#Midtown Marauders

[firelance2361]

The Whole World Is One Neighborhood

In honor of the finale of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man earlier this month, here's a little piece I did of my version of the Web-Warriors of Earth-15594 all gathered together.

Members:

Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Oliver Osnick/Steel Spider

Michelle Jones-Watson/Insect Queen

Ned Leeds/Prodigy

Johnny Storm/Human Torch

Leah Odinsdottir/Lightbringer

Fenris

Hope you like it!

[beardedmrbean]

As if commemorating the first anniversary of the worst single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust wasn’t harrowing enough, we American Jews were treated Monday to a reminder that the marauders who want us dead are alive and well in New York City.

There they were, in Times Square and in Grand Central and in Columbus Circle and elsewhere in the greatest city on Earth, chanting for Hamas, Hezbollah and other death cults committed to raping, kidnapping and killing Israelis, Americans and Jews.

There they were, on American soil, cheering for the monsters who still hold four American citizens in captivity.

There they were, promising to globalize the intifada and bring the bloodshed that is their only true passion to these shores as well.

Watching the keffiyeh-clad thugs, many of my friends felt distraught. How, they wondered, could such hatred flourish here, in America? And why were the bullies permitted to carry on with their intimidation, turning our solemn day of remembrance into one of fear and loathing and expressing their admiration for organizations that our government had long ago classified as terrorist groups?

I understand these sentiments, but I do not share them. The sight of masked maniacs calling for my demise did not deter me. In fact, it gave me hope.

It gave me hope, because, an immigrant here myself, I believe in America. I believe in American exceptionalism.

And I believe that the jaunty little jihadists marching down the block are precisely the sort of wake-up call this great but slumbering nation needs to stretch its limbs and leap into the next big fight for freedom.

You hardly need to be Jewish, or a political scientist, to realize that the so-called pro-Palestine crowd isn’t really all that interested in Palestine.

Their main goal is America, that lone bastion of Western civilization, which is why they strategically chose all-American events, like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony, as the optimal settings to unleash their mayhem.

Trying to disrupt our favorite national pageants is a very strange way to win friends and influence people, but it’s not really our sympathy that the protesters want.

They want us to know that they hate us and everything we represent, and that, if allowed, they intend to do in Manhattan and Brooklyn and Queens what they’d done in Nir Oz, Kfar Aza, Be’eri and all the other Israeli communities hit hardest one year ago this week.

Now we know.

And now that we know, we won’t let it happen.

Normal Americans are finally realizing just how deep-seated — and how dangerous — this hatred truly is, and, as Americans always do, they’re taking action. It’s why we’ve seen donations to Columbia University, that renowned seat of Jew-hatred and bigotry, drop 30% this past year.

It’s why we’ve seen lawmakers demand that we take our own laws seriously and deport any foreign national who is openly and outwardly expressing support for terrorists.

And it’s why an overwhelming majority of Americans recently told the Pew Research Center that Israel had very valid reasons to keep on fighting until it defeated Hamas and Hezbollah.

Americans, hallelujah, understand that Israel’s fight isn’t Israel’s alone. It’s the Western world’s struggle against the so-called Axis of Resistance — Iran, Russia, China and their minions. It’s a civilizational fight, and though it may have started a year ago in some dusty corner of the Middle East, it is now being waged right here in Midtown.

The barbarians are at the gates. That’s bad news. But here’s the good news: So are we.

[racefortheironthrone]

Not really directly related to the X-Men, but did you ever read the original series for the Power Pack? What did you think?

I'm a big Power Pack fan, having started with their intersections with the Claremont run - as I've talked about in the past, Claremont, Simonson, et al. were masters of the crossover, so it was natural that they would want to give a push to Weezy's characters in the X-books - that are rightfully considered classics because of the way they deftly managed pretty dark themes through the perspective of children.

As for their own adventures, the Power Pack are an unappreciated gem in Marvel's storied eighties, because of the way they break from the Marvel formula while operating seamlessly within the larger universe.

See, from the beginning of the Silver Age, Marvel differentiated itself from the Distinguished Competition by focusing like a laser on the teenage market rather than children. That's why Johnny Storm was a hotheaded teenage hearthrob, that's why Peter Parker started out as a normal, socially-awkward teen (just like you!), that's why the 05 X-Men were the "strangest teens of all!"

What Louise Simonson and June Brigman did with the Power Pack was to reinvent the child-centric focus of Golden Age D.C (think Robin and Superboy) and Charlton Comics (think the original Captain Marvel). Unlike those earlier child sidekicks and superkids, Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie Power were not one-dimensional plucky moppets or precocious tiny adults.

Showing an impressive insight into child psychology, Weezy made them emotionally complex but also unmistakably still-in-development children, who were innocent and curious and boisterous but who also had tempers and got into fights with their siblings, or got scared and cried sometimes, who struggled with the desire for maturity and autonomy and the need for comfort and support from their parents. At the same time, June Brigman managed to do something that most professional comics artists notoriously struggle with: draw kids who looked like real kids, who were allowed to look goofy or awkward or gangly or rolypoly, rather than the idealized forms set down by the Nine Old Men.

And somehow, this alchemy made this book unusually emotionally resonant - although I may be something of an easy mark, because the Power Pack kids happened to be the children of Columbia University professors growing up in NYC's Upper West Side in the early 80s, just like me irl. While wrapped in a candy coating of kid superheroes with cool physics-based powers (Alex can control gravity by touching people or objects, Julie can turn into both waves and particles of light and fly at lightspeed, Jack can alter his body's density to become a miniature juggernaut or a living cloud, and five-year old Katie can turn matter into energy, absorb it, and fire it at the bad guys - the living embodiment of E=MC^2) fighting the evil alien Snarks with the help of a sentient spaceship, the Powers kids had to wrestle with having to hide their superheroics from their parents and the anxiety and guilt that resulted from that, and in their adventures they dealt with heavy topics like child abuse, gun violence, school bullying, mental illness and kidnapping and homelessness, and on and on.

Indeed, in the pages of X-Men, the Power Pack would go into the sewers under Manhattan to fight Sabertooth and the Marauders during the genocidal Morlock Massace, witness Wolverine wrestling with his humanity and his berserker rage in the Canadian wilderness, and fight to save Midtown New York from demonic incursions during Inferno. That's heavy stuff for a bunch of kids ranging from 5 to 12 years old, but somehow the Power Pack managed to make it through the most harrowing of adventures without losing their heroic spirit.

[skatedad]

My buddies made a Dilla tribute. Check it out.

A re-interpretation of J Dilla's "Dreamy" instrumental track with the Marauders' "Midtown Anthem". Recorded at Make Believe Studios (February 2013) Vocal - Conchance and Black Jonny Quest Keys - Jordan Elsberry Drums - Chase Thornburg Bass - Kethro Guitar - Laurence Debour DJ - Dojorok Recording Engineer - Jeremy Deaton Mixing & Mastering Engineer - Rick Carson Additional Download Link - http://tinyurl.com/dillagents

[firelance2361]

Joy To The World

To honor this day in the MCU timeline where Tobey Maguire's and Andrew Garfield's Spider-Men arrived in the MCU in No Way Home, here's a seasons greetings piece I did for Earth-15594, featuring the Midtown Marauders - Peter Parker, Michelle Jones Watson, Ned Leeds, Johnny Storm, Ollie Osnick, Leah Odinsdottir, and Fenris - all gathered for a holiday photo.

Hope you like it and have a Happy Holidays!

[firelance2361]

Midtown Marauders

In honor of the MCU Spider-Man’s birthday, (August 10th, 2001) here’s a piece I did of Earth-15594’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man leaping into action alongside Oliver Osnick/Steel Spider and Michelle Jones Watson/Insect Queen as the Midtown Marauders.

Hope you like it!