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James, this where I get pissed! And it starts with the Ultimates and
there version of Nick Fury. Since The films are going more with the
Ultimate line, and using Samuel L. Jackson as Nick, there are pushing
A black Nick Fury down our throats. In animation, the new Avengers
cartoon has a black Nick Fury, so does Wolverine and the X-Men.
Now the original Nick does has a title. But, it's called Secret Warriors.
Nick Fury's name doesn't appear in the title. To further push the
Ultimate version down our throats, I honestly believe that they are
holding back on releasing collections featuring the Marvel Universe
version. With all of the various titles released in the Essential line, I
find it hard to believe that Nick Fury: Agent of Shield would not get a
release due to lack of interest. Also, the Kirby and Steranko works are
now out of print. This happened around the time The Ultimates
became a hit.

TALKIN LOUD and saying SOMETHING

 ....speak the truth Mr. Byrne....hell yeah!

speak it loud and clear....the sheep gotta wake up....

"get your face off facebook and turn off the phone " ...is a great lyric in a song called wake up the nation....

There is too much sleep walking in art & society.....wake up the nation!

••

Still amazed that Mr. Jackson was FLATTERED by that, and didn't instead immediately call his lawyers.

Like most of you guys I've been reading comics since the early 70s and grew up on Conway's Spiderman and John's Avengers and FF, and still love and read that stuff but - and i'm going to get hammered here - I don't see what the problem is with today's comics. Sure they're a lot more 'adult' but the comics we read in the 70's were stronger than the stuff from the 40s and 50s...O'Neal and Adams classic Green Lantern and Green Arrow for instance or some of Gerber's stuff.

I'm still as excited when I get my new parcel as i've always been and theres still a lot to be excited by out there - Hickman's Fantastic Four is putting the wonder back into the comic again, Fraction's Iron Man is so beautifully written (and drawn), Brubakers Captain America is true to what Cap has always stood for - and over at DC James Robinson is bringing his nostalgic writing style to the JLA. Sure...there will be always be stuff we don't like but hasn't that always been the case?

I'd be interested to know which comics John is so angry about

We already know he has the athleticism and can handle the complex combat sequences from his work on Kung Fu Panda...

Black Panther has a talking motorcycle, right...?

JB:

Getting back to your original point, I don't think it really matters if you tell people you are pissed.  Whether you shout it from the top of a moutain or broadcast it over the evening news, it doesn't really matter how you characterize it.  People will interpret your mood on the topic as they want.  And if they think you're bitter . . .

(It's similar to athletes who give themselves their own nicknames.  Can't do it.  Someone else has to give you the nickname.)

But in the end, I don't think it matters who is really mad, bitter, or just annoyed.  The medium has changed, its going to keep changing, and there really isn't much we can do about it.  What I really think is ironic about comics is that most entertainment mediums have changed for the better - t.v., movies, music (at least the distribution) are all better than they were 50 years ago.  The way we get entertainment through the internet is far superior than it was in the past.  We can order books, music, etc. on line now.

Yet comics have just gotten "worse" in the sense that they sell a fraction of what they used to sell.  Maybe its the result of so much more entertainment available so much easier that people (forget about kids) don't want to wait for comics to come out, then trudge to the store and buy them.  Who knows?