IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME

CM Punk writes foreword for “Avengers vs. X-Men” hardcover collection, universe explodes.

Of all things nerd that thrive in modern society, professional wrestling and the comic book industry get the worst wrap.  Critics see them as outlets for children, as goofy, over-the-top creations meant to stimulate the eyes over the brain.  Both possess larger-than-life characters performing the impossible, with men generally bulked-up beyond human proportions, and women whose breasts are roughly the size of those inflatable emergency slides on airplanes.

                                                      That sword is the only thing keeping her from tipping over.

 And while this can be true, exceptions exist.

For comic books, one need only point toLocke & Key, Preacher, Rising Stars, Irredeemable, and Incorruptible as examples of comic books not only bucking that cheese-ball stereotype, but breaking the comic series mold and, to be frank, redefining literature.

For professional wrestling, there’s CM Punk, and then there’s everyone else.  Like those aforementioned series, CM Punk, in his lengthy career in the independent wrestling scene, and now as one of the top draws of the WWE, has taken that chiseled-marble statue of the professional wrestler and shoved it down a flight of stairs.

A combination of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper’s tenacity, Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ unpredictability, and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s malice towards authority, CM Punk has risen through the ranks of the WWE when the company has been at its most formulaic.  Abandoning the chaotic atmosphere of the Attitude Era of the late 90s and early 2000s, WWE has returned to the good guy vs. bad guy, muscle-bound behemoths that made men like Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior some of the biggest stars of the 1980s.

Brought to you by cocaine and HGH

Then there’s CM Punk.  He’s not a giant.  He’s not larger than life.  He’s you, and he’s me, and when you put him in the ring or, better yet, put a microphone in his hand, fireworks go off.

 

So when word reached me that CM Punk, a rabid comic book fan, would write the foreword to the collector’s edition of the fantastic Avengers vs. X-Men series, I was worried that life as we know it would cease to exist.  I mean, in one corner, you have an innovative and electrifying athlete, and in the other corner, a surprisingly touching and powerful comic series written by some of the best talent in the industry (like Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, and Ed Brubaker).

Thankfully, the universe has continued to exist, which, if nothing else, gives us the opportunity to read CM Punk’s foreword when it’s released on November 7^th.