The Comic Book Thread (spoilers)

[Benji]

In the New Avengers: The Illuminati one-shot, Iron Man was handed a copy of the Super-human Registration Act which will begin the Civil War.

He told the rest of the group that "A hero, probably a young one... One of the Young Avengers, or those kids in Los Angeles... Some carefree happy go-lucky, well-meaning young person with the best of intentions will do something wrong. He'll be trying to save someone- do something heroic- but he'll make a mistake. Turn to the left instead of the right and people will be hurt or killed because of it. And it'll happen on live TV, or it'll be recorded... and like Rodney King, it'll play over and over. All over the world. Until the unrest that is already bubbling over will boil over... and every politician looking to make a name for himself will run right on TV and they'll tell America how they are going to save the world from these out-of-control costumed characters who think the law doesn't apply to them. And half of us will go along with it and half of us won't. And because of this mini-rebellion, our lawmakers will be forced to make an example of someone. Someone like our friend Spider-Man. Someone they can make a real spectacle of. Someone they can unmask on TV, destroy his marriage and family and pin a crime or two on! All for the whole world to see. And the country will rupture. Sides will be taken and people will be hurt. Friend against friend. People who used to be adversaries finding themselves teamed up against a common cause. Friends dying at the hands of a former ally or teammate. That is what will happen."

Okay, I never read that. So The Illuminati KNEW what would happen beforehand? It really is just one big fake war started by someone for their own personal gain... I want to know who

Wasn't this hinted at in Frontlines #8 and 9? I won't post spoilers if you haven't read them but I'm pretty certain it was hinted in those two issues, with #10 possibly unravelling this plot.

Yeah, it was hinted, but to me this means shows that one of the Illuminati is the person setting the whole thing up, and I love them all way too much to want any of them to be the traitor

[Buford Ripley]

I haven't been following much of Marvel recently so...

Does anyone know where Xavier is or what he's doing?

[MalaCloudy Black]

Who's writing Sensational Spider-Man? I picked up an issue at Hastings yesterday and read through it there and it seemed fairly well-written. I think it may have been issue 32 - all I know is that the issue was MJ-centric and had her meeting with Sue Storm for lunch.

[GhostMachine]

No clue about Xavier, Kulex. Last time I saw him in a comic was a few years ago.

I picked up Justice Society of America #1 and it looks like its going to be a good series. (I only have a few issues of the previous JSA series, and those were back when Hal Jordan was still the Spectre) One of the new members is Ma (Golden Age Red Tornado) Hunkel's granddaughter, who has wind based powers and a motormouth. They've also recruited the new Starman, who is a nutcase. (Literally - he lives in a sanatarium that he checked himself into!) And Jesse Quick has a new costumed identity; she's now the second Liberty Belle wearing a costume similar to the one her mother wore in the later issues of All-Star Squadron. There are also a couple of interesting developments, including the possible murder of a Golden Age hero (whose family was definitely murdered in the book) and the discovery of the son of one of the Golden Age JSAers. Damage is a member and is wearing a costume that looks like a cross between the Golden Age Atom and the hero Atom Smasher. There are three characters on the cover who aren't in the comic -Hawkman, a Sandman (who I assume will be Sand, now using the actual Sandman gimmick) and Steel (as in Commander Steel, not John Henry Irons).

Who's writing Sensational Spider-Man? I picked up an issue at Hastings yesterday and read through it there and it seemed fairly well-written. I think it may have been issue 32 - all I know is that the issue was MJ-centric and had her meeting with Sue Storm for lunch.

[MalaCloudy Black]

I didn't have a chance to check because I was being called away.

[CKN]

"The Husband Or The Spider?" (Issue 32)

* Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa

* Penciller: Sean Chen

A stand-alone issue dealing with how Mary Jane is affected by Spider-Man's unmasking. The first of three such stand-alone issues dealing with the women in Peter Parker's life.

Is that the issue?

Marvel Knights Spider-Man is pretty good from what I have read. Recently I guess it switched into Sensational... volume 2.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I'm reading through Rising Stars, the series by J. Michael Stratynski (sp). Good stuff so far.

And Astonishing X-Men didn't seem to ship to my Forbidden Planet on Friday, like it was listed as on the site. For shame! I had to make do with the regular X-Men comic. My opinion on that hasn't changed. Its total shite, but its very readable shite.

[Boulder]

Bless this thread.

Since July, I've been an absolute comic junkie. Or Marvel junkie, more accurately. I've been getting into a lot of the Civil War stuff, plus Annihilation and Planet Hulk. I've really been going crazy with the back issues of Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and Wolverine.

As far as favorite writers go, I think I'd have to put Peter David towards the top of the list. I haven't read a whole lot of his stuff, but his part in The Other was great. I'm not sure which title it was, but the issue where Tracer pretended to be an Avenger and met with Aunt May was just brilliant. They had this awesome discussion/minor argument about theology that really caught my attention. I enjoy JMS as well, and though it may be questionable at times, I respect his penchant for putting his own spin on the long-running histories of his characters. Fabian Nicieza is great, but I can't pick up Cable and Deadpool anymore because I loathe the character of Cable.

A friend of mine recently mentioned that he spends all his money on weed and comic books. Basically it's the same thing for me, minus the marijuana.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

You....loathe.....Cable.....? I don't understand. At first, what most got me into Cable and Deadpool was Deadpool and the comedy. The writing was good for the storylines and plots, but it was Deadpool that hooked me, and Cable was just there. The more and more I read, the more and more Cable becomes the reason I come back. Whilst still funny, 'deadpool humour' becomes a bit samey after a while, yet Cable just grows on me more and more as a character.

Incidently, I got back into comics (but moreso than ever) about July time as well.

[GhostMachine]

I haven't been reading Planet Hulk, or any Civil War books except the issues of Captain America and Ms. Marvel that were part of it, but I can't wait for World War Hulk.

As for Cable, he's an okay character once you get past his `will give any sane person a headache just thinking about the whole thing' origin and backstory.

[Vilge Duin]

I've preferred the more Deadpool centric route the series has been taking. Especially with Cable's addition as an X-man. I love that Nicieza is finally allowing Deadpool to be serious. I couldn't stand the "moron" running around "insane", cracking jokes a mile a minute with no seriousness at all. Deadpool jokes to annoy and cover his own feelings and avoid things, not because he's an idiot. The recent Civil War stuff and past few issues have really illustrated that.

Cable's an annoying Deus Ex Machina (despite the future he comes from no longer existing, and thus any knowledge he had being null). Albeit I can help but like him. He's Murtagh to Deadpool's Riggs.

I've avoiding mainstream Marvel for over ten years. But the recent occurrences of Civil War and random events that have occurred in Cable & Deadpool and She-Hulk (only two main marvel books I read monthly) have my interest piqued. Then again I can't really tolerate the new breed of writers (particularly Bendis) and the need for such decompressed storytelling and the fetishistic attitude towards certain characters.

[Ruckus]

I've preferred the more Deadpool centric route the series has been taking. Especially with Cable's addition as an X-man. I love that Nicieza is finally allowing Deadpool to be serious. I couldn't stand the "moron" running around "insane", cracking jokes a mile a minute with no seriousness at all. Deadpool jokes to annoy and cover his own feelings and avoid things, not because he's an idiot. The recent Civil War stuff and past few issues have really illustrated that.

Cable's an annoying Deus Ex Machina (despite the future he comes from no longer existing, and thus any knowledge he had being null). Albeit I can help but like him. He's Murtagh to Deadpool's Riggs.

I've avoiding mainstream Marvel for over ten years. But the recent occurrences of Civil War and random events that have occurred in Cable & Deadpool and She-Hulk (only two main marvel books I read monthly) have my interest piqued. Then again I can't really tolerate the new breed of writers (particularly Bendis) and the need for such decompressed storytelling and the fetishistic attitude towards certain characters.

[Avenged Probably]

I was wondering if anyone could give me a briefly detailed paragraph of what the 'House of M' Storyline is about. I've recentl got back into comics and been buying TPB's.

How did it come about? Who does it involve? But please don't spoil anything if possible.

Also when I get to that part of the 'timeline' would I need to read the whole thing, or just parts relevant to the books I'm reading. (X-Men books mostly).

I can't seem to make head or tale of it from whats listed on sites like Amazon etc.

Any help would be great.

[Vilge Duin]

Well, really his future would have to still exist in a way otherwise he would have stopped existing.

Edited January 1, 2007 by Vilge Duin

[GhostMachine]

Vilge, you should give Captain America a chance. The artwork on the book is excellent, and the writing lately has been fairly great. (They even did an issue recently that didn't have Cap in it, and it was good!) You might be tempted to avoid it due to the fact that they brought back Bucky, but the way it was handled was fairly well done, and there's an interesting plot going on with him working with Nick Fury.

My one artistic gripe about the way Cap is drawn in a lot of comics is that a lot of artists draw his shirt as if its scale mail, and its actually supposed to be chainmail.

As for Civil War, I think there's going to be an interesting change in one of the heroes after its all over.....

I didn't read it, but Wizard had a preview of Mighty Avengers #1 a few months back, and it seemed like it was someone other than Tony Stark in the Iron Man armor. Some people are speculating that it might be Hank Pym in the armor, but I'm betting that's just wishful thinking since Wasp is on the team. However, if it IS Pym, that could make for an interesting situation if he wears the armor and uses his powers like he did in West Coast Avengers.

(Back then, instead of changing his size, he wore coveralls with various gadgets in his pockets and would use his powers to change the sizes of the objects. He even pulled a vehicle out once or twice. Just imagine Iron Man suddenly pulling a giant energy cannon from out of nowhere, if it is Hank Pym in the armor.....)

If it IS someone else, I almost hope they're wearing the armor because Tony Stark is dead. I used to be a big Iron Man fan, but they've fucked the character up so much over the last decade that I can't stand him now.

[TGC]

Vilge, you should give Captain America a chance. The artwork on the book is excellent, and the writing lately has been fairly great. (They even did an issue recently that didn't have Cap in it, and it was good!) You might be tempted to avoid it due to the fact that they brought back Bucky, but the way it was handled was fairly well done, and there's an interesting plot going on with him working with Nick Fury.

My one artistic gripe about the way Cap is drawn in a lot of comics is that a lot of artists draw his shirt as if its scale mail, and its actually supposed to be chainmail.

As for Civil War, I think there's going to be an interesting change in one of the heroes after its all over.....

I didn't read it, but Wizard had a preview of Mighty Avengers #1 a few months back, and it seemed like it was someone other than Tony Stark in the Iron Man armor. Some people are speculating that it might be Hank Pym in the armor, but I'm betting that's just wishful thinking since Wasp is on the team. However, if it IS Pym, that could make for an interesting situation if he wears the armor and uses his powers like he did in West Coast Avengers.

(Back then, instead of changing his size, he wore coveralls with various gadgets in his pockets and would use his powers to change the sizes of the objects. He even pulled a vehicle out once or twice. Just imagine Iron Man suddenly pulling a giant energy cannon from out of nowhere, if it is Hank Pym in the armor.....)

If it IS someone else, I almost hope they're wearing the armor because Tony Stark is dead. I used to be a big Iron Man fan, but they've fucked the character up so much over the last decade that I can't stand him now.

The Iron Man that was shown in the preview seemed to be very different. In fact he seemed to act a lot like Hank Pym, expecially in how he treated Wasp. However another theory is that it will be Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, under the armor. Now I hope to god that is not even close to the the truth, but knowing Marvel and Bendis it wouldn't surprise me at all. Also recent pages of art "leaked" on the net show the cover of Iron Man's monthly book and the title reads something to the effect that Tony Stark is the Director of SHIELD.

[Benji]

I think it is time that Stark hung up the Iron Man garb, his character is too conflicted to play both superhero and agent of the state. I'm hoping you guys are right and he hangs it up to become the SHIELD director as has been hinted at.

Incidentally, is anyone else hoping to some kind of splinter-faction from SHIELD with Nick Fury as its head?

Sidenote: Winter Soldier/Bucky is the coolest addition to the Marve roster since Cable <3

[GhostMachine]

I think it is time that Stark hung up the Iron Man garb, his character is too conflicted to play both superhero and agent of the state. I'm hoping you guys are right and he hangs it up to become the SHIELD director as has been hinted at.

Incidentally, is anyone else hoping to some kind of splinter-faction from SHIELD with Nick Fury as its head?

Sidenote: Winter Soldier/Bucky is the coolest addition to the Marve roster since Cable <3

[Benji]

But Tony and co. ARE the villains, that's the point, they're bad guys who have their motives, just like any 'real world bad guy' they're not out and out evil, they believe in their cause and would do anything for it.

I love the name Winter Soldier personally, I think it defines his character and past pretty damn well, especially if you read the Winter Kills (IIRC) one-shot.

[Heel Turn]

Vilge, you should give Captain America a chance. The artwork on the book is excellent, and the writing lately has been fairly great. (They even did an issue recently that didn't have Cap in it, and it was good!) You might be tempted to avoid it due to the fact that they brought back Bucky, but the way it was handled was fairly well done, and there's an interesting plot going on with him working with Nick Fury.