Man let's not forget 'bout the Annihilators and all 10 issues they lasted (if we're counting their formation in the Thanos Imperative). I really wish that team had gotten more mileage.

No argument there. Pretty sure you and I have discussed our mutual love for that team and mutual dismay at the short lived nature of the squad. That group was also 'redonkulous' and illustrated the depths of Starlin's silliness/bias in how easily he had Thanos dispatch them. Proof positive that any cosmic affair Starlin writes is just an exercise in supplanting established Cosmic Marvel powerhouses with characters he has a personal relationship with...i.e. Thanos and Warlock (IMO). I love Starlin's work, mostly from Dreadstar (what a book), but I'd rather they give cosmic story-assignments to Keith Giffen (also a great spinner of space yarns) at this point...

Hey guys! I'm a long time lurker, who has finally chosen to step out of the darkness. Been collecting Marvel Legends for quite a few years now. Hope you guys enjoy these pics of a small portion of my collection. Most of it is in boxes right now as I just moved, so please forgive the clutter located in the background.

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Like I said, just a small sampling. Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll be able to get more of my collection out and displayed.

I just wish all the cosmic stuff would be given back to Abnett and Lanning, they made cosmic cool again and now Bendis and pals are making it not so good. Under DnA we got not one but three great event stories (Annihilation: Conquest, The Realm/War of Kings, and the Thanos Imperative) which all followed up an equally great story (Annihilation) and set up the best span of cosmic Marvel. They made Nova bombastically awesome, created the GotG line up that everybody knows now, and wove out a bigger picture where everything actually felt related and relevant. That and besides Starlin they were the only writers that really felt like they did Thanos and Warlock right.

I think Starlin came back to Thanos recently for all the post-Infinity/Secret Wars OGNs because of how weak he seemed in those stories. Starlin is Thanos' creator so he felt his protective parenting nature kick in and he reasserted Thanos' power (albeit a bit too much since he did cakewalk the Annihilators with little help from the universe powered Adam Warlock). I mean Thanos is supposed to be the big cosmic universal threat so he should be ridiculously strong but to take out the team of guys who's defining team structure is being the strongest out there with minimal effort or support is too much.

So over the weekend I picked up another Rogue, courtesy of Dorkside Toys and their able to walk into warehouse (much kudos to their post last week, happened to be in the boro this weekend and I could not pass up the opportunity.) Really nice people there! I'm going to have to start ordering local now that I know there's a warehouse that's local, support local businesses and all that. That said if a Polaris makes it to amazon in hand before they get to a distributor, well, I'm gonna just end up with two of her, just saying.

Anyways, the third Rogue. Thinking of trying my hand at the Bomber Jacket Sersi look. Had another idea in mind but since the jacket is sculpted onto the arms, a fact I had totally missed until thinking of this custom, I will need to use that figure. I think Sersi had a headband as well, and whaddyaknow, Rogue does too.

I don't see Sersi being very high on Hasbro's to do list and she is one of the few Avengers left I am wanting to see get made. If I can make a decent repaint of her as opposed to the awful one I did years ago I will be happy.

And it helps i am partial to her Bomber Jacket look over her green outfit. Just seemed much edgier.

Welcome, fyi your attachments didn't work...

Yeah X-Inferno was an ok series, the later one of it was a lot better in terms of art as it dealt with Magik more matured. The X-Terminators I felt back then they were trying to draw in a younger crowd or something I had a few of those issues and didn't realize how crappy it was haha...Then again it was a different period in time too.

Did you read the X-Factor where Whilice Portcio is the artist? That story line wasn't too bad and the artwork is def a lot better. I have a bunch of those comics.

I was looking for the original series that takes place before Fall, so issues 1-20ish.

The only X-Factors comics I have read before now were the ones that Havok lead from the early 90s.

Welcome to the Family. Your Attachments dont work. :(

@En Sabah
I like Richard and the maturity foisted upon him after he became Nova Prime, but there was really nowhere else to go with the character post Annihilation. I didn't want to see his power reduced, but that was the logical progression if he was going to re-establish the corps. Although he was an integral part of a major event, the character had been so tepidly written in New Warriors (vacuous and teen-like) that this new Rider made for a weird fit. While I don't appreciate the way the character was handled (killed off), I can understand a writer unfamiliar with him finding difficulty 'buying-in.'

DnA work very well together and War of Kings and GotG were their seminal achievements, but to me, Giffen's Annihilation was better than Conquest. I would, however, put DnA's War of Kings on par with Annihilation. I'm still on the fence with Thanos Imperative, but I'll admit it was fun.

As far as Starlin and his creation - Thanos/Lord High Papal (I mention them both because they are so similar that it almost makes one respect Starlin a little bit less for simply remaking a character - albeit, better and deeper...at least back then in the late 80's, before he wrote Papal elements into Thanos - Thanos Rising) - I'm just annoyed by his transparent treatment of the character. He's been upping the ante with Thanos since the 90's. And while he didn't create "Him," his long stint with Warlock obviously gave him some sense of ownership because he has elevated this character also. I collected the recent Infinity Entity series and Starlin has essentially elevated Warlock and Thanos to levels that make them both the most powerful beings in the universe (beyond Eternity and Infinity, beyond ALL). Sorry, that's not just corny and trite, but a childish act on the part of a creator. I'm surprised more people, other than myself (I have literally seen no other complaints), haven't said anything. I think this phenomenon is a combo of not much interest/knowledge of Cosmic Marvel on the part of the average reader, love for Thanos based on Infinity Guanlet nostalgia, and a bit of exaggerated reaction on my part being a big fan of what King Kriby established with a host of cosmic entities.

@TBM:
Re: Nova; Yeah I don't think the character (that is his personality and traits and not the idea of the character) had much else to develop anymore but a continued series of adventures could still have been a good read. His "death" was okay to me at the time it happened since it was a heroic sacrifice to end the threat of the big purple knuckle-chinned Titan once and for all (well as much as once and for all can mean in comics). To me it was Bendis' "explanation" in his GotG run which ruined the gesture. Here's hoping that the new Nova teases from Marvel are a good, well done return for Rich and not more misleading garbage.

Re: Annihilation and other events; yeah the main titular event was better than Conquest but Conquest did successfully lay out the roots for a lot of the cosmic stuff to come and showed just how dangerous Ultron can be when not confined to Earth's technological limitations. I think Thanos Imperative's biggest problem is the problem shared by too many event books where just so damn much is happening with so many characters that the overall resolution feels rushed.

Re: Starlin's treatment; I think most people didn't even actually read the recent Starlin OGNs since they were OGNs and a lot of people seem to skip on those nowadays. Not like before, lots of people read the old OGNs like The Death of Captain Marvel and God Loves, Man Kills (which is one of my favorite X stories) back in the day. So that may be a part of why you don't see people talking about how godly Thanos was in those. I think another part of it is that so many people consider Jim Starlin to be Marvel's godfather of cosmic stories so they accept anything he writes as being the way it is, especially for a character like Thanos which he created. So it'd be like if Jack Kirby rose from the dead and came back to writing Marvel wherein he goes on to write that Captain America's serum also gives him laser powers and flight but he didn't know until just then. A lot of people would just be like "cool, well Kirby made the character (with Joe Simon) so he can add that to him." Sorta like how back in the day Superman just kept getting stronger and stronger but it was just accepted as the way it was.
I sorta got that version of Warlock being so stupid powerful since he held the entire power of another reality within him and in the end he was inserted to replace the deceased Living Tribunal of Earth-616 so he has kinda been sidelined and is no longer Warlock. I'm pretty sure Adam is just as powerful as he was in DnA's run now again (since the Tribunal Adam brought back the Adam of 616), a crazy powerful cosmic sorcerer type deal but not snap-of-a-finger reality changing powerful anymore. Thanos is pretty weak though right now since Carol Danvers took him on with a fairly small team and averted his scheme which is a margin away from how Starlin wrote him. Captain Marvel is immensely powerful yeah and she had a team but it seemed like Thanos was pretty low compared to his usual self. Like I said though cosmic Marvel just hasn't been the same since DnA gave it up and a big part of the new set up seems to be wildly fluctuating power levels for all characters involved. Of course I'm sure somebody will think I'm just ranting like an old man about how things were better done before.

@En Sabah
Thanks for the mini-synopsis/update on Cosmic Marvel. I haven't read anything since Infinity Entity ended. I stopped Dr Strange and even Black Panther. I tried to get into regular collecting again, but figured I'd just revert back to doing trades once certain story arcs summed up. Good to hear that I'm not really missing anything. Captain Marvel with a small team in tow defeats a character that bested Odin and Galactus in single combat (mind you, they were both weakened, but you know what I mean)? PFFFFT! It makes no sense that she'd be that powerful. Captain Marvel was full Kree and he didn't exhibit that level of power and if Brood experimentation (Binary) could elicit that sort of result, why wouldn't they just augment themselves and beat up Thanos-level characters? Marvel's a mess....as much as I love Carol, there's no need to cannibalize certain characters (or her own origins) to elevate her artificially. That's my larger point with Starlin/Warlock/Thanos. I'm afraid I disagree about Starlin exercising creative license with his characters because they don't exist in isolation. They are part of a mosaic. Changing them drastically, creates imbalance.

And for anyone thinking to work my Carol comments into "oh, Marvel's PC/diversity initiative is ruining everything," save it....that's NOT what I'm saying. My point is about lazy writing that does little more than infantilize the reader. I feel the need to add that because this tract of conversation has resulted too many times in the revelation of offensive views on this thread...

No worries friend, it was great meeting you. Glad we could hook you up.

Going forward when I got info I can share, I'll drop in here and post it for you guys.

Anyone need Cap-Falcon from the TRU 3 Pack?

It was implied in story, that due to Thanos' "resurrection" after his death in Secret Wars, he was severely weakened when he appeared on Earth and fought with Carol's team. Also, I can't say for sure, but my sneaky suspicion is that at some point during this skirmish, Thanos realized the inevitable stalemate that was brewing and decided to take the L and be captured giving him time to come up with another strategy which he is already doing in current issues of the Ultimates.

The one with Cyclops leading it is pretty good. It's around issues 66ish something has a pretty good Apocalypse and actually the origin of him sending young Nate into the future to become Cable. Here's some images.
https://www.google.com/search?q=x-fa...ib-QBw#imgrc=_

@Struggler
Ok. Thanks for the background. I still get the impression Carol's been elevated a little too high without some sort of viable explanation. I suppose her former status as Binary could be tooled into something workable, but I'd be truly surprised if Marvel even bothered with that much effort.

...I hope the recent developments with She-Hulk don't screw us out of a new (and better than Hasbro's previous attempts) 'classic'-style Jen in the near future.

I don't remember exactly when since I haven't read every single issue with Carol in recent years but since assuming the mantle of Captain Marvel she did become Binary again at some point so maybe somewhere in that story they explained some kind of heightened power retention as opposed to reverting to her long-running power level. Maybe.

They made Namor and he's dead (a worse fate than Jen's). I'm also hoping for a new She-hulk, so fingers crossed that Hasbro sticks to form and ignores current continuity. I think our hopes are safe. A new Hulk was teased at SDCC and he's also dead...

That makes her jump a little more palatable. I just read the first four issues of Civil War 2 and have a better idea of what you and Struggler were talking about with Thanos. Not sure how I feel about any of this...especially being a Hulk fan...but I'm trying to keep an open mind.

Ugghhh I don't even like Civil War II's premise which is making the series/event very sour to me. It may be too early to call but I'm ringing it in as another Bendicide. The unnecessary and seemingly purely for sales/attention getting death of our jade goliath is just some extra upsetting-gravy poured onto an already unappetizing meal of an event. It's so out of character for Tony Stark to be the person against preemptive action considering his history (*cough* Planet Hulk *cough*) and the fact that this concern of preemptive action is actually leading to in-fighting and confrontation between the heroes feels forced. Why can't Bendis stick to what he does really well? He's good at writing new characters and fresh material for them but every time he writes for preexisting heroes it's like he tries to redefine them in stark contrast to what came before. I'll stop now before I go on another Bendis rant that nobody else wants to read because I'm being a sour fanboy.

Id be happy with any new she hulk, though i think theyd be kind dum not to use the thundra body. As far as the comics go i refuse to acknowledge most of marvel since they're intent on commiting bendiscide ( even their toons are comitting bendiscide ).Anymore, if i even bother to read a comic ( freakin peices are nuckin futs ) its somethng independent.dc marvel and image are just rehashing the same ol crap cause their current " creative teams "are from the incapable of doing anything original pcified generation.

True, true. Also, where did they tease a new Hulk?

Agreed. As long as she's green. And hopefully with a smile on her face - one of her most endearing, and enduring, character traits is her upbeat tone.

What happened with She hulk?

Hulk 'foots!' :D

SDCC 2016 - Hasbro Marvel Panel Live Blog - The Toyark - News

Picture 69...

She did become Binary during the Infinity event at one point. Can't remember whether that was an isolated incident or the spark of a power boost, though..

I would certainly say The Ultimates is an obligatory reading companion to Civil War II. Not only does it do a thoroughly better job of legitimising Carol's viewpoint, but Thanos is more central to this story. I think of him as a cameo appearance in CW, leading to his true objective in the Triskelion (hence being "defeated" by the heroes to gain access). An issue of the series also explains how Thanos came to be in the universe post-Secret Wars, so yes I recommend it!

As for Hulk, well, who knows what Marvel wants nowadays? Three years ago they were putting the six movie Avengers everywhere, now they've killed the (arguable) most popular one off?

On the figure front, loving the new Logan, Silk and Miles. Easily three of the best figures this year.

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