Wednesday, August 28, 2024

Archie: The Decision Review

 Imagine, if you will, a world free from entropy. A world where everything is and will always be. Where no one ages, no one dies, no one decays or collapses into dust. Imagine a world where summer never ends. Where time moves, but the people stay the same. There are many words for such a place. Heaven, Hell, Springfield. But perhaps the most fitting name for this place is Eternity. But as with all things, there is a snake in the garden. A temptation to abandon Eternity that recurs time and time again.

It might be best to begin with a brief description of that pillar. There are three figures within the shape of Eternity that guide it forwards: Archie Andrews, the all American lad with a clueless disposition and a tendency to get into messes; Betty Cooper, a girl next door type who is always there to help her friends; and Veronica Lodge, a wealthy young girl who always knows the best fashions, the best cars, and the best games. The two girls share a friendship that is time and time again tested by their mutual love for the boy. Be they rivals, unrequited, or otherwise, their relationship is tantamount. An attempt to provide a definitive decision regarding the relationship would have grave and cosmic consequences.


And so we return and begin again. One can begin a look at Eternity at any point in time. It is, after all, Eternal in nature. One can begin in 1942, when things began to take shape. One could begin a year earlier, when two of the three main players walked onto the stage. One is tempted to begin in 1973, when God indirectly and perhaps unintentionally made His decision. Though that temptation has some… complications regarding theology that are perhaps outside the scope of this article. That, and 1973 was just… the worst time to be an Archie reader. Hell, the 70s were a bad time in general for cartoons like Archie and the gang. With the exception of the 1970 Josie and the Pussycats album (which wasn’t even Archie Comics so much as Capitol Records fighting tooth and nail against Hanna-Barbera’s decision to make Josie and the Pussycats an all-white band), there was nothing of value to be found. Compare Dan DeCarlo drawing an unhinged Betty and Veronica out to break every bone in the Devil’s body to Stan Goldberg drawing Josie as possessed, and you can feel the difference in terms of craft and skill. Don’t get me started on what those Josie and the Pussycats comics do to Melody for no reason other than to be vindictive. Like, in that Josie story I mention, the possessed Josie nearly scratches Melody’s face off, a recurring pattern of violence and cruelty aimed specifically at Melody. And that’s not even getting into how abysmal the captions game is on that issue. And don’t get me started with the fact that they solve the problem of Josie being possessed by shoving the bible onto her chest, resulting in the ghost’s corpse exploding for seemingly no reason related to the actions of our characters like it’s one of those half-baked Chick Tracts and it’s somehow less than Jack Chick’s comi--


…Apologies, I forgot myself in the sheer scope of Eternity. There are many rabbit holes one can easily fall into, each one with its own virtues and horrors. They overlap, cross over, and create an orchestra whose melody is at once simple, convoluted, and not devoid of merit. Perhaps it is best to begin with a demonstration of the strength of the central pillar of Eternity.


It's 1962. Archie Andrews is suddenly head over heels for Veronica Lodge, much to the chagrin of Betty Cooper, whom he was on a date with before rudely ditching her. She would do anything to win the heart of her love. Which is just what the Devil wants to hear. He approaches, fire surrounding his being like an angel’s wings, with an offer to grant Betty wish in exchange for payment to be delivered… later. Betty accepts, and Archie is immediately smitten with her. But Veronica is none too pleased about this development, as she makes clear to her own wish granter, the Devil himself. The two girls realize what’s happening and confront the two timing infernal being, the Devil opting to flee. Such is the nature of Eternity. One cannot simply disrupt it completely with external energies. It must come from within. It would be a long time before an attempt was made.

It’s 1994. Archie is feeling lovestruck, but not towards Betty or Veronica. This incenses the pair to uncover who this mysterious woman is. At each step of their investigation, Archie is deliberately making things harder to uncover. He asks his dad to give him an excuse to be out of the room. Reggie Mantle likewise takes this opportunity to mess with the girls, have them think the other sent the love letter to Archie. Their friendship breaks as a result of this tomfoolery and roughish nastiness. Ultimately, their relationship is mended when the true source of Archie’s affection, the girl Archie has chosen to spend the rest of his life with, is revealed: Cheryl Blossom. He grew tired of the girls fighting over him and wanted something new. Eternity shudders at the revelation. 

It’s still 1994. Archie is in love with Cheryl Blossom, much to the dismay of Betty and Veronica. Together, alongside Ethel Muggs and Midge Klump, they decide to break the pair up. In an attempt to spy on the girl, Ethel ends up convincing her to transfer to Riverdale High. Their attempt at making Archie jealous is more successful. His pettiness ultimately drives Cheryl away. Just as Archie is about to confess his feelings to Betty, a girl named Savannah Smythe pops up and the cycle begins again. For eternity cannot run on stasis. By definition, it must have some form of movement, even if it remains the same. 

It’s 2003. It might be the 1950s. A young man sometimes called Archie Andrews has stepped out of Eternity and is working as a comics writer for one of the major companies, EC Comics. It might be more accurate to say that the man was cast out from Eternity rather than stepped out, as he is not allowed to use his own name. There are many reasons for this, most notably the fact that he witnesses quite a few murders committed by his lover. Then there’s the fact that his lover is sometimes referred to as Dilton Doiley. Eternity is solid and rejects modernity until it is forced upon it. It cannot change, become something new. The structure must remain intact. To reject Eternity, to change, to grow up is to embrace entropy, embrace death. 

It’s 2004. Betty and Veronica are walking in the snow, wishing things would get more exciting. Eternity of the same thing, day in/day out can be rather dull after a few decades of being teenagers. Fortunately, excitement comes in the form of a movie production coming to Riverdale. A teen romance that is very suspiciously familiar to Betty and Veronica. That is to say the serial numbers have been barely scrubbed over. Indeed, the events of the film sound an awful lot like what occurred last year, in 1994, when Cheryl Blossom ended up in a relationship with Archie. Mainly because Cheryl, being a glory hound, sold the life rights to movie producers. Apparently, they got Dawson’s Creek’s Michelle Williams to play Cheryl, having somehow convinced her not to do Brokeback Mountain. Attempts to disrupt the filming only serve to influence it. Except, it’s all a ruse. Turns out, the film production is a cover for a reality show based on the antics of the people of Riverdale. Once discovered, the plan’s kaput. Normalcy returns to Riverdale, but at a cost. Cheryl Blossom is now a part of Eternity. 

It’s 2009. Archie and the gang are preparing for graduation. Archie Andrews is in a contemplative mood. He approaches Memory Lane with the desire to walk up it, to imagine where his future will take him. He finds himself in a future where, on the cusp of graduating college, he chooses to marry Veronica. Archie ends up working at Lodge Enterprises as an executive. They are quite happy with one another, though Archie is frequently very tired from work. They end up having twins. Betty is happy, in-between jobs. But she’s content with losing the love of her life to her best friend. 

It’s still 2009. Archie and the gang are preparing for graduation. Archie Andrews is in a contemplative mood. He approaches Memory Lane with the desire to walk up it, to imagine where his future will take him. He finds himself in a future where, on the cusp of graduating college, he chooses to marry Betty. As they live on, Archie struggles to find work in an ever changing gig economy. Fortunately, Betty ends up getting a high paying job on Wall Street. But the environment turns out to be… less than pleasant, leading Betty to quit out of principle. Archie and Betty instead start teaching at their old High School. They end up having twins. Veronica is happy, ends up marrying Reggie. But she’s content with losing the love of her life to her best friend.

And so, Eternity splits into two possibilities. The full contours of its shape weave back and forth within and without one another. This is not an unprecedented occurrence. Indeed, the fracturing of things is common in the shape of Eternity. William Blake, famous for painting Eternity, was known to contradict several times over. Indeed, this vision of Eternity has so many instances of fracturing Eternity with the concept of “Negative Continuity,” which rejects the Single Vision of Canon. But what makes this instance notable is its embrace of Canon, a religious concept created by the theologian Ronald Knox in rebuke to the dogmatic nature of his fellows. Eternity cannot survive stasis any more than it can survive entropy. To survive, Eternity must allow fluidity, must allow divergence. Perhaps someday, some hapless sap will engage in the vast intricacies of this divergence. Of Dilton Doiley, who lives in both visions of Eternity. Of what happened to Reggie, Moose, Midge, Jughead and the rest of the Riverdale gang in these diverging visions of Eternity. But not here. The preamble is well past 5,000 words before we even get to the sodding comic. We can leave it as read that Archie and his love (whoever she may be) live happily… until the price of leaving Eternity rears its ugly head.

It's 2011. Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips, inspired by Eternity, choose to return to the world of Criminal after the minor success of The Sinners miniseries. Their story explores the exploits and cruelties of a small town in America, with specific focus on the life of one average man who was in love with two women as a teenager, one a rich and powerful scion of a major corporation, the other a simple girl next door type. The man chose the former. Now, years later, the man finds himself regretting his choice, his wife cheats on him, his debts keep rising, and his mind keeps wandering back to those old carefree days of youth. To resolve this, he kills his wife, frames some jerk no one likes, and kills his best friend. He lives happily ever after with the girl next door. He has returned to Eternity and acts as if nothing has changed. This is the last miniseries from the Criminal universe. The book goes dormant for a few years before a graphic novel and a brief ongoing bring it back. It has yet to return. The universe is cruel to those who tamper with Eternity.

It’s 2012. Archie and the gang are watching Josie and the Pussycats perform live. Veronica can’t help but notice Archie has his eyes set on Valerie Smith, the lead singer and bass player, making her and Betty jealous. They soon move on to Valerie’s brother, Trevor Smith, having noticed Archie’s eyes set for the Pussycat. As their relationship blossoms, Valerie travels up Memory Lane and finds herself in a future where she marries Archie. After years of touring splits them up, the pair decide to spend a few weeks teaching music to gifted kids. The experience leads them to quit their respective bands to start a music school. They end up having a daughter. Betty and Veronica are happy, Betty marries Trevor and Veronica joins the Pussycats. But they’re content with losing the love of their life to another girl. Archie and Valerie’s relationship sours on account of the paparazzi makes things difficult for their little girl.

It’s still 2012. Archie is marrying Cheryl Blossom. Their relationship is more of a tabloid fixture than a genuine romance, such that their divorce and reconciliation ends up being planned in advance. Archie feels henpecked and lesser. It is often understood that he was always this way. A hapless schlub who couldn’t make a simple decision. Heads or Tails? A or B? Betty or Veronica? Alas, he has doomed himself, as perhaps would have always been his fate had he made that fateful decision so very long, long ago… in 1994.

It’s still 2012. Archie is married to Sabrina Spellman. Her aunts disprove of their love, claiming a relationship between a witch and a mortal is wrong. In response, they strip Sabrina of her magic powers. It is unclear where their relationship will go from here, the universe is often unfair like this to lovers, especially when magic is involved. Magic, more often than not, allies itself with Eternity. For they are created from the same cloth. They abhor mailability and contradiction. They demand stasis and stability. What is eternity if not Newtons Sleep?

It’s still 2012. Archie is married to Josie McCoy of the Pussycats. But there is a storm in paradise. Archie is still in love with Valerie. The gosh darn love triangles are beginning to ruin everything again. But then, would it not be Eternity without them? Are they not the core of the engines of Eternity? A yearning that will never be resolved, capable of fueling endless stories and possibilities. Is this cage not the lifeblood of Eternity? Are we not baring witness to the struggles of mankind being repeated over and over again, never seeing resolution. Always wanting, but never getting. Is Hell not a coffee shop AU?

It’s still 2012. Archie is being held by Ginger Lopez. Not much is truly known about her. By all accounts of Eternity, she was designed to replace the more volatile Cheryll Blossom, more palatable in her ambitions than the red headed femme fatale. Less likely to go skinny dipping on a public beach. And yet, her presence has grown into something of an anomaly. In some tellings, she is an affluent teen editor for a New York fashion magazine. In others, she’s a typical high school bully. Others still tell of her as a persona to help a young man understand his own queerness. The full shape of her remains to this day illusive. Perhaps that is the appeal of Eternity: its malleability allows for anything and everything to happen. The pillars remain the same, but what surrounds it can alter and shift effortlessly. Even the minute details of pillars can change.

It’s still 2012. Archie is kissing Midge. The life of Midge Klump is complicated within the realm of Eternity. In many regards, she is Archie Andrews’ reflection. A woman who is the source of affection by two men. One a well-meaning jerk whose brute strength and anger often get the better of him. The other, a massive jerk who can’t resist making a one liner that he must know will end in his suffering. Eternity has a tendency of recuring within itself like Koch’s Snowflake or a Sierpiński triangle. In this recursion, there’s an air of sexuality lacking in our loveable redhead. One with some rather distressing implications for the teen girl.

It’s still 2012. Archie is holding Ethel. In some regards, the life of Ethel Muggs can be read as a cruel, at times downright meanspirited joke being told by Eternity. A lovestruck fool who is too ugly and dorky to realize she shouldn’t be chasing after boys, especially boys who care more for Hamburgers than for women. “Big Ethel,” she’s sometimes called with the derisive cruelty teenagers are known for. There are times when Eternity takes pity on Ethel. Though sadly, not as often as it should. It was born in 1941. The idea of beauty was cruel. Still is, I suppose. 

It’s still 2012. Outside of Eternity, Chris Sims commissions artist Kerry Callen to create a fake cover for Comics Alliance as part of their series of comics that never happened. In this fake comic cover, Betty and Veronica decide to drop the silly ginger and marry each other. It threatens the typical hijinks of an Archie Comic where the titular character is stuck in a relationship with the contemptable, yet compelling, Cheryl Blossom, Hiram Lodge must deal with the possibility that his daughter has a thing for middle class nicety, and Jughead marries his hamburger. This is the world Eternity fears will arise should it collapse. One of absolute anarchy and woe. All because Archie couldn’t make a simple decision. Heads or Tails? A or B? Betty or Veronica?

It's 2014. We reflect on the life of a married Archie Andrews. Throughout his life, Archie has been going to Pop’s, a restaurant known for its burgers and milkshakes. He has been going there since he was a child, always returning to that little slice of Eternity, even after wedding bells tolled in the autumn sky. He is graying now, as all who live outside of Eternity do. But he still makes time for his kids, for his love, for his friends. One such friend is Keven Keller, a Senator who wishes to support victims of a recent shooting at the Southport Mall with a fundraiser. Everyone Archie has met is at Pops, now owned by its number one customer, Jughead Jones. With so many familiar faces, it’s as if Archie’s life is flashing before his eyes. It’s hard to image that it’s been twenty years since Archie made a simple decision. Heads or Tails? A or B? Betty or Veronica? But the shooter was also there. It is fortunate that he was only able to fire once, aiming at Senator Keller. But the bullet does not make it to its intended target. Instead, Archie Andrews is shot in the chest. He doesn’t live long. His final words are spoken to Betty and Veronica: “…I’ve always loved you…” It remains to this day unclear who he was talking to. He dies in the arms of Jughead Jones. Such is the price of leaving Eternity. Eventually, the reaper claims us all. So it goes.

It's 2015. The zombie apocalypse has been brought about by a selfish teen hitting a dog with his car out of spite. The last survivors of an Eternal Riverdale find themselves adrift in a world hostile to their existence. One of their own has been murdered. They must remain together or die alone. Archie is having a conversation with the ghost of Jughead about the life he has lived up to this moment. About the loves he’s been stringing along. He talks to his mother about the cruel secret at the heart of Riverdale and its once eternal status. The magic used to keep it so. The price for having magic as an ally. Eternal does not simply mean forever, but forever what was. A status quo that will never die, no matter how it spits in the eyes of justice. But the world has ended and the eternal teenagers are forced to grow up. Archie must make a decision. Heads or Tails? A or B? Betty or Veronica? He chooses the former. The consequences of this act will be forever lost to time. So it goes.

It's still 2015. For some reason, sharks are now in tornados. Apparently, Archie ends up with Cheryl Blossom. I don’t even…


It’s 2018. Or maybe it’s 1941. There’s a war going on all around the world. Pearl Harbor has recently been attacked. Many men are being drafted into service for the sequel to the war that ended all war. Among the men to volunteer, naturally, is Archie Andrews, the all American boy. Before he left, he chose to be with his sweetheart, Betty Cooper. But as with so many wars, not everyone made it back. Archie almost didn’t. But eternity always welcomes back the All American boy. It has an investment in the American project, after all. Its investment does not extend to crafty tricksters like Reggie Mantle, Jewish boys like Harold Cohen, or minor figures like Susan Miller, Joseph Flynn, or Michael Brown. They are not the best of Eternity. They do not get to be saved by the God in the Machine. They are just people. Ordinary, wonderful people, but people nonetheless.

It’s 2019. Archie Andrews has made a deal with the devil in defiance of Eternity. The specifics of this deal are unknown, as this information was gleamed from the subtext of Betty seeing Archie and Veronica share an intimate moment. But a satanic conspiracy is brewing under the surface of Riverdale. One whose implications are deadly and center themselves around the Blossom triplets. It is unclear what happens as a result of this conspiracy, though I have my suspicions. 

It’s still 2019. Riverdale was invaded by a singular alien, which resulted in everyone except for Betty and Veronica to die in increasingly gruesome and horrific ways. In order to undo this, Betty, Veronica, and the alien they… coerced into being their boy toy travel up Memory Lane so they might change the past. But Memory Lane leads only to a different Riverdale where everyone is hot, young, and modern. Aliens invade and kill almost everyone (they’re all brought back by the devil) and Betty and Veronica cope with their irrelevance by falling in love and moving to New York City, finally growing up and becoming real people. They honestly don’t miss being eternal teenagers. They’re genuinely happy for the next generation. That is, after all, the whole point of growing up: letting those who come next grow into themselves while providing a helping hand.

It's still 2019. Or maybe it’s 1955. The Archies are a hit band making their way further and further up the charts. There’s no time for romance when fears of irrelevancy are always looming. Sure, Archie’s in a relationship with Veronica, but there’s no spark to the romance. None that was there in the courting. None that was there outside of the fame and popularity. Some days, it feels like he’s selling his soul to the Devil. Especially when he’s alone. It is simple to surmise Eternity around Archie Andrews. But as with most simple things, it is the furthest from the truth. The truth is that Eternity is the people you meet along the way. It’s Betty and Veronica and Reggie and Jughead and Moose and Midge and Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch and that Wilkins kid and so many other people that make up a life. Eternity isn’t a solo, it’s an ensemble. More than just one person, it needs people. Ordinary, wonderful people, but people nonetheless. However, in 1955, Archie sold his soul to the devil in exchange for Fame and glory, rejecting people in favor of being the solo hero. The All American Boy. But he found no happiness in being just another commodity to be bought and sold and bought again. So when the contract expired, he escaped. And alongside him was his one true love, Veronica Lodge, both driving off. It is unknown whatever happened to Archie Andrews in 1955. Did he die? Did he fade away? Did he become someone new? Perhaps the unanswered questions are the best ones to find.

It's 2021. After several life changing events in Riverdale, including the Blossom’s biological father holding prom hostage, a car crash resulting in Betty almost dying, and Jughead coming out as asexual, things are returning to a new status quo. The students are returning home from summer vacation, and Archie has a secret. The secret becomes more and more apparent as Archie ignores the various romantic interests he’s had over the years, notably Josie, Cheryl, Betty (whom he tried going out with, but it didn’t pan out), and Veronica (who broke up with Archie so he could be with Betty). Instead, his heart is taken by a magical girl named Sabrina. He ends up bungling it up because he’s not into magic.

It’s 2023. A newer interpretation of Eternity where everyone is hot, young, and modern is coming to an end. One that flips the script of what is known, altering the shape into being something akin to Twin Peaks by way of Dawson’s Creek. A Stranger Things for people who lack patience for the fetishism of an 80s that never was. There have been many romances for Archie and the gang (including, most controversially, Jughead/Betty). The ultimate conclusion of this Eternity, which itself rejected an eternal nature in favor of a more finite one, had Archie end up with Betty, Veronica, and Jughead. It doesn’t last forever, of course. As the kids grew up, they went their separate ways. Veronica became a producer in Hollywood, Archie became a construction worker and amateur writer, Jughead moved to New York to publish Jughead’s Madhouse Magazine, as did Betty, who published the influential and feminist She Says Magazine, both to a high degree of influence. In truth, there is really only one ending a world outside of Eternity can offer. One way this story goes. They all lived happily ever after. And then, they died. So it goes.
 

It's 2024. We are once again stepping outside of Eternity. Archie is marrying Surbhi, after years of being a complete hot mess due to messing up basically every single one of his relationships. His inability to make a simple decision (Heads or Tails? A or B? Betty or Veronica?) led to his ruin. But ruins can be built upon. Things fall apart outside of Eternity, but the dirt of entropy allows things to grow. Betty became a doctor, Veronica went into the family business, and Ethel became a well-respected author and found a love of her own. Everyone grew up in ways that ultimately allowed them to complement who they wanted to be. Even Archie, who joined the Pussycats on tour and made his music career work out, grew up. Life moves on when outside of Eternity. Even our most humble of supporting characters can grow into stars in their own right.

It's still 2024. The demons of Hell are rising up to devour the human world. They have possessed so many of Archie’s friends with the intent of bringing death and dismay to the world. To have a fighting chance, Archie makes a deal with Madame Satan for power. Power comes in the form of a demonic presence by the name of Alistair. Lots of people die, culminating in Archie submitting to the demon’s power so that he might kill the demonic Betty and Veronica. Archie kills Jughead because Alistair has completely overwhelmed him. The demon ends up with Madame Satan. It is perhaps best to remember that Eternity is not necessarily a cage. Or, perhaps more aptly, those who wish to destroy Eternity are not necessarily doing it with liberation for all in mind. Some simply want their own singular vision of Eternity to replace it.
 

It's still 2024. And once again we return to this. Tom King and Dan Parent are working on an Archie comic where it will be decided once and for all if Archie will choose Betty or Veronica. It’s been thirty years since Archie first made a decision in this regard. Or has it been only three? Or is this the first time such things have occurred. The shape of Eternity is vast and ever expanding, constraining, and evolving. Its true shape will never be seen. Only the general outline of the thing can be understood. And even then, with our fleeting existence, only the footprint it leaves behind. 

But in any event, the second most interesting thing about The Decision is that Dan Parent is involved as an artist, but not as the writer. Out of all the figures involved with “What if Archie finally made a choice,” Parent is perhaps the most consistent. He was the architect behind the first Archie event comic,1994’s Love Showdown, wherein Archie finally makes a decision regarding his love life. He also wrote and drew its sequel, Love Showdown II, in 2004. In 2012, he did the follow-up to the “Archie Marries Veronica/Betty” arc, “Archie Marries Valerie.” And he did art for the inexplicable Sharknado crossover in 2015, where Archie is even more inexplicably paired up with Cheryl Blossom. So the author of the original Archie Makes a Decision story comes back thirty years later to do another Archie Makes a Decision story, only to not write it.

 

The move might be related to the most interesting part of this comic, writer Tom King (not to be confused with the author of The Operator, which appeared in the 2001 live action film adaptation of Josie and the Pussycats). This wouldn’t be the first time a comics person from the wider world of comics would take on the redhead. Indeed, Alex de Campi, Cullen Bunn, and Tom DeFalco each did their own spin on “What if Archie Made a Decision” stories, albeit in more Elseworlds fare (de Campi and Bunn especially). Indeed, Nick Spencer, when he took over the main Direct Market Archie comic from Mark Waid had the kid in a relationship with Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

 

King, however, is doing this in the space of more traditional Archie fare rather than other creators have opted. Which is rather surprising to a lot of comics fans. In the comics landscape, King has a reputation as a rather thorny writer who does deconstructions of semi-relevant characters in the context of the modern day, usually in relation to war, trauma, and toxic heteronormativity. What this ignores when it comes to King is that he is quite funny. (He is also one of the few Capes comics writers who is actually interested in the thorny complexities of sexuality, but that’s a whole other tangent) He has done a few comedy comics. Batman/Elmer Fudd, for example, pushes the noir archetypes that typically run around Gotham to the point of absurdism. The back up strips in his Wonder Woman run are some of the funniest stories about two kids trying to raise a third and the madness that follows. And his Booster Gold is great, fight me.

 

But at the same time, there’s always a twinge of discomfort with his work. Moreover, on a thematic level, his work is fascinated with the implications of a status quo. His first novel, A Once Crowded Sky, explored a superhero universe that had almost all of its heroes lose their powers, its main villain’s goal ultimately being a restoration of the status quo. His Batman work explored a man who threw himself into dangerous situations again, and again, and again, striving at long last for a meaningful change in his life. (It’s worth noting that King made a rejected pitch to DC to do a 12 issue series based around all their Archie knock offs. The nature of this pitch remains unknown.)

 

But perhaps most relevant by King to The Decision is Love Everlasting. Drawn by the exquisite Elsa Charretier, Love Everlasting follows the life of a woman named Joan Peterson who finds herself in a cycle of romances in the style of a 60s romance comic. One minute, it’s 1968 and a hippie named Joan Peterson meets a cop, whom she falls in love with. The next, it’s 1808 and the lady Joan Peterson meets a commoner, whom she falls in love with. An endless cycle of romances and love that never ends. And it’s hell. A cage forced upon Joan that she can never escape, no matter how hard she tries. The love that’s never fulfilled, that can never go beyond the story’s end, is a prison.

 

So then, why give Tom King an Archie Comic to write when Dan Parent is right there? Let us consider the actual book.

 

It’s… fine. It’s not that anyone here is phoning it in. You can feel the passion for the Archie comics and there are some truly delightful gags (my favorite are the Reggie sequence that almost makes you feel sorry for the jerk and the Sabrina page). King’s writing has a degree of wit and charm to it. I especially liked Archie expressing what he finds appealing in both Betty and Veronica that highlights the whole situation as a difficult decision rather than one with a clear and right answer. And Parent’s art works just well enough to pull off the material. Sure, he lacks the raw violence at the heart of DeCarlo’s characters, but Parent nevertheless has his own charm and wit that often works well with the characters. There are some truly delightful facial expressions and background gags (I particularly like the smile that remains on Archie’s face as he realizes that he has no idea how he’s going to choose between Betty and Veronica).

 

And yet, one never loses the sense that this feels like a six page gag comic stretched out to twenty-four pages. Sure, the size and scope of the comic wherein everyone in Riverdale is chasing after Archie, Jughead, and a coin—leading to the exact punchline you’re thinking of—is part of the joke. But it doesn’t feel like it goes far enough. The telling sequences are the two pages dedicated to various people in town reacting to the sheer stupidity of the premise of “Archie decides to flip a coin to decide who he’s going to choose.” Now, the idea of the sequence is sound, and could work twice. The problem is that the joke really lands if every panel in said sequence features a different character reacting, highlighting how big the stakes are of this moment as well as highlighting the diverse and interesting population of Riverdale. Instead, the comic opts to have only six characters react on each of the two pages. Sure, there are several pages of “Spot the obscure character” (though sadly not the always delightful Mr. Inferno or, to further highlight my era of Archie fandom, Lucinda, Dr. Beaumont, and Supreme Girl) and those six characters personalities are highlighted in their appearances in those two pages. But it nevertheless feels small. Not bad, just smaller than one would expect such a book to be.

 

So then, why does this comic exist? Well, the editor of the book gives an answer at the end of the book: they thought it’d be fun. Sure, there’s the cynical answer of “Hot shot comics writer gets involved with an old horse comic that’s been going for 80+ years,” but that feels disingenuous. Indeed, for all that it’s not a complete cavalcade of cameos, King and Parent show a love and appreciation for the characters.

 

And, in spite of my grousing, I had fun with it. It was a small, fun little comic farce about everyone chasing after a coin rolling down a hill. Sure, I have issues and I can’t help but imagine the Doc Shaner version of this comic (though, in fairness, I often imagine the Doc Shaner version of comics and wish it was reality), but I did ultimately like the comic. It’s fine. Not everything has to be a world shattering epic that redefines comics forever, that rocks the very core of Eternity itself. Sometimes, you just want to wander its streets and see all the people that linger throughout. Personally, I wouldn’t want to live there for my whole life. But I will admit to a fondness for it, if only for my childhood in supermarkets and pharmacies flipping through pages alongside the other books and comics that once lay on those shelves.

 

Is that not what this shade of Eternity is: A memory of a long lost time? When the worst struggles of the day were one’s relationships with friends, bullies, and all the other people you knew in town. When you could run around town all day looking for a dumb coin. Not everyone has this memory, and the memory feels like it’s fading away. One day, the engines of Eternity will dry up, regardless if some red headed kid makes a simple decision. A or B? Heads or Tails? Betty or Veronica?

 

We may never understand the world we live in, try as we might. Some of us write entire books of philosophy trying to engage with the theory of the universe, hoping against all hope that there is meaning beyond cogs and wheels. Others try to understand those cogs and wheels, use science to see the shape of things. Some even write overlong articles about comic books for children that requires hours of research to complete because I am a dumb, dumb person.


Some people claim to have a full understanding of the world and demand everyone agree with them about that understanding or else. But the truth, or at least as much of it as I’ve been able to gleam, is that it’s all contradictions. There is no one answer to the questions of humanity any more than there is Betty and Veronica. You can make a case for one over the other. Indeed, you could very well make a final case of the matter.

 

But why would you?

 

The fun is in the dilemma. The point isn’t that Archie ultimately makes a decision about the matter. He has frequently chosen either Betty or Veronica or any of the other female supporting cast of Riverdale throughout the various Archie comics. What draws us in is the sheer absurdity of the situation. It is akin to the work of Rumiko Takahashi, and in particular that of Ranma ½.

 

The world is insane. It’s full of magical teenagers, wacky bands, jerks who are full of themselves, superheroes, angels, demons, vampires, and so many other weird and interesting things. But at its heart is a relationship between lovers that will never be resolved. Decisions will be made that will seem definitive, but the resolution will never come. Even when we reach the end, it’s clear that there will be more to follow.

 

And that, ultimately, is what Eternity is: a rejection of endings. Not a crass “What happens next” or the like, but an understanding that nothing ever ends. Something new is always going to happen that will change things. There is no such thing as an End to History. Time may run out for one species, but nothing is ever won. No one wins forever. Eternity, then, is not some ship in a bottle, left stagnant forever and always. Eternity is making new ships, even if it’s with old parts, and watching them sail off. Sure, sometimes the ships will sink. The people you thought would work out forever simply don’t. It might have even been bad for the both of you and you’re both better off with other people. But it’s having that relationship, that time sailing the neverending ocean blue, that makes it all worthwhile.

I've heard that I'm on the road to purgatory

And I don't like the sound of that

I believe in love and I live my life accordingly

But I choose to let the mystery be

-Iris DeMent, Let the Mystery Be

Wednesday, August 30, 2023

Epilogue: Fearful Symmetry


 I didn’t end up joining the National Guard. Instead, I went to a state college, the University of Connecticut. There, I studied English and was press ganged into a business minor that we all agree was a mistake in retrospect. One of the first things I did after graduating college was begin a blog, complete with Patreon. I wanted to do something that was for me, something to get my foot out the door, out of acidemia, and towards the criticism I had grown to love over the years.

 

My initial effort was a blog series I called Fearful Symmetry. It was a Spider-Man project that focused on JM DeMatteis and Mike Zeck’s Kraven’s Last Hunt. Of course, it wasn’t actually about that. Rather, I used the comic as a lens to look at the late 80’s, the dying gasp of the era. I talked about the Black Monday of ‘87, the death of Joseph Campbell, various television and movies that I had grown to love. It was a walk through a dead thing, wondering what could be found.

 

The name Fearful Symmetry comes from a William Blake poem about the nature of God’s creation. How He is able to create both the wonder of the lamb and also the horror of the tyger. About who shapes the world and those within it. It was also the original title for Kraven’s Last Hunt. I wanted to engage with the history of the story and, in doing so, engage with the world around it.

 

Looking back, the blog series was a bit of a messy affair, very much an author trying to find his voice through talking in other people’s. Some of the cases I made don’t hold up to close scrutiny, and I probably spent too much time exploring dead ends that had nothing to do with anything. There were a lot of things I would do differently with the project than I would do now, especially with my writing style. But for a first effort, for trying to get something done every day with little to no hope for success, it was a good stepping stone. And there are even some entries that make me smile.

 

I would try many times to create a follow up to what I did with Fearful Symmetry. Other pieces exploring the character of Spider-Man in-depth. But for various reasons, it never happened[1]. The closest I’ve come is, of course, this article. It’s not a complete follow up to the work I did there. While there’s a degree to the personal with this piece, it’s never to the extent of writing a eulogy for my Grandfather a year after he died. This isn’t a narrative about realizing I’m depressed and want to kill myself. It’s not even all that experimental with fictionality, form, or structure. It’s just a piece on Spider-Man.

 

---

 

I barely have any memories of life before 9/11. They’re flashes of incidents that don’t connect to one another. I remember briefly living in Florida where I went to pre-school in a trailer. I remember coming to Connecticut for the first time, walking around my grandparents’ home like an alien planet. I barely even remember the day 9/11 happened. I was six years old at the time. All my stories are glued together with other people’s memories. My parents told me we went to the beach, that we could see the towers fall.

 

Sometimes, it feels like I’ve only known the post-9/11 world, can only think in those terms. That my mind can only see the world through the context of how it changed after 9/11. Be it the youthful desire to join the military or the more adult despair at how my country has burned the world. Even then, some of those memories are foggy. I was writing an article about my relationship with religion (which didn’t get picked up), when I remembered my family deciding to no longer go to church. I asked my mom why we stopped, and she told me that the churches in the area were a bit too gung-ho about the War in Iraq.

 

Other memories of the world are much clearer. I remember walking to the library after school and seeing a pair of kindly old ladies handing out flyers about how Barrack Hussain Obama was the next Hitler. I remember going into the City with my family and walking past a tee-shirt with George W Bush that said “Miss me?” I remember a summer afternoon spent binging the entire first season of 24 with my mom. I remember reading A Horse and His Boy with nary a thought towards its more unfortunate implications. I remember hearing stories of Abu-Ghraib. I remember going to a military base for a Boy Scout Jamboree when I was 15 and receiving a gift bag from the US Army as if this was Comic Con. There were other kids there who were 12. I remember several people make snarky remarks about a filmmaker they called M Night Shamalammadingdong. I remember watching South Park sneer at the prospect of being Anti-War as being inherently Anti-American. I remember being in a middle school classroom with a map of the Middle East, but never once getting a lesson on it. I remember being in a car with my Nonna on my way to the dentist and seeing a Muslim man walking around minding his own business. I remember my first thought upon seeing the man being “Does he have a bomb?”

 

Shortly after starting this piece, I went to the former location of the World Trade Center. I had some free time and figured “What the hell, I’ve never been.” There’s a mall there, though it close to closing time when I went. Most of the stores were slightly ghostly in appearance. There weren’t many people in the mall either. Most were trying to get to the subway downstairs, which I didn’t realize was there until I left.

 

I exited shortly after to walk around the nighttime City. I like walking in the City. Even before COVID, there’s an openness to the City. It’s a large city, one that requires taking the subway to most places. And yet, it’s not like Los Angeles in that walking isn’t fully worth it. Rather, there’s a sense that the City is best understood through walking it, through witnessing the architecture, the strange occurrences, the people. The people most of all. Because we’re all we’ve got in the end.

 

A memory comes to mind of a conversation I had in a Starbucks at Union Square during the May before COVID. I met with my former boss to discuss a paycheck that ultimately took two years to be received. Our conversation got to a point where we talked about the City. She noted quite plainly that there was a massive shift in the feel of New York. That you could walk down the street and find dozens of hole in the wall bookstores or people playing music on the streets and in the subway. You can still see them, but they’re less visible. Nowadays, you only see police offices with machine guns. It’s all gentrified.

 

That’s ultimately the way in which things changed since 9/11: everything got cleaned up, the grime painted away. You can still see the ghost of what was there before the collapse, before the fall. If you know where to look. But what’s there now is nothing more than a pale imitation. One I love and love dearly, but its absence is deafening. Maybe the world will change again to something that captures that spirit.

 

Long ago in an American winter.

 

“But the country’s disintegrating. What’s happened to America? What happened to the American dream?”

“It came true. You’re lookin’ at it.”

-Alan Moore, Watchmen

 

8/6/2021-8/5/2022

 

With thanks to: Mike, Asher, Darren, Dave, Frezno, LI, Ritesh, and Steve


Support the blog on Patreon.


[1] Bar one that was a shitpost about Spider-Man’s taste in anime and another about him pooping. But those don’t really count. They’re not long form engagements with the character. Since finishing the first draft of this article, I wrote a piece on the relationship between Spider-Man and horror for the magazine PanelXPanel. And then again for Shelfdust on, fittingly enough, Kraven's Last Hunt.

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Part 3: Action is His Reward pt 2


 

Which leads us, at last, to the beginning of Phase 3 on May 6, 2016 with the Russo Brothers returning to direct Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War[1]. In this movie, rather than a blind lawyer from Hell’s Kitchen or an alcoholic private eye from Brooklyn, Tony Stark decides the person for the job of defeating Captain America is a child from Queens by the name of Peter Parker. But given that Peter Parker is only a minor figure within the film whose importance is based solely on the fact of, to be blunt, spiteful fan pandering[2], it’s worth instead to engage with the core issue that, in theory should drive the third Captain America movie: Who do the Avengers serve?

 

The main action of the film, after all, opens with an Avengers unit performing military actions in Lagos[3] which leads to them having to sign a treaty with a government body to continue their military adventurism. Indeed, what is supposedly Tony’s arc in the film is kickstarted by the mother of one of the people who died in Avengers: Age of Ultron confronting Stark by saying “You think you fight for us. You just fight for yourself. Who’s going to avenge my son, Stark?” And, of course, the Avengers are confronted about their militarism by the Secretary of State.

 

The core of the film, in theory, is the nature of the Avengers as a military unit. What does it mean to be a group of individuals from predominantly American backgrounds with exclusively American sensibilities fighting against superpowered monsters attacking foreign nations. This is a sensible question to ask in the context of the post-Iraq War landscape, wherein America invaded the Middle East to “liberate” the people from despots and villains, leading to millions dead, tortured, and disenfranchised. America can claim to stand for freedom, to fight evil. But does that really matter if it means not caring about the collateral damage beyond how sad the person who caused it feels.


The problem, as to be expected with the MCU, is that the film[4] largely sides against oversight of its superpowered beings in favor of giving them a pass to do whatever they want. There are several ways the film does this while still trying to claim it’s a debate. For starters, it introduces the audience to the idea of the oversight, dubbed the Sokovia Accords, through the character of Thunderbolt Ross. While many might not remember The Incredible HulkCaptain America: Civil War nevertheless paints Ross as an unsympathetic figure via characters questioning whether he agrees with the minority of people who think they should have oversight as well as being a generally abrasive voice who is constantly ignored by even those who supposedly agree with him. Then there’s that detail that only a small few actually want the Avengers to have oversight in their militarism.

 

And, of course, there’s the fact that the film is called Captain America: Civil War and not Avengers: Civil War. As such, the audience will inevitably side with Captain America in the conflict being presented because he’s the main character of the movie. He is the hero saving his best friend from being framed for various terrorist actions. He gets the final say on the matter with regards to the film. And he views having to work under the watchful eye of the United Nations[5] with scorn, complaining that they would take away his freedom. Every possible questionable action committed by Captain America in the name of his cause is justified. He had to act outside of proper channels, the government ordered Bucky to be shot on sight. The government outright laughed at the prospect of giving Bucky a lawyer, why should you trust them? 


And then there’s the fucking line. In the memorial for Peggy Carter, minor character Sharon Carter shares a line that was spoken by Captain America in the Spider-Man tie-in issue for the Civil War comic the movie takes inspiration from[6]. In the comic, Captain America says to Spider-Man: “Doesn’t matter what the press says. Doesn’t matter what the politicians or the mobs say. Doesn’t matter if the whole country decides that something wrong is something right. This nation was founded on one principle above all else: The requirement that we stand up for what we believe, no matter the odds or the consequences. When the mob and the press and the whole world tell you to move, your job is to plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth, and tell the whole worldNo, you move.

 

This quote, and the line in the film that represents it[7], is one of those vaguely positive lines with horrific implications. If you would like an example of people who deny what the press said, who planted their feet at the river of truth and said, “No, you move.” Look no further than the people who stormed the capitol of the United States of America because the truth was Donald Trump should be President of the United States. Or the Judges on the Supreme Court who, against the vast will of the people, stripped away abortion from women across America and are planning to strip more rights away from people including the right to be married[8], the right to not be discriminated against, and the right to vote[9].

 

It's a pretty quote. But ultimately, its vagueness makes it easily usable to those who would kill those who are not like them. The mobs are faceless. No one has to consider their actions one way or another. You either fight the mob or die like a dog in the street.

 

Which brings us back to Spider-Man. In the film, Peter Parker aligns with Tony Stark with regards to the Sokovia Accords. Except not, because that’s not what the film is about. The Sokovia Accords are, at the end of the day, only a means of drawing up conflict[10]. They don’t actually mean anything. They’re just pointless bureaucracy that prevents the heroes from working together. No one actually believes in them. Tony ultimately ignores the Accords at the end to help Steve with the evil Super Soldiers Hydra has lying around.


Ultimately, the film is about the ways in which male egos can blind people to the larger picture. How men need to be free to do as they please while also being cognizant of the needs of other men. There’s frankly no reason for Spider-Man to be here, both in terms of his ideology and with regards to this movie. He’s just here because we need to introduce Spider-Man into the MCU and Iron Man is the best way to do this because he is the God Emperor of the MCU, who dictates where the arc of history leads. The empire must have a future.

 

There’s just one problem: Spider-Man: Homecoming, for all it has been built up as the return of Spider-Man to his rightful place within the MCU, his homecoming… it has no idea what, exactly, his function within the MCU is. In previous Spider-Man films, Peter Parker is an everyman thrust into strange and bizarre situations. Even The Amazing Spider-Man films, with their conspiratorial plots and corporate espionage, still kept this at the heart of Peter Parker. That isn’t to say that Spider-Man: Homecoming doesn’t likewise frame Peter as an everyman. Rather, it has no idea what he’s supposed to be beyond average.

 

As a result, he kinda sucks. And not in the ways Spider-Man normally sucks where it’s because he’s kind of an asshole or the miserable, joyless, saintly cosmic punching bag of Rami’s Spider-Man. He’s just… the annoying kid sidekick character who thinks babbling incoherently is somehow a character trait. By contrast, though he doesn’t appear much in Captain America: Civil War, the Spider-Man of that film (while having the rather crap gag of not knowing what The Empire Strikes Back is[11]) is just a generic good guy. Far less annoying, but also far more flat, essentially existing solely to sell the Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Civil War™ Limited Edition™ Spider-Man™ action figure.

 

This is perhaps best highlighted through the relationship Peter has with Tony Stark. In Captain America: Civil War, Peter certainly shows reverence for Iron Man, but he’s not constantly giddy at the mere presence of Iron Man. In fact, the majority of his initial scene with the weapon of mass destruction is spent with him trying to get Tony out of his apartment. He sides with Tony in the “Civil War,” but only because his moral compass says it’s the right thing to do. For Tony, Peter represents the future of Superheroes. The next generation.

 

By contrast, the Peter Parker of Spider-Man: Homecoming is a hyperactive dweeb whose sole motivation is to look good to his hero, Tony Stark. And Tony’s attitude towards Peter is to barely show he gives a shit. Sure, he listens to Peter when he says there’s bad people selling weapons to criminals. But he doesn’t actually engage with Peter. He doesn’t approach Peter as if he’s anything more than the annoying kid sidekick. Like if Short Round tried to call Dr. Jones for help because his wife is dealing with a crisis on infinite earths.

 

On that note, let’s consider the main villain of the film: Adrian Toomes. In many regards, Adrian is a common leftist baddie who is bad because he hates Tony Stark and the rich. But, much like Bane, he’s a hypocrite who uses his wealth not to uplift his fellow working class, but rather to care for his own family[12]. But unlike The Dark Knight, the film is disinterested in the class implications of its narrative. When the class critique is posed that (upon being confronted with the fact that Adrian’s selling weapons to criminals) “How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys? Those people, Pete, those people up there, the rich and the powerful. They do whatever they want. Guys like us? You and me? They don’t care about us. We build their roads, and we fight all their wars, and everything. They don’t care about us. We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps. That’s how it is,” is met with confusion about why he’s giving a long speech.


Because the purpose is, ultimately, to distract Peter from the wing glider. Because class doesn’t matter in a world of talking raccoons and genocidal purple madmen. It’ll pay lip service to class, certainly. But it doesn’t actually care. At its heart, for all that the main conflict is between a pissed off 9/11 salvage worker working outside the system to provide for his family[13] and an Elon Musk fanboy who takes after his hero all too well[14]Spider-Man: Homecoming is a movie about a teen boy learning his place in the world. The villainy of Toomes is not realizing that he should be grateful that he got denied the work he did. Because little people don’t matter. It’s when the little people get uppity that things become a problem. Don’t step on the toes of giants like Tony Stark[15].


Peter Parker ultimately learns this lesson. Even though Tony Stark offers him a place with the Avengers, he knows Spider-Man is a low level character. He should remain on the streets along with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. Because all must bow before the majesty of Tony Stark. And what does his majesty behold? Dirt. It’s an empire of dirt. To quote Harlen Ellison™ on The Death of Superman, “Now you’ve got eight issues of Superman bashing Doomsday and Doomsday bashing him, and nothing else happens. It’s one big stupid fight. And you went for it. And the media went for it. My god, how gullible you are. Don’t you ever learn? [16]


These are apt words when considering the final story of Tony Stark (of which Spider-Man is a bit character within): Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War and Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame[17]. In many regards, the Spider-Man aspects of the films are among their least interesting parts. Once again, Peter is reduced to a generic teen sidekick who we’re meant to feel sad for as he dies in Tony’s arms. And then he comes back with a quip and murderous intent. Indeed, the entire five hour, thirty one minute project seems more interested in circle jerking itself over how great it is to live under the boot of the MCU[18] than it is in little things like character or themes or decent cinematography.

 

But at its heart is the villainous Thanos. For want of a better term, Thanos makes a character arc throughout the film from a twisted leftist boogeyman who sees the problems of the resource scarcity resolved by killing half of the universe grow into a more generic “I will kill everyone so they will never know what freedom was” type baddie that has been haunting the MCU for its entire existence. Indeed, one could argue that this type of villainy has been haunting America for even longer than that. It is, after all, the main draw of cold war paranoia: the communist ideology is one that rejects individualism in favor of collectivism. Further still, and you’ll see the myth of America’s origin as the land of the free. We fought in the name of Freedom, while keeping men slaves[19]. The American myth rarely, if ever, matches its reality.

 

As such, when considering antagonistic forces who seek to steal our freedom, to trap us in a world of terror and dread, it’s worth asking: What did they actually want? What was the actual intention of the men who concocted and enacted the events of 9/11? Certainly the motivations of the attacks themselves are explicit. In an open letter to the American people, Osama bin Laden explicitly cites America’s foreign policy activities regarding Israel, Palestine[20], and other nations as well as more nationalistic[21] and reactionary[22] beliefs.

 

But why the World Trade Center specifically? It is worth noting that 9/11 was not the first instance in which members of al-Qaeda attempted to destroy the World Trade Center. In 1993, Ramzi Yousef attempted to bomb the World Trade center with a truck in the basement. Along with his fellow co-conspirators, the hope was for the first tower to topple over onto the second. As one can surmise by the shape of history, the plan failed. As with the 2001 attempt, Yousef’s motivations lay primarily with regards to America’s actions in Israel. Indeed, he went a step further and outlined the entire history of American foreign policy from Hiroshima and Tokyo to Vietnam and Cuba. In his own words, “You were the first one who killed innocent people, and you are the first one who introduced this type of terrorism to the history of mankind.[23]” Yousef cast himself not as a religious zealot, but as a judge of History. The World Trade Center, then, is a symbolic representation of America. Of its imperialistic actions and implications.

 

As such, it’s worth considering what the World Trade Center was. Often referred to as the Twin Towers, the World Trade Center was a pair of buildings located in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan, New York. Though this is a mild misnomer as there was a third tower within the main complex, which housed the Marriott World Trade Center. It was 22 stories tall and housed 825. It too was destroyed on September 11, 2001. At the time, it housed 940 guests[24]. At the time, it was housing the yearly conference for the National Association for Business Economics. The iconic image of firefighters raising the flag was reported to have been taken where the hotel once stood.

 

Prior to 9/11, the World Trade Center was famous for its role in the Manhattan skyline. Indeed, it was so recognizable, it appeared in 472 films including, but not limited to, American PsychoComing to AmericaGremlins 2: The New BatchThe HungerIndependence DayThe MatrixPolice Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol, and Vampire’s Kiss. Additionally, the initial marketing for Sam Rami’s Spider-Man featured a sequence where the titular hero would swoop in and foil a bank robbery, with said bank robber’s escape helicopter being left on a web in-between the main two towers of the World Trade Center.

 

In their book Supergods, Grant Morrison argues a mystical implication to all of this. “King Kong was the first to climb them in Dino DeLaurentis’s pointless 1976 remake of the gorilla classic. They’d been smashed by tidal waves, blasted by aliens, shattered by meteor strikes, and pulverized by rogue asteroids. The terrible fall of the World Trade Center towers on September 11 had the curious inevitability of an answered prayer or the successful result of a black magic ritual[25].”

 

To quote another magician, We made it all up, and it came true anyways.

 

Given this, the World Trade Center acts as a potent target for a symbolic attack on America. An object of material impact on the city of New York, one of the most iconic within the United States, as well as one with connections to both the economic and entertainment sides of the country.

 

In the wake of the attack, 2,753 people were killed due to the direct impact of these attacks. More would die years later due to exposure to dust by the collapsed towers. 1,402 would die on the North Tower. 614 on the south. All the people who took shelter in the World Trade Center Hotel would survive, in part due to reinforced beams installed after the 1993 bombing. My cousin was in the city at the time, not too far from the towers. 

 

And, of course, there’s the most material of all its impacts: The War on Terror. A war concocted for the purposes of naked greed and cruelty. One of the longest and most profitable acts of liberation America ever did. Consider the price of oil and how it steadily rose from $1.50 a gallon at the start of the war and rose to $4.63 a gallon at the end[26]. And, like its previous acts of liberation, ultimately led to the world becoming a more hostile and terrible place. The impact on the Middle East alone is shocking. The casualty list of the War on Terror is somewhere between 897,150 and 929,000[27]. At some point you have to ask… What’s the point?

 

Which brings us back to Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. As discussed in Scout Tafoya and Tucker Johnson’s brilliant The End of History series, in the wake of 9/11, the US military, learning their mistakes from Vietnam, opted to co-opt the image that could spell an anti-war narrative for the War on Terror. They did this by funding numerous films in what is commonly known as the military-entertainment complex. From innocuous texts like Batman & Robin or The Next Karate Kid to more obvious militaristic texts like Tomorrow Never Dies or Silence of the Lambs.

 

But their massive, pre-MCU text in the wake of 9/11 was Black Hawk Down. Directed by Ridley Scott, Black Hawk Down is a movie about a troop of American soldiers forced to fend off a horde of Somalian militia members. It is as racist and jingoistic as that sentence sounds. From this, the US military would create a cinematic language for its propaganda based around this movie. From the heavy use of orange in its color pallet to the apolitical heroism of soldiers in a bad place doing right by one another.

 

The language would continue until it received the ultimate boon in the form of Iron Man. Subsequently, the MCU would find itself largely synonymous with the military-entertainment complex[28]. Indeed, superhero cinema as a whole would quickly embrace military funding to the point where films like Man of Steel and Captain Marvel have entire sections dedicating to highlighting the nobility of service[29] and have had their clips used in advertisements for the armed services[30].

 

Because in the wake of 9/11, we wanted to win. We wanted to win 9/11. We could not grasp that our empire was collapsing nor that, in the words of Indrajit Samarajiva, “Collapse is just a series of ordinary days in between extraordinary bullshit, most of it happening to someone else[31].” So we created fictions where our heroes could win. Where the threats were as absurd and horrific as they felt at the time. An evil who fights in the name of terror rather than any actual ideologies. Because evil has no ideology. And when it does, it’s antithetical to life. We don’t have ideologies, but we’re good. We’re the United States of Goddamn America. If we do it, it must be good. The superhero, especially in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is a super soldier, fighting the good fight. If we couldn’t win in the real world, we would win in the fictional one.

 

And so we have Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Two movie length ads for themselves and the previous films within about an evil monster from beyond and his army of faceless monsters. A horde who will kill everyone and everything we love. Who can only be stopped by one means: Exterminate all the brutes.

 

That’s why Peter Parker—a character who, even as recently as the previous film, was trying to prevent the deaths of his baddies—is killing people in the climax of Avengers: Endgame. At the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, there’s a toothless scene where Spider-Man saves the Vulture from a karmic death. It’s toothless in the context of the cinema of Spider-Man because previous Spider-Man films have featured antagonistic figures meeting karmic or redemptive deaths. It’s toothless within the context of the film itself because Peter lacks any moral center beyond merely doing good.

 

But most of all, it’s damning towards the context of the two succeeding Avengers films. Because it reveals the lie we all knew about Superheroes and Killing. They’re perfectly fine with killing. Provided what they’re killing isn’t people. Because, as with the stories of many a soldier on the field of battle, the enemy isn’t people. What they are has had many names over the years: Barbarian, Sand People, Chitauri, Dominion, Mekon, Bug. Whatever the name, it carries the same meaning: You aren’t people. So it’s ok that you die.

 

You can speak like a person, look like a person, it doesn’t matter. If the powers that be decide you aren’t a person, then you aren’t. It’s been true all the way since before the 20th century. Before America even. You aren’t people unless we say you are. Because personhood, when it comes from an out-group, is determined by those in the in-group. One infamous story was the proliferation of the Red Baron in Nazi Germany, despite being of half Jewish ancestry[32]. At the end of the day, the system is designed to see people as nothing more than white blobs on a screen. 

 

Which brings us to Spider-Man: Far From Home. There are two aspects of note to go over when it comes to Spider-Man: Far From Home. The second most important aspect is the casting of Zach Barack as the minor character of Zach Cooper. The character of Zach is the first trans character to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For the majority of the MCU, queerness is depicted as something that certainly exists. But it never actually engages with queer characters. When it does, it’s often in the form of rather uncomfortable jokes. Most notably in Thor: Love and Thunder, wherein the introduction of supporting character Axl Heimdallson (who is cis) is played as a transphobic “gag” about how Axl isn’t his real name and his father would be ashamed of him for rejecting his “real name.”

 

More often, however, it’s in a form similar to Zach, where queer people exist, but they aren’t actual characters within the narrative. They’re part of the background, easily edited out so as to appease the censors of nations that would see people like myself murdered for the crime of being alive. Even then, Zach largely exists as a glorified background extra whose queerness is only notable for marketing purposes.

 

Of course, it’s also notable with regards discourse surrounding Spider-Man in the MCU. When discussing Peter Parker in a modern context, many people have argued that the character should be queer. Most notably, Andrew Garfield mused that a potential third Amazing Spider-Man movie could’ve had Peter date a male MJ Watson, to which he was forced to retract the statement[33]. Many fan circles have read the character of Peter Parker as being trans, frequently drawing fan art of him wearing a binder and waving the trans flag.

 

This, however, begs the question: How does this impact the most important part of Spider-Man: Far From Home? That being the fact that the film is about the ethics of drone warfare. Not even in the sense of most superheroic fiction where the Superhero is a metaphor for a drone[34], but literal, actual drones. Tony Stark created a drone army and willed it to a 15 year old, who immediately used it to attack one of his fellow students. But rather than engage with the ethics of drones actually existing, the film engages in the ethical question at the heart of Iron Man: What if the bad guys got the drones? Its argument is largely that drones that could exterminate a vast number of people in a single instant aren’t the problem. It’s the people who use them. And the only thing that can stop a bad man with a drone is a good man with a drone[35].

 

So then, would this be improved by having Peter Parker be queer? Hollywood has a history of using diversity to make the military appear more appealing to those who would normally be opposed to it. Examples of this include GI JaneCourage Under FireA Soldier’s StoryThe Hurt Locker, and Top Gun[36]. Indeed, military advertisement in the modern age highlights the diversity of the military and how it transcends all racial, sexual, and gendered implications. This is, of course, complete horseshit.

 

As Scout Tafoya notes, “Entertainment companies like Disney have been feeding people micro doses of their own identity to keep with having to reckon with larger ethical issues like cooperation with the US Military or their headlong drive towards an unregulated monopoly. If you can feed people some sense that they are being listened to and recognized by heartless companies, Disney can get away with, for instance, support of homophobic legislation and unspeakable labor conditions.[37]

 

That isn’t to say one should reject diversity in and of itself. Quoting Derek Jarman, “Consider the world’s diversity and worship it. By denying its multiplicity, you deny your own true nature. Equality prevails not for the God’s sake, but for man’s. Men are weak and cannot endure their manifold nature.” Rather, the content of the diversity is key. There’s a key difference between discussing the implications of the world’s first female drone pilot and the working class lesbian barely making ends meet. The stories they tell share with us a world of difference. 

 

However, it’s worth noting that Peter Parker not only isn’t queer, he will never be queer under the current conditions of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, nor, for that matter, will any incarnation of Spider-Man be queer. Among the several leaked documents from the Sony Archives was the 2011 licensing agreement between Sony and Marvel with regards to the Spider-Man character. Among the specific details regarding said character, one of the explicit statements was that Spider-Man is “Not a homosexual (unless Marvel has portrayed that alter ego as a homosexual” and Peter Parker specifically is “Caucasian and heterosexual.[38]” The limitations provided highlight the degree to which representation in mass cultural media, while important, can nevertheless have any context, implication, or meaning stripped away into pure nothingness. Yes, it is important to see one’s self in works of fiction to normalize one’s existence. But to limit all progress to mere representation leaves one a hollow shell of their former self.

 

In many regards, the limitations highlight the ultimate failing of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is a view of the world trapped eternally in the dying embers of the Bush administration. Though Spider-Man: Far From Home tries to engage with the post truth nature of the world[39] with the villainous Mysterio, its approach is akin to his approach towards reality breaking. The film presents him as this cinematic force. In practice, his villainy is akin to the approach the MCU typically has towards CGI: a vapid, meaningless spectacle that approaches the strangeness of existence with the bluntness of mere CGI[40]. He proports himself to being a multiversial hero, and the best he can offer is green circles. The multiverse provides us with a nigh infinite well of ideas. The potential to do anything we want. And yet, at best, all we can imagine is a talking raccoon voiced by Bradly Cooper or Randy Newman. At worst…

 

Spider-Man: No Way Home is an unwatchable shitshow of moving images that makes me want to plunge daggers into my eyes before gazing at another frame of its existence. It is also a movie about refugees. More specifically, the various villains from the previous two incarnations of Spider-Man movies who died in their respective films[41] find themselves in the MCU due to magic bullshit that exists so the world forgets Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Peter, feeling responsible for the baddies after some prodding from Aunt May and finding out that they’re going to die, tries to save them.


In practice, the film is more interested in making call backs to the previous Spider-Man films, making jokes at the expense of those previous Spider-Man films, and also providing the MCU Peter with an Uncle Ben moment in the form of Aunt May being murdered by Norman Osborn. The film’s investment in refugees and the implications of having them be murderous lying bastards who should be sent back to where they came from so they can all die the deaths they so desperately need is merely surface level[42]. It’s most substantial engagement with it is setting the climax of the film at the Statue of Liberty and calling it “a place that represents second chances.” But even that’s surface level shit as it doesn’t connect that aspect to the refugee part, only the “curing people of being neurodivergent” part. The whole film is surface level. The whole MCU Spider-Man is nothing but surface level. There’s nothing here.

 

Consider the scene where the two alternate Peter Parkers talk to the MCU Peter Parker about the people they’ve lost[43]. The ultimate crux of the scene is to attempt to dissuade MCU Spider-Man from seeking vengeance against Norman Osborn. They do this by suggesting that there’s a cosmic purpose to Aunt May’s death: to give MCU Peter his Uncle Ben. Because the Intellectual Property known as Spider-Man requires an Uncle Ben. Because that’s all Spider-Man is at the end of the day: Intellectual Property. Who needs things like character or themes or politics or queerness when you can have Intellectual Property. It hits all the right check boxes too. You have:

 

·      Peter Parker is a sad, miserable loser who sucks.

·      Peter Parker has no friends.

·      Peter Parker is white.

·      Spider-Man occasionally tells jokes.

·      Peter Parker fights baddies.

·      Spider-Man deals with Real Issues™.

·      Peter Parker is Spider-Man.

 

Because who cares about making art. Superheroes aren’t art. They’re commerce. They’re product to churn out year after soul crushing year. An opiate to distract from and/or advertise the forever war occurring in the background that thinks doing significantly less than the bare minimum is enough and should be lauded. Even characters and ideas that provide some merit are ultimately whittled down to the barest essentials. Consider the film’s approach to the Spider-Men from the Rami and Webb movies. There’s nothing recognizable about them. There’s just the vague nostalgic memory of what they were like. As with Superman Returns, the importance lies more in the image of the thing than its reality. 

 

This, of course, highlights the core failing at the heart of the MCU Spider-Man: there’s no throughline between any of his appearances save being a teenager. The films lack the moral, post 9/11 Christian zeal of Rami’s take on the character as well as the chaotic, problematic, romantic conspiracy vibes of the Webb films. They just have Peter Parker interact with people from the Marvel Cinematic Universe because he can’t actually stand on his own two feet. Spider-Man is treated not as fiction, but as product being churned off of a production line one after another after another. Nothing comes from this. Because there’s nothing here.

 

Is there hope for us?

 

I’m reminded of the words of one of my earliest and favorite Spider-Man stories: Spider-Man: Reign. Written and drawn by Kaare Andrews, the story was written in response to the growing horror of the post-9/11 America where monsters were running the world with the help of their useful idiots. Where the police grew increasingly heavily armed and militarized to the point where they act like it’s ok to lock up and murder children. Where the old men and heroes like Spider-Man have failed the younger generation.

 

Towards the end of the story, the children of the city decide to don masks and stand up to the militarized police force that has declared martial law as the citizens of New York are being devoured. The head cop sneers that the kids don’t have any hope of success, to which the head kid (a girl with no name) responds, “Let me tell youa thing about hope! Hope has three daughtersAnger at the state things have fallen into. Courage to make things right. And the third daughter is truth. And she won’t hide her face any longer.”

 

I often think about this moment from a very flawed, very dated, very prescient Spider-Man comic. Oftentimes, the concept of “hope” is phrased in such a way as to be contentless. Obama, notably, ran a campaign on Hope and treated it as a marketing tool. Just the word hope contrasted with Obama’s face. Nothing specific to hope for, just have hope. Indeed, many of the Spider-Man films have the titular hero claim to be all about hope.

 

By contrast, the MCU Spider-Man is not hopeful. Putting aside the bleak ending of Peter Parker literally writing himself out of everyone’s lives, ending up alone in a dilapidated apartment, the MCU’s Spider-Man[44] isn’t interested in changing the world. Because that’s, ultimately, what hope is about: a desired effect. You hope it won’t rain or you hope people will do something about Roe V Wade being annulled or, to choose an evil option, you hope the queers die of a plague. We hope the world will be better. And we fuel our hope through active change. Because what’s the point of hoping for something we know is never going to happen?

 

Spider-Man, too, is a character who is about change. Yes, he talks about the relationship between great power and great responsibility, but his story is about change. He started out as a teenage superhero and since graduate High School and College, got married, had a miscarriage, traveled the world, got divorced, and kept doing new and sometimes interesting things. The way forward for Spider-Man is to actively change everything about him. Make him new.


This, too, is the nature of History. Yes, we have reached the ending of the History of Spider-Man live action cinema and it is indeed a bleak one. But the thing about history is that it never ends. Nothing ever ends. To quote Walter Benjamin, “A historical materialist cannot do without the notion of a present which is not a transition, but in which time stands still and has come to a stop. For this notion defines the present in which he himself is writing history. Historicism gives the ‘eternal’ image of the past; historical materialism supplies a unique experience with the past. The historical materialist leaves it to others to be drained by the whore called ‘Once upon a time’ in historicism’s bordello. He remains in control of his powers, man enough to blast open the continuum of history.[45]

 

Where do I find hope, then? I find hope in the possible. In the stories I come up with. History will march onwards, the Great Men will fight the good fight. But the story of History, if it is an honest history, is about the little people. The people often ignored by Great Men until they rebel. Be it hindering the ascent of villainy while declaring “You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us” or wearing a mask to stand up to a monster, knowing it’s not going to end well but doing it anyways.


As I’ve said, the MCU has no people in it. It is a universe filled to the brim with Great Men. But the people are out there, watching. And they’re starting to get bored of the nothingness they’re being fed. Pretty soon, they’ll find something else to do. Something new. I hope.

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[1] Hereon refered to as Captain America: Civil War.

[2] Note the common word Spider-Man: HomecomingFar From Home, and No Way Home share.

[3] Given the length of this article is currently close to 15,000 words, we will not be going into the number of things that are fucked up about that.

[4] And, indeed, the larger MCU as once it gets the chance, every superpowered being who initially sided with the Sokovia Accords immediately disregards them as a bad idea.

[5] Why them instead of NATO is anyone’s guess.

[6] The comic, unlike the film, was sympathetic to the Superhuman Registration Act. It framed it as being akin to the political actions of George W Bush.

[7] “Compromise where you can. But where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, No, you move.

[10] And non-lasting conflict at that what with Black Widow and Hawkeye confirming they’re still friends as they fight because nothing means anything anymore. No one has morals. No one believes in anything. Captain America can be for fighting WWII one minute and have contempt for the war the next. Nothing matters!

[11] Despite this film claiming he’s a massive Star Wars fan as if being a fan of Star Wars in 2017 was a source of geeky shame.

[12] In some regards, this puts him in line with the protagonists of many a Prestige Drama series, most notably Breaking Bad. Much like Adrian, Walter White was a middle class man who used his criminal empire to provide for his family. Where the two men differ is, ultimately, screenwriters Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Jon Watts, Christopher Ford, Chris McKenna, and Erik Sommers were unable to do what showrunner Vince Gilligan did with his Troubled Male Protagonist and have him admit that it was never about his family. He did the criminal actions because it made him feel good. 

[15] This only gets more aggravating when we get to Spider-Man: Far From Home. Spoilers: VFX crews should unionize.

[17] Hereon referred to as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame respectively.

[18] Right down to the shot where all the female characters are shown to demonstrate how progressive the MCU is.

[19] Indeed, there’s a sensible argument to be made that America fought for the freedom to keep men slaves and conquer the bordering lands. Consider what else has been done in the name of “Lower Taxes.”

[20] “The creation and continuation of Israel is one of the greatest crimes, and you are the leaders of its criminals. And of course there is no need to explain and prove the degree of American support for Israel. The creation of Israel is a crime which must be erased.”

[21] “You are the nation who, rather than ruling by the Shariah of Allah in its Constitution and Laws, choose to invent your own laws as you will and desire.”

[22] “We call you to be a people of manners, principles, honour, and purity; to reject the immoral acts of fornication, homosexuality, intoxicants, gambling's, and trading with interest.” All quote from bin Laden sourced from theguardian.com/world/2002/nov/24/theobserver

[25] Morrison, 346

[28] A notable exception is Joss Whedon’s The Avengers, where the Pentagon wanted to shoot down the notion of a nuke being dropped on American soil.

[35] This comes to a head in the climax wherein Peter Parker resolves the film by taking control of a drone army.

[39] Perhaps most halfheartedly done with the character of J Jonah Jameson, wherein he’s made into an Alex Jones knock off without any bite that implies.

[40] This is in stark contrast to Mr. Fiers of the Amazing Spider-Man films, whose ties to cinema lie in the practical: lighting, camera angles, and editing. Indeed, it’s in contrast to The Amazing Spider-Man’s Peter Parker, whose homages a long history of cinematic icons from Buster Keaton to Bugs Bunny.

[41] And also The Sandman and The Lizard.

[42] To say nothing about the ethics surrounding “curing” neurodivergent people.

[43] Putting aside that the Andrew Garfield Spider-Man suggests a more interesting movie about a man trying to be a lighthearted superhero, only to descend into cruelty because he never engaged his emotions properly than the nothing on screen.

[44] And, indeed, the MCU itself.