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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Guest Post: New Comics Wednesday (5/9/2012)



For BigBro's first installment and an explanation of terms, click here.  He will be visiting intermittently to share his knowledge of comic books and the characters many of us have come to appreciate through movies like Thor, Captain America or Iron Man (just a short list).  Give him some love in the comments or email me and I will forward your comments to him.

So you saw The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble in the UK) and are wondering what comics to read.  First, we should thank Jack Kirby and Stan Lee for the Avengers bombastic 1960s origin.  However, it was Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch who made Hollywood take notice.  In 2002, they reinvigorated the then ailing Avengers franchise with The Ultimates:


The Ultimates #1 by Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch
âMarvel Entertainment

Their sleek 21st century reimagining wowed readers and signaled that these concepts were ripe for film.   Suddenly it wasn’t radiation and gamma bombs that gave superpowers but clandestine attempts to recreate the supersoldier program that birthed Captain America.  In a stroke of genius, Millar and Hitch recast Nick Fury, the foremost spy in the Marvel Universe, as Samuel L. Jackson.  The brilliance of Millar’s words and opulence of Hitch’s art show through on every page.  So if you’re interested in the roots of the films you’ve been enjoying for the last four years, look to the following books:

The Ultimates Vol. 1: Super Human
The Ultimates Vol. 2: Homeland Security
The Ultimates 2, Vol. 1: Gods and Monsters
The Ultimates 2, Vol. 2: Grand Theft America

A word of warning, these stories like the film should be considered PG-13.  If you were confused by the first post-credit reveal, you might want to check out this.

Pull List: none (Sad, isn’t it?)

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