Marvel Comics General

Roy Thomas had two X-Men runs. His first run, following directly on Stan Lee's run, was really, really bland and forgettable. And at times downright stupid, with pointless filler issues. This was especially bad during the Factor Three arc, after Xavier got captured. One issue had them trying to figure out where Xavier had been taken, and getting into a completely pointless conflict between Mole Man and Tyrannus. Then, after they figured out where they needed to go, they didn't have the money for plane tickets, so spent an issue trying to get money. So, Thomas' first run sucked.

Then he left for a little while, and when he came back he worked with Neal Adams and holy shit, did Adams ever bring out the best in Thomas. That brief run is a classic, with one of the all-time great Sentinel stories. The Thomas/Adams run is the absolute best X-Men run of the '60s.

Edit: I don't know if Jubilee is more well-known, actually. Certainly, the '90s cartoon made Jubilee a really well-known character. But Kitty was in the movies as an actual character while Jubilee was just an extra. So it's tough to say.

Also, speaking of reading through lots of comics: I've reached 1993! (Or, at least, the comics cover-dated 1993, which would've come out in late 1992.) Marvel got really crossover happy back then. It feels like every character had to meet every other character. So Darkhawk teams up with Moon Knight and Daredevil has a guest appearance by Terror and the Punisher meets Archie . . . It got pretty out of hand.

Though Marvel UK was absolutely shameless about it. The Hell's Angel (or Dark Angel) series couldn't not have the X-Men in it. Death's Head 2's ongoing also started off with the X-Men guest-starring. Motormouth had Nick Fury as a supporting character. Knights of Pendragon kept Iron Man around for the first few issues.

Now that I've reached 1993, of course, I've also reached another year - 2099! Ravage 2099 #1 actually wasn't bad. I knew basically nothing about the character, other than the fact that his book floundered for a direction or, you know, a point. But the first issue was pretty solid work. Written by Stan Lee! Stan Lee trying to write a '90s comic is oddly endearing.

edited 27th Jul '15 10:04:29 PM by Tiamatty

So I recently learned that Avengers 200 apparently could've been even worse. The original idea for the origin of Carol's pregnancy? She'd been raped by the Kree Supreme Intelligence. The "baby" being his own father was deemed the less squicky option. WOW.

I heard the reason they didn't go with that is because there had been a similar story recently (involving Rick Jones of course) and editorial shot it down for being too similar too soon.

Of course, pregnancy was already on their minds so...

edited 28th Jul '15 2:50:07 PM by Bocaj

Yeah it was featured on Comic Book Legends. They wanted to continue an Aborted Arc (no pun intended) from the cancelled Ms. Marvel series where the Supreme Intelligence said that Carol could be the host mother for a new race of super Kree/Human hybrid soldiers.

Then someone did a What If? storyline involving Rick Jones dying and being turned into a half-human/half-Kree superbeing, and so the editors forced the Avengers creative team to change the story because it was essentially the same thing.

Thank G-d for Executive Meddling.

It boggles my mind that they actually thought twice about this whole pregnancy thing and still thought it was a good idea. Like, when they were reworking the story, did no one thought how awful the whole concept was? They not only had a terrible idea once, but when forced to think again on the plot, they still went with it.

It's kinda what happens when you get a bunch of guys making decisions on what to do with a female character. They didn't have any female input into the story. So they figured that it would make a great idea for their preeminent feminist superhero to run off and be a happy wife to a guy who abducted her, used machines to help seduce her, erased her memory of the whole thing, and then had her give birth to him.

The story was offensive to begin with. But it becomes even more insulting that their preeminent feminist superhero - a character who was specifically designed to be a feminist superhero - abandoned her career, her friends and her very world to be with Some Guy. "See, ladies? All you really need to be happy is a man. Being a wife will give you real fulfillment."

The whole thing comes across, quite frankly, as misogynistic. It's offensive on every conceivable level.

Though I do somewhat disagree you need female input to write women well.

Apologies if that's not what you're implying.

No, but it helps. And I'm pretty sure a story like Avengers #200 wouldn't have happened if there'd been female input.

I think the slow advance of progress over time means fewer male writers who are stupid when it comes to handling women. But even so, having women around to say, "Uh, that idea might not be so great," is definitely helpful.

If nothing else Avengers 200 is handy to have around as a "What NOT to do" case...

Abnett's next book in Marvel isn't Guardians related...it's Hercules. Liked Abnett's latest work so I'm probably picking it up. Probably going to be a different type of book from Pak's time but seeing different writers and artist do stuff with old characters is always nice(daily "let someone else take over Guardians and ASM for a year, Bendis and Slott!").

edited 29th Jul '15 10:48:35 AM by LordofLore

This.

We've made a lot of progress, but there are still a lot of wrong things that guys just assume about women.

Especially since magical pregnancies continue to be a thing in media to this day

Hercules! Hercules!

I mean, I absolutely goddamn love Pak and Van Lente's Incredible Hercules and I know Abnett's version will be way different, but still:

Hercules! Hercules!

Finally! The glorious return of Herc!

Nine more ANADM books left. I have a feeling one of them will be x-force, which just keeps popping up these days.

I hope he teams up with the new Hulk if it is Amadeus

An article on the Illuminati.

Cool that Marvel's giving Hercules another book. Also nice to see him trying to be a better hero, getting back to his roots. People often forget that Hercules could be very clever when he needed to be. I was one of the few people who enjoyed the last Herc series, showing him having to play as a little more of a guile hero at times, using his wits rather than just always falling back on brute strength.

Today's comics:

Angela's awesome. So much fun. Serah tells a story about how "Lord Angelo" and "Sarah" met and joined together. It's hilarious, with Angela getting increasingly annoyed. The 1602 Guardians are fun. The art is sooooo pretty. Hans is amazing. Irene Koh does great work, too, for the portion she did with Gillen.

Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars sucks. Awful book. None of the humour lands, and considering the whole point of the series is making jokes, that means the series is pointless.

SHIELD was lame. I was hopeful, with Mockingbird showing up, since she's been stuck in limbo for the past couple years, for no frigging reason. But she doesn't really get to do much in this comic. She spends too much of it whining, truthfully. Honestly, this whole SHIELD series is not at all good. I like Waid as a writer, but he's not doing good work here.

Thors #2 was cool. Beta Ray Bill's funeral. A fight between Ultimate Thor and Unworthy Thor, with Unworthy Thor dropping some interesting hints.

MODOK Assassin remains fun. So very, very violent. It's great.

Black Widow was an interesting look at her past as a Red Room agent. And wow, was she ever cold and creepy. She shot a cat! A cat! She was a monster!

Daredevil was good. Really cool. That ending does have me concerned, though. Someone's going to die, and I'm not betting on it being Foggy.

After rewatching the Netflix show, I reread Daredevil Born Again tonight. Such a great story. It's a really good showing not only for Matt and Fisk, but Ben, Foggy, Glorianna, and Captain America are all great. Even Karen and of all people, Jameson get some awesome moments. Man, what happened to Miller? His Daredevil stuff is solid gold (well, except for Man Without Fear, but that's beside the point).

I can see why Miller brought David Mazzucchelli to do the art for Batman Year One a year later, because he's great. I love the brief appearance by the Big Three Avengers, and the bit where Ben listens to a cop being murdered over the phone is really chilling.

Such an incredible story.

Born Again really is a masterpiece. It's full of absolutely amazing moments.

SIEGE #2 preview for next week.

Also it just struck me why I felt like I had seen Spider-Woman's new costume before somewhere in some form: it reminds me of what Brand has been wearing.

Edit: Business in Marvel Comics.

edited 30th Jul '15 3:50:09 AM by LordofLore

Bendis hints at second Iron Man series.

*crosses fingers for Pepper Potts ''Rescue'' series*

edited 30th Jul '15 9:17:10 AM by alliterator

Seriously!

The Ten Labours of Heracles was a story about guile and intelligence. Yes, he's super-strong, but his labours were assigned by someone who knew that and was trying to think of tasks that would be impossible to perform by strength alone. It wasn't just Heracles bench-pressing the Greek mythos, he had to cleverly apply his strength and his wits in order to succeed.

His first task was to kill an invincible lion and they just got more complex from there.

That's an important aspect of the character that constantly goes unacknowledged in adaptations, which is why I also really liked the recent Hercules series. Also, Herc as a bartender is perfect.

edited 30th Jul '15 9:30:25 AM by TobiasDrake

You know, I was sort of sad that there weren't 1602!versions of one or two of the older Guardians somewhere in Witch Hunter. Imagine a Knight in Shining Armor Phyla, her somewhat draconic companion(are Weredragons a thing?)Heather and a wandering Warlock with no name or memory who happens to travel with them.

Edit: It just struck me that Abnett is already writing a version of Hercules.◊

edited 30th Jul '15 9:39:39 AM by LordofLore

Awesome cover for Ultimates◊. And interview.