Adrian Veidt: World's Greatest Hero?

Alright, so on Monday I may not have been clear. I definitely got a chance to speak my part, but I think I expressed the thought poorly. Simply enough, I actually think Adrian Veidt is actually the most consciously heroic person in the story. I think he's a great guy who uses his massive intellect to solve what was the greatest problem his world's ever seen. However, his logic was somewhat flawed. He assumed that the only way to achieve his goal was the one he used, based on the (true) premise that no one else who was willing to solve the problem was smart enough to do the job.
What he never considered was that intelligence might not be the only criteria for saving the world. As much as it pains me to say it, but sometimes the smartest one is not the best one. On the other hand, he also kind of assumed that the problem needed outside help to be solved. Our Cold War worked out fine, if you recall. Of course there were differences in society, but the end result could have very easily been worked out in less sudden methods; I'm sure someone like Veidt would have had some political leverage.
Of course, none of this is related to my original point. The simple fact is that Veidt had no ulterior motives for doing what he did; he simply thought it was the only way to save the world. He makes no money from this venture, in fact he loses quite a bit of his own. The way he's planned it, no one will even know he's done it; he'll be remembered as "Ozymandias, that one guy who was an okay hero and a decent businessman."
That fact right there is why I'm calling B.S. on the people who compare Veidt to Light from Death Note. If Light's plans succeed he'll be worshiped as Lord and Savior; Veidt wants to be recalled as a guy you wish you were friends with. Yes, they both had God complexes, but Viedt's was more like a surgeon, and Light's was like a fascist dictator.
I guess all I'm saying is that you can't call Veidt a villain. He did only what he thought was necessary to accomplish his goal (saving humanity from an actual threat, remember?), and all the loss of life was tragic to him. He feels more like the Classical tragic hero; did what needed to be done, but his flaws now condemn him to a life of sadness and pain.

A Few Words on Secret Invasion

I feel that now would be a good time to explain the name of this blog, seeing as I've altered it again just now. Specifically, I jokingly say that my writings are not connected to the various hot comics "events" because I have come to the conclusion that I find them abhorrent. While the potential to make positive changes and draw in readers is there, these events have recently become a crutch used to excuse a lack of original thought. What's worse is that these things may be used to undo details or plot elements that a writer dislikes, regardless of the readers' opinions, and often end up only complicating continuity.

*This Section Contains Spoilers From an Internal Leak*

To use Secret Invasion as an example, there are indications that several super-powered individuals (hero and villain) have been replaced with Skrulls. What's more, those people have in fact been Skrulls since some point in the 70's. For these characters, this means undoing every single bit of growth they've had, since before that point, characters didn't evolve over time.
Luke Cage has become, over the last few years, a father, husband, and leader. He's gone from being quite literally a Blaxploitation character with low-key powers to a potential leading man for Marvel; powerful enough to warrant a place on the main stage and developed properly as a man who could lead the Avengers (which he has been). Nope! Not anymore, because Brian Michael Bendis really likes the old version! Ergo, we get stuck with a guy with no depth, and we're expected to swallow the fact that Iron Fist, Luke's best friend nearly since their debuts, had not noticed, and that the impostor had decided not acting like the guy he'd replaced would be the perfect cover (especially with the getting married part). It's just dumb, and it injures all the stories that feature Luke.
Short version: events like this all end up being one kid in the playpen messing with everyone's toys, and I for one wish that we could just have some time without all this nonsense. At least, I'd like it if Bendis would stop taking all the toys and making a huge messy pile.

Funny Animal Comics 1: Fox Bunny Funny

Yikes. Fox Bunny Funny is literally a fifteen minute read, but since I spent that fifteen minutes, I've probably gone through about two hours just thinking about this one comic, what it means, and what it might not mean.
For starters, I have to explain the worldbuilding that Andy Hartzell put into the writing of FBF. What you have at first are two towns of the pseudo-1950's America variety, one populated by Foxes, whose culture is centered on the killing of Bunnies, and the town of Bunnies, which we readers see less of, but which seems more religious and fearful of their neighbors. No other animals seem to exist. Certain touches exist to reinforce the idea of a society based on the mannerisms of animals, for example, the Foxes use guns that have metal teeth attached to a wire, to fire and reel in their prey.
Also, there are no words. Not just that there's no dialogue, but the written languages for the Foxes is a series of pawprints, and the Bunny writings are all leaves and plants. There is no replacement for language, the characters all just pantomime their way through life. Because of that, the reading goes quickly, helped along by the simplicity of Hartzell's drawings which require little to no effort to understand.
Then there's the meaning behind the story, and that's where the house of cards gets shuffled (for the record, I'm kind of pleased with that turn of phrase). With the main character's hidden desire to become a Bunny, but forced to live as a Bunny-killing Fox, there's an attempt at a metaphor for GLBT lifestyle, but it never really catches on. With the relationship between the Foxes and Bunnies, there's an obvious race metaphor, but that falls apart at the end, much like my feelings about the book.
The main character finds himself in a city of the hedonistic 1980's sort populated by a combination of Foxes and Bunnies, who exchange fashion styles, have relationships, and consume one another's flesh. That's right; we have Bunnies that eat Bunny, Foxes that eat Fox, everyone eating carrots, some eating everything, and nobody seems to mind. The main character is then given plastic surgery to become a Bunny just as he always wanted, and the image of his bruised, slightly misshapen body as he weeps with joy is the closing image. Let's just say I had a hard time sleeping last night after seeing that bit.

So? Read it, once I return it to the library. Don't buy it until you've gone through it once. Maybe you'll get something I didn't, and you'll think I'm an idiot for not liking it. Maybe you'll find it as horrifying as I did, and one or two quick reads will be enough. Then again, you might not feel anything, in which case I envy the extra time you'll have after the read.

Review: Astonishing X-Men

This comic is so good it feels like I'm cheating by writing about it. Honestly, my critiques are so minor compared to how many things I feel are not just done right, but perfectly, it's hard to start. Hence me rambling on in this self-conscious manner.

Astonishing, cribbing the name from one of the Age of Apocalypse books, picks up where Grant Morrison's New X-Men left off; Jean's dead (for a while this time), Emma and Scott are a power couple running the school while Xavier helps in Genosha, and the X-Men in general are scattered and confused. With that, Cyclops essentially decides that since someone will lay claim to the X-Men name, the mutant community is best served by having the highest quality X-Men possible, and assembles the team himself.
For reasons of having a balanced skill set and good public image (discarding the all-new, all-leather costumes of the Morrison era, except as casual wear), he brings together himself, Emma, Hank McCoy, Kitty Pryde, and Wolverine. Later on, Colossus has his shot at returning to life, joining the team and resuming his relationship with Kitty.
The arcs more or less break down as the X-Men dealing with a malicious alien attempting to wipe out mutantkind with a "cure" and violence, the sentient A.I. of the danger room, the apparent return of the Hellfire Club's Inner Circle, and a resolution of the issues with anti-mutant aliens (the latter has yet to be collected, but is almost finished).

When it comes to the writing, I would be sorely tempted to call this my perfect image of the X-Men. Everyone gets their due (even Scott), but nobody overshadows the rest of the team (not even Wolverine). The dialogue is as good as we've come to expect from Whedon, being interesting and witty while remaining in-character for each of the distinct personalities. The plotting is solid, with the only low point being the second storyline, "Danger," which shoehorns Whedon's ideas about A.I. in a disjointed story. Arcs aside, Astonishing's two year run reads as one long story with self-contained issues in six-issue arcs. Therefore, don't look to this for and single-issue reading; give yourself some time to read at least an arc at a time.
John Cassiday's art is detailed, active, and expressive. Action has punch, and you'll never confuse characters as everyone has their own unique features. However, he may have some sort of eyelash fetish, seeing as he exaggerates their portrayal on everyone's face. Even the aliens and robots. Regardless, his use of form and color leave one with a "real people in a comic setting" impression that compliments Whedon's writing perfectly.

The bottom line about this series is: "If you've ever liked any of these characters or even the concept of the X-Men, read it, dummy." Also, if you've always felt that nobody ever "got it" when you've tried to read X-Men, give Whedon a chance to win you over. He probably will.
Thus far, the storylines collected are titled "Gifted," "Dangerous," "Torn," and "Unstoppable" (again, yet to be collected). Taking over after Whedon is Warren Ellis (who apparently writes 75% of Marvel between him and Bendis). I'm greatly saddened to see this run end, but if Whedon feels he's finished I won't argue. Besides, maybe with Ellis Astonishing can go back to being monthly instead of every other month.
Yeah, I'm so hooked that I buy every single and the trades. Try it, and see if you blame me.

Dark Phoenix Saga *Non-DPS Spoilers*

This story has in many ways set the tone for all comics in this franchise right up to today. It was at the time just one link in a chain of major storylines dreamed up by Clairmont, but is now seen as a major point in not only X-Men history, but mainstream comics on the whole. For example, let's look at what pieces are present here:
1) As stated, Wolverine gets plenty of face time, and his multiple homicides are ignored.
2) Cyclops is shown as a competent leader, powerful fighter, and compassionate person, but is not written as doing anything terribly vital.
3) Jean taps into Phoenix powers, dies. Hints at drama with the previous two.
4) There's an emphasis on the growing divide between the Professor and the team, which has only recently become an issue again. Then again, I imagine since he's dead now, it's a bit moot.
5) Lots of people get involved in stories. This is to me the hallmark of X-Men storylines, with heroes and villains from all over showing up, often in unexpected roles.

There are some clear signs of DPS, great as it is, actually not being as good as it could have been. For one, since trade paperbacks were not collected at the time, the recap dialogue is ever-present, since a reader may have missed the last issue (thank Buddha for the modern recap first page). The other is that some plot points reek of editorial mandate, "Quick, we need a character to reach out to that new demographic! Make a disco character!" Oh, the immense fail that is Dazzler, whose name was originally supposed to be "The Disco Dazzler."
Nonetheless, it's a classic story that's earned it place. No wonder this is the fourth time the story's been printed; once originally, once in X-Men Classics monthly, and two printings (at least) in trade. It's kind of a big deal.

Tales from the Farm *Major Spoilers, such as they are*

Spoiler/reflection/theory one: Jimmy is obviously Lester's dad, and is not a brain damaged as he seems at first.
For starters, half of the dialogue in the comic only makes sense if Jimmy is Lester's dad, especially the poignant look after "You and me get along, and you never had any kids." However, the second part only comes into play with that in mind. My thought is that the hit Jimmy took in the NHL was only the last in a series of concussions, which made it dangerous to continue playing professionally, and left him with speech problems and concentration problems. Those of you familiar with football, think Steve Young in recent years. Therefore, instead of a man with the mind of a child playing with a child, it's a man who can't get respect in his home town connecting with his son the only way he's allowed.
Spoiler/reflection/theory two: Arguments for and against alien invasion.
On the first hand, if there are no actual aliens, what the hell happens to Jimmy? Lester may be imaginative, and writing Jimmy out of the story may have been dramatic, but Lester lives his story and wouldn't kill off a real person like that for no reason. This makes even more sense when you consider the Lester hung up his cape, meaning something important happened. Also, he seems as surprised as anyone when he flies or did the trick with the flaming slingshot pellet.
On the other hand, this is a story about people connecting with one another, or failing to, as the case my be, and that means alien invasion is probably out. Also, Lester never uses his powers when anyone other than Jimmy is around.
Seems kind of like a crap shoot to me, so believe whatever you prefer.