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It looks like it's time for things to change, folks. Not necessarily on a scale so grand that things are unrecognizable, but at least to a level where people will be a little confused and take a step back to look at things. What I'm talking about are the events that are currently going on with the Justice League and the Avengers. Both are going through a small shake up right now, for better or for worse. The question in my mind is not so much in regards to what will happen to the teams, but what will happen to the readers.
The Avengers
Now we're finally REALLY into the Avengers: Disassembled storyline starting with issue #500 (or #85 depending on which system you follow) of The Avengers actual title. I read Iron Man and Captain America and The Falcon so I've been dealing with the "buildup" for a bit, depending on the title.
How it's starting out now appears to be a focused chaos. Members of the Avengers are dropping, by their own hand or by the hand of another member. The fallout is likely to change how the Avengers look at each other, and how the nations of the Marvel universe look at them. Overall this is beginning to look more like a combination of a villain and some sort of government force that is unhappy with the current recognition that the Avengers are receiving from the United Nations. I'm doing my best to avoid spoilers for this story right now, so if I'm off then I'll be happy in my surprise.
Regardless, I have faith that Brian Michael Bendis will deliver a story that will be impacting to both the characters and the readers. I will say that I'm glad something like this is happening to the Avengers. Not the member loss, but a step back to look at their ranks because of people leaving or dying. To me the team has been on autopilot for far too long, and in all honesty they have been "disassembled" in my eyes for quite some time.
With the recent head butting between Iron Man and Black Panther, Hawkeye being with the T-Bolts, and Hank and Janet's marriage issues popping up again I'm surprised nobody on their team (especially Cap) has taken the time to really look at what is going on with the team on a personal level. This is a group of people that can work together, but lately they really haven't felt like a team. There has been too much bickering and disrespect in their ranks to call them a "team" in my eyes.
Who will walk away and who will stay? I'm really not worried actually. I believe Cap will stay (OK, I think he NEEDS to stay) and so will Iron Man. I'd like to see Hawkeye around, but I won't lose any sleep if he doesn't. I would like to see Hank and Janet stay just to keep some element of humanism around in their current dealing with their past marriage problems. I don't want the title saturated with it, but I think it would be an excellent metaphor for how teams can, and don't, work together. Then, as much as I hate to say it, I believe Scarlet Witch will be going the way of the dodo. Between the Vision, Wonder Man, and now Cap the woman is starting to become a lead weight on the single men of the Avengers. Plus, the things that are happening seem too focused, as I said, on a controlled chaos. Knowingly or unknowingly I think Wanda may have a hand in what is happening to the team.
Justice League
I'm saying "Justice League" here because there are two things going on right now connected to the team, and they have affected them at different incarnations. One is the current "version" of the team within the pages of Justice League Elite and the other is a past incarnation of the team that we're getting information about in Identity Crisis. Personally I don't care about the "elite" take. I'm not saying that the league has to be well kept and clean, but right now the team looks too much like a rotating group of Authority wannabes. However, that doesn't mean the title won't be good, I'm just saying that nothing about it interests me. If I hear some word of mouth it's worth picking up, I'll check it out.
What I'm really interested in is the actions of the past incarnation of the league that have just been revealed in Identity Crisis. I'm not going to mention any specifics for those of you that haven't read it yet (and if not, why not?), but I can't promise something won't be given away on some level. Anyway, this title is giving the readers an opportunity to look at former members of the league in a different light. Some people seem to be dealing with it in a very negative fashion, but for the most part it sounds like people are reserving judgment until the end of the series.
For me the "questionable" actions of the team are rooting the characters a little more in a "realistic" world. The people who seem to have a problem with the actions of the league in Identity Crisis seem to have more of a problem with how the characters are being portrayed more than anything else. You know, that they aren't as squeaky-clean as they've come to see them over the years. Some have even gone as far to say that they can't look at their silver-age comics (especially the adventures of the league) in the same way again.
Sorry folks, but welcome to a touch of reality. Comics don't need to be full of it, and I prefer they are not, but sometimes I think it can help to show a more realistic human side to some of these characters. Some of them are icons, yes, but they are also humans (Martian Manhunter isn't around). The plain and simple (perhaps horrible?) truth is that we don't know everything that all of these characters have done, and I'm not just saying that because of events like the Crisis on Infinite Earths and Zero Hour.
We don't see every element of their personal lives at all times. We only see the parts that we need to see for the story that is currently taking place. What we have in Identity Crisis is someone going back to fill in some spots that were not shown for a reason. True, the story is being written NOW and placed into history but if you think that there aren't people out there, people you know, who have questionable parts of their lives they haven't shared with you, you've got your head in the sand. Believe me, when you find out things about people you "thought you knew" that make you question them the biggest question you need to ask is how YOU take it NOW, not how THEY did it THEN. A couple (I hope that's all) transgressions doesn't make these heroes lesser. In fact, it may have been those transgressions that made them who they are now.
So, the shakeup has begun. Much like a swirling snow globe things are difficult to see right now and you're not sure where things are going to fall. However, unlike the snow globe things aren't going to be exactly the way they were before the shakeup for either of these teams. Right now I'm interested to see most of this fallout, and I can pretty much guarantee you that I will be having comments on Identity Crisis (especially some of the comments of readers of it) once it's finished. For now I'll return to trying to figuring things out, and those of you scared of the changes coming can stick your heads back in the sand.
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