Marvel Day 2020

Woke up this morning and Russ informed me that today is “Marvel Day.” To which I replied…” Isn’t every day Marvel Day?” He explained it has something to do with the number 616, that the Marvel Universe is Universe #616 (or something like that…). I don’t know, because at this point I’m just beginning to read comics from 1965, so I haven’t gotten to that yet. But it got me thinking…

What is the best way to celebrate Marvel Day? I’m on board! With Coronavirus, economic distress and social unrest, 2020 is not shaping up to be My Favorite Year, so why not grab opportunities to celebrate the little things? We have decided to watch Captain Marvel tonight. Of course we saw it in the theater when it came out, but have not yet opened our 4K disc from Amazon. This is as good a time as any to do that!

And here’s one more way to celebrate: I’ve decided this is the perfect time to do a brief pictoral review of what I consider to be the high points of my own personal experience with Marvel Comics. You may not agree that all of these are high points IN Marvel Comics, but these are MY high points. And on this momentous occasion of Marvel Day 2020, I wish to document them.

And so, let us begin…

X-MEN 2000: OH! SO THIS IS WHAT COMIC BOOKS ARE ALL ABOUT!

As a kid, (especially a girl kid), I didn’t read comics. I didn’t really know what went on in them beyond Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc. I had never even heard of Iron Man, and only had the vaguest notion what “the X-Men” was. But when my teenage kids encouraged me to take them to see the 2000 movie, that busted the world of comics wide open for me!

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FANTASTIC FOUR #1 – WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

After that, I probably saw a few more X-Men movies, and some Fantastic Four and Spider-Man, before meeting Russ and being brought further into the world of comics. After being married to Russ for a few years, I decide, “I guess I should read a few comics…just so I can talk about some of this stuff with him.” Of course, he started me off where all good chronologists start off: at the beginning! I read Fantastic Four #1….and away we go!

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I FALL IN LOVE WITH ANT-MAN AND WASP

The first Ant-Man I read was in black-and-white, and I wasn’t expecting to enjoy a story about how a man gets really really small (Steve Martin, anyone?) and saves the day. It seemed so comical. But a few issues in, I meet the feisty Wasp, and I’m surprised how much I’m enjoying the relationship between Janet van Dyne and egghead scientist Hank Pym. And of course, they are not the only Marvel couple whose story I follow with great interest. But this was my first real sense of how much soap opera I could be getting myself into.

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FANTASTIC FOUR #10: A PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN

As far back as I can remember, I have always been a fan of “breaking the fourth wall.” In Fantastic Four #10, Stan and Jack take the bold step of including themselves as characters in their own comic. What a hoot!

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AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1: CROSS-POLLINATION

The cover of Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 promises that its 72 pages will be “jam-packed with special SURPRISE features” and it is. I was overwhelmed by all the content, but especially by the numerous guest appearances by virtually every Marvel superhero, and also a slew of villains. I realized that when the content you’re creating all comes from the same place (your own imagination), you can basically do whatever you want. No need to haggle with other studios to get a guest appearance, simply draw them in! This book, along with the self-deprecating scenes of the creators in Fantastic Four #10 really opened up for me the concept of just how creative comics can really be.

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IRON MAN 1 – ADVENT OF THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE

When the first Iron Man movie came out, I still didn’t know who the heck Iron Man was…but by the end of the movie…I KNEW. I loved Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark coming to the microphone and announcing, “I AM Iron Man.” Kaboom! Couldn’t wait for more!

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NICK FURY AFTER-CREDIT SCENE

Also at the end of Iron Man, in what will quickly become the much-anticipated after-credits scene, here comes Samuel L. Jackson as some guy with an eye patch saying, “I’m here to talk to you about the Avenger Initiative.” KABOOM again!

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GUARDIANS: NOW IT’S OFFICIALLY A UNIVERSE

I didn’t know anything about the Guardians of the Galaxy prior to seeing the TV ads for the upcoming movie, but that was all it took for me to get hooked. To this day, this is one of my favorite arms of the Marvel Universe, probably because of the fantastic use of both humor and music.

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T’CHALLA’S SPEECH

Culturally speaking, I am not generally a fan of “black movies” so going into Black Panther in February 2018 I was not expecting to be blown away. But I was. There have been several times that Marvel movies have brought tears to my eyes, and T’Challa’s speech at the end had me searching for my Kleenex and wishing Wakanda was a real place.

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INDUBITABLY, MY DEAR DR. STRANGE

If there’s one thing Marvel Studios does well—and obviously there’s a lot more than one thing they do well—but they almost always get the casting spot on. Russ and I often speculate which actor or actress would best portray a particular Marvel character, and are always delighted when Marvel takes our advice, or comes up with someone even better. I remember the moment Russ first told me the news that Benedict Cumberbatch (a favorite from the Sherlock series) had been pegged for Dr. Strange. Glee! And he did not disappoint.

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GOOSE

I am of course a “Cat Person,” so seeing Nick Fury interact with Goose in Captain Marvel was so much fun. However, I was NOT prepared for Goose’s….shall we call them…exceptional abilities…

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WATCH THIS, STAN!

Love ALL the Stan Lee cameos, but this one sort of blew the lid off all the rest of them. What in tarnation is going on here? The debate continues…

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AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.

Another “can’t wait for it” moment came when we first heard that Marvel was doing a weekly TV show. Russ and I have religiously watched each season of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, and some seasons, frankly, have been better than others. In my opinion, they are going out with a bang in the seventh season, which so far has been fun and creative beyond anything we’ve seen before from the show.

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PEGGY CARTER AND JARVIS

Early on in the SHIELD TV run, we were treated to another blast from the past with Agent Carter. I guess I’m a sucker for period pieces, because I absolutely adored the two short seasons. Peggy’s so sassy in a red hat, but most of all I’m in love with Jarvis. (Who wouldn’t be?)

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AVENGERS: ENDGAME OPENING CREDITS

Okay, here I go, crying again. After seeing so many beloved characters dissolve before my very eyes in Avengers: Infinity War, I was more than ready for Marvel to set right this egregious event. Endgame begins with a song over the opening Marvel logo, Dear Mr. Fantasy by Traffic, and the lyrics are: “Dear Mr. Fantasy, play us a tune, something to make us all happy. Do anything, take us out of this gloom.” That was all I needed to hear. In April 2019, I was sorely in need of something to take me out of my gloom. Even if it only was a fantasy.

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AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

I’m throwing this one in mostly for Russ. Almost since the moment we first realized, during the Nick Fury after-credits scene of Iron Man, that The Avengers on the big screen was actually going to happen, he has been waiting to hear Captain America say “Avengers Assemble.” And he finally got his wish in Endgame. What an emotional roller coaster of a movie! Some emotions we would have rather not experienced, but the “Avengers Assemble” moment was what Marvel Comics is all about.

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There is obviously a lot more I could say, but Marvel Day 2020 only lasts 24 hours, so I’ll stop here and also ask if, in the comments below, anyone else wants to share what they consider to be their own personal high points in the Marvel Universe.