Monthly archives: March, 2013

Who the hell is Angela, and why should I care?

When was the last time anyone cared about Spawn? Was it when that terrible movie came out? How about when that terrible animated series was around. Or when the “action” figures were all the rage? Spawn was at the forefront of everything that went wrong with comics in the 90s: too grim, too gritty, spikes and capes up the wazoo, bad art and even worse writing. I mean, the only thing worse about the 90s was that whole “Bad Girl” craze with Vampirella, Lady Death and the like, right? If only there was some way they could have combined the two into one character that epitomized the worst that comic books had to offer two decades ago…

Oh wait, they did. Her name was Angela. And now for some god awful reason she’s part of the Marvel Universe.

Or at least she will be by June. Angela is going to make an appearance in Age of Ultron, and it looks like she might be here to stay. According to newsarama.com, “the appearance of Angela will be at the end of the series, with editor-in-chief Axel Alonso likening her appearance to the post-credits scenes at the end of Marvel Studios films.” Apparently Mr. Alonso isn’t quite aware that the appeal of those surprise appearances at the end of Marvel movies is that they’re SURPRISE APPEARANCES. There’s no such thing as a Thanos superfan, but when Thanos showed up at the end of Avengers without notice, every fanboy in the theater creamed his pants because they weren’t expecting it. (more…)



A Means to an End

Peter Parker has always been my favorite comic book character. Not Spider-Man, mind you, Peter Parker. Yes, Pete has the proportionate strength and agility of a spider, but it’s not his powers that make him cool, it’s his personality. When Spider-Man isn’t Peter, I’m just not interested. Ben Reilly, Miguel O’Hara, Miles Morales, Otto Octavius…I’m just not interested.

nullI haven’t been reading Superior Spider-Man for specifically that reason. I bet Dan Slott’s making some pretty good stories, because I’ve enjoyed almost everything he’s done, but I just don’t care. I have no idea what’s going on in the title aside from the advanced solicitations like the one to the left. But I think I figured out what the whole point of replacing Pete with Doc Ock.

Peter’s had it way too easy over the last few years. Sure, he had to give up his marriage with Mary Jane to Mephisto in order to save Aunt May’s life, but what else has really gone wrong? He’s become a respected hero as a member of the Avengers and the FF. He’s got his dream job working as an inventor at Horizon Labs. He has unlimited resources at his disposal, so he doesn’t have to worry about making rent on his sweet penthouse apartment, running out of web fluid or not having the tech necessary to take on anybody in his rogues gallery. He’s banged Black Cat and a sexy/nerdy police investigator, and it turns out his years-long relationship with MJ wasn’t blinked out of existence, only their marriage certificate was. Aunt May is happy and safe, his secret ID is well-protected…does this sound like Spider-Man to any of you? (more…)