Marvel Comics blabbery

Or, in the Mighty Marvel tradition, a Troubled Past that she is Working To Leave Behind Her...

I'm reading THE SAVAGE SHE-HULK #1 (Feb. 1979)... Stan the Man (and an uncredited letterer) get things off a crackling start by doubling up on the "(UN)TIL TODAY" schtick in the first panel of pg. 1:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DEBm_5jWsAIfS_e.jpg:small

(Also -- "a monster a'borning!"? Stan must have been eating a ham salad sandwich with one hand, and approving promo Spidey merch with the other, as he scribbled this script between bites. Not long afterward, Banner gives Jessica a blood transfusion at her kitchen table; which is pretty badass of Dr. David/Bruce/Bob.)

(Sorry, *Jennifer* -- I tend to get her name mixed up with Lucille Bluth's)

several years late, but damn, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is the bee's knees

You guys, I must correct the record -- Bruce doesn't perform the self-to-cousin transfusion in Jennifer's kitchen. I cleared failed to read the text with Talmudic attention. Instead, he observes a "doctor's shingle" at the house next door, and breaks in to find the necessary equipment. (For a sort of Self-No-Prize, the doctor next door does remain a plot point in subsequent issues.)

Issue #2 finds the series' permanent creative team coming on board - David Anthony Kraft (w) / Mike Vosburg (p). The plot of said issue is absolutely gonzo; one of those "Whatever, the kids won't notice" '70s storylines driven by absurd coincidences, impossible events, and improbable character choices. It is fun, though!

Flipping ahead in this fat collection (Essential Savage She-Hulk, Vol. 1), I am struck by how radically Vosburg's art appears to change over the next few years... his line seems to become much more "mature" / refined. Stay tuned for (hopefully no further) updates!

David Anthony Kraft wrote a beloved-by-young-me issue of the defenders which was literally just the defenders and the zodiac beating the shit out of each other from cover to cover

I just went poking around for that on Marvel Unlimited. Was it one of the issues between 48 - 50? Looks like they have those on the service because of a Scorpio plot

It’s not really comics related, but every time I use the MU app I’m tempted to see if they still have a software developer/architect position listed (they did at one point) for their service because I have a guess of why it takes so long to load issues and I have some ideas about how to alleviate it.

Issue 50

excellent, thanks

Also -- "a monster a'borning!"? Stan must have been eating a ham salad sandwich with one hand, and approving promo Spidey merch with the other, as he scribbled this script between bites.

Stan used this "a'borning" construction several times, it's also in some Galactus origin story in Thor towards the end of the Kirby run

https://images.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2F4.bp.blogspot.com%2F--KC_KJxTUj8%2FUIfD4tXSfVI%2FAAAAAAAAStk%2FbO8WmYjgea4%2Fw1200-h630-p-nu%2Fgalactus-origin-thor-162-001.jpg&f=1

So funny. Merriam-Webster has an entry for "aborning"; but it's an adverb that seems to be used differently: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aborning

(Sorry, *Jennifer* -- I tend to get her name mixed up with Lucille Bluth's)

― face it, tiger... you just hit middle age (morrisp),
Or Spider-Woman's.

"Jessica" and "Jennifer" definitely big '70s names.

Interestingly, Wikipedia sez that She-Hulk was the last character that Stan Lee created (until "Ravage 2099," in '92).

You guys, I'm starting to think that Stan Lee makes up words that he thinks sound impressive!

his grammar is a'borning

Excelsi---i'm outta here!

several years late, but damn, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is the bee's knees

The character is comin' to the small screen - http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/marvels-new-warriors-squirrel-girl-cast-milana-vayntrub-derek-theler-topline-freeform-comedy-1019588

I can get behind that casting choice. She always seemed like she was slumming it in those AT&T commercials.

oh god i love that girl. she was also good in little-seen Yahoo Screen series Other Space with Karan Soni

I read the first few issues of the original New Warriors series (from early '90s); I recognize Speedball and Night Thrasher from there, but not some of these others.

The only thing that looks good about this is Lockjaw: https://youtu.be/xU9Z6cKsbY0

Oof yeah. Medusa looks straight up silly

Lockjaw looks awesome! Christ the acting though

Is there anyone, anywhere who likes the Inhumans? Do they have some weird fan cult like Legion of Super Heroes? It's like trying to get excited about a Shi'ar show

i've heard they keep pushing inhumans bc they don't have the film rights to x-men

yup

Kirby-era Inhumans are some of his best comics

xp

xpost

I love the Inhumans! One of my favourite 'supergroups' - great Kirby character design and unusual personalities/powers.

yeah they're a great kind of "cousin" family to FF

Completely off-topic... I came across a ref. to this book today in a Wikipedia footnote. I had it as a kid (this exact edition), and must have read it cover-to-cover 4 or 5 times. Anyone else?: https://www.amazon.com/Comic-Book-Heroes-Silver-Present/dp/0517554402

Yep

Author is a pedophile btw

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Jones

uh.... :/

I dig the Inhumans, and I think a Shi'ar show could be great in the right hands. So there.

I have wondered why Marvel hasn't introduced an MCU version of Kamala Khan, considering how popular a character she is (and not just in the comics world). Like why not include her among the "New Warriors" discussed above, instead of some of those other randos... Squirrel Girl and Ms. Marvel, on TV together, c'mon... everyone would luv it.

But I take it they're introducing the Inhumans as a general concept, before moving on to Terrigen Mists, etc.? Maybe they even want to wait until after the Capt. Marvel movie, so Carol Danvers can still serve Kamala's hero/inspiration (and the mainstream audience will know who she is). So, gonna be awhile, LOL...

Also, maybe her funky powers would be hard to portray convincingly on a TV budget... but that apparently isn't stopping them with "Speedball."

The Inhumans (excluding the royals) have been a central element of Agents of SHIELD for several seasons now.

Terrigenesis, their Kree origins, etc. have all been pretty fully fleshed out at this point.

Well there you go. Terrigen Mists and all? One less excuse...

I wonder if they're not planning on doing something with Kamala in the upcoming Captain Marvel movie, given her popularity.

That would be cool... introduce her, and set things up for her own movie.

I'm psyched for "Captain Marvel"... will be interesting to see what they incorporate from Carol's long, complex history (and how they do it).

(Also, I saw the Wonder Woman movie y'day, so I'm hyped up for more ass-kickery. I choose my superhero movies carefully!)

xp i can only assume they're not gonna do Space Rape or the million costume/name changes

Yeah... I assume she won't even ever be known as "Ms. Marvel" -- tho the script will probably contain a few wink-wink references to '70s feminism.

Hey now - http://variety.com/2017/film/news/captain-marvel-brie-larson-90s-prequel-1202503813/

I've got to say, the editorial direction where they decided the ultimate universe Reed Richards is a slimy little fucker is being pretty consistently implemented. He's popping up in a few different comics, notably Al's Ultimates run, and I've got a bad feeling about this

the generations series of books looks pretty bad.

I have no idea wtf they're doing, other than taking the "your constant renumbering is bad and hated" criticism and responding in a dumb way

it's old-meets-new namesake stuff, utterly superfluous and with generally uninspiring creative teams
http://www.cbr.com/marvel-generations-vanishing-point/

Describing the series, which Marvel has already assured fans won’t spark a big crossover,