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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 23, 2013 14:00:46 GMT -5
Whatever the meta reasons, AOU remains a bloated, empty, pointless, ugly "event", topped off by the laziest writer in comics putting in much of the already published "free" comic Avengers 12.1 in the "double sized" finale, albeit with a few extra lines of dialogue on top. Rashomon, this isn't. It's a far cry from Marvel's original maxi-series Secret Wars, which had a better plot, better art, and actual meaningful repercussions. On the other hand - I'm more pleased with this than anything else Bendis has done over the past 10 years. The usual problem is that he does a single pointless storyline but, in the process, ruins one or more beloved characters in a way that takes years for other writers to fix. I am overjoyed that this event had no repercussions and can just slip away quietly into oblivion. After all, I didn't waste my money on it. EXCEPT I am still pissed that they subtly used the other existing series with alternate numbers to tie in. I did waste my money on more than one of those which I would not have done if I had realized prior to purchase that the issues had nothing to with current continuity and only served as part of the Bendis story. Still, in the end, any Bendis story that we can walk away from without having destroyed anything and just forget all about is a good Bendis story.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 20, 2013 20:40:10 GMT -5
Didn't realize I was going to start a battle with my Power Man tribute. lol. Oh well, I guess it will be like an issue of Marvel Team Up. The two will slug it out for a little while before realizing they are really on the same side and settle the whole thing by becoming Dr. Ultron and Bong69. For tonight, however, let's move on to a team of villains/heroes. As I've said before, the Squadron Supreme limited series is my all-time favorite story. The Squadron Sinister was often okay but nothing lives up to that awesome LS. This was the first encounter with the JLA, er I mean SS. I like the cover. One of my favorite all-time lines actually came in the Avengers/JLA series by Busiek when Hawkeye called the JLA a bunch of "Squadron Supreme wannabes." Yep that was clearly the case. The weird thing about this appearance was that even Marvel couldn't keep their confusion under control. If I remember correctly, the team actually meets the Squadron Supreme in this issue. They do end up fighting them but it turns out to be because of the Serpent Crown. At least they got it right this time around. I really do love the Squadron and desperately want to know what happened to them and their Earth that led Hyperion to Hickman's Avengers series. I just don't have the patience to read the months of meandering to get to it. I'd also love to see the limited series turned in to a movie or tv miniseries. However, I know it could never happen because critics would tear it to pieces based on the JLA rip-off aspect without even giving the story a chance. Heck, I even saw one review of the Fantastic Four movie that accused it of being too much like The Incredibles, which I thought was hilarious.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 19, 2013 22:41:00 GMT -5
The villain of the day is...Power Man. No, not Luke Cage. This is the Power Man who would later go on to be Goliath and even later Atlas of the Thunderbolts. He changed a lot over the years. Probably because he was rather bland as Power Man so change was needed. Being beaten by this guy was not exactly a great moment for Cap and his Kooky Quartet. He looks good on the cover though. By this point, he was no longer Power Man. He was a little better as Goliath but sort of got lost in shuffle with so many villains, even though IMO this is one of the Avengers finest stories. I can't of like this cover. I found it amusing that, after losing his Power Man name to Cage, he was determined to fight for the right to Goliath.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 18, 2013 21:52:58 GMT -5
For some reason, I don't think Graviton has ever been that popular with Avenger fans, but I like him. He has a pretty decent power and just enough craziness to make him enjoyable. I like the fact that he sees himself as much more than he really is. There's something hokey about the way he's holding the girl on his first cover but, as I said, it's hokey in a sort of fun way. Even from the start, he's such a loser that the girl he's doing everything to impress just wants to get away and he's completely clueless. This is a really good cover. Graviton was the first major foe the WCA faced and he gave them a pretty good battle. Holding Wonderman at the bottom of the pool was a pretty sharp move. At least, it would have been if he hadn't done it to the one member of the team it wouldn't affect. Typical Graviton. Holding Tigra on a leash was another example of Graviton's loser behavior. I don't know what it is about goofy villains that often appeals to me. The only thing that's ever bothered me about Graviton though is his uncanny resemblance to Count Nefaria. Separated at birth?
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 17, 2013 20:57:14 GMT -5
Magneto is, of course, primarily an X-Men villain (When he's not a member) but he has had a few notable Avenger appearances as well. I like this cover. I even like the bright yellow boarder with the other characters. I'm glad it wasn't used often because it would have gotten really old really fast but it does make this cover pop. It hasn't been long since I read this but I still can't remember what happened. Nice cover though. This is part of the controversial run we've recently been talking about in other threads. I never cared for this look for Wanda but the cover represents Magneto pretty nicely. I know my general practice for this thread has been to post my 3 favorite covers but this one makes Magneto so ridiculous that I couldn't help but throw it in as a bonus. I think he looks more like he should be menacing Scooby Doo and the gang instead of the mighty Avengers. I can almost hear him going "Hee hee hee hee. I'll get you meddlesome kids if it's the last thing I do."
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 16, 2013 22:49:36 GMT -5
The next villain, for no reason at all, is Arkon. I've never been quite sure where I stand on Arkon. Some of his stories have been pretty good and none are coming to mind that I hated. On the other hand, I've never felt that I had a real sense of the character. None of the stories stand out to me as great either. Every Arkon story seems like a filler to me. The King Kong approach was a little bizarre. I'm not crazy about this cover for that reason, but it was better than his one in WCA, so... This one is better. I can take him more seriously here. This was the best Arkon cover I found, and also the best storyline. He really wasn't even a villain in this one. Actually, it was always a little hard to figure out whether he was a villain or not. I certainly wouldn't classify him as a hero or friend of the Avengers. I'm not sure what he is.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 13, 2013 17:20:40 GMT -5
Klaw has never been a major favorite for me but he's okay. I think that's because he's been so inconsistently written. Sometimes, he's a ruthless madman, sometimes he's a henchman, and sometimes his a joke. Of course he's never been more of a joke than he was during Secret Wars. I really enjoyed the limited series but that aspect was way over the top. This was a pretty decent cover. This is by far my favorite Klaw cover or story. If all his appearances had been this good, he would move way up my list of favorites. I haven't been including Spotlight, but this cover is one of his better ones. I don't understand why Ironman was featured though. Wasn't the general concept for this book that it would give a chance for Avengers who didn't have their own titles to shine?
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 12, 2013 20:10:08 GMT -5
Not going to make any effort to do villains in any specific order so the next one is one that I've always liked: The Collector One thing I liked about the Collector is that his motives were simple and clear - at least in the beginning. He also visually looked like a very unlikely foe for the Avengers. This cover is fairly similar to the first, even to the point of having 4 Avengers coming to the rescue, but I like them both. They make who the Collector is clear. I also really enjoyed his general involvement with the Korvac Saga. Now things got a little more complicated. I didn't hate the version of the character from this story or the story itself but it never quite felt right to change the character so much physically. To me, the fact that he was a frail old man with tons of alien technology was more interesting.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 12, 2013 12:43:21 GMT -5
I for one particularly loved Jarvis and Marilla´s interactions. It was interesting to see the butler reacting to the changing dynamics at the mansion due to the introduction of the inhuman nanny. I really HATED when she was killed during that utter piece of garbage called "The Crossing". I totally agree. Marilla was the perfect foil for Jarvis and the 2 of them provided the book with some much needed comic relief. Her death and that of Yellowjacket II were 2 of the most pointless deaths in the history of Marvel. Even with all the stuff of recent years, The Crossing still remains, for me, the worst story ever told.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 11, 2013 21:43:45 GMT -5
The fact that this book even exists is beyond my ability to address fully. The human character-- the person-- is considered expendable, whereas the flippin' costume must be preserved and sustained for further appearances. BuckyCap set a precedent that seemed to deliver the wrong lesson to the folks in charge. . . HB This has been true for quite some time, to my dismay. Silly me, I'm a fan of Peter Parker - not just Spider-man, Matt Murdock - not just Daredevil, Steve Rogers - not just Captain America, and so forth. The person inside the costume is what makes for an interesting character to me, not the powers. Some changes work okay, like Clint Barton becoming Goliath for a while or Scott Lang as Antman but the ones that work are far fewer than the ones that leave me high and dry.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 11, 2013 18:13:58 GMT -5
As I said, I'm not going into the bENDis era for this thread, however, if anyone else wishes to, be my guest. Instead, I decided it might be fun to focus on the Avenger's enemies instead. To get things started, the beginning seems logical so here are my top 3 Loki covers. Loki didn't show up very well on this cover but no one can deny the importance (Quality yes, importance no) of this issue. This appearance, as one of the moving forces behind the Avengers/Defenders war is a bit better. Loki has rarely shown up as an Avengers villain but, when he does, it's pretty significant. First he brought the team together, then he was behind the Avengers/Defenders war, and then he was the mastermind behind Acts of Vengeance.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 11, 2013 18:10:44 GMT -5
I think someone also mentioned Darkhawk earlier on: sorry to report the original DH has been one of the casualtias of Avengers Arena a few months ago, and another contestant of the Arena has now taken his place as Darkhawk. Figured that was going to happen from the first issue (The death, not the replacement). That's one of the reason I never bought any issues after the first. I simply have no interest in a book that is only there for the purpose of killing off characters.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 10, 2013 20:07:19 GMT -5
The final Avenger introduced before the "end" (Hey, it's right there in his name, bENDis) was originally called the new Captain Britain but later Lionheart. The whole storyline was a bit of a mess. One issue was confusing, the next was actually quite touching, and then it was back to confusing again. In the end, she just dropped off the face of the planet. I loved the idea of the character being near her children but never being able to let them know who she was. I'd love to see her explored again by a good writer. I was only able to locate 2 covers. Ironically, she was never on a cover for the "Lion of Avalon" storyline. She made the cover of the anniversary issue in such a way as to indicate that she might actually have a future. I didn't find Kelsey on another regular issue but she was on the finale. She was right there beside the Scarlet Witch, if you look really closely.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 10, 2013 19:56:08 GMT -5
For another Jack of Hearts cover, I came across #57: He's barely there, but I do like the reflection in Cap's shield. Thank you. I knew there had to be a third one out there somewhere
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 9, 2013 22:37:42 GMT -5
We are fast approaching the end of the characters I plan to use for this thread. I will not be doing the Bendis additions at all but I do have a plan to proceed forward. Next up - Ant man (Scott Lang) Scott hasn't appeared on all that many covers but 2 out of 3 that I've chosen also made the list for another character. This is an all time favorite cover for me. This came right in the midst of one of my favorite stories ever and was a pretty good issue on it's own. This one is really redundant since Jack of Hearts was the last entry but oh well.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 8, 2013 1:53:01 GMT -5
Next up - Jack of Hearts. Not a particular favorite of mine. Can't say I hated him but I never really connected with his story. I've used this cover before but it bears repeating This was his best cover, even though he came off as a jerk on it. I've been doing 3 covers but I could only find 2 here. If someone can find a 3rd that I missed please throw it out here.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 8, 2013 1:42:47 GMT -5
www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=45933This Sept. sees the relaunch of the Mighty Avengers title, written by Al Ewing with art by Greg Land. Tied in with the Infinity event, this team forms to fight back against Thanos who invades the Earth while the majority of the Avengers are in deep space. Roster is set to include the likes of Power Man, Falcon, Monica Rambeau, White Tiger, Echo, and the Superior Spider-Man. This means that overall, we will now have 7 Avengers titles on the market. Oh dear. Here's another of those dilemmas that Marvel loves to throw at me. I love the idea of Monica Rambeau making a comeback, the picture in the article shows She-Hulk, which is always a good thing and I like the Falcon and White Tiger just fine. HOWEVER, I have avoided the ridiculousness of the Superior Spider-man like the plague and the last thing the world needs is a new version of Ronin. I like Luke Cage too but the fact that he references Bendis when talking about where he's going with the character scares me. I'll probably give it a shot for Monica and She-Hulk but I shall proceed cautiously.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 6, 2013 22:22:24 GMT -5
I haven't added to the covers lately but I believe the next one up is Silver Claw. This was a character that seemed to have some level of possibility but it never really manifested. An interesting cover, to say the least Not much on this one really does much for me but SC wasn't on a lot so there aren't that many choices. Just like the character, the stories that SC was involved with were just forgettable.
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Post by spiderwasp on Jun 2, 2013 22:00:16 GMT -5
Yeah, how confusing is the numbering situation here? Just plain dumb. I'm really mad with Marvel about this. I bought several titles without realizing what was going on. Had I realized they were Bendis tie-ins that weren't even part of the regular series I've been buying, I never would have bought them. I really resent being tricked.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 29, 2013 15:00:56 GMT -5
Lol. Nice cake combination Wundy. That brought a smile to face and helps take the sting and the bite out of just how WELL I'm beyond the life expectancy of either creature, as HB pointed out Thanks for the wishes, both of you.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 28, 2013 22:11:58 GMT -5
I think that, with the exception of the truly dreadful decision to make Sandman Uncle Ben's killer, that's a misunderstanding of what they've done in the films. For the movies they are trying to maintain the illusion of super powers as a something really extraordinary -not something that is just falling off trees wherever you go. As a result one of the best solutions is to make the sources of the powers of both the heroes and the villains related (especially in a first movie). In these cases it actually adds to the plausibility rather than detracting from it. . Couldn't disagree with you more. That's always been my biggest complaint with the Spider-man movies. As a matter of fact, your point about things falling off trees leads to the worst transgression of the lot. When the symbiote crashes to Earth, it just happens to land a few feet from Peter and Mary Jane. I find it 100 times more believable that some scientist in Florida is studying lizards and Spidey gets involved when he goes to investigate as a news photographer than for the professor to be one of Peter's teachers. How likely is it that Aunt May would happen to be in the bank when Dr. Octopus robs it? The close ties, for me, makes the connections seem to have some sort of magical effect - as though Peter is the center of the universe. I find it that it detracts horribly from otherwise good movies.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 27, 2013 1:19:10 GMT -5
I'm totally with you guys on the Hulk thing. I've had absolutely no interest in Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, etc. from day 1. The abundance of members of the "Hulk family" destroys the whole concept. Here's what comes to my mind when I think of it:
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Post by spiderwasp on May 23, 2013 22:51:52 GMT -5
I was always at odds with how I felt about Triathlon. I think the character had potential but just never really connected. For one thing, the whole "Strength of 3 men" didn't seem like a great power to me. I've seen pretty much every Avenger defeat more than 3 mean with ease so that doesn't seem like a big deal. There was also his association with the Triune Understanding which dragged him down as a character. I didn't hate him but I was just waiting for his big moment and it never came. Anyway, here's some of his covers. He certainly entered with a bang He strikes a decent pose in this one I suppose I picked this one because he appears pretty useful.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 22, 2013 22:25:47 GMT -5
Arghhh! I just started buying AA a few months ago and was actually enjoying it. Now, they do a couple of Age of Ultron crossover and the book instantly drops to garbage level. I swear, I think Bendis is a plague. Anything that comes in contact with anything he writes is destroyed from the inside. I guess my new policy has to expand from my pledge to never buy another book written by Bendis to include never buying another book crossing over to a book written by Bendis.
AA #15 assumes that the reader knows what's going on with AoU, which I don't, so I have no idea what's happening. It just starts in the middle.
Spoiler alert (Sort of, I know so little of what happened that nothing I say is likely to be much of a spoiler)
Apparently Ultron has launched an attack on London (And the rest of the world) and only Captain Marvel, Captain Britain, and some people I've never seen before are around to combat him even though it's been going on for some time, I think. I know that partially because Black Widow was involved last issue but I didn't really understand that either. Dane Whitman can't be involved because something happened and he's in some kind of danger because of it even though he appears to be okay. It involves him having used his sword on too many robots. Captain Britain surrenders his magic to Excalibur? but keeps his powers, then dies. It appears Carol did too though that's not likely. There's a bunch of babble and nonsense and...well, basically that's all I got out of it.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 21, 2013 14:55:13 GMT -5
HB... do you remember what of the Hulk appealed to you as a child? I'm wondering if kids were attracted by his innocence, or if they were waiting for him to explode and smash everything in sight, as some sort of catartic, I-wish-I-could-do-that, moment. This question amuses me because it reminds me of my cousin's son when he was just a little kid in the late 70s. We would watch the tv show and he would just keep saying "Make he change" over and over.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 19, 2013 21:32:34 GMT -5
Okay, this is a two-fer. I loved Justice and Firestar as Avengers. It just so happens that I picked the same three covers for each of them. What I really loved about them (Justice especially) was that, through him, you felt the excitement and the honor that went with being an Avenger. Notice I said went. Now that the honor is bestowed on everyone and his brother, I don't see that feeling returning. I miss it. Good cover that depicts a tough choice. The honor and dream of a lifeline or your friends who have been there for you through some very tough times? Not their best cover, but not bad. Just an overall nice image.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 19, 2013 1:24:19 GMT -5
I'm looking forward to seeing them. Great news. They're really vital additions. I would really like to see Jan though. Any chance? The Ant-man movie is scheduled for Nov 6, 2015, according to EW. It begins phase 3 and is the first movie after Avengers 2. They don't mention Jan, but I can hardly imagine that she wouldn't be there.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 18, 2013 9:17:59 GMT -5
This was a bit of a disappointment for me. I really loved the first two Iron Man films, but this one got it wrong for me and lost the magic. I'd have to disagree with you on this one. Granted the Ironman films have never been my favorite of the series, just like I've never been a huge fan of Ironman in the books but I thought this one was a huge improvement over the 2nd film. The first was probably the most I've enjoyed Ironman in a very long time in any medium and I was surprised how much I liked the Black Widow in the 2nd movie (And the Avengers) since I've really never liked her at all on paper, but otherwise I thought the 2nd movie was underwhelming. My biggest problem with the 2nd movie was that I really didn't like Stark. I'm all for heroes having problems and quirks to make them more human but he was so self-centered in the 2nd that I had difficulty even rooting for him. I also thought the villain was very unmemorable. This movie still didn't have the most memorable of villains but Kinglsey was certainly entertaining and moreover, though Tony was still a long way from Clark Kent (Not that I'm saying that's what he should be) he did seem heroic. I liked the kid sequences. I thought something was needed to make Tony a little more human and relatable and, for me, his connection to the kid helped. I would still rank this behind Avengers, Thor, Captain America, and the 1st Ironman but I did like it. The 2nd one- let's put it this way - I bought it on DVD but haven't even watched it since I did. I've started too many times and still will but I keep remembering how little excitement I felt at the theater and just haven't bothered.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 17, 2013 17:41:20 GMT -5
Okay, we're finally back to someone I liked even though we didn't see much of him; Darkhawk. I only bought Avengers Arena #1 but haven't picked one up. I know he's being featured heavily which isn't good. Doesn't that mean he's likely to die (If he hasn't already) This isn't a great cover but it's not bad. I certainly features DH This is definitely a War Machine cover but, as I said, we didn't see much of DH The best of the Darkhawk covers. Actually, I just plain like this one. Don't remember the story much, but the cover's good.
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Post by spiderwasp on May 17, 2013 15:00:45 GMT -5
I liked Hulk when he couldn't get enough beans and referred to people as "Sword girl" "Cat girl" and "Bird Nose." It's just occuring to me that my actual favorite Hulk would be under other - namely "Avenger movie Hulk"
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