Dark Reign (Spoilers)...

[Scar]

I love the art in both of these books. Deodato and De La Torre are outstanding. I'm glad for that because even the most well-written books can be ruined by poor art (the Dark Reign one-shot).

From the buzz so far, it seems as if we're not only going to see the inception of H.A.M.M.E.R. but also get the identities of every member of the Dark Avengers probably in the first issue. Hopefully that includes the Iron Patriot. I'm betting Bullseye, Venom, and Moonstone are all Dark Avengers now, and with Daken and whoever the Iron Patriot is, I'm curious about Ares and the Sentry being pulled along for the ride... especially the Sentry, since he broke down during SI and we probably have a Sentry/Void hybrid who is more of the latter than the former.

As to the Thunderbolts, I'm thrilled that we'll finally see the composition of the new team, and intrigued that Len Samson is being brought into the story. I'm thinking that little signal from Norman's cufflink was to the Thunderbolts. Norman saves the President and the day again aboard Air Force One, making himself the hero again and justifying his immensely powerful position to the President. Also, as to what will happen to Doc Samson, I would be elated if Norman and/or the Thunderbolts dispatched him as the first heavy hitter to fall in Dark Reign, or at least to defeat and/or humiliate him. I have to agree with that glorious sinister piece of a$$ Moonstone, Doc Samson is a prick.

 

[Scar]

And the Iron Patriot iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis...


NORMAN OSBORN!!!!!


It's not who I thought, but I can't say I'm surprised. Norman got a taste for being in the limelight and being back in the heat of battle both when he donned the Goblin costume again, and during the battles in Washington and NYC in SI. I think a big Iron Patriot hint came in the form of this cover:

Also, it was a hint about two new members of the Dark Avengers. Venom and Bullseye are both on the team, along with Moonstone (all of the unabashed ^^^^^^^s from the Thunderbolts). And while the Sentry has been left rather cryptic though definitely backing Norman 100%, Ares is following on Norman's tail like he's his new muscle. I'll post more later; have to get to a LOST party.

 

[Kibishii]

I just finished Dark Avengers #1; quick summary:

*Dakken = Wolverine, Venom = Spiderman, Ares = Ares, Sentry = Sentry, Moonstone = Ms. Marvel, Bullseye = Hawkeye, Noh-Var = Captain Marvel, and Osborn = Iron Patriot.

*Ms. Marvel resigned from the Avengers and an arrest warrant was sent out for her.

*Morgan Le Fay seems to be really pissed at Dr. Doom for neglecting their relationship and travels to the future to get payback.

*Osborn uses the villain Ghost to break into Stark's Iron Man suit vault.

*Venom eats, yes eats, a skrull.

Reading Mighty Avengers in a bit, will update anything new from that.

 

[Scar]

I can't wait to see how this Iron Patriot armor is synthesizing the greatest possible features of the other IM suits. Now Norman has officially painted himself as the nemesis of all heroes in the Marvel U, most specifically Cap, Tony, and obviously Spider-man.

Ares laying it on the line for Carol was interesting. He's 100% on Norman's side here, even counseling him on the makeup of the team, and going with Norman and Victoria Hand to recruit Daken. God I loved that brief scene where Norman, Ms. Hand, and Ares were sitting in a diner and having pizza.

There was that nice homage to the IM movie when the H.A.M.M.E.R. soldier asked Doom if he could get his picture with him, and in contrast to Tony, Doom just glowered and eventually threatened to them with suffering in perpetuity.

Morgan Le Fey is back and righteously pissed. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.


As to the Thunderbolts - we don't have a whole picture of the team yet, but I love the direction that it's taking, having already seen Belova in action with the Ant-Man and Ghost. I truly hope something awful happens to Len Samson. His vanity makes Norman look as if he should be handing out canned goods for the needy. Never been a fan and God how I would adore for Norman to paint him a psychopath before the president, while also eliminating the security footage of himself as the Goblin. Nice touch towards the end of the issue bringing in a Goblin double to assail Air Force One; a very good power play on Norman's part. He defends the President, already proving rather convincing in his argument that Samson is a dangerous criminal who snuck a ceramic knife past Thunderbolts security. to take the Goblin footage off the table, have Samson out of the way, and bring in a Goblin double, he really does cover each and every base to put himself in the clear. It's a big step towards carte blanche for H.A.M.M.E.R.

I'm gonna get to Mighty Avengers and Uncanny X-Men tomorrow. Thus far, Dark Reign is my favorite arch by far in recent years. Again, I'm biased.

 

[Kibishii]

I can't wait to see how this Iron Patriot armor is synthesizing the greatest possible features of the other IM suits. Now Norman has officially painted himself as the nemesis of all heroes in the Marvel U, most specifically Cap, Tony, and obviously Spider-man.

I see Dark Reign ending with an issue long battle between TS Iron Man + Avengers vs. Osborn Iron Patriot + Dark Avengers.

 

[Scar]

I see Dark Reign ending with an issue long battle between TS Iron Man + Avengers vs. Osborn Iron Patriot + Dark Avengers.

Could very well be, but we can't count out Doom and Namor as well in all of this, let alone the other Cabal members.

 

[Scar]

Just wanted to post my thoughts on one of the more recent issues, New Avengers #49.

Where to begin... this sets up the hype for the double-size #50 wherein the Dark Avengers and New Avengers clash.

I have to say, Cage really surprised me. Reneging on his word to Osborn once his child is back in his hands. The reunion was touching, and there was an interesting dichotomy when Cage gave his word to Skrull-Jarvis that he would not attack him if he had his daughter back, contrasting that he told Osborn the very same, only to betray him after the deal was done.

Also, I really liked Bullseye and Venom in this issue; Venom transforming in the blink of an eye from the "Symbiote Spidey" guise back into the fully-fledged, cannibalistic leviathan. Nice to see the breadth of his powers just for when the chips are down. Seeing Skrull-Jarvis dispatched by Bullseye who sat up in a nearby building with his feet up, eating Chinese, and waiting for the shot with his sniper rifle... priceless.

I already alluded to Cage's turn of allegiance at the book's conclusion, so I'd like to go back to that. When he showed up in Avengers tower with the Wrecker's crowbar for the express purpose of beating the hell out of Bullseye and Venom while simultaneously laying it all out for Norman. I particularly enjoyed norman sitting stone-faced and fearless, deigning to call Cage a man of dishonor.

Wolverine and Cage had a nice exchange at the end about fathers and their children, Cage saying Wolverine just wouldn't understand why he acted the way he did with Osborn. That mournful look in Wolverine's eyes seemed to hint that he would know soon enough.

My favorite line of any hero in the book was when all Avengers stared dumbstruck at the television as Norman unveiled his Dark Avengers; Captain America breaks the silence by saying, "Well, that's just obnoxious."

Hawkeye is definitely the most affronted by the Dark Avengers outright, and $h!t is reeeeeeeeeeeally going to hit the fan!

 

[Scar]

Alright, I know Dark Avengers #2 isn't even out yet, but apparently the battle with Morgana Le Fay ends thusly...

Wow.

 

[Kibishii]

DOH, that is a shocker! I was expecting Morgan Le Fay to play a large role in the Dark Reign. My heart weeps right now.

 

[Scar]

I know, but I think it will make things very interesting within the Cabal, given Doom's... interesting past with Le Fay. Also, I think it may help explain this cover for Dark Avenger #3.

 

[makkari1]

Boy Osborne is making a lot of friends. I for one would not want Doom pissed off at me. Norman had better stay ahead of the game.

 

[TOE]

Loki is hot

 

[The Mike]

The new Ms. Marvel is easy on the eyes too.

 

[makkari1]

Loki is hot

Loki is using Sif's body to walk around in. Thor has not yet picked up this yet but when does I feel sorry for Loki when Thor gives him the beatdown he has coming.

 

[jinxx]

Loki is using Sif's body to walk around in. Thor has not yet picked up this yet but when does I feel sorry for Loki when Thor gives him the beatdown he has coming.

I see a ^^^^^slap of cosmic proportion coming.........

 

[Scar]

The new Ms. Marvel is easy on the eyes too.

Gotta love Moonstone; that body and her overactive sex drive make it easy to drool over her.

Boy Osborne is making a lot of friends. I for one would not want Doom pissed off at me. Norman had better stay ahead of the game.

What makes Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is that he has something on EVERYONE. Period. Also, having the Sentry and Ares devoutly loyal to him doesn't hurt either.

By now it is safe to assume the Sentry has been Norman's "man in the shadows", which would mean the Void has had a far-reaching agenda going back to Civil War and giving Norman the ability to deactivate his nanochain. Maybe the Void has been playing Norman, but odds are, since the only person Norman trusts is himself (and that's on a good day) he has a contingency plan to deal with the Sentry/Void's splintered psyche and exploit it. It's very convenient that he has placed Dr. Karla Sofen, with her extensive battery of psychiatric and psychological expertise, in such a prominent position of power and in his new Avengers.

We have yet to see the true depth of what goes down between Doom and Norman, but I think it will end with an uneasy truce where the two of them publicly set things aside, but privately accelerate plans against one another for if and when things go awry. The only reason I see Doom, arguably the most arrogant man in the 616, swallowing his pride here, is because of his pact with Namor and that both of them are featured in the forthcoming series "The Cabal" with Norman, the Hood, Loki, and Emma Frost.

 

[worstgamerever]

Gotta love Moonstone; that body and her overactive sex drive make it easy to drool over her.



What makes Norman Osborn Norman Osborn is that he has something on EVERYONE. Period. Also, having the Sentry and Ares devoutly loyal to him doesn't hurt either.

By now it is safe to assume the Sentry has been Norman's "man in the shadows", which would mean the Void has had a far-reaching agenda going back to Civil War and giving Norman the ability to deactivate his nanochain. Maybe the Void has been playing Norman, but odds are, since the only person Norman trusts is himself (and that's on a good day) he has a contingency plan to deal with the Sentry/Void's splintered psyche and exploit it. It's very convenient that he has placed Dr. Karla Sofen, with her extensive battery of psychiatric and psychological expertise, in such a prominent position of power and in his new Avengers.

We have yet to see the true depth of what goes down between Doom and Norman, but I think it will end with an uneasy truce where the two of them publicly set things aside, but privately accelerate plans against one another for if and when things go awry. The only reason I see Doom, arguably the most arrogant man in the 616, swallowing his pride here, is because of his pact with Namor and that both of them are featured in the forthcoming series "The Cabal" with Norman, the Hood, Loki, and Emma Frost.

Yup... was pretty surprised to see Emma Frost in that meeting. And I wonder how Doom senses things (like the Hood's presence for instance) that even Iron Man's armour or Wolverine cant sense..

Just makes me wanna get the doom pf even more. Doom's so badass

 

[Scar]

Yup... was pretty surprised to see Emma Frost in that meeting. And I wonder how Doom senses things (like the Hood's presence for instance) that even Iron Man's armour or Wolverine cant sense..

Just makes me wanna get the doom pf even more. Doom's so badass

Doom's armor has enhancements of its own aside from just physical protection. Along with his strength augmentation and flight capabilities, there are a pair of twin nuclear generators, laser projectile blasters, crimson bands of Cytorak in each gauntlet, and a battery of sensors on par with IM armor. When arguably the most intelligent super villain resides all day every day in a suit of armor, you have to expect he's going to have it tricked out in a way that would make God himself step back in silent awe. Detecting Loki, Thor, or any of their brethren should be expected of him. Dormammu might prove a bit of a challenge since he is using the Hood as a conduit, but I would imagine Doom has some clue, if even an unspoken one.

That said, I'm very curious what capabilities the Iron Patriot armor possesses. Being that Norman has complete and unrestricted access to all IM armor technologies, I would wager he would look to combine the best possible aspects of the various suits into a single power house. Still, right now Norman is just getting his feet wet with the Iron Patriot armor, and BMB said he's still trying to figure out how to work it, spending a lot of time "fighting" in it as simply flying around and smashing into things. He's Norman Osborn, so I wager he'll figure out the mechanics of it all soon enough.

 

[worstgamerever]

Doom's armor has enhancements of its own aside from just physical protection. Along with his strength augmentation and flight capabilities, there are a pair of twin nuclear generators, laser projectile blasters, crimson bands of Cytorak in each gauntlet, and a battery of sensors on par with IM armor. When arguably the most intelligent super villain resides all day every day in a suit of armor, you have to expect he's going to have it tricked out in a way that would make God himself step back in silent awe. Detecting Loki, Thor, or any of their brethren should be expected of him. Dormammu might prove a bit of a challenge since he is using the Hood as a conduit, but I would imagine Doom has some clue, if even an unspoken one.

That said, I'm very curious what capabilities the Iron Patriot armor possesses. Being that Norman has complete and unrestricted access to all IM armor technologies, I would wager he would look to combine the best possible aspects of the various suits into a single power house. Still, right now Norman is just getting his feet wet with the Iron Patriot armor, and BMB said he's still trying to figure out how to work it, spending a lot of time "fighting" in it as simply flying around and smashing into things. He's Norman Osborn, so I wager he'll figure out the mechanics of it all soon enough.

Doom's armor has a couple cytorak bands? crikey! that dude is wasting all his talent chatting with namor and battling F4... and yes he did detect the hood in the same meeting! or was it Loki that came out last? either way I think he detected them both.

And I also think you over-rate norman osborne... yes he's got all this power, but as Maria Hill told him (and as Doom told Namor), he will certainly self-destruct, eventually... plus he's still fighting his own inner demons, quite literally

On a different note I vaguely remember a similar meeting where Osborne, Madame Web and a bunch of other peeps had to pick randomly b/w Ultimate Power, Knowledge and Immortality for Madness and Death... Osborne got power I think. - but what did he do with all of it?

Unless Dark Reign is headed in some really crazy, really unpredictable direction, I think that ultimately Osborne will prove himself incapable of dealing with all this new power.

 

[The Mike]

As long as the Iron Patriot doesn't all of a sudden turn into the Iron Goblin I'll be okay with it. I'm saying though I really want an IP Comiquette.