red snow

34 minutes ago, Maltaran said:

It’s on Sky Atlantic, but no idea why the delay

It's like they are testing how many people choose to pirate it/watch via VPN.

Doesn't seem to be any logic behind which shows are released on the same day vs those released weeks/months later. HBO shows cover all those options.

1 minute ago, The Grey Wolf said:

Yeah. I honestly prefer watching complete shows. (Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Devilman Crybaby, etc.)

I agree - it's why I wound up having to rewatch AOT thanks to the huge gaps between seasons

1 minute ago, The Grey Wolf said:

@red snow

Thanks. I'll bump it up my watch list.

@Red Tiger

Three episode rule it is then.

No problem. As others have mentioned I think the show finishes at the end of the month so you may as well time it so you can finish the whole thing.

On 3/12/2021 at 10:55 PM, The Grey Wolf said:

@red snow

Do you recommend I get back into AoT? I stopped at the end of S2.

I thought season 3 was a lot stronger than season 2. There's two distinct arcs - one is centred around a coup d'etat and has some cool variations on ODM gear and a fair amount of backstory. The second arc is more akin to the battle for trost with big epic confrontation with Titans.

I haven't started the final season yet but I'm a bit confused as it seems the manga goes further than the anime so I'm guessing the story must diverge. That said, the orginal creator seems to have a fair amount of say in the show - he apparently asked for specific changes in season 3 to address what he felt were pacing issues in the manga.

On 3/8/2021 at 2:57 PM, The Grey Wolf said:

Caught up on Re: Zero and Seven Deadly Sins. Currently binging Avatar: The Last Airbender. After that maybe Attack on Titan?

I'm working my way through Attack on Titan rewatching the first two seasons. I don't know how but my memory of season 2 was incredibly patchy as if I missed the entire middle third of the season so I'm pleased I went back.

On 12/29/2020 at 9:58 PM, Winterfell is Burning said:

A non-violent Wolverine is like a happy, sunny Batman or a sane, normal Joker. There's no point in using the character that way.

Plus, the reason some comic fans don't like Jackman's version is that he was already pretty neutered compared to the original.

I'd initially agree but then realised the 90s animated wolverine was what got me into the character and that was bizarrely when we only saw him use his claws if he was fighting a sentinel/cyborg, door or cutting guns in half. The version of him in "Wolverine and the X-men" was ok too - although they rather brilliantly made Cyclops into the rebellious loner in that show.

So, I think it's perfectly reasonable for them to be able to create a family friendly wolverine for the MCU. With the right casting and stories to feature him in. He tends to be a better "team" character when violence neutered though - probably because they lean in on his character more when he's not all amount being injured and causing injury.

8 hours ago, AverageGuy said:

I'm leaning more toward sometimes it's best to let stuff go altogether. Korra was pretty uneven. A lot of the scattered spirit lore in season 2 and Korra angst plus that clips episode in season 4.

It's always dicey introducing new lore as it has the potential to diminish rather than enrich previous material. I think korra tread a fine line with some of the spirit stuff but overall felt it added.

3 hours ago, fionwe1987 said:

Well, if that's the "uneven" they produce, I want a ton more.

Korra's chief flaw is that it consists of 12-13 30 min episodes instead of hour long ones.

The need to rush through too much plot literally causes all the flaws. Season 2, the worst of the bunch, really suffers from not having 2 seasons to cover the storyline. Do that and they'd have time to develop more.of some of the background for the season to hang together a lot better. 

In many ways, I think Korra would have been the better show to go to live action. The extra time would help the show deepen, while retaining all of its fantastic beats.

ETA: never understand the minority of folks who think season 1 is better than 3 or 4. There's just no way that's true. never

I'd never thought about korra as live action but now you mention it i agree it would have been the better option. All the characters are older to begin with making it easier to use older cast. It fits that CW demographic (although i guess Netflix may be going for stranger things dynamic with a younger cast). It's also easier to see how story elements could be expanded for tv. The anti bending movement for example would work well in TV.

It would have cost more to make though unless they dialed back the steam punk and has it more resemble the 1920-30s

1 hour ago, Rippounet said:

It's always nice to see that any three random people on the internet have better ideas than making a live-action of AtLA.

(*insert rumbling about studios being so focused on remaking good stuff*)

It gets worse when studios remake things and force their original ideas into it so it barely resembles the source.

2 hours ago, fionwe1987 said:

The Avatar can already channel the energy of a nuke to open an inter-dimensional portals, so I don't think there's much to worry about an Avatar becoming overpowered. They're the continuous rebirth of the Spirit of Light. Able to reshape continents, stop volcanoes, and give or take away bending. 

All of which makes me think it would be interesting to see an Avatar who ends up being not firmly on the side of good. How would the world deal with that? Could be a fascinating story. 

Evil avatar has legs although not sure how protagonists defeat an evil avatar unless it is through tech. 

I vaguely recall their being avatar twins (or I'm maybe getting mixed up with another legacy superperson) that gives you a light and dark aspect. 

17 hours ago, Rippounet said:

If that's what comes out of it then it's good news.

I also don't see why it was necessary to make a live-action version of one of the few perfect animated shows rather than create new content (*insert rumbling about studios being so focused on remaking good stuff*).

I've been thinking a third Avatar show would be fantastic. Moving time forward another 70 or 100 years would mean flirting with science-fiction, and having a world in which bending is almost irrelevant compared to technology (might even be half-forgotten), so that the avatar's role would be more focused on diplomacy, politics, or spiritual matters. That would be challenging to write, but would be great to watch.

Or the increase in tech actually makes new forms of bending possible. Not that the tech allows it but maybe nature itself finds a way of keeping up a bit like electricity seemed to develop with fire nation's tech. I can't think of any obvious examples beyond "tech bending" but maybe forces like gravity, magnetism and time could all be bent in the future? That would also give the Avatar a mission which might be to track down those who can use these new forces and add them to their repertoire. So, in this case such skills are very new and only a handful/one person may have any true mastery over it. Although I dread to think how powerful an avatar would be with all those abilities. 

Or drop in on some of the earlier avatars, it's all good to me.

Netflix should drop the live-action show completely and just hand the money over for the potential third avatar animated project. They could probably pay for the entire animated series for the cost of one live action season. And if they are only making the live-action show off the heat of the existing animated series surely this is a safer/less risky way to go?

I see it as potentially good news. I never really saw the point of the same creators remaking what was a perfect story already. One angle no-one has considered is that maybe netflix are being too faithful to the show and it's beat for beat the same story. That would be incredibly dull for the original creators to take part in as they don't really have anything to contribute other than echoing their previous ideas. eg if dimartino said "we actually wanted to do this in this part of the show but we couldn't because it was deemed older audience" and the production says "no, we'll leave it as is" that would be incredibly frustrating. So it could be that there's nothing new at all in the show as opposed to it being too different.

On 8/5/2020 at 12:14 PM, Nictarion said:

I just read Pulp by Brubaker and Phillips. Highly recommend it if you’re a fan of their collaborations. Kind of like Criminal with some old west stuff mixed in. 

I haven't heard of that one (I need to reread catch up on criminal since it crossed over to Image) but they are a creator combo that usually guarantees quality

I'm somewhat foolishly reading the Knightfall story as part of my mission to read through the big storylines in Batman between then and the Jim Lee Hush storyline (which is when I started reading Batman on a regular basis). I've only read prelude so far and halfway through the Azrael series pre-knightfall. One thing that struck me was just how good Joe Quesade was at that time. His work looked modern back then and compared to the artwork occurring in concurrent Batman titles the difference in quality is stark. The colouring is also much better but I don't know if that's because it's been digitally remastered or because Joe picked his colorist. Anyhow, it reminds me that it's a shame he has relatively little output beyond covers as he was/is a real talent.

On 7/23/2020 at 4:44 PM, Ran said:

Would those be the prologues? "A Dream of Thousand Cats" is wonderful, but yeah, starting out with that without any grounding in the Sandman universe would be weird.

Definitely the right way to do it.

Publication order is the way to go - although I could maybe argue starting with book 2 as that's where the series becomes its own thing and much more reflective of the series as a whole. I still like the first volume as i find it quite quirky how he interacts with DC characters like Batman. People complain about Sandman being incorporated into the DC universe but he was actually there from the start.

I read the first volume of "the unwritten" and it seems a good book for fans of Sandman and "fables"

On 6/25/2020 at 12:25 PM, Nictarion said:

I read the first couple issues of Hickman’s new sci-fi book Decorum. Kind of confusing at first (similar to his POX), but definitely interesting. Gorgeous art, too. 

Is that the one that appears to be sort of wild west but not east of west?

Coronavirus has almost shifted me entirely over to digital. Between kindle unlimited and some really good offers on comixology, marvel (who gave away about 20 graphic novels away for free between their lock-down and BLM promotions) and Humble bundle Image (which I think might still be on) I've pretty much given up on graphic novels (besides the insane Zavvi DC masterworks offer last month where a hardback was £2.50). It works quite well for me too as I can happily read comics on my phone via the panel per page function which actually makes a lot of the artwork better in the sense it's larger than in print.

I read "kraven's last hunt" for the first time today and I can see why it gains so much praise. The artwork is excellent and the fact Kraven wins seems almost unheard of for marvel comics. The only downside for me is that Spidey doesn't ring true for me. He's far too batman like but I guess that was the phase he was going through in the late 80s early 90s. It reminds me how good a job Slott did of bringing the character back to being a bit of a loser but fun and how despite hating "one more day" I can see why they sort of needed it to get back to the character's core and start brand new day. I recall enjoying JMS Spider-man run but thinking back he was "old and serious" there as well.

Silent voice is interesting in that it follows the consequences of being a bully. I also like stories in general that get you to feel empathy for those who have done something shitty as it usually means the writing/acting/directing all have to be top notch.

The fuzzed out faces is a great visual technique.

You are in for a treat if you've never seen avatar! I once called it "the wire" of animation. You can also go straight into legend of korra. Wonder if we'll ever see other avatar animations? I fear it's unlikely with the live action show turning up. Either the new show is successful and they stick to live action or it's a flop and the franchise is on pause. Weird to hope for a show to be mediocre as then we might get an animated film/show to back it up like with altered carbon

On 6/12/2020 at 10:18 PM, Ran said:

One of the greats.

I only read some of his green arrow/green lantern run 2 weeks ago and i recall him overseeing some great batman stories. Definitely one of those voices who can take a lot of credit for comics "growing up". Him and Neal adams are a classic pairing.

I'm hoping there are some promotions coming up to help a wider audience see some of his work from Amazon/comixology.

On 5/28/2020 at 1:40 PM, Teng Ai Hui said:

I'm curious to try Gaiman's Sandman books.  Should I just follow the publication order?  Or should I try the chronological order?  The latter seems interesting but also impractical as one must find 4 different graphic novels in order to read the first 6 items.

I'd stick with publication order. That's how most people have enjoyed the series over the years.

My usual caveat is to read the first two graphic novels as the first volume is more a case of gaiman finding his feet and setting the scene. Book 2 is far more representative of the series in general.

23 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Thanks, I made the mistake of starting the ‘House of M’ storyline and it was clear within a page or two that it was much much worse. So I stopped. 
 

As someone who grew up on Claremont it’s hard to ever see anything hitting those highs. Even the Grant Morrison stuff was only ‘pretty good’ in my eyes, and never got on board with Whedons run. 
 

This Hickman stuff was the first time I felt genuine excitement at an X title in a long time. 
 

So yeah maybe it’s beat to look  forward not back

I think what's nice about the Hickman run so far is that it has the grant Morrison "big ideas" but there's still room for the soap opera elements and it's clear Hickman is familiar with at least the claremont era but probably everything up to the end of Morrisons run. 

The "dawn of x" books have a nice mix of styles. Like i said "X-Men" is the closest to HOX but i think you might like Excalibur as that has a very classic Claremont feel to it. Marauders is more of a modern whedonesque take too. There's only "fallen angels" that isn't worth a try I'd say. 

On 4/22/2020 at 2:43 PM, Nictarion said:

I’m catching up on old stuff as well. I’m almost finished with the Gotham Central omnibus. It’s as good as advertised. The comparisons of “The Wire set in Gotham” is pretty apt. 

I have that in my kindle unlimited list. I read the first few issues when they were released but I was a student with a limited budget so never finished it. I was still mainly drawn to superheroics at the time.

I finally finished "clean room". It fell down my to read list when I moved a few years back. The art change wasn't so bad with a little bit of distance and the imagery was still as disturbing as ever. It's a damn shame it ended where it did as it felt like Simone had only scratched the surface of what she could do with the concept. Some great characters as well. I wonder if she'll ever be able to resurrect it at DC (Black label) or Image? She should own the rights but I guess Vertigo might have had slightly different rules regarding keeping publishing rights.

On 4/22/2020 at 2:59 PM, Heartofice said:

I finished House of X / Powers of X and it rekindled my love of X-Men again. I loved the way it managed to combine a bunch of older story arcs together without really requiring me to have intimate knowledge of everything that had ever happened.

The level of detail was great too, that I could skim through and also go back and really go deep on the knowledge added extra value.

Think it also helped that I got to read the whole thing at once too, would have gotten lost if I’d been waiting or jumping around. 
 

Not perfect though, overall it felt like a prologue to something else rather than satisfying as an arc, and at times it needed patience to get a sense of where everyone was an when.

But now I want to go back and read the arcs that I’ve missed in the past 

If I were you I'd look forwards and not backwards. There are trade collections of most of the "Dawn of X" books now and they are all curated by Hickman (who created HOX/POX) with the X-men title (and half of "new mutants") being written by him.

In all honesty the X-men books have been pretty awful for almost around a decade. The last decent era was pre Avengers vs X-men where Cyclops is in charge of all the remaining mutants. One of the main stories at that time involved an arc called messiah complex. It's interesting as it has a more military vibe as mutantkind are on the brink of extinction (I think there's less than 300 of them ).

But everything from Bendis' run to the stuff prior to HOX and POX would just remind you of why you fell out of love with the X-men.

The comics drought is at least allowing me to catch up on a lot of stuff. I'm enjoying John Constantine, Undiscovered country is getting better and several of the "joe Hill" comics are quite good. And the X-men books do feel more connected as I read more of them. The Fantastic Four/X-men book has been surprisingly fun and handled in a way where neither side is being bad/good - Dr Doom is always a treat too.

Some of the industry forecasts are pretty grim though with a lot of comic stores wondering whether they'll be able to reopen and the lack of sales starting to hit creators too. I'm a bit torn. I can see why publishers are wanting to protect physical stores by not publishing digital first but on the other hand it seems like madness/suicide. If you can't sell physical content, sell it digitally. Will it result in loss of physical sales? Not if it was never being sold physically anyhow. I'm also pretty sure that a significant number of comic readers will still pick up the physical copy. Why not meet them half way and add a code/receipt that allows them to buy the physical comic for a reduced price/free? That should limit the damage to stores. And it keeps the industry alive in the interim. The current situation of no american comics in any form is just going to result in losses rather than any gains. Some digital consumers might just start reading other material that is available.

Feels like comics have reached that stage where they have to embrace digital or die. 

20 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

That was cool, but I felt like Magneto's speech was even better, simply because of how down-to-earth, methodical and realistic it was. Forget superpowers, we're gonna stomp you guys in the ground by buying all of your institutions.

Magneto's speech was definitely the meat of the entire issue and it did help us understand why he'd be on board with project Krakoa because he's had to make less changes with his stance than Xavier has had to. I'm starting to wonder if at this stage Magneto has been a hero almost as long as he's been a villain? Seems he's been "good" for the last 15 years and I know there were runs in the past where he was also good/teacher at Xaviers.

Apocalypse's phrase was simply cool though in terms of one liners

Amazon UK has 6 mark lawrence books, each priced at 99p, on digital sale today. Good chance to try out the first trilogies in both of his fantasy series.

I just read X-men #4 (I'm a bit behind since xmas) and the scene where Apocalypse announces he was the cause of the Bronze age collapse was one of the coolest moments in X-men comics for a while and probably Apoacalypse's best in a while. I also liked how the krakoans are open in their plan to conquer earth via commerce and media control instead of outright war. 

31 minutes ago, Stego said:

It could be the biggest event in Marvel history. The mutants are so powerful that the Avengers would have to bring in cosmic help. Maybe 'assemble' a hundred or so members. The real problem, and the problem with AvX, is there are too many respected mutants on the Avengers. ESPECIALLY post-AvX. It's not just Beast and Wolverine -- Sunspot and Cannonball and Rogue and Storm and Dazzler, etc. They would have to create a pretty big schism for a war to be believable.. 

I thought all the mutants were now krakoans first and anything else second? So it's not too hard to separate them. But those events were never that concerned about rational reasons for them fighting and more "who would win between". 

I haven't read the ff/X-Men book but I'm guessing that will sow seeds for how a fallout may occur

1 hour ago, Stego said:

I think they will definitely lead to a Mutant Civil War. I wish they wouldn't, because I adore the status quo at the moment. Krakoa shouldn't just be another mansion/utopia/haven that goes to shit in a week.

Do they have too many X-titles right now? Hell yes. I hope they are just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks. Some of them are already canceled, I believe. 

I hope Hickman has a Claremontian run on the X-Men. 

Fallen angels was cancelled sharpish so i hope they do the same with other titles that flag/fail to connect.

I think there's more chance of another avengers v X-Men before a civil war between X-Men as it's easy to see how krakoa can come into conflict with the rest of marvel.

8 hours ago, Stego said:

Hickman's run has already surpassed Morrison's in my mind. Except kitty cat Beast. That was the shit.

I think it has revitalised the line more than Morrison's run. Although the x-books were doing fine at the time wheareas Hickman took over after marvel were deliberately side-lining the franchise. I'm still on the fence with the dawn of x maintaining the momentum of the hox/pox series some titles work fine as their own thing (Excalibur) while others feel like watering down the concept (x-force, fallen angels). I suspect it might be a series where the "landmarks" are great but the stuff in between is more world building and preparing for the next landmark.

I'm really hoping it will transpire something sinister (potential pun intended) is at play to explain the weird characterization and cult like vibe. Ideally Cyclops will "wake" and be a counter insurgent. I'm not convinced that any of the characters we are seeing are who they are. At the very least Hickman has been clever enough to set the story up do that it's really easy to do a reset when he leaves (eg the originals are still alive in stasis pods within krakoa and can replace the duplicates). It's like Hickman saw how marvel shat all over Morrison's run with hasty/non-sensical retcons.