Avengers Arena #6

I was beginning to fear no one on CV was even going to talk about this issue, haha.

The trigger scent thing is really aggravating to me, all things considered, so I'm glad you mentioned it. As far as I can tell, that's the complaint about this issue, which just makes me wish all the more that Hopeless hadn't used any pre-existent characters; sounds like the ones he's come up with are plenty enjoyable on their own.

@akbogert: Sorry this week has been crazy for me.

The original characters are definitely are the high point. Every issue that focuses on his them is far superior to the others. I understand why they need existing characters but having fan favorites like X-23 was a risk that isn't really paying off in any measurable form. The only positive about the trigger scent is that it isn't the trigger scent. I feel like they used it to show that Arcade is smart but he already has built an island of death traps.

At least the end was a shocker. I honestly didn't see it coming.

@pspin: I doubt anyone did. Particularly in light of the previous issue.

With Laura it's like I'm stuck choosing between bad, worse, and worst options. The worst would have been had they just had Laura randomly kill people, which she absolutely would not do. So by having her be in this book, there pretty much needed to be TS. So then the best viable option is that Arcade "knows someone who hooked him up." It'd be dumb, but it would at least make a bit more sense. But that Arcade knew all about TS, and was able to make his own (and in two weeks, because he struggled, should've been done even faster?), is just PIS. There's not even any way to defend it. It's the dumbest thing I've read thus far, and it's going to be used as an excuse to have Laura either kill people or be avoided/mistrusted.

Oh well. At least she hasn't actually done anything she'll regret yet.

Yet.

@akbogert: Yeah, at least he admitted that it wasn't the exact trigger scent. Although having him know about it isn't too unrealistic, he has clearly spent time preparing and at some point he could have heard a rumor about it and tried. I am not defending it, I am just saying that it is not completely beyond the realm of possibility, just close to it. I knew that the TS was going to pop up sooner or later, it almost has to for better or worse. I totally agree about the regret thing.

@pspin: Yeah, it was inevitable that TS would show up (unless the book was even dumber than I thought). I just think the idea of Arcade making his own is completely, unforgivably stupid.