Avengers & Rogues...spoilers contained within...

So I was going to write this blog last week (Wednesday) until someone told me they were curious to read my review/thoughts on "The Avengers" after I went to the Midnight show Thursday.  Gave me an excuse to put it off and also helped me realize that after my insane trip into Morrison-BatWorld for the better part of three months I think I'm better off doing this bi-weekly rather than every single week.  That's not to say there won't be months when I do it on back-to-back weeks if time/mood/inspiration strikes me but I'm planning on every other week.

Man the fake posters I found when I just Google searched "Avengers movie poster" are hilarious....

POSSIBLE SPOILERS!!!!

Anyway, so my quick thoughts on the movie. I found it to be the most fun, exciting, and comic booky of ANY of the major comic book films that have been released since "Iron Man" really kicked off this phase.  I saw MAJOR because I still feel like "Scott Pilgrim" was the most comic booky of any comic book film ever...seriously, people turned into video game coins in that one....

As for "Avengers", I felt it totally embraced the insanity of the great comic book events without losing the character of the...characters...involved in the action.  Really that's a balance that most event comics can't find (I'm looking at you "Flashpoint", "Secret Invasion", "Siege", hell pretty much everything Marvel event save "Civil War").  The prerequisite hero vs. hero sequence, the utter destruction of New York City, death, banter, teasers, character growth, somehow Joss Whedon & Zak Penn managed to cram it all into the script for this one and not feel like any department was lacking. 

Everyone from Captain America to Black Widow to random SHIELD operatives got a moment of some kind. I was a big fan of how Agent Coulson reacted to Cap because it is a reaction you see from soldiers in the Marvel U from time to time. I loved the disparate opinions from NY's populous pertaining to The Avengers, I loved Hulk but more importantly I dug Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Tom Hiddleston was even more awesome here than in Thor, Jeremy Renner & Scarlett Johansson were great as Hawkeye & Black Widow fighting as "average" humans in the midst of truly god-like powers. 

A friend asked me why I didn't think of Tony Stark as a normal human when I said that and I guess it is, in part, because of the power of the Iron Man armor and in part to due to his truly superhuman intellect.  Widow &  Hawkeye are soldiers whereas the rest of the crew are technological/scientific/mythological gods....made me want to see Fury get down & dirty with the rest of the team too.

Banner felt like a barely restrained monster, Cap felt like a man not quite in sync with the times but also like the man who would never quit fighting that we know in the comics, Tony Stark was still the Tony Stark we have come to know in the Iron Man movies but yet we saw growth in his character through this movie as well.  We got more depth from Widow & Hawkeye than we had seen in their previous appearances, and Thor...well I think we saw a whole other side to Thor's character in his interactions with Loki. I could feel his desire for Loki to just be...better...

Never did I feel the movie dragged nor did I ever feel it was overstuffed with action or dialogue at any point.  It's pacing was great, it's storytelling was great, and the ultimate fight was amazing in that it wasn't JUST a fight, it also brought us character moments in the chaos.  That takes BOTH writing & acting skill....yeah, I typed "skrull" not "skill" there at first....

And the bonus scene...the first one I mean...that shit rocked my mind!!! I was jumping up and down inside to see Thanos on-screen!  I know it's a tease that probably means nothing to your average fan, but being I was at a midnight show along with a sold-out theater of diehards, the place went nuts! If it was a wrestling show a "holy shit" chant would have probably broken out....and the bonus bonus, well the fanboy in me popped for that too as it was a total Whedon or Bendisesque scene straight from the comics.  All praise to this movie and I can't wait until I see it again...hopefully not in the 3rd row from the screen this time though...

Now onto the other half of this blog, the original plan, a look at the very first exposure I ever had to Geoff Johns' run on The Flash ,"Rogue War"!!! 

Prior to being recommended this trade (thanks @KLaing509) my only exposure to Wally West was in Grant Morrison's (shocking I know) JLA where I found him very interesting, but not so much that I decided to pick up his book.  That was actually the case with pretty much every character (save Batman) that Grant had on the team; I dug them in JLA but didn't read their individual books.  So when I was basically told that I could get the book with a "satisfaction guarantee" I had no problem giving it a shot.  Suffice to say that I was not disappointed!

See what I didn't know upon starting this read is that "Rogue War" was the culmination of Geoff Johns' long-term story arc.  That has the potential to be a very detrimental thing for a reader but to my shock and to my happiness, this was a story that was extremely accessible from the get-go and in large part it was due to this:

Two pages of bios on the major characters involved in this story, heroes & villains alike, followed by a page of "What Has Gone Before" to bring people like me up to speed (no pun intended) with the events that set all this up.  But that's not all, the first couple chapters of the story introduced me to the back story on Mirror Master, on Heatwave, and briefly on the new Trickster. It gave two out of the three a history that rounded them out for someone as ignorant as myself to the Flash mythos.

I learned about how Mirror Master wasn't the stereotypical character that became a villain.  He didn't come from a terrible family, and even though he was an orphan, his home wasn't a terrible place. Aside from one other boy who is alluded to sexually abusing other children, it seems the orphanage was an overall good place.  It is when Evan (MM) is put into the position of being assaulted that we see what is inside the boy, as he kills the abusive kid before he can do to the future-MM what he did to others.  There's more to MM's back story than that, the story of what led him to become a Rogue, but that's just taste of the life Johns pulls you into in just a few pages.

Heatwave gets the same treatment, except we see him as a trouble kid from the get-go, one who  burns down his own home with his family in it, killed another kid who locked him in a freezer, but kept trying to right his life before giving into his pyromaniacal tendencies and becoming a Rogue. A natural rivalry with a Rogue known as Captain Cold, amongst other things, led to him going straight and it was that, combined with a stint in jail, that led to Heatwave joining the FBI alongside other reformed Rogues. 

And the story is set...two sets of Rogues, the criminal & the reformed, and my immediate assumption, with minimal clue as to what came before, is that that is the foundation of the "Rogue War". 

The mysteries are thrown at you right from the beginning as the reader joins, in mid-conversation, a talk between Captain Cold & and the new Captain Boomerang (thank you character bios!) about the identity of Boomerang's mother in relation to his super-speed powers. We also get introduced to another central conflict via a note from The Top to Cold...

Now before this turns into a lengthy page-by-page review of "Rogue War" let me just hit on some of what drew me into this book, what caused me to track down all the previous Johns' Flash trades, and why it makes me sad that Wally West is MIA in the New 52.

In one 8 issue collection, Johns sucked me into the life of Wally West and a large part of the reason why is due to how...wholly...he fleshes out the life of the character.  From his relationship with wife Linda Park to his bond with the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick, to the larger role of the extended Flash family, the world of Wally West just feels full and wholly realized...like the life of an actual person.  Despite not being familiar with the whys, I can feel Linda's pain in the moment that she sees Zoom, I can sense Wally's disappointment in Piper, and his terror when the Zoom's take him back to the worst day of his life.

On the flip side, it's intriguing to see the twisted family dynamic that exists within The Rogues, how they take care of one another, how they operate within a certain standard of behavior and have self-imposed rules on the crimes they will commit.  It's fun...in a weird sort of way...to see another generation of Rogues and how the originals think they are ruining the name. 

Essentially, when it boils down to it,"Rogue War" is all about family and legacy.  Be it the Flash lineage, the Rogue Family Robinson, the Zoom's of present & future, or the little family of Wally & Linda West, this is a tale all about the ties that bind which makes the closing moments so much sweeter. 

Honestly, despite this being a story that's creeping on a decade-old, it's those reasons why I'm not really playing spoiler here for those who have never read it.  This is a truly emotional story and I'm afraid that knowing what happens would take away some of that impact.  If you've never read this, if you've never really experienced the Wally West Flash, please pick it up and see for yourself why it's such a sad thing that a character with so much depth has been left out of the New 52 picture. 

Wally West was the Flash that most fans my age grew up with, and as much as I've grown to like Barry Allen over the last 8 months (the pre-New 52 one bored me somewhat), for most of our lives he was just an inspirational figure, not a real character, unlike Hal Jordan who, even after his evil turn & death/Spectre resurrection was ALWAYS around, thus Kyle Rayner was never quite THE Green Lantern. But I digress....

Luckily Geoff Johns "Flash" has been/is being collected in Omnibus form by DC Comics so I strongly recommend you go check them out in my Amazon Store over there in the links.  You will thank me for it.  While you're at it, you should totally pick up Johns' "Teen Titans" run too and see why the New 52 Starfire has pissed off so many people...

Wally West: 1960 - 2011??

(I hope not)

1st Time For Everything: Some Random Thoughts and my 1st Q&A!

It's been awhile since I've addressed ANYTHING comic-book related except Batman and Grant Morrison.  Even my last blog (Owls) was indirectly about Batman in that it was inspired by the current Court of Owls/Night of the Owls arc running through the Bat-Family books.  So in that light I have decided to do something I have never done before in the year-plus I've been doing this blog, a Q&A!  For awhile I thought I would keep anything/anyone pro wrestling-related separate from my comic book blog but over time I have come to realize just how many comic book fans there are in the wrestling world! Who woulda thunk...the fantasy world of pro wrestling having fans of the comic book fantasy world?  A natural crossover I suppose.

So I reached out to one of the people I know thru wrestling who is also a comic book fan & huge horror fan: Rob Dimension, 1/2 of the Extreme Odd Couple Podcast alongside "The King of Old School" Steve Corino.  But before I get into that, I'm just going to shoot out some random thoughts about things I've been reading lately...hence "The Runaways" image at the top.

First off, my friend Pat (follow @patridings on Twitter) recently gave me 3 hardcovers of "The Runaways" series written by Brian K. Vaughan of "Y: The Last Man" & "Ex Machina" comic book fame AND "Lost" on TV.  I started up this book when it first kicked off in 2003 but due to financial constraints I only read it for the first 6 issues. I've seen the various characters pop up elsewhere, most recently in the "Daken: Dark Wolverine" book, but never had any clue what happened in their own story.  Well, after only a week since I started reading the 1st Hardcover, I have plowed through all 766 pages of the first 2 Volumes and am probably 150 pages into Volume 3!  I'm almost mad at myself for not being able to stick with this title after those first 6 issues, but so happy in this world of collections that I am able to read it all at the same time.  To keep this short & simple, let's just say this is a truly unique book and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Vaughan's work, or if you were ever a fan of "New Mutants" or "Power Pack" and the like.

Second up, I also recently plowed through the Ed Brubaker/Matt Fraction "Immortal Iron Fist" Hardcover for the first time.  Holy hell is this a great book! For reasons to myriad to list in a short fashion, I will just say that this is an exciting, intense, engaging read with beautiful artwork to go along with it.  Iron Fist has always intrigued me since...hell I think it was a "Marvel Comics Presents" story when I first read him & Power Man...but this story just makes him into a true badass.  I've enjoyed Bendis' portrayal of him in whatever "Avengers" title he is in (too many, get confused) but he's not exactly THIS version of Danny Rand.  I now need to read the Duane Swierczynski's issues that followed to see what/if the lingering plot threads were continued.  If you like Iron Fist, crazy martial arts action, and amazing art work, go pick this up!

I have both "Runaways" & "Immortal Iron Fist" in my Amazon Store linked over there on the side in case you're interested.

Thirdly, I read today that "Flashpoint" is getting turned into an animated movie.  Color my curiousity quite piqued because as you may (or may not) remember from an earlier blog, I was NOT a big fan of the story.  I even gave it a reread since I own the Hardcover (it has something to do with my compulsive need to own major story arcs in both companies) and STILL didn't care for it.  There were cool moments, great character potential, but overall it was just a disappointment creatively and an awful way to kick off the New 52.  The ending was sweet but hated the story as a whole even on 2nd & 3rd readings (Batman: Knight of Vengeance was the only good thing).  All that being said, I am very excited by the idea of this becoming an animated movie because I think it could make for an amazing visual experience if boiled down to just the story of Flash, Batman, and with some more detail given to the Aquaman/Wonder Woman story arc.  I've never been disappointed in the DC Animateds so bring it on!

And finally, DC Comics full court comic book press has fully begun for "Dark Knight Rises" as a million different trades are getting released in the coming months.  Already released were a Bane TPB called "Bane vs. Batman" containing "Bane of the Demon" (where Bane & Ra's Al Ghul join up...take that for what it's worth) & "Vengeance of Bane" (the origin story of Bane); a Darwyn Cooke "Catwoman" trade; the reissue of "Venom" which is the history of the drug that power Bane; a collection of "Birth/Bride/Son of the Demon" which are all Ra's Al Ghul stories; and just today a reissue of "Knightfall", the story of Bane breaking Batman, and the first collection of this story that contains the complete arc in one volume as well as "Vengeance of Bane". 

There's also a "Knightquest" TPB & "Knights End/Prodigal" Trade coming out as well in the next few months, the former making me super excited because it has NEVER been collected before! I'm a big fan of AzBats so I'm super psyched.  Oh yes, and there is also the random rerelease of "Prey" which features Hugo Strange in a prominent role...and he was a character many people hypothesized would be part of "DKRises".  It's a good time to be a Batman fan if you're looking to catch up on your history!

One more finally...just discovered I attended Michigan State University starting in '97, in connecting dorms no less (9 North Hubbard represent), at the same time as Jeff Katz (follow @katzmoney on Twitter) of "Booster Gold" comic book fame as well as a "Snakes on a Plane" associate producer, and the head of the "Wrestling Revolution Project". Just a small world to find this sort of thing out on Twitter  and an example of the amazing power of social networking. It's my blog so therefore it's amazing...

Now onto the main event of this blog, the Q&A!!!

That's Rob Dimension up there...and here's the batch of random Q's I sent him to give me some A's for; give it a read, give his plugs some love, and perhaps I will do some more of these with various other people I know who have love for the comic book world!  Be warned in advance, this one isn't necessarily for the easily offended as you can tell from the first question...


1) Give me some background info on just who Rob Dimension is and why Steve Corino wants him to have AIDS....

Wow, what a way to start off...lets see...Rob Dimension is just a guy who enjoys his family, horror movies and saying the wrong thing, at the wrong time. I've known Corino for over 12 years and since day one, we have enjoyed syaing the most hideuos things to each other, using Twitter and Facebook has made this things more exposed in the last few years. I've managed Steve in Professional Wrestling, plus have worked as his legitimate business manager. We both are a mess, mentally, so I think it makes a good pairing.

As for me, besides working in the world of Pro Wrestling, I have been fortunate to move onto film and Tv work. I'm usually a featured kill, seems Corino isn't the only one who likes seeing me die..haha...but, I really am a nerd for Horror, Comics and Comedy.

2) Do you remember your first.............................comic book?

My first comic book? Not really, I stumbled across titles growing up, they were pretty accessible. I really remember, the Uncanny X-Men (issue 147) being the comic that started my real love for comics. The double issue 150 was my prized possesion for years. Then, I followed Daredevil, Marvel Team Up and the Invaders. Growing up in a small town, we had a comic shop that was pretty friendly, they carried a lot of titles and I can remember seeing X-Men #1 on thier wall and always wanting it.

3) What were the books you read when you were a wee little Dimension? Did you find your tastes in comics changing as you got older?

Comics went through a rough patch, in the mid 80's with me...Arcades became a favorite pastime. I felt that comics exploded prior to that and they started to get watered down. As you get older, sure your taste changes, your interests change. Comics have always had these problems, only so much story can be told. As readers, we need this to happen, as long as they can pull us back in. TV helped, with Saturday cartoons giving us Spiderman and His Amazing Friends, Thundarr and shows like that, made me crave more, once those shows moved on, I grew less interested.  

4) How the hell did you end up running a comic book store and why would you ever stop?

Running a Comic shop is an uphill battle. Talk about outside distractions...TV, Video games, Sports..so many things. I really loved running our store, we grew (and changed locations 3 times as we grew). It's a job that gives you no time off, as my kids grew, my Wife, Kim and I just decided we wanted a bit more of a normal life.

As for the store, we really had a great gaming base. From role playing games 3 nights a week (Dungeons and Dragons, Vampire and the old Marvel RPG) to current popular card games like Magic the Gathering and even Pokemon. Our Pokemon league was the largest on the East Coast, housing nearly 90 players every Sunday afternoon.

I was always an action figure dealer...sounds so weird to say that, but I was there with the rise and boom of the market. Watching McFarlane's toys grow from simply Todd's Toys was great. It seemed everyone had a toy line, then the bubble popped and the market crashed. So, it, once agin, took away from potential in the comic book shop industry.

5) DC or Marvel? Or maybe it's Image/Dark Horse/Boom/Something totally different?

I have always been a Marvel guy, I just prefered their universe compared to DC. I have read some DC stuff, but still can't seem to get onboard with them. In the last few years, I have been the biggest advocate of the Walking Dead series. I feel that Robert Kirkman is a master story teller. His writing makes you care for the characters, he builds the story...when someone dies, you care. They aren't super heroes, they are families..they are alone. They are the Walking Dead. I'm a HUGE Zombie fan, love George Romero's stories...I enjoy Kirkman's world. Can't recommend it enough.

6) Since you mention Walking Dead, any thoughts on the TV adaption vs. the comic book?

The comic is soo good, to go against the grain, I will say this - The 1st half of Season 1 was great, the 2nd half, they almost lost me. I know that it can't be page for page of the comic. Characters like Daryl Dixon are a great addition, but having them to the Disease Control Center was horrible and uneeded. Now, Season 2 was paced so great...it was slow, as it should be. The breakdown of Shane was awesome...so much termoil made this season great. With Michonne being introduced, I can only hope the show does not jump the shark. The prison backdrop is really one of my favorite story arcs in the comic series, so I'm extremely hopeful.

7) Do you have any thoughts on the explosion of comic-centric movies & how they seem to be the keystone of Hollywood right now? And I guess in that same vein, why do you think the billions of dollars the movies make don't translate into actual comic book readers?

Yeah, the explosion of comics onto the screen, as a fan has been great, except when Hollywood turns out some turds. On the flip side, having fans see Hellboy and The Watchmen, knowing that the masses would have never given them a chance otherwise, is great. Iron Man, too me, is the best adaptation to film yet (I've heard The Avengers is better..but time will tell), it told the story so well, the casting was great! Robert Downey IS Tony Stark.

My thoughts on why it doesn't add readers...well, the stories they are telling are stories that have mostly been told, using characters that most know...we need these heroes to do something different. Plus, kids don't read...girls do, boys don't (hence why Twilight, Harry Potter and The Hunger Games have a huge following). Boys are often playing video games. It used to pain me to see kids never give this entire universe of stories a chance. Companies are trying though, some even released the motion comics to try to give you the best of both, but I don't think it made enough of an impact.

Online bootlegging has killed the market, plus they have no collectibility anymore. The "alternate" cover craze is over...that only excites such a small amount. I'm hopeful for comics, but we both know...it's an uphill battle. Stores that are successful are often really involved with their community. Offering a variety of everything, you need to cater to everyone.

8) Since we're on the subject of movies, what's your favorite comic-book related movie?

As I said earlier, Iron Man was perfect. But, let me state this...as for a corny addition, I love Roger Corman's Fantastic Four film that was never released. I just have soft spot for that one..it's awful but, for me, its awful in a good way.

My biggest problem with the Hero-esque films are the orginality. Meaning, we all know the why the Hulk is the way he is..we all have seen Bill Bixby as the Hulk. We know he gets mad, he becomes the Hulk. I wanted to like both movies, the Ang Lee one especially, but just couldn't. The Dark Knight was amazing, but Heath Ledger really made it better...his portral was great. I still enjoy watching Batman nightly on the Hub channel.

9) One last comic/movie question, what do you think of rebooting Spider-Man/Superman after only a few years since the last movie?

Too soon, the Spiderman series that Sam Raimi did had it's good and bad points. The new release looks ok, but, will I go see it? Probably not..it doesnt look like I'm the demographic.

Superman's reboot was horrible I thought. Christopher Reeves is embedded in my brain as Superman and its a tough act to follow. It would be like a reboot of Hulk Hogan...in most people's eyes, Reeves IS Superman. Now, granted, the younger kids probably don't know who Reeves is, but at the same time, will they even bother going to see the new Superman? I doubt it.

10) Now you're obviously a horror buff so what are your thoughts on the horror comics that have been done over the years?

Horror comics are sketchy...I'm a hard sell. So many have been done..poorly. I've always given the typicals like Michael Myers, Leatherface, Jason titles a shot, even Ash from Evil Dead. The titles that are similar to Tales from the Crypt types are tough...times are different, I just don't think I'm their demographic anymore.

Crossed - wow, that was an insane story, I LOVED it. Different take on the zombie/sickness story. Worth looking for.

Hack/Slash - Tim Seeley did an amazing job with this series. The Omnibus' are a must buy...Cassie Hack, she's a hottie and Vlad is the muscle, battling all walks of life killers. This is a great series. I'm not a huge fan of his newer stuff, but his older stuff with Herbert West, Chucky and the rest of their nutty universe was great.

The Living Corpse - another great series by Buz and Ken, a different look on story telling. Their art is a bit over the top, it's raw and gritty...I love their style. Look them up. 

11) Any favorite creators in the genre?

As I said, I often don't think Robert Kirkman is given enough credit...it's because of his work, that I have really fallen back in love with comics. Over the years, the Dark Knight stories were amazing...everyone has a different pick, it depends on what catches your eye.

12) Before we steer off the subject of horror, what's your favorite horror movie?

 My favorite Horror film is John Carpenter's Halloween. The movie has stuck with me ever since I was a kid. The use of music, shadows, the tricks that made Michael Myers seem mysterious is why it worked. How it borrows from Italian film making....I could get so technical on what makes this movie work..haha..but I will spare you my nerdness. Other favorites are George Romero's Dawn of the Dead & Day of the Dead. Plus, Tom Savini's remake of Night of the Living Dead.

I also am a HUGE advocate of Independent film making. I can't encourage people enough to give up and comers a chance. Hate what youre seeing in theaters? Then turn to the Indies.

If you want to read more about my Myers fascination...read this - http://latenighthorrorhotel.blogspot.com/search?q=growing+up+myers

13) And just because I've seen you reference it on Twitter, talk about Matthew Broderick's Godzilla....

I'm a huge Godzilla fan, I love the Japanese Daikaiju scene...the early shows like Ultraman, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot and Space Giants, but the US version of Godzilla was awful. It was a big lizard, plus..he wrecked Madison Square Garden!! Who does that?? I have given it several tries to put my true Godzilla feelings aside, but I just can't. The US is working on a new reboot, they seem to be trying to keep the Godzilla look intact, but who knows.

For Giant Monsters, I still think Cloverfield was worth the time, plus the Taiwan film, The Host is really good. I like the silliness of a guy in the rubber suit, not everything has to be CGI.

14) Every tried to create your own comic book?

Haha...no, I have enough trouble with developing other projects. I know a lot of talented artists and writers, it's tough. Web comics are getting bigger, while money is getting smaller...I always encourage people to support your local comic book shop. Try to get your kids to read...kids are so busy with other things, comics are more of an Adults market...I wish Kids would just grab something that could peak their interest.

15) Have you tried to turn your son (@LilDimension on Twitter) into a fan of comics at all? I plan on forcing my kids to read comics whether they like it or not...

Little D, my son, is 12 and is into video games, skateboarding and now BMX bike tricks. Getting him to read, its tough. He does enjoy Star Wars and Hulk comics, plus is a fan of the movies. He's VERY critical of stories...he craps on so much. Kids today are different than I was..I would amazed by what they did in Comics, today, these kids have seen everything.

Now, my Daughter, who is 18, is a comic book fan. She is an Art Major, so she appreciates the creativity. She only reads certain titles though, she's a Walking Dead fan, but often reads small , independent company comics. She also enjoys some of the Zenescope titles. She's a freak for the artwork, the more abstract and odd they are, the more she loves them. She likes the dark, twisted side of stories.

All you can do is just show them that there is a whole world out there...try to let them decide and hope they try to read some.

16) On that note, any thoughts on comics as a learning tool? My first exposure to Shakespeare, Milton, Poe, etc was via Chris Claremont X-Men comics...also certainly expanded by vocabulary and forced me to learn new words like antithesis (Shadow King & Xavier moment in Uncanny #278 I think it was).

Sadly, TV is the learning tool now. I think the way to introduce kids to comics again is get them into schools..but, I don't think thats going to happen. As a comic reader, I feel we can detect evil easier, we would have a better thought process in the event of a giant, world eater was to appear. I feel they are a great learning tool, they shaped me into the person I am...maybe that's not that great of a statement, actually.

17) Because it's kind of fun to torture him, I can't let this end without asking about you trying to turn Colby (@colbyisrising on Twitter) into a comic book reader just to drive Steve nuts...

Steve never had much nerd exposure, he was a baseball kid. Colby, while an athelte, is into comics & video games. Colby and I have had talks about the Walking Dead, about classic games like Burger Time..haha and a few others. The last road trip we had, he grabbed an "Civil War" trade that was in my backseat and read it. It does make Steve crazy, he yells at me about how awful of an influence I am...but deep down, Steve knows Colby is a great kid and times are different. Plus, Steve realizes I havent grown up...haha...I think he's happy knowing he has a great kid.

But, yeah, he hates it...so I do instigate it a little.

18) Thanks for your time Rob, now Insert Plugs & Self-promotion Here:

You can here Steve Corino and I ramble every week on our popular Extreme Odd Couple Podcast at www.xocpodcast.com and subscribe on iTunes and Stitcher Radio. Plus, you can always visit www.RobDimension.com and read my movie reviews, our video reviews and hopefully soon our new web series "Dimension Monster Chronicles".

  ---------------------------------------

That's it for the latest edition of "20 Plus Years..."! Join me next time as I think I might tackle the story that got my interested in the Wally West Flash in the first place, "Rogue War"!

The Owl - Myths, Facts, and Symbolism

So ever since the start of the "New 52" the lead Batman book has been penned by Scott Snyder, penciled by Greg Capullo, inked by Jonathan Glapion,  and had a complete fascination with those lovely nocturnal birds: owls.

Starting in the "Court of Owls" arc that has run the first 7 months of the book, and continuing into the "Night of Owls" crossover that will infest the Bat-Family of books in April & May, the owl has been growing to become synonomous with Batman & Bruce Wayne as well as Gotham itself.  Owls seem to exist everywhere in Gotham City, even back in the days of Jonah Hex...

So the proliferation of owls in the land of Gotham has provoked something strange in my own life, something that seems to haunt me everywhere I go...

Owls!  Freaking owls at every turn!  In department stores, antique shops, architecture, paintings...I swear there are owls on everything I look at now!  I blame Scott Snyder...all these hidden Gotham owls have made me paranoid.  Or have they? 

Well it is with this thought in mind, and with "Night of the Owls" on the horizon, that I decided to engage in the most tangentially connected to comic books blog I have done to date, and likely will ever do.  From this point going forward I don't expect to be addressing comics in any fashion, instead I want to take a look at something comics have inspired me to investigate: owls. The facts surrounding them, their symbolism, their mythology, all the details about owls that offer some explain as to why they seem to pop up everywhere I look. 

If you have any interest than read on, if not and only want more comic book talk, then jump off now, and come back next time.  Either way, thanks for your time and I hope that comics inspire you to explore something outside the box as well...

Little Owl (Athene Noctua)

The basic facts are this; owls are generally nocturnal creatures of the order Strigiformes, an order that consists of over 200 nocturnal, solitary birds.  There are some exceptions to these rules of owl-dom just as there are with anything.  The Pygmy Owl is considered crepuscular (which means active during dusk & dawn rather than at night) while the Burrowing & Short Eared Owls are daylight creatures.  Oh yes, and in large groups they are called a Parliment, which surprised me as I kind of expected to discover they were referred to as a Court.

Owls have binocular vision, their eyes are fixed in their socket which is why they turn their entire heads (as much as 270 degrees) to follow things.  Owls are farsighted, meaning they have difficulty seeing objects closer to them, and use their feathers around their beak to feel prey (something like a cat's whiskers I reckon.) 

The smallest owl is the Elf weighing something like 1 oz and measuring around 5 inches while the biggest are the Eurasian Eagle-Owl & the Blakiston's Fish Owl which average about 2.53 cm (1.00 in) shorter in length than the Great Grey, can both attain a wingspan of 2 m (6.6 ft) and a weight of 4.5 kg (10 lb) in the largest females.

In terms of their physical makeup, owls tend to have distinctive facial and head markings, including face masks, ear tufts and brightly coloured irises. These markings are more common in species inhabiting open habitats, and are might be used in signaling with other owls in low light conditions. Thanks Wiki!!!  Given the very distinct nature of owl coloring, I find it very interesting that the comic book Court of Owls, except for the Talons, all have those very nondescript masks.

The owl hunts as stealthly as possible, something evolution has made easier with their coloration and the very interesting fact that the make-up of their remiges (flight feathers) allows for near silent flight. This little mutation is something that some fish-hunting owls don't come equipped with either, showing that evolution truly does exist.  In terms of the hunt, they apparently use their beak & talons to kill their prey before SWALLOWING THEM WHOLE, and as if that wasn't enough, THEY REGURGITATE THE INDIGESTIBLE!

Another interesting note about their habits is that owls don't build nests, instead they look for a sheltered site, or they co-opt an abandoned nest in trees or buildings.  Something that we saw put to use by The Court when Bruce first discovered them...

Page from Batman #3                       An owl stealing a crow's nest

If you would like to learn more about the biological details on owls, click here and check out the Wiki page.  Otherwise I'm turning my attention more towards the mythlogical, symbolic, and cultural power given to these nocturnal birds...



Every nation has its own ideas of what the owl represents, but many of those notions are shared across oceans by varying cultures.  Let's take a look at some of those region by region:

JAPAN

Owl, or Fukuro in Japanese, is written as フクロウ (梟) and can be written in different sets of characters. One with the meaning of Luck (福 fuku, luck; 来ku, to come ;郎 ro suffix used in boys' names) and the other as protection from hardship (不 fu, no, 苦労 kurou suffering/hardship). Source

What this means is that for the Japanese culture the owl is a symbol of luck and protection from suffering, and apparently has led to a great deal of merchandise depicting owls being made available in Japan.  For example:

Also there is some belief that the color & shape of the owls has some effect on the luck embued on the holder of the charm.  There is also the notions of wisdom attributed to the bird as well as an older idea that it could be used to predict the weather.

Greek & Roman

The owl in Greek & Roman mythology is frequently depicted at the side of Athena/Minerva.  In fact the owl even had a name, Glaucus, and was frequently depicted on on Athena's blindside.  The owl represented wisdowm as well in this culture but more than that was depicted as the guardian of the Acropolis, a protector who accompanied Greek armies to war. 

To the Greek, an owl flying overhead was a certain sign of victory and, under different circumstances, in Rome, an owl served as a way to avert evil when a dead owl was nailed to the door of a home (which makes me think of the dead bat nailed to a door in "Return of Bruce Wayne").

There was also a Roman belief that the owl's hoot predicted impending death, specifically that the deaths of Julius Ceaser, Augustus, Commodus Aurelius, and Agrippa were all predicted by the bird. 

The owl is so much a part of Greek/Roman culture that it even became a part of their ancient currency:

5th Century BC                                                                            2nd Century BC

And  a side note, something to touch upon a bit later, that image on the left is now the Smithsonian Secretary's badge of office as designed by Leslie Durbin in 1965.

Other Roman owl-based beliefs included that the Army was warned of impending disaster by an Owl before its defeat at Charrhea, on the plains between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers; that to dream of an Owl meant that a traveller would be shipwrecked or robbed; that witches transformed into Owls, and sucked the blood of babies.

ENGLISH FOLKLORE

It's likely that much of the English opinion on owls was based on Roman beliefs as well given that they were conquered at one point under the leadership of Emperor Claudius in the 1st Century.  As such the British believed the owl was essentially a bird of doom due to its nocturnal nature.  There was a certain belief that an owl getting inside your home was a bad omen and the bird needed to be killed before it escapes lest it take away all your luck and good fortune.  Here too they were considered capable of predicting weather, there was also a very creepy traditional idea was that if you walked by an Owl in a tree, it would turn and turn its head to watch you until it wrung its own neck! That's seriously twisted....

But it wasn't all bad because there were some positive folk medicinal uses for owl eggs. It was used to cure alcoholism, there was a belief that a child given this treatment was also thought to gain lifetime protection against drunkenness. The eggs, when cooked into ashes, were also used as a potion to improve eyesight AND a Broth made from owl eggs was given to children suffering from Whooping-cough.  A 12th century preacher named Odo of Cheritan even came up with a reason for why owls were nocturnal; essentially they stole the rose (a prize awarded for beauty) and were shunned by the other birds.

NATIVE AMERICAN

In this culture the Owl is sometimes a part of a Zodiac, occupying the Nov 23rd – Dec 21st timeframe and here's a quote from my source:

"Changeable and mutable as the wind, the Owl is a tough one to pin down. Warm, natural, with an easy-going nature, the Owl is friend to the world. The bearer of this Native American animal symbol is notorious for engaging in life at full speed, and whole-hearted loves adventure. This can be to his/her detriment as the Owl can be reckless, careless, and thoughtless. Owls make great artists, teachers, and conservationists. However, due to his/her adaptability and versatility – the Owl would likely excel in any occupation. In a supportive, nurturing environment the Owl is sensitive, enthusiastic, and an attentive listener. Left to his/her own devices, the Owl can be excessive, overindulgent, bitter, and belligerent"

The owl was looked upon as a keeper of sacred knowledge for its wisdom & foresight, the Lakota Tribe even had an "Owl Society" that fought at night and painted their eyes like an owl in order to gain their powerful vision.  But not all Native American cultures viewed the owl positively; Apaches viewed it as the most feared creature, representing the spirits of the Apache dead. Hopi Indians have taboos that surround owls because they are are associated with sorcery and other evils. The Aztecs and Mayans considered the owl a symbol of death & destruction so much so that the Aztec god of death, Mictlantecuhtli, was often depicted with owls. According to Wiki there is an old saying in Mexico that is still in use: Cuando el tecolote canta, el indio muere which translates as "When the owl cries, the Indian dies".

CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM

Another thing may point to origin of the negative associations with owls may come from the biblical corner of the world.  Apparently, based on the information from the Medieval Bestiary, owls were fowl birds and according to Leviticus 11:13-18,  "The law says that a variety of owls are included in 'the birds you are to detest and not eat because thy are detestible'" & in Leviticus 11:17-18 - 'Laws about Animals for Food', the following 'Avoid the Unclean' : and the little owl and the cormorant and the great owl, 18 and the white owl and the pelican and the carrion vulture."

There is some indication in the Bestiary that owls were representative of Jews, who showed that they preferred darkness to light when they rejected Christ and that the human face was purposely given a "hook nose" to portray it as Jewish.  According to Hrabanus Maurus the owl signifies those who have given themselves up to the darkness of sin and those who flee from the light of righteousness.

In addition to those cultures listed above there are also the beliefs of Egyptian/Celtic/Hindu cultures in which the owl revolves around guardianship of the underworlds and protector of the dead. In Arab mythology they are bad omens,  in Armenian tales owls were associated with the devil,  in parts of Asia feathers of the Northern Eagle Owl were valued as precious amulets protecting children & livestock from evil spirits.  In certains parts of medieval Europe there was even belief that owls were actually witches & wizards in disguise and that the owl was as much considered their familiar as a black cat is today.

That picture on the left is terrifying btw....and the Halloween association likely comes from the idea that an owl's screech sounds like a witches cackle.

In opposition to those negative images though there are a great deal of positive owl images in popular culture including:

How about the "how many licks does it take" owl, Woodsy the Forest service mascot owl, and the ever wise Owl from Winnie The Pooh just to name a few?

The symbolism of owls is essentially broken down into 8 items: wisdom, mystery, transition, messages, intelligence, mysticism, protection, and secrets.  In some fashion, whether it be in a positive or negative manner, those traits are evident in some form in the myths & superstitions listed above.

 

 

OWLS, OWLS EVERYWHERE

So now that brings me to not only the excessive amount of owl-age I now see in my every day life, but also its impact (real or implied) in things like architecture, government, and secret socities.  Yeah, if you look closely, there's even owls wrapped up in all of that too!

Just take a look at these examples of architecture from around the world:

Germany

Yale

A gate at Central Park’s Bethesda Terrace (Note the bat)

Vienna - Secession buiding

There is even an entire Owl Tour in Leeds in the UK due to the sheer amount of owl related architecture in the city!

But all of this owl architecture pales in comparison when you get into some of the more conspiritorial beliefs entrenched within, such as the Freemason connections and a belief about the layout of our nation's capital:

or on the US Dollar Bill:

The owl has been used as a symbol for the Illuminati:

For the National Press Club:

In Disney films:

And most importantly as it's the key to most of these theories, The Freemasons as they built the capital city and a whole mess of other buildings around the world over the years.  Freemasons have been presidents; George Washington, James Monroe, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, and Gerald Ford just to name a few confirmed ones, and a whole mess of other famous people throughout history.  Check out the Wiki list here, but take it with a grain of salt as with most things Wiki...

It's claimed that members of the NPC are Freemasons, that Walt Disney was associated with a Freemason group called the Order of DeMolay when he was a youth, so if you give any creedence to these notions than that explains the prevalane of owls here too.

Then there is Bohemian Grove which is just littered with owls:

The quick version is that the Bohemian Society is a group of famous & influential figures, all male & mostly white, who gather once a year for two weeks of the summer to do....well that's where enormous amounts of speculation begin and if you're interested you can read about it in further detail here or just Google search it for all kinds of theories about it's activities.  Suffice to say that its members include the likes of George H. Bush, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Henry Kissinger,

Dick Cheney, Malcom Forbes, David Rockefeller, William Randolph Hearst Jr., & Walter Cronkite just to throw some names out there.  The owl plays heavily into this...escape...beyond just the images shown above as there are to locations with owl-themed names, The Owls Nest which is for a camp for U.S. Presidents/Military/Defense Contractors & The Owl Shrine and the Lake which is the locale for the burning owl above & you can read more about in the Wiki.  Suffice it to say that there is more information on the web about Bohemian Grove than I can do justice here....

As for me, right here, in the Philadelphia suburbs, well I have began seeing owls all over the place.  Not so much the living creature but in pieces of home decoration like the one immediately above & the one at the start of this blog, as well as on buildings & homes. I have seen an owl statue randomly sitting on top of a gas station, the post office, and on churches. The aforementioned home decor images, as well as those below were all found in the same store on the same day which is quite freaky....

And while I didn't have a camera to take a picture, just this morning I saw a bunch of owl stickers in the school supplies aisle at a Wal-Mart.  Like I said...everywhere....and now I hope that you too will see owls everywhere you turn your head. Just don't keep turning it until you snap your own neck like those silly Englishmen believed once upon a time...

And I hope you got something out of all this owl talk, because while this is technically a blog for comic book subjects, for me THIS particular writing stands as the sort of inspiration you can get from comic books.  In the same way I mentioned how comics exposed me to Poe & Shakespeare in my "Mish Mosh" blog awhile back, I can saw that Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, and crew inspired me to this with their phenomenal build-up to the "Night of Owls" event that officially kicks off this week in Batman #8!  I just wanted to learn more about the nocturnal bird, about what makes them tick, and maybe a little about why I am now seeing them everywhere.  And if it enhances my readings of "Court & Night of Owls" than that is an added bonus.

Thanks for your time, and come on back next go-around as I get back to a little more of a comic book focus.  Got a couple of ideas I'm juggling around...so in the meantime, maybe show some love by ordering from my Amazon Store, getting me something off my Amazon Wish List, or at the least by throwing some feedback my way.  Good or bad...just avoid the ignorant ;-)

Oh, and go check out the latest Extreme Odd Couple Podcast with Steve Corino & Rob Dimension as they show lil' old me some love this episode.  Go to ITunes & subscribe, rate, and comment as well.

Until next time, check out the "Night of the Owls" list below and see what's in store for Gotham City in the coming months...