#merrymarvel

[dcdreamblog]

#MerryMarvel

Hi Mary!

A couple of questions :D

Do you stay in touch with Fire, Booster and Ted at all?

2. Outside of the rest of the Marvel family, is there a hero you had the most fun teaming up with?

3. How did you and the rest of the Marvel family feel about the movies Hollywood made about you? And side-note: do you know how Dr Sivana reacted to the wild liberties the film took with him?

Mary: Those are the kind of folks that you can't lose track of even if you tried.

Sid: I'm pretty sure between Batman and the Martian Manhunter they've tried to ditch them in a distant galaxy at least six times.

(M)ary: I would call that a low estimate

(S)id: SO. Staying in touch?

M: Fire and I talk all the time, especially after she was finally able to introduce me to Ice. They're wonderful company.

S: Getting along like a house on fire?

M: Sometimes very literally if we let ourselves stay out too late

S: And Booster?

M: So long as you know how to sort out which of his calls is going to be some harebrained scheme, which is generally any call he makes after 8 PM. He's good people.

S: That's been the reading I've been getting from him, and the people that actually know him.

M: As for Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle...

S: For a bug he casts a long shadow doesn't he?

M: I'm glad I got to know him when I did. He was a good man, the best of us

S: There's rumors that he's come back to life.

M: There's rumors like that all the time. I haven't seen him one way or the other. But he made me laugh, and he had enough caring for the whole world. And he made you believe that what we were doing was just important but...fun. And that's rare.

S: You see things no one else gets to

M: And Ted appreciated that more than anybody. Always the one pointing out an alien horizon.

M: *Making a heart with her hands* Shout out to my Super and Wonder Girlies!~

S: Anyone who has ever gotten a look at your Instagram should be able to answer that question

M: We're a terrible trio aren't we?

S: Oh yes, just the three most beloved, most followed and most admired young women on the planet. How will we ever survive?

M: We go EvERYWHERE together the second we can get away with it

S: Oh everyone knows that. Charity, ball games, the few times you've all been called to the same emergency you react like you all got to be partners at a school project

M: That's a bit of an exaggeration.

S: I want everyone reading this to look up the time they all showed up to the same VOLCANO and spent 45 seconds just linking their hands together, squealing and jumping up and down

M: We didn't know anyone was filming...

S: It's like the beginning of a sleepover in a Disney Channel movie.

M: We should come up with like, a name for the three of us.

S: I'm sure if you looked under the shipping category of any fanfiction website on Earth you would find some inspiration.

M: Oh but those places never get the difference between Supergirl and Wonder Girl's hair right

S: What

M: What

M: Grace Currey is so god forsaken pretty it makes me wanna scream

S: That would be the young woman that plays you in both films?

M: Yes, UGH, I love her hair and her cheek bones look like they could cut glass and she's so NICE and she's even TALLER than me!

S: And I want to stress to my audience this is being said in the tone of a woman who is complimenting another woman, despite the way it may come off in writing. She's literally kicking her feet right now.

M: She's a-ma-zing, we would talk for HOURS, we got frozen yogurt together. She's smart and she's really, REALLY funny.

S: Oh yea?

M: We were looking over a bunch of my old cases or footage of me and she would come up with one liners or observations that made me tempted to go back in time just so I could think of them in the moment.

S: Sounds like she'd play a good Hollywood version of you

M: Right? She's like me but cooler.

S: and the rest of your family?

M: The wizard was VERY pleased with being played by Djimon Hounsou of all people

S: Who wouldn't be...Also you took the wizard to a movie?

M: We set up a projector, watched it as a family.

S: What did he say?

M: Something like "I am pleased that the people consider me so...masculine".

S: I suppose we all wish we were played by a movie star. And your other family members?

M: Every superhero gets a thrill out of seeing themselves in a movie. Who wouldn't? It shows that people don't just KNOW you, they APPRECIATE you.

S: and what about the ones they don't..."appreciate" as such.

M: All I know if that Mark Strong got a package from Sivana about 2 weeks after the movie came out

S: Was it a b-

M: It was not a bomb, though that was also OUR first assumption.

S: Ok, so what the hell was it?

M: A black and white headshot of the Sivana Family, a vaguely threatening letter demanding a trio of autographs to be sent to them, and a voice activated espresso maker

S: So...they liked the performance?

M: Supervillains usually do, weirdly enough. The Joker sent flowers to Heath Ledger's funeral.

S: What like...regular flowers?

M: Roses if I'm not mistaken. Imported.

S:...supervillains are weird people.

M: Right? Anyway, all three of them still have the autographs and Mr. Strong kept the photo and the coffee machine so...all's well that ends well I guess?

[dcdreamblog]

#marymarvel

So, ah, Georgia Sivana. She seems more than a little obsessed with you, and not just in the usual nemesis sort of way. Kind of like she can't decide if she wants to kill you, be you, or date you. What exactly's going on with you two?

Captain Marvel's been part of the Justice League, Junior has been part of the Titans, but other than a brief outing with some former JLI members, you've never really been part of a team other than the Marvel Family. How come?

Any funny stories to share about Mister Tawky Tawny?

Mary: This feels like entrapment

Sid: It almost certainly is but what makes you say so.

(M)ary: This feels like the kind of questions where whether I confirm or deny doesn't actually matter

(S)id: Probably correct people will assume no matter what

M: Listen...Ms Sivana is...troubled. In a lot of ways.

S: Sure, but every supervillain is

M: Sure but she has that layer of...obsession. With me specifically

S: That is part of what the word "nemesis" is for

M: Right. I guess untangling how she feels about me would be as hard as untangling the psychology of any "master villain"

S: Do you think she has some sort of romantic or psychosexual investment in you?

M: Goodness, probably. The thought does come to mind when rolling back through some of our encounters.

S: And your thoughts on her?

M: Any consideration along THAT line would be dependent on her putting her genius intellect to work for the sake of mankind. AFTER or ALONGSIDE paying her debt to society.

S: And if she were to...couch that rehabilitation into a certain quid pro quo?

M:...*finger on chin, looking skyward* Eh, I've made worse sacrifices *grin*

M: Lack of being in the right places at the right times I guess.

S: The recruitment for most superhero teams that actually DO membership drives, which is already rare-

M: Right, most teams that form are made up of the people that started them. The few that exist beyond their original purpose USUALLY have some kind of category attached.

S: The Titans prefer their members to be underage, with a grandfather clause for previous members.

M: Exactly. So, I've never been present in a situation where a team was formed on the spot. That's just pure chance.

S: And the other chance is that you don't happen to fit any of the categories that most actively recruiting teams are looking for.

M: Bingo. I'm not a descendant of a Golden Age-r, I'm not a national representative of a country. I'm OBVIOUSLY not a teenager, right?

S: Right, right.

M: So it's just never happened. I'd give it my all if I was ever given the call. Oh, I am a member of the Justice League's Unlimited initiative but that's not saying much.

S: Pretty much everyone is.

M: That's the point, but it comes with a nifty card so. *shrug*

M: Depending on some legalistic points of view he MIGHT be in the Apokoliptan line of succession

S:...What?

M: It was during all that terrible mess where Darkseid was trying to unleash the Anti Life Equation, got mixed up with a new version of the Secret Society.

S: Where the New Gods got reincarnated for a bit

M: Exactly, Darkseid's son Kalibak got reincarnated a like... a tiger guy?

S: I begin to see where this is going

M: During the big battle at the end, Tawny was present on the field of battle. Which is already rare. Kalibak came out to fight him and got put DOWN.

S: Not what you'd expect from Mr. Tawny.

M: He's still a 7 foot tall talking tiger man, even if he does prefer the finer things in life.

S: So, what happened then?

M: He thought he was going to get mobbed, he just wanted to take Kalibak down with him but...

S: The warriors of Apokolips are rather big on that "warrior race" honor code jargon.

M: Exactly. All of the soldiers knelt down to him. We had a doozy of a time trying to get them shipped off world after that. And Mister Miracle made a joke about that technically meaning he takes Kalibak's place in the Hierarchy under Darkseid...and I couldn't make him spit out if he was being serious.

S: How has Mr. Tawny reacted to that?

M: If you've ever heard him call himself "Prince Regnant of Space" that's why. Despite the fact that I don't think he knows what the word "regnant" means...

[dcdreamblog]

Merry Marvel, Epilogue

We walk out into the sunlight on the last day of our interview time together. It took us about three days all told even if, as usual, what I assume is going to be a week of questions turns out to be closer to two or three because of the ravenous curiosity of my fan base.

Again I cannot overstate just how much of a pleasant experience she is to have around. Utterly charming all of us with her smile and her deep curiosity. Bringing her through the museum on the final day turned out to have been something she was honestly looking forward to the entire time. I feel about 10 feet tall as I walk her out to the front of the building with the sun setting in the west.

I hold out a hand for her to shake, she asks for permission to hug us. We of course all give our permission, even Gwen, and she wraps almost a half dozen of us up in a squeeze so tight that I feel like my boyfriend and I are going to be merged into a single person if this goes on too much longer. She eventually sets us down, tells me not to be a stranger and shoots off into the skyline. I can tell when she reaches above the tops of the building because she shoots past the speed of sound with a sound unmistakably like the crack of thunder.

I stand there and am stunned with the...overwhelming gratitude I feel in my life at this point. I've discovered a job I adore that grants me a lovely, comfortable routine doing work that I think is important. Supporting this otherwise ridiculous blog concept as a way of outreach for information I think out to be shared. I've made friends I wouldn't trade for anything in the multiverse and a boyfriend who makes me feel like I'm walking on air just to look at him smile. And I'm considered a trustworthy communicator by people I've admired from afar for my entire life.

The only thought that lingers with me as I turn back into the building is how excited I am to get right back to it.

Thank you all for another deeply successful QnA, next one will be in 90 followers, regular questions will resume on Tuesday!

[dcdreamblog]

#MerryMarvel

Post Super-buddies do you and Fire keep in touch? Cause some people think she was just using you as a stand in for Ice and I'd hate to think that was true

Mary: People have read a lot into Fire and Ice's relationship over the years

Sid: I would classify that as the understatement of the century, yes

(M)ary: And whether or not they've actually lesbians in a relationship

(S)id: Which is no one's business but their own if they don't feel like sharing

M: Correct, and it wouldn't be my tale to tell either way. However what's obvious to anyone with EYES is how codependent to the two are

S: I don't even think eyes would be fully necessary for that.

M: And yes, I came into a group that had been devastated by the loss of a dear friend. Fire most of all.

S: You never walk into a group with a history like any version of the League without ending up ankle deep in backstory

M: No kidding. So did I end up filling something of the "innocent little sister" role that Ice once did? Sure. If that was part of the reason Fire took me under her wing so readily then I wouldn't be at all shocked. It's a natural point of comparison between me and her.

S: Somehow I feel like that's not the conclusion of that sentiment

M: The bottom line is that I am NOT Ice. She and I have some things in common. We may even have similar personalities. But grind me down to the nub and I'm NOT Tora Olafsdotter and I never will be.

S: Fire would know that more than anybody.

M: And the more time we spent together the more clear it probably became to her. And yet our bond persisted.

S: If she's smart enough to know you're not Ice, and you're confident enough to ASSERT that you're not Ice, and the friendship maintains itself...

M: Logic dictates that eventually she grew to like me for me

S: As much as logic dictates ANY of a conversation like this, sure.

M: I like Fire, she and I are friend, we hang out whenever we get the chance. Whether I was originally filling some...emotional slot on a roster, I really couldn't care less.

S: Maybe they needed someone like her. Someone with that kind of...uplifting attitude. Even if you're not the same woman you might fit enough of the same shape to keep them upright

M: That is a role I would be MUCH happier accepting

[dcdreamblog]

For #MerryMarvel:

So about the "you say the word, you get the powers" thing. Does it ever screw you up physically, like accidentally breaking stuff? I feel like in your shoes I'd just be one giant bruise all of the time from constantly changing my center of balance.

Mary: I think I have destroyed more tables with my shins than I have human people with my fists

Sid: See that would be concerning if it was coming from anyone else

(M)ary: It's the example that I could come up with off the top of my head.

(S)id: So the answer is "yes", that it does, in fact, screw with you?

M: Yes but in the opposite direction of what they were suggesting.

S: How so?

M: Well they seem to be implying they're worrying about me hurting MYSELF when my center of balance changes

S: Right?

M: *She blinks softly, slowly pulling over a stapler from the corner of the table. Directly stapling the web between her thumb and forefinger, then having to pry out the destroyed staple*

S: Ah. Right. Invulnerable.

M: The biggest change is from mortal to superhero, in my case. I get a couple of inches taller and between 20-30 pounds heavier.

S: And it's easier to adjust to LESS weight on a SMALLER frame than the opposite

M: Exactly. Honestly in that direction I'd liken it to unbuttoning a tight shirt or something after a work day

S: Ooo, you know what, making that comparison it DOES sound nice

M: It's like throwing a bag of cement off my shoulders at the end of the day. It's AMAZING

S: But like you were saying

M: Right, right. Well the biggest problem for me is how much longer my LEGS feel in this form. Stretching out my feet like this when I've been sitting too long is a good way to accidentally kick the leg off a steel table.

S: She says, speaking from experience

M: Over and over and OVER again, you have no idea. Constantly slamming the outline of my fingers into door frames, leaving imprints of my forehead on low hanging light fixtures.

S: I can't imagine the floating helped

M: Ask any superhero who can fly, UNIVERSALLY they will tell you its the hardest power to get the hang of when you start

S: Because of the third dimension?

M: Yea weirdly human beings aren't great about our inbuilt senses of pitch, yawn and roll out of the box.

S: Lots of corners smashed off of apartment buildings then?

M: It's how you learn.

[dcdreamblog]

MerryMarvel! Prologue

Making appointments with superheroes is always a slightly difficult experience, I have come to know. What I had not yet come to know is how difficult it can be waiting for a superheroine who is your classical flying archetype.

On the late morning of the day I am meant to meet Mary Marvel for our first interview (first questions coming out tomorrow, remember to use #MerryMarvel to get your questions in the cue!) I'm standing on the far and highest end of the "Helicline" that leads from the Perisphere to the Trylon. I hum to myself slightly. It's a warm, breezy day in New York City. The first one we've had after a LOOONG false spring. I try not to check my watch. Not that I wear a watch, meaning I try not to check my phone. I no that no matter how perfect our intentions for the time she was meant to arrive she could get sidetracked any number of ways between Fawcett City and here. Fawcett City is near Philedelphia, meaning its nearly 100 miles from New York even as the crow flies. I wonder for a bit if it would be rude to lean on the guardrails while I was waiting.

She does eventually make her way to me, only about 3 minutes late. Something to do with a giant serpent surfacing off the Long Island Sound which is why she's not actually coming from the direction of Fawcett City though I only think to check that later.

Words can hardly describe how SHOCKINGLY young she looks. Stargirl or other teen heroines you expect to look like teenagers, Mary Marvel looks more like a cherub. I'll avoid the tiresome cliche of a male observer describing a woman's body, because ew. But let's just say if there was a way to bottle the word "chipper" she'd have the world's supply for a decade and then some just from the way she says hello. After which she gives me a very enthusiastic handshake that sees fit to remind me how EASILY she could dislocate my shoulder if she so chose.

Walking back down the helicline she's already laughing at things I say that aren't actually funny, and dazzling at the view of the park from the raised walkway. I wonder if it would have been any less amazing from directly above the entire city but maybe that's something you get used to. I ask her if she drinks coffee, since we'd be happy to offer her anything of the sort. She actually insists on hot chocolate. With whipped cream. and sprinkles if we have them. I make a note to thank one of my coworkers for just such a preparation. By the time we're settled into some of the minimal back room office space the museum allows even later in the afternoon. I already feel at ease.

(#MerryMarvel in your asks folks! Open until Monday Night!)

[dcdreamblog]

#MerryMarvel

What's it like living in Fawcett City? I've never visited but I heard it described as a time capsule of days gone by - is it drastically different there compared to other American cities?

Is Mr. Tawky Tawny as soft and cuddly as he looks?

What's this about a "Hoppy the Marvel Bunny"? And is he as soft and cuddly as the name would suggest?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you want to hurt Darkseid for that awful costume you wore while under his thrall?

You're one of the few heroines who worked closely alongside the second Supergirl to any degree, what was she like?

The wizard who gave you your powers knows that Zephyrus was a male deity, right?

And "the strength of Hippolyta"... have you ever met her? Wonder Woman's mom? Was it weird meeting one of the sources of your powers?

I should probably stop here so Sid doesn't kill me, heaven knows Krins wrote an essay for this.

Mary: Well, that already looks like quite a stack! Sid: No kidding, and I always get a pretty steady stream through the whole week questions are opens.

(M)ary: No wonder you scheduled three of these meet ups!

(S)id: My followers can call me lazy, inconsistent, unfocused and sarcastic. But I never leave them unsatisfied. Shall we?

M: Thought you'd never ask!

M: Ok so, in general terms most of what people think of as Fawcett City is actually pretty NEW as far as cities go.

S: Oh? Do tell.

M: Fawcett City's population is about 10 TIMES what it was in 1939, when it was a rather sleepy Philedelphia suburb.

S: That would have been the city patrolled by Bulletman and Mister Scarlet, among others.

M: Bingo! But the war industry expanded into the city throughout WWII and never really slowed down through the 50s and 60s. So massive new chunks were built by the carload lot through those decades. Its why the city still looks like such a post-war artpiece. It was being built VERY fast during those periods, only the city center is still original and it's almost colonial, in a governmental kind of way.

S: People say something similar about the city attitude

M: We've got heart and we've got pride!~ *she holds up one arm in a cheerleading pose*

(one of my coworkers in the hall shouts "FAWCETT BULLETS ON OUR SIDE!" which tells me what the lyrical chant is FOR at least)

M: Honestly we're proud to be Fawcett people. Whether our old fashioned neighborly attitude is WHY we haven't changed the city style, or just the tourism, or a lack of budget, who knows?

M: Yes and if you ever see him you can ask him yourself.

S: He seems VERY genial on social media

M: If you ask him how soft he is the first thing he's going to do is ask if its alright to show you so. The second thing he's going to do is bend your spine over his forearm like he's folding a towel

S: A big hugger then?

M: An insistent one by golly. He loves making friends and loves snuggling as much as he can get away with.

S: From the pictures you yourself post online it seems like you see fit to indulge him.

M: He is a VERY snuggly tiger, its hard not to.

S: Sounds like a lot of people got a bucket list item just now.

M: And won't he be THRILLED to be fawned over like a theme park mascot, I tell you.

M: Either a living cartoon or a real rabbit enhanced with our powers, depends.

S: On what?

M: Which one it is. They LOOK the same when it happens but one of them is a rabbit version of my brother from a dimension of cartoon animals. And the other is a real bunny who belongs to a friend of ours who gets empowered by shenanigans every so often.

S: And ARE they as cuddly as they look?

M: The cartoon Hoppy is really...boisterous. Boy howdy does he like a great big bear hug, especially after a fight. The animal Hoppy is a bit more timid.

S: As Earth rabbits are want to be.

M: Mmhm! Exactly! But he does get awful floppy and insistent upon his treats and chin scratches, which is more than enough. He also like to rub his butt on your shows.

S:...in animal or human form?

M: :3 (that is the only transcript I can provide to her reply)

M: Now I'm not so petty as to hurt somebody over clothing.

S: Really?

M: Even if it is insulting, demeaning, humiliating, downright MEAN. Makes me feel like I can still feel people staring at my chest, getting questions on social media about having to dye my hair back to the right color... (she starts to shrink down into herself, hugging her shoulders. I suddenly feel VERY uncomfortable looking in her direction)

S: He lost. He will always lose. And you got yourself back. And the people and the world that love you got you back.

M: And that's the REAL heart of it.

S: What is?

M: The outfit was just latex...seriously, it was. But that's all it was. But what he DID with me in it. He made me hurt people. Friends. People I respect. People who trusted me.

S: And what does that change

M: (she cracks her knuckles so hard and forcefully I can SEE the pressure waves in the surface of my hot cocoa). I ever get my hands on him I'm gonna go bowling with his face. See how many parademons he can blast over before the ground sands off his nose, figure it might take a few goes around the planet.

(She sips at her cocoa. I am suddenly reminded WHO I am sitting in arms reach of)

M: She was really curious

S: Like strange?

M: Like she always wanted to learn stuff. She had the WHOLE world like she was seeing it for the first time.

S: Because she was from another dimension? Or an angel?

M: Both really. Everything you could suggest to do, she would do it and she'd be beaming to the rafters while she did it. She just...always wanted someone to go with.

S: And you did that?

M: Not as much as I would have liked to. Knowing what I know now but I showed her a few things off her bucket list.

S: And knowing what you know now?

M: ...I miss her every day. Me and the current Supergirl are like sisters, honest but I still keep her in my prayers.

S: One imagines she hears them directly.

M: Yea. I bet she does.

M: I didn't sign on contract saying I would only get women in my powerset.

S: I think people just ASSUME because your brother's version is all male gods.

M: Well that's not how it works, not really.

S: So how DOES it work?

M: When the Wizard-

S: Said wizard being Shazam

M: I can only call him The Wizard, for pretty obvious reasons

S: Do go on.

M: When the Wizard empowers a new champion he has to anchor them to power channels he has agreements with said deities about.

S: Is that why he can't take away Black Adam's powers?

M: Right, the power doesn't COME from him, not directly. I...wasn't planned.

S: (I nearly choke on my cocoa)

M: Well, wasn't planned like that either. I mean that when Shazam gave my brother powers he didn't have me in mind. So when I came along, he kinda had to scramble for whatever power he could get to take a meeting with him on short notice.

S: And thus-

M: Exactly. Zephyrus has been nothing but good to me, even the Amazons worship Hermes, I fail to see the problem.

S: On that note...

M: Oh I ADORE Queen 'Poly!~

S: Well that nickname alone is demonstrative.

M: Mmmhm!~ She's great. Not only did she agree to sharing some of her power on REALLY short notice.

S: That's an odd meeting to imagine physically taking place

M: No kidding! But well, everyone knows that the current Supergirl, the second Wonder Girl and I are really close.

S: If you got any close in pictures you'd be the same person, or at least get your cheeks stitched together

M: Yeppers! So, when we need a place to hang out. We wanna go swimming, or horse riding, or anything like that. Queen 'Poly lets us basically have the run of the place!

S: An island paradise as a clubhouse huh?

M: For sure! She's suuuper fun. She has all the best stories. Sometimes she'll start a campfire for us. I taught her how to cook a s'more.

S: Considering not even EUROPEANS can get that right, how did it go?

M: She got red hot marshmellow goo all over her thumb and a half melted chocolate chunk ended up in her hair *giggle snort*

S: You ARE on Themyscira's honorary Amazons list

M: Oh sure but most superheroines are on that.

S: For your information, Krins only wrote one extra question over you, Step.

M: Mmmhm, I'm looking at his notes right now and the questions from the two of you fill up one side each of a piece of printer paper.

S: And if you have more questions. The box is open all week.

M: This is gonna be FUN!

[dcdreamblog]

#MerryMarvel

I don't have the exact quote on hand but a writer named Judd Winnick, who's done work on your fictional adventures, once made a comment about why are superheroes doing things like stopping bank robberies, instead doing more important things.

How do you feel about your family being used for that argument

Mary: I want to preface the following statement with the fact that I have nothing against Mr. Winnick as a person

Sid: Always the preface to a glowing endorsement

(M)ary: I've met them once or twice before, they seemed perfectly pleasant. I'm a fan of his cartoon...

(S)id: Honestly, not shocked on that score

M: But there IS no important thing.

S: Than stopping bank robbers?

M: Than helping people.

S: That's more what I assumed you meant.

M: Superheroes, as a rule, do not believe in trolley problems. We don't trade lives, and we don't believe in morally relative arguments where people's lives are concerned.

S: Kind of a broad statement

M: And I'm sure it'd break down on the edge cases. But broadly. If someone is in trouble, we're there to help. It's what we're for. I don't measure which problems are "worth my time". If someone's in danger, I act.

S: Money isn't a person

M: No but the people who are just trying to get a morning errand done when someone walks into an enclosed space with a gun ARE.

S: Plenty of ways for that situation to go wrong.

M: There's no way for that situation to go RIGHT. And if I'm soaring past, I don't have the moral or personal ability to pretend I don't see it.

S: And what do you imagine "more important things" might BE from his perspective?

M: The same "you could fix the world" argument we hear from lots of people every day.

S: Arresting dictators, overturning robber barons, halting terrorism...

M: Inserting ourselves into the political and international processes of human society. A job we were neither elected nor appointed towards. And would only be made worse by us acting with a free hand.

S: More people get hurt by those things than bank robberies.

M: And we do help in those cases. When we can see them. I'll slug a terrorist upside the head and rescue his hostages as quick as anything else

S: And yet we still have those things

M: Because I can't fix the century of political upheaval and societal radicalization that turns young men into terrorists. Not by punching the right people, certainly.

S: So these people want you to...what?

M: Be "proactive", I suppose. Go out and hunt down the bad guys BEFORE the problem starts...and proactive is a TERRIBLY dangerous word in our world

S: Doesn't tend to go WELL, does it?

M: Not once, Not ONCE has a frustrated superhuman trying to solve the world's ills through force helped anyone or anything in the long run.

S: So you see your role as?

M: Disaster relief, public service. We're here to put out the fires once they start and save lives that might have been lost

S: And the "more important things"?

M: Those are the shoulders of you, me, and everyone else with a vote, a voice and hands that might offer help.