Hail Hydra?! Captain America Nick Spencer issue 1 internet reaction thoughts by Anthony Andujar Jr 5/31/16

  Way back in 2014 I met Comic Book writer Nick Spencer. I was reflecting on my old drawing book from high school (still gotta complete the book just like my black book).

 I remember meeting him and he was such a nice and cool guy. I knew of his work through his stuff on Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Avenger's World and Astonishing Antman. Currently, He recently started his run on Captain America....

Currently people hate on him because of the first issue plot twist.

But this is nothing new, remember when Ben Riley & doc ock replaced Peter Parker? Or when Thor became a frog, and into a woman before Jane Foster took the mantle? Or when Steel, Superboy and Eradicator took over the mantel of superman? Or when Grey Hulk became the dominant personality of the Hulk? Or when the X-men and the Avengers teams disassembled like a bunch of times? It's comic books people. Stuff like that happens all the time. People jump the gun way too much these days.  

     I remember as a kid, when I saw the death of Captain America, post Mark Millar and Steve McNiven' s Civil War comic (2005-2006) and seeing Bucky take over the mantle of Captain America (during Ed Brubaker's run).

        A few years later when Steve Rogers would eventually return, he would become the new Nick Fury ( in a sense) 

reclaim the mantle of Captain America throughout the entirety of Ed Brubaker's brilliant Captain America run (2004- 2012). Currently, Sam Wilson the Falcon has the mantle of Captain America after Steve Roger's Super Soldier serum expired from his body, causing him to age to an old man state (90 years old or something like that ( During Rick Remender's run). 

     Eventually, after Avengers: Standoff, Steve finally gets his youth back with the super soldier serum restored to his body. Now for long time comic book fan's who are level headed, we know that comicbook's like everything else, tends to run in cycles to build a new status quo or bring attention and revival to a book that is either going stale, or going in an ambitious direction that will shake up readers expectations. Sometimes it's great, other times it's not so great, but regardless ,comic book's always go through cycles.  Hell, DC Rebirth  (which is fantastic!!!!) is an example of cycles where continuity is rearranged, adjusted, retconned and all of the above.

 What's happened to Steve Roger's in his fictional history along with the marvel universe, is no different. Remember, there were times when US Agent,

 and Bucky took over the role of Cap,

 

or when Cap became a werewolf,

or wore awkward 90's armor,

or when Marvel and DC created a crossover universe known as the Amalgam universe back in the 90's causing Captain America and Superman to fuse and become Super Soldier?

Unfortunately for some fan's who take things to extremes, sometimes are blinded ( reasonably at times ) by the changes etc. While it is understandable that the readership reacted the way that they did (like every other fandom) is a good example of showcasing how the audience cares for source material. But it's simultaneously showcases the dark side of comic/ internet fandom when gone awry.   Especially the Internet. 

Fans are great, but there will unfortunately be the dark side of fandom always lurking around the corner in anything from sports, television etc. with that said, I'm gonna post this digital illustration that I made on the sketchbook X Autodesk app on my phone. SO to all my core fellow comic book fan's who see the cycles ( don't have to like them), have the patience to get through the phases until the next chapter. Excelsior!  . 

#marvelcomics #comics #nickspencer 

My Journey Witnessing ComicBook's becoming Movies in the Golden Age by Anthony Andujar Jr 5/29/16

     For the past few weeks, I've found myself in conversations with friends about the crazy journey that long time comic book fans have undergone. In terms of this post, which is in regards to my fellow Marvel and DC fans, it's truly a crazy age that we live in, but a great one at that. Now, I might have to backpedal a little bit from my last comment, because this post is in regards to my fellow Avengers fans. Before I continue, I have to say that DC Comics CW shows have been nothing but great (Especially The Flash since it has been my favorite live action TV show since its first pilot episode). And man I can't wait to see season 3! So many open doors. Same with Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow. The thought of living in a time where we could have all these live action shows interconnecting like the old 90s Marvel and (Bruce Timm/ Alan Burnett, Paul Dini) DC cartoons is something that had never been done before. But the company that really paved the way with effort on the big screen, and earn that giant payoff in such a grand way, is none other than Marvel Studios. Back when I was a kid, I remember being 4 or 5 years old, and watching the 90s X-Men and Spider-Man cartoons (which I have on dvd and still rewatch from time to time).

 My deaf Father would show me these shows, and comics and I would be amazed by the complex stories and visuals that it made it hard for me to ever see them come to life on the big screen (especially X-men 2000) in such a way that when they finally did, (regardless of the black leather suits ) I was thankful to have gotten them. I remember thinking, "this is probably as good as it gets for now". And man, I couldn't believe that my generation would witness the golden age of comic book movies after experiencing the rough starts.  

Since 2008 the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken the world by storm by showcasing IronMan as part of their first phase and becoming a financial success. Moving forward 4 movies in, The Avengers becomes a household name by 2012 ending the first phase and introducing the next phase. It was the first, real time that comic book superheroes, let alone a comic book films would actually embrace the comics, aesthetics and mythos, of the very characters that long time readers enjoyed from the printed page. Soon after audiences would be introduced to other characters such as Ant man, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, The Vision, Winter Soldier, The Falcon, Black Panther, Spider-Man would also be introduced (along with Netflix introducing Daredevil, Punisher, Jessica Jones among others ). Mainstream audiences became much more familiar with these iconic characters in the same way that long time comic book fans did. Audiences would end up feeling like comic book fans, except instead of a week or a month of anticipation for the next issue, they would have to wait a full year for the next adventure to show.  

     So as I reflect on the Ticket stubs that I have remaining thus far

(I don't know what happens to my IronMan 1 and Incredible Hulk tickets, le sigh..), I reflected on the journey. And I thought back to when I was 10-11 years old in the spring of 2005. 2005, what a cool year, Civil War was coming out as a comic then, so was Infinite Crisis, in terms of film, Christopher Nolan's first chapter of his Dark Knight trilogy would kick off with Batman Begins, and Star Wars Episode 3 would mark the end of the Prequel trilogy. I remember knowing about Brian Bendis's and David Finch's Avengers: Disassembled, along with The Avengers, and New X-Men - Astonishing X-men and House Of M. But at the time, I remember that majority of the comics I was reading were back issues. I remember my 5th grade teacher Joan Marie had a friend who gave her this huge box of comics that contained all sorts of comics from Marvel, DC, Image, Wildstorm, etc. most of my class would actually read comic books which was really cool for me at the time because I used to get made fun of and bullied for liking what I liked at times. I remember a lot of kids just stealing some comics after class without our teacher knowing hahaha. That was cool due to the fact that I saw how much my classmates liked this stuff. I had a friend who really liked The Merc from Marvel's New Universe 80s line of comics. I remember seeing my friends really liking Storm Watch from Image, along with Vanguard. Most of my friends ransacked most of the Spider-Man comics. I was lucky enough to get one of the issues from the Arachnis Project

  ( I have issue 3 still in okay condition despite the missing cover), while my other classmates /friends took the other parts of that saga. Now mind you, I'm a big X-Men fan, and Batman fan. I had an issue of X-Factor issue 47 which showcased ArchAngel who had recently been transformed by Apocalypse at the time.

I was indulging in these comics. I could go on about reading Marv Wolfman's two issues of Tales of the Teen Titans,

or reading Batman Shadow of the Bat issue 13: The Nobody by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle

 and Batman Legends of the Dark Knight issue 57, The WatchTower by Chuck Dixon and Mike McMahon (which I only happen to own a page that I lamented because Of the HIV Awareness ad that DC Comics showcased with Tim Drake Robin discussing about it to Alfred which all had a profound effect on me. I'll have to write a separate blog post about how profound the 90s batman books really inspired /changed my way of thinking on things).

So now you're wondering, what does this whole context of these comics have anything to do with your journey, witnessing the MCU come to life? It's obvious, isn't it? Its COMICs! DUH! To point this out, I'm gonna focus on the key Avengers based books that made me so eager to see become movies one day (to only then become movies a decade after 2005). Now, I was already familiar with Captain America due to one time having a captain America comic from the post heroes reborn stuff. Other than that the guest star episodes In the 90s Spider-man cartoon (with the all winners squad and The Secret Wars episode), 90s X-men cartoon, spider-man for PlayStation 1, Marvel Legends Ultimate Captain America toy, Marvel Vs Capcom, Wizard Magazine, and the X-Men Evolution cartoon. But for me, The Marvel Saga Issue 12 was my first real comprehension of Captain America and his involvement with the Avengers along with the rest of the silver age era of Marvel/comics in general.

 I would look at illustrations from Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko etc chronicling these seminal moments in comics history that showcased spider-man's first battle with Electro, or when Doctor Doom interacts with Rama Tut who happened to be Kang the Conqueror, IronMan encountering the Mandarin, The X-Men's first encounter facing the Blob etc. but for me, I knew of but never witnessed how Captain America joined the Avengers. And it wasn't till I found out from that book (which I still have to this day) how Cap joined the team. I remember thinking that it would be so cool to see a movie with the avengers (given at the time Tim Story's Fantastic Four film was coming out in the summer). Now during my time in my 5th grade class, I also came across other books that not a lot of my classmates really cared about since they were really into the mainstream marvel characters and cool looking image characters. Surprisingly not a lot of attention was given to batman (although admittedly there were very few batman comics in the box of comics).

 I came across my first Thor comic which was Thor issue 490, which was a very quiet reflective issue about Thor with his enemy Absorbing Man, reflecting on his friend Thunderstrike who died and taking about how he was a genuinely good guy. It was my first time seeing a hero and a villain being very neutral and sharing understanding and respect for each other.

She Hulk issue 22 was the first time I ever owned a she hulk comic , let alone a female avenger comic. I liked how Witty she was aside from her being drawn obviously attractive, but she had wit and that really pulled me in, Alongside seeing Mr Fantastic and The All Winners Squad which showcased Captain America, Bucky, Namor the SubMariner, The original Human Torch, His sidekick Toro, the original Miss America, and The Whizzer. It was the third time I was seeing Captain America In a physical comic that I owned. Now my first Avengers comic was The Avengers issue 271 (1980's )written by Roger Stern and drawn by John Buscema.

I remember reading the comic, and having first time exposure to other characters such as the marvel version of Hercules, seeing Monica LeBeau (who was then Captain Marvel, now known as Photon), Paladin, as well as seeing Black Knight being a good guy apart of the team, and seeing Wasp lead the team. It was also cool to see that by that time Submariner was apart of the team, and again, seeing Cap. It was just cool to see all these different characters interacting with each other. There was something special about the Avengers in the same way that X-men was special. The Avengers just had this round table of characters, like the Knights of the round sort of thing. You wasn't sure who would stay, or who would leave and who would show up. As time went on, I would have Marvel Encyclopedia's, become familiar with more of the Avengers based characters and become an avid fan. I grew up reading some of the Kurt Busiek and George Perez run of Avengers, but I jumped on heavy with Brian Bendis's run. It was the first time Spider-Man (who was already reserve member ) become a full time member. I was surprised to see Wolverine be apart of the team just for the fact that he was already apart of the X-Men. So I jumped right in. And since that time, I would be talking with friends saying that it would be so awesome to see this become a movie one day, and done right. Then read the Ultimates by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, which was the ultimate universe /real world post 9/11 take on the Avengers as a government sponsored unit. Again, I kept thinking "wouldn't it be cool to see this as a movie". And after that, you could say the rest was history with IronMan 1, and it's after credits scene. At that time, the comic event Secret Invasion was being released that year, and I would tell my friends about how crazy the movies will be now that the Avengers were becoming a movie.

       

    My neighborhood friend Chris K.Brown and I would hang out with my homeboy Dougie, Bryan, and Sarrell, and we would play fighting games like Street Fighter, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, King of Fighters, Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, Smack Down vs Raw etc. and in between all that, Chris And I would talk about the Civil War comic, and which side we stood for between Cap and Ironman. We used to draw iron man and cap fighting. I was for Cap, Chris was for IronMan. It's crazy thinking back to those days and seeing these MCU movies through its phases at the age of 22. Every time I look at these ticket stubs, it's like I'm collecting some comics in cinematic way. Recalling the times I've seen each movie with a friend and reflecting on it in the same way that I reflected on these comics that I've talked about. I mean, what a time to be alive as an art student, aspiring illustrator and most of all a comics fan. Obviously, this stuff run's deep, it helped me cope with the things that I was dealing with at a young age, and understanding the way the world was around me and how to approach problems with a cool head. I hope you enjoyed this disjointed walk down memory lane as much as I have writing this reflective piece. It just reminds me of how short life is, and how grateful I am for the people and the medium/career path that I admire and have love for. And for all my fellow artists, comic book fans, be it casual or long time, feel the same way about their passions and the things that remind them to always do what they love, as well as taking care of what they love as a piece of living history.    

 I drew this little piece on my phone a few months back. Its a reminder of why I love comics for its silliness that provokes thoughtfulness and wonder of what humanity could be if we strive to do better to help eachother.  To show the potential that humanity, society and community be. Witnessing all of these characters come to life on the big screen is a great experience, but seeing the idea's and symbolisms of the hopes and fears of society, promoting imagination and positive solutions over negative ones being brought to a wider audience is a great thing to see.