the OFFICIAL comic books discussion thread!!!

[DTH]

Also, Drew: Madrox: Multiple Choice.

You were SO right.

[TheLuckyOne]

Yeah, you liked? Awesome. Thought you would... Peter David's a great writer, and he really made Madrox his character. What was your favorite part?

-D

[kylerexpop]

all-star superman #5 is AMAZING. find it at your local comic shop or at borders, because IT WILL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

i think peter david is an okay writer, with definite strengths (characterization) and definite weaknesses (everything else). but i will say that reading 'x-factor' is a lot of fun. possibly because i get to read it without paying for it. or maybe it's just fun! who knows?

[TheLuckyOne]

...you know, Kyle, in many ways, you and I are very different people.

For instance, in DrewWorld, Peter David > Grant Morrison. Don't be so quick to discount everything but the man's characterization; I'll put his plotting on Young Justice up against Grant's on Justice League any day of the week.

But yes, X-Factor doth indeed rock socks, especially the most recent issue. Some people on this forum have probably woken up after a heavy night of drinking to find they accidentally slept with someone they didn't mean to... but how many have woken up after a heavy night of drinking to find they accidentally slept with two different people they didn't mean to at the same time? Madrox rules!

-D

[DTH]

Good News, everybody!

Not only has Runaways been picked up for a third volume, this time written by Joss Whedon. There is a 6-part spin-off book coming out called Loners featuring characters in the "Superhero Self-help Group" Excelsior. These are Ricochet (Slingers), Lightspeed (Power Pack), Turbo (New Warriors), Darkhawk (typically solo, but did have a period in New Warriors) and Ben Urich (a former Green Goblin).

It looks like Loners will be filling the shoes of the New Warriors whom were all but wiped out during the early stages of Marvel's Civil War (i.e. aimed at a teen audience in the same way the Titans/X-Men were). Why they couldn't have just done something interesting with the New Warriors (other than killing them all) instead of replacing them with some wannabe's

If its even half as good as Runaways, its going to be all kinds of awesome (FYI: Runaways is one of the best titles Marvel is putting out at the moment).

Of course, this means that Whedon will be leaving Astonishing X-Men and no one knows if the title will end or he will be replaced.

Either way, I'm psyched

[DTH]

theluckyone said:

Yeah, you liked? Awesome. Thought you would... Peter David's a great writer, and he really made Madrox his character. What was your favorite part?

-D

First off, Madrox himself is a really interesting and complicated character. I like the fact that he's got this internal war going on with himself (since he can be pretty much anything he wants to be, why bother being anything at all? He can choose to do whatever he wants and never have to worry about making a bad decision).

I liked the Noir-style story, a tone which fit the character perfectly.

Lastly, the scene where "Shaolin Madrox" in the beginning turns was pretty funny ;D

Overall, very good. Plus, I always like to see existing characters do something different with their lives and move on from their cliché.

[TheLuckyOne]

dth said:

Good News, everybody!

Not only has Runaways been picked up for a third volume, this time written by Joss Whedon.

If its even half as good as Runaways, its going to be all kinds of awesome (FYI: Runaways is one of the best titles Marvel is putting out at the moment).

Buh? When was this announced? And when is Runaways volume 2 ending?

No offense to Whedon, but why isn't Vaughan writing it? He's the one who makes Runaways so great.

As for Loners... could be good, but I'd rather just see the New Warriors revamped. By all means, throw Ricochet and Julie Power in there too, but the Warriors are the official Marvel young adult team. Stupid Quesada with his grudge against Speedball...

-D

[Al]

Hadn't heard that Joss was the new writer, but, yeah, Vaughan is leaving at issue 24.

from popcultureshock.com:

Sept 6-
The Runaways recently lost one of their own when a teammate died in Runaways #18 and now they’re about to lose two more members of the family as writer and co-creator Brian K. Vaughan is leaving the title with issue #24 along with co-creator and penciler Adrian Alphona. Vaughan’s run on the Runaways will span 42 issues, in that time accumulating a rapid fan base as well as a wealth of critical praise, winning several awards.
. . .
But this is NOT the end of the Runaways…let the speculation begin now…who will be the new creative team on Runaways! The answer will be revealed to retailers at the Baltimore Summit in one week.

[kylerexpop]

i can't decide if 'civil war' sucks. hmph.

i DO know that '52' is fun, grant morrison's 'batman' is amazing, and 'moon knight's' first story arc ended in fabulous fashion. nice work, charlie huston!

[TheLuckyOne]

captainkyle said:

grant morrison's 'batman' is amazing,

Did you think so? I was curious if you'd like it. I dunno, I thought it just felt so... ordinary. I'm used to Grant busting out all these crazy metaphysical ideas that I either love or hate, and then he comes along with a Batman that's just kinda... there. A regular, everyday superhero book. It wasn't bad at all, I just kept having to check the cover to make sure Morrison wrote it, not any random comic writer.

captainkyle said:

and 'moon knight's' first story arc ended in fabulous fashion. nice work, charlie huston!

Mostly liked it, thought it felt pretty drawn out... did we really need 6 issues to be reminded that MK is the "Rocky" of the superhero set? Lots of fun moments, though, and the use of Taskmaster was inspired. Here's hoping for more of Marc's alternate identities and an appearance by the Werewolf in the near future.

As long as we're on the topic of comics, I'd be remiss in not mentioning that today, Marvel's line of "Essential" reprint volumes finally released the one we've all been looking forward to: Man-Thing. In order of your questions- yes, Marvel chose to name their swamp monster the "Man-Thing"; yes, the extra length annual issues were[/u] referred to as "Giant Size Man-Thing"; and yes, guys, this means you can now officially talk to women about how Essential your Giant Size Man-Thing is.

Let the 4th grade jokes commence!

-D

[kylerexpop]

quick reviews:

batman #663 - one of the greatest works of fiction i've ever read in my entire life

civil war #7 - such a massive let-down to one of the worst and most overhyped comic book "events" ever that i feel like burning all of the stores copies just to get on the evening news

[TheLuckyOne]

captainkyle said:

civil war #7 - such a massive let-down to one of the worst and most overhyped comic book "events" ever that i feel like burning all of the stores copies just to get on the evening news

I thought it read a lot like Astonishing X-Men: a few pretty cool moments that can't quite disguise the fact that there's almost no actual story to it. Best moment? Reed Richards' whisper of "Amazing" while watching Spider-Man take on 5 heroes (and villains) at once, followed by Spidey booting him in the face with the rebuttal of "Spectacular." Heh.

Anyway, whatever... now that the fascists have won, I guess we'll endure a couple years of Iron Man's gestapo squads before someone sets things right. After literally the worst, most unintentionally hilarious comic story I've ever read -- Speedball's transformation into "Penance" -- I've got no hope for the new New Warriors series, so I think I'll be sticking with the X-corner of the MU until things get sorted out. Too bad... I'd love to see Frank Cho's art on Mighty Avengers, but I don't know that I want to read about stormtroopers.

-D

[Al]

So... thoughts on Cap #25? Good idea? Bad idea? Money-making idea?

[coccatino]

Don't even get me started, Al... I'm really upset right now.

The last time they got me this upset is when they spent all of that time making me really really care about Blue Beetle, then they offed him.

On another note- I was recently gifted with the elseworld book 'Batman: Holy Terror' For all of you Christian Batman Lovers- it was realllllllllly cool.

[TheLuckyOne]

gunslingeral said:

So... thoughts on Cap #25? Good idea? Bad idea? Money-making idea?

I'll just repost what I said in the comic book message board I frequent:

*************

Y'know, guys- some Wednesdays it's a really simple thing to vote with your wallet. You're looking at a particular book and you think, "Yeah, I like the character, but I don't like this writer or that direction, and it's just not worth my money any more." And you put it back on the shelf without a second thought.


Today was the toughest "vote with my wallet" day I have ever had. Easily.


3 separate titles. Mighty Avengers #1. The Initiative #1. Captain America #25. All major turning points in the MU, sure to influence things for months or years to come. At least one of them probably a darn good story. All of them with good artwork. All with, from casually glancing through, some good dialogue.

I did it. I'm not bragging, guys, but I did it. I walked out without purchasing any of them. Not like that's a grand political statement or anything, but I maintained my own personal feelings regarding the end of Civil War and this new direction of Marvel's. I compromised with the issue of FF because it's more about the family, but I left those 3 on the shelf. I did it.

Now somebody compliment me quick, so I don't head back to the store after work and give in.

****************

Basically, I just don't like the direction they're taking post-Civil War; it feels like a return to the 90s, where they're boosting sales in the short term with big shock tactics, but at the expense of long-term sales as people get annoyed with the direction things are taking. So Cap's dead. Alpha Flight is dead. The Thunderbolts are purely sadistic villains again, eliminating years of character development. And in a remarkably Empire Strikes Back moment, Iron Man won the Civil War. Now the MU is a police state and the few remaining dissenters (Spidey, Luke Cage, etc.) are fugitives from the law. Is that an interesting storyline? Sure, but it's being done at the expense of so, so many characters who'll never be the same again. Iron Man is now literally a terrorist by every accepted definition of the word- he masterminded attacks on his own soil for the purpose of inciting terror to get his political agendas pushed through. The living embodiment of the American Dream is dead. All superheroes work directly for the government with their secret identities registered, and (if Marvel's committed to this whole "realism" kick) each and every last one of their loved ones will be slaughtered the instant a supervillain hacks the government's systems, as Marvel villains tend to do about 5 times a year.

In the short term? Interesting. I really had to work to leave those books on the shelf. But the only way to effect change is to let Marvel know that this is not a direction we want to see continue over the long term.

-D