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If you define "WTF" moments as stories that leave you scratching your head at how out of place they seem and which are soon dropped from continuity or never mentioned again, I think a good argument could be made that the bulk of DC's stories over the past ten years are WTF moments.

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Examples?

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I've re-read this entire thread just for the hell of it...and nobody here has mentioned Gwen Stacy having kids with The Green Goblin?

The story alone gets a WTF, and an honorary second WTF for it not being mentioned on this thread (until now).


"Well when I talk to people I don't have to worry about spelling." - wannabuyamonkey "If Schumacher’s last effort was the final nail in the coffin then Year One would’ve been the crazy guy who stormed the graveyard, dug up the coffin and put a bullet through the franchise’s corpse just to make sure." -- From a review of Darren Aronofsky & Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" script
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Quote:

The Time Trust said:
Examples?




Quote:

Darknight613 said:
Brian Azzarello's "For Tomorrow" Superman storyline.




I also think "Bruce Wayne Fugitive" and "President Luthor" fall into this catagory. Both were stories that, to a lot of fans, didn't make sense at the time and DC is already either forgetting them (shouldn't Bruce be like the OJ of the DCU at this point) or undoing them (Luthor).

And then there's the large number of stories of characters who died, but then "got better": Green Lantern and Green Arrow being the most prominent.

Can you think of a more "WTF" moment than the idea that these two guys both came back from the freaking DEAD and now no one really bothers to discuss or react to all the implications of that?

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Quote:

Darknight613 said:
I've re-read this entire thread just for the hell of it...and nobody here has mentioned Gwen Stacy having kids with The Green Goblin?

The story alone gets a WTF, and an honorary second WTF for it not being mentioned on this thread (until now).





I think most of us are trying to forget that storyline.


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Quote:

the G-man said:
And then there's the large number of stories of characters who died, but then "got better": Green Lantern and Green Arrow being the most prominent.

Can you think of a more "WTF" moment than the idea that these two guys both came back from the freaking DEAD and now no one really bothers to discuss or react to all the implications of that?




Not to get off-topic, in Green Arrow's case, it seems that every time he shows up, he's on about coming back from the dead, as if we aren't ever allowed to forget about it. And GA's always being asked about what it's like to die. There are more and better examples, but I can't think of them right now.

Although in Green Lantern's case, I pretty much agree.


"Well when I talk to people I don't have to worry about spelling." - wannabuyamonkey "If Schumacher’s last effort was the final nail in the coffin then Year One would’ve been the crazy guy who stormed the graveyard, dug up the coffin and put a bullet through the franchise’s corpse just to make sure." -- From a review of Darren Aronofsky & Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" script
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Quote:

rex said:
Quote:

Darknight613 said:
I've re-read this entire thread just for the hell of it...and nobody here has mentioned Gwen Stacy having kids with The Green Goblin?

The story alone gets a WTF, and an honorary second WTF for it not being mentioned on this thread (until now).





I think most of us are trying to forget that storyline.




As would I. But it's so difficult. The scars run so deep...


"Well when I talk to people I don't have to worry about spelling." - wannabuyamonkey "If Schumacher’s last effort was the final nail in the coffin then Year One would’ve been the crazy guy who stormed the graveyard, dug up the coffin and put a bullet through the franchise’s corpse just to make sure." -- From a review of Darren Aronofsky & Frank Miller's "Batman: Year One" script
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Quote:

the G-man said:
I also think "Bruce Wayne Fugitive" and "President Luthor" fall into this catagory. Both were stories that, to a lot of fans, didn't make sense at the time and DC is already either forgetting them (shouldn't Bruce be like the OJ of the DCU at this point) or undoing them (Luthor).




Fugitive/Murderer was a pretty decent story (especially when compared to what came since then). The problem is that they were also the final arcs of the writers and the writers assigned after them had their own "fresh takes" on Batman (translation: crap).

President Lex was a good concept that got thrown off because DC was slow to utilize what could have been a great story. Then after 9/11 they couldn't deal with the implications of Superman going after the president for a year and a half. By that point, no one cared.


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Quote:

the G-man said:
Quote:

The Time Trust said:
Examples?




Quote:

Darknight613 said:
Brian Azzarello's "For Tomorrow" Superman storyline.




I also think "Bruce Wayne Fugitive" and "President Luthor" fall into this catagory. Both were stories that, to a lot of fans, didn't make sense at the time and DC is already either forgetting them (shouldn't Bruce be like the OJ of the DCU at this point) or undoing them (Luthor).

And then there's the large number of stories of characters who died, but then "got better": Green Lantern and Green Arrow being the most prominent.

Can you think of a more "WTF" moment than the idea that these two guys both came back from the freaking DEAD and now no one really bothers to discuss or react to all the implications of that?






I think CRISIS ranks high on the WTF list, retroactively re-writing the DC Universe history, and editing out many of my favorite characters from 50 years of continuity.

Such as KAMANDI, and Earth Two (the JSA Earth), Earth X (Quality Comics heroes), Earth S (the Shazam/Marvel Family universe), and so on, melding things together in a way that wasn't as attractive to me as the separate worlds.




You can pretty much go year by year through DC's history from that point forward, following CRISIS (1985-1986) and go through each annual mega-crossover event as an annual WTF event, ruining a month's worth of DC titles.


And I definitely mean WTF in a *bad* way !

    LEGENDS (1987)

    MILLENIUM (1987)

    And then INVASION the year after that (1988).


    And I'm less clear on the dates of each after, but...

    ARMAGEDDON 2001

    WAROF THE GODS in the same year

    then ECLIPSO

    then BLOODLINES

    then ZERO HOUR

    then FINAL NIGHT

    then GENESIS

    then DC ONE MILLION

    then KINGDOM,

    Then DAY OF JUDGEMANT,

    then SINS OF YOUTH,

    then OUR WORLDS AT WAR
    and LAST LAUGH within one month of each other.

    then something with Gorillas in a bunch of annuals.


And then I stopped caring about crossovers (if I ever did)

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Quote:

r3x29yz4a said:
Fugitive/Murderer was a pretty decent story (especially when compared to what came since then). The problem is that they were also the final arcs of the writers and the writers assigned after them had their own "fresh takes" on Batman (translation: crap).

President Lex was a good concept that got thrown off because DC was slow to utilize what could have been a great story. Then after 9/11 they couldn't deal with the implications of Superman going after the president for a year and a half. By that point, no one cared.




I define a "WTF" story as not simply a bizarre one, but one that is bizarre and SHOULD have major, perhaps permanent, repercussions for the characters but doesn't.

In the case of "Fugitive," you had Bruce charged with murder and thrown in prison for a significant period of time.

Even if found innocent, as we've seen with Robert Blake and OJ, Bruce would have still suffered the stigma of that accusation. At least half of Gotham would have assumed he "got off" because of his "money and connections." Like OJ, he'd be a social pariah.

In addiiton, both Simpson and Blake were sued for millions after being acquitted and both were ordered to pay big judgements.

However, in the DCU, we see a Bruce Wayne that's still the beloved millionaire playboy. A Bruce Wayne that still sits on the boards of major corporations, gets feted to the best charity events and, at least as far as I know, never got sued by anyone for wrongful death.

Similarly, President Lex. By making Luthor President. You effectively established that, once and for all, the DCU has a completely different timeline than our own. Up until then, the DCU America had the same presidents we did. Bill Clinton was even at Superman's funeral. But now, its as if George Bush never existed (which, for some of you, seems like a good thing, I know, but that's beside the point).

Also, once Lex has been President, even if he is forced out of office, he's still "former President Luthor." No news report in the DCU is going to refer to him as anything but "former President Luthor." It's not something that people would easily forget.

In their own way, both "Fugitive" and "President Luthor" were stories that were every bit as bizarre as stories of Hercules pulling Manhattan up the Hudson with a giant chain, or Superman's glasses making people think that Clark looked like a different person.

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Quote:

the G-man said:
I define a "WTF" story as not simply a bizarre one, but one that is bizarre and SHOULD have major, perhaps permanent, repercussions for the characters but doesn't.

In the case of "Fugitive," you had Bruce charged with murder and thrown in prison for a significant period of time.

Even if found innocent, as we've seen with Robert Blake and OJ, Bruce would have still suffered the stigma of that accusation. At least half of Gotham would have assumed he "got off" because of his "money and connections." Like OJ, he'd be a social pariah.



as i said before the WTF came with Hush. That pushed aside the subplots and forced the fresh take aspect onto the books.
Had Ruka and Brubaker stayed awhile then it would've continued. They should've planned it for 6 months earlier.

Quote:

In addiiton, both Simpson and Blake were sued for millions after being acquitted and both were ordered to pay big judgements.



They weren't acquited with concrete proof that their was a conspiracy involving a high level assassin.
Sasha had no family and the only one in a position to sue was Wayne.

Quote:

However, in the DCU, we see a Bruce Wayne that's still the beloved millionaire playboy. A Bruce Wayne that still sits on the boards of major corporations, gets feted to the best charity events and, at least as far as I know, never got sued by anyone for wrongful death.



As I said Sasha had no family. And there was no one in a position to sue Bruce, especially since there was hardcore evidence that he was innocent. O.J. and Blake got off due to lack of solid evidence, so there was still doubt and suspicion.

Quote:

Similarly, President Lex. By making Luthor President. You effectively established that, once and for all, the DCU has a completely different timeline than our own. Up until then, the DCU America had the same presidents we did. Bill Clinton was even at Superman's funeral. But now, its as if George Bush never existed (which, for some of you, seems like a good thing, I know, but that's beside the point).



which is a slight problem for me. But it did free them up to essentially own the President. Whereas there's a lot of flak and risk of censorship from corporate with showing the president in an undignified manner. Note: Marvel's flack of Bush in Ultimate X-men and DC censoring the Authority issue showing Bush as cowardly.

Quote:

Also, once Lex has been President, even if he is forced out of office, he's still "former President Luthor." No news report in the DCU is going to refer to him as anything but "former President Luthor." It's not something that people would easily forget.
Quote:


true. But thanks to Loeb botching the storyline people won't touch it.

Quote:

In their own way, both "Fugitive" and "President Luthor" were stories that were every bit as bizarre as stories of Hercules pulling Manhattan up the Hudson with a giant chain, or Superman's glasses making people think that Clark looked like a different person.



quite the opposite. Herc/Supes stories were ridiculous for anyone to believe. However a billionaire being framed and a corrupt President were maybe too realistic for comics.


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First Amongst Daves said:There was an issue of Batman where Captain Boomerang has captured Batman, doesn't unmask him, doesn't shoot him or drug him, but instead ties him with rope to a giant boomerang with a rocket on it, which launches itself into the sky and explodes, to Boomerang's delight. Of course, Batman has burned the rope in the jet flame (without burning his hands off) and leapt to safety while Boomerang wasn't looking. Good thing Boomerang didn't use chains.




For the life of me, as I read that description I can actually hear Neil Hefti's Batman music playing in my head.

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r3x29yz4a said:as i said before the WTF came with Hush. That pushed aside the subplots and forced the fresh take aspect onto the books.
Had Ruka and Brubaker stayed awhile then it would've continued. They should've planned it for 6 months earlier.




Which I why, in part, I said that MOST of DC's output over the past ten years could be classified as WTF.

I agree that "Hush" will probably go down as a WTF story too.

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One of my favorite WTF storylines, in a very GOOD way, is Bruce Jones/Brent Anderson/Ron Frenz/Armando Gil's KAZAR THE SAVAGE, from 1981-1983.

Edgar Rice Burroughs-style jungle adventure, mixed with a lot of humor and love-triangles/love-rectangles, t & a, and mind-blowing plot twists.

Kazar appears to be dead in issue 20, and issue 21 comes out with the cover: "Kazar is dead, long live..." (new logo: ) "SHANNA THE SAVAGE!"




And then Shanna appears to die at the end of that issue, and on the next-issue ad, which usually shows the next month's cover, it says in big letters over an image-less black background:
"How can we have a COVER when we don't even have a HERO ?!?"

Great stuff, and dirt cheap back issues.

I think the best issues were 1-27.
Issue 19 was Brent Anderson's last issue, but the Frenz/Gil stories after remained great, if not even better, after Anderson left the series.



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Another great WTF cover:



DETECTIVE COMICS 476, the conclusion of the classic Englehart/Rogers/Austin run on Batman, with some wild twists involving Rupert Thorne, Professor Hugo Strange, and of course, The Joker.

An asute observer will note the smiling corpses in the foreground are... editor Julius Schwartz, Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers !

This and the rest of the Englehart/Rogers run are collected in the very reasonably priced trade BATMAN: STRANGE APPARITIONS, at a mere $12.95


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THE “WHAT-THE-F**K-WAS-THAT?!” AWARD: SPIDER-MAN BITES A GUY’S HEAD OFF:

    Look, I really do try to stay positive in the column. I think a lot more good is done by pointing people toward what I think are good comics than by spewing venom about bad ones. And now that I’ve been actually writing comics myself (more on that in future weeks if you haven’t already heard), I’m all the more sensitive to the notion. I realize now more than ever that no one intentionally writes a bad comic book.

    But Spider-Man bit a guy’s head off.

    I’m going to say it again for emphasis.

    Spider-Man bit a guy’s head off. Has there ever been a creative team that seems to have so little of an idea what makes the character work? In the seemingly endless “THE OTHER: EVOLVE OR DIE” storyline, we’ve seen issue after issue of Spidey suffering from an unknown, practically undescribed disease, which is itself the worst, cheapest kind of unfulfilled tension, since we all know Peter Parker isn’t really going to die.

    Then writer Reggie Hudlin gives us what was supposed to be a heartwarming story of Peter sharing a family moment with Mary Jane and Aunt May – only he has May and MJ wearing old outdated suits of IRON MAN armor, so they can sneak into Latveria and use Dr. Doom’s time machine.

    I’m going to say that again for emphasis, too. Aunt May was flying around in Iron Man’s armor. Ay caramba.

    So the climax of the story came in a couple of recent issues by J. Michael Straczynski, in which Morlun, the mystical spider-eating bad guy from earlier in JMS’ AMAZING SPIDER-MAN run, shows up and attacks the now-weak and ailing Spidey, beating him mercilessly and – I kid you not – plucking out Spidey’s eyeball and eating it. Not to be satisfied with just that bit of pointless gore, the next issue finds Morlun attacking a hospitalized Spidey, only to find Spidey transformed into some sort of spider/human hybrid, who leaps on Morlun, pins him down with some sort of stingers that have extruded from his arms, and proceeds to eat Morlun’s head. And in case you’re thinking I’m misinterpreting the art, there’s a helpful caption:

    “…when the spider bites, when the spider feeds…it always starts at the head.”

    Yeah.

    Thank heaven for back issues.

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Yeah, I agree G-man.

The fact that the new school of writers feel a need to use such over-the-top elements, in a character as idiot proof as Spiderman, shows just how desperate, talentless and bankrupt of ideas they are.

I remember a topic you started a year ago, discussing the absurd shock elements Marvel felt a need to use last year !
  • Gwen Stacy... SLUT !
    HERE


This is the annual update of what Marvel is attempting to hype and promote, in place of true storytelling and talent.

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for the JMS fans out there, I give you the above two posts/storylines.

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As goofy as these stories are, it's not nearly as infuriating as to learn Aunt May was not, in fact, dead, but merely in Europe on a shopping spree.


Knutreturns said: Spoken like the true Greatest RDCW Champ!

All hail King Snarf!

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didn't they just do a story last year where spider-man went into a cocoon and turned into a giant man spider?

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Something like that. And there was also a story where Aunt May was a Herald of Galactus.


Knutreturns said: Spoken like the true Greatest RDCW Champ!

All hail King Snarf!

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Quote:

Grimm said:
didn't they just do a story last year where spider-man went into a cocoon and turned into a giant man spider?





That was the Avengers Disassembled arc in Spectacular Spider-Man. Horrible piece of shit. Got it at the library and still felt ripped off.


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Pretty much every LEGION story since 1994 (Post-"Zero Hour") has been a major W.T.F. !

I'm at a loss to understand the popularity of the 2001 Abnett/ Lanning LEGION series, that I finally sampled, which to me is indistinguishable from any X-MEN titles published in the last 15 years:

    1) Heroes that are indistinguishable from the villains, with grim, angry, bratty-looking faces, going on and on with the villains in exchanges of intimidating tough talk about their ability to rough each other up.
    And have tough sounding code names, and behave like ultra-tough intensively trained commandos, instead of a friendly group of heroes.

    2) Among themselves, the Legionnaires having angry confrontational exchanges that are completely alien to the characters I know and love from the Levitz-era and prior.
    Even in the "Five Year Gap" storyline (Which I'd previously considered the darkest LEGION storyline), the characters had camaraderie and a strong sense of doing only what was necessary, and didn't have a relentless bad-attitude posture, gloating about their ability to pound others into pulp.

    3) The characters all look like they're, at most, in their early teens.
    With LEGIONNAIRES series, this was somewhat forgiveable, because they regained a youthful sense of fun and playfulness. But now they've become pointlessly tough and serious little kids, in a dark future.

    I was equally repulsed by the previous LEGION LOST series, for the same reason.

    4) The whole point of LEGION, from its beginnings in the late 1950's, was this bright near-utopian future, that human civilization has resolved all of its problems and created the next best thing to a perfect society. I'm turned off by the darker future LEGION has become since the mid-1990's.


And really, the Abnett/Lanning LEGION issues I sampled have the Legion's 30th-century future as barely even a backdrop.

Like I said, it's a story indistinguishable from any recent issue of the X-MEN, and it could just as easily be a story set in the present, rather than the 30th century, the way it is written.

I really think Abnett and Lanning are tremendously talented writers, as demonstrated by their story contributions in the 9-11 tribute book put out in early 2002.

But I was very un-impressed with their work in LEGION, or in their ICEMAN limited series for Marvel. I fail to see why their new LEGION book was selling so well.

Unless it's precisely because their book was a cloning of X-MEN, and simply capitalizing on its similarity to that top-selling drek.



The recent Waid/Kitson LEGION is the first palatable version I've seen in the last 12 years (i.e., the first version in 12 years to be somewhat consistent with the Levitz-and-prior version of the Legion).
And even that has stretched its plot over so damned many issues, I've grown bored with a series I had early on been very excited about.
Again, WTF !

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My pick of the best LEGION run is LEGION OF SUPERHEROES 287-306. The stories in this series are pretty easy to follow, and many of these issues have origins that explain the previous continuity up to this point.



For me, these issues by writer Paul Levitz and artist Keith Giffen, are the best scripted, best illustrated, most intelligent and definitive version of the Legion ever done (published between 1982-1984).




Issues 296-297 in particular give a review of the earliest forming of the Legion, within a two-part story.
There are checklists of every previous appearance by the Legion in the lettercolumns of 298, 299, 301, 302, and 305 (a 5-part chronological checklist of all appearances up to that point, in 1983)



Beginning in 1958, Legion began as a series running in ADVENTURE COMICS (1958-1969, issues 247-380),

then moving to ACTION COMICS (1969-1970, issues 377-392),

then to SUPERBOY (1970-1980, issues 191, 193, 195 and 197-258),
with issue 197 re-named SUPERBOY STARRING THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES.

Then finally the title was renamed LEGION OF SUPERHEROES ( 2nd series, beginning in 1980, issues 259-313 )

( The 1st series was a 4-issue reprint series in 1973, reprinting a few issues of the 60's run from ADVENTURE COMICS, reprinting in order: ADVENTURE 328, 333, 340, and 341 )


The Levitz/Giffen LEGION issues (285-306, from 1982-1984) are very true to the Legion and its history, and was the beginning of the more developed, more science-fictional universe of the Legion.

Levitz began writing the Legion for several broken stints in the mid-70's but wrote the longest continuous run on LEGION from (2nd series)284-326, and on through (third series) 1-63 (from 1984-1989).

And Giffen gradually took over the direction of the Legion from Levitz, toward the end of the 3rd series.



The "Five Year Gap" (in 4th series, issues 1-61, from 1989-1994), is a darker storyline where the United Planets is falling apart economically, and being over-run by invading alien empires. But the Legion remain a symbol of hope in a dark universe.
These issues are difficult to read if you don't already know the past continuity and if you don't have extreme familiarity with the Legion character names. So I'd save this run for last.

The "Five Year Gap" storyline (by Tom and Mary Bierbaum, and Keith Giffen) picks up the Legion saga five years after the volume 3 storyline ended, with a lot of changes and un-answered questions about what occurred during the years in between. The storyline deals with time travel and alternate realities for the Legion (trying to explain the changes to the future created by the CRISIS-related changes and annihilation of Superboy and Supergirl, who were instrumental in the formation of the Legion).
The 4th series storyline several times begins in one direction, and then an issue or two later, that timeline is obliterated and replaced by an alternate present the next issue, and all the characters you just got to know are completely changed. It's confusing and challenging to read, and I both liked and didn't like it.

The "Five Year Gap" storyline ended with issue 61, in a cross-over event called "Zero Hour", at which point the previous 35 years of continuity were abandoned, and a new pre-pubescent junior-high-school-ish LEGION replaced it.

The continuity has been abandoned and replaced (or "re-booted") many times since, and this is very unpopular with many longtime Legion fans.


But for me things start and end with the Levitz and Giffen issues (LEGION 285-306).

Other very popular Legion runs:

Dave Cockrum art(SUPERBOY 197-201)
Mike Grell art (SUPERBOY 201-228)

Steve Lightle art (LEGION 3rd series, 7-16)
Greg Larocque art (LEGION 3rd series, 17-48)



All of the above, I think, cements LEGION's place in the W T F Hall of Fame !!




You can view covers at:

  • ADVENTURE ( 1958-1969, issues 247-380)
    HERE

    ACTION (1969-1970, issues 377-392)
    HERE

    SUPERBOY/LEGION (1970-1980, series begins in issue 197)
    HERE

    LEGION, 1st series (1973, 4 issues, all-reprint)
    HERE

    LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, 2nd series (1980-1984)
    HERE

    LSH, 3rd series (1984-1989)
    HERE

    LSH, 4th series (1989-2000, "Five Year Gap" series in 1-61)
    HERE

    LEGIONNAIRES (1993-2000)
    HERE

    LEGION LOST (2000)
    HERE

    LEGION (2001 series, Abnett/Lanning)
    HERE

    LEGION (2004-2005 series, Waid/Kitson)
    HERE


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And I think it's horrible what DC has done to LEGION, post-Levitz.

I still enjoyed LEGION to a large degree with some reservations during "Five Year Gap", up until "Zero Hour" (LEGION fourth series, issues 1-61, from 1989-1994).

But after that, they destroyed the series.

When you consider LEGION is the ONLY series to have its entire Silver Age run published in hardcover (and a nice chunk of the 70's era, too !), and so clearly a fanbase that highly values the series' past continuity, rejecting that continuity is a clear slap in the face to longtime LEGION fans.

It may be enjoyable for many (post-1994), but it's not a Legion I like, or even recognize.

I heard from my comic shop owner that the Wait/Kitson run is about to be re-booted as well.


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Hey, what about the Legion of Superheroes?


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Quote:

Wonder Boy said:




Wow..I've never seen that pose on a cover before.


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I like the new Legion series but agree with Wonder Boy that the title does deserve a WTF. Such a long series with such a rich history just jettisoned. It's unclear where their going with the new title. An upcoming cover features pre-zero hour characters Dawnstar, Tyroc & Blok. The issue after that the title changes to Supergirl & the Legion of Superheroes. So there seems to be a move back to the classic Legion or at least some of those classic elements.

On a side note it sounds like the Legion will be making an appearence on the JLU cartoon this season. (a Legion where Bouncing Boy is a member) Also a Legion cartoon series is in development!


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Quote:

Wonder Boy said:
Yeah, I agree G-man.

The fact that the new school of writers feel a need to use such over-the-top elements, in a character as idiot proof as Spiderman, shows just how desperate, talentless and bankrupt of ideas they are.

I remember a topic you started a year ago, discussing the absurd shock elements Marvel felt a need to use last year !
    Gwen Stacy... SLUT !
    HERE


This is the annual update of what Marvel is attempting to hype and promote, in place of true storytelling and talent.



jms and Peter David are great writers. If you read the stories then it makes sense. The Iron Man suits were for protection sothey could visit the past and see Uncle Ben and Peter's parents again for a few minutes.
The Spider bite to the head was in line with the primal nature of the spider. I don't mind them dealing with Spider-man in that way under those circumstances as long as he doesn't get too much like a spider and shoot webs from his ass.

The Gwen Stacy storyline was actually pretty decent. It was supposed to be Peter as the father but the editors insisted on the change, and it was handled well. Her sleeping with Norman doesn't make her a slut, it makes her a young woman who made a mistake with an older man (which happens all the time).


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Quote:

r3x29yz4a said:
jms and Peter David are great writers. If you read the stories then it makes sense. The Iron Man suits were for protection so they could visit the past and see Uncle Ben and Peter's parents again for a few minutes.




Yes, I think we all understand that.

But I think we also all understand that doesn't make the idea of Aunt May in an Iron Man suit any more palatable.

I'm sorry, but this is every bit as stupid as those plots in the old 1960s "Batman" series, where 70 year old Alfred would put on one of the spare batsuits to rescue a kidnapped Bruce Wayne.

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Quote:

r3x29yz4a said:
The Iron Man suits were for protection sothey could visit the past and see Uncle Ben and Peter's parents again for a few minutes.




It's common sense, really. The writer didn't want to make Aunt May and Mary Jane wear Iron Man suits, but if they have to go to the past to pay a visit to Uncle Ben and Peter's parents, then how can they not wear Iron Man suits?


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Quote:

If Ray was critiqing comics in the 60s he would have said:





If you read the story then it makes sense. The Batman suit on Sixty Year Old Alfred was for protection so no one would figure out why Batman and Bruce Wayne had the same dog.

And no one would question why Robin would run around snapping pictures of Bruce handing the dog to "Batman". Young boys like to learn photography and use cameras to document mundane life moments just in case someone questions your secret ID. It happens all the time.



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Hey, seems perfectly plausible to me.

"It's old man Witherspoon !"

"That's right ! And I would have gotten away with it too. If it wasn't for those darned kids... and that... hound !! And that 60-year-old butler dressed in a bat-suit... and that kid with a camera photographing the scene..."

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This wasn't Aunt May using the suit to rescue Peter while he was crime fighting. It was putting them in the suits to protect them long enough to get to the machine and then back.

It was a small element of what has been a great storyline.


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Yeah, a seventy-year old lady using a high tech suit of flying armor to sneak into a terrorist state and steal a time machine from a superpowered dictator and his army of robot guards is soooooo much more plausible than a seventy year old man posing for a photo in a cape and tights.


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Quote:

r3x29yz4a said:
This wasn't Aunt May using the suit to rescue Peter while he was crime fighting.




No, that would have been ridiculous! Marvel knows better.


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 Quote:
the G-man said:
 Quote:
Wonder Boy said:


Wow..I've never seen that pose on a cover before.



Oh, come on !
It's a total original !!




Okay, well.... maybe not.




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Quote:

Wonder Boy said:

It may be enjoyable for many (post-1994), but it's not a Legion I like, or even recognize.





OMG! The world is ending!

TWB and I....agree on something.

In fact, I agree with all that he said about the Legion in that post. Wow. It's like Yalta. All we have to do now is settle on how to divide Europe.


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I concur with both of them. I will say, however, that Waid's run is the best since the mid-80s.

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 Quote:
Jim Jackson said:
 Quote:
Wonder Boy said:

It may be enjoyable for many (post-1994), but it's not a Legion I like, or even recognize.


OMG! The world is ending!

TWB and I....agree on something.

In fact, I agree with all that he said about the Legion in that post. Wow. It's like Yalta. All we have to do now is settle on how to divide Europe.


I have a thing for eastern European women. You can have the rest of Europe.


But seriously, glad we could agree on something. (Finally !! )



I did like the Waid/Kitson run also, at least initially. But it was stretched for too long.
And when there's 30 pages per issue... geez, man, something happen already !

I wrote an enthusiatic response to the earlier issues in another topic a few months ago, along with a few other recent books I've enjoyed:
  • Why I hate most Modern comics...
    HERE

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