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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2014
PAGE 5
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arts & features
HOROSCOPES Because the stars know things we don't.
Aries (March 21-April 19)
Today is an 8
You're sharp as a tack for the next few days. Figure out what you want, get the tools you'll need and inspire your team.
Expect the best from them. Love goes both ways.
Taurus (April 20-May 20)
Today is an 8
Today is an 8
You're spurred to take action.
With study and a loved one's
backing, you can win. You're
good at finances now, so estimate your income and expenses.
Ask your partner's advice. Score ton billing.
Gemini (May 21-June 20)
Today is a 7
Spend less and save more.
Don't argue about money (or
anything else). Increase self-discipline and gain productivity.
Practice looking at things from a different viewpoint.
Cancer (June 21- July 22)
Today is a 6
Definitely cut costs wherever possible. You're under pressure with deadlines, but don't let them get you down. Keep chugging along. When in doubt, breathe deep. Oxygen does wonders.
Today is a 6 Consult with your partner. Leadership comes with listening. Love wins again to surprise a cynic. Don't be afraid to ask others to contribute. Likewise, offer to make a difference for others.
Leo (Juty 23-Aug.22)
Today is a 6
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Today is a 7
You're a true artist and have a lot to say. Say it. Don't worry if you're misunderstood; that's part of the process. Repeat yourself using new words and different expressions. Friends help you get the word out. Follow
Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)
Today is a 6
It's adventure time! Water is definitely involved. Set social priorities. Postpone a romantic interlude, but don't obsess.
When in doubt, consult with your team. Study options. You'll know what to do.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Today is a 7
If you're not sure what you want next, ask your partner or someone that knows you as bigger than you see yourself. Take a survey. Circumstances open up time in your schedule. Gamble later. Gather opportunity ideas.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)
Today is an 8
Today is an 8
Don't fall for a trick. Anticipate some friendly ridicule. Take it slow to get farther. Spend time with your partner now. Repay a favor. Limit sweets in your diet for balance. Follow a strong recommendation.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
Today is a 6
Fantasy clashes with facts. Offer your wisdom to a person who's feeling sad. Work interferes with travel. Call upon energetic friends. Your idea may take several tries. Avoid frivolous distractions. Add to your holdings.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
Today is a 5
today is a 5
Anticipate disagreement. Your partner may misunderstand you.
Just talking really does help.
Don't travel right now. Answer questions directly. Your luck's improving today and tomorrow.
Take your work home with you,
and stay respectful!
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20)
Today is a 6
Learn something new. Watch for hidden agendas dotting the trail. Take a breather. Expand later. Don't be stopped by failure, you're gaining skills.
Check instructions for errors or changes. Replenish reserves. Get the facts.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Comic book writer and university lecturer Jai Nitz has written for Marvel, DC and Dark Horse. He sat down with The Kansan to talk about movie adaptations, superheroes and female heroes.
HANNAH PIERANGELO
@hannahpier
Jai Nitz is primarily a comic book writer but also a lecturer at the University for the Department of Film and Media Studies. He has written for the popular comic book publications Marvel, DC and Dark Horse, among others. With the recent roster announcement of both Marvel and DC movies to be released over the next six years, Nitz weighs in on superheroes, supervillains and the introduction of female heroes in the new movies. Nitz will lead a course on the topic of Graphic Novels in the spring of 2015.
Kansan. How consistent and accurate do you think the movies are to their comics?
Nitz: Well, they don't have to be at all, and they almost shouldn't be. If you want to get really pedantic about it, then you can skewer everything because Batman and Superman are 75 years old (apiece). They don't have to be accurate and they shouldn't be. There's too much to cover, and there's too much that doesn't make sense anymore. One of my favorite things that I talk about is that Rick Jones is a character that most people have no idea who he is, but he's actually the guy that summoned the Avengers. The way he summons the Avengers in Avengers number one from 1963 is he uses a ham radio. That doesn't make any sense. I can't tell you how it works. I can't tell you anything about them other than I know what they are. So the stuff that is the real, truest origins of these characters doesn't make any sense today. The origins just don't matter.
What you need are the core pieces of the mythology.
Kansan: Marvel has been a lot more successful than DC, at least in its movies. Why do you think this is?
Nitz: DC stuff is greater mythology. Superman is an infallible sun god, and Batman is an infallible moon god. They (aren't related). The reason why they work is the same reason mythology works. Spider-Man is much different than that. Spider-Man hates his own powers because he feels selfish for not preventing the death of his uncle. It's a completely different thing. The Hulk is a cursed monster. He's the smartest guy in the world and he turns into pure rage. The Marvel stuff is very tragic and we tie to that immediately. We understand Spider-Man's tragedy immediately. People don't glob onto Captain America the way they do Iron Man because he's a narcissist. Because he's an alcoholic. He's too smart for his own good. He's very human. Iron Man gets to put on his suit and gets to go be awesome. Batman has to. The difference between the fundamental universes is that with Marvel, everything is very tragic with how their heroes are born and with DC everything is very mythological with how their heroes are born. There's a lot more human interaction with tragedy. Batman's an idea that is so powerful. Iron Man is not an idea, he's a character. We don't love ideas. We want to be a part of ideas, but we love characters. We connect to characters.
Kansan: Do you think DC has a chance to match or surpass
Marvel with its new slate of movies?
Nitz: The short answer is no. DC comics' biggest icon in the world, the most globally recognizable pieces of American fiction, is Superman. There has never been a piece of American fiction inflicted on the world that is more recognizable than Superman. And Superman just got beat at the box office by a raccoon with a shotgun. So, they [DC] don't have a chance.
Kansas What do you think makes a good superhero? Why are Batman, Superman and Ironman so much more popular than Antman and Aquaman?
Nitz: I think that the main thing behind any of those is the creative teams behind them at their inception, and then as they're introduced for awhile. My favorite example is Wolverine. People love Wolverine, but nobody knows where he comes from. And in his very original incarnation is a lot like Superman — it's kinda stupid. Then, they put him in the X-Men, and the X-Men became super popular because of one writer, a guy named Chris Claremont. Being a mutant became an allegory for being different, whether it was being black or being Asian or being gay. It took on a life of its own and it became the most popular monthly comic book for decades. It was because of the delivery system. If you ask anybody who's an X-Men fan, they will tell you Chris Claremont and John Byrne are the guys who made X-Men into the biggest comic book franchise in the world. The comics outsold everything else.
So that's why a character like Wolverine ended up being more popular than Antman, even though Antman is 50 years old now. Antman never had Chris Claremont behind it. It actually had a bunch of fifth-stringers. It had people from Marvel who weren't at the top of their game. It's more about the creators than it is the ideas.
Kansan But Marvel's making an Antman movie. Do you think that has hope for success?
Nitz: Yeah, Paul Rudd's gonna be Antman. KU alum. I think it's gonna be awesome. Marvel has proved they can have a raccoon with a shotgun be the number one movie in America, they can have America's sweetheart Paul Rudd do jus* fine as Antman.
Kansan What do you think makes a good villain?
Nitz: The villain has to be right. In Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul is right. Humanity sucks and needs to be purged. He goes about it in an extreme way, in a way that many people wouldn't pull the trigger on, but he's right. Loki is right. Humans suck, especially compared to Asgardians. Now what he does after that is what makes him villainous. But in Batman Begins, Ra's al Ghul is right. That's why he's convincing. And that's also why other movies don't work. For the villain to be convincing, he has to think he's right in his own mind. In Superman, Lex Luthor is the hero of the story, from Lex Luthor's point of view. It's also why The Dark Knight is the most popular superhero ever made. The Joker is very clear — chaos reigns. And anybody who's lived 20 minutes of life agrees. So then when that idea is presented, and he's right, and then he's so convincing, we all buy in.
Kansan Why do you think Marvel and DC are just introducing their female superheroes now?
Nitz: You're a fool if you think women aren't going to see these movies. Women are going to see these movies in droves. Simple market research is the main reason. The NFL many, many years ago realized that they had as many (male fans) as they were ever going to get. If you said, of the male population we have 72 percent of all men are football fans. NFL was like, the place to court (a) new audience is not to go after the remaining 28 percent of men who don't like football, it's to go after the 100 percent of women that they aren't even looking at. It's the same thing with superhero movies. When you have the right people in place, that being like Christopher Nolan and Joss Whedon, they go, "OK, I want there to be extremely strong female characters in these films." Because that's the best thing for any story. It's to have female characters who are not damsels in distress or trophies to be won. The only A-list hero on any list is Wonder Woman. But the people at Warner Brothers were saying "I don't think a Wonder Woman movie is viable financially," and they might be right. Except Marvel just won the summer with a raccoon with a shotgun. So it doesn't matter. Just make it good.
Edited by Ben Carroll
Comic book writer introduces goddess of thunder
AARON GROENE
@Watchtheroar
@Watchthegroan
Jason Aaron, a Marvel comic book writer and Kansas City, Kan., resident, shook up the Marvel universe earlier this year. Thor lost his ability to wield his hammer and, for the first time, a woman picked it up.
The hammer, known as Mjolnir, can only be picked up by someone who is worthy to wield it. This is because of an enchantment placed on it by Thor's father, Odin, who wanted to teach Thor humility. This enchantment limits the number to those able to wield the weapon in the universe, with a few exceptions, to only one. Throughout Thor's 52-year comic book history, others have tried to pick up the mighty Mjolnir, including Captain America and Wonder Woman, but never has a woman actually become a goddess
of thunder.
With only two issues released so far, plenty of questions have yet to be answered, with the biggest being: who is she? It's the guiding mystery of the new storyline.
"It's a story we haven't seen before," Aaron said. "We have seen a lot of different Marvel characters being replaced by other versions. I really liked the idea of replacing a character like Thor with a female version."
"It wasn't about changing Thor to a woman and figuring out as we go who she is," Aaron said. "It's really telling a very specific story with a very specific character even though we don't know exactly who she is yet."
Aaron said his motivation behind this switch was solely a storytelling one.
In the past couple of years, there has been a trend with more diversity in comic book
characters, a female Thor is just one example. Last year, Detective Comics replaced Spider-Man/Peter Parker with Miles Morales, a kid of African and Latino descent. Last month, Marvel announced that Sam Wilson was to drop his Falcon alias and take up the red, white and blue shield to become Captain America.
everyone to read commen Reception of this new Thor, while predominantly positive, has been mixed. Aaron said the negative reception was disappointing but not discouraging. Readership has gone up since the first issue was released in October.
"We are no longer seeing women as sidekick heroes. We are seeing them in a very high rank in comic books."
HEATHER LOPEZ Senior from Lyndon
"Certainly I think there is more awareness these days of everyone wanting to do (a) more diverse mix of heroes and characters at the forefront of the Marvel universe," Aaron
said. "Which is great, we want everyone to read comics."
October
Jai Nitz, a film professor at the University, is a big fan of what Aaron is doing. Nitz said the argument against a female wielding Mjolnir is a frivolous one.
He said while Thor is generally boring and a "plain Jane" character, the ability to wield Mjolnir is the most intriguing idea of the Thor story.
"Thor is the most ultimate
"Thor is replaced by a woman and people are like 'Whoa,' Nitz said. "It's kind of a facetious argument. Why wouldn't a particular woman be worthy enough to lift the hammer of Thor?"
white guy ever," Nitz said. "But the concept behind Thor and the hammer and being worthy to carry it, that's powerful!"
"It's refreshing to see female heroes in the spotlight," Lopez said. "When I read how they were integrating her as the Thor I was intrigued."
Heather Lopez, a senior from Lyndon, is another fan of the switch.
Lopez was tired of seeing women in supporting roles in movies like Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow in the Avengers movie.
"We are no longer seeing women as sidekick heroes." Lopez said. "We are seeing them in a very high rank in comic books. We think of those big action heroes as men. Hopefully with this we can see more women heroes hold their own in a male-dominant genre."
Edited by Ben Carroll
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