My ranking list is different (also waiting to pull the trigger on WWBN and am only at Ep. 4 of She-Hulk now). For the record I'd say:

Moon Knight
Wandavision
Ms. Marvel
Loki
Hawkeye
Falcon and Winter Soldier
What If...?
I Am Groot

With She-Hulk probably currently slotting in between Hawkeye and Falcon but with potential to climb a bit. But I'd say in general all of D+ stuff is a solid "B" or worse from me - even the stuff I generally was high on like MK and WV is "fun but flawed". I disagree with some of the fandom outrage and critical zeitgeist that marvel is "in a slump" - I think they're doing some interesting, bold stuff and I think history will vindicate some of their bigger swings that swung out at first like Eternals. But they're also rushing it, and clearly burning too hard and too fast. I'm actually happy to hear about them slowing their roll on Echo and Blade; hopefully they're learning to slow down a bit and really make sure they hit the mark.

My thanks, friend! Haha the comedy set really saved me with most of this show's characters.I think all that's fair, especially the take on the Disney+ shows. We're seeing a very clear trend where these are serial-format shows that frequently feel like stretched-out movies and that have final episodes that often do a combo of too much and too left field. I'd guess that the writers are attempting to write like they're writing longform TV shows, but find that they're writing miniseries and have to wrap up everything in the biggest, most satisfying way they can... and that often feels like elements are rushed or some threads are left dangling. Knowing that Marvel Studios responds to critic feedback, I'd expect this to change in the next couple years, and we're already seeing signs of it-- some shows like Armor Wars are being retooled into movies.

Paused production on Echo and Blade also bodes well, especially considering the reports that Blade's script was quite weak, and everyone involved was dissatisfied with it. More signs of the studio learning.

I agree that the the fan pessimism and outrage is overblown. The outrage usually feels tied to toxic trolls. The pessimism is a little harder to address because it's fair to say that until this year's SDCC & D23, the MCU has felt a little rudderless and disconnected from a larger narrative. I think many of the individual films are decent-to-great, but they also feel like they're in an experimental phase following the towering heights of Phase 3.

I'd like to think that signals them learning how far they can stretch their house style and, as you say, how many productions they can have going simultaneously before they need to scale back.

#155 Holden Holliway
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 15
Keywords: Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway

5 9 16 1

5 9 16 1

5 8 15 1

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Rules Lawyering: Humorless: During a round If your opponent doesn't so much as smile at one of your (acceptable for and respectful to present audiences) jokes, you have +1 actions during your next turn, even if this trait is lost.

Ooh, covering all your bases, huh?

GLK&H is shaping up to be the greatest themed team ever. Love the layering of rules lawyering...

- Smile and She-hulk is +1.
- Stay stone-faced and the team gets +1 Action.
- Play complex meta pieces (that tend to be full of errata) and have them shredded by Nikki.

Can't wait to see what Pug brings to the party!

I really hope this show gets a second season. I haven’t finished it yet (hopefully tonight), but there’s so much the show needs to get to. Especially Holliway’s granddaughter the wannabe supervillain Southpaw, aka the whole reason he hired Jen in the first place.

Haha as best I can! This is probably the only chance I'll get to make rules around rules lawyering, so I'm going to milk it for all I've got.
Haha glad this is feeling fun and exciting so far! I was worried the playfulness of these would be a turn off for some. Hopefully SHE-HULK being a comedy series justifies it. Either way, my thanks!Verrrrrry interested to know what you [and you all!] make of its finale. Certainly the most interesting the show has been. I've heard that season 2 is happening, so you may just get your wish!

This was my favorite character in the show.



#156 Mallory Book
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 15
Keywords: Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway

6 9 14 1

5 9 14 1

5 8 13 1

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Rules Lawyering: Syntax: Probability Control. If the language of an opposing character’s special abilities and/or trait is sufficiently vague as to require a judge or the Internet to clarify, they have -1 Defense for the rest of the game, even if this power is lost.

UPDATED 10/22/22 - Thanks, Hein2208!

Once again, very fun. And fitting. But I have to ask…

… was this intentional?

Also, does this depend on how rules-savvy the players are? Sometimes, the rules are technically written unambiguously, but it’s an obscure corner case, so players still question it. Would that count?

Haha that's a hilariously-timed typo. I appreciate you catching it and your kind words!

heh this might be a case of the dial's SP defeating itself for raising doubts about where the line is. I feel like the good faith read of this is that the players have a basic understanding of all the abilities, but something that necessitates clarification or checking the internet to verify -epic actions, rules for Rally, cases where interpretation could mean different things, or things don't work as written on the card, primarily.

Yeah, that’s fine. I was being a bit pedantic.

Thoughts on the finale - while my wife was not a fan of how much of an anticlimax it was, I was versed enough in Jen’s lore to really appreciate what they did here. This episode I think captured the creator spirit better than most comicbook adaptations do. This episode showed how very keyed in to not only John Byrne’s sense of humor, but his very specific satire the She-Hulk team was.

The show for the most part has relied more on Slott than Byrne, which is by no means a bad thing, but the finale was all Byrne. And I loved that. And it wasn’t just the fact that She-Hulk literally jumped out of the episode to go argue with the writing staff and KEVIN. It was that in doing so, they delivered a surprisingly stinging criticism at the Marvel Studios formula and strategy, which is absolutely KEY in adapting Sensational She-Hulk, which was bitingly critical of comics in general and Marvel in particular of the 1990s.

A lot of people don’t realize that Byrne used She-Hulk to call out the overt sexualization and female objectification that comics were putting out there in the 90s (see specifically the “She-Hulk Jumping Rope Naked” issue) among other things. And to see She-Hulk confront the MCU Machine directly and address its storytelling shortcomings (which I will admit that they have, even if overall I’m very satisfied with the MCU experience) was just wonderful to behold.

It gives me hope that the future of the show can easily overcome the first season bugs and deliver a much more consistent product in future seasons.

And I will never object to more Jen and Matt. Tatiana and Charlie have a natural, engaging chemistry that makes me want to see them together more. Sorry, Karen Page.

I agree with a good chunk of this, and certainly think the finale was the most interesting the show got. You're right-- it absolutely feels like the show lived and died with the Slott run, for the most part, before transitioning to the Byrne run for the finale.

Your wife isn't the first person I've seen frustrated by the climax, and I wonder if the series would've been stronger and more interesting throughout if it'd been a meta, formally challenging show throughout-- like WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, ADAPTATION, or LAST ACTION HERO... synthesizing the Byrne & Slott runs throughout instead of gear-shifting in the finale.

I think doing that would've justified the 4th wall breaks, which didn't feel consistent enough for me. I also think a steady build up into that level of metacommentary would've helped the show's built-in indignance to trying to have a down-to-earth legal sitcom in the world of superheroes.

It'll be interesting to see where the second season goes (likely Southpaw, as you hope). I think that the first season has spelled out the show's potential. Now it just needs to follow through.

#157 Pug
Real Name: Augustus Pugliese
Team: No Affiliation
Range: 0
Points: 15
Keywords: Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg, and Holliway

6 9 14 1

5 8 13 1

5 8 13 1

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Rules Lawyering: Wait, What?: Empower. Opposing characters have -1 speed for each line over 2 that a single special ability or trait’s description takes up on their card.

Yeah, that seems fitting for Pug.