Re: Ultimate Avengers (Discussion & Spoilers)
Millar/Bendis era = Golden age
Bendis/others era = Silver age
Loeb era = **** age
Post-Ultimatum = Senile age
Everything before Ultimatum was better than Ultimatum. Everything after Ultimatum will probably be better than Ultimatum, but will never be as good or better than anything before Ultimatum.
It's funny that you say that it's senile when both of the original architects of the UU are back in business.
These are both very good points. Which is completely contradictory.
I think what it is, because I agree with Langsta even though the "Senile" age is indeed written by the "Golden" age writers, is this: The Loeb era so completely
stretched the point of credibility of the comics that, at the moment, it just feels like a company franchise, it feels like fan-fiction. We, as an audience, are simply too aware of the creative decisions in making up the comic
prior to it being released. What's more, what Loeb did was so thoroughly "un-Ultimate" that these stories that follow on and reference it feel completely forced. We, as an audience, can't reconcile the bizarre shift of storytelling internally within the fictional universe, and are simply too aware that this was "Written by Loeb" and that now these bits are "Written by Bendis/Millar". Instead of reading a story about Spider-Man, we're reading what Bendis thinks should happen to Spider-Man. It doesn't feel real or immersive.
I think, or would hope, that such an atmosphere would dissipate when the clammy hands of Loeb's run is gone, but for the present, that atmosphere will be terribly pervasive. For example, when Wolverine returns, this will all come up again.
Basically, every time someone points out a iconic Marvel character who died in Ultimatum, this 'senility' will kick in. And because Loeb had the idiocy to take out so many icons so senselessly and poorly, I can't see that not being referenced again and again.
For example; the X-Men are missing Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, and Wolverine, all of which are key staples of that franchise. The Fantastic Four are missing Doctor Doom. We're missing Thor (and therefore... all the Asgardian characters), and Wasp and Giant-Man. And when Millar or Bendis introduce new versions of those characters, we'll be reminded that the originals are dead
for stupid reasons and that lack of immersion will kick in.
This is how bad Loeb's run is - it will continue to taint the stories because unlike the Maximum Carnage or Countdown to Crisis, it simply cannot be forgotten. Most bad arcs are just bad, and they can be forgotten by new writers not referencing it. But Ultimatum just will be mentioned again and again, and so the only way to actually deal with it is to retcon it.
