Random Stuff X: Something Weird

[Mestiv he/him]

1 hour ago, Deliiiiiightful said:

No need to pray, it's ok

Is that movie good? I kinda want to see it, but Im super short on free time and I don't know if it's worth loosing 2h of sleep to see it

[Oversleep]

 

[The Honor Spren she/her]

3 hours ago, Mestiv said:

Is that movie good? I kinda want to see it, but Im super short on free time and I don't know if it's worth loosing 2h of sleep to see it

Yes

[Quiver he/him]

Okay, so, my thesis: a lot of the problems at Marvel comes from the fact that they don't have a plan for their line these days.

If you aren't familiar with comics, here's what I mean by that:

Marvel publishes books featuring the X-Men, Spider-man, the Avengers and the Inhumans. That would be their line.

But each of those books has its own series of books surrounding it; the X-Men have Uncanny, Astonishing, the solo Wolverine books. Spider-Man has Spider-Peter, Spider-Miles, and Spider-Gwen. The Inhumans have All New and Blackbolt.

I'm simplifying the number of spheres involved to illustrate my point, but Daredevil, the Fantastic Four and so on would also exist as options. 

The point is, a comic line isn't really a singular universe. It's a universe made up of dozens of little universes, co-ordinated under five or six or seven different editorial offices, which the reader is then told #itsallconnected.

The thing is..  I think at the moment, those individual universes are quite strong. But I notice that the line itself is less so, and I think that has a lot to do with direction.

Jump back to the first Civil War, and we see the direction of the Marvel Universe being dominated by a specific choice. Readers can see the entire period from Avengers Disassembled to the end of Siege as a collective metanarrative of the Marvel Universe. Yes, at times it was contrived; Secret Invasion is an appalling waste of a good idea, while Dark Reign was a fun concept predicated on the entire Marvel citizen population being unbelievably stupid...

But there was still a sense of clear purpose and meaning to these status quo and directions. It felt like books were being published to support the narrative of the universe.

These days...I don't think that's the case. We have individually strong franchises, but isn't any direction for the line as a whole. I think Civil War II highlighted that; the ending was supposed to push a status quo called "Divided We Stand"...but less than a month after ut's published, we have Monsters Unleashed (where every hero is working together), and teasers for the Secret Empire event this Summer, showing all of the heroes working together. 

Marvel seems unwilling to commit to a major direction for it's universe.

By contrast, the individual book lines are pretty strong. Regardless if how one feels about the idea, Hydra!Cap has resulted in Steve, Bucky and Sam's books co-ordinating to tell a massive story. The Spider-family continues to grow, with each book largely carving out it's own identities.

Two of the weaker lines of Marvel these days are X-Men and Inhumans, largely because their current directions are so bland...and yet, Resurrexion is right around the corner  to re-invigorate those franchises by pushing them in different directions.

And; I'm not saying Marvel should only publish connected titles. It's current crop of stuff is strong.. which is why Civil War II flopped so hard. Instead of a compelling  story shifting the moral centre of the Marvel Universe, we got a book which interrupted other books (which were doing well by spinning their own stories!) and ultimately produced a status quo which is receiving lip service at best, and being undone immediately at worst.

There's a saying, one has to have a status quo before you can break the status quo. The fact is, Marvel doesn't have a status quo these days. Indeed, they don't seem to even want one.They couldn't even really commit to the idea they were pushing so hard last year of a "Universe Divided". 

Heck, before Civil War II had ended, we had the reformation of the Ultimates...despite that team being torn apart by different alliances in Civil War II. Rather than giving a cohesive spine to the universe, it feels like the big status quo shifting events are getting to the point where tie-in will acknowledge them...then undo them as quickly as possible so they can get back to telling their story. 

And I can't blame them. like I said, their books are great! I've heard fantastic things about the Ultimates! Yet, if the big cinematic blockbuster event has no consequences, no reason to exist...why on Earth should we care about them?

By contrast... DC has a compelling universe spanning mystery. What is the Button, how did ten years go missing, and what does all this have to do with the Watchmen?

Their universes are still self-contained; you don't need to be invested in the ongoing narrative to enjoy their books.But fir those -like me- who crave an ongoing metanarrative, this is great. Rebirth has marked a creative and tonal shift for the universe in a way that matters...and in a way that promises a big storyline is coming towards us.

Rebirth forced the DC line to acknowledge it's history, move franchises forward (Teen Titans) and gave a tone for the books (with the arc word of "Hope").

Civil War II has...a generation divide, I guess, but not really?

Edited January 20, 2017 by Quiver

[The Honor Spren she/her]

@Quiver I found that interesting to read.  I don't really have anything to comment on it though, because I only know the MCU. (There are probably hardcore marvel fans who despise people like me . . .) I'm more of a webcomics kind of person, I guess.      乁(ツ)ㄏ  

Anyway, I got on here to ask if anyone else has ever come to the sudden realization that Oh wow, my younger sibling looks like they're going to be attractive in a few years, and then you just get jealous?

[+Slowswift]

Felix natalis, @Sunbird!  

[Orlion Blight he/him]

5 minutes ago, The Honor Spren said:

@QuiverQuivQuiverQu

Anyway, I got on here to ask if anyone else has ever come to the sudden realization that Oh wow, my younger sibling looks like they're going to be attractive in a few years, and then you just get jealous?

Don't worry! There's still time to sabotage their looks 

[Sunbird she/her]

Thanks, @Slowswift! It's been a pretty fantastic day.

[Delightful]

8 hours ago, Mestiv said:

Is that movie good? I kinda want to see it, but Im super short on free time and I don't know if it's worth loosing 2h of sleep to see it

It's very good; I've seen it twice, but I'm not gonna be a judge of your precious sleep

4 hours ago, Quiver said:

Okay, so, my thesis: a lot of the problems at Marvel comes from the fact that they don't have a plan for their line these days.

If you aren't familiar with comics, here's what I mean by that:

Marvel publishes books featuring the X-Men, Spider-man, the Avengers and the Inhumans. That would be their line.

But each of those books has its own series of books surrounding it; the X-Men have Uncanny, Astonishing, the solo Wolverine books. Spider-Man has Spider-Peter, Spider-Miles, and Spider-Gwen. The Inhumans have All New and Blackbolt.

I'm simplifying the number of spheres involved to illustrate my point, but Daredevil, the Fantastic Four and so on would also exist as options. 

The point is, a comic line isn't really a singular universe. It's a universe made up of dozens of little universes, co-ordinated under five or six or seven different editorial offices, which the reader is then told #itsallconnected.

The thing is..  I think at the moment, those individual universes are quite strong. But I notice that the line itself is less so, and I think that has a lot to do with direction.

Jump back to the first Civil War, and we see the direction of the Marvel Universe being dominated by a specific choice. Readers can see the entire period from Avengers Disassembled to the end of Siege as a collective metanarrative of the Marvel Universe. Yes, at times it was contrived; Secret Invasion is an appalling waste of a good idea, while Dark Reign was a fun concept predicated on the entire Marvel citizen population being unbelievably stupid...

But there was still a sense of clear purpose and meaning to these status quo and directions. It felt like books were being published to support the narrative of the universe.

These days...I don't think that's the case. We have individually strong franchises, but isn't any direction for the line as a whole. I think Civil War II highlighted that; the ending was supposed to push a status quo called "Divided We Stand"...but less than a month after ut's published, we have Monsters Unleashed (where every hero is working together), and teasers for the Secret Empire event this Summer, showing all of the heroes working together. 

Marvel seems unwilling to commit to a major direction for it's universe.

By contrast, the individual book lines are pretty strong. Regardless if how one feels about the idea, Hydra!Cap has resulted in Steve, Bucky and Sam's books co-ordinating to tell a massive story. The Spider-family continues to grow, with each book largely carving out it's own identities.

Two of the weaker lines of Marvel these days are X-Men and Inhumans, largely because their current directions are so bland...and yet, Resurrexion is right around the corner  to re-invigorate those franchises by pushing them in different directions.

And; I'm not saying Marvel should only publish connected titles. It's current crop of stuff is strong.. which is why Civil War II flopped so hard. Instead of a compelling  story shifting the moral centre of the Marvel Universe, we got a book which interrupted other books (which were doing well by spinning their own stories!) and ultimately produced a status quo which is receiving lip service at best, and being undone immediately at worst.

There's a saying, one has to have a status quo before you can break the status quo. The fact is, Marvel doesn't have a status quo these days. Indeed, they don't seem to even want one.They couldn't even really commit to the idea they were pushing so hard last year of a "Universe Divided". 

Heck, before Civil War II had ended, we had the reformation of the Ultimates...despite that team being torn apart by different alliances in Civil War II. Rather than giving a cohesive spine to the universe, it feels like the big status quo shifting events are getting to the point where tie-in will acknowledge them...then undo them as quickly as possible so they can get back to telling their story. 

And I can't blame them. like I said, their books are great! I've heard fantastic things about the Ultimates! Yet, if the big cinematic blockbuster event has no consequences, no reason to exist...why on Earth should we care about them?

By contrast... DC has a compelling universe spanning mystery. What is the Button, how did ten years go missing, and what does all this have to do with the Watchmen?

Their universes are still self-contained; you don't need to be invested in the ongoing narrative to enjoy their books.But fir those -like me- who crave an ongoing metanarrative, this is great. Rebirth has marked a creative and tonal shift for the universe in a way that matters...and in a way that promises a big storyline is coming towards us.

Rebirth forced the DC line to acknowledge it's history, move franchises forward (Teen Titans) and gave a tone for the books (with the arc word of "Hope").

Civil War II has...a generation divide, I guess, but not really?

You are a smart man. 

[Claincy he/him]

15 hours ago, Edgedancer said:

You're being assimilated into your online persona? Or maybe it was just late and your brain started shutting down.

Heh, my online and offline personas are deliberately very similar and at this point I identify pretty clearly with either name...and yeah, I was tired.

10 hours ago, Deliiiiiightful said:

I have, on occasion, almost referred to myself as Delightful. 

On a couple of occasions in the past I've come very close to signing off important work emails with Claincy instead of Colin.  You just get so used to using the other name.

[Quiver he/him]

@The Honor Spren Any Web comic recommendations? I'm more or less up to date on the small handful I read..

[Edgedancer he/him]

@Quiver You make good points. Really, the problem with Marvel seems to be that they seem to be milking the big events for the money instead of actually having a point.

[Delightful]

5 hours ago, Claincy said:

Heh, my online and offline personas are deliberately very similar and at this point I identify pretty clearly with either name...and yeah, I was tired.

On a couple of occasions in the past I've come very close to signing off important work emails with Claincy instead of Colin.  You just get so used to using the other name.

I once signed a shard message with my actual name and had a minor panic because Strangers On The Interwebz

[Oversleep]

27 minutes ago, Deliiiiiightful said:

Strangers On The Interwebz

Is this a band or a TV series...?

Edited January 20, 2017 by Oversleep

[Claincy he/him]

30 minutes ago, Deliiiiiightful said:

I once signed a shard message with my actual name and had a minor panic because Strangers On The Interwebz

Oops 

I don't make any secret of my real name at this point but my circumstances are a bit different.

[Delightful]

34 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

Is this a band or a TV series...?

Hahahaha it should be. I'm just referring to stranger danger/general internet safety.

[Oversleep]

20 minutes ago, Deliiiiiightful said:

Hahahaha it should be. I'm just referring to stranger danger/general internet safety.

Yeah, I know, I was just being silly

[Quiver he/him]

@Claincy @Deliiiiiightful

I've associated my online user names strongly with myself in the past... though oddly enough, I don't get that feeling with "Quiver". Maybe I was just young and impressionable

[Jedal he/him]

12 hours ago, The Honor Spren said:

@Quiver I found that interesting to read.  I don't really have anything to comment on it though, because I only know the MCU. (There are probably hardcore marvel fans who despise people like me . . .) I'm more of a webcomics kind of person, I guess.      乁(ツ)ㄏ  

Anyway, I got on here to ask if anyone else has ever come to the sudden realization that Oh wow, my younger sibling looks like they're going to be attractive in a few years, and then you just get jealous?

You could find pirated Marvel and DC comics online if you look up whatever comic you want and put online after it.

[Quiver he/him]

24 minutes ago, Jedal said:

You could find pirated Marvel and DC comics online if you look up whatever comic you want and put online after it.

Alternatively, heck out your local library. They probably have trade volumes of stuff in stock, and if they don't, you can probably order them in.

Or, even more alternatively, there is a service, Marvel Unlimited. I believe it has a big back catalog of older comics, with a service fee of $10 a month. I've never used it though, so can't vouch for content. 

[Edgedancer he/him]

1 hour ago, Quiver said:

Alternatively, heck out your local library. They probably have trade volumes of stuff in stock, and if they don't, you can probably order them in.

Or, even more alternatively, there is a service, Marvel Unlimited. I believe it has a big back catalog of older comics, with a service fee of $10 a month. I've never used it though, so can't vouch for content. 

Marvel paticulary (Image, Dc and other companies also but to a lesser degree) also tends to have discounts on Comixology rather regularly, so that's worth checking out.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Edgedancer

[Left he/him]

When you ask someone out without dying in the process. 

[The Honor Spren she/her]

7 hours ago, Quiver said:

@The Honor Spren Any Web comic recommendations? I'm more or less up to date on the small handful I read..

All the ones I'm about to recommend are on a site called Webtoon, but there's also an app that's free. Anyway, here's the comprehensive list of all the ones I like.

Spoiler

Fantasy

• Kubera
• Tower of God
• Flow (<-- This one's finished.)
• Hooky
• unOrdinary

Romance

• Miss Abbot and the Doctor 
• Siren's Lament

Comedy

• Bluechair 
• Live With Yourself
• Brutally Honest

Other Assorted Genres

• Fictional Skin
• Super Sonic Girl

 

[Oversleep]

12 hours ago, Quiver said:

@The Honor Spren Any Web comic recommendations? I'm more or less up to date on the small handful I read..

While I'm no Honorspren, I can also recommend. There's this guy I usually recomend: Koko.

Now, there are three links you can follow: Sawdust, A Quartz Bead and Stick in the Mud. (Sawdust is the earliest work and SITM is ongoing so there is some quality shift)

Should you choose Sawdust, you'd find a complete three chapters (around 150 pages in total?) of a story of four high-school friends. I do recommend. It's a little crazy. I can't even properly describe it.

Should you choose A Quartz Bead, you will find an over 200 page,quoth the author, "completed fantasy comic about a girl, a house and a talking shadow." Do recommend.

Should you choose Stick in the Mud, you will find an on-going (currently over 400 strips) comic about a "bar, drugs and monsters". Do recommend. Two updates a week. (It's mildly NSFW at times. Rarely but I figured I'd say)

So, all of them are good, two of them are completed, one is on-going. I recommend all of them. Go read it.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Oversleep

[Quiver he/him]

@The Honor Spren 

@Oversleep

Neat! Thanks! I...

Feel I should offer my own in tribute, but I have none. Much sad.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Quiver