Thor Is the Woman of the Day!

 

"τὰ ὄντα ἰέναι τε πάντα καὶ μένειν οὐδέν" --Heraclitus

As a rule, I never blog about anything until the issue is cold, but perhaps I can get this post out during the initial buzz. Marvel has announced an upcoming arc in which Thor will be a woman. The move has created a minor sensation and generated what is sure to be brief controversy.

 

The move follows a number of changes in recent years to prominent superheroes’ basic descriptions. I’m not as in touch as I wish, but some examples that spring to mind are Batwoman as a lesbian, a Muslim Ms. Marvel, and a black boy as Spider-Man. Nick Fury is a great example. White for decades, he became black in Marvel’s Ultimate imprint when Samuel L. Jackson gave permission for the character to take on his likeness.  Given Jackson’s actual portrayal of Fury in the insanely popular Marvel Cinematic Universe, this latest incarnation of Fury may very well be the most widely known.

I would guess there are many more examples touching on race, ethnicity, religion, gender and sexuality, but I don’t want to focus solely on diversity because comics are given to other big changes as well. Superheroes quit, they get married, their costumes change, their groups disband, they switch allegiances, their identities are revealed, they die, they come back to life, and they do much of this with alarming regularity.

When I was a kid, Robin died in Batman: A Death in the Family. Jason Todd wasn’t the first Robin and there have been others since--including a girl.  When I was in high school, the villain Doomsday killed Superman, an assassin named Azrael filled in as Batman, and Magneto stripped Wolverine’s claws of their adamantium. In 2007, Captain America died, and in 2010 artist Jim Lee redesigned Wonder Woman’s iconic outfit. Soon after, the Human Torch died and the Fantastic Four itself ended as a group and a comic.

 

Those are merely a few examples that spring to mind. A more avid fan could produce a much lengthier list. And each time these changes occurred, they were played up by DC or Marvel as a major event. Now that we have the Internet, major media outlets sensationalize these changes and fans and the general public get worked up. But not one of the changes mentioned above stuck for very long or, in the case of recent changes, shows any indication of being irreversible. Bruce Wayne is Batman again, Wolvie has his adamantium claws, the Fantastic Four has been relaunched.

Superman isn’t dead.

The protean nature of comics is something I love. Without a single version of each character, creators can explore them from fresh angles and present them anew to younger generations. I’ve often thought superheroes were like ancient gods for their boundless natures. It makes no sense to ask for the definitive Pan or Zeus. Their attributes and behavior change from place to place and across time. They have many guises and superheroes are similar shapeshifters.

 

I’ve been disappointed to see fans reacting negatively to many recent changes. Sometimes, the discomfort results from political dogma, for in today's climate, political affiliation drives many people’s views on race, religion, art, sex, you name it. Casting a black man as the Human Torch for a Fantastic Four reboot suddenly becomes an affront to all that is holy. Already, I have seen online rants proclaiming the upcoming female Thor as another in a long series of feminist attacks on men.

Discomfort also simply stems from a psychological need for orthodoxy, for something solid that can't be fucked with dammit. But that's where the fun is. Frank Miller’s portrayal of Batman in All Star Batman & Robin, the Boy Wonder (2005-2008) was too gritty for some, and there were complaints about Superman killing General Zod in the film Man of Steel (2013). Apparently, these two heroes are so saintly they never take life. Please. Comics and movies had more edge than that in pre-Leave It to Beaver days.

The point is this: Heroes change. Superheroes change. That’s the nature of story, of myth. It’s a good thing, so no need to fret over it. But if Thor as a woman bothers you, don’t worry. The way things change in comics, she won’t be a woman for long.

 

My Personal Best of 2013 in All the Rest: Movies, TV, Video Games and Comics

I may have managed to read a fair amount of books (blog) and listen to a lot of music (blog) in 2013, but I had little time for other types of media. Nonetheless, I always make an effort, so here’s my best of 2013 in movies, television, video games and comics.

The only movie I saw in movie theaters this year, and the most enjoyable movie I saw this year, was Star Trek: Into Darkness. J. J. Abrams’s reboot of Star Trek is the best thing to happen to the franchise since Star Trek: The Next Generation. But the rest of my movie viewing tended to be of classics, which I find increasingly reliable for stimulation (blog). After hearing philosopher Slavoj Zizek discuss Possessed (1931) in the following clip from The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, I had to check it out. (Discussion of Possessed starts after the intro and finishes at 3:16 when he starts talking about The Matrix.)

 

In Possessed, a short and fast-paced film, Joan Crawford plays a factory worker who becomes the kept woman of a city gent (Clark Gable). At first, she’s just out for his money, and even tells him so, but she ends up falling in love and desiring marriage even though the ensuing scandal would harm his chances of being elected governor. It doesn’t sound like anything special, but like all great films, it covers a lot of ground, as the back cover of the DVD summarizes so well:

“This pre-Code scorcher…expertly mixes greed, ambition, politics and sex into a frank portrait of a world where men have power and women have a sell-by date stamped on their flesh.”

I fared less well in television this year, falling even further behind with series I love like Game of Thrones and Mad Men. These are on hold until my wife and I can find time to sit down together and watch them--which means the situation is dire. On my own, I did find time to watch both seasons of Rome. The shifting fortunes of soldiers Titus Pullo and Lucius Vorenus were entertaining, and it was interesting to watch the fall of the Roman Republic as the House of Caesar rose, but I enjoyed most the character of Atia of the Julii. She schemes for her family’s power with such lovable simplicity that the sore price she pays in the end, as her son finally rises to become Emperor Augustus, makes her tragic. Here is Polly Walker in full flurry as Atia the Amoral:

 

In video games, I played through The 3rd Birthday, a sci-fi shooter and spin-off from the Parasite Eve series, on my trusty PSP, and, in a sudden burst of activity, I busted out the old PS2, scraped the crust out of its crevices, and finished off Silent Hill 2--a game I began seven years ago way back in 2006. I got the suicide ending, which apparently means I play on the edge with no regard for danger. I would have expected to get the chickenshit ending, but this is much cooler.

Comics suffered the worst this year since I have yet to find an economical and convenient way to buy them in Japan. However, I did read through the graphic novel of the Spider-Man classic Kraven’s Last Hunt, and it proved to be as engrossing as it was when I was a kid scouring the shelves for single issues at Day & Palin in Farmington, IL. When Kraven the Hunter decides it’s time to kill Spider-Man and take his place, we readers get a deep look into the psyches of the two, their darkness and strength.

 

All in all, as 2013, the Year of Dwindling Free Time, draws to a close, I count myself blessed. I can never read enough or absorb enough music, but increasingly I find that other forms of entertainment like movies, TV and video games can take a backseat to everything else. Much better to spend time with my family, say by talking with my wife over a bottle of Sangria or using Tomica cars to knock down Transformers with my son.