Quick Critiques – Feb. 22, 2007
Posted by Don MacPherson on February 22nd, 2007
Civil War #7 (Marvel Comics)
by Mark Millar, Steve McNiven & Dexter Vines
I’ll give Millar credit for ending this series in a wholly unexpected way. This ending would suggest that it’s been Iron Man and the government that’s been in the right all along. I don’t agree, but I appreciate that Millar brings the story full circle to the ethical debate rather than a huge super-hero fight scene. Marvel gets points for the unexpected ending, though things here wrap up a little too neatly. The sudden appearances of cavalries for both sides at key moments in the conflict are a bit hard to swallow, and the villains’ dominance in battle dissipates so quickly that it lacks credibility as well. McNiven’s art boasts the same kind of detail and expressiveness that’s made it so attractive in the past, but I found the generic costumes for the new, registered heroes to be far too reminiscent of what we’ve seen in The Ultimates and Squadron Supreme. This final issue sets up an ambitious new status quo for Marvel’s America as something of a totalitarian regime, with Big Brothers galore, all colorfully clad, watching over everyone. It seems as though Millar and company have failed to actually tell the whole story. We’re missing an ending, which is something that happened at the end of House of M as well. Ultimately, this final issue felt surprisingly anti-climactic, with the final act serving as promotional material for new titles to spin off out of this crossover event. 6/10
Justice Society of America #3 (DC Comics)
by Geoff Johns, Dale Eaglesham & Ruy Jose
I enjoyed the first two issues of this new series, but this third episode left a lot to be desired. Visually, I just didn’t feel Eaglesham’s linework was as strong as it was before. It feels a bit too loose and exaggerated at times. The villains look ridiculous as opposed to intimidating, and I really don’t care for the Cyclone costume design (notably the striped leggings). There’s plenty of detail in the book, so much so that it’s overwhelming. I wonder if Eaglesham was rushed on this issue; the anatomy here isn’t as strong and consistent as we’ve seen from the artist before. The plotting here didn’t sit well with me. The series started off with the murder of a hero’s family, and I was OK with that. But the massacre at the Heywood picnic was just too much more of the same thing. Furthermore, Johns takes the evolution of Wildcat’s son in a direction that just doesn’t interest me. He follows the predictable path, one that takes away from the characterization potential in a more grounded, non-super-hero relationship. The heroes come off as completely ineffectual, and the big revelation as to who’s behind the legacy murders is actually uninteresting. This is just a story about an old enemy exacting revenge and little more. Given the strength of the first two issues will keep me reading, but this chapter was a disappointment. 4/10
Local #8 (Oni Press)
by Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly
It’s a pleasure to see this powerful series of character-driven stories return. This time, Megan — both the heroine and villain of her own story — finds herself in Wicker Park in Chicago, working as a waitress. Wood shows us the character has grown since we first met her, and she’s seeking out a sense of stability in her life. The question in this issue is the differing opinions about what stability actually is. Megan’s torn between two suitors, and each represents a polar opposite. One is a young co-worker, still living with stoner roommates and clinging to symbols of childhood. The other is a mature man whose life is orderly and clean. Obviously, one appears more stable than the other, and I was actually misled by where Wood where going. I thought this was going to be a story about growing up and striving for something more in life, but it turns out this is a basic love story. Forget money, mortgages and munchkins… none of it matters if there isn’t love, if there isn’t passion. Kelly’s art shows us perfectly how Megan is growing up, how she’s managed to find a measure of happiness and how she’s managed to actually acknowledge her feelings and overcome her fears. The detail in the backgrounds is amazing. I’ve been in that cluttered, four-bedroom apartment, the floor covered with garbage with dressers covered in plastic mementoes and scraps of unread paper. Everything about this issue brings real experiences and real people to life. It’s incredibly easy to see oneself in Megan’s world, even if it’s a version of oneself from the past. 10/10
OMAC #8 (DC Comics)
by Bruce Jones, Allan Goldman & J.J. Marreiro
Anything that allowed this limited series to stand out from other super-hero genre titles is completely lost in this finale, and I can’t imagine why DC would allow the book to go off the rails for the final issue. The most obvious different is that after seven issues, regular artist Renato Guedes is nowhere to be found, and the replacement art team boasts a conventional, exaggerated style that looks nothing like what has come before in this title. Allan Goldman’s pencilling style reminds me of some of Tom Derenick’s or Ron Lim’s work. There’s just an ordinary look at play that fails to capture the edgier side of the property. Speaking of which, Bruce Jones transforms his slightly sleazy heroes — a junkie and a stripper — into characters that suddenly talk as though they’re rehearsing for a bad soap opera. I have no problem with the notion of these characters redeeming themselves, but this isn’t redemption… it’s a metamorphosis. Jones also opts to kill off a strong female character for no clear reason other than to keep the number of OMAC characters down to one. On top of that, this story ultimately changes nothing about the status of Brother Eye, and there’s only so many times that readers will want to see it destroyed and resurrected. On top of that, Jones’s decision to include Superman in a story in which he clearly doesn’t belong strikes me as a poor plotting choice. 2/10
February 22nd, 2007 at 7:44 am
Who is on that Justice Society cover? Is it the Cyclone person you mentioned?
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 am
You’re right about Omac. I pick-up the first issues because of Guedes and now i’m trapped with Goldman (and it is a limited series and not an ongoing title…). On the other hand we have a very boring story that other writers (like Brubaker) can tell in half issue. I prefer “The OMAC project” which it had another -not artistic or writing- problem (see the DC fraud of “Sacrifice”, only Bankers steal you this way…). But Jones never was a good super-hero writer (except a couple of storylines of Hulk, who ended nowhere…). He seems like he doesn’t like the genre at all, and that is doing it only for the money. Maybe its better for us to write only horror stories and not destroy Nightwing or Deadman…
February 22nd, 2007 at 9:58 am
SPOILERS OF CIVIL WAR LIE HEREIN
SPOILERS BELOW
STILL SPOILERS
Yes, I’m going to be negative on Civil War. But I want to be clear that I entered into the whole series with a fairly upbeat attitude and felt like I’ve just watched a chain reaction car wreck going on.
The ending was an absolute let-down and cop-out. Captain America decides that leaving the US as a totalitarian state with restricted freedoms and with known mass-murderers keeping the law is a GOOD thing. He ignores his previous ‘fighting spirit’ of opposing those exact types of things in the past. He’s essentially letting Marvel America become the police state he fought against in his very creation.
Not only that, but he completely lets down everyone who has fought with him. He brought everyone into this, got them neck deep in trouble with the government and then quits. I’m wondering if there might be a scene five years down the road when he’s leading the Avengers again, makes a controversial decision and someone asks, “Are you sure this time? You’re not going to chicken out, are you?”
The dialogue really hit a low. The punchline for a full page splash was a reference to a 20 year old vice-presidential debate? That’ll grab the kids in. The Spider-Man adjective dialoge was equally poor. Nothing like breaking the fourth wall with an in-joke during the end-of-all-fights, slugout-for-freedom battle going on.
So, now we have our second or third major this-changes-things-for-all-times event in the Marvel universe. Can’t we just have a breather where writers can tell a story without tripping over the big event.
I’m not just taking a DC side in this…but at least at the end of the last big event they let writers jump things ahead and do what they wanted to an extent. For better or worse, the One Year Later titles weren’t hamstrung by being all tied together.
I was talking to a friend yesterday and came to a realization. There are some Marvel titles I love: Daredevil, Captain America, Iron Fist…and then I realized that it’s the Brubaker books I’m enjoying. I used to love the Bendis books, but he’s become so swept away in the NEXT BIG EVENT that there’s nothing left of the personal stories I enjoyed by him. Brubaker looks to be picking that up.
To me, Marvel comics were all about the smaller and personal moments of characters. They were about maintaining a life amongst the madness…now it seems to be eventeventevent without any of that breathing space and all of the other titles have to dance to that rhythm.
It’s strange, but by that definition I’d have to say the best new Marvel book in the last couple of years is DC’s Blue Beetle.
February 22nd, 2007 at 10:45 am
Justin wrote:
Who is on that Justice Society cover? Is it the Cyclone person you mentioned?
Yes, that’s Cyclone on the cover of JSA #3.
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:27 am
Cyclone’s striped leggings are a deliberate reference to the stockings worn by the Wicked Witch of the East (the ones that Dorothy sees sticking out from under her house). Yes, they’re garish–but they’re thematically appropriate for Maxine (who was trying to convince her drama group to stage Wicked in the first issue.
As for Hercules’ paraphrase of Lloyd Bentsen, well, it’s an Easter Egg for those of us who watched the Bentsen/Quayle debate. For those too young to have done so, it’s just a nicely turned bit of ass-kickery. (B/c, let’s face it, McNiven nailed Hercules crushing Clor–next to Cap surfing on the F-16, it’s the best panel in the series.)
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:22 pm
Since I was so overwhelmingly negative earlier, I did want to point out that I enjoyed some elements…although it is interesting to note that many appeared outside of the main mini-series. Some elements I liked:
The first couple of issues of Punisher: War Journal. Had Cap’s problems there been played up more in the main mini, his final decision would have made a bit more sense.
The Mad Thinker issue of FF. I thought it explained Reed’s motivations a lot better than the main mini.
Believe it or not, I find the end setting to be somewhat interesting…although I find it much more interesting in a contained universe like POWERS…where a nearly identical situation precipated a nearly identical end result. This has also worked fairly well, in less regimented fashion, in the Ultimate universe where the government has a pretty good cap and control over the powered folk.
Not to beat the horse, but for me, at least, the Bentsen line passed into trite a decade ago…seeing it now was cringeworthy.
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:50 pm
Rob wrote:
Cyclone’s striped leggings are a deliberate reference to the stockings worn by the Wicked Witch of the East (the ones that Dorothy sees sticking out from under her house). Yes, they’re garish–but they’re thematically appropriate for Maxine (who was trying to convince her drama group to stage Wicked in the first issue.
I agree the striped leggings are in keeping with the character, but that doesn’t change the reality that they look ridiculous.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:11 pm
It’s hard to beleive this is the same Mark Millar who did such great things with the Authority, Ultimate X-Men, Superman: Red Son, and the Ultimates. I have been reading his work for years and have never been disappointed by it until now.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Don, that’s true. But then again so are the costumes of Green Lantern and Wildcat. Bad costumes are sort of a Justice Society tradition.
February 22nd, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Chris wrote:
It’s hard to beleive this is the same Mark Millar who did such great things with the Authority, Ultimate X-Men, Superman: Red Son, and the Ultimates.
To be fair, I think Civil War and The Ultimates boast similar tones.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Rob wrote:
But then again so are the costumes of Green Lantern and Wildcat. Bad costumes are sort of a Justice Society tradition.
The difference is that the original GL and Wildcat designs are a product of a radically different time.
February 22nd, 2007 at 6:46 pm
The thing I enjoyed about Civil War is that it gave us real change, and not merely the illusion of change — which is mostly what we got in House of M (other than arguably the “no more mutants” thing), Infinite Crisis, and pretty much every other crossover. Marvel created a new status quo for Stark and SHIELD, outed Spidey and made him an underdog again, and created a bunch of new characters. It has also created a new “establishment” for Marvel heroes, with Stark, Pym, and Richards as the vanguard of a new movement that’s about more than just stopping the threat of the week.
I certainly think that you argue that the execution could have been better. Some of the events seemed stapled together and could’ve used some more exposition. But the idea that Stark was right, that the people would support Stark, it seems to me to be a natural evolution of the Marvel universe. It’s where the story of 616 HAD to go, if it was ever going to evolve.
After all, we live in a world where legislaters want to regulate fat in foods, tell us we can’t listen to our iPods when we cross the street, and that our kids can’t read certain books in school. It’s only logical to think that they’d want to regulate guys who have the power of a million exploding suns or whatever. It’s also in character for Tony to get out in front of that and to think that the ends justifies the means.
February 22nd, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Lou wrote:
The thing I enjoyed about Civil War is that it gave us real change, and not merely the illusion of change — which is mostly what we got in House of M (other than arguably the “no more mutants” thing), Infinite Crisis, and pretty much every other crossover.
While Infinite Crisis was flawed in later issues, I do think it had a goal and brought about change, but it was metatextual change. Overall, super-hero storytelling at DC has become lighter in general since Infinite Crisis.
You make a good point about an overabundance of legislation in Western society today (especially about the iPod thing), but with super-heroes, don’t we want these characters, these symbols of what’s right, to represent a better ideal?
February 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
I’m not convinced that DC has undergone that metatextual change, although there are certainly some signs that is the case. This week’s Brave and the Bold is a great example of that, as are books like JSA, but a lot of their recent stuff has been dark, including parts of 52, Bruce Jones’ horrible Nightwing, and Winnick’s Outsiders. Checkmate, which I think is great, could hardly be considered light.
As far as “representing a better ideal”, I’m not exactly sure what you mean. Stark and the SHRA are rejecting (or at least is an attempt to reject) vigilantism and the unintended consequences of that vigilantism. The registered heroes can still stand for truth, justice, and all that (as Perry White said in the greatest disappointment of my summer), but now there’s a system of laws that regulates their behavior. The best cops, firefighters, even teachers represent a better ideal, but they all have to be licensed by the state to do what they do. I’m a lawyer and I have to be licensed and “registered” in a sense.
I’d love to live in a world where we needed only a few laws, everybody made the right decision, and good people couldn’t do bad things. But that’s not realistic. So I think it’s a natural evolution for the Marvel U, because it is the only logical approach.
Whether good stories arise from this development and whether we want this much realism in a superhero universe are separate issues. But I can say this — for the first time in about 10 years, I’m going to pick up an Iron Man comic to see what happens.
February 22nd, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Lou wrote:
I’m not convinced that DC has undergone that metatextual change, although there are certainly some signs that is the case. This week’s Brave and the Bold is a great example of that, as are books like JSA, but a lot of their recent stuff has been dark, including parts of 52, Bruce Jones’ horrible Nightwing, and Winnick’s Outsiders. Checkmate, which I think is great, could hardly be considered light.
Agreed, but if you look at DC’s core super-hero titles — Superman, Action, Batman, Detective, Justice League of America and more — the lighter, old-school approach is in place.
February 23rd, 2007 at 1:23 am
While I had hoped Bruce Jones’s Hulk run was the exception rather than the rule with his work, it makes me sad to see him doing the same caliber of work for DC as he did for Marvel. Some exclusive…
February 23rd, 2007 at 9:16 am
Civil War made me physically ill. I get the new status quo, but when Cap is brought low like this and the world turns into a darkened version of the reality I see everyday, why buy Marvel as an escape?
I wanted to throw up after I finished. I am so glad I did not read this issue last in my stack of comics.
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:25 am
Brian wrote:
While I had hoped Bruce Jones’s Hulk run was the exception rather than the rule with his work, it makes me sad to see him doing the same caliber of work for DC as he did for Marvel.
Oh, I don’t think it’s fair to completely dismiss all of Jones’s writing. He has a habit of starting off strong, but his endings — such as on Hulk and OMAC — leave something to be desired.
February 23rd, 2007 at 10:26 am
Palladin wrote:
Civil War made me physically ill.
Take two Miraclo and call me in the morning.
February 23rd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Thankfully, Brave & the Bold was just enough to help.
I just see the end of reading stories about characters I loved. It is like a death. Reminds me about how I felt when Red Foxx died. I grew up watching him on Sandford and Son, and his passing was a moment when a comforting element of my life was gone. Knowing he had died bothered me even though I never knew the man. Feel the same, bothered by the end of the ideals that used to be the core of Marvel stories.
Iron Man is teh new Cap, that makes me sad.
February 23rd, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Based on what I’ve been reading I’m glad I didn’t buy Civil War. I read the first four issues but just didn’t feel like shelling out anymore money for it based on the lackluster writing and lateness of the book. Artwise it’s stunning but it’s just another big event that didn’t live up to it’s potential. I’m looking forward to World War Hulk though.
February 23rd, 2007 at 4:59 pm
Marvel should be ashamed. Cap quits out of guilt? After commiting to having this “War” for freedom, he quits out of shame. What a cop out. He had to expect some collateral damage from this “War,” how could he surrender for so little, and now he sacrifices everything he was fighting for. Crap.
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:21 pm
Captain America’s motivation to give up was limp.
What’s the lesson learned? Fall in line to avoid upheaval?
It’d be one thing if he lost but he didn’t. He quit when a bunch of people willing to sell out a lil freedom for a lil more safety called him a bad man.
I thought Civil War was going to challenge the post 9/11 mentality of blind allegiances to the flag. Instead it reinforces those ideas and cuts down the opposing opinion at the knees.
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
>Oh, I don’t think it’s fair to completely dismiss all of Jones’s writing. He has a habit of starting off strong, but his endings — such as on Hulk and OMAC — leave something to be desired.
February 24th, 2007 at 2:34 am
Agreed, but if you look at DC’s core super-hero titles — Superman, Action, Batman, Detective, Justice League of America and more — the lighter, old-school approach is in place.
That’d be the Detective Comics where Paul Dini had the Joker drive a helpless Robin around the city for an entire issue while he killed random people?
I don’t know that anything at DC is really “old school” at this point. There are just some books that are taking the darker tone and making it less egregious and others. Realism is in at both companies, and outside of non-continuity books like Smith’s Shazam or Jeff Parker’s X-Men First Class, fun and light really need not apply.
February 24th, 2007 at 9:53 am
Randy wrote:
That’d be the Detective Comics where Paul Dini had the Joker drive a helpless Robin around the city for an entire issue while he killed random people?
Yep. The Joker’s been a madman and serial killer since the 1970s. That issue was a little different in the overall context of Dini’s run, mind you, but generally, the short mysteries Dini’s been writing for that book are in keeping with a 1970s/’80s take on the Batman.
February 24th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
I can’t wait to see the goofy excuses for superheroes Marvel comes up with for teams to put in all 50 states: “Let’s see… Oklahoma. What do we know about Oklahoma? Well, they call it the ‘Sooner State,’ so we could do some sort of super-speed pun with that. … And isn’t the state bird the Scissor-Tail Flycatcher? Oh yeah! Pure potential!…”
February 24th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Palladin wrote:
Civil War made me physically ill. I get the new status quo, but when Cap is brought low like this and the world turns into a darkened version of the reality I see everyday, why buy Marvel as an escape?
See, that right there is a pretty important signifier. I suspect many of those complaining about the end of this series (and the lasting consequences of said end) view reading comics as an “escape”.
I, on the other hand, LOVE to see interesting, challenging moral questions raised and explored in my “escapist” entertainment. The more challenging the better… preferably with no clear-cut black and white answers offered (or even possible).
But that’s just me…
February 25th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Haunt,
I also love to see good and justice win the day. I read and watch stuff with gritty realism, but at the end of a story, I want more than an “eh” that’s life ending or some such drivvle.
DC has a Vertigo Line. They also have a Heroes line. Some time ago they mistakenly put Fallen Angel in the heroes line and it should have been Vertigo. Now I still read it, but when it comes to Spider-Man and Captain America. They better be larger than life and fight for the truth and the light at every turn. Do not change characteristics just because you have a “cool” story idea.
I just spent the weekend fasting with six youth to raise money for WorldVision. We watched how for 20 years the country of Uganda has had this rebel leader that kidnaps kids and turns they into soliders through torture, rapes the girls, sends them out to trip landmines. Add to this the fact we raised money to fight against stravation. I get the harsh realities of life. I get the dispair of the world that overwhelms sometimes.
Is it too much to ask that Captain Freakin’ America stand up for civil liberties and human atrocities? If the outcome where the villains are the victors is for you, you are welcome to it.
I read to see how it would change the MU. I am done. World War Hulk was tailor made for a once fan like me. But I have limited cash and DC is making a better product in my opinion.
February 25th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Writing aside, I don’t get why the OMAC series was even made. It was an 8 issue contained run that reset everything back to there being no OMAC’s and Brother Eye being “destroyed but not really.” What was the point? To test the waters for an OMAC ongoing?
February 25th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Dave, I think the OMAC mini-series was published for a simple reason: to make money. The OMAC Project was a sales success for DC; it makes sense that it would seek to capitalize on it.
Re: Civil War #7. As he often does, critic Paul O’Brien says it best in his assessment of why the finale — and the series as a whole — doesn’t work from a creative standpoint. Check out his review: http://www.thexaxis.com/misc/civilwar7.htm
February 27th, 2007 at 12:54 am
Civil War #7 was definitely…lacking. I don’t know what it was exactly, but there’s something missing. It’s like: Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight…oh snap, what am I doing? I give up. Even though I’m the spirit of America, I now realize that America should be a totalitarian state and the safety of the few far outweighs freedom and liberty.
Ummm pardon me?
I’ve read a ton of interviews with creators from Mark Millar to Joss Whedon, and it just feels like what they were trying to convey, and what was conveyed were two different things.
Then again, maybe I’m just too dense?
February 27th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
The main title wasn’t that great, but in conjunction with the side titles this series rocked. I even liked the ending because it wasn’t that “Whanm Bam, Thank You Maam” ending… this was as much a ideological fight than a physical one. Cap, for the first time in his life realized that his style and ideological was no longer relavant in the post-9/11 era. Cap lost long before he even jumped out of the helicarrier.
At the same time, Tony and crew effectiviely dismantled the hero community. Now, all “heroes” are government sanctioned. The real question now is, how will Tony handle being literally the most powerful man on Earth? He literally controls the most powerful army and arsenal in the world? What happens when he or the administration decides that some foriegn government is apart of the “Axis of evil”? Is Wakanda on the chopping block?
A good segway into the new era of Marvel comics.
Bring it on.
March 1st, 2007 at 10:35 am
The ideals of Cap is not past its time in the post 9/11 world. Just because superficial feelings are the most seen in the world does not mean the ideals of freedom and liberty are gone. One day the overbearing handling of our world will swing the other way and the persons that Cap was modelled upon will have a new generation to defend the ideals that are trampled upon presently.
March 1st, 2007 at 11:48 am
I’m still feeling rather ‘blah’ about the series after Frontline #11.
There’s one famous quote that has really resonated for me in recent years: “He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.” It’s really bothered me in the post-2001 era that we seem to be too willing to give up civil liberties and freedoms in order to be safe. It’s sort of an ends-justifies-the-means status.
Which is pretty much exactly where Civil War has left the Marvel Universe.
In this case we have Iron Man’s side toeing that line, although with the coda that if THEY didn’t participate it would have been much worse. That’s pretty much an echo of Quisling.
We have Captain America eventually surrendering to that in the series. I’ll be honest, the outcome came down to “People are in danger and don’t want freedom. I give up.”
Even the crusading reporters give in to exactly the same feelings.
To be honest, I’m seriously hoping that the end of Civil War was just the midpoint of the story. I’m hoping that the next part has the collective mindset of the Marvel Universe realizing what they’ve given up.
I’m not holding my breath…just hoping.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Eric wrote:
I’m still feeling rather ‘blah’ about the series after Frontline #11.
[snip]
Even the crusading reporters give in to exactly the same feelings.
I gave up on Civil War: Frontline after a few issues, and I was surprised that I didn’t really dig the series. It’s about journalists’ perspective of the conflict, and as a journalist, I usually enjoy stories about the profession. But the first few issues of the series didn’t seem to offer anything new about the premise. I thought the Speedball backup was interesting, but like the Azzarello/Chiang backup Dr. 13 feature in Tales of the Unexpected, it wasn’t enough to get me to plunk down my cash for every issue.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:24 pm
If I had to guess, Millar had the “bad guys” win because he entertains some grandiose notion of the readership realizing, “Oh my GOD…this is just how BUSH has crushed our civil liberties!” – another echo of his ending to Wanted , his “post 9/11 America = The Third Reich” Wolverine story, and his storyline in Marvel Knights Spider-Man that revealed Marvel’s supervillains were secretly bankrolled by corrupt corporations to keep superheroes from going after The Real Bad Guys.
Ugh.
God knows I’m closer to his camp than Bush’s, but I outright despise how he’s drenched his superhero comics in such a level of cynicism and barely-veiled contempt for America while at the same time making claims that he’s really just an “old school” guy. I’m sure he imagines the readership being lured in by the punch-’em-up stuff, coming to their senses when his oh-so-subtle allegories sink in, then rising up en masse to overthrow and behead El Presidente.
That Millar made Stark somewhat sympathetic is just another example of his love/hate relationship with America (Ultimate Cap being his most obvious response – sometimes characterized as noble and sentimental, other times as a “kiss my ass!” thug).