The Racist History Behind The Super Soldier Serum

Spider-man 55th Anniversary Animated Short

Where Was Loki...?

So here is a question of the plot from Avengers: Where was Loki, while the Avengers had their shwarma? Here is one possible scenario.

tumblr_m5lk5a6Rt81rwplcoo1_500.png (PNG Image, 500 × 544 pixels)

The Many Looks of Spiderman Over the Past 50 Years [INFOGRAPHIC]

Spider-Man debuted August 10, 1962! It's been 50 years!




The Many Looks of Spiderman Over the Past 50 Years [INFOGRAPHIC]

Surprising No One, 'One Million Moms' Is Mad About Gay X-Men - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

There has been much media attention given to the X-Man Northstar marring another male character in the comics next month. I think that the commentary by Chris Sims of Comics Alliance should be taken notice of. I respect Chris Sims and enjoy his commentary on culture and media. I don't always agree with him but I like the way he expresses himself. At times he's really insightful. In this case he weighs in on the "One Million Moms" group attacking the move by Marvel and calling for parents to boycott.

He quotes the group's website:

Children desire to be just like superheroes. Children mimic superhero actions and even dress up in costumes to resemble these characters as much as possible. Can you imagine little boys saying, "I want a boyfriend or husband like X-Men?"

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/05/25/one-one-million-moms-mad-about-gay-x-men/#ixzz1w2p7La5E

I agree with Mr Sims that this is really stupid. Neither reading a book or watching a movie or television makes you gay. Really, really stupid.

I also agree with Sims that the lesson we should get from X-Men and other superheroes:

What they teach you is that you should use your abilities to help the people around you and make the world a better place rather than just throwing your weight around to be a bully. And they teach you that when the world hates and fears someone just because they're different, it's the world that's wrong.

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/05/25/one-one-million-moms-mad-about-gay-x-men/#ixzz1w2pnoNO0

The thing I disagree with is that pointing out embracing a behavior or actions that go against a person's well being is bullying and hatred.  Unfortunately, Christians have not given gay people the love they deserve. Homosexuality is no worse a sin than lying or stealing or murder, but often Christians tell Homosexuals that what they are doing is the worse possible sin you can do. That's not what the Bible says. God doesn't hate homosexuals. God calls all of us to repentance and holiness. Not just homosexuals. We all have sinned not just homosexuals. How is it hatred to tell someone that God loves you and has better for you if you just trust God and obey God. God has got the best for you.God will improve your life. You don't have to settle for less than the very best God has for you. 

The following verse applies to all of us.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will. - Romans 12:1,2

But you can't do it without God and God will help you if you give yourself to God.

Surprising No One, 'One Million Moms' Is Mad About Gay X-Men - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Marvel Girls on Film: Are These Your Female Avengers? - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

You probably already know this, but I loved the Avengers movie.  The thing is I would have liked to have seen more characters including female ones. With the big reveal at the end of the movie, it's obvious that the Avengers are going to need more recruits to deal with what is coming - why not add some women?! Comics Alliance has posted a real good article regarding who should make the cut from the comics. Take a look.

Marvel Girls on Film: Are These Your Female Avengers? - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

James Sturm Boycotts 'The Avengers' Film over Marvel's Treatment of Jack Kirby - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

I realize that many people don't see how comic books affect our culture but today Comics Alliance posted a truly great article about how James Sturm is calling a boycott of the Avengers Film because of how Marvel/Disney refuses to share some of the profits with Jack Kirby's heirs derived from characters either created or co-created (the bulk of the Avengers) by Kirby. Last summer a judge sided with Marvel/DC and it's clear that what Marvel has done is not illegal but I agree with Sturm that it's not quite as ethical. I mean would Captain America not share the profits with Kirby's heirs if he ran Disney? I think he would.

Sturm again:

"What makes this situation especially hard to stomach is that Marvel's media empire was built on the backs of characters whose defining trait as superheroes is the willingness to fight for what is right. It takes a lot of corporate moxie to put Thor and Captain America on the big screen and have them battle for honor and justice when behind the scenes the parent company acts like a cold-blooded supervillain. As Stan Lee famously wrote, "With great power comes great responsibility."

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/02/08/cartoonist-james-sturm-boycotts-the-avengers-movie-over-marvel/#ixzz1lrVpd85L

This also comes right in long with the controversy between Alan Moore and DC Comics over the right to tell and profit more stories based on the Watchmen characters.
To be completely honest, I'm still gonna see the movie when it drops in May.

James Sturm Boycotts 'The Avengers' Film over Marvel's Treatment of Jack Kirby - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

The United States Government Debates Whether the X-Men Are Human Beings... In Real Life - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Okay, here is a great example for why I like to read Comics Alliance. They just posted a story that I had not heard about where the US Government wanted to tax toys based on the X-Men franchise differently from other toys based on whether or not they represented human beings or not. There was a whole podcast on this by RadioLab and in addition to posting the podcast there were great comments made in the Comics Alliance post.

You can listen to the fascinating story above -- including a few thoughts on the case from X-Men movie director Bryan Singer -- and it's well worth 18 minutes of your time. The short version is that tariff law classifies toys into two different categories. Anything that's brought into the country for a kid to play with is either a doll, which includes anything that represents a human being, or a toy, which covers anything that's not. It might seem like a small distinction -- especially when I'm sure some of you are out there shouting "they're action figures!" -- but the fact is that the import tax on dolls is twice what it is for toys.

Back in the '90s, when Toy Biz was making so much money off of X-Men action figures that it was able to actually buy Marvel comics at one point, this was a pretty big deal. But the thing about those lucrative X-Men toys is that they're not based on "humans" -- or at least, they're not based on homo sapiens. So armed with that distinction, trade lawyers Sherry Singer and Indie Singh went to the customs office to take up the proud tradition of Bolivar Trask and argue that mutants are not, in fact, human beings, and should not be treated as such.

Magneto was right, y'all. About international trade taxes, at least.

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/12/29/xmen-human-real-life-radiolab/#ixzz1hyLjzzEK

The United States Government Debates Whether the X-Men Are Human Beings... In Real Life - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

R.I.P. Joe Simon: Remembering One of Comics' Most Iconic Creators - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Image via Wikipedia

I just found out on Friday that Joe Simon died. He was a very talented and imaginitive writer and artist who created and co-created many many characters - such as Captain America! He is going to be missed - but what a legacy he leaves behind.

R.I.P. Joe Simon: Remembering One of Comics' Most Iconic Creators - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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MILES MORALES & ME: Why the new biracial Spider-Man matters - Comic Riffs - The Washington Post

I find that Miles Morales  - the new Spider-Man - has made profound waves and he's only appeared in one issue so far! David Betancourt has written a very passionate essay about what this change means to a life-long fan. One of my favorite quotes from the article is:

Black superheroes, of course, have made their mark on the comic book industry — including not only Black Panther but also Storm and Spawn, for example — but this is different. This is Marvel taking the mantle of their flagship character — one of the most important comic-book characters in history — and placing the characters in the hands of a kid who reflects a more accurate portrayal of the diversity of where we are in the world right now.

This is a great article, check it outl

MILES MORALES & ME: Why the new biracial Spider-Man matters - Comic Riffs - The Washington Post

 

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Parting Shot: Understanding the Ultimate Spider-Man Controversy - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

I think that there is a really interesting take on the recent racial issues brought up in new Ultimate Spider-Man

Cartoonist Ty Templeton has tackled the negative reaction by a number of people in the mainstream media (and comics) to the new half-black, half-Hispanic Ultimate Spider-Man Miles
Morales in a new edition of his regular Bun Toons comic. I predict this will clear everything up:

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/08/08/ultimate-spider-man-miles-morales/#ixzz1UUEv6763

So in other words, it's not like the Comics Industry hasn't done this before. The problem is it's Spider-Man and Spider-Man is high profile.

Parting Shot: Understanding the Ultimate Spider-Man Controversy - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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Taiwanese Animation Sees Diverse Spider-Man, Suggests More Asian Superheroes [Video] - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

This past week two things happened that showed us that we have much to do in terms of race relations: The new Spider-Man is a half-black and half-latino and Lawrence Fishburne has been cast in the Superman movie as Perry White. Quite a few racist remarks has been said and being African-American myself I am highly sensitive. The truth is that in the battle of black vs white in America, we often forget that most of the people on the planet are Asian (Chinese to be exact). Also there is so much racism against people who are from that part of the world. Let's face it: whoever is freshest off the boat gets it first in America, and blacks and latinos are next. Everyone should be protected. It's always interesting to hear what Asian-Americans experience. They are in the same boat as other minorities - used, abused, and stereotyped. Why are there are almost no Asian-American superheroes? Racism. The people who control the media don't think we want to read about and watch strong Asian characters. Some people do transcend all of that: Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan - but they are exception. This is why the live-action Dragonball and Avatar:The Last Airbender moves had non-Asian casts for characters who clearly should have been Asian.  It's sad. Look at the video below that deals with these question from a Taiwaneses point of view.




Taiwanese Animation Sees Diverse Spider-Man, Suggests More Asian Superheroes [Video] - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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The Black Spider-Man is a Reality

I've always been a Spider-Man fan. ALWAYS. When I was a young child, I wanted to be Spider-Man. The fact that Spider-Man was white didn't bother me (still doesn't). The character transcends race. Andrew Garfield, who will play Spider-Man in the next film, captured why the character is important to me even now in his speech at Comic Con 2011. In Ultimate Fallout #4, released today, a new Spider-man is introduced. It's not Peter Parker. He is Mile Morales who is half black and half Latino in a parallel universe to a comic book universewe usually read in the main Spider-man titles. Miles picks up for Peter after Peter died last June in the Ultimate Universe.

This move answers the question brought up last year when people suggested Donald Glover to be cast as Spider-Man/Peter Parker: "Why can't Spider-Man be black?" I like the way this is being handled because we get to keep Peter Parker and yet explore the Spider-Man character in a direction I never thought would happen. My son will look at Spider-Man in a total different way than I have.

Andrew Garfield Might Have Gotten the ‘Spider-Man’ Movie, but Donald Glover Influenced the New Half-Black, Half-Latino Spidey in the Comics | Crushable

New Ultimate Spider-Man is Half-black, Half-latino!

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Meet the New 'Ultimate Spider-Man' [SPOILERS] - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

I'm not sure how to take this. Marvel has dropped the news of who the new Spider-Man is in Ultimate Spider-Man. I'll wait until I read this to comment. If you wanna know who is under that mask (Peter Parker) is dead in the Ultimate Marvel universe now, then click on the link below to read a great article on this news.




Meet the New 'Ultimate Spider-Man' [SPOILERS] - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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TOYSREVILs *I Like Toys* Blog: The Avengers Character Posters from Marvel Studios Is Now Complete

At this weekend a painting promoting Avengers has been released!


TOYSREVILs *I Like Toys* Blog: The Avengers Character Posters from Marvel Studios Is Now Complete

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The Gospel According to Thor; or Thor vs Jesus

Introduction

This is part of what I hope will be an ongoing series on my blog. This will be a continuation of a series of blog posts that compare Jesus to pagan and ancient figures whom skeptics claim at best inspired Christian understanding of Jesus and at worst stole their ideas. I've compared several figures and god to Jesus and found none come close to who the Bible says Jesus is and who I have found Jesus to be myself - a perfect savior.

I think the conclusions that people like James Patrick Holder have reached are correct in that the truth is that because many ancient myths were not written until after the Bible was completed and distributed it is far more likely that they where influenced by Christianity and not the other way around. I think that this is especially true today in fictional myths and stories are in circulation today. I wonder if Jesus' Second Coming is delayed for another 2000 years, will skeptics then think that Christianity was informed and influenced by comics books and film instead of the other way around?

In this Post - Thor

Let's see how Thor (historical myth, Marvel Comics character, and 2011 film) has been related to Christianity. It's important to remember that because there is a longing in the human heart - an incompleteness - It makes sense that people would try to fill the void and their solutions would in some ways be similar to the real solution.

The Myth

A god, named Thor, was worshiped by the Vikings and in northern Europe.Thor was the god of thunder and what the Norse people believed was that lightning storms were the result of Thor's enchanted hammer, Mjölnir, smacking frost giants into submission. He was called upon by people for protection. He had a magic belt, gloves, and aforementioned hammer. He could throw the hammer like a boomerang. One big difference between Norse mythology and the mythology of ancient cultures is that their story has an ending. An apocalyptic event they called Ragnarök - where like the British Sci-Fi series Red Dwarf - most of the characters (all the gods and most of humanity) all die. Thor dies taking out his nemesis - the giant midgard serpent. I admit Thor's personality is definitely entrenched in Viking culture. From what I have read he isn't like Superman at all. He fights because he like to fight not because he has to and not to just protect others. He is vulnerable to magic and can be tricked. Thor was the kind of person that the average Viking strove to become and had their weaknesses.

Marvel Comics

As for the comics, when Stan Lee decided to adapt Thor for Marvel Comics, he not only just took Thor but his whole back story, gave it a modern twist, and in some ways unconsciously Christianized the story. Odin sends Thor to earth to teach him humility. There are several things that were changed that I really liked. For example only worthy people can use the hammer. The Marvel Universe is full of fictional races of beings. By making one such race the Asgardian gods has fueled years of great stories. It was also genius to make Thor a member of the superhero community at Marvel. Thor can fly. In those first stories Thor spoke in Elizabethan English like Shakespeare and the King James Bible. Forsooth. Verily.

Loki is quite a bit different in the comics than he is from mythology. Loki wants to destroy Thor and rule Asgard. He comes off a lot more like Satan than he does in the Norse stories.

2011 Movie

The movie version of Thor definitely matches the Marvel version to a tee. One of the things liked best is the short suggestion that Norse people may had perhaps met Asgardians and thought that they were gods. The other things is like the Comic Books, Thor grows into a hero - someone who cares more about others than he does himself. The movie dealt with issues of sacrifice and parenting. Odin's relationship to Thor is complicated. But in the movie, he truly want what is best for his sons, Asgard, and to avoid war. Sounds familiar?

Jesus

Here is the important point of the post. Jesus is very different from Thor in all of Thor's incarnations. Jesus came to earth voluntarily. Jesus doesn't just wield lightning. The wind, rain, and lightning all obey Jesus at His word. Jesus can do more than protect you from being stepped on by a frost giant, or getting killed by super villain. Jesus not only protects us but save us from ourselves and gives us eternal life. You also should remember that there was a time when Jesus and Thor were in direct competition when the Norse people were Christianized millinia ago. Jesus won. Christianity won so big that Norse mythology was rewritten so that at the end of Ragnarok, the only thing that survived was the great tree, Yggdrasil, - and born within it was a man and woman who remake the world - an And and Eve. The other thing is that Jesus is not like us. He doesn't approach life or circumstances as any of us would. If you were going to make up a messiah, he/she would look a lot more like Thor than Jesus Christ.

I found an interview with Merrill Kaplan, who teaches Norse literature and folklore to college students.

"In its way, Norse mythology is still alive," she said. "I don't mean paganism is alive, although there are people who have tried to revive rituals regarding these stories. But there has never been a point at which no one has been interested in this stuff.

"When the age of Norse paganism closed in history," she said, "the age of geeks opened."

The age of geeks?

Kaplan laughed, explaining that most of what we know about Norse mythology comes from monks and Christian writers who weren't worshipping these gods, but were just "geeking out" about how "cool" the stories were.

"Some of them were men in monasteries, professional men of the clergy, who thought these stories were really cool," she said. "It's the age of geeks that kept Norse myth alive. And I guess it's what continues to keep it alive."

Kaplan said there are also influences from Norse mythology that most people don't even realize. For example, "Thursday" derives from "Thor's Day."

"Somebody is always naming something after a Norse god or goddess or something in the myths," she said, citing Norwegian oil platforms called Thor and Odin. "In a way, the story of Norse mythology is still going on."

Concluding Remark

The stories are good and fun to read for sure. And Thor lives on in Comic Books but we must not forget that Jesus is a better savior than Thor could ever be.

References

THORSDAY: The Mythological Versus the Marvel THOR
Ragnarok - Wikipedia
Thor, Jesus and the Old Testament | HILLS BIBLE CHURCH BLOG
The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Character - Thor

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Time and Time Again: The Complete History of DC's Retcons and Reboots - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

One of the reasons why I like comic books is because it shows fundamental fact: keeping track of a universe is really difficult. Both Marvel and DC publish stories of fictional universes, populated by thousands of characters and told in multiple books every single month by variety of talented people over years since 1938! How do you keep such stories continuous and consistent? Well, being human, they can't! So when characters and stories become unwieldy and confused, what do you do? Reboots and retcons!!! Basically, you start over and ignore past stories that contradict what you do now. At least, in current times, you write huge events across multiple bkooks to explain and give reasons why the history of characters change! Sometimes these things are well done and don't make longtime readers feel cheated. DC Comics is going through such changes now in which they are rebooting nearly all of their books and starting over coming late August. Comics Alliance has posted a great article giving a history of DC's reboots. Turns out that it's happened a lot more than I've thought.

Makes me even more grateful for God because He knows everything and in his soveriegnty he doesn't need to reboot any of our lives to ensure consistency and to fulfill His purposes. Retcons not necessary if you are God.

Time and Time Again: The Complete History of DC's Retcons and Reboots - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

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Parting Shot: Graphing the Male/Female Divide in Mainstream Comics - ComicsAlliance | Comic book culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

It seems that there is gender issues and every industry and field - even in creating and publishing comic books.


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Reginald Hudlin on the Black Panther

Here are a couple of Reginald Hudlin discussing being a black writer in the Entertainment Industries

Marvel's Digital Comics Strategy: Making Sense of the 5 Ways to Buy - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Comics Alliance has posted a great article about Marvel Comics' strategy for digitally distributing their comic books. This article discusses a lot of repercussions for digital distribution for a lot of different types of media. They pointed out some things about Marvel's strategy.

Rather than embracing something like Amazon's "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" approach for Kindle books, Marvel has instead turned to "Buy Once, Read on One Specific Device." Marvel desperately needs to put those user accounts to good use and begin behaving like Amazon. What they have now is a confusing mishmash of apps and libraries, like a fistful of puzzle pieces that don't fit together.

Going with "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" would make Marvel's digital comics program much more attractive. Instead, we're stuck with varying price points, varying libraries, and varying user experiences. Something's got to give.

Read More: http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/02/07/marvel-digital-comics-buy/#ixzz1DPMvPusd

I agree with Comics Alliance. I agree with them that Marvel is making a mistake and I wish they would follow DC Comics' and Amazon's Kindle strategy of buying content once and being able to read it on any hardware you own.

Marvel's Digital Comics Strategy: Making Sense of the 5 Ways to Buy - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews