For this and all posts today, SPOILER ALERT for Siege and the 95 Avengers titles released Wednesday...SPOILERS start after the Avengers logo...




One of the big outcomes of Siege was this:

In heaven's name, why?

Not that I'm a big supporter of the SHRA, mind you. It's just that, in the context of recent Marvel history, repealing the Registration Act makes just about zero sense.

Let's review: in the event that kicked off Civil War, a bunch of idiot young superheroes acted recklessly, leading to a bunch of civilian deaths. This led to a huge nationwide movement to register superheroes. The rationale, as given by this grieving mother:

So with something like 90% public support, the SHRA was passed, we had a brief tiff, Captain America's side lost, and Tony Stark was put in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. And superheroes had to register or else.

Then the Secret Invasion happened, and even though it lasted about 12 seconds, apparently it traumatized the public. For no reason that makes sense, Stark was blamed for everything, and for reasons that make even less sense, he was replaced by Norman Osborn.

But the Registration Act was still in effect. And the public supported it and Osborn enforced it.

Than Osborn went loopy (big surprise) and set-up an excuse to attack Asgard. But even though it was a set-up, one would think that it proved more than ever the need for the SHRA--Volstagg's careless use of his power led to tens of thousands of civilian deaths (albeit with a merciful end to the Chicago Bears' season), even though the main blame goes to the U-Foes. And before anyone tries to completely exonerate Volstagg, this is the same universe wherein they boast that the Hulk's rampages have never killed a single innocent bystander (including many fights against the U-Foes). So there really can be no excuse for Volstagg blowing up Soldier Field, attacked or not.

So Norman starts an unauthorized war, gets put down like a mad dog. And Steve Rogers replaces him.

Now, what, exactly, in all of that justifies repealing the Super Hero Registration Act? Why, in all of this, do the mother's arguments above no longer apply?

Volstagg's actons proved that untrained, unlicensed super-beings are still dangerous to the public at large. And wouldn't that just strengthen the popularity of the law? And Sally Floyd is still writing articles condemning people who oppose the Act, right?

Yes, Osborn was bad, but that had nothing to do with the SHRA. (And can I point out that the question of the "nation's top cop" being a force for good or evil depending entirely on the man holding the role indicates a serious lack of checks and balances in the system? Fury and Stark and Osborn had the position...does that mean the only thing stopping the first two from running amok was that they weren't already evil??)

Yes, I know that in New Avengers Finale #1, Cap explains that it was his sole demand for taking the position of "top cop"--that the SHRA be scrapped. Well, Steve is a returned-from-the-dead-but-presumably-still-under-arrest-for-violating-said-law-and-leading-armed-insurrection criminal, so maybe any demands he makes are simply letting the terrorists win.

But wouldn't repealing the Registration Act be hugely unpopular? Doesn't every single reason it was passed still apply? Have the people forgotten? Or do they just not care anymore?

The real answer, of course, is that Bendis wanted to end this "story five years in the making" by having the SHRA lifted, because you can't very well have a Heroic Age while being puppet government soldiers. But, it seems pretty clear, he had absolutely no clue how to get there. There is nothing in the stories that Bendis has told that has undone the set-up Millar gave is in Civil War. Nothing.

Maybe, if Bendis really cared about selling this development, he could have had an unregistered hero break out of prison, sacrifice herself by stopping Sentry on national TV while rescuing puppies, and have the public realize how unjust the SHRA was. Or something. But no, Bendis just wants to get from story point A to story point B, so he arbitrarily declares it done, even though it makes no sense in the universe he's set up.

So, if the SHRA was ever justified, it still is, and repealing it is a stupid exercise in Bendis writing himself out of a corner. And if it wasn't justified, than someone owes the public over the marvel Universe (and readers of Marvel Comics) apologies for wasting 5 years of our time.

For this and all posts today, SPOILER ALERT for Siege and the 95 Avengers titles released Wednesday...SPOILERS start after the Avengers logo...



As an epilogue to Civil War, Marvel gave us Civil War: Front Line #11, written by Paul Jenkins. And it was the worst comic book of all time. Cap was wrong because he didn't have a MySpace account. Ye gods.

Well, lightning couldn't strike twice, could it??

Well, yeah, it could. And did.

In all fairness, Sentry: Fallen Sun #1 is nowhere near as bad as CW:FL #11. Nothing could be.

And, since Jenkins created the Sentry, it's perhaps fitting that he gets to write the coda to the Sentry's troubled life.

But what does he give us? A tone deaf, self-aggrandizing exercise in Mary Sueism that belongs on a fanfic site.

Now, if Jenkins wants to ignore all the retcons that Bendis introduced to the Sentry, I suppose that's his right. I can't claim that the Sentry was made in any way a better character by being made into a drug addict/thief who became repository for the Angel Of Death and serving as an easily controlled lapdog for Norman Osborn.

But then again, this book has a banner at the top billing it as Siege: Epilogue. So you'd think that some editor or such would try to have Jenkins at least give lip service to the events of Siege, right?

Wrong. The events of Siege aren't mentioned at all. Reed Richards off-handedly mentions that Thor "had no choice." He couldn't even say that Thor killed the Sentry. And that's it. There is zero mention that Sentry ripped Ares in half, that he killed Loki, that he destroyed Asgard, that he tried to kill all of the Avengers, that he had become a docile servant of evil. Hell, the vast majority of the people at the graveside service weren't even involved in Siege.

So really, if Paul Jenkins is going to pretend that the events of Siege never happened, what's the point of this exercise? What's the point of branding it part of Siege? What's the point of eulogizing this "fallen sun" if we're not even going to mention the circumstances of his fall and death??

The point is Mary Sueism. As our heroes give tribute to Sentry, Paul Jenkins tells us that the hero he created enabled Tony Stark to get over his alcoholism. That the hero he created was a "better man" than Ben Grimm, who taught the Thing how to be a true hero. That the hero he created enabled Daredevil to survive his "difficult times." That the hero he created was the only one who had been able to touch Rogue, and had been her lover (despite the fact that he had to have been married at that time...). Reed declares that Sentry's "soul burns brighter than others," and that he'll never be able to see the rising sun without thinking of the hero Jenkins created.

Seriously. All that and more is in this issue. Despite everything that happened in the past 5 years under Bendis, the Sentry was the bestest hero ever, who made everyone better, who solved everyone's problem, was the lover of the "unattainable" woman, and was apparently perfection incarnate. Jenkins continues to pound that his creation was better and nobler than everyone else.

You know, maybe that kind of worked, back when the Sentry was a one-off, a somewhat better done version of DC's Triumph. But as a final take on a fallen hero who did some serious damned evil, it's kind of sad and pathetic. Once Sentry became Marvel's Irredeemable, you can't go back to day one--but Jenkins tries to, with a straight face, and without any irony. It's bad when DC does it with Captain Atom and Hal Jordan, and it's bad when Marvel does it--but made worse by his goofy insistence that his character was the bestest ever in the marvel Universe. It's fanfic, and deluded fanfic at that.

Still, it's better than Civil War: Front Line #11.

For this and all posts today, SPOILER ALERT for Siege and the 95 Avengers titles released Wednesday...SPOILERS start after the Avengers logo...



In the one-shot Siege:Loki, Thor scribe Kieron Gillen gives us the story behind Loki's urging Norman Osborn to attack Asgard. Loki, it turns out, feels trapped by predestination...

...and sees but one way out for himself:

Yup, he's going to "burn clean" Asgard. And after egging on Osborn, Loki goes through incredibly elaborate machinations with the Disir, Mephisto and Hela to exempt himself from spending eternity with the Asgardians. As he witnesses Asgard in flames, he tells Mephisto:


So, yeah, he wanted Asgard to be destroyed. And he declares that mischief is a "toy" he's "discarded." Now he's interested in "mayhem."

Great story, well done, great motivation, everybody loved it.

But Bendis wasn't having any of that. Nope, from the first page of Siege #4, Loki is crying like a little baby, shocked--shocked, I tell you--that something has destroyed Asgard:

Ah, suddenly, Loki didn't mean to destroy Asgard. He was only interested in mischief. He wanted Asgard to be in glory.

None of which is consistent in the least, of course, with what Gillen told us in his Loki story. Unless you want to believe that Loki was so unhinged by the success of his plan he suddenly recanted. He's suddenly pissed that Sentry destroyed Asgard, when he started this whole plan to destroy Asgard in the first place.

Not that Bendis has a history of caring what any other writers do. But you think that someone at Marvel, some editor or something, could at least make sure their writers are telling the same story, especially when they're hyping it as the story of the half-decade.

Too bad. Loki deserved better than to be turned into a simpering fool.

For this and all posts today, SPOILER ALERT for Siege and the 95 Avengers titles released Wednesday...SPOILERS start after the Avengers logo...



From the recap page in New Avengers Finale #1, describing the events of The Siege:

"Many heroes lost their lives?" "Many heroes?"

Pray tell, who??

Ares?? He was willingly a member of the Dark Avengers, willing to kill any hero Osborn pointed him at. He rebelled against Osborn not because Storming Norman was a bad guy, but because Norman tricked him into attacking Asgard. Hero? Hardly.

Loki?? As if. He deliberately precipitated all of these events. Even if you buy that he repented (and that completely contradicts what we were told in the Siege: Loki one-shot), he's hardly a hero. Any deaths that occurred, he's ultimately responsible for.

Sentry?!? The mad attack dog who blindly followed Norman, and killed Ares and Loki and brought down Asgard? If they were amongst the "many heroes" who died, Sentry obviously can't be. He was no Hal Jordan/Parallax, saving the Earth with a grand sacrifice. He smashed up everything, and died.

Who else died during Siege? Despite the grisly death of Ares, it was a relatively bloodless affair. Heck, that was one of the stories weaknesses--no one was ever in serious jeopardy, and the heroes barely worked up a sweat. No one had skin in the game, as it were.

I know, I know, the recap page was probably written by some intern. But it really annoys me to see Marvel try and puff up the importance of this story by pretending there was some great sacrifice or such. Many heroes? Hell, more heroes died in the Titans: Villains For Hire one-shot this week. Hey, Marvel--if you don't have the wherewithal to actually kill your heroes, don't try to claim the street cred, OK?

For this and all posts today, SPOILER ALERT for Siege and the 95 Avengers titles released Wednesday...SPOILERS start after the Avengers logo...


Welcome to the Heroic Age--after Osborn's been put down, and the Hood has been captured:


Yes, "we're so popular I could kill you right now and no one would punish us, and hell they'd probably help me" is the epitome of heroic, ain't it?? That code is precisely what the Heroic Age is all about, eh, Joe Quesada?

Off to a grand start there, Marvel.

From Avengers Initiative #35.