Thanks for the article, Telle.
The writer of it was absolutely right about several points. The first is that Steve Englehart didn't go for oddity or weirdness for the sake of weirdness; he took the Marvel Universe seriously, and this showed in how real he developed the people and places to be, and how intelligently his characters behaved. He did not talk down to his audience; he did not have things that were "just for kids."
It really stinks when in a movie or comic you can outhink the characters in the film. Not with "Celestial Madonna." Every character action makes sense. They suspect they're up against the Kree - so they consider calling Captain Marvel, for instance.
"The superhero as everyman to a weird world" point applies to some characters. For instance, Hawkeye was clearly Englehart's favorite character, and by far the most down to earth of the Avengers; he is the mouthpiece for many views one can imagine Englehart saying himself, as when he sprays the Titanium Man with a concussion arrow, saying "Man, stateside everybody's trying to get me with their politics, and now you're trying to hit me up with YOUR politics! Frankly - I'm bored!" Hawkeye's comical responses and honest bewilderment to the Mantis's change into aetherialness made him - though he was only a supporting character - the guy who stole the show in "Celestial Madonna."
A fellow Englehart fan told me that "this story would have been improved with Captain America." I disagreed; I said that this story would not have been what it was without
Hawkeye. It was more important to recognize the development that was going on in Cap's comic - the Nomad storyline - than have him be a fifth wheel in "Celestial Madonna" just for old times' sake.
That said, I think the writer of this article missed the point of "Celestial Madonna" in several ways.
A lot of emphasis is paid to the huge, cosmic scope in "Celestial Madonna," yes, but the reason "Celestial Madonna" worked was because it was intensely personal. It was about what the characters were feeling and thinking. The cosmic events, while brilliantly conceived (Kang being two men at once, the Space Phantom, the intelligent plants of the Cotati), are almost an afterthought meant to frame the story. There are, as near as I can discover, four stories with one theme in "Celestial Madonna:"
1) Kang's Story, which is a quest for redemption. What an amazing concept - the idea that a villain can be redeemed! Not by a hackneyed "scared straight" plot right out of an afterschool special, but one honest to Kang and his motivation: conquest, which drives Kang's existence, is inherently empty. Rama-Tut seeks to undo the greatest and most pointless evil he did as Kang, the quest for the Celestial Madonna, aiding the Avengers. Nonetheless, Rama-Tut was powerless to aid the Avengers in one key way: he was terrified to see the events happen just the way he remembered them, down to the death of the Swordsman.
2) The Swordsman's story, which also is a quest for redemption, which finished halfway through. Here was a character made sympathetic because he's a loser; you're instantly on his side because the poor Swordsman can't do anything right. Finally, in the end, rejected by the woman that didn't love him as much as he loved her, the Swordsman throws himself in front of a beam meant for her. In the end, Swordsman's sacrifice redeems himself, though he never knew it. His last words were "I'm just one of those guys that just don't count." Followed by the last panel: "Every Avenger counts, Swordsman. Every one." Truer words were never spoken.
3) Mantis's story. Wow, was Mantis ever a character! Proud, vain, selfish, pleasure-seeking, envious - a credit to Englehart is that he made her likeable BECAUSE of how imperfect she was. Her redemption was achieved by uniting with the Cotati, who completed her.
4) The origin of the Vision. This one was, by far, the best part of "Celestial Madonna." It too, is a story of redemption, but redemption in the form of the Vision discovering his soul, his humanity by learning of his heritage and his past, and learning that his quest for humanity is not futile. There also is redemption for his creator, Horton as well; he regrets his selfishness and realizes his follies.
It does credit to how tightly "Celestial Madonna" was plotted that Englehart could unite the origin of the Vision with the other tales at least thematically.
Notice that of all the characters that were restored to life in AVENGERS #131, two of them are conspicuously out of place: Frankenstein's Monster and the Human Torch. Why them? Steve never does anything without a reason.
The reason for the Human Torch is obvious - to pass on the important plot point that the Vision and the Human Torch are one. Why Frankenstein, though? He was there to be compared to the Vision. Witness this quote by the Human Torch in the Vision's body:
"Is this Hell? Has my pseudo-life so offended the Lord that I'm damned to be reborn and die until the end of time?" [/list]
Frankenstein never put it better.
But ultimately, the Vision's quest for humanity is saved by his creator's own humanity pouring into him at the last moment. Horton refuses to remove the Vision's memory. There again, is redemption for the selfish, greedy Horton too:
"I conceived him myself with no one's AID! And though I had only the basest motives, I find I poured what little soul I possessed into HIM! I HATED myself when I realized what a HYPOCRITE I'd been - let other hate me - but I LOVE him! He's the HIGH POINT OF ALL MY DAYS ON EARTH!"[/list]
Can you not help but get choked up at the power of those words? If not, you should die of no-heart disease.
Most of all, one thing that made Celestial Madonna work that the writer omitted was the fact that the characters were different before and after this story; as a result of their actions, they grow and change. The fact that Steve took his characters this seriously instead of like static, frozen characters mired in the status quo is a credit to how much he loved superheroes and considered them real people. If Englehart wrote Peanuts, he would have Charlie Brown kick that football (at least once). The Vision, as a result of this story, found that he couldn't live without Wanda; her being away from him made his life barren. He asked the Scarlet Witch to marry him.
I never get tired of reading "Celestial Madonna." It is the greatest superhero comic ever written. The characters are so multifaceted that every time I read it, some new meaning can be ascribed to a line, some new aspect of a character I didn't notice is present.
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