TheSteve

Snakes on a Plane Anyone else seen this yet? I did, terrible movie. The plot was poor, the acting was really nothing special, the dialogue was so-so at best, the special effects were unrealistic. I loved it. It was a bad movie, and it did not care. It did what it wanted to do in order to entertain the audience ignoring the need for a plot or for a perception of 'reality'. The movie totally ignored everything realistic, so if you were thinking of going to this movie, stop thinking. Just go to the movie and enjoy it. I really mean stop thinking. If you think about anything in the movie, you just ruined it for yourself. Plot in short, there are snakes on a plane... yeah.

I hate that stuff got pushed back, but I hate it more when there is a change in the art during the middle of the storyline. Its like if you were watching the lord of the rings movies, but The Two Towers had a different set of actors. The story might not change, but its still jarring. And as a result it suffers. I think that Marvel is playing it smart here. Not thinking about the short game, but thinking about the long game. Rather than keep the monthly addicts happy by throwing a stand-in artist into the mix, make them wait a bit extra and give them a great product. Better to have a good product they can later sell in Trades than to have an ok product that they only sell issue by issue.

I just wanted to answer one of your quandries during this show, pertaining to the Ceasefire. Somewhat spoilerific, but only if you have not read Young Avengers season one. While you are talking about the people who were in attendance you mentioned one elder black man wearing a red white and blue tie. His name is Isaiah Bradley. What you said about him is accurate, but you missed out on one big thing about him which is important to another one of the books you reviewed. Isaiah Bradley is the grandfather of Elijah Bradley, who is Patriot from Young Avengers. (Ever wonder how Patriot got his powers?) You were foggy on stuff with the current Vision also from Young Avengers. He has all of the programming of the Vision, but none of the memories (it is a totally different set of hardware, this Vision is Kang the Conquoror's armor + Vision's programming). He does however know the history of what has gone on with the Avengers and the original Vision, as well as Ultron. In order to prevent himself from making the same errors of the original Vision he has self programmed failsafes against doing things which the original Vision. So sometimes he has flashes of things, and sometimes his failsafe programming even deactivates him for a period. Hope that helps clearing that stuff up for you.

So has anyone been looking at the DS Opera Cartridge for surfing the net? It looks pretty awesome. Last I saw its supposed to cost about $35 or so.

I have noticed a few people who are new around, people with only a few posts who have joined in the past month or two. Just because I am curious, how many people found their way onto these forums as a result of the show, and how many people found the show as a result of these forums? Personally I found my way onto here a little over a year ago through one of my friends who heard about it through Oratory I think. I was pretty active, then got busy and stopped visiting, and lo and behold when I came back there was a The Show. How about you other people?

Sweet, its going to be out the weekend of my 23rd birthday.... I wonder what I am going to tell my girlfriend we are doing that Friday night. *innocent eyes* It looks really cool from that trailer though. Could be a lot of fun.

I would like to say that the closing shot in that trailer is the stupidest looking face I have ever seen on Mr. Cage.

If the kid gets their parents to buy it for them, its that parents fault. I would personally like to see a list of retailers and see which ones are best about self regulation.

Not only does she already have a wikipedia page... but it has already been locked due to vandalism.

I side with the second option. My thinking is thus, I don't watch a lot of anime. While conversations about who would win in a fight are nice and all, I don't want to pick what anime I watch based on which character weilds the powers of a god or something like that. It would be far more interesting to me, and beneficial to me to see a which character is the best. Yes, I am totally being greedy and self centered about this. I plan on using this as a guide for future anime viewing, well less a guide and more a suggestion. Besides, some really awesome characters are out there in any format/genre which are not badasses, if being a badass were all that mattered we would live in a world where every movie was about Wolverine.... *shifty eyes*. Anyhow, best overall character would interest me most.

Steven “The Steve” Bradford Young Avengers: Season One The team of Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, and John Dell has finally completed Young Avengers season one. It is twelve issues, as well as a bonus one shot Young Avengers Special. Despite regular delays, Young Avengers was worth the effort, and the wait. Be prepared for spoilers beyond this point. Issues #1-6: Sidekicks Here we are introduced to a team, starting with four members, Iron Lad, Hulkling, Asguardian, and Patriot. They appear to be modeled after Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, and Captain America respectively. The group expands with the addition of Cassie Lang (Ant Man’s daughter) and Kate Bishop who force themselves onto the quartet. Captain America learns about the team, and in a flashback to the death of Bucky, he refuses to allow a group of teenagers to go around pretending to be super heroes. He does attempt to stop them, however in short order the reality behind Iron Man is revealed. He is a youth version of Kang the Conqueror whom jumpstarted an Avenger’s Failsafe Program, hidden in the programming of the destroyed Vision. The program is how Iron Lad contacted Patriot (who gained his powers through a blood transfusion from a super soldier), Hulking (whom has shape shifting abilities and super strength), and Asguardian (known to have some spell casting abilities as well as lightning control). Ultimately, Iron Lad is forced to leave in order to maintain the time line; however his armor is left behind, now inhabited by the Vision program. This opening to the series was fantastic. I know I started out afraid of a bunch of Avengers rip offs. During the course of these first six issues that theory was completely blown away. The characters feel like it is their job to play the roles of the Avengers, but they in fact have a completely different set of powers which they need to come to grips with. This arc also sets up a huge theme for the first season. Cap feels responsibility for any kid who dons a uniform pretending to be a super hero in his likeness. I want to give a huge kudos to Heinberg for introducing a romance already in the works between two guys. He does a great job of letting it just be part of the landscape, rather than a central theme. The dialogue kept me laughing the whole way through. I simply had a good time reading, and every issue left me postulating who the Young Avengers were, and where their powers really came from. The art was very pretty and clean. Good use of color and the heroes as heroes look wonderful. Subtle emotions are portrayed very well. Issues #7-8: Secret Identities Captain America, Jessica Jones, and Iron Man take it upon themselves to make the final blow that will force the Young Avengers to stop trying to be super heroes… by telling their parents. Meanwhile, Patriot has taken upon himself to single handedly take out Mutant Growth Hormone dealers. We find out, the REAL source of Patriot’s power here, because as it turns out, his cover story was a lie. Ultimately, he leaves the team. Pencils and Inking were done by Andrea DiVito and Drew Hennessey respectively. These two issues are polar opposites in feeling. The first one is good fun introducing the parent angle to teen super heroics. The second one, deals with drug use and addiction, and is extremely powerful. The character of Patriot has a lot more going on than just disliking Captain America, and being an angry black youth. We also end up with an insight into Cassie’s family. The family interactions throughout this arc are very realistic; Heinberg’s experience writing dramatic television shows about teenagers really serves him well with this team book. The end of issue #8 is a huge bombshell, which had me questioning for a month what was going to happen to Patriot, they got rid of a character in the first arc, and they seemingly did it again in the second. The art in these two books makes the team look like they just got two years younger. It seems much less detailed when it comes to the faces. The characters have a Saturday morning cartoon look and feel to them which is certainly much less subtle. I definitely prefer the work of Jim Cheung for this book. Issues #9-12: Family Matters The team is disheartened by what happened with Patriot in the previous arc, and have stopped trying to be a super hero team. Sadly, with the powers which they have, they are unable to stand by when they see something happening, despite their best efforts. While trying to keep to their selves, trouble yet again comes looking for them, this time in the form of the Super Skrull. He attempts to take Hulking captive and back to the Skrull Empire. Hulkling becomes an orphan thanks to the Super Skrull during the first issue, and is taken captive. Finding themselves, slightly outgunned by the Super Skrull the Young Avengers use the Vision’s Failsafe program to locate another potential candidate. This leads them to releasing a super powered speedster who has the ability to create explosions from juvie. Oddly enough he looks exactly like Asguardian (whom has changed him name to Wiccan). The real parentage of Hulkling is revealed… as well as why Wiccan and Speedster appear to be twins. The Kree show up as well to take Hulkling for their own, and a large battle ensues involving the Kree Army, the Skrull Army, the Young Avengers, and the New Avengers. We are back to Jim Cheung for pencils for this arc. The inkers are a combination which shifts through the 4 issues, most often including Jim Cheung, Dave Miakis, and John Dell. I was knocked out by this story arc. Hulkling has become a suddenly much deeper character to me, steeped in Marvel continuity. Not to mention the relationship between Speedster and Wiccan. By the end of this first twelve issue run, it is terribly clear that these kids are not the Avengers, but all of them are certainly linked to the real Avengers. This final installment of the first season of Young Avengers really brings closure to some of the themes and issues brought up in the first arc. Why these kids are the Young Avengers, where their powers come from, will Captain America keep standing in their way? It was certainly a fun roller coaster ride of a book for me. One of the best reads I have had recently. The inking seems different from the first arc when John Dell was working on it exclusively. He used a lot of shadows on faces, making them capable of a lot of emotion, however, also giving them a little bit of a gritty look to them. Those shadows have been cut back on severely and the characters effectively look newer. This is good for this book where it is a team which is just starting out and learning how to be super heroes. Those shadows are still being used on characters like Super Skrull, and to good effect. I like the refinement of the art in this book, this arc shows an improvement over the first arc as far as art is concerned, hopefully it will continue to get better next season. Young Avengers Special One Shot To appease the comic book fans like myself who were getting antsy waiting for the regular issues to come out, as they had a habit of being delayed, a one shot was published. It was an amusing set of interviews with the Young Avengers team, a little bit of insight into whom they are and why they want to be super heroes. Not really a must have in the series. All it does is serve to keep the impatient fans interested during the extended delays. Final Judgment If you don’t know anything about the Avengers, or Marvel Continuity, then you are going to have a few moments where you scratch your head. For the most part, everything you need to know is clearly spelled out in the pages of this book. If you do know about the Avengers, you are going to have a great time reading this book, because it is full of references and history. Most importantly, the book is enjoyable. The characters tackle some serious issues, but without throwing it in the readers face. The story starts out leading you to believe one thing, and it totally shatters the idea of a bunch of kid Avenger rip offs by the end of the first season. These kids have just as much right to be super heroes as anyone else, and on their own steam. A very fun read which did a fantastic job of keeping me begging for the next issue. While this series is a lot of fun, it does not really force the reader into any really deep soul searching thought. It is an action book, with a teen drama going on in the middle of the fight scenes. However, it does what it proposes to do very well. If you are looking for something that makes you sit up at night thinking about the questions of the universe and the human condition, you have not found it here. However, if you are looking for a good time with humor and a fair number of fights, this is your book. Overall, I would give this series an 8, or maybe 9 out of 10. I am going to go with an 8, because I think there is still room for improvement. The major drawback is a lot of the enjoyment I had while reading this book is a result of already being familiar with the Avengers mythology. The book is a bit of a reference-fest, but you can enjoy it without knowing who any of the Avengers were. I would suggest picking it up when it comes out in trades for any Avengers fan, if you have not already started reading it. If you do not know who the Avengers are, you will still enjoy Young Avengers, but it might be worth reading up on the classic Avengers first if you get the chance, particularly Avengers Disassembled. Regardless, I am going to stay pumped for Season Two… whenever it does come out.

Very awesome. Especially the whole recent posts thing.

So a year and a day since my last post on this thread.... I figured I would ask a quick question. The first season of Young Avengers has concluded with 12 issues, and a single one shot in the middle. Did anyone else on here end up reading it? I did. Moreso, would anyone be interested in a review of the first season?

Wow. For anyone who has seen the trailers, man I love the visuals of the symbiote creeping up along the body of Peter Parker. Wow, visually they are definatly doing Venom justice. (Although I would have liked to see the normal vision of the Black Spidey suit)

World of Warcraft, thats right, I am a huge nerd.

It does tie in through Spiderman, and tracking down King Cobra as well as a character named Razorfist.

I do not know what sort of introduction he had in New Avengers as I have not read the one where Carnage was destroyed (at least I understand that to be what happened) However Toxin is a "New Avengers Tie In" according to its cover.

It did very much actually. Thanks a lot. I have actually been spending a lot of time recently thinking about the character Toxin who had a six issue run as a spin off from the New Avengers. He is one of the most interesting characters I have seen pop up in comics for years, and I am sad not to see stuff going on with him. But that is neither here nor there, heh. Thanks.

So here I am, late at night and unemployed. Enjoying my last pudding cup before I am back on the ramen noodle diet, and it hits me. I should be a comic book writer. There are some characters I really want a whack at which no one else pays attention to. I want the chance to play with them myself. But I am just your average joe on the street.. well Steve on the street. How do I become a comic book writer? What is the path that I must walk, and who are the people I need to meet, the skills (outside of writing a good story) which I need to develop? Then something else hit me, I am a member of a board full of people who probably know the answer to this question. So here, I face you with a situation: I am a dude, just any old dude. One who enjoys his comic books, enjoys writing, and most of all, has a bunch of free time on his hands. How do I go from being 'a dude' to being 'the dude who writes for Marvel'? (In reality, I am just curious about how it happens, not that I am certain that it is something I would actually do, but gotta put a flare for the dramatic in the post or no one will get interested. )

Gotta say, that is the most awesome way I have seen of figuring out who someone is.

Personally I would love to see them cast Mark Hamill. If there is anyone who has the character of the Joker down already it is him, and his voice is the one I will always hear in my head when I read the Joker's dialogue. I think with the right makeup he is totally capable of pulling it off. Although, part of me hopes that the Joker is not actually going to show up in the next movie. I feel like one of the major strengths of Batman Begins is that they went with characters that the general public would not know, only people who sit around and talk about comic book movies on message boards *shifty eyes* would recognize them when they saw them. In the second movie I certainly hope that they have less Bat-Tank. Man I hated that thing in the first movie, very cool, but very not Batman.

As someone who does not do Wizard, and really does not follow news relating to comics, stopping a comic for a while is a surefire way to get me to forget it. I am the kind of person who goes into the comic book shop and looks around. But for most of the year I am the kind of person who has a mail order service, so if something stops and restarts under a new identity, as far as I know it has simply stopped. If something takes a few months off, the excitement of the next issue fades away, and I cut ties. Besides, I need to agree that Spidergirl totally deserves to keep her numbers going. Let her hit that 250 or 500 mark, and don't make it harder for her. Besides the fact that it is cool, and it shows longevity, its good to be able to say that a book based on a female character lasted a damn long time.

I seriously cannot wait for this to come out.... and for me to have enough money to buy it. Perhaps I will forego food one week.... or try to pawn one of my flatmates. But seriously, a good show that tends to be overlooked by a lot of Batman fans because it is an original work instead of based directly on source material.

I like bringing posts back from the dead.... why? Because I have been away from the boards for... close to a year, and I feel like getting in on the discussions I missed. The Dream Team: For the purposes of an interesting read, I would not include a leader. I would be more interested in seeing some guys who work like a group of friends, no leader, common goals, but still issues. Atom - So what if all he can do is turn small? No one said that everyone's super hero team had to be good at beating up the bad guys. Atom is forced to be smart instead of just be brute, and he will bring a different perspective to most conflicts...namely one looking up. Hulkling - Ok, so I put someone with some beef behind them. But more importantly I put someone with some serious character going for him. This dude has to lay low, or else he is going to be in trouble with some alien races (anyone who is up on Young Avengers knows why). Plus he does not just stand in for a discriminated against minority, or represent one like a mutant does. He actually is homosexual and so brings a level of reality into the story. Plus, you put him into a situation where he is away from his boyfriend, and you suddenly have a long distance relationship to explore. Dr. Strange - Besides being one of the coolest characters out there... from where I am standing... he is also one of the more difficult people to work with. He is a very wise person and calm, not really prone to rash decisionmaking. It would be logical for him to try to act like the leader, and that is a source of some good conflict. Working with people who are more doers than thinkers could cause some stress. Toxin - He has only existed in 7 different issues of comics so far. But he has great potential. He is your anti-hero, not because he has an evil side to him, but because he is totally ignorant of what we call morality. He can be uncontrolled, and worse he can turn on you. He is not a good guy or a bad guy yet, he has the potential to go either way Jesse Quick - I actually had to look this one up to know enough about her character to decide on her. Super speed is a fun power in any situation. So she can be useful in a fight, but can also be entertaining. Plus she has some great character going for her. She does not want to be a super hero, she wants to be a businesswoman. The best heroes are the people who do not want to be there. I feel like she would really connect with Hulkling over the loss of their parents and it could create a very strong bond... and possibly some angst when she realizes she really likes him, but he is not into the girls in that way. She might need to be younger than she is in proper continuity, somewhere in the 21-22 range. Green Lantern Girl - Well I am kinda bending the rules here. I want a character that does not officially exist yet, and might never exist. I want a Green Lantern. But none of the ones whom exist now will do. I want a hypothetical Green Lantern who is a 19-20 year old girl. Someone who sees being a Green Lantern as her job, and when she is 'off duty' is free to have fun and just be a normal girl, but to also always be ready to find herself flying away to take on some sort of threat. She needs to have a healthy working romantic relationship with someone not on the team but whom is around (to act as a reminder to Hulking that his boyfriend is elsewhere). She also needs to be able to balance being a Green Lantern with being a fun person. This way she reminds Dr. Strange that sometimes you need to relax, and she reminds Toxin that you can't always just do what you want to do. Who she is, I don't know. But its a fantasy thread, I can make up my last team member if I want. So thats my team. Not the greatest people to have in a fight, but all of the elements are there. Plus I have no mutants, which means I don't need to worry about Scarlet Witch taking away powers. Plus I have an age spread so its somewhat half adults and half kids. Kids who have had to grow up far too fast, but kids none the less.

The split totally has my attention, and always a fan of Bendis' work, so I will definatly pick up at least the first few issues of Mighty to give it a shot. I don't know about the roster. I look forward to checking it out though when it happens. Maybe this is a discussion for another topic... but why do you think that should be the breakdown?