Talking Comics Podcast 05/14/15

I should add my two cents to say that I LIKE the interconnectedness. I like having the 'weight' added to each movie. This is what I wanted. This is a comic book universe. Just my opinion.

Hooray for Cluster!

Regarding the confusion between which characters belong to which universe, the 616 heroes have ALL UPPERCASE speech bubbles and the 1610 heroes use a combination of Upper And Lowercase Letters.

angelus104 I really hope you'll give Secret Wars #2 a shot, I think it goes in a direction that people really weren't thinking about and provides entry to a very interesting new world. Hickman did an interview with CBR stating that in his opinion Secret Wars doesn't really even begin until issue #2, which makes me believe that editorial pushed for the style issue #1 had.   

I will absolutely be giving issue #2 a shot. There was enough in the first that I want to see where it's going.

I don't like it when creators and companies say things like "the real _____ doesn't begin until this!" It always feels disingenuous and in some ways disrespectful to those who invested in the first issue. Your thing should really begin with the beginning. But that's largely a philosophical argument and will not stop me from picking this one up and hopefully loving the crap out of it.

YES.  Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes, thank you, and my thoughts exactly.  For me, it's a glorious magic trick they're pulling with all of the interconnectedness, and complaining about that or seeing it as a negative is beyond me.  The payoff has been, and is likely going to continue to be, massive, and immensely satisfying.


I think you did convey that well, Bobby, yes, and your voice in that conversation was the one that most represented my own hopes for what we'll get next year.  Your take was most welcome.  Thumbsup.

Well it sounded an awful lot like complaining to me.  It's a sequel; not every movie has to be super-friendly to the uninitiated, or else the special weight and payoff of a series, that unique thing that series can do, would not be possible.  Would you introduce people to Harry Potter by showing them the 5th or 6th or 7th or 8th movie before showing them the first?  Would you knock those chapters in the story for being overly wrapped up in continuity?  Unless I've messed up my count, Age of Ultron was the 11th movie in a long series, and it feels appropriate for that (and that's not even counting Agents of Shield, Agent Carter, the shorts, or Daredevil).  Civil War will be the 13th, I think?  To expect the 13th movie in a series to be easily accessible to someone who hasn't watched any of the previous entries is extremely unreasonable, unless you're talking about a Bond film, and the Bond movies have a very different aim and structure than the MCU, thankfully.

It's not gatekeeping, which is a pejorative, and my perspective is just fine, thank you; it's understanding the goal and the structure of what they're trying to do.  Even Guardians, which was remarkably accessible, contained major plot points that had no meaning outside of the grand story that the MCU is telling; what is that movie without knowing about the gems a little from the previous movies?  Those bits, all of the Thanos stuff, really, would be extremely confusing without the previous films, which is why it was Phase 2 instead of Phase 1.  As amazing as The Empire Strikes Back is, I wouldn't start someone who knows nothing about Star Wars with it; it's 100% a middle chapter, wrapped up in the continuity of A New Hope.  I mean, I'm not saying you can't have reservations about Civil War; you can feel about Civil War however you wish to feel about Civil War; it's not up to me to tell you how you ought to feel about it.  But please don't tell me about "perspective" and "gatekeeping"; that's garbage.