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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 15, 2018 14:43:33 GMT -5
Frankly I enjoyed the Bendis through Hickman era way more than what preceded it. Not all of it was great, but in general I liked it, and as a whole think its better than most of the 20 years worth before it. So, yes better than Busiek, which run is vastly over-rated IMHO. Yes better than the Crossing . Yes better than Byrne...and Yes better than Stern and Buscema. Like the way Bendis writes, though the only quarrel I have is with multiple iterations of the team. At least we never see DC do that with the JLA or Titans...o wait. For all that I didn't love Bendis, he was worlds better that the hideousness that was Hickman. I'm really, really glad he seems to have wondered off
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Post by sabongero on Jun 15, 2018 15:00:43 GMT -5
New Avengers #2
Breakout! Part 2 (of 5)February 2005 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Penciler: David Finch Inker: Danny Miki & Mark Morales Colorist: Frank D'Armata Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne Editor: Tom Brevoort, Nicole Wiley, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Previously... During Chaos the Scarlet Witch suffered a total nervous breakdown after losing control of her reality-altering powers. In the chaos created around the breakdown, beloved Avengers Hawkeye, Ant-Man and the Vision lost their lives. Many of the other Avengers were hurt, both emotionally and physically. Without funding to keep going, the rest of the team quietly disbanded. That was six months ago... (in the Avengers Disassembled storyarc). Now... (at the time of this issue's release) Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Luke Cage and Foggy Nelson visit the S.H.I.E.L.D. installation, The Raft, and guided by Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman). Electro attacks The Raft, setting free 87 prisoners. Spider-Man and Captain America arrive on the scene and the others are trapped deep in the installation with the person they came to visit... The Sentry. Synopsis: Spider-Man leaped into action, attacking the escapees, but is overwhelmed by several prisoners, who break his arm and remove his mask. In the basement level, the group are attacked by Cletus Kassidy - Carnage! Foggy is bundled into The Sentry’s cell and the fight rages. Joining Carnage is Mister Hyde who guns straight for Murdock. At ground level, Spider-Man is getting the crud beaten out of him by Footkiller, The Crusader, and Cutthroat to name a few! Then Captain America comes to the rescue with his S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers blazing behind him. In The Sentry’s cell, Foggy talks to him, telling him that his friends need him. Outside, its Murdock vs. Mister Hyde and Luke Cage & Jessica Drew vs. Carnage, and it is not looking good for the heroes, until The Sentry emerged grabbing Carnage and rocketed straight through the rock and into space. Once there he rips him in half! Luke Cage takes Hyde out with a steel door but Hydro-Man begins to flood the cells. Cage, Murdock, Jessica, and Foggy swim to escape up the tunnel. Once there, they join in the fight along with Iron Man, who finally showed up. Seconds later, Luke Cage comes under the mental influence of the Purple Man. He tells Cage to kill all of the heroes, and then himself. Highlight: The final page and the panel where The Sentry destroyed Carnage in space. Superb! Comments: There is still no Wolverine in sight! This issue continued the good trend that was set last issue. The pencils seem a little busy and the depth is sometimes lost but they still manage to capture the epic and cinematic style this arc needed. I found a fault in the illustration, is that it is not always clear what is going on. For example, how did the four in the basement actually escape? I am guessing they shot up the tunnel utilizing the water from Hydro-Man, but all of a sudden Jessica spurts up with Foggy, and the others followed and all of a sudden they are back at the top. It would appear to be a little confusing to the reader. The panels could be a little clearer. On the other hand, I absolutely love the page with The Sentry and Carnage! He just tore him apart! The introduction of Iron Man is fairly short, sweet, and not very important yet. I think this is clever on the part of Bendis as he will be bound to put his focus into the Avenger elements that have not been there before - noticeably his use of Cage as the cliffhanger. The few nametags that he supplies throughout, for the random minor enemies, helps a lot, adds weight to the... weight of foes and begins to mix the elements of Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Cage cast together. Nice. I think this “Raft” situation will be resolved fairly quickly next issue and some of the character dynamics will come through. Then the plot can move forward in this prime era of decompressed storytelling. I'd rather have that than have another slugfest issue. It may move into the city, but for one thing its going to get a lot more complicated than this. New Avengers keep on rolling and continues to impress (on my second reading after a decade when I initially read it)! I preferred the cover of the first issue to the one here on issue number 2.
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
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Post by Confessor on Jun 16, 2018 4:47:08 GMT -5
Frankly I enjoyed the Bendis through Hickman era way more than what preceded it. Not all of it was great, but in general I liked it, and as a whole think its better than most of the 20 years worth before it. So, yes better than Busiek, which run is vastly over-rated IMHO. Yes better than the Crossing . Yes better than Byrne...and Yes better than Stern and Buscema. Like the way Bendis writes, though the only quarrel I have is with multiple iterations of the team. At least we never see DC do that with the JLA or Titans...o wait. For all that I didn't love Bendis, he was worlds better that the hideousness that was Hickman. I'm really, really glad he seems to have wondered off Hickman is a terrible hack, IMO. All flash and no substance.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 16, 2018 5:18:01 GMT -5
I didn't think Hickman's Avengers stuff was bad per se, but it was the textbook definition of Not For Me. EVERYTHING was super intricately plotted and individual story threads would pay off years in advance.
This also meant that single issues - even whole tpbs - didn't give you any narrative payoff. Hickman's comics didn't exist as individual stories, they were all part 57 of 1,089. And what I want for my money is a beginning, a middle, and (some kind of) resolution, even if that leads into a cliffhanger.
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Post by badwolf on Jun 16, 2018 10:14:06 GMT -5
One thing I didn't get about this story was the choice of villains imprisoned. Hydro-Man, Purple Man, Hyde, Carnage...ok. But why are Foolkiller, Crusader and Cutthroat (and Jigsaw as well IIRC) there? They're just ordinary guys; without their gear they're nothing much.
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Post by sabongero on Jun 17, 2018 20:11:34 GMT -5
I didn't think Hickman's Avengers stuff was bad per se, but it was the textbook definition of Not For Me. EVERYTHING was super intricately plotted and individual story threads would pay off years in advance. This also meant that single issues - even whole tpbs - didn't give you any narrative payoff. Hickman's comics didn't exist as individual stories, they were all part 57 of 1,089. And what I want for my money is a beginning, a middle, and (some kind of) resolution, even if that leads into a cliffhanger. I have to agree. I want the usual Three Act style of comic books with single issues one-and-done stories back in the 1980's and before.
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Post by sabongero on Jun 20, 2018 10:00:04 GMT -5
New Avengers #3
Breakout! Part 3 (of 5)March 2005 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Penciler: David Finch Inker: Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, & Victor Olazaba Colorist: Frank D'Armata Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne Editor: Tom Brevoort, Nicole Wiley, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Previously... During Chaos the Scarlet Witch suffered a total nervous breakdown after losing control of her reality-altering powers. In the chaos created around the breakdown, beloved Avengers Hawkeye, Ant-Man and the Vision lost their lives. Many of the other Avengers were hurt, both emotionally and physically. Without funding to keep going, the rest of the team quietly disbanded. That was about six months ago prior to this issue or series relaunch. Now... Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Luke Cage and Foggy Nelson visit SHIELD installation The Raft, guided by Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman). Electro attacked The Raft, setting free 87 prisoners. Spider-Man and Captain America arrive on the scene and the others are trapped deep in the installation with the person they came to visit... The Sentry. As the fight rages, The Sentry launches into space with Carnage and rips him in two! On ground level, Luke Cage is controlled by The Purple Man and ordered to kill the other super heroes and then himself... Synopsis: The morning after, Cap and Tony Start (Iron Man) talk about what happened the night before. The group only managed to prevent 45 (of our 87 prisoners) from escaping, but what is more important to Cap is the group themselves. He talks through Luke Cage’s situation with The Purple Man, explaining that his mind control powers weren’t working properly which allowed Cage to go beat up his arse. Cap explains that the way all seven of them worked together reminded him of the way the original Avengers were first established - a threat so big for one person to deal with that there had to be a group. He says that this has not changed. But no more tech, no more politics; just people helping people. With that he goes off to convince Peter Parker, Luke Cage and Jessica Drew to join him. Matt Murdock refuses, saying that his current persona (Daredevil) is too disastrous for him to jeopardize the lives of other superheroes. They assembled at Stark Tower, their new HQ/meeting place, maintained of course by Jarvis. On her way, Jessica talks to a mysterious voice. She tells them that if they want the reports on S.H.I.E.L.D. and the New Avengers they are going to have to pay her a lot more… Highlight: Definitely, the jibe at Spider-Man’s hectic schedule! Comments: There is still no Wolverine. So where is he then? Never mind! A very strong issue that manages to get all of the members actually in the same room without too much coincidence, confusion, lame excuses and all the rest of it. There were three conversations that made this issue for me. 1. Cap and Stark had a kind of “teachers talk” regarding the pupils’ actions from the night before. The way they shared their concerns and points came across as a discussion between more than just allies but friends, about what they were going to do next. A conflict between these two mentor figures could be brilliantly done by Bendis (a couple of years later with Civil War and Mark Millar perhaps?). 2. Cap and Spider-Man was the entire crux of argument that will continue for some time about Spider-Man’s position as an Avenger. Bendis sums it all up in two little sentences, ‘“How is that working out for you? The Not Being A Team Guy thing?”’ Good point! You can’t really argue with that. 3. Cap and Daredevil is just Bendis’ worlds blending into perfection. It is almost as if he has worked his way to writing this all-star book over the last few years. This comes across especially when Matt comes to explain his reasons for declining - Bendis has put him through the sticks (in his Daredevil series which Bendis was writing at the time and brilliantly illustrated by Alex Maleev) so no wonder he doesn’t want to hurt anyone else. The little jibe at Peter Parker (as well as the unintentional outing of his identity being so busy every month is beautiful - there are so many Spider-titles around this time (Sensational Spider-Man, Marvel Knights Spider-Man, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man, etc. etc.) that he literally can do anything and everything in the shortest space of time imaginable. Nice touch, but true. The closing scene does seem important. Whereas the action-based cliffhanger of #2 was going to be quick to resolve, this may take some time and I predict some major spinning of threads and threading of plots in future issues. It might be above board, and just another thing to throw us off the New Avengers’ trail but I cannot be sure. The art, as ever, is excellent. Much nicer to see some daylight for a change as I feel that Finch’s pencils can often lose something when they are inked as heavily as they have been in the last two issues. There is no real noticeable change in inking style, which is expected seeing as a total of three inkers worked this issue but it is credit to them that there is no recognizable marker between all three. One thing, the necks and heads/faces are often drawn from an angle that makes them look in line. This makes the face look flat and the necks staggeringly muscular, neither of which is a good thing.
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Post by sabongero on Jun 22, 2018 18:21:36 GMT -5
New Avengers #4
Breakout! Part 4 (of 5)April 2005 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Penciler: David Finch Inker: Danny Miki Colorist: Frank D'Armata Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne Editor: Tom Brevoort, Stephanie Moore, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Synopsis: Jessica Drew entered Stark Towers as the rest of the New Avengers were talking with Special Agent Maria Hill, the Acting Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., about the Breakout. They informed her that they have formed a group, and she demanded to talk to Captain America privately. Meanwhile Jessica Drew gets into Spider-Woman costume. After reviewing the tapes from the previous evening, they determined that Electro was responsible for the destruction and for transporting one inmate from the scene. They flew to Boston, in the new Avengers Quinjet, and learned the identity of the inmate but he passed out on them before they found out. Jessica Drew then bribed the re-captured inmates of The Raft and learned his name... Karl Lykos, aka Sauron. On their way back, the group learned that the S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost in the Savage Land is offline. Presuming a connection between this and Sauron, they went to investigate. Upon landing, the Avengers Quinjet was totally destroyed by a T-Rex and the group ended up separated. Luke Cage and Jessica Drew headed into the jungle but they were not alone. Wolverine just arrived. Highlight: The Luke Cage, Spider-Man, and Spider-Woman interaction about Spider-Woman stealing his name and lending it out to several different "Spider-Women" was hilarious. Comments: There is a lot of stuff happening in this issue. Interesting and crucial things. We get to see how the team dynamic worked, how the characters mixed and blended together, which is something Brian Michael Bendis will have a hard time satisfying classic Avengers fans and fanboys for each of the characters. Using Luke Cage and Spider-Man as a comedy double-team balanced out the intense characters of Captain America, Iron-Man, Wolverine, and Sentry. Writing Spider-Man this way lightens the character in a way. The humor is the witty classic Spider-Man, and Classic Comic Book readers would like it... especially the webbing line. And the embarrassment that it was “one of his” that caused the super-villain breakout. I am fascinated as to where SHIELD will fit in to this whole scenario. Already there are holes appearing as Captain America will have his loyalties tested in deciding whether to hold back certain information from his Avengers. Problems will come up with Jessica Drew as well. She is using and accessing S.H.I.E.L.D. information through Captain America, after herself being fired, but she is selling the information from both S.H.I.E.L.D. (which she is surely obtaining illegally now) and the New Avengers to an unknown buyer. Who is the unknown buyer? Perhaps Nick Fury? Who knows. As to the illustrations, Spider-Woman's costume is ludicrous! She looked like a fish instead of an arachnoid. Finch needs to sort out those web/gill/flipper things of hers on her back. The cover is just plain awful. Her shoulder is missing, her back looks squat making her look about three feet high and her ass is more “KA-POW!” than a hip-hop video! Alright she looked good on the pages inside but there is no excuse for a cover of that lesser quality. The inner pages are stunning. Finch does a great job on the jet ride and the final page is a beauty! Finch can really illustrate Wolverine, and the jungle, making them come alive in the pages. A very strong issue with so much in it that I am still trying to process it all. Re-reading this series I am hooked.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 22, 2018 21:00:35 GMT -5
I definitely appreciated the death of Carnage, the suckiest Marvel character of all time. I don't think I've read anything with Carnage in it since, which has made Marvel as a whole vastly better.
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Post by bdk91939 on Jun 24, 2018 20:13:32 GMT -5
I definitely appreciated the death of Carnage, the suckiest Marvel character of all time. I don't think I've read anything with Carnage in it since, which has made Marvel as a whole vastly better. Definitely agree with you on that one. Being torn in half in space is the best ending for that degenerate character.
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Post by sabongero on Jul 27, 2018 11:06:55 GMT -5
New Avengers #5
Breakout! Part 5 (of 5)May 2005 Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Penciler: David Finch Inker: Danny Miki Colorist: Frank D'Armata Letterer: Richard Starkings & Albert Dechesne Editor: Tom Brevoort, Stephanie Moore Wiley, Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Synopsis: Iron Man easily nullified the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Spider-Woman easily dispatched Wolverine by stabbing him in the neck with his own claws. Wolverine then explained he's in The Savage Land tracking down Lycos alone but he is being followed by Mutates. The Mutates then caught up to all of them and the superheroes are quickly put asleep. They woke up stripped down and at the mercy of Lycos and his mutant associates. Lycos told the team about Weapon X and how he was forced to murder other mutants for the government. If he didn’t do it, he was locked away. He told his followers to kill them all. Tony Stark heard enough and called on his dormant armor, which activated, assembled and fired. The superheroes escaped and they discussed S.H.I.E.L.D.’s involvement in all of this. Then the fight raged on. Wolverine stabbed Lycos, which allowed him to transform into Sauron. The moment this happened he received a bullet in his head from the S.H.I.E.L.D. task force dispatched to wipe out all survivors and witnesses in The Savage Land and this included The New Avengers. Highlight: The unraveling of the thickening plot. Comments: I had a feeling in the previous issue that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be somehow involved in all this. This is what a comic book should be. Fast, furious and full of things that kept leaping out at the reader. The mention of Secret War, Nick Fury, Weapon X, and Wolverine’s own reasons for being in The Savage Land by himself (aside from everyone desperately wanting him to finally show up in this book at the time) all tied in to greater Marvel Universe threads at the time the comic book issue was published. It took a good teamwork and creativity between the editor(s), not just writer, to pull all of these aspects together and to create the ultimate team book that this should be at the time. The only thing that didn’t give this book full marks is Wolverine’s blatant disregard of his memory, common sense. and previous knowledge. He is the most experienced against Sauron and he is the one that triggered his transformation by stabbing the SNIKT out of him. Come on! It would have been okay if anyone else had done it, but Wolverine! It doesn't really matter as Sauron took a bullet to his head several seconds later. This “shock” ending, beautifully underplayed by Finch’s tiny closing panel and Bendis’ no-nonsense dialogue, bodes well for the conclusion next issue. Bendis does a lot here like introducing Wolverine, explaining Lycos’ escape, and planting seeds of doubt regarding S.H.I.E.L.D., filling out the Weapon X plot, pitting Avengers against Mutates, killing Sauron, and tying the Marvel comic book universe closer together. Hopefully things will not be completely tied up and some of these issues (S.H.I.E.L.D. vs. New Avengers, Drew’s involvement in both, and Wolverine’s membership) will not be completely ignored during the upcoming Sentry arc. All of the characters are spot on. Spider-Man is continually portrayed as funny, Jessica is dry and defensive of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luke Cage is no-nonsense, Wolverine acted like a loner and Captain America and Iron Man have the veteran experience the rest of the team needed. This is all good stuff. And David Finch is astounding. The detail is phenomenal, his cover is stunning and the varying layouts, expressions and movement he managed to convey make this issue one of the most attractive retro comic books on my shelf. Take the full page spread of the New Avengers in action, with the shot of Wolverine stabbed and the gorgeous dry look on Jessica’s face when Peter told her he chafes as perfect examples of this astounding work on Finch's part. I am looking forward to a fantastic conclusion in the following issue.
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Post by rberman on Jul 27, 2018 13:12:23 GMT -5
I had never heard of The Raft before I saw Captain America: Civil War, but I see it's a nice example of how the fine folks at Marvel Studios actually mine the comic books for ideas to integrate into the films rather than just lifting out the characters and trying to come up with a great Captain America story (for instance) all on their own.
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Post by sabongero on Jul 31, 2018 11:06:57 GMT -5
I had never heard of The Raft before I saw Captain America: Civil War, but I see it's a nice example of how the fine folks at Marvel Studios actually mine the comic books for ideas to integrate into the films rather than just lifting out the characters and trying to come up with a great Captain America story (for instance) all on their own. And that's why Disney will continue to rake in billions year after year after year. There are tens of thousands of stories, good stories to be mined in the last 58 years of Marvel comic books. They can even substitute good stories and utilize it on other characters.
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Post by rberman on Jul 31, 2018 11:29:20 GMT -5
I had never heard of The Raft before I saw Captain America: Civil War, but I see it's a nice example of how the fine folks at Marvel Studios actually mine the comic books for ideas to integrate into the films rather than just lifting out the characters and trying to come up with a great Captain America story (for instance) all on their own. And that's why Disney will continue to rake in billions year after year after year. There are tens of thousands of stories, good stories to be mined in the last 58 years of Marvel comic books. They can even substitute good stories and utilize it on other characters. I've been reading through Perez's Wonder Woman from the late 1980s, and the Wonder Woman movie seemed to have quite a bit taken from it. But also, the "Should we open up our utopian society so that the rest of the world can benefit?" was part of the Black Panther movie. Maybe Black Panther has done that story independently, though.
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cee
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Post by cee on Aug 2, 2018 19:46:07 GMT -5
I definitely appreciated the death of Carnage, the suckiest Marvel character of all time. I don't think I've read anything with Carnage in it since, which has made Marvel as a whole vastly better. Definitely agree with you on that one. Being torn in half in space is the best ending for that degenerate character. Milligan's Toxin series (Carnage's son?) had a surprisingly good story, maybe one of his top 3 at Marvel (with X-Force and Namor).
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