Agents of SHIELD. Season 1 Discussion Thread

[Christopher]

I think Coulson is a tribute to this tendency in the comics.

It's a tribute to Clark Gregg's popularity. Remember, the audience that reads the comics is in the tens of thousands at best, while the audience that watches the movies is in the tens of millions. The movies and shows may crib ideas freely from the comics, but ultimately the decisions they're making are driven by the needs of the onscreen productions. Gregg was a breakout star of the MCU and they spun him off to a series-regular role, as has been done with other popular supporting characters in other franchises -- Rhoda, Lou Grant, Gomer Pyle, Chief O'Brien, Rodney McKay, Captain Jack Harkness, etc.

And yes, they had to bring him back to life to do it, but resurrecting dead characters due to their popularity is another trope that transcends comics (e.g. Angel and Darla on Buffy -- with the spinoff trope coming into play there too).

But, at the same time, I do think the Marvel Universe wants some bight to death. I don't think most characters will be resurrected. I think the rule is death is "usually" permanent.

If you mean the Cinematic Universe, I hope you're right. Where the comics universe is concerned, though, that ship's long since sailed. Character death has become merely a headline-grabbing gimmick that only sticks for a year or two before its inevitable reversal.

 

[Guy Gardener]

<<that hobbit fucking fame whore rapper>>

this reference eludes me, I'm afraid...

There was an episode of Southpark recently where everytime that Kanye West would attempt to explain that his wife was not a Hobbit, he would have to stop, reach for his cellphone, and ask Kim Kardashian to assure him that she is not a hobbit.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWPsGV3HpZQ[/yt]

The Aquaman thing is from a couple years ago.

Q: Do you like Fishsticks?

A: Then you are a gay fish.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Been doing a gradual re-watch and just finished the episode in which Skye got shot. Ward's "I'm not blaming myself" moment puzzled me when I first saw the episode, because it wasn't clear who he was blaming. The best guess at the time was Coulson, but I don't think it was explicitly stated on the show. Now we know that he would have been blaming Garrett at that moment.

 

[Reverend]

^Speaking of foreshadowing. Anyone remember when Garrett first turned up how he listed all of the people under his command that "the Clairvoyant" had crossed off? In hindsight it's clear that he was pruning SHIELD agents to get Hydra loyalists into position...that's pretty damn cold. Ruthless seems poor and inadequate a term.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'm getting to that one next....

 

[Turtletrekker]

That was addressed in "Turn, Turn, Turn". Coulson says something like, "Those men under you command, I guess they asked the wrong questions."

 

[RJDiogenes]

Peter David Brought Uncle Ben back for a while almost 10 years ago.

It was a mirror universe Ben that fell through a crack and eventually decided that every one was better off without him, and wandered off.

An alternate universe isn't the same thing. Eventually, Uncle Ben will be brought back as a cyborg Mafia hit man and will take over for Peter as Spider-Man permanently for a year, then have his own best-selling book called Uncle Sniper, then will be an obscure recurring character who is trotted out from time to time as a reminder of the depths to which the House of No Artistic Integrity will sink.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Peter sold his soul to Mephisto (not really, but it's the memories that the Illuminati plugged into his mind when they changed the physical and mental landscape of the northern Hemisphere with magic and science.) and it's nice that that act did stop Aunt may from being shot, but if he was going to bargain with the devil, and the price was his constant and undying love which he always felt for his wife, if I must be absolutely accurate, but what about all the other people that have died all he way back to Uncle Ben?

(Jean DeWolf was so hot in that little beret.)

 

[Forbin]

It's Marvel. The only person who stays dead is Uncle Ben. Heck, the comics' Peter Parker just spent the past two years dead (for tax purposes) and was recently brought back in time for the new Spidey movie.

And thank God that ridiculous, asinine, annoying, stupid, (adjective, adjective, adjective) storyline is over! I've been reading Spidey since the 60s and this is the first time I considered dropping it. I read Spidey 'cause I like Peter Parker, not Otto Fucking Octavious'.

(Sorry, had to get that off my chest).

 

[Christopher]

^If you could endure the Clone Saga, Maximum Carnage, and One More Day, you can pretty much survive anything. That's the thing about ongoing series like this: No matter how much you may hate a given storyline, it too will pass.

 

[PsychoPere]

Superior Spider-Man was just one part of a much longer Spider-Man story that Dan Slott has been telling - and it was a fantastic ride.

 

[bbjeg]

It's Marvel. The only person who stays dead is Uncle Ben. Heck, the comics' Peter Parker just spent the past two years dead (for tax purposes) and was recently brought back in time for the new Spidey movie.

And thank God that ridiculous, asinine, annoying, stupid, (adjective, adjective, adjective) storyline is over! I've been reading Spidey since the 60s and this is the first time I considered dropping it. I read Spidey 'cause I like Peter Parker, not Otto Fucking Octavious'.

(Sorry, had to get that off my chest).

I too wasn't a fan of Superior Spider-Man.

 

[Forbin]

^If you could endure the Clone Saga, Maximum Carnage, and One More Day, you can pretty much survive anything. That's the thing about ongoing series like this: No matter how much you may hate a given storyline, it too will pass.

They were tough too, but this was the worst, IMHO. For two years it wasn't even about the main frickin' character! Not even about a clone of the main frickin' character!
OY!!!

 

[Christopher]

I don't see what the identity of the main character has to do with the quality of the storytelling. After all, there are comics about many different characters. I haven't read Superior yet, but I've quite liked what I have read of Dan Slott's Spider-Man work, so I can't imagine it being as badly written as the ones I mentioned.

Then again, JMS wrote a lot of Spidey comics I really liked before writing the agonizingly bad and wrong "One More Day," but then, that was something he wrote largely under orders from his editor, and I don't think he was too happy about it.

 

[gblews]

And they now officially have me seriously suspicious of Simmons.

I just read a blogger stating the same thing based on the focus placed on Fitz' question and Simmons' answer. One thing to say; she is not HYDRA, can't you see she is adorable?

 

[Guy Gardener]

If she was something dangerous or effective, then falling out the back of the bus wouldn't have been so bothersome for her.

 

[Tom Hendricks]

If she was something dangerous or effective, then falling out the back of the bus wouldn't have been so bothersome for her.

She had to keep her cover

 

[The Old Mixer]

I'm thinking more that maybe she'll be a defector, rather than an existing mole. She wants to research the serum...Garrett wants to research the serum and could use someone with her skills to do it.

 

[Hartzilla2007]

I don't see what the identity of the main character has to do with the quality of the storytelling. After all, there are comics about many different characters. I haven't read Superior yet, but I've quite liked what I have read of Dan Slott's Spider-Man work, so I can't imagine it being as badly written as the ones I mentioned.

Doc Ock's a Gary Stu and a rather vile person when you actually stop to think about some of the stuff he is doing (and that says something since he basically murdered Peter Parker and stole his life to start this thing), Spidey's supporting cast are on stupid pills, and Earth's Mightiest Heroes are all rather impotent. Also the storyline is slow as Christmas with characters sitting on their asses when you would think they would be doing something for long stretches of time when they aren't running around in circles just to make this thing last 31 issues.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Gotta love decompressed storytelling.

I bailed on Marvel in the middle of Civil War-- after hanging on for no other reason than sheer loyalty for several years.