Dark Reign *SPOILERS*

murs47 · December 10, 2008, 05:47:52 PM

I read the Dark Reign one-shot today. So, about Emma being there...

[spoiler]She's not bad, Norman invites her to this meeting and has a proposition for her and the X-Men. What that is and if they'll accept it is unknown of now.[/spoiler]

Podmark · December 10, 2008, 08:33:43 PM

Quote from: murs47 on December 10, 2008, 05:47:52 PM
I read the Dark Reign one-shot today. So, about Emma being there...

[spoiler]She's not bad, Norman invites her to this meeting and has a proposition for her and the X-Men. What that is and if they'll accept it is unknown of now.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Well thats good to know. Any other details Murs?[/spoiler]

murs47 · December 10, 2008, 08:52:47 PM

More details? Sure.

[spoiler]Everyone there was invited by Norman. Except Doom since he's incarcerated by SHIELD, he's been there waiting.

He basically just proposes/forces deals on all of them. Which are all in their favor. He just wants the general public to view him as taming these individuals. Something none of the superheroes had ever done. These are the deals that Norman has agreed to help them with in return for future cooperation when needed.

- Loki wants Asgard off of Earth and in the "Heavens."

- Doom is freed and to be left alone to rule Latveria.

- Namor is promised the seas.

- Norman tells the Hood to have him and his goons register in the Initiative and tells him they can use it to make their crime organization seem legit.

- He tells Emma that the government is proposing concentration camps for mutants and that cooperating with him is in the best interest of mutant kind.

This was actually an excellent read. Which isn't surprising, Bendis has done a great job with Norman in Ultimate Spider-Man. The whole issue is them at this table discussing matters, but it was well done.

Oh, and Norman's able to force these deals and proposals because he's got a little buddy they're all afraid of. Norman cracks open a door and a shadowy figure is shown. He tells them: "If you don't do what I say, you'll be having a few words with my friend." They all start paying attention.
[/spoiler]

Podmark · December 10, 2008, 09:20:34 PM

Hmm very interesting Murs.

[spoiler]If the Hood and his guys register with the Initiative I wonder if we'll see any of them in Avengers: The Initiative.

I wonder who Norman's friend is? I'm almost thinking someone like Sentry or Noh Varr. [/spoiler]

USAgent · December 11, 2008, 09:40:41 PM

That was a decent read, very interesting on how the story is gonna play out with this group. But I gotta say, The art was so awful I didn't want to even turn the page. Since when does Namor look like a skinny Robert Englund? He looked absolutly nothing like any Namor I have ever seen...ug, and Doom's Armor was pretty rough as well, not to mention Loki's 2 HUGE....... :thumbdown:

murs47 · December 11, 2008, 09:56:57 PM

Quote from: USAgent on December 11, 2008, 09:40:41 PM
That was a decent read, very interesting on how the story is gonna play out with this group. But I gotta say, The art was so awful I didn't want to even turn the page. Since when does Namor look like a skinny Robert Englund? He looked absolutly nothing like any Namor I have ever seen...ug, and Doom's Armor was pretty rough as well, not to mention Loki's 2 :thumbdown:HUGE.......

Yeah, can't say the art was spectacular...looked a bit rushed even. Another thing that bothered me was Namor. He seemed like a mindless jock rather then his usual self. Other then that, the issue was solid. Wish they would have previewed more of Secret Warriors. <_<

Courtnall6 · December 14, 2008, 08:44:15 PM

QuoteThat's Clor, Thor's clone from Civil War.

Hold on...wait a minute...please tell me you made that name up Pod...please tell me they didn't actually name the Thor clone..."Clor"...

murs47 · December 14, 2008, 08:51:37 PM

Quote from: Courtnall6 on December 14, 2008, 08:44:15 PM
QuoteThat's Clor, Thor's clone from Civil War.

Hold on...wait a minute...please tell me you made that name up Pod...please tell me they didn't actually named the Thor clone..."Clor"...

Not in the comics, no. But Marvel heads(Joe-Q and such) would refer to him as Clor in interviews.

Podmark · December 14, 2008, 09:15:21 PM

Quote from: Courtnall6 on December 14, 2008, 08:44:15 PM
QuoteThat's Clor, Thor's clone from Civil War.

Hold on...wait a minute...please tell me you made that name up Pod...please tell me they didn't actually name the Thor clone..."Clor"...

It was a fan name. Thor + Clone = Clor. Been used by Marvel brass too in interviews and such.

Supposedly Marvel tried to use the name but it was already copyrighted by a English band. His actual name will be Ragnarok.

murs47 · December 14, 2008, 09:16:35 PM

Quote from: Podmark on December 14, 2008, 09:15:21 PM
Quote from: Courtnall6 on December 14, 2008, 08:44:15 PM
QuoteThat's Clor, Thor's clone from Civil War.

Hold on...wait a minute...please tell me you made that name up Pod...please tell me they didn't actually name the Thor clone..."Clor"...

It was a fan name. Thor + Clone = Clor. Been used by Marvel brass too in interviews and such.

Supposedly Marvel tried to use the name but it was already copyrighted by a English band. His actual name will be Ragnarok.

Thank gawd it was copyrighted, Ragnarok is much better.

Courtnall6 · December 14, 2008, 10:00:09 PM

Whew! I mean things are bad at Marvel these days...but at least they're not "Clor" bad!

Anywho...back to the the topic at hand...sorry about the interuption :D

murs47 · December 17, 2008, 02:06:03 PM

So Marvel's doing viral marketing with Secret Warriors. If you look at the bottom right of issue 2's cover there's a post it with a web address and a password.

Cover to issue #2:
http://www.newsarama.com/preview_images/marvelnew/march2009/scrtwarriors002_cov-cv.jpg

Just thought it was somewhat interesting.

Talavar · December 19, 2008, 10:31:50 AM

So I've been thinking about this whole "Dark Reign" scenario, and it's just not resonating with me. Norman Osborne kills the head skrull on live TV, and so he gets made head of everything - if Wolverine had been that one step quicker and taken her head off, would he be the head of faux-Shield now? (It could be called C.L.A.W.)

I realize I'm oversimplifiying (because it's also the failure of Stark-tech and the positioning of Osborne's own company) but aren't the governments of Marvel universe doing the same thing again? They were vulnerable because too much power was in the hands of one person, and when that one person was attacked and undermined, it collapsed. Now the one person they've replaced Stark with is Oborne. It seems pretty dumb that the failure of Stark's way of doing things would just lead to his replacement in what's virtually the same system; you would think it would lead to the overhaul of the system.

As a side note: why don't people know Osborne's the Green Goblin/crazy anymore?

Previsionary · December 19, 2008, 10:46:23 AM

Tal, I've had similar thoughts and I've seen this posted around the net. Norman's rise to power was simply too fast and doesn't make much sense in general. A lot of things don't make sense and I'm going to wait to see if it's made clear before the next inevitable event.

Not to Bendis bash or anything, but my general opinion is that he's at the point now where he has a bit too much power. He's done a few events now and they have all ended with a whimper and the outcomes haven't been all that great or even explained very well. I think he works much better on a smaller scale where he's not affecting entire universes with his story ideas.

But yeah, ultimately, I want a lot of aftermath done this time around. Not just aftermath, but plot development that isn't building up to another drawn out event. It wouldn't hurt for Marvel to slow down every once and awhile and let their decisions stick, spread out, and plant new story ideas that help to flesh out and reconfigure their current universal state. I'd enjoy it at least...meaning it won't happen. ^^

murs47 · December 19, 2008, 11:21:29 AM

I think it's tougher for Norman's rise to resonate with readers who weren't reading Thunderbolts. There's a lot scheming by Norman. I knew he was up to something, but head of SHIELD was a shocker. I actually like the idea of the whole Dark Reign thing. Like Prev, I hope it sticks a while and we actually get some good stories out of it. Instead of it being another plot device for another big event. Meh.

Perhaps if Marvel placed more emphasis on Thunderbolts with advertisements pre and during SI. They used a big name(Warren Ellis) to get people's attention, don't know what else they could do. They had a bunch of one-shots as well. I don't remember too many cross-overs, if any. The covers were amazing too.

Previsionary · December 20, 2008, 11:55:55 AM

Going to add some info here from Ironman as it was pretty interesting:

Norman tried to get his hands on the superhero registration database, but it was all erased thanks to a virus Tony introduced into the system once he was removed from power. Tony set up the code to work once Norman tried to enter into the system illegally. There's only ONE database now and it's stuck in Tony's head. This means Norman should be going after Tony full force.