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Post by goldenfist on Jun 26, 2008 8:06:28 GMT -5
Read what Ign thought about Mighty Avengers #15.
It's almost impossible to write about the latest issue of Mighty Avengers without comparing it to the issue of New Avengers that shipped alongside it this week. Both follow important superheroes that were replaced by Skrulls. Both consist of flashbacks to the crucial moment where the Skrulls pulled the old snatch and replace on a major hero. And both then proceed to unfold against the backdrop of recent stories in a way that clues us in on what was really going on all along.
The main difference between the two issues is that writer Brian Michael Bendis had far more story meat to work with in New Avengers than he does here, mostly because Jessica Drew's ties to SHIELD, HYDRA and the New Avengers make her far more integral to the Skrull's invasion than Hank Pym is. Thus, this Pym-centric issue doesn't have quite as many "ah ha!" moments as the latest issue of New Avengers, even if it still has quite a few.
Because Hank wasn't as intricately woven into Earth's power structure as Spider Woman, Bendis spends the majority of the issue focusing on the moments leading up to Hank's kidnap and replacement, as opposed to detailing just how the Skrulls used their Pym disguise to sabotage Earth. Bendis cleverly uses Hank and Janet Pym's volatile, on-again-off-again relationship to justify Hank's willingness to blindly fall under the spell of a female Skrull agent masquerading as an attractive young grad student. These scenes work well enough, but they're just not as powerful as the moments we see Skrull Hank in action. It's only later that we briefly see those acts of sabotage, which makes the issue more of a character study on the real Hank Pym than the series of startling revelations this week's New Avengers provided. Again, it's well crafted and entertaining, but not quite as awe-inspiring as the Spider Woman story.
John Romita Jr. provides the breakdowns for the issue, with frequent collaborator Klaus Janson joining Tom Palmer on finishes. The end product is somewhat strange for any fan of Romita Jr., as his unique sensibilities dominate certain panels and take more of a backseat during others. Because Romita's influence varies throughout the book, the art is rather inconsistent throughout. It almost feels like a sloppy, lesser effort from the great Romita, which, to be fair, is better than a book drawn by a vast majority of modern comic book artist. Regardless of how the book was constructed, what's important is that the art is just another area where this issue falls short of New Avengers #42.
Not to beat a dead horse or anything, but it's worth pointing out one more time just how superior these Avengers tie-ins have been to the main Secret Invasion mini. By using his Avengers books to detail all the intimate, character-driven moments of his plot, Bendis has sucked a lot of the complexity out of his main title. On the other hand, he's made the two Avengers books the most entertaining superhero comics on the stands. I'm not sure whether this is good or bad.
Review Score: 8.8 Great
(This book was intresting, The Yellowjacket in this issue is a really
"spolier warning" a Skrull the real Hank Pym was captured)
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Jul 1, 2008 19:46:38 GMT -5
I saw this today in a comic shop... I don't know if picking up Tales to Astonish #67 instead of it will make me feel much regret! Sad to see the way Pym is treated now-a-days.
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Post by freedomfighter on Jul 2, 2008 23:17:25 GMT -5
I saw this today in a comic shop... I don't know if picking up Tales to Astonish #67 instead of it will make me feel much regret! Sad to see the way Pym is treated now-a-days. What's even worse is this type of story is very typical of BMB. Pym is not one of this favorites so the poor guy gets treated like an idiot and unsympathetic character. Can you imagine Dr Strange, Luke Cage or Daredevil being treated like this kind of schnook? I would bet nope because Bendis likes those characters and they don't act this desperate or sad. And as a writer you'd think a desperate and sad character is exactly the kind of guy Bendis would like to use on a regular basis, because there's some meat to fleshing out that story but instead he just trots out Hank to use him like crap on a regular basis with no development and then just waits to dump on him again. What a waste. Say what you want about Shooter and how he messed up Pym at least he had plans for the guy and centered stories around him and wanted to at least bring things to a dramatic conclusion. All Bendis seems to enjoy is the kicking while he's down part of things. Had this been one of this favorites (like Echo) Pym would've beaten the Skrull trying to take him down. Instead, Echo wins her fight handily with her almost non-existent experience and Pym who's fought powerhouses like Kang, Typhon and Thanos for at least a decade in Marvel time gets taken out in fifteen seconds flat. No respect, no respect... |
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Jul 6, 2008 23:47:13 GMT -5
OK, I bit the bullet and bought a recent comic book for the first time in years! Here are my thoughts on this issue... SPOILERS: - No Bullpen Bulletins?
- How come Hank was just so ready and willing to give up all of this information to that dumb ho-bag, when he should've noticed that she was just a little TOO interested in what he had to say about things she could've never cared about, and when he should've noticed that she asked a lot of weird questions?
- Why did the Skrull take him down so quickly? He didn't even put up a fight!
- When did Hank and Jan re-marry? According to this book, they both got re-married-- this is news to me!
- Why has Jan's character taken a complete 180? Here she is, far far away from the headstrong character I grew to love in the 80's and 90's, acting like some random drunk bimbo, claiming that she could've kissed the friends she was drinking with?
- Seriously, did she NOT expect Hank to get upset over that?!
- What's with all the sex shots? I think Madonna's picture book had less sex than this book! I guess the old phrase "sex sells" really is true...
- Seriously, I don't want to see a naked Hank Pym ever again.
- WHO wrote this crud? This felt like a tabloid comic book!
I'm sticking to reading old comic books, if this is what current comic books are like today, I'm frightened. They're catering to morons! Sorry for the angry rant...  |
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Post by starfoxxx on Jul 7, 2008 16:40:15 GMT -5
OK, I bit the bullet and bought a recent comic book for the first time in years! Here are my thoughts on this issue... SPOILERS: [/li][li] WHO wrote this crud? This felt like a tabloid comic book! [/list] I'm sticking to reading old comic books, if this is what current comic books are like today, I'm frightened. They're catering to morons! Sorry for the angry rant... [/quote] I suggest you use the AA forum to help you decide which NEW comics will be worth your hard earned $$. There are plenty of Knowledgable old-school, newbies and 80's fans (like me) who regularly chime in one what they're reading and what they suggest. It's not all bad , but the guy writing most of the "crud" is Bendis, who I personally wouldn't recommend for your return to comics. But be warned, they ain't "kiddie books" no more doctor! |
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Post by woodside on Jul 8, 2008 22:10:53 GMT -5
They're catering to morons!   |
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Post by Doctor Doom on Jul 9, 2008 14:17:10 GMT -5
I must agree this has been among the worst Secret Invasion tie-ins.
But that's probably just because I'm a big fan of Hank and Wasp and Bendis is..... not.
Eh, Dr Strange was nearly taken out by The Hood under Bendis.
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Post by freedomfighter on Jul 9, 2008 17:09:15 GMT -5
I must agree this has been among the worst Secret Invasion tie-ins. But that's probably just because I'm a big fan of Hank and Wasp and Bendis is..... not. Eh, Dr Strange was nearly taken out by The Hood under Bendis. Bendis! has gone out of his way to establish how much more powerful the Hood is than was previously thought. He beat the stuffing out of Wolverine as well and evidently the former two bit bad guy has some sort of demon inside him now(?) so all bets are off. However, Strange at least went toe to toe with a good showing and came across like a competent hero . You can bet Dr. Strange won't act like an attention starved idiot who'd give away the secrets of the Ancient One if a pretty girl bats her eyelashes at him for five minutes. |
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Post by woodside on Jul 10, 2008 15:23:44 GMT -5
I must agree this has been among the worst Secret Invasion tie-ins. But that's probably just because I'm a big fan of Hank and Wasp and Bendis is..... not. Eh, Dr Strange was nearly taken out by The Hood under Bendis. Bendis! has gone out of his way to establish how much more powerful the Hood is than was previously thought. He beat the stuffing out of Wolverine as well and evidently the former two bit bad guy has some sort of demon inside him now(?) so all bets are off. However, Strange at least went toe to toe with a good showing and came across like a competent hero . You can bet Dr. Strange won't act like an attention starved idiot who'd give away the secrets of the Ancient One if a pretty girl bats her eyelashes at him for five minutes. GASP! How dare Bendis have a bad guy beat a good guy?! SHAME! First of all, he didn't beat the stuffing out of Wolverine. He shot him in the dong. As far as the Hood being two-bit, did you even read the original Hood mini-series? ------------- Honestly, this was the weakest of all the Secret Invasion tie-ins thus far. Bendis just doesn't like Pym; I thought the Pym-Skrull got better lovin' in the recent "Avengers the Intiative" issue. |
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Post by scottharris on Jul 10, 2008 16:33:31 GMT -5
I'm sticking to reading old comic books, if this is what current comic books are like today, I'm frightened. They're catering to morons! There is a lot of interesting stuff being done these days in comics, though personally I loathe Bendis. If you're looking for some mainstream Marvel superheroics worth your dime, I recommend Captain America and Iron Fist. Both series are excellent. I've got a complete run of Cap from ToS 58 up through the end of volume 1 and I have to say the current series by Brubaker is vying for the title of best Cap ever. |
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Post by freedomfighter on Jul 10, 2008 19:28:42 GMT -5
Bendis! has gone out of his way to establish how much more powerful the Hood is than was previously thought. He beat the stuffing out of Wolverine as well and evidently the former two bit bad guy has some sort of demon inside him now(?) so all bets are off. However, Strange at least went toe to toe with a good showing and came across like a competent hero . You can bet Dr. Strange won't act like an attention starved idiot who'd give away the secrets of the Ancient One if a pretty girl bats her eyelashes at him for five minutes. GASP! How dare Bendis have a bad guy beat a good guy?! SHAME! First of all, he didn't beat the stuffing out of Wolverine. He shot him in the dong. As far as the Hood being two-bit, did you even read the original Hood mini-series? ------------- Honestly, this was the weakest of all the Secret Invasion tie-ins thus far. Bendis just doesn't like Pym; I thought the Pym-Skrull got better lovin' in the recent "Avengers the Intiative" issue. The Hood first appeared in his own self-titled MAX limited series in 2002 which featured his origin, as a character who had a cloak and boots stolen from an alien, which granted him invisibility and flight respectively. I consider that to be pretty two bit especially compared to Wolverine who has fought the Hulk and Wendigo at the same time. Not to mention Logan's super senses which make invisibility a non power in his presence. I also consider that to be two bit compared to Dr Strange who has fought Eternity, the embodient of everything in the universe. Maybe for Daredevil he's a good match-up but for these more powerful heroes The Hood shouldn't be an issue. Your opinion may differ. I think someone like that is a much better foe for someone like Echo as opposed to Marvel's heavier hitters. |
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Post by Dr. Hank Pym on Jul 10, 2008 20:22:37 GMT -5
They're catering to morons! woodside: Hey hey hey! I wasn't insulting you! I was saying that they're trying to cater to the "ME WANT SEX EVERYWHERE AND ME WANT IT NOW!" crowd... scottharris: Thank you for the recommendation, I shall look for the new Cap stuff next time! |
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Post by starfoxxx on Jul 27, 2008 13:49:58 GMT -5
The Romita/Janson/Palmer art was great. Great to see these guys are still around, for old-schoolers who really appreciate the sequential art craft. I didn't like how the Wasp's character was handled one bit. Bendis' characterization's are really horrible, the White Queen says "Hey guys" in Secret Invasion #2 (or 3???), anyway, I don't understand how he can be so oblivious of these characters, to where he can't even get their dialect/phraseology/choice of words correct. The white Queen is still an uppity headmistress type, right?? "hey guys" ?? come on, man, that's weak. I can't begin to come up with all the instances Bendis has written the dialogue for a Marvel character totally WRONG, but it happens a lot. I could make a giant list, but I'm enjoying too many GOOD comics these days to put myself though re-reading all the crap Bendis has been putting out the last couple of years.  |
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Doctor Bong
Reservist Avenger
Master of belly dancing (no, really...)!
Posts: 167
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Post by Doctor Bong on Jul 27, 2008 14:57:52 GMT -5
The Romita/Janson/Palmer art was great. Great to see these guys are still around, for old-schoolers who really appreciate the sequential art craft. I didn't like how the Wasp's character was handled one bit. Bendis' characterization's are really horrible, the White Queen says "Hey guys" in Secret Invasion #2 (or 3???), anyway, I don't understand how he can be so oblivious of these characters, to where he can't even get their dialect/phraseology/choice of words correct. The white Queen is still an uppity headmistress type, right?? "hey guys" ?? come on, man, that's weak. I can't begin to come up with all the instances Bendis has written the dialogue for a Marvel character totally WRONG, but it happens a lot. I could make a giant list, but I'm enjoying too many GOOD comics these days to put myself though re-reading all the crap Bendis has been putting out the last couple of years. I think it comes down to the fact that he's quite successful writing the way he does, so he probably doesn't feel the need to modify (or, from our point of view, improve...) his approach. |
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Post by starfoxxx on Jul 28, 2008 14:53:42 GMT -5
I hear ya, Bong, and if Bendis wasn't writing the Avengers books, you'd never hear/read my complaints about his writing. Because I wouldn't be reading his stuff.
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