4/28/2018 Haul

Took advantage of a deal on DVDs at FYE's site to finally snag these two out-of-print beauties:

Invader Zim Volume 1: Doom Doom Doom

Invader Zim Volume 2: Progressive Stupidity

SOOOOOOOOOOOO nice to finally complete this collection!

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes: The Lost Adventures

The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes debuted in the Fall of 2010 and introduced an animated universe somehow just as rich as the comics that inspired it despite only running for two seasons. Chris Yost and Josh Fine used every bit of Marvel knowledge they had at their fingertips to craft a show that was simultaneously awesome, fun, dramatic, and plain beautiful to look at. Things may have taken a dip when Jeph Loeb took over Marvel Animation and decided that showcasing stars of popular movies was more important than a flowing, serialized plot, but the show still found a way to shine despite that. I consider it my absolute favorite super hero show and I HIGHLY recommend picking it up on DVD if you're into Marvel and haven't seen it. It's friggin' GREAT.

However, I'm not here to just sell you on the show. In honor of the forthcoming release of the highly-anticipated Infinity War, I'm here to discuss what even existing fans of EMH might not be aware of. There are more stories from this universe than what exists in the show...

Cartoon tie-in comics can be hit or miss. You can get everything from something based on a show that eventually develops its own universe and cements it as a whole different beast like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures to something based on a show that spends the entirety of its time telling one-off stories as to not contradict the show's continuity like any of the comics based on the Nickelodeon TMNT show. It's a bit of a gamble trying to find the ones that are truly worth reading if you're super into a show and want to engross yourself in even more of a universe's lore. How does EMH fare? Well, it's somewhere in the middle.

Across both the 2011 mini-series celebrating the show's debut and the 2012 regular series tied into the then-new Marvel Universe block on Disney XD, EMH's comic adventures only feature one-off tales like the latter example. However, where this could've had the potential to feature nothing but uninteresting tales of the Avengers punching bad guys plus quips, it instead pleasantly surprises thanks to the efforts of one man: Chris Yost. Yes, the actual story editor for the show contributed stories to both series and they do a great job of enriching the show's universe while maintaining continuity with it. Let's look at a couple of examples of how they did that:

First off, Mr. Yost didn't just play around with what was established in the series. Instead, he introduced a plethora of Marvel characters both classic and obscure into this universe including everyone from the Mandarin and the Elders of the Universe to the Winter Guard and the Micronauts. (Called the Microns in the series, but nowadays known simply as the Enigma Force.) In doing so, more concepts are added to the EMH world such as the Microverse, the Contest of Champions, and even a blink-and-you'll-miss-it Infinity Stone mention. With the one-off format, these rarely if ever get followed up on, but it adds to the sheer scope of the universe. Even everyone's favorite master of magnet makes an appearance alongside two Avengers mainstays that somehow only made brief cameos in the show:

Another way these comics succeeded as supplemental material was by further developing and/or foreshadowing happenings in the show. I'll show you an example through one of the best stories: "King Solomon's Frogs."

In KSF, Black Panther and Hawkeye are flung through time by magical artifacts called King Solomon's Frogs. They have to try to recover said frogs from the thief who stole them while battling through the ages. A simple story concept, but where it truly shines is when you read it with knowledge of the show, namely, the episode "New Avengers" from Season 2:

"New Avengers" sees Kang the Conqueror escaping from his present day prison and trapping the Avengers, forcing Tony to engage a "New Avengers protocol" that calls together a replacement team consisting of Spidey, War Machine, The Thing, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and even Wolverine making his first non-cameo appearance in the show. Now, despite being written by Chris Yost, veteran watchers had one major question about Kang's involvement in this episode. When he breaks out, he just gets back to conquering like usual without attempting to recover anyone or anything that was taken from him upon his defeat...even someone important from his future that he was specially preserving using his technology. Where was Ravonna? Now, one could simply headcanon this by having Kang assume she was already dead or have him come across her preserved by the good guys, but letting her be until he can rebuild his forces, but here's where KSF comes in...

Oh snap!

THIS is what made me pick up these comics. It's an in-canon story that, while being a one-off adventure, further fleshes out the universe and addresses an unanswered question from the show. There are a couple of moments like this in these comics, too. Ever wonder what happened to Grey Gargoyle post-Asgard Invasion? How about how Crimson Dynamo was recruited into the Masters of Evil? There's even a story focusing around the Serpent Crown with the entire team roster from the end of the show present, making you wonder if it wasn't originally a proposed story from the unmade Season 3 that was apparently going to be largely magic-based. These are the kind of things that make a cartoon tie-in comic a worthy read.

Unfortunately, though, it didn't stay that way. (This is where the "somewhere in the middle" bit comes in.) While Chris Yost wrote all four issues of the mini-series and fairly consistently contributed to the regular series through the first seven issues, he disappeared with Issue 8 and we were left with stories that, though decent, didn't come close to the level of legitimacy of his. (The worst one even features a blatant continuity error where Hank Pym is Ant-Man despite Vision being on the team. Why are all errors like that from this universe somehow related to the Vision?) It didn't really matter much in the end, though, as the series only went for five more issues after he left following a...change of format:

Why do comic book companies keep doing these?

Yes, it became a photo comic consisting of screen grabs from the actual show with text bubbles and sound effects. A sad end for a tie-in with SO much potential.

We are not here to grieve, though, but to celebrate an overlooked super hero cartoon spin-off that was more than it first seemed. They could've very easily taken the easy way out with a tie-in (and they eventually DID), but bringing in Chris Yost instead gave us a few more thrills in the EMH world before it was eventually snuffed out by Assemble. Earlier in this post I suggested you pick up the DVDs, but why not give these a shot, too? (Especially if you already love the show but have never read them.) The Digests collecting Chris Yost's contributions to the regular series are even still available for fairly cheap. (Though, the mini-series is a bit harder to come by if you want it physical.) You're definitely in for a treat.

May they always fight as one.

Hello Yello!

Welcome to The Lazy Shell! As the name may not come close to obviously implying, this is where I'll come to dish out the scatterbrained thoughts and opinions on a variety of different nerdy topics swirling around in my head while I come nowhere close to doing anything remotely constructive in my daily life. We're talking video games, comics, TV, movies, reviews, spotlights, current events, and even some random stuff for good measure. I can't promise that I'll be updating that often, but I CAN promise that I'll at least try to make what I DO post a fun or interesting read. You can also be assured that I'm going to do my very best to make this place a very positive space, free of ranting. There's enough of that on the internet as it is and I'm starting this blog to have some fun and entertain, not to spread bad vibes.

Now you might be wondering who exactly I am and why I'm doing this. Well, you can call me Keifer, I'm just some portly American nerd, and I'm doing this to follow in the footsteps of Matt of X-Entertainment, Dinosaur Dracula, and Purple Stuff Podcast fame. His random assortment of posts on topics only the most obscure have entertained me consistently throughout the years and I've built up quite the repertoire of useless knowledge thanks to him, so I thought I'd see if I could apply it the same way he does.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy all that The Lazy Shell has to offer! (Eventually.)