sora_thekey

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CV's Roundtable User Discussion 023 - "2011 in Review": Part 1

Greetings Comic Vine! Welcome to the Comic Vine Roundtable User Discussion. What is that, you ask? This the most wonderful place on earth where wishes and dreams come true-- ahem, sorry I was confusing this with my other job...

Well you see, a couple of CV users virtually met up to talk comic books and other comic-related topics. That conversation has been posted here for you guys to see, read and enjoy. Be sure to comment below where you can submit your own opinions after reading ours. Also, go back and read our past conversations (Here) and share your thoughts. Even if you disagree with us, we like comments.

Part 1 (of 3)
Part 1 (of 3)

My name is Geo but my internet pseudonym is sora_thekey. I am going to be moderating this discussion and adding some insight along the way as I talk to the users who are sitting around this imaginary roundtable. Please welcome back xerox-kitty (X-k), The Dark Huntress (DH), danhimself (Dan) and jordama (Jor). Please say hi my royal subjects-- I mean, friends.

X-k: Happy New Year! It's nice to have Geo back in the driving seat, welcome back amigo! :)

Dan: danhimself here and I just lost 700 million dollars on DC Universe Online so I'm not very happy right now....maybe a Roundtable will cheer me up!

DH: DH here, happy to have the Roundtables back and active in the New Year :D

Jor: Hey y'all your fav X-Spert here, after X-k, and DH ofcourse ;)

Welcome everybody! Usually I would ask for an update of your comic book-life but since this is a special (and probably long) Roundtable Discussion we are going to skip this part of the regular scheduled programming and jump in on today's topic.

We are now in 2012! New year and closer to imminent death this December (according to the Mayans). Now that 2011 is behind us I say we put our year under the microscope and review what we liked and didn't like about last year... comic book-wise! :)

To end on a high note how 'bout we begin with what we didn't like.

Q1: Was there a comic book or other comic book-related property (movies, video games, book adaptations, etc.) that you would like to forget?

Dan: Off the top of my head I can't really think of anything that I'd like to forget. Honestly this was a really great year for comic book-related properties. We had a couple of great Marvel movies, some great animated series, and one great live action series.

Art by CV user crestfallen
Art by CV user crestfallen

DH: As far as I'm concerned, Catwoman had absolutely no relation to comic books.

You didn't like Anne Hathaway in the TDKR trailer?? Gasp! How could you! ;)

DH: I see what you did there ;) I've actually always been one of the people who believed she had the acting chops and sex appeal to pull that role off. And judging by the trailer, I wasn't wrong.

TF3
TF3

For me it has to be the first hour and a half of Transformers 3. Why would I care that Witwicky can't get a job and his fake British-accent girlfriend can?! Ugh!

X-k: Oh God, I second that! [Rosie Huntington-Whitley] was annoying, and the film was bloody awful. I'd repressed the memory of it... and I have to start from scratch again!

I'm sorry that I brought back that repressed memory but MAN! Did this movie bother the heck out of me!

Generation Hope #9
Generation Hope #9

Jor: OH MY GOD I WOULD BURN GEN HOPE #9! Pathetic attempt to make an it gets better comic that failed so hard in my book. Pure exploitative garbage. They should have rereleased New Mutants 45, Larry Bodine completely trumps Zeeshan.

X-k: REALLY!?! Wow, I NEVER thought I'd hear you say that about Generation Hope! That was your favourite title! Now I'm even more glad I gave up on that title... but I'm also really sorry for you :(

I thought you were all about Generation Hope?!

Jor: I am, I love GenHope, I consider myself the gen hope expert, but that story was so bad. I even wrote a blog about how much that story failed in comparison to another mutant teen suicide story from the 80's.

Are you telling me that I should continue to read Gen Hope then?

Jor: I vote yes. I think that the books that have a focus on the younger mutants always have a rougher start. New X-Men was kind of bland until half way through. I think that this book has a lot of potential, but the irony is that I am giving up comics for a while, including GenHope. If you ask XK, she will tell you to run from the book however.

Q2: What is easily forgettable about last year?

X-k: Ummm... Sorry, I forgot!

War of the Green Lanterns
War of the Green Lanterns

DH: War of the Green Lanterns. Other than the death of that one character, I really don't see how it changed the status quo of anything at all.

Jor: The fact that Astonishing X-Men existed?

Wasn't that the series that had... um.

Fear Itself
Fear Itself

Dan: I think for me it would be Fear Itself. I think it was a great idea but poorly executed.

Ugh! Fear Itself's The Mighty!... That was such a bad idea!

The major marvel heroes become Tron-looking, Asgard warriors just for the effect to last one issue. (I didn't read Fear Itself but they made way to big a deal about this just for it to last so little.)

Q3: Specifically talking about comics, which do you think was the worst comic book of 2011?

Generation Hope #5
Generation Hope #5

X-k: I'm torn on the 'worst' title. My feelings for Uncanny X-Men haven't changed with the hand-over from Matt Fraction to Kieron Gillen. Yet I genuinely felt angry, ripped off and pissed off at myself for buying Generation Hope issue #5. I had been vastly disappointed with the first 4 issues, and don't know why I didn't just drop it there. Yet the story in issue 5 was even worse that I was so angry... and yet that didn't anger me to write a scathing review as I did for Schism #1. It very nearly killed all my faith & love for the X-Men.

X-Men: Schism
X-Men: Schism

Did you not like Schism then?

X-k: I can not begin to express how bad it was. At least not in polite conversation. I had to pile up several good stories to read afterwards, just so it wouldn't ruin the rest of my day!

And yet... I have Schism to thank for a surprise little gem that spun-off from it at the end of the year.

Wow... I totally didn't expect that reaction from you! I enjoyed the book for the most part but I guess what I liked the most out of the book was the outcomes.

Jor: I will have to say Uncanny X-Men. Not because it was so terrible, but because it was supposed to be the main X-Men book but it was easily outclassed by so many other X-Titles.

I actually agree with this. Last year the main X-Men title seemed to be Adjective-less X-Men and X-Men: Legacy rather than Uncanny. Oh, and of course Uncanny X-Force.

Dan: Again Fear Itself stood out to me as a real stinker. Tons of tie-in's with poor, forgettable stories.

I didn't read more than two issues of Fear Itself so I can agree with Dan here. Two issues into the event and nothing happened!

Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man

DH: This is a tough one for me. There are some that I simply refuse to read (Pretty much anything that Brian Michael Bendis and JR JR touch) simply on principle. However, I did read the first issue of Hawk & Dove and it was simply atrocious.

Does this mean that you don't read Ultimate Spider-Man?

DH: I've actually read the first three issues of the current one with Miles. I'll read his Ultimate stuff and his imprint stuff like Scarlet. Basically, when he's not destroying the continuity and characterization of previously established characters, I'm okay with him.

Q4: Specifically talking about other comic book-related productions, what was the worst to come out of last year?

Green Lantern Movie
Green Lantern Movie

Dan: Worst? That's a hard one because like I said this year was really good for comic book-related properties. I guess I'll have to go with the Thor movie. It's not like it was a bad movie but out of everything it's the lowest on my list.

X-k: Not for me. Unfortunately I didn't get out to the cinema as much as I'd hoped last yer. Although that may be a good thing, from the reviews of Green Lantern. And I was really looking forward to seeing it.

DH: Green Lantern, it was just...ugh. Pretty terrible.

I have yet to watch Green Lantern!

Dan: Oh man I had completely forgotten about Green Lantern....hehe..mission accomplished then.

Thor Movie
Thor Movie

Just a suggestion dan. Don't ever talk that about the Thor movie that way in front of xerox-kitty... She'll probably pummel you with one of the leftover Fear Itself Serpent hammers.

Dan: Well see I wrote that before I realized that I had forgot about forgetting Green Lantern. I actually really enjoyed Thor it just wasn't as good as Captain America. *hides from XK under the desk*

X-k: NO-ONE DISSES MY BEARDY THOR! RAGE!!! ;)

Oh I've got a good one. The Smallville finale. The episode itself was not bad. I actually thought it was a fitting ending, but it was a disappointing when >SPOILERS< you only got glimpses of Tom Welling wearing the Superman suit. You literally don't get to see him wear the costume!

Mjolnir
Mjolnir

Jor: All the toys that were cheaply made for the many comic movies. I saw a whole Isle of cheap Captain America masks and Thor hammers.

Thanks for bringing up something that we didn't before. I do have to admit that in the Wal Mart aisles I played with the toy Mjolnrs :P

Jor: I did too ;)

Now, lets move away from negativity. Before we talk about the good from last year I want to get your opinions on a few things...

Q5: Last year hosted comic book events like Flashpoint, Fear Itself, Spider-Island and Artifacts what did you think of these or any other cb event I didn't mention?

X-k: They just went on forever! And why were Marvel & DC competing to see who could pimp out as many tie-ins, spin-offs and mini-series as possible? I understand it's their business to sell comics, but haven't they noticed the financial problems everyone's having?

Age of X
Age of X

I'm sorry, I shouldn't be so negative, but Fear Itself & Flashpoint were just cash cows. Fleecing fans for all they could get. But not all cross-overs were mass-produced nightmares. I really passionately enjoyed Mike Carey's Age of X and Dan Slott's Spider-Island. I still have those piled neatly within easy reach in case I need quality spandex stories, stat!

Spider-Island
Spider-Island

Age of X one of my favorites of last year! I didn't read most of the events last year but I think Schism and Spider-Island were my top favorite. Both events set up characters and stories I am now enjoying a lot.

Dan: Flashpoint was ok. For what they were doing it could have been a heck of a lot better and more thought out. Like I said above Fear Itself is better left forgotten. I loved Spider-Island, just plain loved it!!

X-k: And it was surrounded by great limited series like Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger, I Love New York, and Deadly Hands Of Kung-Fu. It's so rare to get a cross-over event with quality tie-ins!

Dan: Artifacts was another ok story. The delays are what really hurt it though. The story itself was great and if you get a chance you should read the 13 issues back to back now that they're all out.

Top Cow's Artifacts
Top Cow's Artifacts

I read Artifacts' first four issues and I have to say I enjoyed them a lot. Especially since that TPB I bought (Artifacts Vol. 1) was the first time I ever read a Top Cow book. The creators made it really easy for new readers, like me, to jump in.

DH: I AM SO DAMN TIRED OF EVENTS. Prepare for a DH rant here. I understand that events are big sellers and that Marvel said during one of the Cons that they look at sales figures from them and continue to put them out because people continue to buy them. But I am beyond the point of oversaturated at this point. It's just absurd. There's an event literally every other month and they're all starting to lose impact. When the fate of the entire world is threatened on a constant basis and people continuously sacrifice themselves only be resurrected (or we find out they were never dead to begin with, which seems to be the new rage), I stop getting invested - both emotionally and financially. I'm just so done with it. Marvel could do to take a page out of DC's book when it comes to events. And they could also learn to keep their word. For example, at the beginning of the AvX solicits and teasers, we were told that all they were releasing was the 12 issues. Next we're told that hey, if you want to see more in depth stuff on the battles, buy AvX: VS. And in yesterday's news was the release of tie-in issues in New Avengers. What the hell, Marvel? Give me a goddamn break, please.

I guess you are doing the right thing here by not buying the issues. This way you are not supporting something you don't like.

X-k: Oh dear, I'd forgotten about AvX. It's all the usual pre-event hype, with more hints at the return of Phoenix, and that hideously clichéd comic book concept; super heroes fighting super heroes. Didn't we have enough of that in Civil War?? I can already see the endless amount of tie-ins and spin-offs that will have absolutely no impact on the status quo of the regular titles in 5 months time. Needless to say, I wont be hitting my bank account to collect all of those!

Jor: I agree with X-K and DH about the over whelming amount of events and tie-ins. None of them really made me excited, even AoX was meh.

_____

There is so much 2011 to cover that it doesn't even fit in one RT! Be sure to come back to read "2011 in Review" Part 2 (of 3).

TO BE CONTINUED! (Part 2)

-- Geo (sora_thekey) 24/7 geek! -- Follow me on Twitter: @sora_thekey

15 Comments

16 Comments

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sora_thekey

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Edited By sora_thekey

@danhimself: Yeah! I agree... (It was even hard to edit!)

@Emperor Gonzo Noir: lol!

@kfhrfdu_89_76k said:

"We are now in 2012! New year and closer to imminent death this December (according to the Mayans)."

I still think that they just didn`t bother to continue the calendar they had.

Cool RT, by the way.

No one dies but I LOLed at the Mayan comment! :P

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EdwardWindsor

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Edited By EdwardWindsor

Having read all of fear itself i cna tell you 100% it was quite underwhelming

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danhimself

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@Emperor Gonzo Noir: yeah I saw those...but I want a full sized Nerf hammer...that would have been awesome

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Emperor Gonzo Noir

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@danhimself: They totally made some deluxe hammers. They even shot projectiles.

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jordama

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@kfhrfdu_89_76k said:

In the next part of this RT...Someone dies!

Well, hopefully not.

Well, I am leaving the site once it is all added, so kinda?

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danhimself

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@Emperor Gonzo Noir said:

I agree with the Thor hammers being cheaply made. They broke on the first person I threw it at.

I was super disappointed by the Nerf Thor hammers....I was expecting an actual real life sized Nerf Hammer which would have been awesome...instead they gave us a tiny version of it....super disappointed

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Emperor Gonzo Noir

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I agree with the Thor hammers being cheaply made. They broke on the first person I threw it at.

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haydenclaireheroes

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Great to see Roundtables again!

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Jonny_Anonymous

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@sora_thekey said:

@spiderbat87 said:

I ahve to say Sam's GF in Dark Side of the Moon didn't have a fake British accent, she's from England.

Yeah, I'm aware of that... but as my fellow RTer @xerox_kitty (who is British btw) would say: "No one talks like that!".

she's posh and from Devon, that's her accent.
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sora_thekey

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@spiderbat87 said:

I ahve to say Sam's GF in Dark Side of the Moon didn't have a fake British accent, she's from England.

Yeah, I'm aware of that... but as my fellow RTer (who is British btw) would say: "No one talks like that!".

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Jonny_Anonymous

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Edited By Jonny_Anonymous

I ahve to say Sam's GF in Dark Side of the Moon didn't have a fake British accent, she's from England.

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Decoy Elite

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Nice opinions here.

On the webcomic front things felt kind of quiet for me personally. None of the webcomics I regular really went too crazy...except Homestuck which pulled out one of the greatest flash updates ever. Seriously, after a bit of what seemed like frustrating padding fans were treated to the ultimate reward. Hussie answered a lot of the most asked questions and it looks like HS is gearing up for a great finale.

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Daveyo520

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Edited By Daveyo520

I disagree with everything ever!

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jordama

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=D

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danhimself

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I've got to say that after I read this first part...I much prefer doing the RT's the old way instead of doing them like we did this one