Comics and Laundry
Since I have a few extra minutes tonight, I'm doing laundry and catching up on a few things. For anyone not into comics, or my take on comics, click away now.

I've finished reading through Marvel's Civil War wrap-ups. I won't be wasting more time on whatever wrap-ups are yet to come. Civil War 7 was junk. The resolution of the irreconcilable differences between Susan and Reed Richards was trite. The end of the war was just silly. Civil War didn't end with a "wow," it ended with an "eh?, whatever." The line, "They're not arresting Captain America, they're arresting Steve Rogers," deserves to go down as one of most embarrassing phrases for comicdom.

The shift, in the pages of Civil War and Front Line, of Captain America to a reckless, misguided force of evil, out of touch with what it really means to be an American in 2007, is a read in the ridiculous. The leader of an entire league of superheroes mopping around with his head hung low while a "rediscovered my soul" reporter berates him? Please. Seriously, please. Equally, implausible is Tony Stark's transition from ego-maniac, recovered alcoholic, and technological entrepreneur, to a mighty hero who holds the weight of the world on his shoulders and saving the world from itself.

I guess that's a hint of what's most annoying about the end of the Civil War saga. It's not the lack of cool match-ups that could have been, it's not the wrap-ups of multiple story-lines that read like tenth-grade creative writing class homework assignments, it's the week-kneed, equivocating stand the authors take on civil rights and security.

They ultimately side with something that comes through America's teevees nightly: the age old idea that only a strong, wise male, whose motives and methods are beyond anything we lowly citizens could ever hope to understand, can keep people safe from some unspecified pending disaster. The authors, all male, cop out and fall into the secure bosom of a strong, iron, Daddy figure.

Why do so many males need a Daddy to feel safe? It was a bullshit idea when Plato wrote about his man-crush on his philosopher kings and it was a bullshit idea when the Bush crime family took advantage of 9-11 to grab unprecedented executive powers. Whether the message comes through the nightly news or through the pages of a comic-book, it will always be bullshit.

You don't need a man to be safe. You need a clear head, and a respect for other people that centers around understanding that your views and opinions could be wrong.

PostBlog: My laundry finished, so I hurridly posted. I meant to add that there are some great things going on in comics right now. DC's 52 has some really great moments. Strange Girl is also a good read. Also, this is an interesting list of LGBT characters in comics.