The Marvel Thread

[lugaru]

lugaru, i'm also a big beast fan.i loved him as an avenger. i really like his friendship with wonderman and wish he'd go back to is blue ape look.my gripe with writers on him is despite his brains,brawn, and training over the years he was almost always( besides the vision) the first man taken down.*sigh* no beast love!

That made me laugh, although he gets taken out a bit in the rumble room too. Still I give him some rule bending powers (curing status effects and shorting enemy powers) to represent his science and that makes him quite helpful.

As for "cat beast" as people call him a lot these days it is strange... I like the character more than ever (he was never 1 dimensional but he is a bit more complex now) BUT some artists draw his new shape terribly. Too much room for interpretation or something. I do also like the fact that they are exploring his internal life a little, like using poetry to fight off mind control and the fact that he is reclaiming his sex life. It would be interesting if Agent Brand became an avenger too... hmm...

[lugaru]

On the updated lineup:

Magneto: a no brainer for me. Hope they can pin him down for a while without killing, cloning or neutralizing him. Also I would prefer if he stays a hero... I prefer him as a villain but I hate his constant change of sides. I would not mind if he becomes the new centrist "xavier" under Cykes philosophy of militant isolation as opposed to Xaviers Pacifism or Magnetos war on humanity.

Savage Shulk: I dont like her or most of the hulk spin off characters that came out of nowhere recently. I would not mind if Jen was on the team on the other hand. At lest this will keep this character busy.

Blade:           wait...           ... Ok... I would love to see him on a team Book but I hope they dont retconn him into a vampire Namor. "He is a daywalker therefore a mutant vampire".

[daglob]

I remember a comment once to the effect that some Marvel characters who were not X-Men had the mutant power to sell scores of comics just by appearing on the cover ...


... WAIT!...

I can see it now-they bring back Blade, Werewolf by Night, Monster of Frankenstein, The Zombie, and assorted old Atlas monsters re-define them as mutants-and they become the X-Monsters, combatting the newly discovered mutant menace that is Dracula...

... and I can't wait to see Xemnu in the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutant Monsters...

[Previsionary]

Blade won't be on the X-men. I'm pretty sure it's already been said that Blade and his GF/MI13 teammate Spitfire will be busy with their own undercover mission around the time the Avengers relaunch. In fact, it's been hinted at that a member of the MI13 will join, or at least appear in, one of the Avenger books. I'm thinking it'll be Dane and/or Excalibur.

Daglob, I know you were making a joke (going along with that extreme mentality) but... The X-men have already battled Dracula (he was just defeated recently by Blade and his crew), and he's already deeply intertwined with X-baddie Apocalypse... obviously Dracula should come back, bite Apocalypse, then begin a new movement for the survival of mutant/vampyric kind! Good idea, no?

Lugaru, vampire Namor? That... is a horrible thought.

Marhawk, yeah. but it doesn't make that giant hole in the plot any smaller, considering it tried to contact Bruce for reasons unknown and it was only made to "test" Red Shulk. I just can't imagine The Leader and Samson making something so complex and life-like that they'd let it "escape," beat up and/or kill some of their men, contact the enemy alerting them of trouble, and then allow it to be killed only to reveal as casually as possible to Red Shulk that it was a robot.

[lugaru]

Mmm... fan made one stolen from another forum, I loved this one:

[lugaru]

I can see it now-they bring back Blade, Werewolf by Night, Monster of Frankenstein, The Zombie, and assorted old Atlas monsters re-define them as mutants-and they become the X-Monsters, combatting the newly discovered mutant menace that is Dracula...

... and I can't wait to see Xemnu in the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutant Monsters...

The Punisher (FrankenCastle) is actually doing this, I'm not lying. All the characters you mention (+ Morbious) are back as a minority persecuted by callous fanatical monster hunters.

[Previsionary]

Mmm... fan made one stolen from another forum, I loved this one:

Heh, nice. You know, he's in Marvel Zombies 5 #1 this week. Has anyone read that yet? Is it good?

[AfghanAnt]

@Prev: They've done some absurdly "detailed" LMDs in the past.  Once Fury showed Wolvie and Storm LMDs of themselves that Wolverine couldn't tell were fake except by the way they acted.

@Zippo: Mimic IS a mutant.  A better example would be Carol Danvers.

@Pod: Blade? now things get really interesting.  The only connection I can think of off the top of my head comes from the 90s Spiderman.  In it one of Blade's enemies was a telekinetic mutant who became a vampire.

Mimic is not a mutant. He's a mutate.

The original Mimic as created by Stan Lee and Werner Roth was not a mutant, but received his powers after breathing in some gas during an explosion in his father's laboratory. Later X-Men writer Scott Lobdell claimed it merely awakened and enhanced Mimic's latent mutant powers, but this point is never made in the comics themselves and remains a point of discussion.

http://marvel.com/universe/Mimic_(Calvin_Rankin)

[Podmark]

Jeff Parker and Kev Walker discuss the new Tbolts team including concept art for the characters.

I kinda dig some of the concept art. It's hard to explain but some of them really appeal to me. The Cage and Juggernaut ones particularly. Also it's nice and rare to see a team set of concept art.

[murs47]

I read this earlier. I absolutely love the sketches. It's unlikely, but I hope Walker uses that style for the series. Also, that article has me super pumped for the series now.

[Zippo]

@Prev: They've done some absurdly "detailed" LMDs in the past.  Once Fury showed Wolvie and Storm LMDs of themselves that Wolverine couldn't tell were fake except by the way they acted.

@Zippo: Mimic IS a mutant.  A better example would be Carol Danvers.

@Pod: Blade? now things get really interesting.  The only connection I can think of off the top of my head comes from the 90s Spiderman.  In it one of Blade's enemies was a telekinetic mutant who became a vampire.

Mimic is not a mutant. He's a mutate.

The original Mimic as created by Stan Lee and Werner Roth was not a mutant, but received his powers after breathing in some gas during an explosion in his father's laboratory. Later X-Men writer Scott Lobdell claimed it merely awakened and enhanced Mimic's latent mutant powers, but this point is never made in the comics themselves and remains a point of discussion.

http://marvel.com/universe/Mimic_(Calvin_Rankin)

Thanks AA, I knew I wasn't just going crazy!


Edit: Also, Luke Cage's new design really reminds me of the Raikage from Naruto, if anyone is familiar.

Spoiler

[daglob]

I'm sorry, but that is hideous.

[lugaru]

I would have never expected thunderbolts to become an ongoing staple of the Marvel Universe, but it is consistently one of my favorite books. I like the idea of a team of criminals who Luke Cage can kick around if they get out of line, but Juggs is going to be a problem in that sense. Which is great, Juggernaut and Crossbones are two of my favorite villains (Juggs goes back and forth though).

[Podmark]

Edit: Also, Luke Cage's new design really reminds me of the Raikage from Naruto, if anyone is familiar.

Spoiler

lmao that's hilarious. I just barely see it though. Mostly the gauntlets.

[marhawkman]

@Prev: They've done some absurdly "detailed" LMDs in the past.  Once Fury showed Wolvie and Storm LMDs of themselves that Wolverine couldn't tell were fake except by the way they acted.

@Zippo: Mimic IS a mutant.  A better example would be Carol Danvers.

@Pod: Blade? now things get really interesting.  The only connection I can think of off the top of my head comes from the 90s Spiderman.  In it one of Blade's enemies was a telekinetic mutant who became a vampire.

Mimic is not a mutant. He's a mutate.

The original Mimic as created by Stan Lee and Werner Roth was not a mutant, but received his powers after breathing in some gas during an explosion in his father's laboratory. Later X-Men writer Scott Lobdell claimed it merely awakened and enhanced Mimic's latent mutant powers, but this point is never made in the comics themselves and remains a point of discussion.

http://marvel.com/universe/Mimic_(Calvin_Rankin)

That is a good point, but the current version of the character IS a mutant.  The page you linked states later on that Calvin lost his powers alongside the Mutant members of the brotherhood when the High Evolutionary decided to turn off the X-gene....

[AfghanAnt]

@Prev: They've done some absurdly "detailed" LMDs in the past.  Once Fury showed Wolvie and Storm LMDs of themselves that Wolverine couldn't tell were fake except by the way they acted.

@Zippo: Mimic IS a mutant.  A better example would be Carol Danvers.

@Pod: Blade? now things get really interesting.  The only connection I can think of off the top of my head comes from the 90s Spiderman.  In it one of Blade's enemies was a telekinetic mutant who became a vampire.

Mimic is not a mutant. He's a mutate.

The original Mimic as created by Stan Lee and Werner Roth was not a mutant, but received his powers after breathing in some gas during an explosion in his father's laboratory. Later X-Men writer Scott Lobdell claimed it merely awakened and enhanced Mimic's latent mutant powers, but this point is never made in the comics themselves and remains a point of discussion.

http://marvel.com/universe/Mimic_(Calvin_Rankin)

That is a good point, but the current version of the character IS a mutant.  The page you linked states later on that Calvin lost his powers alongside the Mutant members of the brotherhood when the High Evolutionary decided to turn off the X-gene....

Actually the only version of Mimic that is a mutant is the Exile version. When Highly Evolutionary turn-off the x-gene Mimic merely lost the powers of the original five X-Men. We were never told if he lost his mimicry powers. In fact, the only powers Dark X-Men Mimic has displayed are Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, and Iceman. He has not been shown using Telekinesis/Telepathy with the exception of his encounter with Nate Grey and we were told he tapped into Nate's powers. When Jean Grey died, Mimic's imprint on her ceased - I think this proves that when he lost his powers during the High Evolutionary storyline it was because the original X-Men lost their powers and not him.

The main reason I'm arguing his mutantness is I don't like the fact that he was retconned as a mutant when he original origin was fine. It's like they made him a mutant to make him cool when he was cool from the get-go.

Plus Cerebro never once detected him as a mutant and he's not listed on the 198 (which is the most current roster of the Marvel 616 mutants), therefore no x-gene.

[murs47]

*explodes*

He was a mutant, then they retconed that so he wasn't, then they retconed the retcon so that he's a mutant again?

*explodes moar*

[herodad1]

i cant see juggernaut on any team.he's indestructable.who's gonna give him a run for his money?he's better as a villian.i'd rather see someone like rhino on the line-up.

[lugaru]

I love Rhino, I would not mind seeing him or other classic spidey villains on the team. Honestly when a villain is "humble" enough (street thug with powers) they are not too hard to drop on a hero team. I did like Jugs on excalibur though, so I'm giving it a chance.

As for Mimic: wow that is convoluted. Still I really fell in love with the Exiles version of the character so I would love to see them use the 616 version more. You know... keep him in that nebulous Thunderbolts hero/villain area and write him well. Also it would be fun to watch him play with some other powers much like the Exiles version did, it was cool to watch him drift from one build to another over time.

[Previsionary]

Herodad, no chance you'll see Rhino on any team for awhile. He's a big ball of rage after what happened to him in his last Spidey appearance.

Anyway, two more avengers have been revealed:

Moonknight (See, Murs... I was right) and Valkryie:  http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.11916.they_are_secret_avengers

[murs47]

Still I really fell in love with the Exiles version of the character...

One of my all time favorites. I wish Marvel would pull a DC and bring him to the "regular" universe from his alternate universe.

Moonknight (See, Murs... I was right)

What was my guess? Spawn?

[AfghanAnt]

Oh god so I was right about Valkyrie being a Secret Avenger. I am actually not happy with this team so far. Sure people love Beast but he would be just as lovable as a X-Man. Too bad Friction seem to think on an island full of interesting mutants the only ones worthy of the spotlight are Cyke, Emma, Namor, Wolverine and the X-Clubers (it annoys me that he forces artists to draw like 50 random mutants in the background) and Carey is obsession with Rogue is finally losing me.

I hope after Second Coming the X-Men go back to some sort of status quo. I just find it odd that 75% of the people on Utopia have followed Xavier's dream for so many years decide to abandon it and push Charlie in the background so Cyclops and Magneto can fight over control as Emma and Namor flirt, Wolverine stab things, and Dr Nemesis says snarky to a New/Young X-Man.

Though I've been enjoying Astonishing X-Men recently because of Phil Jimenez gorgeous art. The story is not bad but Warren could do better. I do commend him for having his X-Men do something though.

[herodad1]

hey, what happened to RHINO?

[Previsionary]

hey, what happened to RHINO?

Spoiler

He went straight and got married. Rhino 2.0 kept trying to get him to crack, become Rhino 1.0 again, and fight him to see who was really worthy of the mantly. Rhino 1.0 refused and tried to go into hiding with Spidey's help, swearing off his bad behavior for good. Rhino 2.0 couldn't take no for an answer and killed Rhino 1.0's wife. Rhino 1.0 snapped, donned his costume, fought Rhino 2.0, and killed him. He also blamed everything that happened on Spider-man.

[Podmark]

Part of the Secret Avengers lineup has been revealed:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/04/14/that-secret-avengers-roster-in-full/

Notice Steve's new (horrible) costume and the presence of Nova. I hope that doesn't mean his title is over.
Also I don't know what to make of this team. It seems like a random mishmash of characters. What exactly will be secret about them?

[murs47]

I can see Steve, Beast, and War Machine hooking up to form the foundation of an Avengers team but the others seem so peculiar. Still, very much looking forward to this. Is Steve the new Fighting American?

[daglob]

"We got any leftover characters lying around that we could put in a comic and make some money off of?"


Then again, that sentiment is more or less what produced The Avengers in the first place...


...and Steve DOES look like The Fighting American. Are those sai's on his back?

[BlueBard]

Part of the Secret Avengers lineup has been revealed:
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/04/14/that-secret-avengers-roster-in-full/

Notice Steve's new (horrible) costume and the presence of Nova. I hope that doesn't mean his title is over.
Also I don't know what to make of this team. It seems like a random mishmash of characters. What exactly will be secret about them?

Yeah, I don't know how you're going to keep that bunch a secret.  War Machine and Nova aren't exactly stealthy, for one thing.  Except for Steve Rogers, the rest are immediately identifiable in costume and will be 'outed' the first time they're seen together by anyone.  Secret probably isn't secret identity or infiltration, since Hank McCoy can't easily conceal those beastly looks.

I'll admit to being curious about what the 'Secret' part is.

[murs47]

Yeah, I don't know how you're going to keep that bunch a secret.  War Machine and Nova aren't exactly stealthy, for one thing.  Except for Steve Rogers, the rest are immediately identifiable in costume and will be 'outed' the first time they're seen together by anyone.  Secret probably isn't secret identity or infiltration, since Hank McCoy can't easily conceal those beastly looks.

I'll admit to being curious about what the 'Secret' part is.

I'm wondering the same thing, 'cause being stealthy doesn't seem to be a sharing attribute these characters have. Perhaps there's a hidden threat the general public doesn't know about and they're trying to stop it. The only other book with "Secret" in its title has Nick Fury dealing with a long forgotten clandestine organization and a secretly re-forming HYDRA, both threats are unknown to anyone. That's my only guess about the direction of the book.

[BlueBard]

I'm wondering the same thing, 'cause being stealthy doesn't seem to be a sharing attribute these characters have. Perhaps there's a hidden threat the general public doesn't know about and they're trying to stop it. The only other book with "Secret" in its title has Nick Fury dealing with a long forgotten clandestine organization and a secretly re-forming HYDRA, both threats are unknown to anyone. That's my only guess about the direction of the book.

Could be that's the key right there... dealing with hidden threats.  Maybe even threats that the powers-that-be don't want to or can't admit even exist.

For example, if there are still Skrulls out there that haven't been revealed yet, this team might be the ones hunting them down.  Nobody would want to publicize the fact that there are still Skrulls operating after the Secret Invasion.  Ditto for rogue LMD's and such.

That said, this doesn't quite seem to be the right team to ferret out Skrulls (if that were the focus).  I can see Moon Knight doing infiltration.  I can see Hank McCoy on the electronic warfare front.  Both Nova and Cap have fought Skrulls before and would be familiar with them.  The choice of Valkyrie is the one that really mystifies me.