I Marvel...

[Solomon Zorn]

Just about 6 weeks till Doctor Strange comes out on Blu-Ray.

[Munch]

I.. have such a problem with dr strange. Not the character, comics or anything around him, I've always enjoyed characters like dr strange and dr fate, especially dr fate.
My problem is my inability to separate the actor from the character their playing, if I happen to dislike the actor in question. If I'm just impartial to them thats one thing, but if I genuinely don't like them, even earlier roles they've played before I found that disdain for them can be tainted.
benedict cumberbatch is one of those actors that just pissed me off in recent times, which is a shame because I loved his role as sherlock, but now I find it hard to watch him without getting annoyed at his face.

I know a movie is meant to suspend your disbelief, and get you invested in the world, but sometimes its not enough. I wanted to see dr strange when it was announced, but now, eh.

[Baruch]

Mr Cumberbatch plays himself, I don't know that his acting range is greater than that.  So I guess he is strange, even if he isn't a doctor ;-)

[Solomon Zorn]

I like him. Khan was superb. I haven't seen the one about the gay code-breaker, who committed suicide after being outed, but wasn't he nominated for an Oscar for that one?

[Baruch]

I like him. Khan was superb. I haven't seen the one about the gay code-breaker, who committed suicide after being outed, but wasn't he nominated for an Oscar for that one?

Yes, he was nominated for best actor in Imitation Game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5CjKEFb-sM

Not very historical ... except in parts ;-)

[Solomon Zorn]

Before we stray to far from the subject of Captain America, I wanted to say that I never thought too much of that character, when I was a kid. He wasn't as powerful as so many other heroes in the Marvel universe.

But that all changed when I saw Captain America: The First Avenger. I think that is one of the best superhero movies to date. In fact, all three Cap movies have been superb. They have made him into someone interesting, where I had only seen him as mediocre.

[Mike Cl]

Don't remember which comics put them out, but the REAL comic book heroes were The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, Red Ryder, and Hopalong Cassidy!

[Munch]

Before we stray to far from the subject of Captain America, I wanted to say that I never thought too much of that character, when I was a kid. He wasn't as powerful as so many other heroes in the Marvel universe.

But that all changed when I saw Captain America: The First Avenger. I think that is one of the best superhero movies to date. In fact, all three Cap movies have been superb. They have made him into someone interesting, where I had only seen him as mediocre.

I got into reading captain america comics for a time, found him sort of interesting back in the early 2000s, but never really put him on a shelf with my fav comic book heroes like wolverine, beast, midnighter, batman and hellboy. 
I was always happy when beast got his own comic book, since he wasn't a mainstream character, it made them pretty special.

[Hydra009]

Before we stray to far from the subject of Captain America, I wanted to say that I never thought too much of that character, when I was a kid. He wasn't as powerful as so many other heroes in the Marvel universe.

But that all changed when I saw Captain America: The First Avenger. I think that is one of the best superhero movies to date. In fact, all three Cap movies have been superb. They have made him into someone interesting, where I had only seen him as mediocre.

Yeah, I never really got into Captain America, partially because he seemed like some sort of nationalistic mascot (rah rah America) and partially because he seemed like a bland character - a lawful good paladin.  The kind of guy who covers his eyes during a lingerie commercial and gets deeply offended by casual swearing.

Also, the whole shield as a weapon thing kinda struck me as highly impractical.  *Cap throws shield at enemy, enemy bats shield away, Cap is now unarmed*  Though I suppose it would be unseemly for him to have a pistol or sword or something in the other hand.  Case in point, nationalistic heroes are a dumb idea.

That said, the movies kinda warmed me up to him.  I got a glimpse of a guy who's been through hell, who has been in a leadership role and had to make hard choices, who has his regrets, who has had his disagreements with the government, a guy who isn't Mr Perfect and still gets up in the morning and tries to do the right thing.  There's a lot more under the hood than my first impression.

Though given how high-tech a lot of supers have gotten, it's pretty bizarre to see a hero still employ ye olde fisticuffs successfully.  He'll be on a team with a guy who can throw tanks like they were rocks, a literal god, and a guy in power armor packed with more military hardware than most NATO members but watch out for Cap, he'll punch ya!  Collective team abilities:  expert hacker, weather control, energy projection, teleportation, time travel, and the ability to punch super hard.  :P

[Munch]

(Apologies for picture heavy post, helps with presentation)

Even though this is a more broader concept then just marvel, as the example I'm about to give isn't from marvel, it is still indicative of a problem I have with certain comic book artists or writers. This could just extend into other genres entirely, but sticking to comics for this.

When you have artists and writers in comics, who come up with ideas for characters, lets bear in mind that in the early days of comic book heroes, it all came from an era of very.. plain looking designs. neat cut hairstyles, straight backed and uniform designs, examples like superman, cyclops, marvel girl, captain marvel, the kind of characters with hair and features indicative of those times.



Over the decades, new characters come about, and even ones from earlier days of comics still around today go though some changes that keep them fresh in the public eye.



I suppose what I'm getting at though, is how often when I see early comic book designs, theres things about them that don't honestly transfer over to today I would think works outside of that more campy era of comics. Best case in point, Aquaman.



Its been regarded often how aquaman is the biggest joke of a superhero to ever be invented. A guy in orange scaled spandex with poofy hair that rides around on a seahorse and talks to fish. the design and concept just comes off as much a joke as characters like kiteman, whos powers are.. flying around on a kite.



But then, often when an early hero design is taken into a modern setting, it gets revamped, such as in the 80s when superman was given long hair, or the 90s when the x-men were all multicolored and groovy.

So back to Aquaman, that early design of him was pretty bland, and with silly powers, so later editions of him were given what I consider a far better design overhaul.


very '90s' look, but they look an altogether bland looking character and breathed some life into him with this, so much so, it crossed over into what I still consider the best animated version of him to date.

I mean, you couldn't get him more removed from that early campy design that was originally thought up, I liked him so much in this series i got the jlu action figure of him. Infact, it seems like THIS is the design they wanted to go for him in the up coming justice league movie, which honestly will probably suck, but props for choose someone like jason momoa as the guy to play him.



Whatever I take away from justice league, I'll at least be able to say they thought about what to do right with aquamans design and actor to play him, because it feels like this could be the same hardass aquaman from the 90 and JLU.

That said.. and this is what gets me, its very obvious from a design stand point, this is how you update a character as silly as aquaman, to make him intimidating, this aquaman isn't some seahorse riding poofy haired 1960s underwear catalog model, this is how aquaman SHOULD look.

So why then, in the comics, do they insists on keep returning to that silly, campy design for him?



This was never a likable design, its one of the aspects that people found him being a ridiculous character over, so if its just to pay homage and nostalgia to his original design, it just seems to forgo the fact he was revamped because of how silly that character was. and even if they try to write this aquaman as badass, all I'll think of it is..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vt11vDjPD0

I know its not marvel related to talk at length about aquaman, but I like to think it extends to examples of when revamping original designs that just don't work, against early designs that can kind of work, like sat captain america or hulk.

[Hydra009]

Its been regarded often how aquaman is the biggest joke of a superhero to ever be invented. A guy in orange scaled spandex with poofy hair that rides around on a seahorse and talks to fish. the design and concept just comes off as much a joke as characters like kiteman, whos powers are.. flying around on a kite.

Aquaman is pretty awesome, just not in the typical crime-fighting role.  He can telepathically communicate with sea life - he could deliver a vast wealth of scientific knowledge to marine biologists and oceanographers.  He could fight oil spills, track red tide, shoo dangerous animals away from populated beaches, etc.  He could even help fight global warming by "farming" vast algae mats.  His underwater kingdom could take in war-fleeing refugees and grant asylum to whistleblowers like Snowden (sorry Feds, no extradition treaties here).  And from what I've heard, post-52 Aquaman had the ability control the ocean itself.  That'd be one hell of a useful trait the next time an undersea earthquake triggers a tsunami or when a category 5 hurricane is going to hit the Caribbean/US.

Lots of supers are like that - they have what I call utility powers, powers that have such massive usefulness in non-combat situations that combat is quite frankly a waste of their talents and time.  Storm, for example, could alleviate droughts and flooding.  Reed Richards and Hank Pym could make all kinds of scientific breakthroughs.

But comics writers want their Earth to closely resemble our Earth (in most ways) - so Reed Richards is useless.

[Mike Cl]

Where is the love for Plastic Man?????!

[Solomon Zorn]

Aquaman is a ripoff of Marvel's Namor: The Sub-Mariner.





First appeared in print, in Marvel Comics #1, October 1939.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namor
"The mutant son of a human sea captain and a princess of the mythical undersea kingdom of Atlantis, Namor possesses the super-strength and aquatic abilities of the Homo mermanus race, as well as the mutant ability of flight, along with other superhuman powers. Through the years, he has been alternately portrayed as a good-natured but short-fused superhero, or a hostile invader seeking vengeance for perceived wrongs that misguided surface-dwellers committed against his kingdom. The first known comic book antihero, the Sub-Mariner has remained a historically important and relatively popular Marvel character. He has served directly with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Invaders, the Defenders, the X-Men, and the Illuminati as well as serving as a foil to them on occasion."

Aquaman first appeared more than a year later. I love the bad-ass look, that the movies are giving Aquaman. But the character, that they seem to be portraying on screen, feels much more like Namor than Aquaman.

[Baruch]

Neptune and the nereids strike back!

[Hydra009]

I liked Namor in the Illuminati (it's not what you think, it's actually a small group of superhumans manipulating major events from behind the scenes.  Okay, so it's exactly what you think.  But they have nothing to do with popular tv shows or music.  Except Beyonce)

Namor kinda had this arrogant asshole alpha male vibe to him, but he mostly makes the right call in the end.  Mostly.  He's very astute and clever and pulls off some surprise wins.  He also seems to be willing to do what he has to be done but sometimes, he also shows restraint - unwilling to cross some moral lines if there are better options.

He's a pretty complex guy.



[insert joke about the FF movie flops]



Heh, imperius sex.