Category Archives: Avengers
Who Buys This Shit?
The world is full of a lot of stupid shit. And a lot of it you can buy. Take, for example, some of the recent offerings unveiled for merchandise that ties into the upcoming The Avengers movie next year. The website Comic Book Movies posted several of the images today, and I just have to roll my eyes at how insipid some of these items are. You can check them all out at the link I just posted, but I have a couple of my least favorites.
Who in their right mind would buy some of this garbage? It has nothing to do at all with the Avengers movie other than to slap the logo on a product, along with some highly detailed character images, and then just throw it in stores.
It’s like that scene in Death to Smoochy where the executives sit around a big table making check marks next to all the pointless drivel that will now that Smoochy’s face stamped onto it. Or all the jokes in Spaceballs. So much for either movie being some kind of satire.
I mean, c’mon, look at this shit:
Who in their right mind would pay money for any of this crap? Who needs an ‘Avengers’ bicycle helmet? It’s just a bicycle helmet with Avengers stickered onto the side. There’s absolutely no thought or creativity in any of these items. And that just disgusts me.
But those little plushie Avengers toys were adorable!
I Love Early 2000s Ant-Man
I’d like to think that my blog has become sort of a celebration of obscure superheroes and comic book characters. I can’t help it, that’s just the sort of thing I’m interest in. And yes, that in no way will help me in any career or with the ladies. I’ve made my peace with that. So when I see something glorious in regards to those obscure superheroes and comic book characters, I can’t help but cheer and want to share it with you.
Which brings us to Ant-Man from the early 2000s.
This is awesomeness defined
That’s a Mini-Mate of the early 2000s Ant-Man costume, and it’s brilliant. That is my favorite Ant-Man costume, and I’m a pretty big Ant-Man fan. Especially the guy who wore the costume, Scott Lang, who was the second Ant-Man. He was a member of the Avengers at the time. How’s that for obscure trivia knowledge, ladies? There’s more where that came from.
Anyway, it’s just a little thing, and I may never be able to buy it, but damn its awesome. Here’s the rest of the set, which will be available for purchase sometime next year:
That's classic Ant-Man in the bottom right. Cool, but not as cool.
Because apparently the world needs more Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk toys, am I right? For whatever reason, 2000s Ant-Man comes packaged with that purple guy, a Kree Sentry, because fuck if I know why.
I Want to be Brian Michael Bendis
Bendis, for those who don’t know, is one of the most popular comic book writers working today. Not only is he the long-time mastermind behind the fantastic Ultimate Spider-Man series, but he has spear-headed the entire Avengers franchise since 2004. Next year’s The Avengers movie owes part of its existence to Bendis’ pen, as he almost single-handedly catapulted the Avengers to their current heights of popularity. Which is why it was pretty big news yesterday that Bendis is going to step down from the Avengers franchise in 2012. The man is walking away at the height of his power. He has the entire world of comics to choose from as to what he wants to write next.
I wish I was Brian Michael Bendis.
Though I draw the line at having his bald babies
Being a comic book writer is my dream job. So Bendis is pretty much the role model in the world of comics. His writing is fantastic, I’m a huge fan of a lot of his stories and he gets to work with the best in the industry. Bendis and artist Mark Bagley hold the record for one creative team working on one single comic the longest, when together they wrote and drew 110 consecutive issues of Ultimate Spider-Man. Bendis has also written over 200 issues of the Avengers and their various spin-off titles, making him the creator who has spent the most time with the team. Bendis is a comic book god!
Bendis got his start writing some independent titles of his own creation. That’s how I plan to break into the industry. His work got him noticed, and he got more and more job offerings from professional companies. Eventually Marvel Comics found him and put him to work on Ultimate Spider-Man. The rest is awesome history. He’s exclusive to Marvel Comics, so he won’t be writing Batman anytime soon, but Marvel has a pretty big toy box to play with. Bendis didn’t announce what he’s going to write next in an interview with ComicBookResources.com, only that he’s got huge plans for ending his run on the Avengers.
“I’m going to wrap up ‘Avengers’ and ‘New Avengers.’ At the same time the first storyline of ‘Avengers Assemble’ will be done,” Bendis told CBR. “It’s a good time to move on to other things. Before I go, though, I’m ending things big. I’m in countdown mode…I’m very, very proud of that, and what we have coming up this summer gives me the opportunity to go out on a high note. I know enough about showbiz to know that’s a great time to go.”
Though frankly, I’ve never been a big fan of Bendis’ work on the Avengers. I’ve bought a few issues here and there, and followed side titles like Mighty Avengers and especially Dark Avengers, but I’ve just never much cared for his work on the main series. Bendis started writing the Avengers by breaking the team apart in 2004, in a story called ‘Avengers Disassembled’. For years, the Avengers had mostly been their own little corner of the Marvel Universe, with traditional characters like Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and the usual rabble. The Avengers kept to themselves in terms of heroes on the team. And for whatever reason, I was never big into the Avengers. I was more of a Spider-Man or X-Men guy.
Compare this to DC comics and their main superhero team: the Justice League. That team is composed of all of DC’s biggest heroes, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, etc.
Well under Bendis’ pen, he changed the Avengers to be more like the Justice League. After he broke up the team, he started a new series called New Avengers, in which he added Spider-Man and Wolverine, Marvel’s most popular characters, to the team.
Wolverine and Spider-Man solve everything
I’ve never been comfortable with that, and I’m still not. I read comics for the characters, and it just never fit, in my mind, to have Spider-Man and Wolverine as Avengers. Let alone having them on multiple Avengers squads, all in the name of getting the popular characters to sell as many books as possible. But hey, everybody else loved it and the Avengers quickly rose in popularity. No longer hiding in their own little corner, the Avengers were soon the franchise in comic books. All because Bendis is a great writer and really got to spread his wings in terms of writing.
Bendis also got to add his fan-favorite character, Luke Cage, to the Avengers, so that was pretty cool. Cage was always an incredibly minor character, but Bendis was a big fan and so he brought Cage with him when it came to writing New Avengers. Now Cage is one of the main players in the Marvel Universe.
Anyway, so since 2004, Bendis has been the main architect of the Avengers franchise. He’s played with hundreds of characters, written dozen of Earth-shaking stories and has led the entire Marvel Universe through some of its biggest, wildest adventures. So it’s going to be a shame to see him leave the title in 2012…but at the same time, it’s going to be awesome! Not only will we get to see someone new writing the Avengers, but Bendis will now get to write somebody else.
I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next. I just wish that was my job.
Avengers vs. X-Men in 2012!
It’s gonna be the brawl to end it all as Marvel Comics’ biggest heavyweights take to the squared circle in the next big Event Comic. The Avengers’ title belt is on the line as X-Men, far removed from their days of glory, steps up in a big way to reclaim the title of most popular franchise in comics! Children will be crying in the aisles and panties will be tossed into the ring as these two titans of tectonic terror prove once and for all who is the fans love most. Will the dynamic, eye-blasting Cyclops be able to lead his team to victory against the patriotic, shield-swinging Captain America? Or will the enigmatic Iron Man take it hardcore to the likes of Storm? And what about wildcard Wolverine, a member of both teams, will he be able to choose a side? It’s going to be the most hair-raising, spine-bursting, lip-quivering comic EVER!
Or at least that’s how I figure Marvel wants most people to react.
Me…I’m a little underwhelmed at the announcement. And I don’t know why.
My money is on Cyclops!
More after the jump.
6 Avengers Who Won’t Be In The Movie
Captain America. Thor. Iron Man. The Incredible Hulk. Heroes, champions, Avengers! When the new movie hits in 2012, we are going to get one superhero-packed adventure of pure awesome. I’m not even being hyperbolic. Marvel Studios has done the impossible, creating a whole series of movies to introduce audiences to their characters, then they’ll bring them together to star in the biggest movie yet with The Avengers! Who could have predicted that Iron Man would be such a hit? Or that Thor and Captain America would be so good? Everything is set for the superhero movie to end all superhero movies.
But not all Avengers are cool enough to make the cut.
The dream team
The Avengers comic book has been ongoing since the 60s, and the team we’re getting in next year’s movie is only a small fraction of the different superheroes who have been Avengers in the comics. Sure, guys like Captain America and Iron Man are the backbone of the Avengers. But what about the nobodies you’ve never heard of? What about the grunts and the cannon fodder who at one point in time were part of the team, but won’t be making the cut for the movie?
Well allow me to introduce you to 6 of the lamest superheroes to ever call themselves Avengers, but who aren’t about to grace the silver screen anytime soon.
