Relieved to see that some of the Abstract to Manifestation Body Avatar transformations aren't Bi-Ped Humanoid form to More Earthling looking bi-ped humanoid form. Was starting to seem species-ist
Relieved to see that some of the Abstract to Manifestation Body Avatar transformations aren't Bi-Ped Humanoid form to More Earthling looking bi-ped humanoid form. Was starting to seem species-ist
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YES Capes. YES Masks. YES Secret Identities.
One thing I do recognise is that Eternity and Living Tribunal now have human avatars. That’s new.
Master Chaos "The human avatar should wear a different dress in every panel. Have fun !" XDXD
I can't see why the Living Tribunal would need a human avatar.
Hi all! New poster here (though I've lurked for months now), and this is my first post. I haven't yet read Issue 6, but count me in with those of you who wonder just where this is all going, and how the heck we'll get there with just 2 issues left (3 for me). The story feels so small and self-contained right now, but these are the biggest characters in the Marvel Universe we're dealing with! It seems like it should be much, much bigger and affect basically everything in Marvel 616 continuity. But it's Hickman, right? He can still do it!
Did we ever get an explanation of what all those Skinner boxes were for, or whom they housed besides Cubisk Core? I theorized that, maybe, all non-cosmic-Pantheon life was seeing reality from within a more advanced Skinner Box. Like everything they, and by extension we, understand about the G.O.D.S. was not the fullness of reality, but rather what was constructed. So everything they know about good and evil is based on their conditioning inside the box. So once they all break free, well...things will change.
I don't know if I still believe that to be the case, but I still except something big and world-changing to happen in the end. I guess we'll see.
What do we understand Skinner Box’s are? I had never heard of them until this mini series. They appear to be things outside our perception. The relationship between the G.O.D.S. and Skinner Boxes is very vague.
Also, has anybody worked out what the acronym G.O.D.S. Means yet? I’m thinking Great Order of Destructive Systems.
I hadn't heard of them before this mini-series, either, but I looked them up online. They are basically boxes that were developed by a psychologist named Skinner to study and condition behavior in animals. They use rewards and punishments to teach, and condition, animals to perform certain tasks. The method is called operant conditioning. So for example, an animal might learn to pull a lever as a response to a green light flashing to earn a treat. But if a red light flashes and they pull the lever, they get punished with an electric shock. So the animal eventually learns when to pull the level to get rewarded and not punished. Since they're inside a box, they're in a very controlled environment without outside stimuli.
So Cubisk Core, having been raised in a Skinner Box, was basically being conditioned to do what the In-Betweener wanted him to do. So my theory was that with all those other boxes Strange and Wyn discovered, and the promise of this series having major implications for the Marvel Universe, maybe it had something to do with everyone being in Skinner Boxes of some sort. Basically learning right and wrong as designed by the bigger forces in the universe, but being oblivious to the truths outside the boxes.
It looks like Immortal Thor will be picking up the Skinner Boxes what with Tyr being reformatted inside one
I think TOAA and TOBA might be too tied up in Ewing’s multiversal stuff I think?
What Hickman is doing here is taking pieces of old Marvel continuity he finds useful, and then weaving them together along with new ideas to create a new mythology. In doing things like this, it's more important that the new stuff is superconsistent with itself rather than if the old stuff is not contradicted. See the reveal of Moira X in House of X.
But if we want an in-universe reason for why things have changed, your Secret Wars idea is as good as any.
LT in issue 6 says that the 8 abstracts that sit on the Axis of Power cannot overrule each other, so probably not.
There is a nod to the Tribunal's previous status though, because he seems to have the power to erase events, that others like Oblivion do not.
Eternity representing time + Infinity representing space is actually from old Doctor Strange canon, and I put it in here as a placeholder while we find out if it still holds true in Hickman's take. But I agree it's confusing to put old and new stuff together, so I've edited it out.
Based on interviews though, Hickman's mythology is slightly more complex.
3 axes, 8 abstracts = each abstract possibly representing more than 1 idea.Originally Posted by Entertainment Weekly Interview
Life has two seasons: day (Infinity) and night (Eternity).
Death leads to two paths: judgment (Living Tribunal) or nonexistence (Oblivion).
Or something like that.
I'm confident the answer lies in the color schemes Schiti uses for his new designs.
For example: Living Tribunal, Infinity & Lord Order have gold in their design, which I think means they lie on the Science half of the 3 axes.
We'll know more when we get the designs for the final two abstracts or when we learn the nature of TNOT and TPTB.
I'll revise this theory at that point.
The abstract beings were being changed post SW under Ewing, but they reverted back.
Hickman is just doing his "my continuity matters more" thing.
Total shame they made the first issue 10 bucks…killed the series for a lot of people.
Here's hoping Ewing tackles G.O.D.S. in another defenders miniseries. Hickman's work always felt sterile and Ewing is better at bringing out the emotion.
Last edited by the illustrious mr. kenway; 04-17-2024 at 03:22 AM.