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Post by drew on Feb 9, 2011 3:38:24 GMT -5
No, I never heard of it, but I'll certainly look in on it now. A few years ago I stopped the weekly ritual of visiting the local comic store because it was just getting out of hand and I couldn't keep track of all the revisions. Blackest night, brand new day etc kinda wore me out, but the new Booster Gold series is very good, especially the issue where he tries to save Barbara Gordon and keeps failing. I'm also liking how Ronnie Raymond is back as Firestorm; putting a new guy in the suit doesn't cut it. Anything by Brubaker is worth a look, and his treatment of Bucky is top notch, so I'm sure I'll enjoy myself. Havok and Cyclops have always piqued my interest, so thank you.
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Post by Shiryu on Feb 9, 2011 7:58:43 GMT -5
I missed this week's show--did anyone watch it? Witchcraftial's channel on Youtube hasn't been updated. I think it has been on hiatus this week, Witchcraftial mentioned something in his channel on Sunday.
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Post by bobc on Feb 9, 2011 9:19:02 GMT -5
Thanks, Shir!
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Post by drew on Feb 12, 2011 0:54:34 GMT -5
Hey guys. They are showing a marathon on Valentines day if you missed some episodes and are unafraid of feminine reprisals. I will probably watch.
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Post by bobc on Feb 14, 2011 8:33:37 GMT -5
"Unafraid of feminine reprisals" LOL!! I watched the Avengers with IMPUNITY on Sunday, BABY!
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Post by drew on Feb 14, 2011 12:15:44 GMT -5
Yeah, I work the restaurant game and my lady recently bought a bunch of cookware, so I'm very glad for my DVR.. I'll put up my hand for IMPUNITY, especially BABY! (But don't tell her, because I need to fold laundry.) I might have been wrong about the day, it's either Monday or Tuesday, so check your local listings!
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kidcage
Reservist Avenger
Posts: 167
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Post by kidcage on Feb 17, 2011 19:08:02 GMT -5
Alright, so thanks to that great Youtube channel I have been able to get all caught up (19 episodes, right?) in the last two days. Holy crap, this show is AWESOME. I love the interaction between the team and there are certain "team-ups" such as Thor/Wasp and Hulk/Hawkeye that I loved. Right now though, I loved the Kang series of episodes along with the Hawkeye/Mockingbird team-up. That episode really was a nice animated look at my favorite couple. So, now I can join the party on the convo of this AWESOME series. As long as the youtube videos keep getting put up
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Post by drew on Feb 18, 2011 4:07:22 GMT -5
Welcome back KC! This is indeed a great show. I don't believe there are any truly bad characters, just characters handled badly sometimes. Thankfully, this is not the case here. The Hulk, Hawkeye, Giant Man, etc seem to be in good hands. I suspect Chris Yost is mostly responsible for that, although there is a team of talented individuals hard at work on every episode. Personally, my favorites are Hulk vs. the world and Gamma World. Also, the Man in the ant hill. Classic title.
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Post by badgermaniac on Feb 20, 2011 10:49:37 GMT -5
Any news on when new episodes will be aired. Each week I check the listings eagerly, only to be disappointed.
FWIW, Amazon lists the DVD as being released on April 26.
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Post by humanbelly on Feb 21, 2011 13:33:28 GMT -5
Judging from their respective running times, vol. 1 will be 7 episodes & vol 2 will be 6 (154 minutes and 135 minutes). Seems kind of . . . short to me, for the approx. $20 retail price. But maybe that's par for animated series like this? I haven't delved into this market before. As soon as Disney puts something out, though, I'm always skeptical. I've always had this sense of them making a great effort to give as little product for as much price as they can possibly get away with. Hmm, and perhaps they've purposely done this little hiatus thing in order to boost the pre-order demand for the DVD's? I am CERTAIN Disney's capable of that kind of bald-faced manipulation. HB
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Post by Shiryu on Feb 21, 2011 18:49:34 GMT -5
It's more or less on par with prices in Italy, if not a little cheaper. In comparison, in Japan DVDs with only 2 episodes of a series cost about the equivalent of 80$ ^^
None from me, I've searched the web but there doesn't seem to be any date at all.
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Post by drew on Feb 22, 2011 5:13:06 GMT -5
I for one will probably buy the DVDs, if only to get rid of that annoying pop-up crap set in the middle of the screen.
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Post by humanbelly on Feb 22, 2011 6:40:00 GMT -5
It's more or less on par with prices in Italy, if not a little cheaper. In comparison, in Japan DVDs with only 2 episodes of a series cost about the equivalent of 80$ ^^ . Cue the screen-engulfing spit-take. Eighty dollars?? Eighty DOLLARS??!!?? Good night Irene-- my trusty system calculater tells me that comes to roughly $1.81 per minute for a 2-episode disc! Oh, that's just loopy. Even granting that it's a completely different market, society, etc-- there is simply no way to defend that kind of price structure. Man-- do fans over there really pay that much, or is it like w/ jewelry over here, where "no one pays retail", as it were? HB
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Post by Shiryu on Feb 22, 2011 7:14:01 GMT -5
I've just checked the currency exchange website and apparently I was wrong... it's more like 95$ (7900 yen). As far as I know they do sell. in Japan the DVD and toy market are pretty much what keeps the animation going given that most cartoons air on freeview channels.
EDIT: Just to expand (as I wrote the post above on the rush to the train station ^^), in Japan new DVDs usually come with a booklet with original art, setteis (model sheets) and commentaries. The discs sometime also include special features, although this is becoming less common now. The price is still extremely high by our standards, but it's needed to pay production costs, which vary a lot but on average are about 200,000 $ per episode (sometimes 4 or 5 times as much). As far as I know, they sell well enough, although the Japanese manga/anime market is experiencing a period of recession, with only a few titles selling over 1 million copies bi-monthly (which is still impressive considering the best-seller comic in the US in 2010 was Avengers #1 with about 125,000 copies)
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kidcage
Reservist Avenger
Posts: 167
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Post by kidcage on Feb 22, 2011 20:23:12 GMT -5
Well, I'll be looking forward to the DVDs so I can put it into my collection of Marvel stuff. I'd be interested to see if there's any sort of special features though. Shout Factory does character bios on the SHS stuff, perhaps Disney won't be TOO skimpy on stuff?
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Post by bobc on Mar 2, 2011 12:50:15 GMT -5
Why are there no new episodes? I'm getting upset...
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Post by drew on Mar 3, 2011 0:38:40 GMT -5
I'm with ya bobc. No new episodes makes Drew angry... you wouldn't like Drew when he's angry. I guess we'll just have to hold tight.
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Post by humanbelly on Mar 3, 2011 6:05:30 GMT -5
Daggone it--- this really isn't a good sign, is it? Disney doesn't let things sit if they think they can squeeze some revenue out of it. . .
HB
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Post by Shiryu on Mar 3, 2011 8:42:59 GMT -5
What I find stranger is that there isn't any website talking about the series being on hiatus. Could it be that we've seen the complete first season already? Although I read there were more episodes.
I can't, because being from the UK my IP address would raise questions, but maybe someone could try contacting Newsarama or Disney: disney.go.com/disneyxd/ Disney has a Twitter account to reply to viewers' questions, that could be another way to get to know something.
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Post by bobc on Mar 3, 2011 10:44:27 GMT -5
I found a blog the other day talking about this issue. All of the comments were the same--the series is amazing, but Disney is doing a pee-poor job of promoting it. I agree. This morning I saw the first ad for The Avengers in weeks--they are doing some sort of goofy promotion online where you can become an Avenger by filling out a questionnaire, and they are also hawking some new Avengers based video games. So it seems that there is some marketing going on, but it is not focused and it's not working.
Another sad point that makes putting this series across is the fact that there is so much competition. Here in Austin, the kids/family channels start in the 100's--and there are literally HUNDREDS of animated series out there. People on this forum actively seek out The Avengers because we're already fans, but I would imagine it's very difficult for kids to latch onto this series in a sea of other programs. It's really no different than the fact that there used to be just a couple of dozen comics to choose from, and now there are thousands. At some point, everyone suffers sales-wise.
If The Avengers is going to make a dent, Disney is going going to have to put some serious marketing muscle behind it. The quality is there, and the sheer dazzling variety of cool villains should be enough to keep people interested. The live action Marvel movies have been enormous hits for the most part--even the relative flops have been hits by Hollywood standards.
So what is going wrong here? Disney has moved the time The Avengers airs yet again here in Austin. That is NOT a good sign.
Drew--I feel like smashing something too. If the series gets canceled, I say we riot. If that IDIOTIC Zack and Cody's Suite Life goes on, and the Avengers does not, there is going to be big trouble...
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Post by humanbelly on Mar 5, 2011 6:39:32 GMT -5
I was trying to clumsily do a bit of looking-into this online a couple of days ago. . . searching Nielsen ratings results and the like. . . and came across a forum on a site called toonzone. It's an animated cartoon focused site (natch), but they did seem quite well-informed about the minutia of programming and the like.
A couple of notable things I picked up:
1) The Disney XD Channel's ratings are painfully lower in general than the regular Disney Channel's--- just across the board.
2) EMH's ratings on that channel have been abysmal, as well. There's some consensus that the channel is largely devoted to goofy comedy fare, and that the Avengers are hopelessly out of place in that crowd.
3) They've been running right after XD's most popular program, which has made the Nielsen drop-off look even more profoundly bad.
4) Disney hasn't made the effort to make the show high-profile enough (or targeted it correctly) to draw in new viewers--- i.e., folks/kids NOT already familiar with the Avengers. Personally, I imagine they were just counting on Iron Man's current popularity and visibility to do the heavy lifting there. Sort of a "produce-it-and-they-will-come" mentality.
5) EMH does not seem to be on any upcoming program schedule that's available right now. Of course, those only seem to work a week or so ahead.
Boy, this surely doesn't seem hopeful, does it? Of course, it would kind of make sense to hold off airing Avengers-related programming until the big movie comes out, and thereby ride the related wave of publicity for free--- but that seems kinda cynical. . .
Oh hey, you know who was on that Toonzone forum? One of our own long-unheard-from members: Medinnus! Sort of dropped out shortly after I came on (Hmmmm. . . ). Was the creator of all of those delightful little animated bobble-headish mini-hero icons that we were seeing around here for quite awhile. My daughter LOVED those-!
HB
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Post by Shiryu on Mar 5, 2011 11:05:59 GMT -5
3) They've been running right after XD's most popular program, which has made the Nielsen drop-off look even more profoundly bad. This is actually good. Networks generally have their most popular show followed by what they hope will become their next most popular, in order to retain and eventually gain viewers. For example Fox has done this for years with American Idol and the Superbowl, and it's considered more effective than advertising. On the other hand, if the drop is still significant, it doesn't bode well. I'm sure we will see all the 52 episodes on DVD at some point, but I was hoping for more than two seasons.
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Post by drew on Mar 6, 2011 1:01:04 GMT -5
I'm not familiar with the other shows on the channel but they do look damned goofy. EMH is waaay out of place on that channel. Best case scenario is that they are simply taking a break. If the remaining episodes go straight to DVD buy multiple copies if you can afford it. Family Guy came back (for better or worse) based strictly off DVD sales. Fox did the same thing with FG, moving around the timeslot, no promotional stuff, etc. But once people actually got to see the show, they liked it and told their friends. I plan on buying four of any kind of EMH DVD set released, as I think my three nephews will like it when they get a little older. I'm trying to remain optimistic.
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kidcage
Reservist Avenger
Posts: 167
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Post by kidcage on Mar 8, 2011 13:24:47 GMT -5
Well, this is some sad news, but I'd hope to continue remaining optimistic. While not able to SEE the show, it has been a good one and deserves the opportunity to continue.
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Post by bobc on Mar 10, 2011 11:25:06 GMT -5
As I've said before, whenever I talk to kids today (by kid I mean in the 10-13 age range)I usually ask them what super hero is their favorite--and most of the time they don't have one, or it is someone obvious like Batman. In the 90's however, I always got an answer, usually Spiderman or Wolverine. So it seems like with the advent of the internet has caused a major sea change somehow. Are super heroes obsolete? Seems like kids don't relate much to the concept anymore. They go to see the live action films with their parents but kids don't seem to really latch on to the characters anymore.
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Post by Shiryu on Mar 10, 2011 17:11:44 GMT -5
I don't think it's just the internet, kids now have just too many entertainment options to choose from. A few years ago I translated a book about one of the main Italian comic book authors of the Sixties-Eighties. He remembered how, as a child in the second post world war period, comic books and cinema were the only existing sources of fun for kids, and he and his friends would buy one or two each and pass them around until the pages were completely worn out.
Now I know a few kids who have PS3, WII and Nintendo DS, plus a PC and/or laptop with internet connection and their own mobile phones (which I expect will become IPhones in the not too distant future). Instead of comic books they exchange video-games and play with those, or chat on Messenger and Skype. How can they find the time and money (most of the above are birthday or Christmas presents) to read comic books regularly? Even if they did, they would probably feel bland in comparison.
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Post by humanbelly on Mar 11, 2011 7:59:32 GMT -5
Let me add another venue that competes for their attention-- Tabletop Gaming Cards (although I'm pretty sure there's another name for it)-- i.e., Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, and the like. I know the specific ones tend to come & go w/ current fads-- but the number of high schoolers that this activity stays vital for is amazing (my son & a lot of his pals- male & female- included). And I think it may also tend to fill that fantasy/wish-fulfillment niche that superhero comics often did for us oldsters.
HB
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Post by bobc on Mar 11, 2011 10:02:41 GMT -5
Yeah you guys are right--I meant the whole tech age, not just the internet. And don't forget social gaming is huge now--games like Farmville and Frontierville. I'm an old man getting close to 50, and I've witnessed the explosion in entertainment options myself since the 70's. I've been doing video games since 1996--and back then virtually every developer had lots of Marvel statues/action figures in their cubicles or offices, along with figurines of movie characters like the guy from The Evil Dead or Star Wars, that kind of thing. Today I look around and see virtually no Marvel characters--they have been replaced by video game characters like Mario, or random strange monsters that I never heard of.
Anyway, I saw a blog a while back that said Marvel's super heroes were great back in the 60's/70's/80's--but now they are like Tom Cruise or Hugh Grant. Played out, basically. That idea is what spurred my wondering if super heroes are becoming obsolete. Maybe you just get to a point where there is nothing left to say about a character, so the writing gets increasingly erratic, trying to find an audience.
Man I am way too cynical for a Friday. BUT I LOVE THIS CARTOON!
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Post by starfoxxx on Mar 11, 2011 16:04:24 GMT -5
When kids have video and card games where they can create their own entertainment, why would they read comics, written by hacks like Bendis who don't really care about entertaining or catering to what an audience would find fun/interesting/compelling.
Cynicism rocks!
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Post by drew on Mar 12, 2011 2:03:54 GMT -5
My 2 cents is that comics aren't being written for kids anymore; while it is nice to have adult oriented titles like Hellblazer, what I really mean is that comics aren't easily accessible like they used to be. Sometimes I have no idea what is going on in a particular title and I've been reading comics for something like 25 years. What happens is some idiot writes himself into a corner and then has to reboot the series/continuity/whatever. For example, the new incarnation of Venom is bonded with Flash Thompson!? and carries a machine gun? What the hell? Venom is really simple; he's an evil Spider-man. Remember when Marvel had those little blurb boxes on the first page? " Bitten by a radioactive spider, gifted science student Peter Parker uses his amazing abilities and ingenious web-shooters to help others as the Spectacular Spider-Man!" That's not exactly how it went, of course, but it helped me get into comics at a young age. Most video games do something similiar; the first time you play they walk you through an intro and tell you the controls. Right now I don't know how I would explain Captain America, the Hulk, Thor or Iron Man to someone wanting to get into the comics; never mind Hawkeye and that Ronin/Echo female Hawkeye nonsense. That is what I dig about EMH:I think if I had never read a Marvel comic in my life I could watch it and understand what is going on. Sooo.. rant over. Maybe once the Thor and Cap movies come out and everyone gets an idea who these characters are EMH will get a nice boost like they deserve. That might sound a little optimistic, but my nine year old nephew was War Machine for Halloween and he was in the movie for maybe fifteen minutes? Kids do notice this stuff.
BTW Starfoxxx, please don't insult hacks by mentioning Bendis. I prefer the term
"crapweasel"when talking about that guy. I'm hoping to start a campaign...
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