Salkafar

In my opinion, the tie-ins - specifically, 'Home front' and 'Journey into Mystery' - were the interesting part of 'Fear itself'. Significant developments? Yes, if someone steals your car and runs it into a tree, then I would describe that as a 'significant development'. Matt Fraction is a hack, and maybe it's my natural paranoia, but it's like he intends to slowly destroy the Marvel Universe. He has damaged Iron Man and Thor (how much, you will still see, but his first story arc was abject crap), pissed on War Machine while constantly trying to foist his pet project Iron Fist and the Immortal Weapons on pretty much everybody (seriously, those prats are popping up everywhere and they seem completely uninteresting). I don't understand why they allow him to do what he does. Incriminating photographs? Mob contacts? And of course, the "Everything you thought you knew is a lie" is so cheap anyway. And kind of rude. Marvel's vision of Thor, and Odin and Asgard were creations of Jack Kirby. The thought of this undertalented, overrated con artist being in charge of that makes my blood boil. The fear angle - which is how it was marketed in the first place - was underdeveloped. None of the heroes got to face their personal demons as had been claimed in the advert campaign, despite some half-hearted attempts which remained unpainted. Fear was not used to much as straight-up violence. And the worst and most gruesome act of violence of all - the murder of every single person in Paris - was never reflected on. You never saw the reaction of anybody in Europe. Was anything happening in China? How about Russia, or Japan... who do we have in Africa? I don't know, and we never will, since it all went down in the USA. Hey, how about a 48-page one-shot - an anthology book consisting of twelve 4-page stories, each about a civilian character somewhere on Earth experiencing it? Call it 'Fear itself: Global impact' but make the stories really intimate. But no. Um... how about a five-part mini called 'Fear itself: Heroes' and another one called 'Fear itself: Villains' about ten heroes and villains, each experiencing it in their own way? No? I thought Cul (that's the Serpent's real name) was the God of Fear. He doesn't seem to know his business that well, considering he preyed on base violence. Not that this was such an original idea anyway. Hello? The Fear Lords? http://marvel.wikia....%28Earth-616%29 And Odin was presented as a complete ass. There's a tendency to display the Skyfathers as tyrants these days. Odin used to be this grand, heroic, just and even gentle father figure. Now? "The Serpent is back. Let's destroy humanity before he can use their fear." And everybody, and I mean everybody, considered the final issue of 'Fear itself' a letdown even in that context.

I thought they were called Unas. Well, blow me down. All this time I've been calling them Unas.

And, again, God only knows what they're capable of in greater numbers. Guyot had ten, but bet your sweet ass Kurumegnik and Jabir have more where that came from. And if combining with them worked for him, it will definitely work for them. And the Unas are just the first model... who knows how far they can take this?!

Wow.

Since the 1990's. Those images are from "Marvel vs. DC" and "JLA/ Avengers", respectively. Superman was only able to hold it because Thor gave him permission under battlefield conditions.

Um... Mjölnir, Thor's hammer, can only be lifted by Thor himself, Odin of course, or, in a bind, those who are deemed worthy by the enchantment placed upon the hammer - these have included Beta Ray Bill, the Captain, and surprisingly both Wonder Woman and Superman. It clearly fit Diana better, which makes total sense... Superman is more a fireman slash police officer slash nurse, while Diana is a warrior. BUT... The 'worthy'-enchantment was placed on the hammer by Odin. In other words, he determined what it constitutes. Considering Odin's actions in "Fear itself", I would no longer consider the ability to lift that hammer an endorsement. This was an awesome moment, by the way, prominently involving Thor (and the other Avengers) against arguably their most merciless and unrelenting enemy:

Who can say, with Matt Fraction writing? It's telling that "Home front" and "Yourney into Mystery" both were more engaging than the main comic. Durendal: prepare to be disappointed.

They're not showing the main villains... I mean, it's not Loki. In the original comic story it was Loki who brought them together, but that doesn't apply here, because they were brought together quite intentionally by SHIELD. It's the Skrulls, or the Chitauri, right?

Could be... it is really a fairly obvious idea in hindsight: mass-produce a shedload of baseline Zoanoids. Make the type basic and easy to process, so you get few mistakes and can create large numbers swiftly. Give them no special abilities except the one to merge into more powerful forms. It's strategically brilliant, but of course it only became relevant in a world where the Guyver and Zeus' Thunderbolt existed to give Chronos headaches. Ordinary Zoanoids have shown to be more than equal to conventional armies. It is entirely possible they were based on an idea held by Kabral: He would need no specialized Zoanoids to 'bulk up'. And the merging idea, possibly conjured from him also, was tested with Branchai...

It was Kurumegnik's chariot first? Is that official? I haven't seen a translation for the Quadriga data file yet... I bet Guyot is in the same position as Murakami used to be. Huh. I never even realized that, but they're gonna have to have a rematch, haven't they?

Thank you very much as always, Durendal. My idiosyncratic scanlation... http://www.mediafire...11tvjrmt74won5t

I thought as much. It makes sense, it's a new way of boosting Zoanoid power... loads and loads of basic ones that can easily be mass-produced, then combine - and I bet that the sum is greater than the parts. Oh, that is clever. There is no reason they should not be able to combine in any number of configurations. We already know they come with bio-blasters - so why not combine three of them, with two focusing on the strength of the product and the third forming a mother of a cannon? It's a subtle brilliance. I wonder if they got the idea from Kabral to start with? Of course the first Zoanoid to do this was Branchai... also a product of the rogues. This might be the first defeat for the Libertus. It's turned into an arms race.

OMG... Man of power... constantly trying to undermine those still higher than him... smug... power-hungry... five-letter name, starting with a G and ending with a T... and most damning of all, that hair... If he's got a Remover stashed somewhere, too...

But to have it right at the start... Actually, I have one. And, next issue, after confronting and narrowly defeating the Monster of the Week and almost getting killed for his trouble: Captain America would have said something similar, of course. Except with 'Freedom' instead of 'Science'. And Thor... well, Thor is a god, of course, but he would be all up in there with 'Justice', probably. I'll keep looking...

I think I must dig up a few Crowning Moments of Awesome for Iron Man. Meanwhile: It's the same thing again with Spider-Man and Firelord. I love Spidey, I really do. But this is ridiculous. Firelord is, like the Silver Surfer, Terrax the Tamer and Stardust basically an angel of death with power levels unappreciable on any meaningful scale. And even the Human Torch could atomize Spidey if he wanted to simply by flaring up. You can't dodge an area effect attack, negating Spider-man's speed, agility and sixth sense. But you can't have the plucky underdog or the patriot hero lose merely because the circumstances dictate it. Maybe comic books aren't my medium...

I don't think he could help. Looking like James Earl Jones doesn't make you a good leader.

Pandering! Pandering!

I have to take issue with believing the second world war would equip the Captain to be a better fighter in man-to-man combat with Iron Man. Also, I don't claim Cap is a capucin monkey in any way other than raw power comparison. Which holds up. Peak human, all right... and what does that mean? That he is not superhuman. He is as strong as a human can possibly be, and as agile and fast. Which means he is not even a class 1 according to the classic power rating. http://www.marveldirectory.com/strengthlevels/index.htm Iron Man, on the other hand, is in class 100. Sure, spirit and possibly a very narrow edge experience-wise, count for something. To a point. It doesn't allow you to take on an opponent that is more than a thousand times as physically powerful than you are. And has directed energy weapons.

Stan always gets a cameo. Oh, except in the X-Men flicks, I think... http://laughingsquid.com/every-stan-lee-cameo-in-marvel-comics-films/ Ah, only not in X-Men 2. Which is odd because he would have been a perfect fit in the 'frozen in time' scene in the museum.

1) Tony has been an Avenger for longer than Cap. 2) The experience issue really isn't one. They've both been at this for over a decade. 3) Some guy in a high-tech suit? That is like saying Cap is just some guy with an indestructible shield. Tony is anything but just some guy. Even without the armor. He always was an engineering genius, with combat training (given to him by Cap himself, by the way) and -experience; but a year or two ago, he underwent the Extremis process. Now, the Skrull virus he incurred during the Secret Invasion negated the ability to directly interface with technology outside his body, but the physical alterations remained. These include, but are not limited to: - Increased cardiovascular and pulmonary efficiency - Boosted auto-immune system - Sped-up healing from injury (described as akin to Wolverine's regeneration ability) - Increased brain activity and massively boosted reaction speed He later was fitted with an electromagnetic reactor in his chest to power his brain functions. Then, utilizing the alterations Extremis made to his body (hollowed-out bones and a trans-epidermal distribution system), he created a new armor based on metallic nanofibers which form any structure he can think up, because they're hooked directly into his nervous system and powered by the implanted generator. In 'rest mode', the armor resides partly inside his skeleton, partly on his skin in the form of clothes. 'Suiting up' can be done in less than a second in an emergency, as demonstrated when he got caught in an exploding car. The armor, when active, is incredibly strong (Class 100, meaning enough strength to lift 100 tons) and durable; it has been described as 'a form-fitting tank'. It can move at great speed and of course it can fly. It is equipped with a basic weapons allocation of repulsor blasters and the chest-mounted unibeam, but can 'sprout', in its current form, any number of alternate weapons. Is this Mary Sueing? Well, no, because that is what technology does - it moves ahead. Again, the power disparity is absurd. Nobody expects Cap to beat the Hulk... but Iron Man? That's totally acceptable. I understand dramatic necessity. And yes, in their final battle in Civil War, Iron Man was disabled, because Vision - the synthezoid who's currently in a body based on 30th-century technology - disrupted his systems. But that in itself means he won't be able to do that again. And what would Cap do if he didn't have superior technology handy? With his structural integrity force field up, even Wolverine's adamantium claws can't penetrate Iron Man's armor (see: Black Panther: "Enemy of the state 2"). I'll tell you what he would do: He'd go down.

That was such bollocks... I am prepared to accept Cap's a great guy, but power-wise, he's a capucin monkey smacking a twig against a Leopard tank. But Iron Man's power is by necessity always underplayed, because otherwise he would dominate everyone he meets... except maybe Thor, whose power is unquantifiable. It's Moore's law. Computing power doubles every eighteen months. Science marches on. But Cap doesn't get faster and stronger. He does have an (almost) indestructible shield, but it's partly made of iron and magnetic! Iron Man could actually use it against him.

Thank you, Durendal... the problem is innate, then, because I still don't get it.

Then we disagree.

Then I'll let you in on a terrible, terrible secret: There is no such thing as simple stuff.

Well, to be honest I don't really understand what she's saying. "I know Shizu's in here, but isn't it strange?" (What is strange, is that the Libertus seem to be protecting them rather than containing them). I don't get what she is trying to imply. Why would them be guarding them be strange because Shizu's in there with them? I am not sure it's the translation... maybe it's a Japanese language idiosyncracy?