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Post by humanbelly on Jun 22, 2015 7:20:00 GMT -5
Are those pseudonyms for the creative team for that issue? For I've never heard of Don Glut, Rick Hoberg, or Dave Hunt. Rick Hoberg I personally remember as one of the creators of Malibu's THE STRANGERS (only have the first issue, which I enjoyed; keep meaning to acquire the whole series). His art then had a really solid Bronze Age feel at a time when popular tastes were sadly veering away. A bit Al Milgrom-ish, except with more of an ability to capture a sense of life and movement in his figures and within the panels. Dave Hunt WAS a Bronze Age artist-- a bit of a second/third tier guy maybe? But reliable, clean work-- someone that a good inker could do well with, I imagine. Don Glut? Sheesh-- y'got me! I'll have to Google 'im. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on Jun 22, 2015 7:10:09 GMT -5
I take offense with #5, Starfox. Handled improperly, his power can come off being cheesy, but under Stern's penmanship, I think Eros proved his worth and value to the team (although, yes, I am biased since Eros was a member of my 'first' Avengers team but still). As for the rest, Stingray is a prime example of Geoff Johns' philosophy of every character having worth under the right circumstances and writer. I would agree with Rage and Gilgamesh. I liked Silverclaw myself, better than Triathlon. I've never understood the Sentry, his circumstances, his existence, his purpose, none of it. Even when Remender brought him back as a Horseman in Uncanny Avengers, he made little sense to me. Deathcry, I've never read of in the title, so I can't say one way or the other. My personal worst list starts with Wolverine. I still see no reason for his being a member beyond financial concerns and the sole reason for him being brought onto the team goes against everything the team ever stood for. Ha-- and I imagine our very own on-Board Starfox has a major problem with that choice as well! And, with a painfully shallow like this the label "Worst Avengers" is completely inappropriate if it's lumped with "Forgettable, Ineffective, Aborted Avengers". You gotta cull those failure-to-launches from the herd before doing any analysis, y'know? The fact that Gilgamesh was also referred to as "The Forgotten One" from the beginning is impossibly hilarious as an unintended self-fulfilling prophecy. Rage-- I'm still fine with him, just wish he hadn't been so inanely presented with a) a STUPID codename and b) a STUPID costume, NEITHER of which remotely reflected the truly cool, interesting kid that was underneath both of them. It was like two different writers came up with the look/name and the origin. Aaaaaand then subsequent writers paid no attention to the character regardless. No, I'm with Marvel Boy-- before reading his post I muttered the word "Wolverine" out loud. Absolutely the Worst Avenger Ever. Heck, I'd take Mantis again before Wolvie. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on Jun 20, 2015 6:59:55 GMT -5
Hey! Newsarama just posted an article with the title "The 10 Worst Avengers". I was curious to find out if we agree with the writer of the article´s selections. Who are the 10 worst avengers, assemblers? This is now a tricky question. If I go pre-Bendis, I can make a pretty good list with good arguments though I would have to give it a little bit of thought. If I go post-Bendis, I can't narrow it down to 10 and the ones on the pre-Bendis list won't even be included. Hunh. I just checked out the article, and it's clearly an oft-used retread that gets updated every so often. Although this update doesn't get any more current than Sentry (who comes in at #3). Other than that, it sticks pretty much the realm of members that most folks here still think of as the "real" Avengers (pre-Bendis). Not incredibly well written-- just an off-the-cuff opinion list w/out much justification of said opinions. One interesting trend in the comments section was HOW MANY folks stuck up for Sentry! Looks like he has a surprisingly vocal fan base out there somewhere! HB
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Post by humanbelly on Jun 6, 2015 16:44:38 GMT -5
Of course. Of. . . COURSE that's the title he wants to write now. This flows quite organically from my thought a bit earlier today. Iron Man's the hot property right now? Well then, by god, Bendis clearly needs to "legitimize" it by getting his. . . perpetually groundbreaking. . . literary stylings smeared all over it. Can't be a flagship/mascot unless he's involved somehow. Oh lordy-- ask not for whom the bell tolls. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on Jun 6, 2015 13:47:38 GMT -5
Marvel has released two new teaser images for characters following SW: Still no official confirmation if that is indeed Tony within the armor, but man, what better proof do you need that Iron Man is now the Official Marvel Mascot. Wow, and they couldn't even spring for a different Iron Man image for the second logo, either-- just cut & paste the first one. All deeper issues with this unappealing mulligan stew of histories, identities, and continuities aside, I honestly don't have much of a problem with Iron Man stepping up as the official Marvel Mascot. Tastes and popularity do evolve over time. How long has it been since DC passed that mantle from Superman to Batman? Many years, to be sure. And I don't think it's the first time at Marvel, either. It was Spidey for-EVER, with a couple of brief periods where Conan and the Hulk became the company's more visible characters, and then finally I think Spidey was clearly eclipsed by all things X-Related, and Wolverine became the front-and-center Marvel poster boy for many, many years. It's probably kinda smart to designate that mascot throne as more of a musical-chair in order to respond more quickly to trends in fan popularity (Ha! That's the kind of thinking that would have warmed ol' Martin Goodman's heart, I daresay!) HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 31, 2015 10:32:58 GMT -5
Adding to the chaos is that currently there are at least 15 different variations of Captain America in different comics at the same time. There is Steve rogers as an old man, Steve Rogers regular aged in another, then you have The Falcon as Captain America. Then there is a Ms. America, who is female and apparently Hispanic. In another comic there is a black female Captain America. I could go on. If that wasn't bad enough, now there is a Thor "corps." Hundreds of Thors, copying GOT's Knight Watch. Also there is a version of the FF where Reed is a farmer. But in another book, Johnny, Ben and Sue are dead and Reed is a villain. Then there is the "back in blue" FF where all are alive. And let's not forget another book where Sue is working for Shield, who are hunting Reed Richards and the Illuminati. This is all within about one month of comics. I'm probably forgetting other variations of the FF. It is mass chaos and it is getting worse every day. I'm not enjoying 95% of what I'm buying. I picked up 3 comics Thursday and it came to over $16. Wow Bob, thanks for making me feel better than ever about all the money I'm saving not buying this crap. That sounds utterly, completely awful. I'm enjoying Ant-man, Silver Surfer, and Howard the Duck. I picked up the first A Force but won't buy any more until things settle from Secret War and I find out what direction it will be heading. Otherwise, I can't find a thing worth investing my comic $ on. Sad really. Same from me, Bobc ol' pal-! I got a little ways into that link, and then I was forced to admit- "I can't read this. I just can't read this."-- and clicked it away. Not to mention: Three comic books. Sixteen dollars. Three. Comic. Books. Six. Teen. Dollars. T. H. R. E. E (okay, okay, I can only Bendis-ize the point so far. You get what I mean.) I mean-- as the primary grocery-buyer & cook in our household, I can tell you that $16 is more than a basic meal for four costs when you're cooking from scratch. "Sorry family-- no dinner tonight. I bought myself three comic books instead!" We're not poor or strapped at all, but-- it's simply unconscionable, to my thinking. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 29, 2015 16:05:35 GMT -5
While I liked the blog you linked to, Starry, I take issue with the megaladon being beautifully drawn. No. That isn't what they looked like. Whatever those spikey gill things were--pure fantasy. Megladon was just a great white but much bigger. My fossil hunter BS detector is glowing read! Y'know. . . we have a framed fragment of Mosasaur jawbone (w/ teeth) hanging on our mantle. . . And a terrific Trilobite reclamation piece in our foyer. . . And-- hoo-boy-- a 90-lb Orthoceras cluster on a big granite slab across from the piano. . . That stuff. . . it's just never NOT cool, y'knowattamean? (Actually, the middle and latter pieces belong to HBWife, believe it or not--) HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 29, 2015 15:32:54 GMT -5
Marvel Boy--without giving away much in the way of spoilers, Dr Doom has been revealed to be Rabum Alal--a supreme God over all other Gods *sigh* I fear, bobc, that your concern over spoiling anything may be misplaced. I think this particular Denmark was rotten long before you came onto the scene. . . (I can't believe how awful all of this sounds. Just. . . just lazy and grandiose and unconsidered and masturbatory and illegitimate. That's without having read a word of any of it, of course. . . ) HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 29, 2015 5:17:46 GMT -5
I guess. . . I guess it doesn't matter a lick, really, 'cause as far as I can tell there IS no real "Marvel Universe" anymore. Disney's Cinematic U is the driving engine as far as the baseline awareness of several hundred million people goes, and since that U is painfully limited by short-sighted, fast-money, decades-old, unresolvable IP decisions and machinations, that billion-plus dollar tail has now literally wagged the source-material dog out of existence, yes? I mean, no, I hate to see such a rich, wild, historical tapestry jettisoned because of mismanagement-- but I confess that the bulk of my grief process is a solid couple of years behind me, now. . .
HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 22, 2015 20:34:45 GMT -5
Oh and have you guys bought A Force, the all female Avengers? There is zero explanation as to why this team exists or how it fits into the other books.And why is She Hulk the leader with characters like Wasp and Medusa around? Sigh...this is sad. Even though I'm not buying any of these titles and have almost no point of reference. . . I still find myself compelled to submit that She-Hulk would make a very, very solid team leader in almost any circumstance I can think of. Historically she is, if anything, a far more Alpha personality than either Jan or Medusa, y'know? That doesn't take anything away from either of them, mind you-- I just want to speak up for Jen at the QB position, y'know? HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 18, 2015 17:22:35 GMT -5
I have SW #2--the art is stellar. BUT I have to say something. Do you all watch Game of Thrones? This issue has so many blatant similarities to Game of Thrones that IMO it is almost plagiarism. They are even drawing Dr Strange so that he looks just like Little Finger, a major character on GOT. It's very distracting. I could list the blatant similarities but I don't want to do spoilers. After reading issue #2, I went on line to read some reviews to make sure I wasn't imagining things, but Game of Thrones came up over and over. It is pretty shocking. That's. . . that's just so lame! Where does the responsibility for that kind of thing lie/lay? (Oddly enough, it's sorta reminiscent of ol' Martin Goodman's policy of jumping on any hot comic trend to try to milk it dry. In fact, Marvel's never really shied away from that, have they?) Lazy. Laaaaaazy, lazy, lazy, whoever's to blame. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 16, 2015 6:11:29 GMT -5
Hi folks! So much I want to comment on. I'll get that in another post. I just wanted to say hello for now. It's good to see this board alive again. Hawkeye's line to Wanda was, possibly, the best part of the movie. Mornin' Pym-! . . . and it was a movie with many best parts, too! HBSon & his girlfriend & I are going to see it again this evening (w/ me very much counting on a better viewing experience!), which is why I myself have been holding off on commentary a bit. Well. . . and being still mindful of spoilers in the interim, eh? HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 13, 2015 13:39:20 GMT -5
"Two Girls, a Guy, and Some Comics" is the full name of the old one. Shar did a bit of a retrospective on the Scarlet Witch's historically malleable hair color in February.
HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 13, 2015 11:34:14 GMT -5
Hey has anyone "seen" Sharky around? Oh, y'know, she's got a pretty neat little blog of her own called "Panelocity" where she manages to ferret out (an ASTONISHING number of-!) art-swipes, and posts them for consideration. Man, her eye & memory are like a real-life superpower! Also, I think she does still do the occasional update on the old "Two Girls. . etc. . .Some Comics" blog (the precursor to Bronze Age Babies). And of course she's likely got another 12 or 15 academic irons in the fire somewheres. . . (Shar, we're all just lucky you're not of the supervillain persuasion!). HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 11, 2015 15:22:53 GMT -5
The best lasagna I ever had (I can still remember clearly the taste, many years later) was a venison lasagna made by an italian lady. The lady in question lived in a small country town in Italy. She was used to cooking from scratch every day. She made the banquet food for the wedding of her son, who mas marrying my cousin. It´s a gastronomical experience I will never forget! Ha! Who says this isn't the Marvel Age of Tangential Tastebud-Tempting Treats, eh? Not I, not I-! HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 11, 2015 13:23:10 GMT -5
I saw the Winter Soldier as instructed. Yes? Yes? And did you like it okay? It's probably hard to live up to its hype for you, would be my guess. I know it gets mentioned often as a "Best Superhero Movie Ever Made" contender. . . but so have a lot of others. It has some tremendous strengths that I do love (the nature of the climactic fight scene with Cap & Bucky, f'rinstance). . . but I don't know if I could separate it, personally, from AVENGERS, or SPIDERMAN2, say, for the crown. Y'know? HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 11, 2015 13:16:17 GMT -5
But Crimson C, if you just make a blanket statement on a show (Arrow's first season), pronouncing it to be total dreck w/out supporting that judgment, what's that say 'bout all your pals here who unabashedly enjoy it? I guess that's for you to decide but I'd prefer to think that some people can like spaghetti and others lasagne without it being personally damning. I haven't written a detailed critique of it as I essentially mentioned it in passing and also because, to be honest, I don't think I should really need to. FWIW the stories are predictable and drawn out ridiculously, the production looks cheap (compare with the atmospheric look of Daredevil), I have zero interest in trashy soap plots (but then that's an established difference I have with all you Engelhart fans out there), its attempts at being 'edgy' and 'dark' (which I held out some hopes for after the first episode) are utterly undermined by its childishness. the only thing in its favour is the leading man who in fairness, as you noted, does a decent job. Arrow could've done with being a lot more like Daredevil. Flash should be something very different but if its more campy soap plots, with yawn inducing love triangles and brutal villains who fail to kill the hero when presented with the chance and proceed to give them every opportunity to escape, I think I'll stick with Adam West. That's how you do camp and silly properly. Ah yes-- then it simply is a matter of different tastes (heh-- for about the bajillionth time!), 'cause the edgy/dark/gritty element that Arrow leans into is honestly what I care for the least about the show-- I'm utterly burnt out on that as a motif for superhero stories across the board. I do wonder if the creators picked up on that as well, since one of the fist changes in season two was to dial Ollie back from being a vigilante who flat-out kills the bad guys and their henchmen? I thought that was a major flaw in the first season, and rather tough to backpedal from later-- but I'm glad they did. Nah-- Flash isn't gonna be your cup o' tea, CC. For full disclosure, I must submit that I've grown to love a good, hearty lasagna as I've advanced in years-- so I suppose one's tastes can indeed still change. But I did once (in my youth) eat spaghetti 32 days in a row. And I had it for lunch today. And yesterday. And Saturday. And for dinner Friday night. . . (I make a very, very good homemade sauce, mind you. Relatives come from as far Texas and Louisiana to have it for dinner. . . ) HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 11, 2015 11:26:05 GMT -5
But Crimson C, if you just make a blanket statement on a show (Arrow's first season), pronouncing it to be total dreck w/out supporting that judgment, what's that say 'bout all your pals here who unabashedly enjoy it? I quite, quite enjoyed that first season! Very solid, committed cast, lots of twists and turns in the overplot, a General Hospital's-worth of soap-opera storylines, a leading man who--geeze-- totally has a superhero's build (and can do some terrific stunt/fight work of his own), and who wisely makes use of his ability to underplay his scenes, and manages to not come across as wooden while doing it. Is it perfect or always hitting home runs? Nah-- but it's entertaining, engaging, and consistently makes me care about what's gonna happen next with the (zillion) characters. Flash is definitely a good sister-show to it (albeit a much brighter, lighter, quirky one), and I'm right w/ Marvel Boy in how much I've liked it when I've been able to sit down and watch-- which admittedly hasn't been in several weeks. I'll be curious to see if you'll be able to like Flash if you don't like Arrow-- o'course, I've always loved spaghetti, but never cared much for lasagna. . . so anything's possible, eh?
Touching on pop-cultural superhero presence in society: What has recently anvil-ed me in the head is that EVERYONE wears superhero t-shirts now! When I pick up HBGirl from school, I'm sure I can spot 20 easily within just a couple of minutes (if there are lots of kids milling around). And there's no particular demographic represented at all. Cap's shield is HUGE, as is Superman's chest emblem-- those two are almost universal. It's clearly geek/hipster-cool to wear them at this point, rather than it being a matter of wearing them in spite of any social stigma they might bring with them. . .
HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 6, 2015 21:32:13 GMT -5
May 4, 2015 22:13:43 GMT -5 spiderwasp said: The Fantastic Four movie looks absolutely awful to me. . Overall, I found the previews to be very lackluster and did very little to make want to see any of the movies.
The FF movie looks like it can at best be said to be "inspired" by the Marvel comic. I think even saying it was "based on" would be a major breach of credibility. I've heard almost nothing about the film; have read not a single thing about story or plot or arc-- here's what the new preview tells me: These four whiz-kid youngsters (well, three whizzes and a. . . baseball nut?) are exposed to a transmutative process as they attempt to pierce a dimensional barrier into what HAS to be the Negative Zone. And it looks like the Big Bad in there is. . . Dr Doom (??). So. . . for this origin, the Moon has become the Negative Zone, but Annihilus has become. . . Doom. And it looks like Johnny & Sue's dad is running the scientific show here. So there's a chunk of Ultimate FF being drawn from. The one, sole thing I was kind of liking, actually, was the young man playing Johnny-- even in the preview he was coming across as more of a real person than the comic book ever seemed to deliver. (And man, I have NO PROBLEM whatsoever with that family having a mixed-race element. I buy it completely and am happy to leave it as a non-issue. It's a reminder of some of the too-few fond memories I have of me ol' home town in Michigan. . . ). But overall? Gah, there's no "there" there, y 'know? Not a lot o' charisma jumping off of that screen.
HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 5, 2015 14:23:56 GMT -5
I plan on seeing it next week, and I'm already excited after reading starfoxx's comments. I assume that there is an added scene after the closing credits, yes? At our showing, there was an added scene after the initial credits (as per usual), but there wasn't anything at all after the full credit roll finally finished. That added scene absolutely floored me, because I had jokingly commented somewhere, right around the time that it was leaked that Ultron would be the villain for Avgrs2, what I thought that scene would likely be---- and my god, my prediction was almost word-for-word and image-for-image smack on target. I felt like a super-genius. . . but there wasn't anyone sitting around me that seemed to recognize my glorified status. . . (Granted, it does seem to be a very, very predictable direction, plotwise. Inevitable, in fact. . . ) Geeze, I kinda feel like they hit a home-run with The Vision. Just nailed it. Origin's different in its details-- yet is so wonderfully true to the underlying spirit of the source material. And the writing/direction were rather brilliant in their ability to get us (the audience) to embrace this important character so incredibly late in the film. For you movie/theater buffs out there, think "Banjo" in THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 4, 2015 21:11:57 GMT -5
#2 has been released though oddly it's entitled New Avengers: Ultron Forever. One footnote goes all the way back to Hulk #6, in which Banner uses a gamma ray machine in trying to stabilize his transformations into the Hulk because of some unusual mutations that have occurred. (One flashback scene shows the Hulk's body with Banner's head as Rick Jones looks on aghast). This helps to inform a very unusual mutation that Hulk endures as this story progresses. So I was wondering how severe some of these mutations became until the transformation became more 'normal'. Was this an ongoing situation for awhile or did he only suffer this for a few issues or so? Frankly, this is the first time I've heard of this but it does seem rather interesting. Oh-- no, no, that whole botched-mutation gimmick wasn't an ongoing thing at all. In fact, I think it existed as little more than a page's worth of (basically) filler to pad out a story in that last issue of the Hulk's short first run. And I'd never seen it referenced again at all until, gosh, sometime after World War Hulks. . . in one of the many Hulk-centric books that came out around then. It was an early blip of uncomfortable absurdity, is all, 'cause it was really hard to figure out if it was supposed to be comic or (within context) very distressing. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 3, 2015 18:17:48 GMT -5
Just got back from an afternoon showing-! HBWife & HBGirl went to a Sheep & Wool Festival this afternoon after the bikeride.
I. . . believe I liked the film quite a lot, but I honestly am going to have to see it again because the viewing experience was so sub-par (I verged on leaving a couple of times).
a) Apparently some family reunion decided a 2-1/2 hour movie would be a great group activity for themselves and the three (count them, THREE!) unrestrained, vocal, demanding toddlers that were under two years old. Many, many quieter moments ruined by that.
b) I need to check in w/ you folks-- was the entire film dimly lit, with a pronounced amber hue to your perceptions? I'm certain there was a problem with either projector lamp setting, or that the lens itself must have had a film on it (likely the former, though). I found I was working hard to actually "see" most of the scenes.
Still aggravated by all that-- but can give some truer feedback a bit later.
HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 3, 2015 8:36:59 GMT -5
Good grief, I just tried to catch the early-bird 9:15 showing at our chronically under-attended little neighborhood multiplex. . . Sold. Out. And LOTS of folks coming in behind me that were about to be seriously disappointed-! Now. . . now I have to go for a bike-ride w/ HBWife instead. . . HB (whose nether regions are already getting sore with anticipation. . . )
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Post by humanbelly on May 1, 2015 12:09:35 GMT -5
Indeed-- how nice! Seeing SWEENEY TODD tonight @ a local University. . . and tomorrow HBWife & I have an early dinner party to attend. Annnnnd I am literally vibrating w/ an urgent desire to see this movie. . . ! Son & I are trying to negotiate how early I can leave the party so's we can catch a later-evening showing tomorrow. Cripes, suddenly all these social demands! HB What did you think of the movie with Johnny Depp? *sigh* Being best pals with Johnny Depp is no excuse to put him in the lead in every single movie one directs. Helena B-C was certainly serviceable in her role, and the rest of the cast did a credible-to-fine job--- but Depp's frozenly immobile performance (of a character driven by almost impossible levels of rage of lust for vengeance) was in a race to the bottom with his paper-thin, truly pedestrian singing voice. Even in a film, vocal power is an essential in that performance-- that's our access to the turmoil going on within Todd. Len Cariou and George Hearn were the two first guys to carry that role on Broadway. HUGE booming baritones. Nah-- it was a major disappointment, I'm afraid. (Boy, how OT can we get, here, eh?) HB
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Post by humanbelly on May 1, 2015 11:03:04 GMT -5
Indeed-- how nice!
Seeing SWEENEY TODD tonight @ a local University. . . and tomorrow HBWife & I have an early dinner party to attend. Annnnnd I am literally vibrating w/ an urgent desire to see this movie. . . ! Son & I are trying to negotiate how early I can leave the party so's we can catch a later-evening showing tomorrow. Cripes, suddenly all these social demands!
HB
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Post by humanbelly on Apr 30, 2015 17:10:41 GMT -5
OKAY! 3 hour countdown has started for AVENGERS 2!!!! I'm excited, it will be hard to top the first movie, but I'll let you know how it ends.....just kidding! PEACE Ha! Welllllllll, SF, I'm gonna go ahead and hazard a guess that the Avengers probably aren't going to die in the end (although that daggone Joss Whedon is sure one for killing major characters off right when you love them the most. . . ). I've honestly not caught much scuttlebutt at all about any plot particulars of the film-- no rumors or anything. Simply from a here's-how-Hollywood-works perspective, I'd say it's likely that Ultron will be soundly defeated. . . but not quite as finished off as everyone expects. Geeze, you know what would be cool? A final coda that recreates on film the last page of Avengers #57-- the OZYMANDIAS sequence, with the kid idly playing with (and ultimately breaking) Ultron's head. . . oh MAN-- with James Spader doing the voiceover for the poem! (Or perhaps Tom Hiddleston-- in order to keep the Loki connection viable. . . ) I believe I would audibly weep right there in the theater if that were to be the case. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on Apr 28, 2015 8:01:22 GMT -5
850 lbs-?? Is that right? Wait, wait-- howit's being lifted makes rather a huge difference. (Bobc, this is totally up your alley, yes?) A dead-lift, say-- yep, I completely buy it--- the world record is considerably higher, in fact. Bench press? I'm betting that's what the number's referencing-- it looks like the 600 to 800 pound range (w/out special shirts or something) would have been the likely "peak" number back when super-hero strength levels were being hashed out-- in a more detail/continuity-oriented era. Now, what folks commonly think of as "weight-lifting"-- a military-style press (straight up overhead)-- that's kind of where 850 pounds really would make the jump from "peak of human potential" to outright "Superstrength" (whatever that might mean, exactly). Us humans, we're just not built to lift that much weight up over our heads, y'know? Too many breakpoints/hinge-points between the weight and the ground.
Hey, quick fact-check question: Is it or was it the S-soldier Formula that kept Cap young, or was it that formula that Nick Fury & Dum-Dum and a few other WWII-Era SHIELD types took? Methuselah Serum-- something like that? Or is one derivative of the other?
HB (How can I be this Geeky about a character that I've never collected regularly??)
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Post by humanbelly on Apr 20, 2015 20:05:27 GMT -5
How about this: 1)Hulk 2)Thor (no belt and gloves or in berserker mode), Hercules, Gilgamesh & Wonder Man 3)Sub-Mariner (properly hidrated) 4)She-Hulk 5)Thing, Colossus & Iron Man (without external energy sources) Does it sound approximately right...? Oh, I love this stuff, I do-! I'd maybe quibble and split gamma-infused hairs just a bit futher: 1) Hulk: I love the fact that the entire MU eventually threw in the towel and said, yes, okay-- Hulk is the Strongest One There IS! Everyone else can just arm-wrestle for the Silver Trophy at this point. 2) Thor: And I'm going to put him there by himself. Herc in particular is very, very close--- but Thor is ALL-superbeing, whereas Herc is half-mortal. And I'm not sure Thor would have gone down as badly as Herc in ACTS OF VENGEANCE. (Also, Herc can be rather more an idiot than the Son of Odin-- a definite liability.) 3) Hercules, Wonder Man, (Gilgamesh I can't begin to evaluate), and Subby: I'd put these guys smack at the same level. I have never, ever, though, been able to figure out why exactly Namor should be as flippin' mighty as he is. Hybrid or mutant or whatever-- how in the world could his DNA come up with this level of power?? And where the heck did th' ankle wings come from??? 4) Yep, She-Hulk: NOT FAR behind the fellas above her, though. 5) Thing: Also able to keep up with the couple of levels above him in a motivated pinch; along with Iron Man. 6) Colussus: I haven't kept track of him in years-- but I don't see him taking down Ben or Tony, all things being equal. Say, here's a geeky fanboy query: We have the great established frenemy rivalry between Namor and Herc. . . but has there ever been any examination of Namor vs Thor? Have they ever fought? Or teamed-up? Seems to me like Thor would not put up w/ Namor's imperial attitude for very long at all. . . HB
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Post by humanbelly on Apr 19, 2015 10:48:34 GMT -5
The first official trailer for Batman V Superman has been released online and after watching it, I feel kinda depressed. It's SO serious. I'm glad Warner is doing more, planning more, to bring these classic characters to the big screen but they seem to be missing out on Marvel's formula for film success: a healthy mix of humor, action, and drama. Yet MOS was so serious and dark and it's sequel seems to be following suit. Which I find strange. DC's characters can be fun, humor can help lighten the tone occasionally without sacrificing the quality and message of the story. But Nolan with his Batman trilogy seems to have set some form of standard for them to follow and I'm not sure that's the right thing to do, especially since you're essentially playing catch-up with Marvel in the film dept. Do we like or need such serious heroes? Or is it such a crime to see Clark or Bruce crack a smile every so often? Thoughts? Kind of touched on this just yesterday over on Bronze Age Babies, as it happens. The DC-Television Universe (w/ Flash and Arrow and formerly w/ Smallville) seems to totally understand that there has to be some element of lightness in the mix-- Flash particularly gets this. Arrow is darker, and yet doesn't seem to succumb to the flat-out fatalistically grim tone of the DC-Cinematic U-- there is an enviable nugget of almost corny optimism at that show's deepest core. . . and a much-needed occasional sense of humor. I've given up on DC's films. I STILL like Green Lantern better than the two Nolan films I've watched. It was, if nothing else, trying to be a basically well-rounded super-hero film. HB
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Post by humanbelly on Apr 13, 2015 16:04:11 GMT -5
Ahhh-hahahahaaa, S-Fox! Even before I clicked on the link I knew that was the special feature you were takin' us to! Somewhere in years past we've discussed it on this very board, even, right? And heck, I remember that when this ranking chart first came out it had a grace period of about 15 minutes before fans started tossing impassioned bricks at it-- heh. It's surely a fun conversation-starter-- but it seems like it HAS to have been done on a complete whim without any depth of editorial oversight (or heck-- much research-!) with the assumption that it was just inconsequential filler for the Annual. It's just-- it's clearly wrong! Even given when it was published!
She-Hulk was still in her early torn-white-dress phase. . . but was obviously stronger than, say, Valkyrie or Luke Cage (and probably Spidey); Werewolf by Night & the Beast at the same level? Beast should go up at LEAST one level, and WWBN down to the bottom level (Jack's furry alter ego could in fact be physically beaten by a non-powered individual-- it's just his opponents tended to freak out when they realized he wasn't wearing a costume. . . ). Black Bolt that high-- really? Ben is surely a super-heavyweight. Iron Man (sorry folks) simply doesn't operate at the top level, regardless of his occasional spikes into that realm.
Hoo-boy. . .
Underdog would drive Supes nuts with his incessant rhyming couplets, and then force a Kryptonite Energy Vitamin Pill down his throat at an opportune moment. But would then rescue him with a punch to the breadbasket that would up-chuck the thing back out-- and they would then become fast friends. . . ! (Ooo! And go on double-dates with Lois Lane and Polly Purebred!)
HB
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