Tag Archives: Avengers

Avengers: Age of Ultron Spoiler Free Review

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Last night I had the opportunity to go see Avengers: Age of Ultron, an event that I have been leading up to on the blog over the last two months by reviewing each of the previous 10 Marvel films. Age of Ultron has been incredibly hyped and promoted, to the point that one would think there is now way it could live up to all of it. Well, after being it, I can say it did live up to the hype, at least in my opinion, for the most part. Today, I am going to attempt to review the movie without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t seen it. To do this I am going to break this review into my 5 categories and talk about how it fared in each category without going into detail. Hopefully this works out okay for everyone.

Plot

If I had anything to nitpick about this movie, it would be the plot. Not because the story wasn’t entertaining, but because it seems like it followed a lot of the same plot lines as the first Avengers. In the film we see the same stages of team formation that we saw in the first film. We see some forming, then storming, norming and performing. Without going into detail, it seems like at one point in the film, the team is right back where they started in the first Avengers film, despite the fact that they have been working together for a couple of years now. That being said, I don’t know how else you could make a great super hero team movie without finding a way to tell this kind of story. That’s what makes sequels like this so hard. Like I said at the beginning of this section, that’s nitpicking. My brother and i noticed the similarities, but we were also thoroughly entertained. Obviously, while the overall plot may be similar deep down, on the surface it also feels very different because we have a different villain, so in the end it works just fine. Overall, for the plot, I would give this a 4 out 5 stars.

Dialogue

This is one area where the Avengers’ time together shines through. This cast obviously has some great chemistry, and you can tell on screen. There are some great one liners, and while tempting to share a few of them here, I am going to refrain. This has become a trademark of the MCU films, the witty back and forth and snappy dialogue. Age of Ultron is no exception. The main cast is great in their delivery and it is everything you would expect. Throwing in a master of wit, like James Spader, as the main antagonist, and it only helps your cause. He was incredible as Ulton. The way he delivered his lines was classic James Spader. His performance is a highlight of this film. Only die-hard fangirls will be sad that Loki is not involved in this film at all. No one else will miss the god of mischief because of James Spader’s performance. Overall, for the whole film, for dialogue, I would rank this 4.5 stars.

Character Development

I was assuming we would see a little bit of the conflict between Cap and Iron Man begin to emerge in this film, leading into Civil War.  There is a little bit of it there, and you begin to see how the two of them view the world differently and how they view their roles differently. The most interesting thing is that as you begin to see those differences that could lead to that conflict, you also see their friendship develop more as well. I think Civil War  is going to be a great film, and I can’t wait to see how they get to that point. As far as the other characters in this film, there is some great development throughout the team, but none of the characters grow as much as Hawkeye does. We see his character in a whole new light after this film. And that is all I am going to say about that. Overall character development gets 4.5 stars.

Acting

There was nothing that blew me away about the acting in this film. It was exactly what you expect from an MCU movie. It didn’t disappoint at all, but no one is going to win any awards for their performance. That’s fine. No one expects that from an action film. At the very least, like all MCU films, the acting is not so horrible that it ruins what could have been a decent film. Instead, it is a strong performance from everyone involved. RDJ and Chris Evans turn in some great work, and continue to establish themselves as the leading men of the MCU. Mark Ruffalo is a highlight as always, and I think James Spader was wonderful. Overall, the acting is a 4 out of 5 stars.

Entertainment Value

This one is easily a 5 out of 5 stars. When I went to the film, was I entertained? Absolutely! Whedon packs this film with almost nonstop action from start to finish. There is hardly a moment to catch your breath, and that’s what i want from a big, blockbuster picture like this one. The action does not disappoint, but the story never gets lost in the action either. The battles in this movie are some of the best ever put in a superhero movie. They take what we saw in Avengers  to the next level, and set a new standard. A lot of times these movies will have one or two smaller battles and then the really big one at the end. This one has way more, and each one makes sense and looks incredible. That mixed with the dialogue and humor and everything makes this category a 5 out of 5.

Overall

This is a great addition to the MCU family. It will make a ton of money, and it earns every penny. Go see this film, although I’ll bet most of you already have. It is incredible and fun. I can’t wait to find a babysitter and take my wife, and then maybe take my oldest some time, because he’ll want to watch it, and then maybe I’ll have to find an excuse to see it a couple more times before it leaves theaters. Great film.

As a side note, we saw it in IMX- do that if you can- and one of the previews at the beginning was Dawn of Justice. It looked much better on the big screen, so it restored my hope that the movie is going to be ok.

Loved this movie. Those of you who have seen it, what did you think? Please try to avoid posting any spoilers on this review, to keep it spoiler free.

 

DC’s Multiverse vs. Marvel’s Cinematic Universe Part 1

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Before you start thinking that this is going to be another post trying to determine which comic book company is superior, let me just stop you. I really like both. If I had to pick which way I have traditionally leaned, it would be DC. I don’t know why. I think I have always felt that their superheroes have always been more iconic, more regal, more superhero-y. Marvel’s seem to be more like regular folks with super powers. I guess I just prefer my superheroes to be more superhero-y. That being said, I really like Marvel still. Growing up I read my fair share of X-Men, Spider-Man and whatever other hyphenated superheroes Marvel had. I like a lot of the characters in the Marvel Universe just fine. In addition, I have really enjoyed almost every movie Marvel has released, while I admit that DC’s attempts have been, well, not very good at times. Green Lantern, I’m looking at you (ironically, Ryan Reynolds is on tap to possibly ruin a popular Marvel character next. I guess that’s as ironic as Ben Afleck being cast as Batman, after ruining Daredevil). This is not a post about which one is better, but more of a discussion of how they’re very different, and what that means. This is part one, which is all about Marvel.

Marvel’s Cinematic Universe

image by DiamondDesignHD on DeviantArt

image by DiamondDesignHD on DeviantArt

What it is

The vision (no pun intended) for the Marvel Cinematic Universe is to have one cohesive universe where all of their heroes reside. It doesn’t necessarily follow the comics continuity, but it does have a specific continuity and each movie has a place in that continuity. What happens in one movie will affect what happens in all the movies that follow. With Agents of SHIELD, Marvel extended this universe into television as well. What happens in the movies, like Captain America: The Winter Soldier, can and does affect what happened in Agents of SHIELD. Each installment is also another chapter in a larger overall story arc. For example, we have already seen a few of the infinity stones that will be playing a role (a huge role) in the Infinity War movies coming in a few years. It is all leading up to that point, even though each film can also be enjoyed on its own. This universe also includes the Netflix Series (can we really call them TV series, since they will never be on TV?) that will be streaming over the next couple of years, starting with Daredevil this April. The MCU will also, as of this week, include Spider-Man going forward.

Why it Works

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It works because geeks love this stuff. We love the little details. We love seeing a movie and picking up on little details that foreshadow what could be coming up in the next movie, or some other later movie. It makes us feel pretty cool when we are sitting in the theater with a group and we pick up on something no one else in the group picked up on. It’s just cool.

An even bigger reason this works is because of how the stories are going to be told. We get the origins of each of the individual characters in their individual movies, so when they come together in a cross over movie, like the Avengers, we don’t have to clutter it up with each individual members origin. We can just hit the ground running. Much of the character development happens in the other movies, while the big movie, the team up, is all about the action. And what makes that even cooler is that we have the big team up movie at the end of each phase with each of the Avengers movies, and really Avengers and Age of Ultron, although big payoff movies, they are really just two more minor movies setting up the Infinity War movies. It’s awesome because each movie is building on the one previous and establishing foundation for the next movie.

Why it Doesn’t Work

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Up until 2 days ago, the picture at the beginning of this part was going to be Spider-Man. He was really the representation of the biggest problem Marvel has. He is their most well-known character, and up until Tuesday, he wasn’t going anywhere near Captain America or anyone else in the MCU. That, as we know has totally changed now, so we’ll use the next most popular title Marvel doesn’t have the rights to: The X-Men. This is Marvel’s biggest issue, because they are hindered by which characters they can use, and they could start running out. This has been talked about a lot, and honestly, the X-Men and the rest of the Marvel Universe exist pretty separately in the comics as well, so this is not as major an issue. The Fantastic Four is actually probably a bigger deal. None of this, however, has really anything to do with why Marvel’s model doesn’t work.

The biggest reason the model may not work is because it is all so connected. It doesn’t give a lot of liberty to the writers or the directors or any of the creators. Anyone they bring on will need to fit the MCU model so it all feels so cohesive. This has worked fine so far, but will it continue to work well going forward? As they start getting into some of the characters they have coming up, it will be difficult for them to keep it all feeling the same without sacrificing the feel of the character, at least traditionally. Take Daredevil,for example. The trailer looks pretty amazing, but Daredevil is a much darker, grittier character compared to what they have done so far. In fact, most of the Netflix series will be that way. How will that fit in with the rest of the Marvel Universe? They have to find a way for it to work, because it has to fit in with the master plan. There were rumors that part of the reason Edgar Wright left Ant-Man was because working for Disney/Marvel was too constrictive. If that’s the case, then it will only get more that way as the movies continue to be successful. They have a formula that works, and they are going to stick to it. If there is one thing Disney has figured out over the years, it is how to stick to a formula that works, in order to make a lot of money. In fact, nobody does it better.

In addition, Marvel has already revealed their plans for the next half decade. Now they are trapped into following those plans, or face the wrath of the fans. That may sound silly, but it is true. We are all looking forward to the movies coming out, and they better all be amazing. If something goes south for some reason and they drop a film or two, we are not going to be happy about it, and they will look stupid. Movies get greenlit, and then get stuck in pre-production forever and never get made- it happens all the time. What doesn’t happen all the time is these movies get greenlit, and then announced on a huge stage at comic con. They had better make sure they get these films made, or it could be a huge hit to their reputation. (By the way, this is a big hit against DC as well)

That concludes part one of this huge two-part post. Tomorrow, I will be bringing you my look at the DC Multiverse, and how that all works. Stay tuned…

 

Grey Hulk in Age of Ultron?- This Week in Geek, January 24, 2015

If you haven’t heard the latest Avengers: Age of Ultron rumor yet, then where have you been? Basically, reports have been circulating all over the inter net that the Hulk is probably, at some point in the film, end up being grey instead of his typical green self. This has caused quite the stir all over the social media, so it’s what’s happening this week in geek.

Who is the Grey Hulk?

Hulk_1_coverThe first thing you should know about this whole Grey Hulk thing is that it isn’t unprecedented or unheard of. In fact, when the Hulk premiered in comics, he was grey. That was the original color Stan Lee and Jack Kirby intended for him to be. Issues arose, however, when the books went to print.  The printer had a hard time with the grey ink, and it just didn’t work well. As a result, the original grey colored Hulk only lasted a few issues, before he was changed to the green toned, purple panted monster we know and love today. If it were any other medium, that would have been the end of it. It was a manufacturing issue, let’s just pretend the whole thing never happened. That only works if you are not dealing with a medium dominated by geeks who obsess about this kind of stuff. We need to know why the Hulk started out as grey and then became green.  We want a reason for it in the story.

the-grey-hulk-by-dale-keown-321-e1406894717736Fast Forward to the late 1980’s and early 1990’s and we get the return of the grey Hulk. Banner and the green Hulk had been separated, and this opened the door for the grey Hulk to reemerge. The grey Hulk was smarter than the green Hulk, and kind of dodgy. Eventually, he moved to Las Vegas and took on the alias of Joe Fixit, an enforcer.  Besides intelligence, one other key difference between the grey Hulk and the green Hulk is that Banner changed into the grey Hulk at night instead of when he lost control. Eventually, the grey Hulk and the green Hulk and Banner were all merged together into a new form of the Hulk that kind of took on the best of all three personalities. I remember the grey Hulk. This was the version that joined Wolverine, Spider-Man, and Ghost Rider as a member of the new Fantastic Four (it was the 90’s, a lot of weird stuff was happening in comics).

Why do we think he might be in Age of Ultron?

So, that’s who the grey Hulk is, but why, all of a sudden, do so many people believe he might make an appearance in the new Avengers flick? Well, it comes down to this:

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That is an image of the upcoming line of Funko Pop! figures for Avengers: Age of Ultron. This popped up on a website called PopVinyls.com. Of course the figure that jumps out the most is the big guy in the middle. The hulk, and you’ll notice that he is grey, not green. This led to an article on Cinemablend.com, which then led to multiple articles all over the web. That combined with the image going viral, and now everyone is totally bought into the idea that this is happening.  The interesting thing is everyone is connecting it to the Scarlet Witch, and that it may not really happen, but be a hallucination.  Maybe. Since we’re talking colors here, color me skeptical.

Don’t get me wrong, it could totally happen, but I just have my doubts. What we are basing all of this speculation on is this one image of one exclusive toy. That’s it. From there it has blossomed into a full-blown theory and from there, into a fact (not really, but maybe in some fans’ minds). Different stores will carry different versions of different toys and slap that exclusive label on it, and bam! instant collectible. I fear that this is more a ploy to make money than an actual spoiler. Marvel and Funko know that their fans will flock to Hot Topic to buy this one item, and it will be huge success. Fans of the classic Marvel Comics will instantly tie this figure to the grey Hulk of old, and will want it, regardless of whether this guy is actually in the film.

My biggest concern, or reason for doubt is the name of the figure. According to the above image, it is a “Hot Topic Exclusive Savage Hulk.” But he’s grey. As I mentioned in my intro to the grey Hulk above, he was smarter than the green Hulk. In fact, most fans of the comics refer to him as the grey Hulk, and the green guy, they call him the savage Hulk. Yet here we have a grey Hulk that is the savage Hulk. Unless they are ironically changing the character, it doesn’t fit. I think the Hulk we will see on film will be the green guy, and he is going to go ballistic for some reason, and be more savage than he already was. The grey Hulk won’t make an appearance, at least not in this film. That would be a great story line for a stand alone Hulk film, which would be a great thing to have. In the future, maybe phase 4 (hint, him, Marvel).

What do you think? Will we see the grey Hulk show up in Avengers 2? Or is it going to be just the plain old green one again? Let us know in the comments. We love hearing from you.

Why We Need Spidey in The Avengers

If you haven’t heard the news, maybe because you have been hiding under some kind of digital rock, it looks like we may finally be getting Spidey in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Maybe. At least that is what is being reported. If it is true, it would be pretty amazing, considering all the legal hoops both Sony and Marvel would need to go through to make it happen. It looked like, just a year ago, that something like this would never happen, and now, according to the report, we will get Spidey in the MCU starting in the Infinity War part 1. More important than whether it will happen is why we need it to happen, or if we even need it to happen. I believe we need it. We need Spidey in the Avengers, we need him back home with Marvel, interacting with the other Marvel characters. Let me tell you why.

Super heroes are basically modern versions of gods. They are all-powerful and amazing and everything like that. They are basically everything we can never be, something that, no matter how hard we strive, we can never achieve. And that is part of why we love them, but it makes it hard for us to identify with them in the stories. I have never been injected with super serum, I have never been a billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. I have never been able to turn into a giant green monster. That kind of stuff just doesn’t happen. The Avengers, like the Justice League in DC, are gods, and we are the little people. This is why we need Spider-Man. He isn’t a god like the others. He is just a regular guy who just happens to have been bitten by a radioactive spider. And that is why we love him.

I have always enjoyed reading the Avengers comics that involve Spider-Man. It just seems like we are seeing the Avengers through our eyes, through Spidey’s. He is always a little starstruck, always feeling a little inadequate, like he doesn’t belong, but he is there. I think that’s how most of us would feel if we were invited to hang out with the Avengers. I know I would. So Spidey gives us that in the comics. He is awkward and nerdy for us, and we love it. Bringing this to the films would be incredible. It would add a whole new depth. I wish it were happening in the Civil War Movie, instead of the next Avengers movie. The role he played, being stuck between Captain America and Iron Man, in the comics was so crucial. It’s how we all felt. Iron Man and Cap were both our heroes, how are we supposed to choose between the two of them.  All of this was articulated in Spider-Man as the story progressed. He would be a key figure in Civil War if that were possible, but I’ll take what we can get.

We need Spider-Man to bridge that gap between us and them, for sure.  I think more than that, according to the report I linked to earlier in this post, if Iron Man is in space with Hulk and Cap is dead and Thor is captured, we will need Spidey just to have a familiar face in the crowd. And faces don’t come any more familiar in the Marvel Universe than Spidey. It will make the transition easier for us to the new Avengers, like daredevil or Iron Fist or Doctor Strange. We need Spidey to bridge that gap as well. The original Avengers are all supposed to come back for Infinity War part 2, but what about after that? That is possibly the end of our time with Stark and Rogers and Thor and Hulk. It may be the beginning of a whole new era with new Avengers, and Spider-Man would be a perfect anchor for the team.

The biggest reason we need Spidey in the Avengers is that we need Spidey away from Sony. Amazing Spider-Man and Amazing Spider-Man 2 weren’t horrible, like Daredevil horrible, but the studio’s plan for the Sinister Six and Venom and endless Spider-Man spin offs sounds bad. I personally don’t care about a Sinister Six movie, and I feel like the only reason they’re doing it is to keep the rights to Spider-Man and the Spider-Man characters. Spidey is at his best, though, when he is interacting with other Marvel heroes like Iron Man and Cap and Doctor Strange and so on. It would just be great to see Spider-Man get the MCU treatment and not have him stuck in his own contained universe. He needs the other heroes, and we need him to have them. As of now, the report is only that Spidey will make his debut in the Infinity War part 1, but there is no indication where that might leave Sony and their deal with the web slinger. I don’t know if that means the end of his time over at Sony or not.

This is big news all the way around, and I think it will lead to better movies with characters that are easier to identify with. I hope this means that Spidey will find his way home permanently. I think we would get better quality Spider-Man movies, more truly aligned with Marvel’s vision. Plus, it would be huge cash-flow for Marvel and Disney. Spider-Man is the most recognizable property Marvel has and the most marketable.

In the end, all of this may just end up being wishful thinking for Marvel fanboys everywhere. The report seems to be pretty legitimate, but it still just seems shocking considering how complicated all of this seemed just a short while ago. It would be pretty remarkable if it does turn out to be true, and would be a great turn of events for Marvel and Disney. They would have a marquee character to carry on after Iron Man and Captain America, and that is something that right now, they don’t have. Plus, it might end the constant reboots and relaunching we have seen thus far with Sony. Now, Marvel just needs to focus on bringing the Fantastic Four home, and save us from more Fox disasters like it sounds like this new Fantastic Four will be. Then, for the big guys, the X-Men. Maybe someday, if they can work out this deal, they can work out the X-Men stuff and we can see an Avengers vs. X-Men movie.  That would be awesome.

Are the Movies Changing Marvel Comics?

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The above picture represents what the Avengers may look like starting this fall.  It’s pretty different from what we’re used to.  It’s been making news all over the place, especially the changes to Captain America and Thor.  Change to the characters in comics is nothing new.  It’s been happening for generations.  In fact, this isn’t even the first time that someone else has taken up the Captain America and Thor identities.  This time seems different, though.  These heroes have never been in the mainstream spotlight as much as they are right now.  The Avengers are THE cash cow right now, not just for Marvel but for their parent company, Disney.  Avengers 2 is already shaping up to be an even bigger hit than the first Avengers movie, if that’s possible.  So, it seems strange to shake everything up right now.  People are wandering into comic book stores and they’re looking for stories about the Avengers they see on the big screen, and now they are going to find a female Thor and a flying Captain America.  Why?  I recently wrote a post where I discussed some of the reasons why the changes might be happening, including it could be a gimmick to get more attention and sell more books.  Today, though, I had a thought.  I wonder if the changes are a result of the huge success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  Stay with me here, it might actually make sense in the end.

One of the things that has always been consistent in the comics is that the heroes, the main characters never age.  I mean, there’s the occasional one-off or special miniseries where they get older and you get to see what it would be like if they do get older, like Kingdom Come or The Dark Knight Returns , but for the most part, Superman, Batman, Captain America, all the big names , stay the same age.  The world around them moves on and ages, but the heroes stay the same.  It’s easy to do in the comics, and widely accepted.  Nobody seems to mind.  This is fine in a world drawn by hand.  They don’t have to worry about age and things, they just draw them the same as they’ve always been drawn.  This works great for comics, but not for movies.  Actors do get older.  It’s just a fact.  It’s something that production companies have had to deal with forever.  Sometimes they get creative like Doctor Who with regeneration, and sometimes they just go with a change in actors and provide no reason for it, like James Bond. Or you can go the route of just bringing in all new characters.  Marvel has to find a way to keep the Avengers movies going after Avengers 3, when the contracts run out for their big three, Cap, Thor, and Iron Man, or at least their actors.  Those are big shoes to fill, and there is no bench for those heroes.  Avengers 4 will have Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man.  So how will Marvel deal with a change in actors?  The same way it always should be in comics.  These characters are bigger than the individual characters.  They are symbols.  Anyone can put on the suit or throw the shield or, if worthy, pick up the hammer.  I think the change in the comics could be preparing us for the changes in the films.  They’ve changed the characters before, but it’s always been temporary.  I wonder if this time the changes will be more permanent because we have to get used to not Steve Rogers as Cap, not Tony Stark as Iron Man, and not Thor as…Thor. And, I hope it continues.  It’s been one thing that I always thought would be cool.  What happens when the heroes get old, and younger heroes take up their mantles.  It could lead to some great stories and new insights on the characters.  I was sad when Bruce Wayne came back from the dead and Dick Grayson’s run as Batman was done.  Bucky Barnes’ time as Cap was too short.  The comic publishers have always been willing to initiate the change, but they never stick to it. Maybe the long-term plans for the Marvel Cinematic universe will change that.  Maybe Sam Wilson will take up the Captain America Mantle permanently.  Maybe my kids will grow up reading about a female Thor.  Maybe that will be the new norm.  And maybe it will start happening with more heroes.  I think there is a lot of potential there, and it just makes sense.  Now of course, we have our suspicions that the Captain America title will be passed to Bucky Barnes in the movies, similar to what happened a few years ago when Steve Rogers was shot.  Sebastian Stan has signed on to a 9 movie deal with Marvel, which means they are tying him down for something big.  They still have to figure out how to move on without Chris Hemsworth and Tony Stark, and bringing in different actors to play the exact same characters is not going to go over well with the fans.  A change in character makes more sense.  I hope it’s the case.  It will be an interesting turn in the stories of the characters and the Marvel universe as a whole.

It’s HawkEYE, not HawkEAR

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We live in a diverse world today, and the comics we read resemble that to a certain degree. One publisher, Marvel, has always been at the forefront of representing diversity. Whether it be different cultures or races or sexual orientations, Marvel has tried to incorporate all of that into their world, so it somewhat reflects our world. They have even had superheroes of differing abilities, like Daredevil, who is blind or Professor X, who, depending on which story arc you are reading, is confined to a wheelchair. One group or culture that has been massively underrepresented has been the Deaf Culture. Ever since I’ve had kids, it has been something I have noticed is missing from the world of comics. It’s just not there. There is Jericho in the old Teen Titans of DC comics, but he was a mute who could hear just fine, he just used sign language to communicate. And then Hawkeye lost his hearing for a bit due to a self-inflicted injury, but he was never proud of it and hid the fact that he used a hearing aid, until Stark could come up with a way to restore his hearing for good. And then, recently, Marvel created The Blue Ear, a superhero who used his hearing device to hear trouble. This is as close as anyone has gotten to representing deaf and hard of hearing individuals and their culture in comics, and frankly it’s disappointing. I mean, the story about Blue Ear is great and heartwarming, and awesome for that kid, but it was a drawing and not a full-time hero, and it didn’t represent Deaf Culture. For those who are unfamiliar, many people who are deaf or hard of hearing don’t view it as a “disability.” They feel like they can do anything a hearing person can do jet as well as a hearing person, except hear. They are a proud group of individuals who fight everyday for their rights to be treated just like everyone else and to receive the same opportunities as everyone else. They see themselves as a culture, not as disability. So, in a universe full of superheroes, I refuse to believe that there isn’t at least one individual from this proud and noble group who wouldn’t step up and be a hero. And there’s no way that I can believe that their lack of hearing would hold them back.

Marvel, though, is trying something new this Wednesday, July 30, when Hawkeye #19 hits the shelves. According to a report in The New York Times, Hawkeye will be losing his hearing again, and this particular issue will be quite different. The writers have left all the word bubbles blank and have incorporated actual sign language into the story and the communication between Hawkeye and the other characters in the book. From what I read in the article, it looks like this may just be a one issue deal, and not permanent, which is too bad. It would have been a great opportunity to develop the Hawkeye character and introduce a new world to many Marvel readers. I do feel, however, that maybe this a step in the right direction, and I hope, with writers, like Matt Fraction, on board, who are willing to look at new ways to write the story from a deaf perspective, something may open up for a full-time Deaf superhero. I hope it will.

When I told my oldest son about issue #19, he was way excited. He wanted to go out and buy it immediately. He thought it was way cool that sign language was going to be in a real superhero comic. He’s deaf, along with two of his sisters. He has a cochlear implant (it’s a step above the sorts of hearing aids talked about in this https://wonder-ear.com/blogs/articles/mdhearingaid-review-all-new-models-alternative article), but his main mode of communication, really his only mode, is American Sign Language. He is only 7 1/2, but he has already noticed that when he looks at all the superheroes he can find the white ones and the black ones and the boy ones and the girl ones, the blind ones, the ones in wheelchairs, the green ones and the ones made out of metal and rocks, but what he can’t find is himself. He doesn’t see the deaf one out there, the one who proves that he can be and do anything, just like everyone else. So, to the people at Marvel I say, great job with Hawkeye #19, but do better. Take it further. Help my son and other deaf kids just like find themselves in your comics. I hope they will.