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Jaredan

Name: Scott Hawkes

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Reviews

And here are the X-Men I remember so fondly. Aaron breezes into this first issue with a cavalcade of smart,…

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The Avengers lick their wounds and Cap opens the discussion about just who will be on the roster. One would…

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Fear Itself comes to an end (as far as I’m concerned), and the “writing by flow-chart” is still painfully evident….

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Jaredan's Recent Comments
August 11, 2011 10:47 am Or The Dark Knight. I need sleep.
August 11, 2011 10:42 am So little character development occurs it's astounding. What do we know about the Serpent as a character beyond the surface details? And I still cannot abide the way Cap, Thor and Spider-Man are represented.
I know it's partly nerd rage but I am so tired of lazy characterisation in popular culture. When I think "Summer Blockbuster" I go to Dark Knight Returns not Transformers.
Being an event doesn't make a bad story, bad writing does. 
August 10, 2011 10:28 pm Excellent review. I agree with you but I find the glaring character inconcistencies too grating to enjoy. Not only the way Thor talks, but would he really kill Thing as flippantly? And I cannot buy Peter Parker walking away from the fight, nor Cap admitting defeat, this isn't the first time these characters have been in terrible cicumstances, we know as readers that they don't react this way.
July 27, 2011 7:44 pm I very much enjoyed it. My full review here:
 http://blatherful.wordpress.com/
July 22, 2011 4:11 pm Yeah looks like Nightcrawler in the upper right side of Wolverine and The X-Men, and would guess below him with the glasses would be Hank.
July 12, 2011 10:05 am "Steve Rogering" is illegal in 17 States.

I'm not bothered at all by the renumbeing in this case, as you say it makes perfect sense. I look forward to reading it. 
July 11, 2011 10:09 pm Spoilers ahead, of course.
The consternation that I feel for Fear Itself is that it is a checklist of events rather than a story.
Hero death to emphasise the stakes. Check.
Reuniting the Avengers Trimvirate. Check.
Massive destruction. Check.

  Those things all happen in the first 4 issues but none of them feel like they matter as time is not spent on the foreshadowing and build-up to each event and then no time is spent on the ramifications of their occurence.
   Bucky dies after a brief battle. The isn't anything remarkable about how he goes out, partly to emphasise the strength of the Worthy, but if you don't accentuate Bucky's heroic nature and his prowess then this doesn't raise Sin's new power or the tragedy.
   The pause to consider Bucky's passing and Steve taking up the mantle once more is done in a few panels where it is not the horror of his death which is focused on simply that his passing shows how dangeorus the situation is and that Steve can put back on the old uniform (except for the bloody awful helmet which will probably have a specific value in the coming fight).
  If Fraction had taken the time to use an emotional beat it would have focused the scale of danger and horror of the fight much better than skipping over Bucky's death to show they don't have time to grieve due to the urgency.
  To me this is where Fear Itself's flaw lies: characterisation (and no not the type of cheap trick with Tony holding a bottle, what next? Cap running with a flag?) isn't earned, it is payed lip-service in order to move along to "necessary epic event/plot point no.6".
   No matter what explosion/death/fight/twist happens in a story, if you don't take the time to develop the characters and their reactions to the events it becomes a narrative list, which is what Fear Itself feels like at its worst.
July 8, 2011 11:29 am From the Ashes is such a wonderful example of the X-Men at their best. Personal stories with characters that have different motivations and responses. Wolverine is rarely more attractive as a character, his lethal tendancies are there for all to see but so is his stoicism, honour and willingness to sacrifice.
In fact Rogue and Storm have also rarely (if ever) been more engrossing.

The reason Astonishing is such an enthralling read is that Whedon takes the time to give each character the moments to remind the reader why they are as lasting as they are. Cyclops has rarely been better after years of being mishandled and we are invited to fall in love with Kitty and Peter all over again.

Thanks Ali, you've inspired me to do some re-reading. 
July 8, 2011 10:27 am @stuclach  Seconded. My favourite era of the X-Men brought to life in a stunning, joyous style. Cliff Chiang for Uncanny please.
June 20, 2011 11:43 am Can we have a moratorium on a few things?
   Firstly, the word "hater" is almost exclusively used as a summary dismissal of an opposing viewpoint. If someone disagrees with your opinion it might be because they have reasons, not that they simply want to disagree to annoy you, most likely (definitely) they didn't have you in mind when reacting to the film.
   Secondly, do not assume the age of other posters as being younger than yourself in order to lend authority to your opinion. I'm in my late-30s yet apparently my viewpoint has been seen as substandard due to my dew-laden youth. Even if I was 12 surely you cannot dismiss any genuine opinion, particularly if the reasons were well presented?
   Thirdly, a dissenting opinion will not hurt your perspective of the film. If someone likes/dislikes Green Lantern with an opposite perspective to you they have not made it a different film for you, therefore there is no need to respond as if it is a personal attack. It isn't. Art is subjective, each response is individual, which is why debate can be fun: it's a meeting of differing viewpoints.
    And finally to criticise criticism for being critical is about as redundant as you can get.
disagreed with Paul on some points but he did a fine job of illustrating his view of the film and gave a detailed but not overly-fastidious account of his reasons why. In other words he did an exemplary critical review, which is his job. 

Some of the ways people dismiss others annoys me senseless. Not purely because it is the way of the Internet but because I see it more and more in the media and in real life.