Posts tagged ‘The Avengers’
May 3, 2012
ekko1
AVENGER OF THE DAY: Hawkeye!
The first in a series of tributes to each of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes because…Well, you know. Today: Hawkeye!
Hit the break!
MARVEL COMICS NEWS OF THE WEEK
Headlines and bullets on what’s up in the Marvel Universe! Hit the break for news about the newly announced 2014 Marvel Studios movie; and more!
(Go here for indie comics news of the week and here for DC comics news of the week.)
Read more…
WHAT IF MARVEL PILLAGED “WHAT IF?” FOR “REAL” STORYLINES?
Just about every comic book fan remembers the “What If?” title, hosted by the Watcher, fondly. The stories told fanciful, possible, alternative outcomes to classic Marvel storylines. (But be warned: If you actually go back and re-read your yellowing-newsprint copies, you’ll probably wonder why you saved them in the first place.) I recently uncovered a box of old Volume 1 issues and realized…Many (most?) have actually come true!
Over the course of three volumes, Uatu revealed a little over 200 alternate realities…And many came true. Hit the break for more!
COMIC BOOK NEWS AND HILARITY
They have totally changed the opening to the Walking Dead.
Now, hit the break for lots more foolishness, including the latest on the “real” Batman movie, the status of the Deadpool flick, Green Arrow’s TV show, new Garth Ennis work, and the latest on The Walking Dead.
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WALT SIMONSON TAKES ON THE AVENGERS…And other news.
As artist only, the writer/artist who created Frog Thor and Beta Ray Bill will be the new regular artist for the Brian Michael Bendis written Avengers book, beginning with issue #25. Of course, with Bendis promising to leave The Avengers this year, could it be Walt is prepping for a larger role? One can only hope, as Simonson’s imagination has led to some brilliant work in the past, such as:
· The afore-mentioned creation of Beta Ray Bill and Frog Thor, and a long run on Thor that split Don Blake and Thor for the first time, brought Ragnarok, and introduced Asgardian warriors to the wonders of automatic weapons.
· With his wife, an X-Factor run that introduced Cable and Mr. Sinister.
· The artwork on X-Men/Teen Titans, the greatest Marvel-DC crossover ever.
· A tremendous run on The Fantastic Four that replaced the foursome with Ghost Rider, Hulk, Spidey and Wolverine.
· Award winning issues of Detective Comics, during the 1974 event “The Manhunter Saga.”
For more on the world of comics, including the rundown on new and cancelled DC titles, hit the break….
MY TOP 10 WISHES FOR MARVEL COMICS IN 2012
The top 10 things Marvel oughtta consider for 2012. Look back for my suggestions for DC and indies.
10. Make Marvel Digital iPad compatible. This is a no brainer.
9. Collect the Micronauts. Whatever the legal bullshit may be, do what it takes. And donate a huge chunk of it to Bill Mantlo’s medical fund while you’re at it.
9. More animated movies! Your Avengers Next, the Ultimate Avengers DVDs, X-Men Anime, and Planet Hulk proved you can do it right. So keep it up!
8. You should be having less, not more, Avengers books. I know they sell, but the quality is slipping, guys. I have hopes for Rick Remender on Secret Avengers—if that’s good, maybe you’ll change my mind.
7. Except for Black Avengers. Or were you kidding about that?
6. The Ultimate universe books are scattered, unfocused, and mostly kind of suck. Fix that, please.
5. Instead of cancelling DeadpoolMAX, grow it! If this book doesn’t have legs, then make it a bimonthly double size book with other satirical takes on heroes. You could have the X-Statix crew or Madrox, or include NEXTWAVE or even Irving Forbush! It could be an opportunity for stories like Matt Fraction’s brilliant Punisher tale about the funeral for Stilt Man. How about featuring some of the odder Morrison characters 
from New X-Men (like the see-through guy, the floating head, and Beak)? Even a look back a the old Power Man and Iron Fist rogues gallery, who were largely inane but terrific fun to read (Chemistro!). This is a book that could, can, and should reward nerds—we’ll buy it, I promise.
4. But cancel the “regular” Deadpool. When the horse is dead, it is prudent to dismount. Put the book on hold for a while and then bring it back when/if the movie gets made.
3. Contain the X-Verse, at least a little bit. It’s all over the place. New readers can’t jump in. You need a new “Astonishing” title, like the one Joss Whedon did, which rewards long-time readers but doesn’t alienate those of us who don’t have enough resources (or patience) to read 7 mutant monthlies.
3 (tie). And while you’re at it, leave some money on the table. Yes, you can probably sell a million X-books or cross-overs with the “events” you hold, but your fans are irritated with you for holding us hostage.
2. Break the Omnibi! I loved the Byrne and Simonson Omnibus editions you released in 2011, but they’re just too damn big. For the same price, you could easily print three softcovers and sell them as a set (maybe in a nice bookshelf hardcover sleeve, like they do for DVD sets). It would prevent breaking the binding. Of course, reading an Omnibus is sometimes my only form of exercise, so I can’t complain that much…
1. No more events. Schism was good, but it really wasn’t an “event,” it was just a good, fairly self-contained X-men story. Fear Itself, on the other hand, really, really, really sucked.
1 (tie). And since you’re going to ignore that last one, make events matter. There really was no fall out after Fear Itself. Bucky Cap and Thor died, but then came back just .1 and .3 issues later. And nobody thought they’d really died anyway. Ho hum.
…AND SPEAKING OF COMIC BOOK NEWS…
...AvX, the best "new" event at Marvel!
Let’s lead the news this week with Avengers versus X-Men…
Comic fans may be happy to learn that the coming Avengers vs. X-Men event—12 issues over 6 months—will have only one standalone tie-in series, and the only Marvel books that tie in will be those that deal with members of the X-Men or the Avengers. On the one hand, this is great: Fear Itself tied into just about everything, which was very annoying, and Shadowland had at least a dozen miniseries/standalone tie ins, which was very expensive (and overwhelming). Both events also featured poor quality control to boot.
On the other hand, including only books that feature an X-Man or Avenger will exclude…Punisher. And that’s about it. (Note: Marvel has actually promised that Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and Amazing Spider-Man won’t tie in, but I’ll believe that when I see it.)
Anyway, we’re promised that the series will stand on its own so that those (like me) who haven’t kept up with the constantly evolving roster of mutants over the past 20 years won’t feel lost or excluded.
Story-wise, we’re looking at the return of Phoenix, hurtling through space towards Earth. That’s a promising premise. Maybe we’ll see some “cosmic” characters getting involved?
And then there’s the title: Avengers VERSUS X-Men. Not “with.” Not “and.” Versus. Unless this is the “fight before we team up” convention, we could be seeing some cool match-ups here. I’d like to see Wolverine face off against the Hulk again. Or Captain America give Cyclops the humbling defeat Scott Summers has deserved for decades. Or Cable versus Hawkeye—how cool would that be?
Oh, and Cage vs. Colossus! Any fights you’re looking forward to? Marvel’s Editor in Chief has promised that, in the end, there will be a clear winner.
Hit the jump, read the rest of this post, and drop me a note!
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THE TOP 100 COMIC BOOK HEROES OF ALL TIME
IGN published a top 100 comic book heroes that made me crazy, both in its predictability (Hey! Superman and Bats are #s 1 and 2!), overinclusiveness (every single Robin except Damian Wayne (who is the most interesting one by far), as well as Superboy and Supergirl? Really?) and its attempts to be esoteric without providing sufficient justification (Groo makes the list, but they don’t really say what makes him so essential; James Gordon makes the list, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben don’t–nor does Jarvis; and Nova makes the list, but nobody really gives a shit about Nova). Maybe it was the list’s sketchy criteria for placement: “Picked by their cultural impact, character development, social relevance, general cool factor, and importance of storylines, these are the best of the best.
It made me so nuts, I made my own list. Yes, there’s a lot of overlap. But mine is better. Because I said so.
Note: If you’re just looking for a list without supporting arguments, you can jump to the last page of this post. But you can’t tell me I was wrong to put Thor at #33 unless you go and read why. So, read every page and then tell me why I’m full of $#!+.
Enjoy!
