X-Men answers

Well, I was looking for questions that were a bit more... informative rather than self-indulgent, but it's my own fault for trying to force questions out of people. Consequently, now I'll feel like a big geek, but that's what I get for entitling my project "Ask the Geek!"

We have a two-part questions from Elise who asks:

1) The obvious: Which X-men character do you most relate, to, why, what powers do you want, blah blah blah.

2) Do you think the upcoming Wolverine movie will be better than X-men 3. DEAR GOD I'M HOPING SO. D:

The Obvious

For much of my life, I identified with Cyclops. There is some beautiful symbolism in the character that makes for a great comic book character. This was the real genius of Stan Lee and the reason Marvel Comics is what it is today.

In their original incarnation, the X-Men were five students at a very exclusive private school: Scott "Cyclops" Summers, Hank "Beast" McCoy, Warren "Angel" Worthington III, Bobby "Iceman" Drake, and Jean "Marvel Girl" Grey. Hank was the brains, Angel was beauty and money, Bobby was the class clown, and Jean was... the girl. But Scott wasn't especially smart, funny, or attractive (at least in his social group) so instead he became the responsible one. Consequently, he is often brooding and frustrated... which is the main reason so many comic fans hate him.

But getting back to Stan Lee's trademarked sense of irony, Scott's "power" is that he destroys everything he sees. And who doesn't feel like that from time to time? Because of this, he has become very shy and withdrawn. After all, imagine not only having to wear glasses at all times, but the moment they accidentally slip from your nose, you will destroy anything in front of you... walls, animals, people, cars, buildings, mountains...

Scott is essentially a man who represses himself because he is deathly afraid of hurting someone. This is why he is a good counterpoint to Wolverine who is struggling to contain his own destructive impulses in a much less responsible way. Comic writer Warren Ellis once compared Cyclops to Batman in that both have a single-minded drive that has caused them to train relentlessly since they were sixteen to make the world a better place.

BUT part of the reason I can't identify with him any more is that people actually recognize and appreciate this about Cyclops in the comics. It is the reason that Xavier puts him in charge of the X-Men and the reason that Jean Grey falls in love with him. It's the reason that the other X-Men constantly look to him for leadership.

Not me though. Being a real human being, I've never had my true love recognize my inner beauty from afar or been put in charge of something cool where people look up to you. Besides, he can be a bit bland, but I blame this more on poor writing than anything.

But the character I have always been able to identify with and enjoy more than any other is Dr. Hank McCoy AKA The Beast. This character may have been my introduction to suave intellectualism. In other cartoons, the smart guy was always either a stuffy old birdbrain (i.e. Winnie the Pooh's Owl) or a weakly little geek. The Beast incorporates his intelligence into his daily demeanor. Originally, this was just done with unnecessarily verbose language, but even this has it's charm. I admit, my love of language and use of antediluvian expressions was likely inspired by my admiration for this character.

Also, part of the charm of Beast is how he handles his frightening appearance. He is constantly projecting an aura of confidence, gentility, and sophistication as a means of making people more comfortable. As a tall, quiet, hulking figure, I've been surprised to learn people find me intimidating. Over time, I've come to learn that people assume a lot of things about me based on my appearance. When I wear my Bettie Page shirt, they think I'm sexist. When I shave my head, they think I'm dangerous or even racist.

People make all sorts of generalized assumptions about me that I feel are so inaccurate that I would come out of the closet if I had a word that described me. Incidentally, the Beast did come out of the closet in a fairly recent comic. He said he was gay to get back at his ex-girlfriend for dumping him and she turned it into a story. He perpetuated this rumor basically to say... well, I'll let writer Grant Morrison explain it:

The Beast thing was my mocking, ironic take on the whole ‘Let’s have a Gay on the team’ current I was seeing elsewhere. I thought it would be more fun and more sophisticated to explore the very concept of ‘gayness’ and people’s strange need to define themselves using such off-the-peg labels. It was also to point out that, like the Beast, it’s possible to be flamboyant, stylish, witty and ‘gay’, without being homosexual…so I wanted to have a character stand up for the people who are neither gay nor straight nor anything other than just plain ODD - the people who don’t have shops to shop in and helplines to phone, but who feel as alienated and persecuted as any ‘Gay’. (see image to the left for more info)

Makes sense to me. He also has some of the best dialog. My personal favorite: "Everytime I hear myself called by my formal title I fight the urge to shout out, "He's dead, Jim!" Or this:

Cyclops: So whether we feel comfortable with the situation or not, we have to take him down!
Beast: Indeed, far be it from us to actually try and talk our way out of this. Why negotiate a peaceful resolution, when x-cessive pugilism would suffice just as nicely, eh? (delivers a roundhouse kick) A feat with my feet could lead to your defeat! (I crack me up.) (The enemy gets up again.) Hmmm...He's still cooking. I do feel like such a heel.
Cyclops: Hank...
Beast: Sorry, mon capitan. I promise to approach this pointless battle with renewed attention and maturity.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X3

You just forced me into a position that I will probably have to defend for the rest of my life... I actually liked X3. I didn't love it and it certainly had its problems, but I liked it more than the previous two.

Now, I should say here that I didn't see this in theaters. I actually saw it for the first time about six months ago and my expectations were extremely low. I don't know about the rest of you, but my expectations can have a HUGE effect on my feelings about a film. For example, when I saw the trailers for Mars Attacks! with its all-star cast of Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Danny DeVito, Martin Short, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Michael J. Fox, I thought it would be the greatest thing ever, but after leaving the theater, I realized it was the biggest disappointment ever.

I'm sure it isn't really that bad. It's probably pretty good, but my expectations were high.

Now, aside from my lowered expectations, what I really enjoyed about X3 is that it was the only movie that made the "mutant issue" into a national or global one. In the 1960s, mutants were a metaphor for pubescent awkwardness and social isolation. In the 1970s, it was about racial discrimination and segregation. In the 80s and 90s, it became a metaphor for homosexuality and homophobia. They even had their own version of AIDs called the Legacy Virus.

What made the X-Men interesting to me is that it made humanity an endangered species fearful of their own extinction. The X-Men are the first of a new, evolved group of human beings who just want to have peace in their lives, but they are stuck between a world that senses the end of their species and a new generation of ambitious mutants who aren't willing to wait for human acceptance to claim their birthright.

This is fascinating stuff, especially for us ambitious liberals who are impatient for the conservative, fundamentalists to get their heads out of their ass. The reason why Magneto might be my favorite villain of all time is because sometimes I agree with him when he wants to destroy the human race. Like Karl Marx, he believes that a violent overthrow of society is necessary for true social development. However, this same casual brutality and arrogance is what leads to despotism.

All of this is contained, albeit not very well executed, in X3 which features a mutant "cure" which normalizes those that don't fit in with society (like Paxil, Ritilin, Aderol, etc. etc.). It also shows, for the first time, a true conflict between armies of mutants and humans. It gives you the sense that this isn't just a collection of isolated skermishes, but the beginning of an inevitable war for the fate of humanity. No matter what happens, ultimately, the world will not be the same.

In the first movie, Magneto had some silly machine that turned people into mutants with his magnetic power. How lame is that? And his villainous plan? Turn the world leaders into mutants so that the world becomes pro-mutant.

Isn't that a little simplistic? And if it worked, so what? I don't really care if the X-Men win... even if it will kill Rogue because she's boring.

As for X2, it was a watered down version of this brilliantly written and painted graphic novel entitled God Loves, Man Kills where William Stryker is not a rogue military operative, but a fundamentalist preacher (a la Billy Graham or Falwell) who believes mutants are the product of Satan. In a world where our religious leaders claim 9/11 is the fault of gays and feminists, I'd say this story was a lot more meaningful when he was a preacher.

But to get to the second part about the upcoming Wolverine movie... I don't know. I think the plot has real promise. For those of you who don't know, Wolverine was given his unbreakable metal skeleton from a secret military project designed to make him a human weapon, specifically Weapon-X (big coincidence, huh?). From what I've seen in the trailer, this is about him and all of the other mutants who have been made into weapons.

My fear is that this will be your standard action flick with a lot of big effects to put in the trailers, but very little substance. However, this could be really great if they try to evoke some great, masculine war films like Full Metal Jacket which stress the dehumanizing effect of military training.

Essentially, Wolverine is about a man struggling with his anger and rage. He is a man who is constantly angry at the world due to the brutality he has both witnessed and received. Because he is so long lived and can heal from any wound, he has known more pain than any person in history. His life is a struggle to be the good person he wants to be when he is one bad day away from destroying everything around him.

Finding the X-Men, Wolverine had a place where he eventually fit in. That's why Wolverine will fight harder than any other X-Man. He is afraid to lose the only place that feels like home to him. The only place he can relax and feel loved. Of course, he's a hardass, so he doesn't admit it, but you see it, on occasion, with some of the people he is closest to.

I'll wait for the reviews on this one. If the reviews are good, I'll see it in the theater. If not, I'll wait for DVD. I'm much more excited about Wolverine & the X-Men, the cartoon coming out next week (I think).

But what I really want to see is Hulk vs. Wolverine. Wolverine actually first appeared in Incredible Hulk #181 as a reluctant villain to the Hulk. He wasn't even a mutant. For a while, he was actually going to be an evolved wolverine, but thankfully, this idea was scrapped. For this reason, Hulk and Wolverine have always had an odd rivalry, but I think the biggest appeal of this match up is seeing a short, scrappy fighter with unbreakable bones, enhanced healing, and unnaturally sharp blades fight a huge, invulnerable monster capable of juggling tanks. It's a match up that's hard to beat! Add to that the fact that both have major anger issues and are constantly hunted by the military as a human weapon. The script would practically write itself. Besides, who doesn't want to see Hugh Jackman play opposite Edward Norton?

Ask the Geek! X-Men

In 1992, when I was an awkward young tot of 10 years, the two biggest cartoons were Batman: The Animated Series and the X-Men. Although I watched both and now realize that Batman: TAS is far superior in both animation quality and story, at the time, I couldn't get enough of the X-Men.

I first decided I wanted to be a writer when I was playing make believe in my front yard and developed my own X-Men spin-off team. I had no intention to write it, but I drew lots of pictures, designed their headquarters, came up with a back story, and ran around throwing punches and making sound effects... much to the embarrassed bewilderment of my family. I even named them the X-Trackers.

I hated that name even then. Naming things has become the bane of my literary career.

The team consisted of the leader Glowing Fist (based on a picture I'd seen of Iron Fist with the personality of Cyclops), Axel (a heavy metal bruiser probably named after one of the villains in the video game Final Fight), Rocket (a female speedster), and others that I don't remember. They lived in a mutant sanctuary that doubled as a political lobbying group. I didn't phrase it quite so well as a child, but I think the idea was pretty good. In a recent writing exercise about what I'd do with the X-Men, I found myself strongly influenced by this idea I had as a child.

Getting to the point, if I had to pick one comic book concept that has inspired me the most, I would have to pick the X-Men, without a doubt. It's a place where freaks fit in, where their differences are celebrated and they can learn to express themselves... usually by blowing things up in the Danger Room.

Unfortunately, X-Men also has so many continuity issues and bad runs that it can be next to impossible to figure out what the hell is going on and why you should care. So I'm putting out an open call for X-Men related questions. Anything you want to know, just ask.

Just to let you know, I have read almost every single issue of Uncanny X-Men from #1 to #504 (with the exception of most of Joe Casey and Chuck Austen's horrible runs) and roughly one third of my comic collection is devoted to X-Men and X-Men spin-off titles (mostly the good stuff). So I feel comfortable saying that I am an X-pert on this subject (sorry, X-puns abound).

Who the hell IS Samuel L. Jackson playing?

Elise wins the No Prize for suggesting my suggestion. Congratulations, Ellie. Don't spend it all in one place.

Well, this summer's unexpected blockbuster, Iron Man, had a hidden cameo and for those of you who didn't stay after the credits, I'll let Robot Chicken spoil it for you.


Now, this is a big development for superhero movies and I will tell you why, but first let's start with who the hell is Nick Fury?

Nick Fury

In 1963, a comic book was published entitled Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. It featured a ragtag outfit of racially and ethnically diverse soldiers operating in World War II. This outfit was led by a cigar-chomping one-eyed hard-ass by the name of Nick Fury. The team consisted of Corporal "Dum Dum" Dugan (who, along with Private "Rebel" Ralston, seems to defy both army policy and self-preservation by wearing his own hat), Gabriel Jones (token black), Dino Manelli, Izzy Cohen, Percival "Pinky" Pinkerton (Brit), and Eric Koenig (German defector).

You may notice that Nick Fury, as shown here, is as white as can be. More on this later.

In August 1965, long before Howling Commandos was cancelled, Nick Fury was transported into the modern day as an older, more experienced Colonel Fury chosen to head a new state of the art military intelligence division called S.H.I.E.L.D. which, we are assured, stands for Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division (although in 1991 this would be changed to Strategic Hazard Intervention, Espionage Logistics Directorate and in the recent Iron Man and Hulk movies, it is called Strategic Homeland Intervention, Espionage, Logistics Division).

What separates SHIELD from the FBI, CIA, and the rest are two things: Nick Fury and Tony Stark. Tony designs the tools and Nick Fury uses them. Amongst SHIELDs toys are the SHIELD Helicarrier, which is basically an aircraft carrier that flies; LMDs (Life Model Decoys), expendable robots that can be designed to double as specific people; and flying cars (because hey, why not?).

SHIELD was designed with the sole purpose of combating HYDRA. Marvel insists that HYDRA is not an acronym, but they just really like caps lock. If this sounds like James Bond, it's because 007 was still fairly new at that point with new books still going to print and movies starring Sean Connery.

Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was Marvel's answer to Bond... except a lot less suave, a lot more military, and a lot more American. He never supported his own title for very long, but instead played supporting character to Captain America, Iron Man, Wolverine, Black Widow, and countless others. When I started reading comics in the 90s, it seemed to me that Nick Fury was a good man in a bad job stuck making the hard choices and dealing with political pressures while everyone else got to put on a funny costume and run around hitting people. I always found something particularly noble and tragic about that.

Ultimate Nick Fury

In 2000, Marvel Comics launched their "Ultimate" universe with the intent of creating new versions of classic characters in order to reach new readers who might find 40 plus years of convaluted continuity to be an obstacle in reading comics. While it's success at generating new customers is debatable, the titles sold extremely well due in no small part to writers Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man) and Mark Millar (Ultimate X-Men, The Ultimates).

Mark Millar is the writer of the comic that the movie Wanted is loosely based on, and from my perspective, Millar is trying to present himself as the next Frank Miller via his movie deals. In the original comic of Wanted, the lead character is modeled after Eminem while the love interest, Fox, was based on Halle Berry. Millar even released a rumor that Eminem was interested in the role (no doubt trying to use the actor's prestige would help green light the project), but Eminem quashed this rumor and it was later made with other actors.

Millar is notorious for "casting" his comic books with an eye toward Hollywood... which isn't to say he is a bad writer. Far from it. He just also is a clever marketer and it has served his career well. He even created a hoax on his opinion column claiming to have evidence of a proposed Orson Welles pitch for a Batman movie that got quashed by the studios. It was completely fabricated, but a wonderful idea.

Millar's second project for Marvel's Ultimate line was The Ultimates based on The Avengers. This used the classic Avengers lineup of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Giant Man, Wasp, and the Hulk, but depicted the characters in far more realistic tones than ever before. Captain America is a hokey, out of touch, conservative who complains about language and clothing like someone's granddad. Thor is a possible mental case who is developing a liberal, hippy cult around his god-like powers. Meanwhile, Bruce Banner is popping anti-depressants to keep him mellow as he watches his scientific career go down the drain.

Millar also did a little... racial reorganization to keep the team from looking like a bunch of WASPs. So naturally, the Wasp is not one, but instead, an Asian girl... still waspish, though. Also added to the team was military attaché, Nick Fury, now sporting a very recognizable face.

Millar no doubt realized that Samuel L. Jackson was not only a comic book fan, but specifically an Avengers fan and this was his way of enticing Jackson to the role.

The Avengers

Jackson's appearance in Iron Man was a teaser for the upcoming Avengers movie. By playing the role of Nick Fury, it subtly but undeniably indicated that the movie would be based on The Ultimates... which I think is fantastic. The Ultimates is one of the best comics I've ever read. Writing and art is both top notch and the characters had never been better represented... and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest.

But more importantly, the announcement of an Avengers movie indicates that we will shortly see something that is an essential part of comic books. Namely, that they aren't about one person having special powers in a world full of norms, but it is about a bunch of people with special powers trying to co-exist with a world full of norms. Consequently, the pleasure is not just in seeing how Superman solves a problem, but contrasting how Superman and Batman solve problems... or seeing how their different ideologies are incompatible and having fanboygasms at watching them fight.

This is why my Astounding Adventures story is so complex. I didn't want to write about a superhero, but rather about a world full of them. Since I can't yet play in the Marvel or DC sandboxes, I'm creating my own.

For the first time, superhero movies are crossing over... and I can't wait to see how this turns out. The Avengers is a great example because you have a soldier from the past (Captain America), an antiquated god on Earth (Thor), a playboy in his own sci-fi suit (Iron Man), and a self-made monster (Hulk) all interacting with one another. I always thought that licensing issues would make such a thing impossible, but I guess not.

Next I want to see Hulk vs. Wolverine or Superman/Batman.

Steranko and the Hoff

Anyway, no discussion of Nick Fury would be complete without mentioning Jim Steranko, the artist whose work defined Nick Fury in the sixties and seventies. Steranko brought a degree of raciness and psychedelia that set him apart from the rest. Little known fact, he also designed Indiana Jones' iconic look for Lucas and Spielberg. Lesser known fact, he was an accomplished escape artist and inspiration for Joe Kavalier in the Pulitzer prize-winning novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.

Nick Fury was also the subject of a 1998 Fox TV movie starring none other than Knight Rider/Baywatch star David Hasselhoff... and it's about as good as you'd expect a TV movie about a second string comic book character starring David Hasselhoff would be. Interestingly enough, however, the script was by none other than Dark Knight screenwriter and prolific comic writer David S. Goyer.

Ask the geek!

Anyway, thank you for asking the geek. Please ask more. I would rather be educating people about things they want to know than what I am currently annoyed about. Questions about comic books, philosophy, or writing are especially welcome, but any subject is open.

Ask the Geek!

Rather than just babble on about whatever catches my attention today, I would like to ask YOU my loyal readers if you have any questions. Subjects can range from comic book/superhero knowledge to writing to philosophy to pretty much anything else. If you ever wanted to know anything about comics or you just want to discuss fate versus free-will, send me your request and if I find it suitably interesting, I'll write a post about it.

Sample questions:

Who is that guy Samuel Jackson is playing at the end of Iron Man?
What's the deal with Batgirl?
Are good and evil real?
Do you actually finish writing things, or just talk about it forever?