Avengers the Initiative

[Dread]

This is kind of going in circles I guess, and getting off topic. Essentially, I just find it hard to buy that Thor and Balder would be that willing to embrace Loki again so soon after the last Ragnarok. Allowing him back in was a stupid move, and Thor deserves whatever he gets for it to me. So to the Asgardians. Of course it sets up the required situation and the idea of Thor being exiled from his own kingdom that he recreated is a good one, lord knows him sitting on the throne got old quickly with the slow pacing. I just don't like the execution of how we got there. The reader is supposed to sympathize with Thor's plight; I don't. Brother or not, he should have been more wary. No one sympathizes with Spider-Man when he is a gullible ******. No one writes Gladiator of the Imperial Guard, loyal to the chair of the Empire and nothing else, as being some almighty conflicted tragic character like Balder supposedly is; no, Kallark is just a pawn to most, used by every maniac who comes to power. Balder won't stand up to Loki or do anything that in any way hinders Loki's plans until it is far, far too late. Bet on it.

Where JMS has taken Thor is interesting; just there was that main route in the rode I can't buy, and I never will. It's an impasse.

To stay on topic, I genuinely feel bad for Komodo, and wondering why the supposedly SHIELD affiliated Scorpion is how Hardball's HYDRA arm candy? Deep cover, or side switch?

 

[Vanguard07]

Hevent you heard? everyone everywhere is actually a secret Hydra agent.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Everything Bendis writes is just us seeing through the Watcher's eyes while he's on a LSD trip.

 

[Anubis]

Actually, that's Morrison.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Hey guys! I just wrote a fun story about Texas Twister in the Contest of Marvels. I figure since he's in The Rangers it could go here.

Check it out. He's going up against Lord Templar. A total badass. So I thought I'd throw a Hail Mary.

Lucky for me the battle takes place in the Baxter Building.


Tell me if ya like and if you know anyone that can get me a job writing for a Rangers Mini.

Spoiler

"Well ain't this a peach?"

TT finds himself in the Baxter. A place he's visited many times before. His old buddy Ben works there after all. And he joined the Frightful Four once and invaded the place. The first thing he does is go to Roberta the Android Receptionist.


"Hello Texas Twister. Welcome to the Baxter."

"I ain't got time for no dilly dally, this here's a number one priority emergency."

"Please state the emergency."

"I'm about to be hunted down and killed by some varmint named Lord Tampon or somethin'"

"There are no records of a "Lord Tampon" in my database."

"Lord Templar!"

"Accessing Avengers Database. Ah yes... Here he is. Oh my, he seems to be quite powerful."

"No ****, Metal Britches! Now how can I take him down?"

"Actually Mr. Twister I don't wear pants. I don't even have legs."

"HOW THE HELL DO I DEFEAT HIM??"

"Activating full security. HERBIE security droids activated. Doombot Drones activated. Localized Force Fields activated. Stun artillery activated. Time Displaced Panic Room activated."

"Hot damn! I reckon this might not be as hard as I thought."

"Armory access granted. Please follow the blue arrows."

"Armory? Roberta honey. You keep talking to me like this and I'm fixin' to marry you."

"Fixin'? I am undamaged."

"Stay connected to my SHIELD communicator. I may need ya later."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where in tarnation am I?"

"You are currently in maintenance shaft 112.4. After spending three hours in the Temporal Panic Room familiarizing yourself with the Shrink Ray, Holo-Projector Helm, and the structural layout of the Baxter you utilized Dr. Richards' travel shafts and exited the Panic Room. Exactly one minute has elapsed in the 616 Space - Time Continuum."

"Lord Tampon?"

"So much like Mr. Storm. Lord Templar has split into six distinct avatars. He is currently searching the building for you. The avatars seem to be phasing and teleporting through out the premises."

"Well dammit, girl!!! Cain't you stop him from doing that?"

"Activating Red Ghost Protocols. Matter displacement fields activated. Phasing now impossible."

"And the teleporting?"

"Activating Diablo Protocols. Dampening Fields Activated. Teleportation prohibited."

"Prohibited? Not impossible?"

"Magical energies unpredictable."

"Sum*****."

"HERBIE bots engaging Lord Templar."

"Fine. Now I just gotta find a way to corral this desperado."

"HERBIE bots down to 60 percent reserves."

"Think! Think! Think!"

"Doombots engaging. Stun Artillery engaging. HERBIE bots at 20 percent."

"I cain't do it! How the hell am I supposed ta defeat him? I can't stop him! The only thing I could possibly do is ..."

"HERBIE bots down. Doombots 50 percent. Stun Artillery infrastructure compromised."

"Roberta! Where's the Negative Zone portal?"

"ACCESS DENIED!"

"Oh come on sweetie! Couldn't I just dump that evil yayhoo in there so me and you can enjoy a nice can of oil together?"

"ACCESS DENIED!"

"What are the other portals in this dump? Ben says he's travelling to other dimensions every week."

"Current portals include : Time Platform. Microverse Platform and Vehicle. FictoVerse Platform and Vehicle. Attilan Portal. Negative Zone Portal. Doombots 20 percent."

"Activate that damn flying bathtub and send it at them! Now gimmie access to that Microwave Verse!"

"ACCESS DENIED!"

"Is there any portal that has a low priority?"

"Attilan Portal active in emergency situations."

"THIS IS A GODDAMN EMERGENCY!"

"Portal unlocked and waiting in Section D. Doombots down. Stun Artillery compromised. Fantasticar Mark 1 engaged."

"Hot damn! You just turn it on when I say, "Now!"



Section D


"You have lead me a merry chase. But it's over."

"You think so, pardner?"

"I know so. Now your life energy will be mine."

Lord Templar reaches for Texas Twister.

"NOW!!!"


In a blinding flash the image of Texas Twister waivers and turns into what appears to be a Thing Suit. Silmutaneously the Portal to Attilan fades into view over Lord Templar. In a flash Lord Templar is absorbed into the gateway as a look of anger washes over his face.

In a moment all is quiet. Until Texas Twister fades into view. He is in the far corner of the room and one inch tall. He is also wearing what appears to be the Thought Projector Helmet.

He walks over to the portal.

"Yippie Kayay, mother ****er."

Texas Twister Ring Outs Lord Templar

Go Rangers!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Preview of #23

Good preview all around, but Scorpion being portrayed as an evil skank annoys me. She was working as a hero alongside SHIELD for a long time, and then she went off on her own to find out the truth about her parentage, but she was never a cold-hearted villainess as she's portrayed here. I hope she's working undercover or something.

 

[Dread]

I agree, I have no clue why Scorpion is being a villainess all of a sudden. I noted that last issue when they revealed that. She was a SHIELD operative for the longest time. It seems quite bizarre unless it is some sort of deep cover.

The coloring/inking actually looked better for Ramos this issue; maybe the month break helped. I also really liked the stuff with Justice.

 

[Anubis]

Well, SHEILD being an arm of Hydra means that she could have always been evil from the start. Depending on how the writer decides to swing it.

 

[bryanss3]

damn you beat me too it.

 

[Dread]

Well, SHEILD being an arm of Hydra means that she could have always been evil from the start. Depending on how the writer decides to swing it.

Right, the Hickman/Bendis retcon from SECRET WARRIORS. I keep forgetting, because I don't read it. And because it is stupid.

Still, though, it is a bit for Scorpion to go from heroine/looking for her destiny to Hardball's HYDRA Harley Quinn.

(I like alteration.)

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Well, SHEILD being an arm of Hydra means that she could have always been evil from the start. Depending on how the writer decides to swing it.

But I don't think anyone except Baron Strucker and a couple other extremely high-level HYDRA personnel knew that SHIELD was part of HYDRA. Otherwise, Nick Fury probably would've found out a long time ago.

 

[Anubis]

Whatever happend to Machine Teen?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He grew up into Machine Man.

I don't f***ing know.

 

[Anubis]

The reason I asked is because he showed up along side the chick Scorpion and Gravity and some robot team or something a few years ago and I figure it's about time he showed up again too.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Eh, I never read anything with him.

 

[Anubis]

I read his original Mini. It was pretty good. Robot teenager going through highschool....I don't really remember. I should read it again. After I've finished going through Sandman again.

 

[Dread]

I think that team-up with Machine Teen was circa HOUSE OF M. In regular continuity he hasn't done much since his mini, circa 2005. He was considered for the Initiative in CW: BATTLE REPORT but that has been it.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I loved Machine Teen

 

[Dread]

MACHINE TEEN was...alright. It wasn't bad but I don't recall it being especially memorable. I probably liked GRAVITY more, and apparently so did Marvel, because he showed up in more places since.

I guess what held me back about MACHINE TEEN as a mini was that it was a very basic set up; teenage boy discovers he is a robot build by his "father", there is a dark company that wants to make his tech into a weapon, they have to be stopped. It was more of a beginning arc to an ongoing than a mini unto itself. It had a story but a very basic one. I could imagine Machine Teen being fleshed out with another writer, but no one has been interested. Likely because he may remind some of Victor Mancha from RUNAWAYS, who has a better origin and better powers. Machine Teen was just superhumanly strong and durable (and not to a terribly potent degree compared to most superhumans).

Seems a bit late, though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I liked that Machine Man series when Aaron was rebuilt using Sentinel tech. That was a cool premise.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

My first exposure to Machine Man was Marvel Zombies 3

 

[Blader5489]

Right, the Hickman/Bendis retcon from SECRET WARRIORS. I keep forgetting, because I don't read it. And because it is stupid.

I don't think it's stupid, but it's definitely ripped straight out of MGS4.

 

[RockSP]

I don't think it's stupid, but it's definitely ripped straight out of MGS4.

What's that?

 

[Dread]

I liked that Machine Man series when Aaron was rebuilt using Sentinel tech. That was a cool premise.

What year was that?

I don't think it's stupid, but it's definitely ripped straight out of MGS4.

Perhaps. Then again, we do know some comic book talents do spend a lot of time at their game systems; Joe Mad used to blame a lot of his lateness on his PS2 way back.

What's that?

Metal Gear Solid 4: The Interactive Movie (basically, for every minute of gameplay, there are about 30 of cinematics).

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It was from the M-Tech line in 1999. Machine Man was rocking a bit of a Robocop look early on in it.