Marvel Week, Year 2

With the latest Avengers movie kicking off this past weekend (and doing phenomenally), I'm officially kicking off Marvel week, year 2 today.

I'll have more specific thoughts on the hype and metrics surrounding Avengers: Endgame tomorrow and my thoughts on the movie specifically Wednesday (as spoiler free as possible), but wanted to provide a baseline for the week today.

I have been collecting comics basically continually since 1996.  It was Marvel's Heroes Reborn that got me to start my first pull-list at Book Stan' II Comics & Games in Beaumont.  From that point on, every week there was a new collection of comics in my box ready for the devouring.

Though I have read a variety of publishers and comics, my favorites were always Marvel Comics, particularly the Avengers and Marvel Heroes families of titles.  Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Fantastic Four.  The original stable of Stan and Jack titles.  After Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return came Marvel Knights with new interests.  Daredevil, Inhumans, and Black Panther.   And though I have changed formats (digital on an iPad is so much easier than keeping up with multiple longboxes of comics), the love of comics remains.

All that pre-face to say, I am a True Believer and a diehard Marvel Zombie.  If they were options when I was a kid, I would have been a member of the Merry Marvel Marching Society or a Friend of Old Marvel (FOOM).  I cannot wait to see this movie tomorrow night!  Jamie and Avalyn got to see it today and I've sworn them to secrecy.  After all, Thanos still demands our silence.

As a kid reading comics, I could not have imagined this point.  The point where the geek culture becomes pop culture.  Where it's no longer niche.  Where we no longer have to settle for the Generation X pilot on Fox or the Bill Bixby Incredible Hulk tv movies for team ups with a viking Thor and a off-model Daredevil.

These characters are woven into my DNA.  And to see the world that has always been there up in my head as a comic reader up on the big screen is incredibly exciting.

Plus, it has been gratifying to see the people involved in the films seem to actually be enjoying it.  To be a great theater company that has made the most of this universe, has made us a part, and has started to live up to their roles.  To see Chris Evans go from being kind of a goofy teen actor to starting to embody Captain America on and off set because he recognizes the power of his role has been a joy to see.

So throughout the week, I'm going to dig into that love.  Exploring this specific movie and the Marvel Universe in general.  To talk about geek culture. And to celebrate my part in it.

Excelsior!