The Official Stupid Question Thread: Marvel Edition - Part 3

[Anubis]

That ain't exactly a prestigious title considering the state of the Avengers over the last 10 years.

 

[The Morningstar]

Heh, fair point. Tis a shame that the best Avenger stories are friggin Ultimates though. But it is great stuff. Ribic's art is ridiculously good.

 

[Anubis]

I don't know, Slott on Mighty was pretty damn good. Also, the Initiative stuff and now Secret and Academy I hear are pretty awesome. Plus they have the distinction of actually being the Avengers.

As opposed to *****e bags who look like the Avengers with similar names but totally aren't the Avengers.

 

[The Morningstar]

Secret and Academy were/are great. But i mean in terms of the main team.

And i don't mind that the Ultimates are different. I mean, that's the point. Why have an alternate universe if they're not gonna be different? What Loeb did was just... stupid though. But Millar and Hickman's writing of them is decent. I really like Hickman's Thor, he's awesome.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

It's a moot point because the Ultimates aren't the Avengers. As you said, the whole point of them is to be different from the Avengers.

Personally, I'm hoping whoever takes over after Bendis leaves knocks the Avengers out of the friggin' park. I'm overdue for some Busiek-level greatness on the team, especially now that they're realistically vying for the title of Marvel's premiere franchise.

 

[The Morningstar]

Yea. If they can pull off a miracle, get Busiek back. If not, I'd say give Parker a shot. He's proved himself worthy with his Atlas and Thunderbolts.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Parker, for whatever reason, can't seem to sell comics, though. He's ranged from good to great on virtually everything he's touched, yet his series keep getting canceled or shuffled around on him.

Personally, I'd kill to see Mark Waid take on the main Avengers title. He's done huge-scale superheroics excellently on JLA after Morrison left, and he usually does a great job of getting inside characters' heads.

 

[The Morningstar]

Yea Waid too.

And i think Parker's problem is that he's not been lucky enough to be put on big titles. Agents of Atlas was excellent, but i mean, Jimmy Woo, Kenny Hale? Not exactly big draws. Same with the T-Bolts.

But i think he'd be great on Avengers. The title would sell itself no matter the quality, but with Parker, at least we have a chance at some top quality stuff.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Maybe. It's tempting to think that the title will sell itself no matter what, but recall that back in Austen's day, just before Bendis' arrival with Disassembled, Avengers had middling sales. Not bad, but not topping the charts either. Marvel clearly wants the latter since, as I mentioned, they're sort of viewing the Avengers as their premiere franchise thanks to its characters' movie licenses being the only ones they actually still own.

Ooh, Paul Cornell would be an interesting choice too.

 

[The Morningstar]

Cornell is great, yea. Good shout.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'd love to see the kind of sheer f***ing insanity he'd pull out for the Avengers. If MI-13 rates vampire missiles from the moon and Lex Luthor rates robo-Lois, what madness would his wonderful brain come up with for one of the biggest super-teams in comics?

 

[Lord]

Didn't you just say that they reference the events of what went down in that comic? About Shield trying to steal IM's armors?

Again, you're welcome. I should start charging you for this help.

Actually, i heard somebody saying it on the net, i don't really remember that reference in The Ultimates 2 because i read it a long time ago, and as i said, Reed Richards is referenced right in the begining, which makes it more difficult to know if it's actually canon since during that time Reed was probably just a little kid.

 

[javi1024]

Has it ever been established if Captain America is a lefty or a righty? Or ambidextrous? Do artists stick to a side when he throws his shield?

 

[runawayboulder]

He's been drawn using both arms when using the shield. I've seen cases where an artist will have him use his right arm one issue then the very next issue the same artist has him use the left.

What it ultimately comes down to is how the artist needs to fit something into frame for a panel or cover.

 

[CConn]

Wouldn't you assume the super soldier serum would make him ambidextrous? I mean, if it's supposed to increase his strength and physical abilities, it doesn't make much sense that one hand would remain more able than the other.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's not really a physical trait related to the body, though. It's all in how the brain develops. Both of his arms could be equally super-soldierized, but his natural predilection for the right or left one should ostensibly still be in place. Although the serum has been shown to have rewired his brain to some extent too (like when Brubaker had him point out that his perceptions are increased to the point where he can see individual bullets coming at him and react fast enough to dodge them), so who knows?

 

[CConn]

That, that's more what I meant. The brain rewiring. They've pretty much written it as if it improved Steve in every way possible...so yeah.

 

[javi1024]

Makes sense, but isn't that just innate? Is someone just born ambidextrous or are they made/trained to use both limbs efficiently either by themselves or their parents growing up?

That's not really a physical trait related to the body, though. It's all in how the brain develops. Both of his arms could be equally super-soldierized, but his natural predilection for the right or left one should ostensibly still be in place. Although the serum has been shown to have rewired his brain to some extent too (like when Brubaker had him point out that his perceptions are increased to the point where he can see individual bullets coming at him and react fast enough to dodge them), so who knows?

Also makes sense.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Some are born that way, some train it into themselves. It's tougher to train as your brain gets set in its ways throughout your lifetime, but there have been cases of older stroke victims and such switching from one hand to the other. They're never quite as good with the other hand, but they can write legibly and do most of the other stuff they would've done with the previous hand.

 

[THANOSRULES]

I'm predicting it will be a big name, but someone i don't think will be a great fit for the book.

Marvel is not going to want a big break from what's been going on....but i might be wrong on that because assembled is clearly very traditional.

Say whatever you will about Bendis..this is probably the high point in all of Avengers history..and Bendis was the writer of the book when that happened (not to mention he gave creative council on the film) ..it's over 1 billion now, and yes Marvel comics will benefit.

I do take issue with the fact that Ultimates "isnt the Avengers"...that movie was more like Ultimates than it was Stern or Busiek.

But there was also a nice whimsical vibe of bygone 616 tales and characters there that really sold it to me as one of the best comic flicks ever...it didnt take itself too seriously.

While some people think the movie sales and comic sales never correlate, I'd be surprised if the book doesnt get a nice boost.

So expecting more Hand Ninjas, dark story lines, and street level, stories is possible

I'd guess it will be a marvel "golden boy" like Millar, JMS , Hickman, Fraction, or Loeb. (I do like Hickman , some fraction, and Millar's Ultimates)...

That's my short list..with Loeb being the front runner...marvel doesnt get it with him, and his stuff sells.

Waid and Remender would be some dark horse canidates I'd much prefer..

Slott would be my top choice and is a possibility...but I think marvel sees his mighty run as somewhat of a failure and he's got his hands full with spidey.

But I have a new found respect for Bendis...he took the Avengers at it's lowest point in fan support and leaves it with it's best...sales wise he performed well and brought the book to it's pinnacle of flagship status...and left as such..good for all avengers fans.

I've never liked much of it, but I am digging his Assembled, and have liked some of it.

Now some one please clean up this wonder man business!

 

[runawayboulder]

I don't know why people insist in believing that Bendis took over a struggling Avengers franchise. Geoff Johns run had sold just as well as Bendis does now. The sales boost that came from Bendis had the hook of a relaunch and Spider-Man and Wolverine joining the team.

 

[Havok83]

GJ's last issue was v.3 #76 and it did ~59K in Feb 2004. Bendis was doing more than double that even 3 years into his New Avengers run. Sure a relaunch gives a boost, most of which is often temporary, but he managed to sustain long past the initial months, where they tend to drop dramatically for many titles. I hate alot of his more recent stuff, but I do think he deserves credit where its due. He is a big reason in why the Avengers have achieved so much success since he took over, getting much more buzz, attention and sales than in the years prior to him taking over

 

[HighFivingMF]

Has Ant-Man/Giant Man/Yellowjacket ever had his own series? Or just showing up in Tales to Astonish and group books?

 

[javi1024]

GJ's last issue was v.3 #76 and it did ~59K in Feb 2004. Bendis was doing more than double that even 3 years into his New Avengers run. Sure a relaunch gives a boost, most of which is often temporary, but he managed to sustain long past the initial months, where they tend to drop dramatically for many titles. I hate alot of his more recent stuff, but I do think he deserves credit where its due. He is a big reason in why the Avengers have achieved so much success since he took over, getting much more buzz, attention and sales than in the years prior to him taking over

It makes me wonder how I'll feel about what he has planned for the X-Men and if a longtime fan like will like it.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Finch and the top art the book has had also deserves a lot of credit for that initial push..Really why I started getting back into Avengers (comics in general)..the covers.