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Dial Q for the Question! (about Comics Thread)

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Posts

  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    muninn wrote: »
    Question: The lantern rings - is their power to be a deus ex machina? I am still trying to wrap my head around what they can and cannot do, and it seems to be as nebulous as Dr. Strange's powers....

    I think it has something to do with how much will you have in controlling it, but they also have a power source and limits and stuff. They need (or used to at least) to be charged by a lantern. I think there are smaller lanterns, but the main lantern is where all the rings get their power, and also where the name comes from

    Langly on
  • muninnmuninn Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    muninn on
  • LanglyLangly Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    muninn wrote: »
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    it's a subliminal thing. They make what they are comfortable with.

    Langly on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    muninn wrote: »
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    That's what makes the Lanterns so good. Each Lantern makes whats familier to them, or speaks to their personality. It's also where you get a lot of jokes...

    John makes bubbles and guns, Hal makes fists...

    Kyle is the one I find most interesting, because he's a graphic artist the stuff he makes is usually really elaborate and interesting. At least, it used to be. Since he joined GLC it's mostly green energy blasts (lazy artist!)

    Sentry on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • muninnmuninn Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Sentry wrote: »
    muninn wrote: »
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    That's what makes the Lanterns so good. Each Lantern makes whats familier to them, or speaks to their personality. It's also where you get a lot of jokes...

    John makes bubbles and guns, Hal makes fists...

    Kyle is the one I find most interesting, because he's a graphic artist the stuff he makes is usually really elaborate and interesting. At least, it used to be. Since he joined GLC it's mostly green energy blasts (lazy artist!)


    When you put it like that, thats actually pretty cool.

    muninn on
  • kingkhankingkhan Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    muninn wrote: »
    Sentry wrote: »
    muninn wrote: »
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    That's what makes the Lanterns so good. Each Lantern makes whats familier to them, or speaks to their personality. It's also where you get a lot of jokes...

    John makes bubbles and guns, Hal makes fists...

    Kyle is the one I find most interesting, because he's a graphic artist the stuff he makes is usually really elaborate and interesting. At least, it used to be. Since he joined GLC it's mostly green energy blasts (lazy artist!)


    When you put it like that, thats actually pretty cool.

    I agree. I never knew what the Green Lantern could do until now, and that makes me wanna pick up some of his stuff.

    Also, what's the deal with the Thunderbolts?

    They were evil and faked being good to gain power, I got that. But then Hawkeye took over. Wasn't he still a good guy?

    And now I think it's a group of supervillains whose job is to recruit supervillains to the pro-registration cause in order to redeem themselves, right?

    kingkhan on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • DarkWarriorDarkWarrior __BANNED USERS regular
    edited January 2009
    kingkhan wrote: »
    muninn wrote: »
    Sentry wrote: »
    muninn wrote: »
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    That's what makes the Lanterns so good. Each Lantern makes whats familier to them, or speaks to their personality. It's also where you get a lot of jokes...

    John makes bubbles and guns, Hal makes fists...

    Kyle is the one I find most interesting, because he's a graphic artist the stuff he makes is usually really elaborate and interesting. At least, it used to be. Since he joined GLC it's mostly green energy blasts (lazy artist!)


    When you put it like that, thats actually pretty cool.

    I agree. I never knew what the Green Lantern could do until now, and that makes me wanna pick up some of his stuff.

    Also, what's the deal with the Thunderbolts?

    They were evil and faked being good to gain power, I got that. But then Hawkeye took over. Wasn't he still a good guy?

    And now I think it's a group of supervillains whose job is to recruit supervillains to the pro-registration cause in order to redeem themselves, right?


    They're more interested in crippling heroes than recruiting them. They're basically sanctioned killers.

    DarkWarrior on
  • ServoServo Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited January 2009
    kingkhan wrote: »
    muninn wrote: »
    Sentry wrote: »
    muninn wrote: »
    They can form stuff based on their own strength of will and imagination. So weak will and/or imagination means a crappier lantern. That said they can't make a time machine from their ring as far as I'm aware.

    I don't follow them AT ALL though so I may be wrong.

    But then Ive seen them make guns... why would they make guns when they just can pew pew from the ring?

    That's what makes the Lanterns so good. Each Lantern makes whats familier to them, or speaks to their personality. It's also where you get a lot of jokes...

    John makes bubbles and guns, Hal makes fists...

    Kyle is the one I find most interesting, because he's a graphic artist the stuff he makes is usually really elaborate and interesting. At least, it used to be. Since he joined GLC it's mostly green energy blasts (lazy artist!)


    When you put it like that, thats actually pretty cool.

    I agree. I never knew what the Green Lantern could do until now, and that makes me wanna pick up some of his stuff.

    Also, what's the deal with the Thunderbolts?

    They were evil and faked being good to gain power, I got that. But then Hawkeye took over. Wasn't he still a good guy?

    And now I think it's a group of supervillains whose job is to recruit supervillains to the pro-registration cause in order to redeem themselves, right?

    the original thunderbolts series had one of the all-time great first issue cliffhangers. basically what happened is that most of the world's heroes (primarily the avengers, but also the fantastic four, yadda yadda) appeared to have been killed by onslaught (onslaught being charles xavier's meanness made manifest and they weren't dead, they were in another dimension, actually. long story). when that happened, a new group of heroes calling themselves the thunderbolts came forward and started, basically, heroing around and saving people and generally trying to take the place of the avengers.

    what you discover at the very end of the first issue, however, is that the thunderbolts are in fact the masters of evil in disguise. baron zemo had recognized that the world wanted superheroes, so he figured since all the regular ones were dead, now would be a perfect time to put on a new mask and work his way into a position of power and influence similar to what the avengers had, and then abuse that power in various villain-y ways.

    the catch ended up coming when some of zemo's teammates started to discover that they actually liked being heroes and maybe kind of wanted people to keep liking them, too. ultimately, to counter this, zemo publicly reveals their identities after the avengers return.

    as for hawkeye, well, some time later after the team had been found out, most of them were on the run from the law even though they wanted to go straight. hawkeye basically quit the avengers and volunteered to train them as a genuine superhero team, because he himself used to be something of a costumed ne'er-do-well and understood how appealing the chance for redemption could be.

    currently the t-bolts are a government-run team headed by norman osborn and used to hunt down powered individuals in violation of the registration act, though. a couple of original members are still hanging around (by its nature it is a very continuity-heavy team), though since the status quo is about to change (like within a couple of months), we don't really know what direction the team will be going next.

    Servo on
    newsigs.jpg
  • BalefuegoBalefuego Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Zemo eventually turned "good" too, although in true Zemo fashion it was purely a matter of vanity

    Balefuego on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • ScooterScooter Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I only started reading Thunderbolts with the version of the team prior to the current one, pre-civil war, which consisted iirc of Songbird, Radioactive Man, Whizzer (or is it Speed Demon, I forget), the Beetle/Mark IV armor guy, Zemo, Swordsman, and the Atlas giant man. They were a geniune hero team, though there was some team conflict, Whizzer was working for someone and Atlas was a bit nuts. The team ended up breaking up with half the characters sort of vanishing, leaving Songbird, Rad Man and Swordsman.

    When CW started someone in government in charge of the team decided villains who registered were better than heroes that didn't, which is where Bullseye, Moonstone, Venom and Osborn come in, plus Penance so he could do penance-y stuff. But the new guys didn't actually want to become good guys, and they've been working to remove all traces of the original team so that they can wreck havok as they like.

    Scooter on
  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Do the X-Men have secret identities? I mean, they can't all be orphans, right, so surely some must have loved ones to protect.

    A lot of them don't wear masks, though.

    Robos A Go Go on
  • FaynorFaynor Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Cyclops is usually pretty strict about the whole codenames things, so it's presumable that some have maintained a degree of ambiguity. Peter is one of the only ones I can think of that might not be fully in the public eye.

    Faynor on
    do you wanna see me eat a hotdog
  • ServoServo Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited January 2009
    well, for an extremely long time (up until morrison's run on the series, in fact), the x-men were not publicly "out" as mutants (or, at least, people may have realized that the x-men were mutants, but not where they were based or who they were). xavier and the rest of the team had a cover for the world as teachers/students at a private school for the gifted.

    a big help for them in the way of secret identities is that "superheroing" isn't a part-time gig for them. they're mutants day in and day out and, as x-men, they're always working in that capacity in some way. they don't need a secret identity in the same way other heroes might.

    a lot of the x-men DO have families, in fact, but often what you'll find is that in a family with one mutant, there will be some more. colossus and magick, for example, or cyclops/vulcan/havok. in the cases where there aren't (kitty pryde, for instance), the parents were generally kept in the dark about their child's mutation unless it becomes really necessary for them to know, since sometimes family members reject people who turn out to be mutants.

    nowadays, though, with only a few hundred mutants left in the world, most of them are already known, if not publicly, than at least by the people who matter.

    Servo on
    newsigs.jpg
  • Gabriel_PittGabriel_Pitt (effective against Russian warships) Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Scooter wrote: »
    - and kill off Aunt May.
    They did that already, and the whole resolution was fucking perfect. It was one of my spider-man high points.

    Then they brought her back.

    I can't believe I'm still bitter about that.

    Gabriel_Pitt on
  • Screaming JazzScreaming Jazz Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Has Sam Keith done anything recently? I was reading through some old issue of Marvel Presents and I realized how much I dig his art.

    Screaming Jazz on
  • Garlic BreadGarlic Bread i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a bitch i'm a Registered User, Disagreeable regular
    edited January 2009
    He did Batman: Secrets and Batman/Lobo: Deadly Serious in the past few years

    I didn't really read Secrets, but I couldn't even get through the first (of two) issue of Batman/Lobo. It was awful

    Garlic Bread on
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    He was actually signed to an exclusive contract a while back, though I don't know if it's since lapsed.

    Munch on
  • DouglasDangerDouglasDanger PennsylvaniaRegistered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Do we have a thread for Incognito?

    Man Incognito was good.

    I really hope the protagonist can't fly. I'm guessing he can't, because of the roof-top leaping bits, which I really enjoy. The pulpyness also suggests he probably won't be a flyer.

    DouglasDanger on
  • ScooterScooter Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Do the X-Men have secret identities? I mean, they can't all be orphans, right, so surely some must have loved ones to protect.

    A lot of them don't wear masks, though.

    They used to, first there was the cover of the school, then there was the original version of X-Factor (where they pretended to be mutant-hunting humans). They've never had a specific "outing" moment I think (well, maybe Xavier did), but they've gradually become more well known. The government for sure knows who all of them are, and even if not everyone knows them off the top of their heads, there's probably a wikipedia page that lists a lot of em.

    Scooter on
  • DarkWarriorDarkWarrior __BANNED USERS regular
    edited January 2009
    I';d love to read the real-world X-Mens wiki page.

    Scott Summers
    Nailed a hot readhead, she became a god, died, came back again, nailed her more, she died, he nailed a hot blonde, has 2 secret brothers, a space pirate father and has like 2 future sons who have come back in time and a future daughter made of crystal and is constatnly being sought by Mr Sinister to help produce the ultimate mutant despite his power being optical blasts and thats it.[1]

    DarkWarrior on
  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    [The neutrality of this article has been disputed.] - Submitted by User:ApocalypseRoolz

    Wildcat on
  • VirralVirral Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Cassandra Nova outed the X-Men (Xavier in particular) during Morrison's Run. I had no idea it was still secret at that point, so when I read it for the first time I'm like "ok, why's this a big deal?"

    Virral on
    2vlp7o9.jpg
  • jeddy leejeddy lee Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    OK, so, in going through the 400 or so comics I inherited from my passed friend, after leaving them sitting for 2 years or so, I have determined there are some fairly big runs in there. Lots of early 90's mutant stuff. Boy were issues of comics much longer then. But of early 90's, the biggest chunks are of these series:

    X-factor (forgot issue #'s)
    X-force issues 1-40
    X-men issues 1-30 ish, missing like 2 issues, and then various following issues
    Uncanny X-men (forgot issue #'s)
    Silver Surfer issues 45-80ish
    Fantastic Four (about 50 issues between 350 - 450, has first appearance of Christoph Von Doom, and Dark Phoenix)

    Is any of this good to read? I like the 10 issues or so of surfer I've read so far. I started "X-men" 1991, with issue 1-3, and damn is it wordy, and I really don't care about the acolytes, but there are some good moments I suppose.

    jeddy lee on
    Backlog Challenge: 0%
    0/8

    PS2
    FF X replay

    PS3
    God of War 1&2 HD
    Rachet and Clank Future
    MGS 4
    Prince of Persia

    360
    Bayonetta
    Fable 3

    DS
    FF: 4 heroes of light
  • SatanIsMyMotorSatanIsMyMotor Fuck Warren Ellis Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Looks like they'd all be quite good actually.

    SatanIsMyMotor on
  • Robos A Go GoRobos A Go Go Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    If those are the Peter David issues of X-Factor, then they should be safe to read.

    And hey, a good number of those will probably be fun just for the nostalgia.

    Robos A Go Go on
  • jeddy leejeddy lee Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Yeah, that's what I figured. It has some late Claremont stuff which is fun, but can be a bit cliche. What kills me is how sketchy the artwork is. It's that early Jim Lee stuff that doesn't look solid, it looks like a bunch of scratchy lines. Also, being so used to the more recent characters, seeing nick fury attending a meeting with more ammo and grenades stapped onto him then rambo was really awkward. I will begin tackling them tonight!

    jeddy lee on
    Backlog Challenge: 0%
    0/8

    PS2
    FF X replay

    PS3
    God of War 1&2 HD
    Rachet and Clank Future
    MGS 4
    Prince of Persia

    360
    Bayonetta
    Fable 3

    DS
    FF: 4 heroes of light
  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I think Liefeld's art has aged kinda poorly. His proportions are all sorts of weird, and the shoulder pad/padded helmet/infinite pouches fetish is embarrassing.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • jeddy leejeddy lee Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Gambits shin guards and black cover-everything-but-your-face mask are embarrassing. Then again, pretty much 90% about Gambit is.

    jeddy lee on
    Backlog Challenge: 0%
    0/8

    PS2
    FF X replay

    PS3
    God of War 1&2 HD
    Rachet and Clank Future
    MGS 4
    Prince of Persia

    360
    Bayonetta
    Fable 3

    DS
    FF: 4 heroes of light
  • JoeUserJoeUser Forum Santa Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Has DC ever done a "man on the street" view of the world, like Marvel's Frontline and Marvels (and now Eye of the Camera)?

    JoeUser on
  • EvanderEvander Disappointed Father Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Is the Messiah Complex trade any good?

    My X-Factor Trade #5 (only game in town) just arrived today, leaving me to realize that they left out the three issues between #4 and this one, and those are only collected in messiah complex. I'm trying to figure out whether or order up a hardcover version of MC (to match all of my hard cover X-Factors) or to just get a beat up used softcover one, just so I can read those missing issues.

    Evander on
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I liked Messiah Complex. Finding Beast-centric stories these days is rare.

    Sentry on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • EvanderEvander Disappointed Father Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    it was beast centric, eh?

    any chance you can give me a little spoiler free explaination of what it is? I'm a little scared to just click on random google links this far after the fact.

    For the record, X-Factor is the only comic I keep up with anymore (but I used to read many of the core X-books, from a little after Fatal Attractions until a little after Onslaught)

    Evander on
  • VirralVirral Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    The Beast-centric story was Endangered Species rather than Messiah Complex (it leads into MC though).

    Messiah Complex is worth reading in it's own right though. The X-Factor stuff is really just a continuation of MC, but plenty of shit goes down that's relevant to the future of X-Factor so even if that's your only reason for reading it I'd still recommend it.

    For the requested summary: After House of M there have been no new mutants born and they are on the verge of extinction. The events of Messiah Complex are kicked off by the emergence of a new mutant child and the ensuing shitfight as everyone tries to get control of them.

    Virral on
    2vlp7o9.jpg
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    If I recall, there's two stories... the main story is the X-Men trying to get the first new Mutant baby born since M-Day, the second is a side-story involving Beast trying to undo M-Day and save the mutant race, which causes him to visit all the MU's evil geniuses.

    Doh... guess I was wrong. Sorry!

    Sentry on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • deadonthestreetdeadonthestreet Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Basically a new baby mutant is born and a bunch of different people/groups are after it

    It's fun

    deadonthestreet on
  • VirralVirral Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    You've just got the order wrong Sentry, the Beast story was done as backups in the leadup to MC, not during MC itself.

    Virral on
    2vlp7o9.jpg
  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    I did like that Beast story... but I actually liked Messiah Complex a lot too.

    Sentry on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • BalefuegoBalefuego Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    The Beast story was its own thing called Endangered Species, Messiah Complex was the big crossover that lead to the current new status quo and the launch of the X-Force and Cable books

    Balefuego on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • EvanderEvander Disappointed Father Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Alright, I settled on a shopworn hard cover edition. I felt that was a fair compromise

    Evander on
  • ManonvonSuperockManonvonSuperock Registered User regular
    edited January 2009
    Tell me about comics from places other than the states. I'm talking Eurocomics, Asian comics, I want to know what comes out of Mexico, South America, Africa, etc.

    Let's go on ahead and rule out manga, because there's more than enough information on it available. And I'm not really as interested in stuff like 'so-and-so's from Brazil and is currently working for Marvel.'

    I want to be introduced to what's happening or happened elsewhere in the world comics-wise.

    ManonvonSuperock on
This discussion has been closed.