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Post by bobc on Mar 14, 2009 10:42:08 GMT -5
Oh goody.
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Post by bobc on Jan 5, 2009 10:28:05 GMT -5
I guess it was probably both, in hindsight. I liked how the Defenders kind of came together by accident, mainly because the characters crossed paths a few times. The Avengers were always my favorite, but the Defenders were IMO a good alternative until they became too much like the Avengers. I liked the Defenders best when in the first year before they got so many members. More is not always better.
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Post by bobc on Dec 31, 2008 11:54:33 GMT -5
I think that is an unfair comparison. After nearly 50 years, I can honestly sympathize with writers who feel like they are drowning in continuity minutia. I am no slave to continuity. But I think Bendis has gone waaaay too far. I think Kurt Busiek is a great example of a writer who is respectful of Marvel history, but isn't a slave to it. He was really good at bringing in relatively controversial characters like the Beast and Moondragon, while never losing sight of the fact that Captain America, Thor and Iron Man are the core of the Avengers.
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Post by bobc on Dec 31, 2008 11:47:24 GMT -5
Did you all like the early Defenders? I thought the hulk really worked there--because the Defenders, at least in the first year, wasn't a real team per se. Plus the Sub Mariner and Dr. Strange were sort of--what's the right term--on the periphery of the Marvel Universe.
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Post by bobc on Dec 29, 2008 16:10:05 GMT -5
Come on, Dr.Bong. Since when has Bendis been the least bit interested in a story making sense? Since when has he been able to follow continuity over more than one issue--even if it's his own continuity?
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Post by bobc on Nov 9, 2008 19:24:49 GMT -5
I'm with you, Starry. I just read another Loeb Ultimate book (too lazy to go look which one) and Loeb has Valkyrie bragging to Thor about how great she is "in bed, verily."
Is it just me, or is this guy Loeb really creepy? I feel like taking a shower after reading several of his books. I could see if this guy was 17 writing this kind of sexual comic crap, but he looks 40 something. Is he trolling for Boy Scouts or what?
Millar, conversely, touched on certain sexual aspects of the Ultimates (particularly the flirtation between the Scarlet Witch and the Vision) but it was more like he was showing how weird that whole romance really would have been in the real world. I thought it was brilliant.
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Post by bobc on Nov 3, 2008 10:54:58 GMT -5
Has anyone else read it? Written by Loeb? I thought it was just dreadful. I kept whining for five years that I wished my beloved Black Panther would appear in the Ultimate world but I am now reminded of that old addage "Careful what you ask for."
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Post by bobc on Nov 3, 2008 10:52:18 GMT -5
But...but why would anyone want him on the team? He's nuts. Volatile. Yeah he's strong, but so are about 500 better candidates.
I always thought the way the Avengers badgered the Hulk to join was practically stalking behavior. It's been forty years. Time to give it up, Avengers!
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Post by bobc on Oct 16, 2008 14:44:31 GMT -5
Don't give Bendis any ideas...
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Post by bobc on Oct 10, 2008 14:04:10 GMT -5
I hate it when Marvel does that. The only character that made sense to do that with was Phoenix.
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Post by bobc on Oct 9, 2008 12:37:43 GMT -5
I was going to say how can Tana Nile be dead and still be posting?
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Post by bobc on Oct 8, 2008 16:55:06 GMT -5
I couldn't wait to come back to this forum to lord my new-found Tana Nile knowledge -+over others!! Actually, believe it or not, I remembered Tana Nile from later Thor issues, back in (I'm guessing) the mid 70's when I first started collecting comics as a kiddie! Seems like Tana dropped off the face of the earth by the time the 80's came around. Has she appeared anywhere recently? I liked the design of that character--it was the first female Marvel character, to the best of my recollection, that wasn't what you'd call a "traditional beauty." Poor thing was stumpy with a huge head!
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Post by bobc on Oct 6, 2008 17:40:40 GMT -5
I agree with you, Tana (and don't think I don't know where that name comes from!!). Until CA came on board, it seemed like the Avengers comic was just an excuse to bring Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Giant Man together. Captain America really made the whole team concept work IMO--but not quite as of issue 4 maybe. Notice how cornball CA talks in this issue! Hee hee! He talks more like Reed Richards than the CA we came to know and love later. The same thing happened with the Beast in the first couple of X-Men, only in reverse--the Beast started out sounded exactly like the Thing. I read somewhere that Stan Lee changed how the Beast spoke for exactly that reason--he was too similar to the Thing.
Anyhow--Avengers #4 is huge in terms of importance to the whole Avengers thang, but as a story it was kinda cornball, as were most of the stories back then. I still love them, though! I am totally nerding it up with all the Essential series from Marvel--I've got all the Essential Avengers editions and am also reading the most recent Thor Essential volume--where Volstagg, Fandral and Hogun get introduced! Volstagg was heeeeelarious!
Oh yeah--Tana Nile gets introduced in that volume as well! Wink!
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Post by bobc on Oct 1, 2008 15:43:51 GMT -5
I loved that era when John B was drawing the Avengers again in the 80's! But yeah I agree that after that things went waaaay South. I agree with whoever said that Crystal is a really good character, but didn't seem to work in the Avengers. I loved her in the FF.
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Boring?
Sept 30, 2008 14:04:14 GMT -5
Post by bobc on Sept 30, 2008 14:04:14 GMT -5
For me, these early era comics were an interesting glimpse into the culture of the times. I read them for the same reason I love to watch 30's exploitation films like "Terror of Tiny Town" and "Cocaine fiends." Even the most "shocking" subject matter, by today's standards, is pretty darned tame in those. The older I get, the more interested I seem to get in the past.
Even though I love the old comics, some are pretty naive and corny by today's standards. BUT, as DL pointed out, super heroes back then at least had some nobility, which is sorely lacking today
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Post by bobc on Sept 30, 2008 13:42:05 GMT -5
Wait wait wait--you guys didn't like the Masters of Evil taking over the mansion or when the Avengers went to fight Zeus? I loved that stuff!
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Post by bobc on Sept 30, 2008 13:21:41 GMT -5
Better late than never, my friend!
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Post by bobc on Sept 30, 2008 13:20:53 GMT -5
Yeah--no kidding! At first when I was reading the second half of the book, I was like "is this writer forgetting that Storm and BP already said those exact same lines a few pages back?" Then BOOM! Absolutely awesome storytelling. Wakanda, for the first time in decades, seems like a truly advanced super nation with all the religious/spiritual Black Panther totems and imagery. AND, for the first time since BP's origin in the Fantastic Four, T'Challa seems technologically on the same level as a Reed Richards. As a much as I credit Priest for improving T'Challa's weaponry, none of it really rose above the gadget level. Now the Panther seems like a true force to be reckoned with!
YES!!!!
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Post by bobc on Sept 25, 2008 8:39:25 GMT -5
Just came out, and it is great.
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Post by bobc on Sept 25, 2008 8:36:39 GMT -5
Praise Allah. I cannot get enough of Mark Millar
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Post by bobc on Aug 30, 2008 9:53:56 GMT -5
I LOVE the art! The Panther is drawn much more catlike than in recent years, which I love! I also thought the skrulls were really scary for a change--especially the ones with the powers of Thor and the Hulk!!
You know what I love about this comic most? You get the feeling that anything can, and may, happen! First, BP comes off as truly impressive in a physical sense, easily taking out the first Skrull--but then he gets taken out pretty brutally (Storm, too). The whole thing was exciting.
Man if this keeps up, the Black Panther is gonna FINALLY get off the D List. It's only taken 40 years!
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Post by bobc on Aug 28, 2008 13:47:16 GMT -5
Yay! I am as happy and fluffy as the laziest housecat! The second Black Panther issue that came out yesterday is even better than last month's issue! Tons of action, tons of characterizations---I didn't think anybody could make me enjoy this tedious Skrull stuff but I was wrong! I love how the writer brings out T'Challa's spiritual side. I also love the artwork--am I the only one who thinks it looks like that old Hellboy art? That's a compliment in my book.
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Post by bobc on Aug 9, 2008 17:17:29 GMT -5
I thought it was okay--not bad.
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Post by bobc on Aug 7, 2008 17:38:14 GMT -5
I had already dropped The Black Panther but my friend Anthony told me the book was getting a great new writer, so I decided to check it out. It was far better than I would have guessed.
I agree about the Panther seeming like an arrogant jerk--like a bargain basement Batman (as if the character needed more confusion with Batman). The original Panther was quite original, and to me, quite good. But it's almost like those original FF issues are completely forgotten.
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Post by bobc on Aug 2, 2008 13:41:43 GMT -5
That never happens with a Bendis book...
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Post by bobc on Aug 2, 2008 11:37:09 GMT -5
Well after years of the Black Panther being a stellar character relegated to third rate status by horrible writers, I think the my favorite Marvel super hero might actually be on track.
Black Panther #39, splendidly written by Jason Aaron (never heard of him but if this is any indication...) with awesome Hellboyesque art by Jefte Palo, is really a very good comic. FOR ONCE, the Panther comes off as powerful, feline, mystical and GOD FORBID likable! I didn't think it was possible for me to enjoy a comic that continued this tedious Skrull theme, but I was wrong.
I think the Panther has never gotten the attention his character deserved. I have to say here that although Priest made some great strides in recent years with the Black Panther in the sense that he updated the character and played up T'Challa's tech side, but some serious errors were made IMO. My problem with Priest's work is that he completely ignored the panther's spiritual side--his communion with the Panther God. Priest's Panther was never feline, there was never any discussion of the powers that T'Challa got from his rituals or the sacred heart-shaped herb. The Black Panther was basically an unlikable, scheming techno-monarch. Where was the nobility, the grandeur, and power of the character I've loved since I was a little kid? Under Priest, the Panther was just Batman with a different costume.
The Black Panther--if you go back to the original concept--was intellectually on a level with Reed Richards or Tony Stark, not Bruce Wayne. I liked that Priest added the energy daggers and vibranium suit to T'Challa's arsenal, but these weapons seem Batman level to me. I'd like to see the Panther on a Reed Richards level, and although it's really early on, BP ##39 seems like it might be going in that direction. AAron's Panther really seems up to the job of repelling a Skrull invasion.
It looks like next issue there'll be a big battle between the Panther and the head Skrull--I hope Aaron puts the BP on the same physical level that he was when first imagined by Kirby and Lee. The Black Panther was easily Captain America's equal--faster than human, stronger, with senses that would rival Wolverine's. The Panther should be a POWERFUL character--I have never understood why he's been so de-powered over the years. The heart-shaped herb should be the African super-soldier serum. The Black Panther should NOT be just a costumed athlete.
So anyway--BP #39 gives me great hope. After Hudlin's disastrous run, however, anything is an improvement
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Post by bobc on Aug 2, 2008 10:36:40 GMT -5
Thank God DC is actually putting out good comics these days (JS, JLA). If not for Mark Millar, I wouldn't be reading Marvel anymore.
Has this Skrull thing been going on for years or does it just seem like it? The days are flying by like months...
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Post by bobc on Aug 2, 2008 10:31:35 GMT -5
Careless and ill thought out? Bendis? How can that be?
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Post by bobc on Jul 7, 2008 22:54:43 GMT -5
I just went to Austin Books and purchased this issue along with Ultimate Fantastic Four. Oh. My. GOD.UFF is astonishingly great as per usual--it gets better every issue. Mark Millar seems almost incapable of writing a bad issue of anything--and This current issue of FF is just amazing. One true sign of a GREAT writer is the ability to introduce a group of new characters that nobody has ever seen or heard of, and within one or two pages you cannot wait to find out who they are and what they are about. Millar does this effortlessly with a new group of villains this issue. This guy is beyond talented--he is a gifted, GIFTED, imaginative, genius (if a comic writer can be one of those!). Hitch's art, as usual is just stellar and he perfectly compliments MM's every written word. Man these two guys are pure gold. The coloring is gentle, tasteful, and completely compliments Hitch's great pencils.
That's the good news.
Ultimates 3, is every bit as bad as Goldenfist says above--if not worse. As good as Ultimate FF is, imagine the exact opposite, and you will be thinking of Ultimates3.
First the art: Most of it is Incoherent, muddy, poorly executed--in easily half of the panels I couldn't even tell what the hell was happening. Within a page or so, I didn't care. Once again, the colorist feels the need to abuse highlights on every inch of every panel and the color gradients everywhere you look just combine to make an amateurish, muddy mess. Yeah there are a couple of okay splash pages--mostly the monochrome pages--but splash pages can never take the place of professional, adept story-telling. This is garbage, folks.
And is there actually a story going on here? If so, I'm missing it. When I buy a comic, I want to see a lot of action but for God's sake there has to be a rhyme or reason to it. Venomn, Sabertooth, Magneto, Juggernaut, Wasp, robot Captain America, Sabertooth tigers--what the hell is supposed to be going on in this mess? god almighty. It's hard to imagine caring less.
The worst part of all is the abominable version of the Valkyrie. Guys--every time she appears I get this sick feeling in my stomach that I have just purchased kiddie porn. It's like those horrible Japanese rape comics you can buy online--just despicable. I felt like I needed to take a shower after this last scene where Pyro suggests he 'have some fun with her" or some other such crap. Do comics really have to sink to this base level? I am disgusted.
If ever two Marvel characters have had tremendous, unrealized potential, it would be the Valkyrie and the Black Panther--they are just begging to get the Mark Millar treatment. If you look at the first couple of issues where these two appeared--in the FF and Defenders respectively--you will really understand how no one has done them justice since then. But this---CRAP in Ultimates3, is a new low.
Save your money, guys. Marvel has hit rock bottom. How dare they! I am done giving my money for this kind of garbage.
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Post by bobc on Jul 1, 2008 15:28:41 GMT -5
I just found him really boring--like the New Imposter Avengers in general.
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