Except some of Mark's dialogue, which I can't believe made it past the editors. Otherwise,
Quasar may be joining the cast of "Avengers".
- Thread starter Satyrquaze
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Except some of Mark's dialogue, which I can't believe made it past the editors. Otherwise,
^I have to agree with you. Quasar is still probably my favorite comic book character anyway.
In regards to those "specilized outfits" I expect to see a blond SHIELD Agent wearing braclets that fire bolts of light... but that's about it. Agent Coulson may even order "Agent Vaughn" to do something onscreen.
In regards to those "specilized outfits" I expect to see a blond SHIELD Agent wearing braclets that fire bolts of light... but that's about it. Agent Coulson may even order "Agent Vaughn" to do something onscreen.
I hope that whoever is playing Abigail Brand has to dye her her green. I don't care if it's just a bit part or not. She needs green hair and honking cool sunglasses!!!
Mark Gruenwald's never been the best writer. He was always a workman, even when he was doing ambitious things. I mean, Squadron Supreme is like Miracleman For Kids (not to be confused with Kid Miracleman, who is definitely not for kids).
Except some of Mark's dialogue, which I can't believe made it past the editors. Otherwise,
Also, God, are the non-JLA-analogue characters lame.
(That said, mad respect for the Tom Thumb focus issue. The twist is Twilight-Zone-at-its-best brutal, and last panel is probably one of the most innovative endings in comic history. Which raises the question, why are all the best superhero deaths from cancer? That's counter-intuitive, isn't it?)
I'd be hard-pressed to think of a Gruenwald story-arc that wasn't ambitious.
True, but the Superia Stratagem is up there.
Mark did a lot of stories or arcs where he'd gather together characters with a common theme. The Race to the Moon in Quasar, for example. Both simple and ambitious: gather together as many speedsters as you can find and see who's fastest.
There was also the visit to the Stranger's world, where he featured a lot of obscure characters and provided a possible explanation why they hadn't been seen in years. And later, the "Capwolf" arc in Captain America, where a druid sent out a mystic call that gathered most of Marvel's feral or werewolf-related characters in one place, including some obscure ones. John Jameson, Jack Russell, Deadly Nightshade, Wolfsbane, etc. (Unfortunately that included the obligatory Wolverine appearance, but there you go.)
But the Superia Stratagem was just an excuse for a lot of obscure female characters to gather in one place ... because they're female. And therefore superior. Okay, whatever. (It was funny to see Paladin presented as a male chauvinist oinker in such company, but he was so over the top it ceased being funny after a while.)
The visit to AIM Island a year or so later was not much different, being an excuse to trot out a collection of obscure characters just to show them brawling with each other. At that point it was obvious Cap's book was turning into nothing but a nonstop slugfest. I don't know if that was due to editorial mandate, or because Mark's writing was going downhill. I dropped it a few months later. I don't think Mark was on the book much longer than a year after that. Anyone know what happened?
Mark did a lot of stories or arcs where he'd gather together characters with a common theme. The Race to the Moon in Quasar, for example. Both simple and ambitious: gather together as many speedsters as you can find and see who's fastest.
There was also the visit to the Stranger's world, where he featured a lot of obscure characters and provided a possible explanation why they hadn't been seen in years. And later, the "Capwolf" arc in Captain America, where a druid sent out a mystic call that gathered most of Marvel's feral or werewolf-related characters in one place, including some obscure ones. John Jameson, Jack Russell, Deadly Nightshade, Wolfsbane, etc. (Unfortunately that included the obligatory Wolverine appearance, but there you go.)
But the Superia Stratagem was just an excuse for a lot of obscure female characters to gather in one place ... because they're female. And therefore superior. Okay, whatever. (It was funny to see Paladin presented as a male chauvinist oinker in such company, but he was so over the top it ceased being funny after a while.)
The visit to AIM Island a year or so later was not much different, being an excuse to trot out a collection of obscure characters just to show them brawling with each other. At that point it was obvious Cap's book was turning into nothing but a nonstop slugfest. I don't know if that was due to editorial mandate, or because Mark's writing was going downhill. I dropped it a few months later. I don't think Mark was on the book much longer than a year after that. Anyone know what happened?
I vaguely recall liking the Superia Strategem.
I was twelve or so, if that makes a difference. -_-
Capwolf, not so much.
I just looked it up, and sweet Mary, did he write a lot of Cap books. 137, if my math is correct, with a one-issue break in... what, ten years? Wow.
I was twelve or so, if that makes a difference. -_-
Capwolf, not so much.
I just looked it up, and sweet Mary, did he write a lot of Cap books. 137, if my math is correct, with a one-issue break in... what, ten years? Wow.
Bear in mind for some of his time on Captain America he was also writing Quasar and editing the Avengers titles.
"Cosmos in Collision" was damn ambitious.
"Cosmos in Collision" was damn ambitious.
ReadyAndWilling
Fleet Captain
what's a quasar? is that something from thor's realm?
Quasar is a character in Marvel's cosmic books.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar_(Wendell_Vaughn)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasar_(Wendell_Vaughn)
I'm not sure we're using ambitious in the same way.
I've never read it, so maybe it is highly ambitious in execution, but the dry recitation I found of CiC doesn't seem as such, in comparison to something like Squadron Supreme. I mean, yeah, it sounds like rollicking good superhero space opera, but SS spoke pretty directly about Gruenwald's political and moral beliefs, as opposed to his belief that Quasar can stop a black hole.
Like, to compare to another cosmic writer: the Magus arc was ambitious (organized religion, and possibly any form of authority, is evil), the Death of Captain Marvel was ambitious (death is inevitable and nothing can stop it), but Infinity Gauntlet was not ambitious (Thanos beats up your favorite superheroes in entertaining ways*).
*Arguably, the point of the Gauntlet cycle may be a continuation of the Magus arc: with Adam Warlock (in all his iterations) realizing that being God is a bad thing, but Thanos Quest and Gauntlet itself are pretty much built entirely around Thanos killing people in increasingly bizarre fashion. Bitchin' fight scene with the cosmic entities, though!
Different kind of ambitious. I'd say Mark was an ambitious writer in the sense that he wasn't afraid to play around with the existing elements of the Marvel Universe. He'd take obscure characters and unfinished storylines, mix things together and come up with answers to old questions, or even game-changing results. Especially noticeable if other writers were willing to take the ball and run with it.
You know, expanding on the characters/concepts of Infinity and Oblivion, and how they relate to Death and Eternity. What the heck Deathurge is and why such a powerful being works for someone like Maelstrom. What the Ultimate Nullifier actually does. What the Stranger is, and what he isn't. How abstract or noncorporeal beings are able to take physical form (and why they appear differently every time they do). What the power levels of the various Marvel speedsters are (aside from just being "really fast"). Why almost no superheroes hail from the midwest. Why just anyone can't put on a mask and shield and call themselves Captain America. And so on.
Most writers either wouldn't bother with these questions, or would just give ambiguous answers. Mark went further. I'd call that ambitious. Not Alan Moore or Jim Starlin ambitious, but still.
You know, expanding on the characters/concepts of Infinity and Oblivion, and how they relate to Death and Eternity. What the heck Deathurge is and why such a powerful being works for someone like Maelstrom. What the Ultimate Nullifier actually does. What the Stranger is, and what he isn't. How abstract or noncorporeal beings are able to take physical form (and why they appear differently every time they do). What the power levels of the various Marvel speedsters are (aside from just being "really fast"). Why almost no superheroes hail from the midwest. Why just anyone can't put on a mask and shield and call themselves Captain America. And so on.
Most writers either wouldn't bother with these questions, or would just give ambiguous answers. Mark went further. I'd call that ambitious. Not Alan Moore or Jim Starlin ambitious, but still.
Oh, of course.
Although his subsequent appearance was a really bad idea. Sometimes Mark was a little TOO ambitious.
Although his subsequent appearance was a really bad idea. Sometimes Mark was a little TOO ambitious.
Theres the concept of a self-professed atheist being murdered by a madman attempting to ascend to what would basically be godhood and then resurrected by an entity that represents all that has and will ever exist. An entity that by all accounts could be considered a god.
Theres the concept of the ultimate sacrifice. Quasar manages to choose the greater good over his own life no less than three times during the story.
CiC dealt more with Gruenwald's spirtual and religious beliefs, added in with what it really means to be hero.
Well, the last time you saw him, he was being hailed as Buried Alien, the Fastest Man on Earth (of course!) and taken away by the Runner to compete in the Galactic Marathon.
Makkari started having second thoughts about this whole thing. Over the next thirty or forty issues, he parted ways from Quasar and started seeking out superfast alien races and learning their secrets. Eventually he showed up on race day and beat the time of the slowest entrant by running a qualification course. Hopping on one foot the entire time to show off. So the Runner let him in.
Buried Alien was also there, wearing a different red-gold uniform and calling himself Fastforward (ugh!). He, Makkari, the Runner, and about half a dozen others comprised the entrants. Most of the others were not human or humanoid, and I'm not going to describe the character designs other than to say that some of them were... questionable.
Well, as the race progressed, it appeared that one of the entrants intended to win by cheating and sabotaging all the others. Fastforward, being a hero, took out the cheater, but ultimately it was judged that that the whole thing was invalid and needed to be re-run. By that time, however, Makkari had 1) undergone a breakthrough that let him move so fast that he could no longer slow down enough to be perceived by anyone except other speedsters, and 2) had realized what he was giving up for his speed, and decided that it wasn't worth it. So he and Fastforward gave up on the race, and departed for parts unknown to find some way to slow him down. As far as I know, Fastforward wasn't seen again after that.
The whole story was problematic in that it was very much by-the-numbers (or more accurately, the tropes). One character gives up his chance to win Because It's The Right Thing To Do, and another does it Because It Wasn't Worth The Price After All. The villain was both bad Just To Be Bad, and also Because "They" Made Him Do It. Of course, The Whole Conflict Is Ultimately Unresolved.
And lastly, there's the fact that the original story featured a brief, touching tribute to another company's fallen character... and this one completely undid that by bringing back the character, giving him a new identity, and making a new story about him. I think the trope here would be How Can We Miss You If You Never Leave?
You know, this completely violates everything I said about Mark's writing earlier. Maybe he didn't actually write this one?
And it didn't help that the art was terrible, as all the art was near the end of Quasar's book.
Regarding Quasar: the more, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned.
I just want the mother fucking Vision.
Is that the John Byrne version?