Marvel Comics blabbery

The original Secret Wars was exactly what company-wide events should be: the crossover part of the plot was limited to one maxi-series, and only the after-effects were shown in individual titles, so you didn't have to read any of the tie-in issues to get what's going on. It's sad that Marvel seems to have forgotten this, the crossovers of the 00s and 10s have become increasingly incoherent messes, with different writers adding their own bits that often don't jibe with each other. Seems like the new SW will be like this too.

But I guess back in the 80s they had to consider the fact that most of their readers were kids who couldn't afford to buy every tie-in issue, not middle-aged geezers who can.

CBR is an appallingly written website. I have a bizarre compulsion to read their 'Comics Legends Explained' series every saturday morning, but I come for the trivia, not the prose, which is eye-wateringly clumsy and amateur.

Not all of their writers are bad, though... Personally I like Greg Burgas, who currently has a nice article series running where he analyzes the stylish developments of various comic book artists. It's true that Brian Cronin, the guy who writes (among others) the Comic Book Legends series, has a weirdly amateurish writing style, even though he's done it for years and has even published a book on the those comic book legends.

was that book self-published? it's a good feature/book idea, but so badly written.

Nope, it appears to have been published by a subsidiary of Penguin. And judging by that first Amazon review, it suffers from the same problems as his columns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00LIsgWrKPs

that's a pretty good stan lee voice

The original Secret Wars was exactly what company-wide events should be

a legal dodge to safeguard against potential lawsuits from creators that the company screwed over? sounds about right

??

I thought it was to sell toys.

dying at K&P sketch

I thought it was to sell toys.

persistent rumor that makes a lot of sense (c+p'd from another forum): The reason for the Secret Wars was back in 1982/83, Jack Kirby was in a lawsuit against Marvel over the rights of the characters he created and to get his original art back. The rumor is that Jim Shooter wrote Secret Wars in order to subtly change some of the characters in case Marvel lost (Spidey in the Black suit, She-Hulk joining FF, various characters in costume/personality changes etc). Marvel were afraid that if Jack won, then other artists (ie-Steve Ditko), would file their own suit. Hence, the mass-scale change. After Kirby and Marvel settled the characters that were changed reverted back to their original conception.

I have no evidence to support this apart from the timeline lining up and my enduring confidence in the bottomless pit of Marvel's cynicism

Kirby was not involved in a lawsuit with Marvel.

I couldn't remember if he was just threatening or it was a dispute or a lawsuit had been filed or not but I had faith that you would correct me

Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man is now known as Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man Web Warriors

wtf

It's a comic for kids, as in actual kids five years old or something. It looks like this:

http://subscriptions.marvel.com/images/PRODUCT/FUL/3891_ful.jpg

It's got nothing to do with the Marvel Universe or the Ultimate Universe. It's just for little kids, so it's got a fun name.

Oh wait, it's the name of a cartoon for kids. So this is the comic of the cartoon.

Marvel's Ultimate Spider Man Web Warriors: The Comic of The Cartoon

Exactly.

tbf almost every Marvel/DC animated show has had a counterpart book in the style of the show

i see ultimate spiderman, classic spiderman, brock venom, SpiderMan2099, Scarlet Spider and Spider Girl... who are the other two?

The one on the right edge I think is Spider-Man Noir. Red/Yellow Iron Spidey was from Civil War-era. The two on the left I'm not sure about.

lol "Spider Man Noir"; that sounds right.
I'm pretty sure red/yellow spidey is the scarlet spider
Bottom left is nu-hero Venom. It's the one above that I can't place.

Ha, the Iron Spider is an alternate universe Amadeus Cho! Nice!

Spider-Ham makes an appearance. I might actually watch this show

I think most of these and more will be in EDGE OF SPIDERVERSE

I thought you were joking but that's a real event!

I know, right? Those pesky spider-killers are jumping across universes and only a team of spider-people can stop them!

Marvel's Ultimate Spider Man Web Warriors The Comic of The Cartoon presents EDGE OF THE SPIDERVERSE: And One Must Fall!

They haven't quite been there yet, forks

excelsior

The red/yellow Spider-Man is indeed from Civil War era: there were three clones (or something) that wore that costume, though AFAIK they weren't related to Scarlet Spider or the original Clone Saga. IIRC Spider-Man himself might've worn the red/yellow thing at some point too.

Ah, apparently the CW era red/yellow spidermen were also called "Scarlet Spiders", even though they had nothing to do with the Clone Saga Scarlet Spider. How confusing.

I believe they just violently killed Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends in a recent issue (no, really)

on an unrelated note i'm super into X-Statix right now, or at least I have been for a dozen issues or so--it's funny, ~90s edgy~ (they spend a third of their time in-fighting about marketing deals & manufacturing drama for ratings on their televised superheroics, the writers must have watched Natural Born Killers a bunch or something), surprising. none of the characters are likeable, but i'm most of the way through all 38 issues, so i'm sort of looking forward to the end.

The Milligan/Allred run on X-Force/X-Statix isn't really typical of the 90s though, their take on superheroes as cynical celebrities was pretty unique. (The only precedent I can think of is Verheiden's "The American".) I hated the way it ended though, even if it made some thematical sense, given the way theit X-Force started.

The Milligan/Allred run on X-Force/X-Statix isn't really typical of the 90s though, their take on superheroes as cynical celebrities was pretty unique

right, i've gathered as much--picked it up after gillen/mckelvie's young avengers run, read an interview where they cited it as a big influence.

the writers must have watched Natural Born Killers a bunch or something

hoos I always find it curious that someone as political in life as you can be so enthusiastically into as virulently anti-labor a company as Marvel! but there's one writer of X-Statix and it's Peter Milligan

PS it's from the '00s, not the '90s, and feels distinctly an artifact of that time to me. Also if you didn't read Milligan & Allred's 12-issue run on X-Force that set up -Statix, pause the latter and go back immediately!

^^^ yes, do that

it's from the '00s, not the '90s,

yeah i saw that just now looking at the wiki and was surprised, to me it feels very "gen x cynical" (whatever that means idk) but i suppose all the reality tv reference points probably mark it more clearly as an early 00s thing

hoos I always find it curious that someone as political in life as you can be so enthusiastically into as virulently anti-labor a company as Marvel!

i only really know what i hear alluded to around here and what i read in that mammoth jack kirby thread! i suppose i should grab the sean howe book or something

They don't pay royalties or foreign publication fees.

Charles Soule's She-Hulk to be cancelled after #12. If rebooting and renumbering a title after every creative team change is the way forward, I just want to go on the record as really really hating it.

No worries, they'll also be renumbered for roughly six months whenever the number of cumulative issues from all seventeen volumes of a given title hits a notable benchmark ending in '00'.

I wish the writing in the Soule issues was anywhere as good as the art.

I wish the plot idea was anywhere as good as... I don't know, 1/2 of all Marvel comics plots of the last decade

I can't tell if it's Soule's style that leaves me cold (for any of his books) or if he's just, you know, not very good.

I think he's a bit shit tbh.

Charles Soule's She-Hulk to be cancelled after #12. If rebooting and renumbering a title after every creative team change is the way forward, I just want to go on the record as really really hating it.

Though I think this one is less reboot and renumber than "miserable failure" sales-wise. Last issue sold 1/5 the copies of the current Hulk title for me, which is already one of the weaker big-name titles.

i always liked what i'd read of soule's she-hulk, felt very fraction's hawkeye to me, which was a good thing in my (uh) book.