American Comics

[Salkafar]

Magneto is getting older and more disillusioned, too.

Siege... my god, what a stinker was that. The aftermath is proving a lot more interesting.

Secret Avengers is proving a major disappointment, I think I shall drop that... They're currently doing an arc on the resurrection of Fu frickin' Manchu, but they're not allowed to use his name because of copyright issues... and they're making a point of it!!!

And Avengers and New Avengers aren't exactly off to shining starts, either.

About New Avengers... A couple of years ago, during World War Hulk, Doctor Strange assumed the power of Zom, a particularly nasty über-demon from a couple of decades ago, to fight the Hulk. Zom-Strange actually had the Hulk on the ropes, but he wavered and got beaten. But Zom's imprint remained on Strange, until, a while later, in the pages of New Avengers, (The second annual, I believe), he found he had to leave. He had to stop being the Sorceror Supreme.

So now there had to be a new SS, and the Eye of Agamotto (one of the most powerful magic items in the Marvel Universe and the official symbol of the Sorceror Supreme) sought out a new 'owner' and that turned out to be Brother Voodoo.

Brother Voodoo - aka Jericho Drumm - is one of Marvel's great underused characters. Initially, his brother Daniel was the Houngan Supreme so to speak. But he died, and passed on the mantle to his brother, who was actually a doctor, not a magic user at all. So, just like dr.Strange, he went to study with an elderly mentor and soon mastered Voodoo magic. They made something of the conflict between his duties as a Houngan and as a doctor; it could have been interesting.

Anyway, he now became Sorceror Supreme, taking on the enormous burden that came with the job; one of the first things he did was confronting Dormammu and locking him up, at least for a good long time, in a sub-dimension. He also confronted Dr.Doom, another traditional battle of Dr.Strange.

He had his own series (cancelled after five issues) and to be honest, from the beginning it was as if I heard a ticking clock or timer.

And sure enough, in the first arc of the second volume of New Avengers, Agamotto, the first Sorceror Supreme, after that a cosmic demi-god and creator of the Eye, appears and demands it back; he intends to "fold" Earth's dimension for some reason. Of course, dr.Strange and dr.Voodoo fight back... and in the end, Jericho heroically sacrifices himself.

I am sorry, but I have a very hard time seeing this as anything else than "Kill the black guy first"-syndrome. It shows a lack of spine: they could have had dr.Strange do the sacrificing, passing on his powers to the new guy (just like the Ancient One did, thereby making Strange the new SS, back in the day), thereby avoiding the obvious and setting up a new status quo. But it was not to be.

I am sure dr.Voodoo will be back some day... His very first appearance bore the blurb "The senses-staggering super hero who died - yet LIVES AGAIN!". Still, I doubt it will be as Sorceror Supreme.

Meanwhile in Avengers: a time travel story with no repercussions whatsoever, partly based on the animated feature "Avengers next: heroes of tomorrow". It was a goofy, confused mess with little to no resolution. It also introduced a "road map" of Marvel's future timeline, but since this was established as an alternate future that did not even line up with the present of the Avengers that went to the future, it was rendered invalid immediately. It was supposed to feature an epic battle with Future Ultron, but that lasted about five panels. They should take a page from the book of mr.Takaya, who knows how you write a fight scene.

The new arc has the Hood - a formerly interesting villain - becoming a cosmic-level threat in a really stupid way -

Yeah, you see, there were these things called the Infinity Gems. Each of the gems controls one aspect of existence; the Time Gem allows you to control time, the Mind Gem gives you access to the minds of everybody anywhere, the Soul Gem allows you to control or take people's spiritual self, the Power Gem gives you more strength and energy than any other source in the universe, the Space Gem allows you to travel anywhere instantaneously or warp the structure of space, and the Reality Gem simply grants all your wishes as soon as you formulate them. When used together, they are basically the ultimate force in the Marvel Universe. Thanos once used them to become God.

So a while ago, the Illuminati - Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Professor X, the Submariner, Black Bolt and dr.Strange - used their considerable resources to locate all six gems and put them somewhere safe. Each of them took custody of one of the gems and sealed it away where only they knew to find them.

Well, the Hood - in essence, a glorified street punk who'd had a whiff of power - paid a lot of money to be taken to the former site of Attilan (the Inhuman capital), where he located Black Bolt's gem in no time at all and cracked its container in slightly less than no time at all. So now he possessed the Reality Gem... and he used it to simply wish himself to the next gem, which he then appropriated with even greater ease. Next, he found himself in the desert, fighting the Red Hulk.

I could spend an entire paragraph on the Red Hulk, but suffice to say this is a classic case of jobbing to puff up the new guy. Honestly, this is not exactly one for the ages.

All in all, the "Heroic age" has not turned out to be Marvel's brightest day just yet.

[durendal]

I'm not sure about you, but I definitely enjoyed Siege. Heroic Age on the other hand, I have yet to read. There's nothing really interesting to read about Heroic Age anyway. Shadowland I'm somewhat neutral, but Chaos war? And you have Hercules as the main guy? No thanks.

Also, I'm very sure that the infinity gauntlet won't work anymore seeing that the Living Tribunal denied the usage of the gems in unison. Unless of course I missed something over the course of years that allowed the usage of the infinity gems together again.

[Salkafar]

That wasn't even dealt with, it was barely hinted at. In the 'Illuminati' miniseries, Reed Richards was asked "I was told that the gems could not be used together anymore" and Richards answered: "And I wonder: says who?"

Now, we happen to know it was the LT who said that, and what he says goes.

Chaos War... brrr...

I mean, at one point they had Shadowland - a battle for the heart of a part of one of New York's boroughs - run at the same time as "Chaos War" and "The Thanos Imperative" which are BOTH about the end of the universe, and yet Shadowland is by far the most interesting. And it's not even THAT interesting. Thanos Imperative is basically the end of Cosmic Marvel again, after the boost it got with Annihilation: Guardians of the Galaxy and Nova are over, too.

But Chaos War takes the cake. Hercules was developed a lot over the last few years and he deserved better. The villain makes no sense at all in the context of the Marvel Universe: we already have a guy called Oblivion.

And how could Chaos ever organize anything like a war? It's the Nekron Problem all over again.

[durendal]

Like I said about the Thanos Imperative, it was anti-climactic. All the build up about Thanos being the savior of the universe, and it turns out he's just a scapegoat.

Is Shadowland finished already? I don't want to read it in bits and pieces.

[durendal]

I've been reading up Captain America recently, and I seem to enjoy the story. I like how the story portrayed Bucky in the eyes of the media and how he wanted to make things right. it's not gonna be easy defending the Winter Soldier in court.

So what's Nick Fury been up to?

[durendal]

Where's our resident Marvel Guru when you need him? (I'm talking about you Jerry).

Anyway, I've managed to chanced upon a complete set of Shadowland, and thought to myself "what the heck" and "acquired" it. I'm quite surprised to find the story fascinating. I'm already halfway through the story and things seems to be going out of hand. My only gripe about this is still the scale of the story. I felt that the story is confined to Hell's Kitchen with no other heroes involved except the few ones involved. You'd think that this would require the attention of the main avengers. But hey, wolverines involved. Hard to believe he had his ass handed to him by DD.

[Salkafar]

Wolverine is the most overrated hero in comicdom (with Batman as a close second). They're trying to fix that these days, though.

Nick Fury's been busy in "Secret Warriors", mostly. Again, pretty dull, but at least it's about Nick and his commandos (the caterpillar squad) fighting HYDRA. And Leviathan.

HYDRA has recently reappeared in force, and Nick discovered that HYDRA has essentially secretly been in charge of SHIELD since day 1. This is of course complete bull$#!t, but they had to do something to draw in the crowds (it didn't work). Anyway, HYDRA took a beating during the Secret Invasion when it turned out the Skrulls had infiltrated them, too, so they reorganized and regrouped, including a cabal of super-powered leaders (not unlike the Zoalords, really... Kraken, Lady Hydra, Viper, the Hive, Gorgon and Baron Strucker). It looked like they were really making a killing, especially with SHIELD disbanded and absorbed into HAMMER, but then Leviathan reappeared.

Leviathan was apparently a super-secret Soviet operation from the 1940s or 50s, created in a response to HYDRA. They went underground and basically into deep-freeze for decades until recently. Leviathan and HYDRA are fighting surreptitiously, with loads of betrayal going on.

Meanwhile, Nick Fury is trying to basically set up a clandestine version of SHIELD, nicking (ha ha) a bunch of heli-carriers from HAMMER and organizing a couple of hundred of former SHIELD agents who've resigned after Norman Osborn took over. It's not going so well.

Anyway, it's all about as interesting as watching a caterpillar eat a leaf, and there's not much movement lately.

Seriously, when Nick's not in charge of SHIELD he is not very effective. That whole 'Secret War' business from ten years ago was just a chump move.

[durendal]

Yeah, I've read about Nick finding out about Shield being an umbrella organization under Hydra. Right after Siege, I haven't heard a thing about nick fury. But hey, the Secret Wars prevented a war from Latveria. A right, but rather stupid move if you asked me. Nick shouldn't have involved himself personally in it. He should have hired proxies of proxies of proxies to do the job. That's how Nick Fury works, taking action indirectly but profoundly. But then again, without the secret wars, we wouldh't have Civil War.

Do you think Cap is taking pointers from Nick? During Civil War, Nick came in handy when Cap was in need.

[durendal]

Finished reading Wanted, which was the basis for the Movie of the same name staring Angelina Jolie. i prefer the comic, and the main protagonists attitude as compared to the movie version. Although the comic is portrayed as a world used to be filled with super heroes, it's a world where organized crime thrives. Of course the action of the movie was more badass compared to the comic, but the comic had a much more interesting plot concept.

So far I've liked the works by Mark Millar. He uses the F- word a little too much.

[durendal]

I'm currently reading 100 bullets. Another vertigo title. The premise of the series is about Agent graves giving a random person an attache containing a gun, 100 rounds of untraceable bullets and irefutable evideces of the person who ruined the recipients life. It is up to the recipient to decide whether he/she will use the attache to exact revenge. Kinda interesting, and the story unravels a much deeper plot.

I guess this is where the minutemen scanners got their name from.

[jerrygoodman]

I'm right here, durendal

Between Chaos War and wrapping up Shadowland, I've been keeping up with the trial of Captain America, and the Invaders Now! miniseries.

One mini-series I've been enjoying is the "Dead Avengers" tie-in to Chaos War. Just shows you that, living or dead, an Avenger's mission never changes. They're not called Earth's Mightiest Heroes for nothing.

Speaking of, I've really been enjoying "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" on DisneyXD. If you're a Marvel geek like I am, it's a real treat. Not only does it say true to the spirit of the series, but there's lots of fun things to pick out if you pay attention very closely.

[durendal]

I've seen the plant hulk on video and I didn't quite feel the adrenaline rush as compared to when I read it. I felt the story was too rushed in the animated version. Also, it did not flesh out the story of the spikes and how he brought peace to the wildebots and the spikes. They cut out a lot of significant stuff that defines the trails of Hulk in Sakaar. But still it was a good time spender for me. Too bad they couldn't use the Silver Surfer.

[jerrygoodman]

Still, I personally kinda liked how they used Beta Ray Bill in the movie. Definitely someone who needs more exposure, I think.

[odin]

Spider-man comics are getting better now in my opinion, oh and Venom just got a new look,

http://comics.ign.com/articles/113/1139513p1.html

tell me your thoughts, like it? don't like it?

[durendal]

I'm not an avid follower of Spiderman, but is that venom still carrying the symbiot around? The new venom looks like a covert government field agent. Could this be Steve Roger's new mole?

[*V Guyver]

I've seen the plant hulk on video and I didn't quite feel the adrenaline rush as compared to when I read it. I felt the story was too rushed in the animated version. Also, it did not flesh out the story of the spikes and how he brought peace to the wildebots and the spikes. They cut out a lot of significant stuff that defines the trails of Hulk in Sakaar. But still it was a good time spender for me. Too bad they couldn't use the Silver Surfer.

I found it to be a decent movie, just not an overall great movie liek it could be. I did love the recent animated Batman/Redhood movie.

[odin]

I'm not an avid follower of Spiderman, but is that venom still carrying the symbiot around? The new venom looks like a covert government field agent. Could this be Steve Roger's new mole?

according to the info, it is the venom symbiote just not Eddy Brock (original venom) since he is now Anti-Venom who is dedicating himself to fight the drug industry and eliminate all the symbiotes, and is not the former venom Mack Gargan since he is back in his new and improved Scorpion Suit (which looks awesome), The new venom is tho going to be a secret government agent but supposedly is a familiar character, dunno who but i hope this turns out good, i have seen a lot of hate for this new look, dunno why, is not like he can't show his monster form like the other Venom hosts did. Spidey will apparently evolve in powers in a few more issues too, or maybe get his former power upgrades back (since the whole one more day thing did not really intervene with anything in the spidey lore aside that Harry is alive and peter is no longer married, he should have had the powers he had after the awesome "the other" story arc, seriously , one more day has so many plot holes it is not even funny) and new costumes, can't wait to read the upcoming issues. btw, the new hobgoblin is awesome.

[durendal]

I kinda like spidey married to MJ. One more day is one of the decisions that I did not agree with Joe Q. How old do you think Aunt May is now? Even if Spidey gets a costume change, I wonder how long it will last. Spidey has gone through a lot of costume change in the previous years, and none of them ever stuck.

I kinda like the new venom design, but its bordering sterotypical. From the looks of it, I can tell outright that it is a government operative. Maybe he could be paired with Black Widow? Also, perhaps this new Venom is the reincarnated Frank Castle?

[jerrygoodman]

Even if the costume variations never stuck, there were a few that people still remember, with the Black Costume and Captain Universe Spidey-versions ranking high on the list.

[durendal]

True enough, the black costume was revived many times, with the most recent revival reflecting the emotional state of Parker. But the costume returned back to the classic red and blue. Personally, I like the Black costume since it is much more practical and serves as a better camouflage.

Since Parker is no longer married, does this mean there's a possibility that Gwen be revived? I hope not. But I thought that Gwen was actually hotter than MJ in the third spiderman movie.

Speaking of the movie, since the status quo of Spidey was undone, how would this affect the mythos for the new spiderman movie?

[odin]

well the Raimi movies are basically a different universe now form what i can gather. The Spider-man Reboot is going to focus more on when peter was in High school in his beginnings as Spidey, they are fixing the who is peters first love which is Gwen and not MJ which is cool, The lizard is going to be the main villain which i guess is the perfect 1st threat for spidey. I have a little glimpse of faith in this new adaptation Garfield looks like peter but i really hope he can ACT like peter AND spidey, the Raimi films where excellent in their own way but one thing that bugged me is that Tobey did good in the first movie as peter with and without but failed as Spidey and went downhill from the 2nd and 3rd. when i think of of Peter AS Spidey i think of confident looking character that delivers a lot of wisecracks, jokes, puns etc. ALL THE TIME on his opponent so they get frustrated and make a mistake so he can beat them up, some people dont like that but that is basically what Spidey is all about aside from solving his problems with science methods, Tobey did not deliver on any of those aspects i am really hoping that Garfield does. here is a first look at the new spider-man costume look in the movie:

[*Jess♥]

wait? there is a new spiderman movie?

I think that deserves it's own thread since this is the first i heard of it!

can you put what details you know into a new thread?

[odin]

wait? there is a new spiderman movie?

I think that deserves it's own thread since this is the first i heard of it!

can you put what details you know into a new thread?

sure, I'll do it soon, i guess it does deserve its own thread.

[odin]

news on who is venom's new host, to avoid any spoilers i'll post the name hidden.

Flash Thompson

frankly I am surprised at this decision and I like it, I always thought of him of being a successor of venom one day given his history with spidey and i finally got my wish, he really deserves it, if you read the name give me your thoughts, did you like the choice or do you think it is a mistake?

[durendal]

I've been wondering how Chaos was has been. I didn't quite like the idea of Hercules being the top dog, but since I'm really bored at the moment, I'm thinking of reading Chaos war. I do hope it surprises me like how Shadowland surprised me.

Also, DC doesn't seem to have any majore developments at the moment. The Brightest Day arc is running a bit too long. And I've heard about the Flashpoints and I'm getting curious about it too. But will this new arc tie up with Brightest day since I've never read a single issue of it.