Daken’s final stand

While we’re on the topic of Daken Akihiro from Friday’s article, we should cover his spectacular self-implosion as his solo series came to an end.  While never exactly a superhero, he was never exactly evil either.  Everything Daken accomplished (or tried to accomplish) was only for one reason: to benefit himself.  Look, Daken’s a merciless killer, sure, but not in the same way as like Bullseye.  Think sociopath instead of psychopath.

After becoming the crimelord of Madripoor, he decided to take on a bigger challenge: Los Angeles. Luckily for him, the city only had two superheroes (Moon Knight and Echo, who are schizophrenic and deaf respectively).  Unfortunately, once he discovered a new drug called Heat, it screwed up everything.  I mean everything.  Not only did he fail to take over Los Angeles (but still an awesome series of arcs), the drug disabled his healing factor.  Bad news.

Today, we’re covering Daken: Dark Wolverine #21-23, written by Rob Williams and drawn by Matteo Buffagni, Andrea Mutti, Riley Rossmo, & Paco Diaz.  He’s returned to New York for his final plan.

By the way, did you know Daken’s actually friends with Johnny Storm and the Fantastic Four? Like friends friends.  It takes a lot of range to be a bonafide supervillain and buddies with Marvel’s number one super-family.  Go read Dark Wolverine #75-77 for the initial friendship, but here’s a page from Daken: Dark Wolverine #4, written by Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli.

Before we jump into our main story, understand Daken’s introduction into comics provided a great step forward for diversity in comics.  He’s half-Japanese (mother’s side) and openly bisexual, hence the flirt above with the Thing.  If you check out the very first article I ever wrote, you’ll see him shack up with a supporting character from his time in LA.

We begin today with the fallout from his Heat addiction:

Grim diagnosis.  See why you don’t do drugs, kids?  Normal people would use their final weeks for redemption and reflection, but Daken’s not normal.  Also, he hits on Mr. Fantastic.

Now, what is Heat you ask?  It’s a euphoria-inducing drug that makes the art look all cool like this:

Daken never really got over his obsession with his absent-father Wolverine.  Lots of fighting and torture every time they appear together.  But this time, Daken expands the game beyond just the two of them.

Insane reasoning, but probably the most honest answer ever to an evil plan.

By setting off a few bombs and declaring a few more hidden bombs, the entire superhero community of New York (the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, etc.) sets out to take him down.  Daken gets the final stand he wants.  Oh, and also to make sure Wolverine gets set on fire:

Since Daken’s an emotional mess, he’s resigned himself to his more villainous side.  Plus, I bet you never expected a Daken and Mr. Fantastic fight.

What’s the simplest way to describe today’s protagonist?  Let him do it himself:

With this, the final act of his story begins.  Daken versus everybody.

You have to read the issue for all the fights, including a really cool moment with the Thing (that’ll be included in the next Random Panels article).  But as the brawling devolves into mindless structural danger, Daken’s Heat-influenced mind discovers an epiphany.

No doubt that Daken’s almost certainly Wolverine’s greatest failing.  The kids Wolverine that mentored (Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, Armor) turned out to be productive and respected members of the superhero community.  And even though Wolverine had no idea Daken existed, Daken’s emotional absence (filled instead by Wolverine’s enemies) created the ruined and frustrated monster that now stands before New York’s superheroes.

By the way, notice the wildly uncomfortable expression on Wolverine’s face on the second picture? So, does Wolverine make it back in time?  Does his school and students blow up into tiny mutant pieces?

Look, you can’t really hurt Wolverine physically.  He’ll recover quickly from that — but he has no healing factor for his emotions.  And with Daken’s death, that claw in Wolverine’s heart will pierce him every single day for the rest of his life.  Mission accomplished.

Okay, so I kind of lied to you.  What you just read is the first act of Daken and Wolverine’s final story. Daken returns one more time in Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force for the amazing, beautiful, and incredibly satisfying conclusion.  We’ll cover it next time.  Then go spend your hard earned money and pick up both these volumes.  Because you’re worth it.

Daken & X-23 hang out, claw stuff

If you read comics, it’s hard to get away from Wolverine.  In the late 2000s, he had two or three solo series, two or three team series, and that doesn’t even include all the X-Men stuff.  So either cashing on his popularity or hoping to cash in before it became overwhelming, Marvel gave his son Daken Akihiro (Dark Wolverine) and his clone Laura Kinney (X-23) their own series as well.  Luckily for us, both X-23 and Daken: Dark Wolverine were both really, really good.

Today, in X-23 #8-9, written by Marjorie Liu and drawn by Ryan Stegman & Matteo Buffagni as well as Daken: Dark Wolverine #8-9, written by Daniel Way & Liu and drawn by Marco Checchetto, the two meet up for the first time.  And trust me, being in the Wolverine family comes with some major emotional and mental issues.

Before we begin, let me explain for those who don’t know.  X-23 may be one of the most successful superhero teenagers to come out of comics in a long time.  She even received a full origin and back story in the miniseries X-23: Innocence Lost.  To sum up, she’s a clone of Wolverine trained from birth to be a heartless and tremendously effective killer.  Of course, that whole thing backfired and she escaped, now trying to do good and all that jazz.

And Daken?  He’s quite possibly Wolverine’s best supervillain in the past fifteen years..  Logan’s biological son from his deceased wife Itsu, Daken gets raised by the psychopath Romulus after tragedy and murder and you get it.  The guy turned out full-on sociopath and evil, premiering in the fabulous Wolverine: Origins series.  Go read it.

Enough words, let’s get on with our story.

Welcome to the fictional country/city of Madripoor.  Think of it as a wicked version of Singapore. Here, corruption and lawlessness run the city, making Madripoor an ideal destination for the more swarthy characters.

You know how team ups go.  First they fight, then they cooperate.  So, here’s some of the fight:

The arc makes use of super awesome double spread battle scenes.  Here’s the first one.  Click for a much larger size.

Their battle serves two purposes.  First, who didn’t want to see the two Wolverines brawl?  Also, Daken’s a baddie, so if they’re going to work together, they have to scrap first.  Second, the readers now know their skills and abilities are equal.  Or close to it.  No one’s going to be dragging along the other one.

X-23 and Gambit stop by Daken’s turf after hearing rumors about a Weapon X facility in Madripoor.  If you aren’t familiar with that hellhole, a group of evil scientists did all sorts of awful experiments on brainwashed and unsuspecting victims.  Wolverine received his adamantium claws/skeleton through Weapon X.  To prevent more victims like herself, X-23 visits the seediest city in the world.  Things go badly almost immediately.  Oh, notice the cool differences in art as the next issue begins.

Daken’s motivations, though, aren’t exactly far off from hers.  He doesn’t really care that much about evil experiments, as long as those evil experiments are for him.

X-23’s also not a big fan of Malcolm Colcord making soldiers for his own games.

While this is going on, Daken and Gambit fight.  You have to cover all bases when you have series crossover.  Here’s the awesome double spread from that:

Eventually, X-23 gets captured.

As the second half begins, X-23 finds herself in a tight spot.  Though probably better to bind her up than drug her.  Healing factor plus that tendency to flail her claws.

You see what Daken did?  Someone has ulterior motives that doesn’t include Laura getting ripped open with a chainsaw.

And our final double spread.  It’s just as awesome as the previous two.

Don’t worry, Daken and X-23 totally claw and stab their way through the monster facility.  But since both of them remain badly damaged and with therapists not terribly pleased to see their patients soaked in blood, life questions have to figured out in between massacring scientists/guards/creatures.

Eventually, the two meet up with Malcolm once more.  This time under very different circumstances.

I present one of the coolest pages I’ve ever seen in comics.  You’ll know which one I’m talking about:

The main difference between Daken and X-23?  Wolverine’s son wields his strength to better himself while Wolverine’s clone wields her strength to protect everyone else.  Which, I guess, is the most basic defined difference between a supervillain and a superhero.  At least one of them got some closure out of this whole thing.

Emma Frost vs. Avengers Academy

Did you enjoy Avengers vs. X-Men?  Irrelevant, because I can’t hear you.  I loved it, if just because I have a soft spot for superheroes punching other superheroes.  In summary, the Phoenix god-like force returned to Earth and impregnated/enveloped five X-Men, one of them being Emma Frost.  Now with practically unlimited power at her command, she sets off to “right” some wrongs.  We’ll get back to her later.  First up, the introduction of Avengers Academy #32-33, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Timothy Green II.

The requirement for Avengers Academy isn’t as stringent as some of the other super-schools.  Juston has zero powers and zero athleticism, but his best friend is a giant robot so that apparently fast tracks his admission.  Sentinels, the henchmen of the government, get programmed to hunt down and kill mutants using lasers and a thirty-foot height advantage.

Mutants tend to have a problem with sentinels.

Meet X-23, female mutant clone of Wolverine.  Two claws on each hand, one on each foot, and much less hairy.  Normally, the destruction of a sentinel doesn’t really shed any tears, but this one’s special.  BFF special.

Now X-23 may be a relentless killer, but she also doesn’t really want to crush the dreams and shatter the love of a fellow teenager.  Unfortunately for Juston, there’s someone out there who has no problem crushing dreams and shattering love.

Let me make something crystal clear: the Avengers Academy does not stand a chance against Phoenix Emma Frost.  With all their powers, all their strategies, and the entire academy emptied out to join the battle, they do not stand a chance.  Robots feel differently.

Hank Pym, the headmaster at the school and one of the top five smartest people on the planet, understands the situation completely.  His teenage students on the other hand, tend not to realize that a fight against a catastrophic god-like force won’t end well.  And in a serious moment of growth for our clawed friend, Emma Frost triggers X-23’s sensitive side.

You know how raising trained killers from birth go.  Let them love a puppy, then take it away and kill it. Standard psychopathic fare.  But for X-23?  No more.

Can’t you forgive Hank Pym now?  Unlike other celebrity domestic abusers, he’s spent 30 years redeeming and making up for his mistake.  And how could you not love him after the above page?

I’m skipping a bunch of the fight, but you’ve read enough to know how it goes.  As I show the next few pages un-commentated, please appreciate both the emotional outburst and cinematic feel of the next few pages.  Actually, go to YouTube and play the saddest song you know before continuing.

Wonder why the X-Men turned out to be the villains during this event?  Scenes like this, for one. Luckily, as you mop up your tear-soaked cheeks, this story has a happy ending.  Thank god, right?

Quicksilver also serves as faculty, and even Phoenix powers can’t detect his crazy speed.  While the arc ends on dreadful foreshadowing, a boy and his sentinel reunited isn’t a bad way to go out on.

Random panels 3!

As I read comics, I’ll come across a few panels that leave me delighted.  Unfortunately, they’re either in issues I’m writing about but unrelated to my focus or not enough content to warrant an entire article. I don’t want them to go to waste, so I’m unloading my random panels for today’s article.  I hope you enjoy.  If you’re curious, here are the first and second editions.

Avengers Academy plays football against Wolverine’s X-Men school
Avengers Academy #38, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Tom Grummett

It goes exactly as you think.  Maturity and sportsmanship don’t usually apply to those who wear spandex for a living.

I really enjoy Avenger Academy.  The same angst and teenage drama of the younger X-Men, but with that whole underlining optimism you get when the majority of the world doesn’t hate your kind.  Plus, it gives readers important love advice:

Quicksilver sums up high school
Avengers Academy #39, written by Gage and drawn by Grummett

Of course Scarlet Witch watches Downton Abbey.  And even more impressively, in a world with alien attacks, fanatical disasters, and a never-ending excitement of good versus evil — a show about inane Victorian drama would still be on television.  Who says Quicksilver doesn’t deserve to be a hero? Comforting young girls and forcing himself to watch boring TV.

Hercules being Hercules
Avengers Academy #29, written by Gage and drawn by Grummett

If you had to ask me my top five favorite Marvel superheroes, Hercules would absolutely make the list.

Don’t ask Spider-Man to stop joking
Avengers: The Initiate #3, written by Dan Slott and drawn by Stefano Caselli

Slott might be my favorite Spider-Man writer ever.  I’m serious.  You can call Slott many things, but my god, does this man love Spider-Man.  Plus, haven’t you been reading Superior Spider-Man?  It’s so good!

Gambit makes an entrance
Daken: Dark Wolverine #8, written by Daniel Way & Marjorie Lui and drawn by Marco Checchetto

That mobster shaking Daken’s hand?  Pretty sure his pants are soaked.  Plus, in the next scene he makes Daken’s face explode.  Gambit’s seen a resurgence lately, starring the past few years in X-Men Legacy and X-23, both of which rocked.

Just how strong is the Hulk?
World War Hulk #5, written by Greg Pak and drawn by John Romita, Jr.

At the end of the Marvel event, Hulk has reached the angriest he may have ever been.  Like literal world-breaking power.

One stomp almost destroys the eastern half of the United States.  By the way, catch that moment of self-loathing?  Poor guy.  Puts a little spin on the despairing monster genre — very Frankenstein-esque (literary reference!).  By the way, are there any truly happy superheroes?

Penance vs. Moonstone

Thunderbolts #121, written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Mike Deodato

One of my prouder series of articles, I’ve covered Speedball’s transformation into Penance and back again in a previous set of articles, which I’ll shameless promote here, here, and here.  In a fight scene I so desperately wanted to include, Penance’s teammate ambushes and tries to kill him. She really underestimates her opponent.

This actually sparks the exact moment his energy ball power has made an appearance in over two years.  Also, Moonstone deserved everything she had coming, I promise.  She’s a mean lady.

This was fun, right?  Once I gathered up another batch, we’ll do more of these.  And I hope you enjoy Avenger Academy, because Wednesday’s article brings us smack into that fiasco.

The redemption of Magneto, Pt. 2

As we left Magneto (Erik Lehnsherr), the X-Men leader Cyclops rejected his application for membership.  To be fair to Cyclops (Scott Summers), decades of magnetic-related torture on his team can’t be washed off in a single apology.  And Magneto, well into his 80s (with the body of a forty year-old due alien mischief and whatnot), perfectly understands the situation Cylcops is in.  After all, with only 200 mutants left in the world, if Magneto plans to infiltrate Utopia and kill all the X-Men — well, you can imagine the egg on Cyclops’ face.  To prove himself to Scott, Magneto has do something extraordinary.

We pick up with the finale of our story today from Uncanny X-Men #515-522, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Greg Land.  The master of magnetism sits in a trance atop a secluded cliff.

And what is he trying to accomplish?

We need to back up a year or so.  In Astonishing X-Men #24 and Giant-Size Astonishing X-Men #1, both written by Joss Whedon and drawn by John Cassaday, an extraterrestial supervillain lost a battle to our mutant heroes.  It happens every few issues or so, but unlike previous foes, this baddie happens to be a horribly sore loser.  Like launching a doomsday weapon on the entire Earth sore loser.

Kitty Pryde, who can phase intangibly through objects, explores the inside of a giant missile to see if she can disable it, catch a nap, whatever.  Unfortunately, it fires before she can escape.

Earth would be doomed, except for one little benefit of Kitty’s powers — anything she touches can become intangible as well.  Even city-sized bullets.

Unfortunately, as Beast pointed out, the doomsday weapon isn’t just going to turn around.  Turns out bullets usually need to hit something before they stop.  Inertia or something.

With that, Kitty Pryde disappeared from the Marvel universe, riding a metal bullet into the far reaches of space.  Until now.

I love Magneto.  The man’s the number one comic book villain for a reason, and I don’t think he has gotten the appreciation he deserves the past decade or so.  I know you’ve heard this all before, but it deserves reiteration.

Magneto’s origin story places his early years in a Nazi concentration camp, seeing firsthand the horrors of what humanity is capable of.  Plus I’m biased as a Jew myself, so any badass Jewish character gets extra attention in my book (I love you Thing).  As Erik’s goal to end mutant discrimination progresses, his ideals get darker and more twisted, essentially embracing the Nazi ideology of genetic superiority — just with mutants.  The difference between him and Professor X is that the good professor firmly believes humanity will embrace them as equals given time and knowledge.  Magneto figures instead of relying on the good graces of the masses, better to just enslave them instead of simply waiting for humanity to inevitably destroy mutantkind.  Half full versus half empty.  Professor X’s Martin Luther King Jr. versus Magneto’s Malcolm X.  Having finally realized that maybe his methods haven’t been working, Magneto can at least protect mutantkind with his other gifts — leadership ability and an insanely strong superpower.  Actually, Emma sums up Erik fairly well when comparing him to Cyclops:

Finally, the moment of redemption arrives.  Kitty’s fate rests in Magneto’s purple-energy hands.

Feels good, right?  The Internet best translates Magneto’s Yiddish as “There you are, precious.”  Sure, unforseen complications arise from her return, but none of those are Magneto’s fault.  Sadly, poor Erik has a limit to his powers, and that includes magnetically guiding magic bullets halfway across the galaxy.

Back in the day, Professor X just asked mutants to join the team; Cyclops requires far more effort and face blood.  After the stunt, Magneto falls into a coma for a few months until the end of the X-Men event Second Coming.  We quickly jump to New Mutants #14, written by Zeb Wells and drawn by Ibraim Roberson, Lan Medina, & Nathan Fox along with X-Men Legacy #237, written by Mike Carey and drawn by Greg Land.  Magneto awakens just in time to learn that robot Nimrods are about to destroy Utopia.

And these robots learn exactly what happens when you mess with Magneto.  Hint: never fight an opponent who doesn’t even take the time to put on a shirt.

As we end today, remember for that all the evil, destruction, and almost certainly future evil Magneto incites, he has not lost nor will ever lose sight of his one powerful, self-defining belief:

Character development: it’s the best part of literature.  I mean, after punching.

The redemption of Magneto, Pt. 1

For almost 50 years, Magneto terrorized the X-Men and the Marvel universe.  And I literally mean terrorized — the dude’s the poster boy for terrorists.  With all his genocidal acts and other horrible atrocities committed by him and his mutant allies, Magneto (whose current “real name” stands as Erik Lehnsherr) regrets nothing.  He holds his head high, and even as he ends his reign as a supervillain, his goals haven’t changed — just the X-Men have.

If you want a quick summary of his ideals and history, I covered it in one of my earliest articles.  As we pick up today in Uncanny X-Men #515-522, written by Matt Fraction and drawn by Greg Land, Terry Dodson, & Whilce Portacio, the X-Men have just settled into their new home — an asteroid island called Utopia off the coast of San Francisco.  Today, a guest visits:

Poor Professor X.  He gets to hang out with the X-Men, but he’s a relic of a long gone past.  With his favorite student Cyclops (Scott Summers) taking the reigns of the mutant future, Xavier’s relegated to the senile grandpa who hangs out on the porch and screams obscenities to neighbors walking their dogs.  As Magneto makes his introduction, pay close attention to how badly Cyclops shuts down his mentor.  Poor Professor X indeed.

Look, the professor has a valid point.  Remember, Professor X hasn’t forgotten that Magneto’s daughter caused the mutant decimation, turning millions of mutants worldwide into less than two hundred.  Plus, he spent his entire adult life watching Magneto battle the X-Men time and time again. It would not be completely insane that Magneto’s lying — supervillains tend to do that.

Why now for Magneto’s change of mind?  He’ll explain in a second, but what’s the biggest difference between Professor X and Cyclops (besides the laser eyes)?  Unlike the professor, Cyclops is a soldier and Magneto knows this.

If all the remaining mutants hang out on Utopia, why wouldn’t Magneto be there too?  After all, he’s always fought for mutantkind.  Y’know, just with eviler methods.

While this article doesn’t have much fighting (well, I mean there’s tons throughout the arc, but you have to buy the book for all that), even Cyclops can’t deny when considering the X-Men army alone, Magneto’s a powerful weapon to have.

All that’s left for Erik is to prove to Cyclops and the X-Men that his intentions are genuine. Unforunately, that’s a much bigger fight than tearing apart mindless monsters (and definitely buy the book to see some amazing X-Men teamwork and Fantomex love).  Luckily for Magneto, a problem looms he can fix: Utopia is sinking into the ocean.

Magneto’s made some useful friends in his supervillain career.  Like a fishy anti-hero who just recently became best friends with Dr. Doom.

To be fair to Magneto, Cyclops currently has his own set of problems, like the psychic invasion of the Sentry’s Void thingie living inside his girlfriend’s brain.  But no matter what one can say about the X-Men’s fearless leader, he’s pretty diligent about chain of command.  Oh well:

Time to inform the new boss about the exciting success.

The heavy hitters — guys like Magneto, Dr. Doom and Norman Osborn — haven’t really had “bosses” before.  Part of being a successful supervillain comes with a major dose of megalomania.  In the next scene, read carefully: both characters make valid arguments.

Magneto just learned the hard way that decades of sins can’t be washed away with one good deed. Sure, the old man executed a great idea and yes, he did save the island from sinking. Unfortunately, Magneto underestimated the man he’s clashed with since Cyclops hit puberty.  Scott leads the X-Men not because of his connections to Professor X, but because he earned the X-Men’s leadership through experience, capability, and proven success time and time again.  So if Magneto really wants a spot on the roster and Cyclops’ trust, he needs something big.  Life changing.

Fifty years of past foiled plans by the X-Men, and Magneto continued to pursue his misguided agenda after every bruising and beating.  Persistence and lofty goals certainly classify as some of his stronger traits.  Get ready, because on Friday we’ll have the finale of our story, including a heart-wrenching act over a year in the making.  How’s that for a tease?

Black Widow explains the revolving death door

Before we start today, I want to do something I haven’t done before: plug.  After my Deadpool/Kid Apocalypse article, I received word from a rapper named Kid Apocalypse who raps exclusively about comic books.  And regardless of your opinion about anything I’ve just said, shouldn’t we as a community do everything possible to support our own?  Any comic book fan attempting something new and creative with our shared passion deserves our support.  Go watch his YouTube videos, especially the first one that uses a remix of the X-Men 90s cartoon theme as his beat.  They’re professional and everything.
Kid Apocalypse – Kid Apocalypse Rising
Kid Apocalypse – Came from the Chain

Okay, let’s jump into our story today.  During any major Marvel event, major character deaths are inevitable.  We accept this, and it’s sort of fun to see if we can figure out who it’ll be before Marvel drops the press release a few days before the issue goes on sale.  During Fear Itself, Bucky Barnes (at the time wielding the Captain America mantle) died at the god-infused power of Red Skull’s daughter Sin. Sad stuff.

You know who took it the hardest?  Her name’s in the title of the article.  Bucky and Black Widow (aka Natalia Romanova) first met and fell in love as brainwashed Soviet assassins during the Cold War.  Finally reunited a year or two before Siege, the two picked up almost instantly where they left off. Y’know, until he died, and in Secret Avengers #15, written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Scot Eaton, a tabloid tries to take advantage of the situation for financial gain.

Look, I know it seems frivolous for Black Widow to crash through a trashy magazine’s window and scarily scream at the staff when major battles and wars are being fought all over the world at this exact moment.  But as I’ve said in my other Black Widow post, the superhero commanders figured that Black Widow should get some down time before her emotions endanger her and her allies in the real fight.  Good call, as you’ve just seen.  Eventually Natalia does rejoin in the final battle and even receives some cool purple swords to slice up the baddies.  Right now, though?  Bloggers need to be yelled at.

Maybe because the staff knows Black Widow’s a good guy, but they act surprisingly calm against a woman with zero superpowers who just swung in from engaging a Thor-level baddie.  Hawkeye and Black Widow don’t get enough credit for fighting alongside the Avengers when every one of their foes outpowers them.  In the middle of Natalia’s scary rant, a single reasonable point turns the tables on the entire issue.

To this young girl, why not reveal the Captain America death a hoax?  A betting man would place money on Bucky springing from the dead a few months later (and truthfully, it takes less time than that), but we always forget about the civilians populating our superhero world.  They don’t get wizards or demons or LMDs to save their slaughtered hides.

And this issue has just spurned off into a debate.  What’s worse: the constant resurrection or single finality?  While Black Widow makes her points magnificently, I would be remiss to mention she argues while sitting wildly uncomfortable on top of a desk.

Let’s say a man gets mauled from a tiger.  As soon as he leaves the hospital after months of surgery and therapy, he’s told on the hospital steps that a family of tigers now camps out inside his minivan. A pat on the back and good luck.  No wonder superheroes’ mental stability cracks against the smallest of pebbles.

Rebuttal:

Like a roundhouse kick to the throat, Black Widow incapacitates her opponent’s rhetoric.  Or not, depending on how you personally feel.

Both sides can be effectively persuasive.  Though at the core, we’re still talking about fictional characters that wear sparkly costumes and shoot fire from their hands.  It took me many reads to understand the final pages of this issue, but I think this sums up the whole debate appropriately:

Moment of honesty: I’ve erased and rewritten this paragraph three times now.  I’m having difficulty articulating my assumption of Spencer’s point.  He may desire this woman to comment on the deity-like abilities of these superheroes to watch and protect the helpless, even as they selflessly and (more importantly) endlessly sacrifice their bodies and minds in their struggle against the hordes of evil.  He could also be breaking the fourth wall and commenting on the motivational impact these characters have on the reader’s own life as pillars for the downtrodden, ignored, and abused to aspire towards.  I really don’t know, but I believe I can confidently say this: we call them “heroes” for a reason.  Fictional drawings on paper aside, we should appreciate and embrace positive role models in any format.  We can acknowledge that, right?

I mean, that and all those cool punches and explosions.