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Post by Van Plexico on Jul 22, 2007 20:40:05 GMT -5
Folks are reporting that they've already started receiving copies. This thing is selling very quickly.
I'm looking forward to some good discussion here of the highs and lows and in-betweens of the book!
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Post by Engage on Jul 31, 2007 22:48:50 GMT -5
The book arrived today with no problems from lulu.com. I'd recommend them to anyone.
Early thoughts it that the book has some great insight and is going to be a very fun read. I really like that the collection of essays from different authors gives a different feel to each chapter.
I'm really looking forward to reading this thing.
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Post by Shiryu on Aug 1, 2007 17:45:37 GMT -5
I have just ordered it from Lulu myself, should arrive in a couple of weeks
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Post by sharkar on Aug 1, 2007 18:08:09 GMT -5
I'm going to order it shortly too!
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Post by Engage on Aug 3, 2007 0:20:04 GMT -5
The only negative I can come up with is that "Hard Traveling Heroes" is referred to as unreadable. That's just plain evil.
Its very nice to read the commentary about some eras generally looked down on as poor. I was really surprised with all the positives drawn out of the mid-nineties era during the Gathering.
I'm just getting into the character analysis section and the looks at Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch have really given me new thoughts about those characters. I never really liked Quicksilver, but after reading the section on him I'd like to see him return to an Avengers book. I especially liked the look at his relationship with Captain America.
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Post by Van Plexico on Aug 6, 2007 2:01:35 GMT -5
Just back from Trinoc-Con in Raleigh. Sold ten copies of the book there. Did a reading of my overview chapter. Folks seemed to like the book.
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Post by Shiryu on Aug 6, 2007 3:19:43 GMT -5
I was also thinking I have noticed a few new people joining the forum recently. Maybe they found it from the book?
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Post by Shiryu on Aug 9, 2007 5:13:04 GMT -5
Mine arrived today There is one strange thing though. In the pages were an old cover of the Avengers is reproduced, this (the cover picture) hides about 1/3 of the text in the page. Is it a printing mistake? Here is an example of what I mean
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Hourman
Probationary Avenger
Posts: 83
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Post by Hourman on Aug 9, 2007 14:03:59 GMT -5
I discovered this forum purely by chance as I was looking up information on the JLA/Avengers team up hardcover... this book sounds so interesting that I can't wait to pick it up and read the reviews of my favorite storylines/characters.
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Post by Engage on Aug 9, 2007 14:51:09 GMT -5
Mine arrived today There is one strange thing though. In the pages were an old cover of the Avengers is reproduced, this (the cover picture) hides about 1/3 of the text in the page. Is it a printing mistake? Here is an example of what I mean Shiryu, I think that is a printing error because my copy isn't like that. The cover image is much lighter and behind the text, making the text readable.
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Post by Shiryu on Aug 9, 2007 17:12:52 GMT -5
There I go -_- And, alas, I can't even file a multimillionare sue against the author! Oh well, hopefully this will eventually turn out to be one of those very rare and very precious copies In the meantime it will do, there aren't that many pages with pics after all.
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Post by Shiryu on Aug 13, 2007 17:37:01 GMT -5
I'm trying to read it as I read through the Avengers DVD, which is slowing me down considerably, so for the moment my comments are still superficial. The chronology in the end is really impressive, I couldn't believe there were so many guest appearances in between the issues, yet it all fits together with the occasional footnotes. Continuity was really a big thing at the time. The essays so far seem interesting and insightful. The only problem is that, having a different person writing each one of them, the style change can put me off a bit (some are more sarcastic, and in general they all take different approach to the part that they cover). The Sean McQuaid essay on the Busiek's run so far was the one I liked the most, but I still have a lot of them to go through
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Post by Van Plexico on Aug 15, 2007 23:29:28 GMT -5
Shiryu, you are now the second person to report that problem-- both were in Europe-- and so I have to assume it's a problem with the presses being used for European copies, and not just an isolated incident. I will investigate this immediately. In the meantime, please email me your mailing address and I will send you a good copy direct from here, with my apologies. And re the different styles of the different authors-- that's interesting; most folks I've heard from so far have said that that is precisely one of the things they like most about the book-- the variety of different styles, approaches, and viewpoints. So to each his own!
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Post by Shiryu on Aug 16, 2007 7:41:19 GMT -5
Shiryu, you are now the second person to report that problem-- both were in Europe-- d**n, I'm not unique anymore! Thank's, I'll PM you my address As for the different styles, I'm getting definitely more used to it now. I think what put me off is that I started by reading the chapter on Busiek, which I liked a lot, and the author of that essay (is he the same one who works on the Marvel Appendix website?) slightly touched upon the post Busiek Avengers and the current run, with a negative but not too aggressive opinion. After that, the author of the proper NA chapter was much harsher, so it made for an interesting comparison.
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Post by Tana Nile on Aug 16, 2007 21:53:00 GMT -5
I just got Assembled! yesterday, so I'm not prepared to comment just yet. But just flipping through the book and looking at the different chapters, I think it should provide some fodder for us here.
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Post by Tana Nile on Aug 25, 2007 20:11:07 GMT -5
I am REALLY enjoying this book! It's been my nightly reading now for the last week and I've just gotten through the first part, analyzing the various runs. It was actually quite interesting to read about the runs I didn't read, such as the much-reviled Heroes Reborn. I thought the coverage of the Busiek-Perez era was well done, although I would disagree with the assessment of Triathlon as being a more successful addition than Justice. The whole Triune storyline was not that engaging to me, whereas Justice's sudden 'stage-fright' seemed far more interesting. I was really unhappy to see Firestar and Justice go. They were probably the best couple on the team since Vizh and Wanda.
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Post by scottharris on Aug 25, 2007 21:30:37 GMT -5
I just got my copy yesterday. Pretty sweet. I'm very curious to hear other people's opinions on the book. More posts! So far I've enjoyed most Ian Watson's Shooter/Micheline section; I hadn't considered some of the things he discusses, specifically the themes and patterns the writers explored.
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myg65
New Avenger
Posts: 9
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Post by myg65 on Aug 31, 2007 19:02:35 GMT -5
I just received Assembled yesterday and I have to say I'm impressed. I love the extended discussions covering each era and the character analysis. I only wish there was a roster checklist with the year each member joined. Although I only had a chance to scan my copy, perhaps I missed it. I think I'll enjoy going down memory lane since I've been a fan of the Avengers since the mid 70's (off and on since about 1974 to 1975 maybe). Thanks!
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Post by defdave on Sept 5, 2007 14:26:50 GMT -5
<<Its very nice to read the commentary about some eras generally looked down on as poor. I was really surprised with all the positives drawn out of the mid-nineties era during the Gathering.<<
Woo-HOO! I'm glad you enjoyed my chapter on the Proctor & The Gatherers era. That's at least two people I've had say they were surprised by the positive light I cast this era in.
I'm glad you have enjoyed the book.
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Post by defdave on Sept 5, 2007 14:41:21 GMT -5
<<I'm looking forward to some good discussion here of the highs and lows and in-betweens of the book!>>
i thoroughly enjoyed the Roy Thomas chapter by Scott Harris. I found it be extremely insightful and well-thought out. It gave me a new perspective on a lot of those issues and has me looking forward to re-reading those.
Joe Crowe's "Earth's Mightiest Commentary" about the West Coast Avengers was another highlight. I thought it was hilarious.
And Ian's character insights were amazing and spellbinding.
Can't wait for the next one! ;D
--DefDave
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Post by Shiryu on Sept 5, 2007 17:00:06 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum DefDave, and congratulations for the chapter! I haven't read the Harras era yet in the comics (I'm at the Stern era at the moment), but I read your chapter and enjoyed it. Good to know something can be saved from those issues! PS, to quote someonelse's text, you can use the command "quote" that appears on the top right in each post, or type [ quote ] to begin and [ /quote ] to end (without the spaces)
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Post by dlw66 on Oct 19, 2007 10:25:32 GMT -5
I got the book yesterday and have read up through the analysis of the Kree/Skrull War. I don't have it front of me right now, so will post in greater detail later. However, I have found what I've read so far to be very thought-provoking. Having read the Avengers up through Roy's run, I have enjoyed what I've seen and for the most part agree with the various writers' assessments. The chapter on Lee/Kirby was extremely insightful and one on which I will comment in the near future.
Great idea, and a "great job!" to all of the authors!
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 1, 2007 10:43:22 GMT -5
I have now read up to the Busiek essay. You can see I don't make enough time to get through this VERY good book...
Concerning the Harras run, the Gatherers "epic", the bomber jackets, etc.... Excellent analysis of what is one of my low periods in Avengering. I agreed with most of the assessments of the characters in this era, and was particularly in agreement with the charge that Harras made the team rougher, more like the X-Men comics he was overseeing at the time.
It has been nice to see that although the Assembled! book is broken down by writers, artists are mentioned as well. The kudos handed Tom Palmer's way for keeping the book consistent through Buscema/Epting/Deodato/et. al were justified. I think we see as much of Tom in those pictures as we do of the pencillers. If there's any drawback at all to these essays, it's that more commentary was not directed at the various art teams through the years.
Again, a recommended read (even if slowly like me) to any and all Avengers fans!
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Post by sharkar on Nov 1, 2007 18:36:30 GMT -5
I'm a chronology nut and this is a really great resource that I find myself referring to over and over again.
Scott: fantastic job.
Def Dave: I'm someone who liked the Sersi/Dane/Crystal/Pietro/Proctor/Gatherers storyline, I thought it was very powerful... so your analysis was much appreciated.
Sean, Adrian, Danny, Van and everyone involved did a great job illuminating the Avengers. Thanks!
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Post by scottharris on Nov 2, 2007 1:27:02 GMT -5
Thanks very much.
I have my copy handy, by the way, so if anyone wants to argue about anything in any of these essays, fire away. I really enjoyed reading them all, but if I had been writing the Heroes Reborn or New Avengers chapters, I would have dropped an H-bomb the size of Hydrobase on that dreck.
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 2, 2007 8:22:23 GMT -5
This book is the beauty of what these boards should be. In a thread on the General board we're currently discussing the state of the AA! message boards and what's good and bad, why users don't stay, etc. This book is wonderful because each author stated their subjective opinions based on objective research. They read the books, broke down the creators' stories, "arcs", character development, etc. in such a way that you or I can now go to those books/storylines and read them in an agree/disagree light.
Consequently, I hope this area of the boards takes off soon in a spirited discussion based on just that: research and a backing-up of one's opinions. Again, argument is healthy if done in a constructive (not "my way or the highway") manner.
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 5, 2007 15:50:58 GMT -5
Last night I read Sean McQuaid's VERY LONG recap of the Busiek era. It was good, and very well researched -- I especially appreciated Sean's revelation that he is on somewhat of a personal basis with Busiek. I felt that their relationship did not in any way color Sean's commentary, and he's to be commended for his honesty.
I thought his essay would have benefitted from being split into two chapters -- one for the Avengers proper, and one for the periphery topics/books/etc. he discussed in the latter pages.
I had a bit of a different take on the Triune Understanding plot that ran over a couple of years. To me it got to feeling too drawn out, in a similar way to how I felt about the Gatherers storyline. I enjoy subplots, and it is difficult at times to recall that just because 10-12 issues have been published the story-time may have only been a matter of days or weeks in the lives of the characters. But I still thought it dragged on. And, I didn't warm to Triathlon as a character as perhaps others did. I did, however, think the relationship to the 3-D Man was a nice touch.
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Post by dlw66 on Nov 8, 2007 11:22:58 GMT -5
I read the essays concerning Bendis' Disassembled and New Avengers and Mark Millar's Ulitmates. For the most part I found myself in agreement with the authors, although I thought the Bendis article gave him too much credit for positive output. Unless I missed it, New Avengers Annual #1 was not discussed, and it may be the best Avengers story Bendis has done. The analysis of The Ultimates was very good.
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Post by Van Plexico on Nov 9, 2007 0:00:03 GMT -5
Pretty much all the folks who contributed to the book are in general contact with Busiek, so that wasn't an issue with regard to Sean writing it.
If there was an issue at the time, it might have been that he generally seemed to like Kurt's run less than most of us. But I knew Sean would be objective and fair and indeed he was. I think his essay is the crown jewel of the book and I was willing to wait to the very last minute to get it from him-- and he nearly killed himself churning it out. He has my eternal thanks for that.
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Post by Van Plexico on Nov 9, 2007 0:01:43 GMT -5
If any of you were waiting to hear from me via email and have not yet (as of Nov. 8), please drop me a line and let me know. I had an inbox implosion the last couple of weeks and I'm afraid something might have slipped between the cracks.
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