schmevil

FIC REC

Title: Snape/Daredevil in a Nutshell
Author: tartanshell
Fandom: HP/DD
Excerpt: Two men sit before the drinks. One is a tall gent with long, greasy black hair, dark eyes, and a huge nose. A huge scar mars his neck and face. He is clad in black; sits warily. The other man is masked, wearing a red leather devil costume. He sits with the casual grace of a true master of martial arts and legalese.
Why you should read it: LULZ!!1!

***

Recently Tony Stark apologized to She-Hulk re the whole shooting-her-cousin-into-space-sleeping-with-her-under-false-pretenses-and-depowering-her thing. On CBR writer Peter David said:

Guys...it's very simple. After everything that Tony did to her, she's running around in the red Hulk series like nothing happened. When I first started writing "She-Hulk," I had NO idea she was going to be used in that series, allying with Tony Stark as if the status was quo. In fact, it's entirely possible--considering how early I started working on the book (keep in mind I was writing scripts beyond where Dan had finished scripting)--that not even Marvel knew at the time that She-Hulk was going to be there. So now we've got two wildly different portrayals of She-Hulk in two different books, and I felt I needed to lay at least SOME sort of groundwork for at least the BEGINNINGS of, at best, a truce between Tony and Jen.

You can dissect it into the ground if you want, but given the givens, and considering I didn't want to do something cliched and obvious like having She-Hulk and Iron Man slug it out for 22 pages, this was the best I could do for now.

Which is basically what I thought. *g*

***

Why I Hate Iron Man
He just goes out superheroing with no real impetus, and no real style. He's a walking ray gun, but without the Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon for readers to relate to.

Well. I do actually think that Iron Man has a distinct character. I find it bizarre that he's even suggesting that Iron Man doesn't have a personality. Dude (pre-secret-identity-reveal) had friends, and a nickname, and personal nemeses. You can't have those things without a personality! How many toasters do you know with nemeses? Excluding the blonde bombshell model of toaster. *thinky frown* But this silliness is a post for another day, when I will have examples, and possibly scans prepared.

(I seem to recall a conversation in crimsonquills' journal about the differences between Tony Stark and Iron Man - link?)

1. ( click for funneh )
You can find the whole story behind this panel in She-Hulk #27. I've posted 11 pages at scans_daily.

2. Also check out the new Iron Man Movie tv spot. Ganked from pandanoai.

3. And finally, a new interview with Matt Fraction on Invincible Iron Man.

NRAMA: Tony has everything...well, 96% of everything anyone could ever want, and can invent that last remaining 4% before most of the world is up for breakfast. Why does he do the Iron Man thing? What itch does putting on the armor scratch for Tony?

MF: He doesn't have everything. He doesn't have immortality, superpowers, or safety. Try as he might, the future remains outside of his grasp and control. The armor is the literal realization of his self-evolution, of the triumph of human will over the human body.

And, let's not lie-- his first addiction was to adrenaline. He's an inventor and a test pilot in his very soul. Putting the armor on allows Tony to-- well, to slip the surly bonds of Earth and touch the face of god.

At, like, Mach 6.

When Fraction is talking about the character I get really excited. He seems to both *get* and love Tony Stark and Iron Man. But some of his plans leave me cold - for one, I'm really not looking forward to Obediah Stane 3.0 (2.0 being Tiberius Stone). I'd like to move away from the Battle of Geniuses! thing, and open the field to a wider range of antagonists.

The post-human collective in Warren's Hypervelocity was a particularly strong new villain for Tony, because it had the same kind of upward-and-onward ethos of technological development as Tony. Only, it was Tony warped - the idea of technological evolution of humanity taken in an entirely different, and freaking scary direction. Instead of enhancing the body, they did away with the body, in favour of pure consciousness, and temporary body-constructs. Great stuff, especially considering Tony's own body issues.

I'm also really enjoying what the Knaufs are doing with Maya Hansen and the Mandarin. They shift the focus to biotechnological evolution, which is outside of Tony's field of expertise (always a good story-telling strategy), with the added flavour of a morally, and viscerally horrifying experimental protocol. I've liked extremis from the start, but am so happy with Mandarin's plan to salt the earth with it, because: a) it's been so nicely set up; b) it's cool and not easily countered; c) it's cool.

Fraction says that Ezekiel Stane, the villain of his first arc, is going to be "younger, faster, and smarter" than Tony, but let's face it - the basis of this character is grudge-villainy. Considering that there are innumerable characters in the MU who've got a reason to be pissed with him, I really don't think Fraction needs to invent a new character, straight out of the gate, just to set Tony up for a "reckoning". I also think that this "reckoning" he's planning, would have a lot more emotional resonance if it involved the friends and allies he's alienated.

Another issue I have with Fraction's approach is his previous characterization of Tony in The Order. As SpySmasher says:

Based on Fraction's take on Stark in the Order, I'm fairly certain that his Iron Man will be:

1) A bigger asshole than ever.
2) Weaker than ever.
3) Stupider than ever.

Basically, I'm predicting Tony is going to get ____ on, month after month, in his own book. I hope I'm wrong.

Me too, dude. Me too. :|

New Iron Man images have been released. Link for dialuppers. ( 10 pics )

I'm usually one of those bitter, faithless fans but this movie is seriously winning me over. Excuse me while I indulge in some utter fannish glee.

It's become a truism that Civil War only makes sense if you see it as a really bad breakup between Captain America and Iron man. This Civil War: What If? shows us how it should have turned out.

( visual evidence! )

I also 'made' some icons. I'm new to this icon thing, but if you actually want one? Take it, man. I'm still at the "LOOK AT ME CROP STUFF" stage, so alter them, add text - whatever.



( 24 Cap and Tony icons (though few are Steve/Tony) )

Oh Rescue Me.

"I got a girl. She's in a wheelchair, but she has the sweetest ass."

"How can you tell?"

"Sometimes I stand her up."

AND

*spritz*

"Hey!"

"¥ou had a little like, baby thing on you. *waves hand in front of nose* And anyway it's Curious, by Britney Spears."

"Yeah, well. Mystery's over. She's a whore."

A couple of episodes are available on Showcase's site. I don't exactly know how to write a plug for this show, because I think that by now most interested parties are already watching. And (though I understand it not!) some of those (weird) non-watchers must have been put off by the violence, nudity and course language. (Weirdos).

So - Dennis Leary, people. Dennis Leary as a post-9/11 traumatized, alcoholic firefighter. Everything about this show is quintessential Leary, from the blisteringly vicious humor to the constant, roiling emotional violence that underlies everything, and often literally, physically explodes onto the screen. The most recent episode tackled euthanasia, man-dating, gay marriage, father-daughter feuding and suicide. While the storylines can reach almost absurdist heights, the show retains a such a high degree of emotional realism that it continues to be bitingly relevant.

And just come the fuck on - people! Dennis Fucking Leary.

Love.

***

Speaking of love - is it wrong to want to marry a teaser trailer of a superhero movie? Because I more than kind of want to. I've been excited about the upcoming Iron Man movie since it's been announced but the state of comic book movies being what it is (oh Sam Raimi - why!?!), my excitement was tempered by uh, about a metric tonne of doubt.

Since seeing the footage from Comic Con (since removed from YouTube) and this new teaser, my cautiously optimistic excitement has morphed into holyshitIthinkIwetmyself-fangirl!excitement. Much to my embarrassment. But this movie is going to be FUN, which is more than can be said for Spiderman 3, Superman Returns, X3 or *choke* Ghost Rider. It's going to be fun because Jon Favreau and Robert Downey Jr understand the character and the story they're telling. Because they're interested in telling an emotionally and politically relevant story, one that appeals to kids (because there's freakin wicked flying robots and shit) and grownups (because there's freakin wicked flying robots and shit, amongst other things).

Watch the trailer - RDJ nails it. It's not a Tony Stark to end all Tony Starks but it's a damn good interpretation of my favourite alcoholic, womanizing, arms dealing genius, and one that has the potential to be very successful with audiences right now. It's funny, it's topical and it's damn pretty.

Marvel made the right choice, starting out with Iron Man as their first picture. The potential for big big office and serious reputation building in terms of production values and ability to attract talent is there, along with the obvious, and important franchise possibilities. Iron Man is nowhwere near as recognizable a character as Spiderman or the X-Men, but we're not talking Hell Boy. And the concept requires such a minimal suspension of disbelief that it's downright accessible. Engineering genius dude builds some awesome armor and eventually, after some soul searching, uses it to fight evil. Done. The science fiction elements also make it an easy sell, and the fact that it's basically a story about a guy and the best (flying) car (with energy weapons) ever, makes it less embarrassing for non-fen to appreciate.

And importantly, Tony Stark is such a complete guy's guy. He's the kind of guy that other guys have man-crushes on, and also the kind of guy they desperately hope will never, ever meet their girlfriends. He's the kind of guy that sells tickets.

***

So I finally picked up Iron Man #21. I was spoiled for it, because spoilers are so utterly ubiquitous these days, but it was still a solid read. I particularly liked this image:



This is a ghostly Captain American that visits Tony in a dream. He has an almost circuit-like webbing of veins across his face and his neck is marred by a never-healed wound. The right side of his face is in shadow and the left is a muddy grey. One shining, glassy blue eye stares at Tony.

Context: Tony's working on deciphering some script, trying to figure out it's significance. Cap shows up in his dream, they fight. Cap subdues Tony, then pushes back his mask and asks him to listen. He gives Tony the answer.

I like that dream Cap seems to represent all of Tony's conflicted feelings toward Cap - hostility, anger, guilt, respect, regret, admiration and love. I like that we get a sense of how important he continues to be to Tony, and how Tony continues to rely on the idea of him. I also like that De Le Torre and the Knaufs are unafraid of the potential for a homoerotic reading of that sequence. ;-)

The rest of the book continues to explore the question of "Who's behind the machine?" as one character puts it. Who's behind the terrorist organization? Who's behind the political machine that put Tony into SHIELD and the SHRA into action? Who's behind the armor? There's a nice Ghost in the Shell quality to this very thoughtful issue.

Anyway, this wants to turn into a post about identity and technology, but I want to go to bed, so I'm calling this post.

Expired. Natural causes. 2:19 AM. God rest ye.

Settling that eternal fanboy question: who would win in a fight Iron Man or Aquaman?


ETA - Poker Night! (Settling that eternal fanboy question: who would win at poker, Aquaman, Batman, Superman, Spiderman or Iron Man? And also, would Doom make a good pizza boy?)