Originally Posted by
Chainsaw Vigilante
I was really enjoying this arc until these past two issues. I felt like they took all these interesting co-stars and guest stars and just made them fodder, both in combat (especially Doom and the Surfer, both of whom have felled greater gods than Starkorvac, heck Gargoyle and Hellcat were Defenders members who faced mystical and cosmic deities as well way back when J.M. DeMatteis wrote that book) and they became more two dimensional ways to move Tony's story ahead aside from Hellcat (so storyline fodder). I was really enjoying this makeshift team more than Tony and his journey at times (it'd be nice to see them revived as a new Defenders team actually). I mean did anyone expect to really enjoy Frog Man in this arc as much as they have (heck Stilt Man earlier in the run was interesting as well), that's the sign of an interesting team dynamic and solid writing; but that just sort of felt thrown in the trash these past two issues. I realize it's Tony's comic, but the arc felt about more than just Tony himself. Hellcat at least was still a solid part of the story.
Tony giving up his power cosmic felt too easily resolved this latest issue after all of the rest of the storyline was paced slower to tell a more in-depth story, it doesn't seem like Tony had any revelations about himself that he hasn't had in the past, or even earlier in this run in some ways.
Korvac coming back and saying he decimated The Living Tribunal and the In-Betweener was just absurd if that is in fact the case and it's not some specter of Tony's power cosmic coming back to haunt him like some ersatz Jacob Marley. I mean Korvac was originally empowered by sapping a some knowledge from Galactus' world ship, this arc made it seem more like he and Tony just drained some energy in general from the ship; if part of the energy from Galactus' main ship can empower two entities to be able to defeat or destroy two abstract entities of the highest order, then that should make Galactus himself far and away the most powerful entity in Marvel, when he has never been portrayed as such at all. Heck, though it was retconned in a way Doom drained the totality of the ship's energy way back in Secret Wars, which made him as powerful as The Beyonder, but then later on The Beyonder became a much lesser character after those previously mentioned retcons. I don't think Marvel's editors realize that playing so loose with continuity from the Quesada era to now has taken so much weight from stories both past and present and everything becomes a jumbled mess. When anything goes, nothing really matters (we've seen such an impact from the constant deaths and resurrections of characters). I know this is a negligible nitpick for many, but I feel that Marvel has really been really taking away all impact from the greater cosmic/mystic-magic scene in the past year or so, there's no weight in the stakes at that scope anymore. The Infinity Gems/Stones, Celestials, and Living Tribunal lost much of their weight as something grand in the cosmic scheme years back (other characters like Galactus, Mephisto, and Dormammu lost something much earlier), but now even Chthon, Shuma Gorath, and The Adversary have become easily dispatched "entities of the week" this past year. I could easily see some writer bringing in what would be the last remaining Beyonders only for them to be destroyed by Valkyrie or something, which then makes Time Runs Out/Secret Wars look like a joke.
Sorry about the rant, I am just frustrated with what Marvel has been doing lately on this front.