Newsarama's bad review for New Avengers #1

[Deus ex Chris]

He has actually, on the Word Balloon Podcast:

http://ifanboy.com/podcasts/word-bal...n-qa-part-one/

skip to about 01:13:00 if you want to hear the whole question.

skip to 01:17:00 if you want to hear the part about black characters

Weird. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the context, btw.

[Rheged]

Has he mentioned an insecurity about writing black characters? I find that comment odd because it's not like this is even close to his first time.

There was a podcast or something where Hickman said he didn't feel confident writing black characters or some such. Ask in the BP appreciation thread. They raked Hickman over the coals about his 'lack of imagination,' amongst other things.

Why the thinly veiled dislike for Panther, just come out and said it a character that you dont care for and thats the reason you have so many issues with the book. The comic itself was consistant with the way Hickman writes and was done in a methodical manner, basic premise, and then add the layers on. I guess there is a problem with good writing if the Black Panther is involved. I get the feeling that if the second book came out tomorrow and Tchalla was told to sit down, and get out of the way of real men, oddly enough this book would cease to have people that have a problem with it.

Try reading again.

I haven't talked about any of the issues I had with the book, since, the review discussions aren't allowed until tomorrow. All I've talked about is the expectation of the Newsarama reviewer for an Illuminati book to feature the Illuminati is not unreasonable. I've specifically mentioned what I disagreed with on the review, including his rating, but clearly you missed that.

Nor have I ever veiled my dislike of particular aspects of BP or my liking for particular BP stories.

[Rheged]

He has actually, on the Word Balloon Podcast:

http://ifanboy.com/podcasts/word-bal...n-qa-part-one/

skip to about 01:13:00 if you want to hear the whole question.

skip to 01:17:00 if you want to hear the part about black characters

Ah, thank you. Slow typist.

If IIRC, there was more clarification on the quote somewhere.

[Rheged]

The review makes the book sound disappointing... I was hoping for an Illuminati style book. If this is just a bait and switch BP series, that will be lame.

Try the second issue, as at least it should have the Illuminati in it. You can always go back and pick this up, if you want to know more about the threat.

I have no problem with the first issue being BP-centric, especially since he has been so reluctant to be a part of the Illuminati. Site reviews mean very little to me these days. And I've been burned a bit by being too quick to judge a book on a single issue or preview art.

I suspect we might see one character focus in future issues too (kind of like the Defenders - that would be really wonderful actually. Allowing both Hickman and Epting to play with specific areas of the Marvel U.) If this was a BP solo book I wouldn't be trying it.

As for Epting's art, we'll see. It's too early for me to call since I am a fan of his work in Cap and the various Brubaker related Marvel titles. I quite like what I've seen so far (save for his Namor design. He looks too old for me, but otherwise, it's all good.)

I'm hoping for the same too.

I think you'll like Epting's art here. IIRC, you already mentioned something about the dynamism of Black Panther in the previews.

And yes, I agree on Namor, and I'm lobbying for the death of the collar and the return of the speedo!

[Rheged]

Umbra on Comicvine pointed out something I didn't recall (prolly cause it was from back in July), and so I tracked it down.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=40000

"Specifics about about the story in 'New Avengers' had been percolating in the back of my head for a while, so the first issue of that series was a monster and way too big. It would have ended up being over 40 pages," Hickman said. "We had to split it into two issues -- I had been working on it, thinking about it for so long, it grew out of control.

This would go quite a ways to explaining why the Illuminati have no role in the first issue. Will have to see the second issue, to see why scenes couldn't be moved around.

[Aaric Rivad]

There was a podcast or something where Hickman said he didn't feel confident writing black characters or some such. Ask in the BP appreciation thread. They raked Hickman over the coals about his 'lack of imagination,' amongst other things.

BP fans are some of the most delicate blossoms out there.

The review makes me wonder if that guy has ever read a Hickman book. I think T'Challa, and the rest of the team, are in good hands.

[Cap10nate]

With the deconstructive story telling approach in modern comics, a review on one issue should not be indicitive on how the arc or series will turn out. It would be like writing a review on the first 20 minutes of a movie. Even though the entire exposition of the issue is Panther, it is setting up for the whole series. Once you read it in trade or consecutively with the next several issues, I'm sure that it will make sense why he was solely featured and not be a big deal that the other cast members were not included in the issue.

[Iron Maiden]

Much ado about nothing IMO. I didn't read the review in case there were spoilers. In Hickman's FF, most of the stuff was related to Reed, particularly about the Council and then the final lesson about the need for fathers, etc. There were no complaints there.

[nosocialize100]

I thought it was a rather strong issue, but a little vague in regards to the threat and villain. That said I think it was quite clear it's a complex story about death of heroes and maybe even the Earth itself. The stakes are strong in my view. I'd say it's more of a 7 or 8 out of 10 myself. Of course the confusion is going to be rectified in the next issue...classic "this was written for a collection rather than a single issue read".

I reviewed the book with pictures here if anyone is interested.

[nosocialize100]

With the deconstructive story telling approach in modern comics, a review on one issue should not be indicitive on how the arc or series will turn out. It would be like writing a review on the first 20 minutes of a movie. Even though the entire exposition of the issue is Panther, it is setting up for the whole series. Once you read it in trade of consecutively with the next several issues, I'm sure that it will make sense why he was solely featured and not be a big deal that the other cast members were not included in the issue.

Very true. I try to give books at least 3 issues before I make a final judgment. That said a single issue still has ebbs and flow that should be met at least for the single issue reader.

[Prof. Warren]

Not surprisingly, the Newsarama review was clueless. This was a strong first issue, focusing on BP for the obvious reason that he turned the Illuminati down before so showing why he'd be motivated to call on them is a key story point - certainly one worth spending the first issue on. And, really, just for Epting's rendition of BP this is a top drawer issue. Loved the ending, looking forward to #2.

[Daniel Mengsk]

I hope that Avengers fans don't stop buying this book because of this one review.