Bought/Thought 10/31/07

[Dread]

Maybe he ate it.

What? Drax ate his.

Drax was an idiot for a while.

Either AC will work with ILLUMINATI and come up with something like, "Mr. Fantastic took my Soul Gem and then I was beset by the Annihilation Wave or the Phalanx", or they will ignore that and presume the reader doesn't care, or they will say he lost the gem from some other means and give Illuminati the finger, as no one else but Bendis & Millar (who are like the Batman & Robin of self-righteous retcons and ego-fulfilling self-important stories) has really made much hay with it.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I'm guessing the Infinity Gems are just off-limits because Bendis is doing something with them. Heaven forbid anyone else want to use something that Bendis is using in a mini-series that should've been done months ago.

 

[Dread]

Yeah, I'm guessing the Infinity Gems are just off-limits because Bendis is doing something with them. Heaven forbid anyone else want to use something that Bendis is using in a mini-series that should've been done months ago.

I know, and it is that PRECISE bit that makes a lot of people like me loathe Bendis. He is so obviously Marvel's favorite son and while that is realistic given he is their #1 writer (and has maintained that status for years), when it runs roughshod over superior writers and ideas, it gets very irksome. Aside for repowering Iceman almost immediately & the revelation of "Hulk Math", no writer has dared challenge anything Bendis puts to print, while he runs over anything and everything in his path with ZERO regards to continuity past and present, history of the characters, or consideration of any writer on any other book like an oversized spoiled child. And that is what Marvel's coddling writers and over a half decade of universal mainstream fans have created; a spoiled child. Some writers can get that and STILL deliver innovative and considerate good without stepping on too many toes, but Bendis obviously believes his work is superior to all, and he prides on toe-stepping. Or if not prides, is apathetic to such things (or the editors are), and that breeds contempt like the sort I have for Bendis.

For a delayed mini-series, for a title that ties into nothing outside his books, for an event that is a half year into the future, Adam Warlock will have to go without his key gimmick. And that is just a bit wrong.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I think that's a bit of an overreaction. Bendis had a story to tell, the character wasn't in use, so he got to use the Gems. That kind of allocation happens on a daily basis in comics; if you assign an X-character to one book, it means he can't be on another team (unless he's Wolverine).

 

[Dread]

I think that's a bit of an overreaction. Bendis had a story to tell, the character wasn't in use, so he got to use the Gems. That kind of allocation happens on a daily basis in comics; if you assign an X-character to one book, it means he can't be on another team (unless he's Wolverine).

Or Storm.

Or Cyclops.

Or Emma Frost.

Or Spider-Man.

Or even Angel (how can he be a Renagade if he is busy on Messiah Complex)?

Is there a bloody purpose to retconning in the Illuminati, the most unsuccessful and overly self-important team of the decade? It has dirtied a lot of pies despite the issues themselves being decent reads.

 

[Purple Man]

There's some saying I could use about counting eggs, but I'll forego that, and just say: Wait and see!

Illuminati Special: Set up for Planet/World War Hulk.

Illuminati #1: Skrulls
Illuminati #2: Infinity Gems
Illuminati #3: Beyonder
Illuminati #4: Marvel Boy

Way things are going, I'm guessing Bendis is using the mini to set up some big stuff. His upcoming Secret Invasion sounds like a step in that direction.

And after Secret Invasion runs its course, Annihilation Conquest will already be wrapped.

After the two events where do we go? How about we follow them both to one mega event? Put Earth at the center of the next Annihilation event and it sounds like we have something major in the offering.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's a nice thought, but I don't know if it would happen. I thought Marvel was all about keeping space stuff in space, which is why they made Annihilation in the first place. I mean, the Annihilation stuff could never even touch the Shi'ar Empire because it was being used in X-Men comics; Earth is being used in pretty much all of Marvel's comics.

 

[Doc Destruction]

Corp! We must play TF2 sometime together! I am an excellent medic. Look for Creamy Goodness! Awww, yeah! (it's a south park reference, sickos)

 

[PhotoJones]

What the **** is Team Fortress?

 

[Darthphere]

An awesome multiplayer game.

 

[PhotoJones]

That's a level of nerdism I shy away from.

 

[yenaled]

That's a level of nerdism I shy away from.

You should try it.

That and Checkmate.

 

[PhotoJones]

I read Checkmate. And mutliplayer games are the downfall of society.

 

[Doc Destruction]

You playing too, Darth?

 

[yenaled]

Fair enough

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Corp! We must play TF2 sometime together! I am an excellent medic. Look for Creamy Goodness! Awww, yeah! (it's a south park reference, sickos)

Absolutely. My Steam ID is TheCorpulent1 (I'm predictable that way). So far, the only other TF buddy I have is the one real-life friend I have who plays it, and he's barely on. I'll probably be playing tonight around 11 p.m. EST, in fact.

I read Checkmate. And mutliplayer games are the downfall of society.

Massively multiplayer ones like World of Warcraft, yes. Match-based multiplayer games like TF2, however, can only make society stronger.

 

[PhotoJones]

Massively multiplayer ones like World of Warcraft, yes. Match-based multiplayer games like TF2, however, can only make society stronger.

I don't know the difference.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's too bad. The only bad thing about TF2 is that people still type in L337-speak sometimes, but even that's going away with the advent of in-game voice chatting. That said, TF2 R teh gr8ezzzt!!111

 

[PhotoJones]

Ugh....

 

[TheCorpulent1]

All right, back to business. Did anyone read Infinite Crisis Multiverse Halloween Spectacular Special on 52 Crisis-Laden Earths? Are the stories any good?

 

[PhotoJones]

I flipped through it. It looked pretty cool, actually. The hefty pricetag kept me from buying it, though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I bought it, I just haven't got around to reading it. I was mostly wondering if it's good enough to read on my lunch hour or if I'll just wait until later for it.

 

[PhotoJones]

Unless you've got something better to read, why not?

 

[Doc Destruction]

All right, back to business. Did anyone read Infinite Crisis Multiverse Halloween Spectacular Special on 52 Crisis-Laden Earths? Are the stories any good?

I bought it, and liked it quite a bit. Some of the stories are clunkers, but some are brilliant. Plus, you get to get caught up on some of the DC people that got messed up recently.

Oh, and an appearance by

Spoiler

DEADMAN!!!

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Iron Man #23

Iron Man gets kicked out of SHIELD in this issue. Well, only temporarily. Apparently, Tony's headed for something of a nervous breakdown (he hasn't left his armor for about a week) and with all the feathers he's been ruffling lately by pursuing an investigation into the murder of Gadget, his increasingly unstable mental health provided the means to getting rid of him. At least so they thought.

Tony gets equipped with an ankle bracelet that's designed to cut him off from his Extremis powers, and without the resources of SHIELD at his disposal it looks as if he's hit something of a dead end.

My only problem with this issue is the explanation of why Tony needs to use the classic armor. He should just be able to slap on a slightly older model as opposed to going back to what is essentially a relic. Sure, he doesn't have Extremis, but its not as if he hasn't piloted his suits without it before. Meh.

Otherwise, a very good issue. Graviton dies, the Mandarin flexes a little muscle, Maya continues to be naive, and Norman Osborn makes a little cameo.

4/5

Annihilation Conquest: Quasar #4

Call me old fashioned but Quasar declaring her love for a giant dragon left me feeling a little uncomfortable. Especially, the riding scenes.

Anyway, all the guesses about the identity of the savior pretty much had narrowed down to Captain Marvel (whichever one) and Warlock. It turns out to be Warlock.

The Super Adaptoid goes down in this issue after Quasar uses Captain Kirk's patented method of destroying evil computers and Annihilus nearly takes her over until the original Quasar shows up and saves the day. It all felt forced and like we were going through the motions.

2/5