Howdy, folks! Welcome once again to the Omnium Gatherum. Or, if you’re new here, welcome to the Omnium Gatherum. If either of the two of you readers are paying attention to these columns, you may notice there’s a jump in the recent numbering with this entry. Where is column #85? Column #85 is a long in the works and long in length piece about Oxymandias of Watchmen fame. Being a Buddhist and being struck by the notion of compassionate violence from Tantric Buddhism, after learning about it while research my White Whale (another story for another time), I wondered about his actions, particularly as the story concludes there seemingly is no punishment on the horizon for his actions. In technical terms, the person who wins at the end of a superhero story is the hero, he’s the good guy; the villains generally win in the short term but not at the end of a particular story. Not unless it’s one of those so called imaginary stories where the bad guys win because this story is not part of the
Howdy, folks! Welcome once again to the Omnium Gatherum. Or, if you’re new here, welcome to the Omnium Gatherum. Long story short and as a warm up for myself before diving into this column’s topic, the Omnium Gatherum is a column I write, started for and hosted by the late, great Comics Waiting Room website, where I ruminate and cogitate, often using big words, over various topics across pop culture and culture in general. This time around the topic came to me as I was haunted by 3 am thoughts, those sorts of odd ideas that come together when one has either stayed up all night or gotten up from a deep sleep. Starting in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe as it came to be known dominated the marketplace of pop culture and the box office. The resurgence and completed redemption arc of Robert Downey, Jr., occurred during this time, largely due to his portrayal of Tony Stark, the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist, also known as Iron Man. The stardoms of Chris Evans, Chris Hemswort