Monthly (Comic) Book Club - January - Marvels/Eye of the Camera16596
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| Issue 3 really feels like it is about the fickleness of the public around the Marvels. It reminds me a lot of when the public seems to consume and take some ownership over a celebrity’s public persona. It becomes less about who they are and what they do and instead everything just feeds into the public’s preconceived notions and expectations of the person while at the same time demanding of them. I think part of that also stems from a bit of burnout on the part of the public. Like yes, these people might save the city every other week but when it’s constantly making you late for work or wrecking your car your gratitude may begin to wear a bit thin. Phil seems to think the Marvels are getting a bit of a raw deal. While Phil’s point of view is certainly more measured than someone like J Jonah Jameson, it’s impossible to deny that his own view is also tinged by some bias. Phil does call them “Marvels” after all. Phil has become a bit obsessed with his work and through it, the Marvels. When the Avengers’ battle floods the city his first instinct is to grab his camera and go take photos. To serve as a “witness” as he would later say. Even leaving his family to do it. All of these elements collide when the Silver Surfer heralds the arrival of Galactus and the very real threat of the end of the world. My knowledge of Marvel history is not comprehensive but I would imagine this wasn’t the first world-ending threat but I also can’t think of any on this scale and certainly not one this public. The public view is obviously the main conceit of Marvels and that point of view keeps us at a distance of even from a huge world-ending calamity. In the face of the end of the world Phil once again grabs his camera and gets to work. However, it seems a futile endeavor when there might be no one alive tomorrow to read about what happened today. As Phil makes his way home he sees many manifestations of the peoples’ fear. Some think it will blow over and some spending time with family. Back in the city we see some of the public’s demand of the Marvels that they criticize and chastise every other day. We never hear the Fantastic Four as they work out how to repel Galactus but we do hear the public’s disappointment when the FF retreat after failing to stop the threat the first time. Once they do defeat Galactus the public goes right back to whipping them. That punk Parker is taking photos to smear Spider-Man, people are calling for the X-Men to be jailed, and even calling the crisis so many witnessed as a hoax. We do see a glimpse of Phil’s growth from the previous issue as he defends the X-Men the same as he does any of rhe other Marvels. On the art side, Ross does an amazing job bringing the coming of Galactus to life. The full page paintings make the events feel so gigantic because he has to place us so far away kist to be able to see it all. This nicely ties into the perspective of Marvels as a whole where these fantastic beings are at arm’s length to the everyday person that their humanity doesn’t always come through and they end up feeling larger than life: Quote: Originally Posted by xkonk In this case, it’s surprisingly consistent as all the events depicted were published in 1966. the X-Men/Nefaria event depicted is from X-Men #23. The Ka-Zar/Daredevil murder framing is from Daredevil #14. The comparison to Watchmen is interesting. I think the reason the two situations turn out so differently is because the world is in a different place in each. In Watchmen, mankind has basically turned on itself and is ready to destroy the planet. Ozymandias’ giant squid reframes the treat humanity is so ready to kill from something internal to something external and, unknown to them, non-existent. In Marvels we’re at the point where people are getting fed up with and a bit wary of heroes. Humanity isn’t ready to kill itself, i stead they are watching helplessly as these Marvels destroy it as a result of their own conflicts. So when Galactus arrives, though he may be an alien from far away, he’s, certainly an escalation of but not all that much different from the villains the Marvels are fighting every day. Yes Galactus may destroy the world but from the far away point of view of most of humanity, is he really that much different from Namor attacking Manhattan with a tidal wave? As for hidden Easter eggs and cameos, it should be pointed out that Spider-Man harassing Jameson is actually Kraven the Hunter trying to draw the real Spider-Man out. On Phil’s walk home Joe Sinnott and Jack Kirby (who would pass away weeks after the issue was released) are in a car and Stan Lee is seen in the restaurant where Phil is eating with his family at the end. |
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Monthly (Comic) Book Club - February - Fables: Legends in Exile & Animal Farm  Fables #1-10 Week 1 (1/31-2/6): Fables #1-3 Week 2 (2/7-2/13): Fables #4-5 Week 3 (2/14/-2/20): Fables #6-8 Week 4 (2/21-2/27): Fables #9-10 |
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| Marvels 4 seemed very much a story about transition. Specifically we see it in the story of Phil’s personal life but on a more thematic level it is showing the change from the Silver Age to the Bronze age of comics. All around Phil is seeing a growing cynicism in the public’s relationship with the Marvels. It’s very much what we saw in the previous issue where heroes are criticized and harassed but when trouble comes the people cower in fear and pray that the Marvels will deliver them. Despite the success of his book, Phil wants to do more to fight for the Marvels in the arena of public opinion. He sees his opportunity in the case of Spider-Man who is being skewered in public because they believe he killed Captain Stacy. Phil is certain that he didn’t and he would show that to the world. As Phil investigates he comes across heroes like Luke Cage, sees Black Widow on tv, and photos of the Black Panther. All of these characters debuted in the Silver Age but had notable resurgences in the 70s as they could be seen to represent the social issues that would be prevalent in the 70s like the escalation of urban crime, second-wave feminism, and a rise in Black voices in world culture. The end of the Silver Age of comics is generally agreed to come with the death of Gwen Stacy. While heroes were never infallible, this was seen as a significant and shocking failure of the hero to “save the girl,” shattering a more idealized view of the world of comics. The girl would be saved and the villain would be sent to jail and the world would go on as normal. In this story, Spider-Man tries but still fails to save the most important person in his life. He probably unintentionally killed her himself. If he hadn’t she might still have died when she hit the water. And the villain? He’s not carried off to jail. Spider-Man unleashes his rage on him only for the Goblin to accidentally kill himself in a rather gruesome and vindictive manner. The more cynical perspective of the Bronze age did not happen overnight and Phil sees it himself from Luke Cage being a “Hero for Hire,” Black Widow’s criminal trial, and Spider-Man labeled a murderer in public. Phil is trying to hold on to the idealism of the past and finds that embodied in Gwen Stacy. Despite losing her father, after a while she didn’t think Spider-Man was a murderer. When Namor’s peaceful invasion strolled through New York she admired the fantastic majesty of it. As Phil witnesses the events of ASM 121 play out, Phil’s idealism dies with Gwen. Phil can’t bring himself to write the new book that would espouse the virtues of the Marvels because those old days died with Gwen. Phil says he can no longer write his book because he’s “seen too much” that it has brought him “inside it.” Phil can no longer appreciate the marvel of the Marvels because he has been immersed in them of so long that he understands them a certain way. A way that no longer exists. That said, the book is not all about the death of the old. The book introduces Phil’s assistant, Marcia. Throughout the book while Phil is laser focused on his crusade to rescue the past, Marcia is just as amazed and optimistic by what she sees now and in the future. Phil retires but that is not the end. He leaves it in Marcia’s hands to tells the stories of the next Marvels. As comics changed from one age to the next, not everyone liked the change but that’s not to say that the stories or the characters were worse. It is up to the next generation to carry things forward. The book even ends with Phil taking a photo with a young Danny Ketch, who would grow up to become Ghost Rider not in the Bronze age, but the Modern Age. So in that very last shot we see three generations of comics and comic lovers. Phil representing the formative Gold and Silver Years. Marcia representing the next generation, the Bronze age. And finally you have Danny representing an age of comics no one else has even imagined yet. While every issue of the series has had some amazing visuals, this one has had some of that have stuck with me for a long time. The Skree-Skrull war battle is probably the most action we’ve seen in the series. Though it may be lacking in the scale and apocalyptic overtones of Galactus’ invasion in the previous issue, this painting is just so densely packed with characters and action Giant Man seems to struggle to fit into the frame. There’s also something about that shot of Spider-Man climbing the Bugle’s window that I love. It’s simple but the composition of Spider-Man climbing an office window from the inside and the detail Ross renders, to the point that you see the outline of Spidey’s lips through his mask has just always felt so real. I think the main cameos worth pointing out in the shot of the Atlantean invasion, the blonde haired child is supposed to Alex Ross as a three-year old (as he would’ve been in 1973) being carried by his older brother. Also in the invasion are two ships very reminiscent of Archie, Nite Owl’s ship from Watchmen. If you look in the windows of the closer ship, one of the figures seems to have horns, ala Nite Owl. One an outfit similar to Silk Spectre. And alone in the other window a figure holding a gun, like the Comedian. Finally, the cab driver that Phil hires to chase the Green Goblin is John Romita Sr! |
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| The Epilogue is just that. Not a whole issue but more of an additional flourish to end the story. I think the epilogue emphasizes the theme of passing the torch that I had seen in the last issue of Marvels. While Marvels 4 took place right at the transition of the change, this Epilogue takes place a few years later. To further emphasize the idea of change and passing the torch we see the X-Men return. We saw as a new team back in Marvels 2 but they too have passed the torch and we see a new team with evergreen characters like Wolverine and Storm. The idea of passing on to the next generation is of course also seen in Phil’s life. While he mentions that he has come out of retirement the focus is really on his two daughters. Just as Phil did when he was younger, his daughters see the wonder of the Marvels, ironically the ones his father had feared and hated when he was younger. His daughters now run to see Storm light up the sky the way Phil would try to go see Namor or the Human Torch fight things out. In the interview at the end of the book Busiek says he feels this is a better ending to the story than the end of book 4, which ended on something of a dreary note with Phil angry at the loss of Gwen and of the era she represented. I definitely agree with this idea. To look at it another way, Marvels 4 made it feel like Phil had to give control for someone else to take up the reigns. The Epilogue has Phil back to work showing that you don’t necessarily have to be disenchanted and disenfranchised to allow the next generation to carry on. Phil also gets the chance to see things more from the perspective of the next generation and to understand the wonder they see in a world that had left Phil disenchanted. Marvels 4 tried to show that to an extent with Marcia. But we only saw Marcia reacting to photographs, not the living, breathing Marvels that captured Phil’s imagination. Even then, Phil was so distracted with his Spider-Man crusade that we never really got to see the wonder Marcia saw in the world. Finally, some more cynical readers would argue that Danny Ketch isn’t really worth remembering so the original ending was something of a damp squib. Of course writing in the early 90s Busiek couldn’t really predict Ketch's longterm popularity but I personally still enjoyed the reference. The epilogue basically reiterated the point Marvels 4 ended on but does so with a much more positive outlook and (with the benefit of hindsight) does so with characters with much greater staying power. |
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Quote:Originally Posted by dielinfinite That was my takeaway too, both from the reading itself as well as what Busiek said in the end interview. I'm hoping to remember to return to the epilogue after Eyes of the Camera, since chronologically it takes place somewhere in there. |
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| Eyes of the Camera is still written by Busiek but now art is by Jay Anacleto. I know him mostly for his variant covers, which I have a few of. There's also quite a gap from the first series, in 1994, to this one, in 2008. The art is still fairly photorealistic though, so it feels of a piece to me, besides continuing Phil's story. #1 starts with Phil kind of like he was at the end of the first series. He's burnt out, not feeling like he wants to be a photographer even though he seems to have moved on from superheroes. Phil's settled more into his home life but things don't seem great there, with his daughters arguing and not doing well at school. But then he gets sent to the White House and sees the Fantastic Four, and it's right back to marvels. His daughter is his assistant now; I guess Marcia moved on. The timing seems weird though; the discussion of mutants would put this back before issue 2, and stuff with the FF and Iron Man definitely happened in the first series. So maybe I'm off here. As an aside, the idea of not going to an interview (Phil says that he's thinking about not going to his) is completely foreign to me. Unless there was an emergency or something, why wouldn't you go to an interview? You can always say no to an offer if you don't want the job. Just strikes me as weird. On the other hand, the Bulletin seems like a bizarre tabloid. But then, I wouldn't have applied in the first place. The big news comes for Phil at the end of the issue, when he finds out he has lung cancer. So maybe this is supposed to take place earlier; Phil's 'new world' is taking place with the new world of heroes after the Fantastic Four come into being. If this is meant to be interspersed with Marvels then maybe Phil's feelings in the first series make more sense. If he knew his time was limited, he would want to spend more time with his family. Maybe he was a little jealous that marvels could save the world but they couldn't save him. I'm curious to see if the other issues also fit in to the first series or if they skip to after. |
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| Issue 2 does pick up a little later (maybe weeks, from one thing Phil says?), but after the first series ends. He's talking about his second book which was maybe going to be about Spider-Man and mentions Gwen's death. Phil going into the Bugle and mentioning the Avengers and Zodiac could be Avengers 72, which was 1970. If that's the right year, Cap's arrest was #128 but I'm not sure about Stark being in Detroit. The Hulk/Juggernaut story is Hulk 172, which was 1974, so maybe they're looking for a rough time period instead of an exact one. Between his diagnosis and his book, Phil is in a rough place. He gets some mojo back when he realizes he was unhappy because he stopped taking pictures of the marvels, and was letting other people tell the story. The new sense of purpose means that they won't be moving to Florida, and he's going to have to treat his cancer. On the other hand, when some other people feel a new purpose in life, they become the Punisher. |
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| Issue 3 dives into the debate between what makes a hero and what makes a villain. Phil has the old-school view (or at least his old-school view) that the good guys are good guys, and the people should support them. Iron Man, Daredevil, Captain America - they've all saved the world, and enough people, that they should be trusted as heroes. But his interviewer brings up Wolverine and the Punisher - are these heroes? Phil's fired up to make his points, both in the interview and in general. He goes right from chemo to checking on the Wasp, where he sees the Vision save Yellowjacket in the street. The Avengers had their tryouts in 137 and Vision saves Yellowjacket on the cover of 140, so we're in the 1975 range now. Monsters seems to be all the rage, and when Phil goes to talk to people on the street he gets another convincing story of superhero collateral damage. The X-Men battle at the airport should be #97, with #98 having the Christmas event we see in Marvels epilogue. Issue 3 ends somewhat similar to Marvels 4, with Phil watching Spider-Man try to save someone. He succeeds with Jameson (with the Punisher's help, confusingly) but not the Hitman (the bad guy). With all the exertion and the moral ambiguity, Phil passes out. It seems a bit premature to get into my/our own discussion of heroism and whatnot since we're only halfway through the series, so I'll save it for next week. |
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Quote:Originally Posted by xkonk So the time placement for issue one really confused me for a while. Spider-Man, the Hulk, Iron Man mutants, it all seemed like ground we’d already covered in the first series. It drove me a little crazy that after researching Marvels 1 so thoroughly Busiek would start Eyes of the Camera off so clumsily but then when the got to the subject of Phil’s daughter needing glasses and it clicked for me. The bulk of this issue does not take place after the end of Marvels #4. Instead, the way Marvels #1 started with comics’ Golden Age to set up the rest of the series in the Silver Age, Eye of the Camera actually starts at the beginning of the Silver Age. Phil isn’t burned out on the Marvels, instead he feels the lack of Marvels, the everyday normal world is unremarkable and the explosion of the Marvels in the Silver Age is what revitalizes him. I looked back at Marvels and Phil’s oldest daughter Jenny is always depicted with glasses from her first appearance in Marvels 2. By Marvels 4 both daughters are in glasses and Jenny is looking like a young woman. So this issue takes place in the gap between Marvels 1 and 2 which is why characters like Iron Man and the Hulk are treated as new. The appearance of the Fantastic Four at the beginning is meant to be their public debut. The time jump occurs toward the end when Phil visits the Fantastic Four launch pad. In the previous frame in the city his hair and mustache are still brown but at the launch pad it’s gray and he mentions that it was years later and it’s only after the jump that he mentions the events we witnessed in Marvels, the return of Captain America, the wedding of Sue and Richard, Galactus, and Maggie. So with that in mind, the issue is about the Silver Age and the big changes it brought to the (Marvel) world. The Silver Age is where Marvel’s characters really exploded, starting with the Fantastic Four (Phil comments that it all started at the launch site). So after the jump Phil’s trip to the launch pad is like his pilgrimage to the place that birthed the world he came to love. And just like the Silver Age would change to the Bronze Age, Phil’s life changes when he gets his cancer diagnosis. One thing I noticed is that compared to the first series, there seems to be very little epic action and instead it feels more intimately focused on Phil. In Marvels 1 we had the gigantic Human Torch/Namor fight before ending with the Golden Age heroes assaulting the Nazi base. In this issue we have the debut of the Fantastic Four. An important moment in history but not the most compelling visually. We also get a glimpse of Thor summoning a storm but otherwise the Marvels are very much kept at arm’s reach. We see the Thing on tv and people mention mutants and other heroes but not much in terms of firs-hand witnessing. It’s not really a complaint as the perception of the Marvels from afar by normal people is one of the major themes of the series. I’ve always love Anacleto’s art and while he doesn’t really get to stretch his legs in this issue, he does bring a similar realistic art style while appearing rougher and grittier compared to the very bright and idealized vision of Ross’ paintings. Given that most of the story will take place in the Bronze age when comics did take that turn into darker territory perhaps the change is dwliberate. |
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| So Eye of the Camera 1 ended with Phil paying his respects to the Silver Age and getting life changing news. Issue 2 basically shows us the world of comics in the 70s. At the time, horror comics were on the rise and in Phil’s world hear that demons are invading and werewolves are attacking. Comics at the time were focusing not just on heroics but also putting the heroes through the ringer personally and emotionally. As Phil puts it, “it was a ghoulish delight at the misfortune of heroes.” Even his publisher is pushing him to do a book on villains, “the dark side of Marvels.” Phil’s world is darker like comics at the time were becoming. Heck, even Phil’s situation, slowly dying of cancer, is more reminiscent of something from the bronze age (The Death of Captain Marvel) than anything in the Silver Age. Throughout the issue Phil is raging against this darker world. It’s not until he realizes that he can still do something about it but he will need time that he commits to getting his cancer treated. So again, another book with little heroics. All we really get to see close up is Spider-Man tying up the goons that were assaulting Phil. Otherwise it almost feels like you’re catching glimpses of heroes out the corner of your eye. Speaking of Spider-Man, I do like the fact that we the audience know Peter Parker is Spider-Man but Phil does not. The dramatic irony that Phil loathes Peter for helping smear Spider-Man, and thus contributing to the darkening of the world, while not knowing Peter is Spider-Man, one of the Marvels Phil admires so much is just delicious. As for the date, it would be either ‘73 if you go by the release date or ‘74 if you go by the cover date. Quote: Originally Posted by xkonk The Avengers/Zodiac thing is apparently from Avengers #120-122, Captain America’s arrest is from captain America and the Falcon #170 and you were right about the Hulk/Juggernaut. All I believe were Published in 73 but cover dated in ‘74, same year of the Punisher’s first appearance… |
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If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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Quote:Originally Posted by dielinfinite Yeah, I caught up to that. It's interesting that the series starts with a semi-retcon, and at first I was a little disappointed that it was covering the same ground again, but then it made sense. Quote: Originally Posted by dielinfinite Agree. There are no giant spreads or two-page action sequences. Maybe we'll get there later. |
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| I didn't reread the epilogue, since it was just last week, but I believe the end material says that it's supposed to happen around issues 2-3 of Eye of the Camera. One part that makes a little more sense now is Wolverine asking Phil if he smokes and then giving him a bit of a look when he says he hasn't in a while. Some speculation I read online was that Wolverine has kind of a pitying look in one panel because he can smell Phil's cancer the way some dogs/animals now have been trained to smell different diseases. | ||
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If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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| Eye of the Camera issue 4 picks up with Phil feeling run down, physically and emotionally. His chemo treatments are wearing him down, and his hope in the marvels is wearing down as heroes are doing bad things (intentionally or not). The disappointment, probably combined with habits dying hard, has Phil smoking again. The human fallibility of heroes is taking a toll. The Punisher hangs heavy over things, working with heroes while killing people left and right. We get a few bigger panels, like the Beyonder's destruction of the Rockies, but still nothing like Ross' spreads. It's a little disappointing, as this is the equivalent intergalactic threat from the first series, but this series in general seems a bit more talky. There's less awe, even when something truly awesome occurs. Phil sees Silver Surfer and Molecule Man recreate the Rockies and regains his hope. His health and interest in his job ebbs and flows with his belief in marvels. He makes the decision to quit smoking, but unfortunately his cancer has already progressed. |
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| Issue 5 is solidly in the mid-80s by the comic events, as Phil sees the original X-Men fight Tower in X-Factor 2. @dielinfinite mentioned before how it's ironic that Phil is so upset at Peter Parker, not knowing that he's Spider-Man. It's kind of funny to see the other side of that here where Phil recognizes that the X-Terminators are the original X-Men. Not knowing who wears a mask is understandable; not recognizing the guy with wings or the guy who shoots red beams out of a visor does seem like a stretch. The mutant-centric story lets Phil touch on some of the themes of the series, like people not trusting heroes for iffy reasons (mutants in particular), but also reflect on the world passing him by. At the trial of Magneto, the X-Men aren't even the X-Men he remembers. The ties between Phil's physical and emotional health continue, and as he gets sicker he becomes more disillusioned with his work again. I did like some of the panels in this one a lot. The early one of X-Factor at the airport was striking, I thought. Not specific to this issue, but I like how panels we see from Phil's perspective turn up again later as photographs he's taken. |
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| Issue 6 serves as the eulogy for Phil, giving him some peace of mind as he passes away. Maggie, the mutant girl that he took in briefly in the first series, returns and tells Phil about what she's done since she ran off. Phil can take some solace in his pictures, but helping Maggie and being with his family is his true legacy. At his funeral, Marcia has news that there was a parade for X-Factor, showing at least a hint that people could cheer for mutants, even, at least sometimes. | ||
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| I think there are two main themes for Marvels (both series). One is Marvel itself, at least somewhat as a stand-in for artists and writers. Phil's work as a photographer and newsman is the real-world equivalent of the comics' role in the fictional world. They're supposed to tell us something, and document what's happening (even if put through a fiction lens). Eye of the Camera in particular is interested in the legacy of storytellers: if the world keeps moving on, and new people come in and keep telling stories, what's the point of being a storyteller? Issue 6 would be the outward statement of the answer, which is that someone still has to do the storytelling (Phil is the one who took the photos, even if someone else might have if he wasn't there, and he was the one that helped Maggie just as Maggie helped people in New Guinea). The storyteller inspires future storytellers, especially if they do a good job and are committed to the craft. Aside from their work, people can also just aspire to be good people. Try to help others, be a good family member. Phil was relatively famous, especially among newspaper folk, but his lasting impact on the world will be his daughters and the people he influenced personally. Not everyone can be a marvel, but everyone can try to do good. I think a good amount of people question what they're doing for their job at some point. I can imagine comic creators, whether at the end of their career or not, spend some time wondering what they're really doing, just making 'funny pictures' for people. But there's some amount of value in most jobs. I can't find the exact quote right now but Stan Lee said that providing entertainment for people, something they really enjoy, is a valuable thing. Feeding people is a valuable thing. Even if it's fast food and they could have eaten anything else in the world, being the person at the register helped feed someone that meal. There are some pointless jobs out there, but I don't think they're the ones that people tend to think of first. Drawing pictures and writing stories that bring people a few minutes of enjoyment, if not more, is a good thing to do. |
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| The second theme is heroism, or trust in heroes. The two series are from Phil's point of view, so while we sometimes see instances of heroes falling short there isn't a real engagement with if heroes are 'good' or 'bad'. Even when Phil has a crisis of faith he never turns on the marvels. It helps that they're actively trying to do good. You can contrast the optimism here with the pessimism of something like Watchmen. Marvel's heroes are human, and flawed, but they keep trying. They're even willing to die to save people if it comes down to it. Moore's 'heroes' are human, which makes them fundamentally flawed and, in the end, largely terrible. Maybe with Watchmen you'd draw a line between the human and the superhuman (or nearly so, with Ozymandias), but it would be a fine line. Because of the lack of engagement, there isn't a real reckoning in the story of what it means for heroes to be people. Phil briefly questions what it says for Spider-Man to be working with the Punisher, but then the Avengers or X-Men save the world and things are ok again. I think that's because the series are supposed to be about the story of Marvel, and that optimism, more than a take on the real-world implications of superheroes or vigilantes. You could write a book on the topic, and I'm sure some people have. But I'll say in short that I do enjoy the relatively rare times when comics grapple with the somewhat more real-world versions of how their universe would operate. One that seems relevant to the Spider-Man/Punisher idea is a 2008 What If issue. It's a one-shot of the Wolverine vs. Spider-Man one-shot we read earlier for the deaths of Spider-Man month. The general idea is that instead of going back to New York at the end of the Russian adventure, Wolverine convinces Spidey to join him in hunting the KGB who are still after innocent people. Spoilers: Spidey doesn't become quite as hard-edged as Logan, but he isn't the same friendly neighborhood hero we know in the 616 universe. Another one that came to mind is a TPB I used to have, collecting 2012's War Zone 1-5. In the previous Punisher series, he was using super tech to help take out a bad guy group called the Exchange. That included one of Spidey's web shooters to swing from one place to another as part of his attack, where several police officers died. We know the Punisher didn't kill them (his partner killed one accidentally), but in War Zone the press is saying he did and no one knows the truth. After confronting Frank but he escapes, Spider-Man goes to the Avengers and tells them it's time to take Frank in. It's a Punisher book, so it takes five issues, but they bring him in. Part of the time is spent on discussion, though. Iron Man, Thor, and Wolverine are all happy to let the Punisher kill whoever he decides needs killing. They only agree to get him because Spidey convinces Captain America. There's a good Punisher-Black Widow fight that ends with him distracting her with a troubled village; she stops hunting him to help the people. Thor finds him and gives him the choice to turn himself in. After Punisher uses one of Iron Man's armors to get his partner out of jail, the Avengers (minus Wolverine) get together and capture him. Another is an issue of Spider-Man from after Civil War. After he revealed his secret identity, Kingpin hired someone to attack Peter and his family and Aunt May was shot. Spidey finds out it was Kingpin, who was in jail at the time, and in ASM 532 he goes into the prison. The Kingpin is expecting him, and bribes the guards to get him his usual suit and let all the prisoners out to watch the fight. Kingpin is cocky, looking forward to a fight and villain monologuing as usual. Spidey does the equivalent of laying down his badge, takes off his costume, and casually throws the Kingpin a beating. Peter tells him, straightforwardly, that he has no real power because he can't stick to walls or fly or whatever. Those last two stories make the clear point that Marvels doesn't fully grapple with: in a world where people have superpowers, they essentially allow anything that happens. Sure, they can't be everywhere all the time, but if they want something to happen, it will get done. When they don't capture the Punisher, or more to the point work with him sometimes, they're letting him kill criminals the rest of the time. And a world where the heroes do that should maybe be more like that What If than the 616 actually is. Again, maybe Marvels can't have that discussion, because it's wrapped in Phil's optimism about the marvels. But I think it's an important one that people could also apply to our non-superpowered world. |
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| Okay, sorry I haven’t been too active on this last stretch. I’m actually being audited by the IRS and had to have all my documents sent in this weekend and the actual interview comes in a little over a week so I’ve been a little distracted. I’ll try to read the last four issues and write up some thoughts but I probably won’t do an issue by issue breakdown | ||
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If the viagra is working you should be well over a 9.8.
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| @dielinfinite ooof. Good luck dude. | ||
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| So Eye of the Camera felt like it was about Phil finding his legacy in the face of his mortality. He’s hung up on the idea of his photography being his legacy and the world he’s captured in his photos. As the world begins to darken with more public interest in tawdry tabloid news and the lines between hero and villains becoming blurred Phil loses faith in his legacy. Eventually, Phil comes to see and accept the good and bad being part of a more complex whole when even the villain Molecule Man would help the Avengers heal the Rocky Mountains. Phil realizes his legacy is not in the photos he’s taken but in the people and family he has inspired and shared his life with. Those people, His daughters, his former assistant Marcia, and the young mutant girl Maggie, all decide to carry on Phil’s work and complete his book together. There’s definitely a lot that can be said about the world and specifically the world of comics around the time period covered in Eye of the Camera. I don’t feel like either Marvels title was really going for a “realistic” approach to comics, as Silver Age or not, Namor flooding half of Manhattan would have cost many, many lives and sown incredible destruction throughout the city but it comes and goes, more or less as quickly as it does in the original comics just from the point of view of a bystander instead of the heroes themselves. Phil does question a little about the logic of very clearly good characters like Spider-Man working alongside people like the Punisher. The story doesn’t resolve the issue mostly, I think, because it’s not dealing with the Marvels as people, EotC I think keeps the Marvels even further away than did the original, but deals with the world (of comics) as a whole. These are all still meant to be the good guys and to someone coming from the comics of the 60s that can be a difficult thing to reconcile. The story itself felt very different from the original Marvels. As I mentioned above, the Marvels are kept even further removed from the story. Where Marvels felt like it was about Phil being witness to all these grand events and his family situation being a smaller B-Story, EotC seems primarily focused on Phil’s story and all the superhero events are incidental. Overall, I enjoyed the follow-up and I would be curious to see where the story would go next if it covered the 90s and early 2000s. I’d imagine it might follow Phil’s daughters, though we don’t really get an idea of what they would do, or perhaps it would follow Marcia who stepped in front of the camera at the end of EotC. It’s also fun to think about the events we might see. The biggest events I can think of are probably the big crossovers like Fatal Attractions, Age of Apocalypse, or The Clone Saga but those wouldn’t really be witnessed by the public at large. Maximum Carnage might get a shoutout as Carnage’s rampage was very public and incited a large public riot. Heroes Reborn if only to notice the absence of the class heroes involved. |
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