjFCm8WRjs8jTS6asUKc03OZtt6YBiWmZbKdX_sxsDvwZ95XdfNIM1Dp42b2QEj4CW-htRFrQbI/s1600/ws305.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Who, me? I'm just an affable, average SHIELD agent.<br />
And maybe a psychopathic killer."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Brock Rumlow/Crossbones. </b>This one is weird. Go watch that “secure the ship”
clip again. See the SHIELD agent doing most of the talking? His name is Rumlow.
And while advance materials for the movie have portrayed him as a loyal friend
and a bit of a Captain America fanboy, the name “Rumlow” means something else
to fans of the comics.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPSCbh3RiCE4QhhX8vdqAYVchCLOAyRu0Alq9sU3MIsrY8lIiD8jGGXZuEXdckSMxRfY-qMWkGnHedyqh45dM83Z-O41tB6YyImCeSFlYrfixF-iNyutlgA3ZA3ws1XRKyN-g4T0Hsvk/s1600/ws304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFPSCbh3RiCE4QhhX8vdqAYVchCLOAyRu0Alq9sU3MIsrY8lIiD8jGGXZuEXdckSMxRfY-qMWkGnHedyqh45dM83Z-O41tB6YyImCeSFlYrfixF-iNyutlgA3ZA3ws1XRKyN-g4T0Hsvk/s1600/ws304.jpg" height="400" width="353" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's not even his bike back there. Hello, traffic hazard.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Brock Rumlow is better known as Crossbones, a former street-gang leader who
became a key henchman of the Red Skull. He was never a SHIELD agent, but he <i>was </i>a neo-Nazi and the boyfriend of the
Skull’s psychopathic daughter, Synthia Schmidt (a.k.a. Sin). He was the first
of the two shooters in the assassination of Captain America (Sharon fired the
close-up shots). Obviously he’s got a different background in the movie, but
you heard it here first—<i>don’t trust Agent
Rumlow.</i></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGADOzd-UxrLdrHBJn6e2rMvNp8yBlqHQ-IUJ77pKh69QwQmWjU1zb1bOXlnjbUrg4OALThHB5qq-BFO5hPtGs-ln5gJEyZqz3lSaioD1QUjhj40GseCDqjgYKZZDkEfjbHk-16f0MEk/s1600/ws306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIGADOzd-UxrLdrHBJn6e2rMvNp8yBlqHQ-IUJ77pKh69QwQmWjU1zb1bOXlnjbUrg4OALThHB5qq-BFO5hPtGs-ln5gJEyZqz3lSaioD1QUjhj40GseCDqjgYKZZDkEfjbHk-16f0MEk/s1600/ws306.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Zut alors! (Okay, I'm done with the terrible French now.)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Batroc. </b>Another strange choice. Also in the “secure the ship” clip, there’s
a mercenary named Georges Batroc (pronounced “BAT-rock” in the movie, though
most comics geeks say it “Bah-TROCK”—and no, I don’t know how you’d say it in
French). Batroc, better known as Batroc the Leaper, is … well, here’s a
picture, okay?</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8LKp-9e9Owbtm-z4nTIEVt04QjyaToqoyuX3lUcslit4EpFc-CkD2C-Eqy3hY5wIaAMWuMsQBKWBgk9kZC-9zXCWlhwmO3XI3QeVZc8qkofM15SBqkbTFouGr76Hz3LIuwopTgjA9kA/s1600/ws307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN8LKp-9e9Owbtm-z4nTIEVt04QjyaToqoyuX3lUcslit4EpFc-CkD2C-Eqy3hY5wIaAMWuMsQBKWBgk9kZC-9zXCWlhwmO3XI3QeVZc8qkofM15SBqkbTFouGr76Hz3LIuwopTgjA9kA/s1600/ws307.JPG" height="384" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">WHAT IS THIS I CAN'T EVEN.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Yup, he’s a goofball. Supposedly a badass mercenary and a master of savate,
Batroc is mostly a punchline in the comics, although there have been recent
attempts to make him less pathetic. There’s something fundamentally humorous,
though, about a guy in an orange and purple costume, bouncing around like a
ping-pong ball and talking like Pepe Le Pew. About the only person who
consistently takes Batroc seriously (and appears justified in doing so) is Bucky-Cap,
who has his reasons: </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnQi2h4YCS1JKq1-ogcTuDENoe14xVCatsmh9HpEzXHWkR2eeHchkH7nucbT0-n3FvbKjjlBdBLA2gyVZkpy2mBvI5HAuK2N9B0-KCQkxTFHRoNFuOP-LhQQMhqcQXpAwyXtycPIewWs/s1600/ws309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFnQi2h4YCS1JKq1-ogcTuDENoe14xVCatsmh9HpEzXHWkR2eeHchkH7nucbT0-n3FvbKjjlBdBLA2gyVZkpy2mBvI5HAuK2N9B0-KCQkxTFHRoNFuOP-LhQQMhqcQXpAwyXtycPIewWs/s1600/ws309.jpg" height="521" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, not THAT seriously. But hey, concussion!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So maybe Batroc’s not such a joke anymore. And with MMA champion Georges
St-Pierre playing him, he’ll probably get some serious fight scenes. One thing
to remember about Batroc, though—while he’ll do just about anything for money,
he has an unpredictable sense of honor that will sometimes cause him to switch
sides, or quit, in the middle of a fight. And he respects Captain America as a
worthy opponent, so he’s even been known to help Cap out (usually by slipping him
information or sabotaging an evil plan) when the bad guys cross one of Batroc’s
moral lines. Don’t expect him to wear a lot of orange and purple in this movie.
</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIXbsx9MuYbb1M73WlfBW8HTK5gSbKHAW3ioUQiITg_kgoOMHCXSTApjKdo54eVHaeMD29H6ZN6HPg4sJnYQP9L7LWEwdkUpBelZ5t66Mo4Jqrrz3bprJ6TQfW2AX2_6iRcZu6Is1HO8/s1600/ws308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipIXbsx9MuYbb1M73WlfBW8HTK5gSbKHAW3ioUQiITg_kgoOMHCXSTApjKdo54eVHaeMD29H6ZN6HPg4sJnYQP9L7LWEwdkUpBelZ5t66Mo4Jqrrz3bprJ6TQfW2AX2_6iRcZu6Is1HO8/s1600/ws308.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, I lied about that last part.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjT8Ff_kB2N4033MWXUqFuV4su3TkUV3fdg_PfEv1OgFU1u-JwUFWPGiI6HlbGLLLmlCwWQJHDAaBeUQ9MvhrxozXqrelqbA7ZZxXOlTI4VVaQq6vd5qfmssaVvlGyUCYFx8Hwwqi9bc/s1600/ws310.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjT8Ff_kB2N4033MWXUqFuV4su3TkUV3fdg_PfEv1OgFU1u-JwUFWPGiI6HlbGLLLmlCwWQJHDAaBeUQ9MvhrxozXqrelqbA7ZZxXOlTI4VVaQq6vd5qfmssaVvlGyUCYFx8Hwwqi9bc/s1600/ws310.jpeg" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someday they're gonna do that salute with power tools or drinks in their hands<br />
and we're all going to be very sorry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Hydra (again, in some form). </b>For “Hydra” in this case, read “some secret
organization of bad guys, and Hydra is the best option.” While the trailers
have played up SHIELD infighting, there’s probably a legitimate Big Bad behind
one of those squabbling factions. And since there’s a party of bad guys using a
brainwashed Bucky Barnes as their weapon of choice, and the list of people who
know or care what happened to Bucky in the war pretty much boils down to a) Cap
and company and b) Hydra and company (remember, movie-Bucky was a Hydra test
subject before Steve rescued him, and he died on a mission to stop a Hydra
train and kidnap a Hydra scientist), the odds are good that we’ll see or hear
from Hydra in this movie, if only in the form of an ex-Hydra scientist or
black-market Hydra tech. This is especially useful when one remembers that the
Winter Soldier in the comics was a puppet of the Soviets, but the <i>Winter Soldier </i>movie has to play
overseas. Russian bad guys don’t play so well in Russia. Or China. Hydra is a
good candidate to swap in for that.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Mhn1pfbV9h9kecE7nz5OboLfowbZG_K3SCEEnyNZSpFehiYyb67C7yrBcfdqHpJL1SObJX1LDqjYujil6Zq8IyrFA4zb1I_Hr4t8u7FAn5jw-gytpY2t3ktwbpPMa5z-QgUXqqlUTGU/s1600/ws311.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Mhn1pfbV9h9kecE7nz5OboLfowbZG_K3SCEEnyNZSpFehiYyb67C7yrBcfdqHpJL1SObJX1LDqjYujil6Zq8IyrFA4zb1I_Hr4t8u7FAn5jw-gytpY2t3ktwbpPMa5z-QgUXqqlUTGU/s1600/ws311.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hello, again. That's an appropriately worried look you've got there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Heyyyy, Arnim Zola survived the war, didn’t he? As far as we know? And I’ve got
a theory about him that you’ll hear about tomorrow.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7NqoiYy6BRgn0CFBeE87yYbicgyFfajoBnKsjakst7moTZ7N_bUvO-xFx-eB9-Ib5y8soieH11a9ogzQOpSh8bDRUwifvY7wX6JfN6PJQSQQbuCYMUGZcjAfC77jH-x71BobgYf7bdo/s1600/ws312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7NqoiYy6BRgn0CFBeE87yYbicgyFfajoBnKsjakst7moTZ7N_bUvO-xFx-eB9-Ib5y8soieH11a9ogzQOpSh8bDRUwifvY7wX6JfN6PJQSQQbuCYMUGZcjAfC77jH-x71BobgYf7bdo/s1600/ws312.jpg" height="200" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hello, Mr. McGuffin.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>The Zodiac. </b>This is a bit more esoteric, but we’ve got a good reason to
think that there’s a mysterious glowy vial of something called “the Zodiac”
involved in this movie. Peggy Carter was seen getting her hands on it in the
“Agent Carter” short that came with the <i>Iron
Man 3 </i>DVD, and a prequel comic for the movie showed Cap, the Black Widow,
and Agent Rumlow stopping a group of bad guys from unleashing the contents of
that vial on an unsuspecting populace. Cap noted in that comic that SHIELD had
previously claimed the Zodiac was destroyed, and the Widow replied that this
was to keep anyone from looking for it. Obviously that didn’t work. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FWxBKOOQlQdpc-vRrlaeKHqFiwS6spOCH81AOdD9Us5mNuIOI_qImiLAD6-4j8iBVyh7RYiEdAbFpqH1qyi997tG0yEf2r8emEGXBuk27T61CsHamrQZ22RxY5CY-ipj14POHeMH11s/s1600/ws313.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8FWxBKOOQlQdpc-vRrlaeKHqFiwS6spOCH81AOdD9Us5mNuIOI_qImiLAD6-4j8iBVyh7RYiEdAbFpqH1qyi997tG0yEf2r8emEGXBuk27T61CsHamrQZ22RxY5CY-ipj14POHeMH11s/s1600/ws313.jpg" height="302" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Things not working.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">In the comics, there were several Zodiac groups that opposed SHIELD or the
Avengers in some way. The original Zodiac was basically a group of criminals in
funny-looking astrology-themed outfits, but later versions picked up
superpowers from various places. Could the vial be the source of those powers?
Most notably, a new Zodiac appeared in the <i>Avengers
Assemble </i>comic—highly superpowered, recruited and backed by Thanos. Are we
going to be connecting the contents of that vial, and whatever it does, to the
larger Marvel Cosmic movies? We’ve already seen Thanos at the end of <i>The Avengers </i>and heard mention of the
Infinity Stones, one of Thanos’ favorite things to collect. Whatever “the
Zodiac” is in the movies, watch out for purple dudes. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDCxxRbCiHhS4zsfkaqZ49uuCt-3zcsQolnucfT8DLf_sSQWT1Y4soMXgdtu_2FNVeNBJtIfvtVuYLleDJVzYWAaq6jZHkLVtntGIk_mcyVCGoXK-iqSGrJIGnjriW3gl4sB0PbK7sBQ/s1600/ws210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDCxxRbCiHhS4zsfkaqZ49uuCt-3zcsQolnucfT8DLf_sSQWT1Y4soMXgdtu_2FNVeNBJtIfvtVuYLleDJVzYWAaq6jZHkLVtntGIk_mcyVCGoXK-iqSGrJIGnjriW3gl4sB0PbK7sBQ/s1600/ws210.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Cause and effect.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Mind-control magic.</b> I mean that “magic” part literally. Unless the writers of
this movie decided to actually make Bucky evil, he’s being controlled somehow.
The Super Bowl spot showed him in a room that looked like the Soviet
memory-implantation chamber seen in the comics, but as I noted above, making
the bad guys Soviets could seriously hurt this movie’s box-office numbers
overseas. So we’re looking at a form of mind control practiced by some other
bad guys … and if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve seen mind control in
Marvel movies before. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSuiK-Q-rm1VOEBeibKJui-tHeDeNeArjl1sfM2Qqex4otEeamweOFz_pS5xvoAzlH9rQbc6o9LgZqrSvOsE06x3eGS2-s3CF2HtZFyh3ZzJQWvt7exy5fibFeLLDMmX7vV068opCzAI/s1600/ws315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzSuiK-Q-rm1VOEBeibKJui-tHeDeNeArjl1sfM2Qqex4otEeamweOFz_pS5xvoAzlH9rQbc6o9LgZqrSvOsE06x3eGS2-s3CF2HtZFyh3ZzJQWvt7exy5fibFeLLDMmX7vV068opCzAI/s1600/ws315.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, hi. Nice eyes you got there.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Remember Hawkeye’s glowing eyeballs? <i>The
Avengers </i>got a lot of mileage out of the Hawkeye-as-flying-monkey trope,
and the Tesseract was powering all of that. While there’s nothing to suggest
that Loki will play a role in <i>Captain
America: The Winter Soldier</i>, there are plenty of terrestrial groups that
have gotten their hands on Tesseract technology, including both Hydra and
SHIELD. Using magic is a great way to get around the fact that, according to
the best research out there, real-life brainwashing doesn’t work the way it’s
usually portrayed in the movies. So all those American POWs in Korean War
prison camps didn’t really become communists? That’s okay—we’ve got magical
glowing blue stuff! We haven’t seen the Winter Soldier’s eyes glowing at any
point, but that doesn’t mean Tesseract tech won’t be bound up in whatever makes
him tick. (Or go boom, as the case may be.)</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QFFBsO8JXr-WRY4626Zhb-bmvBjX_rnx1i-Omy9-nxI51djs0eHtXQ-NvgntJ4HFOhBzboOu-KKXF1ayONN53fJJK2gGlJKP7Fqk2GVOiEeyAY1ng8WM9suTprrFyKmErwSYqJruzyM/s1600/ws316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2QFFBsO8JXr-WRY4626Zhb-bmvBjX_rnx1i-Omy9-nxI51djs0eHtXQ-NvgntJ4HFOhBzboOu-KKXF1ayONN53fJJK2gGlJKP7Fqk2GVOiEeyAY1ng8WM9suTprrFyKmErwSYqJruzyM/s1600/ws316.jpg" height="158" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See what I did there?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And remember, if there’s a way to use magical mind control on people without
giving them those telltale eyes, then any character can be acting under such
control at any time. Including, say, Agent Rumlow. Or Sharon Carter. Or Robert
Redford’s character. Or anydamnbody, really.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ah3VKDkuwPTHCRm9dnManrBOcNYm6q4lcZqB8kivJlOBdNwi3jbN2aJIXG59w5GHixHSQGb7lBQzqR9eUYleOOJgdOJwCH32fUjesl_Rr4-CmO1OBkBCzLSdGPJ6TVILrBuBpHH4nRQ/s1600/ws317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Ah3VKDkuwPTHCRm9dnManrBOcNYm6q4lcZqB8kivJlOBdNwi3jbN2aJIXG59w5GHixHSQGb7lBQzqR9eUYleOOJgdOJwCH32fUjesl_Rr4-CmO1OBkBCzLSdGPJ6TVILrBuBpHH4nRQ/s1600/ws317.jpg" height="400" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They always say this afterward. How often<br />do they expect the answer to be "yes"?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You know who else has a history with mind control? </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3JTgExULil7LiJGUYVEFgLyApj8sM1LauczLzFiFgWmvazgjUnODhWz9pcD5_o5w1UH2_EKG7tKwNIUtvr6CKiscN4Rx4wMZ9Aw_djrzXduiXx9zuwMtnWXDvPLZnaC5RAZRRptn9Z8/s1600/ws211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH3JTgExULil7LiJGUYVEFgLyApj8sM1LauczLzFiFgWmvazgjUnODhWz9pcD5_o5w1UH2_EKG7tKwNIUtvr6CKiscN4Rx4wMZ9Aw_djrzXduiXx9zuwMtnWXDvPLZnaC5RAZRRptn9Z8/s1600/ws211.jpg" height="320" width="219" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<b>Black Widow (again). </b>I’m just going
to drop this little reminder and leave it here. Remember in <i>The Avengers, </i>when Hawkeye was
recovering from his flying-monkey phase and Black Widow was keeping an eye on
him? Clint was babbling about having someone “pull you out, put someone else
in”, and asked Natasha, “Do you know what it’s like to be unmade?”</span></span></span> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0k1hSNEHKVPN3_gNmQjU2ei4c5RqbBkAI1Pc6vPeEr6ZNQZG9aGvl0lXLGnwoM7rSVecP9VWMvVvzpQzHXM5LFblSgnBzyH2Nxn5bGJHrUWq1T9MAc4MN6xuHMLyyH48nidzTibFXkAs/s1600/ws319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0k1hSNEHKVPN3_gNmQjU2ei4c5RqbBkAI1Pc6vPeEr6ZNQZG9aGvl0lXLGnwoM7rSVecP9VWMvVvzpQzHXM5LFblSgnBzyH2Nxn5bGJHrUWq1T9MAc4MN6xuHMLyyH48nidzTibFXkAs/s1600/ws319.jpg" height="212" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am actually not sure why he asks this question if he knows the answer.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">To which she replied, “You know I do.”</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Sg_Y_9MIZS_I0cHqp7X0NkAbzA8s1FYrDzB95ovzd11aGqkLkZ-qpnv7eSw3_2wcOu44LfvJC05Nnt7SI55Cd5ta-XOKKb95LGwtf3M8AKpVM95cPGeqEzrfxi76EVbw5vPfFxdK-qw/s1600/ws318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Sg_Y_9MIZS_I0cHqp7X0NkAbzA8s1FYrDzB95ovzd11aGqkLkZ-qpnv7eSw3_2wcOu44LfvJC05Nnt7SI55Cd5ta-XOKKb95LGwtf3M8AKpVM95cPGeqEzrfxi76EVbw5vPfFxdK-qw/s1600/ws318.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Duh."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Black Widow has a Winter Soldier-like history of being mind-controlled in the
comics, including long deep-cover operations and elaborate backstories that she
fully believed but that turned out to be totally fabricated. Was this line a
reference to that history? If so, <i>Winter
Soldier </i>is the logical place to explore it. It’s worth noting that she’s
the one who seems to do most of the explaining where the Winter Soldier is concerned
… and that there’s no reason she can’t be working an extraordinarily long
deep-cover job on SHIELD itself.<b><br />
<br />
TOMORROW: MY PET THEORIES<br />
<br />
</b></span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-51930203064120838692014-03-18T08:48:00.000-07:002014-03-18T08:48:00.126-07:00Winter Soldier Blogathon, Day 2: What to Look For in the Videos<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">You’re
still here after yesterday’s mega-entry? Okay, then. Here’s my rundown of stuff
you can draw from the assorted trailers and videos:</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiKldJgVNN7tGq34zQYiuCXoF8irTPL_UgtxU9OryrHYSt2yp3MuNAxsUs2DAhA6RXzJP0QcVk_bbOKrQ95h1Iy_20c6DE6WVD5H8NbSEFKXrSshF9gWCLAooS8KjbtQozo2CBTUGpjE/s1600/ws202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiKldJgVNN7tGq34zQYiuCXoF8irTPL_UgtxU9OryrHYSt2yp3MuNAxsUs2DAhA6RXzJP0QcVk_bbOKrQ95h1Iy_20c6DE6WVD5H8NbSEFKXrSshF9gWCLAooS8KjbtQozo2CBTUGpjE/s1600/ws202.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<b>Paranoia and conspiracies. </b>If you
didn’t pick up on this vibe, you weren’t paying attention. From shots of
SHIELD’s ginormous arsenal to Cap beating up a bunch of agents in an elevator,
it’s pretty obvious that the idealistic World War II hero is going to find
himself pitted against the more modern intelligence community. Add to that a shadowy
assassin (potentially the person Robert Redford is talking to when he says,
“Your work has shaped the century”) and your story begins to take on the
dimensions of major American myth. Was the Winter Soldier the second gunman on
the grassy knoll? </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEl2kqmqYO4NGR9tg2JJ8zIClVhSw1EZ09ftVw0uVE8tDPNY7aHsl7kCYcMVLY8LrBzLJgu2gqbfeB6VYQpAq6QFkUud_r-NZmuVlL0LPWg-ljDlrLg05h8pg9YhKMUOAgx50pASQemks/s1600/ws213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEl2kqmqYO4NGR9tg2JJ8zIClVhSw1EZ09ftVw0uVE8tDPNY7aHsl7kCYcMVLY8LrBzLJgu2gqbfeB6VYQpAq6QFkUud_r-NZmuVlL0LPWg-ljDlrLg05h8pg9YhKMUOAgx50pASQemks/s1600/ws213.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, I guess he wasn't. :)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">So here's what we know we can expect ...</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqlDOtqwlDdEwYso_FLxFpS7N_KyOFrAWW7Ec-sDHf2bKJzEPqI1-KOnJQb5dTetqgk2LliwNXcE76XXjmiFx1Rn5NxSlvHWGTIh-3mK8TXyfNbwa4MGBpx82w8lAJR1-dGLp-vrDVRI/s1600/ws203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZqlDOtqwlDdEwYso_FLxFpS7N_KyOFrAWW7Ec-sDHf2bKJzEPqI1-KOnJQb5dTetqgk2LliwNXcE76XXjmiFx1Rn5NxSlvHWGTIh-3mK8TXyfNbwa4MGBpx82w8lAJR1-dGLp-vrDVRI/s1600/ws203.jpg" height="177" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
SHIELD vs. SHIELD. </b>But wait. Fury’s in mortal danger, too! And we’ve got
helicarriers firing on helicarriers, an airship crashing into the Triskelion,
the Black Widow apparently on the run, out in the cold with Cap … that’s a lot
of images of SHIELD seemingly fighting itself and/or failing the people it’s
supposed to be supporting. American-looking fighter planes chase the Falcon
around the helicarrier. Cap argues with Nick Fury about SHIELD policy. Fury
warns Cap not to trust anybody. Is that because the threat—whatever it is—is
closer than Cap would like to admit? </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxilh1yyvPhUvpqWlKoxyHlsOiFxdHnpymSV23mLMLhjAIJNJdBde278SUWuGqFkNWXaIyy5DX53kmeQpF05eArY0vXLR-V_X9fQnUsRkOu38ALTq-p-fOedK8O54aQSdWIwoYiJB8b2g/s1600/ws204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxilh1yyvPhUvpqWlKoxyHlsOiFxdHnpymSV23mLMLhjAIJNJdBde278SUWuGqFkNWXaIyy5DX53kmeQpF05eArY0vXLR-V_X9fQnUsRkOu38ALTq-p-fOedK8O54aQSdWIwoYiJB8b2g/s1600/ws204.jpg" height="400" width="276" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Vaguely Incognito look is in for spring.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Cap on the run. </b>Steve seems to spend an awful lot of time in these scenes
walking around in civilian clothes—at least once, seemingly through a museum
exhibit dedicated to his wartime exploits. (Is this how he gets his stripey
World War II duds back for later fight scenes?) The ensemble even includes the
traditional hero-incognito baseball cap. But he’s still seen carrying the
shield and getting shot at—and fighting the Winter Soldier—in that civilian
garb. Lying low really isn’t working so well for you, is it, Steve?</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZ9zfYdI9BfV7cuZK-UHJKC3v9MrFd9Z8mWwOAbe6aALpSoUI8mTCxAYmikXxnRc_ppUWKsagadvmDD0lUgPrUm3T5vEcegXjRuVnEO87fJPpVKQ3Z6GgISQKIpx19xeBElazk7xwqM4/s1600/ws205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIZ9zfYdI9BfV7cuZK-UHJKC3v9MrFd9Z8mWwOAbe6aALpSoUI8mTCxAYmikXxnRc_ppUWKsagadvmDD0lUgPrUm3T5vEcegXjRuVnEO87fJPpVKQ3Z6GgISQKIpx19xeBElazk7xwqM4/s1600/ws205.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Cap in love. </b>Yes, that’s a set photo of Steve and Natasha making out. No, I
don’t have an explanation, except the possibility that fanfic writers have
taken over this script. But the last <i>Captain
America </i>movie was pretty darn romantic for a film with only one major
female character—a shocking amount of screen time was dedicated to the Cap and
Peggy show. (Of course, it helped that Peggy was awesome!) With Natasha giving
Steve romantic advice (okay, nagging) in that early scene, it looks like she’s
getting involved with his personal life. And while Natasha could have any of a
billion reasons for that involvement, Steve is pretty straightforward with his
emotions. If he falls for Natasha, he’s serious about it. And <i>that </i>can’t go anywhere good. (See below
for why.)</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1OQ_CRQws3Vr8IhnIdAPcy_QY0Hx2n93BK4WhRDfuMI78TeTP3chLH3xR59Wae8yVFYb_lUFdS6h7FctSc6ZLgDHN3kmQHP9ijqgteg8nwWxRs1vRMixM1RHJDZBEVcwxoMufU9lSTY/s1600/ws206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB1OQ_CRQws3Vr8IhnIdAPcy_QY0Hx2n93BK4WhRDfuMI78TeTP3chLH3xR59Wae8yVFYb_lUFdS6h7FctSc6ZLgDHN3kmQHP9ijqgteg8nwWxRs1vRMixM1RHJDZBEVcwxoMufU9lSTY/s1600/ws206.jpg" height="223" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>The Falcon.</b> See that guy with the metal wings? That’s Sam Wilson, a.k.a.
the Falcon, one of the first African American superheroes. In the comics, Sam
was empowered by the Red Skull (a fancy wing-suit and a telepathic link with
birds, including a hawk named Redwing) and sent to kill Captain America, but
that didn’t work out so well, and the two of them ended up best friends and
superheroic partners. The relationship was notable at the time (the 1970s) for
being something pretty close to a real partnership, too; while Steve was
obviously giving Sam tips on superheroing, Sam held his own remarkably well in
those stories, and wasn’t nearly as stereotyped as typical portrayals of Black
characters from the same period. The Falcon has been one of Cap’s staunchest
allies ever since; he even took Bucky under his wing (no pun intended) while
Cap was dead.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpr29FOMC_nOfyYIuzKz_AkmSO2d_TcDJ9WdQGeLCWRBz7CABEe2HVJEC6si6Zc5o8w7v9Md2G-OGQRBQlQJKxNWxwcf2oBi_JoiH5Ik3LkX8LTKmj6SXH8rz2RX5qI2Z7Qut3eFM1ts/s1600/ws212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpr29FOMC_nOfyYIuzKz_AkmSO2d_TcDJ9WdQGeLCWRBz7CABEe2HVJEC6si6Zc5o8w7v9Md2G-OGQRBQlQJKxNWxwcf2oBi_JoiH5Ik3LkX8LTKmj6SXH8rz2RX5qI2Z7Qut3eFM1ts/s1600/ws212.jpg" height="203" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That includes pulling Bucky out of bar fights he starts after someone insults Steve Rogers.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">One of the few things that <i>didn’t</i>
completely shock Steve when he came back from the dead was that the Falcon had
been keeping an eye on things and not taking crap from anyone. Steve and Sam
routinely describe each other as brothers—a term Steve reserves for Sam, Bucky
and a couple of war buddies, and that Sam uses only for Steve.<span> </span>While this Falcon appears to be a SHIELD
agent rather than a creation of the Red Skull, he seems to have the same deep
and instant loyalty to Steve Rogers. It’s good to see him up on the screen;
this movie needs a rock like Sam Wilson.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOPn9q3tr6tvCtZVoY018StHx13__dRrC1JCYgrkOIsAZbMzoH8W5ObGomVTU__Ufl7XpeoBzv3aBYgr_8UBq1P8nG13l7LXTxTElGrxNT-2xz9a7-1wM3RwNILKdaK2Z5qXb5PoZM94/s1600/ws207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOPn9q3tr6tvCtZVoY018StHx13__dRrC1JCYgrkOIsAZbMzoH8W5ObGomVTU__Ufl7XpeoBzv3aBYgr_8UBq1P8nG13l7LXTxTElGrxNT-2xz9a7-1wM3RwNILKdaK2Z5qXb5PoZM94/s1600/ws207.jpg" height="210" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>The return of Peggy Carter. </b>We hear a female voice with a British accent
that sounds remarkably like Hayley Atwell. Is this a flashback, or does Steve
finally get up the guts to go and look up Peggy? A deleted scene from <i>The Avengers </i>showed that she was still
alive and living in England. This could go either way, but no matter what,
expect Steve to be a bit wrecked by Peggy’s scene.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-C-q3GTZ3zemCe8nbaB9jXEQsbPmyyYcucSpMknETMR1Qwb8QQkvN_s1OcConBph4PKIgZLGQHQLJDbmu07as9kefEZ6jkdZSAvLD717ZJR-Z2COUOcksdm0Md90ReYjCqEWvBDK9vHU/s1600/ws208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-C-q3GTZ3zemCe8nbaB9jXEQsbPmyyYcucSpMknETMR1Qwb8QQkvN_s1OcConBph4PKIgZLGQHQLJDbmu07as9kefEZ6jkdZSAvLD717ZJR-Z2COUOcksdm0Md90ReYjCqEWvBDK9vHU/s1600/ws208.jpg" height="275" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Robert Redford. </b>Eeeyup, that’s Robert Redford. And he seems to be talking
to Steve Rogers about the need to tear down an old world and build a new one …
but <i>is </i>he talking to Steve? At one
point, he’s heard saying, “Your work has shaped the century. And I need you to
do it one more time.” Steve was pretty impressive in the war and everything,
but shaping a century? That sounds more like a description of the Winter
Soldier and his involvement in key assassinations throughout the Cold War. And
with the role of spy-mentor already filled by Nick Fury, Redford’s character is
looking more and more sinister. Cap’s got a long history in the comics of going
up against bad guys in suits who seemed innocuous at first. Is Redford’s
character the next in a long line? (You’ll get to see my personal theory about
Redford’s character, Agent Alexander Pierce, on Thursday.)</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEnW-2dzMRtx5jH2vJ2sgvg7qAGkV28X4W1pN59QPC-hVFiqPIX_V2Pk4emoi-h8CnFiN1X79-_TuCvNBTro0HRzBO3D-r6lcxZqHiTR-EiDUxbbyUpAIQbWyx0D7kmRaajXWRC62w-Q/s1600/ws209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEnW-2dzMRtx5jH2vJ2sgvg7qAGkV28X4W1pN59QPC-hVFiqPIX_V2Pk4emoi-h8CnFiN1X79-_TuCvNBTro0HRzBO3D-r6lcxZqHiTR-EiDUxbbyUpAIQbWyx0D7kmRaajXWRC62w-Q/s1600/ws209.jpg" height="310" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Nick Fury having a bad day. </b>His car gets blown up and ripped apart by the
Winter Soldier, SHIELD is going bonkers all around him, and Steve quotes
“Fury’s last words” (which might be his last words before he apparently died,
or just the last thing he said before disappearing). And someone with Fury’s
skin tone is seen as a patient in an operating room. When ol’ One-Eye goes from
running an international law-enforcement organization to being dead or missing,
it’s a bad day for the free world, and a worse day for Steve Rogers. There’s
even a scene that appears to show Natasha walking out of a congressional
hearing about intelligence operations. Fury’s major weakness, as we saw in <i>The Avengers</i>, is bureaucrats who can go
over his head to get things done. How high do the bad guys go? And how low will
Fury have to sink to beat them?</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeehyHcEvN9xxSTy1zkoa_LdflufgDFMXsH_L941RGYWk37mHHXZlUCMTaDc6UedDTJx59c-7eM_3daelkZBigmdCJcoKSVymNcNCvtjwrKWDWQHptB41k33sSqDUlcL8S7l5j0UKBS24/s1600/ws210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeehyHcEvN9xxSTy1zkoa_LdflufgDFMXsH_L941RGYWk37mHHXZlUCMTaDc6UedDTJx59c-7eM_3daelkZBigmdCJcoKSVymNcNCvtjwrKWDWQHptB41k33sSqDUlcL8S7l5j0UKBS24/s1600/ws210.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is it me, or does he look weirdly mournful here?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Secrets, lies, and the Winter Soldier. </b>If all those head-spinning
conspiracies have you feeling a little dizzy, don’t count on those shots of the
Winter Soldier to be what they seem. Although most of the publicity materials
for the movie play up the Winter Soldier as the film’s Big Bad, anyone who’s
read the comics (or yesterday’s blog entry) knows that he’s nothing more than
an unusually powerful sock puppet. Someone’s manipulating him into doing
whatever he’s doing—and that manipulation has probably been going on for a
long, long time. Don’t be surprised when the Big Bad turns out to be a lot
bigger than Bucky.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbZ5SmcfHkDduOj80SfEpJCgP5fZo5hwduwbIe9wrVUTB9n5ALKhICgcMK9v1D3H8zQQKiruRQuUYRQicIfWl6i_86e-Wpeiy77BO4RqB7yxPw7iEGf_pVdbg_OM_1rjGtEFh5cdgaFQ/s1600/ws211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbZ5SmcfHkDduOj80SfEpJCgP5fZo5hwduwbIe9wrVUTB9n5ALKhICgcMK9v1D3H8zQQKiruRQuUYRQicIfWl6i_86e-Wpeiy77BO4RqB7yxPw7iEGf_pVdbg_OM_1rjGtEFh5cdgaFQ/s1600/ws211.jpg" height="400" width="273" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Black Widow.</b> The Marvel movies have been hinting around at the Black
Widow’s history for a while now. From the effortless way she infiltrated Tony
Stark’s life in <i>Iron Man 2 </i>to her
loaded conversations with Loki and Hawkeye in <i>The Avengers</i>, she’s always come across like a complicated character
with a long backstory. Now she’s been promoted to second billing, right after
Cap himself, and she’s in a <i>lot </i>of
scenes in those videos. Most importantly, she’s the one seen telling
Steve—reluctantly—about the Winter Soldier and his legend. Are we finally going
to get to see where the Black Widow comes from? Is the movie Black Widow going
to have her own history with the Winter Soldier? Most importantly, that shot of
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<![endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">TOMORROW: WHAT’S <u>NOT</u>
IN THE TRAILERS (BUT IS PROBABLY IN THE MOVIE)</span></b>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-75895388117946695202014-03-17T09:08:00.000-07:002014-03-17T09:08:00.721-07:00Winter Soldier Blogathon, Day 1: Who is the Winter Soldier?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">WARNING: HERE BE SPOILERS</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />
This paragraph pretty much only exists to tell you to STOP READING NOW IF YOU
DON’T WANT SPOILERS. Seriously. This is your last chance. Abandon all hope of
surprise, ye who enter this blog series. There is no meaningful way to discuss
the <i>Winter Soldier </i>storyline, or the
movie that’s arisen from it, without spoiling at least a few really big plot
points. So if you’ve somehow avoided all the chatter about this movie so far
that’s spilled the Winter Soldier’s identity and backstory, and you don’t want
to know walking into that theater who he is and why he’s fighting Steve Rogers,
STOP READING RIGHT NOW.<br />
<br />
Still with me? Okay, then!<br />
<br />
<b>HOW THIS SERIES WILL WORK:<br />
Day 1—</b>All about the Winter Soldier as he appears in the comics. Highlights
include the funniest-ever use of a burning zeppelin. <br />
<b>Day 2</b>—A rundown of things you can
expect from the <i>Winter Soldier </i>movie,
based on the trailers. Highlights include the identity of the second gunman on
the grassy knoll.<br />
<b>Day 3</b>—A rundown of things you can
expect that <i>weren’t </i>in the trailers.
Highlights include a very, very secret love interest.<br />
<b>Day 4</b>—My personal list of
batshit-crazy theories about how this movie is going to go. Highlights include
the word “squicky”. <br />
<b>Day 5</b>—The reading list, and my brief
(but highly emotional) rant about why you should care about this character, and
this movie.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnXfONs0Um061xOKxWQ_aZSa1AHgKLgPUbnzrxhJZXS5wpibZ1ivYCmUHhalTU4iT-fHp5q5HSfocSjWOALhA8E2m_5JJpdubdy1nRAycpakf_hOw8wcqTk5MH1ztr48PJIi6v_Zp5Z4/s1600/ws102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUnXfONs0Um061xOKxWQ_aZSa1AHgKLgPUbnzrxhJZXS5wpibZ1ivYCmUHhalTU4iT-fHp5q5HSfocSjWOALhA8E2m_5JJpdubdy1nRAycpakf_hOw8wcqTk5MH1ztr48PJIi6v_Zp5Z4/s1600/ws102.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<b>WHO IS THE WINTER SOLDIER?<br />
</b>Short answer: The last person anybody expected, and the most heartbreaking
person imaginable for Steve Rogers. There are two comic books I lend to my
friends to make them cry. This is one.<br />
<br />
<b>THE WINTER SOLDIER STORYLINE<br />
</b>To explain who the Winter Soldier is and why he matters, I’ll have to take
you back to 2004, when Marvel Comics relaunched the monthly <i>Captain America </i>comic book with a
brand-new #1 issue. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi311U6WlF1sciy4CepOJh7_uZlW9GCCNWZAVM35-BDXFOpWrC5Dm4KZHtqrIGD6HObBPHxWB2KAEKjyHKaavy0PXuf-12WkFlqm4pQWSLTL3_k5AcUN2kxmSz9PvOq3T3Aj8PwXXc_g6o/s1600/ws103.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi311U6WlF1sciy4CepOJh7_uZlW9GCCNWZAVM35-BDXFOpWrC5Dm4KZHtqrIGD6HObBPHxWB2KAEKjyHKaavy0PXuf-12WkFlqm4pQWSLTL3_k5AcUN2kxmSz9PvOq3T3Aj8PwXXc_g6o/s1600/ws103.jpg" height="400" width="255" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">With crime-comic writer Ed Brubaker writing the scripts and Steve Epting
drawing some moody and realistic art, the comic quickly established itself as a
gorgeous and meaty combination of superhero adventure and spy thriller. The
story begins with a mysterious ex-Soviet general, Aleksander Lukin, killing a
Russian super-agent sent to disrupt his plans. Strangely, Lukin then orders his
men to give the body full funeral honors. Not your typical supervillain. After
that, Lukin meets with the Red Skull, who wants to buy some decommissioned
Soviet super-weapons of the sort generally found in Cold War comics. There’s
only one thing Lukin won’t sell—a tank containing the shadowy figure of a man
with a metal arm. Lukin says he won’t part with that unless the Skull is
willing to trade the Cosmic Cube (the Tesseract, if you watch the movies), a
powerful glowing cube that can reshape reality. The Skull says that a) he
doesn’t have the Cube and b) he wouldn’t give it up if he did, and soon he will
have it again, blah blah blah world domination—it’s your standard Red Skull
rant. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjW6DZ7rjANNbmM6b6op1HOqX_cFoMuugxGgjoeGiz19gnpehg2nj5FPS6dpjyLWSLqRBggUI_RkXENkHAE1j9NzdWOYJQX3y4lhyphenhyphenDaLlgokWq9EJJoLtL0Msvrje-enNz3YyYj9-A48/s1600/ws104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEjW6DZ7rjANNbmM6b6op1HOqX_cFoMuugxGgjoeGiz19gnpehg2nj5FPS6dpjyLWSLqRBggUI_RkXENkHAE1j9NzdWOYJQX3y4lhyphenhyphenDaLlgokWq9EJJoLtL0Msvrje-enNz3YyYj9-A48/s1600/ws104.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Fast-forward to five years later and the end of the comic, after some scenes
establishing that Captain America is having some personal problems (the
Avengers have broken up and he’s squabbling with his ex-girlfriend, SHIELD
agent Sharon Carter) and that the Skull has some big plan in the works. Turns
out that plan is reassembling a broken Cosmic Cube and powering it up. We’re
all very focused on the Skull as he takes a call on his cell phone while he’s
fondling the Cube. It’s General Lukin from five years ago, making one last
offer. The Skull turns him down flat, goes into his usual rant—</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdj2zb97ZSz4nCcppkFxGQ04IiLQIel_0XWOk_UinrqURN0v5IigGVyvGz_n3W5d1zT7iDkRE6VuVrtjwNJBzC6lJCtZ-yJGffrYSwnGXK2Y6qtwUqHDWtttzZKZBQnxVOeAyqrlViFQ/s1600/ws105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijdj2zb97ZSz4nCcppkFxGQ04IiLQIel_0XWOk_UinrqURN0v5IigGVyvGz_n3W5d1zT7iDkRE6VuVrtjwNJBzC6lJCtZ-yJGffrYSwnGXK2Y6qtwUqHDWtttzZKZBQnxVOeAyqrlViFQ/s1600/ws105.jpg" height="320" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A million fans saw this and FREAKED.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">—and then suddenly has a fist-sized hole through his chest from a sniper’s
expanding bullet.
<br />
The Skull falls to the floor, dead. A shadowy figure enters the apartment and
takes the Cube from the corpse’s hand … at which point we see that the hand
picking up that Cube is made of metal. Whoever was in the tank, he’s out in the
world now. And he’s working for Aleksander Lukin. From here on out, what looked
like a story about the Red Skull trying to take over the world becomes a story
about Captain America trying to figure out who killed the Red Skull, and why. <br />
<br />
And <i>then </i>it becomes a story about the
Winter Soldier—the killer, and the owner of that metal hand.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsZBuJj6s1byvqTdLb_hi3lVOcBcxFrMWrqszdpTjtpJK5rRzEfQJbYqt5N0DEjeIUJTqB7ZK9ylOS41m15DofVjcs8SohqpReLwmCbZsrdqikLEf1mHf8o2o1IS3SwZJQbszlDyaHXc/s1600/ws106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivsZBuJj6s1byvqTdLb_hi3lVOcBcxFrMWrqszdpTjtpJK5rRzEfQJbYqt5N0DEjeIUJTqB7ZK9ylOS41m15DofVjcs8SohqpReLwmCbZsrdqikLEf1mHf8o2o1IS3SwZJQbszlDyaHXc/s1600/ws106.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">CSI: AVENGERS</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<b>SO WHO <u>IS</u> THE WINTER SOLDIER?<br />
</b>It’s Sharon who figures that out. In the course of all the running around
and spycraft in this story, she gets captured by the Winter Soldier and used as
a hostage to lure Captain America to just the right place at just the right
time. Cap’s already rattled by this point because Lukin has been using the Cube
to mess with him from a distance—forcing him to relive his memories of World
War II, often with subtle and disturbing differences. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVKpsYYOX5vJTpOqGlRnp9cTWL-DKzazjaeh8b7WgBSHfAsZRT-MN7Aa9iLUletfHjOu6ECzHTIaQJOIIB_rW0Tt3goVi84eLcE9BTEo3B-ewBtV1yShA6K6X0A_nUzzy3wx_cVLoQhU/s1600/ws107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRVKpsYYOX5vJTpOqGlRnp9cTWL-DKzazjaeh8b7WgBSHfAsZRT-MN7Aa9iLUletfHjOu6ECzHTIaQJOIIB_rW0Tt3goVi84eLcE9BTEo3B-ewBtV1yShA6K6X0A_nUzzy3wx_cVLoQhU/s1600/ws107.jpg" height="640" width="194" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not just you, Cap.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Cap’s beginning to doubt his own recollection of important battles and major
events in his life, especially the day that his 19-year-old partner, James
Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, died and Cap himself was frozen in ice. He’s just
remembered a long-forgotten detail—that Bucky didn’t get blown up because he
insisted on defusing a flying bomb, but rather because he got his clothing
snagged while trying to jump free, as Steve ordered him to do. Bucky didn’t die
because of his own stubbornness or incompetence; he died because Steve bailed
out a couple of seconds too early to save him. The guilt of that realization is
just indescribable. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSexfaT7CrHOkDCS_4R1eiQyx9nVmi69KXuRQj9NAjpc6ECtUP8yBmv0GlVtyQC3vwgQ7K3tLYyLRgB12laozlnOjMDYnybDmGY6h3gnoadT2V-unwRPg8-iW_1UB7IHMZS9zZyNEToBg/s1600/ws108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSexfaT7CrHOkDCS_4R1eiQyx9nVmi69KXuRQj9NAjpc6ECtUP8yBmv0GlVtyQC3vwgQ7K3tLYyLRgB12laozlnOjMDYnybDmGY6h3gnoadT2V-unwRPg8-iW_1UB7IHMZS9zZyNEToBg/s1600/ws108.jpg" height="296" width="320" /></a></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfdw8TzjuqONtmblVMBe7TjpqEnZKKelXQt_2fPws_YctkTcSXnqDyQFMDGQjpzOrRh7QFPr1gU1dbyBoflICTW7zzjmaXNtChBSkVg5tj76crN_kq598VemVBqQsTNzhpagxoCv_n9M/s1600/ws109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfdw8TzjuqONtmblVMBe7TjpqEnZKKelXQt_2fPws_YctkTcSXnqDyQFMDGQjpzOrRh7QFPr1gU1dbyBoflICTW7zzjmaXNtChBSkVg5tj76crN_kq598VemVBqQsTNzhpagxoCv_n9M/s1600/ws109.jpg" height="640" width="130" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aaaand ANGST.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
And then Sharon tells him that she got a good look at the Winter Soldier’s face
… and she’s dead certain that he’s Bucky.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD_LxWYxspV9Ef5NzVaRE_T-YLTnT2aZQSbmcCnanjcim3BeAEa0jsneS72GZ8_8C8MP4BuFRLCdxFUMGBhETWrc9UY8gbkoUdD2SgxyLOzRNiP-BsaAOnlLWqGBrhIg74RiMjScEuaTs/s1600/ws110.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD_LxWYxspV9Ef5NzVaRE_T-YLTnT2aZQSbmcCnanjcim3BeAEa0jsneS72GZ8_8C8MP4BuFRLCdxFUMGBhETWrc9UY8gbkoUdD2SgxyLOzRNiP-BsaAOnlLWqGBrhIg74RiMjScEuaTs/s1600/ws110.jpg" height="400" width="306" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me, ten years ago: "What, seriously?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Steve doesn’t believe it at first, but when he encounters the Winter Soldier in
the aftermath of a terrorist bombing (which the Soldier set off), even he’s
struck by the resemblance—even if the Winter Soldier is not: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXQcLTzsIqiA5vB7fpjC8B62rZUW9LmQu1c3w-LQLnhrJ5IEwVTpabtPBR2i57eO6o7CIsVay48qwJ3GV1NPVVw1zkNLW7L0-_XiDuIMryjiZIBkETU_7gpwcur-BPzzTtGk4dbPE_0Y/s1600/ws111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXQcLTzsIqiA5vB7fpjC8B62rZUW9LmQu1c3w-LQLnhrJ5IEwVTpabtPBR2i57eO6o7CIsVay48qwJ3GV1NPVVw1zkNLW7L0-_XiDuIMryjiZIBkETU_7gpwcur-BPzzTtGk4dbPE_0Y/s1600/ws111.jpg" height="400" width="190" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<i>Who the hell is Bucky? </i>Remember that
line. You’re going to hear it a lot in these comics, and you’re probably going
to hear it in the movie, too. And it may cause you to need therapy.<br />
<br />
<b>A QUICK HISTORY LESSON: THE PERMANENT
CORPSES</b><br />People who die in comics don’t usually stay dead, especially if they’re popular
characters. It’s so common for characters to die and pop back up that there’s
even a special term for it—comic-book death. Superman didn’t stay dead. Two
dead Robins have failed to stay dead. Jean Grey of the X-Men has died and come
back to life so many times that we’ve all lost count. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8F-sVgHzVg_vIe_oHwuXJPh2VQ9YO-D-o8nLQ_xRzD1aAcig5Lv9tjoanHaOBm4yrqmPdDYTVR4Ws8jrQzIUvzZ59r3Lqh_zc-usZVvQVdGbIacjyv_zUFU04KxMgw6E9xUQzXq438A/s1600/ws112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil8F-sVgHzVg_vIe_oHwuXJPh2VQ9YO-D-o8nLQ_xRzD1aAcig5Lv9tjoanHaOBm4yrqmPdDYTVR4Ws8jrQzIUvzZ59r3Lqh_zc-usZVvQVdGbIacjyv_zUFU04KxMgw6E9xUQzXq438A/s1600/ws112.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To save you the trouble--it didn't last.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
But there are a few exceptions—what you might call the permanent corpses.
Characters who not only stay dead, they <i>must
</i>stay dead in order for existing characters to keep selling comics. <br />
<br />
Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben is a classic example of this. If Uncle Ben isn’t dead,
Spider-Man isn’t motivated to be Spider-Man. The same goes for Batman’s
parents. And Bucky is—or was—one of those permanent corpses. His tragic death,
retconned into Captain America’s backstory when the character was revived in
the 1960s, turned a fairly flat World War II patriotic hero into an angsty,
tragic figure in keeping with the Marvel Comics style. Cap’s “man out of time”
schtick was only good for so long—eventually, he’d have to adjust to life in
the “future” and he’d be just another superhero. But a superhero who’s
constantly reminded of his greatest failure—that his partner, best friend, and
surrogate little brother died because of the very screwup that made him
immortal—that’s a story with legs. That one sticks around. So, according to
accepted fan wisdom, Bucky <i>has </i>to
remain dead. <br />
<br />
Doesn’t he?</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGX8KA-nzjIuPkoGSht2A1kaVPjFGYkt1PYMmqU67DFo1Uc2j8u39EfqOWCW_eug3BCY7on0PbG-QXMuoqqcd1nhYjhMhLAchwHmx4misCGljpJjGimVefhHg22H0qL22SDPa2qYdIV1o/s1600/ws113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGX8KA-nzjIuPkoGSht2A1kaVPjFGYkt1PYMmqU67DFo1Uc2j8u39EfqOWCW_eug3BCY7on0PbG-QXMuoqqcd1nhYjhMhLAchwHmx4misCGljpJjGimVefhHg22H0qL22SDPa2qYdIV1o/s1600/ws113.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>SOMEHOW, IT GETS WORSE<br />
</b>But it turns out there’s a way to make Live Bucky even harder on Steve
Rogers than Dead Bucky. As Lukin continues to mess with Cap’s head (and plant
confidential Soviet files in Cap’s apartment), we find out how Bucky made it to
the 21<sup>st</sup> century while only aging about five years. It’s revealed
that Bucky <i>did </i>die that day, either
from blood loss (the blast took off his left arm) or from the freezing water he
fell into. A Russian submarine picked up his body, thinking he might be Captain
America. A Soviet general named Karpov, who had seen Cap and Bucky in action,
thought Bucky might have gotten a dose of Cap’s serum and ordered the frozen
corpse to be studied. Because Bucky was frozen so soon after death, the Soviets
were able to revive him as if he were only recently dead. He was missing most
of his memories, but he could still wipe the floor with ordinary soldiers, even
with only one arm.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBi47IDvZQ_BydLGFDJsO9IKnDc6Greg_pgHhpVXfnvp8jroTOVFM8dmGrtrGCNq9L3r8kGAh4c_l2DBhZSJfP55CYsxh334NToIvlDZ3PLXZ2VOU0sU00gI-pI1FmjI8LUgX5IcNxAMQ/s1600/ws114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBi47IDvZQ_BydLGFDJsO9IKnDc6Greg_pgHhpVXfnvp8jroTOVFM8dmGrtrGCNq9L3r8kGAh4c_l2DBhZSJfP55CYsxh334NToIvlDZ3PLXZ2VOU0sU00gI-pI1FmjI8LUgX5IcNxAMQ/s1600/ws114.jpg" height="346" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bucky can take all of you with one arm ... oh. Too soon?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">By the time Karpov figured out that Bucky was just a tough little sonofagun,
not a super-soldier, the Cold War was raging. Karpov remembered that Bucky had
basically been a teenage commando, backing up Captain America and doing the
kind of throat-slitting that you’re not allowed to do when you’re wearing the
flag on your tights. So Karpov fitted Bucky with a metal arm, implanted him
with a false set of memories and some basic assassin-type programming, and
proceeded to use him against American targets.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlpiv8ULAAv5LmS9D5hYyJwKwlxMaEI7GNHPFEc5lB9HaPmi9S-wZxpwh_Zu-vc-VeSQhPld2uMXYZMOFpKYC6De056Agv0VxVOaZQK0IHrOu7dsNY-KenHmHVl6fsKoDhtgzVkkjsNM/s1600/ws115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZlpiv8ULAAv5LmS9D5hYyJwKwlxMaEI7GNHPFEc5lB9HaPmi9S-wZxpwh_Zu-vc-VeSQhPld2uMXYZMOFpKYC6De056Agv0VxVOaZQK0IHrOu7dsNY-KenHmHVl6fsKoDhtgzVkkjsNM/s1600/ws115.jpg" height="360" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"The enemy will never see him coming." NEITHER WILL YOU.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Bucky eventually proved himself unreliable—the longer he was out of the deep
freeze, the more his real personality tried to reassert itself—so Karpov got
into the habit of putting his assassin into stasis between missions and
reprogramming him on each awakening. They called him the Winter Soldier in part
because of these regular deep freezes (and partly because of something Karpov
said to Cap during World War II—that the Americans have superheroes to fight
their wars, while the Russians have only their winter). The Winter Soldier
continued to serve until Karpov died, at which point Bucky was put back into his
tank, this time for a couple of decades—until he was found and awakened by
Karpov’s protégé, Alexander Lukin. <br />
<br />
And reading this file, for Steve, is actually worse than thinking Bucky was
dead. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8DwdLvNZ3oSUKchElnoHp4vyBLyvasLKxnOvtp2GJ7VsG7B5Zgigf9LFrmT-j3L1QZWS-Z0mHIj-XX2TPlox917rDBLUhj444QqXD6-N0aRk8lxa_tduiC6dDbL9U-kpCBuGs5Qf9Ro/s1600/ws116.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW8DwdLvNZ3oSUKchElnoHp4vyBLyvasLKxnOvtp2GJ7VsG7B5Zgigf9LFrmT-j3L1QZWS-Z0mHIj-XX2TPlox917rDBLUhj444QqXD6-N0aRk8lxa_tduiC6dDbL9U-kpCBuGs5Qf9Ro/s1600/ws116.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I can’t emphasize enough how emotional this story is for Captain America. The
only reason readers care about Bucky at this stage is that Steve Rogers is so
visibly destroyed by what his friend has become. Bucky hasn’t shown much of a
personality in the present day—he might as well be a robot—but Steve’s face and
body language do a lot of Bucky’s emoting for him. On top of that, a series of
flashbacks to the good old days shows Bucky regularly getting Steve to lighten
up in a way he never does now: </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBIlqd8RXIf5IdujyOpAAzCO6nMfeTo25CGXpNPNGGqDzXObA5XlToNqN4FPXQJJqwTnKlu9nC3vnOGIFS9ZkRZmNsAZXf7YaWnZbTmROWzCQUViKHWZGH4rqeGhbfKmHbrcOQsSzGOA/s1600/ws117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjBIlqd8RXIf5IdujyOpAAzCO6nMfeTo25CGXpNPNGGqDzXObA5XlToNqN4FPXQJJqwTnKlu9nC3vnOGIFS9ZkRZmNsAZXf7YaWnZbTmROWzCQUViKHWZGH4rqeGhbfKmHbrcOQsSzGOA/s1600/ws117.jpg" height="270" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No, Bucky, you may NOT start a riot in a movie theater.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And there’s even a flashback to a scene where Bucky gets a good look at a
German mind-control experiment, and the horror and disgust is evident on his
face: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzjVlC2X4lGE5A-Qwog5OaS4wrsOYtREwk1TaZcGVKuw-UK6WX131bx-1lC-hl88xB3W2OvDQ6P9cbefA9t5fn7rWv3jpvtsoimci7KSjteI0CeT1RcQyHiwtf3fOAeW-J53y5CXHRak/s1600/ws118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjzjVlC2X4lGE5A-Qwog5OaS4wrsOYtREwk1TaZcGVKuw-UK6WX131bx-1lC-hl88xB3W2OvDQ6P9cbefA9t5fn7rWv3jpvtsoimci7KSjteI0CeT1RcQyHiwtf3fOAeW-J53y5CXHRak/s1600/ws118.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So Steve knows exactly how much his friend would hate what he’s become. He
knows that Bucky would want his “big brother” to kill him rather than let him
remain a zombie assassin, especially since his role in Lukin’s plan involves
killing hundreds if not thousands of innocent American civilians. And as Nick
Fury, Sharon Carter, and pretty much everyone in the story points out to Steve
at some point, it’s not really Bucky Barnes anymore under all that programming.
Whatever you think of the Winter Soldier’s occasional erratic behavior, he came
face-to-face with Captain America, in full costume, and didn’t recognize him.
He didn’t even know his own name:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXQcLTzsIqiA5vB7fpjC8B62rZUW9LmQu1c3w-LQLnhrJ5IEwVTpabtPBR2i57eO6o7CIsVay48qwJ3GV1NPVVw1zkNLW7L0-_XiDuIMryjiZIBkETU_7gpwcur-BPzzTtGk4dbPE_0Y/s1600/ws111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLXQcLTzsIqiA5vB7fpjC8B62rZUW9LmQu1c3w-LQLnhrJ5IEwVTpabtPBR2i57eO6o7CIsVay48qwJ3GV1NPVVw1zkNLW7L0-_XiDuIMryjiZIBkETU_7gpwcur-BPzzTtGk4dbPE_0Y/s1600/ws111.jpg" height="400" width="190" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Told you this would be back.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">It’s appropriate, then, that there’s one dissenting voice in the chorus of
“just kill him already”. That voice belongs to a character who’s been
controlled by the bad guys before, and who might be Captain America’s best
friend in the present day—Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon. There’s a beautiful
six-panel exchange that pretty much sums up their friendship: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQam2O0rHnSnA6q5GGtOrgmgWNrLS3N08Sb-Rbol0p3T7XTMsqH5Bwmk_VlXngoLEzORtzT-u2wBmSG0WoqlOJ5GU3bNEgYLS_PXTQQknnczWzdRHbmtk4f_gQpXYEnMip8mD7TSmOJ0w/s1600/ws119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQam2O0rHnSnA6q5GGtOrgmgWNrLS3N08Sb-Rbol0p3T7XTMsqH5Bwmk_VlXngoLEzORtzT-u2wBmSG0WoqlOJ5GU3bNEgYLS_PXTQQknnczWzdRHbmtk4f_gQpXYEnMip8mD7TSmOJ0w/s1600/ws119.jpg" height="322" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
<i>“The only question that really matters,
Steve, is what do you want to do?”<br />
“… Save him. Somehow.” <br />
“Okay. So how do we do that?”<br />
<br />
</i>And so the climax of the storyline isn’t about catching Lukin or stopping
his evil plans for the Cube. It’s about saving Bucky. And it’s <i>all </i>about saving Bucky. <br />
<b><br />
NEVER TRUST THE GENIE</b><br />Meanwhile, the Cube has begun messing with Lukin’s head along with Steve’s, and
Lukin’s rattled enough that he sends the Winter Soldier to lock the Cube away
in a secret underground complex. Cap, the Falcon, and SHIELD track him to that
location, and the superheroes go in before backup can arrive. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6Wp4I09l6G6aKZgU4ILWg65SkyIPBaKY6SCzlLLH9nvSXSQtF8aAnGXzekj4UVgaupPLxZ-_t6gtVCbU17xCXF4RUjxDoZIduh9lmJyWriiRlRdWTkMdoOUsrwIgHp2I3KuzdPFCBiY/s1600/ws120.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6Wp4I09l6G6aKZgU4ILWg65SkyIPBaKY6SCzlLLH9nvSXSQtF8aAnGXzekj4UVgaupPLxZ-_t6gtVCbU17xCXF4RUjxDoZIduh9lmJyWriiRlRdWTkMdoOUsrwIgHp2I3KuzdPFCBiY/s1600/ws120.jpg" height="380" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We've all had days like this, I think.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
What follows is a moderately epic knock-down, drag-out running fight through
the complex between Cap and the Winter Soldier. It comes to a head after Bucky
expresses surprise that hitting Captain America in the head with a cyborg arm
doesn’t actually kill him, and Steve realizes that <i>the crazy ex-Soviet killer is still trying to kill people</i>. This
comes as a shock, somehow, and Steve challenges Bucky to shoot him in the head
if he really doesn’t remember their past relationship.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0wHnlyMLABiSAsqK1dSGoq_VevGDhhE9G47K5m0WnaeYZOFbECamwfFoYcpv83cet6umNSye2pG15KdiIacn9Ae-nDdeT_Zk4ybuBDOsNW3DWZNPbZ6zGSSeAqWQWwO189AdDMCzPRQ/s1600/ws121.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig0wHnlyMLABiSAsqK1dSGoq_VevGDhhE9G47K5m0WnaeYZOFbECamwfFoYcpv83cet6umNSye2pG15KdiIacn9Ae-nDdeT_Zk4ybuBDOsNW3DWZNPbZ6zGSSeAqWQWwO189AdDMCzPRQ/s1600/ws121.jpg" height="285" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS IS NOT A PLAN, STEVE.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
I want to point out right here, just in case you were unclear on the dynamics
that <i>Bucky shoots him</i>. Or tries.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVyRl9I7rbOdLSPMGTcw3eLzKRWiAEoVUXORif8ksLv7BIOcqlTgOnJD4y78cgJ6fqXSdsPSmmHj0iaGAojZEoZj-jLFjRVLpIqjtlcDWXSH-K4AvNfcVlqsEikNdHPwvIAuJL1l_1Oc/s1600/ws122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHVyRl9I7rbOdLSPMGTcw3eLzKRWiAEoVUXORif8ksLv7BIOcqlTgOnJD4y78cgJ6fqXSdsPSmmHj0iaGAojZEoZj-jLFjRVLpIqjtlcDWXSH-K4AvNfcVlqsEikNdHPwvIAuJL1l_1Oc/s1600/ws122.jpg" height="170" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Is ANYBODY surprised by this?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Luckily for all of us, Captain America can dodge bullets pretty well, and he
bounces his shield off a handy wall, slams the Winter Soldier in the back with
it, and makes the guy drop the Cube. Super-soldier super-speed beats a robot
arm in a race any day of the week, so Cap dives faster and gets the Cube. And
then, well … <br />
<br />The thing you need to know about the Cosmic Cube is that it’s basically
Aladdin’s lamp, with a really untrustworthy genie inside. It will misinterpret
pretty much anything you say, if it can. You don’t want to give the Cosmic Cube
complicated verbal instructions, and Cap has learned this from about a million
prior encounters with it. So, with only a second or two to make his wish before
the Winter Soldier tackles him again, he goes with: </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4hPU2h7T_rNwIbe12gUq_WdAbJI7jpQ1B76DN1Law1Dx2DWNJAHGfTVv2jl8XYZQPG88HS6WvhyphenhyphenH4BeQYFpKP9nh3LFODydDg6XLeoEkVs7IEHm42PXmLYej9NX0DCsbivwQrcV29jg/s1600/ws123a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJ4hPU2h7T_rNwIbe12gUq_WdAbJI7jpQ1B76DN1Law1Dx2DWNJAHGfTVv2jl8XYZQPG88HS6WvhyphenhyphenH4BeQYFpKP9nh3LFODydDg6XLeoEkVs7IEHm42PXmLYej9NX0DCsbivwQrcV29jg/s1600/ws123a.jpg" height="161" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hey, where have we heard THAT line before?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Sounds good, right? Impossible to screw up? Well, this is what happens:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjgX4wqtd0E4uqGsEa3OKMkrEJRCqcdp4M2pIx1Nrzf2kHbcBxVY9T5cthI4nOaMdOlHKitl5_GaXmhNC8i0xcMnE9j5KiYPsY1VIrA0IeIJhV4KXolhkJOb-b-insBEtZNQtq5V0T3E/s1600/ws124a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtjgX4wqtd0E4uqGsEa3OKMkrEJRCqcdp4M2pIx1Nrzf2kHbcBxVY9T5cthI4nOaMdOlHKitl5_GaXmhNC8i0xcMnE9j5KiYPsY1VIrA0IeIJhV4KXolhkJOb-b-insBEtZNQtq5V0T3E/s1600/ws124a.jpg" height="90" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Step one: screaming.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxq3R18R3gpqAF556U8uc2RMNShP8GfPiIqfRoYBrUcw4d3gH7-o8Q0EncBvMVyOEeK2oqYyyLWLGbiQbEPSjCgN-rdnf1t0dUdHxgW4xGm9JD_uiwYdalxMt0NjgOg-p_UvjBDKoxqZw/s1600/ws124.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxq3R18R3gpqAF556U8uc2RMNShP8GfPiIqfRoYBrUcw4d3gH7-o8Q0EncBvMVyOEeK2oqYyyLWLGbiQbEPSjCgN-rdnf1t0dUdHxgW4xGm9JD_uiwYdalxMt0NjgOg-p_UvjBDKoxqZw/s1600/ws124.jpg" height="302" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Step two: flashbacks from hell.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Turns out that suddenly regaining your real personality—and finding out you
were a mind-controlled super-cyborg assassin—is not terribly good for your
mental health. This is what Bucky says once the screaming has stopped:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8_mpY-qRE9XrIja74hLkhHrQHvLH4zdet4xPwaEwnGnedP-xBzvOx4AsHJubI5SAR09bVGFwvIXCgTT9-Rx80oiRTfjLYsk9COK_HN-7dCoRrZ-XYlqFZeaXQL2wVa4NO1ARl7_OgXg/s1600/ws125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT8_mpY-qRE9XrIja74hLkhHrQHvLH4zdet4xPwaEwnGnedP-xBzvOx4AsHJubI5SAR09bVGFwvIXCgTT9-Rx80oiRTfjLYsk9COK_HN-7dCoRrZ-XYlqFZeaXQL2wVa4NO1ARl7_OgXg/s1600/ws125.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I called it. You called it. EVERYONE CALLED IT.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Which, to be fair, is what everyone’s been saying all along. As much as this
story is about the friendship between Bucky and Steve, it’s also about Steve
trusting his convictions over his common sense. Which is also why this happens
next: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs7grU9_zYLY_P1TrrBh52CgeqHaAaWOuYjBF8YbasYUr40Sd5bkJ5YYjdgsGN3yipzNUahbxEVWqiDjJkARvz5doTOxAY4x8UyvquIdgu3MCgZN0wuE5T9BXWS3UmaQsp3nmIZ1YdyI/s1600/ws126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs7grU9_zYLY_P1TrrBh52CgeqHaAaWOuYjBF8YbasYUr40Sd5bkJ5YYjdgsGN3yipzNUahbxEVWqiDjJkARvz5doTOxAY4x8UyvquIdgu3MCgZN0wuE5T9BXWS3UmaQsp3nmIZ1YdyI/s1600/ws126.jpg" height="312" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
All that’s left is a little pile of ash.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMwPtwEO843vWaALY-est5A1LhnlUWyH1V3aofchgOmaS_f1nu5GThRkSQugviZlZgfIozSrcTkHEJTQnupfmnyfMIeVAsgZboTao8gbpQtn1KE7HrcItIM-9oi2GO3WBrrqLwiJbHrw/s1600/ws127a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBMwPtwEO843vWaALY-est5A1LhnlUWyH1V3aofchgOmaS_f1nu5GThRkSQugviZlZgfIozSrcTkHEJTQnupfmnyfMIeVAsgZboTao8gbpQtn1KE7HrcItIM-9oi2GO3WBrrqLwiJbHrw/s1600/ws127a.jpg" height="400" width="252" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And regret.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">To Sharon and the Falcon, watching from the peanut gallery, it looks pretty
simple: Bucky couldn’t live with what had been done to him, so he killed
himself. Steve is unconvinced. “Bucky’s a survivor,” he says. And he’s right,
because the scene shifts to the abandoned site of the Army base where the two
of them first met: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwyzoYEBBTqOu4G1LIteYKWnLUYSx2G0Vyjsca9zyxDJoLn6p5kWfFDBoh5a_kxPNjxtC38fbOCMAgQ9onwjWbCy3uAODAW0rJGnFOR_ESNARlfos5_z-Q1A-jp2rLS-Qa6lAwtDmROg/s1600/ws127b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpwyzoYEBBTqOu4G1LIteYKWnLUYSx2G0Vyjsca9zyxDJoLn6p5kWfFDBoh5a_kxPNjxtC38fbOCMAgQ9onwjWbCy3uAODAW0rJGnFOR_ESNARlfos5_z-Q1A-jp2rLS-Qa6lAwtDmROg/s1600/ws127b.jpg" height="206" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Now it’s Bucky having the flashbacks, and it’s just as bad:</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomlQAX4c1DJO8c2KJhGJ4HIJHTE3jo19riyLsYvGs1tLLzET_mlpYDMj2DaQzdP5rOaPU93TPv6wrGHponxYVSYU6DrLuV32pYorjrTwRHDRWSCe9UMJ4OY3uo4UYZmCBPTFtEA-NoAA/s1600/ws128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhomlQAX4c1DJO8c2KJhGJ4HIJHTE3jo19riyLsYvGs1tLLzET_mlpYDMj2DaQzdP5rOaPU93TPv6wrGHponxYVSYU6DrLuV32pYorjrTwRHDRWSCe9UMJ4OY3uo4UYZmCBPTFtEA-NoAA/s1600/ws128.jpg" height="317" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For the next year’s worth of comics, Steve is alternately battling the Red
Skull (who turns out to be living inside Lukin’s head) and trying to find Bucky
and prove he’s still alive. <br />
<b><br />
THE REST OF THE STORY<br />
</b>Once Bucky has his memories back, he sets out to kill Lukin and the others
who controlled him—and he plans to kill himself in the process. That plan
doesn’t exactly work out the way he expects, although it does lead to an
accidental team-up with Steve in London that includes one of my favorite panels
ever. Steve’s in town to fight some neo-Nazis, and Bucky’s in town to shoot
Lukin in the face with a sniper rifle. Bucky has the shot all lined up when he
notices that Lukin is apparently smiling at something out the window. Bucky
looks up and sees: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFHIDp18qpodO10cM46QH_lHwDfwXcW1fk8BHy_X9qa3DCe6bnjfzi7Vadh1m9gAnQI5jkSoqVJUJx6F9wwKdLEuQRnXnaamwwcPc2eAxGm7F7FpWHHMtFP4jzyIB7-gRjHJKLNclOag/s1600/ws129a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuFHIDp18qpodO10cM46QH_lHwDfwXcW1fk8BHy_X9qa3DCe6bnjfzi7Vadh1m9gAnQI5jkSoqVJUJx6F9wwKdLEuQRnXnaamwwcPc2eAxGm7F7FpWHHMtFP4jzyIB7-gRjHJKLNclOag/s1600/ws129a.jpg" height="182" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Now, if you saw a flaming zeppelin crashing into the Thames, how would you
react? Really? Well, this is how Bucky reacts:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6PvxU7dusw2b7hbq4zVG5hyphenhyphenMHgG2YXSe4vAOtp7AOmOh2EWn-qQ_K4Q-bgZ_9M08rMZDQubHUUzVu_TarwU_lUfQ9Vy0ftuK3P4LY_C9dD_cCvfXozzfoT5M99_I2Tbe0ueNd1-4erc/s1600/ws129b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6PvxU7dusw2b7hbq4zVG5hyphenhyphenMHgG2YXSe4vAOtp7AOmOh2EWn-qQ_K4Q-bgZ_9M08rMZDQubHUUzVu_TarwU_lUfQ9Vy0ftuK3P4LY_C9dD_cCvfXozzfoT5M99_I2Tbe0ueNd1-4erc/s1600/ws129b.jpg" height="133" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love that he drops the gun while he's at it. The UK's full of guns, right?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">This panel makes me giggle every time I see it. It’s become an inside joke with
my friends—someone will say “flaming zeppelin” or just “omigod, Cap” or mime a
flaming dirigible (yes, that’s something you can mime) and I will crack up.
Bucky has no way of knowing what Steve has been up to, but he sees a fireball
and assumes that his best friend has to be in the middle of it somehow. <i>And he’s right. </i>Oh, the life of a superhero.
<br />
<br />Bucky and Steve team up to take down a giant robot, but Bucky slips away again
before he and Steve can have the heart-to-heart talk that Steve clearly craves.
Bucky loses his Russian-made arm in that fight, and Nick Fury secretly outfits
him with a new one, with a red-white-and-blue star to replace the red one.
After that, Bucky spends a lot of time doing cloak-and-dagger work for Fury and
avoiding Steve, apparently because there’s no good way to have a conversation
about how you murdered a bunch of innocent people, tried to shoot your best
friend in the face, and then faked your own suicide.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPw7qmkEi80UsmvLScRxVJgasPwGIh3oWx5Iroy_6KDv_GV2p2qmqKgChcxWllEav6tPDlZE1zckfuPOAYuLRERJnfhJNpo5igc5AmA54eALEisHIIu0Ykip2PBy7iNll054lM4PGz9M/s1600/ws130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSPw7qmkEi80UsmvLScRxVJgasPwGIh3oWx5Iroy_6KDv_GV2p2qmqKgChcxWllEav6tPDlZE1zckfuPOAYuLRERJnfhJNpo5igc5AmA54eALEisHIIu0Ykip2PBy7iNll054lM4PGz9M/s1600/ws130.jpg" height="400" width="370" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Punching giant robots > talking about your feelings</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And then Steve goes and gets himself assassinated.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gm-EXoYazsNApwfk_fsymqJ_0C1uUThoOph8LyGlz6EfXq9JsZP8ywkJ-QemnXOlGNB5dTzLxU__O-q-QZ0yF0RI7NqRc1Gr3HgXJDWILXqq4OA6w2Ne7UoPfpUGP0qWAJ9NAE8m0ZI/s1600/ws131.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2gm-EXoYazsNApwfk_fsymqJ_0C1uUThoOph8LyGlz6EfXq9JsZP8ywkJ-QemnXOlGNB5dTzLxU__O-q-QZ0yF0RI7NqRc1Gr3HgXJDWILXqq4OA6w2Ne7UoPfpUGP0qWAJ9NAE8m0ZI/s1600/ws131.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I won’t bore you with too many details, but it’s like this: the U.S. passed a
law requiring superheroes to register with the government and accept both
training and monitoring. Iron Man was for it and ended up leading the
pro-registration side. Cap was against it and ended up leading the resistance.
Bucky kept doing spy work for Fury and kept his head down, but when Steve
surrenders to federal authorities and is about to be tried for treason, Bucky
is in the crowd outside the courthouse, waiting for Fury’s word so he can start
the rescue operation. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfc1_VTpZfE7dNQG6vuOVSv19KnvjvalNHd-knc9Qpl38uBwPtugZA0cK_yJCdhtX_CN4Tj3daePz9XO9qZv63NyBfM7mMWNG7-fOoNjBX1PF5fmz8Wzwvv1EZk0nTrO0gjHOwbZdJKXE/s1600/ws132.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfc1_VTpZfE7dNQG6vuOVSv19KnvjvalNHd-knc9Qpl38uBwPtugZA0cK_yJCdhtX_CN4Tj3daePz9XO9qZv63NyBfM7mMWNG7-fOoNjBX1PF5fmz8Wzwvv1EZk0nTrO0gjHOwbZdJKXE/s1600/ws132.jpg" height="400" width="222" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bucky incognito.<br />Who uses a newspaper as camouflage anymore?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Unfortunately, a sniper and another, close-up shooter kill Cap before the
rescue attempt can go down. Bucky participates in the hunt for the various
people involved in the assassination, but he also steals Cap’s shield from the
government lab where it’s being kept. Doing <i>that
</i>brings him into conflict with an old girlfriend: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnjMbPEFiQyz3E_sPSBZbg8iXkKO5S6S95zICI2baqrwrvJ8HkzXs4RXCjotquzSUPXmtFoeeXJvE5YYzrmNN6_IGU3Gk0oPiU7esETzbzS8gdt3jvBeCpCNjLP0SZgY2EsXr0asmXPg/s1600/ws133.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAnjMbPEFiQyz3E_sPSBZbg8iXkKO5S6S95zICI2baqrwrvJ8HkzXs4RXCjotquzSUPXmtFoeeXJvE5YYzrmNN6_IGU3Gk0oPiU7esETzbzS8gdt3jvBeCpCNjLP0SZgY2EsXr0asmXPg/s1600/ws133.jpg" height="330" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Yup, it turns out Bucky and Natalia had a thing back in the 1950s when the
Winter Soldier was a combat instructor for the Black Widow program. So there’s
that. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheRofXIRyNXh5pE2RbaomztplRZETKnWGc9F_NU3eKMEOM4rp9kA-PUKVrEyasatPsv8MZJitEOQ0iMzr4XwPFb2YpV9V7u1eROYHDAhBOcitBmmuzH6oNDKabKrROBPaKwkMYRNtqY0I/s1600/ws134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheRofXIRyNXh5pE2RbaomztplRZETKnWGc9F_NU3eKMEOM4rp9kA-PUKVrEyasatPsv8MZJitEOQ0iMzr4XwPFb2YpV9V7u1eROYHDAhBOcitBmmuzH6oNDKabKrROBPaKwkMYRNtqY0I/s1600/ws134.jpg" height="236" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bucky steals the shield and, through a complicated chain of events, ends up
taking up the mantle of Captain America, pretty much because Steve had asked
that <i>somebody </i>take over if he died
and Bucky wasn’t going to let anyone else carry the shield.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5B_qyBFRf9tmDhP66-21bKcAFtlUAVjxnl2go1ih2z8q4jwn-ezlysD96_JeCaKa3iffvNyg0BXt6j_qUPV8KknAXuFXEHH6ivEF_kpxOGidmLfocBA99345FWpVCXFFLsAh8yVvLaZs/s1600/ws135.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5B_qyBFRf9tmDhP66-21bKcAFtlUAVjxnl2go1ih2z8q4jwn-ezlysD96_JeCaKa3iffvNyg0BXt6j_qUPV8KknAXuFXEHH6ivEF_kpxOGidmLfocBA99345FWpVCXFFLsAh8yVvLaZs/s1600/ws135.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The “Bucky Cap” stories were some of the most fun of Ed Brubaker’s run on the
character, focusing on Bucky’s ongoing quest for redemption, his struggle to
live up to Steve’s example, and his complicated relationship with the Black
Widow. She acted as his liason with SHIELD, pointing him at trouble spots,
although she wasn’t above throwing a little scare into him sometimes. It turns
out there’s one kind of Captain America job that he’s absolutely terrified to
do: </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQy47CGHL6bH3dHDRzYi-18FIxpnZAgqhXzY4oGJEJLf8jRCQ5sfkfmB1odIL-9z23XPqRVjM5IFxKNJvzXq_rrVzyx3Mg9NF1moILaed85p0UhQTGMeZo-chaIwpVm6qjdrnU6A6vtw/s1600/ws136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixQy47CGHL6bH3dHDRzYi-18FIxpnZAgqhXzY4oGJEJLf8jRCQ5sfkfmB1odIL-9z23XPqRVjM5IFxKNJvzXq_rrVzyx3Mg9NF1moILaed85p0UhQTGMeZo-chaIwpVm6qjdrnU6A6vtw/s1600/ws136.jpg" height="400" width="257" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I just want to say that the Bucky-Widow ’ship was, in my opinion, one of the
best romances in comics, ever. The fact that Bucky (or, as she insisted on
calling him, James) and Natalia were both strong, complex characters with their
own clashing agendas, but that they still clung to each other emotionally like
shipwreck survivors on a piece of flotsam, kept the story from ever
degenerating into something that made one or the other of them secondary.
</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrc6iDxqXFcjgqL577cVfNVDLKGtlngbMhgUUli57e5M8ZhMqzj-IFsGVkmKzRHWGOZrrL8o4JiOaMVF2Y2tRkT6iKgv7n0QIuatsn9aMJeN8gyuA94KLwJPlVnhNR130aqSUgzkt7ZM/s1600/ws137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHrc6iDxqXFcjgqL577cVfNVDLKGtlngbMhgUUli57e5M8ZhMqzj-IFsGVkmKzRHWGOZrrL8o4JiOaMVF2Y2tRkT6iKgv7n0QIuatsn9aMJeN8gyuA94KLwJPlVnhNR130aqSUgzkt7ZM/s1600/ws137.jpg" height="400" width="216" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I WOULD READ THIS FOREVER.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Eventually Steve came back from the dead, although he insisted that Bucky keep
the shield and mantle. <i>That </i>went
south when one of Bucky’s enemies recognized him and splashed his secret
history all over the media. Bucky surrendered because he wanted to be tried for
(and, his friends hoped, cleared of) the Winter Soldier’s crimes, but while he
got off on those charges, it turned out the Russians had already framed and
convicted him in absentia for a few unsanctioned murders. Bucky was packed off
to a Russian gulag, where he spent a lot of time battling other superpowered
prisoners in a series of brutal human dogfights. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURm4FSdLGgbctwGleysa3dMHFl7BtixFDs0HD0XDn5l7X6wPMbkrCymY9fXcVsWgjmbvQqCHN8hX1eqJzSK4WsnRnjQIP5AMTtvWdQyMLdU_T-oOcQ6N8kzdCaQkgyp0nBRQ6uvQYpoo/s1600/ws138.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhURm4FSdLGgbctwGleysa3dMHFl7BtixFDs0HD0XDn5l7X6wPMbkrCymY9fXcVsWgjmbvQqCHN8hX1eqJzSK4WsnRnjQIP5AMTtvWdQyMLdU_T-oOcQ6N8kzdCaQkgyp0nBRQ6uvQYpoo/s1600/ws138.jpg" height="400" width="378" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This guy's name is Ursa Major. You can't make this stuff up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bucky eventually escaped and made it back to the U.S. in 2011, just in time to
get his heart ripped out by one of his old enemies, newly amped up on evil
Asgardian magic. He survived, barely, but Steve (who thought Bucky was dead)
took back the Captain America name while Bucky was secretly recovering, and
once Steve <i>again </i>found out that Bucky
wasn’t dead, they agreed to let Bucky slip back into the shadows again as the new
Winter Soldier—now with his free will intact, of course. Ed Brubaker was free
to launch a new <i>Captain America </i>title
starring Steve just as <i>Captain America:
The First Avenger </i>hit theaters, and Bucky moved on to his own adventures
with Natalia in the new <i>Winter Soldier </i>monthly
comic. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNk2OVk2phP2RMkvzO9HldyIvKFOXh0aGn5sz8Fx2T1EIOBpqFQw_YKejMvdGbrpsjFFnw729rOl9MGEOUs0UhFn4zWeGQMID1kaC94AqBS1odcgJd6RzvLQG4VGGpEZVDWrMdneQzW8/s1600/ws139.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeNk2OVk2phP2RMkvzO9HldyIvKFOXh0aGn5sz8Fx2T1EIOBpqFQw_YKejMvdGbrpsjFFnw729rOl9MGEOUs0UhFn4zWeGQMID1kaC94AqBS1odcgJd6RzvLQG4VGGpEZVDWrMdneQzW8/s1600/ws139.jpg" height="400" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The covers were ... interesting.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">During the relatively short run of <i>Winter
Soldier</i>, Bucky mostly tracked down old Soviet weapons and sleeper agents
that he was just now remembering, trying to stop the bad guys from using them
on civilian populations. The comic was notable for lots of action, some pretty
decent character development for Bucky, and the hands-down best portrayal of
the Winter Soldier-Black Widow partnership <i>ever.
</i>From page one, it was clear that these two were a perfect team, and that
each was incomplete without the other. Two normally grim characters with
shadowy pasts who can nevertheless make each other laugh, argue about pancake
houses (Bucky apparently loves them, Natalia can’t stand them), and enjoy a
walk in the rain? Hell yes!</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-SxjtYFk5yKGtuAjQGm6xDUAECKNGJvCozx0xu6qbs9Uq-QhbEWukIeNJLtsYSSw2SGhR0R7qe_lfwP2qur76I_vMDSze-TyPuv2tKsElglEItdP75bMH6M5gOsOiKAqkaR-XFJdiew/s1600/ws140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-SxjtYFk5yKGtuAjQGm6xDUAECKNGJvCozx0xu6qbs9Uq-QhbEWukIeNJLtsYSSw2SGhR0R7qe_lfwP2qur76I_vMDSze-TyPuv2tKsElglEItdP75bMH6M5gOsOiKAqkaR-XFJdiew/s1600/ws140.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also, there was a gorilla with a machine gun.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But you know that’s not going to last, right?<br />
<br />
One of the last storylines before <i>Winter
Soldier </i>was canceled—and Ed Brubaker’s last storyline on the book—ended
with Natalia having her memories of Bucky permanently erased by one of their
enemies. While she otherwise recovered from her ordeal, Bucky pretty much got
his heart ripped out all over again when he rescued her from the bad guys and
she said: </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjCWz72mTn3GciP6eKIyPGMNnsGWOuxFveQBHkKYV45IY_SZpOetOP9Rzocj0oo1uEmCZuFwA8akwfvvXJg_6m5vBpDJxgnUd4WRtHQUMqyeMijJUTuD-E_r6dG7z0cYwVEVvDchwZhE/s1600/ws141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQjCWz72mTn3GciP6eKIyPGMNnsGWOuxFveQBHkKYV45IY_SZpOetOP9Rzocj0oo1uEmCZuFwA8akwfvvXJg_6m5vBpDJxgnUd4WRtHQUMqyeMijJUTuD-E_r6dG7z0cYwVEVvDchwZhE/s1600/ws141.jpg" height="342" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MY HEART. IT IS BROKEN.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
In one of the more controversial moves in recent Marvel history, possibly rooted
in the popularity of the Widow-Hawkeye pairing in <i>The Avengers</i>, Bucky didn’t try to re-implant the Black Widow’s
memories of him. As he pointed out to Steve, one of the reasons he and Natalia
were so close is that both of them had had their heads messed with way too
much, and knew what it was like. He refused to put her through that again, no
matter how much that refusal cost him. (Dude, you could’ve asked <i>her </i>what <i>she </i>thought of all this!) Bucky went solo for the remainder of <i>Winter Soldier</i>, though the
red-white-and-blue star insignia on his metal shoulder was replaced by a black
star, edged in red, as a sign of permanent mourning for his lost love. <br />
<br />
Of late, Bucky’s been appearing in <i>Winter
Soldier: The Bitter March</i>, a flashback story set during his mind-controlled
years, and <i>The All-New Invaders</i>, a
modern-day series that teams him up with Steve, the Sub-Mariner, and the Human
Torch in a fight against the Kree Empire.<br /><br /><b>TOMORROW: WHAT'S IN THE TRAILERS</b></span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-29140702750903949052014-03-10T08:06:00.000-07:002014-03-10T08:06:00.588-07:00Winter Soldier preview: Watch ALL THE VIDEOS!<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Hey, guys!<br />
<br />
I’m finally bowing to Facebook pressure and writing a series on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Captain America: The Winter Soldier </i>to
rival last month’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the
Galaxy </i>five-parter. While I work on all that material, which will run
through next week, I thought I’d kick things off by collecting all the various trailers,
clips, and other videos in one place. There’s an awful lot of this stuff, and
there’s an awful lot of stuff in it, so you’ll want to watch closely. <br />
<br />
And maybe breathe into a bag. Or is that just me? <br />
<br />
Seriously, though, I am insanely excited for this movie, and I’m equally
excited to be sharing my stupidly encyclopedic knowledge of the Winter Soldier
with you next week. There will be lots and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lots
</i>of pictures, and quite a lot of humor, even though the Winter Soldier
comics aren’t nearly as zany as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG. </i>But
when your supposedly grim and dour comic includes a gorilla with a machine gun
and a ruthless assassin who’s terrified of public speaking, you can’t be
serious all the time. <br />
<br />
So here, from beginning to end, are the videos we’ve seen so far. <br />
<br />
First is the initial trailer, from back in October:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/82RKQPgeYRs?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Then this spot aired during the Super Bowl in January, focusing on the origin
of the Winter Soldier (and featuring a cameo by his de facto creator, Ed
Brubaker):<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7SlILk2WMTI?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Then there's the first TV spot:<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6pZd1qq6s8Q?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />Followed soon after by a TV spot that let slip the phrase “Fury’s last words”.
Soooo, he’s dead? Not buying that: <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/t4dIjM2w_88?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
And then there was this little gem, touting lots and lots of ’splosions. Even
Nick Fury looks worried: <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/7k_6NsYIipA?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Then there was this Black Widow feature from Marvel UK: <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/jKjvIVxFf1g?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />And this paranoia-laden feature, also from Marvel UK: <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/qPdNzoBpeKA" width="560"></iframe><br />All this was finally followed up last week by this Fandango spot, which combined an early
scene from the movie (Black Widow should NOT be giving relationship advice!)
with a bonus trailer on the end (why yes, that IS our first clear shot of the
Winter Soldier’s unmasked face):<br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/6k0kkSHiiPE?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
Are you excited? I am! But where did I leave that bag …? <br />
<br />
See you next week!</span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-65522796246895030042014-03-04T09:08:00.000-08:002014-03-04T09:08:00.579-08:00Social-media marketing is horrifying<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjog8gJ6xMUJdPVwA0TkarcWwFoWUfB5y-vMuRXgEF9wYrEfFARRTeq8cP2ZWNN685HqIBalfjO3Fa7kIjZ1-YDu2DjJCeeUrBOb3a28gRd3rcjpMNYSzGhpdBqpB8qOiMpKBdmj3ZFaiI/s1600/cli08.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjog8gJ6xMUJdPVwA0TkarcWwFoWUfB5y-vMuRXgEF9wYrEfFARRTeq8cP2ZWNN685HqIBalfjO3Fa7kIjZ1-YDu2DjJCeeUrBOb3a28gRd3rcjpMNYSzGhpdBqpB8qOiMpKBdmj3ZFaiI/s1600/cli08.jpg" height="250" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I was sitting on the
couch last week, watching an episode of the PBS series </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Frontline
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">because I’m a geek, when my flatmate walked in the door.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">“Hi!” Flatmate said, hanging
up her keys. “Whatcha doin’?”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">“Having an existential
crisis,” I replied. “Wanna join me?”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">“Sure!”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">This exchange alone
should tell you everything you need to know about Flatmate. But this blog entry
is about the existential crisis.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">The </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Frontline
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">episode is called “Generation Like”, <a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2365181302/" target="_blank">and you can watch it here</a>.
I highly recommend it. It’s a terrific in-depth look at social-media marketing,
and how successful YouTube vloggers and the like do it ... and what major
corporations do with the data, which is of course quite creepy.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qPflKnsrENL6sGLyBvEwzK8GqMSP81ub18Mh6c6EXGaL0ZlLb0biQSdp9Km-x7tQ4U3KNuIVvu_rxvS7MNOCSCj9vQ_onMiHh0beCbxGrTLuITXpDM88Tq1S-va6AnA5ChuS8NTeGe4/s1600/cli01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qPflKnsrENL6sGLyBvEwzK8GqMSP81ub18Mh6c6EXGaL0ZlLb0biQSdp9Km-x7tQ4U3KNuIVvu_rxvS7MNOCSCj9vQ_onMiHh0beCbxGrTLuITXpDM88Tq1S-va6AnA5ChuS8NTeGe4/s1600/cli01.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The DVD, which I did not buy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">But the existential
crisis had nothing to do with Big Data. No, the existential crisis came about
because of a girl interviewed in the documentary. Caeli, she’s called, and she
is approximately the 59<sup>th</sup> biggest </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Hunger Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">fan on
Earth. Seriously. There’s a website that ranks them. She got this title by
spending four or five hours a day obsessively clicking, tweeting, liking,
reblogging, and generally spreading all things </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Hunger
Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">across the internet. She promotes </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">The
Hunger Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">until her hands are sore, but it’s all worth it, she says,
because she gets little electronic pips called “sparks” that advance her in the
rankings of </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Hunger Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">fandom.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">She’s about sixteen years
old.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwwiYJD-Ukz6uC0bS6aaDivb6rspKJVhwC4ryK93hs7VZfd5xa8HEWlmLHB_KwnOakYQD1mrv6RHgtGj5AjlZu77W9F64a2HZNYNTw2BycXgtFEwrhdfUvTMCRdu7yfDVbBlZxTnU1vU/s1600/cli02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwwiYJD-Ukz6uC0bS6aaDivb6rspKJVhwC4ryK93hs7VZfd5xa8HEWlmLHB_KwnOakYQD1mrv6RHgtGj5AjlZu77W9F64a2HZNYNTw2BycXgtFEwrhdfUvTMCRdu7yfDVbBlZxTnU1vU/s1600/cli02.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is her.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">So here’s the existential
crisis. My first thought when I met Caeli, via the </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Frontline
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">crew, was, “Wow, I wish I had fans this dedicated. That would be
cool, and it would make my job as a self-promoting writer much easier.” <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">My second thought was, “Holy
crap, I would never ever EVER want my fans to be this obsessed! I want to hug
this poor girl and tell her to go play outside! And I want to strangle the
Lions Gate marketing team that’s using her as free child labor!”<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Now, I’m not actually
going to try to dissuade any fan from being a fan. If anybody ever decides they
want to be a Caeli-level superfan for </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Masks </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">or Teh
Novel or </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Street of Bakers </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">or even a new project I’ve
working-titled </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">The God at the Back of the Bus</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">, I
will not try to talk them out of it. If people want to geek out, about my work
or somebody else’s, that’s aces by me. Hey, I’ve probably spent an unhealthy
amount of time already geeking out over the upcoming Winter Soldier movie, and
I spent five days last week <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html" target="_blank">dissecting</a> <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/guardians-of-galaxy-day-2-trailer.html" target="_blank">the</a> </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;"><a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/guardians-of-galaxy-day-3-whats-not-in.html" target="_blank">Guardians</a> <a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/guardians-of-galaxy-day-4-nerdsad.html" target="_blank">of the Galaxy</a> </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;"><a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/guardians-of-galaxy-day-5-what-to-read.html" target="_blank">trailer</a>. My glass house would not withstand any stone-throwing.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">But I can’t help feeling
there’s a difference between geeking out because you genuinely love something
and geeking out because a huge marketing corporation has manipulated you into
doing their job for them. I’m okay with the first one, and I will always
encourage my fans--whether there’s two of them or two million—to do that. It’s
the second one that bothers me. <br />
<br />
Yes, I am a Winter Soldier geek. Possibly even a megageek. I am planning to
attend a midnight screening. I designed a <a href="http://www.redbubble.com/people/rmhendershot/works/10566170-living-up-to-the-legacy?p=t-shirt" target="_blank">Bucky Cap T-shirt</a> just so I could
wear one. I am helping a friend out with a Winter Soldier cosplay. I am so
excited about this movie that I periodically find myself making little happy “eeee!”
noises under my breath for no apparent reason. But honestly, all Marvel had to
do to get that reaction out of me was make a movie out of one of my favorite
comics, and not put any sucky bits in the trailer. I’m excited because I love
the character, and I loved the character long before the marketing people got
involved.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DsDdD1xak4QZM2zEgaK_hQLUq-vzaKQXglqjHfsRcPOeW-Zpikt3xSo0vZjRDmqgE5SXzjTXA29_c9haHDIaChVYVXuLQANRM_Jvw5lLFiji38e6MhDBpDfhtjSVnXDLvZCPHXBR5Xg/s1600/cli06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_DsDdD1xak4QZM2zEgaK_hQLUq-vzaKQXglqjHfsRcPOeW-Zpikt3xSo0vZjRDmqgE5SXzjTXA29_c9haHDIaChVYVXuLQANRM_Jvw5lLFiji38e6MhDBpDfhtjSVnXDLvZCPHXBR5Xg/s1600/cli06.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Say it with me anyway: Eeeeeeeeee!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I was a fan of the
character back when he was just part of a batshit-crazy storyline running in </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Captain
America </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">comics in 2004, and everybody assumed it would end with the
Winter Soldier getting killed off because he was one of those characters who </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">always
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">died. I followed the character’s adventures as he adjusted to
life as a free man in the twenty-first century, and I thrilled to his every
rise and fall because I connected with him on a deep emotional level. The
reasons for that affection are complicated and very personal, but they boil
down to this—I liked this character before he was a billion-dollar franchise,
for reasons of my own, and I will go on liking him whether the movie’s any good
or not, for the same reasons. It’s pretty much independent of the marketing.
All the marketing has to do is tell me that this thing I already love exists,
and I will buy it. Hell, I still own the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Daredevil
</i>movie on DVD, and I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew </i>it
sucked when I bought it.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNH4uumezaGoy3DG_0kRInZLDfPg2n4DH-g80nakTMNbYftpeWghnIxL63DFcIzRq2apdLvkNwWoEVJvynqVB7xaBpa6HI-x9ZFXZUYnWbH5RhSpTbeaxezZOJ56BZyntef7z1ZSM9SE/s1600/cli05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNH4uumezaGoy3DG_0kRInZLDfPg2n4DH-g80nakTMNbYftpeWghnIxL63DFcIzRq2apdLvkNwWoEVJvynqVB7xaBpa6HI-x9ZFXZUYnWbH5RhSpTbeaxezZOJ56BZyntef7z1ZSM9SE/s1600/cli05.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">IT STILL SUCKS.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">But I’m not reblogging
stuff four to five hours a day. I have no interest whatsoever in being the <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fifty-ninth biggest Winter Soldier or
Daredevil fan on the planet. I’m actually fairly careful about that; my family
has a big, nasty history of addiction, so I watch for signs of addictive
behavior in myself. I switch off the computer before it gets creepy. I will
never be the kind of viral marketer Lions Gate is looking for. I am not Caeli.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">And that, I think, is at
the heart of my discomfort. For all I know, Caeli loves </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">The
Hunger Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">and obsessively reblogs all things Katniss because she connects
to Suzanne Collins’ novels the way I connect to my favorite comics. But I think
there’s something terribly sinister about a multi-billion-dollar media machine
feeding Caeli’s enthusiasm to the point of addiction. The marketing plan for </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Mockingjay
Part One </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">includes on-the-hour scheduling of things like when set photos
will be released, what production tidbits will be dropped when, and so on. I
would never tell Caeli to stop being a </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Hunger Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">geek,
or stop doing things online that she’d probably do whether Lions Gate were
involved or not. But I’m massively creeped out by the idea that the </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Hunger
Games </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">marketing crew is trying to create as many Caelis as possible
... and that this is, no pun intended, the object of the game.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I don’t like the idea
that something I make--out of love, because there’s no other reason to spend
years making up stories for people I’ll never meet--might be used to encourage
addict behavior. I don’t like the idea of exploiting kids. It bothers me on a
fundamental level. It’s creepy enough that I can legitimately say that I wouldn’t
want to be Suzanne Collins, even though I know it’s not her doing it.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4Geb1dqpq3sYUZlMfCwHaE9F-8wVuaFMMeHSyTxTR6ZjqdL7C0jyGsjihL1TsiE4C2ljYGrzI3eMvyO6IyE2ZIohnsaPKeV_Gzf3nXQXN47fgbofybjkgLL4iATP-gIC9dQvp7Rhyphenhyphenmo/s1600/cli04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq4Geb1dqpq3sYUZlMfCwHaE9F-8wVuaFMMeHSyTxTR6ZjqdL7C0jyGsjihL1TsiE4C2ljYGrzI3eMvyO6IyE2ZIohnsaPKeV_Gzf3nXQXN47fgbofybjkgLL4iATP-gIC9dQvp7Rhyphenhyphenmo/s1600/cli04.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not even for this much money.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I worked a marketing job
once ... for all of one month. I discovered that while I was great at spinning
yarns--I was a fantastic liar when I had the motivation--I was absolutely wretched
at selling things I didn’t like, and didn’t believe in. That job ended because
I was supposed to be hyping a suite of software that supposedly did everything
its competitor did, and more--but the software didn’t actually work, according
to the engineers who were building it. I couldn’t write promo copy for
something that was never going to work. I all but stopped sleeping, my
grad-school coursework took a nosedive, and in general I hope I never have to
work a job that awful again. I still remember watching my stressed-out boss
claw compulsively at his own skin, scratching until he bled, because he couldn’t
take the pressure. And he had it easy. He thought the software worked.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I like my job now. I have
a tiny, tiny fanbase and I love them. I don’t have a Caeli, but I wouldn’t want
a Caeli who didn’t volunteer for the job, and I wouldn’t want a Caeli who was
reblogging until her fingers hurt. I think I’d cry. Even if Caeli said she
loved it and wanted to be doing it, I would cry. </span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHDqGhfbjFMB1wSsOcN-ubfFWS9JV1Ho292_glT2DtNKHRvT1d8xyh1-wfTBwSvO-A7IOBDb5TTgqJH6VJmigyf5m6qwvqhWhMD7XdRSkYg7WTqEirzREn-Nmyjah3PE37wNMZVi5Sbw/s1600/cli03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQHDqGhfbjFMB1wSsOcN-ubfFWS9JV1Ho292_glT2DtNKHRvT1d8xyh1-wfTBwSvO-A7IOBDb5TTgqJH6VJmigyf5m6qwvqhWhMD7XdRSkYg7WTqEirzREn-Nmyjah3PE37wNMZVi5Sbw/s1600/cli03.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She said it during this interview, and I still cried a little.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Much as I love interacting
with my favorite artists and understand the desire to do it even more, I love
my fans. I want them to be happy and well.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I’d like to have a larger
fanbase. I’m trying to get better about posting stuff and interacting with my
fans and all the good social-media things I’m supposed to be doing in this age
of self-promotion. But my marketing staff consists of me and my laptop, and I
can only control the message as long as I’m the only one sending it out. If Teh
Novel takes off, and people other than me get involved in promoting my work, I
am fairly certain that my biggest worry will be that somewhere out there, a
Caeli is getting hurt because of something I created out of love.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwwiYJD-Ukz6uC0bS6aaDivb6rspKJVhwC4ryK93hs7VZfd5xa8HEWlmLHB_KwnOakYQD1mrv6RHgtGj5AjlZu77W9F64a2HZNYNTw2BycXgtFEwrhdfUvTMCRdu7yfDVbBlZxTnU1vU/s1600/cli02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLwwiYJD-Ukz6uC0bS6aaDivb6rspKJVhwC4ryK93hs7VZfd5xa8HEWlmLHB_KwnOakYQD1mrv6RHgtGj5AjlZu77W9F64a2HZNYNTw2BycXgtFEwrhdfUvTMCRdu7yfDVbBlZxTnU1vU/s1600/cli02.png" height="223" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at this picture again. She's like me at twelve, but cooler.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">So here and now, before
any actual money or marketing people can possibly come into the equation, is my
promise to you. On this blog, on Pocket Coyote, on Facebook and Twitter and
whatever other platforms come along, I will share as much of my life with you
as seems prudent and interesting, and whatever I share will be true and will be
me. If it shows up on this blog and it’s not signed with somebody else’s name,
I wrote it. If I post a photo, I took it. If I say it, I thought it. No
calculation, no hyperscheduling, no pressure. Just me and my keyboard, with ink
on my fingertips and graphite smudges on my arm. That seems to be what you guys
want, and it’s something I’m quite willing to give.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">And in return for all
that--however much or little it’s worth to you--this is all I ask, and all I
will ever ask.</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUx9p3TDxFriNDoXQNPzA9-y-Cx8MmOJ7e4u32IPErcqmQxME-AAB11TttD1D8n0ENx8hCnLtdAD9f6lhcE0qnvJR9F44EOKPlLvG6FsI35P_OuL3N2N41vkt7ne3GgwGETbmL36ChEE/s1600/R+testsketch+Edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEUx9p3TDxFriNDoXQNPzA9-y-Cx8MmOJ7e4u32IPErcqmQxME-AAB11TttD1D8n0ENx8hCnLtdAD9f6lhcE0qnvJR9F44EOKPlLvG6FsI35P_OuL3N2N41vkt7ne3GgwGETbmL36ChEE/s1600/R+testsketch+Edited.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I drew this in a coffee shop because I was bored.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">First, take joy in what I
make. Have fun. I make this stuff because I love it, and I share it because I
want you to enjoy it as much as I do. If you’re not having fun, go do something
else. Seriously.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Second, share your joy
with others </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">simply because shared joy is increased</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">. Go
ahead and tell all your friends how wonderful my stories are--but only do it if
you think your friends will enjoy them, too. There’s a reason I make the </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Masks
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">chapters available for free, and it’s not because I don’t think
I can get you to pay for them. Some of you do (and thanks for that, by the way).
I make the chapters available for free because I never want to have to work a
horrible marketing job again, selling software that will never work. I make the
chapters available for free because it’s the ultimate truth in
advertising--because I will never feel like I’m selling you a pig in a poke when
there is no poke. I don’t post free chapters because it’s good marketing, or
because I’m so confident that you’ll buy my stories if I give you a free
sample. I’m not confident at all. But if I know you can read before you buy,
and you do buy, I know you’re buying because it makes you happy. I know I’ve
shared joy. And that’s worth more to me than any number of dollars in the tip
jar.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">Third and finally, I do
ask you to pay for my work--to pay what you can, when you can, where you can. I’d
like to pay my bills with this stuff, it’s true. One of my great dreams in
life, second to writing the kind of stories I love best, is to own a home of my
very own so I never have to worry about where I’m sleeping next month. I would
be over the moon if enough people bought my stories that I could do that. So
yes, if you enjoy my work, I’d like you to pay a reasonable price to support
it. I’d certainly produce more if I could do it full-time. But I know that life
happens and money gets tight and sometimes you can’t put a dollar in the tip
jar. And that’s okay. The joy comes first. Money is on my wish list, but joy is
a lot higher up.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">And that’s it. Those
three things, in that order, are all I will ever ask of you, my readers and
electronic friends. Enjoy the art, share the art if you enjoy it, and pay for
the art if it’s worth it and you can afford it. Have joy, share joy, and tip
your server if you can. If by some bizarre twist of fate you ever encounter a
multi-billion-dollar marketing campaign for my art, please don’t be Caeli. Take
care of yourselves instead.</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-66240540107234707662014-02-28T08:31:00.000-08:002014-02-28T08:31:00.109-08:00Guardians of the Galaxy, Day 5: What to Read<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">DAY 5: WHAT TO READ<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Well, if you’re still
reading these entries on my fifth day of obsessive fangirling, you’re probably
serious about digging into the world of <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy</i>. So here you go—your dubious reward. The reading list. And if
you’re in a big hurry to start reading, scroll down to the bottom—there’s two
books that are both great starting points. If you don’t read any other <i>GotG </i>titles, read these.<br />
<br />
<b><i>One
quick thing</i></b><br />
This list is by no means complete. I haven’t read all of Cosmic Marvel, or even
all the storylines that have come out since the mid-2000s, when things really
started kicking into high gear. This list is based on my own collection and the
bits I think you’ll find most helpful as you investigate this new-to-you corner
of comicdom. These are the books I would lend to my friends—in fact, in many
cases they’re the books I <i>have </i>lent
to my friends. They’re good books. <br />
<br />
But they’re not self-contained. Cosmic Marvel is big, it’s complicated, and its
branches are heavily intertwined. Major storylines move from one comic-book
title to another, and one book will often reference events in another book as
if everyone in the story has heard of them. (Of course, that’s because those
events tend to be big things—such as the destruction of a populated planet—that
you’d expect people in the story to have heard about.) There’s some stuff you’re
just not going to get unless you read every single issue of every single title,
and unless you’re way more of a completist than I am, it’s not worth your time
to do that. So expect to do a little Googling, and expect to leave a few
questions unanswered. The stories are still good, and the books I’ll list are
still ripping good yarns, but you will need to make your peace with
incompletion here. <br />
<br />
Still with me? On we go!<br />
<br />
<b><i>Early
stuff<br />
</i></b>If you want to read the oldest <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy </i>stories, be prepared to do a lot of digging. I’ve been
collecting Star-Lord adventures since I was 13 years old, and not only do I not
have them all, I don’t even have a complete list of them. The same goes for
Rocket Raccoon, Drax, Groot, Gamora—everybody’s history is all over the place. But
here are two good starting points, recently published, that will help to catch
you up on two of the most popular Guardians. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4jCDjm4bqvS22DF4KYDCFexDjMDlPNnlTUC_5C8dbDS6JI1yOi3MxVzziWiLvEI7bWFdi6AM6536_KGt_LOREj97Vg29OXARTsuPIOQRfv1_CdO9Ofh5p0HLScVfC9_OGhW9kSlE-b8/s1600/gg502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4jCDjm4bqvS22DF4KYDCFexDjMDlPNnlTUC_5C8dbDS6JI1yOi3MxVzziWiLvEI7bWFdi6AM6536_KGt_LOREj97Vg29OXARTsuPIOQRfv1_CdO9Ofh5p0HLScVfC9_OGhW9kSlE-b8/s1600/gg502.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">None of the stories in here involve this outfit. <br />Thank God.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>1. Star-Lord: Worlds on the Brink. </b>This
was a big fat comic book—cover price $4.99—that came out a few months ago,
reprinting classic Star-Lord adventures. It includes the best version of his
origin story I’ve ever seen (okay, it was the one I grew up on) and a couple of
the better stories from the classic run. There was even a story I’d never seen
before from the 1980s. All in all, it’s well worth your five bucks if you want
to see Peter and Ship soaring around the cosmos before everything went wrong. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wnKunSZ7YMeAslsIxjIu0OztesZkWkbUt6COeHn982XCOAgf9UbWX5AfIn15y05vHKhMx2gx1hmPvodj-l6dJw5IcH9w-S546ETHGjeBliP6FFonXdd0CAUTmAmIjBy6zBm2A2vJYI8/s1600/gg503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1wnKunSZ7YMeAslsIxjIu0OztesZkWkbUt6COeHn982XCOAgf9UbWX5AfIn15y05vHKhMx2gx1hmPvodj-l6dJw5IcH9w-S546ETHGjeBliP6FFonXdd0CAUTmAmIjBy6zBm2A2vJYI8/s1600/gg503.jpg" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>2. Rocket Raccoon: Tales from Half-World.
</b>Another reprint issue, also $4.99, this one reprints some of the better
Rocket stories from before he joined the Guardians. At least, I <i>think </i>they’re the better stories. I didn’t
actually read anything with Rocket Raccoon in it before <i>GotG </i>came along, so I wouldn’t know. They’re definitely good
stories, though, if a bit weird. But come on, it’s a gun-toting space raccoon.
You were expecting maybe a comedy of manners?</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><i>
<br />
DnA kick off<br />
</i></b>If you’re going to dig into the stories that inspired the movie, learn
the acronym DnA and the two names behind it: Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. The
two were a writing team for a number of years, though they’ve recently broken
up, and their names appear together on most of the Cosmic Marvel titles that
reinvigorated that whole universe and gave rise to the <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>movie. Here are the titles that will give
you the best insight into how the Guardians formed. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNJSh_iI8KNPzp2qaxg3abc2iH-5FjNY_ZidKgsLTcqtfI19-f3vZ4d2XUggzD5ABjd_dTeeOZ692rJdsDvOH7H8sOM_VALOyy8t-f0WjkcRVL3gz_uX02g4nXDBn9o-edDoRd1MNA9c/s1600/gg504.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQNJSh_iI8KNPzp2qaxg3abc2iH-5FjNY_ZidKgsLTcqtfI19-f3vZ4d2XUggzD5ABjd_dTeeOZ692rJdsDvOH7H8sOM_VALOyy8t-f0WjkcRVL3gz_uX02g4nXDBn9o-edDoRd1MNA9c/s1600/gg504.jpg" height="400" width="267" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>1. Annihilation: Book Three. </b>Yes, I’m
starting with Book Three. I’ve read some of the earlier stuff. It’s nice, but
if you want to know where Star-Lord becomes a player—and where his
relationships with Richie and other characters lead to the formation of the
Guardians—this is it. This volume covers the climax of the Annihilation War
(remember, the one with the bugs?) and there’s a whole lot of shooting, blowing
up, major characters dying, emotional trauma, and space cussing. Here’s a hint—“das’t”
and “flark” mean about what you think they would … </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8JqBhdgVlY2i2KlhtIre_dVX-MfezHEA5CWhzqKeltzTTZVrl2EVhGLBFc1HsK_Af3H_VROMxVD0ahyphenhyphenl4LTDNuzdz-cF0VLFxSEBAMBusmqh8oem5uUIjO9MJzjWD1hg7f4amwL1n6I/s1600/gg505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ8JqBhdgVlY2i2KlhtIre_dVX-MfezHEA5CWhzqKeltzTTZVrl2EVhGLBFc1HsK_Af3H_VROMxVD0ahyphenhyphenl4LTDNuzdz-cF0VLFxSEBAMBusmqh8oem5uUIjO9MJzjWD1hg7f4amwL1n6I/s1600/gg505.jpg" height="400" width="275" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>2. Annihilation: Conquest: Book One. </b>This
book collects two limited series, one of which (<i>Annihilation: Conquest: Star-Lord) </i>shows the formation of Star-Lord’s
first team, his spacefaring Dirty Dozen homage. It also marks the first meeting
between Rocket and Groot, and one of the few comics where Groot says something
other than “I am Groot.” In fact, he’s quite chatty; apparently the writers decided
only later that he shouldn’t be able to say things like, “This will be a
glorious death, as befits one of my stature.”<b><i><br />
<br />
The main event: The Guardians of the Galaxy title<br />
</i></b>Obviously, if you want to know about the Guardians of the Galaxy, it’s
a good idea to pick up one of the <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy </i>collections. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6urujRLHth4_MEIZKDUNxbPEejvC6BZoUgFJQql0FWVRJiu7WGZciFhIsoDBIgwuokGbTZi3wbBWIOCjc-0DNN6LxHeNqgNdpPGcT4-uz2__BNSeSverCfkf9be4b4We9sdl1XeW0Bk/s1600/gg506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6urujRLHth4_MEIZKDUNxbPEejvC6BZoUgFJQql0FWVRJiu7WGZciFhIsoDBIgwuokGbTZi3wbBWIOCjc-0DNN6LxHeNqgNdpPGcT4-uz2__BNSeSverCfkf9be4b4We9sdl1XeW0Bk/s1600/gg506.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>1. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1:
Legacy. </b>This collection covers the formation of the team, including the
discovery of Major Victory, the beginnings of their conflict with the Universal
Church of Truth, and the revelation of a secret that very nearly causes the
team to disintegrate. In fact, a bunch of people quit and Star-Lord goes
missing. I won’t spoil the secret, though. It’s way too much fun. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXR8lLObtt_YOcO18cmrxtYbAOQ-g1WXeLK2P_RqGHjz8ozUIAIMDeX4NZ96YTd7b9omnd4B9Vkvt3kZxKhRzWZiZd9WUWAnaSZjLAKIBDHL4qnpzRp6A7_Dq1X_uCiVFxjxK6d2DmcUY/s1600/gg507.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXR8lLObtt_YOcO18cmrxtYbAOQ-g1WXeLK2P_RqGHjz8ozUIAIMDeX4NZ96YTd7b9omnd4B9Vkvt3kZxKhRzWZiZd9WUWAnaSZjLAKIBDHL4qnpzRp6A7_Dq1X_uCiVFxjxK6d2DmcUY/s1600/gg507.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, it's the same cover layout.<br />But look! It's a gun-toting raccoon!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>2. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: War
of Kings, Book 1. </b>This book picks up where the previous one left off, with
the team in tatters and Star-Lord AWOL. Most of the volume is about Star-Lord
getting involved in an extradimensional prison break (hello, Jack Flag!) and
Drax and Phyla going on a quest to bring Moondragon back from the dead. Rocket
is awesome in this book.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4VYrjzkDi3Dl6RkPGk_4LqwuxKe4TQMGQe6FQU7LGoMQv-OWmY9lQt0BNx88AtiIzkn9Hr8prfGC74gsYdjMxD5SOET2UsjN8gYdH8j10nFrNSnkIw2ohG77EtCvx_xOCihfjm-bC5A/s1600/gg508.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4VYrjzkDi3Dl6RkPGk_4LqwuxKe4TQMGQe6FQU7LGoMQv-OWmY9lQt0BNx88AtiIzkn9Hr8prfGC74gsYdjMxD5SOET2UsjN8gYdH8j10nFrNSnkIw2ohG77EtCvx_xOCihfjm-bC5A/s1600/gg508.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>3. Volumes 3 and 4: War of Kings, Book 2
and Realm of Kings. </b>Honestly, I haven’t bothered to pick these two up yet
in trade form, though I bought the original comics. There’s more fun space
stuff. People die. People come back to life. Rocket is hilarious. Peter is
harried. Explosions happen. Time travel and magic continue to screw everything
up. If you liked Volumes 1 and 2, then 3 and 4 will be your cup of tea. <br />
<br />
Oh, and about the “War of Kings” / “Realm of Kings” thing you’re seeing in
those titles … <i>GotG </i>often tied in
heavily to whatever bigger storyline was going on in Cosmic Marvel. There are
collections of the main <i>War of Kings </i>storyline
and the like, but I didn’t buy those series and enjoyed my comics just fine.
Seek them out if you’re interested; otherwise, don’t bother. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26tNw56vW_cIcKRwEHpSObpxN2hnTZI3JXk6OUBUct53Kw9kuhG8fGsD-oEUPeCxc2gTOf7MQmmVcPAy5zZggjR62ZpCtt4VMB9bxfs5gvhpFrQfTDmQpTBByyOAY9KjXifcLcmkSHZ8/s1600/gg509.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26tNw56vW_cIcKRwEHpSObpxN2hnTZI3JXk6OUBUct53Kw9kuhG8fGsD-oEUPeCxc2gTOf7MQmmVcPAy5zZggjR62ZpCtt4VMB9bxfs5gvhpFrQfTDmQpTBByyOAY9KjXifcLcmkSHZ8/s1600/gg509.jpg" height="400" width="270" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>4. The Thanos Imperative. </b>This is worth
your time, I can pretty much guarantee. Besides being the storyline that ended
the main <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>title
(well, until it was restarted), it’s the storyline that exemplifies Cosmic
Marvel under Abnett and Lanning better than anything else. There are about
twenty different plotlines running at once, the cosmic abstracts get involved,
and not one but <i>two </i>universes come
crashing down around everyone’s ears … but ultimately, as you know, it all
comes down to two guys in a crater, screaming into the face of Death. Epic. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizN1LVBAQ9K5zU7ZAoRojXB5B-hJSnih7lx-L0ZFU6iFKKAkLi7utiiZ2E3D2cBzVn35DvAZdZpHFyP5M764kPbH1uoKcYMdmwPtO-iXdFoNY7YxREcbpi0498nAa2_WGdSTuku8ZBHFE/s1600/gg510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizN1LVBAQ9K5zU7ZAoRojXB5B-hJSnih7lx-L0ZFU6iFKKAkLi7utiiZ2E3D2cBzVn35DvAZdZpHFyP5M764kPbH1uoKcYMdmwPtO-iXdFoNY7YxREcbpi0498nAa2_WGdSTuku8ZBHFE/s1600/gg510.jpg" height="400" width="277" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>5. The Annihilators </b>and <b>Rocket Raccoon & Groot: The Complete
Collection. </b>These two titles came out of <i>Thanos Imperative</i>, and they go in very different directions. <i>Annihilators </i>follows a team of
high-powered cosmic superguys, including the Silver Surfer, the Quasar who’s <i>not </i>Phyla, and an alien version of Thor
named—I kid you not—Beta Ray Bill. Basically, all the big guns who wouldn’t
return Star-Lord’s calls jump into saving the universe now that he’s dead. It’s
a fun punch-em-up, with a lot of humor from Cosmo. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHp8ZwcARoUm5LS2yGF3T0HUCcBJ7lYIhLYW5A7CQxydz8s-EM8AsGoJkLuNE_hDlGhbFIo7TFhgRnPE_5SXzCydo3bp16wguUsaUvfRmkg5vxfGOvYlBSJGZTsRLK85xesS-M5aJpOz4/s1600/gg511.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHp8ZwcARoUm5LS2yGF3T0HUCcBJ7lYIhLYW5A7CQxydz8s-EM8AsGoJkLuNE_hDlGhbFIo7TFhgRnPE_5SXzCydo3bp16wguUsaUvfRmkg5vxfGOvYlBSJGZTsRLK85xesS-M5aJpOz4/s1600/gg511.jpg" height="400" width="257" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><i>Ro</i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><i>cket Raccoon & Groot </i>was originally a backup feature in <i>Annihilators</i>, a series about Rocket and
Groot roaming the galaxy, starring in a horrible reality TV show, and
discovering that Rocket’s origin story isn’t exactly what he thought it was …
and just maybe Groot’s isn’t, either. Well worth your dollar if you’re
interested in those two characters. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q4Vdst1oiXemaWm-s-Dh4DUoGwIsvNTsLM9llE6KXfIaXNS8BnM7wnSp_GR3E1Zzz3ikvvTEdz3ubDRs3hQ0kzZF0vXN8r44RCMKD1nMaxJo2yerFL3cViZqAppP41KWjvXesJxwmts/s1600/gg512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Q4Vdst1oiXemaWm-s-Dh4DUoGwIsvNTsLM9llE6KXfIaXNS8BnM7wnSp_GR3E1Zzz3ikvvTEdz3ubDRs3hQ0kzZF0vXN8r44RCMKD1nMaxJo2yerFL3cViZqAppP41KWjvXesJxwmts/s1600/gg512.JPG" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>5. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1:
Cosmic Avengers. </b>This is the rebooted <i>GotG
</i>title. It’s pretty much about the movie lineup of characters getting into
trouble—most notably, trouble that results from a bunch of alien leaders declaring
Earth off-limits to extraterrestrial meddling. This, naturally, attracts all
the most determined meddlers, and trouble ensues. Subplots include Peter’s
escalating war with his royal father and Tony Stark’s little space vacation,
which starts out as a lark and ends in tears before bedtime. Not least because
he sleeps with Gamora. Doesn’t anybody watch old sci-fi movies anymore? <i>Stay away from the green girls! </i>Long
story short, this book is amusing and a good introduction to the current <i>GotG </i>series, but I’m still annoyed that
it stars the dumbest version of Peter Quill I’ve ever met. It’s probably
closest to the movie, though. Sigh. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxnR7R0STblCxVcq1jQKDWMcsKbeUCJVRh7jVyZxU-eCRSFuSLCsq5Iog8VV8u1sXZbDM4SYonkkWBji4JfOhVXXHzKVG6xKO1omr5CqqOtttAHsiM7ytcFRJc3GL1AaNxEq8BuLzL7g/s1600/gg513.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxnR7R0STblCxVcq1jQKDWMcsKbeUCJVRh7jVyZxU-eCRSFuSLCsq5Iog8VV8u1sXZbDM4SYonkkWBji4JfOhVXXHzKVG6xKO1omr5CqqOtttAHsiM7ytcFRJc3GL1AaNxEq8BuLzL7g/s1600/gg513.jpg" height="400" width="272" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><i>If you’re interested in Thanos … <br />
</i>1. Thanos Rising. </b>This series came out last year and purported to be
the definitive origin of Thanos, exploring his twisted romance with Death as
never before. And … yeah, it did. Thanos is one sick puppy. If you want to know
what makes the purple guy tick, <i>Thanos
Rising </i>is your book. <b><i><br />
<br />
Two great books to get you started<br />
</i></b>You just scrolled down here from the top, didn’t you? Oh, fine. Here
you go. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6urujRLHth4_MEIZKDUNxbPEejvC6BZoUgFJQql0FWVRJiu7WGZciFhIsoDBIgwuokGbTZi3wbBWIOCjc-0DNN6LxHeNqgNdpPGcT4-uz2__BNSeSverCfkf9be4b4We9sdl1XeW0Bk/s1600/gg506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih6urujRLHth4_MEIZKDUNxbPEejvC6BZoUgFJQql0FWVRJiu7WGZciFhIsoDBIgwuokGbTZi3wbBWIOCjc-0DNN6LxHeNqgNdpPGcT4-uz2__BNSeSverCfkf9be4b4We9sdl1XeW0Bk/s1600/gg506.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If it was worth using once, it's worth using twice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>1. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 1:
Legacy. </b>This book is the best guide to the <i>GotG </i>oeuvre, in my humble opinion. You’ve got the big cosmic
conflicts, the team infighting, the talking animals … it’s just bonkers and it’s
great. If you can handle a story that doesn’t wrap up in one volume, this is
your entry point. If you like it, read more. If you don’t, now you know. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4OmoPa9SDup9jkwEqZEKavLU4suD1qdqS8MPyv-mVPbv9gWOOhaASTes-efDvWo4C5M2A9_tLS_WFnBOb32ttbH3Kwklkf_q1HowXfwVkMpijiB7rvyRwey35AiRd8BQPu5aFVU9xT8/s1600/gg514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv4OmoPa9SDup9jkwEqZEKavLU4suD1qdqS8MPyv-mVPbv9gWOOhaASTes-efDvWo4C5M2A9_tLS_WFnBOb32ttbH3Kwklkf_q1HowXfwVkMpijiB7rvyRwey35AiRd8BQPu5aFVU9xT8/s1600/gg514.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>2. Avengers Assemble Vol. 1. </b>If you’d
prefer a more accessible and self-contained version of <i>GotG</i>, perhaps in more familiar surroundings, check out this
collection of the <i>Avengers Assemble </i>comic,
which was designed to present self-contained stories featuring the Avengers
that everybody saw in the movie. This story is mostly about Thanos messing
around with Earth and trying to gain ultimate power. The Avengers fight him off
once, and then the Guardians of the Galaxy show up to reveal the bigger plot
and drag the whole team off into space for some true Cosmic Marvel insanity. The
action and banter are dead-on, and the story’s not too concerned with
continuity—which is probably why Star-Lord spends the whole story wearing his
pre-Kyln costume and his team flies around in a craft that looks remarkably
like Ship. Still and all, it’s a good story and a great introduction to the
characters. Oh, and it contains one of the better “I AM GROOT!” moments ever. <br />
<br />
Well, that’s it. I hope you’ve enjoyed this entirely-too-long magical mystery
tour of <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>and
my own minor obsession with the title. With luck, you’ve come away with a
clearer understanding of how the story works and whether you want to see it on
the big screen. If you enjoyed this series, let me know in the comments or on
Facebook and I’ll do another on <i>Captain
America: The Winter Soldier </i>before that movie comes out. I’m not sure I’ve
got five days’ worth of stuff, but I can probably string together a few
interesting entries for you. <br />
<br />
Thanks for reading, and until next time, if Death ever comes your way and won’t
let you pass, make sure you scream right back in his face. <br />
<br />
But then, you really shouldn’t trust anything I say. Most of the time I just
make stuff up. </span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-46072784921179857002014-02-27T09:06:00.000-08:002014-02-27T09:06:00.393-08:00Guardians of the Galaxy, Day 4: Nerdsad<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5qXfOhXbRsTLp45hSKsgPNBUz91Y6byIvjqNkeJSqyMrA4oCOFSnOZ9lTGXm-5YeQXB5PhIvlHgW4fP_Pl4VOjOB8pRP2ZFsoMmIWyqtNCyDr_OyIGM82iigG89vFMAkmKGIV0bQabM/s1600/gg01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ5qXfOhXbRsTLp45hSKsgPNBUz91Y6byIvjqNkeJSqyMrA4oCOFSnOZ9lTGXm-5YeQXB5PhIvlHgW4fP_Pl4VOjOB8pRP2ZFsoMmIWyqtNCyDr_OyIGM82iigG89vFMAkmKGIV0bQabM/s1600/gg01.jpg" height="400" width="268" /></a></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">DAY 4: WHY I INVENTED THE TERM “NERDSAD”
FOR THIS MOVIE<br />
<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Don’t get me wrong. I’m
excited about this movie. But I’m also a bit nerdsad.<br />
<br />
If I could travel back in time, find my thirteen-year-old self reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star-Lord </i>comics in the back row of math
class, and tell her that someday there would be a big-budget Hollywood movie
called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the Galaxy, </i>about
an interstellar butt-kicking team led by none other than Peter Quill, I would
probably kick myself in the shins and call myself a liar. This movie is
something I never thought would happen, and I am delighted beyond words to have
been wrong. <br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But. </i>Nerdsad.<br />
<br />
What is “nerdsad”, you ask? It’s a word I coined after seeing that trailer for
the first time. You’ve probably heard the term “nerd rage” (also spelled “nerdrage”)
before, describing that vitriolic, bile-spewing furor that erupts among geeks
when the things they love are threatened or compromised. Superman has a kid?
Nerd rage! Galactus is a puffy space cloud? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nerd
rage! </i>Nipples on the Batsuit? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">NERDRAAAAAAGE!</i></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUW74glgMO9bBatltC6BD_2RHSpCBZ5cBCTXagid0g-YukZhXHdJREOX9SEZ3cQqt6zmwFr5OFwrjcc5ya_BAJgu0EDuHzKFronWI8RThjBOYh4q8EZ4JRafgZucCnTNXh_8ajpAILco/s1600/gg412.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUW74glgMO9bBatltC6BD_2RHSpCBZ5cBCTXagid0g-YukZhXHdJREOX9SEZ3cQqt6zmwFr5OFwrjcc5ya_BAJgu0EDuHzKFronWI8RThjBOYh4q8EZ4JRafgZucCnTNXh_8ajpAILco/s1600/gg412.jpg" height="230" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like this. Thank you, The Gutters.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">But I’m not actually angry. I’m not even particularly upset. I’m mildly annoyed
and deeply disappointed. And so, since “nerdrage” is so clearly inappropriate,
I give you “nerdsad”—a term of my own making, meaning that exquisite
combination of melancholy, disappointment, and just a smidgen of annoyance that
arises out of a geeky thing not turning out the way we geeks wanted it. <br />
<br />So why am I nerdsad? And why am I hoping against hope that I’ll turn out to be
just as wrong in my nerdsadness as I was to believe this movie would never
happen?</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtr5rgfsaM7Je0lMbSg2lHnTMWlomwbHvV_2egeAT_ZR_GfTdejeOgQudDm4mWEGRvpMdtZAPF7DIrR_FAPSlMb_IIRLIRqG2CAGff0MoIMJQtXF1JkR3Ro2d9YsoaF-ctYBX_UGx7bpA/s1600/gg401.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtr5rgfsaM7Je0lMbSg2lHnTMWlomwbHvV_2egeAT_ZR_GfTdejeOgQudDm4mWEGRvpMdtZAPF7DIrR_FAPSlMb_IIRLIRqG2CAGff0MoIMJQtXF1JkR3Ro2d9YsoaF-ctYBX_UGx7bpA/s1600/gg401.jpg" height="226" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and Cosmo, a boy and his dog. And raccoon, I guess.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Peter
Quill. That’s why.</i><br />
</b>The one bittersweet point in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG
</i>trailer, for me, is Peter Quill, as played by Chris Pratt. Let’s look at
that trailer again, shall we?</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pTZ2Tp9yXyM" width="560"></iframe>
</span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
Okay, I hear you saying. He seems amusing enough. Kind of a big, dumb, lovable
goofball. Sure, he’s weirdly possessive of his Walkman and has an overinflated
sense of his own fame and importance, but hey, those are adorable first-act
traits in a character who will eventually grow into a recognizable hero. What’s
to be nerdsad about?<br />
<br />
Just this—that’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>Peter Quill. At least,
not the one I’d buy a ticket for. <br />
<br />
Ignore Asshole Pete and Hero Pete for a moment. Cut out all the goofy cosmic
stories from the 1970s and 1980s that I enjoyed so much. Ignore Timothy Zahn
and Sinjin Quarrel. The first version of Star-Lord that became really popular
was Antihero Pete, the one that showed up under Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning—so who
was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> guy?<br />
<br />Well, this is the first thing you hear about him, through the voice of Richard
Rider, a.k.a. Nova:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwY5UtcrcCeISbujDuvaRKR8Lm6MwHQE9O-i6qvB2xMgHszgDC7bIs-nHjRi7UXOFC0n4Mh1FZBgxBK0WUhNgFQLgwcBlN1kS8LpZQANnSqJv0ZP7weYu_ttbgSiB8imcBErLCrKcljzE/s1600/gg411.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwY5UtcrcCeISbujDuvaRKR8Lm6MwHQE9O-i6qvB2xMgHszgDC7bIs-nHjRi7UXOFC0n4Mh1FZBgxBK0WUhNgFQLgwcBlN1kS8LpZQANnSqJv0ZP7weYu_ttbgSiB8imcBErLCrKcljzE/s1600/gg411.jpg" height="260" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry about the size. Had to blow it up to make yellow text legible on a blue field. Click and zoom if you still can't read it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It’s the worst defeat in history, Peter’s just broken out of prison, and he
signs on with the vastly outnumbered and outgunned good guys. Brave and
possibly crazy. And he’s good at his job, too—his advice gets Richie through
the war, and his support turns Richie into a bona fide A-list superhero. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDhHUnuR5X7h-O6XR4Up_OUgugPIU68Hc9AXb8FBl6_KsG9hU4lj23-QKNQtChB-VFaO54I1Lr2k4DosvGJ0tNq3bkYryMhU9y0u9QgTMINY-wP1iiknnWdXwW9pzFoZlie20OnzAgRs/s1600/gg406.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPDhHUnuR5X7h-O6XR4Up_OUgugPIU68Hc9AXb8FBl6_KsG9hU4lj23-QKNQtChB-VFaO54I1Lr2k4DosvGJ0tNq3bkYryMhU9y0u9QgTMINY-wP1iiknnWdXwW9pzFoZlie20OnzAgRs/s1600/gg406.jpg" height="262" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pep talk from Captain Crazy. Perfect.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“Ain’t
nobody gonna be calling Nova a lightweight Earth boy by the end of it,” he
tells his protégé.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
“If I live that long,” Richie replies.<br />
<br />
“Well, obviously there’s that.”<br />
<br />
And goofballery? No. I’ve always enjoyed Star-Lord’s sense of humor, when he
had one, but it tended to be more dry wit than screwball comedy.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Ij4kicKkNrezihlAOdz0JboLhdx2nNt5sJ95JGtCzyFOpjBHIJyW42WdIUrqbgJPf9OwR_qUpSDbSGZt3o4tp8c7pvPDE5gIJ_DKzkSG39SzZ1uHv6Eu0fWbpmFzKJAYGxgwrsIpOXQ/s1600/gg408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Ij4kicKkNrezihlAOdz0JboLhdx2nNt5sJ95JGtCzyFOpjBHIJyW42WdIUrqbgJPf9OwR_qUpSDbSGZt3o4tp8c7pvPDE5gIJ_DKzkSG39SzZ1uHv6Eu0fWbpmFzKJAYGxgwrsIpOXQ/s1600/gg408.jpg" height="400" width="325" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, Rocket is STILL going on about the name.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Do you see that guy picking a fight with a prison guard over a Walkman? No, you
do not. My best guess at the moment is that the Walkman is the only thing that
character’s got left from Earth, which would naturally make it more precious …
but that conflicts with another thing I really like about Antihero Pete.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyzyffyzp8zc00URcYt2M-8m9tirh245Q9uyu9VLCkfTT3145P7jp0GOrv9nb2YFygDrHCD8ZzzES0JpQdZFmbkmXfAQfQ50W_d8kFCuByaxNdEudMQk3zes7wJV0lI5p7xWG7ZHHqgo/s1600/gg410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyzyffyzp8zc00URcYt2M-8m9tirh245Q9uyu9VLCkfTT3145P7jp0GOrv9nb2YFygDrHCD8ZzzES0JpQdZFmbkmXfAQfQ50W_d8kFCuByaxNdEudMQk3zes7wJV0lI5p7xWG7ZHHqgo/s1600/gg410.jpg" height="400" width="360" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is not a guy who wants to be human anymore (or half-human, in his case—remember
that the comic-book Pete, at least, is half-alien). This is not a guy who wants
to remember Earth. He’s carrying around a huge weight of guilt, and his way of
dealing with it is not dealing with it. He throws himself into fight after
fight, disaster after disaster, because that’s the only way he can cope. The
closest he gets to missing Earth is when he discovers that the Skrull incursion
that has taken down transport and communications at his home base is just a
tiny ripple of a huge Skrull invasion of Earth. Yelling at a bureaucrat who’s
getting in his way, he says: </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-yofttDnQBk2OBg0Y3j0nIggUZ8nUNdINkNRh_-jxyWhVfE3jMzfzjCkOjhnTdNFkjl6tC_mxZaPfc2wBinil9rX_zAv56_fclgX0fO-pi-y4pZeWsI057X8lPRyhWskev3FXrX9VbY/s1600/gg407.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN-yofttDnQBk2OBg0Y3j0nIggUZ8nUNdINkNRh_-jxyWhVfE3jMzfzjCkOjhnTdNFkjl6tC_mxZaPfc2wBinil9rX_zAv56_fclgX0fO-pi-y4pZeWsI057X8lPRyhWskev3FXrX9VbY/s1600/gg407.jpg" height="330" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">
And honestly, he might or might not actually be worried about his home planet.
He might just be guilt-tripping the bureaucrat. It wouldn’t be the first time
he’s manipulated people. <br />
<br />
Now, that’s quite a bit of complexity to pour into a two-and-a-half-minute
trailer, or even a two-hour movie. But let’s look at the trailer version of
Peter Quill, shall we? What are we getting instead?</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQUz-nEZoJJ02IvdOEIO0idXUwDq0DFoL38aopwFUlvpmFA5oj0NJGYoIYWdl261Bj_G5m5N9SASmuI9XS5xe5Ty3M3Q8oeimyqkzviTigqEdSdCAXrCcccad_ZgcolcjZvmX-J2ysGQ/s1600/gg414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwQUz-nEZoJJ02IvdOEIO0idXUwDq0DFoL38aopwFUlvpmFA5oj0NJGYoIYWdl261Bj_G5m5N9SASmuI9XS5xe5Ty3M3Q8oeimyqkzviTigqEdSdCAXrCcccad_ZgcolcjZvmX-J2ysGQ/s1600/gg414.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. He’s petty. </b>On a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lot </i>of levels, he’s petty. He’s a petty
crook (and while I can imagine the comic-book Peter Quill getting arrested, I
have difficulty imagining him getting busted for something so minor as public
intoxication). He picks a fight over a petty matter—a Walkman. He can’t resist
flipping off authority figures, apparently just because they’re authority
figures; I can see the comic-book Peter flipping someone off, but only when
they’d made a serious neck-pain of themselves first. Nothing else penetrates
the shell, really.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOOQgdqSaI9BcjawV6FWd7qAH_oONrj8Y4AjODuMmr06ZeTmkqwWcqEditVn3v7qd1aTbub6ZYfW6rflZ1ZDmh0OQ8hmNbnuhUukREird19-QcXOlPJMMejV4_lj1XngAZgtJu-IH6cw/s1600/gg415.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYOOQgdqSaI9BcjawV6FWd7qAH_oONrj8Y4AjODuMmr06ZeTmkqwWcqEditVn3v7qd1aTbub6ZYfW6rflZ1ZDmh0OQ8hmNbnuhUukREird19-QcXOlPJMMejV4_lj1XngAZgtJu-IH6cw/s1600/gg415.jpg" height="161" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. He’s inexperienced. </b>That rap
sheet is pathetic. He calls himself a “legendary outlaw”, but he seems to be
pulling a major job without so much as posting a lookout. Nobody’s heard of “Star-Lord”,
and he reacts to that non-recognition like a spoiled teenager. Honestly, the
fact that Korath is clueless about him was my biggest tip-off that this wasn’t
comic-book Peter. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everyone </i>of any
importance in Cosmic Marvel has heard of Star-Lord and the Guardians. Most people
think they’re insane, but everyone’s heard of them. This version of Peter has
not been pinballing around the universe as a cosmic hero, or fighting in any
major wars, or killing thousands of people. He hasn’t done jack. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDn5XREMw9McNaJerSePwWtcWeP83izQfXIPDsNWCci8s-Szy7RzNdADHTNKvIrW0Yxbrs5Z6UZ2PvPVVBTJ4bFydoftrpe2eW2lvevYXBqUSTN1Qy2U_JkXPOvw6mmDmqlzK5VxJTK8/s1600/gg416.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDn5XREMw9McNaJerSePwWtcWeP83izQfXIPDsNWCci8s-Szy7RzNdADHTNKvIrW0Yxbrs5Z6UZ2PvPVVBTJ4bFydoftrpe2eW2lvevYXBqUSTN1Qy2U_JkXPOvw6mmDmqlzK5VxJTK8/s1600/gg416.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sigh. At least he's got the insignia.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. He’s shallow. </b>This is less about
being a shallow person (which trailer-Pete does seem to be) and more about being
a shallow character. There doesn’t seem to be much going on behind him. The
capsule descriptions of Drax and Gamora suggest there’s some kind of background
there, some kind of motivation for what they’re doing. There are hints in
Rocket’s screen rundown, too. With Groot, there’s never any way to know, but
still—that’s three out of five Guardians with something resembling their rich
character backgrounds from the comics. Trailer-Pete has zip. Which brings me to
… </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgND-BtFoRXaFy5Ojvc9W0pogNxrzuzsaValaG2NHCnZExa-QY6OZN3KvLgFKSM33UX_Y_eYWam_GLeiA9eorVMU57pnDUYgZQzjTkRZN1djU3G5tuj9pXUIYnZcow6M6u_og4MnE5zpyY/s1600/gg417.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgND-BtFoRXaFy5Ojvc9W0pogNxrzuzsaValaG2NHCnZExa-QY6OZN3KvLgFKSM33UX_Y_eYWam_GLeiA9eorVMU57pnDUYgZQzjTkRZN1djU3G5tuj9pXUIYnZcow6M6u_og4MnE5zpyY/s1600/gg417.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. He’s not qualified to be in this
story.</b> Everybody in Cosmic Marvel thinks Antihero Pete is crazy and/or
dangerous. But nobody questions his qualifications to lead his merry team of
nutbars. He fought in the wars. He made the hard choices. He’s been around and
has an established history of throwing himself into the precise moment of
conjunction between fan and fecal matter. He was usually the lowest-powered
member of the Guardians, but his brain and heart made up for his lost powers.
Trailer-Pete, on the other hand, is obviously the hero of this story and
probably going to end up leading the team because … well, apparently just
because he’s their only white human male. And that is pretty thin, even for
Hollywood. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
That’s why I’m nerdsad. Not because trailer-Pete is so bad … but because he has
the potential to be so much better. And I’ll be sad if James Gunn and the
others involved with this movie pass up a great character in order to present a
mediocre one.</span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpv9CM_njupOxEF7bwJLuD8TFwjCBVYMJ8T9Dt31QnYkrbQ-YtgkJlK_PxggBpqY39BjTR32wVq-EPREGa8t7fy7IL17JyHPjV9CM579ydPgikK-5qD69ZiMBUOxzWKTtVLoMJR4aFliM/s1600/gg418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpv9CM_njupOxEF7bwJLuD8TFwjCBVYMJ8T9Dt31QnYkrbQ-YtgkJlK_PxggBpqY39BjTR32wVq-EPREGa8t7fy7IL17JyHPjV9CM579ydPgikK-5qD69ZiMBUOxzWKTtVLoMJR4aFliM/s1600/gg418.jpg" height="196" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Of
course, I might be wrong. </i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i>I’d really like to be wrong about all this. I’d really like to see movie-Peter
show some real character depth, and turn out to be a lot more competent and a
lot more psychologically complex than the trailer made him out to be. And
honestly, that’s still a possibility. Trailers are, by definition, quick hits. The
Novas might not have had a complete rap sheet on him—if he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does </i>have a history that includes something like the death of a
small planet, he might have changed his identity to get away from it. The
Walkman could have something important in it, or the pettiness of Peter wanting
to keep it could be connected to a motivation that runs deeper than just not
wanting people to touch his stuff. The goofball flipping off the Nova Corps
might be running a long, deep con on the audience as well as his captors. It
wouldn’t be the first time. We still don’t know what those five characters were
doing on Xandar; if it’s still Nova Corps headquarters, then breaking in there is
the kind of trouble Antihero Pete would gladly get into in a good cause. <br />
<br />
And that act-one theory might be true. We might be seeing Antihero Pete in this
trailer, at a much earlier stage in his development—perhaps an alternate form
of Asshole Pete. After all, the title of the first issue of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG </i>summed up why these particular
loonies were the ones defending the universe: </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHu6xUF2lVVz0Cw1VtW6dSbyqv5bn0JgEMjEL0CHUQLH2E9ti5tOWxiF_9JQt50AyrFEpq9vfZRy7KwuaNkwmaKlUVRwH6lEjZplUexc0LPcZ8McY-eGVWnry4iq8jEQRCigpYlm_8T7o/s1600/gg409.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHu6xUF2lVVz0Cw1VtW6dSbyqv5bn0JgEMjEL0CHUQLH2E9ti5tOWxiF_9JQt50AyrFEpq9vfZRy7KwuaNkwmaKlUVRwH6lEjZplUexc0LPcZ8McY-eGVWnry4iq8jEQRCigpYlm_8T7o/s1600/gg409.jpg" height="396" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Someone’s got to do it. Maybe the character we see in the trailer is just
someone who hasn’t yet realized that someone’s got to do it … or that he’s
someone. Maybe. <br />
<br />
It’s a long shot. But I’ll hang onto it for a while. Because this next bit—this
next bit right here—is the Star-Lord I’m hoping for. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everything
you need to know about Star-Lord in three scenes. </i></b><br />
Because the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thanos Imperative </i>storyline
was designed to kill off Richie and Peter, there was a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lot </i>of character time devoted to the two of them. That includes my
favorite capsule description of Pete, and my favorite moment between the two
characters. <br />
<br />
The capsule description comes fairly late in the series, in issue 5 of 6.
Richie is trying to figure out where Peter and the Guardians have disappeared
to. He’s gone against conventional wisdom (and the advice of most of his allies,
who’ve written the Guardians off as unreliable crazies) to head off with Major
Victory and go rummaging through the Guardians’ abandoned headquarters. And
they have this conversation:</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5m2tJICPg4GpaMbviqngn2mQnUztQeqM19v2Il87VXiGHxSgKrLCi3GPpUM4jrutDH3Gy0_0-w1DJyQPNAEXH6tVx4AjpOJ3IDZKrYGqu0CiCLKYBfeJhgScB_s4ETot3mRMAL5PMfQ/s1600/gg405.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge5m2tJICPg4GpaMbviqngn2mQnUztQeqM19v2Il87VXiGHxSgKrLCi3GPpUM4jrutDH3Gy0_0-w1DJyQPNAEXH6tVx4AjpOJ3IDZKrYGqu0CiCLKYBfeJhgScB_s4ETot3mRMAL5PMfQ/s1600/gg405.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">He’s a loon with a short fuse who jumps
in without looking. That’s what’s so great about him. Bravest man I ever met. </i><br />
<br />
Except, as the series has repeatedly demonstrated, Peter’s fuse is a lot longer
than most people give it credit for. And he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always
</i>looks. It’s just that he jumps in anyway. That conversation sums the
character up—just not the way Richie meant it to.<br />
<br />
Don’t believe me? Remember this conversation from Day 1, about abstracts? </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HgralbY2MYMWgtKWT74-ytjTnjRazczWQVgCfCg8vJDhnGBmSFEo3xzyjScwVGyrz95wO9C2mX4otglWCNYFd_DBtksa3g9XCzX4hZ6OVlQTppksPjOCR67Dphmb6jBdEGeFofmogcE/s1600/gg11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HgralbY2MYMWgtKWT74-ytjTnjRazczWQVgCfCg8vJDhnGBmSFEo3xzyjScwVGyrz95wO9C2mX4otglWCNYFd_DBtksa3g9XCzX4hZ6OVlQTppksPjOCR67Dphmb6jBdEGeFofmogcE/s1600/gg11.jpg" height="640" width="500" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">There’s a reason it stuck in my head. That’s because the <i>rest </i>of the<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>conversation, which was first shown during a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thanos Imperative </i>flashback to the war
where the two characters first met--the last panel at the bottom of the page--went like this:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnrsFi8ToKZUVC-jO4Bop8xmoRJoU5Cmyj6E3j7eonyV9m2ebT_4-QAOMHC31Pj5Ajrg5GSq1L5XPWAHS31-wpLMMWaAtKG-LndJWxTOBPwtEeI-JSNMJdWpjNUKLXjPtACE4s9zN3Kg/s1600/gg413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnrsFi8ToKZUVC-jO4Bop8xmoRJoU5Cmyj6E3j7eonyV9m2ebT_4-QAOMHC31Pj5Ajrg5GSq1L5XPWAHS31-wpLMMWaAtKG-LndJWxTOBPwtEeI-JSNMJdWpjNUKLXjPtACE4s9zN3Kg/s1600/gg413.jpg" height="218" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">That’s the first part of my favorite moment. If Death comes your way, and won’t
let you pass, make sure you scream right back in his face. That has got to be
the world’s stupidest life philosophy. But it works for Peter, and it obviously
stuck with Richie. <br />
<br />
The second half of the moment comes later. At the end of the series, when
Star-Lord and Nova are about to face down Thanos, when they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know </i>they’re going to die horribly but
they also know it’s going to save everyone they know and love (most of whom, in
Pete’s case, will never know or care that he was the one who did it), this is
the conversation they have: </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVNO6sLqgok1ZBRsLoqyw2oz4r7Ag4BmQVp93ZvSJu3e07kTOosOAZwUDS1_dWvyaxcStivynULwW7O33jt_CsvNqs7-D5YLZg4cW0sJTN5eP-f2wcGOnqesXHURruyNVCSxw5DYLyCI/s1600/gg403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlVNO6sLqgok1ZBRsLoqyw2oz4r7Ag4BmQVp93ZvSJu3e07kTOosOAZwUDS1_dWvyaxcStivynULwW7O33jt_CsvNqs7-D5YLZg4cW0sJTN5eP-f2wcGOnqesXHURruyNVCSxw5DYLyCI/s1600/gg403.jpg" height="640" width="568" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18zjTGlyxphDmSjgNz7aJkAtlxl22_wySVtbmAmRSpp9fh_LeaCukHT4vizZoWfgn_Ic8L3o7wVKVglKPv0-joMkqvqzW2yoGTnQdhtRJRCvU1Y4offnj4WELehec388oLfR1xN_YN30/s1600/gg402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18zjTGlyxphDmSjgNz7aJkAtlxl22_wySVtbmAmRSpp9fh_LeaCukHT4vizZoWfgn_Ic8L3o7wVKVglKPv0-joMkqvqzW2yoGTnQdhtRJRCvU1Y4offnj4WELehec388oLfR1xN_YN30/s1600/gg402.jpg" height="640" width="408" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Rich, you really shouldn’t trust anything I say. Most of the time, I just make
stuff up.”<br />
<br />
“I know. Let’s scream in his face anyway.”<br />
<br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">That </i>is why I read <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the Galaxy. </i>And <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that </i>is why I will be buying a ticket to
this movie, even if it turns out that Star-Lord on the big screen is a refugee
from a Judd Apatow flick. Because I love these characters. I love these
stories. And I want to believe that somewhere, buried under all the goofballery
and the Blue Swede soundtrack, is a group of characters who mostly make stuff
up but will scream in the face of Death anyway. <br />
<br />
Somebody’s got to do it.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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reading list.</b></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-70531183606321254972014-02-26T12:17:00.000-08:002014-02-26T12:17:55.094-08:00Guardians of the Galaxy, Day 3: What's NOT in the trailer<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">DAY 3: STUFF THAT’S NOT IN THE TRAILER<br />
</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One of my favorite games
when I sit down to watch a new comic-book movie is catching all the little
references to the larger body of source material. Little things like Bucky
picking up Captain America’s shield in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
First Avenger, </i>just as his comic-book counterpart was carrying it around in
the comics. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZpRwI-zkUIuJFOV91Q7PbSOQH2qY2UWT7EpWPeHqRyXBCeLCtn_WSzt4j_loU0mRbs_69dfLG7EXJFd7Y9MRRQMvCXpHRhqdm2gKAyzbo_lkrShK7sh0Eswq7CkcM0JC2Ub3tfP21lDI/s1600/gg301.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZpRwI-zkUIuJFOV91Q7PbSOQH2qY2UWT7EpWPeHqRyXBCeLCtn_WSzt4j_loU0mRbs_69dfLG7EXJFd7Y9MRRQMvCXpHRhqdm2gKAyzbo_lkrShK7sh0Eswq7CkcM0JC2Ub3tfP21lDI/s1600/gg301.jpg" height="180" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This can't possibly be a reference to that, can it?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So here are a few bits of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians
of the Galaxy </i>lore that might—or might not—show up in the movie. Apologies
in advance if any of this turns out to be spoilers.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjqzuEtWvy9q8l8umhTaxXOYoF_vCrGpLWKmryk-OMjRRVeDhlktqZkgUJpMNOp1A70-rBcRBhAEhDvEv6N6dUH51ozpO2tE3JNka6-xd2DTU4UNWH66duveLDpHcIIwl6ihEMYyTMuU/s1600/gg302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixjqzuEtWvy9q8l8umhTaxXOYoF_vCrGpLWKmryk-OMjRRVeDhlktqZkgUJpMNOp1A70-rBcRBhAEhDvEv6N6dUH51ozpO2tE3JNka6-xd2DTU4UNWH66duveLDpHcIIwl6ihEMYyTMuU/s1600/gg302.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The original GotG<br />
</i></span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">You know comics—there’s
no such thing as an original concept. The GotG we know is actually the second
major incarnation of the team. The first Guardians of the Galaxy first appeared
in 1969 and popped up sporadically from the 1970s through the 1990s. They were
a 31<sup>st</sup>-century superhero team fighting a race of alien would-be
conquerors known as the Badoon. They played an interesting role in the 2008 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG </i>series, when they were revealed as
one potential future of Star-Lord’s team. They also inadvertently gave the 2008
team their name when Major Victory, a mutant telekinetic who had inherited
Captain America’s shield, traveled back in time and joined up with Star-Lord’s
gang of misfits. He introduced himself (shortly before passing out) like this: </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zdV6uZ0h5AsXTm2bCXkrVnInyBkbfEHS9khNq0_l0-FgRbuRg6mSIJQALdHZKGHf_EHC3uC-o04RYv5nuyYFLtJpoE9KoBifEI0fv4W9tchUg88EinkLQjc9pqESIywj3Jnb7ixWhEA/s1600/gg316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-zdV6uZ0h5AsXTm2bCXkrVnInyBkbfEHS9khNq0_l0-FgRbuRg6mSIJQALdHZKGHf_EHC3uC-o04RYv5nuyYFLtJpoE9KoBifEI0fv4W9tchUg88EinkLQjc9pqESIywj3Jnb7ixWhEA/s1600/gg316.jpg" height="640" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hello, my name is Vance, and I will be your mythos for today.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Rocket Raccoon decided he liked the name:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXIb_YzsRgvraYdbL2RinH1feQB-Sds0QpqWR1LYAA4WmE2YZzhDNjoJFDUIJZ5GHw3tBzAxqfNyxvMcMLdnI-fim1VCpN7kS_6r2P6_vogM_lwsisrHHX3iTS6MYP2YP3Xetx1_mogQ/s1600/gg317.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLXIb_YzsRgvraYdbL2RinH1feQB-Sds0QpqWR1LYAA4WmE2YZzhDNjoJFDUIJZ5GHw3tBzAxqfNyxvMcMLdnI-fim1VCpN7kS_6r2P6_vogM_lwsisrHHX3iTS6MYP2YP3Xetx1_mogQ/s1600/gg317.jpg" height="192" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star-Lord makes his best command decisions based on what will shut Rocket Raccoon up.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And the rest was history. The only member of the original Guardians who’s shown
up in the movie so far is Yondu, a blue-skinned archer from Centauri-IV who was
sort of a cross between Hawkeye and Tarzan of the Apes. His name shows up as an
associate of Peter Quill’s during the lineup scene. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLfDBB5Jxwl-E47H4CNiV71ywSWiQ2R-JqP0_rDyzcmqd94CEiCUAcqbDnPiROtJqBpRX9aAE7KNsIp2hF3WWNjmGihDUmtfXf_xhYC9TtS32943AjMIbNwY-rE0YyJ_00NA95VE13sA/s1600/gg303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLfDBB5Jxwl-E47H4CNiV71ywSWiQ2R-JqP0_rDyzcmqd94CEiCUAcqbDnPiROtJqBpRX9aAE7KNsIp2hF3WWNjmGihDUmtfXf_xhYC9TtS32943AjMIbNwY-rE0YyJ_00NA95VE13sA/s1600/gg303.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, look, it's a set photo of Yondu. And some dead guy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
The rest of the GotG<br />
</span></i></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">What, you thought
that was the whole team in that trailer? Please. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG </i>went through team members like James Bond goes through love
interests. Here are some members whom you haven't seen, but who might show up anyway.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pjo_J6MIj1rvHbQap8uRFFl_o_ozvTbHHzXbMdZgjyQJSz7eXDLkDkhYS83YBU5Wg11sI9xrEpjVYg3hn7YlnAf2PHiB6ZB62d-1n0uG30FY2OSmEogvX5PHfut9wXGHMq9j0nax3C4/s1600/gg304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Pjo_J6MIj1rvHbQap8uRFFl_o_ozvTbHHzXbMdZgjyQJSz7eXDLkDkhYS83YBU5Wg11sI9xrEpjVYg3hn7YlnAf2PHiB6ZB62d-1n0uG30FY2OSmEogvX5PHfut9wXGHMq9j0nax3C4/s1600/gg304.jpg" height="400" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Phyla during her Quasar phase.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">
</span></i></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">1. Phyla. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">A.k.a.
Quasar, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, a.k.a. Martyr. Phyla-Vell is a Kree superheroine
related to Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel (a big-time space hero of the
1970s whose death from cancer in a 1982 graphic novel is considered one of the
foundational storylines of modern comics). She’s gone through a lot of
different superheroic identities, but she’s always been very powerful, highly
idealistic, and a bit unsure what to do with herself. She dated Moondragon for
quite a while (see below) and as a result she developed a father-daughter
relationship with Drax after Moondragon’s apparent death. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L85ZKxDiCeOzoisxtll-EQtWPQ4iaVaJon2lme0KwZXB4k9O0SvtrB4TlZ7tDodc7eM82EKCldDDkvMBEG9E63LKoq4Z9wsVx9ovTO03cI5eF_kkA2k59VpxQ2nE9xSTmZoKuveNoxM/s1600/gg305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0L85ZKxDiCeOzoisxtll-EQtWPQ4iaVaJon2lme0KwZXB4k9O0SvtrB4TlZ7tDodc7eM82EKCldDDkvMBEG9E63LKoq4Z9wsVx9ovTO03cI5eF_kkA2k59VpxQ2nE9xSTmZoKuveNoxM/s1600/gg305.jpg" height="330" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mantis knows everything and tells the most irritating bits.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Mantis. </b>This storyline is … complicated. Short version? Mantis was a
half-Vietnamese, half-German martial artist and occasional barmaid who was
identified as the Celestial Madonna, the woman destined to mate with a Cotati
(alien—don’t ask) and bear a universe-saving messiah. She did that, and then
apparently died, and moved through a couple of other comics companies, and then
turned green and grew antennae … even I can’t follow this one. But by the time
she joined Star-Lord’s team, she was still an accomplished martial artist and
also a talented telepath and precognitive. She got her job by telling Star-Lord’s
Kree handlers all about the upcoming sabotage mission <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before </i>she was briefed. Mantis acted as advisor and support staff
to the Guardians, occasionally going with them on missions and occasionally
messing with people’s brains when Star-Lord asked nicely. In the new series,
she’s still advising Peter, though she’s not officially with the team anymore
and she emphatically turns down an offer of companionship. Pete, you’ve really
got to stay away from the green girls … </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetjoEE6RaC40nMbA7gWsD82wxkckBpnQdN5V5NgKaJpZp_-04alwMqjo2kmiykXKPoSvCLy5rOLHmAAL8kvNsn1fYsGlxpfSSkj6FqCJhyphenhyphenCjraQsRg2h60JeV3aHeSqj4Vk8JCwYr0ic/s1600/gg306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgetjoEE6RaC40nMbA7gWsD82wxkckBpnQdN5V5NgKaJpZp_-04alwMqjo2kmiykXKPoSvCLy5rOLHmAAL8kvNsn1fYsGlxpfSSkj6FqCJhyphenhyphenCjraQsRg2h60JeV3aHeSqj4Vk8JCwYr0ic/s1600/gg306.jpg" height="400" width="165" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not Karen Gillan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Moondragon. </b>Drax’s daughter from before Thanos killed the rest of their
family, Moondragon holds the interesting distinction of being a cosmic
superhero with (at least originally) no superhuman abilities. After Thanos
orphaned her, Heather Douglas was adopted by Thanos’s dad, who had her trained
by a bunch of monks until she basically kicked butt at everything it was
possible for a human to kick butt at. They also helped her develop her latent
psychic powers, which got her in trouble when she started mind-talking with the
sinister Dragon of the Moon. She served with the Avengers, was passed over for
the job of Celestial Madonna, switched sides a few times, slept with a whole
bunch of superheroes and occasionally their wives, and finally she ended up in
a fairly stable, healthy-seeming relationship with Phyla-Vell. Then she died.
Then Phyla and Drax brought her back to life. Then it got way too complicated
for me to follow. But if the producers of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG</i>
are looking to up their Bald Women in Armor quotient, Moondragon and Nebula are
likely to appear in the same shot. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydGyK_YYCYzudy9xJFq_iP24BYZfkiv8iFKvo9TjV4TzHryYdKUzMSzBFzvYYnohlXNbZshtrb9HQEhc5zua4mXQiWTJ5FSOMULWd5SCpKKxe5vN6gVda5uC2daZ_G6v8BRvzKyE0mQo/s1600/gg307.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjydGyK_YYCYzudy9xJFq_iP24BYZfkiv8iFKvo9TjV4TzHryYdKUzMSzBFzvYYnohlXNbZshtrb9HQEhc5zua4mXQiWTJ5FSOMULWd5SCpKKxe5vN6gVda5uC2daZ_G6v8BRvzKyE0mQo/s1600/gg307.jpg" height="321" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nickname: "Loverbug". Not embarrassing at all.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Bug. </b>Bug is a bug—and he used to be an action figure. Originally created
for the Micronauts toy line, Bug was morphed into a comic-book character, an
insectoid warrior who really didn’t look like the toy (and thus belonged to
Marvel rather than the toy company). He hasn’t got much of an origin story,
other than being assigned to Star-Lord’s original Dirty Dozen for sex crimes.
(He got a Kree technician pregnant, and the Kree are basically space Nazis—see below—so
they didn’t like that.) Bug is good-natured, sarcastic, and a good hand-to-hand
fighter who’s always a little slighted at not being one of Star-Lord’s
first-choice team members. Somehow he always gets over it in time for the big
fight, though. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzBDYDw2JE4JtKzduI_Lx3a4SfwhlkQQMkSJRgLkRokmi91_hFvkA4g-myideknQS4YCy3RD1Ej0AN-lxZbuoXXHRyMjokYEromRVkzc0c-BOGVwHTZZnu6Hj3yMi2w8GitzY2Kvo8ns/s1600/gg308.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzBDYDw2JE4JtKzduI_Lx3a4SfwhlkQQMkSJRgLkRokmi91_hFvkA4g-myideknQS4YCy3RD1Ej0AN-lxZbuoXXHRyMjokYEromRVkzc0c-BOGVwHTZZnu6Hj3yMi2w8GitzY2Kvo8ns/s1600/gg308.jpg" height="400" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jack Flag and his unofficial battle cry.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. Jack Flag. </b>Jack began life as a Captain America groupie who accidentally
got Cap-lite powers from the superhero equivalent of Dr. Jekyll’s serum. He was
strictly a C-list character until the United States temporarily passed a law
(in the comics) requiring all American superheroes to register with their
government. Captain America opposed that law, Jack backed him up, and Jack
ended up stuck in an extradimensional prison with a severed spine. (To be fair,
Cap had a tough time, too—he got murdered at the end of that storyline.) When
the prisoners started a riot, Star-Lord showed up to try to negotiate a
cease-fire, leading to one of my favorite panels ever:</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpxPWudxNJXfBDgdboPg7SlRSBK2Z0r3mQur0DuR5IxEHkaT23XsQJND8ApBi15DLK1_-kmZKT2K9C4mFuMgI7h99T9G1xs0uunNFPM8Hj3c0dzXuTsJWfEqMbmttd1rJM1ZIuinOMVA/s1600/gg318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigpxPWudxNJXfBDgdboPg7SlRSBK2Z0r3mQur0DuR5IxEHkaT23XsQJND8ApBi15DLK1_-kmZKT2K9C4mFuMgI7h99T9G1xs0uunNFPM8Hj3c0dzXuTsJWfEqMbmttd1rJM1ZIuinOMVA/s1600/gg318.jpg" height="230" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't read this panel without giggling hysterically. Only Star-Lord gets captured by bad guys who take his pants.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Jack joined the Guardians not long after he found out that, as much as he hated
cosmic spacey-wacey stuff, there was alien tech out there that could restore
his ability to walk. His major function on the team, besides punching and shooting,
was providing an Earthling’s point of view (something Star-Lord hadn’t had in
quite a while) and giving Peter somebody to reminisce with about the bad old days
on the old home planet.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganSno9bNxqbHBo_iGNBmAGaShRTQ9aqbd1juYaof45z96IuIaXmS3vwCXNW4xOYRrt7Oamjy0HPnD0E6gCF9KTvCVVWl5HUpF2oNmN5QFYHc4SSk-xDccig9kFuYDCKdJYmy1Y1qUrms/s1600/gg309.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEganSno9bNxqbHBo_iGNBmAGaShRTQ9aqbd1juYaof45z96IuIaXmS3vwCXNW4xOYRrt7Oamjy0HPnD0E6gCF9KTvCVVWl5HUpF2oNmN5QFYHc4SSk-xDccig9kFuYDCKdJYmy1Y1qUrms/s1600/gg309.jpg" height="400" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice accessorizing.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Major Victory. </b>As mentioned above, the Major was part of the original
Guardians and later joined the 2008 team for some time-bending craziness. A
time-lost astronaut who bounced from the 20<sup>th</sup> century to the 31<sup>st</sup>
and then back to the 21<sup>st</sup>, his major function in most stories was
being confused about what year it was, mumbling vague clues about what was going
to happen next, and being a pretty unerring moral compass for the team. This is
no small feat when your heroes include several mass murderers and a psychotic
raccoon. Everybody pretty much liked Major Victory, though nobody quite
understood the ideals he stood for—except maybe Star-Lord, who at least knew
what the shield meant. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiKM4gxlCapPGE_3eJQSgpUxrPzz1hFovtvuS9zwJ-K6Lb9w7ixNEoGM5RLNmWQhE13wQGJw-V9JXuwS9xFHnSzzFLMqySerHW7XcR8A2ZPWMinu9yd2ruPLR1DB6ga1jldZNA95ksO4/s1600/gg310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgiKM4gxlCapPGE_3eJQSgpUxrPzz1hFovtvuS9zwJ-K6Lb9w7ixNEoGM5RLNmWQhE13wQGJw-V9JXuwS9xFHnSzzFLMqySerHW7XcR8A2ZPWMinu9yd2ruPLR1DB6ga1jldZNA95ksO4/s1600/gg310.jpg" height="276" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No explanation would be sufficient, ever.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Cosmo. </b>Oh, I hope Cosmo makes it into the movie. This is my favorite
batshit-crazy space character. Cosmo is a Soviet space dog who got lost in
orbit sometime in the 1960s. Somehow that led him to develop psychic powers,
the ability to speak (or maybe just send telepathic messages that sound like
it), and enough charisma to become chief of security at Knowhere, the
end-of-the-universe space station where the Guardians make their home. And he
does all this while speaking in a cartoon Russian accent worthy of Boris
Badenov. He and Rocket Raccoon do not get along, for obvious reasons, though
they seem to have saved each other’s lives enough times now to agree to a
truce.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglh_kMYgcquQuc61zplgVvWTmkixEp9FUxJR047XDnHw07Bq-hdorT8nHE6PTT8w1_QWX-FmhmofjwabBeTd2ReeGSAVkQfWgCjkxmR8ljjG5CuVtXiYNeGMd4ghKU0gPrn1MF34Ym_XM/s1600/gg319.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglh_kMYgcquQuc61zplgVvWTmkixEp9FUxJR047XDnHw07Bq-hdorT8nHE6PTT8w1_QWX-FmhmofjwabBeTd2ReeGSAVkQfWgCjkxmR8ljjG5CuVtXiYNeGMd4ghKU0gPrn1MF34Ym_XM/s1600/gg319.jpg" height="169" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter's thoughts need no translation here, I think.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkuyop_x3E_70B8_g4m9maH6b0G3fwUkK41F3Xcmso5U7uaQzmEm3wdQxOV6_MhaRgl6k9rICqjCOc45zWipO-_zGN9cuHalFkhd3h9NND731McN9Zo656W1UmHUfv0mwMEOCpEgyZ08/s1600/gg311.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEkuyop_x3E_70B8_g4m9maH6b0G3fwUkK41F3Xcmso5U7uaQzmEm3wdQxOV6_MhaRgl6k9rICqjCOc45zWipO-_zGN9cuHalFkhd3h9NND731McN9Zo656W1UmHUfv0mwMEOCpEgyZ08/s1600/gg311.jpg" height="400" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kree rock the underwear-outside look.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">8. The Kree. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The Kree are one of the major alien
species that show up in the Marvel Universe. They are a highly regimented,
extremely orderly society run along a strict genetic hierarchy. Blue-skinned
Kree outrank pink-skinned Kree, and anything Kree outranks anything else in the
universe. Basically, the Kree are Nazis in space. Sometimes they’re useful, as
when they produce people like Phyla-Vell. Sometimes they’re a pain in the ass—see
Ronan the Accuser and Korath the Pursuer from yesterday. Every once in a while
they try to conquer Earth. It never works. They will probably show up in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the Galaxy </i>movie, and Peter
Quill will definitely mouth off to several of them if they do. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqXopINVGQ9_FQw5-Cfrai3yIFMjRCKBZabJp_A8SDu8LFKsH2i4tL6UgNt59cgGtgc1DvbPpj7gAY1fn9Srwl0PojqD_3wtGfkjAW0-FSUovFfgg3dTCGLMkcOZ6sgCMRyTxQd1UpaQ/s1600/gg320.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuqXopINVGQ9_FQw5-Cfrai3yIFMjRCKBZabJp_A8SDu8LFKsH2i4tL6UgNt59cgGtgc1DvbPpj7gAY1fn9Srwl0PojqD_3wtGfkjAW0-FSUovFfgg3dTCGLMkcOZ6sgCMRyTxQd1UpaQ/s1600/gg320.jpg" height="400" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Star-Lord on diplomacy.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">They don't always have wings, but they're always like flying monkeys.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">9. The Skrulls/Chitauri. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Remember the Chitauri from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i>? They might be better known
as the Skrulls, a group of shape-shifting green aliens with pointy ears, bumpy
chins, and a penchant for purple costumes. The name “Chitauri” first appeared
in a Marvel comic that needed a cooler-sounding name than “Skrull” for aliens
who were basically Skrulls, so a lot of geeks were surprised when the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Avengers </i>version of the Chitauri didn’t
do any shape-shifting. Whatever. Whether they’re the same species or not, the
Skrulls/Chitauri are major players in Cosmic Marvel, not least because of their
centuries-long war with the Kree. Amusingly, the Skrulls are a communitarian
race, and that and their shape-shifting, along with their origins in comics of
the early 1960s, make them a pretty obvious parallel to the Soviets. Yes, they’re
space-commies, and they’re at war with space-Nazis. Oh, and there’s a big
breakaway contingent that are fundamentalist religious nutbars. Because life
wasn’t interesting enough. Watch for Skrulls impersonating any and every
important character in the story. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAdvzzyT48s-pNIe-Tv3aBWWjsVa423RBqGjsPtifxTMbQmivizmxCmhSmYc9q1-Rh4PpwaVBzvrafVYZNZEx12E7HIGQ8MiS9FDlR2p-y8kAqDRGfnOVlD0hlQ1a7W7wGvw7KveH_qQ/s1600/gg315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcAdvzzyT48s-pNIe-Tv3aBWWjsVa423RBqGjsPtifxTMbQmivizmxCmhSmYc9q1-Rh4PpwaVBzvrafVYZNZEx12E7HIGQ8MiS9FDlR2p-y8kAqDRGfnOVlD0hlQ1a7W7wGvw7KveH_qQ/s1600/gg315.jpg" height="202" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam and Adam. Don't trust the smiley one. </td></tr>
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<![endif]--><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">10. Adam Warlock. </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">A big player in the
Guardians universe, Adam was both a team member and a major adversary. An
artificial human created to be perfect (and superpowered, of course), Adam
spent most of the 1970s using his “soul gem” and assorted other nifty powers
flying around space and alternate universes as a kind of cosmic messiah. (No
connection to Mantis, though. Cosmic messiahs just kind of turned up in the
seventies.) He’s died and come back to life a bunch of times, and somewhere
along the way picked up an evil version of himself, which he can sometimes turn
into if you screw up his timeline. This evil version is basically a
silver-tinted Adam Warlock called Adam Magus, and he is big, big trouble. In
Adam’s run with the Guardians, he started out as their navigator slash mystic
advisor slash big gun, and he ended up (SPOILER ALERT) having to sacrifice his “good”
future to save his team and the universe. He turned into the Magus, nearly
killed all his teammates, and forced Star-Lord to shoot him in the head in what’s
arguably the biggest emotional gut punch of the entire series. “Damn it, Adam,”
Star-Lord mutters, as he stands alone on a platform, surrounded by the bodies
of his teammates. “Look what you made me do.” If Adam shows up, expect to soil
your pants, cry, or both. </span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhSCH6mRyehRtzhCX8y_SwBIZ6k3ficlCSGWzMhHiPNpTVjC1F8__O1QWJVLPfnkgDRFNa2Ys1GC-JWyh3_zdyKR69tYbKGvQz-C3vGM5nJa9JS9q-CxvvO0vY57XWNfrwZzWtCWiZI0/s1600/gg313.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqhSCH6mRyehRtzhCX8y_SwBIZ6k3ficlCSGWzMhHiPNpTVjC1F8__O1QWJVLPfnkgDRFNa2Ys1GC-JWyh3_zdyKR69tYbKGvQz-C3vGM5nJa9JS9q-CxvvO0vY57XWNfrwZzWtCWiZI0/s1600/gg313.jpeg" height="237" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beam me up, Scotty ... er, Cosmo.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Any of the big “cosmic” storylines</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="font-size: small;">I covered this on Day 1,
for the most part, but feel free to watch for references to any and every
storyline in the Cosmic Marvel universe. Invading antimatter critters and/or
bugs? That’s <i>Annihilation</i>. Nanotechnology
turning people into zombies? <i>Annihilation:
Conquest</i>. Shape-shifting aliens causing widespread paranoia? <i>Secret Invasion </i>(which was pretty much
what it sounds like). Conflict between the various alien species who are
inexplicably ruled by monarchs? <i>War of
Kings. </i>H.P. Lovecraft monsters invading from a parallel universe? The
Cancerverse storyline, possibly including <i>The
Thanos Imperative. </i>And then there are classics like the thousand-and-one
fights over the Cosmic Cube (movie buffs know it as the Tesseract), the
Infinity Stones (the Tesseract is one, and you saw another at work in <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>), and Galactus (he
eats planets; ignore the stupid space-cloud in that stupid Fantastic Four
movie). </span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrU1tHYWfCIzHBw35Uwc3LGbWIJqrGIsZvMu_cMXGKUMcpffPRqPZpbedeFqMbnpI28097KQxn32QX6ynuIKqabeyixPL0Ye6kiisWu0JhPEUfOz_niYg_e669c4XPV65q8YgWtswPf8/s1600/gg314.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRrU1tHYWfCIzHBw35Uwc3LGbWIJqrGIsZvMu_cMXGKUMcpffPRqPZpbedeFqMbnpI28097KQxn32QX6ynuIKqabeyixPL0Ye6kiisWu0JhPEUfOz_niYg_e669c4XPV65q8YgWtswPf8/s1600/gg314.jpg" height="400" width="258" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skulls. What a surprise.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Thanos<br />
</i></b>Why does he get his own section? Because he’s pretty much guaranteed to
show up, even though he wasn’t in the trailer. We know from the advance
materials that Ronan is working for Thanos, we saw his bumpy purple face at the
end of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers</i>, and if there’s
any villain who consistently ruined the Guardians’ day, it was him. <br />
<br />
Thanos is a big purple alien who can’t be killed very easily and who is in love
with Death. Yes, the skeleton in the robe. He’s got a thing for her. He would
get her flowers, except she doesn’t like flowers, so mostly he gets her
mountains of skulls. They have a stormy on-again-off-again relationship, and
whenever he’s not dead (i.e. spending time with his lady friend), he really
wants to be dead so he can be with her. Except he’s really hard to kill, partly
because Death gets tired of him and periodically decides she doesn’t want
anything to do with him … so he can’t die. This ticks him off. Anyway, Thanos’s
major thing, other than being in love with Death, is wanting to kill every
living thing in the universe in order to impress her. To do that, he
periodically goes after the Infinity Stones, a group of magic gemstones that
control things like psychic power, all known energy, or the fabric of reality
itself. They can be conveniently mounted into something called the Infinity
Gauntlet—a big golden glove with slots for each of the Stones. If you looked
closely, you saw it in Odin’s treasure room in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor. </i>Obviously, the Infinity Gauntlet is just dandy if you want to
kill a universe. Which Thanos does. <br />
<br />
Here’s Thanos having a fight with his girlfriend. Sums him up nicely:<br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVw0J7lsBLf1Ge5vsPtA6a2HUV5fne2b3f8o8qZLCbdmpi1i-uep8u48xYbgYFUMU3A4gCTbyZwrATS3OmpMsR62lKphtLWJKzShjAVKBSZMp0BocJHVpyl4U5H2fz87UyFw434RaSwec/s1600/gg321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVw0J7lsBLf1Ge5vsPtA6a2HUV5fne2b3f8o8qZLCbdmpi1i-uep8u48xYbgYFUMU3A4gCTbyZwrATS3OmpMsR62lKphtLWJKzShjAVKBSZMp0BocJHVpyl4U5H2fz87UyFw434RaSwec/s1600/gg321.jpg" height="514" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You thought YOUR breakup went badly? You didn't have a talking raccoon and a space dog in the peanut gallery.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I guarantee you, Thanos <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will </i>be
showing up in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG </i>movie. Watch
for a bumpy purple dude who really likes skulls. You heard it here first. <br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Tomorrow: Why I invented the term “nerdsad”
for this movie.</b></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-27990055474325505282014-02-25T08:33:00.000-08:002014-02-25T08:33:00.710-08:00Guardians of the Galaxy, Day 2: The Trailer<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHiCn5wXt6yQgqB3mv2a6uXx2ezF5XQCxrL-3scyQh1HUn-_RiRrsCduzkCLuB3T9333MFEJE0elf9GhJsb7GB0ltlmfHxS4_jNTAa-B3riKU8et-rxpU6zAnBFJpFlYCtiMvU4Yw0_4/s1600/gg01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHiCn5wXt6yQgqB3mv2a6uXx2ezF5XQCxrL-3scyQh1HUn-_RiRrsCduzkCLuB3T9333MFEJE0elf9GhJsb7GB0ltlmfHxS4_jNTAa-B3riKU8et-rxpU6zAnBFJpFlYCtiMvU4Yw0_4/s1600/gg01.jpg" height="400" width="268" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">HOW THIS SERIES WILL RUN:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://themasksblog.blogspot.com/2014/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html" target="_blank">1. DAY 1.</a> </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Background
information that will help make Cosmic Marvel (as it’s sometimes called) make
sense. Highlights include Oblivion’s pants.<br />
<br />
<b>2. DAY 2. </b>Stuff that’s in the
trailer—who all those people are, what you ought to know about them, and what
they might be doing in the movie. Highlights include steampunk in space.<br />
<br />
<b>3. DAY 3. </b>Stuff that’s <i>not </i>in the trailer—other notable GotG
characters and storylines and miscellaneous stuff that might show up in the
movie. This post will contain potential spoilers, natch, though I won’t know
what is and isn’t a spoiler until the movie comes out. Highlights include a
talking dog with a Russian accent.<br />
<br />
<b>4. DAY 4. </b>Why I invented the term
“nerdsad” for this movie. There’s <i>one </i>thing
in the trailer that bugs me … and while it probably won’t bug you like it does
me, I’ll try to be entertaining as I whine. Highlights include my secret theory
on why the movie might not suck after all.<br />
<br />
<b>5. DAY 5. </b>The dreaded bibliography,
including capsule descriptions and what to read in order to catch up on the
different bits I’ve talked about. Highlights include descriptions like “This is
the book where Rocket shoots <i>everything</i>.”
[Rocket shooting]<br />
<b><br />
DAY 2: STUFF THAT’S IN THE TRAILER<br />
</b>Today’s blog entry is all about people and things you’ve seen in the
trailer, and how they connect to the comic-book <i>GotG</i>. To refresh everyone’s memory, here’s the trailer in question:<b><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pTZ2Tp9yXyM" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<i>Characters<br />
</i></b>So who are these crazy people, anyway?<b><br />
</b></span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xE3hIBNP-qfXGA1R_y-FfuB1vXlu_Yr3NIgZQKC4ooI3zFxL_Xx8W9Rgz7-sq57fs6qvxdcZp0qgiFAgAVm6SfUG4NmeWtI5JddjqfLg5bqaM8k78zTM5ewNXJ5TNTnlllGE0-d2j9M/s1600/gg201.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xE3hIBNP-qfXGA1R_y-FfuB1vXlu_Yr3NIgZQKC4ooI3zFxL_Xx8W9Rgz7-sq57fs6qvxdcZp0qgiFAgAVm6SfUG4NmeWtI5JddjqfLg5bqaM8k78zTM5ewNXJ5TNTnlllGE0-d2j9M/s1600/gg201.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a>1. Peter Quill / Star-Lord. </b>This one will take some explaining, not
least because Star-Lord is one of my favorite characters and the reason I
started reading <i>GotG </i>in the first
place. Plus there are five different versions of him, more or less.<br />
<br />
Peter Jason Quill is the son of an alien prince and his human one-night stand.
Peter didn’t find out about his dad until a gang of reptilian aliens showed up
to murder his mom. Orphaned Peter grew up bitter, antisocial, and determined to
get out into space and show those aliens a thing or two. He did manage to make
it as an astronaut, despite having a personality like a chainsaw, and he lied and
connived his way onto a space station, where he then lied and connived his way
into getting selected by the Master of the Sun (God? An alien? We don’t know)
to be a new superhero called Star-Lord. Version One of Peter Quill is Asshole
Peter. The writer who created Star-Lord was going to write a long, drawn-out
space epic transforming Peter into a true hero and cosmic messiah … but then he
quit Marvel, and Peter kind of stayed an asshole.<br />
</span><br /><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzC8YXllED4GByu1G6qElCqwc2yU4m5LCnTRbMvBXI6r8c202CrHex6CTtDReDE10T9mhL3B8BV6sJGb6VnJIFdq88-aOCOZERq4s6Z5RKPXaEmba7jf6jHLl20L07xJzWkM_epBZ2iHo/s1600/gg202.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzC8YXllED4GByu1G6qElCqwc2yU4m5LCnTRbMvBXI6r8c202CrHex6CTtDReDE10T9mhL3B8BV6sJGb6VnJIFdq88-aOCOZERq4s6Z5RKPXaEmba7jf6jHLl20L07xJzWkM_epBZ2iHo/s1600/gg202.jpg" height="320" width="223" /></a>The 1970s rolled along, and Star-Lord starred in a series of pretty decent
science-fiction stories. With his element gun (it fires fire, water, earth, and
air), his ability to fly and survive in space, and his sentient starship
(cleverly named Ship), he zipped around the galaxy saving people from
themselves and having a very strange romance with his mode of transportation.
Yes, he was in love with Ship … or at least, she was in love with him, and
toward the end there it seemed like he was reciprocating. The relationship was
good for him; he ended up almost human. Version Two of Peter Quill is Hero
Peter. The series trailed off around the mid-eighties.<br />
<br />
</span></span></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJnedGLUfeA3NdicU-xp9ycGAqpYyB90fydKAX1pTqtlk5aTYeQmhj4EU6eH6SjLBk9JY3VxTF3opC24wxxJdeVi5_0qSqDTWJOw_CT-r9Jn3dSFG60zzCasuHlRb9G5Mo2qaHx-aQ0k/s1600/gg203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJnedGLUfeA3NdicU-xp9ycGAqpYyB90fydKAX1pTqtlk5aTYeQmhj4EU6eH6SjLBk9JY3VxTF3opC24wxxJdeVi5_0qSqDTWJOw_CT-r9Jn3dSFG60zzCasuHlRb9G5Mo2qaHx-aQ0k/s1600/gg203.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And then this happened!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Then the 1990s came along, and award-winning science-fiction novelist Timothy
Zahn ended up writing a four-issue Star-Lord series (1996-1997) in which Peter
has disappeared, Ship is wounded and amnesiac, and she finds herself teaming up
with a lonely telepath who’s willing to impersonate a missing superhero for the
greater good. That guy’s name is Sinjin Quarrel, and so version three of Peter
Quill is Not Peter. The series was well-written and good fun, but there’s been
no sign of Ship or Sinjin since 1997. I’m a bit sorry about this, as it was the
series that got me into Star-Lord in the first place. Seeing how much Ship
missed Peter made me want to meet him as well as her. But you’ll hear more
about Ship later in this entry.<br />
</span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxassbOdYclfG6ofxxAWeWNWV5ykWFxVfYi6m1wF-5aXWcUJN70wkDBLkdGtEQWRs3JM1rlhse2pnl6s0CsVgoQcIdBmnV-0TRTPCFvOL7GV49PK6Ar8b_kjoxa4YDPeYAurO6HAg8hyQ/s1600/gg204.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxassbOdYclfG6ofxxAWeWNWV5ykWFxVfYi6m1wF-5aXWcUJN70wkDBLkdGtEQWRs3JM1rlhse2pnl6s0CsVgoQcIdBmnV-0TRTPCFvOL7GV49PK6Ar8b_kjoxa4YDPeYAurO6HAg8hyQ/s1600/gg204.jpg" height="400" width="249" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter in prison, doing his Snake Plissken impression.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Around 2001, Peter reappeared without explanation in the <i>Thanos </i>monthly comic book as a cyborg inmate in the worst prison in
the galaxy, The Kyln. While his reason for being there was not immediately
revealed, it eventually came out that he had, as Star-Lord, stood up against a
big cosmic monster and nearly gotten killed because he was too proud to call
for help. Never one to learn from his mistakes, he picked himself up and went
after the guy again … and in the ensuing fight, had to destroy a planet with a
few thousand sentient life forms on it in order to save several million others.
He claims Ship died in the confrontation, though he might be lying or
misinformed. In any case, his personal code required that he surrender himself
for trial, and he was sentenced to the Kyln for mass murder. He left the Kyln
somehow during the Annihilation War, and offered his services as tactical
advisor to Richard Rider, a.k.a. Nova. The two became friends as Peter guided
Richie through a galactic catastrophe, and Peter redeemed himself enough to
help rebuild the galaxy after the war … which resulted in the Phalanx invasion.
Whoops</span>. <br />
</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBr0gGlltTE9Lzw92Bihxu-IPDxJaSTGF5o2oOxHjaEznNcjjHnZvo4_opwRl9KYOB80Jml9zhvx3SJt5e-xvBn4KnRoVWNNQngrBV9zwncVCXYV0vAfkPKjgZ9FLUKc70lLHhDJnVyE/s1600/gg205.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBr0gGlltTE9Lzw92Bihxu-IPDxJaSTGF5o2oOxHjaEznNcjjHnZvo4_opwRl9KYOB80Jml9zhvx3SJt5e-xvBn4KnRoVWNNQngrBV9zwncVCXYV0vAfkPKjgZ9FLUKc70lLHhDJnVyE/s1600/gg205.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Much shooting ensued.<u><br /></u></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">But Pete’s nothing if not stubborn, and he eventually takes his strike team
from the Phalanx war, who were basically a space version of the Dirty Dozen,
and turns them into the Guardians of the Galaxy. Much butt-kicking ensues, some
of it due to Peter’s still-prickly personality and the fact that most of the
people who meet him either a) don’t recognize him and write him off as a freaky
Earthling; b) recognize him and hate him for blowing up a planet; or c)
recognize him and try to tell him he made the right decision. Pete hates all of
these scenarios. So version four of Peter Quill is Antihero Pete. This period
ends with the <i>Thanos Imperative </i>storyline,
in which Peter and Richie apparently die to stop Thanos from destroying the
universe. <i>GotG </i>was canceled at that
point.</span></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgnN88V9OZ3XMD1F4tTIL7JRgFYGACJGhyphenhyphenmjRN8Z93KG1qBoqvHAoYU3h3HMYJj3DvygCcqAuCtC9X_GwTuilOJ-u37beSJC1j7kZq3r4Z69yB0e9w-CRV7Cfinltqs_iBBLMMt6yyZU/s1600/gg206.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWgnN88V9OZ3XMD1F4tTIL7JRgFYGACJGhyphenhyphenmjRN8Z93KG1qBoqvHAoYU3h3HMYJj3DvygCcqAuCtC9X_GwTuilOJ-u37beSJC1j7kZq3r4Z69yB0e9w-CRV7Cfinltqs_iBBLMMt6yyZU/s1600/gg206.jpg" height="400" width="260" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Death = costume change, but only for Pete.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">
Except Peter mysteriously pops back up again, first in the <i>Avengers Assemble </i>comic series and then in a new <i>GotG </i>series that’s still running and has
not yet explained how he escaped from the Cancerverse. The closest we’ve gotten
is this panel from <i>Avengers Assemble </i>#8: </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharEdw14qLze4K_5o6Jb4zXF6ROoORmnvs70KxYare8dbm_jMsGiqZDbj6xJkgScQJpKOSnxC4uK2SANgkOcRz_Yi9TBTwGY9HMYMdQxQ9FO8yXx0-jJWQVmanGXjSRVxg1ynhI5ZjAOA/s1600/gg223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEharEdw14qLze4K_5o6Jb4zXF6ROoORmnvs70KxYare8dbm_jMsGiqZDbj6xJkgScQJpKOSnxC4uK2SANgkOcRz_Yi9TBTwGY9HMYMdQxQ9FO8yXx0-jJWQVmanGXjSRVxg1ynhI5ZjAOA/s1600/gg223.jpg" height="460" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Would somebody please tell Pete that a pregnant silence is not an answer? Aargh. *fanrage*</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The new <i>GotG </i>Peter is pretty similar
to Antihero Pete, but a bit dumber. Now written by Brian Michael Bendis rather
than Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (the guys responsible for Antihero Pete),
Peter spends an inordinate amount of time trying to pick up green women in
space bars, and he’s not even bright enough to figure out when his drink’s been
spiked. So I tend to think of this version as Idiot Pete.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYsgPa8gdKLC1F03jUJDNskvUNYyf-wcVc1jzIsU4Yb3sS03WEeYJjnym3Go3LY5QOCkqZJp5bqfGJH8ZqwJBW8CYFd_zZNdnvgd1M7d_Dsd1C66MKdvNSgmag2eq4dCmHsd5lRBZUMo/s1600/gg207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYsgPa8gdKLC1F03jUJDNskvUNYyf-wcVc1jzIsU4Yb3sS03WEeYJjnym3Go3LY5QOCkqZJp5bqfGJH8ZqwJBW8CYFd_zZNdnvgd1M7d_Dsd1C66MKdvNSgmag2eq4dCmHsd5lRBZUMo/s1600/gg207.jpg" height="400" width="259" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also Worst Costume Ever Pete.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Overall, though, you might have noticed that none of these versions of Peter
Quill is a petty crook and sex offender (well, maybe Idiot Pete), unlike the
guy you see in the trailer. I’ll address <i>that
</i>little problem on Thursday.<br />
<br />
One more note on Peter Quill—yes, I know his hair changes color. His early
appearances were mostly in black and white, so all we know for sure is that his
hair wasn’t meant to be black. I’ve seen it both blond and brown, and once even
orange. As a general rule, Asshole Pete and Hero Pete were blond, Not Pete had
brown hair (because he was Sinjin, remember?), Antihero Pete had brown hair,
and Idiot Pete is back to blond again. Just go with it.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3GUcSXzufg-zdb0rlTP1XNsW4MGDdKmzvujJw4QCJEms2-qUALEKpc5uZyyfVPsJaB0CFZzLcOIYMe1i_nVenA3g0nMBcwdTMiCWCycubFbSnJ8EmSWn-ZayFvBoGWfbRhWBXVKuTig/s1600/gg222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ3GUcSXzufg-zdb0rlTP1XNsW4MGDdKmzvujJw4QCJEms2-qUALEKpc5uZyyfVPsJaB0CFZzLcOIYMe1i_nVenA3g0nMBcwdTMiCWCycubFbSnJ8EmSWn-ZayFvBoGWfbRhWBXVKuTig/s1600/gg222.jpg" height="640" width="296" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>2. Gamora. </b>This character is pretty much as she was portrayed in the
trailer. Routinely described as “the most dangerous woman in the galaxy” or
“the most dangerous woman in the universe”, she’s the ultimate badass. She’s
got the usual comic-book enhancements to her strength, speed, and constitution
that enable her to pretty much kill anything and, because she’s female, wear
practically no clothing if that’s what the artist wants. And she’s green. Most
importantly, though, she’s the adopted daughter of Thanos, the purple guy from
the end of <i>The Avengers</i>. He found her
after her species was wiped out, raised her to use against one of his enemies,
and then lost control of her. She bounced around from comic to comic for a few
decades as one of her foster father’s most implacable foes. He’s still got a
soft spot for her, though; he’s been known to avoid invading and/or destroying
planets she’s on. Their relationship is complicated. <br />
<br />
Oh, and she goes through male partners even faster than Captain Kirk; she’s
most notably linked to Adam Warlock (more on him later) and Nova—Richie. Comics
still has quite the double standard where sex is concerned, but Gamora comes
closer than most to breaking that particular glass ceiling. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1yHbKVHzGzVCbf04AU0QZezormXSOyxg09QiqwZKxmwwM6Wpbgb22WBr09M4fUYuQdnc50Z_Nb4MO79RsLCSCO5Br_CC77bFHzMwUQttaJgiGy3fUocmDwYJmmMnKLmpT77jdO1zdPE/s1600/gg208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh1yHbKVHzGzVCbf04AU0QZezormXSOyxg09QiqwZKxmwwM6Wpbgb22WBr09M4fUYuQdnc50Z_Nb4MO79RsLCSCO5Br_CC77bFHzMwUQttaJgiGy3fUocmDwYJmmMnKLmpT77jdO1zdPE/s1600/gg208.jpg" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
</b></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
3. Drax the Destroyer. </b>Another guy who seems to be pretty much the same in
the movie as in the comics, although he’s got more layers in the comics. Drax
began life as a human named Arthur Douglas. He and his family were murdered by
Thanos, after which one of Thanos’ enemies put Douglas’s spirit into a new,
amped-up body and programmed him to kill his own killer. He used to be able to
fly and shoot energy blasts out of his hands, but now he’s just really strong,
really tough, and really vicious. He makes a good tank in a typical GotG fight,
despite a near-permanent attitude problem and an obsession with killing Thanos
(which is an issue on the rare occasions when the Guardians need Thanos to stay
alive for five minutes). A couple of years ago, after dying and being
resurrected, he reunited with his human daughter, Heather, a telepath who
survived Thanos’ attack and joined the Guardians under the name Moondragon.
Drax’s daughter, or girls who remind him of her, are his major weakness. If you
want Drax to go postal, threaten a little girl. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEms67JwPKCNsZEpm3Q3EOz5reO9UgcpCd4eulP6n6zs5unDM2w_sqoPNuOkWg4F9Il1MI6EOr1TUlYTzeZSN0dXX_pEd4sgzEIaDEOIo5wpmKjqINmcOKY-1oyk670eSmz0hZ57Gij0/s1600/gg209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEms67JwPKCNsZEpm3Q3EOz5reO9UgcpCd4eulP6n6zs5unDM2w_sqoPNuOkWg4F9Il1MI6EOr1TUlYTzeZSN0dXX_pEd4sgzEIaDEOIo5wpmKjqINmcOKY-1oyk670eSmz0hZ57Gij0/s1600/gg209.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
4. Rocket Raccoon. </b>Oh, where to <i>start?
</i>Rocket’s had a bunch of different origin stories, but the one that’s
probably current is that he was the chief of security at a planet-wide insane
asylum called Halfworld. Rocket left the planet against his will because
something in his biology was altered to make him the only “key” that could release
a particularly dangerous inmate. To avoid inflicting that inmate on the galaxy,
he became a permanent exile. Rocket understandably has some unresolved anger
issues—being a little furry alien surrounded by people who keep calling you a
“raccoon” will do that to you—and he mostly deals with them by using
unreasonably large automatic weapons on anyone foolish enough to tick him off. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YJoVwmVsDkmalV5gKDc_KGBxtzmWHWt2g8ZJgpQSzbesQRearyuVka-d8waQbYveAEjsvlgU3_IQK25zsuAjepnolMTI9w27B2FuqUjSCTgOg2n_3meIZi1YYT1ee28xoa51UaY611U/s1600/gg210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5YJoVwmVsDkmalV5gKDc_KGBxtzmWHWt2g8ZJgpQSzbesQRearyuVka-d8waQbYveAEjsvlgU3_IQK25zsuAjepnolMTI9w27B2FuqUjSCTgOg2n_3meIZi1YYT1ee28xoa51UaY611U/s1600/gg210.jpg" height="299" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a coping mechanism.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The other interesting thing to know about Rocket is the reason he was recruited
to Peter’s Dirty Dozen in the first place. He’s got a set of instincts that
border on precognition; he <i>always </i>knows
the right thing to do, or almost always, even if he doesn’t know why. Rocket is
a nearly infallible guide to when and how the situation is going to go south.
He’s also an understandably lonely guy; his only friends in the world are Groot
and Peter, and he’s had his issues with Peter. He might have a case of OCD; he’s
been seen compulsively hand-washing objects he’s given, and he keeps the
cleanest arsenal any of his teammates have ever seen.<br /></span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5crplrOAK5NZ99LwuthPv8cwJfBPZn7eewMkx5MAyV2mPFua8WJdEXT-cy3b4_tnZ-SzkN84MC7w7fp5DyV9vt9LsThVnMjsWpWX7XoiIuhQ-UT9q7BXSI4OnJ5x9i2A65xd9E08vW4/s1600/gg211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL5crplrOAK5NZ99LwuthPv8cwJfBPZn7eewMkx5MAyV2mPFua8WJdEXT-cy3b4_tnZ-SzkN84MC7w7fp5DyV9vt9LsThVnMjsWpWX7XoiIuhQ-UT9q7BXSI4OnJ5x9i2A65xd9E08vW4/s1600/gg211.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>5. Groot. </b>Obviously, Groot is a gigantic walking-and-talking tree. Normally
he says exactly one thing—“I am Groot”—though there are a few comics where he’s
quite a bit chattier. There are different explanations for why he sticks with
one sentence, but the most popular is that his species’ vocal cords stiffen up
as they age, so eventually their range of expression is quite limited. People
around Groot can usually understand whatever he’s saying, even though it’s just
“I am Groot” in the speech balloon. Rocket can <i>always </i>understand Groot, and everyone else’s understanding comes
and goes according to the writer’s taste. Groot is big, strong, tough, and
unfortunately flammable, so he gets blown up or burned quite a lot. Luckily for
him, he can grow back from just a splinter, though it takes a while. So you can
expect to see a tiny Groot sitting in a pot at some point in the movie. <br /></span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80z_5r_CTDxK6i14t_FBdFFZv4UNi0LnaPfOTi3m-gBTeHCG55I7eEw-EhsgrCgIMwcnr-JhZKmxase42SPZklCbmHvIm__G0Eg0cx9Wi6K3Be6WFuNHZHzPl4fyZT20GdzUlqXwFndw/s1600/gg212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80z_5r_CTDxK6i14t_FBdFFZv4UNi0LnaPfOTi3m-gBTeHCG55I7eEw-EhsgrCgIMwcnr-JhZKmxase42SPZklCbmHvIm__G0Eg0cx9Wi6K3Be6WFuNHZHzPl4fyZT20GdzUlqXwFndw/s1600/gg212.jpg" height="400" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Monarch of Planet X enjoys his sprinkle-baths.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Groot originally appeared as a supervillain, capturing humans for
experimentation, but he’s been reinvented several times in the comics. He now
claims to be the last of his species and the “Monarch of Planet X,” his homeworld,
though some comics have indicated that he’s lying about all of that and he’s
actually an escaped sapling—the equivalent of a joyriding teenager claiming to
be President of the United States. And as for “I am Groot” meaning lots of
different things, <i>that </i>might be a
hallucination, too—the character who gave us that explanation of Groot’s
speech, and claimed to understand his explanations of complex scientific
phenomena, was the unironically named Maximus the Mad. Groot was part of Peter’s
original Dirty Dozen and has hung around with the Guardians (whom he apparently
calls “Groot and Branches”) ever since.</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-Fz5mRqt9rAswlsD4CkhQkWceVq3v93DV4KVRQDmM9Hksuy2r4zy2Haya8tkq4CSf7NV4JvBYSYagikrey2el9X96sNtXRyFUK6xkORPuH08vf2K8g_2V3zlCeFXxN2l6uS4G6fyiro/s1600/gg213.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm-Fz5mRqt9rAswlsD4CkhQkWceVq3v93DV4KVRQDmM9Hksuy2r4zy2Haya8tkq4CSf7NV4JvBYSYagikrey2el9X96sNtXRyFUK6xkORPuH08vf2K8g_2V3zlCeFXxN2l6uS4G6fyiro/s1600/gg213.jpg" height="400" width="266" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Richie. Looking more competent than usual.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>6. The Nova Corps. </b>These are the guys discussing the prisoners in the
trailer. They’re pretty much space cops and Marvel Comics’ answer to DC’s Green
Lantern Corps. They get wiped out on a fairly regular basis; at last check,
there were only a couple of Novas zipping around the universe, and at one point
Richie was the last Nova standing. Novas are strong, fast, durable, and blessed
with energy blasts that got Richie nicknamed “the human rocket”. They’re also
very rule-oriented, as space cops should be, and don’t take kindly to the
Guardians’ chaotic rannygazoo. Expect at least one Nova to get blown up, and
possibly another to get pantsed. That’s sort of what they’re for. <br /><br />Oh, and did you catch that line in the trailer about how the characters were “arrested
on Xandar”? Xandar is the home planet of the Nova Corps. That means that either
the speaker picked up a group of prisoners who’d been arrested by the Novas and
held temporarily on Xandar (which seems like an odd procedure) or the Novas
arrested a bunch of loonies who were trying to cause trouble on Xandar itself. Right
now it amuses me to imagine Peter and the Guardians trying to break into Nova
Prime’s office for some reason. Maybe she took Pete’s coffee.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94bKflWoe_mY5yJnOdiQih-XMdv0KKUa9NU0RdntykQgHSflnki8JRxLqrol6vKtDakcn87Z-noTVXmJesoAU91bBKPyuziAHNU9bLWIHuM7VPvp5WZkyHvRsSzHzPYzGzW2GVlOt2as/s1600/gg214.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi94bKflWoe_mY5yJnOdiQih-XMdv0KKUa9NU0RdntykQgHSflnki8JRxLqrol6vKtDakcn87Z-noTVXmJesoAU91bBKPyuziAHNU9bLWIHuM7VPvp5WZkyHvRsSzHzPYzGzW2GVlOt2as/s1600/gg214.jpg" height="253" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>7. Ronan the Accuser. </b>Blink and you’ll miss him, but he’s the big hooded
guy with the hammer holding Drax up by his throat. According to advance
materials for the movie, Ronan is the main antagonist of the story, a general
working for Thanos who’s after the Guardians because Peter Quill stole a
macguffin identified only as an “orb.” </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6zv4WS_UgQxK_4l-sYZT5eTw9S9ti6FNA0XlhA9Dx8Ovyi90pxdEJRNQs-tY3jBArDmPmdQ8N26zdyGQvLQepWOA3yUlq8X7rIEpTN7wvyF1sropr-RpmQqHutmUZjLx2Z1QnGU1VqU/s1600/gg215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6zv4WS_UgQxK_4l-sYZT5eTw9S9ti6FNA0XlhA9Dx8Ovyi90pxdEJRNQs-tY3jBArDmPmdQ8N26zdyGQvLQepWOA3yUlq8X7rIEpTN7wvyF1sropr-RpmQqHutmUZjLx2Z1QnGU1VqU/s1600/gg215.jpg" height="224" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But really, sometimes you just want to choke Drax.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">That’s not quite square with Ronan from the comics. The comic-book Ronan was a
major straight arrow, a warrior and jurist of his people, the Kree. Basically,
he was judge, jury, and executioner all at once, and he used that giant hammer
for a lot of his work. He eventually ended up ruling the Kree Empire for a
while, and although he didn’t see eye to eye with the Guardians very often, the
two parties didn’t usually have a problem with each other unless Ronan was
being unusually rigid or Peter was being unusually assholeish. Sounds like
movie-Ronan is quite different.</span></span><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDK9aG1X74yhqjvhyPLHlvBfdvc2vN3Np5sZGLl77clhuR8dZ59aUGAEm2fBsqmcJfiLXL0sivPh15Kcx2yR24dE0pr8E5AiqydQM9_NwY4L_WlqS36GOaSYC6tLUA1eQtQdhNmLsV8ZA/s1600/gg216.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDK9aG1X74yhqjvhyPLHlvBfdvc2vN3Np5sZGLl77clhuR8dZ59aUGAEm2fBsqmcJfiLXL0sivPh15Kcx2yR24dE0pr8E5AiqydQM9_NwY4L_WlqS36GOaSYC6tLUA1eQtQdhNmLsV8ZA/s1600/gg216.jpg" height="194" width="320" /></a></div>
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>
8. Korath the Pursuer. </b>To save you time, he’s the guy who arrests Peter
early in the trailer and doesn’t seem to have heard of this particular “legendary
outlaw”. Korath was another super-agent of the Kree Empire, and his thing was
making cybernetically enhanced super-warriors. No idea what he’s doing
arresting a petty thief, or turning him over to the Nova Corps; the Kree tend
to stick to their own justice system rather than calling in the Novas.</span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbEHwFYtGP8gsdCJKLZSSaLnlwoEHCOW7bhAaVZ_V5wUJgHa50TeLRi3TgnmOJiKvkrMVjk9nfk5duigZGyS3sVaDmJYKLRNK3c88pDe0ivIId6N-IPpys23mcvTTp8S3L928Zz-RdKU/s1600/gg217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbEHwFYtGP8gsdCJKLZSSaLnlwoEHCOW7bhAaVZ_V5wUJgHa50TeLRi3TgnmOJiKvkrMVjk9nfk5duigZGyS3sVaDmJYKLRNK3c88pDe0ivIId6N-IPpys23mcvTTp8S3L928Zz-RdKU/s1600/gg217.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>9. Nebula. </b>Hello, Karen Gillan! Nebula is the bald blue woman with the
metal bits on her face. All the filmmakers have said about her so far is that
she’s the major female villain and has a “complex relationship” with Gamora. I
don’t know what that’s about, because in the comics she was a space pirate,
mercenary, and all-around psycho who fought the Avengers and who once claimed
to be Thanos’ granddaughter. We’re pretty sure she was lying about that,
though. Oh, and she and Ronan beat the stuffing out of each other during the
Annihilation War. Ronan won. </span></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcacLT-29173PQVhmb6I9pbPUSQggvJ4wFCxxE0d0scKdRqxG4ezHL0gf_RMAJrsPI_fbXlRBmgjVadBRwE80l7IAEpN3cqQP45v2HFjGoSi-s6nh2YUYlbeXgJmkhEWshPfKWufqJdOw/s1600/gg218.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcacLT-29173PQVhmb6I9pbPUSQggvJ4wFCxxE0d0scKdRqxG4ezHL0gf_RMAJrsPI_fbXlRBmgjVadBRwE80l7IAEpN3cqQP45v2HFjGoSi-s6nh2YUYlbeXgJmkhEWshPfKWufqJdOw/s1600/gg218.jpg" height="131" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>10. The Collector. </b>Here’s an oldie but a goodie. By pure coincidence, the
Collector was one of the first supervillains I encountered in one of the first
comics I ever read, so I remember him quite well. You last saw him in the
credits scene from <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>—he
was the spacefaring Liberace guy played by Benicio del Toro. He’s one of the
Elders of the Universe—one of the most powerful beings in Cosmic Marvel, though
not quite up there with Oblivion and his pals. The last of his species, the
Collector is just what his name suggests—an obsessive collector of anything
rare or valuable. Naturally, he’s tried to collect Earth superheroes a few
times, partly because he’s sometimes focused on preserving life forms,
especially unique ones, in order to protect them from Thanos. Imagine the
ultimate fanboy, obsessed with having one of everything, mint in the box. Now
give him cosmic power, near immortality, and the ability to see the future
(sometimes). Scary? Oh, yes. But he still dresses like a disco.<b><br />
<br />
<i>Worlds<br />
</i></b>There are a few planets of note that show up in the trailer—Xandar, of
course, is mentioned by name, and the prison scenes match up well with
comic-book depictions of The Kyln. The presence of two important Kree
characters (Ronan and Korath) suggest that the Kree homeworld, Hala, may be
important at some point, so look for a shiny, futuristic, obsessively
master-planned city-planet with a lot of spires and people with blue skin. The
presence of Rocket and Groot could pull in Halfworld or Planet X, though those
are less likely. And Thanos, a major villain and a common threat among many of
the characters who appear in the trailer, has been known to hang out on Titan,
a moon of Saturn.<b><i><br />
<br />
Technology<br />
</i></b>I could be here all day talking about the tech that shows up in that trailer,
but there are only a couple of pieces that interest me. The first is the scene
that shows a masked and helmeted humanoid stomping toward the camera, carrying
two guns. Not long afterward, you see his back as he faces a door. That figure
looks a lot like the version of Star-Lord that was running around with the
Guardians from 2008 to about 2011, right down to the two guns. Those guns were <i>not </i>his trademark element gun from his
Hero Peter phase—they were a pair of pretty ordinary space-age blasters that
had a few different ammunition settings, most notably “knock people out” and “melt
your face off”. So we might have Peter’s adjustable guns showing up here. </span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBr0gGlltTE9Lzw92Bihxu-IPDxJaSTGF5o2oOxHjaEznNcjjHnZvo4_opwRl9KYOB80Jml9zhvx3SJt5e-xvBn4KnRoVWNNQngrBV9zwncVCXYV0vAfkPKjgZ9FLUKc70lLHhDJnVyE/s1600/gg205.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjBr0gGlltTE9Lzw92Bihxu-IPDxJaSTGF5o2oOxHjaEznNcjjHnZvo4_opwRl9KYOB80Jml9zhvx3SJt5e-xvBn4KnRoVWNNQngrBV9zwncVCXYV0vAfkPKjgZ9FLUKc70lLHhDJnVyE/s1600/gg205.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's just look at those again, shall we?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The piece of tech that interests me most, however, is this ship:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjv7HqblP6Zdt0Iyn1nCk_BAnqtak099JXNhIedIuXjPqi9klddyCIR-rgeH55ScVKhRkMKIrRIBVMnFOl7xM1ppoBMhhmdwkaC2joZ0T-kPX7lvQkbkYnTe0HSwZ0htWx28srSvoZ-wM/s1600/gg219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjv7HqblP6Zdt0Iyn1nCk_BAnqtak099JXNhIedIuXjPqi9klddyCIR-rgeH55ScVKhRkMKIrRIBVMnFOl7xM1ppoBMhhmdwkaC2joZ0T-kPX7lvQkbkYnTe0HSwZ0htWx28srSvoZ-wM/s1600/gg219.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ... a cookie?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">See that ship? See the gull-wing design, the zipping around, the dodging? See
the round, glowing port on the front? It’s even on the poster. Does that ship
remind you of anybody?</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyT13NNYWm7eTxNHAih376egoHDh21IUAzOVBz6vxK8EFVpNfHoEc-3_uXgZh-iAGqijZg-r3LKbhQWWDH9n96qVxFtBEUHUCicTCvDdZc8ZaQEt5fo35hQA03Y1vpkrXy6EwrsIXFUU/s1600/gg220.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyT13NNYWm7eTxNHAih376egoHDh21IUAzOVBz6vxK8EFVpNfHoEc-3_uXgZh-iAGqijZg-r3LKbhQWWDH9n96qVxFtBEUHUCicTCvDdZc8ZaQEt5fo35hQA03Y1vpkrXy6EwrsIXFUU/s1600/gg220.jpg" height="258" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJnedGLUfeA3NdicU-xp9ycGAqpYyB90fydKAX1pTqtlk5aTYeQmhj4EU6eH6SjLBk9JY3VxTF3opC24wxxJdeVi5_0qSqDTWJOw_CT-r9Jn3dSFG60zzCasuHlRb9G5Mo2qaHx-aQ0k/s1600/gg203.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJnedGLUfeA3NdicU-xp9ycGAqpYyB90fydKAX1pTqtlk5aTYeQmhj4EU6eH6SjLBk9JY3VxTF3opC24wxxJdeVi5_0qSqDTWJOw_CT-r9Jn3dSFG60zzCasuHlRb9G5Mo2qaHx-aQ0k/s1600/gg203.jpg" height="400" width="262" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look behind his right shoulder.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That’s right—it looks like there’s a version of Ship, capital S, in this movie.
Advance materials for the film say it’s Star-Lord’s ship, and it’s called the <i>Milano</i>. Why Peter would name his ship
after a) an Italian city, b) an actress, or c) a cookie is beyond me (though I’m
betting on the cookie). There’s no word on what, if anything, <i>Milano</i> does, but if she’s anything like
Ship, she might have the ability to change her shape at will, send out
versatile remote-controlled drones called “widgets”, take on humanoid form, and/or
develop a romantic relationship with her pilot. Not too creepy or anything.<b><i><br />
<br />
Costumes</i><br />
</b>Obviously, there are a billion and one crazy costumes on display in this
trailer. But here are the bits that stand out to this particular <i>GotG </i>nerd:<br />
<br />
1. Hmm, that’s a grittier-looking version of the Nova uniform.<br />
<br />
2. Gamora is wearing clothes. Hooray! <br />
<br />
3. Drax still has no shirt. Ho-hum.<br />
<br />
4. Helmet and Mask Boy (who I’m guessing is Pete, based on the concept art
where the helmet and mask go with the old Star-Lord insignia on his chest)
looks a lot like the steampunk-inspired GotG uniform of 2008. While it wasn’t
my favorite space-hero uniform ever, I did like the fact that the team uniforms
actually looked like uniforms, and that Pete kept his face covered a lot. This
aligned nicely with his desire to avoid awkward conversations with people who
recognized him <i>and </i>a sort of
passive-aggressive desire to get back at the people who took out his cybernetic
implants. Because this is what they said about it at the time:</span></span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfnbUIi01Jd1I7R6bKr3uXr9eHuJJolpsyGm2fKKTH_DMAufqMasJMZOgpAN8nZwHznB0sr3OnY7_aKIEekPBwOYO3IPyDMPQZ5mvz6-j5v3t-OzGnJKp9o8WfK0jMx7ofi37xgujb5IU/s1600/gg221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfnbUIi01Jd1I7R6bKr3uXr9eHuJJolpsyGm2fKKTH_DMAufqMasJMZOgpAN8nZwHznB0sr3OnY7_aKIEekPBwOYO3IPyDMPQZ5mvz6-j5v3t-OzGnJKp9o8WfK0jMx7ofi37xgujb5IU/s1600/gg221.jpg" height="320" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before and after. HA HA, BLUE ALIEN GUYS. I PUT METAL BACK ON MY FACE ANYWAY.<br />This is why you should never try to dictate fashion to Peter Quill. Much as you'd like to try.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><b>Tomorrow: A bunch of stuff that’s <i>not </i>in the trailer, but might be showing
up anyway.<br />
<br />
</b></span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-32968224018758689082014-02-24T08:55:00.000-08:002014-02-24T08:55:00.228-08:00Everything you need to know about Guardians of the Galaxy (but didn’t bother to ask)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHiCn5wXt6yQgqB3mv2a6uXx2ezF5XQCxrL-3scyQh1HUn-_RiRrsCduzkCLuB3T9333MFEJE0elf9GhJsb7GB0ltlmfHxS4_jNTAa-B3riKU8et-rxpU6zAnBFJpFlYCtiMvU4Yw0_4/s1600/gg01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNHiCn5wXt6yQgqB3mv2a6uXx2ezF5XQCxrL-3scyQh1HUn-_RiRrsCduzkCLuB3T9333MFEJE0elf9GhJsb7GB0ltlmfHxS4_jNTAa-B3riKU8et-rxpU6zAnBFJpFlYCtiMvU4Yw0_4/s1600/gg01.jpg" height="400" width="268" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Hello, my name is Virgil, and I’ll be your guide to hell this week.<br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Dante jokes aside, I’m pretty sure the entire internet is on fire after the
first full <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the Galaxy </i>trailer
dropped last Tuesday, and there have been approximately three squadillion blog
posts trying to explain <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG</i> to
people who just now found out that it exists. Allow me to add to that number
with a five-part (ye gods!) daily series on everything you need to know. While
I won’t assume that you’ve read those other posts, I will try to include information
that doesn’t seem to be readily available elsewhere just in case you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have </i>read them. Oh, and there’ll be a reading
list. Yes, that’s right; this blog comes with a bibliography, a shortlist of
comics and graphic novels that you can read to get caught up on the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG </i>oeuvre. I’ll also include (as
briefly as possible) my own sole objection to the movie as portrayed in the
trailer, which led me to coin the term “nerdsad.” <br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sounds good? All right, then. It’s time to put Blue Swede’s “Hooked on a
Feeling” on loop, strap in, and buckle up, because this ride will be long and
this ride will get bumpy. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of
the Galaxy </i>is probably the strangest choice for a comic-book movie since <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Howard the Duck</i>, but it just might be
awesome.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqlesQGZtlTy56I8JXbCgFJj5Y-v_cd7qG870fIgYcWeCBQQX4kIS3S3DaF9UiBUU6pfCUI-2bLfehv2FOhzOcnSQHu9E5qJ-k_lg8Ll0KFQMVRrI1XsFbb7r2XOUD-rECXHuSzvd_7s/s1600/gg02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhqlesQGZtlTy56I8JXbCgFJj5Y-v_cd7qG870fIgYcWeCBQQX4kIS3S3DaF9UiBUU6pfCUI-2bLfehv2FOhzOcnSQHu9E5qJ-k_lg8Ll0KFQMVRrI1XsFbb7r2XOUD-rECXHuSzvd_7s/s1600/gg02.jpg" height="162" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMCxEtQR2dh_rRZfiIDCQSaRrIR1X12hmTKW6HxVoEmvcFyUdchv1bdnnQ0I6q2RyPoD28BwB6I7_B6TktkWHh4EBqH6T99E3ueCTxHpZNDrA56tYKgSt9d4Cw64eOMtuiyv_egYyaLg/s1600/gg07.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">HOW THIS SERIES WILL RUN:<br />
<br />
1. DAY 1. </b>Background
information that will help make Cosmic Marvel (as it’s sometimes called) make
sense. Highlights include Oblivion’s pants.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. DAY 2. </b>Stuff that’s in the
trailer—who all those people are, what you ought to know about them, and what
they might be doing in the movie. Highlights include steampunk in space.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. DAY 3. </b>Stuff that’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>in the trailer—other notable GotG
characters and storylines and miscellaneous stuff that might show up in the
movie. This post will contain potential spoilers, natch, though I won’t know
what is and isn’t a spoiler until the movie comes out. Highlights include a
talking dog with a Russian accent.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. DAY 4. </b>Why I invented the term
“nerdsad” for this movie. There’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one </i>thing
in the trailer that bugs me … and while it probably won’t bug you like it does
me, I’ll try to be entertaining as I whine. Highlights include my secret theory
on why the movie might not suck after all.</span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. DAY 5. </b>The dreaded bibliography,
including capsule descriptions and what to read in order to catch up on the
different bits I’ve talked about. Highlights include descriptions like “This is
the book where Rocket shoots <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i>.” </span><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMCxEtQR2dh_rRZfiIDCQSaRrIR1X12hmTKW6HxVoEmvcFyUdchv1bdnnQ0I6q2RyPoD28BwB6I7_B6TktkWHh4EBqH6T99E3ueCTxHpZNDrA56tYKgSt9d4Cw64eOMtuiyv_egYyaLg/s1600/gg07.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUMCxEtQR2dh_rRZfiIDCQSaRrIR1X12hmTKW6HxVoEmvcFyUdchv1bdnnQ0I6q2RyPoD28BwB6I7_B6TktkWHh4EBqH6T99E3ueCTxHpZNDrA56tYKgSt9d4Cw64eOMtuiyv_egYyaLg/s1600/gg07.jpg" height="320" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not that this narrows it down.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">TWO WARNINGS BEFORE WE GET STARTED<br />
<br />
</b>First, you need to know that the Cosmic Marvel stories, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the Galaxy</i>, are unusually
complicated. We’re talking about 40-plus years of comics written by writers who
weren’t in the same universe, let alone on the same page. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">GotG </i>itself—the comic series that directly inspired the movie—is
largely an ensemble piece, one equally well-suited for reading as a sprawling
space opera and for focusing on individual characters. I read the series
largely for one character—Star-Lord—so these blog entries will focus a bit more
on him than on anyone else. But I’ll try to be fair to the other characters.
Especially Rocket Raccoon and Groot. <br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
Second, all of Cosmic Marvel is batshit crazy. You’ve now been warned. </span>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCmR7VOS8z7SG9-QIxrWJcqVL-aYTv25q-C9oWuYWDKAacbUNX2XSwqUvXliGUKmsHDva-iy2adoxLrHgTEKOZtLfmBhqCGVnDB6ydwGeBieygGKv18wJO40H_WtrSRxrS0geyawllaw/s1600/gg08.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSCmR7VOS8z7SG9-QIxrWJcqVL-aYTv25q-C9oWuYWDKAacbUNX2XSwqUvXliGUKmsHDva-iy2adoxLrHgTEKOZtLfmBhqCGVnDB6ydwGeBieygGKv18wJO40H_WtrSRxrS0geyawllaw/s1600/gg08.jpg" height="316" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why yes, that IS a dog in a spacesuit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />DAY 1: WELCOME TO THE COSMIC
NEIGHBORHOOD<br /><br />
</b></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6ymZGrwS3VL6FGoiOpEtjkqQBTcZEgwPKT-mJx2Csg0YJ8KNnY8UWHXRLHTEzUF4F9LAZBEeDaDe6vHwp0uM1qypddN4NfWvL2OtJq3mQM7H56el_1THvT-Jws6ST0SjKrtwBT23d0g/s1600/gg15.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU6ymZGrwS3VL6FGoiOpEtjkqQBTcZEgwPKT-mJx2Csg0YJ8KNnY8UWHXRLHTEzUF4F9LAZBEeDaDe6vHwp0uM1qypddN4NfWvL2OtJq3mQM7H56el_1THvT-Jws6ST0SjKrtwBT23d0g/s1600/gg15.jpg" height="320" width="137" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver Surfer in NYC. Duh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Marvel cosmos<br />
</i></b>The first thing you’ve got to know is that there are
basically two versions of the Marvel Comics universe that don’t interact very
much. There’s everything that happens on Earth—the stuff with the Avengers, the
X-Men, Spider-Man, and so on—and then there’s everything that happens
everywhere else. Sure, once in a while the Fantastic Four or the Avengers will
go on an adventure in space or another dimension, but for the most part, the
heroes you know stay on Earth, there’s another set that hangs out in space, and
the two groups don’t have much to do with each other. The space stories mostly
have their origins in the 1970s and early 1980s, when space fantasy was really
in vogue (think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Star Wars</i>), so the
science is kind of bonkers and the outfits are now profoundly embarrassing to
fans. That means that almost nobody at Marvel Comics touches the space
stuff—and when they do, it tends to be very, very different from the Marvel
stories you know. So here are some basic pointers on the world of Cosmic Marvel. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
</i></b></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTs94CWTdPsAde0u_z-Vdp4LAe7DyP81wVoHK1f5Mq2yxEnPbA7Qysw_O0kCEGJcAS39fFHus9S95PFHEjOQlS57jXUciaLaW4JxMXJ3Y2vM4ED6RYxP6VCGMeKgU_rAz_6CKMgC3YmE/s1600/gg13.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJTs94CWTdPsAde0u_z-Vdp4LAe7DyP81wVoHK1f5Mq2yxEnPbA7Qysw_O0kCEGJcAS39fFHus9S95PFHEjOQlS57jXUciaLaW4JxMXJ3Y2vM4ED6RYxP6VCGMeKgU_rAz_6CKMgC3YmE/s1600/gg13.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rule 1: Don't look up Galactus' tunic.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">It’s weird out there. </b>Seriously. You can’t imagine how bizarre it gets.
There are millions of wacky inhabited worlds, thousands of which have shown up
in space stories over the years. And because Cosmic Marvel is Marvel’s
redheaded stepchild, it tends to get handed to writers who don’t talk to each
other, and the result is stories that vary widely in content and tone. A
completely psychotic array of alien life, alien cultures, alien planets, and
adventures that run the gamut from Robert Heinlein to Clive Barker, often with
a side order of Chuck Jones. Basically, no matter what crazy alien or bit of
technology shows up in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guardians of the
Galaxy, </i>you have to roll with it, because this is not a master-planned
fictional world. Words cannot express how bizarre Cosmic Marvel can get …
though you’ll see plenty of crazy in this blog series. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhngxKc7L8rDYUFGE5eoURATsmqk4MgcIP1-_gIPJqtqOdhzV_cM4hrfHFcHhvY__ZqDUgnAE-qzBalXlZDTYWEMTsMuGNqmcRx3XDsPtQxJDzbu-XuoKeXuuPk81ArichSevOWo_uiwU/s1600/gg19.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhngxKc7L8rDYUFGE5eoURATsmqk4MgcIP1-_gIPJqtqOdhzV_cM4hrfHFcHhvY__ZqDUgnAE-qzBalXlZDTYWEMTsMuGNqmcRx3XDsPtQxJDzbu-XuoKeXuuPk81ArichSevOWo_uiwU/s1600/gg19.jpg" height="400" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No. No, it will not.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
Earth is the insane asylum of the universe. </b>Amusingly, that big psychotic
universe is full of life forms that consider Earth to be truly bonkers. By the
standards of the denizens of Cosmic Marvel, Earth is a pathetic little
backwater full of squishy pink hairless monkeys who’ve barely made it to their
own moon … and who then inexplicably gave up any plans for larger space
exploration. And it’s full of superpowered freaks with conflicting agendas who
might do any nutty thing imaginable because nobody’s in charge. Oh, and they
think they’re the most advanced species in Creation, because most of them don’t
know there’s other intelligent life out there. From the perspective of
millennia-old alien empires, that’s hilarious. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hiu-qR-2Krz4YfQvTfvU55aXLToFv5K72s_ivxcipx01FlOgJaF6zZ9emyn7db0ID9H5F1ak09G0XEWo0w4kH6OpEp2CnBWcc7nTxhw3OFvBUgkONHLvq8QftbASQLVoeqDI6fVuUUI/s1600/gg17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hiu-qR-2Krz4YfQvTfvU55aXLToFv5K72s_ivxcipx01FlOgJaF6zZ9emyn7db0ID9H5F1ak09G0XEWo0w4kH6OpEp2CnBWcc7nTxhw3OFvBUgkONHLvq8QftbASQLVoeqDI6fVuUUI/s1600/gg17.jpg" height="188" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Quill, "primitive Terran." He's used to stereotypes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Except Earthlings have
nuclear weapons and mutants and Asgardian gods and whatever insane thing Doctor
Doom has invented this week, so it’s also terrifying. Earth is periodically put
under quarantine and made off-limits to all aliens … except nobody really pays
attention to that, because it’s so much fun and/or so lucrative to land on
Earth and mess with the inhabitants. Basically, when Captain America and the
Avengers fly out into space to stop the Kree-Skrull War (yes, that was a
thing), it’s like North Korea sending its synchronized dance team to fix the
Middle East. Completely baffling, and sort of scary because anyone might have a
nuke hidden in his or her tights. Earth-born heroes who make their lives in
space spend a lot of time claiming to be from somewhere else, defending their
homeworld, or being profoundly embarrassed. Sometimes all three at once.</span></span></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQ02swhzLQexSevzhhnlbBuQWHcpWcpPbijfFmJFek-KPpGst2kIh3f5SqTocnWoiBPqGITRklzzbSkAdutjll7oaj_oA-QEYvyve3-NVXuopGICzSTJrcUgw95kwxMiK7N2QFAbK1ps/s1600/gg18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCQ02swhzLQexSevzhhnlbBuQWHcpWcpPbijfFmJFek-KPpGst2kIh3f5SqTocnWoiBPqGITRklzzbSkAdutjll7oaj_oA-QEYvyve3-NVXuopGICzSTJrcUgw95kwxMiK7N2QFAbK1ps/s1600/gg18.jpg" height="135" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get used to it, Captain Universe. Glaring comes with the spandex.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b>Abstracts happen. </b>On top of the various alien empires and other craziness,
most of the really big powers in Cosmic Marvel are, well, cosmic. The Marvel
space stories are the ones where you’re most likely to run into Galactus, a
giant alien who eats planets for lunch, or the living embodiment of Eternity,
or Death. Yes, actual Death. A skeleton in a robe (well, sometimes she’s a
skeleton in a robe) will sometimes show up in the middle of your story. And
people will mostly act like that’s normal … because it is. Take this
conversation between Star-Lord and Nova from a few years ago:</span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8ojwMRwiNv1sTVxgkZNdeQ0mso5B60rLiSTOnwJdBzQVKEZE3vGyZ2C9D6b2CuZz9rzq2P-t0eVkceppN68CeXdQ8H16aEEzliSUgbfVIyQGtlnvDp9IdmGHP9nG7bNnQpW_9S6EDXk/s1600/gg11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD8ojwMRwiNv1sTVxgkZNdeQ0mso5B60rLiSTOnwJdBzQVKEZE3vGyZ2C9D6b2CuZz9rzq2P-t0eVkceppN68CeXdQ8H16aEEzliSUgbfVIyQGtlnvDp9IdmGHP9nG7bNnQpW_9S6EDXk/s1600/gg11.jpg" height="640" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Someday I will form a band and call it Oblivion's Pants.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">
Nova is a relatively sheltered kid from Earth. Star-Lord, while born on Earth,
has been around the cosmic block a few times. To him, this stuff is pretty
run-of-the-mill. See the culture shock?</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">In our last exciting episode … <br />
</span></i></b><span style="font-size: small;">The <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>comic-book
series that inspired the film is rooted in a few big storylines that came out
of Marvel Comics in the early to mid-2000s. Here’s a (very!) short summary of
what happened in those storylines so you don’t have to actually read them
yourself. You’re welcome.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></b></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfP76esb0jbEXkAeTxTqNJdI6k6jqFr1Zcx8oecQoDt7iETjdZK-zCJ9RCYjsgv-uQa6gV6ipeDSwqNL-ZX8HTosBqxBz9Crgxi_P_93wiwMrlUAYRKgpOoy9M2GiEeBtWLqr-cbDt0A/s1600/gg03.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjfP76esb0jbEXkAeTxTqNJdI6k6jqFr1Zcx8oecQoDt7iETjdZK-zCJ9RCYjsgv-uQa6gV6ipeDSwqNL-ZX8HTosBqxBz9Crgxi_P_93wiwMrlUAYRKgpOoy9M2GiEeBtWLqr-cbDt0A/s1600/gg03.jpg" height="271" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">What is even going on here?</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</i></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
</i><span style="font-size: small;">The Annihilation War: </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Basically, a giant tyrannical bug
named Annihilus left his home in the Negative Zone (an antimatter universe—<i>don’t ask!</i>) and tried to take over all
of known space. Lots of people and planets died. The cosmos was saved at the
last moment thanks largely to a group of cosmic superheroes, a couple of them
from Earth. Most prominent among these was a superpowered rookie space cop
named Nova (henceforth known as Richie, because there are <i>lots </i>of Novas in the Nova Corps) and a half-alien cyborg
ex-superhero named Star-Lord (also known as Peter, because he hates being
called Star-Lord now). So Richie and Peter killed the bugs. Got it? </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWFz-ojmSNAGQM3LoTG6RuTRrbrJAwueYzpN6AVmFjrnhfvsE4CWGfqG9iKAqBrT7Z6etUAszWtynK7n03v1AJymCyLrVb5V5EwythezHx6fx3egpgXSEbKEIRCKmlvsuDsu4qeoUCbE/s1600/gg14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzWFz-ojmSNAGQM3LoTG6RuTRrbrJAwueYzpN6AVmFjrnhfvsE4CWGfqG9iKAqBrT7Z6etUAszWtynK7n03v1AJymCyLrVb5V5EwythezHx6fx3egpgXSEbKEIRCKmlvsuDsu4qeoUCbE/s1600/gg14.jpg" height="465" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, it was mostly Richie. Yuck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Annihilation: Conquest: </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">But nobody got to sit around for very long, because
maybe two weeks after the good guys stopped the Annihilation Wave, the universe
was under attack again, this time from a technological virus-civilization
called the Phalanx that pretty much took people over and turned them into
zombie cyborgs. More cosmic battles happened, but what matters to <i>GotG </i>is that a) Richie got taken over by
the Phalanx for a while, causing a lot of problems; and b) Peter was the one
who accidentally let the Phalanx into the universe in the first place. He meant
well. </span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4-ukpEzR67tSBvCdGU_PB9ziHrDv2gbG_XI62Y_0_pL8DlH2EY6hyWkeHMZiXLLRXFhJ3Fxq8g0GEklktwxY_j0p9w840WAig2bH4b_EscVLGJ7H7UIbh7j3gbrxW5a-YwFUcryl3x0k/s1600/gg16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4-ukpEzR67tSBvCdGU_PB9ziHrDv2gbG_XI62Y_0_pL8DlH2EY6hyWkeHMZiXLLRXFhJ3Fxq8g0GEklktwxY_j0p9w840WAig2bH4b_EscVLGJ7H7UIbh7j3gbrxW5a-YwFUcryl3x0k/s1600/gg16.jpg" height="400" width="307" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He was sorry after his cyborg pals shot him.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: small;">
Anyway, Richie eventually got better, Peter got his cyborg implants removed to
avoid infection, and Peter ended up leading a tech-free team of alien convicts
into the Phalanx’s citadel in order to save the universe. And because he
realized the universe pretty much couldn’t go ten minutes without exploding,
Peter decided to turn his motley crew of space loonies into a kind of
starfaring Avengers. So Peter killed the computers and started a superhero
team. Got that? </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYZdlMrEyznJY2VJ_-TM2kaDS1f61ojs0mX0iQwuKXk0fDGG_XjwAveXD6w05G3wR3gzV_pjI7yP7ZQXNo3uUvttPJMs6UsLmv0by5rPRkQhdYzaTqjnY6DDWFd5To6smu9lp6Eru4Dw/s1600/gg04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYZdlMrEyznJY2VJ_-TM2kaDS1f61ojs0mX0iQwuKXk0fDGG_XjwAveXD6w05G3wR3gzV_pjI7yP7ZQXNo3uUvttPJMs6UsLmv0by5rPRkQhdYzaTqjnY6DDWFd5To6smu9lp6Eru4Dw/s1600/gg04.jpg" height="400" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: Motley space loonies.<b><br /></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Guardians of the Galaxy: </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Starting in 2008, Peter’s team of
butt-kickers had their own title, <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy</i>. They pretty much flew around space, kicking butt and getting
absolutely zero respect because they were a bunch of criminals, psychopaths,
outcasts, and one or two people from Earth—a.k.a. escapees from the insane asylum.
Also, there was a lot of infighting and personal drama because these people are
<i>extremely </i>dysfunctional. Not just
standard Marvel dysfunction, either—the <i>X-Men</i> thought these guys were messed up. Major opponents included the Universal
Church of Truth (a pseudo-Catholic space cult that can literally blast you with
the power of faith), all the participants in several minor space wars, and
catastrophic rips in the fabric of space and time. The Guardians spent a lot of
time arguing with each other, shooting at their enemies, getting entangled in
interstellar diplomacy, and (in Peter’s case) hoping to God that coffee was
readily available.</span></span></span><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-UtrBMuGP8JHigb01qyCLlk6b_3NP87K9PH1rJLurWob3RvgWnycNCr9TMduCXlVJMkpbadv-y_-mICCafgRJj0lVkGFmUsgAhO9V2BIkpUEDZjlqt2GVzn4PJVfHw7ELsWierO2pwk/s1600/gg20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-UtrBMuGP8JHigb01qyCLlk6b_3NP87K9PH1rJLurWob3RvgWnycNCr9TMduCXlVJMkpbadv-y_-mICCafgRJj0lVkGFmUsgAhO9V2BIkpUEDZjlqt2GVzn4PJVfHw7ELsWierO2pwk/s1600/gg20.jpg" height="494" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter apparently drinks an entire pot of coffee at every team meeting. <br />The only thing he misses about his home planet is the caffeine.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Lo6jeie31DyZP5SyhZGb4kqc1OpW5G50Vws6gK5wfUYp_dKvUfobmAN2yJ-HPTtiMwhVp7D-znAvYbTjKZRwM0rb0z6T5SkFm4aguk171ljyaMHGRtOQ-raJmvtfVQk8jb5rpWpHcOU/s1600/gg05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Lo6jeie31DyZP5SyhZGb4kqc1OpW5G50Vws6gK5wfUYp_dKvUfobmAN2yJ-HPTtiMwhVp7D-znAvYbTjKZRwM0rb0z6T5SkFm4aguk171ljyaMHGRtOQ-raJmvtfVQk8jb5rpWpHcOU/s1600/gg05.jpg" height="400" width="257" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Thanos Imperative: </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Thanos, an insane alien dictator who is
literally in love with death (as in sending valentines to the skull lady …
except the valentines are mountains of corpses), was dead. Everybody was pretty
happy about that, including Thanos. Except then the universe got invaded by the
inhabitants of a neighboring universe where death didn’t exist—or, as they put
it, “life won”—and which was literally stuffed to bursting with living things.
This place was known as the Cancerverse and it was full of evil versions of
Earth superheroes and lots of creatures that looked suspiciously like what
happens when you give H.P. Lovecraft a boatload of hallucinogens. It turned out
that the only way to beat the Cancerverse was to re-introduce death, which
meant resurrecting Thanos, which really ticked him off. The whole thing ended
up with Peter, Richie, and Thanos trapped in the Cancerverse as it imploded.
Peter and Richie spent their last moments alive blasting away at a pissed-off
Thanos to keep him from jumping through an interdimensional gate and destroying
the surviving Marvel universe. Yup, they died. </span> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
</b></span></span><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKw3H4wb_xQ6IlPJ2lCcKEbxbELA1YeDQCw194_h4kJd99u_kuM9TpO9sY8X_AUnmQVQgAPBgsNUrVBnFCK0m0Usb3t60ZfTIkc787H_lzLIkfNg_zBeV7Q3I_ihg9EUuAX0S3UNLOA5Q/s1600/gg12.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKw3H4wb_xQ6IlPJ2lCcKEbxbELA1YeDQCw194_h4kJd99u_kuM9TpO9sY8X_AUnmQVQgAPBgsNUrVBnFCK0m0Usb3t60ZfTIkc787H_lzLIkfNg_zBeV7Q3I_ihg9EUuAX0S3UNLOA5Q/s1600/gg12.jpg" height="400" width="363" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and Richie go out like Butch and Sundance.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The new series: </span></b><span style="font-size: small;">Okay, if the team leader’s dead, how can there be a new
series of stories? Not by getting a new leader, if that’s what you’re thinking.
No, the current <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>series,
which began last year, focuses on pretty much the cast of loonies you see in
the film … including Peter. There’s been no explanation yet of how he got out
of the Cancerverse, though he seems sort of traumatized by the mention of it.
Thanos is back, too, also without explanation, though Richie still seems to be
dead. Major opponents in the new <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy </i>series include pretty much everyone who wants to mess with
Earth and/or destroy the universe, plus Peter’s father, an alien king who wants
Peter to grow up and accept the crown, or possibly just die quietly somewhere.
Peter is doing neither of those things.</span> </span></span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpEJEqRx5QjTBvdXafdIhQxeJZnbh8v5eC32fhmwf6TrdDIEkb2RbpTH5ybZQRGGoGpshL9W5ciyB17j2U6Kl_tUB6F-plI1DC7FB2cHIcU1QVqu0gGfXYeSp0nSsBymBSW3hS6759Nw/s1600/gg06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVpEJEqRx5QjTBvdXafdIhQxeJZnbh8v5eC32fhmwf6TrdDIEkb2RbpTH5ybZQRGGoGpshL9W5ciyB17j2U6Kl_tUB6F-plI1DC7FB2cHIcU1QVqu0gGfXYeSp0nSsBymBSW3hS6759Nw/s1600/gg06.jpg" height="400" width="257" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He is, however, recruiting Iron Man.<br />And wearing tap-lights on his chest.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Tomorrow: A breakdown of all the most important stuff in the trailer. See you then!</b></span></span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-43611578526015385012014-02-10T08:15:00.000-08:002014-02-10T21:19:36.400-08:00Make tea (and art), not war!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="clear: right; float: right; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">Okay,
the title’s a bit of a goof. That little sign sits in a place of honor in my
office. I saw it in a shop on Granville Island in Vancouver, grabbed the last
one on the shelf, and rushed to the register so fast I nearly flattened a
little old lady on the way. But this entry is a bit about tea, and a bit about
art, and not very much at all about war.<br />
<br />
As a teenager, I became allergic to just about everything with caffeine in it—coffee,
Coca-Cola, even chocolate. It all triggered horrible migraines, which (at least
in the case of chocolate) is just not fair. After years of forced exposure, I
developed a tolerance for chocolate, and from there branched out to Coke and
tea. Coffee still kicks my butt for some reason, though, so I pretty much run on
tea, and my retailer of choice is <a href="http://www.adagio.com/" target="_blank">Adagio Teas</a>. They have fantastic teas of all
kinds, and they let you make your own custom blends—even crazy fandom blends.
(I am particularly partial to Cara McGee’s <a href="http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/group.html?group=26" target="_blank">Sherlock</a> and <a href="http://www.adagio.com/signature_blend/group.html?group=30" target="_blank">Avengers</a> collections.)<br />
<br />
Now, because I can’t watch other people having fun with my favorite things
without wanting to jump in myself, I’m preparing to try my own hand at making
fannish tea blends, custom labels and all. And I’ve got a shiny new pen, and I’m
working on a technique that may become the style for future <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Masks </i>illustrations. So now you’re going
to put up with my terrible experimental fan art.<br />
<br />
I decided to do a small set of blends inspired by the upcoming Captain America
movie, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Winter Soldier</i>. As you may
have noticed, I’m not exactly a professional artist, so I decided to do a
relatively simple two-layer design that you’ll see more of later. The most
difficult part of the process was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">probably
</i>going to be representing the faces of the characters<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>around whom I was designing the blend. That
meant faces. I suck at faces. But I’ll try anything once … or twice … or more …
<br />
<br />
I started with this picture of Chris Evans from the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Winter Soldier </i>publicity materials:</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg29r5-nbf8R4sa1nQsLclG3ZobCwD1aR4QubHMGS4_hrEsIysNuOLLz2yu14dtJVVvd_youS43fywlbbWM1iLmKC64V4Rfdxu_jIfzIskA-iAj-_8raHXVf4gWOWc_xjGUFqfsBbH27Fo/s1600/twst01.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> And then I did a freehand sketch version, scribbling in the rough areas where I
was going to be shading:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7zhwJn4Ymd0pFc6H6G8oopXIzMEnzaB3bZXAGVHGiHNZ2iXjg-RbJeYzOTAn_9BvtOUNQzAPxYnQTZF1Qayt6JzKwptLnMZErIWGlJJKVNdgCjlNxebuDXqqNHJ8p0HHt13hqwJsdRU/s1600/twst03.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA7zhwJn4Ymd0pFc6H6G8oopXIzMEnzaB3bZXAGVHGiHNZ2iXjg-RbJeYzOTAn_9BvtOUNQzAPxYnQTZF1Qayt6JzKwptLnMZErIWGlJJKVNdgCjlNxebuDXqqNHJ8p0HHt13hqwJsdRU/s1600/twst03.jpg" height="232" width="320" /></a></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLzZb-6vvI7dOHr8OWHpPOnxH-Do7fnFvZs0RJL2l_3B1Bms59N0Q2wPv26-xMgNm8ieTrF5Ymc1O88TaZpV78btkdicTTdIrAtyokPplMzI_RuMPALgqdSKpO7JXIerux0y0C8Dk4TA/s1600/twst04.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMLzZb-6vvI7dOHr8OWHpPOnxH-Do7fnFvZs0RJL2l_3B1Bms59N0Q2wPv26-xMgNm8ieTrF5Ymc1O88TaZpV78btkdicTTdIrAtyokPplMzI_RuMPALgqdSKpO7JXIerux0y0C8Dk4TA/s1600/twst04.jpg" height="200" width="170" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Then I went to town with the lightest gray brush pen they sold at the
art-supply store, and got this:</span><br /><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgjPalQUgWCG4xL4IVk28GTbPcQuuWwV7846SgfWGROA6ClH7SrlqoLzltrEhrOB3j6Ptchk3X5eyFZtfivF7Q8xoCEJ-N7cDK0cgURYJoRGIBHt8DLap-5W33xfzFVfEOnRDoCzSh7A/s1600/twst07.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpgjPalQUgWCG4xL4IVk28GTbPcQuuWwV7846SgfWGROA6ClH7SrlqoLzltrEhrOB3j6Ptchk3X5eyFZtfivF7Q8xoCEJ-N7cDK0cgURYJoRGIBHt8DLap-5W33xfzFVfEOnRDoCzSh7A/s1600/twst07.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVr4pafJ2Y6mtjtrPRZpIUPvG48f8ega2pOj8i9dpbEhzD2sVZKbkv8_eHIdVJpNNtqGbcL-5h2WaCfKQjpN9ijYOFJb77I5au5XBlQfbhaOqiZBioaKvVCR6IdBdTrcrI0EO5TJvW8lA/s1600/twst08.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVr4pafJ2Y6mtjtrPRZpIUPvG48f8ega2pOj8i9dpbEhzD2sVZKbkv8_eHIdVJpNNtqGbcL-5h2WaCfKQjpN9ijYOFJb77I5au5XBlQfbhaOqiZBioaKvVCR6IdBdTrcrI0EO5TJvW8lA/s1600/twst08.jpg" height="200" width="145" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Not bad, all things considered—especially since those are photos of the
sketchbook, not proper scans. You’ll see the labels when I get them done, not
least because I will probably be quite proud of them. And if they go well,
there might be some <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Masks </i>teas in the
offing. <br />
<br />
Not that I think you guys are going to rush out and buy my teas. (Also, I
wouldn’t make any money if you did—all Adagio does is give me a discount on
future orders if I design popular blends.) But it’s fun. And hey, tea!<br />
<br />
Now, what do you think of the process? Would you want to see Rae and Trevor
done this way? Or is it insufficiently comic-booky? I think it might do a
better job of preserving the original sketches, which are often better than the
inked and watercolored finished products … </span></span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-45038249823317658042014-02-04T11:58:00.002-08:002014-02-04T11:58:38.742-08:00Sometimes it still happens<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfDGC-OuqxMVRECdx6GFLMqhM4jjF5vEtBl2uyRYb6XNfU5M7Kbvahkm-e04Uj_JizrPXr7_4QAeVeCHdVqZdTMT56-pOHWvorXzYJ424_YCcLdYZoPnjF_4kddcyCPdo6Vx9KzPL0p4/s1600/trvrpn2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfDGC-OuqxMVRECdx6GFLMqhM4jjF5vEtBl2uyRYb6XNfU5M7Kbvahkm-e04Uj_JizrPXr7_4QAeVeCHdVqZdTMT56-pOHWvorXzYJ424_YCcLdYZoPnjF_4kddcyCPdo6Vx9KzPL0p4/s1600/trvrpn2.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terrible iPad photo of midnight sketch. <br />Don't judge; the scanner is misbehaving.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Something really cool happened last week.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was doing the dishes, as I recall--one of my favorite ways to avoid writing--when the crazy voices started up in my head. I've learned to love my crazy voices. They're the ones that say things like <i>All the superheroes are dead; isn't that awesome? </i>and <i>What's the craziest thing that could happen in Chapter 10, and how can you make it even more psychotic? </i>The crazy voices make the best stories. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I had been feeding the crazy voices of late. The crazy voices live on good stories--both the kinds of stories that literary poobahs define as good and the ones that I just plain like. The crazy voices love Shakespeare plays and awful B movies. They feed on old radio dramas and random articles about World War I and strange conversations with my friends. The weirder the better. If it's bizarre and it holds my attention, the crazy voices eat it for lunch. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most recently, I'd been peering at set photos for the upcoming Winter Soldier movie (I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am for that thing) and thinking about characters with interesting, complicated, slightly scary backstories. I'd also been kicking around an old question of mine--an author of my distant acquaintance, whose work I much admire and with whom I've corresponded a tiny bit, released a story a couple of years ago set in the universe that had inspired <i>Masks</i>, way back when I was a scrappy kid of fourteen. And in that rather more recent story was a character who was briefly, mistakenly, called Trevor. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm pretty sure this author was, at some point, aware of <i>Masks</i>, though I doubt he read it--he's a busy fellow. And the brief misidentification of an interesting, complicated character with a slightly scary backstory as Trevor had gotten me thinking. I didn't pick the name Trevor for its great significance to pop culture or superhero lore; I pulled it at random out of an old yearbook. (I think Trevor was in kindergarten when I was in seventh grade, or something like that.) There wasn't much outside meaning to the name Trevor. So was this beloved author's name-drop a reference to <i>Masks</i>? Or just a coincidence? I didn't want to feed my ego, as it could always stand to lose a few points, but the idea was intriguing. What if the name was this author's idea of a gentle poke at my hero, who could very easily end up looking a lot like that author's beautifully broken and slowly healing character a few years down the road?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And then the crazy voices whispered: <i>Who cares if he did it on purpose or not? It's a damn good story either way. Because guess what?</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What? (My crazy voices love a good dialogue.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You know how Trevor doesn't have much of a backstory?</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What are you talking about? He's a psychologically damaged former sidekick with a history as long as my arm. He's got more backstory than anyone else in the series, with the arguable exception of the Black Mask and Eagle Eye, and maybe the Masked Rider ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yeah, but there's a hole in it. A big hole. You know that big hole that bugs you sometimes?</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I don't know what you're talking about. There's no hole.</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Is too. Right ... here!</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ow! Right in the plot cohesion! You're mean, crazy voices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Whine, whine. This is why you're doing the dishes. Anyway, look what we found to fill that hole.</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stop saying "hole". What is that, anyway?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We take this character over here ... and then do this ... and that changes everydamnthing. And it even fills the hole. Right?</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But he hasn't said anything about this incredibly important event. Ever. You've got to load Chekhov's gun before you fire it, stupid voices.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's the beauty of it. You love Winter Soldier comics because there's always some new twist on his past, and the reason they never have to load that gun is ... ?</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Because he's got memory problems. There's always something he doesn't remember.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And of all the people who'd be involved in this, who is the most likely to tell the audience about it ... and the least likely to know about it?</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh. Ohhhh, boy. You are evil, crazy voices. </span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We know. You're welcome. Want to break some dishes?</span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I've been working on <i>Masks</i> for fifteen years now. It's rare to get a big new idea on a project that's been going that long, especially when it concerns a core character like Trevor. Maybe I don't know Golem's backstory until I sit down to write it for the bonus features in Volume 1, but Trevor? Him I know. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Right up until I don't. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">People can always surprise you--imaginary people more than most. And I'm really excited about this twist. It's going to require a lot of reworking of the outlines for later books, and that's a good thing. They were feeling a little stale. This is going to be lots of fun. All of a sudden I don't know where I'm going anymore, and I'm throwing the car into overdrive.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's not supposed to happen a lot, fifteen years in. But sometimes it still does. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to sweep up some dish shards that have mysteriously appeared on my kitchen floor ... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-38582764942019442562014-01-27T11:23:00.001-08:002014-01-27T11:23:44.988-08:00Remember the Phantom Naked Guy!<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">This
post is SFW, I swear.<br />
<br />
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working on agent queries for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Resurrectionist’s Song</i>. I have no
news on that front, obviously, but a random conversation about something
completely unrelated reminded me of a lesson I’d learned long ago, and that I’d
probably do well to remember more regularly as I wade through agent listings
and try not to be intimidated by inanimate web pages.<br />
<br />
Why am I intimidated by inanimate web pages? Because they’re owned by people
who might reject me. Who probably <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will </i>reject
me, in fact, according to the law of averages. And rejection is scary. But here’s
why I’m doing it anyway.<br />
<br />
I give you now the tale, and the lesson, of the Phantom Naked Guy.<br />
<br />
During my misspent youth, I misspent a single semester at an extremely conservative
Catholic college that happened to be located near a national forest. By
“extremely conservative”, I mean that the Mass was still in Latin and somebody suggested
that I be burned at the stake for not being Catholic. That traditional outlook
had major effects on the female population there; most of the girls in the dorm
where I lived seemed to be planning to marry a nice Catholic boy and settle
down in the middle of nowhere to home-school their twelve kids. A significant
number of them had a never before attended classes with people who weren’t
related to them (apparently there are a few Catholic communes out there that funnel
their girls directly into this college). They had had next to no contact with
men or boys who weren’t their fathers, brothers, cousins, and so on. <br />
<br />
And then the Phantom Naked Guy burst onto the scene like a nudist in a nunnery.<br />
<br />
I never saw him personally, but I talked to a few people who did, and a typical
encounter would go like this: two or more girls would be hiking one of the forest
trails near the campus, either for exercise (the school had no gym, and most
athletic activities were men-only) or for pleasure. Suddenly, around a bend in
the trail would come a man about 30 or 40 years old, about five foot ten and
Caucasian, wearing absolutely nothing. Not a stitch. Not even shoes. He
wouldn’t scream or jump out at anybody, mind you. The most offensive thing I
ever heard of him doing, aside from being naked in a national forest, was wave
cheerily to the girls. While naked, of course. Search parties never found him
after these encounters, earning him the nickname of Phantom Naked Guy.<br />
<br />
Naturally, the entire female population of the school collectively lost their
minds.<br />
<br />
Casual hikes ended. Now expeditions into the forest had to be planned like the Normandy
invasion. Young women, terrified that the Phantom Naked Guy would leap out of
the bushes and assault them, went into the woods in large groups, or (more
often) not at all. Male escorts were suddenly in high demand, which perked up a
lot of lovelorn Catholic boys considerably, but since many of the male students
were planning to become priests, the girls didn’t get as many takers as they
would have liked. The college staunchly refused to lend out either of the
campus’s two sheepdogs (long story) as protection. And so, as a last resort, a
nervous coed stopped me on my way into the dorm one night and asked me if I’d
be willing to go along as a bodyguard. With my knife, of course.<br />
<br />
The short explanation for my knife is this: when I showed up on campus in
August, I had brought with me a small folding hunting knife with a 3.5-inch
blade, covered in black enamel. My dormmates discovered this fact when they
sneaked into my dorm room in September (they were throwing glitter around
because it was my birthday) and discovered the knife lying on my pillow. (I had
been opening a birthday package, then realized I was late for class, so I
dropped knife, package, and contents on the bed and ran for it.) Even though I
only used the knife for opening stubborn envelopes and cutting up fruit, I soon
had a reputation as the campus blade fiend. And so it came to pass that when
girl gangs, obliging college boys, and sheepdogs had all failed, my knife and I
were called to action. And I had an interesting insight.<br />
<br />
The conversation went like this.<br />
<br />
Girl: “Hey, would you like to go on a hike this weekend with me and [name
redacted]?”<br />
Me: “Uh … why?” (We weren’t friends. I’m not sure we even spoke outside of
class.)<br />
Girl: “Because you have a knife.”<br />
Me: “What?”<br />
Girl: “We’re scared of the Phantom Naked Guy.” <br />
Me: “And you want me to … stab him?”<br />
Girl: “If necessary.”<br />
Me: “To protect you.”<br />
Girl: “Yes.”<br />
Me: [Pause for thought] “Why are you worried about a naked guy?”<br />
Girl: “Well, he’s naked. There’s got to be a reason for that.”<br />
Me: “Right. So why don’t you just throw a rock?”<br />
Girl: “Huh?”<br />
Me: “He’s naked. He’s all target area. Throw rocks and pinecones if you want
him to go away.”<br />
Girl: “That’s gross.”<br />
Me: “Grosser than stabbing him?”<br />
<br />
Needless to say, I did not get that bodyguard job.<br />
<br />
But I learned a valuable lesson from the Phantom Naked Guy. Until that moment,
I hadn’t really thought about what I’d do if I met him and needed to get him to
leave. (As an old theatre geek, I was more comfortable with nudity than the
average Catholic schoolgirl.) But to most girls who had heard of him, he was a
figure of terror. The Phantom Naked Guy, rapist extraordinaire (at least <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">in potentia</i>.) Except only an idiot would
go hiking in that forest alone—there were mountain lions out there—so he was
always outnumbered. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And the guy was stark
naked. </i>Not actually that threatening, or even odd, once you got past the
fact that typical hikers <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">weren’t </i>naked.
And as I pointed out, he was pretty vulnerable to rocks and pinecones. It was a
coniferous forest in earthquake country. It was practically <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">made </i>of rocks and pinecones. The proper
solution was probably to just wave back, but if you were really that scared of
the Phantom Naked Guy and/or he was really that threatening, you could
theoretically drive him off with a handful of gravel.<br />
<br />
Now, I know that indecent exposure can sometimes be tied up with a number of
other, more problematic behaviors. I’m not saying the Phantom Naked Guy, who
apparently enjoyed walking naked past Catholic schoolgirls, wasn’t going to be
real trouble someday. But he might have been just a lone nudist; California has
a few of those. And at least at the time, the problem wasn’t sexual assault, or
any attempts thereat. The problem was a naked guy in the pine woods freaking
people out. And pinecones are naked-guy Kryptonite. <br />
<br />
So where’s the lesson in all this?<br />
<br />
Sometimes your problem is a naked guy in the pine woods. Sometimes the thing
you think is absolutely terrifying is actually quite vulnerable to pinecones.
As I’m typing up query letters, trying to find the perfect combination of words
that will persuade some agent to rescue Teh Novel from the slush pile, I need
to remember the Phantom Naked Guy. This task looks scary. I don’t like being
rejected any more than anyone else does. But I’ve been on the other side of
this equation, too, and I know that the fear of missing out on a great piece of
writing is sometimes almost as great as the fear of rejection. I am venturing
out into the woods, expecting to do battle with Bigfoot … and I need to
remember that sometimes it’s just the Phantom Naked Guy.<br />
<br />
So as you go about your business this week, take a good, hard look at the
things that scare you. There are scary things out there, true. Those woods had
far more mountain lions than nudists. But sometimes your problem isn’t much of
a problem at all. Not if you’re willing to wave back. <br />
<br />
Or, at worst, chuck a pinecone.</span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-66227486308480638462014-01-21T11:55:00.001-08:002014-01-21T11:55:43.373-08:00Ode to a chair<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr86E-hY4CPs0xuztmFmMp1HK6hiegReYTP0sp8qk26AgXgwZE9i8T6dagXAax1ir3zasEwkGb2cAJ0hx3RlsSHeIFEXDjgUvHen_zQJKFRtdddoWIfLFG0XEkk4U_lvbpKriRupuOts/s1600/chr01e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJr86E-hY4CPs0xuztmFmMp1HK6hiegReYTP0sp8qk26AgXgwZE9i8T6dagXAax1ir3zasEwkGb2cAJ0hx3RlsSHeIFEXDjgUvHen_zQJKFRtdddoWIfLFG0XEkk4U_lvbpKriRupuOts/s1600/chr01e.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">This
is my chair. It is a very important chair.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">It
doesn't look like much, does it? Under that heavy layer of cast-off clothes
(including a Captain America baseball shirt that is far too big for me, and was
even more too big when I bought it at age 15) is a chair that you probably
wouldn't pull out of a Dumpster. The upholstery is cracked, the
springs have never been replaced, God knows what's living in the seat cushion,
it weighs nearly half as much as I do, and when I roll it around it sounds like
a crippled Dalek. If you saw this chair by the side of the road, you wouldn't
stop to pick it up. And if you did, you'd throw out your back trying to load it
into the car. I'm fairly sure that the frame is all steel. This is the Sherman
tank of office chairs.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">When
I moved into my current home, there was no talk of disassembling the chair. As
far as anyone knows, it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">can't</i> be
taken apart without specialized tools. We carried it bodily out of one house
and into another, grunting and swearing and trying not to bash holes in the
walls. This chair doesn't like to travel unless it's by rolling. And it's not
too keen on rolling. <br />
<br />
If there's a way to adjust the seat height, it stopped working before I was born.
The arms are welded to the frame and cannot be moved. This is a take-it-or-leave
it chair. Either it fits you, or it doesn't.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">And
yet ... and yet ...<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I've
never known anyone to sit in this chair and not immediately feel at ease. Most
people tilt it back a few degrees--it does tilt, without taking its wheels off
the ground, though I'm damned if I know how--and try to put their feet up on
something. If you close your eyes, you lose the sense that you're sitting in a
cracked and battered office chair from the dawn of office chairs, half-covered
in old clothes so you don't snag the cracked upholstery. Instead, you're
sitting behind Perry White's desk at the </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Daily Planet</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">, or
maybe getting ready to yell at Carl Kolchak for turning in these cockamamie
stories about monsters. If you grew up on old radio shows, like me, you're
Randy Stone, waxing poetic on your old Royal typewriter before you pick up the
phone and call for the copyboy. This chair knows you're here to work. It molds
itself to you and tells you that you are, by God, the equal of any writer who's
sat in it before you.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">The
chair's a bit of a funny story, really. My paternal grandmother was a writer
for most of her life--a stringer for local papers, an occasional columnist, a
would-be screenwriter and novelist. She was my first writing mentor, and I
guarantee you've never heard of her (although an old colleague of hers, now
working at the </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Los Angeles Times</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">, once recognized my last
name and asked 1) whether I was related and 2) how the hell she had scooped him
on such a regular basis). And according to family lore, </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">she
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">got this chair by, er, liberating it from the U.S. Army. Or possibly
buying it surplus. There was a lot of that going on, both at the end of World
War II and in the early 1960s, when my grandfather left the service after 20
years. I suspect she bought it; she was an honest soul at heart.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">But
however you look at it, I spent a lot of my working time sitting in a World War
II-era office chair, resisting the urge to put my feet up on a matching steel
wastebasket. I inherited both items from my grandmother when she died, along
with a desk of much more recent vintage. The irony appealed to me (well, the
irony of the wastebasket did), and in any case my own desk chair was falling
apart at the time. This one had survived a world war; it could probably handle
the occasional fight scene. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">If
anything ever goes wrong, there likely isn't a repairman alive who can fix the
darned thing. I've thought about getting it reupholstered, but I'm not sure
that would work, either. Besides, there's a certain nobility to its rugged
battleship-gray vinyl. It's literally been through the wars. Maybe that's what
gives it its air of calm competence. </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">I've seen worse than this, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">it
seems to say. </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">Try me</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">I
do need to get a proper footstool, though. It doesn't tilt </span><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue-Italic;">quite
</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: HelveticaNeue;">far enough back to let me put my feet on the desk, and there's
something ominous about putting them up on the wastebasket ...</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"></span></div>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-32667413374308985252014-01-07T11:32:00.001-08:002014-01-07T11:32:44.178-08:00Hello, January; where did you come from?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">December
went off the rails, obviously. Didn’t get those chapters written.<br />
<br />
It went a bit like this:<br />
<br />
1. First week: procrastination<br />
2. Second week: planning and prewriting and generally getting things set up for
a big productivity push late in the month.<br />
3. Third week: a ghastly bout of gastroenteritis that involved a lot of crying,
vomiting, and general misery.<br />
4. Rest of month: sloooooooowly regaining my ability to walk, talk, and
concentrate for minutes on end. Oh, and then the holidays happened. <br />
<br />
So we’re a bit behind schedule, aren’t we? And thus we come to my brilliant new
plan for increased productivity:<br />
<br />
Nagging.<br />
<br />
Here’s how it works. I’m going to try to get two to three chapters written per
week. That’s usually my maximum productivity level, so we’re shooting for the
stars here. And to keep me (dis)honest, I’m going to be posting daily photos of
my progress on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masks/156353435247" target="_blank">Masks Facebook page</a>. Notebook pages, photos of my laptop
screen, sketches or pictures of paintings-in-progress, some kind of sign that I
did <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">something </i>on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Masks </i>that day. I’ll try to do the same with Twitter, although I’ve
never posted photos to Twitter before, so bear with me on the inevitable
technical difficulties. I’m going to be doing a lot of this with an iPad
camera, so the photos will be exactly that good … or not, as the case may be.<br />
<br />
Your part in all this is to nag me. Go subscribe to the page if you haven’t
done so already. I don’t post that much or demand that you buy things; mostly I
try to be clever and amusing once a day at most. And if you think it’s been too
long without a random progress photo, nag me. Comment on something. Post on the
page. I will answer, assuming I haven’t come down with gastroenteritis again
(and I threw out the contaminated salad greens that probably caused it, so—fingers
crossed!). I am extremely susceptible to guilt, so we’re going to use that as
motivation.<br />
<br />
The first installment in Operation Nag the Writer is at the top of this blog
entry. That’s the prewrite I did for Chapter 11 of Volume 2. It involves three
of our heroes going to a bar. Be afraid.<br />
<br />
And with luck, I’ll have something worth posting on Pocket Coyote sooner than
later … </span>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-81104337818033458132013-11-18T08:33:00.000-08:002013-11-18T08:33:00.511-08:00Slightly damp index cards are the best thing ever.<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmibSkiPFF9WHOlU3srwTI_lDhgcWC5dGUfim6QnhjYdSupP238a599rpyjCmfEBycs4bRdjXjTUdo_PNEcsM0EFXhsqv8ZebYUzW_rResc1NlENWFxpX35n88z2i1eFsQQVrACvDntrY/s1600/mv2crds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmibSkiPFF9WHOlU3srwTI_lDhgcWC5dGUfim6QnhjYdSupP238a599rpyjCmfEBycs4bRdjXjTUdo_PNEcsM0EFXhsqv8ZebYUzW_rResc1NlENWFxpX35n88z2i1eFsQQVrACvDntrY/s400/mv2crds.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not pictured: tears of joy.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Teh Novel is
with the Final Beta for its final round of notes before it goes to a nice
person who asked to see it … and who will keep it busy until at least January
or February. Which means it’s about that time again …<br />
<br />
That’s right. Masks Volume 2 is ah-LIVE.<br />
<br />
A few of you may have seen <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151740950440248&set=a.169307980247.131287.156353435247&type=1&relevant_count=1&ref=nf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the joyous photo post on Facebook last night</a>. Short
version: I had been looking for the deck of scene cards for Masks Volume 2 for
several days, and had been growing increasingly worried when they didn’t turn
up. It’s not that I didn’t have backups—it’s just that there’s something about
the physical cards that makes my brain work in ways that digital backups just …
don’t. (Okay, AND the backups had gone missing. If I ever made them. Don’t
judge me.) But around midnight last night, I finally located a tattered,
unbound stack of index cards sitting loose on top of a basket of CDs that I
swear I’ve searched half a dozen times now. All 24 scene cards for Mv2, neat as
you please, except for some mysterious water spotting that hasn’t really
affected the notes. Much. <br />
<br />
I don’t remember dropping the cards in the bath or carrying them around in the
rain. I don’t remember taking the rubber band off them. (That’s something I
normally do only to decks I’ve finished with—I take the rubber bands off, tie
them with string instead, and stash notebook and cards in my box of Things I
Will Donate To A Library Someday If Anybody Cares. The box does not have a lot
of stuff in it so far. I’m weirdly proud of that.) I definitely don’t remember
leaving them on top of the CDs, as opposed to in their notebook where they
belong or in some safe receptacle. But at least I’ve got them now. And it’s
time to get to work.<br />
<br />
The first order of business, I think, will be a little random writing—picking out
the scenes that definitely work in my head, writing them down, and building out
from there to the more problematic ones. From there, I can get the serial
cranked up again.<br />
<br />
I have also decided I’m going to at least polish the early chapters, and then
re-post them with art. There might be major changes, but it’s not terribly
likely. More probably I’ll just make the sentences flow better and be content
with that. In any case, you’ll want to follow the serial on <a href="https://twitter.com/PocketCoyote" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> and
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masks/156353435247" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, as that’s where I’ll be posting links to the updated chapters. It
doesn’t make sense to post all-new versions, for a variety of reasons, but I
will try to be clear about what’s being changed. And then, not long after that
and perhaps while the polishing’s still going on, there will be NEW CHAPTERS. <br />
<br />
Because this story is a long way from done. There’s a mysterious kid Patriot to
be explored. There’s Trevor’s dance with the Masked Rider about Rae’s fate, and
Rae’s showdown with Hawkins about Trevor’s destiny. There’s whatever the hell
is going on with Soleil. There’s the matter of what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">really </i>happened to the Black Mask all those years ago, and the
solution to Trevor’s coded journal (it’s a real code, btw, that you could
theoretically solve with widely available materials). There’s Mike, of whom all
I’ll say is … there’s Mike. There are hearts to break and souls to mend and a
surprise or two. And there is a coyote. Oh, is there <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ever </i>a coyote. <br />
<br />
When will you see all this bounty, you ask with bated breath? <br />
<br />
December. Sometime. That’s the plan. Some tweaks to the website, a lot of
staying in and painting while it’s a bit chilly, and a general cranking-up of
things and advancing of the spark. I’ve got some ideas for the Volume 2 cover,
as well, and you’ll eventually be hearing about those … and some plans to add
some color to the site’s design … and other goodies … but all that’s for later.<br />
<br />
For now, I have 24 slightly damp and curling index cards. And life is good.</span></div>
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5633709080876343913.post-52890811373241119532013-11-14T14:13:00.000-08:002013-11-14T14:13:41.122-08:00Five Things I Loved & Five Things That Bug Me About Thor: The Dark World<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgB0o6W5u5fvWsaviuF9huefx4tYpBKnvEiWDnhjSjG_DP9TaU7qxYp5suMF5I1koN2V1rHP0xww6FP-xrr_6gmuHD6ch8KGzKNpOyuh0EuN6smYMKGAykCdOqsep9VMAcxf1xIRNnsc/s1600/thr205.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rH24nBp0LSOgOxTyOkCPiz2sroSP4cO5qCfyutzU83tnKd5biy0QBarOyUd7hP0lF8EoIC4DwGHjzVA_XJcSttpyteHKe6DG4p3lUY9U4RVYPYicLAOwGQwHAlkS7fFWfT_pnxs25UM/s1600/thr201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rH24nBp0LSOgOxTyOkCPiz2sroSP4cO5qCfyutzU83tnKd5biy0QBarOyUd7hP0lF8EoIC4DwGHjzVA_XJcSttpyteHKe6DG4p3lUY9U4RVYPYicLAOwGQwHAlkS7fFWfT_pnxs25UM/s400/thr201.jpg" width="283" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeah, I went there. You'll see why.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I saw the new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor </i>movie a couple of days ago, and a
few things about it have been bothering me. I enjoyed the movie, mind you, and
am planning to see it a second time with different friends just to catch a
bunch of details that I’m sure I missed on the first viewing. But as a
comic-book fan, a superhero geek, and a writer, I can’t claim to be fully
satisfied with it. So if you’re thinking about seeing <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor: The Dark World</i>, or just interested in how it looked to
someone whose writer-brain never shuts down, here are the major highlights of
that first viewing. I will avoid spoilers wherever possible. </span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsrCBDjaijXcrM6Ajv78wkN3is4AhKfq59l_SY-ItJjZcoKw-quGr7QNhrNC2aOxNlhUvrXKlCv9LLe5o1KyOBwTm5vIv5U03Jgqv6lYtOaxhtFsJm8zwAKnOX4C1Y8O2gBXiDZN5GEE/s1600/thr202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihsrCBDjaijXcrM6Ajv78wkN3is4AhKfq59l_SY-ItJjZcoKw-quGr7QNhrNC2aOxNlhUvrXKlCv9LLe5o1KyOBwTm5vIv5U03Jgqv6lYtOaxhtFsJm8zwAKnOX4C1Y8O2gBXiDZN5GEE/s320/thr202.jpg" width="215" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fine, here's the real poster.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"> <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">THINGS I LOVED: </b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJfomSTHQvgsnrRZ4HLXAR3SFF_q2M90Z0EX7a7eLycudZ5oqu_2Fe5q7iT9TPtJRgHXyfnItpkVWrzepe8UMTGv2lJejnQIMtNSU4Yupg3fEUewAVgHzuSkPZ41Zf-sBbXKEuzykKfg/s1600/thr203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlJfomSTHQvgsnrRZ4HLXAR3SFF_q2M90Z0EX7a7eLycudZ5oqu_2Fe5q7iT9TPtJRgHXyfnItpkVWrzepe8UMTGv2lJejnQIMtNSU4Yupg3fEUewAVgHzuSkPZ41Zf-sBbXKEuzykKfg/s320/thr203.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1. Hello, Loki. </b>Let’s be honest. If
you’re going to see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor: The Dark World</i>,
chances are pretty good that you or somebody you know is Team Loki. Tom
Hiddleston’s performance as the character—by turns megalomaniacal, satirical,
and emotionally broken—was a major highlight of the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor </i>movie and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers. </i>Those
movies just wouldn’t work without him. As I’ve pointed out to several people by
now, one of the interesting things about his character arc is that, up to a
certain point, he’s the good guy. For about the first half of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor, </i>it’s easy to believe (if you
ignore the film’s marketing) that Loki’s doing the right thing. Thor would obviously
make a horrible king, and Loki (as seemingly the only person in Asgard other
than Odin who can think more than ten seconds ahead) would at least be an okay
one until he gets emotionally screwed up by finding out he’s secretly blue. Of
course, then he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">does </i>get emotionally
screwed up, and the result is the spectacular downward spiral that ends with
his defeat in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers. </i>But we’re
with him that whole way, at least a little bit, because he’s made us love him
before he went bad.<br />
<br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD13ES8f80LRGn9AXWsllexpmLXDnPDYFeYmfr9gGCpfu5vBslvGdhRtiIP4Y2YvmhLWW-ylDhfAiHXDEwEWosda_CuJGMC3oJNQ2DphQhEIVooHZ8XUi2nYp9N2lBSNPsKdHO0HflQrU/s1600/thr204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD13ES8f80LRGn9AXWsllexpmLXDnPDYFeYmfr9gGCpfu5vBslvGdhRtiIP4Y2YvmhLWW-ylDhfAiHXDEwEWosda_CuJGMC3oJNQ2DphQhEIVooHZ8XUi2nYp9N2lBSNPsKdHO0HflQrU/s320/thr204.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Well, if you were looking for more of Loki’s character arc, you’re in luck.
This movie starts by wrecking him completely, and then follows him as he tries
to claw himself a few inches out of the darkness. I won’t spoil whether he
makes it, but it’s entertaining as hell to watch him scrabble. Also, he gets <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost every genuinely witty line in the
movie</i>. His dialogue is one long string of snarkasm. Even his serious bits
are better than anyone else’s. (Hint: Watch for broken furniture.) Massive
kudos to whoever was steering his character this time around; you took someone
who wasn’t supposed to be a lead and made his story way more interesting than
the main film.<br />
<br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span id="goog_1815076516"></span><span id="goog_1815076517"></span></b></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgB0o6W5u5fvWsaviuF9huefx4tYpBKnvEiWDnhjSjG_DP9TaU7qxYp5suMF5I1koN2V1rHP0xww6FP-xrr_6gmuHD6ch8KGzKNpOyuh0EuN6smYMKGAykCdOqsep9VMAcxf1xIRNnsc/s1600/thr205.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJgB0o6W5u5fvWsaviuF9huefx4tYpBKnvEiWDnhjSjG_DP9TaU7qxYp5suMF5I1koN2V1rHP0xww6FP-xrr_6gmuHD6ch8KGzKNpOyuh0EuN6smYMKGAykCdOqsep9VMAcxf1xIRNnsc/s200/thr205.jpg" width="156" /></a>2. Thor is still a goofball. </b>I’m not
going to lie. I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love </i>anything that
makes Thor look like an idiot on Earth. Whether he’s smashing coffee cups or
getting confused by flying monkeys, the big fish is a lot easier to take when
he’s out of water. Well, he’s a goofball again here, even though most of the
action takes place off earth. He hangs his hammer on an apparently worthy coatrack;
that’s all you need to know. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWEQSvo5_g1V3k024g2C3PzjRpkNjNb60SjFkYGJk4IFtgvUhI69_h_lBE1xEq0pFB9FAoDGf8eFrpghQ3gqhX5SI0630bRV5MnoE8ZU6dAr7yfh4uo6Os5WeYKg1OhWzlIdhqZhSAAc/s1600/thr206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWEQSvo5_g1V3k024g2C3PzjRpkNjNb60SjFkYGJk4IFtgvUhI69_h_lBE1xEq0pFB9FAoDGf8eFrpghQ3gqhX5SI0630bRV5MnoE8ZU6dAr7yfh4uo6Os5WeYKg1OhWzlIdhqZhSAAc/s200/thr206.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
3. Heimdall is a badass. </b>Heimdall, memorably played by Idris Elba, got
short shrift in the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor </i>movie,
what with getting turned into a guardsicle. This movie shows why he’s still got
his job. And it is glorious. That’s all I’m going to say.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNOBd2SctG1ufUOSoE5sKN52kaUs_igXT43p3NsTcXe1mlMvffHAy9OPaxl2z-ORTZFzM3gXrDa7NCyTMd3nEV1_yPn-5Wzv121hd-9GjOh9pHrSCVaWBmYPF9XnFxj4TNxeyBrPQXyNU/s1600/thr207.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNOBd2SctG1ufUOSoE5sKN52kaUs_igXT43p3NsTcXe1mlMvffHAy9OPaxl2z-ORTZFzM3gXrDa7NCyTMd3nEV1_yPn-5Wzv121hd-9GjOh9pHrSCVaWBmYPF9XnFxj4TNxeyBrPQXyNU/s1600/thr207.jpg" /></a></div>
4. Frigga! </b>Much as I enjoyed the character of Jane Foster in the first <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor </i>movie, I did feel a little cheated
that Frigga practically wasn’t in it, except for an occasional eyeroll. The
movie was a story about two brothers competing for their father’s approval.
There is no way a mom is not getting involved in that conflict somehow. Well,
this movie puts Frigga into a much more central role, and her scenes are some
of the film’s best. She tries to help Loki deal with the consequences of, y’know,
going evil. She handles the obligatory meet-your-son’s-mortal-girlfriend scene
with queenly grace. She talks back to Odin with an easy familiarity that sums
up their whole marriage beautifully. And she even gets a fairly badass fight
scene. Again, I could spoil here, but I won’t. I’m mildly disappointed in the
way her character ends up, but since the quality of the movie goes up for every
scene she’s in, I’m very glad she’s there. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCULP123XDl7TX82TaBt2YMyvrTGqsw0RYr4CgdyYtTRe6Zncc4tRWCBh2xEsCCaqyNCIQ8o-2mmGE2o1UpajptV85y4IEZsF5lYgWV3KkrM-zz0bf5J1LBGNtlxMId1GhyphenhyphenjEp4l5p88Y/s1600/thr208.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCULP123XDl7TX82TaBt2YMyvrTGqsw0RYr4CgdyYtTRe6Zncc4tRWCBh2xEsCCaqyNCIQ8o-2mmGE2o1UpajptV85y4IEZsF5lYgWV3KkrM-zz0bf5J1LBGNtlxMId1GhyphenhyphenjEp4l5p88Y/s320/thr208.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
5. Darcy? </b>I’m of two minds here. Jane’s intern, Darcy, was pretty much a
flat comic sidekick in the first movie. In this one, with Jane starting out an
emotional wreck because of Lack of Boyfriend Disease (see the notes on Jane
below), Darcy is very much in charge of the whole science thing … and it turns
out she’s good at it. Here we get to see Darcy competent, mostly in control,
and still quite funny. She’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">still </i>a
bit too fluffy and comic-sidekicky for my taste, but she’s a lot better. And
while Jane is pining for Thor and Thor is being clueless and large objects are
falling out of the sky and smashing into London, it’s nice that Darcy is
keeping the plot running. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
THINGS THAT BUG ME:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJR7iU-6rf0dOZNYy0Tly42ofQvvOHsXkqoBGjgxRrYO4RU9bwGVfAcpsUK9C5bqjn8w2xd1997Z98rSwR5U-d7i94_-NZZWpFqBVLXFcNNoVOZOcGahVRNrXdIhmb1VNJQvvLfpKOv8/s1600/thr209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJR7iU-6rf0dOZNYy0Tly42ofQvvOHsXkqoBGjgxRrYO4RU9bwGVfAcpsUK9C5bqjn8w2xd1997Z98rSwR5U-d7i94_-NZZWpFqBVLXFcNNoVOZOcGahVRNrXdIhmb1VNJQvvLfpKOv8/s320/thr209.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
1. Where’s Jane? </b>Seriously. Everything I said about Jane in the first
movie? How she got her own character arc and seemed to have something to do in
the story? All that’s gone here. It’s not much of a spoiler to say that the
entire main plot revolves around Jane getting infected with evilness and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everyone else freaking out about it. </i>And
she just stands there, pining for Thor and being mostly silent. Her most
active, interesting moment is arguably the bit right before she hides behind a
pillar. Yeah, we get that she’s been taken to Asgard and she’s wowed by
everything, but at a certain point you’ve got to adjust and take an active role
in your own life. If you’re dying of evil magic-stuff and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you’re a freaking scientist</i>, you could do some research on how to
not die of evil magic-stuff. Maybe perform some experiments. Or, hey, call Odin
on some of his obvious bullshit, of which there’s plenty. But getting infected
by evilness seems to completely sap Jane’s free will, to say nothing of her
personality. Natalie Portman’s dress is more interesting than she is. I am Very
Disappointed, Marvel.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUs0gDQIfNOmeacBRKlYIEQAYVjxEn_sQI4X3oKml7r4sf-cqNSUtqBz_50Ze3o4Dw0iEmE26gPcSiiV6HhC5_LgJ2WjMixHjRSqbVrUv_CaQXwy2beDGvi9Ia-JGPo1ABbiKvtAuBTQ/s1600/thr210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUs0gDQIfNOmeacBRKlYIEQAYVjxEn_sQI4X3oKml7r4sf-cqNSUtqBz_50Ze3o4Dw0iEmE26gPcSiiV6HhC5_LgJ2WjMixHjRSqbVrUv_CaQXwy2beDGvi9Ia-JGPo1ABbiKvtAuBTQ/s320/thr210.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pantslessness not shown for your safety.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
2. Put some pants on. </b>Poor, poor Stellan Skarsgard. You were the token
sane guy in the first movie and the person we worried about most in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Avengers. </i>Now you’re supposed to be
crazy because Loki’s been inside your brain, and we totally get that. But did
the writers have to play you for straight slapstick? It was funny once to see
you running around Stonehenge naked, carrying mysterious scientific equipment,
but there was no need to replay the footage over and over. And there was
definitely no need, once you went off your obviously crazy-making meds, for you
to refuse to wear pants. You bluffed Phil Coulson once, and you teamed up with
the Black Widow. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. I am embarrassed for you,
token authority figure. Please put some pants on. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RpwLxXvZFVLCPjtkmVf1M9Z-5V5z1GUxBXJHSxj5wLmBIKZcMmp6dB5BLZUNiBb8uPS6cRU_Qih8iaHwiaFnRAb_R16h1tv5nYx_WTdtG_0NQmH4CAu3EK2Gq0BtMnNYRqaMO7Ip9ww/s1600/thr211.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6RpwLxXvZFVLCPjtkmVf1M9Z-5V5z1GUxBXJHSxj5wLmBIKZcMmp6dB5BLZUNiBb8uPS6cRU_Qih8iaHwiaFnRAb_R16h1tv5nYx_WTdtG_0NQmH4CAu3EK2Gq0BtMnNYRqaMO7Ip9ww/s320/thr211.png" width="276" /></a></div>
3. Poor Christopher Eccleston. </b>All my sympathy for Stellan Skarsgard goes
up an order of magnitude for Christopher Eccleston. Whoever cast him as
Malekith did him no favors. I’m going to wave my <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Doctor Who </i>flag here, and risk getting strangled by the David
Tennant and Matt Smith fans to say that I actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">liked </i>seeing Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor. He was the first Doctor
I genuinely enjoyed, and he had a dark and dangerous edge that was never quite
replicated in later incarnations. More importantly, though, Eccleston is an
actor who knows how to use his instrument very, very well. His versatile
rubber-face and his expressive voice are two of his greatest assets. He could
do more with a look and a twist of his accent than the entire <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Who </i>effects budget all at once. So who
the hell thought it was a good idea to weigh him down with heavy facial
prosthetics and make him speak a made-up language through a digital voice
changer? He didn’t have a great script to start with—we honestly have no idea
why we should care about his quest to return the universe to primordial
darkness—but I can’t escape the feeling that Eccleston could have turned
Malekith into something much more than a cardboard villain if the effects guys
and the makeup department had just let him do what he does. You gave him pointy
ears, guys—can’t he move them, just once? It’s a big mistake to force your main
villain to get lost inside his costume, but that’s just what happened here. Mr.
Eccleston, you got shafted, and I am angry on your behalf.<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxgcCFNVMkJS1BU3pu2bNHOgakhXVQXr6pTtJ0Z7cFLzr-EkeQorGnDPe8inJyHkNk8Q-P-Kqym8ZYB8Jx2v_PJQSPlWAvTGAh3DxabINcOo24X2jbR-NOA0x_g6ULEMeaFDq5W-scMQ/s1600/thr212.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpxgcCFNVMkJS1BU3pu2bNHOgakhXVQXr6pTtJ0Z7cFLzr-EkeQorGnDPe8inJyHkNk8Q-P-Kqym8ZYB8Jx2v_PJQSPlWAvTGAh3DxabINcOo24X2jbR-NOA0x_g6ULEMeaFDq5W-scMQ/s1600/thr212.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Yes, another face shot. REASONS.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
4. Hello AGAIN, Loki. </b>This one’s brief. As stated above, I love the
character of Loki. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">But even I think there
was too much Loki in this movie. </i>He didn’t need <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quite </i>so many zingers. He didn’t need <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quite </i>so much screen time. Seriously, there could have been a real
movie going on around him, you know? It’s not his fault that it didn’t show up.
And it looks like he was supposed to be a subplot, so he really should not have
been allowed (or possibly forced) to take over the film like he did. He was
only able to do that because there was so little in the way of compelling story
going on elsewhere, and his own arc was not quite strong enough to carry the
film on its own. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thor: The Dark World </i>tried
to turn its B plot into its A without letting the B grow into the role. Either
let Loki be a strong supporting player or <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">give
him his own movie</i>. Which brings me to … <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfGsDPZxQj7E750ZzFYq83FN4kIPF5m1oXZRtLhH0In7mp5e_yIZoAhCRNjstGc6F14TQTJNjddwRpx25QEN4jd9AY2aT4hg1YD0SUVM6Xe9JkgWnHjJJHqLQ7nyIoieBDjA4iKKhyphenhyphenGk/s1600/thr201.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAfGsDPZxQj7E750ZzFYq83FN4kIPF5m1oXZRtLhH0In7mp5e_yIZoAhCRNjstGc6F14TQTJNjddwRpx25QEN4jd9AY2aT4hg1YD0SUVM6Xe9JkgWnHjJJHqLQ7nyIoieBDjA4iKKhyphenhyphenGk/s320/thr201.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>See, now it's appropriate.</b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
5. Behold the Frankenmovie. </b>I don’t know whose movie this is supposed to
be. If it’s Malekith’s, he should’ve been allowed to talk. If it’s Thor’s, he
should’ve had a real problem to solve (Malekith is not a problem because he’s
almost not there). If it’s Loki’s, well, you’ve heard enough about that. It
can’t be Jane’s because she doesn’t do anything. This whole movie feels like
several very different comic-book storylines, of widely varying quality, thrown
into a blender and set on “big chunks”. The result is a movie that feels …
well, lumpy. Uneven. Sort of smooshed together in a way that doesn’t really
work that well. There are some good parts, but they’re all parts of different
movies. Honestly, the last scene would have made a better premise for a film
than anything that came before it (and that last scene is why I’ll be showing
up for the third movie, so good job there, marketers). I fully expect the “all
Loki version” to show up on the internet any day now, and it will be an
improvement. <br />
<br />
What did you guys think of the movie? Let me know in the comments, and label
spoilers, if you can … </span><br />
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11659595825433939783noreply@blogger.com0