@avclub-71348decaf1df2bb85be2ece24cc2a1d:disqus "Moving up slowly" to what, though? It takes a monumental event for any comic book to crack 200,000 in sales (as Spider-Man #700 just did), and even then you're talking about units shipped to stores, not necessarily purchased by readers. Spider-Man #699 sold like 80,000,…

I think the line was "I'm great at boats!" I want to believe that was Hawkeye trying to sound like Dr. Steve Brule. Because I want the fictional characters I like to like the fictional characters I like.

It figures it'd be something like this.

There are no "new comic book readers." Marvel and DC have been fighting over the same 300,000 nerds for nearly 30 years now.

Hawkeye remains awesome, one of the best things Marvel is putting out right now. In a way it sort of reminds me of the earliest Madman comics, where the hero is a nice dude who just wants to help people out with anything. It's a character-driven superhero book, and that's so rare to see in any era.

The only series that really benefited from the "New 52" initiative has been "Wonder Woman," and that's mainly because it's been sequestered away from the rest of the DC Universe and her new origin has given Azzarello the opportunity to take the character to new places. None of the other standout series mentioned in…

The best advice I ever got about reading comic books is to follow creators, not characters. There's some really good stuff coming out at DC right now, like Wonder Woman, half of the Batman series, Dial H, and Animal Man, but those books succeed because they're the result of talented writers and artists being given…

What?

@avclub-f62296b9393b6ab9229ebde91ed8469f:disqus Staying away from the bulk of DC Comics right now, at least.

"We're totally starting everything over from scratch! Except Batman, because Grant Morrison is in the middle of a huge storyline. And not Green Lantern, because Geoff Johns is also in the middle of a huge storyline. But everything else! But oh yeah, some stuff from the last universe happened and some didn't. Like…

DC: Um, gee…I don't know…"Justice League?" Uh, w-why don't we just kind of wait and see how "Man of Steel" does, okay? I-is that okay with everyone? Otherwise, I g-guess we could always make another Batman movie?

Not at all, a Defenders movie could get away with a lot more weird stuff than the Avengers franchise could. Go full-on Steve Gerber and adapt the Nebulon storyline, where an alien mollusk disguises himself as a New Age self-help guru. Nic Cage as Dr. Strange, The Rock as Namor, Jennifer Lawrence as Valkyrie, Glenn…

If Rocket Fucking Raccoon doesn't do it…

Kinda, yeah. But it did seem like Movie Hawkguy is based in the "badass black ops" mold as opposed to Fraction's "laid-back regular-dude superhero."

Movie Hawkguy is in dire need of a personality transplant.

The Legion of Monsters will probably be saved for Phase IV. Phase III appears to be leading to a Defenders movie.

Noh-Varr has been a mess because Marvel wants him to be a superhero, and it's hard to force that on a character that once burned "FUCK YOU" onto the island of Manhattan with a laser cannon. Gillen's take already seems miles better than Bendis' personality-free background character, though.

Pfft. Yeah, those rappers, I tell ya.

I only ask two things of an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie: 1. That something explode and 2. That no attempt is made to explain his accent.

I mean, we're all getting older, but for some reason Edna's voice really makes me aware of my own mortality and that's not something I expect from any animated TV series other than "Family Guy."