By Michael Fitzgerald Troy
Well, well, well…Avengers vs. X-Men is off to an expected start this week, as Marvel gears up for a huge summer crossover. I can only surmise how this came to be. I expect Marvel was panicking over all of the hype its Distinguished Competition was receiving over the mixed bag relaunch and “New 52.” (52 is the new 20 BtW.) Marvel being the spoiled brat that it is couldn’t not be on top and, apparently, decided to retaliate with not only one of their big guns but two by pitting its two most popular franchises against each other. The 1st issue was enjoyable enough by Brian Michael (on my way out of Avengers Mansion, thank Jesus) Bendis and serviceable art robot John Romita Jr. I enjoyed the 0 issue and Frank Cho’s zaftig good girl art gone wild much better.
SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW
It seem the Phoenix Force is back in town, and it’s headed straight for Hope, the 1st mutant born since the decimation caused by popular Avenger Scarlet Witch’s nervous breakdown. ruh-roh. The Avengers seek to hold Hope in protective custody in order to protect humanity from the deadly, blood thirsty entity seeking a host. Only problem is, Cyclops is on the rag and Captain America aims to bring him a tampon. Let the games begin!
I imagined all of the typical things we are likely to see and challenged myself to think of something that would be totally b!tc#!n’. So, what did I think of? The Phoenix Force needs a host, and the Scarlet Witch has a Scarlet Letter ever since she wiped out the mutants, so I give you: Scarlet Phoenix! Ta da! It makes perfect sense. Back in the day when Phoenix was 1st introduced, she wiped out a planet of a billion souls and was sentenced to death via editorial mandate. In a kinder, gentler generation, where real people literally get away with murder (O.J. Simpson, Casey Anthony, et al.), Scarlet Witch was merely temporarily banished from the M.U. after almost completely wiping out the mutant population. This would be cool as hell and makes perfect sense; the only problem is that it would totally end the Marvel Universe. You take two unstable Mabels that eat their own and give them omnipotent powers? Probably not a good idea.
Michael Troy is a deeply superficial person. Born in the midwest in the ’70s, Michael came to Los Angeles to pursue his bi-polar career path as an actor and artist. 2005 saw the release of Michael’s first published book, Homo-Hero’s Big Book of Fun and Adventure (www.greencandypress.com). Michael has contributed to the Lady Gaga comic book from Bluewater Productions and has his hand in various other upcoming projects. Michael has performed stand-up comedy at all of the major comedy clubs in Los Angeles and is making his triumphant return to the main stage of The Comedy Store in September. Michael offers an off-beat sense of humor as the star of such youtube cult classics As The Gays on Film (www.youtube.com/fullfrontaltv), A Minute With Margot, a loving tribute to Superman legend Margot Kidder (http://www.youtube.com/user/rktcommander), and currently hosts a vlog style series Lethally Blonde over at www.monsterburg.com. Sitting alongside industry heavyweight Phil Jimenez at the “Divas and Lassoes” panel for the 2010 San Diego comic-con, Michael maintains and cherishes his “underground” status. A staunch believer in Blonde Ambition, Michael hopes his new comic about shallow blonde super heroes in Los Angeles, The Blonde Squad, will set the world on fire (or at least brighten it a bit). Check out Michael Troy and Lethally Blonde updates here!!!
