Animalchandler

Thor: Disassembled is one of the greatest thor stories of all time, it goes deep into the thundergod like no other series ever dared to. Thank you. I've been looking to get it for a while. #6 was a little quiet...too quiet. But presumably now Odin will be back on earth now that Thor has zapped the whole world? After seeing Thor do that I'm thinking he's just probably shown he could take on almost any hero the MU has. And that means Wolverine.

If they do go the direction of looking at the myths more then I'd be even more impressed. I still need to pick up Thor: Disassembled anyone want to give me a quick review?

Right, so I went through the first 15 issues of NA with the intent of finding clues that would help out, and here are some ideas; In issue one, I do think it's Nick Fury hiring Electro - he's trying to set up a new team. This would make sense as it ties in with what Cap says about coming together because of fate (It's ironic as Fury is the cause of it all). Issue two, (and has already been mentioned) Cap says "I was on my way to a security conference in Washington DC and instead I've been-" Cap was redirected to the site by someone. Issue five, Wolverine gets a call by a villain called The Scorcher telling him that two mutates wanted to have him break Karl Lykos out of the Raft. Does Sauron have any specific abilities that the Skrulls would find useful or would need him back in The Savage Land out of the way? Issue six uncovers the fact that the American government have been mining vibranium using the mutates as slaves. The first thing that came to me wa that it could be possible that the Skrulls have agents within SHIELD that have created this operation to get as much vibranium as they can to build weapons and defenses (The idea of Skrull agents in SHIELD becomes more and more obvious the more you read). This would also explain why Yelena Belova attacks the team: I don't think she is a Skrull, but she IS following the orders of Skrulls whether she knows it or not. This issue also has a kicker: Tony discovers that SHIELD files have been tampered with when he compares them to the Avengers Mansion files - certain villains that were reported dead are actually alive and in the Raft (Silver Samurai being one of them). Now I thought about this and it could be that those villains are actually dead in which case the ones that escaped could be Skrulls or Skrulls have been hiding Villains in the Raft as muscle when the time comes (Or maybe to create a little chaos). Issue twelve, Lady HYDRA knows that both SHIELD and HYDRA are 'rotting' maybe due to the infiltration of the Skrull, LH "...more to the point the people who are really running them" SS "And who is that?" LH "I'll tell you once I know I can trust you again..." Another thing I noticed was the amount of prisoners that they said escaped changed quite alot, but I don't know if thats because other heroes picked them up. They are just some clues I picked up. Most are pretty straight forward, as far as they point to an invasion coming up, which we know already, but based on what I've picked up on, I've got these ideas.

Well didn't expect the gender swap, looks like Thor now WILL have to be dealing with the more evil gods of the pantheon. HURRAH! I know what you're saying about the whole deal with Thor, as the way that I understood it in the comics was that the Asgardians weren't technically Gods, rather just long lived people that were pretty strong, which I guess was decided on the fact tha it would be easier to tell stories if they could die. But the way that it's been written now you get the impression that there is still the threat in the fact that if people don't believe in them, then they don't exist. Which is good.

Man this Thor story is happening too slow for my liking - it needs to be out soon! It looks like Tony is still after Thor for some reason, I wouldn't be surprised if he has something planned for him at some point. Though I would've thought that Thor would be exempt from SHRA, in the same way Doc Strange is (Though he's still part of the NA, and breaking the law). The last thing I knew of the Thor Clone was it being on the operating table after it had killed Bill Foster, so I've assumed its still 'alive'.

Elektra was New Avengers 31

It's not like being a policeman because if you have superpowers, you HAVE to register and therefore are under the scrutiny of the government. Even if you choose not to join shield, the government has a say in what you do i.e NO super heroics. And technically, the Thunderbolts aren't really an extension of a post SHRA rehabilitation program, otherwise the team would contain heroes that had broken laws of the act, not villains. And the thing about the mask, whether it be brightly coloured or not isn't a waiver of privacy, in fact its the opposite. Wearing a mask is a way to differentiate the two characters of the same person and if that didn't matter to a hero, then he wouldn't wear one.

The way that I understood registration was that if you were a 'practicing' superhero or you had super powers then you had to be registered with the government and had to receive proper training, then if you wanted to you could join SHIELD. What I don't agree with is the fact that by joining a government initiative you effectively are told who the bad guys are and have to deal with them in the way that the government tells you to. The big example of how this breaks down is the Thunderbolts (It's the best book Marvel has at the moment IMO, but that doesn't mean it has to make sense). We know that Norman Osborne is a villain; it's in his character, thats who he is and yet he has been given amnesty, along with all the rest of the team, pardons, money, new way of life for when they retire etc. If we were to absolutely believe that the government created this act as a way to protect the whole country absolutely, then Norman wouldn't head the team, in fact the Thunderbolts wouldn't exist and villains would be forced to pay the debts they owe to society. The government has told the country that the Thunderbolts team, although they have broken the law (In some cases beyond the limits of rehabilitation) are NOT the enemy (They are marketed as heroes - the toys, tv adverts, "Who wants to be a superhero?") and that the people that have saved lives and upheld good morals are in fact breaking the law if they continue to do so. In some ways the Thunderbolts are just as outside the moral compass of the government as much as the unlicensed superheroes, its just that being a Thunderbolt isn't against the law. I think that the SHRA, although sounds good in that it is a system to protect the heroes and the public essentially is a way for the government to take control of the superhero population and use them for its own needs. As a result of that it means that they are controlled by government priorities, legislation, policies etc, rather than their own moral judgment (Which has to be worth something, as they wouldn't be superheroes - they'd be villains otherwise). If a hero is told to do something that is against their moral judgment and thus not within the interests of the government then they are disobeying orders and are liable for their own convictions. Also if you registered but didn't join SHIELD you would still be under scrutiny. I wouldn't want that in my life. Aunt May being shot wasn't a result of the SHRA is true enough, but Nitro exploding at Stamford wasn't a result of heroes not being 'trained' properly. He exploded because he had no disregard for the lives of those around him and if they had been trained it wouldn't have stopped him killing all those people.

They both have the scream of BB, so I don't know. It may be tied up as to when BB was switched in the main story. I think what the interesting thing is that it seems that the Skrulls are able to produce the actual powers of characters, so if they reproduced the powers of say, Prof X or Emma Frost (and it seems likely that they could) then they are able to take control of minds as well, maybe even to the extent that Prof X etc can be fooled. Another thing I have heard is that Mr Fantastic is also a Skrull, which would explain his enthusiasm in CW and making 42 - a prison for the superheroes of the earth. Though again, I don't read FF, so I don't know if there has been anything to back up or disprove that theory. I still think Nick Fury knows all about what's going on, and thats why he went into hiding, unable to trust anyone 100%

Just read New Avengers Illuminati, and so it turns out that Black Bolt is a Skrull!!! didn't see that coming, though I didn't read his Silent War limited series, so it may make more sense. I knew that one of them had to be a Skrull, though didn't really know which. The Professor said that the Skrull's mind was either wired to think he was Black Bolt, or that they have found a way to get round his telepathy, but then I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Obviously they have all become hugely suspicious of each other, so I'm not sure if the team has now disbanded or not. Was cool to see Namor take out the Skrull though. The other thing I noticed was that one of the two Skrulls that appeared had a Thor style hammer and the other had skin like Colossus - could this mean that they also are Skrulls? - remember Bendis said that we should pay close attention to characters that had been resurrected? Does that mean they are Skrulls, or that they are targets for swapping with Skrulls?. Mr Fantastic said that it wasn't likely that Black Bolt had been swapped when they were held captive on the Skrull ship...so where is he? Looks like this thing has begun - really looking forward to it next year!

My top five marvel comics (616) at the moment IMO: 1: Thunderbolts - Paranoid, delusional, schizophrenic, manic depressive, power hungry super villains working for the good of the country. What more could you ask? This is a really good book to be reading at the moment with this team; Norman Osborn written as he should be written, C + D list unregistered super heroes going up against them and losing, venom eating people, various back stabbings, and all played out as an openly 'good' hero team. I'm loving it. 2: New Avengers - All the best Marvel heroes in one team, as it should have always been, massive story arcs, tight scripting, trademark Bendis shocks and hints to stories, multi-layered, action where it's due, and brilliant art at the moment. 3: Daredevil - Matt Murdock living in the 'real' world having just clawed his way out of one major disaster falls right back into another. What I really like about this title at the moment is that Brubaker is pulling up all of Daredevil's rogue's gallery (even the more dubious ones - the matador etc) and making them genuinely difficult foes for DD to fight. Another thing that I like about this title is that it has less 'colour' and more grit to it. 4: Thor - All the right ideas about how a God can really walk among men, theological dynamics and Norse Mythology. This Thor relates to the man without a home or a meaning, and is alive because man believes in him. 5: Ghost Rider - Harsh, dark humour, desperation, relentless, sheer will of character (The Devil really, really messes Johnny about), brilliant ideas and brilliant artwork. This is my 5. Have fun thinking about your own five. Oh and wooden spoon award goes to any spiderman book thats on the market at the moment; biggest Marvel franchise does the one thing that he's so desperately trying not to do for 40 years over the space of about 3 issues, runs around for months on end doing nothing, feeling sorry for himself and pissing readers off. Thanks.

Thor totalled Iron man's armour, and Tony had to have a replacment made, so I don't think it was a Skrull. Also, surely extremis would be able to detect whether his armour was a Skrull or not?

Yeah I assumed it was Loki they were talking about, as you can't have Thor without Loki. The warrior woman in the defenders was Valkyre, who was also from Asgard. In Norse Mythology there was more than one Valkrye who would go to where battles had been fought and take the souls of worthy warriors to Valhalla. Another woman it could be is The Lady Sif who was an actual Asgardian God. Thor had some children by her in the myths. She was pretty hot in the comics Also, I also think it was Njord who was God of the sea (Ship enclosure). Aegir was the guy that was a sorceror, or king who went to Asgard and sat in the great hall and listened to the stories about the Gods.

Yeah Thor's a God whether he has his hammer or not - it was destroyed at one point, so he can go without it. Heimdall is the god that protected bifrost bridge - the bridge that linked Asgard to Midgard (Earth), hence the angry man in New Orleans having the spirit of Heimdall in him. I think there was around 12 'main' Gods in Asgard, but thats based on my Nordic Mythology, not my 'Stan Lee Nordic Mythology' (There are differences). The warriors 3 aren't in the original myths, but I do quite like them, so it'll be good to see them back.

Yeah I liked the idea that Donald Blake talks about;- that the gods exist only because humans believe in them, rather than the other way round - which is sort of how the whole norse mythology worked in the first place... I assumed that the book was set after WWH, as Tony is free, but I guess it could be before. I'm looking forward to getting his book running; getting the relationships back, the villains, the asgardians etc. I've never really been interested in Thor in the past, but ever since he was in Ultimate Avengers I've had an interest, but not had the chance to, what with him being 'dead' Made me wanna catch up anyway. He was angry though, wasn't he? ol' goldilocks

Well I'm glad that Thor has had a chance to go toe to toe with Iron man after what was done to him during CW, and Thor was justified in doing so. It pointed out that really, when it comes done to it, Tony essentially is just a man in a suit or armour with his Extremis and has not a hope in hell of really being a threat to Thor. And Thor made sure Tony knew that. It's only been three issues in but I really am enjoying this book, and it feels like Straczynski has a good way of looking Thor as a character. Plus it was just amazing to see Tony get totally beaten.

Oh yes it was the Other - my mistake. I really hope they don't bring Gwen back - it would be lazy storytelling for the sake of a 'shock storyline'. And the thing is that the death of Gwen Stacey story is a really good story, even by today's standards. It was bad finding out that Norman Osborne did the dirty with her and had two children with her; just a way to cash in on a good Spiderman story. I thought Iron man had some sort of 'spider - sense inhibitor' that dulled it, so that he could attack Peter without him knowing.

I agree! considering he's the flagship character, he's disappointing at the moment. I think I heard somewhere that JQ wants Peter Parker back to how he was before; on his own, struggling for work etc like in the old days, but the whole CW and then OMD etc just seems a little redundant if he is going to end up just how he was in the 'old days'. And unless we're getting some good story telling, and a Peter Parker that respects what has happened to him during the past year. I'm not sure that I would continue to read the book if they are going to three Amazings and month and all the writing we are getting is pap! Also, what happened to Spidey's stingers in his arms? he got them in 'The One' and now it's as if he hasn't got them, along with the other 'upgrades' he got during that storyline. Another thing that bothered me was that during the same storyline, Peter's spider sense was heightened, and told Tony about it when he was brought back to life, and yet during the CW tie ins Spidey says that the only person that knows about his spider sense is Mary Jane. Writers really should read the previous writers work if they are to carry on with the series. You know I'm probably gonna writ a song about this, then hand it to My Chemical Romance, or Fallout Boy - only they know the colours of my mind. HA! God's bread it makes me mad!

So I read part 5 of 'Back in Black' and was quite let down, actually I was majorly let down. Seriously, what is going on in this spidey book? I started to read ASM when the CW kicked off because I knew that whatever was going to happen, it was going to really affect Peter's life, and it did really affect his life; unmasking, on the run, changing sides, Aunt May, New Avengers etc - Hell if there's one person that the Marvel universe has $hit on from a great height it's Peter Parker, and don't get me wrong - Spiderman is one of the most, if not the most dynamic of all Marvel's characters (The other being Wolverine, naturally), but I put down part 5 and thought "Well what's next?". This is how I view the general trend of the comic book history for the past 70 years: Creation of the 'superhero' Saddling of the horses to pull the bandwagons WW2 (Captain America Needs you!) "Good Morning starshine! The world says Hello!...Super...who?" "Nobody will be able to crack this Comics Code!" Stan the man gets struck by lightning (Will later become the man that single handedly saves the universe) Marvel comics creates the icons (As is documented) Status Quo (The english band - google it) is asked if their band name can be used as a euphermism to mean 'the norm'. They agree, and so it occurs (The Status Quo, that is) Then comic creators get itchy around the late 80's/90's to change things - Peter Parker/Ben Reilly, Johnny Blaze/Dan Ketch, Robin/Robin, Superman sneezes and loses his powers, and dies, onslaught kills a load of superheroes etc Then people realise that things aren't right with the world and things get changed back. Then Spiderman - the everyman of superheroes unmasks himself, Captain America gets shot and is killed and it turns out that if the say the word 'crisis' enough times, it creates another 51 worlds to go with the one we already have, which also happens to be the title of the song that Batman releases when he's in his 'I'm still with it phase' at the age of 59. The point is (and there is one) is that comic book trends nowadays seem to be that a writer can throw anything at a character which will change their lives forever (oh yes it does), and then someone six month down the line (After all the tie ins have finished) comes up with another idea that will put them through it again, without letting us as the reader see the character be who they are after learning from the first incident. This creates abit of a confusion, or too much change, or plain silliness and thats never good. I guess comics are fast paced - it's part of the action, but not letting a character (Or universe - I'm talking to you DC) breath on their new roles hampers the overall natural development and sheer impact events have on characters. Good ideas by all means, but delivered at mach 3? The irony is (And there is some) is that I still pick up the books because I can never get enough of Superheroes, as do the majority of other comic readers and enthusiasts. Alec Guinness would have something to say about that I'm sure!

Isn't the Doctor's female arch nemesis called 'The Rani'?

I thought it was a homage to the spiderman/Mary jane kiss from the film when I first saw it, but it could be the other way round as well.

Someone mentioned Tony Stark knowing all about the Skrull invasion, and using the CW to bring them out into the open, which sounds like something Tony would do, but then again he was part of the Illuminati that was captured after the Kree-Skrull war. Spider woman could be taking the Skrull to Nick Fury and if he knew about this whole thing to begin with, it would explain alot; Nick wouldn't want anyone near him if he knew there were dopplegangers running around. The other thing could be that none of the main players in the CW were Skrulls at all; they were just waiting behind the scenes while all the humans divided themselves and beat the crap out of each other and then take over.

Yep. Its a pleasant surprise considering the X men CW tie ins were so shoddy. Looks like Dr Strange has something in store for the Hulk, maybe get in touch with Banner through the people that are closest to him?

Yeah it was pretty cool to see Hulk come and throw his weight around. Once again Tony Stark takes the responsiblilty of the world on his shoulders to take on the Green Goliath, while telling everyone to stay back. Yeah thanks Tony... Maybe the Hulk has now knocked some sense into him. I've never really had the interset to pick up a Hulk book until this series, so I don't really know alot about the Hulk from recent years, but I'm looking forward to the carnage that he's gonna bring. I actually enjoyed the X men tie in, even though I was abit confused as to how the Hulk knew that Prof X was one of the Illuminati that made a decision on the Hulk's trip into space (Even though he wasn't there when the made the decision) - Should've been up earlier that morning Charles... Maybe he voted by proxy? All the way from the Shi'ar? Another point to this is when the Illuminati were captured by the Skrulls, did all of them return to earth?

Which trade volume is it that DD scrapes the bullseye onto Bullseye's head? I want to jump with glee while I read it.