Marvel Comics – The Concordian

Superhero fans rejoice! The Concordia Comic book club is back in action.

My friend showed me his huge comic book collection, it was quite a marvel.

Concordia Comic Book Club executives Emily MacDonald, Liam Quraeshi, and Wade Maddin explain all there is to know about comics.

“I think it started when I found my dad’s collection of comics. He had them in the basement and one time I was down there I found them all. It was quite a sight to see,” Quraeshi recalled. “Before then I never really bought any comics, so seeing all these varieties of ‘Spiderman’ and ‘X-Men,’ I became very interested in that whole world.”

Maddin explained that his early years of collecting were very much influenced by the cartoons that he watched at the time.

“A lot of the cartoons I watched growing up were all stuff like Batman. I was also a big fan of the Avengers TV show back when that was a thing,” Maddin recalled.

Just as each member became interested in comic books in various ways, their safekeeping methods differ as well.

MacDonald, who has been interested in comics since the age of 14, keeps her comics stored in four big boxes.

“I have a few hundred, like individual issues. In the comic industry the stuff that you keep the comics in is called a bag and board.

Quraeshi, on the other hand, uses the knowledge that he has acquired as a history major and applies it to the safekeeping of his collection.

“The best way to preserve any sort of paper, writing and comics included, is to keep them in a nice dry and dark area. Too much light can damage the comic by draining the colour. If the area is too moist, the paper kind of smudges a bit and they can get stuck together,” Quraeshi explained.

Quraeshi also advises any new comic collectors to have paper dividers in between each and every issue. This is for purposes of organization as well as to protect the condition of the actual issue.

In terms of the value of comic book issues, The Concordian was able to learn more about what makes comics valuable.

“Supply and demand is a big factor. Whenever there is a relatively small amount of a certain item, value increases. In some cases it can differ, a good example is the ‘Action Comics 1,’ it’s not only one of the first detective comics but it also debuts one of the most popular superheroes, Superman,” Quraeshi said.

Quraeshi, along with his two other colleagues, is eager to spread his passion for comic books with new members.
Potential new members can join the Concordia Comic Book Club Discord server and their other socials through this link.

Marvel Comics’ The Avengers opened this past weekend to the tune of 200 million dollars in revenue. But were moviegoers shelling out for a box office hit or a Hollywood bust?

The Avengers combines characters from four previous Marvel Comics films and begins where the last movie, Thor, left off. For those who have never seen Thor (and I don’t recommend that you do), Thor’s brother Loki rules their home world of Askgard in Thor’s absence (he’s banished to Earth). When Thor is redeemed and returns to Askgard, Loki is made to give up the throne.

The premise of The Avengers is thus, that Loki wants revenge for losing the throne and so he teams up with a colony of bloodthirsty aliens, the Chitauri, with the purpose of enslaving humanity. His plan is to bring the Chitauri army to Earth, but the portal he uses to travel between worlds won’t transport an entire army. What he needs is the object known as the Tesseract, currently in the possession of the U.S. government agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. In the opening scenes, Loki successfully steals the Tesseract from the S.H.I.E.L.D facility, prompting leader Nick Fury to recruit the Marvel superheroes, Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America. Uninvited, Thor arrives to dissuade Loki and joins up with the other superheroes to save Earth.

Action packed and peppered with biting one-liners and physical comedy, The Avengers brings together the best of the previous five Marvel superhero films. Not all the previous movies in this series were successful, but director Joss Whedon manages to take what worked best for each of the individual films and have them coalesce as a whole.

Avengers heroes Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) and Captain America (Chris Evans) headlined their own comic-to-movie adaptations in 2011

The action sequences are set up so that there are several fight scenes happening at once and the camera cuts from one to the other and back again. In this way the different plots and storylines are able to happen simultaneously without any unnecessary breaks in the action. There is very little wasted time in this film, something the other movies suffered from; spending more time on character than on plot. Whedon, however, gives enough character information so that first time Marvel superhero movie-goers will understand the action, but not so much that veterans are bored or plot time is wasted.

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man gets the best one liners, as is the nature of his character, but it’s the ease in which he plays his character, demonstrating the growth Stark has gone through since first becoming Iron Man that is most impressive and he stands out as one of the more well-rounded characters. Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk also gets his share of laughs, playing off of Downey’s witticisms in his own smart-aleck way, while also indicating a deeply troubled inner life that draws focus to his character more than any other.

Chris Hemsworth as Thor is exactly as he was in the first movie, with his signature accent, reliance on stern facial expressions and Yoda-like lines of wisdom to convey character. Chris Evans is Captain America/Steve Rogers who is still adjusting to 21st century life, which is perhaps why he only ever seems to be half present. Secondary characters, like Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson) are indications of movies to come. The story continually hints of a deep dark past for both of them, which we never fully learn about but helps to qualify them, somewhat, for inclusion in The Avenger team picture.

Overall, if you’re looking to treat yourself to a night at the movies, this is the picture to shell out the money for, at least for this week.

CINEMATOGRAPHY: A
ACTING: A-
PLOT: B+

FINAL GRADE: A-
CLASSIFICATION: BLOCKBUSTER