Category Archives: Avengers
Marvel Has Got Space Characters Too!
I posted yesterday about Threshold, the new DC Comics space series. Well not to be outdone – especially with a big movie on the way – Marvel revealed their space-based comics at a panel at NYC Comic-Con. First up we have the new Guardians of the Galaxy, written by Brian Michael Bendis.
Young, attractive, blonde male make the best lead characters
As you can see, the team will feature Starlord, Rocket Raccoon, Groot, Gamora, Drax and someone who appears to be a space-armored Iron Man. This is the exact lineup as the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie in 2014. I wonder if these will be their movie costumes. The inclusion of Iron Man clearly has to do with the shared Marvel movieverse, considering Iron Man is probably the most popular character from the movies. So why not garner some fan attention for the Guardians by throwing Iron Man onto the team?
Personally…I’m not impressed. I’m a huge fan of Bendis, don’t get me wrong, but I was never particularly fond of his Avengers comics, and I doubt I’ll pick up his Guardians comic. I tend to buy comics based on my favorite characters, and none of my favorite Guardians are going to be in this series. I’m sure it will be great, I’m sure Bendis has some great ideas lined up. I just doubt it’s for me.
But I really do hope this works out for Marvel, and I can’t wait for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie!
Next up we have the new Nova series by Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness.
Alas, if only he’d been blonde
Sure enough, the new Nova is revealed to be Sam Alexander, a teenager who has taken up the Nova mantle after original Nova, Ritchie Ryder, was lost in space. Sam Alexander is also the same Nova who is appearing in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. He also had that big cameo in the last issue of Avengers vs. X-Men.
Gotta say, I’m also not interested in this one. I loved Ritchie Ryder’s Nova during and after Annihilation, but I have zero interest in reading a new Nova just for Nova’s sake. And Jeph Loeb’s comics haven’t been too great, as of late. I’m just don’t particularly care.
So it looks like both these comics will pass me by. There’s still one more day of the NYCC though, so there may be even more new series announced that I can get behind!
Review: Uncanny Avengers #1
One thing is pretty clear after reading the first issue of the new Uncanny Avengers: Marvel foolishly seems to think Captain America was the hero of Avengers vs. X-Men. Were they reading the same comic I was? Because I’m fairly certain Cyclops was right all along, and it was Captain America who caused all the problems in the first place. But as I said in my review of Avengers vs. X-Men #12, history is written by the winners. And sure enough, Captain America won the big superhero fight. So he gets to decide how the world of superheroes moves forward, and he and all his buddies get to vilify Cyclops like it was their favorite new hobby.
Uncanny Avengers #1
I wonder if the ending to AvX has anything to do with Captain America leading Marvel’s $1 billion Avengers movie franchise, and the X-Men being owned by a whole different studio?
Comic Rating: 4/5: Good.
I’ll try to tone down my Cyclops love for this review, because it was a good comic. In the sense that it told a straight forward story, set up several main characters and seems to promise a lot of character-based drama in the issues to come. But I’m not blown away by the new series, and there’s nothing in here that’s truly revolutionary or exciting. It’s kind of just…a superhero comic. One that may be a little too closely tied to Avengers vs. X-Men to stand on its own. Both Cyclops and the death of Professor X weigh heavily on this issue, so I don’t know if it’ll be too daunting for new readers who might have been attracted by Marvel NOW!
The choice of villain has been spoiled for a long time, so his appearance wasn’t a surprise. His choice of henchmen, though, leaves a lot to be desired. They sacrificed one of my all-time favorite X-villains for no good reason, then introduced a bunch of new nobodies that literally made me question what the hell I was reading. And not in a good way.
This comic has a lot of potential as Marvel’s new flagship title. I have a lot of faith in writer Rick Remender, and John Cassaday is a very good artist – though I’ve seen him do much better work. He’s definitely not at the top of his game with this issue. Remender and Cassaday lay the groundwork for some hopefully great work coming up. We shall see.
Sneak Peeks at One of the New X-Forces and a Brand New Young Avengers
New York City Comic-Con is upon us, and comic book and pop culture news is going to be coming out hard and fast. I’m going to do my best to keep up with it, so feel free to keep checking back on my blog to see any new articles. You could probably get the same information on other websites, but c’mon, you know you like the atmosphere at Henchman-4-Hire best of all. Tell your friends!
Anyway, this week saw the release of some details about the brand new Young Avengers series and the revamped Uncanny X-Force, both of which are part of the Marvel NOW! campaign. I had a few misgivings about this new Uncanny X-Force, especially because it was announced on the heels of a similar title called Cable and X-Force. There comes a point where Marvel needs to learn that it’s OK to let titles end. You don’t need to slap a new writer and new characters into a title in the vain hope that it’ll keep selling.
Despite the fact that I would kill for a job like that…
My hypocrisy aside, I wasn’t too enthralled at the idea of Sam Humphries’ Uncanny X-Force…until I saw this preview and interview with ComicsAlliance!
Is that…is that a mohawk?
Join me for more details after the jump!
6 Potential Marvel Crossovers After the Success of Avengers vs. X-Men
So what the heck is Marvel going to do now that Avengers vs. X-Men is over? It sold incredibly well, and definitely got a lot of mileage out of the hero vs. hero concept. Marvel pretty much struck gold! No doubt they want to capture that same magic again. Because if the entertainment industry has taught us anything, it’s that if one thing is popular, then repeating that thing over and over again will be just as popular! How else do you think we get most movie sequels?
But what can Marvel do next after Avengers vs. X-Men?
The only AvX battle that really mattered
I don’t know about you, but I liked Avengers vs. X-Men. It was action-packed and had a lot of neat, complicated character growth, even if the whole thing was a little bloated. But it was big in scope, and really took the characters on an epic, world-saving adventure. If Marvel is hoping that lightning strikes twice in the same place, I have a few suggestions for them.
At Least DC Animation Has Some Artistic Integrity
Marvel Comics is getting back into the animated DVD movie game. But whereas DC Comics are actually producing adaptations of classic and popular comic book stories, Marvel is just going to slap a few superhero names together and expect the lingering popularity of The Avengers to help coast them into a few bucks.
Next year, we will be treated to Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United. Because why bother coming up with a clever name when the ‘&’ symbol exists.
Look kids, it’s your two favorite Avengers!
Based on that article in Entertainment Weekly, there doesn’t appear to be any creativity whatsoever in this project. It’s as if Marvel saw that DC’s DVD movies were still selling, so they quickly pooped out the most basic story imaginable, then decided to link to into a vague resemblance of the hugely popular The Avengers movie. DC Comics made an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, arguably the greatest Batman story ever told. Marvel is going to just randomly stick Iron Man and the Hulk in a room together.
Remember when Hulk stole the show in The Avengers? We sure do!
And the most hilarious thing is that everyone is quick to point out that this isn’t an official, in-canon sequel to The Avengers. It’s just made to look that way, and the fans are more than welcome to think of it that way, even though it’s not.
To quote Marvel TV head honcho Jeph Loeb:
“We welcome people to interpret any way they like,” says Loeb. “In tone and character, we want to follow our best leader.”
Can you say ‘cash grab’?
The story is going to be about Iron Man and Hulk teaming up to fight the Zzzax, which is a classic Hulk villain that is basically just a living electricity monster. Loeb says that Hulk and Iron Man are going to, at first, think that each other is to blame. So it sounds even more like we’re going to get he most basic superhero story ever: heroes meet, they fight, then they team up to fight the villain.
Wow, really creative there Marvel.
He’s not Robert Downey Jr. this time, but still, Iron Man, right?
DC Comics destroyed Marvel in the animated DVD movie business years ago. Whereas DC was putting out real adaptations of their classic comics, as well as quality solo hero movies, Marvel was flailing in the wind with loose adaptations and original stories that tried desperately to appeal to kids. Like Avengers: Next. But at least that had some modicum of creativity. This new project is as basic and pathetic as you could get.
But that’s just my opinion. Don’t mind my angry rate. I just hate it when one of my favorite entertainment companies in the world revels in creative bankruptcy.
The DVD will come out April 23.
Henchman-4-Hire 