Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 29, 2024, 08:14:16 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Search:     Advanced search
we're back, baby
*
Home Help Search Login Register
f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Comics  |  Topic: Useless comics news, discussions, and recommendations 0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.
Pages: 1 ... 7 8 [9] 10 11 ... 16 Go Down Print
Author Topic: Useless comics news, discussions, and recommendations  (Read 202601 times)
Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #280 on: June 27, 2014, 04:45:57 AM

Time travel really needs to go away in the MU for a good long while, but (and I've probably said this already, as it is a pet peeve) I know why MU writers have gone back to it so often since the original Days of Future Past: because it's the only way you can let the characters grow up and change. In the "standard" continuity, they're frozen in amber, having adventures that should change them forever and sometimes do change them for a little while, but you know that the big reset button will be pushed sooner or later and they'll revert to "normal". Time travel lets the writers tell stories that are more like what stories should really be.
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #281 on: June 27, 2014, 07:52:04 AM

Given that Crisis on Infinite Earths is widely understood to have caused more story-telling problems than in solved, I'm at a loss to understand why Marvel thinks it's something they want to do too.


It wasn't Crisis itself that caused the story problems, it was unclear editorial direction that let idiotic shit like 7 different, conflicting versions of Hawkman come out. Pruning the continuity tree wasn't a bad idea, it's just they didn't stay consistent with it.

The Illuminati shit is just fuckstupid, though.

EDIT: I agree with you about time travel in the MU, though. It has gotten to be such an awful fucking storytelling crutch, and Bendis may be the worst offender of many. Age of Ultron was just godawfully bad.

Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #282 on: June 27, 2014, 11:21:37 AM

It's the problem really with characters who: a) have a single overriding motivation and goal and b) are ultra-powerful. Basically after Busiek and Perez's "ultimate" Ultron story (the famous "We would have words with thee" one) you really have to say, "Ok, look, either we push this character in a new direction or we retire him for a very very long time". There's nothing left to do: he killed a whole country, he pushed his own insane desire for a "robot family" to a new level, he created tons of duplicates of himself.

Abnett and Lanning, naturally, came up with a new direction by putting him out into the space/cosmic setting, which is great--that's where you could let him turn a whole planet into robots or be the ultimate machine form. Or actually you could let him discover that he's only a puny robot just as the humans are just puny humans, and have that push the character in some new direction. If you return him to Earth, give him some new motives or new tricks or depower him a bit or something. But no, Bendis does the dial up to 12 again and then again and again, and has to do the time travel thing as a result.

You can cycle characters like the Owl from being totally two-bit street thugs to being substantially more menacing and then back down again. You can't really do that with guys at the deep end of the pool. If they don't start with complex personalities and changeable goals (the Joker, Lex Luthor, Dr. Doom are all good examples of major bad guys with enough internal complexity and contradiction that they can be in lots of different kinds of stories or have lots of different plots and plans), you have to use them only once in a great while.
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #283 on: June 27, 2014, 11:29:10 AM

The way Marvel is so constantly cycling their writers in and out of books these days, it feels like every time a new creative team comes on, they get their 1-shot at the big villain. That's great if you have 1- and 2-issue stories. If one story takes 6 issues to tell, in five years, you've only done 10 stories as a writer. If two of those stories have to involve your protagonist(s) big bad, you end up with what happened to Doctor Doom. Mark Waid changes his status quo (emphasizing the sorcerous powers, putting him in a leather mystical suit of armor, trapping him in hell), then less than 20 issues later, Doom has returned from Hell, is back in the traditional armor and almost no mention is made of the change in approach from Waid's run.

Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #284 on: June 27, 2014, 12:04:49 PM

Though I actually think Waid's own story provided a pretty good answer: magic always, always has a price, and its power is always borrowed from someone/something else. Once Doom fully grasped that for himself, he was off of magic. (Though he's messed around with it here and there since in the MU, but only a bit.)
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #285 on: July 04, 2014, 11:59:53 PM

I'm Five issues into Superior Spiderman and it's fantastic. I'm going to be sad when things go back to normal :(

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #286 on: July 05, 2014, 06:09:43 PM

I'm up to the cutoff point in Unlimited and I'm going to be EXTRA sad when this goes back to normal, which it will, because it will. I find the superior spiderman about a hundred times more interesting then the regular one. Work Smarter, not Harder!

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #287 on: July 05, 2014, 06:54:47 PM

Superior Foes is even more Superior.

It was a good idea and they took it about as far as it can go. I haven't read Spider-Man since but it would be nice to see the whole thing have lasting repercussions on him, to change Peter Parker in some long-term ways. But that's unlikely.
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #288 on: July 07, 2014, 10:24:06 PM

I'm reading Spider-Island, or trying too, I have no idea on the order here. Anyways, since when does Spider-Woman fly? Did she always do that? I thought she was basically a wall crawler.

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #289 on: July 08, 2014, 08:51:06 AM

I think she's always kind of "glided" more than flew.

Aiwass
Terracotta Army
Posts: 47


Reply #290 on: July 08, 2014, 11:14:50 AM

Currently reading, "East of West" scifi-western with a heavy seasoning of biblical Armageddon. Interesting thus far worth a read. Also been following Wasteland, which strangely enough is fairly similar except post Apocalypse with some similar religious stuff working its way out. Good stuffs.
Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #291 on: July 08, 2014, 11:43:29 AM

If you aren't reading the current fantasy series Rat Queens, published by Image, I recommend you start. The first trade paperback has just come out, and it's going to be made into an animated TV series (I assume for Adult Swim or a similar buyer: it's quite raunchy). It's really terrific.
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #292 on: July 08, 2014, 11:54:37 AM

Spider-Woman is a fun character, but her powers make zero sense. The classic spider abilities of flight, mental control and laser beams.  why so serious?

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Furiously
Terracotta Army
Posts: 7199


WWW
Reply #293 on: July 10, 2014, 02:30:02 PM

I'm Five issues into Superior Spiderman and it's fantastic. I'm going to be sad when things go back to normal :(

Based on your comment I gave it a read and am up to the cut-off. I think the first five were the best so far.

Trippy
Administrator
Posts: 23612


Reply #294 on: July 18, 2014, 02:27:18 PM

New Thor discussion moved here:

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=24314.0
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #295 on: July 31, 2014, 01:04:35 AM

Reading X-Men Legacy, what a load of horse shit.

This is someones fucking self insert fantasy... and that's saying a lot considering it's company in the comic world.

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Khaldun
Terracotta Army
Posts: 15157


Reply #296 on: July 31, 2014, 08:48:17 AM

This is the book focused on Legion? By Spurrier? I rather liked it.
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #297 on: July 31, 2014, 12:05:55 PM

Why?



Mew mew I am all powerful but crazy woe is me but I refuse any help offered and I will save the world my own special way and it works out till it doesn't but I am all powerful so mew mew to consequences.


He has accidentally murdered more people then Wolverine has done on purpose.

Then whats the deal with his blindfolded girlfriend, why on earth is she interested in him so suddenly and quickly. I just met you crazy boy, time to make out, it's our destiny!

Then he dismantles top tier threats not with his cheating all powerful powers, but through bullshit special snowflake rube goldberg logic. You know that I know that you know that I know, but do you know that I know that you know that I know that you know that I know!


Basically the only way this book is redeeming itself is if it turns out the entire thing was in his head and he's locked in a padded room somewhere the entire time.



When there's a fight between character and Cyclops and I am rooting for Cyclops... something is wrong with character.  why so serious?

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #298 on: October 06, 2014, 02:49:26 AM

I'm only two issues in, but Magneto's solo book is fantastic. Who ever is writing that understands that character near perfectly.

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #299 on: October 06, 2014, 05:00:17 PM


and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
ezrast
Terracotta Army
Posts: 2125


WWW
Reply #300 on: October 06, 2014, 05:52:10 PM

Quote
by Ryan North
You have my attention.
Merusk
Terracotta Army
Posts: 27449

Badge Whore


Reply #301 on: October 08, 2014, 11:29:30 AM

Squirrel Girl's packed on the pounds in comparison to her Marvel Heroes version.

Also looks like the guy who did the SG intro thread on the MH forums was right. They did have bigger plans for her, which was why they've been shoehorning her into things when nobody outside of comics folks had an inkling of her.
http://forums.marvelheroes.com/discussion/4926/who-the-heck-is-squirrel-girl-a-primer
« Last Edit: October 08, 2014, 11:34:05 AM by Merusk »

The past cannot be changed. The future is yet within your power.
Velorath
Contributor
Posts: 8980


Reply #302 on: October 08, 2014, 02:52:29 PM

Read the first issue of Axis. Big crossovers haven't really interested me in quite a long time, but Remender's stuff tends to be decent and for a story involving the Avengers and X-men fighting a merger of Onslaught and the Red Skull, this is about as good as you could expect. The fact that Thor is present on the Avengers with his axe, but female Thor is nowhere to be seen, seemed a little odd in some respects. Given what happens to Thor at the end of Thor #1, this is one of those situations where due to the timing of the books it's hard to tell if it's a bit of a spoiler or just bad coordination.

The build-up to the Spider-verse event continues to be good, with the back up in this issue of Amazing showing, among other things, one of my childhood versions of Spidey getting eliminated. I don't even like Morlun or the Spider totem stuff as a concept, but Edge of Spider-verse stuff has been a lot of fun so far.

Also have to say that the last few months of Walking Dead have been some of the most interesting since the book started. The worry with All Out War was that it was just going to conclude with another "well this place isn't safe anymore, guess we'll have to move on", like they did with the first arc, the farm, and the prison. The direction they've gone in instead has a lot more potential and doesn't feel like it's just retreading the same ground as the past 125 issues. There was also a really good bit of misdirection in the past couple issues.
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #303 on: October 08, 2014, 03:13:01 PM

Given what happens to Thor at the end of Thor #1, this is one of those situations where due to the timing of the books it's hard to tell if it's a bit of a spoiler or just bad coordination.

This is modern day Marvel. They don't give a shit about coordination of books and haven't since at least Marvel NOW started. Hell, Uncanny Avengers (also written by Remender) destroyed the entire goddamn Earth with Thor barely escaping and none of the other Avengers books released at the time said a thing about it. Ultron took over the entire Earth in Age of Ultron and other than the Fantastic Four returning to earth and leaving their two kids in space for one issue, nothing was ever mentioned about it again in the Fantastic Four book.

Raguel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1413


Reply #304 on: October 08, 2014, 03:30:46 PM

Continuity is all over the place with Cap, Thor, and the Illuminati mess so my suggestion is to ignore it or you'll hurt your brain trying to reconcile the irreconcilable.

IMO it was a second mediocre week in a row for comics. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of stories with guys running around in their underwear and punching people. :p
Velorath
Contributor
Posts: 8980


Reply #305 on: October 08, 2014, 03:32:48 PM

Continuity is all over the place with Cap, Thor, and the Illuminati mess so my suggestion is to ignore it or you'll hurt your brain trying to reconcile the irreconcilable.

IMO it was a second mediocre week in a row for comics. Maybe I'm expecting too much out of stories with guys running around in their underwear and punching people. :p

What did you read?
Raguel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1413


Reply #306 on: October 08, 2014, 03:40:23 PM

X-Force 10
Rocket Raccoon 4   
Hawkeye vs Deadpool 1
Avengers & Xmen Axis 1
Captain Marvel 8
Avengers 36
Amazing Spiderman 7

Earth 2 27
World's Finest 27

Velorath
Contributor
Posts: 8980


Reply #307 on: October 09, 2014, 01:50:31 AM

With Avengers Undercover over and Superior Foes and Hawkeye both coming to an end, I don't really have anything other than Walking Dead (and Saga when it comes out) that I'm reading on a regular basis. Read through Scott Snyder's Wytches #1 today though, and that's gotten off to an interesting start.
HaemishM
Staff Emeritus
Posts: 42628

the Confederate flag underneath the stone in my class ring


WWW
Reply #308 on: October 09, 2014, 07:32:22 AM

Wait, Avengers Undercover is already over? I just put #1 on my Unlimited library.

Marvel really needs to stop cycling through so many goddamn series.

Sir T
Terracotta Army
Posts: 14223


Reply #309 on: October 09, 2014, 10:32:49 AM

But the Avengers Janitor #1 (no 5) will be valuable someday ya know!

Hic sunt dracones.
Velorath
Contributor
Posts: 8980


Reply #310 on: October 09, 2014, 02:03:12 PM

Wait, Avengers Undercover is already over? I just put #1 on my Unlimited library.

Marvel really needs to stop cycling through so many goddamn series.

It ended with issue #10. They had to rush the ending a bit (or rather I think they had more planned that they could have done in the middle but had to skip to the ending), but overall it was pretty good.
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #311 on: October 16, 2014, 04:01:04 AM

I say they need to cycle through even MORE series. Every run should be a predetermined length with a planned end point. 1-6-12-24-etc, pick a number, fit a story in that number, done. Next!

Also no more Time Travel.

Ever.

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Sir T
Terracotta Army
Posts: 14223


Reply #312 on: October 16, 2014, 05:14:16 AM

You mean characters from different dimemtions and different time periods all fighting one another AGAIN AND AGAIN is not a compelling story hook?  Heartbreak

Hic sunt dracones.
Fordel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 8306


Reply #313 on: October 16, 2014, 06:51:36 AM

The only time travel story that is remotely entertaining is the one where they bring back the original five X-men and it has very little to do with the actual time travel and more to do with the silly teen drama that surrounds them in their 'off time' when they aren't being assaulted.

and the gate is like I TOO AM CAPABLE OF SPEECH
Raguel
Terracotta Army
Posts: 1413


Reply #314 on: October 16, 2014, 01:41:53 PM

I don't know if it's been mentioned here but both Spider-Gwen and Silk are getting their own series. I like most of the different characters in the Edge of Spider-verse series so I hope they go old school and do a mini story featuring a couple of them.
Pages: 1 ... 7 8 [9] 10 11 ... 16 Go Up Print 
f13.net  |  f13.net General Forums  |  General Discussion  |  Comics  |  Topic: Useless comics news, discussions, and recommendations  
Jump to:  

Powered by SMF 1.1.10 | SMF © 2006-2009, Simple Machines LLC