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Post by Van Plexico on Dec 17, 2006 14:44:32 GMT -5
Links are posted now on the main AA! page, to interviews with Dan Slott and Joe Quesada regarding Slott's upcoming " AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE." They're somewhat spoilerish, despite Slott's claims to the contrary, IMO. www.avengersassemble.net
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Post by Van Plexico on Nov 4, 2007 19:55:35 GMT -5
Has this come out yet?? I lost track of this miniseries and it lost all momentum for me with #4.
Take a look at the Finch cover (link 1 above) and then the JR Jr cover (link 2) and see the difference between the two, in terms of sheer power and excitement, and then you will understand part of why I really do not like JR Jr's current art style.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jun 15, 2007 8:45:04 GMT -5
You know, that was actually not un-entertaining.
This at least makes me interested in what the Hulk's doing, and tense about it. That hasn't been true in over twenty-five years, as we've been repeatedly *told* how scary and dangerous he is, but rarely given a reason to be viscerally afraid of him.
I found it interesting that when I picked the book up, I was sort of rooting for Hulk to wreak some havoc and get some revenge... but once I started reading it, I totally turned against him and wanted Iron Man and co. to kick his a$$.
It makes me sad to know that probably 95% of other readers were rooting for Hulk to crush Tony to pulp.
(WIZARD has a poll this month of creative types, asking who would win a Hulk/Iron Man battle nowadays. It's interesting-- the few who pick Shellhead give long, elaborate "if this/if that" answers, while the many who pick Hulk basically say, "Come on, not even close!") And while I hate JR Jr's current art style... I suppose it works better on something like this, with big titanic battling behemoths, than on most anything else. Sort of in the same way as vintage Herb Trimpe (except for the fact that I actually *liked* Trimpe's style).
And I agreed with most of your excellent evaluation, Doom.
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Post by Van Plexico on Oct 12, 2007 14:23:47 GMT -5
Everything else aside, I have to say... that last page, with my #2 and #3 favorite characters of all-time together again, and in the right costumes... WOW. I never thought I'd see it. It's like 1979 all over again. ;D
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Post by Van Plexico on Jul 25, 2007 20:30:32 GMT -5
QUASAR #1 continued the good stuff. I am enjoying following the ongoing adventures of Marvel's Cosmic Lesbians (TM). And Jarvis Head Bob Almond even inked this issue. I'm imagining how the phone call must have gone: "Bob, we need you to ink the story of two sexy women in love, as they battle the Super Adaptoid." My gosh-- he must have hated that assignment!!
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Post by Van Plexico on Jun 29, 2007 9:56:49 GMT -5
Regarding the ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST - PROLOGUE
Wow!
Everything that the previous ANNIHILATION books did wrong, ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST does right.
I felt that much of the first storyline had muddled writing, muddled art, and came across overall as "we have a beginning and end of a story in mind, so let's just randomly throw a whole bunch of other semi-cosmic stuff out there and see what sticks."
Not much did. How you can take a story involving the most "cosmic," sci-fi-based characters in the MU, put them in a great big story covering half the universe, and somehow make the whole thing dull as dirt? That was quite an accomplishment-- though not a good one.
But this new series looks to be completely the opposite, if CONQUEST: PROLOGUE is anything to judge it by.
I wasn't familiar with the new villains, not being a reader of their corner of the MU... but it appears that Kree space is under attack by the villainous portion of Vernor Vinge's A FIRE UPON THE DEEP. Hey, that's perfectly fine by me.
In Dan Abnett they have the perfect writer to do deep-space military SF in the MU, and he knocked my socks off with this one. Anybody could have written the basic story that unfolds here, but Abnett gives it a great sense of pacing, keeping things moving quickly while making each little scene seem somehow longer and more complex than it probably was. This was a major failing of the previous ANNIHILATION-- I never felt the pacing and structure was quite right. Everything seemed to be going by too fast to even really understand in it. But this one gets it exactly right.
The art in this book, in terms of the pencils, the inks, and the colors, is right up among the best I've seen in a while. I wasn't really familiar with Mike Perkins, but he does an absolute bang-up job with this book. A joy to look at, and the facial expressions in particular are spot-on throughout.
And as much as I like what they're doing with Star Lord, I was more than thrilled with the way Phyla and Moondragon are portrayed. Here we have a fleshed-out Phyla-Vell (you know what I mean) and a Moondragon who is likeable for the first time in a long while. Phyla is tough but with clear vulnerabilities and uncertainties, making her extremely interesting. Heather is... Heather, but in a better way than we've seen in quite a while. The two of them together are interesting, fun... and cute! (Though I could do with a different costume for Moondragon. She's had some of the best, and worst, costumes ever. This one, for me, falls into the latter category.)
And hey, I made it all the way through that paragraph without mentioning that they are "Marvel's Cosmic Lesbians!" (TM) D'oh! Oh, well.
So, in sum, I'm as positive in my views of this new ANNIHILATION (so far) as I was negative about how the previous one played out. I hope they can keep the momentum going into the individual books. It would be nice to finish a cosmic Marvel saga and *not* immediately wish I had my almost-a-hundred-bucks back!
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Post by Van Plexico on Nov 17, 2007 0:01:30 GMT -5
The two "Musts" for me are Kirby and Shooter. But Shooter is more a personal thing, having to do with when I started reading (162).
I'm a little too close to the Busiek run, in a number of ways, to really look at it objectively. Anyone want to make a good argument here, that could persuade me it wasn't just "great" but "hall of fame great"?
I'm not saying it wasn't, remember-- I'm saying it's hard for me to think of it objectively, so I'd like some other perspectives.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 22, 2007 1:52:49 GMT -5
Much thanks for handling this for us this year, John! My choices didn't do too well, but my favorite Avenger got both Villain of the Year and #2 Avenger of the Year. How often will that happen??! What a crazy year..... (And congrats to Jim Cheung!! Very well deserved!!)
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 17, 2007 15:15:56 GMT -5
Greg Land's art is gorgeous, yeah (I've argued before that his rendition of Ultimate Susan Storm is possibly the most beautiful creature ever to appear in comics-- and I'm not even an FF fan!). Aside: I like Land's work so much, I'm having Mitch Foust (whose work is similar) do a painting of my Pulsar character for the Sentinels hardcover. Here's a detail from the preliminary sketch: www.whiterocketbooks.com/lyn_mitch_smallest.jpgThat being said, if Hitch's work is "static," Land's is positively in stasis! Having seen Hitch's giant-sized pencilled pages, I'm in awe of his skills. You really have to see them in all their full-size glory to appreciate them. But for Avengers-style art, I will go with Jim Cheung. Hands down. Look at any of his issues of YOUNG AVENGERS and soak up that goodness.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 17, 2007 15:08:50 GMT -5
Mark Millar really should have gotten a nomination here.
That being said, I'd still vote for Heinberg. He had a much bigger hurdle to jump, with all-new characters (and "kiddie" ones, at that), and yet somehow managed to make their story utterly engrossing and compelling.
Millar, by contrast, had an entire universe of Avengers characters not only to work with, but to pretty much reshape as he saw fit.
So-- Heinberg, with the stated limitations, working in a very confined, constricted universe, trumps Millar playing entirely in his own sandbox, I think. But both were great.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 17, 2007 15:04:58 GMT -5
Choosing between ULTIMATES 2 and YOUNG AVENGERS is really tough-- which shows that there were some good Avengers-related comics in 2006. Unfortunately, none were called "The Avengers." In some ways, these two are apples and oranges. They have nothing to do with each other. But if I have to pick one, I'll go with ULTIMATES 2, for the sheer, jaw-dropping shock-and-awe of the Liberators story. (NEW AVENGERS, on the other hand, is not shock and awe but shuck and jive...) I think my favorite Avengers-related comic of the year was YA 12, though. But it's really close between that and U2 #10...
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 7, 2007 21:01:48 GMT -5
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 7, 2007 3:19:20 GMT -5
I have sent my nominees to Zemo-Lad. Now I present them to you, in order that I might politick a bit on behalf of my choices. Do with this as you will. 1. BEST AVENGERS-RELATED STORY OR ARC of 2006 The Liberators in ULTIMATES 2While the Young Avengers and EMH series (plus the THING and some others) were very good, no Avengers-related story this past year hit me as hard as the Liberator invasion of the US in ULTIMATES 2. I never dreamed I'd be voting for anything Ultimates, but Millar hit it out of the park with this. 2. BEST AVENGERS-RELATED WRITER of 2006 Alan HeinbergOverall, I enjoyed the YOUNG AVENGERS series the most, start to finish, and I give Heinberg the nod here. #12 was so good, I can't let him be shut out! 3. BEST AVENGERS-RELATED ARTIST of 2006 Jim CheungA slam-dunk for me. Gorgeous work. 4. BEST ACTIVE AVENGER of 2006 Iron ManSee my previous post. 5. BEST AVENGERS VILLAIN of 2006 Brian Michael BendisI would never have considered voting this way, but upon reflection, it's an obvious choice for me. No one caused the Avengers (or Avengers fans) more grief in 2006. And there was no big Kang or Ultron appearance to challenge this. So BMB wins, as far as I'm concerned. 6. BEST AVENGERS SUPPORTING CHARACTER of 2006 Nicholas "Samuel L. Jackson" "I got mf'in Hydra snakes on my mf'n helicarrier!" FuryMaybe not the best choice, but he had a good year, was in both DVDs, and I had to use that line one last time (after I wore it out at DragonCon). ;D 7. GREATEST AVENGERS "MOMENT" of 2006 Wasp tells the Liberators that Cap has already escaped, in ULTIMATES 2 #10."You idiots-- I freed Cap five minutes ago!" or something to that effect. The utter fear and horror in the eyes of the bad guys in this scene, when they realize what she's said... Wow. Chills. 8. BEST AVENGERS SINGLE PANEL of 2006 Hawkeye kills the bad guys with his fingernails, ULTIMATES 2 #10.Hawkeye does his best Bullseye impersonation, and it works. My jaw hit the floor as I read this. Not my "classic" Avengers, but it works. (This barely beats out several splash pages at the end of Young Avengers 12!) 9. BEST MARVEL COMICS SERIES of 2006 YOUNG AVENGERSTop to bottom, my favorite Marvel Comic of 2006. Sheer class. 10. THE ONE COMIC BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD BE READING IS: YOUNG AVENGERSThough I'm tempted to say MS MARVEL, just to help sales. C'mon, Carol's book has got to survive! *sigh* 11. AVENGERS CREATORS HALL OF FAME (You may nominate two candidates in this category.) Jim Shooter Jack KirbyShooter's my guy, and I have too much respect for the King to leave him out.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 4, 2007 13:57:40 GMT -5
For Artist of the Year, I have to go with Jim Cheung.
I think his work on YOUNG AVENGERS was spectacularly good. The layouts in YA #12 are simply brilliant-- he used splash pages to real effect, not just for overall impact (the way most artists seem to), or to chew up pages of story. They contributed directly to the unfolding of the scenes in very positive, very cleverly-designed way.
And his art style is in the same vein as Perez and others of the classic Marvel ilk, but with his own unique look to it at the same time. He's become a real favorite.
That being said, I have the utmost respect for Bryan Hitch's work on ULTIMATES 2, especially after having seen the original, huge, pencilled pages up close at Heroes Con. Wow!
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 4, 2007 13:52:04 GMT -5
Well, I was referencing it in terms of it putting the character in the news this past year. It's been one more reason to talk about him.
Y'know, that's true-- I think I'd rank the Panther second to Iron Man, because the second Ultimate Avengers video was all about him, and there was the wedding, etc. Good call.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 3, 2007 10:12:20 GMT -5
If by "win" you mean my favorite character has become The Devil and a completely unsympathetic villain who imprisons his former friends and allies... then I'd rather lose.
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 3, 2007 1:40:52 GMT -5
"Admit," heck-- I've been railing about it here for months! But it's worth noting that I, at least, think of "Best Avenger of the Year" as not necessarily the one that makes me "happiest," but the one that stood out the most. Sort of like TIME often making its "Man of the Year" someone we don't necessarily like. I suppose it's up to each of us to determine for ourselves just what our own internal criteria for choosing the nominees should be...
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 2, 2007 15:40:48 GMT -5
Figured I'd start us a new thread just for debating the various nominees in each category.
So I'm going to start by saying this: Regardless of my own feelings toward this character, I think that BY FAR the most important Avenger of 2006 was Iron Man. That's not to say I liked the direction he went during the year, but... I don't think anyone could argue that any other Avenger had a bigger year than he did.
Some reasons:
1. Civil War. Duh. He's both the "villain" of the piece and the leader of one of the two "heroic" sides involved. Civil War has, for better or worse, lifted Tony up and made him one of the most important Marvel characters of all.
I think Civil War alone would qualify Tony for Avenger of the Year. But that's hardly all:
2. Illuminati. He gathered the group together-- a group of the most "important leaders" in the MU. And he thought of it and runs the show. 'Nuff said.
3. Iron Man: The Movie. Shellhead's big-budget motion picture was announced in 2006, with Robert Downey as the star and the full support of Marvel Entertainment.
4. His own book made a comeback in 2006, with the Knaufs (of Carnivale fame) writing. Plus the "Inevitable" miniseries.
5. His role in the NEW AVENGERS, as well as in YOUNG AVENGERS.
In all honesty, I don't know how it could be a contest. Iron Man wins this going away.
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Post by Van Plexico on Dec 29, 2006 18:22:21 GMT -5
This year, long-time Jarvis-Head John Warren will be conducting the voting process for us all (thanks, John!).
He will be posting the info for voting in the next few days. We'll have plenty of time for discussion before voting starts.
I think we should set some sort of minimum threshold of vote percentage for the Hall of Fame. Maybe something like, "must receive 80% of votes cast," or something of that nature. Thoughts?
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Post by Van Plexico on Dec 29, 2006 9:30:04 GMT -5
Time to start seriously looking at the Jarvis Award contenders for the year just now passing.
Night Phantom, feel free to post your list of comics of '06 when it's ready, and we can dig in. Thanks.
I'm creating this as a new board, rather than erasing over last year's. I don't like cluttering things up, but I figure it'll be good to have last year's debate and vote, etc, still visible.
All registered members of this site will get a vote. In addition, the Jarvis-Heads will get a vote each. I will collect and tabulate both sets of votes and announce the final results here after the voting is complete.
But--for now-- let the debate begin!
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Post by Van Plexico on Oct 31, 2007 12:53:54 GMT -5
Re the Battle of Agincourt: Did you guys not see HENRY V? (Awesome movie, BTW, with Kenneth Branaugh in the title role.) It was the English longbow archers who took down the French forces from a distance, while the French cavalry (and chivalry; ie, people "of note") got stuck in the mud. The English were vastly outnumbered but lost only a few, while the French lost many dead, including a lot of the afforementioned nobility. It showed that an English commoner with a longbow could beat a French nobleman with armor and horse, etc. Shakespeare has Henry give the famous St. Crispin's Day speech just before this battle. "We few... we happy few... we band of brothers..." Gen. Schwartzkopf later compared the ground war in Iraq (1991) to the Battle of Agincourt.
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Post by Van Plexico on Mar 14, 2007 12:32:40 GMT -5
If every comic book Bendis wrote was like this one, I would be a Bendis fan. (Well, sort of.) Great issue. Great use of thought balloons! Very effective in their laying out of the below-the-surface side of the conversations. And there was actual, honest-to-Stan-Lee FIGHTIN'!!!! My word! Was this really a modern Marvel comic book? ?? On the other hand, why does Cho have to give EVERY woman in his books a gigantic butt? Carol and Natasha, maybe.... but JAN?! My gosh, how would he draw Wanda, then, if she stood next to Jan?
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 13, 2007 12:38:50 GMT -5
No, I'm pretty sure it's flesh/fleshtone. Look at the face.
I predict "she" won't simply be a newly upgraded model of the basic Ultron-- "she" will be maybe a woman infected with a "computer virus" and thus half-human/half-robot.
In other words, it's Marvel's Witchblade, or Seven of Nine....
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Post by Van Plexico on Jan 13, 2007 12:23:43 GMT -5
I think this would have fit much better in the ULTIMATES universe, where this version of Ultron would have had a female Vision to kick around...
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Post by Van Plexico on Dec 15, 2006 10:43:03 GMT -5
That's the only page from the comic I've seen thus far... and quite a spoiler it is, eh?? (Though one that makes me happy, obviously...) Flashback? It looked more like one of the scenes from the new JUSTICE LEAGUE comic, where new team members are being picked. One other observation about Cho's art: It's good to know that the other Avengers will always be able to set their mugs of beer on Jan's and Natasha's rear ends, even when those two ladies are standing up straight. Yeeeesh.
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Post by Van Plexico on Dec 12, 2006 19:35:50 GMT -5
Pros: It features my two favorite super-heroes, Iron Man and Ms. Marvel. Woohooooo! ;D Cons: I'm not a huge fan of Cho. He makes Carol look too... too... just too much. But I can live with him-- the choice of artists could have been much worse. And, of course, there's the choice of writers... but that goes without saying, by now, right?
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Post by Van Plexico on Jun 6, 2006 18:48:02 GMT -5
Here are the winners of the 2005 JARVIS AWARDS!
I will post them to the AA! site asap. For now, you folks get the first look at the results.
(R-U = "runner up." Required more than one vote for this status.)
*1. BEST AVENGERS-RELATED STORY OR ARC of 2005*
WINNER: YOUNG AVENGERS: SIDEKICKS (1-6) R-U: CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER
*2. BEST AVENGERS-RELATED WRITER of 2005*
WINNER: ED BRUBAKER / ALAN HEINBERG (tie) R-U: (no others with multiple votes)
*3. BEST AVENGERS-RELATED ARTIST of 2005*
WINNER: STEVE EPTING R-U: JIM CHEUNG / BRIAN HITCH / TOM GRUMMETT (tie)
*4. BEST ACTIVE AVENGER of 2005*
WINNER: SPIDER-MAN R-U: MS. MARVEL / LUKE CAGE / CAPTAIN AMERICA (tie)
*5. BEST AVENGERS VILLAIN of 2005*
WINNER: KANG (landslide) R-U: BENDIS!
*6. BEST AVENGERS SUPPORTING CHARACTER(s)*
WINNER: JARVIS / BUCKY / ZEMO R-U: (no others with multiple votes)
*7. GREATEST AVENGERS "MOMENT" of 2005*
WINNER: RETURN OF THE VISION IN YOUNG AVENGERS R-U: (no others with multiple votes)
*8. BEST AVENGERS SINGLE PANEL of 2005*
WINNER: SPIDER-WOMAN GETS "DD" IMPLANTS FROM HYDRA (This was in NA #14, which is on our list for 2005. I could have sworn it came out this year, though!)
R-U: KANG APPEARS AT END OF YOUNG AVENGERS #1
*9. BEST MARVEL COMICS SERIES of 2005*
WINNER: YOUNG AVENGERS / CAPTAIN AMERICA (tie) R-U: THUNDERBOLTS
*10. THE ONE COMIC BOOK EVERYONE SHOULD BE READING IS:*
WINNER: YOUNG AVENGERS R-U: FABLES
*AVENGERS CREATORS HALL OF FAME* *CLASS OF 2006 (Inaugural Class)*
1. GEORGE PEREZ (landslide) 2. STAN LEE 3. ROY THOMAS
Thanks to all who participated! We'll do it all again next year-- or, rather, in about seven months!
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Post by Van Plexico on May 15, 2006 16:07:38 GMT -5
Vonbek said:
Absolutely!
I haven't thought of him that way, at all. He has certain issues that are very much involved in his attempts to live up to the legacy of his father and of being a hero, etc. (and the legacy of Cap himself, and who could live up to that?) and those things have driven him to some questionable methods of trying to measure up. "Angry Black character" doesn't enter into it, as far as I can see...
I neither know how they are "token" nor "PC." Quite the opposite, in both cases, in fact, I would argue. "Token" would indicate (to me) that the writer is making a character into a certain stereotype in order to fill out a pre-ordained roster-- "We simply MUST have at least one gay character!" But I don't see that here at all. I see two very interesting characters, for whom their sexuality only adds another layer of complication for them as characters, and for the overall story. One might as well say they have a "token size-changing character," or a "token multiple-weapon-using" character. But that would be true of almost every super hero team, wouldn't it? So I must say I don't see the objection, on those grounds.
In other words, if you don't like the way the book is written, that is entirely your business, and more power to you-- don't buy comics you don't enjoy! But I don't happen to agree--at all-- with some of the rationales you give for it.
Not at all.
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Post by Van Plexico on May 13, 2006 0:15:44 GMT -5
So... lemme get this straight... you guys buy NEW AVENGERS but don't like it... but you don't buy YOUNG AVENGERS, which absolutely rocks. Hrmmmm. I simply don't know how to respond to that. Yes I do, on further reflection. I'll ask this: What does someone have to say to get you to at least pick up an issue, or (even better) the first trade paperback collection? Hey, if you come to one of the summer cons, I'll throw in a few copies as prizes for Marvel vs DC Jeopardy!
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Post by Van Plexico on May 10, 2006 21:49:47 GMT -5
Yes, you have seen that, and congrats on your lofty rank! But, since I made up the ranks back in September or whenever, I have no idea what's next. So, you will have to, in the immortal words of Kurt Busiek, "Wait and see!" ;D Egad, man! You haven't read YOUNG AVENGERS?!?! RUN, don't walk, to the shop! Go online and mail-order the TPB. Do something!! Marvelly Avengery goodness awaits!!
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