Marvel Flipside

Story Theory: Endings

Let's talk about story theory for a bit. What's story theory? Don't worry, it's a concept I just came up with, so just run with me for a while, okay?

If story theory is a study in how stories work, we can start by breaking down stories to their basic elements: character, plot, setting, theme, etc. All of that English Lit class stuff. What's interesting about comics is that you can add all kinds of new elements to represent the visual nature of _comic_ stories: layout/pacing, balance, color, line quality, etc.  

But to keep it short (and sanity-saving,) let's focus on the most strange aspect of the comic-story hybrid-- plot. Because your basic story has a beginning, middle, and end. (Well, technically, it has exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement, but you are trying to forget your MIddle School English, aren't you?) However, on-going comic book series cannot follow this basic structure. By virtue of being episodic, the comic book must either have NO end or must have INFINITE ends. Did you catch that? The "story" of a particular character can never really be resolved ("end") if his comic book will forever be published. Or, if it does get resolved, it merely sets up a new beginning or a new middle for yet another kind of resolution (yet another "end.")

Example time. The Hulk's basic story is in the conflict between the inner self-- Bruce Banner vs. Hulk. This story has never ended. Or you could say that it did. Writer Peter David merged the Hulk and Banner personas in The Incredible Hulk #377 (vol. 1, 1991). But then I would argue that the Hulk's stories shifted-- those stories featured the Pantheon characters just as much as the Hulk's. And later, Paul Jenkins in The Incredible Hulk #12 (vol. 3, 2000) explained that this merged Hulk was merely another personality all along. This would be an example of the "infinite" endings as the only other option. (Its current status quo at the time of this writing will be "ending" with The Incredible Hulks #635 (2011).)

This is why some creators disliked Spider-Man being married. Looked at from a story perspective, it was an "ending" to part of Peter Parker's story, but his stories were continuing regardless. So either Spider-Man's basic story had to shift along with it, or it would be hampered if it continued to try to keep all the other story elements except that one in place.

It's also why super-hero movies are all about the origin story. It's the only definite beginning-middle-end kind of story that a character has. It's also why villains are so important. The beginning of a villainous plot naturally leads to its ending, and hopefully along the way the character can show us a bit about why his character is so compelling. But in a way, as much as that hero is spotlighted, the story is basically the villain's.

It's also why many characters simply cannot keep a series in the first place. Either there has already been an ending for that character, and/or there is no room for infinite endings. 

Ms. Marvel-- great visual, strong personality, perfect for the company to leverage and market. But what's her story? Is she an Air Force officer? Part of an alien legacy? A magazine editor? A home security advisor? A mentor? A celebrity hero? It's hard to have any kind of ending, let alone infinite ones, if there's no place to even begin. Without any strong "beginning," Ms. Marvel is doomed to the fringes of the Marvel universe.

Ms. Marvel volume 2 ended with #50 (2010),
after various "beginnings" throughout the same series

The Thing-- again, great visual, strong personality, recognizable, and intimately connected to the Marvel universe. But he already had an ending-- he has come to accept his monstrous form. It certainly came gradually (even his own series in the 80s was about the interplay as he switched from human form to Thing) so perhaps there was no "big" event that allowed his story to end-- in some ways, the writers simply stopped writing about it. Sure, it comes up every now and then, in the same way every once in a while you remember with regret that you forgot your friend's birthday that one time but it doesn't define your existence anymore. With no inherent conflict defining the Thing's existence, he won't ever be able to be a star in his own right again.

The Thing's volume 2 got all the way to issue 8 (2006).

In some ways, I'm asking for stories to become more streamlined, a bit more simplified. Which is a testament to how rich and complex some characters' stories are right now. Thor's movie (an origin story, of course) is far removed from his current status quo, which is more complex as he wrestles with the dynamics of Asgard/human relations. The X-Men's Storm, who some would argue is one of Marvel Comic's strongest female heroes, showed up in the X-Men in 1975 somewhat full-formed. A beginning, middle,  or end for her would show up from time to time, mostly through flashback, but essentially she was always reacting to these outside forces. And ultimately she is caught up a complex relationship between her past, her teammates, her marriage, making it difficult to have a story of her very own, generating from within her.

Perhaps that's why the mini-series is the format of choice for most publishers. It allows a character to have a dedicated story with a specific beginning-middle-end for that particular moment. The on-going serialized and episodic lead character is now the exception rather than the rule. And maybe that's okay. By embracing this model, creators and publishers can focus on the stories themselves, avoiding the trap of an episodic character going stale or (maybe worse) suffering through endless revamping. Heck, why not fully embrace it, and bring back anthologies and magazine-format quarterlies. Giving more definite endings (or recognizing an infinite ending) will allow characters to be better realized, and readers will be better satisfied. I refer you my Comics Memo: Be About Something.

And speaking of endings. There. I'm done.  

 

Grotesk the Sub-Human!

They call him ... Grotesk --!

(I was going to try to continue my retrospective of Ms. Marvel rogues, and wanted to do a sketch along with this write-up. Well, the sketches just aren't happening, but rather than wait around, here's some of my thoughts....)

This guy was originally an X-Men villain-- which makes it kind of amazing how much overlap there is between Ms. Marvel villains and X-Men villains. (Okay, not SO amazing, considering how Chris Claremont was the author of both for a significant number of years.)

Basically, he's just one of those underground civilization-type guys-- you know, the kind that are upset at the whole surface world because we kept doing underground nuclear testing. But when trying to revenge his peoples, he ran into the X-Men, got hoisted by his own petard, and disappeared for many, many years of publishing history. (But hey, the battle was one of distinction, as it was the first time Professor X  died! Actually, it was the Changeling in place of Professor X, but at the time, who knew?)

Grotesk surprisingly survived, beating up Ms. Marvel when he tried to steal a special alien crystal, and later battling her again when he used the crystal to create a giant warp energy implosion to destroy the earth. Instead, Ms. Marvel allowed Grotesk to be fall into the warp he was creating, hoisting him by the petard once more.

Currently, Grotesk is little more than a spirit-possessed armor, and if you remove the helmet, his spirit "dissipates," which kind of … defeats the purpose doesn't it? I mean, let's face it, if he's got one gimmick, it's in the name. That and he is a seven-foot tall, Hulk-like monstrosity.

Re-Villaining!
So here's my re-villaining-- if the guy's a spirit now, make him all spirit… but keep him motivated by the revenge against the "surface world." He can possess his victims, causing them to Grotesk-out into the ugly muscle-bound freak he used to be. But Grotesk isn't simply about possession so he can walk around and go to Starbucks. No, he will be willing to destroy humanity one person at a time-- purposefully getting them into suicidal situations and then leaving them. And what would be more suicidal than purposefully getting into battles with superheroes? Imagine Ms. Marvel having to save people from themselves, only to be in the classic I-Must-But-Must-Not throw-down!

This guy has a bit of stories left in him and a whole lot of tradition behind him, once you can get a bit creative around the whole subeterranean civilization thing. Those kinds of stories have tended to fall into fairly predictable patterns by now.

For more information on Grotesk, another blog has recently started a more detailed documentary. It's called, appropriately enough, Groteskology.

Ms. Marvel Revenge Squad

Pretty sporadic updating here, I know. There are still quite a few readers according to whatever Typepad tells me, but hey, for all I know you are all phishing robots or something. Shrug. Do people even read blogs anymore?

Anyway, my entry for Comic Book Runway last week got me thinking about Ms. Marvel (again,) and I did a bit of sketch of Ms. Marvel enemies. A very rough, quick sketch I might add. I'll be updating this post throughout the week with a selection of rogues from the pages of Ms. Marvel.

First up, Deathbird!

Ms. Marvel #9 (1977) by Chris Claremont, Keith Pollard, Joe Sinnott, and Sam Grainger

Did you know Deathbird started as a Ms. Marvel villain? It was never made clear what her origin was at the time-- that is, her background as member of the alien Shi'ar royal family, her traitorous act, her exile on earth, etc. It was all very mysterious and enigmatic-- although she certainly talked as if she were not human, calling Ms. Marvel a "hatchling" and talking about something called "the Aerie." For some reason, she was working with A.I.M. and MODOK, so when Ms. Marvel investigated A.I.M.'s headquarters underneath a department store (?), they naturally battled it out. Deathbird immediately after abandoned A.I.M./MODOK and showed up battling Hawkeye before ending up as a regular X-Men villain.
  
The ship has probably sailed to have Deathbird as a true archenemy for Ms. Marvel. D-Bird is on a whole 'nother scale at this point, wheeling and dealing at the level of interstellar empires. She's now become a boss-level villain that Ms. Marvel would have to get to only after several side-scrolling screens of lackeys and underlings. Still, these two would have been great rivals-- the exiled Shi'ar empress versus the Earth-born Kree warrior.

 

Next, Mystique!

Ms. Marvel #17 (1978) by Chris Claremont, Jim Mooney, and Tony De Zuniga

Did you know Mystique ALSO started as a Ms. Marvel villain? I never realized it in my early years of reading Marvel Comics, but in retrospect it makes Mystique's order for Rogue to attack Ms. Marvel (and subsequent absorption of all her powers) make more sense.

Mystique appeared in her then-often-used but now-abandoned secret identity of Raven Darkholme,  who had infiltrated a high position in the U.S. government. She helped some guy in SHIELD steal armor and weaponry to become the Centurion and attack Ms. Marvel, only to have to take on the whole Avengers (and lose.) Mystique was only refered to as "Raven Darkholme," and also to be working on behalf of someone she had to call "lord."  I have no idea how that was resolved; as far as I know, she next showed up with a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to call her own, and she's been an X-Villain ever since. (See a pattern developing here?)

Binary Mary

For this week's CBRunway challenge, it's all about the sidekicks!

"For your first challenge you must create and design an original sidekick for an existing solo hero. In the tradition of sidekicks, your character should be younger than their mentor. While your sidekick's costume and color scheme do not need to match their mentor's, your character should visually and conceptually complement them."

So after some thought and initial designs, here is the long-lost sidekick for Ms. Marvel-- Binary Mary!

Carol Danvers has gone by many names-- Ms. Marvel, Warbird, ... and Binary! She had thought her Binary-powers, fueled by a white star, had disappeared, but secret Kree scientists were secretly siphoning bits of power from her with their Reverse-Magnatron! Plucky youngster and number-one fangirl Mary Vickers uncovered the conspiracy, and a kidnapping, a daring rescue, and an inadvertant last-minute explosion later, she's now Ms. Marvel's right-hand sidekick, Binary Mary!

Binary Mary's costume is retro chic, with a high collar ending in two long sashes and a cotton lycra one-piece dress with stars and a lightning swish pattern-- both reminiscent of her mentor. I wanted something that might fit Ms. Marvel's original costume just as much as her current one, but the dated look is spunky and cute for a young girl. The blues are muted versions of Ms. Marvel's own, but her skin glows pink like Carol's Binary days.

 

Thanks, Ms. Marvel

Ms. Marvel is thankful for still being invited to star in Avengers titles nowadays.

Dating New Avengers

In New Avengers #3, there is this page, featuring banter between the New Avengers and the Thing regarding a certain movie:

New Avengers #3, by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen,
Wade von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin.

I certainly count this fine example of cinema very high among my all-time faves list. But I also am acutely aware that it's, let's face it, an OLD movie. Ghostbusters was released in 1984, which makes it more or less 25 years old.

This is funny for a couple of reasons. First of all, with the "rolling timeline" of the Marvel universe, in which the rise of superheroes is never more than 13 to 15 years ago, the film Ghostbusters would have been out for nearly 10 years before the first superheroes (the Fantastic Four) appeared in the Marvel-public's eye. So the Thing would have seen the movie as Ben Grimm, a somewhat young teenager at the time, and ten years later have become the heroic monster we all know and love.

The second thing is to consider the target audience of comic books, which would primarily be young males age 14-17, which again, places the reference nearly 10 years out of their reach. Much is made in the Avengers comic itself about this very fact, of course, because if the young readers are like Ms. Marvel, who says she's never seen it, they will meet with the Thing's incredulity and remark that it's ubiquitously on cable.  

Of course, there's always YouTube as well.

Marvel SuperHeroes Classic RPG: Ms. Marvel

I didn't really want to post another RPG write-up, one right after the other, but I also didn't want to do let too much time before I posted again. Instead, here's Ms. Marvel, who is actually becoming a bit of a regular feature here on this blog--

Since she's changed a bit since, you know, the Eighties, here's what her vitals might look like nowadays:

 

MS. MARVEL

Real Name: Carol Danvers
Occupation: Adventurer

 

Remarkable Fighting!
Excellent Agility!
Amazing Strength!
Remarkable Endurance!
Typical Reason!
Great Intuition!
Typical Psyche!

 

Health 130
Karma 22
Resources Typical
Popularity 20

POWERS
Flight: Excellent
Body Armor: Incredible vs. physcial and energy
Energy Absorption: Unearthly potential to harness cosmic energies, although she currently lacks a direct connection to her previous cosmic-level source; established power stunt to boost strength, body armor, and energy blast   
Energy Blasts: Incredible light/heat

TALENTS
Pilot
Martial Arts A
Military/Espionage

CONTACTS
Military/NASA, Avengers, SHIELD

Because sometimes you just need...

to sketch Ms. Marvel smashing her fist into the Bi-Beast.