All-purpose, running Geek thread (formerly Battlestar Galactica thread)

All-encompassing list of lame - and not-so-lame - comic book villains.

I "Collect" Stupid Marvel Characters

 

Reminds of the great feature in the old Wizard Magazine called "Mort of the Month," where they'd spotlight a lame and forgotten character from days gone by and rip him to shreds. Before Wizard lost its balls toward the end of its run, it was funny as hell.

The two Frog-Man characters also got some redemption with a great story in a book called "Spider-Man's Tangled Web." The original's son finds his dad's costume in the garage of their suburban house and takes it out to battle some bullies.
"Tangled Web" was a really great book that unfortunately only lasted 15 or 20 issues. Stories by different creators focusing on Spider-verse characters, and how Spider-man affected their lives, but rarely featuring Spider-man himself. One issue had a bunch of his villains telling tales of how he screwed up their plans while playing poker at a Bar With No Name. Vulture was hijacking a truck on the Jersey Turnpike and Spider-man showed up, and Vulture said something to the effect of, "What the hell was he doing in New Jersey!?"
At the end of the poker game one of them, the gratuitous mysterious shadowy figure, talks about really getting to him and how he killed Spider-man's girlfriend once. He steps into the light and reveals himself as Norman Osborn.
Bunch of stories like that.

 

Tangled Web was well done, though perhaps it worked best because they didn't milk it too long.

One of the better ones focused on one of Kingpin's men, who faces the repercussions after failing due to Spider-Man's interference.

 

That was a good one. There was another one about Crusher Hogan, the wrestler that Spider-Man beat the night his uncle was killed. Hogan got money from a loan shark to prop up his fading wrestling promotion, and used it to put a bounty on himself. Anyone who could beat him would receive the $10,000 he had in a briefcase.
The thinking being, of course, that Hogan could just beat up whatever jamoke stepped into the ring with him if it came to it, but people would go nuts and buy tickets to see if anyone could do it. It was a great plan ... and then some guy in a red outfit calling himself The Spider shows up and ruins it.

 

Does Kingsman: The Secret Service qualify for this thread? I would think so.

I enjoyed it and I look forward to the upcoming sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. There is a new promo image for it. I'm not quite sure how this will make sense, but the first movie earned some trust.

LOOK: "Kingsman" Poster Teases Major Character's Return

 

I never read the comics, but the movie was an enjoyable take on spy movies. Really well done. I'm looking forward to the sequel.

 

Been watching Daredevil with the wife and I've enjoyed the first four episodes. It's pretty dark and heavy, but well-made. Looks great in 4K.

Wife and I were comparing it to Agents of SHIELD, which is more "fun." Both have some comedic relief, but in Daredevil, the comedy is almost exclusively contained in scenes involving Foggy. It's like, "Foggy's on-screen, time for jokes!" SHIELD does a better job of weaving the comedic relief throughout the show, even during action sequences.

Biggest problem I have thus far is D'Onofrio's whimpering loser portrayal of Kingpin. Totally timid and meek around the art dealer. I don't recall ever seeing Kingpin portrayed as such wimp in the comics. And his whole tantrum because of what happened "in front of HER!!!" was just silly. It's like he mixed Anakin Skywalker and Sheldon Cooper to come up with this interpretation of Fisk.

 

I've seen interpretations of Fisk that highlight the tantrums. I always kind of thought the reason he doesn't like to get his hands dirty is that he hates that part of himself.

I really liked D'Onofrio's performance, but I get where you are coming from.

 

I think the extreme violence works, though I remember him more as someone who doesn't get his hands dirty, like you said. It's the vulnerability and general wimpy attitude that bothered me. I can't remember seeing Wilson Fisk take no for an answer, much less slinking away apologetically when he hears it.

It's also only the second episode he's appeared in so far, and I like D'Onofrio in general, so I'm still open to liking the character.

 

Vanessa is definitely a weakness for him, but also a strength. I've seen that in other renditions of the character. This show definitely has a very ruthless, but human version of Fisk.

 

Damn, this is good stuff.