This comic made me mad. Like, wake up three hours early after fitful sleep with a stomach ache, mad. We are presented with the idea that the original Champions are getting back together to have a wake for Black Widow. This seems like a fine concept for a comic, especially for a writer like Sina Grace who hasn't shown a great deal of interest in telling stories where super-heroes actually do super-hero things. The tone of his work so far comes off to me as being basically contemptuous of the idea of super-heroes. He doesn't seem to understand the genre, the characters or the universe in which the stories are set. (Please, Mr. Grace. Prove me wrong on this.)
So here's the story as written: The Champions gather to mourn Black Widow. Bobby acts like a spoiled child. The story is never allowed to have any weight. Bobby zips off, wrecks private property and makes an enemy and then goes to buy a book about being gay. He is approached by a guy who hits on him and they make a date. Iceman calls off the wake and instead has the other Champions come with him to a gay bar so that he can dance and kiss a guy before the club is attacked by the Sentinel which the woman was making earlier.
There you go. That's the story. It has a jokey tone. Nothing is important, except that Bobby is gay. The thing which most pissed me off was the "Drinking and Mourning canceled" thing. The level of selfishness this displays is mind boggling and plays into what I had thought were considered 'harmful stereotypes' of gay men.
So how would I have done it differently? In short, I would have treated it seriously. Fine. Lets say that nothing changes for the front end of the comic. (Except for the Fake Sentinel thing... I'm just going to call it as a non-fight in the next issue where they stop the Sentinel without any effort because it isn't a real Sentinel and everything is a stupid joke yet again. Unless the woman who made it is YET ANOTHER STEM minded super-genius of course. Ugh.) The Champions get together. Everyone is a little closed off because they are sad about Natasha and because it's been a long time since they were all together. They split up with plans to gather back together later at a specific location for the wake. Bobby zips off and, fine, buys the book about being gay as a way to jump us to the guy hitting on him. I would think there might be a better way to start that ball rolling but... fine. It doesn't really matter because nothing about this book really matters. While the tone of the book would change the core beats remain the same up to this point. We diverge from the actual story when Bobby accepts the date only to have his phone go off with a reminder of why he is in town in the first place. He begs off of the date, they exchange numbers and he then zips off on an ice slide. (This is actually a good point to show the guy that hit on him realize that Bobby is a member of the X-men and not look so sure about this anymore. In a later issue you could have Bobby call him up and the guy try to dodge him, eventually ending with him not wanting to date a mutant and Bobby feeling sad and lonely as a result.)
Phone picks up
Iceman: Hey! I finally got you! I wasn't sure who was supposed to call who in all of this...
Guy: Oh. Yeah. It's been crazy. So what's up?
Iceman: Believe me, I understand crazy. So. I have a little free time. You want to get a drink or something to eat tonight?
Guy: *pause* Things are pretty up in the air for me right now. I'm not sure tonight will work. How about I text you when I know what is going on.
Iceman: Uh. Sure. That would be fine. If tonight is no good I think I can swing tomorrow.
Guy: Tomorrow is actually worse. I'll just text you.
Iceman: Oh. I could probably...
Guy: Ugh! Look! This isn't going to work. I've got too much going on at the moment to go on a date with a...
Iceman: *looking stunned* With a what?
Guy: Nothing. I'm blocking this number. Don't call me again.
Iceman: *sits down holding phone to head looking depressed* Dammit.
The above is trash but some variation of this would help build sympathy for the character which is something the book is in desperate need of. You can write stories about self-obsessed people but the way you write them and the impact on the reader are different.
To continue. Bobby zips off on an ice slide and arrives at the location for the Wake. They get together, drink and tell stories about Black Widow but Bobby is distracted by thoughts of the guy that hit on him and the fact that he wishes he could have gone on the date instead which couples up with his grief and creates a volatile mood. Conversation drifts to what everyone else has been up to and Bobby being gay becomes a topic at hand. We then get the various reactions from the other members with them largely being supportive in different ways and to different degrees. The only one that ends up saying anything really negative is Warren. He doesn't understand where this came from. He's known Bobby most of his life and they have been through some serious stuff together. If he was gay then he should have said something because as mutants the last thing they need is something else they have to hide from the people they care about. Drinking has taken place. Arguing ensues and a fist fight breaks out between them (The exact order of events would have to be tweaked to make it flow right) with the other members breaking it up before it can go too far. In the end Warren supports him as well and the wake either breaks up or moves on to other topics with the end of the book being a proper toast to Black Widow.
Yeah. I feel a little better now.
No comments:
Post a Comment