Hello everyone, and welcome to the 36th instalment of Leave Your Spandex At The Door!
This column marks a special occasion, as it is the first one under our new roof at ‘the NEXUS’. You can check out the links on the first page for the full backstory of our move and rename. What’s important is that we’re all still here together as a tight-knit loving comics-geek family (except for the gloomy Dark Overlord, brrr!), and business goes on as usual in our new online abode. (plus, the full LYS@D archive has moved with us, so you can catch up on the good times we had!)
For those of you just joining us, my name is Manolis Vamvounis and this is ‘’Leave Your Spandex @t the Doo”, the Nexus’ gateway into mature readers comics and independent publications. For a piece of net history (as if), you can urn your clocks back in time to the very first LYS@D column 18 months ago!
Kicking off our first Nexus week, I’m shamelessly tying the column onto the big ‘Avengers Disassembled’ craze going on at Marvel right now and spinning off fro the upcoming finale of my favourite current title, X-Statix
This month Marvel started their reboot of the Avengers franchise, by bringing Brian Michael “sells like pancakes” Bendis on the core title with #500 and relaunching the title after a few months. According to rumours, the new team will feature a JLA-esque roster, with the most popular characters of the Marvel Universe. Rumours again indicate Wolverine, Spider-man, Captain America, Iron-Man, Thor and so on are going to make up the new cast.
But aren’t they forgetting someone? A hero who has become an instant cult-favourite from the moment of his appearance in the Marvel U? This hero had been lauded as the new comics sex-symbol before his first appearance, he already has been branded on many marvel T-shirts, he’s appearing in the new Marvel Legends action figure set, and has made frequent guest-appearances in Grant Morrison’s New X-Men. Last week this character even went up against the God of Thunder, one-on-one, and stood his ground!
That’s right; you probably guessed it from the first clue:
DOOP!!
The green floating blob camera-man and mysterious benefactor of the X-Statix team. The result of a WWII experiment to create a living weapon of mass destruction. Wolverine’s best friend. Captain America’s most feared opponent. The scourge of blonde bimbo Gods everywhere!
MANOLIS’ OFFICIAL TOP TEN REASONS WHY DOOP SHOULD BE MADE AN AVENGER:
1. Unlike Thor and Cap, Doop looks damn good in drag, case in point”¦
2. When Doop had his brain stolen, he used the back-up brain in his ass. When the Vision lost his mind, he just had a stick up his…
3. Even though Doop speaks in the indecipherable Doopspeak font, you can still understand him better than mr. Thou-dost-thee-nay, 60% of the time!
4. They need a token green person to meet the racial quotas on a superhero team and both Hulks are busy.
5. If it was the Doopster going up against Superman, you can bet he wouldn’t have fallen for that sucker-punch, like a certain golden-locked ninny!
6. All the women in X-Statix are dead, undead, or pure energy. The Scarlet Witc’s and the Wasp’s wardrobes will keep Doop ‘warm’ at nights, after his break-up with the Pink Mink.
7. Doopspeak will elevate the trademarked Bendispeak to a whole new level! The multi-page, “talking head” monologues in doopspeak will surely earn Bendis at least a couple more Eisners.
8. Doop got confused by the body count in Avengers #500, assumed they were the latest incarnation of X-Statix.
9. Moondragon may been the resident hairless sexy in green in the past, but Doop now goes the extra mile and dares go for the Full Monty!
10. Er”¦ Thor sux, Doop rulez and Liefield is a rotten potato! Mmm’kay?
But seriously now: Doop made his first appearance in the pages of X-Force #116, the big revamp issue, after Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas retooled the X-men franchise. He is the creation of Mike Allred and Pete Milligan. Doop has the appearance of a green floating blob, with the team’s logo embedded on his belly. Although obviously sex-less (well, there’s always the possibility of in-turned er”¦ let’s not go there), he had been heralded as a new mutant sex-symbol by the series editor Axel Alonso in interviews, long before the first issue came out. Doop initially acted as the new X-force’s camera-man, but it has since then been revealed that he has always taken a more active and shady role in shaping the team’s future.
Doop has become an integral part of the Marvel Universe, and this summer he should be given the honour of joining up with Earth’s Mightiest, as an official card-carrying member of the new Avengers! Better him than Wolvie, anyway”¦
By signing this petition, we plead our case to Marvel Comics and Brian Michael Bendis, to see the light and realise what an invaluable addition to the Avengers Doop will be!
Join this worth cause by going to the official PETITION page and adding your voice in our cry! :-)
As an added incentive, I will hold a special raffle with the names of the people who have signed the petition, in 2 months time, and a lucky winner will win a LYS@D booty bag, with some special comics surprises, hand-picked by yours truly. Never let it be said that Manolis doesn’t bribe properly!
One For All, and All For Doop!
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Coming up next week: More Nexus excitement as we look into UK comics sensational anthology FUTURE QUAKE and more”¦
As always, I’m waiting for your comments through email
Manolis Vamvounis
a.k.a. Doc Dooplove
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