nate_studio

Truth. Marvel has done a great job with their movies (I wasn't thrilled with Incredible Hulk, but it was better than Hulk) so I pretty much trust them to do a great job with Avengers. Cap, Thor, Iron Man, and Hulk have all drawn heavily from the source material with little tweaks and updates, but like Miry put it, the spirit of the source material remained. I'm expecting to LOVE this movie. Also, Joss Whedon knows how to do an ensemble cast and I like him as a writer and director. Plus, there's no one he can really kill off here WASH!, so there's nothing to worry about.

My nearest TRU got the wave, but were out of Crossbones and Balder. BUMMER! Still picked up a Zola, though. He's so much cooler in person that I thought he'd be. Tomorrow I'm checking the TRU a little farther away and hoping they have Crossbones and Balder/Thor. Wish me luck! UPDATE (didn't want to double post): I successfully found Balder/First Appearance Thor, but no Crossbones. I'm super excited for the Asgardians, but bummed about Crossbones. Guess I'll have to find him online somewhere. I'm loving the Balder/Thor set and think this Thor might just be my favorite version of him.

It's cool to know that this episode had some comic basis - and more than just "the team has trouble getting along". They were able to take the idea of someone turning Hulk against his teammates but also make it fit into their bigger picture for the show. Very cool. You can tell this series was made with a ton of love. As always, thanks Miry for filling us in on the 616. As far as Wasp possibly being a mutant, I don't think they ever expressly say she is, but there are some strange is-she/isn't-she moments. In their micro episode, Hank says something about using their inventions, her abilities to fight crime. This could also just mean her stings, but it's weird that he changes it from "our" to "your". And TM2, you NEED to get that fixed! We're rollin' on these episodes (especially now that the team is forming) and we need our third reviewer! And to anyone else keeping up with this thread, feel free to comment on things, even if it's been a while since you've seen the episode. Even things like "oh I loved how they developed Hulk" or "I hated Iron Man's voice actor". The more the merrier.

It's good to know that some people are reading even if they aren't watching. S1:E8 - Some Assembly Required The Avengers have assembled, but calling themselves a team is different than being one -- especially when you've got the Hulk as a member. ...or as Iron Man put it... "not the most promising Day 2". When you get a group of heroes together, you always have conflicts. That's basically what this episode was about. It worked overall since the main conflict was the Hulk thinking everyone else thought he was just a monster. This is my favorite version of the Hulk that i've been exposed to, so I like his arc through the beginning of the season. It's also nice to see that each of the heroes has a faceted personality and that they don't automatically get along just because they're all "good". Things are moving a little slowly here, it's still just the five man team (or two men, a woman, an asgardian and a hulk, if you prefer) while Black Panther has made his way to New York, Cap is still frozen and Hawkeye is still on the run from SHIELD. But now they have a fancy new headquarters, so that's something. I do think it's funny that Thor and Hulk just plan on living there. It's just weird to think about either of them sleeping in beds anywhere. Wasp keeps making her shift towards being a super hero while Ant Man is dragging his feet. The Avengers have their first run in with Enchantress and Executioner who will play a large part in the events this season, so at least it wasn't just a throw away villain for this episode. I will admit that the first time watching this episode I was wondering if most of the season would just be recapturing all of the escaped prisoners like a Marvel version of Jackie Chan Adventures. Glad to see they had bigger plans. So while the pacing is a little slow at the start, it does help establish some characters instead of just throwing us in to the full line up. Best moment: Thor's dialogue. I can't decide between him saying that Mandril has shamed all monkeys with his cowardice, or him just refering to JARVIS as "ethereal voice."

Here we go S1:E7 - Breakout (part II) The Super Villain breakout has begun, and it's everything our heroes can do to stay alive! After a brief backstory on how Graviton got his powers, the episode plays out as one long action scene. This is incredible. The animation is awesome in this episode. The characters aren't always on model, but the effects of Graviton's powers - the way things crumble, shatter, break and tumble- are all beautiful. Each character is given at least two chances to really shine during the fight, which is nice to see. It gives you a few opportunities to root and cheer for your favorite (Thor in my case) and better appreciate those you may have underestimated (Ant-Man and Wasp, for me). What really helps this episode is that Graviton is all about power. He's not a plotter or a schemer. He doesn't have a master plan. He's just out from prison with revenge on his mind and all the power of the universe on his side. It works here because this is the first time our heroes have had to work together. They don't have time to figure out how to work with one another to unravel some big picture plot, but they can work around each other to smash some guy's face in. It's great for this episode to get us excited about the series, but I'm not sure it would have worked as well later in the season. Still, awesome to watch the heroes get tossed around and give it as good as they get it. So the main focus is definitely the action pieces, but there's also a little bit of character and story at work. Most obvious is the Avengers forming and the heroes sticking up for Hulk. He's progressed a little since his micro-episode and is really trying to make a go of being a hero. Wasp is also really excited to be a super hero, but Ant-Man has reservations. He helps when he's needed, but is really just disappointed in Graviton for wasting his amazing powers on revenge and destruction. The other main thing is the distrust of Fury and SHIELD. Iron Man and Ant-Man were weary of them before, but after the breakout and realizing SHIELD was responsible for creating Graviton... I'm not sure there's any trust left. It was also cool of this show to have the original founding members of 616 Avengers be the original founding members of EMH Avengers.. although I can't wait for Cap to join (and Hawkeye!) Favorite moment: Graviton claims to be the strongest there is right before Hulk shows up and gives him a well-deserved brutal thrashing.

What? No stars? ...because the characters peel their secret identities off? What? I kind of like the logo... but not for them. It's too clean and sterile. I prefer the last redesign. At least that felt like a modern homage to the classic logo. This just seems like ...well it's a D and a C, I guess. And then they used a standard typeface for their name underneath with DC and Comics on separate lines for no reason, which all together makes a weird compositional shape. How does this new logo reflect the company or their history when it has ZERO common aspects of the original? Did they seriously go with this just so they could have the animated "peel" on their website? BORING. But seriously I'd like it a little better if it at least had a star incorporated into it. Make mine Marvel.

What a week indeed... sorry for getting to Episode 6 so late Miry and TM2. S1:E6 - Breakout (part I) On a day like no other, the Super Villain Prisons open wide, simultaneously releasing every single villain in a breakout the world has never seen. This is actually the first episode of EMH that I ever watched. I was immediately impressed with the series. It's great to watch things in the actual order though, because all of the micro-episodes give so much backstory to what happens here. Breakout part I is a lot of set up and much of the meat is in part II. Still some great stuff here. So many cameos by villains! I guess that's what happens when they all get released simultaneously. I'm pretty fuzzy on Avengers villains, but there are some great designs and powers shown here. And like TM2 said, Leader's voice acting is perfect. So much character int that voice! We also have a few references to Dr. Doom without ever specifically mentioning Doom. That's kind of weird given that the F4 actually show up later in the series. Maybe that F4 cartoon was still going on at this point so they couldn't mention him by name? I have no idea. So we've been introduced to a lot of heroes and we need something so crazy that they all have to band together. This definitely works. Did something like this ever happen in the comics? It's a really fun idea to have all of the villains suddenly on the loose... especially the ones nobody wants out in the open like Graviton. Can't wait for part II.

Yikes! It's Tuesday evening and I'm just now getting around to Episode 5! S1:E5 - The Man in the Ant Hill Catch three astonishing tales featuring Ant-Man and Wasp! Least descriptive episode description yet. This isn't a bad episode, but it's my least favorite so far. I'm just not a huge fan of Ant-Man, Wasp, or Black Panther. I like they way they're all represented in the show - Ant-Man wants to be a scientist not a hero, Wasp on the other hand wants to use their abilities to serve and protect. Black Panther isn't shown much yet, but he's kinda cool later on in the show. Things that bother me are Hank Pym's hair, Janet's hair and Man Ape. None of those things look right. We're also introduced to Claw, Whirlwind and Ultron and the Big House. Oh and vibranium, but that may be less important. All of these (with the exception of Whirlwind) will become more important later on. This is really the least exciting episode so far and, since he's the butt monkey of the Avengers, I blame Ant Man. He's just not a very exciting character, in my opinion. Like they say, "When your cartoon's main star is Ant Man, the rest of your cast should be apology letters." His struggle between scientist and super hero is interesting, but he's just not a leading man. It's also weird that they seem to hint at Wasp being a mutant, but nobody ever actually mentions it. I think TM2 has mentioned this theory some in the past. It's all vague but I wonder if they never got around to it or just backed out of the idea. Either way someone should explain why she suddenly has wings when she shrinks. And someone needs to explain why she's so much bigger when she shrinks than Ant-Man when he shrinks. Is there that much of a size difference between a wasp and an ant?

Thanks for taking the lead on this one, TM2. I was busy getting myself a new job this morning, so I missed doing the first post. S1:E4 - Meet Captain America Captain America and Bucky join forces with Jack Fury and his Howling Commandos for a final confrontation with the Red Skull and his HYDRA forces! The animation in this episode is awesome. I don't know if a different studio did it or if they were just improving, but there are a lot of really great moments. TM2 mentioned Red Skulls silhouette, and also the old reel footage scenes. Another animation piece that stood out was when Kang takes manual control of fast forwarding time... the glaciers growing looks beautiful. (I also love that episode of Futurama where they time-travel, miss thier destination, and have to cycle all the way through again) It's hard to tell Cap's story in 20 minutes, but this episode does an amazing job - plus they show that it's just one piece in a much bigger puzzle. Like Miry mentioned, I like how they incorporate Cap being frozen into the plot instead of just using it to keep him young in modern times. All of these micro episodes really do a great job at giving a hint of things to come. They are more than just background history episodes or character introductions and I really appreciate that as a cartoon fan. I like Logan being hinted at as part of the Howlers. I'm glad this show doesn't really line up with Wolverine and the X-Men, because as much as I ... well actually it kinda sucked. I have a lot of problems with that version of the X-Men and I don't want it to be the same universe as this excellent Avengers toon. It is pretty weird that they Howlers didn't make it to Red Skull's castle and weren't seen for the rest of the episode. Hydra works really well subbing in for Nazis and Red Skull is awesome. His scheme is pretty far fetched, even if it was working. Still, I enjoyed this version of the Skull. I personally found Bucky a little annoying here, though I was sad to see him explode. Watching this made me better appreciate the movie version of Bucky where he and Steve Rogers were good buddies before the war and Bucky was able to enlist while Steve wasn't. You know, instead of being some 15 year old who just happened to stumble in on Rogers changing into his costume. Another great episode to build up the characters and the conflicts for the first season.

If we're all going to get our hopes up about dream licenses, I'd love to see TMNT minimates. They have a new comic book out, a new show in the works and even a new movie somewhere along the lines. That would be my dream announcement for this year. I would also buy up Star Wars and Hellboy and maybe DC and Street Fighter if they were brought back. Basically I love minimates and can't wait to see what they have for us this year. Here's hoping for TMNT!

You should tell us all what the item is so we can try to outbid you I actually back down all the time on eBay. I had a few "well what difference would another five dollars make" moments early on, but now I stay committed to my original max bid. Of course this means I go home empty handed all the time which is also sad. This makes me wonder, though, what's the highest any of you have spent on a single minimate?

S1:E3 - Hulk Versus the World When Bruce Banner heads to Vegas to track down an escapee from a Super-Villain prison, he's forced to transform into the Incredible Hulk. I originally wasn't excited to watch an episode about the Hulk, but lucky for me, two things happen: 1. This show gives us a version of the Hulk that's actually interesting. 2. Half of this episode is actually about Hawkeye, who is one of the greatest characters in the show. Like the micro episodes before it, this is about character introduction and lots of action. We're introduced to Bruce Banner, Hulk, Absorbing Man, General Ross, Hawkeye and Black Widow. We also see glimpses of lots of other characters like Leader, Abomination, other gamma villains... Also we see two characters who I'm not sure if they are important or not- the cowboy working for Ross and SHEILD agent Morris (Morse?). Anybody know if these characters have any significance in 616? (Yes I'm being lazy and asking you guys instead of researching.) Like I said, this version of the Hulk is actually interesting. He's more than just the big green monster who gets mad and fight tanks. Bruce Banner is more than just a scared and guilty man forced to keep running. Banner has accepted the Hulk and is trying to find a place for him in the world. Hulk wants to be more than a monster. He wants to be a hero. This Hulk can form sentences, too and is expertly voiced by Fred Tatasciore. We'll see him develop a lot more throughout this season as a character, but this is a great set up in this episode. So the other main focus of this episode are SHEILD agents Hawkeye and Black Widow. Hawkeye is awesome in this series. Seriously, he ends up being one of my favorite characters in a show full of great characters. I love how when fighting the Hulk, he shows little regard for which arrows he's shooting... just kind of randomly hitting Hulk with trick arrow after trick arrow. It's small, but shows a lot of his personality. His partner, Black Widow, is great for other reasons. Come on, I can't be the only one who noticed the little bit of fan service as she walked up to those HYDRA agents... any way... I'm not super familiar with 616 Widow, but I know she's always suspected of being a traitor like Odin is always going down for his Odinsleep. She pulls a slick maneuver here setting up Hawkeye as a double-agent so she looks like she's on the straight and narrow when she's really the double-agent. OR IS SHE?! More on that as the series develops, but overall a great intro to some great characters. I wasn't too excited at first, but this proved to be a fantastic intro-episode.

Thanks for all the info, Miry. It's always great to read your short bios on characters I don't know a whole lot about... which, outside of X-Men, is most characters. EMH has been my biggest gateway into the Avengers side of Marvel, so it's cool to get some 616 comparissons by someone who knows his stuff. TM2, I get what you mean about how similar Hulk vs Thor is to Episode 2. Then they're both kind of similar to the movie. I haven't read any real Thor stories before JMS's Thor Reborn stuff, so I assumed based on Hulk vs, Episode 2, and Thor's movie that they must just always fight Frost Giants while Odin sleeps. Oh and that Loki is the one who sent the Frost Giants to Asgard in the first place. I've also played Marvel Ultimate Alliance which has you fighting Frost Giants, so I really just thought they were a constant threat to Asgard. The Thor movie version of Jane Foster is my favorite just because she was played by Natalie Portman and I'm a sucker for Natalie Portman. Reading Miry's comments on different versions of her help me appreciate the EMH version more, though. Still, the cartoon version is no Natalie. So I guess something we should figure out is what to do about the Breakout. It's a two-parter, so would you guys rather watch it as one episode or split it between two days? I don't know if you'd rather talk about part one and then talk about part two? Or rather talk about them together? I'm so glad we're getting into some good discussions. Things were a little sparse at first, but I think it's starting to pick up and we'll be getting in to some good stuff as the series really takes off! Just a reminder - Episode 3 discussion starts Monday morning!

Any time you see pictures on white (or blue) like this, they're pictures of prototypes, and therefore are not final. They may not fit together just right, coloring may not be final, and we may not show all of their accessories. For instance, I believe MODOK's jet base will be translucent, and that this Thor comes with a spinning hammer. I thought that was the case, but wanted to double-check. Thanks for the info, Zach! Hopefully some of the proportions will come out a little nicer on the final product. Doom's cape is SO CLOSE to being amazing. Anyone have that pic of him from Comic Con handy to compare? Like I said, I'm pretty excited for all of these. The only pack I'm really on the fence about is Dr. Doom/Blond Neo. The cape will really make my decision for me. I'm most excited about Akuma/MODOK

How durable is the printed model? I worked with something like this in college*, but the printed model was super fragile. Of course, it was just our university's printer so maybe they were using cheap material? *Okay, so the department actually didn't work with me, but a friend of mine. We were both doing 3D modelling and thought it would be awesome to make figures like minimates, munnys, etc and he started to get stuff printed from them and told me to try too. When I went to talk to the guy he acted like he had no idea who my friend was and said they didn't let us art majors use that printer (it was for engineers).

Let's see... Media: Avengers, Dark Knight Rises, Hobbit, Amazing Spider-man, Frankenweenie, probably some comedies, oh and Django Unchained (so sue me, I like Tarantino) Avengers: EMH season 2, Ultimate Spider-man cartoon, new TMNT cartoon media I'm not looking forward to but will see anyway - Ghost Rider II, MIB III, GI Joe II Life: Moving to a new city/state in June Growing my online business with my wife Finding a new job (unemployment is only fun for so long...) things in life I'm not looking forward to but have to do anyway - finding a new job Toys: Mostly just minimates at this point. Catching up on old mates and snatching up the new ones. Xevoz - if I can find them cheap enough on eBay toys I'm not looking forward to but will buy anyway - all the extra Captain Americas, Thors, Spider-Mans packed in with the characters I want Best of luck to everyone in 2012!

No worries, Miry. Whenever you can get to it. Take care of what you need first. S1:E2 - Thor the Mighty! The villainous Wrecking Crew is tearing through New York City, and the only thing that's standing in their way is the Mighty Thor! Okay, that's a pretty misleading episode description. First, the Wrecking Crew is only tearing through a shipyard. Second, that's only the first piece of the episode. Most of it takes place in Asgard. Anyway, we have another set of micro episodes which added together give us a pretty good introduction to the world of Thor. As I mentioned, we start of with a great action set piece against the Wrecking Crew. Despite some costume redesigns, these guys are still just so lame. An enchanted crowbar? Anyway, it makes for a good fight, so no real complaints. We get a brief intro to Jane Foster who impresses Thor with her courage despite only being a pathetic mortal human. Thor is then called back to Asgard where he has another fight, this time against Frost Giants. Thor is joined in battle by the Warriors Three, Lady Sif and Balder. We also see Heimdall and Odin who of course is preparing for the Odinsleep. Despite the fact that he only has to do this once a year, that seems to be all he ever does, but I digress... We see that Loki was really the one pulling the strings for just about everything that happened in this episode even down to the attack at the shipyard. Loki isn't working alone, however. At the end of the episode it looks like he is freed from his banishment by Enchantress and Executioner. Everything looks great in this episode. I like everyone's designs and voices... but I can't help wonder why things look the way they do. Iron Man's world seems to be based on his movies - Rhodey is more slender and not yet War Machine, JARVIS is an AI, etc. But then Thor's world is based more on his comics- Jane is an EMT isntead of some kind of scientist, Heimdall is white, Frost Giants are gigantic. I just wonder why they went movieverse on Iron Man but not Thor. I know Thor's movie wasn't out yet, but they knew that when it did come out in the summer Jane was going to be a scientist and Heimdall was going to be black. Not that these are huge changes, but maybe confusing to kids if this show and the movies are all they know and suddenly they don't match up. Well what did you guys think of Episode 2?

So what immediately came to mind when reading this mess is... This is all made up to screw with us fans trying to figure out the movie before watching the movie. Keep in mind, this is Joss Whedon here. Remember Xander's friend Jesse in the first episode of Buffy... I'm going to go ahead and guess most of this info is garbage. Pieces here and there might be true... small little pieces... but I think Joss and the boys are messing with us. I can just see him sitting there reading this stuff on websites thinking "they think I have a villain called the Redacted?!"

So sorry to hear that, Miry. Best wishes to you and your family. You'll be in my thoughts.

Are these all the finalized actual figures or will there still be some slight changes? Overall they look great, but some things just seem a little off here and there. I'm excited for the updated SF characters! Oh and MODOK, X23, and She-Hulk!

I'd love for some of the more knowledgeable members to compare this show to 616. Like I didn't realize Fury's flying squirrel thing was a nod to the comics until undeadpool mentioned it. I assumed it was just something the cartoon came up with. Little facts or brief histories would be very much appreciated.

Congratulations on reaching 365! Glad to hear you aren't stopping there - I always look forward to seeing what you post next!

Cheers! Congratulations, Mini_Myte! You really set the standard when it comes to quality minimate photos/comics/dedication. Lots of honorable mentions who won't be mentioned, but definitely congrats to you!

Welcome to ReWatching The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes! As we wait for Season Two, we'll be rewatching the amazing first season of this show together, discussing everything from EMH episode by episode and since we're REwatching it THERE WILL BE SPOILERS AND THEY WILL NOT BE HIDDEN. So make sure you've seen the episode before you read about it here because we won't be holding back. EMH is available on Netflix Instant or probably lots of places on the interwebs, so please watch it with us and join the discussion! We'll try to keep this as structured as possible with an Index in this first post, but since the main point of this is to have fun, I'm not going to stress if conversations about Episode 4 carry over into Episode 5 or 6 or whatever. Based on the poll results, we'll be watching 2 episodes a week every Monday and Thursday. That should give us plenty of time to disect each episode here in this thread. Let's get started! INDEX Episode 1 - Iron Man is Born! Discussion starts on page 1... actually in this first post, believe it or not Episode 2 - Thor the Mighty! Discussion starts here Episode 3 - Hulk vs the World. Discussion starts here Episode 4 - Meet Captain America! Discussion starts here Episode 5 - The Man in the Ant Hill. Discussion starts here Episode 6 - Breakout. Discussion starts here Episode 7 - Breakout (part II). Discussion starts here Episode 8 - Some Assembly Required. Discussion starts here Episode 9 - Living Legend. Discussion starts here Episode 10 - Everything is Wonderful. Discussion starts here Episode 11 - Panther's Quest. Discussion starts here Episode 12 - Gamma World: Part 1. Discussion starts here Episode 13 - Gamma World: Part 2. Discussion starts here Episode 14 - Masters of Evil. Discussion starts here Episode 15 - 459. Discussion starts here Episode 16 - Widow's Sting. Discussion starts here Episode 17 - The Man Who Stole Tomorrow. Discussion starts here Episode 18 - Come the Conqueror. Discussion starts here Episode 19 - The Kang Dynasty. Discussion starts here Episode 20 - The Casket of Ancient Winters. Discussion starts here Episode 21 - Hail, HYDRA! Discussion starts here Episode 22 - Ultron-5. Discussion starts here Episode 23 - The Ultron Imperative. Discussion starts here Episode 24 - This Hostage Earth, Episode 25 - The Fall of Asgard, and Episode 26 - A Day Unlike Any Other. Discussions starts here S1:E1 - Iron Man is Born! When the villainous organization known as HYDRA attacks the United Nations, the fate of the world's leaders is in the hands of Iron Man! The first few episodes are a lot of setting up characters and backstories before getting in to the meat of the series. First up, due to the success of his movies and therefore his recognizability, we get introduced to Iron Man and to the world in which this show takes place. The majority of my Iron Man knowledge comes from his movies and the little bit I remember from his cartoon show back in the 90s, which is probably on par with the average intended audience for this show. This version of Tony/Iron man is in line with people like me expect from him. I feel like his voice actor even tries to sound as much like Robert Downey Jr as he can and for the most part he succeeds. In Tony's inner circle, we're introduced to Rhodey, Pepper and Jarvis, who are also recognizable from just having watched the Iron Man movies. Actually, they're probably more like their movie universe counterparts than their comic counterparts (Jarvis, especially), but someone with more Iron Man knowledge could probably speak more to that than me. One thing that is pretty different than what we've seen on the silver screen is SHIELD. They went with a mixed approach version of Nick Fury - he's black, but he's not quite the Samuel L. Jackson version. More importantly, SHIELD is shown as a big organization with advanced tech, Helicarrier, and more comic inspired costumes instead of suits and trench coats. We're also shown a few baddies, Reaper, Von Strucker, Crimson Dynamo, MODOK, etc but HYDRA is the main focus. I'm not too familiar with any of these guys really. This show was my main introduction to most of them so I don't know what's up with Von Strucker's crazy youth-stealing hand or whatever, but the villains were pretty cool. We're also shown some hints of what's to come here. Most obvious is how everyone keeps mentioning that there is too much for Iron Man to handle by himself, but we already know this show is about a team of super heroes so we know he'll get some friends soon. Also there's the issue of everyone using Stark technology and the fact that someone from SHIELD leaked info. You apparently can't have SHIELD without a double-agent. There's also the reference at the very end of the episode to there being four super prisons which will be a big part of Episode 6. The visual style of this show is awesome. I love the character design - stylized, very sharp, clean, lots of great shapes, perfect for animation. If I was going to complain about the way any of the characters introduced here look, it would just be that Pepper is too mousy, but she's a very minor character so I won't make a stink about it. The animation is also great and the action pieces are fun and well staged. I really like the way Reaper was handled (again - I have no previous knowledge of how this character acts, but he was awesome here). Also, the opening theme is pretty cool. Song's a little cheesy, but there are some nice little vignettes to some of the heavy hitters (aka Avengers with solo movies) and some cool action. Ant-Man even looks useful! So what did you guys think of Episode 1?

Best of luck, Urban Saboteur! I've heard how bad it can be with Crohns and I know hospitals are no fun. You know our thoughts are with you!