I'm over the moon with the MCU
Still working on Donn, TX 2002 so today's post will be quick.
I know many people are starting to experience "Comic Book" fatigue but I couldn't be happier. I was a huge comic and movie nerd growing up, and to see those two finally merging in such a fantastic way really makes me happy.
So a little backstory, I grew up a Marvel guy. I've always loved Batman, but I found many DC characters a bit boring in my younger years. I've grown to appreciate some of those characters, but there's really no comparison between the 2 companies, especially in the 70s & 80s. The writing was simply better across the board at Marvel. The other thing Marvel had was a wide variety of characters that were both interesting and entertaining. Now in the 90s when the collector craze hit, all of the companies watered down the market. This led to a drop off in the stories, and sometimes artwork as there was not only an explosion of monthly titles being pushed out but a ton of new comic companies trying to compete with the big 2.
All that aside, this isn't a post about the ramifications of how comic publishers did the industry wrong but a simple post declaring my love for the best time to read Marvel comics in my opinion. The best argument for this point is the storylines being embraced in both the movies and the TV shows. They are primarily the characters and stories of the 70s, 80s, and early 90s with a few exceptions - I'm looking at you Civil War. Those stories resonated with fans back in the day, and those fans have grown up to be writers, producers, and directors of these movies.
For years, I dreamed of my favorite characters getting a live-action platform. Characters like Spider-man, Captain America, the Hulk, Scarlett Witch, Vision, Black Knight, and the X-Men. But we were lucky if we got them in some kind of animated show or every once in a while a made-for-TV movie. I loved comics so much, I read Comic Scene which was just a giant ad for comic-related items disguised as a magazine.
In the back was a section where they put all the Hollywood rumors for every comic property out there. Every month, I would read each one desperate to see if my favorites were going to see the light of day on the big screen. They were always rumored to be a few months away from starting but never did. And while we were given some amazing movies in my youth - Tim Burton's Batman - and some huge misses - Dick Tracy anyone? - there didn't seem to be any real truth to the rumors found at the back of the magazine.
When technology finally caught up in the early 2000s, and we were given the X-Men & Spider-Man I was so excited. But these were the big boys of Marvel, and they were being handled by traditional movie studios who "know" what they are doing. Never in my wildest dreams did I think the MCU would be able to pull off what they did when they released The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man. I mean here were characters I loved, and hated if I'm being honest. (I loathe comic book Tony Stark - I am Team Cap always and forever.) More importantly, these were the springboards to get us closer to the goal of an Avenger's movie.
That was my holy grail as a kid - a movie starring my favorite comic book heroes. All these movies could have been terrible, and I would have handed over my cash and watched them in awe. Except, this wasn't a bunch of made-for-TV movies with character actors and crappy special effects. No, this was my youth, my imagination, some of my happiest memories caught on film and slapped up on a huge screen.
And with the addition of the streaming networks, Marvel is continuing to push the envelope and bring back characters that many outside of comic books don't recognize. WandaVision, Loki, Falcon & Winter Soldier, and Hawkeye have been wonderful branches of the MCU. And I'm excited to see how they handle their newest character, Moon Knight. We'll see in March, but if they handle his story correctly, he will be an important addition to future stories.
Stay tuned for more info on Donn, TX 2002 and other projects I'm working on for 2022.