An evening with the Illuminati

[stubbleupdate]

I understand that it's Friendship Day on Scans_Daily.

As my contribution, I bring you one of my favourite issues of the last few years - New Avengers Illuminati #4.

Brian Michael Bendis comes in for a lot of grief for his Bendis-voice. What I am saying to you now is that sometimes it's um, like how people talk, you know.

What I am saying to you now is that when it's used for like, every character, and I mean like, every character, it gets incredibly tedious.

What I am saying to you now is that I never want to see the New Avengers sitting eating Chinese food again and have every character quipping like Spider-man.

However, sometimes, it totally works.

One of these times was in New Avengers Illuminati #4, aka Stephen Strange, Tony Stark, Blackagar Boltagon, Professor Xavier, Namor and Reed Richards sitting around and chatting about their lives and relationships.


I love the way that even though they're all still in costume, this is about them being real, genuine people, rather than a Sorceror Supreme and an emperor and so forth. Plus, Cheung's acting and Bendis' panels are great. The little reaction shots and pauses work so well for this.


Tony Stark does not get "it" (and "It" is not sex)
Doctor Strange likes ice Hockey. Rangers fan? Islanders?


Black Bolt is a massive wit.
And that's another great reaction/beat panel from Bendis.


Namor the Submariner's guide to love. Who wants to try it out on their own partners and see how far they get (Shouting Imperius Rex while you're reaching climax doesn't count)
And for Namor wondering about why you'd want to sleep with a woman who looks like Dr Doom, read And I'll get the land by Jonathan Hickman and Adi Granov.

Comments

[icon_uk]

For some reason this makes me think of many scenes in Friends, sometimes witty and sharp, but completely self absorbed and more or less completely unconvincing as conversation.

[karthzon.livejournal.com]

I've had conversations like this.

[shadowpsykie]

(Shouting Imperius Rex while you're reaching climax doesn't count)
OH jesus! i almost choked on my own laughter....

[stubbleupdate]

Much like my comment on the Ultimate Iron man's sex tape

I like to think that it's Tony thrusting on top of some girl, eyeballing the camera and shouting
"I... AM... IRON MAN! nanananuh IRON MAN!"

[sindra]

Oh god, if my BF did that, I'd get up and leave, and not speak to him for a week.

He's also forbidden to yell "Lets Go Voltron Force!"

[rainspirit]

That last panel is awesome. "Why would you sleep with someone who looks like Doctor Doom?"

[badficwriter]

Because you know he was really thinking about it.

[aelflar]

My thoughts exactly!
Namor win! XD

[sianmink]

OH NAMOR

If Dr. Doom was a woman you would have 'joined forces' with her long ago.

[thehefner]

... damn it all, I cannot not hear Professor Impossible and Dr. Byron Orpheus in those opening pages. Probably because this kind of situation is so, so very Venture Bros.

So now I'm wondering who the rest of the Illuminati would sound like.

Tony: Rusty Venture.
Chuck: the Alchemist
Namor: trying to decide between Brock or Phantom Limb.

[pyrotwilight]

Namor as Sergeant Hatred kinda works.

[pyrotwilight]

"Why would you sleep with a woman who looks like Doctor Doom?"

Well, clearly he's never met the awesomeness that was Valeria Von Doom.

[thehefner]

I always forget how great Bendis can be because I'm always distracted by the fact that he seems to tell his artists to photocopy images over and over and over again.

The fact that none of his recent comics have done this, but have different (even subtly different) art in every panel makes his writing work so much better.

[stubbleupdate]

My enjoyment of Bendis is only as much as my enjoyment of his artist.

Cheung = outstanding.
Immonen = pretty high
Romita Jr =

[mykie1234]

"Imperious Rex!"

Thats better than my current, "SHAZAM!"

[thehefner]

"IT'S CLOBBERIN' TIME!"

[badficwriter]

This is cute..but I'll never get over the icky 'boys club' connotations. And the sticky moral question of the group to begin with, which will still bother me when Medusa takes Black Bolt's place.

[thehefner]

You raise a good point, but now I'm genuinely wondering: how else would one play out a gathering of five men thick in the midst of relationship troubles and tension without it turning into just that?

[aelflar]

I think it`s a rather cute scene myself.I like it how Tony keeps trying to 'own' everyone and gets radio silence and crikets as responses. And of course Namor just has to be the expert on women XD Hope Stephen is left feeling better after the discussion bounced around the table and moved off topic...

I`m kind of a sucker for human 'mundane' moments involving more or less super-human characters and this is quite entertaining.

[glprime]

Have to agree. The "downtime" moments are among my favorite Marvel moments the past several years. I don't like most of Bendis' plot "developments," but I do like the little exchanges between masks.

Another good moment (by BKV this time) is Araña and Iron Fist meeting at the Night Nurse's clinic one random evening.

[darrylayo]

That's what I don't get about Bendis' detractors:

Groups of familiar people DO tend to sound alike. More than that, one person tends to change his or her speech pattern as s/he moves from one group to another. There are hard limits to this tendency, for example, I cannot mimic the accents and dialects of my coworkers who emigrated to this country, but in general, the tone and style of my conversations with them is drastically different from the style of conversations that I have with my out-of-work peer group that I hang out with. In general, I've noted that people, given enough time, tend to move toward a linguistic common ground.

[citygod]

You have a valid point but would you talk about issues that you've never discussed before? Dr. Strange surfs the internet for hockey scores: really? Or did Bendis just think the incongruity of a character who speaks in an esoteric, heightened manner (for 40+ years) discussing mundane issues would be funny? Would you suddenly discuss your sex life and marital problems within minutes of entering a room of peers? Or is it just, again, funny because it incongruous?

[neev]

Dear Men In The Audience-

Have you ever in your life had a conversation like this? I mean, REALLY?

[thehefner]

Not exactly, but there's also usually beer involved. I would like to see this same group drunk together, just to see what happens.

[fifthie]

Bendisspeak works okay when he's writing characters who are actually average jerks but when he's writing guys who are supposed to be the actually smartest and/or most powerful guys in the world it's just fucking stupid.

At least he'd scaled back on the outright stuttering by this point.

[citygod]

Exactly. (And characters who have a history of never, ever speaking like this, either.)

[citygod]

"What I am saying to you now is that I never want to see the New Avengers sitting eating Chinese food again and have every character quipping like Spider-man."


Actually, it worse than that: they're sitting around quipping like Brian Bendis.

[redkingcrab]

Just 'cause they're the smartest guys in the world doesn't mean they aren't also normal people, and can't talk like normal people. I mean, I'm pretty sure members of the G8 don't spend their private time orating in stentorian tones.

[wizardru]

Yeah, but we don't have over 40 years of listening to the private conversations of the leaders of the G8. For these characters, WE DO. The only one who sounds like he normally does is Namor. Bendis nails his voice just fine. Professor X sounds OK, if slightly off. Black Bolt mocking is fine. Black Bolt making 'kill me, my wife is a beeyotch' faces? Not so much.

The problem here isn't that the dialogue is bad...it's that it RINGS FALSE. Let me see if I get this straight: Tony Stark, a character with a long history of seducing women and marketing to high-end business leaders...he apparently has no idea how to talk to these guys that he's known years without sounding like a clueless jackass? Really? A character who's been famous for being suave since he was introduced as a millionaire playboy?

I don't have a problem with what the characters are saying, but HOW they're saying it. The artwork, which is not bad, reinforces the approach. If this was a bunch of third-string characters who we weren't as familiar with, it'd be fine...(such as, for example, Stingray talking to Paladin). But for some of Marvel's most famous characters in their boys club? Not so much.

[blackruzsa]

"You slept with a woman that looks like Doctor Doom?"

xD AHAHAH SO THAT'S THE CONNECTION THEY MAKE.

Gosh, this was funny. Love how incredibly normal and gossipy these men get.

[terrykun]

I love how matter of fact Namor is about Sue.

"If your wife left you, I would tell you. I would waste no time telling you."

[baihu]

I'm pretty sure Reed had this same conversation before, with our without Namor present. Either way, I think he and Strange's speech patterns are the worse, and maybe Xavier for his fixation on the 'internets'.

But a relaxed Black Bolt, who's joking, seems pretty okay! If the only person who can translate for you is your own wife, I give him a little slack for being actually a lot less formal when he can speak a little freely.

Also Namor's spot-on, gotta love his clear connection with Tony's Doom fixation too XD

[jlroberson]

You are correct, sir. This WAS one time it worked. I liked this a lot.