The Marvel Thread

[Tomato]

I know pod and I are... Well, I'm reading it as often as I do anything anymore, but it's a solid series. It's a bit on the weird side, but it's got some good character writing and I adore the fact that some of the more obscure characters are getting some love.

[Podmark]

Yea as Tomato says I also read Uncanny Avengers. One of my favorite (although I have a number of favorites these days. Pretty happy with Marvel's output lately). The one thing I'll say about Uncanny Avengers is you get a lot more out of it if you've read writer Rick Remender's other books in particular Uncanny X-Force - it's basically a straight sequel series. Actually the Apocalypse Twins storyline was planned as part of X-Force. Actually I might even say Remender is my favorite writer of the past couple years.

About the last issue:

Spoiler

The reason I haven't really talked about it is I don't see it sticking. With Kang and the Twins, and the upcoming Planet X storyline there's so much time travel going on I don't see any of it sticking.

On other Marvel news the new solicitations came out today and I guess I was grieving for Wolverine and the X-Men too soon. It's being relaunched with a new writer. I'll check it out but I can't see it match Aaron's quality.
Also there's a new Magneto ongoing starting up. The one thing I keep thinking is "about time." It surprises me that this is the first chance he's had at his own series, he's one character I could see really taking off in a solo book. But it's written by Cullen Bunn so maybe not. The most notable thing about it is that supposedly Magneto will be breaking from the X-Men. I'm dubious on that, I don't see Bendis letting go of Magneto. It's probably just for the solo series, while he still appears in Uncanny.

[AfghanAnt]

Marvel has a LOT of time travel going on.

[laughing paradox]

Just read the preview for Silver Surfer, with art by Mike and Laura Allred, and I am already loving it.

Silver Surfer and Allred are such a perfect fit, it's crazy how it hasn't happened before.

The artwork in Black Widow #1, by Phil Noto, is beautiful.

Not sure how I feel about All-New X-Factor yet. The costumes are kind of hideous to me.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man definitely has a Hawkeye vibe going on, which I love. Those books are aces in my.. book.

[Talavar]

Yes, Superior Foes of Spider-man is an awesome book.

[Podmark]

Yes, Superior Foes of Spider-man is an awesome book.

Agreed 

Also in other news it appears Marvel is bringing back Amazing Spider-Man in April. Slott will still be writing with Ramos again on art.
Also Doop is getting an ongoing 

[AfghanAnt]

Yes, Superior Foes of Spider-man is an awesome book.

Agreed 

Also in other news it appears Marvel is bringing back Amazing Spider-Man in April. Slott will still be writing with Ramos again on art.
Also Doop is getting an ongoing 

Looking forward to David Lafuente's art.

[Podmark]

More noteworthy Marvel news today. It appears that the Ultimate Universe will survive the Cataclysmic with three new titles: Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man (Still by Bendis and Marquez), Ultimate FF (starring Sue, Iron Man, Machine Man and Falcon), and All-New Ultimates (starring Miles and his teen hero friends).

It was widely expected that the Ultimate Universe was finally going to end but I guess Marvel decided to try and reinvigorate it again, this time firmly centered around Miles. Probably a good choice. I still haven't read the new Ultimate Spider-Man stuff, I know there's a lot of fans of Miles, I'll have to pick up a trade one day.

[bat1987]

I still haven't read the new Ultimate Spider-Man stuff, I know there's a lot of fans of Miles, I'll have to pick up a trade one day.

Def do that, I love the book and Miles is an awesome character!
As for Peter coming back ofc it was expected, but SSM was such a rollercoaster ride with cliffhangers, status quo changes, overarching plot, sure gonna miss it. Glad to see Pete back, but Ock was so much fun.

[murs47]

Miles Morales is everything good about comics.

[AfghanAnt]

Miles Morales is everything good about comics.

This.

[SickAlice]

* weeps in the corner over Fearless Defenders cancellation *

[Podmark]

Marvel just announced a Spider-Man story coming in November called Spider-Verse where Spidey (Peter back in the driver's seat) teams up with all his alternate and historical spider brethren.
http://www.newsarama.com/20655-dan-slott-teams-1000-s-of-spider-men-vs-morlun-in-spider-verse.html

Sounds like fun. I'm especially looking forward to seeing Spider-Girl again, but I'm not expecting a big role (unless she gets a tie in mini (by Defalco)).

[bat1987]

Sounds like fun! I really like Slott's work on Spidey as you can really see the love for the character.
And wow they're bringing Morlun back? Haven't seen him in a while, I wasn't a fan of "The Other" story though. We'll see how this goes.

[Podmark]

Well some Spider-Man spoilers of note:

Spoiler

Peter is officially back.
With the Goblin King and his armies rampaging through the city, the Superior Spider-Man pretty much failing at every turn, with Ock's girlfriend in mortal danger he decides to turn to the only hope, the true Spider-Man. Ock essentially commits suicide by erasing himself from Peter's mind so that Peter will have no distractions against the Goblin King.
This played out similar to how I was expecting the series to end from the beginning. Ock admits that Peter is the better hero and lets him come back. I enjoyed Superior, it was interesting seeing how Ock attempted to be a hero through essentially villainous means. Still, it had it's run and it's good to see Peter back, should be interesting to see how he deals with the mess Ock made of his life. And I can't wait to see who the Goblin King really is.


Anyway the point is Peter Parker is back. Just in time for the new movie.

[JeyNyce]

While I do love Superior Spider-man, I do believe that the ending was rushed:

Spoiler

If Doc Ock could just bring Peter just like that, then that means he knew that he didn't complete wiped Peter from his mind.  Also Doc Ock mind must be backed up somewhere like what Tony did with his, so I expect to see Doc Ock again sometime in the future.

[President Raygun]

I'm pretty sure I read a Slott interview where he said it was ending a lot sooner than was planned:

Spoiler

That being said I never understood some of the vitriol for this book from certain segments of fandom. It's as if they actually believed they weren't going to bring Pete back. Frankly I think Marvel learned their lesson with the clone saga, as they were willing to literally dust Ben Reilly just to make sure we knew who the real one was. And honestly I'm feeling as uncomfortable with this as I would if Ben had lived, like who's to say that really is Pete and not a construct of Ock's mind, created by his own guilt and insecurities.After all he had access to all Pete's memories, he was even able to delete them.Definitely gonna need Doc Strange to give the okay on this one 

[Tomato]

Honestly, a part of that goes all the way back to "One More Day"... A good chunk of Spiderman fans, like myself have refused to read a single Spiderman book since that book occurred. It is such a betrayal of everything the character stands for, specifically concerning the book's own mantra about responsibility, that it has tainted everything that has come after it. For fans like me, and even for those who are sticking with the books in spite of their negative feelings towards OMD, for marvel to turn around just a few years later and "kill" the character to replace him with Doc Ock... Yeah, there's going to be more resentment than there would have been had it been just another Spiderman story.

[President Raygun]

Honestly, a part of that goes all the way back to "One More Day"... A good chunk of Spiderman fans, like myself have refused to read a single Spiderman book since that book occurred. It is such a betrayal of everything the character stands for, specifically concerning the book's own mantra about responsibility, that it has tainted everything that has come after it. For fans like me, and even for those who are sticking with the books in spite of their negative feelings towards OMD, for marvel to turn around just a few years later and "kill" the character to replace him with Doc Ock... Yeah, there's going to be more resentment than there would have been had it been just another Spiderman story.

I see your point, I guess since I missed the whole "OMD" (Orchestral Manuevers?) storyline, I wasn't seeing that aspect of it, but I totally agree with you, because I completely hated the clone saga (though I loved Ben).
I've just been enjoying Slott's run so much (it's really brought me back the book after a long time off), that I can't see people having such problem with it. It's probably some editors fault 

[SickAlice]

Not really about the comics exactly, but the thought has been rattling around in my head lately that I really would like to see their animation division start kicking up some prolific work soon. With Wacker now joining at least Buckly, Loeb and Timm of all people it's hard to understand why that end of their affairs is still trailing a bit, or at the least isn't up to snub with the level of animation work they were doing in the 90's. Anyone else feeling that?

Love Slott's SPM stuff BTW. I agree the end did feel rushed as well, then again much of what's happened in Spider-man's universe over the years hasn't been very organic. Hey at least Dan  candidly did the fans a solid and blipped out the results of OMD/OMIT, I remember it was brief but definitely there. I take it he wasn't a fan of that move either. Personally I didn't care that much that they did it (OMD) as much as they didn't really bear any tangible fruit from it. If your going to introduce a plot point, especially one that creates a huge upheaval in the already flowing fictional world then it should pan out as drastically rather than being more of a backdrop status quo. I can't say I loathed the series at any point though personally. Okay O.M.I.T. was way too convoluted to get a shred of enjoyment out of, I'll give on that one.

[BlueBard]

Honestly, a part of that goes all the way back to "One More Day"... A good chunk of Spiderman fans, like myself have refused to read a single Spiderman book since that book occurred. It is such a betrayal of everything the character stands for, specifically concerning the book's own mantra about responsibility, that it has tainted everything that has come after it. For fans like me, and even for those who are sticking with the books in spite of their negative feelings towards OMD, for marvel to turn around just a few years later and "kill" the character to replace him with Doc Ock... Yeah, there's going to be more resentment than there would have been had it been just another Spiderman story.

For me, the Spider-Man comics jumped the shark a long time ago.  Between Marvel's mishandling of the character and Sony's mishandling of the character, I've lost a lot of attachment to the whole Spider-Man franchise.  Space and time does not permit me to list all of the awful decisions made over the years.

The only thing holding my interest in the character right now is the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon on Netflix.  If they screw that up...

[Tomato]

I've watched enough Ultimate Spiderman to know that it isn't a show I have any real interest in. It's obviously trying to reach a much younger audience (with the anime-esque elements and the over the top humor), but the animation style doesn't appeal to that age range as much as Spectacular Spiderman did.

As for Sony's treatment of the films... While I think Amazing Spiderman was a bit mediocre, the really stupid ideas were wisely excised (by Sony) and there's very little wrong with the movie itself. The only real problem most fans have with it is "wah, they rebooted it" and that is NOT a solid reason to bash a film. ASM laid the groundwork for building a proper movieverse out of Spiderman, and I'm genuinely excited for what they're doing... I'm also terrified that they're trying to do too much too quickly and it's going to blow up in their faces, but that hinges on how well ASM2 balances the elements it's introducing.

[SickAlice]

I haven't seen the sequel to weigh in (I live in the sticks = what is this reality of which you speak?) proper, but ASM was executed correctly just as a movie in and of itself, and always as dedicated comic book enthusiasts are concern over difference in idiosyncrasies is a spec factor considering the very small percent of the movie going group we actually represent (or society in general for that matter, exactly 0% percent of the people I know understand what I mean when I say Constantine comic book) to how a film stacks up in quality of the whole. But I can't say it's all dismissible either. Now granted one could say that there wouldn't be a sequel even if the first ASM sucked, I've heard this before, but one could argue that any company that gets to make movies based on Marvel characters has a legal responsibility to produce a film in due time with a cap to the draw lest they find themselves under the gavel (look up Marvel's movie contract sometime if you haven't, they are pretty cut throat though the results of their actual lawsuits say enough as well, like Fox for example). But as far as that fan complaint, which is floating around for certain, there is another angle you realize and one even non-fans see of just the film series overall. Which is, and again this is just my knowledge with the first film, that it's clear that many of the differences in the ASM from the SM series are blatantly present solely for re-branding the franchise and creating that very difference and not because they need to be there artistically or the story necessitates it. Understandably, making money is there job, at the end of the day sole responsibility is fiscal and to the investors and shareholders. That's just real life and I wouldn't fault them on intent for that. But still that sort of came/comes off as a cheap move to those seeing it and stutters the overall quality of the film and enjoyment of the experience. Like I said I like the film myself, I even seem to be a part of a very small group that actually prefers Andrew as Peter but I'm also not unable to look away from the clear amount of commercialism glazing the film. Again, maybe when I finally get to see the second there will be less of that, or it least won't be as blaring. So to sum that up, the delivery is correct and they clearly know what they're doing, and the film isn't idiotic, but I can't see complaints about the production as exactly invalid either. A way to explain it was the Coka ad in Superman The Movie. Many movies have ad placements, that's just to be expected. But that one has been pointed out because it points itself out. Despite the efforts to work the ad into the film it still stands out on it's own and works to break down the suspension of disbelief a movie is supposed to adhere to. ASM has that same presence but in its case the ad is for itself, by which I mean the movie is filtered as partial ad for the ASM franchise. It's overlapped but apparent and distracting.

Yeah, I wasn't feeling USM either and I actually love overly corny and/or sugary cartoons. Like I said with the stable they have now Marvel should be putting out a better level of animation, especially since they showed better previously. Then again they Arad which if anything I've read about the man is he was a workaholic the likes of Henson and Winston and his absence may be showing.

[bat1987]

I liked the SSM ending for the most part. But I do agree that some things felt a bit rushed.

Spoiler

Otto reviving Peter just like that for example felt weird, though like Pod said, it plays pretty much exactly how you'd expect it. Otto admits Peter is superior and that only he can do this etc. I did like how everyone recognizes that Peter is back, including Norman. The bits with Anna Maria were touching. End of an era I guess, happy that Pete is back, but Spock was so much fun.

[JeyNyce]

I just hope they keep Anna Maria in the series.  She was one of my favorite characters in SSM

[SickAlice]

Agreed on both. At least they had the honesty to come out say it they did it because of the new films release as well and not try and sugar coat under some oddball creative vision statement. I was bit of a Ren & Stimpy Show fanatic (seriously Spidey fans, find the Spider-man Vs. PTM issue and read it if you haven't) so I'm maybe more in Slott's defense than one should be half the time. I like Anne Marie. I had the passing thought what if they have her

Spoiler

become the new Doctor Octopus? It seems like the kind of thing they would pull in a Spider-man book. She's a doctor, she was in love with Otto for her motive, ect. That or she actually revives him somehow.

[SickAlice]

What are anyone's calculations on the Original Sin event now that the #0 issue is out and the event laid out at C2E2?

I read #0. Just for the story it reads " okay " imo. I found it like a smash-up of a Watcher story and an issue of the NOW! Nova series. I have a lot of love for Uatu so I generally accepted what I was reading. As for the events concept I'm having a time pinning down any kind of feelings nor expectations, despite how straight fore ward the idea itself it. I can estimate a lot of backlash over the notion that parts of old history are being embellished, as is usually the case and I'm foreseeing the most of it in regards to the announced tampering of Spider-mans origin, literally to the first appearance. Most readers don't tend to take that lightly, as a few opinions in this thread already attest to. I made a personal observation that even though early to tell, it seems as if Marvel disregarded The Thousand, a character weaved into Peter's origin in the series Webspinners. I can't say I feel a great deal of excitement over what's previewed though I'm minding I may be surprised.  I am glad they're choosing to address issues with the Illuminati that I think were on the back burner too long as it was.

[Podmark]

I'm not that interested in Original Sin, but I could see it making a decent read later on as a collection.

I'm weary of all the revelations they're planning for this. I'm sure some will make for interesting stories but just seems like a lot of mucking up things retcons.

Interestingly from the teases so far I'm completely on board with the Spider-Man one. Having another character be bitten by the Spider shouldn't really muck with Peter's history, just add a new character (Silk) to play with. I'm looking forward to it (for now at least).
As for the Thousand, he could still fit since he ate the spider after it bite Peter (and later Silk). But very few people remember him anyway.

[SickAlice]

Personally I don't see it as something that will change his history (guessing for now though), probably more like The Thousand (happy I'm not the only person who read that nightmare fuel of an arc then) where it's something else that was happening " over there " out of frame. I'm okay here but I don't tend to get to heated about what happens with comics. But I can see much of the community getting fired up (hopefully not to the point of threats, I'm tired of seeing this type of attitude displayed by our fellow enthusiasts), in fact I won't doubt a bunch of furious blogs and such will crop up very soon and well before the comics release (same for the Thor/Loki revelation). Myself I just can't get stoked for it short of " moar comics ". Not the Silk character either. I'm apprehensive right out the gate about becoming attached to new Marvel characters, especially female ones as the House Of Ideas has a habit of sweeping them under the rug after awhile (did anyone hear an Echo in here?...get it? ). I am a bit more interested in the Spider cross-over featuring all sorts of spiders, according to the same news every Spider-Woman would be showing up, which itself though makes tossing another female Spider into the mix sort of redundant. Why not work with any of the existing ones which the space instead? Or reignite either MJ's or Carlie's spider virus powers? Or make the secret that May Parker is still alive, it's what fans are really clamoring for anyways. Just seems meh. REAL excited about 2099 though, especially after seeing whose writing. Speaking of Spider-man I raised an eyebrow at this partially vague bit of info:

Will Peter incorporate any of Doc Ock's costume modifications into his own suit?  They said not for now as Peter will have a lot of things to catch up on from being away, but they teased an image hinting someone else might be wearing that suit.

Hmmm....

and this bit for the prior conversation here:

"We are nowhere near done seeing Anna-Maria. You will see her in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man #1, and she's not going anywhere. There's a very uncomfortable conversation coming up between Peter and her," Lowe said. "There are amazing plans for her as a character, too," he promised a fan of hers.

Yay! Else like I said not bumming, nor am I icking at it right out the gate, but it's not something I got amped about. I have enough other books I'm on the edge of my seat about anyways, Aphrodite IX, Cyberforce and Turtles being my tops (*spins head about looking for Top Cow thread*) so my joy from comics remains intact. Still excited about Marvel otherwise. The Wolverine announcement is intriguing, really a story they should have attempted some time ago.

* edit: in regards to what I said about fanrage, nvmd. Hopped about the comic sites, see fires lighting everywhere. Especially in regards to Angela. Oh well, as I've said before I guess everyone just shows their passion for things in different ways.

[bat1987]

So if anyone missed it, Marvel is killing of Wolverine in september. According to Charles Soule, the tittle (Death of Wolverine) is not figurative, Logan is really dying at the end of the arc.
Interesting article here
http://www.newsarama.com/20986-c2e2-2014-yes-wolverine-is-really-dying-soule-promises.html

I like the premise of Wolverine's foes coming after him because he doesn't have his healing factor anymore, and him having to adapt his fighting style since he needs to be more careful now.

My main problem is that the whole death and rebirth thing has been done way too many times before (by both Marvel and DC). You get a sales boost for the issues in which the character dies and for the brand new #1 when he comes back. It's getting really hard to care for things like these, aside from the fact that you won't be reading about your favorite character for a year or two when he inevitably comes back.

Still like I said, its an interesting premise for Wolverine, and I hope it ends up being a fun story, eventhough its only a matter of time before they bring him back.