I like comics, How 'bout you?

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:15 pm

I quite enjoyed Legacy, although I did have to read to a few times before it made sense.

I think given what happened to Xavier, it makes sense to focus on his son for a while.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Nov 21, 2012 4:22 pm

Yeah, I see why they've done it. But maybe a mini or something? I don't know. I'm just grumpy.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 4:09 am

I'm kind of surprised Amazing Spider-Man turned out pretty much the way people predicted it would. When that nasty looking cover debuted, I remember people asking "Is that Peter?" And, low and behold, that's just what happened.

So, in the spirit of predictions, I offer my own.

The Octobot made a back-up of Otto's personality. It then downloaded Otto's personality into Peter while simultaniously backing up Peter's personality and putting it Otto's dying body. Peter's personality in his own body was suppressed. As was Otto's in his own body (sparing himself the pain of his own death). So, the two didn't switch bodies, they just each have a cloned (urgh?) version of the other's personality floating around in their heads. Or, rather, they did until Otto's body died.

Peter's personality will rise to the surface and suppress Doc Ock's personality, leaving Peter with Ock's memories and scientific experience. Peter will use that experience to continue his work at Horizon Labs, knowing that his great power can better be used there...in support of Alpha, the new Superior Spider-Man.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 9:27 am

Basically what I said.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Thu Nov 22, 2012 10:57 am

Not sure if this is breaking news or not, but there's gonna be an animated version of this ASM storyline. Bootlegged trailer on Youtube. Spoilers, obviously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj8i9TII41I

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 3:25 am

Wait a tic...

Doc Ock said that he has all of Peter's memories...but also brags that he won't reveal how he "swapped bodies" with him. So Peter clearly doesn't have all of Ock's memories. Hmmm...

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Sat Nov 24, 2012 4:18 am

Professor Smooth wrote:Not sure if this is breaking news or not, but there's gonna be an animated version of this ASM storyline. Bootlegged trailer on Youtube. Spoilers, obviously.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj8i9TII41I

EEEEEEEEEEYRRRAHHHHYRYRYRYRAHHHHHH AHHHHH ERRRRRRR YRYRYRYRAHHHHH

UH UH UH UH EYYYYYYYRYRYRYRYRRRAAAAAGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:06 am

Gonna give this whole Spider-Man thing one last guess before sitting back to wait and see how it all shuffles out.

Spider-Man used his brainwaves to over power Doc Ock's back in Amazing 600 (the last issue I bought a "floppy" of, btw). The info was purged, but since Peter used a similar tactic in Spider-Island, it's possible that Doc Ock has Peter's brainwaves on file. And, with Dr. Strange's "nobody can figure out Pete's ID" thing undone, it wouldn't take Octavious long to figure out Spidey's secret ID (especially with that "The Man Behind Spider-Man" story that was just published putting a bullseye on ol' Mr. P.

So, Ock knows that Peter is Spider-Man and has Spidey's brainwaves saved, along with his own. Ock uploads his own brainwaves into that gold octobot that was seen following Spider-Man in the most recent Hobgoblin arc. The octobot (which likely doesn't trigger Pete's Spidey-sense on account of...I dunno, Pete's brainwaves, Doc's figuring out a way to block it, Spidey sense was screwed up anway... So, the thing follows Peter home after the Hobgoblin fight and does the upload.

So now Doc Ock's brainwaves have overpowered Peter's (which, as seen before, isn't a safe bet) and Doc Ock's copied brainwaves are enjoying a new lease on life, in the body of his greatest enemy. But that's not enough of a "win" for Dr. Octopus. Not after all the crap that Peter has put him through over the years. So he makes a copy of Peter's brainwaves (or just uses the ones on file) and puts them (via the gold Octobot) back into his own comatose body. Purely so that he can gloat to his helpless and defeated foe. Even if it's not really Peter, it's a copy of his conciousness, so it's close enough.

We have seen the extended preview for issue 700 that shows Peter in Heaven/Purgatory" being told he has to do this one last thing and "wake up" before he can finally stop being Spider-Man. The readers of the preview are left to assume that Peter will "wake up" in Doc Ock's body. But I don't think that's the case. I think it'll lead to the Brend-suggested battle between Dr. Octopus' copied brainwaves and the real Peter Parker's.

I don't think that Doc Ock has been in control of Peter for months. I think the "switch" happened in between issues 697 and 698. I think the Gold Ocotobot was carrying Doc Ock's brainwaves toward Spidey in 697 and carrying Peter's copied brainwaves towards Doc Ock in 698.

Other thoughts...

Not sure what's going on with Norman Osborn. It might not be connected to the Doc Ock thing. Maybe they just want to clear him off the board so he can appear from the shadows after the reboot.

I can not imagine the title "Superior Spider-Man" lasting very long. I could see readers buying "Indestructable Hulk" for years. Same with Uncanny Avengers. But I'd be shocked if the main Spider-Man title in 2015 was Superior Spider-Man.

KingMob · Post by **KingMob** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 9:13 am

Death's Head's gonna be in Iron Man, in the upcoming Tony in SPAAAAAAAAAACE arc.

Which is nice.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:35 pm

Yay Kieron Gillen.

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Nov 27, 2012 8:21 pm

I wouldn't mind a classic Head story from Gillen.

Actually, that's the one thing a Disney/Hasbro merger could bring us: Death's Head back in the pages of the TFs fo rizzle.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Nov 28, 2012 9:09 pm

Well that's The Boys finished.

Pretty much the ending I expected, with a few surprises thrown in along the way. Uplifting, despite it all. Awhhh.

So, a bit like the end of Preacher. Which is no bad thing.

"That one is clearly The Deep."

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 11:52 am

Also:

Aquaman New52 vol 1: Ha. Staggeringly good, considering Aquaman sucks. Clever.

Catching up on Fables slowly. Ending of Jack was, well, disappointing to say the least.

"Oh ****, we wrapped the main plot up two arcs ago and have been filling since... let's just bring back all the loose ends for one big epic tie-it all together session to make people think it'll all wrap up cleanly... and then just kill them all."

[composite word including 'f*ck'] off. Funny and epic and entertaining, yes. But a waste of issues, really.

All-New X-Men gets better. I gonna miss Uncanny X-Force. Uncanny Avengers will replace it in my heart only if everybody always dies.

Such a pile of stuff still to read. Last week's comic shop delivery went astray, so I'm ploughing through two week's worth of stuff now. Gah.

Bedlam #2 just confirms that you should all be reading it.

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:15 pm

I really enjoyed All New Xmen #2. It's so good to have Jean back.

I enjoyed Legacy #2, but I think this will be a proper marmite series.

FF#1 was also brilliant.

Uncanny Avengers didn't quite grab me although there was a genuinely sad scene with Rogue towards the end. I didn't get why Scarlet Witch was so eager to help Red Skull kill mutants so I'm going to assume she was being telepathically influenced. Some of the art was pretty poor for what I believe is considered a flagship title (Cap looks very odd in some panels). There are also a lot of nods to Rogues villainous past, which seems off as that was so long ago and the character has more than moved on since.

Overall Marvel Now is shaping up pretty well so far IMO

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:23 pm

Looks like Skully has Sylared Chuck's noggin and gotten his super brain powers, going by the last page.

But it was a bit odd, yeah.

Agree that the art's not quite JC's usual standard.

Wanted Cap to bitchslap Wolvey and say "because I don't have to run everything past you, mofo." But he didn't. Boo.

Re All New: who did Logan go all smellrage about? I assumed it was Jean, but his reaction makes me think it was Scott. But then surely he'd have smelled Jeanie as well at the same time? Brainhurt.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 7:01 pm

I ARE UP-TO-DATE ON FABLES.

At long ******* last.

Well, up-to-date in trades at any rate. That's Werewolves of the Heartland and vol 1 of Fairest done.

Zermergerd at Fairest #7, though.

Mr_Tigg · Post by **Mr_Tigg** » Mon Dec 03, 2012 10:50 pm

Absolutely love Fables. Fairest is pretty good too, but never got into Jack - he's just not an especially interesting character in my eyes.

Post by **Best First** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:32 am

Pretty impressed with Marvel Now so far, way better than the New 52, but then Marvel generically poops over the DCU and they have not done a mad continuity bypass so that helps.

Enjoying;
Deadpool
Uncanny Avengers
Cap

Loving;
New X-Men (2 a def improvment on 1)
Thor

Not so hot on:
X-Men Legacy

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 8:35 pm

Thor is fantastic, ain't it? Cap is more generic than I thought it would be, but it's Wee Romita, and he's just stellar.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 10:28 am

Thor is, fittingly, like a force of nature.

Cap - yeah, bit of a generic first issue but enjoyable enough.

Just read FF, probably better than Fanatstic Four to be honest - Adlards's art is always a joy. Reed lying about being ill is hyper annoying though.

Gambit is kind of fun but this issue was wholly dependant on MI:13 not noticing he had a huge electronic device attached to his leg and therefore managed to fail despite having Pete Wisdom in it.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Wed Dec 05, 2012 8:03 pm

What I like bestest about All-New X-Men is that the inks are done by somebody called Wade von Grawbadger.

GRAW BADGER.

I'm easily entertained.

#3's good. Also: nice to see adverts for Marvel Now stuff that I have no interest in. Morbius the Living Vampire? I literally cannot wait to not buy that.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 6:54 am

Best First wrote:Pretty impressed with Marvel Now so far, way better than the New 52, but then Marvel generically poops over the DCU and they have not done a mad continuity bypass so that helps.

There's something that still bugs me about that mad continuity bypass. What little of the new 52 I've read, I've liked. Sales seem to be above what they were before the reboot. And my comic friends, at least at the start, were really into the new books. But if DC actually plans to make this permanant, why didn't they properly end previous continuity?

They had "Flashpoint" which was, at it's core, an event centered around the Flash. The Flash has a long history with DC, but he's not exactly one of the A-list. B-plus list, sure. But they had the entire DC universe rewritten in the last pages of a Flash mini-series. Decades of continuity, wiped away in the pages of a non company-wide crossover.

And that's not even my complaint. With the reboot happening, why didn't DC wrap up everything that'd been going on in the current continuity? All the little dangling threads could have been tied up over the course of six months to a year. "Endgame" type stories for the ENTIRE DC Universe catalog. Stories that could never have been told because of the need for future issues could be told. All bets would have been off. It's one thing to kill off Superman in issue 75, but by the time issue 77 rolls around, you know he's coming back. Same deal with villains. No matter how many times the Joker gets exploded out of a helicopter over the shark-infested ocean, and a mangled body is found...you know it won't be the last time. But if DC had announced at Comic-Con "We are ending everything and starting fresh. So we can finally tell the final stories in the existing DCU" I think it would have been a lot easier to swallow.

For what it's worth, I LIKE the idea of the New 52. The continuity backlog for a shared universe like the DCU does get really, really heavy after awhile. And I say that as a casual DC reader at best. Imagine if Bruce Wayne wrote his memoirs. Just think of some of the sentences you'd read.

"The first time I went back in time, I felt disoriented. But by the time I started travelling to possible futures, I was adequately prepared."

"For years, I have been Gotham's sworn protector. And though much of the city has been leveled dozens of times, I feel that I've done my best to do right by the city."

"After it became apparent that this was to become a regular thing, I began work on my anti-dinosaur defenses."

You know what? I'd read the **** out of Bruce Wayne autobiography!

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:15 am

I read Amazing Spider-Man 699 and it got the wheels in my addled, possibly swapped, brain going.

Was Spider-Man responsible for nearly everything terrible that's happened in the Marvel Universe since 1962?

Spidey was the first modern Marvel character to do the "costumed crimefighter" thing. The FF didn't wear costumes and "go out on patrol." The Hulk didn't even wear shoes. But Peter Parker put on his spandex every night and went out looking for trouble.

Which was, arguably, the right thing to do. He was 15. It's not like he could have just signed up for the police academy. Although, you might argue that demonstrating his amazing powers BEFORE he became a vigilante may have spared him the need for a secret identity later in life...

And it's not like he got bit by the spider and then said, "I'm going to fight crime as Spider-Man, now!" He created Spider-Man as a showbiz gimmick and then continued using it when he needed something to conceal his identity. But therein lies the rub.

Nobody knows that's what happened. Spider-Man was a celebrity for a few months and then a masked vigilante. Nobody knew how old he was, or the circumstances behind why he was now spending his evenings beating up purse snatchers. So, it really did look, to the rest of the world like he said "Hey! I have super powers! I'm going to put on a costume and beat the crap out of people!"

And a lot of people copied that idea. And by "a lot of people" I mean, "pretty much every super hero AND villain since 1963."

"Well, hey" they'd think, "that guy runs around in a spider costume and takes the law into his own hands! I've got powers! I guess I'll do the same thing!"

Spidey started the trend. Other superheroes had at least some reason behind thier colorful attires. Thor was an Asgardian God. The Hulk and Thing were hit by Gamma and Cosmic rays, respectively. Iron Man was stuck in an iron lung. Spider-Man started the "colorful costume for its own sake" trend.

But what about all those super villains that Spider-Man stopped? He stopped them over and over again, in most cases. And remember, back in the early days, those super villains were basically only out for a payday. One big score and you'd have never heard another peep from most of Spidey's enemy list again. They'd tell stories in later years. "I once robbed a bank with the help of an experimental flying suit I invented! Then I put that money into the stock market and have been well off ever since! Now, I hold the patents to dozens of world-changing inventions!"

When Spidey traded up from spandex, he wound up unleashing the Venom (and later Carnage) symbiote on the world. So, right there, are a few hundred corpses worth of blood on Pete's hands. And it's made all the worse by his refusal to kill. Dress up in a spandex costume and beat up criminals on patrol every night? Sure. That's the responsible thing to do. Kill the guy who has slaughtered a football stadium worth innocent people? No! That's morally wrong! What would Uncle Ben think?

Without Spider-Man, the Marvel Universe would have been a safer place. The FF would have dealt with Galactus. The Avengers would have taken care of Loki. And most of the colorful villains that have, over the last few decades, racked up a body count larger than New York's actual population, would have retired after their first score...which was usually federally insured money, anyway. As an added bonus, Gwen Stacy would still be alive, and probably raising healthy children with Norman Osborne.

Spidey, I love ya. For 20 years (and four months) I've read every issue of your main title and most of the supporting ones. But, dude, you really screwed the pooch when you decided that "great responsibility" meant "setting the worst example imaginable for an emerging super-powered population."

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Fri Dec 07, 2012 1:52 pm

The main problem with the New 52 is that, as accessible as it is for somebody like me, it doesn't solve the problem with DC continuity.

In a way, it just makes it even worse. Yeah, I can pick up any New 52 branded book and read it... but then what if I want to dig back into a character's backstory? Oh look, exactly the same problem there's always been, but now made worse because not even the people writing it are allowed to say what still counts and what doesn't.

As I was saying to my comic store manager a few weeks back - at least with Marvel, no matter how convoluted or ridiculous the continuity gets, you can still grab any one of their mainstream titles and know that it exists in the same continuity as anything else you pick up. It may be riddled with contradictions, but at least you know it's supposed to be in the same universe.

A universe-wide series of jumping-on points is a much cleaner and more sensible way of doing it than just rebooting everything with random continuity. Either wipe the slate clean or don't, you can't have it both ways. Marvel's slate is still there, it's just that there's a big red line drawn under the first 50 years that says "don't be afraid to start here... for everything."

On a different note, I've just started reading Invincible. 's alright, innit?

Ozz · Post by **Ozz** » Mon Dec 10, 2012 9:22 pm

Hi, guys. Is there anyone here who has no use for digital codes added to $3.99 Marvel books and would be willing to sell them?

bumblemusprime · Post by **bumblemusprime** » Mon Dec 10, 2012 10:52 pm

BREND.

Invincible is great. It's like every great superhero comic you ever read, only they do all the things you normally can't do in a superhero comic. Like a mustache.

Like his girlfriend gets fat.

And they punch out people's brains.

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:14 pm

Aye, I've done the first three volumes. Tons of fun. The issue introducing the Guardians of the Globe was fantastic.

Also: read Kick Ass last yesterday. Leaving aside the typical Mark Millar "oh my god I'm awesome what with my sly references to my own work" ********, and the general vibe that he regards comic readers with complete contempt, I quite enjoyed it.

The ending was different enough to the film to give me a massive expectations-subverted geekgasm. But I dare say if I'd read it before seeing the movie, my feelings would be different.

Professor Smooth · Post by **Professor Smooth** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:29 am

12/19, the day in which I criticize while trying not to complain about comic books.

Spider-Man's all I've got left as far as comic go. Yeah, there's Transformers, but I read because I'm a fan of the brand. And even then, I usually just wait for the trades. I was never that much of a DC guy, but I stopped following everything from DC after the start of the New 52. Gave a few of the New 52 a shot, but just wasn't feeling it. Heard good things. Interested in the current Joker arc in Batman, but not interested enough to cough up $4 for 20 pages of story every week or so.

Ultimatum kind of soured me on the Ultimate Universe. I read Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men from Day 1 (and selling those runs (in favor of the trades) really helped me out during college). But when they outright butchered so many characters in that series, I just couldn't keep up with it. Which is kind of strange, because carnage with consequences is something I've said feels absent from mainstream Marvel books. 616's New York gets trashed at least once a year, it seems. And the consequences are generally limited the deaths of a 2nd string character, and a one-issue epilogue of Tony and Steve promising that they'll rebuild. So seeing half the Ultimate Universe wiped out and things not getting back to the status quo, even years later was really surprising.

Then, they killed Peter Parker. And, yeah, I've whined about that before. Something to the effect of "I don't know who the audience for a comic book where a 16 year old kid gets shot in the chest and slowly bleeds out before dying on his front lawn is...but I'm not in that audience." But, as BF (I think) suggested, the way it happened had weight to it and brought a believable end to the character. And it did. He saved his loved ones. And lived up to his responsibility. And he was buried and mourned for being the hero that he was. And somebody else is now carrying on his legacy.

Spoilers are all over the internet for Amazing Spider-Man 700. And I'm going to discuss them. So, proceed with caution.

Spoiler.

Spoiler.

Spoiler.

I haven't read Amazing Spider-Man 700. But I will. I absolutely will. Because I freakin' love Spider-Man. And I don't think that Dan Slott has yet written a Spider-Man story that I didn't enjoy. And, yeah, I've been collecting and reading since 365, so it'd be a shame to quit one issue before the "end" of the series.

I have no doubt that the story will be well written. But, MAN, I do not like how the story ends. Peter Parker, alledgedly, gets the single worst death I could have imagined for the character. A death that not only comes at the hands of one of his enemies, but that remains unknown to his friends and family. He is beaten, utterly, by Doctor Octopus. There would not have been a more total victory for Octavious and a more complete defeat for Peter Parker. The ONLY saving grace, if spoilers are to be believed, is that Doc Oc swears to Peter, before he dies, to do right by him. That's it. That's all Peter has to take with him to his unknown final rest, the promise of the man who killed him.

Look, I get it. It's a mainstream Marvel book. And there's a built-in "escape clause" in the issue itself all-but guaranteeing that Peter will be back. Probably in time for Amazing Spider-Man 2. But, here's the thing. There's no way in hell I'm going to stick around for that. I haven't been able to make it through more than an odd issue or two of ANY comic book in years, outside of Spider-Man. That was, always, my anchor to comic books. I went to the comic shop to pick up Amazing Spider-Man...and whatever else caught my eye. And even THAT wavered after One More Day.

Ah, One More Day. That was like five years ago, wasn't it? A story where Peter Parker made a deal with the Devil to make his problems go away, re-wrote continuity, and turned Peter Parker into a character that I actively did not want to read about. And I didn't read about him for quite some time. Dan Slott brought me back after a few months to a year, but I just don't see that happening this time. There's no more Amazing Spider-Man. There's just Doctor Octopus running around in the body of the man that he killed. I don't want to read that. Although, I am curious about what will become of the supporting cast. Not curious enough to pay 4 bucks an issue to find out, though.

I hope this goes well for Marvel. I hope it brings in a lot of new readers. And I hope that they can build to the return of Peter Parker to way that I'm sure Dan Slott already has mapped out in his head. But I can't imagine it will. They can try all sales gimmicks they want to pad the numbers. Multi-layer incentive covers. Discount prices on re-orders that meet a certain level. Doubling orders at no additional cost. And that'll show up on Diamond as huge numbers shipped. But if nearly all of those issues wind up in quarter bins, it won't really do much for actual READERSHIP.

And here's the final kicker. Doc Ock in Peter's body? Not something I want to read about. But I'd have bought it. In Amazing Spider-Man 701. Or even Superior Spider-Man 701. I'd have bought and read that until one of my enemies switches bodies with ME. Because, again, I've been buying the book for 20 years. And another 8 bucks a month (assuming it stays bi-weekly) wouldn't get me to break the streak. But Doc Ock in Peter's body in an ALL NEW series? Hell, no. That's a REAL easy jumping-off poinat. But when the series becomes Amazing Spider-Man again in the future? Will I jump back on? Will many?

Hound · Post by **Hound** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:58 am

Spidey fans are so prissy

He'll be back in time so enjoy the ride! Dan Slott hasn't let anyone down with his Spidey stories yet.

Can't believe people are sending him death threats by the way. What sad little worlds they must live in.

Post by **Best First** » Wed Dec 19, 2012 11:05 am

Hound wrote:Spidey fans are so prissy

I'm still not reading after OMD.

Just read the latest issue of Wonder Woman though - shamazing.