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Post by paulpogue on Dec 19, 2008 22:07:02 GMT -8
Also of note, having recently re-read Ellis's T-Bolts run these last couple of days: Norman Osborn's secret weapon is Robbie Baldwin. In Caged Angels, there is a MAJOR scene where Moonstone is doing a major league hard sell to Norman, convincing him that she can turn Robbie Baldwin, formerly Speedball and now Penance into a Hulk-level powered enforcer for Norman's various schemes. And in the last couple of issues of T-Bolts, Moonstone seems to be carrying out said scheme, as far as drugging Robbie and taking him to a maximum security mental institution, which given who's Moonstone's teacher is (Dr. Faustus, the dude Red Skull used to brainwash half of SHIELD and made Sharon Carter kill Cap), things don't look too well for Robbie. Which in turn is why Doom is made to back down when Norman showed his ace in the hole, seeing as not only did Speedball FUCKING OWN Doom's ass in the Penance mini-series, but pretty much did so in Doom's own house. Much in the same way seeing Squirrel Girl makes Doom shit his pants, he probably now has a similar aversion to Penance. (Loki of course wouldn't be afraid, but Loki generally seems to be going along with Norman's plan out of boredom if anything so Robbie is a non-factor. And Emma scanning Robbie and seeing that he's now a brainwashed human suicider for Norman might keep her and the Hood at bay.) I would totally disagree with you except for one thing -- the Jenkins Penance miniseries does indeed show Robbie completely pwning the fuck out of Doom. I don't think it made a lot of sense, it's totally out of character for Doom, but it established without a sliver of doubt that as far as Marvel Editorial is concerned, Speedball trumps Doom like rock over scissors. And Namor would be likewise a bit worried, knowing as he does the extent of Robbie's power. I don't think Emma is actually that concerned about Robbie, but a lot of that has to do with the fact Emma's playing her own game here right now. And she's one of the few mind-game players out there who can slap Karla Sofen all over the room when it comes to messing with people's insecurities -- and unlike Karla, she's also capable of using that power for good. And, y'know, telepathy and all that. I still remain convinced that every time one of the Evilinati turned to Emma for telepathic "verification" of something they were saying, she just told them whatever they wanted to hear. |
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Post by K-Box on Dec 19, 2008 23:18:20 GMT -8
P.S.: We are told, time and again, that NOTHING changed except Peter and MJ never got married. Which means the baby thing happened. Let us, for the moment, put aside the question of Norman and Alison Mongraine and Baby-May-that-we-all-know-is-still-out-there-somewhere. Rather, let's consider the story element that we have been UNQUESTIONABLY TOLD still happened and is still remembered: Mary Jane got pregnant with Peter's baby. In a tragic moment in the midst of the clone saga, she lost the baby. Neither she nor Peter talk very much about her, but they both know it happened. Except that you're absolutely, totally, 100-percent wrong for expecting ANY internal consistency from Marvel on this, because as soon as someone challenged Quesada on the "nothing changed" front, by mentioning MJ's pregnancy, Quesada unequivocally stated, flat-out, that Mary Jane was NEVER pregnant, "but, oh, yeah, EVERYTHING ELSE was still the same!" Honestly, his answer read like nothing so much as a man who honestly never even expected the question to be THOUGHT UP, much less ASKED. |
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Post by K-Box on Dec 19, 2008 23:28:35 GMT -8
I don't know; maybe I'm too optimistic and just can't grasp that a bunch of writers who actively HATE the concept of heroism are running the show right now. Yes, you are, and you seriously need to stop it, right now, because your overly optimistic opinions of them are precisely part of what allows them to do as much damage as they are. They have already deemed Tony Stark's actions in Civil War, and here I quote, "completely altruistic," and they have said that Norman Osborn will be MORE effective than Tony, BECAUSE he's a bigger bastard, and when they described Norman getting the opportunity to run the show, they actually said, " Anyone could relate to how Norman must have felt at that moment." Yes, that's right; Norman Osborn, mass-murderer and molester of girls young enough to be his daughter, is SOMEONE THAT YOU CAN RELATE TO, according to Marvel, which puts Quesada's forced retention of "Sins Past" in the rebooted continuity in a whole new light. Until you admit to what you already know is true, I say that YOU are part of what is ruining comics. |
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Post by Anders on Dec 20, 2008 0:45:13 GMT -8
Brand New Day/One More Day is a "work," possibly the most elaborate such scheme in the history of comics: 25 percent. Still not the likeliest possibility, but still well within the realm of plausibility. God help me, but I've thought the same thing when I've felt hopeful. If it's true, it will be meta-fiction on a level never seen before in comics. But I'm still inclined to think that it's probably just incompetence. And I don't really care anyway. I'm getting plenty of good comics without Spiderman. |
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Post by jensaltmann on Dec 20, 2008 0:47:45 GMT -8
And as for the Mr. Negative storyline line, given that said issue was written by Dan Slott, you honestly don't think he wrote/conceived of that line as a doube-shot of "Fuck you" to the fans of Spider-Man who LIKED the Baby May plotline/Spider-Girl? Correct. As someone who doesn't share your irrational hatred of Slott, I honestly don't think that this is intended as an intentional fuck-you to Spider-Girl fans. I do believe, however, that canceling Spider-Girl has a lot to do with Marvel trying to wipe the Clone Saga (and baby May) from the readers' memories. |
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Post by jensaltmann on Dec 20, 2008 0:51:57 GMT -8
But I'm still inclined to think that it's probably just incompetence. And I don't really care anyway. I'm getting plenty of good comics without Spiderman. I agree regarding the incompetence. And I also couldn't care less. When Spider-Girl is gone, I'm out of comics. Except for the occasional Marvel Essential, DC Showcase, and the Titan Books reprints of those old James Bond and Modesty Blaise strips. |
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Post by Mario Di Giacomo on Dec 20, 2008 5:30:10 GMT -8
And I also couldn't care less. When Spider-Girl is gone, I'm out of comics. Except for the occasional Marvel Essential, DC Showcase, and the Titan Books reprints of those old James Bond and Modesty Blaise strips. I am done with Big Two comics (except for collections of stories I already own, like All-Star Supes and maybe FC). But there are still a handful of indies I support. |
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Post by jensaltmann on Dec 20, 2008 15:36:55 GMT -8
No, the whole thing has priced itself out of what I consider worth it. When Spider-Girl is gone, I'll just let the Superhuman Resources mini run through (which is excellent, you should all get it), and cancel my True Story subscription in order to switch to TPBs.
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Post by michaelpaciocco on Jan 24, 2009 8:15:41 GMT -8
Christ,
Hal Jordan becomes a "White Lantern" - going to have to increase the odds to 90% at this point.
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Post by jessebaker on Jan 24, 2009 21:58:08 GMT -8
I still think Sinestro will be the White Lantern. Mongul's the new head cheese of the Sinestro Corps and with them going the redemption route with him, I see him becoming the White Lantern of redemption during "The Blackest Night".
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Post by michaelpaciocco on Jan 25, 2009 7:16:28 GMT -8
Actually Jesse, I agree with you, but I think it's a case of BOTH and not just either or.
Also:
Black Lantern Katma Tui - 50%
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Post by paulpogue on Jan 25, 2009 7:49:05 GMT -8
I'd almost put Katma at 90 or above; Katma's been referenced lately, and I forget exactly where, but John Stewart recently had some kind of vision where he'd see his wife again soon. And future visions are, of course, notoriously fuzzy on the unpleasant details.
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Post by michaelpaciocco on Jan 25, 2009 8:08:32 GMT -8
OK, a few additional add-ons and updates:
DC:
Well, we already know the idenities of two black Lanterns due to DC Toy Solicits, and they're...well, really, shouldn't be surprises, yet they are a tad unexpected;
Martian Manhunter
Earth-2 Superman (Kal-L)
So...who else could we add to the BL pool?
Terra (pick one! Any one!) - 50%. What, you're gonna need some kind of Titan-tie-in.
Conner Kent - 10% See below.
Pa Kent - 50%. Still damn likely.
Thomas and Martha Wayne - 50%. Can't use Jason Todd or Spoiler anymore, and you need some way to twist the knife into Bruce. Unless you want...
Jean Paul Valley - 10%. And even then, it only works *IF* he's in Azbats armor.
Old Dead JSA members (Original Mr. Terrific, Dr. Mid-Nite, Ted Knight Starman, etc etc) - 80%. Gonna need a JSA tie in too.
OK, I'm gonna skip FC, because, really? I kinda like the story, but there's nothing there to really predict at this point. The same way I'm in no way concerned about the "Battle for the Cowl" because we know...hey, whenever the next Batman movie comes out, it will be goddamn Bruce Wayne, and not even Didio would be able to stop that.
OK, "New Krypton" Stuff.
Kryptonian Nightwing is....
Conner Kent - 90%. Seriously, if it's anyone else, Johns is jerking the fans around and being subtle, two things Johns is not known for. As to the "how and why" of it, I'll wait and see.
Kon-El - 5% the original Clone from Kryptonian history that the El Family "adopted" and whose name Clark gave to Superboy? Remotely possible.
Other - 5%.
Kryptonian Flamebird is...
Matrix Supergirl - 80%. Remember that Matrix was originally patterned after Lana Lang....and had some very different powers from Kryptonians.
Linda Danvers Supergirl - 10%. Yeah, I doubt Johns would give PAD props , but it's not outside of the realm of probability.
Superwoman is:
Thara - 50%. Seems the obvious suspect, doesn't she?
Alura (Kara's mom) - 30%. OK, we know that *something* happened to her when Kara was "cured" of her Green-K poisoning early in the "New Krypton" arc. And a Schizoid break is not impossible.
Other -20%
New Krypton:
-All Dead - 80%. Sorry, but it's going to happen. My suspicion?
-New Krypton dies in "Blackest night" - 50%. Because it would be a good tie-in, wouldn't it? Couple that with Earth-2 Superman and probably Pa Kent Black Lanterns, and you'd have a lot of storytelling to go with there on the duality of Earth/Krypton for Superman's identity, which is really the whole point of "New Krypton".
Marvel:
The only comics that will be even remotely readable will be "Marvel Adventures" books, "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Nova" and "Incredible Hercules"
-100%.
Ultimate Universe is done - 80%. The USM "final issue" would seem to be definitive. Actually, can someone do the math? If this is the last issue, does that mean that "Spider-Girl" actually was published for longer in terms of # of issues? I mean, we know that it was definitely published for longer in terms of time, because USM's issue count was padded by a few extra issues when they were doing "every three weeks" or something or other. Just a thought.
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Post by paulpogue on Jan 25, 2009 18:49:40 GMT -8
As for Black Lantern JSA tie-ins, I'll lay 50 percent odds on Mr. Terrific's late wife making an appearance.
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Post by jessebaker on Jan 25, 2009 20:52:46 GMT -8
Given that the current Terra is the pet project of Amanda Connors (who has gone out of her way to basically be given free reign over the characters and their convoluted history, as seen by the fact that Terra II's original "genetically altered actress" origin is back in canon), I doubt we'll be seeing Terra I or II.
That said, I do hope that we SOME sort of twist in the Zombie Lantern set-up (IE a twist where the Black Lanterns are simply resurrected and don't turn evil and the big twist being that they have to wear their rings at all time lest they die again/bodies turn to dust) and that the the zombie lantern thing is just a cover for the real story of "The Blackest Night" as far as the seven-sided Lantern Corp War.
As for New Krypton, it's been suggested online that Geoff and Robinson might be tying them into the restored OG Legion via spreading them across the cosmos, their powers altered, to found the core planets of the United Nations, ala the TMK post-crisis orign for Mon-El/Valor.
As for Jean Paul Valley, he's not coming back PERIOD, unless Chuck Dixon is writing him. Fabian N has been quite open, after it got leaked that he's creating a NEW Azreal for "Battle For the Cowl", that JPV is pretty much Chuck Dixon's baby and no one but Dixon can use him or write him. So I don't think Geoff will get to make him a Black Lantern, unless DC REALLY wants to piss Dixon off and burn that bridge beyond all repair.
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