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shadowkat1.Spent a lovely Thanksgiving at my parents home in Hilton Head Island, SC. Head back to NYC tomorrow morning. We had a gluten-free Thanksgiving, with pumpkin pie, stuffing, turkey, all the fixings. Belly is filled to capacity.
Walked on the beach with my Dad. Read Cloud Atlas on my parents deck overlooking their lagoon. No gators in sight, but did see an egret, a few geckos, and an abandoned spider web, also watched football and the Thanksgiving Parade.
2. Finished the X-men comic series Avengers vs. the X-Men, which like X-Men: Schism, is an odd series, in that you, as the reader, aren't quite sure who, if anyone, you should be rooting for. Not your Daddy's comic books. There's no clear villains or heroes here. It's also frustrating in a way, because by the end of it -- I was annoyed with the alleged good guys, the Avengers. Much like Whedon's two films of the same name, the Avengers are a superhero team that wrecks havok on the world, allegedly to fight a super-villain, then wanders off unscathed, but does little to help or even acknowledge the havok they caused. Their solution to all ills is violence, war, or fighting. And they demonize their enemies. In the movies - the villains are far more clear-cut, black hats, with swirling moustaches. Although one can't help but wonder if Thor and Iron Man were a tad more on the humble side, if Loki and Ultron would have been a wee bit less destructive.
Here, the Avengers (including former X-men and Cyclops former co-leader - Wolverine and Beast) in all their self-righteous glory storm the X-men's island Utopia to take custody of Hope Summers, Scott "Cyclops" Summers - ward and adopted granddaughter, whose his son died to protect. The Avengers, much like Lucas Bishop before them, decide that if the Phoenix possesses Hope it will corrupt her as it did Jean Grey, and destroy the world. (Here the writers appear to forget Grant Morrison's arc, where Jean Grey embodied the Phoenix power and was not corrupted, in fact she was able to save both Wolverine and the world from Torn, also Rachel Summers who has a bit of the Phoenix, has had no problems.) So their solution is to take protective custody of Hope, experiment on her, and if necessary kill her. Cyclops understandably takes issue with this. Hope is literally Scott's last hope for his species survival, a species rendered practically extinct when the Scarlett Witch lost control of her powers and decided with the blink of an eye there should be no more mutants to punish her father. As a result there's only 200 left. The Scarlett Witch has rejoined the Avengers. Summers does everything possible to protect Hope. But Hope and Wolverine hook up - Hope requests that Wolverine give her a chance to prove that Scott is right, that she can handle the Phoenix and save mutantkind. Wolverine doesn't believe she can.
(This is the guy who fought Cyclops over the safety of kids, and insisted they be pulled out of the fight.) So while she's taking a nap, Wolverine notifies the Avengers, who pop up at the sanctuary to take custody of Hope. At this point the Phoenix force appears. Hope fears she can't handle it and asks Wolverine to kill her. Cyclops stops him. Iron Man interfers with the cosmic force, dispersing it into Cyclops and his rescue team, Majick, Emma Frost, Colossus, and Namor. At first the Phoenix 5 have good intentions..they attempt to save the world. They eradicate drought, hunger, first, war, and come up with new forms of safe energy. They outlaw weapons and violence. The last part annoys the world leaders and the Avengers - who argue about what to do next. Wolverine believes they'll lose control soon and should be put down.
The Avengers decide they need to invade Cyclops island Utopia and kidnap Hope again - who has all the answers. They succeed. Angered, Cyclops and his team chase after them. To be fair to Cyclops, he tries to keep everyone together. But the Avengers...keep pushing back. Eventually pissing off Namor, who wants to put them down. Cyclops insists this isn't a WAR. We don't want to kill or hurt anyone. We just want to reclaim and protect Hope, until she can accept the Phoenix power from us. Emma agrees with Namor and betrays Cyclops, telling Namor where Hope and the Avengers are - sending Namor to declare war on Wakanda, destroying that land. The Avengers blame Cyclops for Namor's actions -- which Cyclops didn't even know about -- until it was too late. At no point does anyone reach out to Cyclops the way he had once upon a time reached out to Jean, when she was the Phoenix. It's sad really.
Each person acts with their ego, not their heart. Our way is the only way. We're right. You're evil.
Professor Xavier who has an ugly habit of taking off during the tough decision making periods, then popping up again when things get really nasty - to throw his power around, ends up making things worse instead of better. He decides to take Cyclops down by himself - with his awesome mental powers. Cyclops, who at this point has been infused with the Phoenix power from three of the Five...is almost unbeatable. He takes Emma's power into himself and ends up killing Xavier - which drives him insane with guilt, rage, and frustration. It's the ghost of Jean, not any one else, who finally convinces him to let it go.
The power leaves him and goes back to Hope, who manages to undo the horrors he wrought, while under the Phoenix's control. Hope and Scarlett Witch fix everything.
At the end, everyone blames Cyclops for what happened. He's demonized and scapegoated - placed in a high security prison. And he does take responsibility for his actions, while no one else appears to.
I've read that many Marvel Comics fans were unable to read or look at the Avengers again after this series. It basically ruined the team for them. Along with the character of Wolverine, who the writers kill off a year later in the Series - The Death of Wolverine, mainly because at this point they'd run out of things to do with him. Iron Man does admit he's to blame for the Phoenix 5, and Steve Rodgers admits he made some poor decisions. Cyclops takes responsibility, but also states much to Rodgers annoyance that he does not regret the end result. That he was right in the end -- Hope was the salvation of his species. (That is before the writers decide to reboot the series and do away with mutants again, in what appears to be an attempt to match their film enterprise to the comics. IF so, it's a dumb idea and not working. I'm sort of glad they did it, because it gave me a stopping point.
I've stopped with Uncanny 600 -- where Cyclops does a sort of Million Man march of peace on Washington with his brother Alex. Everything after that - from the reviews I've read, makes no logical sense and appears to have jumped the rails.)
What fascinates me with these books is the political subtext ....the writers are showing the nationalistic or patriotic superhero team, aren't the good guys they and we think they are. They've demonized the other -- oh look, when we kill thousands, it's okay, because, hello, we're heroes! But when they do, they are villains. When we bomb people, it's not a problem - because that's a bad area, but when they do...oh villains. The Avengers attack the X-men. They storm the X-men's home. They
kidnap people under the X-men's protection. The X-men have done nothing to warrant it. They do it - out of fear. Then, when the X-men fight back...the Avengers scream foul. It reminds me a lot of what is going on now - the British, French, Russians, US, etc have at various points invaded the Middle East for their own reasons - fear, greed, power...and caused all sorts of chaos. Now we have a terrorist group attacking us. We like the Avengers have created our own monsters, we reap what we sow -- that appears to be the political subtext of these books.
At the end of the books, as Steve Rodgers and Wolverine interrogate Cyclops, it's hard not to cringe, and think boys, this would not have happened if you had not interfered. You threw the first punch.
You chose to solve it with violence.
Their stories and history says the same thing over and over again...violence causes more violence.
The Avengers, of course, being super-powered solders and weapons, never learn.
Overall, fascinating, but somewhat frustrating if you are a fan of either the X-men or the Avengers.
3. I'm thankful I do not have any violence in my life. That I got to spend the holidays with family.
Had food, shelter, and entertainment. Wishing the same for all who happen upon this post.
Also a belated happy birthday to those celebrating this week...
Walked on the beach with my Dad. Read Cloud Atlas on my parents deck overlooking their lagoon. No gators in sight, but did see an egret, a few geckos, and an abandoned spider web, also watched football and the Thanksgiving Parade.
2. Finished the X-men comic series Avengers vs. the X-Men, which like X-Men: Schism, is an odd series, in that you, as the reader, aren't quite sure who, if anyone, you should be rooting for. Not your Daddy's comic books. There's no clear villains or heroes here. It's also frustrating in a way, because by the end of it -- I was annoyed with the alleged good guys, the Avengers. Much like Whedon's two films of the same name, the Avengers are a superhero team that wrecks havok on the world, allegedly to fight a super-villain, then wanders off unscathed, but does little to help or even acknowledge the havok they caused. Their solution to all ills is violence, war, or fighting. And they demonize their enemies. In the movies - the villains are far more clear-cut, black hats, with swirling moustaches. Although one can't help but wonder if Thor and Iron Man were a tad more on the humble side, if Loki and Ultron would have been a wee bit less destructive.
Here, the Avengers (including former X-men and Cyclops former co-leader - Wolverine and Beast) in all their self-righteous glory storm the X-men's island Utopia to take custody of Hope Summers, Scott "Cyclops" Summers - ward and adopted granddaughter, whose his son died to protect. The Avengers, much like Lucas Bishop before them, decide that if the Phoenix possesses Hope it will corrupt her as it did Jean Grey, and destroy the world. (Here the writers appear to forget Grant Morrison's arc, where Jean Grey embodied the Phoenix power and was not corrupted, in fact she was able to save both Wolverine and the world from Torn, also Rachel Summers who has a bit of the Phoenix, has had no problems.) So their solution is to take protective custody of Hope, experiment on her, and if necessary kill her. Cyclops understandably takes issue with this. Hope is literally Scott's last hope for his species survival, a species rendered practically extinct when the Scarlett Witch lost control of her powers and decided with the blink of an eye there should be no more mutants to punish her father. As a result there's only 200 left. The Scarlett Witch has rejoined the Avengers. Summers does everything possible to protect Hope. But Hope and Wolverine hook up - Hope requests that Wolverine give her a chance to prove that Scott is right, that she can handle the Phoenix and save mutantkind. Wolverine doesn't believe she can.
(This is the guy who fought Cyclops over the safety of kids, and insisted they be pulled out of the fight.) So while she's taking a nap, Wolverine notifies the Avengers, who pop up at the sanctuary to take custody of Hope. At this point the Phoenix force appears. Hope fears she can't handle it and asks Wolverine to kill her. Cyclops stops him. Iron Man interfers with the cosmic force, dispersing it into Cyclops and his rescue team, Majick, Emma Frost, Colossus, and Namor. At first the Phoenix 5 have good intentions..they attempt to save the world. They eradicate drought, hunger, first, war, and come up with new forms of safe energy. They outlaw weapons and violence. The last part annoys the world leaders and the Avengers - who argue about what to do next. Wolverine believes they'll lose control soon and should be put down.
The Avengers decide they need to invade Cyclops island Utopia and kidnap Hope again - who has all the answers. They succeed. Angered, Cyclops and his team chase after them. To be fair to Cyclops, he tries to keep everyone together. But the Avengers...keep pushing back. Eventually pissing off Namor, who wants to put them down. Cyclops insists this isn't a WAR. We don't want to kill or hurt anyone. We just want to reclaim and protect Hope, until she can accept the Phoenix power from us. Emma agrees with Namor and betrays Cyclops, telling Namor where Hope and the Avengers are - sending Namor to declare war on Wakanda, destroying that land. The Avengers blame Cyclops for Namor's actions -- which Cyclops didn't even know about -- until it was too late. At no point does anyone reach out to Cyclops the way he had once upon a time reached out to Jean, when she was the Phoenix. It's sad really.
Each person acts with their ego, not their heart. Our way is the only way. We're right. You're evil.
Professor Xavier who has an ugly habit of taking off during the tough decision making periods, then popping up again when things get really nasty - to throw his power around, ends up making things worse instead of better. He decides to take Cyclops down by himself - with his awesome mental powers. Cyclops, who at this point has been infused with the Phoenix power from three of the Five...is almost unbeatable. He takes Emma's power into himself and ends up killing Xavier - which drives him insane with guilt, rage, and frustration. It's the ghost of Jean, not any one else, who finally convinces him to let it go.
The power leaves him and goes back to Hope, who manages to undo the horrors he wrought, while under the Phoenix's control. Hope and Scarlett Witch fix everything.
At the end, everyone blames Cyclops for what happened. He's demonized and scapegoated - placed in a high security prison. And he does take responsibility for his actions, while no one else appears to.
I've read that many Marvel Comics fans were unable to read or look at the Avengers again after this series. It basically ruined the team for them. Along with the character of Wolverine, who the writers kill off a year later in the Series - The Death of Wolverine, mainly because at this point they'd run out of things to do with him. Iron Man does admit he's to blame for the Phoenix 5, and Steve Rodgers admits he made some poor decisions. Cyclops takes responsibility, but also states much to Rodgers annoyance that he does not regret the end result. That he was right in the end -- Hope was the salvation of his species. (That is before the writers decide to reboot the series and do away with mutants again, in what appears to be an attempt to match their film enterprise to the comics. IF so, it's a dumb idea and not working. I'm sort of glad they did it, because it gave me a stopping point.
I've stopped with Uncanny 600 -- where Cyclops does a sort of Million Man march of peace on Washington with his brother Alex. Everything after that - from the reviews I've read, makes no logical sense and appears to have jumped the rails.)
What fascinates me with these books is the political subtext ....the writers are showing the nationalistic or patriotic superhero team, aren't the good guys they and we think they are. They've demonized the other -- oh look, when we kill thousands, it's okay, because, hello, we're heroes! But when they do, they are villains. When we bomb people, it's not a problem - because that's a bad area, but when they do...oh villains. The Avengers attack the X-men. They storm the X-men's home. They
kidnap people under the X-men's protection. The X-men have done nothing to warrant it. They do it - out of fear. Then, when the X-men fight back...the Avengers scream foul. It reminds me a lot of what is going on now - the British, French, Russians, US, etc have at various points invaded the Middle East for their own reasons - fear, greed, power...and caused all sorts of chaos. Now we have a terrorist group attacking us. We like the Avengers have created our own monsters, we reap what we sow -- that appears to be the political subtext of these books.
At the end of the books, as Steve Rodgers and Wolverine interrogate Cyclops, it's hard not to cringe, and think boys, this would not have happened if you had not interfered. You threw the first punch.
You chose to solve it with violence.
Their stories and history says the same thing over and over again...violence causes more violence.
The Avengers, of course, being super-powered solders and weapons, never learn.
Overall, fascinating, but somewhat frustrating if you are a fan of either the X-men or the Avengers.
3. I'm thankful I do not have any violence in my life. That I got to spend the holidays with family.
Had food, shelter, and entertainment. Wishing the same for all who happen upon this post.
Also a belated happy birthday to those celebrating this week...