Bought/Thought for Dec. 22 - SPOILERS!!!

[TheCorpulent1]

That's funny. I got it; but, haven't read it yet.

Thunderstrike #2

If you're a fan of Spider-Girl, you'll LOVE this book. If you never saw what all the fuss was about, though, you'll think the same with this. For me, I'm loving it!!! The main character has a bit of the New Ant-Man attitude in him; but, you can see DeFalco is striving towards an attitude adjustment. Best of all, he's setting up some nice supporting characters for Kevin/Thunderstrike. And, he does a great job if mixing action and drama within every issue.

This comic is solid! (It's just too overpriced.)

PHAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEDRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUSSSSS!!!!

But seriously, good to know it's keeping up the first issue's momentum. I resent the comparison to the worthless new Ant-Man, though. Kevin's just a jerk, not a total waste of humanity.

Mini-reviews:

Finally read Fables #100. Great stuff. I love these major turning point issues. Not a huge fan of the illustrated prose segment with Pinocchio and Gepetto, but that was still a decent story. Fun to see Bucky and Willingham swap creative roles, at the very least. The questions from celeb readers were fun but mostly pointless. Not quite as pointless as the little paper cutouts that took up like 4 pages, though. So, in the end: good, but probably not worth $10.

Incorruptible is getting really good. Max, Alana, Armadale, and Headcase are all pretty intriguing characters, and I can't wait to see how Plutonian's capture over in Irredeemable affects this title. I have a feeling Max is gonna throw a bit of a tantrum at the news next issue.

Larfleeze's Christmas Special was not as good as I expected it to be. It all turned out a bit too precious for me--but, in fairness, I tend to have that problem with a lot of Christmas stuff. I guess it's because I wasn't raised on a steady diet of overly saccharine movies as a kid (still never seen A Christmas Story or It's a Wonderful Life, and I never plan to). The goofy cartoons at the end of the issue were a bit more fun than the main story.

 

[Dread]

PHAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEDRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUUSSSSS!!!!

But seriously, good to know it's keeping up the first issue's momentum. I resent the comparison to the worthless new Ant-Man, though. Kevin's just a jerk, not a total waste of humanity.

You're always so harsh to O'Grady. He's not TOTALLY worthless. He's trying here and there to be a better guy. He could have just become a super-villain with the Ant-Man suit if he was so bad. The most he's done is aid and abet Black Fox sometimes. Iron Man's done thousands of times worse and he's Mr. Clean these days (even the Ghost is fine with him now). He's a deadbeat father and a jerk, but I wouldn't call him a "waste of humanity". At least he didn't throw two kids into the future to be raised by someone else like Cyclops did. A lot of it is bravado and attitude. He wants to do better without calling attention to it or seeming like he's softening.

At the very least, Eric O'Grady wasn't a bully, like Kevin was. He makes Flash Thompson look like a model student. But it's all part of the journey.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I've only just started to kind of like O'Grady because he's trying to redeem himself in Ant-Man & the Wasp. Why is O'Grady such a *****e, anyway? Kevin's at least got very good cause to be a dick. His dad got Thor's mess dumped on him, rose above it and became a hero in his own right, and then got killed for his trouble, his stepdad got all abusive when he was on steroids, and apparently Thor never even looks in on the kid. His life's not exactly overflowing with positive male role models.

 

[Dread]

I've only just started to kind of like O'Grady because he's trying to redeem himself in Ant-Man & the Wasp. Why is O'Grady such a *****e, anyway? Kevin's at least got very good cause to be a dick. His dad got Thor's mess dumped on him, rose above it and became a hero in his own right, and then got killed for his trouble, his stepdad got all abusive when he was on steroids, and apparently Thor never even looks in on the kid. His life's not exactly overflowing with positive male role models.

Eric O'Grady's home life hasn't been chronicled too much. I don't think it was terribly good from how Eric mentions it briefly, but he also exaggerates. In his debut series, he was a low ranking SHIELD agent who looked up to Mitch Carson, who was a somewhat bigger dip****. If he had a home life as rocky as Kevin Masterson, it hasn't been shown. O'Grady's career at SHIELD was mundane and tedious.

I think when Robert Kirkman created him, he wanted to break some cliches. Most times in superhero origins, powers or weapons or a fancy costume stumble into a genuinely good person (even if said person was a thief or some other criminal) who quickly decides to use them to be heroic and honorable and all that. The second Ant-Man, Scott Lang, developed that way and even the Rita DeMara Yellowjacket did. O'Grady wasn't like that. He was a jerk before he got the suit and he remained a jerk. He lied, cheated, and stole to get out of jams in life and that continued with the suit. The only catch is that he would often face the consequences of his actions eventually, and with the suit they got more extreme. He wasn't bad to the point that he used his costume to commit outright crimes; he still would defend a woman being beaten or fight a monster, he'd just use his powers to sneak peeks at nude women or make off with some bad guy's loot that would have been reported missing anyway. In fact the only major differences between him and Gambit is that Gambit is probably more charming.

In fact the only dilemma is that if O'Grady completely reforms as a person, then he's interchangeable. Aside for the fact that he had a daughter, I'd imagine most fans couldn't tell the difference between Lang and Pym by the end; Lang even was a scientist. You could NEVER confuse O'Grady with anyone. Fortunately, O'Grady's path of redemption has been bumpy enough that he's kept up the allure. His life was hardly easy when he was more or less forced onto Osborn's Thunderbolts. He was nearly killed during the Secret Invasion and he did help out the team, even if it was half by accident. The fact that things aren't easy for O'Grady even when he wants to be a better dude sort of makes him interesting. Least for me. Besides, he also bounces off other characters (like Pym) well because of that. He contrasts with everyone.

The shame of it is that Eric actually does love someone, he just can't always get himself in line to be worthy of her.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm well aware of what Kirkman was trying to do when he created O'Grady. It was just done a lot better back in Major Bummer and other places.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

You need to see A Christmas Story. Like, yesterday. Seriously, I don't care what your beliefs are...that movie is a MUST SEE.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, no. It was on literally all day on TBS yesterday and I was like, "You know, I've never seen that, but... eh." And then I watched some more of the Mythbusters marathon instead.

 

[Dread]

I'm well aware of what Kirkman was trying to do when he created O'Grady. It was just done a lot better back in Major Bummer and other places.

But, MAJOR BUMMER wasn't about a jerk. It was about a slacker. They're not the same.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

O'Grady's not really that much of a jerk. I mean, he's not mean-spirited most of the time. He's just sleazy and obnoxious. Either way, both are about two people gifted with incredible powers who fail to live up to their potential.

 

[Dread]

O'Grady's not really that much of a jerk. I mean, he's not mean-spirited most of the time. He's just sleazy and obnoxious. Either way, both are about two people gifted with incredible powers who fail to live up to their potential.

Being sleazy and obnoxious isn't the same as being "a total waste of humanity". I mean, would we even have PLAYBOY or PENTHOUSE if not for sleazy obnoxious dudes?

There is a difference between being sleazy and obnoxious (but not a jerk) versus being a slacker. Besides, MAJOR BUMMER was not part of the DCU at all, and was forgotten by the company the moment it was axed. Marvel, however, has kept O'Grady in circulation in quite a few major team books such as AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, THUNDERBOLTS, and even SECRET AVENGERS now. He sat out this issue, but he's done more there than Moon Knight has.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yes, much to my chagrin. If ever there were a character deserving of being forgotten, it's O'Grady.

And being sleazy and obnoxious to O'Grady's degree while besmirching a great heroic legacy does indeed equate to being a total waste of humanity to me. You're trying to argue perception like there's some objective standard.

 

[Themanofbat]

Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up....

 

[JewishHobbit]

No please, continue

 

[Dread]

Yes, much to my chagrin. If ever there were a character deserving of being forgotten, it's O'Grady.

And being sleazy and obnoxious to O'Grady's degree while besmirching a great heroic legacy does indeed equate to being a total waste of humanity to me. You're trying to argue perception like there's some objective standard.

O'Grady is at least trying to be a better guy now. It's a "two steps forward, one step back" process (at best), but he's trying. Besides, Lang has Stature to honor his legacy directly, and Pym's doing a better job of honoring the legacies overall.

I'd argue that so long as O'Grady is around to be "the bad Ant-Man", Pym's progress towards not being solely recalled for being a wife beater or a psychopath from the last 1-2 years may actually stick for a while. Of course, the cartoon can't hurt.

 

[JewishHobbit]

O'Grady [blackout]>[/blackout] Pym

 

[Doc Destruction]

I've been playing DC Online for xmas

Same here...I think I'm in love.

 

[roach]

Same here...I think I'm in love.

um dude thanks but I dont even know you

 

[Doc Destruction]

With. The. Game. Knucklehead!

 

[JewishHobbit]

Here's all you need to know about Doc Destruction?! All great things come out of Cleveland! This is all.