Toshimoko29

May 8, 2012 8:00 pm Yes, we absolutely want a sequel. It's not like if it turns out to be terrible we wouldn't always have this movie. But the only way we'd know was for them to make it. Besides, after an opening weekend like that I don't think there's anyone involved with making the movie that doesn't have a few dollar signs in their eyes. Think of it this way, everyone can come back for more money. I'm sure that sounds ok to them lol. Thanos would be perfect for the sequel as well. People keep expressing worry to me that they can't do the Infinity Gauntlet story justice, to which I say... great. Let them write something that uses the Gauntlet (clearly what Thanos is known for) that actually works in the Marvel movie universe. A direct adaption would only add too many elements to what is already a very fine balancing act of characters. I have to say though that I don't think the Avengers movie will lead to new comic readers. Avengers takes everything that is cool about comics, weeds out everything that sucks about comics, and then magnifies the good. It's fast and fun, is for most if not all ages, and despite building off other stories doesn't require you to know anything beforehand, giving a total and complete story for your money while leaving you wanting more. That's pretty much the opposite of what comic book companies have been doing for years, and most people who pick up a comic book after watching the Avengers will only wonder how they got such a good movie out of it. Don't get me wrong, I am a lifelong fan of comics and I will probably never stop reading them until the day I die. But as far as entertainment media go, they are working hard to get more money from fewer people, not the other way around.

May 4, 2012 2:26 am I want to be on board for this, but the story sounds terrible to me. I've been reading Spider-Man for 25 years, and I couldn't care less about his parents if I tried. I also think a big reason 3 sucked was because they worked too hard to tie Sandman's story to Peter's... now it looks like this crew has done the same to the Lizard. The Avengers was the best comic movie I've ever seen, and only serves to make this look worse by comparison.

May 2, 2012 3:48 am I can appreciate this article. I don't like even one thing Whedon has done in the past, in any medium, and it hurt my excitement for this movie. Now that I've seen it though, it absolutely shames every other comic movie I've ever seen and I know that he was 100% right for this. I'm no great fan of the Nolan Batman movies, but after seeing The Avengers, the new DKR trailer looks questionable at best.

April 24, 2012 3:31 pm I noticed the AR icon while reading the book, but forgot about it by the end and didn't notice the page explaining it... what can I say, I read it at work and was not paying 100% attention :) Now I've gone back and read AvX #1 using the app, and I have to admit I am ridiculously excited about the potential here. The best pages are the ones that explained things that a new reader wouldn't know (the bio on Hope, and the roster for the JG school). In my store, I have Magic players looking over the comics all the time, and the #1 thing potential readers say is "This looks cool, but I don't want to have to read *those* (motioning to the trade shelves) to understand what's going on..." And with storylines that are literally dragging on for months and years, this is not only a legitimate concern, but a major stumbling block. Marvel has stepped up to solve it, and I love the result. Whether or not you appreciate the value of your free extras is not really the point, they're free and some people enjoy seeing them.. But the chance to lessen the knowledge gap for new readers without adding extra pages of cost AND keeping it in a physical form is fantastic. To be honest, I don't understand why the content wasn't made available in the digital copies, but I don't think it will be too long before it is added in to the equation.

March 19, 2012 2:01 pm The references to things in our world dragged me right out of the story. Most of it was pretty good, so I'll get the next few issues as a sort of "probationary" pull title.

February 14, 2012 2:32 am This article is splitting hairs. The intent of the relaunch was just as much to provide a blank slate for storytelling as it was to provide a more level field to get new readers. In fact, I would definitely argue that the DC marketing did a hell of a lot more to get new readers than the books themselves did; many have the same tone, consistency, and decompressed pacing (which I think kills new readers faster than anything else). But even if the new DC universe's readership were comprised of 25% or more new readers, would it really be all that harmful to introduce an alternate take on characters that have in some cases been around for 3-4x the life span of the readers? We can't have an alternate Superman because we just introduced the last one? That seems to be arguing for the sake of it. The concept of alternate realities and dimensions dates back quite a ways in sci-fi. If nobody's head exploded watching the "Mirror, Mirror" episode of Star Trek in the 60s, I don't think anyone will be out of whack in the year 2012. The problem comes from the nitpicking nature of some fans. Just because there is an alternate universe introduced in a comic, we have somehow come to the conclusion that we as fans need, NEED to know every little aspect that makes that universe different, where it's moment of divergence was from our own timeline, etc. Going back to the Star Trek reference, who remembers what was different about the alternate universe? The crew was evil. Sure, there's more to it than that if you get deeper into it, but that line tells you all you need to know to watch the episode. If anybody asks you what DC's Earth 2 is (past or present versions) and you say anything other than "just an alternate universe where things have happened a little differently, ya know, like in Back to the Future 2", you are doing far more disservice to the comics than DC is by bringing it back. No bullshit about trying to explain continuity, where the universes came from, past stories, etc. Your complaint is the equivalent of being asked by a child "what is physics?" and starting your explanation with detailed quantum mechanics; the answer is the poison, not the question.

February 8, 2012 12:57 pm I'm liking this more today than I did yesterday. Hopefully it will continue to build in my mind until the release, in which case I'll probably go see it. I wonder how necessary the backstory with the parents is. Since it's a reboot they may have added it to separate it from the earlier movies, but to me it just looks like more origin madness. Like you can't have a tumbleweed rolling through a scene without showing it get planted first. As long the movie has good action scenes and is FUN, I don't see how it could be too bad, but I think it just doesn't look as good as Avengers to me, or even Dark Knight Rises.

January 13, 2012 7:46 pm I'm excited for the new titles, but I'm really disappointed that Liefeld is going to be on more titles. I thought H&D getting canceled meant we were done with him. I wonder if Dial H will use reader submissions like the old series? Probably won't work anymore, but it would be nice to try...

January 10, 2012 9:05 pm I rewatched a lot of the Hulk show, I think around the time the Norton Hulk movie came out. I can't argue that the silly parts weren't just that, but I loved the show, even now. I loved watching the Hulk do things when I was a kid, but as an adult I really enjoy watching Bill Bixby be a fantastic actor, even with such ridiculous stories. I guess the same is true of comics, I love the added perspective being an adult gives me when I read the same issues I did as a kid. Of course, comics today don't really compare (which I think is a shame), but in another 20 years I'll probably reread Walking Dead (for instance) and appreciate it that much more. Great article! Oh, btw I have a picture of Spider-Man and I somewhere, but I'll have to ask my mom what the circumstances were and where it is, I was too young then to remember it now. I forgot about it until I saw your pic up top :)

January 5, 2012 10:18 pm Wow, how many hot-button issues can we fit in one comments section? You have a great list, Ron. Very constructive but still definitely criticism; I can see your love for the industry in all your articles, this one even more than most. Gender equality: Women don't have to be moral at all, but it bothers me when we are pandered to. That picture of Starfire above is a fantastic example. Saying this is how you want comics is like saying you think more movies should be like Showgirls. I don't have a problem with sexuality in general, but treating every reader like a horny young guy is just not helping attract new readers. 20-22 pages: I've said before and I'll say again; number of pages wouldn't even cross our minds if the content was even half of what it should be. By that, I mean that I want more words, I want less splash pages, and I want more things happening in every single comic that I buy. Why am I buying 6 comics to get a story that should fit in 2? Downloading: is stealing. Duh. Digital comics: I have to think that as comics move forward a Netflix-styled system will end up being the most profitable and the most convenient for people. I think there will always be physical copies for those of us that love them, though. I wonder if digital comics become more prevalent than physical ones, will we start seeing more enhanced versions (like the Watchmen motion comics) becoming the norm? Dropping readership: To the industry, I say this; Change the format of a comic to fit the story in it (traditional, manga, original graphic novel, etc.). Put comics back in drug stores, grocery stores, etc. Stop treating comics like collectibles (#1 Collector's Issue, etc.), make people want to share them, not horde them. Make comics that fit more people, instead of fitting more people to comics.