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Post by starfoxxx on Dec 30, 2009 17:26:55 GMT -5
Spoilers alert> First, the cover is inaccurate. This is just a set-up issue. The battles with zzzaxx, terminus, etc are just breezed through, afterthoughts. I feel it would have been better to cover these battles a bit more. It's a very Bendis-y writing technique. okay, Loki is a man again? ? guess i missed that one. the Scarlet Witch story remains interesting, but it's really dragging on now, IMHO. Now the Absorbing Man story, hey it's been done a million times, but this is the kind of thing that i enjoy about this title. And just like the Unspoken arc, let's get this thing rolling. I don't know, I think Gage is missed on this book. Slott doesn't seem to put out as great a story without Gage, IMO. I really wanted to like what happened in #32 more, but it was a drop off from the previous issues. The art sucks (Pham ), and I'm sick of these covers that depict events that never occur until subsequent issues, if at all. Sorry to be so whiney, but again, this ish wasn't as good as the last couple. And I happen to have read this after the new Guardians of the Galaxy #21, Cap:Reborn #5 (wow, and with some nice Avengers moments), and Incredible Hercules:Assault on Olympus part 2, which were all exceptional comics.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jan 3, 2010 0:47:56 GMT -5
Spoilers alert> First, the cover is inaccurate. This is just a set-up issue. The battles with zzzaxx, terminus, etc are just breezed through, afterthoughts. I feel it would have been better to cover these battles a bit more. It's a very Bendis-y writing technique. okay, Loki is a man again? ? guess i missed that one. the Scarlet Witch story remains interesting, but it's really dragging on now, IMHO. Now the Absorbing Man story, hey it's been done a million times, but this is the kind of thing that i enjoy about this title. And just like the Unspoken arc, let's get this thing rolling. I don't know, I think Gage is missed on this book. Slott doesn't seem to put out as great a story without Gage, IMO. I really wanted to like what happened in #32 more, but it was a drop off from the previous issues. The art sucks (Pham ), and I'm sick of these covers that depict events that never occur until subsequent issues, if at all. Sorry to be so whiney, but again, this ish wasn't as good as the last couple. . Okay, here's the thing. I really want to argue with you and jump to Slott's defense because I want so badly for this book to be great but, unfortunately, I think that every one of your points is valid. I hate this new trend of villains that used to take 2-3 issues to defeat showing up now and being beaten in 2-3 panels. It cheapens the threats they imposed in the past. If, for example, Terminus is that easy to defeat, then why did it take the combined East and West coast teams and 2 annuals to defeat him in the past? As for when Loki got to be a man again, I was wondering that too. I looked carefully for any sign that this might still be a woman (And those signs in today's comics are usually quite easy to spot) but he looked entirely masculine to me. Whatever you missed, I missed it too. Don't get me wrong - I do enjoy this book but I keep waiting for it to get where I want it to be. When I compare it to Bendis' work, every issue is a masterpiece. When I compare this run to the runs of people like Busiek, Stern, or Englehart, it just doesn't measure up. I love Slott. I love the Avengers. I love the direction he seems to be trying for but some reason it just isn't kicking. IMO, he writes Quicksilver, Hercules, and Jarvis very well. I think he's also handled the Inhuman appearances quite well. He's spotty but sometimes great on Hank Pym (Though I still cringe everytime he's referred to as the Wasp.) The jury is still out on Jocasta but he really needs to either lose or downplay Stature. She seems to have way more focus than she deserves. She was one of the least interesting of the Young Avengers so I find it ironic that she is now the one moving the most into the mainstream. It seems pushed on us. It's as though we're supposed to see her as a greater character than she is. Anyway, I'm a long way from dropping this title and with the state of my comic buying these days, that's high praise indeed.
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Post by Shiryu on Jan 3, 2010 8:46:25 GMT -5
Loki has been a man again for a long time now I can't remember if it happened in Thor or somewhere else, but it was all connected to a plot to make Thor unable to find Sif, who was trapped in the body of a dying old woman. When he and Jane managed to find and free her, Loki reverted back to his normal look. EDIT: I agree however on some victories appearing to be too easy compared to past stories. It seems to be a common trend, in Spider-Man for example the likes of Electro or Rhino have become a piece of cake to fight against, whereas I remember them being fairly dangerous in the past. The attitude with old villains seems to be that, unless they have had a major power-up in recent times, a victory is a given.
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nojarama
Force Works-er
"If love is like a rose, I will pick my nose in the mud." -Little Rascal's proverb
Posts: 16
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Post by nojarama on Jan 4, 2010 13:24:25 GMT -5
Yet another fantastic issue! The banter amongst team members (on both MA and DA) was hilarious & the storyline was just perfect. Can't wait to see what happens next!!!
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Post by sharkar on Jan 7, 2010 19:27:20 GMT -5
Not a bad issue. I'll keep reading this series for a while.
Has anyone read Realm of Kings: Inhumans #2, the events of which lead into the last page of MA #31/ first couple of pages of MA #32?
SPOILERS
In RoK:I #2, the Mighty Avengers descend upon Attilan, presumably as escorts for Pietro who is returning the Terrigen Crystals. In Silent War, the Inhumans told Pietro that he was an enemy of the state and that he'd be executed if he ever returned to Attilan, due to his crimes--in Son of M, he killed an Inhuman, he stole the Terrigen Crystals, he subjected his daughter to Terrigenesis, etc.
So the Avengers arrive at Attilan, just as--coincidentally--the Inhumans are being attacked by some new menace. Naturally the Avengers want to help the Inhumans and join the battle. But the Inhumans don't want any help and resent the Avengers' intrusion; the Inhumans say they have no need of assistance from flashy superhero teams. (The actual battle is over pretty quickly.)
There's an interesting, touching sequence in which Hank and Medusa commiserate over their (seemingly-)departed loved ones. And Queen Medusa is sporting her finest Elizabeth I attire here, giving Bette Davis/Glenda Jackson/Cate Blanchett a run for their money (Medusa has better hair, natch! ;D).
Anyway, Pietro runs into Crystal and her new hubby Ronan. Pietro seems amused by their marriage and tells her he has come to issue a formal apology to the Inhumans. So there's a ceremony and the Inhumans forgive Pietro since, after all, it was Skrull (yeah, right!) who was responsible for all his dirty deeds. (Obviously Luna knows the truth, as we saw in MA #31.)
The art in RoK:I is by Pablo Raimondi, and I prefer his renditions of the Avengers (especially Hank and Pietro) to Pham's!
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Post by humanbelly on Jan 10, 2010 7:06:36 GMT -5
Your synopsis is very helpful, Shar-- thank you. I knew there were plot details in the MA storyline that we had not been given direct context for, and that always puts a little distance between reader and story-- which I think may be a fair criticism of the title at this point. Important aspects of characterization and events are still overly dependent on what happens outside of its pages. I think Hank & Jocasta are the only "growing" characters we have at this point.
You know what would help? The long-abandoned, iconic Marvel tradition of putting editorial reference boxes to help keep things clear. [fabricated example: "It all happened in FF #121. Really. Roy"]
I must also say that, although I've never been very fond of the Inhumans. . . and I can't STAND Crystal (geeze, what an immature, self-possessed tart. And she's married again?? What do you suppose Ronan's going to do to the next poor shmoe she has a self-indulgent fling with?? In fact, I bet that guy'll be, like, her Alpha Primitive pool boy, and Ronan will simply kill him outright. And THEN what happens? Who has priority-- the Queen's foreign/alien husband, or the second-class Inhuman citizen?). . . your summation makes me want to go out and pick of Realm of Kings-! (Or at least wait for it to go on a big sale. . . )
HB
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Post by sharkar on Jan 11, 2010 23:58:39 GMT -5
You know what would help? The long-abandoned, iconic Marvel tradition of putting editorial reference boxes to help keep things clear. [fabricated example: "It all happened in FF #121. Really. Roy"] I agree--I loved Marvel's practice. DC was rarely that explicit, and when they did deign to insert an editorial reference, it was certainly never as entertaining as Stan or Roy's! I must also say that, although I've never been very fond of the Inhumans. . . and I can't STAND Crystal (geeze, what an immature, self-possessed tart. And she's married again?? What do you suppose Ronan's going to do to the next poor shmoe she has a self-indulgent fling with?? In fact, I bet that guy'll be, like, her Alpha Primitive pool boy, and Ronan will simply kill him outright. IMO she's comics' answer to Madame Bovary: restless, dissatisfied, always finding herself attracted to some new drama, preferably of the romantic kind. Her history speaks for itself: as a sheltered teen she fell in love with an outsider, Johnny Storm, at first sight and wouldn't rest until she was reunited with him...she left her family and culture behind to be with him. She tended to a handsome stranger (Pietro) and fell in love with him (in Silent War she says of Pietro:"There was time when the sight of him would take my breath away." ). Then, feeling dissatisfied and bored, she took up with that real estate salesman Norm; she tried to get Johnny back when he was married to Alicia (Lyja); still married, she fell into a flirtation with the dashing Black Knight, and then found herself as part of a romantic triangle with him and Sersi; in Son of M she batted her eyelashes at a young Inhuman (and then accused Pietro of being jealous); and she's supposed to have had a tryst with the Sentry (which she wanted to resume). She's passionate, comfortable with her sexuality, and usually nothing stops her from pursuing romance--other people or conventions be damned (which suggests a hefty dose of self-interest, as you said). So now she's married to this big lug, Ronan (Pietro calls him an "oaf" in Realm of Kings). The marriage to Ronan was brokered as part of a political deal between the Inhumans and the Kree in Secret Invasion: Inhumans; Medusa asked Ronan for help and Ronan said sure, in exchange for Crystal's hand. Crystal was upset about it back then, but then once Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning-- "DnA"--took over (War of Kings and now Realm of Kings: Inhumans) she's warmed up to Ronan. I know this sounds superficial, but Ronan is not her type...I guess we are supposed to believe she is maturing, and that she now sees beyond the physical; but really, the Crystal depicted by DnA is miles away from the Crystal we've seen for years. DnA seem hellbent on writing her as this ultra-wise paragon of virtue; in War of Kings she was the voice of reason...she even went to far as to give counsel to Black Bolt. Hell, DnA had her narrating WoK and they have her narrating parts of Realm of Kings:Inhumans! It's really a skewed portrayal of Crystal; she seems to be nothing more than DnA's mouthpiece here. It's very forced. . . . your summation makes me want to go out and pick of Realm of Kings-! (Or at least wait for it to go on a big sale. . . ) You won't go wrong if you wait for the trade, HB. I do pick up single issues when there's a character I really like (such as Wanda, or Pietro, or the Inhumans), but I agree with what you wrote in a recent post about today's decompression...I usually find it maddening to read single issues (too insubstantial in my view)...so I normally wait for the trade version--it gives me a much fuller, richer reading experience. I get a better sense of the overall arc, themes, etc. of the story when I can read it all together. However, sometimes I can't resist picking up single issues, for certain characters (as I mentioned) but also--well, I fear I've reverted to the old junkie ways of my tender youth, when I had to buy a comic every few days or so. I have no self-control, I guess! ;D
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