Television Heaven update

Here are all my Television Heaven articles and reviews since the last quarter of 2023 up to January 2024. Gradually picking up the pace as I slowly get back in the swing of the writing thing. We have modern and vintage telly from across the decades, beginning with the charming teen superhero series Ms. Marvel within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Perhaps the best show on television right now, never mind that it's aimed at five-year-olds: Bluey. A surprise release late last year of the pre-Python comedy series The Complete and Utter History of Britain. More up-to-date is the comedy-drama that's swept the awards lately, Only Murders in the Building. For Hallowe'en I took a look back at the Steven Moffat's take on Stevenson's classic, BBC serial Jekyll. Most recently, I polished off my teaspoons and revisited a gem from my childhood, T-Bag. And finally, I brought my overview of 21st century Doctor Who right up to date.

REVIEW: The Marvels

Getting to the cinema is a challenge these days, but I finally got the chance to see The Marvels, a movie I had really been looking forward to. I was aware, of course, of the poor reception of the film, but based on the trailer I was honestly expecting a good time.

I wasn't wrong. The Marvels is, quite simply, great fun. It's not a groundbreaking or genre-defining instalment, and it's certainly not going to reinvent the Marvel Cinematic Universe, something which, if we're honest, is probably needed at this point. Moviegoers who are tired of the MCU or comicbook movies in general are not going to won round by this, but those who are simply looking for an entertaining adventure are in for a treat.

This movie was always going to have a hard time of it, purely because of the depressingly inevitable backlash from the more misogynistic side of fandom. Much like the She-Hulk series or 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, the actual quality of the film is completely irrelevant to such people. They were downvoting it on ratings sites as soon as it was announced, insisting that their problem wasn't the gender balance, but the writing and acting - before anyone had even seen it. For all the damage these quarters do to a movie's reputation before it even arrives, there's little point engaging with them.

However, women have to work twice as hard to get half as far in this world, and unless a film of this type is a phenomenal work of art, it will be largely written off if the cast if more female than male (or contains multiple people of colour, varied sexualities or gender expression - anything to which the label "woke" can be attached derisively). The Marvels is a perfectly serviceable and enjoyable superhero romp, easily as good as the majority of the MCU. 

The story is fairly by-the-numbers, with a maniacal villain perpetrating terrible cosmic crimes, who must be stopped at all costs. Some handy technobabble causes the three characters with light-based powers to become entangled, shifting places with each other when they use their abilities. The plot is primarily there to generate some exciting visuals and provide a reason for the three leads to be brought together so that they can bounce off each other, and this is where the film triumphs.

The stand-out star here is Iman Vellani, returning as Kamala Khan after her breakout series Ms. Marvel. It must be mind-boggling for Vellani, to have been propelled from fan to superstar in such a short time, but she undoubtedly deserves it. Her performance as Kamala is heartfelt, adorable, relatable and resolute. Seeing Kamala encounter her hero Captain Marvel is a blockbuster-scale version of one of us meeting the our favourite movie star, and Kamala's joy, mixed with fear of disappointing her hero, is brilliantly portrayed by Vellani. As the story progresses, she matures, stepping up as a hero while never losing her idealism.

She provides a great contrast to Brie Larson's Carol Danvers, who has been operating as Captain Marvel for thirty years at this point, in-universe. Thankfully, the film doesn't go down a "never meet your heroes" route of dragging Danvers down, but she is weighed down by responsibility and the mistakes she's made. The script is brave enough to show us that the first thing Danvers did was foul up massively, causing a chain reaction of events that devastated the Kree homeworld, while still maintaining her as a hero it's right to look up to. Larson's performance as Danvers has received some flack since her first appearance in Captain Marvel, but I don't get it. She's a powerful leading lady, and dominates events even as she is generous to her co-stars. 

This gives Teyonah Parris the tough job of being the third member of the team, neither the main lead nor the up-and-coming youngster. She does an amazing job in a tricky position, making Monica Rambeau the most down-to-earth and pragmatic member of the trio, but also the one we might look up to the most. With even less experience in using her powers than Kamala, Monica has the steepest learning curve of all, while grappling with far more complicated feelings for her Aunt Carol than Kamala's fannish worship. Having given a strong performance in WandaVision, Parris really steps up here and makes Monica a central figure of the film.

The supporting cast are all very good as well, with Samuel L. Jackson putting in a reliably entertaining and worldweary performance as Nick Fury (rather more engaging than the theoretically richer material in Secret Invasion). The script is wise enough to remember that Kamala's family are central to her story, and while it takes a bit of contrivance to keep the Khans in the middle of the action, it keeps things on a human level even when the weirder space stuff starts happening.

The weakest member of the cast is, surprisingly, Zawe Ashton as villainous Dar-Benn. She's not bad, by any means, but puts in an arch and hammy performance that, while fun, seems ill-judged for a character who has a genuine and understandable grievance with Danvers. It's one occasion when making the villain cartoonish was the wrong move for the story. It makes her treatment of the Skrulls too simplistically evil, when something cleverer could have been done. Still, it's good to see the Skrulls being used in a positive way in the story again, unlike the mixed messages of Secret Invasion which too heavily linked refugees with terrorists. A dignified performance by Gary Lewis, under a mountain of make-up, as the Skrull leader helps.

In spite of there being some serious themes here, the film is joyfully silly and over-the-top. Some critics have had problems with the film's tonal shifts, and it's a fair point, but I feel that these jumps are all part of the frenetic journey of the story. Suddenly stepping across genres into an impromptu Bollywood-esque musical number, or hingeing the climactic act on alien cats is a delirious way of keeping the story fresh and surprising. It does, however, need a stronger villain to ground the threat that drives the plot.

There are other elements that I loved. The effects are spectacular, combined with some absolutely stunning fight choreography (the best since Daredevil, I'd say), making the film into a visual feast. It's also consistently funny in a low-key, unforced way, more Spider-Man than Guardians of the Galaxy. In the comics, Monica was Captain Marvel before Carol got a chance, and has had various names including Photon, Spectrum and Pulsar, making Kamala's continual workshopping of her superhero identity a fun running gag. There are some fun cameos by other MCU stars, some expected, some not. Park Seo-Joon, who I understand is a big deal in Korea, stood out as the charismatic Prince of Aladna, and deserved more screentime.

While it's never going to top the polls of MCU movies, The Marvels is simply tremendously entertaining, and I can see it becoming a film that I will rewatch often simply because of how much fun it is. And, you know, it's a comicbook movie - isn't that really the point?

Extra spoiler-y bits after the cut

Comics Round-up March 2019

Well, it's been a while since I did one of these. I very rarely find the time and money for new comics these days, but when I was feeling crappy with the latest infectious agent that was doing the rounds – and neither going out nor really eating – I thought I could spare a few quid to treat myself.

I've picked up a few first issues and one-shots, some brand new, some released a month or so ago, to see what's new on the shelves.

Invisible Kingdom #1 (Berger Books/Dark Horse)

A fascinating new science fantasy series from G. Willow Wilson and Christian Ward, about a distant solar system where cut-throat economics and religious piety rub shoulders. A female-centred book – and I'm focusing on reading more of these, since they seem to offer much of the best character work in current comics – it includes space nuns (or “nones”), an alien species with four sexes, and a shipping conglomerate that delivers goods to other planets regardless of the cost to the workforce or locals. It's only the first chapter and barely scratches the surface of the setting, but it promises to be something very interesting and looks like it'll be a far better sci-fi take on Amazon than that Doctor Who episode. Think I'll carry on with this one.

Domino: Hotshots #1 (Marvel)

Domino heads an all-female team of super-agents that reminds us that this character was a lot of fun before Deadpool 2 reinterpreted her. This is another strong comic centred on women, with as many good as bad characters, all with at least some complexity (although the newer characters don't get a lot of exploration yet). It's Gail Simone, so you know it's going to be good, and it's sensible marketing, including enough elements familiar to movie-goers to appeal (Domino, Black Widow, Wakandan rebel, anime-esque woman...) Props for remembering that Black Widow is a spy, as well. Then a male character crashes into the narrative loudly at the end, but again, he's one Simone knows how to handle properly.

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1 (Marvel)

Why did I stop buying Ms. Marvel? I'm fairly sure it was lack of money, but it was a hard one to let go of. This is ostensibly a new series, but it's really a continuation under a new name, as per. It doesn't matter, Kamala is as wonderful a character as ever, now a little older and wiser but still very much a teenaged girl. This combines some very fun and silly superheroics with believable friends and family dynamics, that make Kamala feel a lot more real than most superheroes. This is what Spider-Man feels like when he's written right.

Goddess Mode #1 (DC/Vertigo) 

Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi, the artist/colourist team from Spider-Gwen, work together again, this time for DC. No surprise that this comics looks just gorgeous, with bold, frenetic artwork. The story, by Zoe Quinn, is an interesting one, but it's seriously exposition-heavy. Maybe this is just a symptom of its being a set-up issue, but for now, this AI-techno-magical future comes across as better in concept than execution. It's another interesting all-female superhero team, though, and worth picking up issue two to get to know them a little better.

Star Trek: The Next Generation 20/20 (IDW)

Part of IDW's 20^th anniversary celebrations, which appear to be hitting just in time for them to be bought up. Oh well. The idea with these is that they're taking popular series and either rewinding or fast-forwarding twenty years into the narrative. In this case, the story turns back to the 2350s, when Picard has just taken command of the USS Stargazer, with Jack Crusher as his Number One. Peter David is on writing duties, so you know it'll at least be entertainingly readable. It's pretty slight, but captures the younger Picard well – he's a bit of a dick, trying to prove himself, and recongisably halfway between the cocky cadet from “Tapestry” and the wiser elder statesman we love. And, while it's a touch fanwanky, this explores a very important meeting in his life.

Trailer rundown

It's Comic con time in San Diego, which means there's trailers galore. So, what's coming up?

Doctor Who season eleven



After the rather pointless teaser aired during the FIFA World Cup final, we finally get a proper trailer for the thirteenth Doctor's debut series. Jodie Whittaker looks like she's going to be absolutely perfect, but the trailer really doesn't tell us much about the series. Would it kill them to show us a monster, or a historical figure, or play us some dialogue with the companions? It still feels like we know nothing new about the series. One thing we do know is that the Daleks are taking a breather, which is probably for the best.

Star Trek: Discovery season two

This looks pretty grand. There's even more of a hint of Abrams Trek to this than the first season, but it also looks like Discovery is getting back to the sense of exploration than Trek is known best for, albeit with some mysteries and threats to face. Anson Mount looks like he should make a great Captain Pike - Bruce Greenwood is still my favourite though - and it's also been reported that Rebecca Romijn is set to play his executive officer, Number One. Spock's absence is clearly a major plot point, while we know he does make an appearance in the season at some point this might just refer to the reported flashback scenes to his and Burnham's youth.

As well as this exciting and visually remarkable trailer - love the Saurian crewman - it's also reported that, among other initiatives, the gap between now and next year's season will be filled by mini-episodes called Short Treks. Lots to look forward to here.

The Orville season two



This looks really promising. As well as the feel being almost identical to Discovery's trailer, this makes it appear that the series will be more like Star Trek itself than the parody that the first season played as. As that first season went on, the scripts relied less on humour, and the jokes that were included were better balanced with the drama. Season two looks like it will continue in this direction.

Shazam!




Cap'n Marvel! Cap'n Marvel! The first Shazam! cinematic release in almost eighty years, this looks like it'll be a lot more fun than most of DC's recent film output. It's not how I'd have done a Shazam! movie, more like a new version of Big than anything, but it looks like it's going to be tremendous fun. Captain Marvel is the silliest of the properties DC is comfortable bringing to the big screen, only a step away from its own parody, Bananaman. Looking forward to this one.

Titans




Hmmm... not feeling this. Previous TV takes on the Teen Titans have been aimed at younger viewers and embraced the inherent silliness of characters like Beast Boy. Alternatively, a middle ground, a show for older kids like Young Justice would have worked well. This is just... blah. I guess it's pretty accurately predicting what teenagers would be like as superheroes: convinced that they're terribly mature, going on about how dark everything is, swearing whenever possible. Doesn't mean that this is any good though. Teen Titans Go to the Movies looks better.


Marvel Rising: Initiation




This is the beginning of a series of Marvel Rising cartoons which bring together a bunch of modern, young characters from Marvel comics - either new in the last few years, like Ms. Marvel, or revamped, like Squirrel Girl. Largely female, which sets this apart from most superteams on screen. Spider-Gwen, the breakout star character of the last few years, is clearly the big draw here (named Ghost Spider in this version), but it's Ms. Marvel and Squirrel Girl that make me want to watch more than anything. Love that Squirrel Girl hasn't been madeover into the usual skinny type. Also, America Chavez is going to be in this, so expect multiversity.

December Comics Round-Up

Ultimates #2 (Marvel)

Yes, this is definitely the Avengers-esque title I'm going to follow. Black Panther's team - Blue Marvel might nominally be calling the shots, but it's definitely Black Panther's team - are all incredibly powerful, hyperintelligent, or both, and they're travelling the universe to sort shit out. Dan Brown's art is perfect for this. There's a real cosmic feel to this issue, ending with a complete inversion of what Galactus stands for, that could lead to some very interesting things indeed.

Doctor Who - Eighth Doctor #2 (Titan)

Emma Vicelli absolutely nails her depiction of the eighth Doctor. I prefer this issue to the first; this is the other side of the eighth Doctor, the careworn old man who's trying to remain positive in the face of an overwhelmingly cruel universe. It ends on an optimistic note, but we know that this Doctor is going to have to face his own war soon, which adds depth to the story. Very good.

Doctor Who Magazine #494 (Panini)

Haven't we had sword-and-sorcery planets in the comics quite recently? This is fine, but there's not an original element in it. Adrian Salmon's art style doesn't really work for it, either. I'm going to call this one a miss.

Batman/TMNT #1 (DC/IDW)

Just much more fun than it has any right to be. I like that this avoids going for all out campery. Batman and the Turtles might actually work very well together. And using Killer Croc here is so obvious it would have been foolish not to do so.

Ms. Marvel #2 (Marvel)

This is rather excellent, with Kamala facing the twin evils of gentrification and the exploitation of fame. There are some rather lovely moments with both Bruno and her adorable older brother, and pitting the youngest Avenger against a new, corporate version of HYDRA makes sense. The important stuff is Kamala's entirely believable reaction to the developments, though.

The Mighty Thor #2 (Marvel)

"Just take me to my cell, serpent. I figure it's best I get one now... before all the good ones are filled." That's just a brief line showing how awesome Heimdall is, but this is brilliant throughout. Thor is just excellent right now. The war between the Light and Dark Elves rages, with the incongruous sight of Roxxon tanks mowing down unicorns. Loki is back, all re-grown up and bad again, while the Elves and Jotnar lay waste to the Nine Realms in a beautiful and finely written story. Recommended.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3 (Marvel)

A fairly middling issue for Squirrel Girl, but still way more fun than pretty much any comic series running right now. Retro-Dr. Doom just about works in this context, revelling in the campness of the character, but Nancy isn't quite up to the task of holding the storyline up against him without Doreen. Things work much better once the girls team up again. Digging Doreen's sixties costume. Includes the perfect footnote, "That guy's The Punisher! Like all men who take themselves extremely seriously, he likes to spend his downtime sewing cartoon skeleton heads onto every shirt he owns, so that way everyone can tell right away how extremely serious he is." When a comic running at half-power has lines like that, it's a keeper.

Lucifer #1 (DC/Vertigo)

Well, that wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared it would be. I still don't really see the point of it; the original Lucifer series by Mike Carey was truly brilliant and a closed story, ending in the most perfect and final way possible. I'd expected this to be a reboot, rather than a continuation as it is here, and I'm not sure which is more pointless. Still, Lucifer returning to the Universe in the wake of God's apparent murder has some potential. Not a patch on Carey's work, but approximately 130 times better than the shit they cooked up for TV.

The Wicked + The Divine #17 (Image)

Wow, this has gone off the boil. The last issue of the current "let's look at everyone's backstory" season, this one focuses on cat-goddess Sekhmet, who is only interesting in fucking and drinking and is correspondingly boring as hell. Looking forward to how the series kicks back into gear upon its return in April, as it really needs some forward momentum.

And that's yer lot. I'll be cutting right back on the comics next year - Saga, Squirrel Girl, Ultimates and The Mighty Thor will be on my list, probably along with Ms. Marvel and maybe Spider-Woman. 

November Comics Round-Up (2)

Spider-Gwen #2 (Marvel) I'm enjoying the glimpses at parallel universe versions of favourite characters, particularly the backstory sketched in for the female Captain America who faces up against Gwen before becoming a tenuous ally. However, there's only so long this idea can hold the attention for, and this series is starting to feel like it's on autopilot. I'll probably drop this and come back to it later to see if anything new is happening.

Web Warriors #1 (Marvel) The ongoing adventures of multiple Spideys, continuing the fun begun in the Spider-Verse event. There's still some fun to be had with the concept, particularly the use of the 60s cartoon universe as a safe training ground for the Warriors (with appropriate nods to the notorious Spidey memes). It follows on from the Ultimate Spider-Man series' take on Spider-Verse by having multiple versions of the same villain - in this case, Electro. Fun, but I feel like this idea might soon have run its course.

All-New, All-Different Avengers #1 (Marvel) I like the racial politics in this, especially since people are actually making a big deal of the ethnic layout of a fictional team of superheroes in the real world. The romance building up between Ms. Marvel and Nova is pretty cute. Overall, though, this isn't especially grabbing me, which is a shame. Between the New, All-New All-Different and Uncanny, there's probably material for a really decent Avengers team and title.

Ultimates #1 (Marvel) The final "Avengers" group, taking on the mantle of the Ultimate universe team, but doing it completely differently (i.e. not shit). The new Ultimates are the great problem-solving team of the universe, facing cosmic weirdness and analysing it to find solutions. Sure, there's ass-kicking - Ms. America is on the team, after all - but this team focuses on solving issues, not destroying them. Their first case: meet Galactus, solve his hunger. It's an ingenious set-up, and on the strength of the first issue, worth carrying on with. Also notable is the colour of the main cast - Captain Marvel is the only white face so far in a team that includes Spectrum, the Blue Marvel, the Black Panther and Ms. America. Plus, a moment to actually ponder the philosophical repurcussions of Marvel's great multiversal reset. Very good indeed.

The Wicked + The Divine #16 (Image) This issue is the weakest in a long time. It's purely an origin story for the Morrigan, and a pretty cliched, uninteresting one at that. I don't think we really need to see each of the gods get their moment of ascension. I enjoyed the, ah, ketchupomancy though.

Ms. Marvel #1 (Marvel) I'm not sure why I ever dropped this. Money, probably. Anyway, this is just a great as it ever was, although now Kamala is part of the Avengers. It works better here, seeing the effects of this on her life, than it does actually in All New, All Different. There's a fine balance between her superheroics and her personal life, adorable artwork, and the phrase "giant weaponized amphibian." I am somewhat baffled as to why Marvel and her fellow New Jersey citizens remember the world sort-of ending while characters in other titles don't. Or do they? I can't follow everything.

Spider-Woman #1 (Marvel) Giving a female hero a pregnancy sounds, on the one hand, like the most stereotypical bad idea ever, but on the other... well, what's the point in having female-driven comics if you can't use them to explore the stories and issues women face? And, in practice, this, the story of Jessica Drew beginning her maternity leave before settling into life as a single mother, is really very good. Particularly as she's been training up the Porcupine to take over the crime-fighting duties while she's off. Jessica's fiercely independent nature makes her an interesting choice for this unexpected development, with everyone running around trying to help out and take care of her. This comic works. The bets bit is Spider-Man's Spidey-sense going off because Iron Man is about to ask who the father is.

The Mighty Thor #1 (Marvel) Spider-Woman isn't the only hero facing life-changing issues. Giving a character a life-threatening illness can be a cheap shot, but this is handled well. The pain of going through chemotherapy is a real one for many people, and I've seen enough of this in real life to call this comic out if it felt cheap. This is written with respect. While Jane Foster can never benefit from her therapy since each transformation into Thor burns the poisons from her system, the cancer remains, killing her. This is set against a sci-fi/fantasy backdrop of corporate greed and cosmic warfare, with some spectacular imagery. Classic Sandman fans could do worse than trying this.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #1 (Marvel) Just a lovely start to this new title. Jack Kirby's old characters, Devil Dinosaur and Moon Boy, are brought back, alongside the absolutely wonderful new kid, hyperintelligent ten-year-old Lunella Lafayette. She's the most adorable, likeable new character since Kamala Khan (and god, that's a team-up I'd love to see some day). Like Ms. Marvel, it's tied in with the Inhumans/Terrigen mist plotline, but Lunella is deliberately avoiding any chance of being exposed. It's a slow beginning but promises to be a wonderful tale for anyone who's ever felt unappreciated - i.e. everyone. And it has a big red T. rex in it.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #1 (Marvel) Squirrel Girl in the Sixties. Also, Doctor Doom, her first adversary, returns to cause trouble. I wish I could do more to summarise this comic other than just gush about how joyfully daffy it is.

Saga #31 (Image) Saga returns, and it's a pretty good issue, both continuing from precisely where we left Hazel, her grandmother and abductors and catching up with them in captivity months later. While it's still not at the level that Saga used to play at, this is well told and has important things to say about prisoners of war, immigration control, xenophobia and transmisogyny.

Ghostbusters Annual 2015 (IDW) I haven't had a Ghostbusters annual since, what, 1993? What a joy. OK, so this isn't a kids' annual, but a bumper-sized comics issue, but still, this is good fun. The main strip, featuring the Sandman as the villain, works very nicely, tying into the overall storyline. Following that is a bunch of shorts by various artist/writer combos, some of which work well, others not so much. Overall, though, this is a hit.

Marvel properties I'd like to see on the screen

Runaways

Gertrude and Old Lace

Undoubtedly the series I'd most like to see adapted for the screen, Runaways ran from 2003-09 and concerned a group of young superhumans who, as the title suggests, run away from their parents and live a precarious life without adult supervision. Oh, and they run away because it turns out their parents make up a cabal of supervillains called the Pride, bent on total domination. Written first by Brian K. Vaughan and then continued by Joss Whedon, Runaways is fun and irreverant, but plays with high personal stakes for the characters. As well as dealing with the usual superhero cliches - but looked at through the eyes of contemporary kids, which would suit the MCU down to a tee - the Runaways have to deal with the very real consequences of their actions, from heartbreak to tragic death. The six initial characters in the team are Nico Minoru, a powerful witch; Karolina Dean, a solar-powered alien; Molly Hayes, a twelve-year-old mutant with super-strength; Chase Stein, who steals his fathers fire-commanding "fistigons;" Alex Wilder, a strategic prodigy; and Gertrude Yorkes, whose parents are from the future, and who has a flippin' pet Deinonychus. Tell me you wouldn't love to see that onscreen.

Later characters to join the team include Victor, a creation of Ultron (clear links to the franchise there); Xavin, a shape-shifting alien Skrull; and Klara Plast, who can control plants. As well as having a team with a far higher than usual proportion of female members, Runaways embraces sexual and gender diversity, dealing with issues such as homosexuality, gender fluidity and learning to deal with sexual abuse. It's one of the best things Marvel has ever produced, and what's frustrating is that there plans to produce a film version as early as 2008, with Vaughan scripting. These have apparently been shelved indefinitely, although there is some hope they'll be picked up in the future. The concept would probably work better as a TV series or mini-series than a feature, and, although there'd have to be a couple of story tweaks for rights reasons, it has all the makings of a perfect property to bring in the vital teen audience who don't necessarily appreciate all the older heroes being used as the basis for movies and mini-series. Frankly, it's baffling that Marvel haven't found a place for this.

Young Avengers

Perhaps Runaways won't happen, but a few years from now, Marvel may want to create a series or film featuring teenaged characters with stronger links to the established heroes. Young Avengers is, exactly as it sounds, about a semi-official team of youngsters who support the Avengers, several haing links to the main team. The series was originally developed by Allan Hinberg, springing out of the "Avengers Dissassembled" event in 2004, with the kids acting as a potential replacement team for the disbanded Avengers. Marvel doesn't go in for sidekicks in the same way as DC - which has a number of adolescent teams such as the Teen Titans and Young Justice - and this could fill that gap, either as a live action production, or as an animated series tying into the MCU, something that's been suggested before. This initial team was recruited by the Vision, and included characters such as Iron Lad, Hulkling and Patriot , characters who, although they have caried backgrounds, act as the young team's equivalents of Iron Man, the Hulk and Captain America. There's also Wicca and Speed, the twin sons of Scarlet Witch and Vision, and Kate Bishop, who takes the mantle of Hawkeye after Barton dies (he got better). Even Cassie Lang, daughter of Scott "Ant-Man" Lang and already part of the MCU, takes her place as Stature.

Kid Loki

Better, for me, is the relaunch series by Kieron Gillen that started in 2013. This includes some of the original characters, and new additions too. This series is more like Runaways in tone, dealing with the difficulties of young adulthood, responsibility and sexuality. (Wiccan and Hulkling are a couple, among several non-hetero characters, something which Marvel have consistently failed to bring to the screen. I'm fairly certain there hasn't been a single homosexual character in the MCU, while DC's Gotham, Flash and Arrow have featured several characters who happen to be gay.)  Loki is involved as a semi-good guy, killed, reincarnated and now in a younger form (Loki's totes bi and genderfluid too, as it goes). Other new characters include the modern holders of the names Marvel Boy and Miss America. Some years down the line, this could be a great way to reinvigorate the MCU with new, younger characters that retain links to the heroes of The Avengers and Age of Ultron.

Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel really, really needs to make it onto the screen somehow. To clarify, I'm not talking about the original Ms. Marvel - Carol Danvers - but the current holder of the title, Kamala Khan. Long story short, Danvers has promoted herself to Captain Marvel and is set to headline her own movie in 2019, and presumably will enter the Avengers movies after that. Ms. Marvel currently has her own title, which is set to continue (with a new issue one) after the big Marvel relaunch this September. A Pakistani-American teen, Kamala is Captain Marvel's number one fan (and Wolverine's, and Spider-Man's, etc) and when her Inhuman birthright was activated, she took on her hero's former name as her own crime-fighting persona. She's teamed-up with all three of the aforementioned supers over the last few months, in a series that is doing what The Amazing Spider-Man used to do: show an ordinary teenager trying to do good while juggling the struggles of school, love and life, and learning that with great power comes great responsibility, dontchano.

Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan

Kamala is adorable, brave and resourceful, and come September, is going to be part of the All New, All Different Avengers. Her adventures have been almost universally well-received, except by angry right wing racist types, and there have been numerous instances of young girls dressing as her for conventions and play. She's fantastic. Unfortunately, the very things that make her work so well in the comics might make her a hard sell for the movie and TV execs. Her close conceptual links to Captain Marvel will make it difficult to incorporate her into the MCU until after the Captain Marvel movie premieres, and would depend on that character's reception. Her powers, not unlike Mr. Fantastic's, involve much stretching and "embiggening," which is still tricky to pull off in live action without it looking horrendusly cartoonish or utterly unpleasant (at least the recent Fantastic Four movie was deliberately going for the latter). And there's the whole Muslim angle. It would be wonderful for the many, many Islamic kids living in both East and West to have a high profile superhero to identify with, but it's very hard to imagine the bigwigs at Disney signing off on that one.

I really hope they take that chance though. To see Kamala fighting bad guys on the streets of New Jersey while stopping to get Spidey's autograph would be wonderful. If she's not well known or popular enough to headline her own movie or series, then she could easily be incorporated into either the main Avengers franchise or the aforementioned Young Avengers. She could cross over with Runaways or Agents of SHIELD (the latter has already occurred in comics). If the powers are tricky to pull off, or the character is too much of a risk for a live action production's budget, then maybe an animated series/movie? I would truly love to see Kamala kicking ass onscreen.

Spider-Man - but on TV 

We've another Spider-Man reboot heading to the big screen soon, plus plans for one or more animated features. This could very well be more Spidey than anyone actually wants for a while, but I feel the best avenue for the character is as an ongoing television series. Spidey works best given time to explore his character and his relationships, and a serialised format would actually allow time for his many trials and tribulations to play out. He's a character who needs breathing space. It would also allow time to feature his huge rogue's gallery, without having to shoehorn them all into a couple of films.

There's a supporting cast already available - Charlie Cox and Vincent D'Onofrio could easily make appearances as Daredevil and the Kingpin, respectively, and with characters like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and the Punisher joining the franchise, Spidey could be the front of a broad ensemble of characters. It's unlikely to happen; Spider-Man is the most lucrative comicbook characterin the world, and that means studios are going to want to pile money into movies in the expectation they'll make shedloads back. The best we can hope for on TV is yet another animated series. In any case, I hope this is the last reboot for a long while. Recast if necessary, but just keep the story going. Ten years down the line, we could have Peter Parker acting as sensei to Miles Morales. Twenty-five years down the line, his daughter could be headlining her own films as Spider-Girl. Let it run.

Spectrum and The Blue Marvel

As mentioned above, there is a huge skew towards white male characters leading all Western cinema, particularly comicbook and superhero films. The genre was a little better at this a few years ago, but not great. Considering the Blade trilogy starring Wesley Snipes helped bring superhero movies back on the map, black heroes have been relegated to supporting roles (Anthony Mackie as Falcon in The Winter Soldier and Ant-Man, Terrence Howard as War Machine in the Iron Man trilogy and Age of Ultron, Halle Berry as Storm in the X-Men franchise) or headlined pretty terrible films (Will Smith as Hancock, Halle Berry again in Catwoman). Only the Black Panther, to be played by Chadwick Boseman in Civil War and then his own movie, looks set to buck the trend. There's also a deficit of female heroes; Scarlett Johansson has played the Black Widow as a supporting character in four films, going on five, but has yet to headline one, in spite of fan demand and a script already existing. She's had a lot more focus than Scarlet Witch, the Wasp, the aforementioned Storm or any version of the Invisible Woman. The poor quality and reception of the Elektra and Catwoman films seems to have put studios off female-led comicbook movies for some time (because having a major actress in the lead was so clearly what was wrong with those flicks), but finally, things are slowly picking up with both Wonder Woman and the Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel planned for the next few years.

Out of the many, many characters that could be focussed on to help redress this balance, two appeal to me particularly. Spectrum is the current alias of Monica Rambeau, who has also been known as Photon, Pulsar, Daystar and more, and was the first woman to take the title of Captain Marvel, years before Danvers. She was created by Roger Stern and John Romita Jr. in 1982, first appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man, and was totally based on Pam Grier. She's an incredibly powerful character with the ability to manipulate and transform into any wavelength of electromagnetic radiation. A confident, sassy black woman with the ability to literally turn into light and throw lasers at her enemies - who wouldn't want to see that on the big screen? (Apart from racists with weak masculinity issues, I mean.) Rambeau has been ignored by the MCU for way too long - she once led the Avengers, for pity's sake.

The Blue Marvel assists Spectrum with her powers.

The other character I would love to see is Dr. Adam Brashear, the Blue Marvel. Even more powerful than Spectrum, the Blue Marvel is essentially Superman without any of the girl weaknesses. In fact, he'd have to be pretty seriously depowered just to make a film featuring him feasible at all. As well as being a scientific genius, his exposure to extradimensional radiation has gifted him superhuman strength and speed, virtual invulnerability, the power of flight, and the ability to generate and manipulate energy and antimatter. He's Dr. Manhattan, but without the personality problems. Created by Kevin Grevioux as recently as 2008, the Blue Marvel was a continuity implant, operating in the 1960s in-universe. He was a powerful and popular superhero with links to the Kennedy administration, but wore an all-encompassing headmask to hide his face. When his colour was revealed in a major battle, he was forced to retire from crime-fighting, since the American public wouldn't accept a black superhero. This would make for an incredible period piece along the lines of The First Avenger or X-Men: First Class. A modern day sequel for the ageless could follow, perhaps involving both Spectrum and Luke Cage, who work with him in the comic series Mighty Avengers (as a street level team, both Spectrum and Blue Marvel are far overpowered for the Mighty Avengers, but still).

Oh, and the Blue Marvel has his own Fortress of Solitude. On the bottom of the frickin' sea. That only Namor the Sub-Mariner is allowed to visit. That is cinema.

The Twelve

The Twelve was a limited series released a few years ago and written by J. Michael Straczynski, who has tons of TV and movie experience, including scripting work on the Thor movie. It's the story of twelve obscure-as-hell superheroes from Marvel's predecessor company, Timely, who get frozen at the end of WWII and revived in the present day. Folllowing their attempts to adjust to modern life, while solving a series of unexplained murders, the series dealth with contemporary politics and values. It's rather like a less cynical Watchmen.

The team includes costumed crime fighters (the Phantom Reporter, the Blue Blade, Mister E, and the Laughing Mask); superhuman heroes (Captain Wonder, the Dynamic Man, Rockman, the Fiery Mask); and individuals with supernatural powers (the Witness, Master Mind Excello, and the original Black Widow, one of the earliest female superheroes in comics). The twelfth member is a colossal mind-controlled robot called Electro. That's a lot of characters to cover, although given the line-up for Captain America: Civil War, Marvel isn't afraid of helming a busy movie. A couple of the character names might need to be changed for clarity - Black Widow's real name is Clair Voyant (!) so that works. The comic could adapt extremely well to cinema or, perhaps even better, given that most of the characters aren't superpowered, the lower budget option of a Netflix series. Chris Evans or Samuel L. Jackson could even cameo.

L to R: Master Mind Excello, Mister E, Electro, Blue Blade, Phantom Reporter, Rockman, Dynamic Man, Captain Wonder, Black Widow, Fiery Mask, Witness, Laughing Mask

The New(er) Avengers

It's legit: this is the new Avengers line-up in the comics, post-Secret Wars.  Once the various universes have settled down, this is who's heading Marvel's premier team.

The new Thor, secret identity currently unknown. Good to see she's sticking around, her comics are very good.
The new Captain America, Sam Wilson, previously the Falcon. Again, it's good to see Marvel aren't using their shake-up to reverse their more diverse recasting of the main heroes.
Iron Man? Or potentially someone else in an Iron Man suit. Rumours are it's Pepper Potts/Rescue, but we don't know right now.
The Vision, about to hit big in the movies.
Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan. The current darling of Marvel comics.
The teenaged Nova, Sam Alexander, perhaps best known from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoons but also heading his own title.
Miles Morales as Spider-Man, which means a) the regular and Ultimate realities are indeed being combined, and b) Peter Parker's status is in the air.
And that sure looks like a Hulk they're running to.

March Comics Round-Up: Marvel

Just get a load of that tablecloth.

So, I might have gone a bit nuts at the comic shop, but I haven't been for almost a month and it I did get a massive great tip that paid for it all. I'm splitting these reviews into Marvel and non-Marvel. I'll be honest, I'm really not feeling it for the upcoming Secret Wars event. A big, DC-style reboot is not something I want for Marvel. We don't know how much, if anything, is being retained from the current storylines, and pretty much everything that happens right now is potentially irrelevant and going to be erased a few months down the line. The bulk of the current titles are being cancelled in the summer, which is a bit shite considering a lot of them only started a few months ago.

I notice that all the solo hero titles I'm picking up now, bar one, feature female lead characters. Whether this is significant I don't know, but it's gratifying that it's an option to have all female heroes right now.

The Amazing Spider-Man #16

Spider-Verse is finally done and dusted, and we're pushing on with Peter's company and his new initiative to rehabilitate supervillains. Socially responsible superheroing, you see. Having caught up with some of the preceding Superior Spider-Man storylines, I think Anna-Marie is the real hero here. She finds out that her boyfriend is not only Spider-Man, but actually Dr. Octopus inhabiting the body of Spider-Man, and that he is now dead, but she's still holding it together. Good to see Black Cat's storyline being focussed on again. Just a shame this is one of the titles getting cancelled - although of course there will be a Spidey title, Doc Ock and all no doubt - so I'll probably see this one through to the finish.

Spider-Woman #5

My first issue of Spider-Woman for a while, which I think suffered from starting in the middle of the Spider-Verse event. I like this though; witty script from Dennis Hopeless and really appealing art style by Javier Rodriguez. This concerns Jessica Drew quitting the Avengers and trying to go it alone as a regular street-level superhero, and not doing terribly well. It actually ties in quite nicely with ASM's themes, given that current and former costumed villains are being victimised, so there's potential for something interesting here. A good comic, altogether - and I love Jessica's new costume. Especially the gloves.

Spider-Gwen #2

The other Spider-Woman is going strong. I was confused for a moment, thinking this was the same artist using two styles, but this is Robbi Rodriguez, and it's quite something. Something all the Spider-related titles do well, when they're on form, is mixing snappy, funny dialogue with proper, human-level drama, and Spider-Gwen is the best of the bunch. (Although I admit I haven't read any Silk, Spider-Man and the X-Men or recent Ultimate Spider-Man for comparison, but there's a limit.) Also, Spider-Ham. Gwen and Peter Porker are the most improbably brilliant double-act. It also uses the parallel universe angle well by keeping us guessing to seemingly familiar characters' motives and allegiances. This is a perfect example of what Philip Sandifer is calling the "New Pop" comics movement, and it's tremendous fun.

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #3

As is North and Henderson's Squirrel Girl, which is something very close to comedy pop perfection. This is genuinely, laugh-out-loud funny, which is something that, in spite of the medium's name, very few comics are lately. I think the cover price is worth it just for Doreen's face here.This is clever, though, not only being very inventive with the unlikely squirrel-wrangling powers, but effortlessly sending up the superhero trope of constantly piling crisis on top of crisis until the stakes are so absurdly high it really doesn't mean anything anymore. I'm actually keen to see how Doreen does in Secret Wars. But first, Squirrel Girl vs. Galactus, on the Moon.

Ms. Marvel #13

Still going strong, and focusing very strongly on the Inhuman angel right now. With Marvel already pushing Uncanny Inhumans it's pretty clear they're trying to put them on a par with the X-Men. Not long ago, Kamala Khan would have been made a mutant, not an Inhuman, but the story is now being written with the movies and TV series in mind. Ms. Marvel provides another angle on it all, though, drawing parallels between villainous Inhuman fanatics and Islamic extremists. It's not hammered home (and again, it would have been mutants not long ago), and it's portrayed cleverly. "There's always that one group of people who think they have special permission to terrorize anybody who disagrees with them. And then everybody else who looks like them suffers." The most important series in comics right now, and if you don't get why, read this.

Secret Avengers #13

Picked this one up on a whim, sold by the wonderfully absurd cover image of MODOK asking for help with his special Secret Avengers headband. MODOK in the Avengers is weird enough, before the lunacy of the actual plot. This is clearly running behind the Spider titles, since Spider-Woman is still in the Avengers here, but whatever. Not a clue what's going on, but it's fun.

Thor #6


And to think, I almost dropped this after one mediocre issue. In issue six, Jason Aaron provides some truly excellent writing. It's mythic, in the way that Sandman and Lucifer used to be, and probably only The Wicked+The Divine is really managing each issue right now. Mythic in that real people living mundane lives find themselves coping with vast, cosmic events, where even the gods are portrayed as messed up little people. This is exactly what Secret Wars needs to be if it's not going to suck. With sales of the female-led Thor currently ahead of the previous classic version, I think we can safely say that the new Thor will survive the reboot even though her series is officially finishing. I just hope we find out who she is before the event.