The Marvel Thread

[Vertex]

 Anybody who knows me... knows I'm a life long fan of this  character and now I'm very happy again!

Spoiler

I SEE NOVA!!!!

He's back from the abyss yet again... damn you Marvel for all these times you've depowered him or cast him from the universe altogether.

[Talavar]

Anybody who knows me... knows I'm a life long fan of this  character and now I'm very happy again!

Spoiler

I SEE NOVA!!!!

He's back from the abyss yet again... damn you Marvel for all these times you've depowered him or cast him from the universe altogether.

I too am super excited about the apparent return of...that character, except for one thing: he's apparently being written by Jeph Loeb.

[Previsionary]

The heck? I thought Jeph Loeb gave up comics to do the whole TV thing he's the head of. That was the reason he quit Hulk and his VERY, VERY late Ultimate X comic. I'm sure this would bother me more if I bought comics like I used to, but for now, he;s not my problem.

[Vertex]

  At this point I could care less who writes for him...

Just so long as after all is said and done... he's alive, has his powers and active for future story use for a change.

[Tomato]

K, so I'm making a team of avengers based on semi-modern looks (nothing to do with FR, it's for me personally) so I am trying, tentatively you understand, to find out what's occurring with the 616 Avengers. Now, I haven't really kept up with Marvel in a long while, and I haven't really read Avengers since... the end of Civil War? Yeah, I'm a lot behind. Granted, I've read a few scattered things here and there (I actually do need to catch up on YA, since I only read the first few issues of Children's Crusade) but there are certain things I'm trying to piece together right now, and google isn't nearly as big a help as it normally is.

I've got a couple dozen questions but, for right now, I'm gonna focus in on the Pym-clan. Most of these I've asked prem, but (as usual) he was of no real help.

-What's going on with Janet right now? I know that she's supposedly dead (which I expect will last juuust as long as it takes them to get the two of them in an Avengers movie) but I'm more wondering what's going on with her coming back? From what I've found ala google, her body was supposedly floating in some other dimension, and then they found out it wasn't her, or something. Can anyone clarify exactly what's going on with her?
-So I know Hank finally stopped mourning Janet long enough to realize that taking the Wasp identity was kinda creepy (you have enough identities dude, no point stealing other people's) and went back to Giant Man... has he changed since then? Trying to keep up with Pym's identities is like trying to understand why Joey Q. is allowed to run marvel the way he does (hint: it's not run very well).
-From what I've discerned from Google, Lang is apparently not dead anymore (which seems pointless to me... his replacements in O'Grady and Stature are far more interesting anyway), but I've not been able to find out anything concrete about him since. I did hear one rumor that he's becoming the new Yellowjacket, but it's unsubstantiated and I can't find any pictures of him in costume.
-O'Grady... W.T.F? He had a sweet, well designed, modern Ant-man costume... but all I can find now is this blah Hank-Pym throwback thing. He should fire his designer.

[Podmark]

-Janet is still dead. The body that Hank found in under space was Korvac's bride.

-Hank is still Giant-Man. He's the Headmaster of Avengers Academy (now located in the west coast), and it appears he'll be joining the Secret Avengers.

-Scott Lang is back currently in Children's Crusade due to time traveling shenanigans, but I wouldn't guarantee him staying that way. He hasn't made any appearances outside of that book yet. I like Scott so I'm very happy to see him back.

-Blame Ed Brubaker, he wanted O'Grady in the classic costume. O'Grady is still appearing but I'm not 100% sure which ones, he's been in upcoming images for Secret Avengers,  Defenders, and one of those post Fear Itself minis.

[Talavar]

Hank is in the only good Avengers ongoing, Avengers Academy, which I highly recommend.

[Previsionary]

Hank, Hawkeye, Captain Britain (<3), and Venom will soon join Secret Avengers, a book I've heard very little about since before Brubaker left it.

Vert, as I recall, you liked Hulk at one point while it was written by Jeph, right? Jeph is a writer that scares me just because he can write some very action-esque stuff... but it usually the WORST traits of an action comic. He did a lot of harm in the Hulk universe and it took a few years + Greg Pak/Jeff Parker/Fred Van Lente to actually clean all that up. I dunno if Nova can afford that considering all the space books are gone, and the #1 space writer team is doing Earth stuff.

[Talavar]

Actually, I read a couple of issues of Secret Avengers recently; Warren Ellis has been writing one & done issues for a little while apparently, and the two I read weren't bad.  Do the new team members come with a new creative staff?  Or is Warren Ellis continuing?

And yes, Jeph Loeb's work on the Hulk was terrible.  Nova can't take that kind of abuse.  What are Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers of Nova's last series, which was great - along with most of Marvel's recent cosmic stuff) working on now anyway?

[Previsionary]

Actually, I read a couple of issues of Secret Avengers recently; Warren Ellis has been writing one & done issues for a little while apparently, and the two I read weren't bad.  Do the new team members come with a new creative staff?  Or is Warren Ellis continuing?

And yes, Jeph Loeb's work on the Hulk was terrible.  Nova can't take that kind of abuse.  What are Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (writers of Nova's last series, which was great - along with most of Marvel's recent cosmic stuff) working on now anyway?

1. Correct, Warren Ellis is writing SA now. I knew about him and his plans before Brubaker was done with his run because Marvel advertised that realllly early. Rick Remender is taking over with issue 21, and Captain Britain will be the catalyst for the story, and it (and Captain Britain) will share a storyline with Uncanny X-force. It's the only reason I'll be picking up a few issues. Gabriel Hardman will do art, and I don't think I've been exposed to him yet.

2. I believe they're still in the X-universe doing New Mutant stuff. Haven't read that book in ages, so I have no idea what's going on with them.

[Previsionary]

It's that time again. Marvel is hyping it's next, 12 part event:

Avengers vs. X-men

Seems the book may be following the Messiah Complex model this time around,

[Tomato]

... Just when I was starting to have hope for Marvel again... ugh.

[Podmark]

I'm cautiously excited about this. But I'm always interested in X-Related stuff.
12 issues is loooong though, I hope it's more than monthly.

[Talavar]

And in other news, Bendis is apparently leaving the Avengers books sometime in 2012!  Can I hear a hallelujah?

[murs47]

And in other news, Bendis is apparently leaving the Avengers books sometime in 2012!  Can I hear a hallelujah?

Hallelujah! I love some of his other stuff but Avengers has been really BLAH post Secret Invasion.

[Previsionary]

And in other news, Bendis is apparently leaving the Avengers books sometime in 2012!  Can I hear a hallelujah?

Hallelujah! I love some of his other stuff but Avengers has been really BLAH post Secret Invasion.

It wasn't much better before Secret Invasion either. It's interesting that he's used pretty much the same characters his whole run.

Article for those that care: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=35772

[detourne_me]

End of that article when bend is says he's been on the avengers longer than any other writer....kinda hard to believe, but I guess it's true. It will be neat to see who steps in for him.
I wouldn't mind seeing pak/van Lente or DnA take it up.theyre both teams that are good with a variety of voices for an ensemble cast. I guess Hickman could do it, but I'd prefer to see two monthly ff titles from him. And keep slott on spidey!
Who else is in the marvel bullpen these days that could handle it?  I couldn't imagine Aaron or Remender matching their styles to a flagship book like that.... Maybe Brubaker?

[Previsionary]

Brubaker needs to remain away from team books because it's not his strong point at all (recall X-men and Secret Avengers, their story lines, their build ups, and how said story lines typically focused on ONE or TWO characters while the others played background support). Jason Aaron actually COULD handle an Avenger book, as he's used the New Avenger team quite a bit in his Wolverine series, and the characters came out fine and, for the most part, fun.

It's hard to say who else could handle those books because Marvel only really promotes 5-6 writers while their other writers get no real focus or public support as compared to their "pillars of Marvel." I have a feeling that if Slott is up to it again, he may get a book back, and the other books will go to other members of "the pillar," the teams will get more diverse, and perhaps long forgotten members will reappear. They might tap into Jeff Parker, Christos Gage, and/or Jim McCann as well. If Paul Cornell were still around for Marvel to use, I think he'd make a nice "side" Avengers writer considering how well he wrote CB&MI:13.

[murs47]

Remender would be an excellent choice for an Avenger's book. I didn't warm up to him until the second X-Force arc, but by golly, the man can write a team book. Yost & Kyle back together again for an Avengers book could be awesome as well.

[Podmark]

Remender will be writing Secret Avengers soon.

I doubt it will be Slott, he can just barely do two books a month and I don't see him leaving Spidey anytime soon.

[The Hitman]

Hey, anyone else think that the polybagging of this week's Uncanny X-Force (#18) was a bit overkill? There wasn't really anything that happened that would make it a "collector's item."

Also, as a shameless self-promotion, I wrote a bit about some of this week's comics here.

[Podmark]

Polybagging is just Marvel's latest gimmick to get people interested. It's less about collectors items and more about getting attention. They've done it tons of times and only a few books were actually worth it, and those ones were spoiled in the news.

I really enjoyed Uncanny X-Force though. Genesis in particular caught my interest.

[The Hitman]

Yeah, Genesis was probably my favorite part of the issue. The idea of

Spoiler

a teenage Apocalypse with a semi-Superman upbringing and Rouge-like southern accent

makes me giddy. I hope they keep him around.

I also enjoyed the art shift for the 3 pages that take place in Angel's mind.

[Previsionary]

Guuuuuys, I'm kinda excited about these new "Season 1" books, specifically the Dr. Strange and Hulk ones.

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/12/16/doctor-strange-season-one-greg-pak-emma-rios-exclusiv/

[murs47]

I must say, Marvel gave me an awesome early Christmas gift with the latest issues of FF, X-Force, and Ultimate Spidey. Well done, Marvel. Well. Done.

I'm looking forward to how Genesis will develop in time. Hopefully it isn't rushed.

Plus:

Spoiler

AoA Nightcrawler joining X-Force = awesome!

[detourne_me]

don't forget to include Wolverine and the X-Men and Amazing Spider-man in that list

[Previsionary]

I must say, Marvel gave me an awesome early Christmas gift with the latest issues of FF, X-Force, and Ultimate Spidey. Well done, Marvel. Well. Done.

I'm looking forward to how Genesis will develop in time. Hopefully it isn't rushed.

Plus:

Spoiler

AoA Nightcrawler joining X-Force = awesome!

I don't remember a lot about that character, but I'm glad a version of him is back in action (or several versions of him). I wonder how the other x-men will react to his presence.

In other news, reports are going around that Marvel supports SOPA (stop online privacy act). That's very disheartening for me to hear.

[Talavar]

In other news, reports are going around that Marvel supports SOPA (stop online privacy act). That's very disheartening for me to hear.

I believe that's true, and while disheartening, it doesn't surprise me.  Marvel is, and is owned by, a movie company now, and the major impetus for SOPA has come from the Motion Picture Association of America's lobbyists and government toadies.

[Podmark]

Wolverine and the X-Men #4 came out yesterday and I wanted to say that I'm loving this book. It's just so much fun. This issue added Angel and Genesis to the class.
Christos Gage's run on X-Men Legacy also started this week, I really enjoyed that as well. It feels very similar to where Carey left off and I like that. Also Cannonball got a cool new costume.
Scarlet Spider also started this week. I quite liked it and Chris Yost has a solid handle on Kaine.

So good comic week for me.

[AfghanAnt]

Wolverine and the X-Men #4 came out yesterday and I wanted to say that I'm loving this book. It's just so much fun. This issue added Angel and Genesis to the class.
Christos Gage's run on X-Men Legacy also started this week, I really enjoyed that as well. It feels very similar to where Carey left off and I like that. Also Cannonball got a cool new costume.
Scarlet Spider also started this week. I quite liked it and Chris Yost has a solid handle on Kaine.

So good comic week for me.

Wolvie and the X-Men is my favorite comic of the moment and I really hope the artist from issue 4 stays on. It's very Art Adams and I admired his work so much growing up.

Legacy was just ok for me. It's funny how I use to hate the X-books and I've been drawn in again.

Scarlet Spider = Dexter with Spider-Powers and I love it.