17 May 2013 @ 04:40 pm
ATTF: Everything Everything (just not fic)  
Hello again, it's me. And I am, once again, hosting ATTF this week.

The theme for this ATTF is simple; Rec everything that isn't fic and also ask questions about EVERYTHING.

You found and/or made an awesome Clint Barton fanmix? Share! You made a pattern for Hawkeye gloves? Share! You found some amazing Natasha fanart? Share! ANYTHING THAT ISN'T FIC, SHARE IT HERE

And, if you want to ask about comics? Ask here! You want to make a Nat cosplay? Ask here! You're going to a con and want to know what to expect? Ask here! FREE FOR ALL, ASK AWAY. This is THE Free For All. This is when we pool all our collective knowledge and help people out with Clint, Nat, Avengers and comic related things.

And tell as well! If you think you have and/or know something that maybe others don't and/or should, tell us. SHARE YOUR WISDOM, OH PATRONS OF THE BAR.

Things to remember:
1) Always label NSFW (Not Safe For Work) stuff in the title and post under a cut.
2) Fic and artwork needs to have a rating and warnings (or you can say that you’ve chosen not to use warnings).
3) For people with annoying internet connections, say in the title if a comment is graphic/images/gif-heavy and post picspams under a cut.
4) Have a damn good time! (Because if that’s not happening then this post has clearly failed.)


REMEMBER, THIS POST IS NOT FOR FIC RECS. EVERYTHING ELSE IS GOLDEN THOUGH. AND REMEMBER TO CREDIT.

So I will start. (This is not definitive and I will add anything useful that other people know and I don't. I am much newer to this comics business than many of the people in this comm, and I wouldn't dare presume I know even 1% of the massive thing that is The Comics Industry). So! Onwards!

First, you need a digital comics reader. There's CDisplay [for Windows] and SimpleComic [for Mac] (there are others, see here and/or here for more).

Then, we have [livejournal.com profile] comicunity and [livejournal.com profile] comicmasterpost. [livejournal.com profile] comicunity updates weekly on new releases. If it doesn't have something you want, you can always ask and they'll go looking for you. [livejournal.com profile] comicmasterpost is exactly what it sounds like. Everything is tagged so you can find it.

Download the first, then choose from the second and voila! Comics. But remember! Awesome people make their living from comics! If you like them, please buy either a copy online [comixology.com is a great place to check out for digital copies, and they also have a print section] or go to your local comic shop. I'm sorry but because people here will come from all over the world, I can't do better than this. I have a feeling that comixology is American and I don't know if they ship worldwide on prints. I'm from the UK and, if my local place couldn't get me things (highly unlikely, they're pretty good), I'd look to Forbidden Planet, though again, I don't know where they'd ship to. I've only ever gone in store.

OK! Now there's the other problem. There are a gajillion comics and you don't know where to start. Well, you're part of [livejournal.com profile] be_compromised, so I suggest the fantastic Hawkeye by Matt Fraction and David Aja [link for tag at [livejournal.com profile] comicunity]. It is bloody fantastic. I'll be honest, I don't know of anything comparable that's Natasha-centric; though I have heard that The Name of The Rose is very good. I haven't read it yet.

The only way I have found to try out comics is to do just that; try. I find things that have been recommended somewhere, try them and see if I like them. [livejournal.com profile] comicunity is particularly useful for this. I also go to my local library and borrow everything that looks interesting. I have found tons of stuff this way.

The other way I know? Ask. Askaskask. And this is what this post is for. And if you have a rec for any comics that you think would be of interest to anyone in this comm, tell us please.

Some other things
> copperbadge has some really good primers for the Marvel universe in their sidebar.
> [art] The only thing more attractive to me than David Aja's Clint Barton is when-it-rains-it-snows' Clint Barton [some slightly NSFW and some Clint/Kate, just fyi]
> [art] a truly fantastic Black Widow film poster by alicexz. It's so beautiful I want it on my wall.
> The Hawkeye Initiative, if you didn't already know about it. Created in December of 2012, The Hawkeye Initiative uses Clint Barton as well as other male comic characters to illustrate how contorted and hyper-sexualized women are commonly drawn in comics.
> [art] the wonderful euclase has done a load of Marvel characters. Also Bruce. And Pepper, Steve Rogers and Natasha, reuploaded with permission.
> [music] a load of Marvel mixes by leemillers (various characters and pairings: Clint/Natasha | Natasha | Clint )
> [music] the Avengers mixes collected from all over tumblr by fanmixes.
> [music] Clint Barton mixtape by osgiliaths on tumblr, based on the Fraction/Aja comics.

A couple of questions
> does anyone know where I could get a pattern to modify to make this jacket? (Because reasons...)
> as a matter of sheer curiosity, does anyone know how con people managed to get such awesome and realistic outfits? I mean, have you seen some of those Iron Man outfits? How do they do it?
> does anyone know of any (preferably British) companies that print tshirt designs cheaply and well?

I will try, once this has run its course, to compile any and all useful information from the comments in this post into one handy post with headings and categories and what have you. Then it can be linked or used as a useful info post or whatever.

HAVE FUN!
 
 
Current Music: everything everything - cough cough
 
 
( Post a new comment )
inkvoices: avengers:clint comic[personal profile] inkvoices on May 17th, 2013 10:58 pm (UTC)
some comics chatter
Also: I really like Black Widow: Name of the Rose, one of my favourite graphic novels ever. Itsy Bitsy Spider is mind bendy and deals with legacy and Red Room issues, enjoyed that one. I read the Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Black Widow crossover one, which has fun dialogue and it's great to see them all together, but it's kind of...crazy, and not that good I don't think. Natasha, Pepper, and Maria teaming up in Matt Fraction's (he of Hawkeye) Invincible Iron Man is one of my favourite comics things. And Hawkeye, for anyone in this bar not reading it yet (???) is wonderful.

I've been reading a pile of the Marvel Now comics and I think Avengers Assemble is worth a note in these parts. #5 is 'the kiss' issue, but I think up until #9 they're pretty naff. From then on though, when Kelley Sue DeConnick took over writing, I like them a lot. #9-#11 is a team arc with emphasis on science bros and hilarity, then #12+#13 is Clint, Jess, and Natasha off on an adventure - Assemble is Clint/Jess but excellent Clint and Natasha as friends with backstory and debt hints in these two comics. Then #13 is a fantastic Natasha stand alone Age of Ultron AU (that I read before reading any of the Age of Ultron stuff, it stands alone perfectly fine - basically Natasha when the world goes to hell). (Natasha and Clint are also in Age of Ultron, but so are a hell of a lot of other people, so they don't get much page time.)

And Secret Avengers is fantastic if you enjoy SHIELD and like SHIELD being twisty and using it's agents like woah. Ladies are in charge, Natasha and Clint team up, there's some Fury, Coulson, and Mockingbird, and intrigue. Lots of intrigue.

Seconding copperbadge for comics info and (amusing) explainations. fuckyeahblackwidow on tumblr, check out the recommended reading (I'd like to work my through this myself when I have the monies). fuckyeahavengerarcher has a Hawkeye recommended reading list that I discovered recently.

I only really started getting into comics when Hawkeye came out, so everything I've mentioned I found easy to follow for people who've only seen the films :)

Edited 2013-05-17 10:58 pm (UTC)
[identity profile] salmastryon.livejournal.com on May 17th, 2013 11:09 pm (UTC)
Pepper saving Maria and Natasha was great. :)

I don't have most of the Marvel Now stuff cause Marvel Unlimited lags 6 months behind, I have most of those titles towards the bottom of my reading list because of that. I'll move Avengers Assemble up. I have read 1-3 of Hawkeye though. I have to wait for the next one to become available for me next month. :P

Which Secret Avengers are you talking about 2013 or the 2010-2012 one?
inkvoices: avengers:clint comic[personal profile] inkvoices on May 17th, 2013 11:25 pm (UTC)
Just everything with those three. From Maria showing up on Natasha's doorstep and Natasha having none of it all the way. Love.

That is a nasty time lag :/ I watched Castle last night and it was the Christmas episode, I'd forgotten how far behind the US we get that show, so yeah, I get the pain.

Secret Avengers 2013, Marvel Now, #4 has just come out. But I've spotted a Secret Avengers graphic novel with Clint and Natasha in, can't remember the name off the top of my head, but the blurb is something like 6 missions to save the world. So if that's the other Secret Avengers I'm interested in checking that out too :)
[identity profile] salmastryon.livejournal.com on May 17th, 2013 11:30 pm (UTC)
I'll check that one out as well, that seems to be the only two secret Avenger series. I'll let you know about the other Secret Avengers. One thing nice about the Digital Unlimited is I can read all the back issues they have up. Which of course is why I was given it for my B-Day
ext_2027[identity profile] astridv.livejournal.com on May 18th, 2013 11:33 am (UTC)
Re: some comics chatter
Awesome, so many recs and I haven't read most of it!

Seconding The Name of the Rose, it's incredible. I was a bit underwhelmed by the Hawkeye, Mockingbird, and Black Widow crossover as well. The characters felt somehow flat to me.

Question: How much screen time do Natasha, Pepper, and Maria get in Invincible Iron Man? Enough to buy the book just for their storyline?

Edited 2013-05-18 11:33 am (UTC)
[identity profile] salmastryon.livejournal.com on May 18th, 2013 12:58 pm (UTC)
The America's Most Wanted arc is Invincible Iron Man #8-#19. The whole thing covers what Maria, Pepper and Tony are each doing while Tony is deleting his brain. They each get screen time in pretty much every issue. Natasha shows up in #14 and I believe is in every issue to the end.

I'd say it is worth it. Both Maria and Pepper kick ass, but have there human weaknesses as well. The Tony Stark story line in there is pretty good too. You basically get to see him stripped of his masks as he deletes more and more. There is a very poignant scene where he's talking with Pepper and is realizing that this is what all the other heroes felt like when they got depowered.

There is one point where Pepper and Tony have sex off screen. At this point Tony has deleted enough of his brain that he's mentally compromised and it could strongly argued he would never have done so otherwise.
ext_2027[identity profile] astridv.livejournal.com on May 18th, 2013 02:02 pm (UTC)
Excellent, thanks!
inkvoices: avengers:natasha romanoff is black widow[personal profile] inkvoices on May 19th, 2013 09:59 pm (UTC)
Re: some comics chatter
Happy to share! I'm diving into the world of comics and having great fun :D

Invincible Iron Man vol 2 and 3, book one and two of World's Most Wanted, are the storyline (and Eisener award winning). Book one brings in the ladies, but mostly they interact with Tony. It's necessary to understand book two though, which is maybe 1/3 Tony, 1/3 Tony interacting with the ladies, and 1/3 the ladies interacting with each other...i guesstimate. But book 2 is where it's at. The whole story arc is great though, if you liked the Iron Man films well enough and/or like Matt Fraction it's a keeper.
ext_2027[identity profile] astridv.livejournal.com on May 21st, 2013 03:08 pm (UTC)
Re: some comics chatter
Sounds promising. I just found a good deal for book one on Amazon. :)
inkvoices: avengers:assassins hug[personal profile] inkvoices on May 21st, 2013 07:23 pm (UTC)
Re: some comics chatter
Enjoy! I did :D