(May 2003 - March 2007.) Tama's thoughts on the blogosphere, podcasting, popular culture, digital media and citizen journalism posted from a laptop computer somewhere in Perth's isolated, miniature, urban jungle ...
I've been enjoying Henry Jenkins' wide-ranging posts in his new blog, but I've particularly been impressed with his look at the relevance of comic books in relation to September 11, 2001 and its ongoing aftermath (Jenkins' thoughts are in several posts: one; two; three). Jenkins points out that the immediate responses to 9-11 were very wide-ranging and far more balanced and provocative than in the mainstream news media. He also points out that the responses to 9-11 and the 'war on terror' have had considerable impact on comic books, not so much in a propaganda sense, but in terms of asking hard questions and exploring some very difficult issues.
In my PhD I also got a chance to explore the Sept 11 aftermath comics, especially those set in the Marvel Universe. (In my writing I particularly looked at how the attacks on the WTC impacted the first two Spider-Man films both in terms of their stories and their production). While I knew there were a number of special edition aftermath comics which directly engaged with the fall of the Twin Towers, I had presumed that the obvious parallels were no longer part of the Marvel Universe. However, the magic of the internets pointed me toward Marvel's summer cross-over series entitled "Civil War".
Apparently the story has been brewing for a while, but Civil War kick-starts when a group of teenage superheroes called the New Warriors are participating in a reality TV show where they take down super-villains. It goes horribly wrong, all bar one of the New Warriors is killed as one of the villains, Nitro, causes a massive explosion which kills 600 civilians including many children as the blast engulfs a school. There is a massive public backlash against superheroes of all flavours (not just mutants this year) which sees a SuperHero Registration Act pass into law (very much like the US Patriot Act in the immediate aftermath of Sept 11) which criminalises any unregistered superhuman activity (registered superheroes become, in effect, SHEILD operatives). The core Marvel superheroes are split down the middle: Iron Man (Tony Stark) with Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Mr Fantastic are the most notable pro-registration heroes, seeing the Act as a means of legitimating superheroes, regaining public support for their actions, and preventing the even worse excesses that could occur from unregulated superhuman conflict. On the other side the iconic Captain America sees the Act as incredibly unjust--penalizing those heroes who have always sought justice--putting masked heroes in grave peril by revealing their day-time identities and worse, putting their families and at risk. When the registered superheroes under the directives of SHIELD and led by Iron Man start to apprehend (or try to apprehend) unregistered heroes, a Civil War erupts between the heroes of the Marvel Universe.
One of the things that struck me looking at the first issue of Civil War was the similarities between the way the tragedy in that issue was drawn with the way the superheroes who visited Ground Zero were pictured in 2001. Compare these two panels from Civil War #1 and Amazing Spider-Man #36 (which was the black cover issue in which the Marvel heroes visited the WTC site): [From Civil War #1; Click Image to Expand]
The resonance between these two stories is far from coincidental. Indeed, Captain America's decision to stand against the Superhero Registration Act parallels Marvel's editorial stance against wars of retaliation in Amazing Spider-Man #36. However, the plot line I'm finding most engaging is the story of Speedball. After all the New Warriors are thoughts to be dead, he's discovered alive but supposedly having lost his powers after the explosion which killed his teammates and hundreds of innocents. Speedball becomes a focal point for public rage against the superhumans whose interactions caused so much loss of life. In the other major cross-over mini-series, Civil War: Frontline, Speedball - or Robert Baldwin - is arrested and given the choice to either admit to part of the blame for the tragedy and become a registered superhero working for SHIELD and helping them detain unregistered heroes, or be sent to prison. Speedball refuses to admit a guilt he doesn't feel as he believes the New Warriors were trying to stop the supervillians and shouldn't be punished for that. However, his refusal leads to a situation which directly parallels the 'war on terror' prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay; Speedball is not given a trial but rather treated as "an unregistered combatant" while his interrogator bluntly informs Speedball: "I define your rights."
[From Civil War: Frontline #2; Click Image to Expand]
Speedball's experiences have marked similarities with the experiences of 'enemy combatants' (as opposed to prisoners of war) held (illegally) in the US "facilities" in Guantanamo. As Robert Baldwin is carted off to jail, he's told that a purpose-built prison is being constructed to indefinitely hold superhumans who refuse to register and follow government directives, a plot point echoing the 2002 construction of the Camp Delta detainment facility in Guantanamo Bay. While the Civil War story isn't completely black and white--Peter Parker's own deliberations certainly give the pro-registration side a humane voice--the critique of many aspects of the current War on Terror and the illegal detention and torture of untried 'enemy combatants' is bold and blatant on the part of Marvel's storytellers. Personally, I'm heartened by Marvel's stance and hope empathy with their comic book heroes will give readers a moment to think further about politics in the wider world.
I'll certainly be interested to see how the Civil War story progresses (and concludes!) so watch for another post on this topic in the near future.
In the meantime, to catch up with the Marvel Civil War thus far, take a look at these two comic-book trailers from Marvel ... [X] Marvel Civil War Teaser large
This sets the stage for the Civil War cross-over storyline, showing a number of images from the Civil War comics with a narrator putting the pieces together. (I particularly like the question "Is either side wrong?")
[X] Marvel Trailer - Previously in Civil War
This recaps the first month of the Civil War, starting with a nightly news story about the event which acts as a catalyst for the split between Marvel's iconic heroes.
Incidentally, it's great to see Marvel making the most of YouTube and making mash-up style promotions just like so many of their core readers!
For more background information you might want to look at: [X] The 'Civil War' entry at Marvel Universe. [X] 'Civil War: Frontline' on Wikipedia (with full issue summaries, so very spoilerish) [X] 'Speedball' entry at Marvel Universe. [X] 'Speedball' in the Wikipedia.
Season three of Battlestar Galactica looks like it could be the best season yet from this preview!
(NB: If you've not seen the end of season two, obbiously this is super-duper-SPOILERISH! There is still no information on an Australian television screening of Season Two, so you might want to grab the Season Two DVD Box Set which comes out Wednesday, 16 August 2006.)
Microsoft's "iPod killer" or, at least, competitor finally has a name ... Zune. Details are sketchy still, but reports from the BBC and New York Times suggest that the product will probably include both portable devices and a related music sales service to compete with the Apple Music Store.
Showing signs that they listened to Scoble while he was on board, the proto-marketing and hype-building for Zune is already emerging the the world of social software, with the first voice of Zune coming in the form of the Zune Insider Blog described as "Music, culture, and the inside scoop from Cesar Menendez, a Microsoft employee working on Zune - Microsoft's new music project" in a format decidely unMicrosoft-like (and, thankfully, not using the clunky MSN Spaces Microsoft blog platform).
Scoble, however, thinks the ComingZune marketing website is rather Web1.0: "Getting people to subscribe to an email newsletter is sssooo 1990s."
Okay, maybe not a WiPod per se, but rumours are flying that Microsoft's upcoming portable media device and related iTunes-store-like service will feature wireless technology. As Bloomberg reports:
Microsoft Corp. is planning to have a portable music and video player out by Christmas in a challenge to Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod.
The digital player will have a wireless Internet connection, enabling users to download music without being linked to a computer, a feature the iPod doesn't offer, according to people briefed on Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft's plans.
It's well-known that Apple has a registered patent for a wireless iPod (yes, it would simply have to be a WiPod), so perhaps competition will force them to think about wireless technology for the market leader, too?
Amanda Congdon, the well-known host of one of the world's most entertaining vlogs, Rocketboom, has been completely unBoomed! In a vlog entry on her occassional blog "Amanda UnBoomed", she tells the world that since Andrew Baron (her partner is Rocketboom, and its main researcher/writer) own 51% of Rocketboom (to her 49%), he can effectively kick her off the Rocket run Rocketboom without her. Of course, Amanda is already planning her own alternative vlog. It all seems a little sad since Rocketboom has been a something of a citizen media icon the past year, but it'll be interesting to see what Amanda does next (and how the Rocketboom brand survives without the personality that made it famous).
Update: Dave Winer adds a little depth to the story here while the main Rocketboom site has this note:
ROCKETBOOM ANNOUNCEMENT:
Amanda Congdon has decided to move to L.A. to pursue opportunities that have arisen for her in Hollywood.
We wanted to meet her demands to move production out to L.A., however, we are a small company and have not been able to figure out a way to make it work, financially and in many other ways at this time. While we continue to remain with open arms, Amanda has in fact quit and left Rocketboom. So sadly, we bid Amanda adieu and wish her all the best.
Rocketboom goes on.
Andrew Baron, the founder and creator of Rocketboom, will stay with the company in New York and will continue to produce and direct the show. We are in the daunting process of recruiting a replacement for Amanda.
While Amanda will be sorely missed, we have big plans for Rocketboom and are determined to make the show better than ever.
After Field Week and a week on hiatus, we know that you are hungry for the news! Rocketboom will be back with a news episode and an interim host this MONDAY, JULY 10.
It seems things may be a little more two-sided than it first appeared. I guess from Baron's point of view, it's extremely important for the Rocketboom name to ensure that viewers don't see him as "he who fired Amanda" but rather "he who was left in New York when Amanda went Hollywood."
Update 2: Amanda has a long post "For the Record" at UnBoomed, more clearly stating her side and perspective on the vlogging divorce!
The good news is that Superman Returns is a worthy continuation of the first two Superman films (1978 and 1980) and ignores the far less memorable III and IV. Indeed, director Bryan Singer almost seems to channel Richard Donner (who directed the first Christopher Reeves film) in a way that parallels Jonathan Mostow's fannish fidelity to James Cameron's vision when he took the reigns of the Terminator franchise. Amazingly, Brandon Routh is a worthy successor to Christopher Reeves' sizable legacy in the blue tights and red cape, with the right mix of over the top nerdishness in Clark Kent and boy scout certainty in the man of steel. Complementing Routh nicely, Kevin Spacey is probably the most enjoyable big screen (or small screen) Lex Luthor to date, taking over where Gene Hackman left off. Rather than starting from scratch with the Superman mythos as Christopher Nolan did in Batman Begins, Singer manages to bring a more contemporary feel to the man of steel and reboot the franchise for the big screen.
While Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), complete with fiance (James Marsden) and son (Tristan Lake Leabu), is an at times a little wooden, she nevertheless manages to bring a less certain and more complicated Lois to the film. The introduction of Lois' son is handled playfully, leading down a path which leaves some interesting doors open for future cinematic exploits of the world's most famous underwear-on-the-outside fan. Despite the hype surrounding Marlon Brando's synthespian resurrection, the footage and voice-overs from the doubly deceased Jor-El are tastefully handled and heighten the continuity with the earlier films. Of course, emotional connectivity with the 1978 classic is stirred early on with John Williams' original score again taking centre stage.
The story itself manages to be both a sequel in some sense and a remake of the first film in another, with a plot which simply adds years and magnitude (bigger body counts and ambitions for Lex, smoother special effects for Superman) to a remarkably similar plot. Manohla Dargis in the New York Timesargues that "the Man of Steel has been resurrected in a leaden new film not only to fight for truth, justice and the American way, but also to give Mel Gibson's passion a run for his box-office money." In many ways Manohla is right as Singer has certainly layered the Christian (and Ancient Greek) symbols and imagery in a fairly heavy-handed way. Of course, these symbols are so deeply engrained in our popular imaginary that they, for the most part, heighten the films impact rather than diminshing it.
Overall, Singer does for Superman what he did for the X-Men: he's brought a fine film to the silver screen and ensured at least one sequel to follow. It would be nice if Singer's around to direct it.
After almost four years of constant blogging, the last post to Ponderance (this blog) was made on March 11, 2007. These archives will remain live indefinitely (or until Google starts deleting inactive blogs), but please update your links and come and visit my new blog at Tama Leaver dot Net.
