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Post by spiderwasp on Dec 4, 2013 21:28:52 GMT -5
Well, it's says something that in Marvel's most recent poll published in the letters section, fans voted Assemble as their favorite title. I noticed that and I honestly don't understand Marvel's logic. The book normally has clear storytelling that isn't decompressed, stays true to characters, and can be understood even by someone who isn't reading every title Marvel puts out. So, if that book is the reader's favorite, why doesn't Marvel put out more stuff like that instead of the unreadable Hickman title or the nonsensical ramblings of Young Avengers or FF?
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Post by spiderwasp on Dec 1, 2013 16:06:07 GMT -5
We don't talk about Avengers Assemble much but I have to say, I am generally enjoying it. It's not perfect and I can't say that I've loved every issue, but compared to most of the other books out there, it's terrific. It actually has stories that I can follow without feeling like my head will explode and characters who act in interesting ways that are fairly consistent with their previously established personalities. The recent issue which featured Scarlet Witch, Wasp, and Wonderman had the characters relating to each well and an interesting story. This month featured Spiderwoman, Spidergirl, and Black Widow. Again, it was a good story and had some funny dialogue -especially the exchange between Spidergirl and and Captain Marvel. I don't know much about this Spidergirl at all but I found myself liking her.
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Post by spiderwasp on Nov 28, 2013 11:36:34 GMT -5
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Gobble Tov!
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Post by spiderwasp on Nov 19, 2013 19:47:54 GMT -5
Must concur with the other opinions. Great movie. I love it when a movie can combine action, drama, and comedy seamlessly and this one did. Can't recommend it strongly enough and I agree that the second ending is worth hanging around for but the first one was the one that had me lighting up like it was Christmas already.
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Post by spiderwasp on Oct 15, 2013 22:08:52 GMT -5
Well, let me be the first to weigh in on tonight's episode. Personally, I think it was the best one yet. I've enjoyed the previous episodes but felt that they were sometimes a little slow and have hoped for some improvement. However, I found tonight's episode to be an excellent blend of secret agent and super hero world. I'm optimistic about the future for the series.
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Post by spiderwasp on Oct 7, 2013 20:44:35 GMT -5
I am in agreement that the second episode wasn't as impressive as the first. I agree with SF that I picture SHIELD as bigger than just a few key agents, however, I see the need for that focus. Honestly, it reminds me a lot of Torchwood, even down to the new female agent joining on the first episode. On the other hand, I like Torchwood, so... I also agree that the stories could flesh out more if they weren't contained to one episode. I'm hoping that multi-episode stories will be coming later. I can actually understand why they wouldn't start with them though. They aren't inviting to people who discover the episode after the first couple. Once it has found it's audience, I think it will be safer to do that. Dr. Who, for example, increased its multi-episode stories as it moved along. Even serial dramas of a different nature, such as Dallas and Knot's Landing, started off with contained episode. It wasn't until they had people hooked that they started building those more complex stories.
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Post by spiderwasp on Sept 26, 2013 18:11:27 GMT -5
I liked it as well. It felt like there was a real respect for the source material which hasn't always been the case with tv shows based on comics. The only thing I didn't really like was the two British agents. I thought they were very hard to understand. I can't even really attribute that fully to the accents though. I have no problem understand the characters on British shows such as Dr. Who, Keeping Up Appearances, or Fawlty Towers. To me, the problem was that both of them mumbled horribly. I hardly understood a word from either of them.
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Post by spiderwasp on Sept 24, 2013 21:32:19 GMT -5
or maybe I won't. Have we changed the way to start a new thread? I've done it before but I do see where to do it so: Regarding Mighty Avengers -I actually thought it had potential BUT the Superior Spidey factor is a major turn-off. I haven't even read an issue of Spider-man since Brand New Day and only know that it's Doc Ock in the costume because of what I've read elsewhere, but like you said - how could anyone not know that that's not Peter. I also didn't like the usual throwing us into the midst of a story in a first issue. There were several unfamiliar characters and the writer just acted like I show know them and know what's going on in the current storyline. For a first issue, that's not very inviting. The respect shown to Monica is the factor that will bring me back for a little while at least.
It was occurring to me that Marvel keeps launching new titles and they never last for long. I know that they do this because collectors will buy first issues due to the potential of them increasing in value and are reluctant to jump on board an old title. However, I have another theory. Many of us buy the first few issues of books because we are so hopeful that this will be good. After only a few issues, we give up on that idea and stop buying it. Marvel then launches another new title, and in our misguided hope of recapturing the love we used to have for comics, we buy it. This keeps repeating. As a result, Marvel misinterprets that we love first issues. The reality is that we'd prefer to stick with a title for the long haul but nothing is good enough to make us do it. I'm pretty close to giving up new comics altogether at this point.
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Post by spiderwasp on Sept 24, 2013 21:21:36 GMT -5
starfoxxx, I'm right there with you. I still like Uncanny well enough to keep buying it even though I haven't picked up #11 yet. However, it's only working for me because it's better than the other Avengers titles - not because it's particularly great. I hate that I'm now settling for buying titles because they're "Not bad" when I used to not be able to resist buying books even though I couldn't afford them because I thought they were "Really good."
Regarding Mighty Avengers, I think I'll start a thread for that and respond there.
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Post by spiderwasp on Sept 14, 2013 12:45:29 GMT -5
When I met Perez at a Con last year, I had the exact same feeling. I can't imagine anyone who could seem more genuine. There doesn't seem to be an ounce of conceit about him even though his talent gives him every justification for it to be there.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 29, 2013 0:32:33 GMT -5
Thanks Shiryu, just finished watching and really enjoyed the doc. It's funny that the debate is really over a word. I find that I agree with Stan that the person who has the idea is the "Creator" but creation is just one aspect. There's no doubt that, as Stan himself says, if Ditko had not done such an excellent job, it would have been a failed creation. I could liken it to a couple of teenagers having sex and creating a child which they give up for adoption. If that child turns out to be a wonderful person, the credit goes to the adopted parents even though the teenagers are still undeniably the "Creators." I think Ditko's contribution to the character is every bit as important and great as Lee's but I do think that Lee is the true "Creator." I think Stan is willing to share the credit for that very reason. He too sees the importance of the art. It's just a shame that a word could come between them.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 24, 2013 22:47:50 GMT -5
I haven't added any new villains in a few days but it's nice to see our bizarre tangent kept this thread moving along anyway. I'm glad I had skipped over one of the prime Avengers villains this long because the recent movie talk makes the perfect time to spotlight ULTRON! As a matter of fact, I think it could be argued that Ultron is THE Avengers villain. It's easy with some books. Obviously Dr. Doom is the #1 enemy of the FF and Magneto for the X-Men (When he's not a member lol) but it's a little harder for the Avengers. Good arguments could be made for either Ultron or Kang. Kang, if I'm not mistaken was the first original character introduced in the book. He has menaced the team in many ways for years. His involvement in the Celestial Madonna and Avengers Forever storylines alone could qualify him. On the other hand, even though Ultron wasn't introduced for a few more years, he was created by a member. He, in turn, created more members (Vision/Jocasta) and enemies (Alchema) and has allied himself with even more (Grim Reaper.) He, like Kang, has returned many times. His rampage in Slorenia is hard to ignore. What are other people's thought's? Which one is the prime Avengers villain? Or is someone else altogether? Anyway, enough rambling - on with the covers! There are a lot of good covers to choose from here. I'm not sure if I'm choosing this one because I'm a fan of the Wasp or just because it's a nice cover but I do like it. There's just something about this one that I like. I think it's the menacing contrast between the brightness of Ultron's body and the blackness. A strong image from an interesting perspective
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 23, 2013 10:00:53 GMT -5
An Avengers and Shakespeare mash-up? HB, you are a genius! lol. I always wanted to see them do a "Midsummer Nights Dream" parody with the whole Quicksilver, Crystal, Black Knight Sersi thing. Sersi's Eternal buddy, Sprite, could be the Puck character and decide to give the Black Knight a potion to make her fall for him but he accidently gives it to Pietro instead and he falls for Sersi. Let the comedy begin.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 20, 2013 1:36:38 GMT -5
Nebula is a character that I sometimes liked and sometimes didn't. Basically, I just don't think she was consistently written so it was always hard to really get a grasp on who she was. Although it may not be obvious at a glance, Druid's companion here is Nebula. At least a version of her. When she next appeared, it was revealed that it was some alternate version of her but I never did fully understand what that was all about. This is definitely one of her best Another of those covers with the oversized villain. It does make her look impressive though.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 16, 2013 23:26:43 GMT -5
My first thought was that my Executioner cover choices would mirror my Enchantress ones but it turns out not to be true. Not a great cover for any of the villains but I like it overall. In addition to showing the Executioner, these covers help to illustrate my observation about how the Enchantress was always in the background. Of course, the Executioner fared just as badly but in Marvel's defense, he wasn't a particularly interesting character. Okay, it's just his face but it's still better than using that awful #7 cover.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 15, 2013 22:54:57 GMT -5
There aren't really a lot of female villains but for me, the first is the best - the Enchantress. Unfortunately, even though I like the character, her covers are not very good. I would guess that's because her appearances were almost entirely in the early years and Marvel probably didn't think a female villain would sell the books that well so they usually put her in the background. Sadly, I think this is her best image. I say it's sad because she was supposed to be this beautiful woman with great power. Great covers were just waiting to happen. This one's not bad but it certainly won't win any prizes. I like this cover a lot and she is the only villain on it. However, you barely even notice her back there. Okay, this one's not bad either. I'm considering this a bonus cover. I can't possibly call it one of her best because it was so bad but it hardly seems like I can ignore it either. I think this was actually the largest image she had on a cover but boy is it a goofy cover. The body positions make those we talked about on the Doom cover look sensible. What in the world is Zemo doing? What is anyone doing for that matter? What is even happening on this cover? I don't understand. Okay, bonus #2. This is actually the best Enchantress cover ever BUT I didn't count in my 3 because it doesn't appear to be her. It appears to be a Valkyrie cover but, of course, it turns out that Val is really the Enchantress.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 14, 2013 23:46:24 GMT -5
I certainly won't say that Thane Ector is one of my favorite Avengers villains of all time but he wasn't that bad. The storyline did prove rather interesting. He certainly came across as formidable on this cover. Poor Pietro The character only had the one storyline so it's not too difficult to decide which covers to use. He's not front and center here but it's not a bad cover. Actually all of his covers were pretty decent.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 11, 2013 22:16:25 GMT -5
Attuma has never been one of my favorite villains but here he is anyway. I always think the name is funny too. I picture someone asking Arnold Schwarzenneger if that's Attuma and he says "No, it's not Attuma" (Think Kindergarten Cop if you don't get it) I've always liked this cover but more because it marked the return of the Wasp (Even if she is 100% victim mode) than because of Attuma. It's an okay cover for him though. This cover is better. The story is okay but not that great to me. Another decent cover
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 9, 2013 21:48:23 GMT -5
Tonight - The Living Laser. Not one of the top villains but his had made several appearances. Didn't care much for his costume, but the cover layout was pretty good. Not a terribly impressive cover to me but better than most of his other covers which are just basically his head. This cover makes him look better than his solo appearances
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 9, 2013 10:12:10 GMT -5
My favorite Kang cover is this classic from Kirby and Romita Sr.: I almost posted that one too. Isn't funny how Kang is almost always oversized on covers even though he's a regular sized human? He was on all the ones I chose.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 8, 2013 22:08:56 GMT -5
Wasn't Perez off the book by then? The Kang Dinasty is one of my favourite stories ever, but I remember it suffered from inconsistent art. Oops. You're totally right and if I had simply looked at the credits on the cover I posted, I would have realized that. I guess that when I think of Busiek's awesome run, I automatically think of Perez. For me they go together like peas and carrots, as a certain Gump would say.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 8, 2013 18:22:14 GMT -5
Okay, time to break out the big guns when it comes to Avengers villains: Kang the Conqueror. This is a pretty sharp cover So is this one. I always liked this one and the issue was good too. I hated the whole concept of the silent month but I think Busiek and Perez pulled it off more effectively than most of the books.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 3, 2013 22:56:19 GMT -5
Just in time for the 4th of July, the greatest foe of the star spangled Avenger - The Red Skull. Go get him Cap! Neither this story or this cover was much to brag about but there aren't many choices. The Skull turned up several times but, for some reason, normally failed to make the cover. Even when he was the main villain, for example the Red Zone storyline, he never made the cover. This cover is pretty scary and pretty effective. I don't like this one as well but I do like it. And look, Cap is there. See, this 4th of July tribute did make a tiny bit of sense after all.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 3, 2013 22:52:11 GMT -5
Ditto. And you're right about the reactions and body language being inappropriate for the moment but I think it may even be more inappropriate the second time around. As an actor, I'm trying to imagine a situation where those choices would be appropriate and only one comes to mind: a good old fashioned melodrama. "Dr. Doom has just tied poor Nellie to the tracks and the train is coming, whatever shall we do?" Come to think of it, Stan Lee's writing style was often like that - "If we'd been half a second later, it would have been too late." "Oh no, you musn't. You simply musn't!" "If I only I could muster the courage to say what I really feel..."
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 3, 2013 0:45:23 GMT -5
The West Coast Avengers often fought the same villains as the East Coast team but they did have a few to call their own. The main one was Master Pandemonium (Or Master Panda Bear as they often called him.) Another of those odd covers where the villain is extremely large for no apparent reason. However, the cover is pretty good. This one really illustrates how weird the character really is. This turned out to be a pretty pivotal issue for years to come. The image is meant to be creepy and it certainly achieves that goal.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jul 1, 2013 1:12:39 GMT -5
Glad to hear that people are enjoying seeing the old covers pop up. Tonight - The Absorbing Man. I always liked this 2 part story and both covers merit inclusion. Aaaand part 2 The Antman/Wasp cover (275) is awesome but you only see AM from the back and the Avengers Academy storyline was one of the few from that book that I didn't like. Therefore, I decided to go for the goofball (Or is that goofball and chain) and include this cover from Avengers Unplugged.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 27, 2013 22:17:54 GMT -5
Of course Doc Doom is the FF's main foe but is there anybody he hasn't menaced? Certainly not the Avengers. This is a true classic. What a great challenge to the new and struggling quartet. I'm not sure why but I just like this one. This is a kind of unusual cover since it doesn't have any Avengers on it but it is a nice image. I'm also not sure if it's actually Doom or Kristoff even though I know I read it fairly recently. With Doom, it's almost impossible to tell when you've got the real thing though so I'm using it anyway.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 26, 2013 19:36:14 GMT -5
The book is okay. I'm not overwhelmed by it but I don't plan to drop it so...
My one big complaint, and I know this has been mentioned before so I'm jumping on someone else's bandwagon, is the wasted pages at the beginning. Even counting the front and back covers, there are only 16 pages (Front and back each). This includes ads. With a cover price of 3.99, I am paying .25 for each page. That means I paid the same price I paid for a whole comic book in the 70s for a sheet of paper that has credits on one side and the words "One Month Later..." on the other side (And nothing else -- not even a picture.) No matter what inflation has done, there's no denying that's a rip off.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 25, 2013 20:24:31 GMT -5
Today's entry - Man Ape. Not really much to say on this one. Like Klaw, Man Ape was intended to be a major adversary for the Panther. However, how can you really take anyone too seriously in that costume? He is presented as a major menace on this cover but, again, that costume... All the villains do look evil here. I'll give them that.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 23, 2013 21:02:16 GMT -5
I guess it's because I'm a fan of Ant-man and the Wasp but I really like Whirlwind. Not the greatest image for Whirlwind but it was a key issue since it was his first appearance as Whirlwind instead of the foolishly named Human Top. This issue also holds sentimental value for me because it was the first 1960s issue of Avengers I ever acquired. I felt like I really had something. I've always liked this cover and the story within too. Old Whirlybird looks pretty cool here.
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