Noh-varr’s Got A Brand New Bag
December 4th, 2009 by david brothers | Tags: avengers, brian michael bendis, dark avengers, grant morrison, marvel boyGavin wanted to know what I thought of the Dark Avengers Annual, since it features Bendis writing Noh-varr, which I’ve had some harsh words (one, two) about before. I’m not pissed about the new change or whatever. It’s just clear that Bendis didn’t get Marvel Boy. At this point, it’s like, who cares? It’s a different character in a book I don’t even care to read for free. I do want to point out one thing from the series, though.
From Dark Avengers Annual, words by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Chris Bachalo:
Kobe, what do you think about this new costume?
That’s the dictionary definition of a soft batch. Put that back in the oven, let it cook a little more, then try again.
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Soft batch?
wow, that is fantastic.
So basically they took the original Captain Marvel costume, replaced the green with Black and tried to make it a little less Bronze-agey? Urk.
I mean if you’re gonna go with updating that outfit, the Ultimate Captain Marvell design by Steve McNiven’s pretty much the way to go.
I was actually alright with the Annual, it was the closest he came to writing him ok (aside from Illuminati), but yeah that Costume is fucking horrible
…. Fuck. I mean… God DAMN it!
I didn’t even see the annual going THAT wrong.
Hey, if he’s only a yellow cape away from chasing an ant around the floor for a full issue, I’m all for it!
I’ll say this: while I don’t know why the character HAS to evolve, it doesn’t bother me that he has based on the series of events presented.
AND: I like the new costume. I don’t love it, things like the dual guns in addition to Nega-Bands seem a little redundant, but it’s actually pretty solid design wise. I would love to see another artist give it a bit of a styling like tweak the belt design and make it a touch more iconic. And I want the short sleeves back. But I like it, really. yes.
Here’s one for you: Noh-Varr talks to the Supreme Intelligence in this issue. Now, it’s not specificed that it’s any kind of extra-dimensional Super Intelligence, since Noh-Varr is supposedly an extra-dimensional Kree – and the dialogue seems to imply that it is supposed to be the Supreme Intelligence of our universe. So, you know, where’s he been hanging since his soul got eaten by the Wraith in Annihilation: Conquest? Wonder why he’s not leading the Kree. Oh yeah, becuase the Inhumans are doing that, in other comics which Bendis has specifically referenced in the past so it’s not as if he hasn’t read them.
What. The. Fuck.
I’m kinda ‘eh’ on it. I could see a different artist making it look pretty good or if you removed that goofy mask, I could see it working. On the other hand, Noh-Varr’s original costume was pretty cool, so why mess with success?
@Tim O’Neil:
Bendis seems more interested in referencing comics from the distant past that the grognards and neckbeards would remember from their miserable twenties, not anything that came out a few years ago in an event that was pretty underwhelming/awful compared to Annihlation.
Maybe with a different artist, this would work okay. There’s a kind of Kirby-esque feel to the bands along the chest and arms (though I personally would want to twist the Kirbyfier dial up to like, 11, in that case — that is not a style built for half-measures). The mask is awful, made worse by the way Noh-Varr looks like a pinhead when wearing it. The boots are a little heavy for the outfit, too, and is one of the powers of the new, improved nega-bands being able to make his hands waaaaay too big?
I’d say, drop the mask, redo the belt buckle (like Daniel Heard already suggested, more iconic is better), let the poor boy have a normal-sized neck and hands, and slim down the nega-bands a bit. And throw a little green in there, too, to tie it in with his earlier costume.
@ one zen bullet
But it still happened. It’s in continuity. And I don’t see how French veteran wargamers care about Noh-Var.
The new costume looks completely generic, in terms of design and color scheme. I mean, they couldn’t even leave his original color scheme, which was supposed to be a clever inversion of Spider-Man’s. For a second I thought Bendis got Noh-Varr down and then he gave him this silly rag…
If the design could make up its mind over whether it’s supposed to be a Kirby cosmic number, a retro-spacey sci-fi design, or a dark badass suit, it’d be better. I feel like there’s parts of 2 or 3 really good costumes here, but they don’t work well together or as a “Captain Marvel” or “Marvel Boy” design–not having read the issue, I’m not sure which name he’s using at this point.
The ugly matching chest emblem/belt buckle combo bug me the most, but the head fin’s gotta go too. Seriously, even Adam Strange no longer rocks the old-fashioned head fin look. The boot/legging set could also stand to be simplified. Not crazy about the overlapping gun belts, but they could look good with a slightly tweaked approach.
I REALLY like the big Spidey-style eyes or goggles as a costume element, but depending on the character’s new role, they might seem incongruously goofy?
@JM: He’s Captain Marvel now, protector of Earth.
taken together this development seems … somewhat plausible (the Illuminati showing him his potential future as the new CM, seeing the skrull CM giving his life to fight his own people, switching his outview to optimistic and being taken in by Osborn then running like hell when he finds out he was tricked), its just that Bendis just used broad strokes and really didn’t hammer out the kinks in his plot before putting it out
like bros said, needs more time in the oven
I like the new costume, other than the weird eye-shields.
Soon he’ll be hosting a talk show with Oltar-May and El Zorakoh.. *rolls eyes* Either they need to do a better job of filing off the serial numbers or they need to commit stronger to homage.
What a difference some colours make.
cool costume [for a character I don’t know]
David and others;
can you do better?
gawan, showus watcha got! [so that others can tear your stuff to shreds]
Putting aside the hoary old “you do better!” fallacy, that you don’t know the character kind of hurts your case for the defense. Shouldn’t good character design be appropriate for the character? Like, it’d be weird if in Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter Parker put on the Maxx costume for his first Spidey-outing. I love Bachalo, and kind of think he had to have had some direction on the new design, but in any case – it’s not the best.
@edc: I know it’s tempting to defend all creators and creations in comics because of how cloying and annoying the dogpiling is, but sometimes it’s deserved. I think the criticism against this costume design has been pretty polite, actually. Most people are saying it has something, but needs more work, not baying for Bachalo’s blood.
@edc: Stop saying this, “let’s see you do better” is the stupidest and laziest of defenses.
@edc: David and others;
can you do better?
gawan, showus watcha got! [so that others can tear your stuff to shreds]
Here. This is my design for a Captain Marvel costume.
Good. Now, then. Bachalo’s costume design is lacking and needs to lose the mask. There. Happy?
Not bad, Gavok, but I think he should have a giant peanut rather than a banana. The ape/banana connection has really been done to death.
Also, his outfit lacks variety in its palette. Maybe the hands, chest and face should be re-coloured red or white?
@david brothers: maybe it is lazy and old, its also completely true. I’m guessing yours would suck to people, too. case in point by gavok.
@Gavok: no. that sucks. bachalo’s is better.
(Stupid, not old. I mean, it is old, but the main point is that your position is completely stupid.)
@Gavok: BUT WHERE ARE HIS POCKETS?
@edc: no. that sucks.
I’m sorry, edc, but by law you are not allowed to make fun of my amazing Noh-Varr (who you don’t even know) costume until you yourself tire endlessly to create your own Noh-Varr costume.
@Liquidben: They’re on his back.
@versasovantare: I’m saving the giant peanut for Ultimate Noh-Varr.
@Gavok: dish it but can’t hack it, eh?
I give you the spockbrow. http://www.jacobgrier.com/Images/spockbrow.gif
as for my tireless remake, I don’t know, howabout a kirbyesque mishmash of cultures, little skulls given as gifts from alien cultures, afrocentric armour colours, wierd face shield, orange tulku robe, bioluminous hindu prayers on his skin, a blunderbuss given to him by a spanish conquistador…
@James W: incorrectamundo! roger ebert wrote 3 movies, they are shit. and directed none, his point of view on movies doesn’t matter to me. although it might for you.
Scorsese has written and directed many good films, and when he talks about his favourite movies, I care.
when I see an opinion that I disagree with, I say so, when I see an opinion on here that I agree with I say so.
I often agree with posts here, because they are well thought out intelligent discussion which you can’t get at rama, but this trashing on what is an improvement [I just did a google search for noh varr, a boy in green and white shorts is what I saw, and its way worse the this] of a design, – by bachalo fer cryin’ out loud – it flipped my bitch switch. I want to see brothers’s idea for whats better.
as for spidey wearing maxx’s costume, hey, if ditko drew it like that first then it’d be appropriate, right?
I apologise for sounding like I was saying “you can’t design = your opinion doesn’t matter”, I actually meant that I would like to see other designs, so that we can either say “yeah, thats better” or “dude, that sucks!”.
re reading what I wrote while disassociating my intention, it sounded trollish.
let me try again.
what would you do instead, David?
@edc: Probably something like what PAD and ChrisCross did with Genis-vell- bring back the old classic Kree armor, helmet, something really warlike. Lose the helmet since he’s supposed to be a savior, I guess.
Honestly, they could’ve just taken his old costume as a base, playing with the design of it a little, added pants and sleeves, and he’d look pretty good.
Noh-Varr was in last week’s “S.W.O.R.D.” and he still had his previous costume in that…
Why would those of us who hate the new costume need to present other designs? We know there’s a better costume design, his OLD costume.