Writing Ultimates (Pseudo-Official Comics in General Thread!)

[Semjaza]

Shy knows so much more about this sort of stuff than I could ever dream to at this point, but what the hell.

I recently got this urge to get into comics. Something I really never cared for, outside of manga. Unfortunately, manga has become incredibly dull for me and I felt like I was reading the same stories ten times over. So here we are.

Anyway, I told Shy all this and he told me about the various Ultimates series... Spiderman, X-Men and The Ultimates themselves. Apparently Marvel decided to do basically a reimagining of those comics set in current times. They run alongside the normal series, so they aren't replacements.

Anyway, this is about The Ultimates, which is based off The Avengers... a comic series I'm not totally familiar with.

--------------------------

Anyway, now that that's out of the way for people as clueless as I was a month ago... time to talk about the actual comics.

I bought a couple of things since then... I know own Ultimates Vol. 1, Ultimates #1 and #10, Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1, Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra #1 and Ultimate War #1. I'd have to say out of all those, The Ultimates is just on an entirely different plane of existance. Ultimate X-Men is also excellent, but it's not quite in the same league.

Anyway, after reading Ultimate X-Men, I am much more into Millar's writing. In Ultimate X-Men, it seemed every other page had some popculture reference... Ultimates has this as well (there's a whole Depp scene for some reason heh), but it's doesn't feel too much like name dropping.

I must say the writing is one of the strongest aspects of this series so far. It's so detailed, but it never feels like someone is just spouting off information. It feels like real conversation a good deal of the time, and is just incredibly well done and interesting.

There is a scene between the Pyms that was somewhat strange to read, involving basically what amounts to pretty severe physical abuse. As [b]weird [/b] as it was, it was somehow believable. The art and writing just came together and made something goofy actually seem serious and it [i]worked[/i]. I'm still surprised about that.

As for the art... I'm incredibly impressed. I can't even pick out any flaws. Even characters in the distance, which they seem to skimp on in details in other comics like Ultimate X-Men, look good. I have no complaints at all. The art is consistant, solid and just so detailed. I've never seen so many amazing covers in my life. Iron Man amazes me everytime I see him... The issue #10 cover in particular.

So anyway, I've exhausted all I can think of at this point. Hopefully, more will respond and have some good conversation about these things. I'd like to make this a pretty long lasting thread, if possible.

Go buy The Ultimates!! It's still only on #10, so you can easily catch up.

[IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=420536[/IMG]

[Shy]

[center][img]http://www.blam.it/Articoli/Immagini/Ultimates_1_Big.jpg[/img][/center]
[size=1]Hands down, this series has some of the best artwork ever created for the medium. The sheer variety of the art is amazing in it's own right. There is a huge level of detail and realism in the artwork. It is like seeing photographs of the characters, or soemthing. The covers in particular are wonderful. I would do love to have poster-sized versions of them scattered across my bedroom walls.[/size]
[quote]There is a scene between the Pyms that was somewhat strange to read, involving basically what amounts to pretty severe physical abuse. As [b]weird [/b] as it was, it was somehow believable. The art and writing just came together and made something goofy actually seem serious and it [i]worked[/i]. I'm still surprised about that.[/quote]
[size=1]Oh yeah. The title for issue #6, Giant-Man vs. Wasp is really cliche, but Millar probably did that on purpose. He is changing what people might expect from comics. The writing keeps everything very interesting, and sometimes the most important moment in an issue might be a simple exchange of dialogue rather than an epic battle.

The characters are really diverse and entertaining. Sometimes "team comics" tend to overdevelop one character while ignoring the others, but Ultimates does a good job at giving everyone their fair share of the spotlight. Thor and Iron Man [i]still[/i] haven't had a chance to show off their full potential yet, but hopefully that will happen in later issues or if they get their own series someday.

It is a very difficult decision, but my favorite character in Ultimates is probably Thor, just because of the way they changed his character from the original version. They make him very modern, and almost believable. I love that Millar can turn a god into a laidback motivational speaker, it's pretty amusing.

GO READ ULTIMATES NOW!

-Shy[/size]

[Guest Musahi]

[color=#003399]I remember seeing that Thor image in previews for The Ultimates in Wizard magazine. ^_^

That Iron Man image, however, is new to me. I must say, Iron Man looks amazing in this new version. I followed Ultimate SpiderMan for a while, but I stopped to get some other Spiderman book. I can't remember which one, now that I think about it, I just remember not being able to find it. Lately, other then Jhonen Vasquez comics, I've been out of the comic book ring for a while now.

Since it's been recomended so highly by you two, I'll probably buy the first 2 or 3 issues, depending how much money I have left after I buy AMPltude. It would be really cool if we could get a good discussion going here, I'll post back if I get them. ^_^[/color]

[Semjaza]

I don't know how easy the first couple issues will be to find anymore. I got lucky and found #1 for $4, which I've been told was a good price. You are probably better off paying the $15 or so for the paperback. It contains the first six issues with no ads.

Favorite character... That's hard.

I like Bruce Banner, but I am very unfamiliar with his character in general. He seems far more reserved than I expected, but there is an obvious personality problem in addition to his whole Hulk thing. I was surprised by how callous Betty is towards him.

Giant Man and Wasp I am still unsure about. However, the fact that Wasp is a mutant seems like it will be a large point later on... especially for Captain America.

Iron Man is awesome. I love his design, and I like the whole reasoning behind him and his purposes for joining The Ultimates.

Thor is cool as well. I know very, very little about the guy's original backstory... but all the Vahalla stuff is entertaining. His personality is quite a bit different than I expected, and it just makes me think of some vegan hippie who can kick *** heh. I found it amusing how he wound up even getting involved with The Ultimates.

I think my favorite is Captain America though. I am not like "Yes! He's so patriotic! Cool!", but he's an excellent character. The scenes between him and his old friends when he came back were very well done, and made him seem a lot more personable than I expected. I also like his sense of duty, although he seems to cross the line to get things done at times.

So, yeah, Captain America it is.

--------------
[img]http://comics.toonzone.net/solicitations/2002-12/marvel/ultimates09.jpg[/img]

That's more or less what #10 looks like, with some color differences. The black was changed to more of an orange/red. Looks much nicer on the issue.

I'd kill for posters of these covers. Here's a site with a few: [url]http://www.hillcity-comics.com/poster_misc/poster_marvel.htm[/url]

[Shy]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Semjaza Azazel [/i]
[B]I like Bruce Banner, but I am very unfamiliar with his character in general. He seems far more reserved than I expected, but there is an obvious personality problem in addition to his whole Hulk thing. I was surprised by how callous Betty is towards him.[/quote][/b]
[size=1]I find Bruce Banner to be pretty annoying in Ultimates. His character hasn't really been explored yet, so right now he just feels like a random guest star or something. His relationship (or lack thereof) with Betty is pretty interesting, I'm surprised that she would even remotely consider talking to him after the Hulk incident. Regardless of name dropping "Hulk want Freddie Prinze Jr!" is a funny line.[/size]
[quote][b]Giant Man and Wasp I am still unsure about. However, the fact that Wasp is a mutant seems like it will be a large point later on... especially for Captain America.[/b][/quote]
[size=1]Wasp and Captain America have a strange sort of chemistry, and it makes things between her and Giant-Man exciting. The fact that Wasp is a mutant is pretty irrelevant at this point, but Ultimate War goes into more detail about that.

For the record, I think that Ultimate War takes place after the fourth trade paperback of Ultimate X-Men (issue 24 or something like that) and the 8th and 9th issue of Ultimates. [spoiler]Giant-Man's absence is explained in Ultimates around that point[/spoiler] in case you were wondering.

Iron Man's helmet reminds me of a duck for some reason, heh. But Tony Stark is amusing, and he is the most human member on the team. Everyone else is a god or a super-solder or a brilliant scientist, while more or less he is just a normal guy.

Captain America is cool. I love how he is unfamiliar with the world around him, and can't adjust completely. His combat techniques and powers are timeless, but he doesn't have a clue about anything else.

-Shy[/size]

[Semjaza]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Shy [/i]
[B]
[size=1]Wasp and Captain America have a strange sort of chemistry, and it makes things between her and Giant-Man exciting. The fact that Wasp is a mutant is pretty irrelevant at this point, but Ultimate War goes into more detail about that.[/size] [/B][/QUOTE]

I didn't quite mean that it was a hugely important issue at this point in time... However, there is a point made that Captain America doesn't like mutants and he also doesn't know that Janet Pym is one. Hank basically threatens her over it in #6 as well... like blackmail more or less.

So yeah, I do think they'll make something of it. Whether or not it will be anytime soon is another story.

As for Banner... I don't know. He just seems like that nerd in class no one talks to heh. I don't really find him annoying, but he does seem very immature and short-sighted despite his supposedly massive intelligence.

Part of Captain America's appeal is basically what you said. He's a fish out of water, because really... It's decades later heh. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to things.

[DeathBug]

Ultimates...eh. I've read "Super Human", but for some reason, they just don't click with me. The art is very well-done, and I thought Tony Stark was written to perfection, but...it just didn't click.

(The fact that it's never published on time might be one of the reasons I'm not fond of it.)

Ultimate X-Men had the coolest opening arc ever, but faltered a bit after that. After "Return to Weapon X," I stopped reading. I might have continued if Nightcrawler had joined the cast.

My fave Ultimate title is, of course, Ultimate Spider-Man. Volume six, "Venom", blew me away.

So...anyone looking forward to "Ultimate Six", featuring the Ultimate Sinister Six and a spidey/Ultimates crossover?

[Shy]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i]
[B]Ultimate X-Men had the coolest opening arc ever, but faltered a bit after that. After "Return to Weapon X," I stopped reading. I might have continued if Nightcrawler had joined the cast.[/quote][/b]
[size=1]I really enjoy Ultimate X-Men. Tony (Semjaza) and I were talking about it today, and even though it isn't as good as Ultimates I think it is a lot of fun. The :Return to Weapon X" arc was pretty bad, but it did have some interesting twists. [spoiler]I really did not expect them to turn Beast blue so quickly in Ultimate X-Men's run, that was a poor decision in my opinion.[/spoiler] Another complaint I have is that they are using all of their major characters at once. By issue 12 nearly ever character I enjoyed has been featured in the comic. If they spaced things out a little more the writers might be able to devote more time to the individual characters. Storm and Colossus are both underwritten, and Wolverine is once again taking the spotlight. It wouldn't hurt them to make an "Ultimae Logan" comic and let the X-Men have their own adventures. I think he was in about 12 comics throughout the month of June, which is ridiculous. The current Ultimate X-Men story-arc seems exciting, and I can't wait to see what other characters are brought into the fray.[/size]
[quote][b] My fave Ultimate title is, of course, Ultimate Spider-Man. Volume six, "Venom", blew me away.[/b][/quote]
[size=1]I haven't had a chance to read the Ultimate Venom arc, but I did read the first issue with Eddie Brock (I odn't know the number) and found it to be good. I liked how they changed around his character a bit to make his story much more relatable to Peter's.[/size]
[quote][b]So...anyone looking forward to "Ultimate Six", featuring the Ultimate Sinister Six and a spidey/Ultimates crossover? [/B][/QUOTE]
[size=1]I know very little about the Ultimate Six, but I think that it has a lot to live up to. Ultimate War is one of my favorigte mini-series, and it perfectly captured the Ultimates and X-Men. Of course, there is a little continuity problem with Ultimates unless they manage to clear up this story-arc by the Fall. Somehow I doubt this since they have a terrible reputation of getting new issues out late. Creating a new continuity from scratch is hard, and it is even more difficult since it is impossible for a character to be in two places at once.

[center]More fun art.
[img]http://www.uncannyxmen.net/covers/previews/ultimatewar3.jpg[/img][/center]
-Shy[/size]

[DeathBug]

I didn't read Ultimate War, because IMO, the more characters Miller uses, the less developed they are. So including the X-Men, the Ultimates *and* the Brotherhood (Toad's my favorite) would ensure that I probably wouldn't like the story.

When you consider that Bendis writes two issues of Ultimate Spider-Man every month, and Bagley's drawn every issue, it really makes you wonder why the Ultimates doesn't come out on time. It's almost a quarterly book. At least in the past, quarterly books were double sized, but I just don't find myself willing to wait two and a half months for a 22-page story, especially when it's just part of a larger arc anyway. I'll pick up the paperback if I'm interested.

[Ben]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Shy [/i]
[B][/b][size=1][img]http://www.uncannyxmen.net/covers/previews/ultimatewar3.jpg[/img][/center][/size] [/B][/QUOTE]

Isn't that Cable? As for the other guy, I wanna say....Iron Man...?:p

[Shy]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by DeathBug [/i]
[B]I didn't read Ultimate War, because IMO, the more characters Miller uses, the less developed they are. So including the X-Men, the Ultimates *and* the Brotherhood (Toad's my favorite) would ensure that I probably wouldn't like the story.

When you consider that Bendis writes two issues of Ultimate Spider-Man every month, and Bagley's drawn every issue, it really makes you wonder why the Ultimates doesn't come out on time. It's almost a quarterly book. At least in the past, quarterly books were double sized, but I just don't find myself willing to wait two and a half months for a 22-page story, especially when it's just part of a larger arc anyway. I'll pick up the paperback if I'm interested. [/B][/QUOTE]
[size=1]It's true that there is less character development in Ultimate War than one might want, but the main focus of the story is action. Issue four is my favorite, since it is almost entirely devoted to action.

I only recently started reading Ultimates, so the long waits between issues have not bothered me. Issue 11 comes out in a few weeks, so it isn't too bad. Right now I am just trying to catch up with the Ultimate universe; there is a lot of Spider-Man and X-Men that I want to read.

Out of curiosity, what comics do you like reading DeathBug?

Ben: That is Iron Man and Colossus.

-Shy[/size]

[Ben]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Shy [/i]
[B][size=1]Ben: That is Iron Man and Colossus.

-Shy[/size] [/B][/QUOTE]

:p Didn't see that the other arm was metal.

[DeathBug]

I read the Spider-Man titles: Ultimate Spider-Man, Amazing spider-Man, the upcoming Spectacular Spider-Man, the new Venom series, Spider-Girl, and I'll probably read the new Kingpin series.

However, I follow all of those except Spider-Girl by trade paperback; I find it easier and more cost-effective. I'm thinking of splurging and getting "Super Human", but I'll have to get Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4, The Life and Death of Spiders, first.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]I am a huge fan of Marvel comics, and I really enjoy the entire revamping of the [b]Ultimate[/b] series. I've read just about every issue of every series (mainly because I go into Borders once a week, get a cafe mocha, and read all of the new comics...ah the life of the idle, it is true bliss) and I think all of them are incredibly well drawn.

Individually

[b]The Ultimates[/b]: I never really liked the [b]Avengers[/b] because by the time I began reading comics they had so many rotating characters that I found it a very confusing series (I am glad they killed them off and revamped during Onslaught). Therefor, I wasn't excited about the new series...until I opened the first magazine. I love how they reinvented Nick Fury, they have made him a great new character, instead of a pale imitation of himself. My favorite scene since this comic began has to be the one between [spoiler]Giant Man and Cap. I love how they depicted Cap beating the crap out of a man ten times his size[/spoiler]

[b]Ultimate X-Men[/b]: I thought they did a good job telling an old story, yet I don't think that they really changed anything. I like how they created a bond between Colossus and Wolverine. I think my favorite part of this series is when [spoiler]Colossus kills his opponent, causing Xavier to evaluate his belief system.[/spoiler]

[b]Ultimate Spider-Man[/b]: I love Spider Man but I am still not the biggest fan of this series. I think that the artwork is fantastic but I don't like certain aspects of the story line...especially some of the Gwen Stacy side stories. I think that the Venom story line was okay, but not nearly as good as the original one was. I guess it is going to be pretty hard to please me when it comes to Spidey...I am a huge web-head.

If you like comics, defiantly check out the new series [b]Runaways[/b]. It is about a group of kids that discover their parents are super villains...it is very well written and drawn.[/color]

[Semjaza]

Kind of turned into an "Ultimate" in general thread, which is cool with me. Perhaps there will be more to talk about when new issues come out.

I was at Borders the other day, so I sat down and read a few comics. Of course, Ultimates #10 is still sitting there, and will be for weeks... So I grabbed the latest Ultimate Spider-Man, latest Ultimate X-Men (Spider-Man on the cover) and Runaways #1-3 (which also had some comic called Sentinel in it).

I'll say right here that I was never a big fan of Spider-Man. Same holds true today. The art was decent, but I really wasn't all that into it. I simply didn't like the writing though... especially when Peter is thinking to himself. There was literally pages of him just thinking about making out. I realize that they want to make him seem like a normal kid who thinks about such things, but it seems like they tried too hard. The whole issue didn't really seem to go anywhere, other than the whole Ivan story... but still, it's only one issue and I can't really judge much on it.

Ultimate X-Men was decent, but the writing didn't seem as tight as it was in the issues I own. The art also seemed slightly different. I didn't check who did it, so I have no idea if it is different people or not (although I doubt it). Something about Wolverine just didn't seem the same... [spoiler]especially the part where he is riddled with bullets by those people in vans. Something seemed off. I've only read the first six issues, so I don't know what's currently going on in the series to be honest heh.[/spoiler]

The actual story was decent, but nothing special. It also brought in that whole writing style that is used in the current Spider-Man, which I simply just don't like. No one ever seemed to say anything of value, I guess. It had a nice cliffhanger ending though heh.

As for Runaways... The art is different from the others I read that day, to say the least. I don't know if I like it or dislike it at this point. It's almost got a cartoony quality about it. I do like the idea of the comic though, and it seems pulled off well. I was really only turned off by some of the writing... It seemed aimed at younger audiences almost, despite the subject matter. There is one rather violent scene in the comic, but it seems mostly lighthearted otherwise. I must admit that I liked it though. Not a lot, but I'll most likely keep up on it.

Sentinel was also pretty decent. It's about this outcast kid who finds a broken Sentinel (the mutant hunting robots) around his house. The art style is similiar to Runaways, but it seemed to have this manga tinge to it... The Sentinel itself seemed really out of place and cartoony heh. Again, the writing seemed geared towards younger kids, but it was well done. I liked the characters, at the least. It seems to have some potential.

So there's my comic overview for the week heh.

[Shy]

[size=1]I picked up a few comics this week: Ultimate X-Men #35, Gotham Central #8, and Captain America #1-6 (in a hardcover collection,.) Except for Ultimate X-Men, I haven't read any of the series before, but good word of mouth convinced me to get Gotham Central, and I fell in love with the artwork in Captain America. Let's start with the top.

[b]Ultimate X-Men #35:[/b] I'm a little frustrated that Wolverine/Logan/Jim/etc. is the only X-Man currently appearing in Ultimate X-Men. I really think that they should give the character his own series, and let the rest of the X-Men do something for once. Anyway, this storyline isn't particularily interesting to me for one reason: People are always trying to kill Wolverine, and he always ends up on top, so Spider-Man's help is definitely not needed. The writing in issue two seemed a little weak, especially with Spider-Man. Personally I don't think that Spider-Man and Wolverine have very much chemistry together. Whenever I see them paired up I know it is being done to sell more comic books. Even in the Ultimate universe there are dozens of characters who would be much more interesting if they were paired up with Wolverine or Spider-Man.

Black Widow's appearance in the comic was handled well, but I wish that she was used in a fight scene rather than some boring exposition. Now people who read Ultimate X-Men and not Ultimates know what the Ultimates are about, and they know that the comic features beautiful women with guns *insert Ultimates ad on next page*

I don't care what happens in the next issue; this issue's cliffhanger seemed pretty generic to me.

[b]Gotham Central #8:[/b] Gotham Central is a new DC series about police officers in Gotham City (home of Batman.) The concept is really interesting to me, and after hearing about the comic I knew that I had to try it. The curent "Half a Life" storyline is about Renee Montoya, who you might remember from Batman: The Animated Series. She is framed for murder, and a secret is revealed in the process that changes her life forever. The writing in this comic is wonderful, and it feels pretty authenetic. I could imagine these characters at /my local police station as easily as I could imagine them arresting the Mad Hatter or Poison Ivy. This comic really isn't about superheroes of supervillains, though. I highly recommend this book to any Batman fans, but don't expect to see him in the series very often, if ever. The police officers are the stars, heh.

[b]Captain America #1-6:[/b] The series was relaunched after 9/11 under the "Marvel Knights" line. This means that the comic is intended for mature readers, and that Captain America gets to be a lot more relevant than he has ever been before. This is the modern take on Captain America's original concept: killing a lot of Nazis, only now he takes on the threat of terror. The storyline is very PC, and it makes extra care that it isn't going to offend any reeaders of Middle-Eastern descent. Captain America makes it clear that he's fighting for an ideal, and there are no clear-cut good guys or bad guys anymore. Times have changed, but Captrain America is basically unchanged.

The artwork is beautiful. It isn't as detailed as Ultimates but it looks great. The writing feels a little cliche'd when they talk about terror and patriotism, but that's only because those topics have been covered so many times after 9/11. I'm not too far behind with this series, since they are only on issue #15, so i'm definitely going to catch up on this series. I have become a huge fan of Captain America because of Ultimates, and this only makes me like the character more.[/size]

[OtakuSennen]

I enjoy reading Ultimate Spiderman (Spidey is my favorite American comic person) but IMO, I really prefer manga more.. It has a wider variety than just action (I know there's other genres, but they're few and far between..) and I enjoy Japanese storytelling... There's just something about manga that makes it stand out, IMO..

[Amorphous]

[color=teal][size=1]I must say that I would like to Indulge myself within some of these series. It has been forever since I picked up a comic book and read it. I have around 550 comic books sitting within two boxes. Some of them to some extent are valuble. I much more prefer the more mature side of the Marvel universe. So really the two comic series I like the absolute most at this point in time since I haven't picked up anything new. Would have to be Ghost Rider and Gambit, they just really appeal to me. The art is great in my eyes even though they are somewhat old.

I have a lot of the The Amazing Spider Man and The Spectacular Spider Man Comics though. The only thing I really liked about the Spider Man stories would of been Venom and then Venom and Carnage. I have the whole part of the series with Venom and Carnage.

I also Have a lot of first Issue Holographic Covers for series a few series IE. Venom, Night Thraser. I love the Venom covers most of the time though as well.

Anyways, I haven't truly got around to reading anything new because of the some of the art. I never really was truly that much into the Marvel Universe. But it's begging to appeal to me now. I've always loved X-men so I kind of keep track of the series every once in awhile.

I just couldn't stand the newer art for some reason. But I'm going to be sure to check out "The Ultimates" the art this time really appeals to me compared to other newer Marvel Comics.


[/color][/size]

[Semjaza]

I went to Graham Crackers yesterday... which is the name of the shop downtown for some odd reason. Anyway, I kept looking and looking.

I picked up Captain America, but when I flipped through the pages... I just wasn't impressed with the writing. I put that back on the shelf.

I checked out Wolverine DOOP, but the $2.99 price on it wasn't exactly nice... so I put that back too. Same with X-Statix, although I plan to go back and buy that since I'm hearing so many good things.

I'm hearing the newest Runaways is quite nice too, so I might give that another shot.

I wound up walking out with Ultimates #6. I plan on collecting all of the series anyway, so it seemed worth the $4.

[Epsilon]

The Runaway series is great. I love Runaway, it may take awhile to get into it though. (Dose any body remember which Chen sister works on Runaway?) Anyways Ultimates are really good to have. In the fact considering you really don't get board with them.


[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by OtakuSennen [/i]
[B]I enjoy reading Ultimate Spiderman (Spidey is my favorite American comic person) but IMO, I really prefer manga more.. It has a wider variety than just action (I know there's other genres, but they're few and far between..) and I enjoy Japanese storytelling... There's just something about manga that makes it stand out, IMO.. [/B][/QUOTE]


Not true. There are more in depth comics that have more of just an action. Take 'Alpha Flight' of 1992, they pushed out new things WITH OUT very much action. One, most of the whole thing was talking, just building up this weird plot that people didn't like in the end. :p Very dumb idea, still it was good. If you want a comic with less action, and more of the other stuff you'd have to look through every comics published by Marvel (which is impossible) to find one that would suit your liking.

[Semjaza]

I'd also have to add... Comics don't cover just "action". I've read manga to death before I got tired of it and started reading comics. If you get a good comic like The Ultimates, there really is little comparison at times.

There are plenty of random genres... I was at the store and I found a large amount of love/comedy comics that manga seems to specialize in, comics just about people's random lives and everything else. You just have to look around and realize that not every comic is about an unbeatable superhero.

[Heaven's Cloud]

[color=indigo]Crickey! this thread has turned into a full blown comics thread!

Anyway, I did my weekly Border bust yesterday and I checked out a few of the new titles.

One of the comics that I am very interested in right now is Batman. I was never a huge fan of the Dark Knight but his new self titled comic features the writing of Loeb and the art work of Lee (not Stan, Jim). Lee and Loeb made an incredible team at Image and also did some astounding work on the X-Men...they were responsible for the X-Cutioner story line that is one of the finest X-Men crossovers ever created. Anyway, the story line is very well done...they have allowed the charecter of Batman to go nearly berserk and (so far) he has been relying on his gut and his brawn rather then his brain. I definatly suggest checking it out.

I also picked up Spectacular Spiderman 1, it seems pretty good. They do a good job with plot, allowing action to flow secondary...it seems that Venom is back (an idea I wasn't too thrilled with at first) but this time he is a little different (the difference is what is going to make this series...)[/color]

[Marik_Duelist]

i read ultimite spiderman and ultimite xmen. they recently started selling them in a bookshop called easons and newsagents. of course this is after the only comic book shop i know of is closed down

i also collect marvel collecters editions of xmen, avengers, wolverine & gambit, & one with daredevil & hulk in it, forgot what its called


i used to collect exiles but as i said the comic book shop closed and i couldnt find another comic shop

[DeathBug]

Well, I picked up The Spectacular Spider-Man #1, written by my main man, Paul Jenkins. Features the return of Venom.

Wow.

First off, I like the character of Venom, but he has been so abused and misused during the past....tweleve years that it's not even funny. "Lethal Protector"? Eck. XP

Jenkins makes use of the character in a way that's never been done before. I mean, dozens of writers wrote about him, but PJ is the only one to remember that Eddie Brock was a devout Catholic (And use this effectively). Also, PJ explores a natural extension of the characters. Eddie has an alien creatutre linked to his body, and as time goes on, it's consuming and/or mutating him.

PJ also makes use of a facet of symbiote behavior brought up in the God-awful "Planet of the Symbiotes" story in '95. To recap, so you don't have to read: Symbiotes feed off of the adrienaline of their hosts, like a drug. Of course, the Venom symbiote has a host, Eddie Brock. So, why would it need adrienaline from outside victems?

Speculation: [spoiler] I think Eddie is dying, for some reason. In the church scene, he keeps coughing. He also appeared to be wearing hospital garments, and his head was shaved. (Cancer?) [/spoiler]

Of course, this isn't called "The Spectacular Venom", so where was ol' Pete at?

I loved meeting Pete's neighbors, including Big John. ("I spilled me bloomin' drink!!") However, Pete's best scene was in the hospital, and seeing Flash's face. Wow.

(For those who don't know, Norman Osborn/Green Goblin pumped Flash, a recovering alcoholic, full of whisky and put him behind the wheel of a semi-truck. Poor Flash survived, but has been in a coma for the past several issues, and may have sustained permanent brain damage. For details, check out "A Death in the Family", another great story by Paul Jenkins.)

When Spidey and Venom finally meet...it was odd. Whatever's happened to Venom, it's seriously screwed him up. Gone is the arrogant "I want to eat your brains" Venom; Eddie is fatalistic and philisophical, speaking in religous rehteric. Of course, he still
blames Spider-Man for his own mistakes, but there's something else going on here. I can't wait to snag the next issue and find out what happened to him to not only make him appear so "devolved", as spider-Man put it, but what he meant by the last line of the book: [spoiler] You do not understand, Spider-Man...there is no more Eddie"[/spoiler]

Oh...and I loved Venom's speech ballons.

So, let's run it down:

Best part: The two-page scene with Eddie in the confessional. "I think He put a demon inside me", as the alien is drapped around him. For the first time ever, Venom is geniuenly scary.

Worst part: Spidey thinking to himself that he and Eddie have a psychic link....they don't! Come on, PJ, I know you know your backstory better than that!

You know, this has been the Year of Venom. First, we had the origin of Venom masterfully told in Ultimate Spider-Man. Then, he gets his own series, using an alien monster style story, a la' "The Thing" and "Aliens".

But this one tops 'em all. It's a good time to be a Venom fan and finally see the character get the good storytelling he deserves, instead of all the crap they've shoved down our throats for the past decade.

I can't wait to round out the year with the Marvel Selects Ultimate Venom action figure and diorama. (Featuring an unmasked Spidey webbed to a wall). Good times...

:demon: [b]"The being that I was is gone....the change is complete..."[/b] :demon:

[Semjaza]

At this point, this should just become The Official Comics Thread, and we could be done with it heh.

Ultimates #11 came out today. I didn't have a chance to grab it, but a guy in my class had a copy. Surprisingly he works at the comic store I go to heh.

The other day I picked up Sentinel #4, Runaways #4 and the latest X-Statix.

When I first read Sentinel and Runaways, I wasn't that impressed for some reason. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood at the time... I kept thinking back to them though, so I figured I'd try it again. Now I regret not buying the other issues I had in my hands weeks before lol. They're both great.

X-Statix is awesome. I'm planning on picking up all the issues before it when I get a chance. The local comics store sells all of them at their listed value still.

[IMG]http://www.aaapop.com/images/covers/Marvel/xstatix10.jpg[/IMG]