At 4/28/10 11:28 PM, Aigis wrote: That just makes it feel quite self-indulgent.

Considering Spider is an author avatar.

Yeah, I felt that, but since I tend to personally like what the author has to say about stuff, it works for me. I guess it probably depends on how much you like the Ellis viewpoint and how juandiced you are to shit...and me? Pretty jaundiced, lol.

At 4/29/10 01:24 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 4/28/10 11:28 PM, Aigis wrote: That just makes it feel quite self-indulgent.

Considering Spider is an author avatar.

Yeah, I felt that, but since I tend to personally like what the author has to say about stuff, it works for me. I guess it probably depends on how much you like the Ellis viewpoint and how juandiced you are to shit...and me? Pretty jaundiced, lol.

That is an interesting arguement. Because Ellis is of course only human and the character of Spider is himself deeply self indulgent. Of course the real problem, if we're talking about him as an avatar, is who but a writer would right the writer avatar? I know that sounds circular but if the avatar, like others, is going to be written about it's going to be a writer who does it.
And if one wanted to nitpick you could say that beyond just being a writer Spider is a journalist. Historically there have been instances of heroic journalists, Woodward and Burnstien being the more recognizable names that come to mind.

At 4/29/10 05:58 PM, stafffighter wrote: That is an interesting arguement. Because Ellis is of course only human and the character of Spider is himself deeply self indulgent. Of course the real problem, if we're talking about him as an avatar, is who but a writer would right the writer avatar? I know that sounds circular but if the avatar, like others, is going to be written about it's going to be a writer who does it.

You seem to be going for the record for the most repetition of variants of the word 'write' and 'avatar' in a single paragraph.

Author avatars aren't necessarily a bad thing. I just tend to have a problem when a writer casts himself or herself as, essentially, the greatest person in the world. That kind of self-indulgence has a tendency to distort my view of the rest of the series.

I have this same problem with Grant Morrison's Invisibles series.

At 4/29/10 10:59 PM, Aigis wrote: I have this same problem with Grant Morrison's Invisibles series.

I have not read that one, been on the list to at least try. Have you read his Animal Man? Definitely a case of the author not casting himself as the greatest guy in the world, but definitely one where his views are juxtaposed onto the character. Which I don't have too much of a problem with because in the end, all any writing (creative or essay format) is really is an author trying to communicate through their writing a point of view and a (hopefully) good story to go along with it.

Like I say, I think because I've been exposed to Ellis just being Ellis in viewpoint before and found myself agreeing with a lot of it and respecting the plea of an artist who just wants to do his art in his chosen medium but recognizes the need to sometimes compromise for the sake of commerce.

At 4/30/10 02:43 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: Have you read his Animal Man? Definitely a case of the author not casting himself as the greatest guy in the world, but definitely one where his views are juxtaposed onto the character. Which I don't have too much of a problem with because in the end, all any writing (creative or essay format) is really is an author trying to communicate through their writing a point of view and a (hopefully) good story to go along with it.

I really enjoyed Grant Morrison's run of Animal Man.

I especially liked the part where he himself turned up in the comic and critiqued his own work. I believe he pointed out how preachy his writing was becoming.

At 4/30/10 04:13 AM, Aigis wrote: I especially liked the part where he himself turned up in the comic and critiqued his own work. I believe he pointed out how preachy his writing was becoming.

Yeah, it was definitely very interesting stuff. He wrecked the poor guy's life and then put himself in to answer for it.

At 5/1/10 12:33 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: Yeah, it was definitely very interesting stuff. He wrecked the poor guy's life and then put himself in to answer for it.

It really messed with your perception of the comic.

It's weird trying to visualise a conversation between a writer and a character. The character will say something, but then the writer will note that he's the one who wrote the script for what the character was going to say.

In fact, he's not even in the comic book. That conversation can't happen because he's just in his apartment writing a comic book script. He's not telling the character anything. The character is just a comic book character.

It's a real mind screw.

I just got into comics again, I was into them for a bit when I was younger... But I started reading The Avengers and stuff the other day at the library, then yesterday was Free Comic Book Day, I got about six or seven, not very awesome comics, but decent previews for bigger comics to come.

My dad has a huge collection of old super-hero comic books, I'm planning on reading every one of them. I'm starting with 'The Amazing Spider-Man' it's a 127 page comic, big red book. I can't even find the price for it on the internet, he has so many old ones that are probably worth a shit load of money now...

I'm lovin' it, I've been missing out on comics for a long time. Glad my buddy got me into them again, this shit's sweet as fuck!

Yeah, now is probably the best time in comics in terms of overall quality and with companies fully embracing trade and reprint programs, the best of the past is back in print as well.

At 5/3/10 01:51 PM, aviewaskewed wrote: Yeah, now is probably the best time in comics in terms of overall quality and with companies fully embracing trade and reprint programs, the best of the past is back in print as well.

I'm goin through all his old Spider-Man's that's all he has really. But they're all fucking awesome. I remember reading them when I was younger but they're so much better now, lol.

I'm looking forward to the Thor movie coming out,

first pic released.
http://www.superherohype.com/news/thorne ws.php?id=9345

Yeah. I'm not seeing much new stuff that inspires me either. This is a period of exploring collections from the past and wondering if I should pick up individual fables issues or wait for them to get collected.

Related to lack of good stuff, can people please stop writing the "Piece of shit runs away from the Punisher while remembering how their life became shit" story? I seen a few of these now and none of them have had the artistic merit or poetic wordplay to raise them beyond the template.
The latest one, butterfly, is just horrendous. In the story a hitwoman decided to write a book about her life and, they play this completly straight, didn't realize her employers would object.

At 5/3/10 07:11 PM, stafffighter wrote: Yeah. I'm not seeing much new stuff that inspires me either. This is a period of exploring collections from the past and wondering if I should pick up individual fables issues or wait for them to get collected.

I've gotten to the point where because the book is Vertigo's franchise it won't get cancelled if I don't buy monthly so I'm content to wait for the trade.

Related to lack of good stuff, can people please stop writing the "Piece of shit runs away from the Punisher while remembering how their life became shit" story? I seen a few of these now and none of them have had the artistic merit or poetic wordplay to raise them beyond the template.

Only if they stop writing Daredevil stories as "Matt Murdock does something incredibly stupid, Matt Murdock defends the incredibly stupid decision and alienates everyone, Matt Murdock realizes decision is stupid, learns a lesson and vows to do better" until next time.

There are no new ideas for spandex stories it seems.

At 5/3/10 06:39 PM, EpicFail wrote: I'm looking forward to the Thor movie coming out,

first pic released.
http://www.superherohype.com/news/thorne ws.php?id=9345

I cannot believe Thor isn't being played by Alexander Skarsgard.

He is perfect for the role.

At 5/3/10 06:39 PM, EpicFail wrote: first pic released.
http://www.superherohype.com/news/thorne ws.php?id=9345

The costume looks rather plastic. They should have gotten an actual metalsmith to work on the costume. A more metal and gritty costume would ahve worked better. I understand staying true to source material is needed but... so similar it looks cartoony doesn't really work when ya have an actual actor in the thing =/

At 5/4/10 04:25 AM, Aigis wrote: I cannot believe Thor isn't being played by Alexander Skarsgard.

He is perfect for the role.

Now that you mention it, yeah it makes total sense, especially since he's got the experience playing an ancient viking character with True Blood. But I like the pictures I've seen so far, and they really have a heavyweight directing and some heavyweights on support. This should be fun

You know who a great comic book character is? Wimpy from Popeye. How can you not like a guy who just asks people for money so he can eat hamburgers? That's just awesome.

I'm working on an actual review of Iron Man 2 for the site. but at the moment....

SPOILERSPOILERSPOILERSPOILERS
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They didn't even try to make her Russian! I mean no one expected Scarlett Johanson to do a good Russian accent but we were expecting to enjoy seeing her fail.

At 5/4/10 04:25 AM, Aigis wrote:
He is perfect for the role.

Oh hell yeah, I'm sure he's gonna do a great job. Can't wait.

The Iron man 2 review is up and I hope it will delight and thrill.

On Stafff's spoiler: I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I think you care way too much about this stuff. Especially when 99% of the time they forget to write her with any kind of accent in the comic books as well.

At 5/8/10 11:45 PM, stafffighter wrote: The Iron man 2 review is up and I hope it will delight and thrill.

I read and enjoyed. I haven't got a chance to see the movie yet but I will.

At 5/9/10 12:28 AM, SevenSeize wrote: I read and enjoyed. I haven't got a chance to see the movie yet but I will.

I'm hoping by Tuesday or Wednesday to get out there and check it out. At the risk of getting my geek card pulled I actually forgot it opened Friday (it's been a challenging week personally). Everything I've read about it so far suggests it's great stuff, and even better then the original (which was easily the best Marvel movie ever made, and for me the best comic film done until Dark Knight came out a month or so later).

At 5/9/10 01:38 AM, aviewaskewed wrote: Everything I've read about it so far suggests it's great stuff, and even better then the original

I'm not a big Iron Man fan. I've never read an Iron Man comic before. So I've got no opinion on how well it adapts the comics.

I thought the movie was average-to-good overall.

Robert Downey Jr. was great. Sam Rockwell was great. Mickey Rourke was fine. Gary Shandling was really strange to see in the movie. Aside from Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson (his performance seemed so lazy), the acting was good overall.

The movie was very funny. Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Rockwell being the standouts.

The story just didn't come together very well. The action scenes weren't very interesting or exciting. The villain (Mickey Rourke) wasn't developed enough. I just wasn't greatly involved in it.

I didn't regret seeing it, but I wasn't amazed. 3 stars (out of 5).

(which was easily the best Marvel movie ever made, and for me the best comic film done until Dark Knight came out a month or so later).

I thought X-men 2 was the best Marvel movie.

Iron Man 2 wasn't as good as the other Marvel movie recently released (Kick Ass) either.

My complaint with Black Widow was that with what they took from her they could have just dropped a random shield agent in there. There was nothing about the role that had to be Black Widow.

At 5/9/10 05:15 PM, stafffighter wrote: My complaint with Black Widow was that with what they took from her they could have just dropped a random shield agent in there. There was nothing about the role that had to be Black Widow.

Well that I can see over the accent thing anyway.

I'm hoping to see the movie for myself tuesday or wednesday and I'm sure to have opinions no matter what after.

At 5/10/10 01:03 AM, aviewaskewed wrote:

At 5/9/10 05:15 PM, stafffighter wrote: My complaint with Black Widow was that with what they took from her they could have just dropped a random shield agent in there. There was nothing about the role that had to be Black Widow.

Well that I can see over the accent thing anyway.

I'm hoping to see the movie for myself tuesday or wednesday and I'm sure to have opinions no matter what after.

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Ok, I'm going to go deep into my own brand of pychobabble authorish just barely realizes these people aren't real geekism. The role was not a large one. It didn't have to be, we already had a focus. But the inclusion does further immerse us into the idea that we are in the Marvel Universe. That being said, if you're going to use a character, use the damn character.
When I saw her in the ads speaking like an American I figured she could be in an American cover identity. In the world of spies I could buy that completely. But then when Nick Fury shows up and not only announces who she works for but introduces her by her real name she keeps talking like an American. In one scene she kicks a bunch of security guards asses. Again, spy 101. And that's what you ended up seeing, a spy, not the established character of Black Widow, who is Russian.

But that was not enough to spoil the flick for me. I could not reccomend it more highly.

Can i join?

I love preacher, Leauge of extraordinary gentlemen, iron man, hulk etc. etc.

At 5/11/10 02:19 PM, Biodegrade wrote: Can i join?

I love preacher, Leauge of extraordinary gentlemen, iron man, hulk etc. etc.

Welcome aboard.

Also would like to make new people aware of our forums and site at www.theendlesscrew.com. It's a bit more of a general discussion thing that I'm trying to rebuild so if anybody wants to hang out or do a little contributing or whatever let me know. I'd like to get the community more active again.

At 5/11/10 05:14 PM, aviewaskewed wrote:
Also would like to make new people aware of our forums and site at www.theendlesscrew.com. It's a bit more of a general discussion thing that I'm trying to rebuild so if anybody wants to hang out or do a little contributing or whatever let me know. I'd like to get the community more active again.

I'll sign up there. I just finished a few Spider-Man comics, and I found a few old Horror comics I had. They're downstairs, I'm moving my bedroom and shit down there today and I was cleaning it out and found a few of them. Can't wait to read them later on.

Vault Of Horror Comics.

Wow, Vault of Horror? That's pretty wild to think you just stumbled onto some vintage EC like that. Good find!