Marvel Comics

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Fall of the Mutants through the Dissolution and Rebirth story, so like 30ish issues. I don't think they leave the Outback setting until like issue 250, and then they don't really have a proper status quo again until the 280s. And then Claremont pretty much wrapped up.

In the 260s things were really weird. The book was almost a Forge solo for a few issues. Wolverine and Jubilee most of the rest of the time.
 
I remember one of the very last Xmen stories I really liked was like a three issue story in the Savage lands, where Magneto and Rogue of all people get it on briefly. I think Nick Fury was there for some reason?
 
Did he use protection so she wouldn’t get his powers?

Ka-Zar just cockblocked them

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I hated that Madeline was a clone but dug her as a character, maybe that's why the clone shit bothered me?

My favourite X-Men comics around the Australia period were usually the ones like where Dazzler and Jubilee go to a mall and get in trouble for one issue. 'Filler' issues I'm sure most viewed them were the ones I dug the most as they were usually fun or darker and character-based. One reason I loved the vignette stories in Classic X-Men (which they finally collected all in one book!), along with John Bolton's great artwork.

That was one of the reasons I liked Morrison's run, less for the epic battles, more for the mutant teens fucking up stuff.
 
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Just in case you ever wondered if it was a real comic...

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I loved Nova back in the day. The villain he and Spidey fought in that issue wasn't really worthy of them imho.
 
While Iron Man and Cap were having their Civil War, Nova was saving the Galaxy. I loved the Annihilation storyline. One of the few storylines in recent years I checked out
 
And the Thing went to France. Best story from the Civil War era.

I didn't read anything with Civil War outside of the What If? about the Annhilation Wave making it to Earth, and Cap & Tony put aside their petty differences to save humanity. I saw the movie version of course, but I have no interest in the storyline in the comics
 
In a nushell, Ben is so disgusted by how the heroes on both sides are behaving, he leaves the States and heads to Paris, which is probably the most relatable reaction to Civil War from any Marvel character.

In Paris he ends up meeting with a group of Parisian heroes who ask him for help against a French version of the Mole-Man, but not till after lunch, because this is Paris and you have to have a proper sit down lunch, there are priorities after all. It's all glorious Silver Age, and just a contrast from the mess in New York, that Ben shed's a happy tear.
 
So I guess the question now is what happens to Diamond. I have no idea what their financial situation looks like, but if they have a lot of debt, it's not impossible that they just might decide to call it a day, which could make things precarious for the various indy publishers, and create a lot of extra hassle for comic book shops.

If they decide to keep going, they'll no doubt, after downsizing and streamlining their process, refocus on becoming the one-stop distributor for anything not Marvel or DC, with perhaps a long-term eye toward eventually wooing back the Big Two.

If Image, Dark Horse, Boom or Dynamite ever find a different distributor, that will almost certainly put the final nail in the coffin.
 
I mourned when the symbiote costume became evil and venom. So wish Spidey had stuck with it.

  • Doc Strange- favorite superhero
  • Very much enjoy Dead pool.
  • Old Man Logan with the hick-incest Bruce Banner was awesome.
  • Always loved the Punisher. Maybe HE should have gotten the symbiote
    • Whoa that would have been amazing.
They did do it!

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So I guess the question now is what happens to Diamond. I have no idea what their financial situation looks like, but if they have a lot of debt, it's not impossible that they just might decide to call it a day, which could make things precarious for the various indy publishers, and create a lot of extra hassle for comic book shops.

If they decide to keep going, they'll no doubt, after downsizing and streamlining their process, refocus on becoming the one-stop distributor for anything not Marvel or DC, with perhaps a long-term eye toward eventually wooing back the Big Two.

If Image, Dark Horse, Boom or Dynamite ever find a different distributor, that will almost certainly put the final nail in the coffin.

Yeah pretty crazy news. The article said that Diamond will still be a wholesaler to retailers, and that they’d still be working wih Marvel in some capacity, but it wasn’t entirely clear how.

I’d think that this is certainly a bad sign for Diamond. They lost DC and now Marvel....and the provider they lost Marvel to already works with the bulk of the remaining comics publishers for the paperback market to bookstores.

I mean, I’m just some schlub, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Penguin/Random House expands to other publishers if things go well with Marvel.
 
As it turns out, some comic book shops already have an account with Penguin to get their non-Image trade paperbacks and OGNs (Image, it seems, is Diamond-exclusive). Diamond's discount is slightly higher than what Penguin is offering (depending on how much you order), but apparently Penguin doesn't charge for shipping and offers free returns, which Diamond doesn't. Also, if you call up with a complaint or problem, they have an actual person who answers who does actual customer service for you.

It wouldn't surprise me if companies like Dark Horse, Boom and Dynamite aren't already on the phone with Penguin to see if they'll carry monthly comics for them in addition to TPBs and OGNs. At the very least, this may give them some leverage to renegotiate with Diamond.

Also. apparently Marvel's TPBs and OGNs are already distributed through another company, Hatchett, for delivery to actual bookstores. Assuming the transition to using Penguin goes smoothly, I would guess that Penguin eventually takes over that function, as well.
 
I’m surprised Diamond lasted as long as they did.
Years ago Diamond was in a precarious financial situation, and then The Walking Dead blew up. Because of their distribution deal with Image, Diamond made a ton of money and dragged itself out of the hole it was in.

back in the day there were a number of articles about it, but nowadays all I can find is comments where it says The Walking Dead “helped” Diamond. It’s like people don’t want to admit dumb luck saved Diamond back then, or what’s going to happen once The Walking Dead stops being a money maker for them.
 
Image had a good deal with Diamond that was started in the 90s during their big heyday. The biggest thing Image got out of the exclusivity is premium product placement in the catalog--each book in Image had a full-page description. That was good for both parties when Image was really big, but right now it's probably one of the main reason some indie image books might get more exposure than the other publishers--not sure if it's that good for Diamond, as Image is now kind of a long tail publisher--lots of indies, very few big hits like The Walking Dead.

I wonder if the new distribution will end up accelerate the phasing out the 32 page periodical format. It's been still going ever since the direct market started, but the economics make little sense now. DC just updated some books to a $5.99 price point. I have to think maybe the distributors might start encouraging certain types of books over others from the publishers. We'll have to see.
 
DC just updated some books to a $5.99 price point.

i actually was intrigued enough to get back into monthlies from DC recently, but paying $5,99 (it may even have been higher) when I just want to read one story in an anthology just isn’t worth it to me.
 
As the years have gone by, I’ve been buying more TPB anyway, as I don’t have to make more runs to the comic shop, I don’t accidentally miss any issues in a storyline, ease of storage, and the price is just easier to swallow.
 
On Comixology right now they have the original Howard the Duck collections on sale. Would suggest taking advantage if you're curious as they are usually pretty expensive. I'm a fan of Gerber so I'm grabbing the first volume.

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And not Marvel but Duck related, they also have the Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck comics on sale, including Fantagraphics wonderful reissues of Carl Bark's classic Duck comics. I have to restrain myself from buying all of them.

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So I picked up the first issue of the Heroes Reborn mini. It doesn't deal with an alternate Earth, as I initially assumed, but rather the main Marvel Earth whose timeline has been tampered with and altered. Specifically, the Avengers never formed, and instead the primary hero team is the Squadron Supreme of America. No indication yet who is responsible for the changes - Kang is always a possibility, of course, but there are other beings and entities who might also have pulled it off.

More details in spoiler block:

Blade is our narrator and POV character, and is (seemingly) the only person who knows something's wrong, as he remembers the way the Earth is supposed to be. The Avengers never formed, which has ripple effects for several other characters. Jennifer Walters never became She-Hulk, Robbie Reyes never became Ghost Rider, Carol Danvers never encountered the Kree and gained super-powers, and Wanda Maximoff never reformed (and gained super-speed after the death of her brother).

We see five members of the SSA - not certain yet if there are more or not - Hyperion, Nighthawk, Dr. Spectrum, Blur, and Power Princess. Hyperion comes off very much as Silver Age Superman, Nighthawk has what looks like the 70's version of the costume, but seems to draw on both the classic SS version (we see him around Washington, D.C. so he might be a politician) and the Supreme Power version (i.e. he's black), Dr. Spectrum looks like the classic version of the character, Blur is wearing the Speed Demon costume, and unlike the most recent Blur is white, and Power Princess we don't get much on, but is apparently tied to some of the gods of the MU.

As for the Avengers, Thor is a drunkard in denial (most of the gods being dead), Tony Stark never took shrapnel to the chest, and Hulk was banished to the Negative Zone (along with the Spirit Of Vengeance and the Starbrand). No mention of Hank Pym or Wasp, which is conspicuous in its absence.

A nice touch is that, in some ways, this world is better than the main Marvel Earth - Latveria has had recent free elections, and there are no other vampires (as far as Blade can tell).

The issue ends with Thor seeing his hammer, and Blade tracking down the frozen body of Captain America...
 
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We briefly discussed House of X in another thread and this Twitter thread suggests to me that what I really dislike in a lot of modern superhero comics art is the digital colouring.

The art in House of X I thought was fine and even quite good in spots due to the breadth of imagination but this looks just so much better to me, it is clearer and the drawing sings more.

 
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This one page completely invalidated Civil War of having *ANY* meaning. I swear I was ranting about the greatness of Annihilation and how stupid Civil War was by comparison - and to have them happening simultaneously my assumption was that Annihilation would have been the rallying point to put an end to Civil War... And to have nearly the entirety of Earths' heroes not have anything to do with it, but then to be left out due to their own petty squabbling and not even know about it (you know... when the Avengers fully participated in the Kree-Skrull War).

Marvel completely dropped the ball on this. And frankly I was never a big fan of Civil War in how it was written. Conceptually - fine, but dangerous, ultimately they totally blew it.
 
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