its less than when bendis wrote it, but that run was trash.
I'd disagree on the "trash" comment. Anyway, Bendis has AAA-triple-platinum-list status and likewise got teamed with well-known and widely-liked A-list artists most of the time (whereas I don't think Khoi Pham is quite there yet), so naturally it sold better...
I enjoyed Bendis' run better myself but I can see the current appeal. I know this book is cancel proof. I was just wondering how it was faring with such a different style and run...
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"You will obey me! We are the superior beings!"
The trade of the first part of Slott's run comes out on Wednesday. I'm excited, though sometimes I find myself wondering why it takes so long to put stories into trade format. Were I Marvel, I'd definitely be working on improving the lag time between the final issue of an arc and the arrival of the trade.
They're actually planning to do the opposite of that, and increase the lag time, so that retailers can clear their backstock of magazine format issues and hardbacks before the paperbacks arrive. Shame in my opinion because the TPBs ought to be there to support the ongoing series above all else...
They're actually planning to do the opposite of that, and increase the lag time, so that retailers can clear their backstock of magazine format issues and hardbacks before the paperbacks arrive. Shame in my opinion because the TPBs ought to be there to support the ongoing series above all else...
This is going to be annoying. I started reading comics again because trades made them accessible. I don't have to deal with ads, they fit nicely into a bookcase (I should post a picture of my bookcase of Marvel trades; it's epic) and I don't have to worry about keeping them in mint condition for a potential resale in the future. Unlike hardcovers, I'm paying for the story, not the packaging (I never buy anything in hardcover).
If the lag time between individual issues and trade collection increases, I'm more likely to completely drop certain series than I am to switch to hardcover or an issue-by-issue basis. Maybe I'm the exception to the rule, but that doesn't change the fact that the general rule of business is to offer more value to your customers, not less.
On the other hand, I'm willing to wait longer for trades if it means fixing certain oversights from the original printing, like the time passage thing Mr. Slott mentioned he explained incorrectly in his Fantastic Four/Spider-man issues of ASM.
So I picked up the new trades from Marvel this Wednesday, which were New Avengers, Dark Avengers and Mighty Avengers, making it an ideal test for my preferences.
I read Mighty first. I read it again after I was done the others. Nothing against Bendis, but the world has been lacking classic Avengers and this book hits all the right notes with me.
First, I'm totally digging the knock off Thor and Captain America. The also-rans are the most interesting characters in the Marvel Universe at times because they can be more flawed than their better known counterparts.
Speaking of flawed, I loved the characterization of Iron Man. It was kind of dickish, but because he has way too many things on his plate, not because he's malicious, which I think is a sensible understanding of the character. His dialogue just oozed with a sense of "I don't have time for this so I'm going to get this done and move on." The one god and one super soldier line was priceless. I rather have him used in this book after Siege than in a Bendis book.
The use of Cho's numbers overlaying reality was excellent. It's always really cool in The Incredible Hercules and it's good to see it carried over. I don't know how active a member he will be in the future, but the support team of him, Jarvis and Jocasta makes it feel like the book has a cast of its own, whereas sometimes New Avengers just feels like it's borrowing players from a bunch of solo series.
Stature and Vision are a nice incorporation of characters from all over the Marvel Universe. In fact, I love how the book is assembling a team of quasi-Avengers:
A size-changer that hasn't been an Avenger before.
A Vision that isn't the Vision.
A god that isn't Thor.
An Ant-man that isn't any of the Ant-men we know.
A super soldier that isn't Captain America.
A Wasp that isn't the Wasp.
A Scarlet Witch that isn't the Scarlet Witch.
A Quicksilver that...well...he's still Quicksilver...
I feel like we're still missing a Hulk that isn't the Hulk (She-Hulk, please, no Rulk), an Iron Man that isn't Iron Man (but I think War Machine isn't right for the tone of this book) and a Hawkeye that isn't a Hawkeye (maybe not from Young Avengers because I think the youth contingent is large enough, but I can't think of another Hawkeye that's available at the moment).
I guess I should mention something about Hank Pym. It's not my intention to damn with faint praise, but I'm particularly impressed with this characterization of Hank Pym simply because it doesn't suck. Hank Pym has been all over the place, and not just because he's unstable and was a Skrull part of the time. I appreciate that the first arc dealt with his previous failings without letting that alone define the character, which has been the cloud hanging over the character in his latest incarnations. It feels like we'll get to see new aspects of the character moving forward.
It feels weird to review a book knowing that there are a bunch of new issues out there and having a general sense of what happens (which goes back to the previous point in this thread of how longer lag times until the release of trades are no fun), but I wanted to give my thanks for providing me with such an enjoyable read.
Oh, some people have been unhappy about the inconsistency of the art from issue to issue. I don't care as long as it's the same from arc to arc.
I haven't loved everything Mr. Slott has done. Sometimes I think his work is a little too cheesy, for lack of a better word, like Venom, Anti-Venom and Scorpio-Venom from New Ways To Die, but so far this book has the right balance of tongue-in-cheek comic book self-awareness and real adventuring.
If Clint kisses a woman masquerading as the Scarlet Witch and doesn't know that it's Loki in a female body and in disguise to boot, that hardly counts as gay...
I'm barely at the recap page and I'm laughing. Dan, did you come up with that part?
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