Marvel Heroes

[jjreason]

Hey, since we've wrecked the X-Men thread, I figured some other Marvel heroes warrant discussion. Does anyone here buy any other books outside X-Men? Wish to discuss who's secret identity is the lamest (duh - it's Steve Rogers)? Want issue summaries (I might be your guy)? How 'bout Garth Ennis on Punisher, or BM Bendis on DD? What do you think?

[Eternal Padawan]

After I quit collecting, I would pick up the occasional issue of Iron Man and it seemed as if Tony Srark had gone evil and there was an alternate dimension Tony Stark who was younger and he became the new Iron Man. It seemed completely lame and I have been reluctant to pick up an Issue of Iron Man ever since. Anybody know what the scoop is?

[jjreason]

I haven't read any Iron Man since the end of Volume II (the Whilce Portacio run while Wildstorm was doing Marvel Heroes after Onslaught) so I have no idea. The end of Volume I had Tony regressed to about 19 years of age, so I do remember that aspect of things. I think Iron Man went psycho during "Timeslide" or something like that - it happened in a few specials, not during the main series (which is always stupid), and effected the whole shebang.

I would say that Tony Stark would be one of the more interesting characters behind the characters in the Marvel Universe. Lots to do there.

[Eternal Padawan]

Hey the alcoholic storyline was VERY powerful. And the Armor Wars saga was (and is still) one of the coolest comic stories ever. I highly recommend that to anyone who digs comics.
Tony Stark finds out that during the time his company was under the control of Obadiah Stane, he sold parts of the IM technology to anybody with enough money. So bascially all these teched up villains have IM circuitry in their armor and Stark feels responsible (for all the innocents that have been hurt with his inventions), so he hunts all of them down and slaps these little EMP doohickeys on their armor. Eventually he runs afoul of the good guys too since the Guardsmen at the Vault and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Mandroids have the circuitry, too. In the end, Stark has to disavow his "bodyguard" and fire him, Iron Man becomes hunted and they are forced to kill him. Powerful stuff.

[Eternal Padawan]

Some Marvel heroes just can't hold onto a series. Here are a few..

Moon Knight.
Dr. Strange.
Cloak & Dagger.

In my opinion, Cloak would work better as a fallen hero, who turns to the darkside. Have a big crossover event, where in the end he becomes the new Marvel Tier-A villain (think Apocalypse, or Thanos). I'm already seeing a Cloak VS Dagger mini series.

Moon Knight has always been intriguing to me, even though he's a Bruce Wayne clone, billionaire pretty boy turned vigilante with high tech gadgets. If they could find a new angle (and not that silly immortality crap) I'd go for it. Plus he has the coolest/abrasive sidekick, Freedomy, one of his old mercenary cronies.

[jjreason]

Moon Knight - Fist of Konshu was hot as a pistol up here when it came out. Awesome covers, what I remember as being a pretty good story, and it all crapped after 6 issues.

Dr. Strange, Nick Fury/Shield, Sub Mariner - more big names that can't draw readers. They should make "Tales to Astonish" again, and run it like they used to: 10 pages of 2 different stories each issue, featuring these backups and the ones named above in good stories. We wouldn't need these half-baked mini series anymore.

I started playing Catchup on Avengers, and read the first 6 Geof Johns issues. No screaming hell. I have one Thor/IM/Avengers cross over to read, then it's on to "Red Storm" or whatever, with the new artist Coipels at the helm. He's getting good reviews, so I hope it's a step up from that Scorpio crap story.

[Eternal Padawan]

Yeah. Oliver Coipels. That's his name. I like his style.

Nick Fury/SHIELD would work if they stuck to one villain team like Hydra/AIM and showed what they were up to at the same time. I could definitely get into a cat and mouse thing with those two teams spreading through the entire Marvel universe, utilizing heroes and voillains as agents in a an ongoing epic. Hydra subverting and taking over organized crime across the globe, so eventually every villains is either directly or indirectly working for them, and SHIELD checkmating them with heroes and have it culminate in a spectacular final issue where SHIELD saves the planet, but with lasting ramifications. SHIELD series always lacked focus. Like they had this cool organization with cool characters, but they didn't know what to do with it.


I liked having Namor as a businessman, when Byrne started his series back in the early 90's, then it petered out. This new one set in the 20's is interesting to flip throu, but not enough to buy (unless its a quarter...)

Dr. Strange. Well first off, his costume has GOT TO GO. I think that turns off any initial readers from the get go. Second, whats up with his title: Sorceror Supreme? Was there a competition? Who appointed him this dimension's protector? Are there even any other candidates? And the whole idea of "magic" is a little vague as to what he can and cannot do. it almost makes him omnipotent and wheres the fun /peril/conflict in that? Whatever challenge he's facing the writer can just go "Oh! And then he knows a spell to counteract giant devil beetles who turn ballerinas into magmesium lead alloys..." I just don't like Dr. Strange.

[El Chuxter]

Namor as a businessman was awesome, and not only because it brought back the wrongfully killed Iron Fist!

Remember the very brief "Fury" series from the heyday of the buckles-and-arm-bands age, where Nick looked exactly like a cigar-chomping Cable with an eyepatch?

I think Dr Strange is definitely one that could be great, but isn't. "By the hoary hordes of Hogwarts!" (or whatever his battle cry is) has to go!

[Dr Zoltar]

Eternal Padawan,

Man, Cloak and Dagger was one of my favorite comics when it first came out. Marvel had a good thing going with it. But it eventually turned sour. I'd love to see it re-done and more mature. And fix the fact that they were mutants. I liked it better when it was believed they weren't.

[jjreason]

I read Kingpin #1, kind of a take on how Fisk got to be the power in NYC. Interesting, but I don't really see how this is going to last too long (not listed as a ltd series on the cover). Personally, I was hoping this book was going to be spun out of current DD, and we'd get to see how he claws his way back into control of the underworld (he's been on the down and outs lately, for those not in the Bendis loop - oh, and by the way, you probably should be). Written by Bruce Jones, who apparently can't do no wrong around Marvel these days. Good book.