Bought // Thought November 05 2008

[Bubonic]

No, thanks.

So you are absolutely refusing to read it simply on the basis of it being zombie themed?

Or you can't afford to risk wasting your time on something you might not like because you already have a huge pull list?

Seriously, just download a cbr and check it out! That is the most "legit" use of DCP, reviewing before you buy.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm not interested in it in the first place, I'm sick of zombie comics, it features Machine Man with his ******ed Nextwave characterization, and I've got tons of comics on my pull list already. If those aren't enough reasons for me not to read it, I don't know what else to tell you.

 

[Bubonic]

What did they do to Machine Man?
I quit MCP early on and never read his old stuff.

You have made your point though lol, I just find it fantastic for what I was expecting.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

They made him a stereotypical organic-hating robot who calls everyone "meat things" and nonsense like that. He was a perfectly normal dude searching for his own humanity before that, which is how I liked him.

 

[Bubonic]

I don't get how a robot can be a normal dude to begin with, guess he was programmed to be?

The whole robot searching for its humanity is almost as generic as the human hating angle, albeit more cheerful.

Has anyone been keeping up on The Stand? I'm a bit late, but wow am I loving it, and the anticipation brewing inside me is huge! I just wish they didn't release something like this in instalements and just released it as one huge hardcover comic book.

 

[masteryoda]

They made him a stereotypical organic-hating robot who calls everyone "meat things" and nonsense like that. He was a perfectly normal dude searching for his own humanity before that, which is how I liked him.

I'm probably totaly off and might be thinking of the wrong character. But wasn't he protrayed like that in Universe X?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Which, human-hating or soul-searching? I don't really remember how he was in Universe X. I try to put that awful series out of my mind as much as possible.

I don't get how a robot can be a normal dude to begin with, guess he was programmed to be?

The whole robot searching for its humanity is almost as generic as the human hating angle, albeit more cheerful.

Yeah, he's one of the many robots to exceed his programming and develop a soul or his own mind or whatever you want to call it, and it is generic, but it's better than the human-hating version.

 

[masteryoda]

Which, human-hating or soul-searching? I don't really remember how he was in Universe X. I try to put that awful series out of my mind as much as possible.

I just remember the Meat bags comment being said in that series. But like I said I'm probably totally off. Ellis rules at all things, that's what I was trying to get at.
You didn't like Universe X? Or was it Earth X? The first one was all kinds of awesome, anyway. I hanen't read the follow ups but I heard they suck ass.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I liked Earth X, but the follow-up series, Universe X and Paradise X, were lame.

 

[Bubonic]

Which, human-hating or soul-searching? I don't really remember how he was in Universe X. I try to put that awful series out of my mind as much as possible.

Yeah, he's one of the many robots to exceed his programming and develop a soul or his own mind or whatever you want to call it, and it is generic, but it's better than the human-hating version.

lol so what's so special about the Walking Dead anyways?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's a really well written comic. You invest in the characters in spite of your own common sense, since you know they're most likely going to die anyway. Kirkman imbues his characters with a lot of genuine humanity and emotion, too. Their friends and family die and it takes a major toll on them. That's interesting reading to me.

 

[Bubonic]

It's a really well written comic. You invest in the characters in spite of your own common sense, since you know they're most likely going to die anyway. Kirkman imbues his characters with a lot of genuine humanity and emotion, too. Their friends and family die and it takes a major toll on them. That's interesting reading to me.

So it is character driven.
Hmm, that does sound pretty awesome.

Have you looked into the Stand series yet? Good writing in that, unless you hate King.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Nah, but if I read King's stuff, it'll be in novel form. I tend to prefer the original format for stories.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Two great comics this week that I've read so far, both of which have already been mentioned.

Ultimatum #1 was awesome; but, you have to always worry about what's going to come later. I've read awesome first issues that end up fizzling out later. BUT, the great thing about the Ultimate Universe is the idea that almost anything can happen (except, probably, Spidey dying). Sometimes this sucks, as Bendis sometimes kills someone off a bit too quickly (like getting rid of Gwen Stacey), or ends a storyline before it's really flourished (like Peter dating Kitty); but, I think this comes at a good time, as the Ultimate Universe really needs a shaking up.

Final Crisis - Resist continues the trend of having the tie-ins being much better than the main story. This could have been done better, though, by simply incorporating this story into Checkmate's regular series which recently ended. It obviously brings back what many of us readers loved about the series before it went off in DC's usual boring direction, and maybe could have sparked new life into the series. I still think DC's making a mistake by not having the regular titles tie-in with Final Crisis, as it makes everything happening feel apart from what's been going on.

The hard part is you will have such a tough time getting the most from this series if you don't have an intimate knowledge of the DCU. So many 3rd and 4th tier characters are being used thoughout the tie-ins, even after reading many a DC comic for a good 4 years, I find myself a bit confused.

 

[Anubis]

Checkmate went to hell because Rucka left and some "genius" decided to replace him with Bruce "How does he keep getting work!?!" Jones.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Yeah, I dropped it without bothering to read any of Jones' issues. From what I hear, it's as bad as everyone expected it to be.

 

[Anubis]

Hey, I made the mistake of giving that guy a chance on Nightwing after the hell I went through trying to read through his Hulk run. Never again. Octotodd. that guy outta be banished from comic writing like Macky and Austin.

 

[Dread]

Frankly, I hated what NEXTWAVE did to a lot of their characters, hence why I gave up on it after issue #2. The gag seemed to be Ellis believing that he could make fun of little known B and C list characters regardless if it made any sense. The problem is the book gained cult appeal so now other writers are carrying on, especially with Machine Man. Trading one cliche for an inferior cliche is not how to revive a character.

ULTIMATUM kind of bemuses me, even though I gave up on my last bastion of Ultimate comics, UFF, a few months ago. It bemuses me because it proves that Joe Q's Marvel has no sense of history. They tried to exact same tactic to save the 2099 line. It launched in the 90's and started out with a Spider-Title, then expanded to the X-Men and then others like Punisher, Hulk, Ghost Rider, and, uh, Ravager. It was hot for a few years and then started to collapse under it's own weight. It ran it's course. But Marvel then decided what the universe needed was a good disaster, some turmoil, and to be all shoved into one collective book. It FAILED.

ULTIMATUM appears to be doing the same thing. While you could say Ultimate infused Marvel with some new ideas that they took into 616, for better or worse, now Ultimate is pretty much a corpse that has been picked clean by predators and scavengers; it offers little but bones. The core purpose was to tell back to basics stories in an "updated" manner without the confines of continuity; but after 8 years and whatnot, it has it's own dense continuity. Fancy that! And what is the plan? Have some big disaster happen and then leave things with one book, probably ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN as that is the only book that sells within the Top 25-30.

Even father back, Marvel tried to keep the NEW UNIVERSE going with some disaster and then squeeze it all into a few books after stretching thin, and that failed, too.

But, Joe Q's EIC tenure has often had an arrogant tone to it, a sense of "Nothing has been done before unless I have done it, and the things that happened before me are invalid and subject to change". While he has approved a lot of good things and runs, the stuff with more direct focus from the Quesada almost always crashes.

I've heard some people claim that Jeph Loeb is quickly becoming a modern day Rob Liefield; someone whose work somehow is able to sell decently without being terribly good.

 

[Manic]

Other writers are actually continuing the characterization from Nextwave? I loved that book because I thought it'd be a funny little distraction where nothing counts (like a Spider-Ham comic). But jeeze, do we now have to deal with a Machine Man who calls all humans "fleshy ones"?

 

[RockSP]

Other writers are actually continuing the characterization from Nextwave? I loved that book because I thought it'd be a funny little distraction where nothing counts (like a Spider-Ham comic). But jeeze, do we now have to deal with a Machine Man who calls all humans "fleshy ones"?

I take it you don't read Ms. Marvel. He's been appearing in that book for a while now...in full Nextwave mode.

 

[Blader5489]

That's hardly Ellis' fault. The book was intentionally written as an out-of-continuity parody. He can't control other writers from choosing to continue his characterizations.

 

[Manic]

Yeah, I specifically remember Ellis saying that Nextwave took place in its own continuity. Who's the idiot writing Ms. Marvel?

 

[Dread]

Other writers are actually continuing the characterization from Nextwave? I loved that book because I thought it'd be a funny little distraction where nothing counts (like a Spider-Ham comic). But jeeze, do we now have to deal with a Machine Man who calls all humans "fleshy ones"?

Yes. He acted that way in MS. MARVEL as well as in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS and probably in MARVEL ZOMBIES 3. That characterization is here to stay.

A few of us warned that Ellis' slapdash characterizations would subsequently ruin some of the characters he was butchering on NEXTWAVE. Thus it is proving true. Ellis has weight and because the book was a minor cult hit, other writers seem to have taken a fancy.

Now if only other writers could take such fancies with better character dynamics.

 

[Blader5489]

Yes. He acted that way in MS. MARVEL as well as in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS and probably in MARVEL ZOMBIES 3. That characterization is here to stay.

A few of us warned that Ellis' slapdash characterizations would subsequently ruin some of the characters he was butchering on NEXTWAVE. Thus it is proving true. Ellis has weight and because the book was a minor cult hit, other writers seem to have taken a fancy.

Now if only other writers could take such fancies with better character dynamics.

Don't blame Ellis for that, blame the writers who choose to mimic those characterizations.

 

[Manic]

Don't blame Ellis for that, blame the writers who choose to mimic those characterizations.

Exactly. Ellis didn't want any of this to happen.

"I think it has to be a self contained universe. It takes from Marvel history, but I wouldn't necessarily want to drag mainstream Marvel into it for fear of what I would do to it.”