Everybody Run! It's Change!

Within the past year, Marvel Comics has significantly changed their headlining characters. Thor's hammer fell into the possession of a mysterious woman, Captain America passed his mantle to his African-American best buddy, many big changes. Changes that sparked attention, especially the attention of the media. Late as I might be, I think it's time I throw my hat into the "this article will get us ratings" game!

If you've been living under a rock for the past couple of months you probably haven't heard that the current "Thor" comic book features a female human acting as the new Goddess of Thunder. Needless to say, the media ran with this, very far. Some people spun it as inspiring, others became outraged and defensive over Mr. Hemsworth. Oh, I mean Thor. Because you know, when the "Thor" movie came out in 2012 everybody on the internet complained that Thor wasn't a crippled doctor. Obvious sarcasm is obvious. This kind of thing has happened more than once and it's only in this day-and-age that people find fault with it. Maybe it's part of the "this isn't like the movie" mentality or the spread of criticism on the internet, but when the comic-reading public complains about an event they haven't even read for themselves, the joined opinion starts to spread to the general public. And that works the other way around, too. I remember seeing female Thor brought up on morning talk shows, people with important names puffing this change up as "inspired" and "empowering" to the point of regular viewers-and likely comic book ignorers-agreeing with the change because the people on the show approved. Little fish following big fish. Oh, Thor was a frog once, by the way.

Now on to Captain Evans. Oops, I mean Captain America! Gosh, I don't know what's gotten into me. Anyway, Steve Rogers' super-serum has recently ran out and now he's rapidly aged into a surprisingly spry old man. Obviously Steve's old bladder couldn't handle the stress of being a superhero, so he passed the torch to his long-time friend Sam Wilson. Wilson has worked under the name "The Falcon" and teamed-up with Captain America since 1969, being one of the first African-American superheroes. Their relationship wasn't so much like Batman & Robin, more like Cop #1 & Cop #2. While this change seemed like a respectable decision, to the media it wasn't a matter of Cap's best friend taking the shield, it was more a matter of "Captain America being replaced by African-American Partner". The only other time Captain America has made the news was when he was "killed" at the end of Marvel's Civil War. And you know what? He wasn't dead. He came back, told his old sidekick Bucky to take the mantle for a while, and eventually took the shield back. Was it progressive? Was it problematic? I don't know because I haven't read "All-New Captain America" so my opinion on this change is not backed-up by any creditable judgment of the story. But, like every voice on the internet, my opinion pulls ears no matter how unqualified I am. I may be a comic book fan, but I'm also a human being with common sense, just like you. Also, Cap was a werewolf once.

Superman died and came back, Spider-Man was a clone and then he wasn't, Aquaman had a hook for a hand and now he doesn't. See the pattern here? No matter what kind of changes are made to our favorite comic book characters they aren't changes that stick. Everything in comics resets to what worked best. And with Marvel's Cinematic Universe flipping more dough than a pizza joint you can bet your pepperonis that they'll want to keep the comics and the movies on the same wavelength thinking all movie fans actually read comics. The point is, don't let TV and internet make your opinions for you. You want an honest opinion? Read the material, otherwise wait a year until Thor has his hammer back. A statement that holds more than one meaning. Thanks for reading! Also, Supergirl was once a metamorphic blob of white goo.

Facebook: The Panel Biter

Twitter: @ThePanelBiter