The Twelve (Spoilers)

[The Baron]

Bought and read The Twelve: Spearhead #1. Enjoyed it.

There is a promo in the book that claims that The Twelve #9 is "Coming Soon". I'll believe that when I see it.

[The Baron]

The Twelve: Spearhead #1 : OK, so this is a species of prequel, showing the events that led to the gathering of the heroes that would become "The Twelve". Dynamic Tension Man kills a bunch of Nazis sadistically. The Phantom Reporter is attached to the military as sort of "Mystery Man War Correspondent". The Golden Age Black Widow kills a bunch of Nazis sadistically. Bozo the Iron Man Electro kills a bunch of Nazis sadistically. MisterMind X-Acto makes vague predictions. The Gay Blue Blade is unfunny. The Witness is a buzzkill and says "Jews" alot to Mr. E. Captain America is kind of obnoxious to the Reporter but invites him along on a mission. RockStupidMan has the Red Torpedo's drill thing, and then they destroy the German rocketry program and capture the Spear of Destiny's Child, and Laughing Boy does a war crime and Nick Fury hurts his eye but I thought that happened in Korea?

[Captain Comics]

Fury did injure his eye in World War II, but not in 1945, and not with The Twelve, or even the Howlers. We read the story, true believers, in Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos #27 (Feb 66) in "Fury Fights Alone!"

[The Baron]

Captain Comics said:

Fury did injure his eye in World War II, but not in 1945, and not with The Twelve, or even the Howlers. We read the story, true believers, in Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos #27 (Feb 66) in "Fury Fights Alone!"

Interesting. Thanks, Skipper, I never knew that.

[Pencho15]

If I don't remember wrong, on "The Twelve #1 the Phantom Reporter said they had never worked together before the mission that got them in suspended animation, if that's true then how are they working together here?
I think the only interest in this series is to remember you about the characters now that they are finally going to end their long delayed mini, and that's is the only thing I'm exited about, The Twelve #9 finally on stores.

[The Baron]

That's an interesting point, I'll have to dig out the original issues and re-read them.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

This one-shot served its purpose (to whet my appetite sufficiently for the conclusion of the limited series) well enough. Sometimes a series such as The Twelve can otherwise nondescript source material noteworthy. that's the case with me, anyway. Changing gears here, I think John Byrne had a good idea with his "Lost Generation" series, but he went about it the wrong way. Rather than inventing a whole new set of characters to fill the gap between 1945 and the time the FF took their historic flight ("ten years ago" or whenever it's supposed to be now), he should have used pre-existing Golden Age characters the way JMS did. I think under those circumstances, other writers and editors would have been more likely to use them. As it stands now, they're "John Byrne's characters" and the whole series is more or less a Mopee.

[Rich Steeves]

I respectfully disagree here. I absolutely loved the Lost Gen, and thought that many of the characters created for it were very creative and era-appropriate. I fervently hoped that they'd make a Tales of the Lost Gen anthology title, but aside from Pixie and Yeti in X-Men the Hidden Years, I don't know if they've ever been seen again...

Jeff of Earth-J said:

This one-shot served its purpose (to whet my appetite sufficiently for the conclusion of the limited series) well enough. Sometimes a series such as The Twelve can otherwise nondescript source material noteworthy. that's the case with me, anyway. Changing gears here, I think John Byrne had a good idea with his "Lost Generation" series, but he went about it the wrong way. Rather than inventing a whole new set of characters to fill the gap between 1945 and the time the FF took their historic flight ("ten years ago" or whenever it's supposed to be now), he should have used pre-existing Golden Age characters the way JMS did. I think under those circumstances, other writers and editors would have been more likely to use them. As it stands now, they're "John Byrne's characters" and the whole series is more or less a Mopee.

[Chris Fluit]

I respectfully disagree here. I absolutely loved the Lost Gen, and thought that many of the characters created for it were very creative and era-appropriate.

I agree with Rich. I thought that the Lost Gen was great and the fact that other writers haven't used it or referenced it has done nothing to change my opinion.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

I may not have stated my case very well. I liked Lost Gen, too. I read it three times: once "backwards" (i.e., forwards, as it was being released), once "forwards" (i.e., backwards just for the heck of it), and a third time in the order it was intended to be read. For the record, it "reads" much better counting down to #1, as it was written. In case you're wondering, Byrne's Generations series at DC read better in the order they were released rather than chronologically the way they happened, too (and yes, I have read them both ways).

My point was that someone other than John Byrne may have been inspired to build upon his premise if he had used pre-existing Golden Age characters as JMS did in The Twelve.

[Jeff of Earth-J]

After I logged off last night I continued thinking and came to the conclusion that it was my use of the term "Mopee" which led to the cognitive disconnect. Most of the time (even on this board), whenever I see the term Mopee used it is a call to "reset" a particular story. But I used in the sense of a story that tried unsuccessfully to rewrite the past in a story that's universally ignored by fans and companies alike. I lament that fact in the case of Lost Gen, but "the whole series" remains, nevertheless, "more or less" a Mopee in that sense of the term.

At this point, though, enought time has passed that Marvel could conceivably sandwich in another "lost generation" of Golden Age heroes between 1945 and the beginning of the Lost Generation era. Not counting JMS's use of twelve GA Timely heroes, there are still plenty left whose '50s activities and ultimate fates have yet to be revealed.

[The Baron]

Issue #9:

So, everyone gets all back together and MisterMind X-Acto is making ominous noises, and Mister E's wife has died and we see how the Blue Blade was killed by the robot just as he discovered A Big Secret and the Phantom Reporter also learns at least a part of the Big Secret but is knocked unconscious and DynamicTension Man goes to Rubber Bullet Day at the ballpark and the Fiery Mask confesses that he stole his powers and what will happen next?

 

I think what will happen next is I'll have to dig out and re-read the first eight issues of this to try and remember what the heck happened before this.

[Rich Steeves]

I am a HUGE fan of the LOST GEN, and I really, really wish Marvel was doing something with that now. I would love a "Tales of the Lost Gen" anthology...

Jeff of Earth-J said:

After I logged off last night I continued thinking and came to the conclusion that it was my use of the term "Mopee" which led to the cognitive disconnect. Most of the time (even on this board), whenever I see the term Mopee used it is a call to "reset" a particular story. But I used in the sense of a story that tried unsuccessfully to rewrite the past in a story that's universally ignored by fans and companies alike. I lament that fact in the case of Lost Gen, but "the whole series" remains, nevertheless, "more or less" a Mopee in that sense of the term.

At this point, though, enought time has passed that Marvel could conceivably sandwich in another "lost generation" of Golden Age heroes between 1945 and the beginning of the Lost Generation era. Not counting JMS's use of twelve GA Timely heroes, there are still plenty left whose '50s activities and ultimate fates have yet to be revealed.