It’s the first week of 2021 and while things are still awful, they haven’t gotten considerably worse just yet. By 2020 standards, that counts as progress. That’s just how low the bar is these days. I hope it raises at some point, but I’m not getting my hopes up just yet.
In the meantime, I won’t let that stop me from enjoying the first New Comic Book Day of the year. In my experience, comic companies often use that first Wednesday to set the tone for the kind of year they’re going to have. That usually involves setting up or furthering stories that began late in the previous year and launching new titles to help set up events in the new year.
In addition, these efforts also mean I tend to spend a lot more than average on the first week of the year. That usually works out because I use the money I got from generous relatives over Christmas. So the first New Comic Book Day of a new year are usually very special for me and this year promises to be no exception.
New characters are being introduced.
New titles are launching from top tier talent.
New storylines are set to pick up.
These are exciting times for the world of comics. The world is still a mess and I’m still frustrated by it to no end. Even so, an extra large pile of new comics helps make it more awesome and that’s exactly what we need right now. As such, here’s my pull list and pick for the first of many New Comic Book Days in 2021. Enjoy!
I know Christmas is still two days away, but when it’s New Comic Book Day, the feeling is pretty much the same. I wake up early in the morning, excited as a kid in a candy store, and open my iPad to see a stack of new digital comics waiting for me. The joy I feel is not that different from the joy I feel on Christmas morning.
It’s just one of the many benefits to being a lover of comics. Every week, Wednesday is basically a holiday. New books come out. New joy is felt and shared. Thanks to digital comics like Comixology, they’re already there for you the second you wake up and you don’t even have to wear an ugly sweater.
What’s not to love? I enjoy this day knowing full well that it’s likely a significant chunk of my presents on Christmas will include comics. My family knows me all too well. They know that they can spend twenty bucks on a graphic novel and I’ll be as happy as kid who just got his first Nintendo system.
It’s a simple joy that comes every week. On weeks like this, just a few days before Christmas, that joy only compounds. Between this, Christmas, and an abundance of eggnog, my holiday spirit has never been stronger. Here’s my pull list and pick for this glorious holiday week.
To all my fellow comic fans and even those with a mere passing interest, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Let New Comic Book Day make it that much more merry.
Every now and then, we need something simple, uplifting, and wholesome to boost our spirits. Whether you’re a child, an adult, or a teenager struggling through the rigors of puberty, we just need something positive to cling to, if only briefly.
I certainly need that from time to time. I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t. The world can be a chaotic, ugly place. It’s easier than ever to focus on the bad and overlook the good. However, that good is still out there and, in the spirit of sharing that good, I’d like to present a small comic strip that always brings a smile to my face.
I’ll give everyone a minute to wipe the tears from their face or manage their “allergies.”
Yes, that was a comic strip featuring Thor and Fred Rogers.
There are already many unbelievably wholesome stories about Fred Rogers and the impact he had on countless children. The legend of this man’s uncanny kindness, empathy, and compassion is certainly a story worth telling and it has in a number of recent movies.
Like many, I grew up watching Mr. Rogers’ show. In recent years, I’ve rediscovered his remarkable story and his amazing acts of humility. When you need something uplifting to boost your spirits, those stories just find a way to touch my heart on a profound level.
This comic strip doesn’t just reaffirm that. It makes a perfect case that, regardless of how you define worthiness, Mr. Rogers shows just how far true humility will take you. It’s a message I think we can all appreciate right now.
We made it through Election Day. I understand that can still change, but we still made it. That’s progress, in my book. I also doubt I’m alone in being relieved that we’ve finally made it through.
Now, I realize that there’s still plenty of post-election drama to unfold here in the United States. I may end up talking about that at some point. For now, I’d rather focus on something that brings objective joy to the world, namely comics.
The day after such a contentious election is the perfect day to indulge in some comic fueled awesome. I am not just ready. I need this and I suspect many others burned out on politics feel the same. The real world has been objectively awful on so many levels in 2020. An escape has never been more necessary.
That’s exactly what comics provide us. They are a simple, inexpensive joy that takes us out of this crazy world for a brief moment and into one full of wonder. I love every New Comic Day, but this particular day has never been more cathartic. To that end, here is my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy!
I love the internet. In general, I think it does more good than harm. Our lives are objectively better because of it. I know it has its share of baggage and drawbacks. Like anything, you take the good with the bad.
However, there are times when taking the bad is just annoying as hell. I’m fine with challenges and struggle. Those help us become stronger, in the long run. The same can’t be said of annoyance. That helps no one. It just makes you want to bang your head against the wall.
This brings me to what I feel is one of the weakest, emptiest, most pathetic displays of internet outrage I’ve seen in recent years. It unfolded last year, but has become relevant again this year. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, certain people still find the time and energy to be so insanely petty about something so banal.
It stems largely from that scene in “Avengers: Endgame.” You probably know the scene I’m referring to. I doubt I have to be too specific. For general reference, here it is.
Just playing it again, I can easily imagine a certain group of people whining like babies, as though someone just stole a piece of their birthday cake. It’s a shot of some of Marvel’s most notable female characters, all in the same scene, getting ready to kick more ass in the final battle against Thanos.
Yes, people actually got upset over this.
Yes, it’s as dumb, pathetic, and petty as it sounds, and then some.
They’re not just men who complain about a female superhero’s bra size. They’re not just women who complain how these costumes are woefully impractical. They call this scene cringy. That’s usually code for, “This doesn’t pander exclusively to me and it hurts my precious feelings!”
Many probably whine about other people who whine about things they don’t agree with, be it politics, video games, or which celebrity had an opinion that hurt their precious feelings. This scene just caught more attention than most, being part of the highest grossing movie of all time.
The outrage unfolded as soon as the movie came out. Here’s just one of the responses on Twitter.
SO FORCED!!!! my goodness, the IW scene wasn't forced when they went up against Proxima Midnight in wakanda. But this one….ugh, I almost laughed out loud. And I have daughters and love seeing strong women, but yuck. Don't force it.
Trust me, this is tame compared to some of the other rage tweeting that went on. Most of it boiled down to people saying the scene was so forced and tried too hard to make a political statement. Naturally, you can’t make political statements these days without attracting trolls, assholes, idiots, and narcissists.
I say that as someone who has made his share of political statements, some of which I know won’t age well. I know I make certain people cringe with what I say and how I say it. Most of the time, it’s understandable. I have enough empathy to realize that hearing something you don’t agree with can be distressing.
This scene, however, is not one of those instances. To see this scene and assume Marvel Studios is making this bold political statement about feminism, female characters, and how men should be ashamed for not letting women shine isn’t just contrived. It’s just plain goddamn stupid.
I’m sorry. I wish there was a more articulate way to say that. Sometimes, you just have to be as blunt and straightforward as possible. There are things worth cringing over. There are things worth getting outraged over. This isn’t one of them.
It’s just a very brief, very colorful moment within a two-and-a-half hour movie that took all but seven second. Somehow, that was enough to evoke whining, outrage, and trolls? Seriously, how does that make sense?
The reason I’m bringing this up now is because this scene has become relevant again, thanks to Amazon Prime’s “The Boys.” Now, I love that show and the comic that inspired it. I hope I’ve made that clear. I love the scene that re-opened this old wound, too. It was a great scene. Watching Starlite, Maeve, and Kimiko beat up Stormfront was very satisfying.
There was nothing political about it, but now it’s getting political because of how it supposedly contrasts with the “Avengers: Endgame” scene. I say supposedly because they’re both very different scenes with very different stories told in a very different context. Linking one to the other to make a larger political statement is just asinine.
When I see the “Avengers: Endgame” scene, I don’t see anything political. I just see an epic shot of Marvel’s female heroes. That’s it. That’s all there is to it. It’s just a fun scene that nicely depicts how many great female characters have developed over the years in the MCU. Can’t it just be that?
The same goes for the scene in “The Boys.” Can’t that scene just be a fun display of three of the show’s best characters beating up some Nazi-loving bitch? There’s no politics in, either. It’s entertainment. It’s fun.
If you’re going ascribe politics to either scene, then you’re missing the point. You’re also whining like an immature child, incapable of accepting a world that doesn’t always pander to every one of your sensibilities at every hour of every day. I don’t care where you lean politically. That sort of misguided outrage isn’t the least bit justified. It’s just flat out pathetic.
What do you do when you’ve had a lousy week? How do you make it bearable or, at the very least, somewhat less awful? These are questions I’m sure many people have been asking throughout 2020. There have been many lousy weeks thus far for reasons I hope are obvious. This past week certainly threw in a few more gut punches with the death of Chadwick Boseman.
As objectively awful as that is, we still move forward. We still try to make the following days less shitty. For me, enjoying a stack of new comics is part of that process. I’ve had many bad weeks throughout my life. Between puberty, high school, and graduating college during a recession, there was never a shortage of misery.
However, every Wednesday morning brought a ray of hope. Thanks to Comixology, the prospect of New Comic Book Day has always offered a boost to my dampened spirits. After this past week, I need that. I think we all need that. We find that boost wherever we can. For me, it’s new comics on Wednesday morning.
I’ve got my iPad, a fresh cup of coffee, and a wounded spirit. I’m ready to feel slightly less awful about the world now. I hope my other fellow comic fans can do the same. As always, here is my pull list and pick of the week. Enjoy!
The COVID-19 global pandemic is going to have many long-term effects. There’s no way around it. This pandemic will leave lasting scars that will fester for generations. If I ever have kids or grandkids, I’ll likely share harrowing stories about how we survived 2020. I’m sure they’ll have plenty of questions with respect to social distancing, mask wearing, and Zoom calls.
As it stands, those stories aren’t yet complete. We, as a society, are still trying to navigate our way through it. Even if a vaccine is close, it’s going to be a while before we can say with certainty that the pandemic is over. Like many, I eagerly await that day. I’d love to be able to go to a bar, a water park, or a ball game again.
At the same time, we have to face another difficult truth. Some of the things we took for granted before the pandemic are never coming back, at least to the extent we remember. I suspect things like handshakes, poor hygiene, and thoroughly cleaning subway cars only once every 100 years will never be a formality, at least to some extent. Entire industries will have to re-think how they do business form here on out.
Among those many common activities we once took for granted, I believe there’s one in particular that will change more than most. It involves the once-simple act of going to a movie theater. Just a year ago, this activity/industry maintained a special place in our culture. Big summer blockbusters weren’t just an expected market trend. They were a cultural tradition.
Now, having gone an entire summer without those blockbusters, I suspect this experience will never return to its former glory.
By that, I don’t mean big-budget movies will diminish in importance. There’s definitely still a place for those in the near and distant future. The insatiable demand for new content on streaming services will ensure that. However, the long-standing traditions of going to a movie theater to celebrate one of those blockbusters has probably been permanently diminished.
I say that as someone who both loves going to the movies and laments any loss of these blockbuster traditions. I’m the kind of guy who gets in line early for every Marvel movie and has many fond memories of spending an afternoon or evening in a movie theater. Believe me. I don’t want that tradition to end or decline. I just don’t see how it can ever recover from this.
That’s not to say movie theaters will disappear, like video rental stores. I think that, over the next several years, they’re just not going to be as critical a part of the movie industry. We’ve already seen signs of that over the course of this pandemic.
I think the biggest turning point when movies like “Trolls: World Tour,” “Scoob,” and “Mulan” skipped theaters entirely, going straight to video-on-demand. Even if it was done out of necessity, I think it’s simply accelerating a trend that had started before the pandemic. More and more, movies were just skipping theaters entirely and going straight to streaming services.
These weren’t the kind of straight-to-DVD movies that were so bad they couldn’t get into theaters. These were quality movies that have the potential to become solid franchises. There were also cases in which a movie skipping theaters actually turned a profit. It’s not a huge profit on the levels of an Avengers movie, but it is a profit. That’s all any industry innovation needs to get going.
It won’t happen all at once.
It won’t upend the entire movie industry overnight.
It won’t even be obvious until years after we’re past the point of no return.
I still believe it’ll happen. Years from now, a big blockbuster movie coming out in theaters won’t be the kind of seasonal, cultural event it once was. Movies like “Avengers: Endgame” and any “Star Wars” movie will still make headlines, but they’ll be the exceptions rather than the industry standards.
Movie theaters, themselves, will probably look very different. The theater I live near, which I’ve been going to for years, probably won’t look the same. It’ll most likely look more like an IMAX theater, which provides an experience that isn’t easily duplicated within a typical living room.
Only a handful of movies can complement that experience. Low budget, high-concept movies probably won’t come out anymore, except for a select number of theaters, like drafthouses. They’ll go straight to streaming services. That might even work better for long movies like “The Irishman.”
That might open the door to a new type of movie experience for a new generation of movie-goers. I have a feeling that kids who lived through this pandemic, whose entertainment consumption came primarily through streaming media, will see that as their new normal. The whole concept of movie theaters might seem as strange to them as land lines or pagers.
I don’t claim to know what form the movie industry will take several years from now. I don’t even know what kind of world we’ll have six months from now. I question the honesty of anyone who claims otherwise. The only real certainty is uncertainty. We don’t know what kind of world will emerge when this pandemic is over.
Some things will return, but in a different form.
Some things will never be the same.
As much as I love going to the movies, I believe that experience will just be one of the many casualties of this horrible pandemic.
There are people who go out of their way to avoid the news, politics, and anything that might trigger a digital fist fight. I respect these people. At times, I’m one of them. However, avoiding the news and politics is one thing. Avoiding the effects is something else. You can avoid the constant whining and outrage surrounding an election or hashtag. You can’t avoid the reality of a global pandemic.
I’ve come to accept this in recent months. I don’t deny that, at one point, I tried to avoid any mention of it online or in person. That’s just not possible when entire parts of society are shut down and major events get cancelled. It’s sad, if not maddening. However, it need not be completely dire. Even if you can’t ignore these awful things, you can still find ways to cope.
For me, comics have been a preferred coping mechanism for years. Going back to previous crisis, including those of the personal kind, comics have given men some much-needed escapism from the harsh, unforgiving nature of the real world. During those times, New Comic Book Day takes on an even greater meaning.
I know it’s easy to take for granted, given how much upheaval the industry is in right now. For that reason, I cannot thank the writers, editors, and artists working tirelessly in the industry to give fans like me an escape. Their work may not be on the same level as doctors and nurses, but they still hold a special place in those fighting to endure this crisis.
To those wonderful individuals, I thank you on behalf of comic fans everywhere. Once again, here is my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy and stay safe, everyone!
One of the hardest and most important lessons a kid can learn is patience. The ability to wait an extended period of time for something good is one of those underrated skills that makes kids and adults alike more responsible. If you can be patient, then you’re less inclined to whine endlessly until you get your way. There are grown adults who struggle with that.
I like to think that m love of comics gave me some harsh, but necessary lessons in patience. When I was a kid, there was no Comixology or nearby comic shops to get new comics every week. I actually had to wait for them to arrive in the mail every week.
Trust me. It’s even more awful than it sounds.
The books were often late, sometimes for several weeks after they arrived in comic shops. Half the time, the books arrived damaged. I don’t miss those days. I thank the comic gods every day that I live in the era of Comixology where my enjoyment of New Comic Book Day is not determined by the competency of the post office.
As rough as those days were, they also taught me how to be patient while waiting for my favorite books to come out. I’ve heard from younger comic fans how agonizing it is to wait four weeks for another issue. I sympathize completely, but these kids didn’t know what it was like to spend every Wednesday waiting for the mail with baited breath. I envy them.
Now, the post office is off the hook. We can enjoy those new books as soon as they come out. It’s a beautiful thing. It feels like all those years of patience I had as a kid is being rewarded. For that, I thank both the internet and Comixology. As such, here’s my pull list for the week, as well as my pick. Enjoy!
The following is a video I made for my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. It’s the first in what I hope to be a series about the special, often overlooked gems in the world of comics. I plan on making others like it. Let me know what you think. Enjoy!
