The Avengers

[eddievalient]

I don't know, George. I think Ultimate Spidey is the best the character's been since the Lee/Ditko run and I loved Bendis's run on Daredevil and Bruce Jones's run on the Hulk. Grant Morrison's run on X-Men wasn't too shabby either. I admit I haven't read monthlies much since then, but after years of darkness (House of M, Civil War, Dark Reign, etc) Marvel seems to be turning around. They're now promoting the return of The Heroic Age. Yep, I think Marvel's doing just fine.

[Randall]

Having been turned off of DCs after 30 years due to the wholesale slaughter going on in their books the past few years, I'm now reading most of Marvel's new Avengers comics (3 of the regular series). Not sure yet if I like Bendis's writing, but I'll keep going for a few months anyhow---I need to get my fix somewhere. I love Superman, JLA, and the JSA, but not how they're currently being managed in the comics.

The best comic out right now, though, is The Muppet Show comic.

[GeorgeC]

Ah,

You noticed the death and destruction too, Rand?

That's Geoff Johns' shtick... Make you believe something positive is coming then commence with the killing and rebuild again only to stick the knife in deeper next time!

It's his M.O. GL, Flash:Rebirth, Infinite Crisis, Blackest Day, Brightest Night... All the same.

He does it with every comic series he writes and it's gotten very tired IMHO.

People eventually got tired of John Byrne's revamp specials but I never saw him carry wholesale slaughter and history rewrites of characters to this extent.

Why so many DC fans are giving Johns a pass is beyond me but believe me he's more or less running the show editorially on his books.

I wasn't surprised he was elevated to co-editor/co-creative person at DC but I was really surprised by the retention of Didio. I thought his 15 minutes was up but apparently he's better at running track than The Flash!

***********

Bendis doesn't actually write action books so much as high school trash talk... and I just dunno. Marvel really hasn't done anything in years to motivate me to pick up the new stuff and the characters really don't seem like the same ones I read in the 1980s...

Like most of the DC limited series, a lot of the "Big Event" comics at Marvel have little lasting impact and they drive people away after a while. Law of diminishing returns. Most of us who aren't still addicted to comic collecting have thrown our hands up and just gotten tired of the dog-and-pony dance of mega-events year after year. They're just ways to get people who compulsive collectors to buy 25-50 comics that they otherwise wouldn't bother with.

It's a good thing that these event books are as convoluted as they are... They'll never get adapted into bad comic book movies for the most part! (Unless they're stories about the temporary deaths of major superheroes, that is...)

[Dacey]

This is REALLY cool:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fCTokuOU_E

[EricJ]

Hey, wow!--Emma Peel is fighting Harryhausen's saucers, and she's helped out by Commando Cody, Glen Mannings, and the bee girl from "Outer Limits"!

[Randall]

That was pretty fun! I couldn't place the Thor guy, and thought Commando Cody as Iron Man to be a bit of a stretch, but I liked The Frankenstein Monster subbing for Hulk.

[Ben]

That. Was. Awesome!

[Dan]

Courtesy of HitFix.com

The Walt Disney Company today issued a short news release confirming the long expected news that the studio was taking control of a number of Marvel Studios upcoming feature film releases.

When Disney bought Marvel in the fall of 2009, Paramount Pictures had a contract to distribute four more Marvel films: "Iron Man 2," "Thor," "Captain America: The First Avenger" and "The Avengers." And while Disney publicly stood by that agreement, it was clear from those on the inside the Mouse House didn't make such a dramatic investment to let its competitor across town take the box office glory associated with the popular "Iron Man" franchise. Even if a majority of the profit went to Disney. Now, the two sides appear to have come to a compromise.

According to the announcement, Paramount will continue to release "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger" in 2011. After that point, Disney will distribute "The Avengers" and, publicly confirmed for the first time, "Iron Man 3." "The Avengers" already has a previously announced release date of May 4, 2012.

In order to facilitate the new arrangement, Disney is paying Paramount what is in effect a $115 million kill fee to get out of the deal. Although, in order to make sure Paramount keeps its best efforts in the meantime, that won't be paid out until after "Captain America" opens next year.

This is a smart move for Disney as it brings all the non-"Spider-Man," "Fantastic Four" and "X-Men" franchises under their tent. The company already has an "Avengers" animated series debuting on Disney XD this week and is developing plans for Marvel characters to appear in Disney theme parks.

For Paramount, this isn't good news in the long term. The company loses valuable franchises that will hurt its leverage with theater owners on the distribution side. It will have to hope for more "Transformers," a rejuvenated "Mission Impossible" franchise and, possibly, a distribution deal with MGM if the Spyglass merger goes through.

"Thor" opens May 6, 2011. "Captain America: The First Avenger" debuts July 22, 2011. "The Avengers" is set for a May 4, 2012 release. "Iron Man 3" has a May 3, 2013 release date at this time.

[Dan]

The first official trailer

[Ben]

That got frighteningly near to the end before any hint of Hulk in there, but, wow, that looks like it's going to be a big fun summer popcorn blockbuster. Need to catch up on Thor and Iron Man 2 beforehand, but plenty of time for that. This looks like it could live up to what we're expecting!

[Dacey]

Looks AWESOME as one would expect, but what's with the Paramount Pictures logo being in there? Wasn't this supposed to be a Walt Disney Pictures release?

[Dan]

That's what I was wondering too, but I guess they could end up changing it prior to release.

[Ben]

Good point!

When I was watching I was waiting for the WDP logo to come in, and was wondering how that was going to "sit" within the otherwise serious/edgy/comic book tone. Then the Marvel logo came up and my next thought was "ahh, they're playing clever by using the Marvel brand" (gotta admit, the Sleeping Beauty castle mid-way through that would have felt odd).

But then Paramount came in, so maybe they are distributing after all, or maybe it's split rights (Paramount in the US, Disney internationally)? I'm sure it will all become clear...

[Dacey]

It turns out that while Disney IS the studio distributing the film, their name will NOT be on it. Pretty stupid, really:

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=83119

[EricJ]

But then Paramount came in, so maybe they are distributing after all, or maybe it's split rights (Paramount in the US, Disney internationally)? I'm sure it will all become clear...

Whatever original movie is made next will probably be Disney, but Avengers was announced as far back as the first Iron Man, long before the deal, so Paramount won't be out of the process. They're the ones with Robert Downey Jr. and Scarlet Johansson on the contract, after all.
But yes, sounds like that just applies stateside, and Disney will assert their rights with all the other countries that hadn't heard about it yet.