Sperg about comic books here

[Arthur Morgan]

I feel like half the fun of Batman is that some of the villains can be sort of allies. Like Penguin at times is basically reformed into hosting a nightclub that’s ultimately on the grey side of morality. He’ll sometimes be an informant for Batman because it’s in his benefit to stop the Jokers terrorist attacks.

I liked Paul Dini's run having Penguin start a new Iceberg Lounge with the intent to turn it into a franchise instead of returning to crime, but still being a place where criminals can go. He learned that he was better off ripping people off with overpriced drinks and merchandise instead of trying to steal their money. It's also why Catwoman reforming works, she just liked the thrill of the heist, and sees no issue using those skills she developed to help the less fortunate because she remembers what that was like.

It's a shame there aren't more characters like that because Bruce having a friend/ally who is a criminal but also feeds Batman intel could make for some interesting stories. Say, Red Hood gets to try his "lower crime by being the kingpin" idea and as long as he doesn't cross certain lines, Bruce leaves him alone except for the occasional fight to help Jason's rep and prevent the competition from getting suspicious. Or maybe the real Matches Malone and Batman have an arrangement.

 

[admiral]

a few years back we had the avengers no surrender event that had a quicksilver miniseries afterwards

shame it never did much in it beyond confirm that he has untapped speed levels and wants to redeem himself

i think he should have just, like, had some adventures with Speed.


honestly the 2010s had so many new teen and diversity characters that it kinda killed the momentum of old ones that were getting worked on.

I personally hated the miniseries, but then i've never liked Saladin Ahmed's writing. The way Quicksilver was talking felt very out of character. It's essentially rehashing his issues from the 90s X Factor run by Peter David- (Pietro feels bad about how he's behaved, but he also feels like he's been wronged; he's struggling to fit in in a world that isn't going at his speed, but he still wants to be a better person; he realises that he's the one who needs to change and try to meet the world where it is)- but worse.

This was a chance to really get into his psyche but it felt like it was just rehashing old lines and not adding anything of substance, plus the quality of the art was notably not very good and in general the entire thing was unoriginal. The part with multiple versions of himself has been done before, and the bit where he like hugs the manifestation of his insecurities felt like an episode of Steven Universe and also reminded me a lot of the finale to the 1997 solo series with Nestor, but less exciting.

I did like the way Quicksilver was written in that Uncanny Avengers run last year... didn't care for the rest of the miniseries but the character writing wasn't bad. I'd like to see him and Penance more together- I think they had chemistry.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

I personally hated the miniseries, but then i've never liked Saladin Ahmed's writing. The way Quicksilver was talking felt very out of character. It's essentially rehashing his issues from the 90s X Factor run by Peter David- (Pietro feels bad about how he's behaved, but he also feels like he's been wronged; he's struggling to fit in in a world that isn't going at his speed, but he still wants to be a better person; he realises that he's the one who needs to change and try to meet the world where it is)- but worse.

This was a chance to really get into his psyche but it felt like it was just rehashing old lines and not adding anything of substance, plus the quality of the art was notably not very good and in general the entire thing was unoriginal. The part with multiple versions of himself has been done before, and the bit where he like hugs the manifestation of his insecurities felt like an episode of Steven Universe and also reminded me a lot of the finale to the 1997 solo series with Nestor, but less exciting.

I did like the way Quicksilver was written in that Uncanny Avengers run last year... didn't care for the rest of the miniseries but the character writing wasn't bad. I'd like to see him and Penance more together- I think they had chemistry.

it's amusing to think about the Generation X mutants being actual adults and whatnot because I don't think most of them really interacted with the M.U. at large. Granted, I think only Husk and Penance really have been in public the most of that batch of X-Kids.

The Avengers Unity squad stuff makes sense in-lore and Making evil steve into the guy stealing the captain krakoa suit was funny.

 

[admiral]

The Avengers Unity squad stuff makes sense in-lore and Making evil steve into the guy stealing the captain krakoa suit was funny.

That was kind of a funny twist. Maybe it's different for US readers but all the America stuff felt weird and cringe as a non-american. Was it supposed to be ironic?

 

[Alexander Thaut]

That was kind of a funny twist. Maybe it's different for US readers but all the America stuff felt weird and cringe as a non-american. Was it supposed to be ironic?

it almost always is kinda cringey unless the writer doing Cap is good.

 

[Clyde Cash's Left Teste]

it almost always is kinda cringey unless the writer doing Cap is good.

God the JMS Cap book is so lackluster. Captain America isn't a hard character to write, if you can write Superman you can write Cap.

 

[Humble Architect]

God the JMS Cap book is so lackluster. Captain America isn't a hard character to write, if you can write Superman you can write Cap.

I dunno, Waid did turn Superman into a vegetarian with “soul vision” and this from a “Superman fan” which Waid claims to be, is peak retard because every Supertard knows his favourite dish is beef bourguignon.

I fucking hate Silver Age boomers and Birthright sucked.

 

[Alexander Thaut]

I dunno, Waid did turn Superman into a vegetarian with “soul vision” and this from a “Superman fan” which Waid claims to be, is peak retard because every Supertard knows his favourite dish is beef bourguignon.

I fucking hate Silver Age boomers and Birthright sucked.

bring back Silver Age Superman in the next multiverse crisis bullshit moment and watch him solo everything because this was the dude that could fart and cause a black hole.

 

[Burt Ryan]

I've bought the first omnibus for Transmetropolitan, as well as the last 4 Hellboy omnibuses. Then I'll need to get the BPRD and Abe Sapien ones.

Fuck I love Abe Sapien so much.

 

[jspit2.0]

I dunno, Waid did turn Superman into a vegetarian with “soul vision” and this from a “Superman fan” which Waid claims to be, is peak retard because every Supertard knows his favourite dish is beef bourguignon.

I fucking hate Silver Age boomers and Birthright sucked.

I hate how no one can just learn to segregate shit. Have the silver age superman, the Byrne model Superman, fuck it, the Golden age superman.

But yeah, Waid is not a real fan of a character who, let's be real, is a farmer from Kansas. Legendarily liberal, enlightened, feminist, atheist vegeterians.

Farmers...from rural Kansas....

Also yeah, of the four or five Superman Origin story reboots we got from MoS in 86 to Superman Secret Origins in 2010, Birthright is the worst. Fuck it.

 

[Humble Architect]

I hate how no one can just learn to segregate shit. Have the silver age superman, the Byrne model Superman, fuck it, the Golden age superman.

But yeah, Waid is not a real fan of a character who, let's be real, is a farmer from Kansas. Legendarily liberal, enlightened, feminist, atheist vegeterians.

Farmers...from rural Kansas....

Also yeah, of the four or five Superman Origin story reboots we got from MoS in 86 to Superman Secret Origins in 2010, Birthright is the worst. Fuck it.

I really think it fucks Waid up that Superman wouldn’t be “of the same mindset” as what he thinks is right.

I haven’t read his Marvel stuff, but Birthright read as him trying to sneak in things to make Superman more like himself, which is uniquely sick.

 

[HodgePodgeRogerDodger]

God the JMS Cap book is so lackluster. Captain America isn't a hard character to write, if you can write Superman you can write Cap.

Captain America has never been good.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

I've bought the first omnibus for Transmetropolitan, as well as the last 4 Hellboy omnibuses. Then I'll need to get the BPRD and Abe Sapien ones.

Fuck I love Abe Sapien so much.

I liked the first couple of Hellboy trades, but the rest of the series felt... I don't know how to describe it, boring may not be the right word but they had lost a lot of the magic. Not helped that Mignola had stopped drawing them.

Never did check out BRPD because of that. How is it?

 

[Prehistoric Jazz]

I read the first Jenny Sparks. Jesus christ I wish Tom King would just fuck off. I'm starting to believe he can't write for shit.

 

[Clyde Cash's Left Teste]

Abe Sapien

The Scott Allie ongoing sucked ass. One of the worst Hellboy titles ever. Scott Allie is a boring writer and I'm happy that he got cancelled for sexual harrasment so I don't have to endure his writing anymore.

Never did check out BRPD because of that. How is it?

Once the Plague of Frogs cycle started up so about trade 3, the book found its footing and that cycle is really good. Then Hell on Earth happens and it takes a little bit to set up the new direction but once it gets going its really good. The character work is wonderful in both cycles.

When John Arcudi leaves at the end of Hell on Earth and Scott Allie takes over the quality of the writing takes a nose dive for the final cycle. But man the end of BPRD as a whole in the final issue actually stuck the landing.

But the 14 issues leading up to it are lacking compared to what Arcudi was writing.

 

[jspit2.0]

I really think it fucks Waid up that Superman wouldn’t be “of the same mindset” as what he thinks is right.

I haven’t read his Marvel stuff, but Birthright read as him trying to sneak in things to make Superman more like himself, which is uniquely sick.

He views Superman through the lens of it as a childhood wish fulfillment, which is really what the worst era of comics was. Superman was outsold by Archie and Captain Marvel.

His Marvel stuff is terrible. He's written probably one of the worst character assassinations of Victor Von Doom in FF. His Captain America was a snooze fest. He was good at DC in the 90s because he was a DC fanboy. He wrote a great Flash run that was mostly riffing on classic DC. KC, the good bits, is mostly Alex Ross. He's had good comics at DC, he's also been paired with the best artists at DC. George Perez, Alex Ross, Bryan Hitch.

Captain America has never been good.

Roger Stern John Byrne, and Jim Steranko all look at you strangely.

But yeah, Captain America hasn't been good in decades.

God the JMS Cap book is so lackluster. Captain America isn't a hard character to write, if you can write Superman you can write Cap.

Joe's Superman was lackluster, both of them. He's a mixed bag.

Cap's hard to write now in present day because he HAS to be....LIBERAL....not christian (in aa meaningful sense)....and have contemporary sensibilities. Think about it. Millar's Cap, despite everything wrong with Ultimates and allot of it was dogshit, the one thing Millar did right was have Cap be an unregenerate christian who questioned Thor's godhood, an old fashioned man when it came to women, and extremely jignostic. All of that was fascinating to see. The writer's test is I put these two characters together what interaction do they have?

Carol and fagSteve. "Why yes Carol, I a man born in the 20s do think women are the same as men...slay queen!"

Carol and an actual man from NYC in the 20s. "Yeah sure toots. Go back to the kitchen before your an old maid. Oh, and get me a beer."

Which one is more entertaining? Which reaction of Carol's will be more interesting?

 

[Clyde Cash's Left Teste]

Roger Stern John Byrne, and Jim Steranko all look at you strangely.

But yeah, Captain America hasn't been good in decades

I'm a big fan of the Gruenwald run. Loved how he used Red Skull in it

 

[Humble Architect]

Ultimate Cap is great, genuinely the saddest version of the guy, clearly so lonely and out of touch in a way that felt real. Like him drinking with elderly Bucky was one of the best scenes in those books. His friendship with Thor and Tony was also better in Ultimate because each dude represented different points on the political compass and they, alongside Hawkeye, really had that “forged in fire” brotherhood going on.

I read the first Jenny Sparks. Jesus christ I wish Tom King would just fuck off. I'm starting to believe he can't write for shit.

As a massive Captain Atom fan, I felt my blood boil. I had to dust off Armageddon as a palate cleanser.

I still love that he killed her and the poofs

 

[jspit2.0]

Ultimate Cap is great, genuinely the saddest version of the guy, clearly so lonely and out of touch in a way that felt real. Like him drinking with elderly Bucky was one of the best scenes in those books. His friendship with Thor and Tony was also better in Ultimate because each dude represented different points on the political compass and they, alongside Hawkeye, really had that “forged in fire” brotherhood going on.

Absolutely. They were interesting in a way that Marvel's Avengers hadn't been in a long time. Then Millar threw it all away at the end. But yeah.

As a massive Captain Atom fan, I felt my blood boil. I had to dust off Armageddon as a palate cleanser.

I still love that he killed her and the poofs

Oh I actually loved how a real hero reacts to Ellis influenced Wildstorm...

Or him just literally losing it and trashing Majestic in rage at how cowed ordinary people are.

 

[Humble Architect]

Absolutely. They were interesting in a way that Marvel's Avengers hadn't been in a long time. Then Millar threw it all away at the end. But yeah.



Oh I actually loved how a real hero reacts to Ellis influenced Wildstorm...


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Or him just literally losing it and trashing Majestic in rage at how cowed ordinary people are.

For me the best part was the universe jumping where Jack and the Engineer try to turn Atom into one of them, they do the 1000iq “would you kill Hitler?” And my boy Nathaniel tells those cucks to eat shit, that killing the old man on his knees isn’t and never will be justice.