From a Golden Age: The Invaders Appreciation

[Danvidar]

Definitely AWESOME.






I'd forgotten the members, but here's a pic of them. I think adding Orson Randall is inspired. I've been looking forward to this arc, since Robinson first mentioned it. Can't wait to see Steve Pugh KILL it on the art.

I just found out over on the Marvel UK thread that Sir Steel had only ever appeared in that flashback panel and in handbooks. This is his first actual story.

[PhantomReporter]

The same is true for his sidekick Silver Squire and The Crimson Cavalier only made it as far as a portrait and brief mention in the Swordsman origin story in Avengers Spotlight.

[Rheged]

I just found out over on the Marvel UK thread that Sir Steel had only ever appeared in that flashback panel and in handbooks. This is his first actual story.

Yeah, when I first saw the pic, I was thinking Black Knight. It will be cool to see Robinson use him in a story.

The same is true for his sidekick Silver Squire and The Crimson Cavalier only made it as far as a portrait and brief mention in the Swordsman origin story in Avengers Spotlight.

Wasn't the Crimson Cavalier in the Avengers / Invaders book? Or am I confusing him with someone else?

[Loki]

Wasn't the Crimson Cavalier in the Avengers / Invaders book? Or am I confusing him with someone else?

Nope, he wasn't. http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix4/crimsoncavalier.htm

[PhantomReporter]

Rheged - you're probably thinking of Captain Terror who is Smasher's grandfather.

I always thought it slightly strange Wolverine dressed as him and didn't display knowledge of him considering Captain Terror was well known to Puck during the Spanish Civil War and Logan met Puck in that period and may have met Terror too. Perhaps he was just being close lipped.

[Danny Rand's Other Fist]

First off, welcome to the thread Danny Rand's Other Fist! Here's hoping you check out All New Invaders and stick around!

Now to answer your question I suspect you're a fan of Orson Randall (me too!), so I suspect that issue #12 will be worth your checking out if nothing else. As for why you should read (and buy) the series beyond that James Robinson really is, to me, the key. I've followed his work for years and he consistently delivers strong, compelling character development and stories that feel big enough in the initial offing that build to something so much bigger down the line. The guy respects the history of the characters he works with and the continuity of the universes they live in like nobody else working in comics today. And yet he manages to not get bogged down by it, moving his stories forward as driven by that history, rather than limited by it.

If you aren't familiar with Robinson's work his Starman run is the most thorough example, but the 80 or so issues of that series can be a bit daunting. For a faster introduction to his talents on a more compact scale I recommend his break-out series, The Golden Age, about the lives of DC's golden age heroes in the aftermath of WWII. The climax of that story still gets me excited no matter how many times I read it.

Thanks for the welcome!

You've definitely piqued my interest in the book. I think the main thing is whilst I know the characters from reading them here and there, I wasn't sure whether I could dive in and make sense of everything, but if his characterisation is his main selling point, then Robinson may well be the writer to draw me in.

I'm going to pick up my pull list in the next few days, so if they have the back-issues on offer, I'll grab a few and see what I make of them. Having Orson in #12 won't hurt either!

Cheers for the reply!

[Chief Jon]

Thanks for the welcome!

You've definitely piqued my interest in the book. I think the main thing is whilst I know the characters from reading them here and there, I wasn't sure whether I could dive in and make sense of everything, but if his characterisation is his main selling point, then Robinson may well be the writer to draw me in.

I'm going to pick up my pull list in the next few days, so if they have the back-issues on offer, I'll grab a few and see what I make of them. Having Orson in #12 won't hurt either!

Cheers for the reply!

Glad to be of service! Jim "The Torch" Hammond, for all his history, is still a Tabula almost-Rasa relative to most Marvel heroes who haven't been around half as long at this point, and I think that may make the series a bit more accessible without requiring a preexisting commitment to any of the other characters. Radiance, who premiered in #6, is a100% new character and is off to an interesting start.

I'll add one brief, not so great note on Robinson. He does not write the best first issues. They read well when coupled with the rest of a first story arc on a series, but as stand-alone content they tend come off as dense set-up in my experience (I almost didn't stick with Earth 2 because of this, but his run turned out to be really great). All that having been said, my recommendation is that if you are able to pick up all the back issues do it. However, if your budget doth say thee nay (to paraphrase many an Asgardian) I'd suggest you'll get the most out of reading the first 5 issues together (and the conclusion to #5 . . . hoo, boy). The Original Sin Tie-in issues, 6 & 7, are a fine jumping-on point too and require no investment in the larger event.

[Chief Jon]

I figured I'll sound the call to see how everybody liked ANI#8?

Me? I loved it!

I know there are some people out there freaking out that Toro is being revealed to be an Inhuman rather than a mutant, but Robinson has been telegraphing that to us for months in interviews and even at the end of #7 so I'm not really bothered. Of course I don't buy into the conspiratorial stuff about Marvel trying to chop off their own arm by killing the X-franchise either, so that certainly affects my opinion of that bit.

I could not have been more happy with what we got to see of Namor in this issue. I loved how he blew off the Illumi-nutty in favor of helping his two favorite Jim's. This is the reminder of Namor's noble, loyal and heroic nature that has been sorely absent in Hickman's NA. Thank you Robinson! We even got some internal monologue for the Avenging Son.

In non-Namor stuff, I keep loving Hammond more and more. Robinson embracing and playing up the idea of Coulson as a golden age fanboy was fun. I thought Buck was awesome here too. I find it very telling that he's one of a very few people Namor will address by their first name. He'll sometimes do this with Hammond too, but almost never with Steve and the only other non-Atlanteans I can think of him addressing so (off hand) is Susan (Storm) Richards.

Also, ALL the Deathloks!

P.S. new Namor related article co-authored by me coming up in the next week or so. I'll drop a link when it arrives.

[md62]

Another home run. Great interaction with Jim & Coulson. I also like Namor's character in this book. His arrogance lessens when he is around his old team. And Toro will finally be featured!

[Danvidar]

Another great issue! I love the way Robinson connects to the wider MU eithout it seeming forced. The ending dplash was spoiled a bit by having the preview being of the end of the issue, but that os a minor quibble.

Looking forward to the essay.

[Chief Jon]

Another home run. Great interaction with Jim & Coulson. I also like Namor's character in this book. His arrogance lessens when he is around his old team. And Toro will finally be featured!

I'm honestly pretty excited to see what Toro looks like when he exits that Terrigen cocoon.

[Mahes]

This is shaping up to be a great arc. Robinson still hitting his stride and we got a lot of good stuff coming up too.

I didn't like the OS one as much, it was good but would have liked to see more of the team.

[Chief Jon]

This is shaping up to be a great arc. Robinson still hitting his stride and we got a lot of good stuff coming up too.

I didn't like the OS one as much, it was good but would have liked to see more of the team.

Agreed, though I did feel like I got to know Jim better and finished those issues with a clear sense of who Radiance/Supreme-Radiant-Friend is and will be glad to see her return. (P.S. for those unfamiliar with her, I'm really find myself wondering if Robinson modeled the character on Japanese American pop diva Hikaru Utada).

[Captain Wessex]

i marathoned the entire series wednesday and thursday. i really like it. saw the article with the Sir Steel cover, thought, I need to read that, so i got caught up!

[Chief Jon]

i marathoned the entire series wednesday and thursday. i really like it. saw the article with the Sir Steel cover, thought, I need to read that, so i got caught up!

Welcome aboard Captain Wessex! I'm always pleased to have another UJ fan at the party.