The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

by **ElijahSnowFan** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:55 pm

OK. Spoilers will come in this thread. Don't say you weren't warned!

I mean it!

So, I'm old, and I've read a lot of comic books, and blah blah blah. I'm pretty freaking sure nobody gives a damn about my biography.

But for those who do go way back, way back to a time when Marvel was a little simpler type of company, I sure hope you're reading Avengers.

I don't mean that to say that these first four issues are redefining comics. They aren't. The art's been good, the pacing's been good, but really, as a whole, the stories have been solid but not spectacular.

But what they've done, including this week's No. 4, is so much different -- and, in my opinion, better -- than what Bendis' run was, and what I missed most:

The Avengers are doing things instead of, or while, talking. Whereas Bendis' run was, well, a lot of talking, then a burst of doing, then more talking.

For how I view books with very large casts, this is the way to go. You have a narrative, a theme. You basically have a narrator telling you the story, with the conversations between characters serving to bridge the gaps in the narrative. When you have characters as much as 50 years old, that's absolutely the best way to go -- we've seen Thor and Hawkeye and Black Widow and Carol Danvers for years and years and years.

At this point in the history of these characters, having them offer narrative is somewhat painful. Let them do things. It's why these are comic books.

But this issue was worth me making my way to the boards after a too-busy-working absence because it was a done-in-one featuring a Hyperiion, which is always a good way to get me to read a book.

I said "a" Hyperion because it's not a version that any of us have seen before; the character's name is Marcus and he may wind up being Mark Milton at some point, but Hickman gave this version an origin that is fun and reminiscent of Superman, with the requisite tragedy.

But the reason I like Hyperion, especially this version from what I've seen of how Hickman might be using him, is that this guy's gonna be a heavy hitter. He's smart -- fallible, but smart. He's confident, he's tough. He thinks -- and, most interesting, he doesn't think like "us." Where Hickman takes that, I don't know, but it's interesting.

When you have a character like Hyperion, who isn't really one character for Marvel but has been seen in many incarnations, you can do just about anything you want. I'm hopeful that Hickman does so, explores the Superman-archetype in ways that DC, IMO, continues to fail to do by over-pandering to the weakest aspects of what Clark Kent/Superman are, instead of simply writing powerful stories about the most powerful being on Earth.

This was a fun issue, for those who read comics like I do. I hope those of you who are old-schoolers who like the concept of Hyperion give this issue, if not this series, a shot. I think it's been fun.

by **draco x** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 3:57 pm

I don't really see the point in putting Hyperion on an Avengers team when they could have brought back the Blue Marvel who got thrown under the bus becuase Marvel didn't know what to do with him for the most part.

by **ElijahSnowFan** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:08 pm

draco x wrote:I don't really see the point in putting Hyperion on an Avengers team when they could have brought back the Blue Marvel who got thrown under the bus becuase Marvel didn't know what to do with him for the most part.

One of my biggest theories about the Avengers is that, at some point in a reader's life, everyone will stop caring about the lineup and just pray for good stories.

I reached that point years ago. There are certain characters who I prefer to see, like everyone else. But the odds of Hyperion being a long-term Avenger are slim, subject to the writer after Hickman deciding to use him, so better to enjoy this volume of the series with him in it, due to the unique things this version will bring, than wonder more about a character who isn't going to appear.

by **draco x** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:13 pm

ElijahSnowFan wrote:
One of my biggest theories about the Avengers is that, at some point in a reader's life, everyone will stop caring about the lineup and just pray for good stories.

I reached that point years ago. There are certain characters who I prefer to see, like everyone else. But the odds of Hyperion being a long-term Avenger are slim, subject to the writer after Hickman deciding to use him, so better to enjoy this volume of the series with him in it, due to the unique things this version will bring, than wonder more about a character who isn't going to appear.

There is truth in your words here. Hopefully they can make this upteenth incarnation of Hyperion interesting-And I do mean hopefully.

by **alaska1125** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:32 pm

Because it's Hickman, I've a modicum of faith that this will be a good fit. That said, my knee-jerk reaction was a flashback to the train wreck that was The Sentry. *shudder*

by **ElijahSnowFan** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:41 pm

alaska1125 wrote:Because it's Hickman, I've a modicum of faith that this will be a good fit. That said, my knee-jerk reaction was a flashback to the train wreck that was The Sentry. *shudder*

You know what? That squarely falls on Bendis -- I honestly feel he ruined The Sentry. I'm not saying that where he took the Sentry was incorrect, because that was absolutely one of the outcomes that the character could have, but it wasn't even interesting.

I don't think it was ever an explanation of insanity, or anything particularly insightful. It was just a bad usage of a character that Marvel needed to be the powerful bad guy in an event.

I admit it: I'm probably one of the five people on this planet who thought The Sentry had potential. I just think, by the time Bendis was done with him, it was a mercy kill.

by **draco x** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:43 pm

alaska1125 wrote:Because it's Hickman, I've a modicum of faith that this will be a good fit. That said, my knee-jerk reaction was a flashback to the train wreck that was The Sentry. *shudder*

This is why I would have prefered the Blue Marvel myself as he was basically Sentry done right for the most part. With that said, I hope they do something good with the new Hyperion though.

by **draco x** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:44 pm

ElijahSnowFan wrote:
You know what? That squarely falls on Bendis -- I honestly feel he ruined The Sentry. I'm not saying that where he took the Sentry was incorrect, because that was absolutely one of the outcomes that the character could have, but it wasn't even interesting.

I don't think it was ever an explanation of insanity, or anything particularly insightful. It was just a bad usage of a character that Marvel needed to be the powerful bad guy in an event.

I admit it: I'm probably one of the five people on this planet who thought The Sentry had potential. I just think, by the time Bendis was done with him, it was a mercy kill.

Agreed. However, Jenkins send-off one-shot put the final nail in the coffin of the Sentry with that dumb storyline that he bagged Rogue at some unknown point.

by **alaska1125** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:49 pm

Oh, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the original mini's enough that when they announced he'd be showing up in New Avengers, I was all over that. I thought it was a great Idea at the time, but you sum it up well in your last comment: mercy kill. He'd become such a one-note joke (i.e. he's either going to throw enemy into the sun or wind up cowering/sobbing like frightened child) that I just dreaded...and frankly, started avoiding the book. So yes...agreed that it's all on Bendis.

That said, I've read the first two issues of this Avengers run and am enjoying it a lot. That's all on Hickman. I thought his Fantastic Four/FF run was one for the ages and have some pretty high expectations that his Avengers/Uncanny Avengers will be as well. You hear that, Hickman??? No pressure! :-D

(Odd aside: I'm really enjoying Bendis on All New X-Men...go figure.)

by **habitual** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:20 pm

alaska1125 wrote:Oh, don't get me wrong. I enjoyed the original mini's enough that when they announced he'd be showing up in New Avengers, I was all over that. I thought it was a great Idea at the time, but you sum it up well in your last comment: mercy kill. He'd become such a one-note joke (i.e. he's either going to throw enemy into the sun or wind up cowering/sobbing like frightened child) that I just dreaded...and frankly, started avoiding the book. So yes...agreed that it's all on Bendis.

That said, I've read the first two issues of this Avengers run and am enjoying it a lot. That's all on Hickman. I thought his Fantastic Four/FF run was one for the ages and have some pretty high expectations that his Avengers/Uncanny Avengers will be as well. You hear that, Hickman??? No pressure!

(Odd aside: I'm really enjoying Bendis on All New X-Men...go figure.)

I loved his introduction in Bendis's Avengers, ripping Carnage in half and tossing him into space.

Hab

by **fieldy snuts** » Wed Jan 30, 2013 5:51 pm

This was a great take on Hyperion. Loved the 'there are two Hyperions' thing at the start but felt Hickman best it to the ground pretty fast. Funny how most Superman ripoff a seem more compelling than the actual thing...must be the freedom attached to it.

Can't remember though, did Hyperion ever have his version of kryptonite?

Also noticed that the plot point of New Avengers appeared here of someone colliding the earths in the mtiverse.