I salute you Marvel.

[Benjamin]

My opinion of Marvel Comics has been pretty tepid for the last couple years with the company whoring itself to get some publicity to (temporarily) boost sales for its books. Replace Steve Rogers with Sam Wilson? Okay, I'm down with that, given that Sam was Cap's partner for years. It makes sense. Replace Thor with Jane Foster? Meh, it will be back to the status quo for Thor: Ragnarok so there is no reason to get invested. Then there is the fact that they relaunch their books EVERY FRAKKIN' YEAR to maximum profit before everyone loses interest by issue four.

To the point of my rant. Marvel wanted more of those sweet outrage dollars so they announced that Tony Stark will be taking a sabbatical as Iron Man after their crossover of the week, Civil War II: Money in the Bank. So what got the internet in an uproar this time? Iron Man scribe, Brian Michael Bendis, is replacing Tony with teenage African-American super-genius, Riri Williams. However, the interesting part is that Riri is only heading the title but not taking the name. Nope. She's taking the name "Ironheart."

Well, it turns out that Ironheart is also the name of a Japanese porn parody of Iron Man.

This just made my day. XD

EDIT: As you can see by my tone, I do have something of a bone to pick with Marvel and the body of this post explains part of the reason why. However, I thought that I should elaborate on some points and why I find Riri Williams now sharing a name with a porn parody from the other side of the Pacific amusing. Part of has to do with what I feel is Marvel's attitude towards the established fanbase. It has been clear that the comics have pretty much become secondary to the MCU, which is why the Inhumans have gotten a higher profile while the X-Men have diminished in comparison and the Fantastic Four are gone entirely.

Riri Williams is a symptom of a larger problem with the company and how they rely on shock value and fan outrage to remain "relevant." Because here is the thing, the hardcore fanbase is generally conservative when it comes to their heroes and has a long memory. We know that Marvel has temporarily replaced their heroes since the 1980s when Jim Rhodes donned the Iron Man armour and John Walker took up Cap's shield. DC Comics did it too with their trinity in the 90s and Bucky/The Winter Soldier enjoyed an extended stint as Captain America from 2007 to 2011. Never mind the fact that Jim Rhodes, a well-loved and respected character, death served as a catalyst for Riri's rise. It feels more like a push for their star writer's (Brian Michael Bendis) Mary Sue.

Yet when the longtime fans raise their voice in protest or make cynical remarks (I'm more of the latter because I know the cyclical history of the medium), the creators try to make them into straw men. Yet how many characters from both of the "Big Two" have fallen into obscurity of the decades. I fail to see how Riri Williams has as much staying power as Jim Rhodes given the author appeal she has.

Come to think about it, I am somewhat perturbed that a fifteen year old shares a codename with the title of an Iron Man porn parody. :O

[MasterDJ]

...*flips a goddamn table* T_____T

And just as I was starting to cool on the whole Riri Williams things. Goddammit, Bendis, who left you the goddamn keys?

[tentacleGrape]

This is all just a cleverly masked ploy to up the downloads on the porn parody because Bendis bought controlling power in the production studio that made it.

And honestly, I'm liking what they're doing with Steve at least. It's a very different feel for what was a tired and true character. I just don't like how useless new Robin is with the younger, better Batman who does frigging pull-ups off the side of his corporate building.