FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT #1: Miriam Sharp vs. Trish Tilby

[starwolf_oakley]

FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT has a seven part story by Christos Gage and Mark Mayhew starring Speedball. After helping the Avengers Academy take down from crooks, Jocasta shows Speedball a debate between Trish Tilby and Miriam Sharpe.



Marcy Pearson is an old IRON MAN supporting character. She had a romantic relationship with James Rhodes but also tried to frame Rhodey for Tony Stark's murder.
http://www.comicvine.com/marcy-pearson/29-29342/

Trish Tilby first showed up in X-FACTOR, having (somehow) figured out that X-Factor, the "human mutants hunters" were in fact the original X-Men. She appeared in X-MEN with an on/off relationship with Hank McCoy. (Grant Morrison broke them up with Hank saying he was gay. Hank later told Cyclops "I might as well be gay.")

Miriam Sharpe first appeared in CIVIL WAR #1, spitting in Tony Stark's face and saying Stanford blowing up was his fault. She also showed up at Goliath's funeral to give Tony her son's Iron Man action figure, which somehow made the Registration Act okay.



Tony Stark's amnesia isn't public knowledge. It makes sense some people are angry the Superhuman Registration Act was repealed, even with the whole "Norman Osborn should not have been put in charge of everything."



The rest of the story is Robbie volunteering undercover at Miriam's charity, then getting discovered and attacked (thus triggering his powers) as THE FEAR breaks out. And a lot of the narration-boxes are Twitter posts.

The world has changed between CIVIL WAR and FEAR ITSELF. Back then, the disgruntled masses were worried the country was run by money-hungry plutocrats. Now, the disgruntled masses read a lot of Ayn Rand.

Comments

[misterbug]

AIRC, Trish broke up with Hank - over the phone, no less - because os his Secondarily Mutated catform. He just put it out that he was gay in order to get back at her.

[lieut_kettch]

Well, to be fair, it's possible Hank developed a feline penis spur as part of his secondary mutation, which would put a damper on any partner that wasn't into S&M.

[toby_wan_kenobi]

You'd have to ask Agent Brand about that.

[sinisterlink]

Knowing her, she might enjoy that.

[hybrid2]

I say Nitro should go back to Standford.

I bet no one even know who he is there.
He'll laugh at them before blowing them up.

Also:

[misterbug]

"My SON is STILL DEAD."

Which is the only contribution you can make to the conversation now, Miriam, you little sockpuppet you. Either put on a uniform and start shifting rubble the next time the Earth gets saved from Skrulls, or STFU.

(As if the Marvel U. NEEDED its own Sarah Palin equivalent.)

Re: Also:

[starwolf_oakley]

Miriam was actually supposed to be based Cindy Sheehan, nor Sarah Palin. Sheehan fell out of favor when she said that National Guard troops in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was an "occupation." She fell further out of favor by saying Osama Bin Laden wasn't dead.

Re: Also:

[stolisomancer]

The only character I can think of who'd be even close to a Sarah Palin equivalent is the White Rabbit.

[sherkahn]

Can't wait for one of the villains to walk by after beating up/killing a hero in front of her, reaching out and thanking Miriam for doing more damage to the world than they every could.

[sherkahn]

And, oh yeah, Miriam, go visit the Future Foundation. It's newest member (Dr. Doom) will kindly enlightening you about accountability.

[auggie18]

Ugh. Miriam Sharpe. You do need super heroes to save you. Remember the Skrull Invasion a few months ago? Hell, Namor invades America twice a year. Doom, the Red Skull, Kang, Galacticus-


-there's a ton of reasons that the Marvel universe needs superheroes. Her line of reasoning doesn't even make any damn sense!

Miriam Sharpe: Superheroes need to be accountable for their actions!

Trish Tilby: They are. Here are some examples.

Miriam Sharpe: Well then, we don't need superheroes!

This woman is so the next Sally Floyd.

[shadowpsykie]

This woman is so the next Sally Floyd.

come now, Sally Floyd was much more enjoyable (one REALLY badly written issue and all that gets thrown away... :( )

[starwolf_oakley]

Indeed. Sally Floyd was interesting in her own right. Her freaky-ass rant in CIVIL WAR: FRONT LINE #11 just seems to be the only thing we remember.

It's kind of like how Ben Parker is only remembered for saying "With great power there must also come great responsibility"... even though he didn't say that until ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN AND the 2002 movie.

[freezer]

Indeed. Sally Floyd was interesting in her own right. Her freaky-ass rant in CIVIL WAR: FRONT LINE #11 just seems to be the only thing we remember.

Well what else is there? Other than somehow not getting punched in the face by Cap what has she done at all?

[baxter2814]

LOL I always like to compare people saying that there shouldn't be any superheroes because they cause trouble to the idea of people saying there shouldn't be any cops because once in a while, cops shoot an innocent person. Superheroes attracting villains? Bad. Galactus eating the planet? INFINITELY WORSE.

Sometimes I think Reed Richards should really take all these people and drop them off in the DC universe for a couple of weeks, just so they can get schooled in some goddamn manners.

[shadowpsykie]

Sometimes I think Reed Richards should really take all these people and drop them off in the DC universe for a couple of weeks, just so they can get schooled in some goddamn manners.

heehee

[terrykun]

Jay Garrick and Diana will just gaze disapprovingly and shake their heads every time some stupid falls out of their mouths.

None can withstand the gaze.

[starwolf_oakley]

From things like SUPERMAN: SECRET ORIGIN, I gather than the general public of the DC Universe was stupid when Superman first appeared, but quickly learned their manners.

[icon_uk]

One of her points seems to be (and it's a valid one IMHO) that a police force has rules, and regulations and there are procedures in place for dealing with police officers who break those rules.

There are no such checks and balances for superheroes, who can display the worse aspects of such situations especially crony-ism. cf Tony and Steve.

Now we know it's editorially driven, but given the poisonous nature of the Civil War etc, seeing Tony and Steve being bestest buddies again just plain DOESN'T seem right.

[auggie18]

Isn't that also true for superheroes, to a degree? I mean, Justice killed a guy and went to prison. Daredevil did what he did and now he's on the run from the law. I remember there being a thing, back when the US government had a stake in the Avengers, were they all had to take EMT training and were considered officers of the law. (They even had parking permits and stuff.) Is that not the case anymore?

[icon_uk]

True, the Avengers have a mandate, though they cut ties with the US Government at one point at got a remit from the UN as extraordinary agents dealing with extra-, inter- and intra-planetary incursions etc.

[starwolf_oakley]

Of course, now S.W.O.R.D. handles the extra-, inter- and intra-planetary incursions etc.

[icon_uk]

Isn't SWORD American run rather than UN though? Or is it in that nebulous area like SHIELD where it's Americanity* depends on narrative requirements?

*Not a real word, but I like it!

[magus_69]

From what I can tell, SWORD is what SHIELD used to be, namely accountable to the UN. IIRC, the Americanisation of SHIELD didn't happen until after the Ultimate line got established, and was only cemented around Civil War.

[baxter2814]

You're right, but as I sad — Superhero culture with problems? Bad. Galactus eating the world because there are no superheroes? Infinitely worse. And I dunno...a perfectly well-oiled superhero machine would make the Marvel universe too DC-ish, and as much as I dump on the people of the Marvel universe, the imperfections do make it unique, and a goldmine for drama and interesting tensions, so I don't really want the Marvel universe to improve — it's too interesting when it's dysfunctional.

Re: Steve and Tony. Since Civil War was absolute illogical bullshit from start to finish in terms of both plot and characterization, I really don't give a damn if the characterization seems off now in light of that: their actions in Civil War were massively out of character in the first place, so allowing Civil War to continue to taint the characters would be far, far worse than the jarring moments involved in getting past it. The options are to either a) explain it (and an explanation would have to be something HUGE, like everyone was a Skrull or someone like the Hate Monger was screwing with everyone's minds or the entire thing was a gigantic convoluted Xanatos gambit), or b) just ignore it. It seems Marvel is refusing to admit they fucked up, so they're going with b).

I'm still idly hoping for some massive explanation that can retcon away the idiocy of Civil War, One More Day, and Dark Reign all in one fell swoop though — that would be awesome. But hey, if ignoring the consequences is the only alternative to pretending that Civil War made any sense at all, I'd take ignoring it every time. I refuse to let a hack like Millar ruin an entire fictional universe for me on a whim.

[magus_69]

Civil War would have been easy. Just have some major players on all sides revealed to have been Skrulls, and show that they manipulated that situation into the debacle it became. It can be very easy to make people do what you want if you know the right buttons to push. For Steve, play on the liberty angle. For Tony, play on the unchecked power angle. Get their backs up, make them things are moving at a breakneck pace (even though they really aren't) and just watch the explosion. It also helped that the one person who could have made them both see reason wasn't around to smite them with his hammer.

[baxter2814]

Hmmm...that might've made sense too. Well, not complete sense, because it still involves Steve and Tony acting really stupid and really crazy, respectively, but still a hell of a lot more than what was written. I mean, how does Reed Richards forget that he once single-handedly torpedoed a previous SHRA?

And you're so right. Thor makes pretty much all problems better. :)

[auggie18]

The DCU isn't safe from this either. Remember that woman yelling at Superman for not seeing the tumor in her husband's head and heat beaming it out?

[baxter2814]

Yeah, but at least those kind of people are thought of as morons in the DC universe. They run newspapers and write laws in the Marvel universe.

Which reminds me: I've actually always wanted to see Perry White punch out J. Jonah Jameson.

[shadowpsykie]

you know, when this first started, I sympathised with her, i understood where she was coming from.

but now all i see is a hate mongering... *explitive*

i hope this mini shows her realizing that the world does need its heroes and that while she might not be able to forgive robbie his part in her son's death, she can get past it.... or something... you know?

[misterbug]

Eh, she's secretly Mephisto anyway. Why on Earth would anyone call their kid 'Damien', these days?

[sherkahn]

Mephisto worshipper?

[stubbleupdate]

Daughter of an immortal and often mentally unstable eco-terrorist?

[stolisomancer]

To be fair, the Speedball story in this miniseries seems to be just as much about Miriam as it is about Robbie.

[thanekos]

In a universe without as much of a POV on the heroes themselves, I'd be more inclined to sympathize with her past a certain point.

Here, though, after that.. she just sounds really really.. petulant, I guess?

(in this first issue, at least.. the second eases off on that, and atleast her fellows can be explained by Fear Itself's odd effects.)

[stolisomancer]

Yeah, that's something Marvel consistently doesn't do as well as it ought to. If you sit down and think about it, life on the street in a superhero universe is absolutely goddamned terrifying, but we have never gotten a book that gives a consistent man-on-the-street perspective. Every story in every book is written from the viewpoint of somebody who's at least affiliated with superheroes.

[starwolf_oakley]

If you sit down and think about it, life on the street in a superhero universe is absolutely goddamned terrifying

FEAR ITSELF: HOME FRONT #2 does have some people saying things like this. Only they are whacked out on THE FEAR and thus think killing Speedball will fix it.

Speaking of THE FEAR, I hope Nightmare shows up at some point in FEAR ITSELF. Nightmare could angry about THE FEAR. People are too scared to fall asleep, and when they do sleep their brains are so fried they *don't* have bad dreams.

[bruinsfan]

Did he get reconstituted at the end of that Chaos King mess like practically everyone else did?

[stubbleupdate]

even Marvels, which did the mutant scare stuff well, was about a man who followed superheroes.

[stolisomancer]

Yeah. I've said on here before that this was one of the major flaws in the Dark Reign meta-arc; everybody with even a tangential connection to the superhuman community knew Osborn was hilariously full of shit, but he would've looked like Laser Jesus to the ordinary frightened dudes down below. Same deal here, really; the only superhero Miriam's ever really talked to for any length of time was Tony, and Tony agreed with her.

[roguefankc]

If you sit down and think about it, life on the street in a superhero universe is absolutely goddamned terrifying[quote]

But then wouldn't the alternative be true as well? Life on the street without superheroes can also be terrifying? Look at our universe where we have terrorists, greedy industrialists who rob hard-working people blind, casual disregard of civil rights due to their race, religion, or sexuality (and in some cases, it's justifiable and accepted by society and/or law), people in power who abuse their authority to cause mass genocides and killings, hundreds of species under the threat of extinction, etc.

It's not the same level, I agree, but real life history can be a different kind of terror, and a very potent one at that.

Plus, if we were in the 616 universe, and there were no superheroes, but there were supervillians...well, forget "up the creek without the paddle". We won't even have a canoe. So as terrifying as being with superheroes can be, you have to admit there are worse outcomes.

[stolisomancer]

All very true, but that's entirely irrelevant to the point I was trying to make, which was that we don't see life from an unbiased, non-superhuman perspective ever if at all in the Big Two superhero universes.

[roguefankc]

Ah, sorry about that, then. I wasn't attacking you or anything. =)

[protogarrett]

Admittedly, I was for the SHA in theory, though it seemed it needed a lot of work. If you have the power to alter time, we should keep track of that.

[baxter2814]

Yeah, I agree about the theory part....Y'know, the thing that has always made me disagree with the idea of passing a SHRA was Fantastic Four #336 (which ranks up near Action Comics #775 in my collection of favorite single comic book issues of all time). Basically, Reed Richards spends half the issue explaining to Congress that even if you ignore all the pesky discrimination and rights problems, a conventional SHRA is a colossally dumb idea because it just plain can't be enforced and while it will solve many problems, it will directly cause far more. No moral questions, just simple logic: It won't work anyway.

I miss old school. So very, very much.

Ugh, I can't stand Miriam Sharpe

[roguefankc]

Miriam, when you use your bitterness as justifcation to attack or hinder other people just because they have superpowers, you're no longer in the right to call yourself a victim. You instead make youself as much of a violator as any other supervillain.

If anything, I'm glad that the SHRA is repealed just to see her squirm alone. Although I do agree with some of the posters; if this series can lead to Miriam admitting that she was wrong and forgiving Robbie, then it'll be worth it.

Re: Ugh, I can't stand Miriam Sharpe

[starwolf_oakley]

if this series can lead to Miriam admitting that she was wrong and forgiving Robbie, then it'll be worth it.

From issue #2 of this series, it seems Miriam isn't affected by THE FEAR because she faced her worst fear when her son died. For now, she and Robbie (and a few others unaffected) are stuck with each other while THE FEAR is running rampant.

Re: Ugh, I can't stand Miriam Sharpe

[roguefankc]

...she and Robbie (and a few others unaffected) are stuck with each other while THE FEAR is running rampant.

Wait, why is she going with him? Or are the crowds attacking everyone, and not just Speedball due to him being a super-powered being, hence she's in danger too?

Re: Ugh, I can't stand Miriam Sharpe

[starwolf_oakley]

I don't have the issue (yet) but it seems to be the following:

CROWD: Kill Speedball!
SPEEDBALL: Oh noes!
MIRIAM: I'm not going to let you kill Speedball!
SPEEDBALL: Safe!
MIRIAM: I'm still mad at you, but we seem to be unaffected by THE FEAR that is affecting everyone else.
SPEEDBALL: Team-up!