I like the art but the story doesn't make any sense.
There's a spell on the city that "suppresses super powers". It evidently doesn't do anything to the war walls (some pretty elite tech there), the guns wielded by the thugs, or cars. This means that it's very, very selective. And what about natural origin MA/SR scrappers who just know kung fu? Why would they be at anything less than full effectiveness? If guns work, why can't AR blasters just keep shooting? What about heroes whose powers are inextricably linked to their existence, like magical entities or androids like Bastadel (ok, they're probably just dead)? Why is Positron still generating anti-matter if that was his superpower?
Then we're told that 6 weeks later, the city is happy and peaceful and being cleaned up by "Arachnos drones". Life for the civilians is completely back to normal, but the only heroes in the city are hiding in fear of their lives. Super powers work everywhere else in the world but not in Paragon.
What?
Exactly what kind of drugs are the government and the civilians smoking? If I lived in that city, I'd be RUNNING for the exits. There's an unknown spell on the city - does that affect my cancer treatments, my cell phone, or any of the reverse-engineered Ritki tech being integrated into commercial products? If I was the president, I would scrounge up whatever military I had left from the war and send it to secure the place and get everyone out. If I lived anywhere else in the world I would drop everything and figure out how to make sure what happened to Paragon doesn't happen to me next. Superpowers get suppressed, a bunch of people die, some Arachnos guy sends in robots to control the place...and it's business as usual?
I don't buy it.
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You guys are nuts, the new comic is about a million times better than the old. 
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It's not that I thought the older one was better. The new one is very well-written and well-drawn, but it's kinda generic. Standard modern Image art, standard modern Image character development, standard modern Image plot structure.
If I wanted that, I'd buy Image comics...
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I guess I'm in the minority here, but I didn't much care for it. Manticore's narration sounded too melodramatic. I also found it really hard to like the characters. Statesman was condescending in the fight scene, Manticore seemed only too eager to jump into States' shoes as leader, Sister Psycho wasn't too bad considering what she went through, but Synapse just seemed like a whiney bum. I did like Positron, as he seemed to be the only one of the 'heroes' that actually thought of the others.
I dunno, I hope they back off of the character flaws in following issues and focus more on the Surviving 8 doing daring acts of daring do.
Flame me if you must, but please...
Have the decency to bring marshmallows.
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Good summation. You hit just about all my gripes with it. The only other thing I can say I didn't like was the art. Too loose for my taste.
Still here, even after all this time!
Personally i must say i loved it...ive pretty much given up on the WOW factor of art in comics long time ago..Image was my last running hope and this is coming from a comic/anime artist.
With that said i must add in my opinion, the storyline is wonderful..because it shows a side that we don't get to see too often in heroes...their HUMAN side or their "not so heroish" side. Now don't get me wrong..i love Superfriends of the old..with the [echoes]great hall of the justice league[echoes] but alot of times you see more friendly banter then realness.
Xmen is a good show of realness..Wolverine isn't afraid to speak his mind and tell you where you should go. Justice League of new shows alot of raw emotion (watch the episode of Justice Lords oorrrrr Supermans birthday gift when he lets his anger shine). Thats what i want to see and read..not this team who was so well nit and wonderful theres flower petals falling all around them. Statesman was a great leader...was leader forever so sure a little bit of it coulda went to his head...and he would have to be reminded he may be leader but hes leader of a TEAM!
So i enjoyed it..no matter how "bumish" synapse was he still sucked it up to come to his old team aid and see whats going on.I call it a prelude to things to come...they got smacked..HARD..yeah people are going to be hurt..angry..sad..etc etc...so show us what they deal with before they get back in the game.
Its no different then a team in the NFL and they getting smacked around bad and its still 2 quarters left but the team is pissy cause they losing..and pointing fingers at this person and that person on why they losing. You can't fast foward the game and say..eh..i want to see the team thats together and wonderful and winning... JMO [smiles]
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Heya Manticore. Welcome back
How was E3?
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Thanks!
It was a wonderful madhouse. 
Everyone seemed to really have a blast with the Base Raiding and Base Building.
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Hey Manticore. After e3 ended I was disapointed to see gamespot had no footage of the cov demos available at e3. What are the chances of you guys sharing some footage of the base raids?
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The new comic is good, but I liked the Blue King one as well.
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Little tribute to War Witch
I haven't even got the new comic yet... looking forward to it, but I'll miss the old characters. They grew on me.
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I like the art but the story doesn't make any sense.
There's a spell on the city that "suppresses super powers". It evidently doesn't do anything to the war walls (some pretty elite tech there), the guns wielded by the thugs, or cars. This means that it's very, very selective. And what about natural origin MA/SR scrappers who just know kung fu? Why would they be at anything less than full effectiveness? If guns work, why can't AR blasters just keep shooting? What about heroes whose powers are inextricably linked to their existence, like magical entities or androids like Bastadel (ok, they're probably just dead)? Why is Positron still generating anti-matter if that was his superpower?
Then we're told that 6 weeks later, the city is happy and peaceful and being cleaned up by "Arachnos drones". Life for the civilians is completely back to normal, but the only heroes in the city are hiding in fear of their lives. Super powers work everywhere else in the world but not in Paragon.
What?
Exactly what kind of drugs are the government and the civilians smoking? If I lived in that city, I'd be RUNNING for the exits. There's an unknown spell on the city - does that affect my cancer treatments, my cell phone, or any of the reverse-engineered Ritki tech being integrated into commercial products? If I was the president, I would scrounge up whatever military I had left from the war and send it to secure the place and get everyone out. If I lived anywhere else in the world I would drop everything and figure out how to make sure what happened to Paragon doesn't happen to me next. Superpowers get suppressed, a bunch of people die, some Arachnos guy sends in robots to control the place...and it's business as usual?
I don't buy it.
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Already made this point back in early April, though not to your level of detail. 
Check the last two posts
Oh, and don't mind the silly mistakes in my post regarding the comic. This was back in the day when I was a bit shaky on powers and was convinced Devices was a Blaster primary. Oops. 
But the point still remains.
Now then... I want guns... lots of guns.
The funniest part has to be Manticore and Sister Psyche discussing the meaning of Statesman's "soon".
I liked alot the Blue King comic because it was obvious that they were using stuff that was in the game we play everyday . The way the heroes were dressed the same we can dress our own heroes . The bold words relating to things we do in the game . I also liked the art and colors .
The TopCow comic is not bad thought.
I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Voltaire
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Heya Manticore. Welcome back
How was E3?
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For information on how Manticore liked E3, check out the upcoming novel, The Web of Arachnos, due this fall.
@Generator
Mostly Pinnacle, with scattered alts on Liberty, Freedom, and Justice.
I had a great time playing with you!
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Heya Manticore. Welcome back
How was E3?
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For information on how Manticore liked E3, check out the upcoming novel, The Web of Arachnos, due this fall.
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You got it all wrong.
For information on how Manticore liked E3, and how it relates to Statesman and Lord Recluse, check out the upcoming novel, The Web of Arachnos, due this fall.
Orc&Pie No.53230 There is an orc, and somehow, he got a pie. And you are hungry.
www.repeat-offenders.net
Negaduck: I see you found the crumb. I knew you'd never notice the huge flag.
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Am I the ONLY one that really LIKED the Blue King comic? To me, it was great because we could BE these guys. In a few occasions, thanks to contests, we WERE those guys!
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it's not just you. I truly enjoyed the first comic. i thought it got off to a rough start, but what comic doesn't these days? While it's flashier, the new one is just 'eh'. That and i'm biased against the new writer... heh.
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Heya Manticore. Welcome back
How was E3?
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Thanks!
It was a wonderful madhouse.
Everyone seemed to really have a blast with the Base Raiding and Base Building.
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So, Manti, you know everyone really wants to know....
Why DID you send poor Synapse on that DOOOMED scouting expedition? hmmm?
Cal2
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I liked alot the Blue King comic because it was obvious that they were using stuff that was in the game we play everyday . The way the heroes were dressed the same we can dress our own heroes . The bold words relating to things we do in the game . I also liked the art and colors .
The TopCow comic is not bad thought.
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I agree 100%. This isn't bad, but I think it was easier to identify with the earlier heroes, they were more like my in game characters in terms of power levels etc.
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I agree, the new comic beats the crap out of Blue King's.
Does anyone seem to respect our iconic heroes a little less now? Sister Psyche is a real b****, States has a bit of a superiority complex, and Synapse is a bum. But yeah, this isn't the golden age, I guess they need to be a little more real.
On a side note, do the developers check in on Top Cow to make sure they like the plot now that they are using the Surviving 8?
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Bleah, I have to disagree on one point;
First, the good stuff:
Story: A++
New paper A+++ (I hate glossy comics - makes it hard to read with light reflecting off of it)
Art/Graphics: C- I liked the other artwork MUCH much better 
I feel the art in the current comic makes the people look a little too generic and is short on detail
Ah well, I can live with that, since the story *is* good!
The Blue King comic started off not too impressive, but it grew on me. I can't say I found the storylines terribly gripping (though I thought the "Jury by Peers" arc was pretty cool) but the characters were fun, and as other people mentioned, you could see this taking place in an actual game world. I mean, I could imagine the trial going on while Regiment and Curveball were out there fighting the good fight, glued to their TV sets at night to pick up on the latest developments in the case.
The new comic has some weird continuity errors that others have pointed out. For the most part I can ignore them, the story is interesting enough... but I can no longer imagine Regiment and Curveball hanging out in Paragon City while these events unfold. It's not really the City of Heroes universe for me... not any more, anyway... because there's no room for the actual game in a storyline where suddenly all the heroes have lost their powers in-city and have moved out to other cities.
Scrapper Jack (SJ/WP Brute), Sky Commando (WP/SJ Tanker), Curveball (Rad/DP Defender), and a bunch more.
Sweet comic but I wish it just didnt end in a cliffhanger!
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Heya Manticore. Welcome back
How was E3?
[/ QUOTE ]
For information on how Manticore liked E3, check out the upcoming novel, The Web of Arachnos, due this fall.
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Lol.
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I like the art but the story doesn't make any sense.
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Has anyone considered the possibility that the surviving eight are trapped inside some kind of holodeck?
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I just received the Top Cow CoH issue #1. All I can say is WOW! Awesome art, great story line tons of action. It felt like the comics I use to read as a kid. Top cow truly did a first rate job on the comic.
I wonder is the in game story line will follow the Comic story line
. Even if it doesnt I am eagerly awaiting next months issue. Once again awesome job guys.
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how come some people get their comics like, at the end of the month before, and I don't get mine till the third week into the month :/
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I like the art but the story doesn't make any sense.
There's a spell on the city that "suppresses super powers". It evidently doesn't do anything to the war walls (some pretty elite tech there), the guns wielded by the thugs, or cars. This means that it's very, very selective. And what about natural origin MA/SR scrappers who just know kung fu? Why would they be at anything less than full effectiveness? If guns work, why can't AR blasters just keep shooting? What about heroes whose powers are inextricably linked to their existence, like magical entities or androids like Bastadel (ok, they're probably just dead)? Why is Positron still generating anti-matter if that was his superpower?
Then we're told that 6 weeks later, the city is happy and peaceful and being cleaned up by "Arachnos drones". Life for the civilians is completely back to normal, but the only heroes in the city are hiding in fear of their lives. Super powers work everywhere else in the world but not in Paragon.
What?
Exactly what kind of drugs are the government and the civilians smoking? If I lived in that city, I'd be RUNNING for the exits. There's an unknown spell on the city - does that affect my cancer treatments, my cell phone, or any of the reverse-engineered Ritki tech being integrated into commercial products? If I was the president, I would scrounge up whatever military I had left from the war and send it to secure the place and get everyone out. If I lived anywhere else in the world I would drop everything and figure out how to make sure what happened to Paragon doesn't happen to me next. Superpowers get suppressed, a bunch of people die, some Arachnos guy sends in robots to control the place...and it's business as usual?
I don't buy it.
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That last part is really confusing. I'm sure some heroes still have their skills (but not their powers), and the anti-matter is probably that which was stored in his suit, not freshly generated. But the final part is really stupid. Immediatly after the heroes get nerfed, a bunch of weird spider drones start controlling the city. Doesn't that strike the people as suspicious. Those little robots could be gathering information, planting cameras, and setting up the bomb.
Two other problems:
-If the suit is leaking anti-matter, shouldnt it explode the second it leaves the suit and makes contact with the air? Air is matter you know
-Sister Psyche is a b****
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-If the suit is leaking anti-matter, shouldnt it explode the second it leaves the suit and makes contact with the air? Air is matter you know
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It is; the sustained release of energy from mutual annihalation is what's visible. After all, nobody said his suit was leaking large quantities of antimatter.
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The funniest part has to be Manticore and Sister Psyche discussing the meaning of Statesman's "soon".
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Yeah, I liked that too.
But um..has anyone read the interview with Positron? What's he mean in question 5, where he says, "A lot of heroes find great strength by enhancing their powers after Hamidon is defeated, but I caution them... for we don't know exactly what the Devouring Earth's ultimate plan really is."
Hammi-O's? Caution them? Does that mean there will be changes to HOs? Will the DE take control of all you HO ho's?
/cackle
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I guess I'm in the minority here, but I didn't much care for it. Manticore's narration sounded too melodramatic. I also found it really hard to like the characters. Statesman was condescending in the fight scene, Manticore seemed only too eager to jump into States' shoes as leader, Sister Psycho wasn't too bad considering what she went through, but Synapse just seemed like a whiney bum. I did like Positron, as he seemed to be the only one of the 'heroes' that actually thought of the others.
I dunno, I hope they back off of the character flaws in following issues and focus more on the Surviving 8 doing daring acts of daring do.
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I tend to agree. It's the first time seeing these icons on the page and already we see the character flaws. I think it's a bit jarring mainly because they've all been regarded so highly up until now. Although, in some ways I like it because they're more human but it's something I would have worked in more slowly.
I do like how the heroes had grown comfortable. It mirrors what we have in the game. We have heroes constantly making short work of villains to the point that they're no real threat. So everyone grows complacent. It would be neat if the release of CoV depicts some of the things we see in that comic book.
The interesting thing about the old books was that we were reading about heroes just like our characters. It was easy to imagine the War Witch and the rest of them running around somewhere in the city with us. However, the stories were all so specific to the characters that we never really got any sense that the city itself was in danger. There seems to be more at stake in the new book.
The writing in the new one is better, more like something you'd actually find in stores. The old one wasn't bad for somthing we get with our monthly subscription, but it didn't offer much substance.
As for the artwork, I think there's an improvement with the new book. However, it isn't dramatic. The old book was descent and consistent with this style of comic book.
I'm definitely happy with the direction the comic book is taking and I'm looking forward to seeing were the story will go..
You guys are nuts, the new comic is about a million times better than the old.
Better art, better story, better dialog ('Open you up like a can of beans?' Oh... my... God...), better everything.
It's nice to see the surviving eight getting of their butts and DOING SOMETHING considering how they're among the most powerful heroes alive on the planet.
I still haven't forgiven Positron for sending me on a suicide mission in to purple infested Vahz territory.