Re: Secret Invasion Discussion (Spoilers)
Have you guys read Dark Avengers #4? Boy is Venom gonna get it!
I thought it mildly amusing the way he kept pleading with Bullseye, but I really don't think Bullesye was kidding... I don't think so at all.
And what's with the whole flirtatious act that Moonstone [Ms Marvel] is putting up?
I liked this issue... a lot. One of my best Marvel reads since Civil War #1.
Scar - what's the deal with the final scene... why did Norman break a sweat?
Actually wasn't big on this issue. I thought it was by far the weakest DA issue thus far. BMB fires on all pistons when he's writing with a purpose in mind, with an ultimate goal being striven towards. He tends to hit snags when there's a lot of time between point A and point B and he needs to supplement filler. I thought the dialogue was a little cheesy and petulant at times. I shouldn't see Osborn saying "Yea...", "Well...", "What did you...?", and "Right. Well...", "OK, well...", and "We--Hey--we..." among other things. It just seemed like the dialogue was written for Doom to explain things and then for the Dark Avengers to bicker like teenagers in study hall. Ultimately it made everyone look ignorant and stunted. The dialogue was where this issue really hit a full-on snag for me that I hadn't experienced yet in Dark Avengers, a series which I've been thoroughly enjoying. I certainly hope future issue arcs don't follow this model.
Another thing that REALLY took me out of this issue and was the nail in the coffin for me personally, was what happened to Morgana. Now this could just be because I'm such a paleontology nerd, but when she was transported back to England, 1 Million BC, where a rampaging T.rex is chasing a startled tribe of neanderthals... no. I'm sorry, but no. There's just NOTHING right about this scene, and it makes the science behind Jurassic Park III look dogmatic theory dredged from scholarly journals.
1.) We have no evidence of overwhelming neanderthal populations in England at any point, and NONE prior to 600,000 BC.
2.) Tyrannosaurus rex was exclusively North American and died out around 65,000,000 B.C.
3.) Finally and most importantly, dinosaurs and humans NEVER coexisted. Ever.
Epic fail on the part of BMB here. How this last unabashed inaccuracy, which any elementary school student can point out, made it into the story is beyond me. I would have expected more from BMB.
Perhaps the only part that I really liked here was the conclusion when the Sentry mysteriously reappears. It engenders the question, how can you even attempt to leash a man who simply can't be killed? ...at least not by any fathomable means known to man. The Sentry doesn't need to eat, drink, or sleep, and is someone who managed to survive being blown to atoms by Morgana (which as far as we can tell from the story thus far is what happened). The panel with the Sentry staring down the approaching Avengers is very powerful. Norman is rattled. It's the first time in a LONG time that we've seen something that makes him perspire in fear; the only other thing I can think of was when he became aware that his "greener" nature was becoming increasingly dominant... eventually leading to him embracing it but then pushing it under the rug to keep a grip on power. He is truly, completely afraid; to such a degree that I would even say at that moment he is terrified of Bob. On that page I found more meaning than all of the dialog packed into the issue. The realization dawns on Norman in that instant that this isn't someone he can control, at least not successfully for long. We're going to see the Sentry emerging as a more and more prevalent and powerful figure.
The question to which we do not yet know the answer is, in that singular frame is Norman afraid of the Sentry... or the Void? He had believed himself to have put Bob on a leash, but presumably the Void is the man in the shadows who Norman has been trying to convince Bob doesn't exist in order to cow and possibly mentally suppress the Void, "vanquishing" him in a fashion. Just speculation, but I wonder if Norman looked at Bob and worried that his plan had come unglued, that the Void may have become aware of his machinations. If so, that's not an enemy Norman can even begin to contemplate facing. A lot wrapped up on that one simple page, and a lot that's going to have people talking. The only redemptive page of the book for me.
Immensely provocative.
I think Osborn was sweating because Sentry looks pissed and, as Bullseye said, who can stop him?
For me it is because Bob's expression is so very hard to read emotionally which makes it the most terrifying. It seems serene. A calm that begs many questions; is he calm because he is glad to have returned though not surprised at the outcome, or is he calm because he knows that no one, not a single soul from any place or time, can vanquish him? And if it is the latter, does that factor in an awareness of what Norman's doing, and a more sentient role for the Void? Very, very good writing from BMB, and ironically it's when he doesn't write for the characters to say anything at all.
Again, I really did feel that the dialog seemed rushed and infantile in this issue.
I'm quite surprised Bullseye is now this force to be reckoned with all of a sudden... I mean Venom pleading with Bullseye? Back in the day, that'll never have been the case.
Any thoughts on Moonstone's flirting? never knew she had the hots for Marvel boy... and Ares, was that just morbid curiousity or is he really into Ms Marvel [who wouldn't be, she's hot!!
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I've got to pick up that Thunderbolts issue you mentioned... what's the issue number please?
Bullseye's threat doesn't surprise me in the slightest. If you don't want to go back to Bullseye's more infamous Daredevil appearances, I would highly recommend him in his Thunderbolts issues. The man can kill practically anyone if left unfettered, and he's well aware of it. It's not for nothing that he's known by the appellation of the world's best assassin.
The pleading here can be thought of as done by Gargan, not the Venom symbiote. Were Venom speaking at that moment, he likely would have simply reared up and attempted to devour Bullseye on the spot when Bullseye proffered his threat. Matt Fraction recently described Venom as a force of nature, a creature akin to a shark. I feed my piranhas live prey every other day, but I know if I stuck my fingers in and wriggled them around tantalizingly that my hand would emerge minus a fingertip at least. You can point Venom to a target and simply say, "Soup's on." Bullseye and Venom are very similar in that respect. You can't control them, but you can unleash them. When the symbiote inside Gargan grows hungry, he becomes more animal than man and seeks out blood to slake his thirst.
Thunderbolts 131; I am still stunned that Osborn was able to overwhelm Deadpool.
I'm not at all. Deadpool is a tough SOB, but Norman isn't a neophyte. It's important to remember just who he really is, and that a lot of people underestimate him thinking that because he's walking around in a suit and tie, that makes him a different man from the one wearing the mask, hurling pumpkin bombs astride an aerial glider, and tossing blondes off bridges. The X-Men are going to be learning that lesson the hard way soon enough.
