Marvel Comics General

I dont mind zubs run. Excuse it was obvious he actually wanted to do something with the expanded roster but couldn't due to outlawed and the new direction for teen heroes

So how many times had Doctor Doom tired and failed in his Sisyphean quest to surpass Reed Richards again?

The irony is that Doctor Doom quite enjoys his rivalry. It's the only thing that gets him out of bed in the morning.

Conquering the world is something he gave up for the lack of challenge.

Weirdly, as poorly as Waid wrote Kamala in Champions, he actually wrote her really well in the recent Snapshots: Captain Marvel one-shot. But yeah, his Champions run had definite problems with feeling like something written by an old white dude. I really liked Zub's run, he wrote all the characters well. Ewing didn't really get nearly as long a run I was hoping for, but had a good handle on each character.

I'm excited for Danny Lore. I haven't read much they've done, but they seem really cool and really smart. And it'll be interesting having someone young writing these teen characters.

Oh no, Doom doesn't really enjoy it. He genuinely hates Richards.

But like those who run hate they need it because without it they wouldn’t have anything left.

Seems like Waid has been in a slump these last couple years. Not only was his Champions not a success but his Avengers run is not particularly well-regarded such as his writing for Spider-Man.

Edited by slimcoder on Mar 1st 2021 at 8:20:16 AM

A misanthrope like Doom is caught in a bit of a paradox because he could fix everything on Earth but he hates humanity so there's no real point to doing so. Which is an interesting take on Lack of Empathy. It's also a key reason why he's so miserable and alone.

I was thinking of reading the Champions run but I've heard mixed things. I admit to being intrigued by socially aware heroes, though, and am a huge Ms. Marvel fan.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Mar 1st 2021 at 8:11:49 AM

I've been reading Waid's Daredevil run and that's pretty great, but I think it wrapped up before his Avengers and Champions runs. And I liked No Surrender, which he co-wrote with Zub and Al Ewing.

Waid's reputation as a person has taken a hit too; a few years back he was booted off Twitter for threatening to real-life beat up a critic who gave him a bad review, or something like that.

Apparently that was about a Bleeding Cool article about the Marvel sales VP who a few years back said retailers didn't want racial diversity or women getting books.

Edited by Aleistar on Mar 1st 2021 at 11:27:08 AM

Not that I can blame anyone for wanting to beat up Rich Johnson, the gossip hack son of a bitch. Comics would be better off if everyone just straight-up refused to give any attention to Bleeding Cool.

Frank Tieri also threatened to beat the shit out of a reviewer, and Marvel's happy to keep giving him books, despite him having always been a mediocre writer.

Waid's run has some good moments overall, but a lot of icky ones, and it's really bad character-wise. If you want a socially progressive book, I wouldn't reccomend Waid's run. It's super western saviory and exploitative and they fight bad muslim stereotypes in the third issue.

Waid wrote Kamala like Grant Morrison wrote Dust, and that isn't a good thing.

I don't remember a single thing Dust did in Morrison's run after the minor fanfare of her introduction.

Waid had this really weird Nostalgia Filter where he kept wanted to do throwbacks to the Silver Age characterization. Like how he had Nadia, who's been characterized as a literal cinnamon roll by everyone else, aggressively abrasive towards Spider-Man because "remember when Janet irrationally hated Spider-Man in the '60s?"

Hey, Jan had a good reason. wasps and spiders are natural enemies, you know.

That part about Nadia really irks me, if I'm honest.

You'd think they could be intergenerational friends because science, but noooo, let's rag on Spider-Man because everyone else does it anyway.

I feel like Waid got this weird buzz in the early 10's because, like, everyone had stopped liking Frank Miller and Alan Moore and needed a new "best comics writer of all time" to hold up. And Waid was doing some really good work at the time following a very long, storied career of doing solid mainstream comics.

I spent a lot of that time thinking that a lot of his flaws got swept under the rug as a result of that.

Edited by TheEvilDrBolty on Mar 2nd 2021 at 5:50:33 AM

I also remember Waid's Hulk run was a bit divisive among Hulk fans.

Somewhere in the Marvel Comics multiverse is (probably) a universe where everyone is anthropomorphic food.

I recall Waid's comic, Strange Fruit, a story which focused on slavery in the US, getting flack for botching the subject. I honestly thought that was just one-time screw up but it looks like he hasn't quite learned his lesson about tackling heavy subjects he has no real clue about judging from his Champions run.

Dumb Fire Bird Tournament update (Avengers 2018 #43)

Black Panther beats Wolverine because vibranium teeth beats adamantium bones. She-Hulk beats Valkyrie. Red Widow shanks Black Knight. Shanna the She-Devil and her fire tiger beats American Eagle off-panel.

Next round of fights: She-Hulk vs Namor, Shana vs Red Widow, and Cap vs Black Panther. And then, I dunno, a three-way battle royale between three finalists? Phoenix screwed up her own brackets out of spite.

Re: the plot twist nobody was happy about: Cavewoman Jean doubles down on claiming that she's Thor's real mom, that telling him Gaia was was just to get him hype to defend Earth, and that this whole tournament is because the Phoenix caught a bad case of mom feelings recently via Cavewoman Jean and wants a fresh new host to wash the taste out. Kinda explains why she doesn't want Jean this time, what with her various not-really-hers-but-sure children. Provided you believe her, which Thor doesn't, almost but not quite going THATS NOT TRUE THATS IMPOSSSSIBLE

In another plot twist that probably people won't like Cavewoman Jean claims that the universe started with fire and vagueblogs Knull and Nyx and movie Malekith by dunking on anyone that thinks it started with darkness. The universe was a plane of fire until the Phoenix got hungry and decided to create an 'orchard' of planets et al to snack on, zoned out for a while, and then was annoyed when the 'fruit' was 'infested' with 'vermin' ie all life everywhere. The real takeaway is that makes Galactus a cosmic apple thief, sneaking over from a previous universe to pilfer from Ol Pharmer Phoenix's trees. Good times.

Edited by Bocaj on Mar 3rd 2021 at 10:41:03 AM

This is starting to feel like editorial wanted a Tournament Arc like a manga, because copying the competition always works but the writers hated the idea so much they did this instead.

I doubt it. And its not like this is even the first tournament arc Marvel has done so its not like they were reading dragon ball and thought 'gotta get me some of dat'

I just think that a monthly superhero comic that has to fit into a normal arc length for a trade won't be able to do a fully explored tournament arc. Some fights get focus and a lot of back and forth. Black Panther vs Wolverine was the fight in this issue that got the most attention. Other fights get a page to show generally how they went and who won.

As much as I would read a full issue fight between Red Widow and Howard the Duck, out of morbid curiosity if nothing else, in terms of the broader narrative, it can be summarized down to the inevitable and horrific violence done to Howard because Red Widow is important to the plot and Howard exists to suffer.

Edited by Bocaj on Mar 3rd 2021 at 10:56:58 AM

Brubaker's Iron Fist had a better tournament arc.

Batman: So... what about that tournament story?
Superman: It is awesome, man! The story sounds super interesting, man! The action is awesome! The characters are perfect! The designs blow your head!
Batman: Mmm...
Superman: And the background music! And the special effects!
Batman: Wait a moment...
Superman: And when Sub-Zero freezes Jax's arms and then breaks them! And his fight with Scorpion!
Batman: I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE MORTAL KOMBAT TRAILER! I'M TALKING ABOUT THE PHOENIX TOURNAMENT AVENGERS COMIC!
Superman: That? It's fine, I guess. But do you think Ajax will get revenge on Sub-Zero for breaking his arms?