There are some exciting news related to my two biggest retrospectives, so of course I have to talk about how they’re going to influence the site.
As well as talking about some other news.
AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY
I am posting this because the trailer came out yesterday.
Anticipating some of your questions:
1) Looks very promising, possibily vindicating the fact that I was one of the few who didn’t freak out about the RDJ casting.
2) The armor looks fine. Not enough shots to go into detail, but that’s Doctor Doom alright.
3) For what little we heard, I like RDJ’s Latverian accent. At least in the English version; the Italian dub sounds slightly too much Russian, but it’s too early to tell.
I will probably watch the movie earlier than most of you, since the movie is out in Italy on December 16th and in the US on December 18th.
Don’t ask why, sometimes it happens.
I plan to do an EXTREMELY short post with my very first non-spoiler impressions the same day.
Other than that, the movie won’t show up much on the site.
I definitely won’t do a review of the ENTIRE movie, but once it’s out on streaming I might do a Doom-focused review. No promises.
Later this year I will also do a ranking of the MCU TV series and the MCU movies, as I have done for the non-MCU movies.
A NEW LEGION
In case you’re not aware, we’re getting a new Legion continuity in September!
It won’t be covered properly in the retrospective until I’ve done all the previous continuities, sometime before the 23rd century.
I also won’t review each issue as it comes out, both because the focus of the site is slightly different but also because I won’t be able to get my hands on the issue the day it comes out… I have to wait for the digital release… but I will most likely do some Random Thoughts about it at some point.
I’m open to the possibility of doing quick reviews on Patreon, for the 1 dollar per month subscribers.
As for my thoughts…
1) everything I’ve heard about the pitch sounds awesome
2) both Joshua Williamson on writing and Hayden Sherman on pencils are among the hottest DC creators right now, meaning DC is putting a lot faith into the Legion again
3) Williamson is a massive DC fan and from what I’ve heard he’s really trying to make a book that stands on its own, respects the Legion tradition and history, while appealing to new readers. All these are EXACTLY what the Legion needs.
LEGION PODCAST
Speaking of the Legion: in a few months I will be honored to be a guest on the Long Live The Legion Podcast!
If you somehow haven’t heard of it, it’s highly recommended for any true Legion fan (although be careful about spoilers if you’re one of the readers who discovered the Legion with me).
Thanks to Jim and Jay for giving me this opportunity, and sorry for making you read the Karate Kid series again.
(the episode won’t be about Karate Kid. This time).
I will definitely post a link to the episode once it’s out.
RETROSPECTIVE NEWS
There are still several Superman stories from the 70s and early 80s that I will cover, and it might take me the rest of the year to finish the Famous Superman Stories retrospective.
While I initially intended to replace it with the Wonder Woman retrospective after it ends… Diana will need to wait a bit longer.
Because in honor of Jim Shooter’s passing earlier this year, the Superman retrospective will be replaced by a Starbrand one in the rotation.
A Starbrand retrospective was among my goals even before Shooter’s death, as I think it’s often overshadowed by Shooter’s other controversies.
Specifically I will review:
1) Starbrand #1 through #10, plus its annual, in detail. Those are either Jim Shooter stories or by other writers in his era.
2) Starbrand #11 through #19, by John Byrne, will be reviewed in batches
3) as a conclusion, a quick history of what happened to the Starbrand itself after the end.
Speaking of Doom news, what do you think about the upcoming game Marvel Tokon? I’m personally excited, and I really like Doom in it so far.
Looks and sounds great! Fighting games aren’t really my thing though.
I haven’t watched the trailer yet, but like you, I believe they wouldn’t hire RDJ for no reason… that said I think Doom should be a somewhat tall/big guy and working around that can be problematic.
However, I am very VERY eager to see a proper DOOM on the big screen. Looking forward to it.
Also would you post your email address again? Perhaps you could put it in the header or footer somewhere? I have a question (and I swear it’s not harassing you about watching The Venture Brothers…)
ca@comicsarcheology.com
There’s a link on the site page, below the links for the pages 🙂
Definitely looking forward to the Starbrand reviews.
My expectations for this Legion reboot are low. My defense is the number of tries to revive it by very talented people. The Legion is a concept of its time, and part of me feels like it should stay there.
Obviously I couldn’t disagree more.
“Superheroes in the future” shouldn’t be that hard, “teen superheroes” are always a thing, and there are comics franchises WAY more complicated than the Legion.
Unless you mean that “showing a future that isn’t crap” is a concept that doesn’t work anymore, which… yeesh, that’s a depressing and self-defeating concept.
I don’t think the talent of other creators attempting a reboot is the problem.
The Threeboot was shot in the foot by a combination of editorial mismanagment and introducing a SECOND continuity parallel to it in the 20th century books.
The Retroboot had its head stuck in the past: it was practically screaming “unless you were a reader in the 80s this isn’t a series for you”.
The Bendisboot was written by Bendis. That guy cannot finish a project to save his life and he’s terrible on any team book.
Okay maybe talent is a problem for Bendis.
Not sure how to respond. Not just you, but others have pointed out to me what Legion has going for it and, in spite of your analysis, here we are.
Plenty of reboots have gone awry and the ongoing series for those characters right themselves and carry on. Legion doesn’t, or at least hasn’t.
Sorting out your discussion, thanks for your patience here, the three boot refers to the Giffen/Bierbaum era? The Retro boot was the New 52 version? And the last one was obvious, inviting a conversation that probably doesn’t fit here (I think Bendis is better than people give him credit for).
Are you leaving out the Geoff Johns reboot? Which wasn’t bad, but to my point, the Legion didn’t stick around much after that.
Also, as much as I like Williamsons work, he started out with the Legion as the bad guys, I am not sure how its going to improve.
Thank you for letting me share my opinion here.
The Threeboot is the fan nickname for the 2004 Waid reboot, later continued by Shooter.
The Retroboot is the Johns reboot. I tried following it but really didn’t like where it was going, so that’s when I dropped following the Legion regularly.
I think Bendis is a good writer… when he feels like it. Sometimes he’s phoning it in; especially on team books. I haven’t read his Legion yet, but everything I’ve heard leads me to believe I’d hate it.
I think DC’s obsession with rebooting the Legion is to blame here, not the Legion itself. And I believe it gets rebooted more often than others because the fact that it’s set in the future makes it WAY easier to do it.
Thanks for clarifying the reboots. No thoughts on the New 52 reboot? Levitz and Simonson worked on it, if you didn’t read it then I think that bolsters my point of view. Obviously you are a Legion fan and you should be part of the intended audience but the book, as I read it, was flat.
Williamson’s Suicide Squad was good, it didn’t hurt having Jim Lee draw the first few issues, so his version of Legion has a chance.
DC has trapped themselves into a reboot cycle that prevents newer books from getting established. Unless it’s Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman a lot of characters run the risk of being cancelled and retooled. I am not sure its good for characters that aren’t the big three. I am very leary of buying any Super girl book because the character and her context have been changed so many times.
Doomsday trailer: AWESOME
I’m happy that Starbrand will get some love. That was one of the best Shooter’s ideas. Ok, it derailed somehow, later, but still I am fond of it.