Alexandra DeWitt's 1994 death in Green Lantern may have been retconned away

Superhero Hype lets know that DC, surprisingly enough, appears to have done one thing decent of recent, and that's abandoning the original premise used for setting up Kyle Rayner as the forced replacement for Hal Jordan during Emerald Twilight. More specifically, what originally became of his first girlfriend, Alexandra deWitt, who was repellently murdered by Major Force in 1994, when he throttled her and stuffed her corpse into a refridgerator:

The possible retcon came in “City of Angels,” by Jeremy Adams and V. Ken Marion. The story centers around Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, as he returns to Earth and his hometown of Los Angeles. Joining him is Odyssey the Time Bandit, who is assisting him in tracking fugitive aliens as part of her parole.

While stuck in traffic, Kyle begins to relate his life story and how he became a Green Lantern. He speaks of being raised by a single mother and how art was his only outlet. However, one key event of Kyle’s history goes unmentioned in his recollection.

While discussing his youth, Kyle mentions his first love, Alexandra “Alex” DeWitt. Kyle tells Odyssey of how his sketches of Alex got him a job as a comic book artist. However, Alex grew tired of supporting them both, as Kyle’s dream job didn’t pay well. She also disliked Kyle’s becoming a shut-in, as he stayed home to meet his deadlines instead of going out with her. Both issues led her to dump him.

What Green Lantern death did DC retcon?

In the new story, Kyle tries to impress Alex by showing up at her favorite club. However, this doesn’t work. She doesn’t believe he’s really changed his ways. However, this trip wound up changing Kyle’s life in another way. After the awkward artist stepped outside to get away from the crowds, he was entrusted with the last Green Lantern ring.

[...] Green Lantern #33/#600 seems to change this history. When Odyssey asks what happened next, Kyle does not mention Alex’s violent death. Indeed, he does not mention her at all. Instead, he talks about how becoming a Green Lantern taught him that “sometimes your dreams aren’t just one thing.”

If they really have produced a story retconning a cheap, obnoxious setup - one that was entirely unnecessary for "defining" Kyle - that is admittedly amazing, because it was uncalled for to begin with, one of the worst things the then editor Kevin Dooley oversaw (and also writer Ron Marz, and artist Darryl Banks), and most tellingly, what occurred going forward was held hostage to economy writing, since the only girlfriends they'd give Kyle at the time were Donna Troy, and then Jade. Editorial mandates of that sort never work out well, and that kind of approach is what otherwise brought down superhero comics, since in terms of character growth, they were written into a corner by that kind of character casting, which was increasingly forced. As a result, while this new approach is laudable, Kyle Rayner still doesn't stand as his own character, because he was the product of a mindset that, despite what might seem to be the case, demands that the reader care more about the costume than the character wearing it. Also note that much of the "characterization" Kyle received was contrived and forced, and despite what the apologists might claim, he bore no more personality in the scriptwriting than Hal Jordan allegedly lacked.

Also interesting about this possible retcon is that, as seen in the panel, Alexandra's drawn pretty hot, and the artist wasn't held hostage to the kind of wokeness that Donna Troy was subjected to of recent, and come to think of it, Starfire too. That said, this still doesn't excuse how Hal was forced into the role of a deadly villain back in the day, depicted murdering at least a few other GL Corps members, and then sent into the grave for a time, and later being shoehorned into the role of the Spectre, replacing Jim Corrigan. And that's just another example of how even classic cast members had their personal agency revoked by blatant editors and writers.

Does this mean Alexandra DeWitt will turn up alive later, in whatever they're planning for publication? I don't advise buying DC's modern output so long as they continue to be held hostage to far-left ideologues, but it will be interesting to see if current writers are trying to mend some mistakes as an apology to GL fandom. The premise of Emerald Twilight, along with the maltreatment of Hal in 1994's Zero Hour, will have to be jettisoned as well. Why, it might be more beneficial to rework Kyle and Alexandra into non-superhero cast members, and also non-costumed protagonists. Mainly because even Alexandra had no agency in the handful of issues where she appeared back then, when she served as nothing more than a plot device to be slain by Major Force just to serve as "motivation" for Kyle. There's a lot of things that went wrong with DC around the time of Zero Hour that writers involved with it won't admit, but aren't impossible to mend. And the best way to do that is simply to jettison some of the bad ideas from canon. If writers who care would like to hear what could be done, I'm always open to offering them ideas how to work things out.

The manga industry's backdoor atrocity

Previously, I'd written about a scandal involving publisher Shogakukan hiring a disgraced mangaka who'd been charged with sexual abuse despite the severity of his offenses. Now, India Times reports it's become even more outraging, as it turned out another disgraced mangaka was also rehired, one who'd disgraced himself 6 years ago:

Manga ONE and Shogakukan are facing heavy criticism after it emerged that Act Age writer Tatsuya Matsuki quietly returned to the platform under a pseudonym. The revelation came days after another convicted offender was also rehired, triggering anger across the manga industry and prompting several creators to withdraw their works.

Shogakukan’s digital manga platform Manga ONE is under intense scrutiny after it emerged that two convicted sex offenders were quietly allowed to work on the platform under different names. The controversy first focused on Shoichi Yamamoto, but new details soon revealed another shocking case. Act Age writer Tatsuya Matsuki had also returned to the industry under a false identity.

The revelations have triggered a wave of criticism from fans, artists, and industry insiders. Several well known manga creators have already withdrawn their works from the platform, while readers are questioning how such hiring decisions were approved in the first place. [...]

Weekly Shonen Jump cancelled Act Age without delay. All volumes were removed from stores and digital platforms. Publisher Shueisha publicly condemned the incident and cut ties with the author. At the time, many assumed Matsuki’s manga career was effectively over.

Secret return to manga under a different name

Years later, that assumption has been challenged. In 2024, editors at Shogakukan’s Manga ONE platform reportedly contacted Matsuki after seeing a novel he had self published online. Following internal discussions, they approved a new manga project written by him under a pseudonym.

He used the name Miki Yatsunami. Under that identity, Matsuki wrote a psychological series titled Seisou no Shinrishi. The story explored themes of trauma and mental health.

However, the illustrator working on the series reportedly did not know Matsuki’s real identity or past conviction. Shogakukan later admitted that the pen name was meant to avoid linking the project to his real name. Critics say the move instead hid important information from collaborators and readers. Once the truth became public, the series was suspended while the publisher launched a review of the decision.

Another controversial hiring fuels the backlash

The situation became even more explosive because Matsuki was not the only convicted offender linked to the platform. Days earlier, reports surfaced that Shoichi Yamamoto, who was convicted in 2020 for grooming and sexually assaulting a 15 year old student, had also returned to Manga ONE under the name Hajime Ichiro. His manga Jojin Kamen had been running on the platform since 2022.

Illustrator Eri Tsuruyoshi said on X that she had very little contact with Yamamoto and had no idea about his criminal past. She wrote that she hoped the victim could recover from the trauma. The discovery that two convicted offenders were allowed to publish under pseudonyms on the same platform has intensified criticism of Shogakukan’s editorial oversight.

When Matsuki's artist on Act-Age found out about his arrest, she cut off partnership with him. Now, a second lady illustrator's been embarrassed by publishers who kept her in the dark using a pseudonym as a disguise for the other offender. That women would be tricked into taking assignments with monsters who might be as willing to hurt them as much as their previous victims is chilling. And to think, that 2 offenders would be allowed back into the industry via the backdoor! What's so special about creators who turn out to be creeps? It reminds me that nearly a decade ago, DC had a scandal with their Vertigo line, when it turned out the writer of a comic titled Border Town was accused of sexual abuse. The editor, who was once a writer for the now defunct leftist Comics Alliance, never did any vetting on his part regarding the writers, and Ethan Van Sciver once took issue with him over that. Yet if memory serves, IDW is now employing him, and that's a disgrace.

With that told, it looks like Shogakukan's alienated a number of mangakas as a result of their Stockholm Syndrome employment:

Creators withdraw their works from Manga ONE

The fallout quickly spread across the manga industry. Several creators decided to remove their works from Manga ONE in protest. Rumiko Takahashi, the legendary creator of Ranma 1/2 and Urusei Yatsura, quietly discontinued her series on the platform.

The creators of Frieren Beyond Journey’s End, Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe, also withdrew their content. Other authors including Ryuhei Tamura, Ai Minase, Minoru Takeyoshi, and Miko Mitsuki followed with similar decisions. Their actions signal a rare public protest within the manga publishing world, where creators often avoid direct criticism of major publishers.

When somebody as prominent as Takahashi's been decides to yank her latest stories off their services, that's saying something. Those who've withdrawn their products from Shogakukan did the right thing.

Here's also the Japan Times report, which says, oddly enough:

At the time, Yatsunami was publishing the series “Act-Age” in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, produced by a different publisher, under the pen name Tatsuya Matsuki, but he was suspended after his indictment.

While aware of this, Manga One made the decision to hire him in 2024 after deeming that his efforts to not repeat his crime — such as working with professionals for rehabilitation and reintegration into society — could be trusted. The author decided to operate under a new pen name to not affect the victim, the company said.

Forget it. Sexual violence is a serious issue, and can't be excused so easily. The worst part of that flap is how Matsuki only got a suspended sentence from the courts. What's so special about a creep who commits perverted acts? Similar queries could be asked about Nobuhiro Nishiwaki, the disgraced mangaka of Rurouni Kenshin, who used the pseudonym Watsuki when he first began in the early 1990s. But this is confusing: what's the Act-Age writer's real name, Yatsunami or Matsuki? If they're trying to baffle the readership as to the exact identity, that's wrong. Whatever his exact name, what matters is that by rehiring the monster, Shogakukan is affecting the victim, slapping her in the face in the dark after the terrible experience she went through.

The Chosun reports a Korean TV station was criticized for broadcasting a moment involving the publisher too:

Although Shogakukan was featured because it was part of Kian84’s journey to meet his idol, some viewers argued that the production team was unaware of the recent “Shogakukan scandal.” The scandal erupted when it was revealed that Shogakukan had allowed a manga artist with a child sex crime conviction to return under a pseudonym, with an editor allegedly pressuring the victim to conceal the incident. [...]

While Shogakukan is a pivotal location in Japan’s publishing industry and part of Kian84’s journey to meet his idol, critics argue that its exposure on air was inappropriate given its involvement in reinstating artists linked to child sex crimes and sexual harassment. Some, however, defended the broadcast, stating that Shogakukan was not intentionally introduced but appeared incidentally during Kian84’s journey.

Maybe it was unintentional on the part of the producers, but it certainly is embarrassing as it's sad. Let's hope the victims recover, and that's something the TV station should say too.

I think after this, publishers will have to consider whether it's wise to accept work from a creator using a pseudonym instead of an actual name in official publication, since for all we know, this scandal could understadably lead some to wonder if quite a few felons are using pseudonyms to conceal their criminal records and prevent anybody from doing a background check to make sure they're not wasting money on the work of a pervert with a severe police record. Assuming Shogakukan survives this fallout, they'd do well to make sure they do background checks, and if the felon's record includes severe crimes like sexual violence, then they simply can't hire somebody that bad. And creators themselves have to learn some moral lessons. In addition, the audience and press alike have to make some sort of case why artists have to recognize the importance of responsibility to the wider public, and not commit heinous offenses if they truly want their stories to matter in the long run. So will anybody influential address these vital issues? Let's hope so.

Jeff Lemire turns out another horror-thriller, and a deconstruction of a DC superhero

Comic Book Club Live's announced Canadian writer Lemire is foisting yet another horror tale upon comicdom, as if we never have enough of such an overrated genre as it is:

The news was announced via Lemire’s blog, where he broke down the deal further noting that it’ll kick off with a three volume supernatural detective series with artist Teddy Kristiansen titled Mr. Oblivion.

Per Lemire, “Mr. Oblivion follows Marty McCabe, who was once the world’s greatest occult detective, Mr. Oblivion, but now, twenty-years later, sells real estate in the suburbs and struggles with middle-age, marriage, and a teenaged daughter. But, when the demons of his past return (literally), Marty must once again put on the fabled Merlin Mask to save his family, even if it eats his soul alive.”

No wonder this writer's one of plenty modern ones who've never impressed me. And if you want to know what Lemire's preparing for mainstream, he even announced 2 months ago he's writing a new take on Firestorm:

The series will launch in April and it’s been a real labour of love for the whole creative team. My editors Andrew Marino and Marquis Draper are two of the biggest Firestorm fans in the world and when I told them I also loved the character we knew we were going to swing for the fences with this one. The original Firestorm series told the story of Ronnie Raymond, a college student who was fused with his eccentric professor, Martin Stein, in a nuclear accident. Together they merged into the flame-headed hero, Firestorm. Our book will be both a deconstruction of the character and a love letter to his past.

If you’ve never read a Firestorm comic before, I’ve written the first issue as if it were the pilot episode of a new series, so it’s totally new reader friendly. And if you are an old school Firestorm fan (they exist, I swear!) the book is loaded with Easter eggs and nods to the past too.

Forget it, when somebody says they're deconstructing, that's pretty telling, because deconstruction became the norm in the past quarter century, and that's why calling this a "love letter" is no more convincing than to say Identity Crisis was one, recalling Brad Meltzer and possibly other DC staff called that repellent 2004 miniseries a "love letter" to the Silver/Bronze Age years ago.

If Lemire's new Firestorm series stars Ronnie Raymond though, that's pretty amazing they're willing to use the original star, considering that in 2004, they tried to race-swap Ronnie with a Black character named Jason Rusch, in an early example of social justice diversity pandering. And it ultimately led nowhere. Even today, they may have only partially jettisoned emphasis on the SJW-themed character, and this may also be the case when it comes to their race-swapping of the Atom and Blue Beetle. But, that only proves they're still making a joke of themselves, as is Marvel with some of their own diversity-pandering creations. And when they do that, it only robs said creations of agency, because they weren't created as their own protagonists, nor were they developed organically as successors for what was originally a role starring a white protagonist.

Lemire's one of quite a few writers working for DC/Marvel today who can't be taken seriously.

It's been over a decade, and Marvel still sticks with the Iceman-as-gay storyline

Comic Book Club Live posted a preview for yet another story starring Iceman of the X-Men subtitled Omega, and there's a sad clue that what was forced upon Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creation Bobby Drake in the past decade by the terrible Brian Bendis still remains "canon" even now, much like the repellent Gerard Jones' out-of-the-blue retcon to Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway's creation of Obsidian in the pages of Justice League during the mid-90s:

THE INDOMITABLE ICEMAN! Bobby Drake is ready to reach his true Omega potential! From coming out to helping terraform the entire planet of Mars, Bobby’s had a big year and it’s only up from here! You don’t want to miss this beloved four-part infinity comic, now for the first time in print!

Some could say things like this don't just simply happen, they're made to happen. Especially when nobody calls for a clear-cut boycott of Marvel/DC if that's what it takes to make clear these retcons are unacceptable. With an advertising blurb like that, it's all you need to know C.B. Cebulski's not willing to move away from Bendis' desecration of Lee/Kirby's creations, and serious Marvel/DC fans would do well to stay far away from whatever they have in store with this new Iceman miniseries.

IDW adapting Japanese Hello Kitty franchise

Variety announced IDW, doing very badly in terms of artistry today as in sales, will be adapting the Helly Kitty franchise from Japan into new comics, penned by a wokester:

New “Hello Kitty” comic books will soon launch as part of a collaboration between Japan’s Sanrio and comics giant IDW Publishing.

The new multi-title partnership will begin with the debut of the “Hello Kitty: Hello World” comic book series July 22 in connection with San Diego Comic Con.

Per Sanrio and IDW, the new comic book is described as “a classic and lovable depiction of Sanrio’s characters as Hello Kitty and Friends go on a world tour to solve a riddle. As they discover new riddles around the globe, they will also meet new characters in every single issue!”

The “Hello Kitty: Hello World” series is written by Mariko Tamaki (“This One Summer,” “Zatanna: Bring Down the House”) and animated by artist Cody Lemieux (“Despite, Despite, Despite,” “Gnome Granny”).

Following the launch of “Hello Kitty: Hello World” this summer, more “Hello Kitty” comics and some “crossovers” will be released from IDW Publishing in 2027.

The Hello Kitty brand has exploded in popularity since Sanrio first introduced the character in 1974, spawning an ever-growing merch line and multiple media projects, including the upcoming feature film from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and New Line Cinema, set to release in July 2028.

If memory serves, Tamaki is the same writer who once turned out a Harley Quinn tale in an alternate DC imprint where Poison Ivy was pointlessly race-swapped? Coupled with how unreliably woke IDW's become, that's why it'd be better not to bother about this western adaptation. As for this new cartoon they speak of from Warner Brothers, just recently having been purchased by Paramount Skydance, on which I hope to comment in time, we can only hope that'll at least not turn out to be something dumbed down like other PC productions they've turned out nowadays. But something coming from IDW, that's certainly not encouraging, and there's every suggestion this new take on Hello Kitty will be a bad omen, mainly because former Marvel editor Heather Antos is now working for them, as IDW's inexplicably willing to employ former workers for mainstream no matter how poor their record is.

2 more crossovers coming from Marvel this year

Marvel simply refuses to cease with the endless flood of company wide crossovers, and IGN in turn refuses to take any kind of objective view of how negatively this affects their now sorely lacking creativity:

Marvel Comics took to the Comics Pro retailer convention to shine a spotlight on two of its biggest 2026 storylines, Avengers: Armageddon and Queen in Black. Both of these crossover events will help to define the ongoing direction of the Marvel Universe in the latter half of 2026.

First up, Avengers: Armageddon is a new limited series from Captain America writer Chip Zdarsky and artists Frank Alpizar and Delio Diaz. Aramageddon is being compared to 2004's Avengers: Disassembled in terms of being a major watershed moment for the Avengers franchise that will completely transform Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Armageddon builds on the fallout of One World Under Doom and ongoing story threads in Captain America and Wolverine: Weapons of Armageddon. As the world continues to reel from Doctor Doom's brief reign, Red Hulk decides to claim the kingdom of Latveria for himself. That sparks a global conflict that draws in the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and Wolverine.

...Meanwhile, Queen in Black is an event spinning out of the pages of Al Ewing's Venom series. [...]

Yup, a crossover based on the writings of one of the wokest writers of the past decade. And two crossovers is simply 2 too many. That this is being compared to one of the worst productions of Brian Bendis - one that degraded the Scarlet Witch - is telling. No matter how this turns out, it's not worth wasting money upon, and its being developed as a crossover at this point is a most serious problem, because of how as time went by, crossovers served to destroy creative autonomy and stand-alone storytelling. This is one of the main reasons Marvel and DC will never recover from the damage crossovers have resulted in long term, so long as they continue to stick with them so casually.

Dan Slott sadly returns to Spider-Man

One of the worst of the woke writers who was ever allowed the job of writing Spidey in the past has been rehired by Marvel for the job - undoubtably with C.B. Cebulski's approval - and Comic Book Club Live's making such an irritating fuss over it:

Dan Slott left Marvel towards the beginning of 2025, burning all his bridges with his long-time compatriots to follow his dream of writing Superman for DC Comics. Just kidding, it was amicable, and in fact Slott has already signed up for at least one Marvel project (that would be Fantastic Four: First Foes). And now he’s returning to Spider-Man, just in time for a brand new movie with the new ongoing series Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day. [...]

Slott was instrumental in crafting the original Brand New Day storyline back in 2008, which followed up on the controversial “One More Day” storyline. That erased the marriage of Peter Parker and Mary Jane, but opened up the door for Peter to date such iconic characters as Carlie Cooper, Shay [Editor’s Note: Does she have a last name? Can we check on that?], and I want to say Captain Marvel, maybe? That can’t be right.

It's pretty apparent where the writer stands on the issue of Mary Jane and the marriage. This article is so blatant. Just how have characters like Carlie and Shay become "iconic" overnight, especially when sales were nothing special even back then? If he sees nothing wrong with doing it all at MJ's expense, that's one more reason why Slott's return to Spidey should be avoided.

And this wasn't the only puff piece to come out recently, dishing out apologia in Slott's favor. There was also ComicBook's coverage of the news:

Marvel Comics has just announced that it is returning to one of Spider-Man’s most controversial storylines. Spider-Man has been around since almost the start of Marvel Comics, and there have been some polarizing storylines, to put it lightly. Things like The Clone Wars and One More Day remain among the most hated Spider-Man storylines ever created. However, some storylines get lumped in with those polarizing tales, including the infamous Brand New Day story that followed Spider-Man’s deal with Mephisto in One More Day. It is that classic timeframe that Marvel is returning to, with a new series that Marvel claims will affect today’s storylines.

Marvel announced that Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day debuts in May, with Dan Slott returning to the title with artist Marcus To (X-Force). The storyline sees Dan Slott returning to the story in which he started his long and successful run on Spider-Man comics, and he has a chance to tell a new story that will play into what is happening in Spider-Man books today.

Spider-Man Creator Talks New Brand New Day Storyline

Dan Slott has written more Spider-Man comics than almost anyone in history, proving that his run on Brand New Day was the start of something special, and not as bad as some fans might remember. This comes down to the writer’s love for the character. “Spider-Man is my favorite character in all of fiction. Heart on my sleeve here—I love writing Spider-Man,” Slott said in the press release. “We’re going to reveal hidden secrets and plant explosive seeds that will pay off and affect what’s happening in Spider-Man’s world today! These will be stories that matter and that will have major consequences!

Anybody who's going to be as contemptuous of Mary Jane as even Slott was has no love for Peter either, and the way they repeatedly dangled carrots was atrocious. It's no accident the columnist made such a laughable statement. But it's also sad how tons of money were completely wasted on these stultifying directions taken. And "reveal" secrets? They already forced said secrets onto the cast members in Sins Past; we don't need more of this tripe.

The new Spectacular Spider-Man: Brand New Day series will see Slott returning to the Brand New Day storyline, which ran from 2008 to 2012 and saw the creator tasked with relaunching Spider-Man’s story after the controversial One More Day, which was a storyline by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. Slott did the best he could with the cards he was dealt and actually delivered a series of great Spider-Man stories for hundreds of issues, including introducing Superior Spider-Man.

The entire plan for Slott was to relaunch Spider-Man in a new world where no one knew his identity, Harry Osborn was alive again, and Peter Parker’s marriage to Mary Jane never happened. While that latter event is what most fans look at the story with distaste, Slott delivered some incredible stories, and this is the canon that Spider-Man lives in to this day in Marvel Comics. The idea of going back to this time period and introducing something fans have never seen before, while setting up some new future stories, is very exciting news.

Once again, somebody downplays the extent of the damage, to say nothing of failure to admit it was all useless. But it's clear where he stands regarding Mary Jane. The chances Marvel will reverse the fate of the Spider-marriage are slim, but if they do, it'll be insulting to the intellect that a writer as dreadful as Slott would be given the task, much like how Brian Bendis, IIRC, got the task of resurrecting Mockingbird in his Avengers writing. After all, that was obviously an attempt to persuade audiences to validate a bad writer, and such psychology is simply reprehensible as it's disrespectful to the audience, after all the harm Slott and Bendis caused back in the day.

And even if the Spider-marriage is restored, when you have leftists like Slott and Bendis around, you can't expect them to avoid lacing their stories with some kind of woke garbage, no matter what direction they take. After all, that's what led to J. Michael Straczynski's pretentious run on Spidey during 2001-07.

What Polygon says about the new Wonder Man TV show

Polygon wrote about the new TV program running on Disney Plus based on Wonder Man/Simon Williams, one of the most notable members of the Avengers in decades past, and what they say about his exact history in the following paragraph is rather confusing:

In the comics, however, Wonder Man’s origins are vastly different from his TV counterpart’s. Despite his deep ties to the Avengers, most notably Vision, his footprint in both the comics and the MCU has been surprisingly minimal. Add in his close friendship with Beast and his broader connections to the X-Men, and there’s a lot to unpack when digging into everything you need to know about Marvel’s next installment.

Oh, please. His presence in comicdom was anything but minor, considering he was cast in West Coast Avengers later on. But, if you want an example of where things went wrong with the use of Simon in past Marvel publication, there's the worthless 1991-94 solo series written by the disgraced Gerard Jones, which, like several other comics he wrote, contained dreadful sexual/political allusions, and that was definitely a stain on the character's publication history. With shoddy stories like those around, is it any wonder such an otherwise impressive creation could end up having minimal footprints? And, there's another problematic moment in Marvel history itself dating back nearly 2 decades ago to consider:

Wonder Man isn’t a mutant in the comics, though. But after he had a falling out with The Avengers over the Human Registration Act (the equivalent of the Sokovia Accords in the MCU) during the Civil War crossover event, he became a de facto homie of the X-Men. During Civil War, Simon vowed to never use his powers again and to use his public relations skills more instead.

One of the most insulting to the intellect crossovers ever produced when Joe Quesada was EIC, built on some very terrible premises making the USA look bad just because of a right-wing government being in charge, and they have the gall to sugarcoat that. Let's be clear. I don't think Captain America - or even Wonder Man - should've been written supporting the Human Registration Act, but neither did I want Iron Man to be depicted doing so. Yet they obscured all that for the sake of asking readers whose side they're on, not whether the story had merit, or was lacking. And to think, the crossover was produced for the sake of depicting WM shunning use of his powers? For shame. That was disrespectful to creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. At the article's end, it mentions:

Now that he’s back, still a pacifist, Wonder Man maintains his X-Men ties: He’s developed a strong friendship with the apelike mutant Hank McCoy, aka Beast, whose extroverted personality complements the more introspective Simon. Wonder Man considers Beast his best friend, a friendship that developed during their time as Avengers. The last time we saw Wonder Man in the comics was in Astonishing Avengers Infinity Comic #30 in 2025, but the character has a self-titled limited series expected to debut in Marvel Comics on March 18.

Which I'd advise all to stay away from. And if Simon's still depicted as a "pacifist" according to what Civil War set in motion, that's very bad and sad, and makes a mockery of what the character was created for, much like Captain America, Iron Man, and even the Beast. Assuming the TV miniseries goes more by the original premise of the past century, that's why it'd only be head-shaking if WM's allowed to be portrayed according to what earlier comics writers set up, but back in modern comics, Marvel's staff won't allow it, resulting in an absurd contradiction. Yet it wouldn't be surprising if the TV show did follow what was set up by Civil War, based on where Hollywood's been going for a long time now.

Regardless of that, because of how bad Marvel comics became under Quesada and Axel Alonso, that's one more reason why I'm not up to watching a lot of these live action films and TV shows at this point, because if the films and TV programs portrayed the characters as they originally were, why aren't comics writers willing to or allowed to do the same? The contradictions only make it a joke, but then, the live action films have become pretty woke regardless in the past several years, so it's not like there's much to look forward to now anyway. But to conclude, I will say that Wonder Man/Simon Williams, as a creation of Lee/Kirby, deserves far better, like many other creations major and minor who've been destroyed as storytelling vehicles by political correctness in over a quarter-century. And it won't happen under the current corporate managements and ownerships.

Update: and as noted here, the TV adaptation is little more than DEI propaganda. So clearly, something did go wrong, as expected.

A shameful misuse of Carnage in Spider-Man

Coming Soon announces that one of Marvel's latest "events" might see Spider-Man being combined with Carnage, as though it weren't bad enough Mary Jane Watson was being turned into another Venom:

Spider-Man is about to transform into one of the scariest Marvel characters of all time.

Marvel Comics is getting ready to launch a new Spider-Man, Venom, and Carnage crossover titled Death Spiral. The event begins with an Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Death Spiral one-shot that is being released next month, before it then continues in issues of Amazing Spider-Man and Venom throughout the spring.

In Death Spiral, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Mary Jane/All-New Venom, and Eddie Brock/Carnage will be targeted by a super-powered serial killer named Torment. The event comes from writers Joe Kelly, Al Ewing, and Charles Soule, with artwork by Ed McGuinness, Carlos Gómez, and Jesús Saíz.

What is Spider-Man about to transform into?

Now, Marvel Comics has unveiled the cover art, done by McGuiness, for Amazing Spider-Man #27, which will serve as the finale to Death Spiral. The cover reveals that Spider-Man and Carnage — a notoriously evil character who has a long history with Peter — are about to bond to become the Amazing Spider-Carnage.

When woke writers like Ewing are listed, it's pretty apparent this is going to be awful anyway. And plots involving serial killers have become way too much as well. This is repellent, and is clearly their idea of how to ape the past decade's storyline where Dr. Octopus switched bodies with Peter. It only explains why Marvel would be better off being closed down for good.

CB Cebulski hires some very disgraceful choices for writing assignments

Comic Book Club Live announced that Marvel and editor C.B Cebulski have hired and re-hired some of the worst writers to litter comicdom in the past quarter century for new writing assignments:

Hot on the heels of DC’s Superman/Spider-Man, Marvel has announced their half of the crossover with the April debuting Spider-Man/Superman #1. And alongside the reveals of the covers, we’ve also got the creative teams for the book, including Geoff Johns delivering his first Marvel work in two decades, and Brad Meltzer writing for Marvel for the first time ever. [...]

Meltzer will write the lead story alongside artist Pepe Larraz, featuring the title characters. In addition, Dan Slott and Marcos Martin will takcle Spider-Man Noir meeting Golden Age Superman, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank send the Super and Spider families against each other, Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman bring on The Mighty Thor and Wonder Woman, Louise Simonson and Todd Nauck pit Steel against Hobgoblin, Joe Kelly and Humberto Ramos cross over Gwen Stacy and Lana Lang, and Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli are back at Miles Morales, and I can’t believe we had him on our live show last night and didn’t know about this. Harumph.

There may have been times when bad writers working at Marvel went over to DC later on (and J. Michael Straczynski certainly did in the late 2000s), but this could be described as the opposite. Either way, it's an utter disgrace that a "novelist" who penned Identity Crisis, one of the most repellent comics minimizing sexual assault and delivering a leftist metaphor for 9-11, is now being hired to work at Marvel on a project, and equally disgraceful that the writer who soiled the Flash, Hawkman and Green Lantern, along with Justice Society, is now returning to work at Marvel, where he also made a shoddy mess of Avengers. Looking at the list, it's certainly quite a Who's Who of horrible, overrated writers, and surely also artists, some who're taking part in a joint project of new team-ups between the Man of Steel and Web-Head. No thanks, I'd rather read the original Spider-Man/Superman teaming from the Bronze Age instead. And how interesting there's at least a dozen variant covers conceived for this project. It does hint they lack faith in anybody taking interest in the brand new special as opposed to the original, if variants are their last trick in the bag.

As for Simonson, there may have once been a time she made a decent scribe, but she's been irrelevant for years now, and it's unlikely she'll deliver anything palatable under Marvel/DC's modern leadership now. Also, is that the original Gwen they're talking about, who was sent to the afterlife in 1973 when the Green Goblin murdered her in Spider-Man? If so, then no matter how you look at this, it clashes with what Tom Brevoort recently said about persuading Joe Quesada they shouldn't revive Gwen. Speaking of which, it may not be surprising if Mary Jane Watson is left out of the new proceedings, but if she is in the story, could anyone be surprised if she gets treated awful?

Based on whom Cebulski's hired, the time couldn't be better to boycott Marvel, and the lineup is certainly an embarrassment.

Some very sad revelations about the mindset of Tony Bedard

There's a comics writer and video game developer named Tony Bedard who began in the former business over 3 decades ago, and in recent years, has revealed quite a leftist mindset, with the following discovery on Supergirl Comic Box Commentary from 16 years ago being quite a telling example. It appears Bedard wrote the following scene into the 2nd series with the title R.E.B.E.L.S that ran during 2009-11:

Again, Captain Comet acts as the naysayer, stating that plopping Rann in the sector is like pouring gas on a fire (he actually compares it to dropping Israel onto Palestine). Comet knows that some pushback is going to happen from everyone else in the area.

I like how Comet is at least not walking in lockstep with Dox.

Even long before October 7, 2023, this was still repugnant enough, and forcing it onto a character who's supposed to be a good guy is additionally offensive. That's very hostile to Israel, and all this in comics originally developed by Israeli descendants like Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. I've got a feeling Bedard is well aware of the Israeli/Jewish connections of comicdom during the Golden Age, another reason why this is so repellent, and makes a total waste of Starfire's role in the series. He doesn't even offer any concrete evidence there was ever an Arab/Islamic country named "palestine", and no point's made about how it was a name the Roman empire gave to Israel, all to humiliate it. Also note that this comic was published at the time Dan DiDio was in charge of DC, which says quite a bit about what his politics most likely were, along with plenty of other employees there at the time. Marvel also has their share of anti-Israel propaganda, and some smaller publishers undoubtably do too, and they've probably never shown any remorse for it, nor any regrets for how it slaps the memory of Jewish creators in the face.

I may have read a few of Bedard's early efforts, and those from independents may have been okay, but since then, as this mainstream comic makes clear, he's lost his moral compass, and injected bottom of the barrel political allusions into his scripts. He even sided with the position Hal Jordan's worthless because in Bedard's opinion, Hal's fearless rendition literally makes him unrelatable, all without considering Hal's a fictional character, and doesn't explain clearly how Kyle Rayner's being written with any kind of fear automatically translates to "talented" writing. Quite a sellout indeed.

More recently, while Bedard doesn't seem to write much on X, he posted the following, which is telling of where he's also gone since:

As his trans daughter struggles, a father pushes past his prejudice. 'It was like a wake-up.' https://t.co/plfjOC5i3b via @nbcnews

— Tony Bedard (@TonyBedard) April 12, 2024

So parents are supposed to literally accept that their children live in delusionary fantasies, and be ashamed of the sex they were born as? And I assume Bedard also believes all but Islamists are required to conform to the LGBT ideology, but not the other way around? It's embarrassingly bad. I hesitate to think what his work in video games could be like, and wonder if he's trying to be the Gerry Conway of the computer game industry? Bedard certainly is proving to be another example of why realists have to separate the art from the artist.

As of now, I have no idea if he's ever expressed any regrets over the stealth propaganda he put into R.E.B.E.L.S during 2010, and if he hasn't, I'd say he'd do well to retire from the profession, and I can't buy what independent comics he may have produced since if he doesn't apologize for stuffing propaganda hurtful to Israel and victims of Islamofascism into his writings.

A fluff-coated take on DC's so-called revival of the Golden Age Hawkman

A writer at ComicBook did a sugar-drenched take on DC's "revival" of Golden Age Hawkman Carter Hall, courtesy of the most overrated scribes they employed at the time, Geoff Johns, James Robinson and David Goyer:

Hawkman was the first leader of the Justice Society of America, making him one of the most important characters of the Golden Age. He was joined by his girlfriend Hawkgirl as a hero, something that would be repeated numerous times over the years by other characters. Hawkman is a legend, one who has been abused by the vagaries of DC continuity worse than anyone else, including someone like Donna Troy, which is saying something. One Hawkman retcon was so damaging that it destroyed the character in the eyes of fans. However, 24 years ago, DC would put out a story that would begin the process of fixing the character, bringing him back to the forefront of the DC Universe.

“Return of Hawkman” Made the Icon Tenable Again

JSA was the hottest team book of the ’00s. The book started in 1999 and played off the concept of legacy, bringing together the surviving Golden Age members of the team and the descendants of those who died. Fans loved the book, but there was a Hawkman-sized hole in the team. Hawkgirl was there, but it wasn’t the same. At this point, Hawkman had been destroyed as a character for numerous reasons, with the main one being that the character was much too confusing to work with anymore.

And this is a weak, defeatist take on the subject that completely ignores how, if the publishers wanted to, they could have jettisoned all the storylines that made a horrific mess of any DC Hawk, and simultaneously, they didn't need to publish Zero Hour at all. Though this does make clear that one of the worst crossovers in history - one that also made a horrific mess of Silver Age Green Lantern Hal Jordan - wasn't exactly published for the purpose of clearing up continuity any more than Crisis on Infinite Earths. On which note, does the writer recognize what he says could also be said about Hal and the GL series? And what happened with those was easily worse, morally or otherwise. From what I can recall, unlike Hal, Carter was never turned into a murderous monster named Parallax, nor was Katar Hol, the Silver Age counterpart.

And talk about not being the same when it comes to Hawkgirl! That's because in a way, Shiera Sanders, the Golden Age Hawkgirl, had been all but destroyed as a character too, perishing during ZH when Carter and Katar were "merged", and we're supposed to buy into the notion she'd been reincarnated in the body of her niece, Kendra Saunders. Unfortunately, much like with Hawkman, the issues involving Hawkgirl were handled according to a bad form of "canon" from 1994 that should've been abandoned wholesale, though of course, there was much worse that came down the pike the following decade like Identity Crisis, where even Hawkman was mistreated badly.

The way Geoff Johns and James Robinson wrote their series, in hindsight, was pretentious at worst, as the artwork by Rags Morales was overrated too. Perhaps even Tim Truman's 1989 miniseries was a big mistake as well, because let's be clear. It is possible to write distinctions between the Hawks of the Golden and Silver Ages, and if it really mattered, the editors could've written the Halls into retirement, along with several other Golden Age heroes. And if they had to be sent to the afterlife, it could've been through natural causes or auto accidents.

With this puff piece, ComicBook sure has solidified their place next to CBR in its current incarnation as one of the worst tabloid-style entertainment sites in the business. Besides, they completely ignore that in the past 15 years or so, writing's become awfully woke, even for the Hawks. I've noted before that it was only at the dawn of the 1990s where the backstory of the Hawks became a horrible mess. If all that stuff could be jettisoned, it is possible to make repairs. That's why as of today, I don't consider John Ostrander's Hawkworld series from the 90s a worthy incarnation for Katar Hol and Shayera Thal either. I recently bought the DC Finest archive containing stories of the Hawks from the 60s, and that's decidedly a far better form of canon than what came 3 decades later. If the Silver Age Hawks matter, that would make a better base from which to build premises today. And when the Golden Age Hawks are hopefully reprinted in similar archives, that can provide a good source for building upon as well.

A columnist who admits Ultimate Spider-Man's not worth the hype

A writer at ComicBook admits the new incarnation of Ultimate Spider-Man isn't worth the paper it's printed on. At the start, interestingly, it says:

Ultimate Spider-Man (Vol. 3) hit the comic industry like a ton of bricks. It came at the perfect time; fans were quite tired of The Amazing Spider-Man and Marvel’s insistence that Peter and Mary Jane should never be together. They were ready for something different, and all signs pointed to Ultimate Spider-Man being what everyone was looking for. Writer Jonathan Hickman had written Spider-Man before but mostly in teams and back-up stories, so fans were interested where he would take an older, married Peter Parker. Add in Marco Checchetto’s pencils, and it was looking to be a perfect storm of awesome.

And I guess they believed Marvel fans would excuse the reprehensible editorial mandate so long as an alternate universe Spidey was the one who's married, huh? Sorry, but this fan won't, and it's absurd to assume everybody's going to fall for their tiresome tricks. Besides, for all we know, this series was probably quite woke regardless, and as pretentious as Brian Bendis' run on the original Ultimate line's series from the 2000s, which, in the end, merely served as an excuse for producing a diversity-pandering character, Mile Morales.

Those early issues were still great, but there’s so much going on, so much plot, that a lot of things that should have been built weren’t. We were still entertained, and what we got was interesting, but it’s telling that we loved Ultimate Spider-Man in the doldrums of 2024 but in 2025, where DC started firing on all cylinders in both the Absolute and main line, the book has fallen in the estimation of fans. Ultimate Spider-Man was a mostly good book that fans thought was great because they were so happy that we were getting Hickman writing Spider-Man and Peter and Mary Jane back together. We ended up overlooking a lot of the weaknesses of the book, I think, because of the glow of Pete and MJ. The flaws were always there, but we were blinded by the light.

[...] The book was overhyped from the beginning, I think. It’s hard to downplay just how happy it had made readers when it first started. We were looking forward to this world to explore Peter and his family, but that’s all gone. We were more willing to forgive the book its slow build when we thought it was going to be an ongoing. However, with the Ultimate Universe’s ticking clock attached to the book, the pacing looks like a huge mistake. We were sold a bill of goods, and now we’re never going to get them. It gives the whole situation an aura of disappointment it didn’t have before. Ultimate Spider-Man was never the book we thought it was going to be.

Of course not. Does Peter and MJ's connection alone make it a comic worthy of our money? Nope, and I made the point before - even if the 616 universe couple were reunited, that alone doesn't guarantee merit accompanying it, and chances are very high that, with the kind of editors/writers/artists running the store today, it could be bottom of the barrel as a result of all the PC that flooded comicdom in the past decade. An alternate universe doesn't solve the problem, but then, even restoring the Spider-marriage to the 616 universe alone doesn't either. If J. Michael Straczynski came back and wrote it again, should we trust him to suddenly deliver where he failed epically last time? Alas, no. His 2001-07 run was so full of grating political allusions and forced inconsistencies with continuity, right down to how he handled Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane, there's little chance he'd be any different if he came back for another regular run.

So why does the columnist think an alternate world take on Spidey would make any difference? It doesn't solve problems with the regular universe at all, and if the editors are going to take a woke approach to that, it's entirely possible an alternate world variant will be little different. And doesn't replace or make a perfect substitute for the original characters at all.

Perhaps these columnists might want to take a more objective approach by saying it's time to boycott Marvel altogether until they're willing to dismiss all bad creators running them, and/or are sold off to a different business with more responsibility. Regrettably, these news writers never do.

Marvel follows up recent swimsuit special with "Winter Break" special

It appears Marvel's decided to go ahead with a followup to their recent, otherwise uninspired revival of the Marvel Swimsuit Specials of the 1990s, this time with a special titled Winter Break, previews of which are provided by Flickering Myth, with a promotional blurb stating:

You asked for more Swimsuit Special, and you’ve got it — sort of! Hit the slopes with YOUR favorite Marvel heroes this winter, with the help of a team of superstar artists — and then warm up in the hot tub… hot springs… hot yoga… lots of places that start with “hot”! FRET NOT, True Believers, we’ve got equal parts action AND relaxation for your money in this one-shot!

Which seems to indicate the problem persists: they put in standard comic-style panels similar to the 2025 swimsuit special from a few months ago - something the original 90s specials didn't have - and didn't improve on how sexless some of the illustrations were there. From what's posted on Adventures In Poor Taste, writer Tim Seeley is apparently using this as an excuse to allude to his recent Rogue: The Savage Land miniseries, but even that doesn't compensate for how sexless even the "action panels" look. There are a few coverscans that may look better than what could be inside. But again, if it turns out this is a case of not judging the interior by its covers, then those covers don't compensate either, or justify purchasing this special. In this earlier item on AIPT featuring Stormbreakers variant covers that have a connection, those with the ladies look watered down, with only the one featuring the Enchantress being better. Which beggars the question: we're supposed to marvel at the art for a villainess?!? It may not be new, but it most certainly is insulting to the intellect.

That can certainly be a warning of how this followup to the swimsuit special from last summer could end up being a ripoff that doesn't deliver when it comes to the heroines, if any characters. There may be a few variant covers that'll be worth saving to computer hard disks, but if the Winter Break special continues to use an approach not unlike the previous special, that's why it won't be worth much of anything, and serious fans should avoid wasting their money on what could be more of a winter bummer.

Marvel abandons FCBD for a rival event

Popverse says Marvel, possibly trying to virtue-signal, will not be participating in this year's FCBD event, assuming it goes ahead, and instead, they're working with Penguin/Random House on a separate project:

Marvel Comics is saying "Free Comic Book Day no more!" Instead, the House of Ideas is teaming up with Penguin Random House to put on a new event, curiously scheduled for the first Saturday in May (May 2, 2026), called Comics Giveaway Day.

And what are the 4 items they boast about for the occasion like? Let's check one as an example:

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000/QUEEN IN BLACK #1 CGD 2026 - written by Joe Kelly, Al Ewing, and Phillip Kennedy Johnson, with art by John Romita Jr., Iban Coello, and Nic Klein, with a cover by Dike Ruan - The road to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1000 takes a big turn here as fate bears down on Peter Parker! The Queen in Black has been coronated, and Mary Jane Watson as Venom is not ready for her! The Eldest has taken control of the Hulk, and what happens next will make every past Hulk battle look like a skirmish!

This is just what we need, isn't it? Prolonging the shoddy premise of Mary Jane shoved into the Venom role, in a comic with leftist Ewing as a co-writer, and while Romita Jr. may have once been a talented artist, he's really brought his skills down to sad levels in the past 2 decades, wasting them on projects completely unsuited for his talents, if he still has any. His work with J. Michael Straczynski on Spider-Man, it goes without saying, was easily the worst of what he's drawn since the turn of the century, based on how it all turned out to be for the sake of a storyline emphasizing the blabberings of a figure called Ezekiel, which in the end lead nowhere but One More/Brand New Day.

Now, Romita's taken an assignment drawing a special that perpetuates a terrible disfavor to even his legendary dad's hard work on Spidey from 1966, when Mary Jane was first introduced visually as much as in script reference. And this is what's being offered for the sake of a new variation on FCBD? It's very sad there's bound to be plenty of people who'll fall for this, and what if they decide to shell out 5-plus dollars for more stultifying storytelling in the regular Spidey series as a result? Let's hope that won't be the case. But for now, it's regrettable how Spidey, as much as any other Marvel hero and series, has been exploited for such useless tripe when the real deal ended long ago as a result of so much artistic mismanagement.

Bishop from X-Men is next victim of pointless deaths

Superhero Hype/Yahoo announced that, shortly after Rogue was turned into a sacrificial lamb in X-Men, now another comic does something similar with Bishop under the guise of "satire":

The secret of the death was revealed in Longshots #3 by Gerry Duggan, Jonathan Hickman, and Alan Robinson. The satiric series centers around Mojo; an interdimensional entertainment executive and frequent foe of the X-Men. Unsurprisingly Mojo wanted to capitalize on the Age of Revelation event. Unfortunately, with all the recognizable heroes from the MCU tied to other projects, Mojo was forced to build a show around has-beens and wash-outs like Rhino and Kraven the Hunter. Also, the only one of the X-Men he can recruit is Bishop.

Despite this, Mojo pressed on, despite most of his new cast of heroes dying early on. This included Bishop, who was blown up by an off-panel enemy he apparently recognized. However, the question of who killed the popular X-Men member was completely forgotten in the wake of Mojo’s failed effort to hire Galactus as the big bad of the series. It doesn’t get brought up again until Longshots #3, when Longshot questions the forgotten subplot while deciding if he should join the series sharing his name.

The death of Bishop is explained in a flashback, after Mojo admits he has no idea how to resolve the subplot. The flashback reveals that at some point in the past, Bishop was abducted by Mojo’s minion, Spiral. She also stole a variety of kitchen utensils and a ripped red curtain.

Using the purloined objects, Spiral fashions a crude costume that makes the captive Bishop look like the time-traveling villain Stryfe. She left him behind, tied up, with a grenade in his mouth. When the future Bishop saw what looked like one of his greatest enemies, he shot first without asking questions. This resulted in the grenade going off, killing the future Bishop, and vaporizing the past Bishop.

Well this is certainly disgusting, right down to the whole "revealed" cliche. And emphasizing this as "satire" is no excuse either. Even if this isn't being made canon, and even if it's only temporary, it's still atrocious. It's also laughable how some characters, villains or otherwise, in this story are emphasized as has-beens and wash-outs, because everything depends on how they're written, not whether anybody cares about them or not, and the point definitely applies to heroes.

How much longer is Marvel going to last if this is what they've brought themselves down to? It's just head-shaking.

George R.R. Martin is allegedly dismayed at Joe Quesada's erasure of the Spider-marriage

Last month, the Game of Thrones author was interviewed by Popverse, and told them he's supposedly let down by endless retcons, reboots and, most significantly, how the Spider-marriage was dismantled:

Comic book fans have grown somewhat numb to the dreaded retcon over the years. Depending on the company, retcons and reboots may come with alarming frequency, often rewriting established canon to make way for something new. For Game of Thrones author and firmly established Spider-Man fan George R. R. Martin, this has become a growing source of frustration over the years.

During a conversation with Popverse, George R. R. Martin talked about his love for comic books, relishing in the fact that there are decades of comics to read so he’ll never risk running out. However, he did have one issue with the way comic books are handled.

“I do have frustrations with it, too, I have to admit,” he explains. “I sometimes… I don’t like retcons. I don’t like reboots. You know, I’m watching, I’m following a character or a superhero or something for years, sometimes decades, and then they come and say, ‘Oh, no. None of that stuff happened. We’re just going to start the whole thing over again.’ That always annoys the hell out of me.”

Martin cited one specific and very famous retcon that Marvel pulled years ago as an example.

“Peter Parker married Mary Jane,” he said, referencing the (in)famous Spider-Man One More Day and Brand New Day storylines where Spider-Man had his marriage to Mary Jane erased from continuity. “You can’t undo these things, but they do nowadays. But what can you do?”

We’re with you, George R. R. Martin. We’re still not over those Spider-Man retcons either.

If they really meant what they said, they'd be calling for a boycott more than 2 decades ago. They would've made a case for having Joe Quesada dismissed from Marvel's payroll, much like Jim Shooter was back in 1987. Indeed, how is it Shooter could've been fired back in the day, but Quesada never was, and only left the publisher on his own accord in the past few years? Whatever, the issue with figures like Martin is that they wouldn't make a case for why terrible writers/artists/editors can't remain employed by the companies they say they love. And again, nobody even suggests buying out the Marvel/DC publishing arms, if that could prove a good, if not perfect, way to lay out the groundswork for improvement.

And an argument could also be made that this is awfully rich for somebody who developed an ultra-violent franchise like Game of Thrones to be the one to raise the issue. While Martin's disappointment is appreciated in and of itself, it's still no excuse for how revolting GoT happens to be. Ultra-violence is one of the biggest problems with modern "entertainment" nowadays too, and perhaps Martin would like to develop a fantasy series in novels and TV that's less reliant on the shock value GoT was known for, before he makes the case for Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson in his own words? That could be making a much needed improvement for a change.

Tim Seeley turns off his social media pages because a controversy erupts over how he portrayed Magik

So it looks like even a few years after Elon Musk bought Twitter and changed the name to X, there's still controversies bursting out there over comics, whether justified or not. And the latest one involves writer Tim Seeley and an X-Men story he wrote. But before we get to that, here's something I noticed written by Tom Brevoort at least a year ago about Magik from the X-Men franchise that requires pondering:

In the past, I haven’t liked Magik pretty much at all. But that doesn’t mean that the character doesn’t have fans, lots of them. And being in the position that I’m in now means that I can prevent her from being written in the manner that used to irritate me. So there’s no problem with using her.

He seems to have laid out quite a double-standard in which, on the one hand, he acts like a fictional character is a real person, a considerable problem still haunting comicdom till this day. On the other hand, he ostensibly admits, though not clearly, that it's the assigned writer who's guilty of whatever he thought "irritating" about Illyana Rasputin in the past. It was surely to be expected from somebody who hasn't been convincing in his dedication to the job he works in.

But that doesn't explain why Brevoort approved of the following story in focus, which leads us to what's come up on the web, as explained by Comic Book Movie. It's a story supposed to be set in a future alternate era, where Magik kills Maria Hill(!) and is killed by Nick Fury in turn, and goes to the depths of hell again, and:

Well, there are sexual undertones in the comic that imply the demons have sexually abused Magik. X-Men: Age of Revelation Infinity #4 doesn't depict rape, but demeaning remarks are made about her body, and two of the hero's tormenters, Belasco and S'ym, were previously revealed to have abused Magik as a child.

When Magik arrives in Limbo, she's in her underwear, and as Darkchild, she thanks her abuser—in an admittedly sexualised pose—for "sating [her] pathetic needs." While some read that as a reference to sexual assault, Belasco is actually making her beg for food.

Sexual assault has frequently been used as a plot device for female characters in comics, so it's easy enough to understand the outrage. It may not have been the intention here, but the issue can be read in that way, and therein lies the problem.

The backlash was so vocal that writer Tim Seeley, who faced abuse and death threats (which is obviously unacceptable), has deactivated his X account and gone private on Instagram. On Bluesky, he wrote, "Welp...I had to finally deactivate twitter because that was just a touch too much death for me and the family. It was a sh*t 16 year run! F**k everybody!"

He may have erased that specific post too, and it wouldn't be shocking if the atmosphere wasn't so clean even there. First, let's be perfectly clear. Of course if anybody reacted that repulsively on social media about this story, it's offensive and doesn't help the cause of anybody who's allegedly revolted by how the story was written up. That said, even if this is supposed to be an alternate future story, it is insulting to the intellect how a character who'd once been built up is reverted back to a denigrating position, as though her status in the regular world had never been. And that only suggests these alternate future titles Marvel's been working on lately have little purpose beyond the settings.

Here's what The Gamer tells about the story:

Specifically, readers claim that the comic depicts Magik being sexually abused until she becomes a villain. This is perceived as a resurgence of the trend in which female characters are sexually assaulted for shock value and receive a disproportionate amount of violence, something Marvel is no stranger to.

While Marvel obviously isn't innocent of concocting tasteless stories alluding to sexual violence, we have DC to thank for really leading us to the sorry state mainstream comics suffered from 2 decades ago, when they published Identity Crisis, the miniseries that minimized sexual violence for the sake of leftist metaphors, and worst, minimized real life victims of sexual violence in the process. Such abominations are why we got to a point where the audience may not be ready for stories in which sexual violence of the worst kind is even alluded to. That aside, one more reason it probably shouldn't be surprising a story like this was approved by Brevoort is because, lest we forget, he was editor of Avengers at the time Brian Bendis mistreated Scarlet Witch in Disassembled. It certainly does make his claim he wants to prevent Magik from being written poorly very bizarre indeed.

Another writer at ComicBook also spoke about the subject, but there's traces in his piece of blurring the distinctions between fictional characters and their real life writers/editors:

Right now, the X-Men books are in the midst of “Age of Revelation”, an alternate universe story whose perception that has mixed, which seems like the watchword for the line since Brevoort took over. This story takes place ten years in the future, with many characters drastically changed. Magik, who has been Cyclops’s right-hand woman in X-Men, has become the Darkchylde again, and an Infinity comic, the books that Marvel puts on their Marvel Unlimited app, told the story of how she got there. However, this comic caused a huge uproar, one that sees a disturbing Marvel trope return, and we need to talk about it.

We may alright, but I'm not so sure the columnist himself is the most qualified for the job, as a certain part of the following suggests:

Marvel Infinity’s X-Men: Age of Revelation #4 revealed the fate of Magik after her death. She was sent back to Limbo, where she met her old demonic masters and they decided that they wanted her back as their weapon. So, the demons sexually assaulted her until she became their slave again. Now, it wasn’t shown on the page, but the book didn’t shy away from telling us what happened to her. It’s such a strange and disturbing choice to make in 2025; Magik has gotten more popular than ever, and to have her abused in such a way is honestly terrible.

I looked at the earlier article from March linked to in the paragraph, and the fellow veers into silly babbling about Magik being great because she's supposedly better than Dr. Strange. Umm, that all depends on how well written she is, and if she isn't, then her power levels don't add up to much of anything. He also says, "Take Doctor Strange’s powers away and he’s just a guy. Take Magik’s powers away and she’s still a formidable fighter." *Ahem*. Around 1989, there was a story in the 2nd volume's 10th issue where Stephen Strange wound up in a fight with Morbius over a misunderstanding, and the Living Vampire assaulted Stephen when he tried to initiate magic spells, cancelling out the incantations, but Stephen didn't back down. Rather, he took to using physical martial arts taught by butler Wong, and succeeded in defeating Morbius that way. What ComicBook's writer says erases that storytelling history. I don't know just now if Dr. Strange was originally established by creators Stan Lee/Steve Ditko as a physical combat practitioner, but by the late 80s, succeeding writers like Peter Gillis certainly seem to have made use of the possibilities. What's the columnist trying to prove with such a puff piece? Which ends with:

Magik was able to summon a massive demon to help her fight Wraith’s mech. As powerful as Doctor Strange is, he wouldn’t have been able to summon a powerful demon to do his bidding. Magik’s history can be quite convoluted, but she’s proven herself as Marvel’s best magic user, making her a unique weapon for the X-Men.

Sorry, but this too hilariously ignorant of the fact that it all depends on what even Lee thought made for a great story, and whether it was plausible enough within the boundaries of science fantasy Lee established in his time. I'm sure that writers with talent could come up with a great Iron Man story where Tony Stark built a giant Japanese-style mech and put it to use in battles against criminals armed with similar weapons, but let's remember that with bad apples like Joe Quesada and his successors being in charge of Marvel, the chances something that spectacular could work well is simply out of the question. If you want to defend Illyana Rasputin as a storytelling vehicle and condemn superfluous use of sexual violence as a storytelling tool, that's okay, but making her and Dr. Strange out to sound like real persons and reducing everything to a whole "my favorite character's better than yours" argument does nothing, and in fact runs the danger of encouraging abuse of the character considered "lesser" by the columnist.

Sure, it's awful if Magik was established as sexually abused by the demons in the new X-Men story; whatever abuse she underwent in the Bronze Age stories where she first appeared was enough. But, chances are the cybertrolls on X and other platforms who attacked Seeley weren't altruistic, nor were they actually against offensive use of a serious issue in an entertainment product; chances are high they were just looking for excuses to attack somebody else over something they otherwise have no issue with in real life, certainly if they never condemn cases like the following in Europe. If the attacks on Seeley were only written for the sake of "fun", it only makes clear no problems are being solved at all.

With that told, there doesn't seem to be much point to these alternate future storylines Marvel's currently turning out, and the hypocrisies surrounding the whole mess are stupefying.

What was the reason Gwen Stacy wasn't resurrected post-OMD, as was allegedly planned?

A writer on Popverse says that during the One More/Brand New Day atrocity in 2007, Marvel's staff was originally planning to resurrect Gwen Stacy, much as they did Harry Osborn, but that Tom Brevoort allegedly persuaded them not to follow through. And some of the "justifications" Quesada used are as laughable as can be expected, considering all the damage he did back in the day:

The 2007 storyline ended with the demon Mephisto rewriting the timeline so that Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were never married. This was done as part of a Faustian bargain to save Aunt May’s life. The final chapter of the storyline featured the return of Harry Osborn, a supporting character who had been dead for years. But Harry wasn’t the only character Marvel wanted to bring back.

“We wanted to bring in some cast members, and [Gwen Stacy] was one of those cast members that I remembered fondly as a kid,” former Marvel editor-in-chief and One More Day penciler Joe Quesada told me in a 2010 interview for Spider-Man Crawlspace. “Both [James Michael Straczynski] and myself were vehement; we wanted to bring her back. We passed this piece of paper around a room of 50 creatives, and we put Gwen, and no Gwen. And we asked people anonymously to check one box. By the time it got back to me, bringing Gwen back had won out by one vote. One single vote. So, we were going to bring Gwen back.”

This vote was held in 2006 as Marvel was planning the next phase of Spider-Man books, which included One More Day and their three-times-a-month publishing initiative Brand New Day. Speaking with Popverse for a Brand New Day oral history article, Spider-Man editor Tom Brevoort recalls his reaction to Marvel’s plans for Gwen Stacy

“We knew that when we were going to inherit the titles, a couple of things were in place,” Brevoort says. “Spider-Man wasn't going to be married anymore. And then, as part of that story, Joe and Joe Straczynski had intended to bring back Harry Osborn. And there was some back and forth at the time of, 'Are they going to bring back Gwen Stacy?' I kind of put my thumb on the scale and said, 'No, don't do that. That's bad.'”

As Quesada recounts, Brevoort approached him a few months after the vote and convinced him to nix their plans to raise Gwen from the grave.

“Tom walked into my office, closed the door, and he said, 'It’s a mistake. Bringing Gwen back is a mistake,'” Quesada says. “We talked about it. One of the things that he said that was poignant was she’s been dead longer than she was alive in the comic books. So, the only people that really remember her with that sort of affection are fans that have been reading the books for that long a period of time. So, he questioned me and said, is it something that you want to bring back because you emotionally like the character or is it really going to be good for the cast?”

Looking back, Quesada admits that Gwen’s revival wouldn’t have made sense.

“It felt a little too magical to bring her back. It felt a little too heavy-handed by Mephisto,” Quesada says.

This from one of the same staffers who pathetically and arrogantly defended their directions in the late 2000s by saying, "we don't need to explain anything, it's magic". And of course, if it wouldn't make sense to revive Gwen, why does it make infinite sense to revive Harry? The original 1973 death of Gwen at the hands of the Green Goblin was written well enough, but if it's okay to resurrect a man, then by that same logic, it's okay to resurrect a woman too. In fact, how come Gwen's father George isn't brought up when it comes to the subject of resurrections?

Something else that's bewilderingly absent from this issue is that there was some criticism coming from some readers at the time, and though Gwen wasn't revived in the Bronze Age, the writers did compromise by creating a clone, produced in-story by the Jackal during 1975 (and lest we forget, the Spider-clone, Ben Reilly, was originally created at the time too), and if they really needed to concoct anything involving Gwen, couldn't they have resorted to the clone instead of the real deal? Then again, such awful staffers as Quesada's happened to be have no ability to produce anything palatable, and the Spider-Gwen who's been created since hasn't improved their fortunes either. But if Gwen were revived, what good would it do, when her image is tainted by the Sins Past storyline, certainly if it remains canon? That's just another of the reasons why it's hypocritical for Quesada and Straczynski to propose reviving Gwen after all the damage they did, and it's not hard to guess they'd be brining Gwen back at Mary Jane's expense.

And of course, there's the little matter of Mephisto, and Quesada has the gall to say it's heavy-handed for a fictional character to reverse something involving a cast member from Spidey's world, but not for Quesada to editorially mandate the Spider-marriage be broken up. He's never apologized to fandom any more than his DC counterpart, Dan DiDio, for tearing apart continuity cohesion and denigrating other people's creations, both major and minor, to suit his ambiguous agenda. It's really a shame the audience didn't bail en masse on Marvel a quarter century ago when Quesada ascended to EIC position, since it could've sent a message what he had in store was not approved of; the whole train wreck he had in store could've been seen coming back then. Now, years later, Marvel's fortunes have plummeted, and they continue to put the character creations through all sorts of pointless crossovers more than once every year, along with other illogical and implausible mishmash that nobody sensible needs. And Spidey, lest we forget, is but one of the biggest victims of Quesada's machinations.

ComicBook fawns over post-2000 Superman comics

ComicBook wrote another sugary article where they predictably set about gushing over what they call the "best" of Superman comics in the 21st century, with the writers of their choices being none other than the worst of modern day ideologues, or even writers who've lost their way post-2000. For example:

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths is underappreciated; it’s much better than it gets credit for and has some certified bangers. The best of them is probably Dark Crisis: World Without a Justice League: Superman #1, by Tom King and Chris Burnham. The story takes place on a “perfect” Earth for Superman, meant to drain his energy for Pariah. He’s married to Lois and Jon has become his sidekick, working as Robin instead of Superboy. However, there’s something amiss with the world that keeps bothering the Man of Steel, which leads him to make a fateful decision. King hasn’t written much Superman, but has proven to be amazing with the character. This issue is no exception, and it’ll bring a tear to your eye by the end. Burnham is fantastic, really bringing the issue to life. This story is an underrated sensation that isn’t talked about enough.

When King's the kind of writer they recommend, you know something's wrong, and that the comic in focus is both overappreciated and overrated. Where does the writer get off lecturing us that such scriptwriters are the best we can find in this day and age? If this story isn't spoken about much, it's just as well. And then, also to be expected:

Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are one of the best teams to work on Superman in the 21st century. Their run on Action Comics is almost completely perfect. “Brainiac” is a wonderful example of why they are so great together. The story brings back the villain Brainiac, revealing the truth about all different versions of the Coluan cyborg we’ve seen over the years. This one is both an action masterpiece with some amazing worldbuilding, and a tearjerker that will break your heart. The action is brilliant, and the art will knock your socks off. This came during that period when DC was bringing pre-Crisis ideas back to the Superman comics, and is a story that is both modern and retro at the same time.

There they go again with the use of the word "revealing", rather than "establishing", but either way, Johns is unsuited to the task, and Frank shouldn't have worked with him. And there's also the following:

Superman: Space Age is a retro masterpiece, and doesn’t get the credit it deserves. The book starts in the 1985, at the end of the world, and tells the story of Superman’s life, his relationship with Lois Lane, the beginning and end of the Justice League, and a look at Crisis on Infinite Earths that we’ve never gotten before. Written by Mark Russell with art by Mike and Laura Allred, this story is the perfect mix of retro DC goodness and amazing Superman storytelling. It’s not a perfect book — the Lex Luthor subplot isn’t as great as it could be — but it’s so very good. We all expected it to be great, but we didn’t expect it to be as great as it is.

Even if a leftist like Russell wasn't the writer here, the Allreds are honestly some of the most mediocre artists since the turn of the century, and alone could be quite a turnoff. I seem to recall reading some of the former's work in the last year of X-Force, and there too, the art was perfectly dreadful. There's even another item by King listed that at least half admits he's not a fan-favorite:

Superman: Up in the Sky, by Tom King and Andy Kubert, was a huge gamble of a story. King isn’t exactly the most beloved writer in DC Comics, and the book was sold in Wal-Mart in an anthology book that combined it with Superman classics. The story sees the Man of Steel fly off into space to rescue one little girl. On the trip, the hero is challenged numerous times, all while wrestling with whether he should be out here in the first place to save just one life. King and Kubert give readers a story that completely understands the character, a brilliant tale that digs into the first superhero in a way a lot of stories don’t. The art is amazing, perfectly bringing the script to life. This story can easily stand with the greatest Superman stories of any generation.

And only because King's the writer, right? Interesting they admit he's not the most admired writer at DC today, but then, none of the new ones really are, so it's nothing new, yet of course King's politics don't improve anything. But that still doesn't explain why they're fluff-coating his writings despite admitting he's not a favorite writer for the core fanbase they already alienated, and to say a scriptwriter who obsessed over storylines emphasizing heavy-handed takes on traumas is one of the most talented you could possibly find is just insulting.

And all this mishmash takes up valueable space that could've been dedicated to spotlighting the most interesting and challenging new creator-owned comics instead. If they'd just admit there's no point wasting time on modern DC/Marvel, we'd be getting somewhere. Sadly, it's unlikely they'll ever explore topics more challenging, and we'll just keep getting more of this gushy nonsense that always goes for the most overrated writers and stories in the modern era.