posted
You know, I have to agree with Reboot regarding Slott. Slott initially won me over with his She-Hulk stories, Thing series and a bunch of other things that showed he could write some really fun superhero stories.
But these last 2-3 years? A pretty poor performance and sometimes so bad its just plain hack-work. The way Slott is writing Reed, Hank and Tony Stark is actually worse than anything anyone else did during Civil War, including JMS, Bendis or Millar. Its almost unforgivable.
His stories are boring, repetitive or unoriginal.
And like 'Boot says, so much of what he does is outright undermining other writers--and obvious intentional digs at their work--that it takes away the enjoyment even further.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Thing is though, Slott's been doing this stuff all along (or at least since he came to prominence through his She-Hulk run - I can't say for when he was doing incredibly obscure stuff like Wolverine #102˝). Take a look at the issues of She-Hulk & GLA where he takes great pleasure in aiming huge swipes at Mark Greunwald's work (which left an incredibly bad taste in my mouth at the time) and Keith Giffen's then-current work on Thanos, along with completely misreading the Infinity Gem & Elders of the Universe concepts and then touring the message boards saying "well I said so in print, it must be true".
The much-"celebrated" thing with Penance saying how deep he is while whacking his head off a wall? The thing he was mocking? That was Warren Ellis taking a shot at the Penance concept in the first place! Parodying a parody as if it was serious is cheap, cheap hackwork.
And this is getting incredibly off-topic from the series with a talking gorilla and a spaceman lusting after sea anemones, isn't it?
So, back to Atlas... I'm not actually sure where this series is going, conceptually. I think the multiple artists has hurt it - I'm not sure why Pags was chosen as the regular artist, given that he's done, what, three out of seven issues (counting the two part-issues as adding up to a whole issue). That's a worse strike rate than Ryan Sook managed on X-Factor - and HE realised "I can't do this" and stepped down after #4 (one whole issue, two part-issues). And Pags is a guy who they knew well enough in advance couldn't do all of Planet Hulk to the point that that they hired another guy to do half the issues in a more controlled way (4/4/2/2/2, rather than the bizarre 1/(˝/˝)/(˝/˝)/1/1/1/(˝/˝) we've had here.
Also not sure about "They're not cousins, really. Honest." Royal families were inbred as all hell - if you want to go there, then GO THERE. Don't apologetically aim for half a loaf.
-------------------- My views are my own and do not reflect those of everyone else... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
posted
The Dark Reign stuff puts the series in a bit of a conundrum really. On the one hand, its crossing into territory that could really help is sales wise (while its still in its earliest issues), so if it helps the comic gain new readers, then I don't mind it. But on the other hand, it does seem to be slowing the pace down a little bit as we hope to get past it "to the good stuff".
I'm sure I could easily find sales charts but those of you who know me probably just laughed when you read that I wrote that. I'm too lazy. I wonder how AoA is selling? Hopefully this Dark Reign stuff is helping.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Caught up with #7 and #8, which I felt were a stronger showing than previous issues and hopefully will focus the book on a solid direction going forward.
The wrap-up to the Namor story was great and the artwork was outstanding. The temporary conclusion to the Namor / Namora romance wasn't entirely surprising but at least seems different than what we've seen in the past in those situations. It was fun to see the Agents goofing around with each other, including Namora intending to have Jimmy walk her down the isle.
The following issue with the Hulk had a plot that was relatively "meh", but the subplots going forward were interesting. First, Jimmy's uncovering of the previous schism in Atlas is interesting, as is the (re)introduction of Jade Claw. The further inclusion of Temugin and Khanata are also a plus.
And the bath scene--that sure was a sit up and take notice type scene!
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Huh? What's with this title? They're making it awfully hard to be a regular reader, what with the accelerated publishing of the first couple of issues, followed in swift order by a cancellation, two-issue mini, stories in other titles, and then a relaunch.
Why not just publish the X-Men crossover as two issues of the current series, rather than as a separate two-shot?
And I'm really not that interested in picking up Hercules just to follow the adventures of the AoA. This is annoying.
-------------------- ♦ Translated from 31st century Texan to 21st century English ♦
From: The open range | Registered: Sep 2003
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quote:Originally posted by Raging Bull: And I'm really not that interested in picking up Hercules just to follow the adventures of the AoA. This is annoying.
Well...if it helps, Hercules is one of Marvel's very, VERY best titles!
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I picked up a copy of Hercules today, largely on the recommendation of Lardy and Cobie. If it fails to fully please me in any way, I'm holding both of you personally responsible!
-------------------- ♦ Translated from 31st century Texan to 21st century English ♦
From: The open range | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I don't know exactly why, but #8 with the Hulk really worked for me. Like New Mutants 3, it was mostly a big brawl, but it just clicked like no issue before it had. Maybe it was the sing along to the Brady Bunch theme recap page or that the story began with most of the characters in a huge hot tub?
Oh well, at least if this is the start of the title clicking on all cylinders, that means I'll get plenty of bang out of my buck when it moves over to Hercules.
-------------------- "Suck it, depressos!"--M. Lash
From: The Underbelly of Society | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Agents of Atlas relaunches with a new #1 as 'Atlas' this month after a few minis & back-up features and I'm glad to see it. I've enjoyed all of the AoA's appearances throughout this whole transition phase and really hope the title can get an audience and continue.
It's a very unique series in terms of the larger comic book industry (and Marvel in particular) and writer Jeff Parker really delivers every month IMO.
The inclusion of 3-D Man (formerly Triathlon) is not something I wasn't exactly clamoring for, but Parker has a talent for getting me to enjoy characters I previously never cared for. He already is getting me to like Delroy with #1.
Of course, I'm much more interested in the Agents who don't get shown too much in #1. I can see why from a story-telling POV but hope that isn't a mistake. The awesomeness of M-11 alone should be enough to convince anyone with an ounce of intelligence and dignity to become a lifelong customer for this title.
Gabriel Hardman provides the art and I'm really enjoying it. The depictions of San Francisco and nightlife in Los Angeles evoke a very noir-ish feel to me. I also love the way he draws all the individual Agents, particularly Venus & Gorilla Man. I've been a fan since I first saw his art and am glad he's still doing AoA.
Not sure if the back-up was necessary. Zombies might draw some other folks in but I'd rather just get more pages with the main story.
To sum up: everyone should be buying this. This is the kind of comic book DC and Marvel should be dong more of.
[ June 08, 2010, 08:11 AM: Message edited by: Cobalt Kid ]
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I liked the first issue and 3-D man's appearance *was* something that I was clamoring for! (although I was really hoping for the original) I'm glad that "Triathlon" has ditched the horrible outfits and has something similar to the original design (the best of the lot!) I had a bad feeling one or both of the original 3-D Man were going to bite it in this story and it's too bad Parker went that way.
The previous minis were ok, but weren't much more than the standard team-up books. So I'm really glad to see this team back in their own book where we can really delve into Atlas and the long term operations of the team and the dynamic between the characters.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
As someone who has loved everything Atlas for some time, I picked up Gorilla Man #1 naturally a few weeks ago and just got around to reading it. Ken Hale is naturally a character we all love because he’s just so damn likeable—kind of like the lovable version of the Thing but as a gorilla. This miniseries seems to further that notion, as there is just something really awesome about seeing panel after panel of Gorilla Man.
Jeff Parker also does a good job at presenting Ken Hale’s earliest years. While there are hints of the tragedy of growing up an orphan in the Great Depression, Parker doesn’t hammer us over the head with it; rather, he presents the idea of going around the world and the sense of adventure it must have been to have done that at an early pre-teenage age.
I thought the art by Giancarlo Caracuzzo was good, a kind of cross between Lee Weeks and Gabriel Ba. I really would have loved if the issue had been drawn by Dave Johnson, who did the cover, as that is one damn fine cover.
It’s pretty sad that Atlas is coming to an end. I came into it a little late, after the first miniseries, and was just blown away by how damn cool it was. For a few years now, even though Marvel has continued to focus on their iconic stars that have been in publication since the Silver Age, they have been able to have some great corners of lesser known, very cool properties, like Hercules, Atlas, the new Scorpion, the Sentry, Nova & GotG and other properties. Now, though it feels like only Atlas and Hercules were left among those properties and now Atlas is ending (I hope the same doesn’t happen with Hercules). I hope as Jeff Parker’s star continues to rise (and there is no doubt it will, the man is immensely talented), he’ll use the Agents of Atlas in various other comics, such as Hulk and Thunderbolts.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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And the non-MU Giant-Size Marvel Adventures Avengers #1. (I won't mention all the times Jeff Parker worked them into something else he was writing. It would take too long ).
As for the end itself, Atlas #5... it felt rushed. When a comic book breaks into prose for two whole pages in mid-story, it feels very weird indeed.
*is seriously thinking about doing a reread of all the comics listed above when he gets a chance*
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: Now, though it feels like only Atlas and Hercules were left among those properties and now Atlas is ending (I hope the same doesn'’t happen with Hercules).
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