Massive Nerd

Variant cover to Thor (v3) #1

Of all the characters to ever grace the pages of a comic book, Thor is by FAR my favorite. No character is more true to his ideals, more heroic than Thor.

Thor made his Marvel premiere in Journey into Mystery #83 in 1962. I'm going to dispense the usual character backstory on this one. If you want to know more, go read a freaking book. That's right. Marvel's Thor is not a hero with mystic powers or a guy pretending to be Thor. He is the ACTUAL freaking Norse God of Thunder.

Thor stays relatively true to the mythological roots. Odin, Loki, Balder and the rest are all there and intact. The only place where Marvel really deviates is Thor's "alter ego." While it would be funny to have an ancient God roaming the modern world, that would get a little old after a while. So, they took a bit of liberty with the story. Odin, wishing to teach his son humility, trapped Thor in the body of a mortal, Donald Blake. This dual-personality gives Thor a connection to the mortal world. Otherwise, what reason is there for a God to take notice of human problems? It's worked for almost 40 years, so I guess it's a good call.

Much of Thor's power is derived from his hammer, Mjolnir. Forged from an unbreakable metal and enchanted with magic from Odin himself, Mjolnir is one of the most powerful weapons in the universe, capable of controlling the very forces of nature. Mjolnir bears an inscription: Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of ... Thor Very few people other than Thor have been able to even LIFT the hammer, much less USE it. Some, such as the always-awesome Beta Ray Bill, even proving to be Thor's equal.

The Norse myths center around the battle of Ragnarok, in which the Gods and heroes battle the forces of evil at the end of the world. The world is reborn and everything starts over again. In the comic continuity, Thor managed to stop the Ragnarok Cycle. None of the Gods would be reborn, but being Gods, they weren't really dead, either. Their spirits wandered the void, eventually attaching themselves to human hosts. Thor, used to this as Donald Blake, set out to free the Aesir and rebuild Asgard, free from the threat of Ragnarok.

This is where J. Michael Straczynski started his 2007 relaunch of Thor.

And that, Comic Noobs, is where you should start, too. Thor, Vol. 1 Yep, no fancy subtitle, just freaking THOR. Though, be sure to read Civil War first if you want to avoid some spoilers.

Questions? Comics can be very confusing to new readers. Feel free to email me at samodeanhc(at)gmail(dot)com. If I can collect enough questions, I would love to publish them in a Q&A Session post! Please specify if you would like the question answered publicly or privately.

The full listing of Comics for Noobs posts can be found here.



Tony Stark, aka Iron Man is one of my favorite comic characters. He has no superpowers of his own. All of his power is a direct result of his own intelligence.

Iron Man is a great character for Comic Noobs. If you've seen 2008's Iron Man movie, you know Iron Man. The movie nailed the character and backstory perfectly.

Early Years

First introduced in Tales of Suspense #39 in 1963, Iron Man was given his own ongoing title in 1968.

Very little of his origin has been changed over the years, short of being retconned to a more modern setting. One of the world's foremost weapons designers, Tony Stark is kidnapped by warlords and pressed into service. Seriously injured in the attack, Stark creates the first Iron Man armor to both save his life and help him escape. In contrast to the movie's plot, Tony Stark would not reveal his identity as Iron Man for many years. Early on, Iron Man was seen as Stark's personal security force, battling enemies of Stark Enterprises. In time, he moved on to larger threats.

Every great hero has their own personal demons to overcome. The Hulk has his anger. Spider-Man has the guilt of letting his uncle die. Iron Man has spent most of his life battling alcoholism. The man in possession of the world's most powerful weapon was often unable to pilot it. During the years he was battling his illness, the Iron Man armor was worn by Stark's good friend James Rhodes. Once Stark was ready to be Iron Man once more, Rhodey was given his own suit of armor and became known as War Machine.

Modern Day

No hero has been more integral to the current Marvel Universe than Iron Man. Following the New Warriors disastrous attempt at apprehending several supervillains, Stark (now publicly recognized as Iron Man) was the leading voice of the Superhuman Registration Act. This led to the Civil War. Stark's Pro-Registration side was victorious and Tony was selected by the President as the new director of SHIELD.

Tony Stark is one of the smartest men on Earth. Unfortunately, political maneuvering is not one of his talents. Every crisis was a problem to solve. Sadly, every solution caused more problems to pop up. He had a plan, but completely ignored the human element involved. He was more interested in what "had to be done" instead of what "should be done." The Secret Invasion hit Stark particularly hard. SHIELD was disbanded and the most powerful man in the world lost everything, including his entire armory. He has spent the last year on the run from his successor, Norman Osborn, who has even gone so far as to use a version of the Iron Man armor, calling himself the Iron Patriot.

There is one title I recommend to Comic Noobs. Invincible Iron Man. Launched in 2008, Invincible Iron Man was intended as a perfect starting point for new readers. It took the Iron Man character, complete with his current role in the Marvel Universe, and inserted him into the setting more familiar to movie viewers. The movie characters, who also exist in the comics, became his supporting cast. It is a great way for readers who no nothing about the character outside of the film to learn about the Iron Man comic readers have loved for years. Additionally, Matt Fraction is one of Marvel's best new writers and Salvador Larroca has been one of my favorite artists of the last several years.

Questions? Comics can be very confusing to new readers. Feel free to email me at samodeanhc(at)gmail(dot)com. If I can collect enough questions, I would love to publish them in a Q&A Session post! Please specify if you would like the question answered publicly or privately.

The full listing of Comics for Noobs posts can be found here.

Variant cover to Captain America #600

Captain America. Short of Superman, no comic character is more iconic.

Early Years

Captain America appeared way back in 1941. While rival DC Comics kept their heroes out of world events, Marvel thrust theirs straight into World War II. Captain America and others fought alongside the soldiers in an effort to boost patriotism.

Steve Rogers was your average American youth. Wanting to join the Army, he was sadly rejected because of physical shortcomings. Due to his extreme patriotism, he was given a chance to help his country by volunteering to be a test subject for Project Rebirth. Steve was the only subject to survive being given the Super Soldier Serum and became the pinnacle of human physique.

This is one of Captain America's most endearing qualities. He has no superpowers. While he may possess well-above-average strength, stamina and agility, they are no greater than what any other person could possess. Paired with his brilliant mind, Captain America truly was a Super Soldier.

Unfortunately, Dr. Erskine, the scientist behind Project Rebirth was assassinated shortly after Steve's successful trial. Dr. Erskine never wrote down his research, instead committing everything to memory. His death meant the death of the Super Soldier Serum. Steve Rogers, Captain America, would be the world's ONLY Super Soldier.

While Captain America would fight alongside many other heroes, he is best known for his sidekick, Bucky.

After WWII ended, Cap and Bucky went on one last mission. Attempting to stop a missile heading towards Washinton D.C., Bucky was killed in an explosion, and Captain America was lost at sea.

The Avengers

I've previously discussed Cap's return with The Avengers. There is just one thing I would like to touch on here.

Joining the Avengers is what changed Captain American into Captain FREAKING America. Cap always was the Super Soldier. He was always a great fighter. With the Avengers, he became something more. It takes something special for this collection of heroes to defer to your judgment. Even THOR, the actual Norse God of Thunder, followed Captain America's orders.

This is the draw of the character. Anybody can kick ass. Captain America serves as an inspiration. He truly is a symbol of everything that, not just America, but the entire free world stands for. As a human being reading a fictional character on paper, I was pumped up watching Cap dismantle an entire squad of SHIELD Capekillers during the Civil War.

Modern Day

I don't feel like I'm going to spoil anything here. When a comic book is the lead story on CNN, it ceases to be a "spoiler."

Captain America as a solo hero has always been up and down. In his own books, he goes from Captain FREAKING America back to just Captain America. He's still a great hero, and there's good stories to be told. Just, personally, I've always preferred him in a team setting.

In 2004, Cap's solo series was relaunched with Captain America (Volume 5) #1. This version of the series was notable for the incredible, award-winning writing of Ed Brubaker.

Cap once again finds himself facing off with his oldest enemy, the Red Skull. While the story would require an excessive amount of explanation from me, one major event stands out: the appearance of the Winter Soldier.

Who is the Winter Soldier? He is a super-secret agent of Russia, dating back to the Cold War. He is kept in suspended animation and only thawed out when a missin requires the best of the best.

The Winter Soldier's real name is James Buchanan Barnes, aka Bucky. Yes, THAT Bucky. Turns out he wasn't dead after all. (Comic Noobs, this is what we call a "retcon")

Cap would chase Bucky for several issues, eventually bringing him back to his senses.


The whole Civil war thing went down, and Cap went on trial for his actions afterward. Then and there, on the courthouse steps, Steve Rogers, Captain America, was shot and killed.

The entire country stopped. This move came out of nowhere, proving that even in the age of the internet, some people can still keep a secret. Like I said above, this was actually the lead story on CNN. Everybody remembers what they were doing during historic events. I remember where I was when Captain America died.

So, Comic Noobs, where should you start reading?

Captain America, Volume 1: Winter Soldier, Book 1 is the start of the Brubaker run. This story arc wraps up in Captain America, Volume 2: Winter Soldier, Book 2.
The Death of Captain America, Volume 1: The Death of the Dream starts with Issue #25 and The Shot Heard 'Round the Marvel Universe.
The Death of Captain America, Volume 2: The Burden of Dreams finds Bucky, yes BUCKY, taking up the Shield and becoming the new Captain America.
Captain America: Road to Reborn brings the revelation that Steve Rogers may not be as dead as originally thought.

Basically, I'm recommending almost the entire Brubaker run. There's a reason he's won "Best Writer" awards three years in a row.

Questions? Comics can be very confusing to new readers. Feel free to email me at samodeanhc(at)gmail(dot)com. If I can collect enough questions, I would love to publish them in a Q&A Session post! Please specify if you would like the question answered publicly or privately.

The full listing of Comics for Noobs posts can be found here.

The world of Marvel comics has always been an interesting one. Marvel was the first to suggest that their different characters existed in the same world. As such, the stories are more cohesive. Characters and plotlines constantly cross over from one title to another.

Unfortunately, this also means the stories can get more complex. Sixty-plus years of intertwining stories builds up quite a bit of lore that can be very difficult to follow.

The Avengers
While there have been countless titles adding to this spiderweb, one has maintained its status as the Marvel Universe's "core" story: The Avengers.

Back in 1963, Marvel decided to put all their most popular characters into one title.

Thor, Iron Man, The Hulk, Ant Man and The Wasp joined together to combat Thor's evil brother, Loki.

Proving impossible to control, Hulk was quickly removed from the team, later even having his "Founder" status revoked. However, in Issue #4, The Avengers happened upon the frozen body of the long-thought-dead World War II hero, Captain America. Cap soon became an integral member of the team, even being unanimously granted Founder status.

Though the team would go through MANY lineup changes over the years, recruiting the best of the best of the Marvel U, but one or more of Cap, Iron Man or Thor would always be with the team. This consistency would cause fans to name the group "The Big Three," as they formed the central cast of the central title for all of Marvel Comics.

However, I'm not here to provide the entire 40-plus year history of The Avengers. This is "Comics for Noobs," not "The Complete and Total History of the Marvel Universe." Those wishing to learn about the early years may want to pick up Essential Avengers or one of the many other collections available.

The goal of Comics for Noobs is to give prospective readers tips for where to start off reading.

New Avengers
In 2004, after breaking the team up in their 500th issue, Brian Michael Bendis relaunched The Avengers in New Avengers. With Thor "dead," the new team consisted of Captain America, Iron Man, Spiderman, Wolverine, Luke Cage (formerly known as Power Man), Spiderwoman and a new character, The Sentry.

While reading through all sixty current issues is unnecessary, New Avengers, Volume 1: Breakout is a great place for readers new to comics to start. It introduces all the major players and the current status for the Marvel U.





Civil War

Crossover Events, bringing multiple characters from multiple titles together for one big story, have become all the rage in the comics industry the past few years, and Marvel has been paving the way with a sequence of world-changing mini-series. The first, and most successful was Civil War, released in 2006.

Without giving too much away, a disaster leads to the government stepping in to regulate costumed heroes. Some agree, some don't. Sides are chosen, lines are drawn. Anyone who played Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 will be familiar with this storyline.

Once the dust settles, the Marvel U is divided, leading to the founding of a second team of Avengers.

Secret Invasion
The two sides would trade blows for two years before uniting to face a larger threat. The Skrulls, a shape-shifting alien race, had been selectively replacing key members of the Marvel U for years. Seeing an opportunity, they attack in an attempt to claim Earth for their own. This was the Secret Invasion. After being at each others' throats for a while, now the heroes did not even know who they could trust. Anyone could be a Skrull. Setting aside their differences, the heroes, and even VILLAINS, of Earth banded together, bringing the "Big Three" together for the first time in years (kinda), to defeat the Skrull threat.

Something went wrong, though. Despite the new Captain America, Thor, Iron Man and even Nick Fury fighting on the front lines, none of them were the hero of the day.

Dark Reign
The man who fired the final shot, finishing off the Skrulls was none other than Norman Osborn. You may recognize that name from the Spiderman movie. He is none other than the villain formerly known as the Green Goblin, one of the most infamous characters in the entire Marvel Universe. A hero in the public eye, Osborn is a master of publicity and quickly rises to the most powerful person on the planet. He creates his own team of Avengers, dressing supervillains up as famous heroes. Osborn is attempting to recreate the Marvel U in his own image.

The villains are heroes, the heroes are fugitives. This is the Dark Reign. There is no better place to jump in to the current Marvel continuity than Dark Avengers, Volume 1: Assemble. Not only is this title immensely important to the current story, it is also FANTASTIC to read, one of the best-written books currently on the shelves.

So, there you go. Four books that will put you on the right track for stepping in to the Marvel Universe:

New Avengers, Volume 1: Breakout
Civil War
Secret Invasion
Dark Avengers, Volume 1: Assemble

Questions? Comics can be very confusing to new readers. Feel free to email me at samodeanhc(at)gmail(dot)com. If I can collect enough questions, I would love to publish them in a Q&A Session post! Please specify if you would like the question answered publicly or privately.

I love comic books.

Some people would laugh at that statement. Bottom line, I just love a good story. If that story is accompanied by fantastic art, then so be it. If the story is FUN to read? Even better.

I've posted about comics a bit in the past. However, those posts have drawn very little interest. Additionally, people are always asking me for recommendations.

So, in order to kill two birds with one stone, I present my latest series of posts: Comics for Noobs. Much like my Fiction Index, this post will be updated as future articles are written, to serve as a central resource and will be linked on the main page.

I hope you kids enjoy the ride.

Marvel

The Marvel Universe and The Avengers
Captain America
Iron Man
Thor

This past weekend, I finished Ultimate Alliance 2 on Legendary difficult. It was... not easy. So, I though I'd share some tips.

First of all, and this SHOULD be a given, make sure you choose the opposite side for your second playthrough. You cannot unlock all the attributes for most of the characters until you've played both sides.

Group composition is key. You can't just roll into Legendary with whoever you want, as opposed to earlier difficulties. My team:

Thor: You need a "tank" character. You should control this character as much as possible, as the AI will tend to home in on you. Thing, Hulk, Juggernaut and even Luke Cage or Ms Marvel are all viable options, but I love me some Thor. Aside from the God of Thunder being my favorite comic character, he's a beast in this game. His Mjolnir Strike is a great way to rush in to a group of foes and deal a nice bit of damage to them all, as well as getting the heck out of there if you're low on health. Mighty Swipe is, pardon the pun, godly. At max level, I was dealing over 1000 damage with each swing.

Iron Fist: He's fairly indispensable. He's the only character in the game with a heal. Low on health and out of Tokens? Switch to Iron Fist and throw out a few heals. Protip: hitting Block as soon as the heal goes off will cancel the animation, allowing you to spam heals twice as fast. Additionally, he has one of the best radials in the game. He's a bit weak defensively, so leave him to the AI unless you need the heals.

Songbird: You need a ranged attacker to back you up. Jean Grey and Storm are also good choices, but Songbird is a beast. Her Decibel Barrage will clear out the weaker enemies, while Shatter Scream will annihilate more powerful enemies. The thing that makes these three ladies my choice for ranged attacker is their Fusions. They each have a Fusion-boosting attribute, as well as high Teamwork stats.

Wolverine: This last slot is open to whoever you'd like. The only requirement is to have SOMEBODY who can perform a Targeted Fusion with your Ranged character, since almost any combination with Thor and Iron Fist will be Guided. I chose Wolverine because my best options for Songbird were him, Spiderman and Venom.

Granted, this is not the ONLY possible combination, just my suggestion.

With my team, I would use Songbird on solo bosses. Using her Targeted Fusion with Wolverine whenever possible, and keeping Shatter Scream going as much as possible, while still maintaining a safe range. For bosses with minions, I'd stick to Thor, since Songbird is fragile. Just Mighty Swipe away, and switch to Songbird to quickly use Fusions.

Equip Stamina Boosts! Especially Reserves IV, which you get from defeating Titanium Man on Legendary. This DOUBLES your Stamina, essentially allowing you to IGNORE melee attacks.

Level up as quickly as possible. Equip Experience Gain Boosts. Get those stats and Attributes up there before the real hard stuff hits.

The biggest tip is to finish your Simulator missions BEFORE starting Legendary. You have almost no hope of earning Gold Medals after.

Anybody else out there have strategies to share?

It's no secret. I love comic books. I love video games. When you get chocolate in my peanut butter, I'm in nerdvana.

I absolutely LOVED X-Men Legends. X-Men Legends 2, not so much. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance falls somewhere in the middle.

Ultimate Alliance 2 beats them all. What put this game and the first Legends title at the top of the list? Character switching. In a game with such an amazingly diverse cast, you want to try out and use as many characters as possible. The second Legends and UA1 both penalized you for switching. Your "bench" players did not gain any experience, leaving your team seriously underpowered when you swapped in a new member.

Not so in UA2. I loved being able to switch members on the fly, tweaking my lineup for the mission at hand.

The game follows the Secret War and Civil War storylines fairly closely to a point, then it splits off on its own insane tangent, to give everyone a happy ending. Yes, much like the Civil War comics, you must choose a side. I won't get into too much story detail, but you basically have to pick between Captain America and Iron Man, who find each other on opposite sides of the conflict.

Choosing Captain America's Anti-Registration side gives you exclusive access to Luke Cage and Iron Fist, while Iron Man's Pro-Registration gives Mr. Fantastic and Songbird. WHICH SUCKS! Well, for me, at least. I love the B-List heroes, and Iron fist, as well as the old-school Thunderbolts like Songbird are near the top of the list. Not being able to have them on the same team hurts. However, starting a New Game+ allows you to use the full roster, regardless which side you choose. Yes, you can cause a paradox by having Captain America fight himself.

Which leads me to one of the negative points of the game. Currently, you can only start a New Game+ on the highest difficulty setting. This doesn't bother me, as I have no interest in playing through the lower difficulties with a fully pimped-out party. However, many players don't like this. Additionally, there are some glitches to be found, but nothing terrible. More annoying than game-breaking.

Another thing that gets on my nerves a bit is the Alternate Costumes. In previous games, characters had 3 alts to unlock. In UA2, each character only has one, due to development constraints. Which is fine, as long as they're all worth it. Some like Spider Man, Storm and Gambit are awesome. However, the Secret War and Ultimate alts for some characters are just disappointing.

WTB yellow silk shirt and tiara for Power Man.

All in all, the game is FUN. There's tons of nods to the comics to keep fans interested, while still being accessible enough for non-fans. The game has TONS of playtime, between the 2 story paths, simulation missions and unlockables.

Some character recommendations:

Luke Cage: Very underrated. A great "tank" character in the early game. Can take a beating while dishing out respectable damage.
Ms Marvel: Her energy absorption powers make her nearly invulnerable to some enemies.
Iron Fist: Made of win. Great power damage, and the only character in the game with a group heal. Almost essential for higher difficulties.
Wolverine/Deadpool: Characters with regenerating health make Legendary a little easier.
Green Goblin: His glider is almost unstoppable. Learn to master it.
Jean Grey: Remember the end of the third X-Men movie, where Jean just disintegrates everything? Yeah. Totally OP.

THOR: The God of Freaking Thunder. The game gets 10x more fun once you unlock him.

DLC Wishlist:

Hawkeye/Ronin
Moon Knight
Nova
Sentry
Ares
Hercules

Okay, Marvel realized their Ultimate universe was growing a bit too complicated, so they blew it up. Relaunch time!

Ultimate Comics: Avengers, along with Ultimate Comics: Spiderman released last week, following in the wake of Ultimatum.

To make this quick, apparently Mark Millar has lost all comprehension of plot pacing and character development.

On Page 6, Hawkeye tells Nick Fury that Captain America has found out about BIG SECRET. Okay, cool. BIG SECRET will be the focus of the next few issues.

4 pages and 1 unnecessarily ludicrous action scene later, BIG SECRET shows up. Alright, gotcha. Important issue, let's move the plot along a little bit.

Very shortly thereafter, BIG SECRET whispers EVEN BIGGER SECRET to Captain America and throws him out of a helicopter.

This still halfway makes sense. The point of revealing BIG SECRET so soon was to dangle the plot thread of EVEN BIGGER SECRET.

A couple of pages later, after another, even more unnecessarily ludicrous scene which serves no point other than to show how cool Hawkeye is, Captain America reveals EVEN BIGGER SECRET to the readers.

Wait, what? Did they really just cram several issues of plot development into about 20 pages? Some like this, "more story for your dollar." Well, if Millar can maintain that pace for the next dozen or so issues, absolutely. But, no, it feels to me like he tried to cram as much hype into one issue as possible, just to make this issue a big deal. Now, the story will slow down with absolutely no point to it. Captain America will punch Nick Fury in the face, possibly cry a bit, and then tie everything together just in time to publish everything in a nice Trade Paperback.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the first two volumes of The Ultimates, even if it did take forever to get them on shelves. Then Jeph Loeb took over with Ultimates 3 and I lost all interest.

As Ultimate Comics: Spiderman #1 showed, a pure, simple story is perfectly fine for a relaunch. All the theatrics of Avengers was completely unnecessary and really turned me off on the future of the title.

I had the good fortune today to finally read the "Ashbringer" miniseries of the World of Warcraft comic.

Lore Nerds MUST read this.

It takes all the clips and comments and scenes and dialog we've experienced over the past 4+ years and puts them together into one coherent storyline. Much of the information IS in the game, but can be rather confusing if you're missing one or two tidbits.

We see the forging of the Ashbringer, the fall of the Silver Hand and the rise of the Scarlet Crusade and Argent Dawn. It sorts out all the Mograines and Fordrings wandering the worlds. It solves the mystery of Light's Hope Chapel. It even explains why Tirion Fordring was in exile. Also, look for the secret beginnings of Varimathras' rebellion.

All in all, a fantastic story with AMAZING art. Highly recommended.