From Avengers: EMH to Avengers Assemble, Part 2: A Sequel Show?

Is Avengers Assemble in continuity with Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?

The million-dollar question. Well, maybe a couple bucks.

In a word: Maybe?

In several words….

From Avengers: EMH to Avengers Assemble, Part 1

The Avengers keep assembling, over and over. Let's take a look at two very different assemblies, and figure out how these assemblies began to resemble a semblance... let's look at these shows.

Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Assemble

Review: Avengers Assemble "The Avengers Protocol: Parts 1 and 2"

Well, I'm pretty sure by now you all know that I don't like this series as much as its predecessor. But does this mean the premiere is terrible?

Let's go through the issues subject by subject.

Recap: Avengers Assemble "The Avengers Protocol: Part 2"

If I can remember where we left off...

Yeah, this looks about right.

Red Skull: Cloaked in iron? 
Tony Stark: Mechanically Mola Ram'd? 
Hulk: Not Bruce Banner?

If none of those statements made sense to you, go read this Recap.

Even more assembly required.

Review: Avengers EMH "Hulk vs. the World"

Just like "Iron Man is Born," this Micro-Episode compilation introduces us to one of the core Avengers. Unlike that episode, though, we also get introductions for several more characters, as well. But is it too much for one episode? Let's take a look.

Recap: Avengers EMH "Hulk vs the World"

Today, we look at the compilation of the Hulk's episodes, with Hawkeye and Black Widow piggybacking onto the end. Because they're apparently not allowed to get their own episodes or films.

The bird, the spider, and the monster. But not even a single evil ex-boyfriend.

Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 19) "Beware the Widow's Bite"

Much like the previous compilation of Micro-Episodes, the baton of protagonism has been passed. This time, Hawkeye grabbed it. But Black Widow got the title.

She bites, apparently.

Failing Feminism in the Marvel Animated Universe

Guys, it really should not be that difficult to write a strong, female character. It doesn't matter whether or not you can identify third-wave feminism from Third Edition D&D.

First of all, "female" is not a defining personality trait. Characters should no more be defined by their gender as they are by their race. Yes, it's part of who they are, but it shouldn't be the only thing. 

Second, stop writing female characters as having no flaws because you think you have to make up for that second X-chromosome. I get that male writers often fear accusations of sexism if they create a female character that could be seen as "weak" or "frail" when compared to male characters, but too far in the opposite direction takes away any flaws that could potentially make the character interesting.

If you want to write a good female character, the best thing you can do is give them depth. Make them three-dimensional, with quirks, faults, and foibles. They might mess up. They might be greedy, or kind, or smart, or stupid, or anything as long as they have some kind of characteristics other than being female.

How do you properly write a female character? Write them like a human being.

Marvel's current animated series are having... issues writing their various female characters. To be fair, that's indicative of the writing quality as a whole. However, I get the feeling that the female characters in particular give them trouble.

Of course, if there are any women or girls who find the Marvel Animation Universe's female characters empowering, I can't argue with that. So if you find these characters inspiring, then by all means don't let my opinion stop you.

But my opinion is that the men writing the MAU could be doing a better job with the unfortunately few female characters they have.

Let's take a look.

F-Minus. See me after class.

Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 10) "This Monster, This Hero"

Hawkeye and Black Widow have joined the events! Just like in the films, they have to piggyback their introduction onto someone else's story.

"Who is the monster, and who is the man?" Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells of Notre Dame!
What? Disney owns Marvel now.

Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 7) "Hulk Versus the World"

Spoiler Alert: The Hulk does not actually fight the entire world.

We apologize from any confusion that may have arisen from the title.

Recap: Avengers Assemble "The Avengers Protocol: Part 1"

Ah, my love/hate relationship with Avengers Assemble.

On the one hand, it manages to be pretty good when it hits its stride. On the other hand, my favorite Avengers show of all time was cancelled to make room for this often-mediocre blandness. Still, one of the things I always try to be is fair. Everything is given equal opportunity to impress me, or not. At the end of the day, the NewtCave is a place where I like to think everyone is free to share an opinion. If you disagree with me, that's absolutely fine. Hence, this pic I keep posting before I say something that will probably be controversial.

And yet, I don't have a favorite pony.

So let's begin with the first episode of Avengers Assemble... in a bit. First, there's background info to cover.

Avengers Assemble is a semi-sequel show to the Avengers film. This show ignores every film that came after The Avengers, because those films hadn't been made yet. As such, while Tony Stark is identical to his film portrayal, for example, the Falcon is completely different. There are more goofy comic book tropes at play, too. Atlantis, aliens, magic, etc. Also, Bruce Banner doesn't appear. Just the Hulk. I don't know either.

Much assembly required.

Review: Avengers EMH "Iron Man is Born"

This episode, being comprised of four Micro-Episodes, is naturally somewhat tough to review. Do I review it as a compilation, or as I would a normal episode? My answer: yes. I will be reviewing all the Micro-Episodes at once, when I finish them. But this episode aired on TV, all four parts put together into one whole, so I'm going to treat it the same way I'd treat any other standalone episode.

Recap: Avengers EMH "Iron Man is Born"

This episode originally aired online as four Micro-Episodes. "Iron Man is Born!", "HYDRA Lives", "Behold, the Mandroids!", and "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

The events take place before the 2-part premiere, though this episode was aired afterwards. Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey? Sure, why not.

Just the one Avenger, really. And Nick Fury, for some of it.

Post-Ponement 5/15/14

You know, sometimes I gravely underestimate the power of stuff that needs to be done.

Hate to spring this on you all, but I'm going to just take the rest of this week off and start fresh on Sunday. Well, I guess I'll update archives on Saturday. If you're lucky, there might also be a post of some kind.

We'll see.

Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 2) "The Coming of the Hulk"

Micro-Episodes galore! I have no idea why they go out of order if you watch them numerically, but that's neither here nor there. Go look for the fourth one if you want to continue Iron Man's story. We're looking at the Hulk today.

Again, just the one mighty hero today.

Post-ponement: 5-12-14

Get it?

Yeah, I'm pushing everything back a day.

Various reasons. Quality control, lack of time, etc.

Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 9) "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D."

Instead of Iron Man, like in Micro-Episodes 1, 4, and 6, the perspective for this episode has been passed on to Nick Fury. Who is an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. In case you didn't know.

Was I clear enough on that?

Top Five Weirdest Grant Morrison Creations

Grant Morrison. Oh, Grant Morrison.

Love him or hate him, he’s certainly had his share of memorable comics. He’s managed to blend his love of the Silver Age with his (occasionally drugged-up) imagination, culminating in some memorable moments, leaving his unique mark on Superman, Batman, DC, Marvel, and pretty much everything else. But sometimes, in his quest to reimagine the old, and revitalize the new… he comes up with some weird stuff.

You need to know right now that some of these things will not make sense without context. They won’t make much sense with context either. If you get confused, don’t worry. So did the people who actually read the comics. I’ll supply as much context as I can… but I can’t work miracles.

Let’s look at what are, in my opinion, the top five weirdest things to come out of his shiny head.

Honorable Mention: Bat Cow
It’s a cow with a bat-shaped mark on its face that was adopted by Robin. And this is canon.

MOO.

I get that this is Grant Morrison’s response to the idea of Super Pets, like Krypto… but this is just weird to me. Awesome, but weird.

Top Ten Reasons the Clark Kent Glasses Are a Good Disguise

Along with Aquaman talking to fish, the "Clark Kent" disguise is one of those things that everyone likes to make fun of. Back in the day, Clark Kent could shapeshift his face by flexing his facial muscles, but that was retconned away alongside his Super-Ventriloquism and Super-Weaving powers. So these days, he only has a pair of hipster glasses as a flimsy barrier preventing people from recognizing his Super-Face.

Mmmmm... I don't see it.

Or is it really as flimsy as it seems? The answer: No. And here’s the top ten reasons why.

Avengers Assemble Archive

Some assembly required.

Failing Feminism in the Marvel Animated Universe
From Avengers: EMH to Avengers Assemble, Part 1
From Avengers: EMH to Avengers Assemble, Part 2

Season 1
Episode 01: "The Avengers Protocol: Part 1"
- Recap
Episode 02: "The Avengers Protocol: Part 2"
- Recap
Review: "The Avengers Protocol: Parts 1 & 2"
Episode 03: "Ghost of a Chance"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 04: "The Serpent of Doom"
- Recap
- Review 
Episode 05: "Blood Feud"
- Recap
- Review 
Episode 06: "Super Adaptoid"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 07: "Hyperion"
Episode 08: "Molecule Kid"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 09: "Depth Charge"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 10: "The Doomstroyer"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 11: "Hulked Out Heroes"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 12: "Avengers: Impossible"
- Recap
- Review 
Episode 13: "In Deep"
- Recap
- Review 
Episode 14: "Hulk's Day Out"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 15: "Planet Doom"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 16: "Bring on the Bad Guys"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 17: "Savages"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 18: "Mojo World"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 19: "The Ambassador"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 20: "All-Father's Day"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 21: "By the Numbers"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 22: "Guardians and Space Knights"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 23: "One Little Thing"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 24: "Crime and Circuses"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 25: "Exodus"
- Recap
Episode 26: "The Final Showdown"
- Recap
Review: "Exodus" & "The Final Showdown"

Season 1 Review

Season 2
Episode 27: "The Arsenal"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 28: "Thanos Rising"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 29: "Valhalla Can Wait"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 30: "Ghosts of the Past"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 31: 'Beneath the Surface"
- Recap
- Review

Episode 32: "Nighthawk"
- Recap
- Review  
Episode 33: "The Age of Tony Stark"
- Recap
- Review 
Episode 34: "Head to Head"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 35; "The Dark Avengers"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 36: "Back to the Learning Hall"
- Recap
- Review
Episode 37: "Downgraded"
- Recap
- Review

Recap: Avengers EMH (Micro-Episode 6) "Behold, the Mandroids!"

Unlike Micro-Episode 4, this one picks up right where that one left off. Let us begin!

And lo, were the Mandroids indeed beheld.

Review: Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. "Deathlok"

You may have noticed that my Recap was an overall positive one, with most of my negative comments either being nitpicky or facetious. And yet, I said that this episode contained the biggest misstep of the season? I did. And I stand by that comment.

Recap: Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. "Deathlok"

The final Recap of this show. For a while, at least. Allegedly, this season is 26 episodes, but I don't know when the other five are supposed to air. But enough about that. "Deathlok". With no hyperbole, this episode contains the biggest misstep of the entire series so far.

Take a second to let that sink in, then let's begin.

Yes, bigger than Ego pulling a Wizard of Oz.

Update: May, 2014

Well, May's all up ons.

You may have noticed the lack of lack of updates overall. Yeah, the NewtCave didn't get "slimmed down" much, aside from a postponement or two. It turns out that I'm really good at writing final papers fast. Speaking of which, I graduated! Hooray for me! But you guys want me to talk about the plan for this month, don't you? K.