The comic industry is an eternally morphing universe — constantly evolving and, at times, getting better.
That evolution happens without much opposition, but problems arise when change is made for the sake of change or when alterations are made without regard for the subject being modified. This lack of attention to detail may have led to the changes to Captain America’s costume.
The hero’s duds were changed from chain mail to scale mail. Chain mail is woven through the use of interlocking metal rings while scale mail is made of overlapping metal or leather scales.
The change was made with no explanation given to readers. The modification was upsetting, notwithstanding the fact that the drawings were beautiful. At least the story was left intact.
Another noteworthy change happened in the Wolverine storyline. Authors decided to give the character the ability to remember his past. He had been an enigma, even to himself. The modification made sense and certainly affected the stories and it was at done as part of the storyline.
Previously, Wolverine stories had progressed without drawing from his past. Authors only had revealed that the character was more than 200 years old.
Giving the character back his memories will allow its creators to create many new stories.
In a similar fashion, the “One More Day” storyline that turned Spider-Man into an unwed man and seemingly wiped Mary Jane from the Marvel Universe gives the folks at Marvel a chance for new stories.
I must admit that this change to Spider-Man’s character bothered me. But I keep reading, and the strong stories being produced may be a good move after all. Nonetheless, I still miss MJ, but am hopeful for the future.
And like the missteps of breaking Batman’s back and putting Superman in a mullet, sometimes a company will put their toys back the way the found them — just one of the possibilities when dealing with morphing industry.
Shawn Munguia does graphics and layout for the Valley Morning Star. He also maintains a blog about cartoons and comics at http://toontalk.freedomblogging.com/. Munguia can be reached at 956-421-9870 or you can e-mail him at shawnm@valleystar.com.
