Mantis: A Comic Book Disaster

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Mantis is getting popular because of Guardians of the Galaxy, but did you know that she was once an Avenger?
Special thanks to our Patrons for helping make this possible!
The Brain Teaser, Bonnie Davies, Senita Mahoney, Jonathan & Megan Pierson, David Adler, Milton Appling, Ralph Braganzan, El Habti Productions, Ethan Dannen, Yoav Haimovitz, LookWhosFhtagn, LuHeDi, Casper Qvortrup, Andrew Shaffer, Vydal
Tags: #GuardiansoftheGalaxy #Mantis #Marvel

[@ComicDrake]

To address Mantis kissing the other Avengers not being the first interracial kiss, I was referring to on the lips. Pecks and cheek kisses are considered affectionate as opposed to sexual, but even then, it's clear T'Challa was ignored, likely because Black folks dealt with a more racism in the comics around that time than Asians.

[@Robin_Is]

Ok.

[@SirDankleberry]

But it's an Asian chick kissing white dudes. That's still interracial.

[@DmDaPDm]

I really appreciate that you don't skip over things like this. Some people want to ignore it and pretend it didn't happen, but its good to remember where we've come from so we can continue to learn to do better.

[@hydrolito]

Lothar a prince of 7 African Tribes appeared in Mandrake the magician starting in 1934, he had powers of strength, speed and invulnerable to fire, lightning bolts, magic bolts and the weapons of man. Black Panther appeared in 1966. Nate King Cole became popular in the 1940 there was radio program King Cole Trio, He had his own TV show in the 1950's, Bill Cosby appeared on I spy and the Cosby Show in the 1960's. Soul Train started in 1966. Supremes were most popular singing trio in 1965. Star Trek, Mission Impossible and Hogans Heroes all had African American character. Julia was African American Nurse on a show with a son. In 1960's.

[@hydrolito]

They also Turned Mandarin green in some stories is he supposed to be related to Mantis and Willow?

[@stevencooper564]

She's got the best "precocious little sister vibe" in the MCU and it's the best fit for her, honestly.

[@johans3164]

I mean she is Peter Quill actual sister. Half sister but yeah, she is best little sister

[@jesusalejandrotorresserran3446]

😊

[@tico5058]

Precocious in what?

[@bellalalala3327]

​@@tico5058 usually, when the term "precocious little sister" or something like that is used, it's referring to her body

[@mr.nonamefalloffchair6443]

@@bellalalala3327I’m pretty sure precocious almost always refers to being a gifted child as in really intelligent like young Sheldon

[@Parmesan_Seeker]

MCU Mantis is basically a totally different character than in the comics, which is... entirely for the best.

[@moisesinfantes2797]

Yeah, honestly the entire guardians of the galaxy from the MCU are better than the comics. I like how the comics changed them to be more like the movies.

[@creed8712]

@@moisesinfantes2797personally I like Master Chief star lord and wouldn’t mind seeing a return to that

[@Parmesan_Seeker]

@@moisesinfantes2797 oh yeah totally the only one I'd really change is Star Lord, because he can get a bit annoying at times, although I loved the Ego thing. Glad they didn't stick with the whole Spartax plot.

[@mosesborras3221]

@@creed8712 isn’t master chief from halo

[@mumbo_fuze2484]

@@mosesborras3221 he was voiced by Master Chiefs VA in Avengers EMH

[@cedricstohr8825]

It’s kinda crazy how many of these writers pet characters there are. You could genuinely make a whole video about them.

[@TrashmanCZ]

Isn´t Kitty Pride pet character of Brian Michael Bendis?

[@cedricstohr8825]

@@TrashmanCZ it’s a little bit of a different situation because he didn’t create Kitty, but yeah pretty much. She’s been in his Ultimate Spider-Man, xmen, and even got thrown into the guardians of the galaxy when he was writing them. Insane.

[@TrashmanCZ]

@@cedricstohr8825 I would love to know more characters that were created as pet characters just like Mantis because I can´t think of any.

[@SpedeVesku]

​@@TrashmanCZ Superior Spider-Man and Anna-Maria were Dan Slott's pet characters

[@cedricstohr8825]

@@TrashmanCZ Red Hulk and Sage from marvel. DC has a few characters like it, Danny Chase, Deathstroke (Wolfman was notorious for it, don’t look up Terry Long), Harper Row. If you wanted to include things like Bendis where they bring their fave character everywhere, itd be a ton as well

[@emilyk5168]

I wish you had included how much Englehart hates MCU Mantis. That always makes me laugh.

[@toyotatacoma1616]

Really? The one quote I recall hearing made him sound extremely apathetic. Something to the extent of ‘well that’s not my character so I don’t care’

[@L1701]

He hated it because Gunn’s portrayal was based on Abnett and Lanning’s interpretation of Mantis, not Englehart’s original portrayal.

[@cky7765]

​@@dastvan8002lol

[@danang5]

@@L1701 trully skill issue lol

[@joshuawilliams8252]

​@@L1701 He hates that she's based on the superior comics version? 😂

[@thatboi7629]

I'd always felt a bit bad when I heard that mantis' creator didn't like her MCU adaptation. Then today I learned that her creator was kind of a weirdo, so... I feel significantly less bad lol

[@longlivethesheet4561]

Yeah, James Gunn having Mantis just be an alien bug girl with empathic abilities was for the best

[@rontheauraknight9606]

I heard she’s pretty good in the Guardians video game. She’s basically an very quirky character who has similar powers to MCU but also can see alternate timelines and futures

[@danylol772]

@@rontheauraknight9606 "my hole character trait is being qUiRkY, look at me, i'm sooo QuIRkY"

[@dott8348]

Why is it for the best?

[@Dr.CumsteinMD]

​@@danylol772if you're gonna be an annoying edgelord, at least use the correct words and spelling.

[@danylol772]

@@Dr.CumsteinMD if you're gonna correct someone at least use your brain, it was intentional to denote how stupid it is

[@nathanl8622]

Making a story built on decades-old lore that nobody likes or remembers just to explain away redesigning a character to better fit their movie counterpart is... maybe the most comic book-y thing I've ever heard.

[@aerickmon3350]

Right next to having a major character die or nearly every umpteenth time

[@SammEater]

Reminds me of the Archie Sonic comics making a storyline to explain why the 'cartoon Robotnik' now looks like the 'videogame Dr. Eggman' version.

[@Leso_Univrs]

@@SammEater or how they made a whole crazy story to just explain why Sonic's eyes were now green.

[@SammEater]

@@Leso_Univrs Oh yes, I remember that one. Peak comedy.

[@SammEater]

@@Leso_Univrs I think that one and the Dr Eggman issue came back to back. It was at the time Sonic Adventure was about to be released.

[@JurassicLion2049]

Mantis became one of my favorite characters because of Pom Klementieff’s portrayal. Man I cried at the end of GOTG3. I hope I get to see her again.

[@RickReasonnz]

She's fantastically hilarious in the films. Snorted my drink out when she did that "HELLO!" comm check!

[@grease08]

@@RickReasonnz It remind me of time when u were the it

[@DRoyale1]

I’m guessing since the “Legendary Star Lord” will return, it may have something to do with Mantis becoming the “Celestial Madonna” like in the comics…looks like that’s where her story is going, to me…

[@roofdogblues7400]

@@DRoyale1 Gods help us.

[@НяшкаОртодокс]

i want a spinoff of her just doing random therapy stuff with different characters and creatures like a pseudo reality/talkshow with her as a host or something, and every time it all ends up as legit adventure, she just has this ironic my little pony character vibe

[@regularshowman3208]

I wanna say that comic Mantis seems like one of the few times you can definitively call a character a Mary Sue. She's super powerful and smart and strong and she's the most important person in the universe and nearly everybody fuckin loves her from minute one and whenever she's involved in anything the entire universe revolves around her and absolutely none of it is written in a way that's earned. Granted, this applies to Mantis of the past and not current Mantis, but still.

[@Batmantherealbatman]

Mantis is one of the few characters I like in the MCU infinitely more than her comic counterpart

[@wdcain1]

Wong and Shuri are mine. In the comics they were just Dr. Strange's butler and Cersei Lannister.

[@gregcourtney751]

@@wdcain1 eh I got introduced to shuri in tanashi coates run. There she transtioned to a spiritual and cultural leader of wakanda with powers taken from their past. The attempts to make her more mcu accurate, while more tempered than some others, were kinda disapointing. Its not just the role change. The mcu has her a a little sister figure for tchalla forced to grow up a bit in WF. The comics version might have started like that but has been an independant and mature adult for a while.

[@wdcain1]

@@gregcourtney751 My first Shuri story was from Mark Waid's Daredevil run. There, she was a total villain who hated her brother and ran Wakanda with an iron fist. There's not much room to grow past trying to murder Daredevil's mom and a bunch of nuns to cover up her weapon smuggling. Then this was continued in the Avengers comic where she let Wakanda become a necropolis after having the stupid idea of allying with friggin' Thanos. The MCU version is so much better than that.

[@gregcourtney751]

@@wdcain1 I mean fair. That explains her spirit quest in what I read then. Coates had to basiclly recreate her to be more likable.

[@TrillyThough]

@gregcourtney751 I can not stand the MCU-ification of Comics Shuri (or Marvel characters in general). The Shuri of the 616 continuity was a lethally efficient warrior queen and political hardliner who put Wakanda and her peopl before everything, including herself. She was a great foil for T'Challa and also grew into a more three dimensional character under the pen of Coates. Now she's regressed to adolescence again to appeal to a group of people who...aren't coming to shops to read these mediocre stories she now has. My Shuri was a GROWN ASS WOMAN who had lived and learned. This current version is a Twitter convo made manifest. I'm sure it appeals to someone, but its not for me. My friend's daughter liked the new version and started a comics club at her school so that's a net positive. End of the day these characters can't "belong" to us forever, and they need to change for the next generation of fans. I accept that, but I'll still be a little sore in that fanboy way that I'm not able to enjoy her stories presently.

[@WeyounSix]

The funniest thing about old comics is how the largest villains can simply appear for no reason for one issue then go away for a while with no build up at all lmfao

[@flameking6175]

Commenting to try to push this video as hard as Steve pushed Mantis.

[@tallystuff]

Badass

[@Gemnist98]

87 likes let’s goooooo

[@RickReasonnz]

Not possible.

[@TitularHeroine]

This video is the Celestial Madonna

[@TubezThe1]

Mantis feels like the actual version of what everyone thinks Captain Marvel is written like.

[@coolshirtkid]

right, people who constantly hate on captain marvel are irritating. the ultimates by al yewing is amazing and she’s a key player

[@alexlestat]

​@@coolshirtkid a lot of people's problems was with MCU captain marvel, I'm not sure if it's just me but after seeing the trailer for Marvels, I feel like people are going to like her more after it

[@coolshirtkid]

@@alexlestat yeah for sure, but a lot of hate also comes from her appearance in civil war 2 in the comics where her character is written as very authoritarian. her mcu film and that story kinda happened close together so i think the combination of both left a bad taste in people’s mouths. she’s a cool character to me tho, and i always liked her film more than most people do

[@CheshireCatMystic]

I actually kinda like Carol Danvers before Civil War two kind of ruined her character. It does feel like though in the MCU in particular they are trying to push Captain Marvel without actually trying to developer as a character though I think the new movie is going to fix that but there is still somewhat of a problem with her character (what little of our character that they actually do show in the films)

[@coolshirtkid]

@@CheshireCatMystic yeah i’m a big fan of carol

[@TheFLAMEXD]

Mantis in the comics definitely embodies the mantra "there's no such thing as bad characters, only bad writers"

[@lavabite]

Steve Engelhardt is an incredible writer!! Mantis Is just a hiccup for him on an incredible career. His captain america, doctor strange and batman runs were game changers!

[@somik-i3x]

I will always find funny how the movies made those C-Tier list hero into A list in a blink of an eye.

[@johans3164]

James Gunn just has the talent for that i guess. Suicide Squad and Guardians was so great. Cant wait to see new DC under his leadership

[@fuegodrinkscauseusuck6100]

C list is more than generous. I wish A list characters (my opinion) like Iron Fist had a better shake at it. The MCU is collapsing under its own weight atm though

[@cradodragmire1563]

I wish A lists like Taskmaster, and Iron Fist were screwed.

[@markpage9886]

The Guardians of the Galaxy comics did that. Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett brought these forgotten space characters together in one book. Groot dates back to 1960...it was two brits with encyclopedic knowledge of comic books who did all the heavy lifting.

[@johnathancopson9328]

It's amazing how much a lot of superhero comics can come off like fanfiction, both in a good way, and a bad way(like with Mantis here).

[@ashtonchane6126]

Yeah no kidding. Because remember OMD and that time Carol Danvers son from the future impregnate her? Because I sure don’t.

[@robrotron2084]

Since comics are made now by people who grew up reading comics they basically are fanfiction.

[@ltb1345]

@@ashtonchane6126 Alabama ahh comic💀

[@mell7249]

​@@robrotron2084 This Mantis is 70s - 80s dude

[@cradodragmire1563]

@@mell7249 And Marvel began in the 40s. His statement is still technically correct.

[@saifsufian4286]

This has the energy of when someone makes fan fiction where they throw their OC into every important scene even if they are completely uninteresting

[@ride-playerbb2818]

With James Gunn now in DC, it would be really funny if Willow shows up somewhere, played by Pom

[@kenlieck7756]

If not, use Bjork (see 16:08).

[@makeitthrough_]

Oh man, the name 'Willow' always gives me 'nam flashbacks to Jeff Hardy's terrible alter ego from TNA, also known as "Wally The Wasp" to Bryan & Vinny fans

[@moomiira]

i love this omg .. lets hope!!

[@stuartbarron7117]

I actually think the version of Mantis from the 2021 Guardians video game is somewhat underrated. She has kind of a carefree and happy go lucky personality which I really enjoyed. I also appreciated that they tried something original and didn't just copy her personality from the movies (even though I do still prefer the movie version of her.)

[@jack0slack]

100%. I think she's the best version of the character -- she's interesting, driven by her own goals (weird as they are) and the idea of her multiversal awareness not conveying personal awareness is a heckuva conceit.

[@kerricaine]

on today's episode of "the writer's barely disguised fetish!"

[@thefearmakerlive]

Great video. Also, the Guardians of the Galaxy game did an interesting take on Mantis, kind of taking pieces from the more recent Guardians comics and the James Gunn MCU interpretation, and kind of melding them together. Really interesting if you hadn't checked it out.

[@lainkey]

The concept of her experiencing time differently from everyone else was really cool, being like "Have we done this part yet?" and baffling everyone else was also really good for comedy lol

[@TheGohanSkywalker]

I loved how she was portrayed in the Guardians game.

[@mttylerdurden9]

Which guardians of the Galaxy game? The telltale game or the crystal dynamics game?

[@TheGohanSkywalker]

@@mttylerdurden9 Crystal Dynamics is what I'm referring to, IDK about the Telltale one.

[@dr_chunko439]

That game did for the Guardians what Insomniac's Spider-Man did for that cast of characters - it told basically a brand-new story that could have been lifted straight from a really good comic run, while giving us interpretations of the characters that weren't exactly like previous iterations but still felt true to themselves. It's a shame it flew under the radar for so many people.

[@Luna_Everywhere]

Gotta admire this guy's sheer devotion to his waifu

[@aerickmon3350]

When a man loves what he loves🤷🏽‍♂️

[@SenatorDodo09]

imagine having such bad taste in waifu though, yikes

[@Mycorrhiza]

Twinkle Nora Rock Me

[@italucenaz]

That guy treated his oc just like some artists nowadays treat theirs, but with actual high budget canonical marvel comics, mad respect for him and his fictional gf

[@jamalmillsapp3921]

Seems like someone was secretly trying to kill Mantis and Steve kept using comic magic to bring her back.

[@PhoenicopterusR]

They also kept forgetting whether she was green or not, it seems.

[@marsupius]

The "green Milf raising her space son in the suburbs" version is probably the best version.

[@dyldar4732]

Sometimes the mcu can improve characters from the comics like mantis making her adorable and really likeable and the video game version of her too is also really good.

[@HELLO_KORO]

That's how i felt with Scarlet Witch

[@TheFLAMEXD]

The MCU has improved a lot of things from the comics, like making overly complicated lore more simple like it should've been from the start. Their biggest improvement to date is the characterisation of Thanos. In the comics, he starts the entire Infinity Gauntlet storyline just to impress Lady Death. In the MCU, his motivation is a misguided attempt to "save the universe".

[@fennekin1750]

Shes not adorable, shes ugly! lol (Y'know, Drax)

[@Someguywithalotoftism]

This mantis storyline is the most like stereotypical old comic book thing I’ve ever heard. Just things happening ridiculously literally all the time

[@castella352]

Hearing how differently Mantis is in the MCU vs comics is crazy. I think part of why MCU GoG is so fun is because it allows for typical wacky comic stuff to shine thru while also giving a lot of heartfelt moments. Mantis is such a fun character and it sucks her own creator couldn't do well by her. Maybe that's that Vol 2 reference 👀

[@chrxnixx]

on an unrelated note, I appreciate the pace in which you present the video. It’s different from having all these videos/shorts rain comic facts on you in under 2 minutes

[@armoghetto]

The writers of Avengers had a real intense need to do crazy stories of women marrying or leaving with strangers or having weird babies…

[@ValueNetwork]

It’s really weird that Kang the time traveler knew the celestial Madonna and knew enough about her life and timeline to know the time period that she would be with the avengers… but didn’t know who she was. How? Its obviously not Scarlet witch because she’s been on the team way longer. Simple deduction means it has to be Mantis, even if you don’t know the Chosen ones name you should easily know who it isn’t! What I’m saying is the plot was poorly written just so the writer could have Kang threaten R*pe against the avengers women and that’s obviously weird. I genuinely think this is one of the worst comic stories… and it’s not even the weirdest that mantis gets

[@L1701]

Yeah, the 70s may have been a heyday for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but it does…have issues.

[@SpaghettiYOLOKingTTV]

Mantis in the Guardians of the Galaxy game by Square is also way better than her comic version. The MCU inspiration is very apparent, but she isn't naive as she has traveled the universe, her purpose being she appears where she is most needed. There is a slight tie to her comic counterpart with her ability to see multiple outcomes of situations, but she's never sure what's going to happen until they pass key moments that are in each poasible outcome. Basically, she knows of all the different timelines and their outcomes, but unsure of which timeline they're on or following until thoae key moments, implying she exists in every timeline at the same time. I know it sounds kind of dumb, but it works, mostly because she has all the quirkiness and excitement of the MCU version of her personality. Like if I look at Square's version of Mantis as the future version of MCU Mantis, it fits perfectly together. If they rework the comic version to be more like this, she'd work as a comic character way more while also allowing her to be used only at important times as she doesn't anchor herself anywhere for long periods of time.

[@Casubon]

Yeah. I loved the game version of Mantis - as much as I like the MCU version, she worked better for me in the game.

[@tawnybudgieisbored3709]

agreed, she was amazing in that game!

[@eastsidereviews727]

Buddy was wild for this. It's amazing how obsessed creators can get for making their OCs as cool/strong/important as possible, all this did was make folk not like Mantis. Glad the character has been done a lot better in the MCU.

[@djpegao]

_One of the times when the adaptation is way better than the original source...._

[@zainmudassir2964]

One of many times tbh. Especially when it comes to depicting race and gender

[@johans3164]

Guardians and The Boys did that incredibly well. Original Guardians was kinda mid and some characters were just bland but MCU made them infinitely better and more interesting. Original Boys was so pointlessly edgy. Feels like it was written by 12 year old kids who want to make everything dark just for the sake of being "cool" but the actual series feels like it had something more meaningful to say and has perfect balance between edgy and engaging

[@chaserseven2886]

@@johans3164 man i really hate people like you who do this bs that shits on people who just write this because they think its cool, like let writers write whatever they want for whatever reason they want not everything has to "say something"

[@iancruz6617]

@@johans3164 The boys comics everyone was a walking psychopaths. And as for guardians of the galaxy the movie you see not even the original members expect yundo. Which the original team was on vol 2 in a post credit scene.

[@cannabishornliu6119]

The times where the Netflix adaptation meme is reversed.

[@TwinRiver100]

wow that was a lot on Mantis. I know the Celestial Madonna story was known for being kind of weird and all over the place. But didn't know Mantis had all kinds of incarnations all over with Steve Engleheart. Thanks for the educational video.

[@JuanGomez-ke5py]

0:16 mantis the most important character ever in in marvel comic if mantis didn't show up all the marvel character will ask where is mantis

[@42ndLife]

They should just label Mantis as "Immune to continuity".

[@cui8789]

And people think the MCU version of Mantis was a step down, why?

[@Jkenzie17]

Because of her limited power set

[@LiveHedgehog]

Mantis is one of my favourite characters in the MCU (helped by Pom Klementieff and James Gunn of course), but I can't imagine I'd have any fondness for the original comic version.

[@FoxyGuyHere]

I love her in the Guardians of the galaxy game tho and it has same backstory and powerset for her as when she came back to comics for the Guardians.

[@Snowstorm...]

Yes! I love the Guardians of the Galaxy game. It's my favorite depiction of the Guardians, including Mantis

[@christopherb501]

Reminder everyone: this IS the guy who wrote The New Guardians and the Millennium event comic they spun out from. This was the comic that gave us, in issue #2, the man, the myth, the meme, SNOWFLAME, the man powered by c0caine. He's not known for having particularly sane creative notions.

[@Guywithacamera13]

19:33 : her son wasn’t lock up for long tho , all hero’s gave him planet that basically near end the universe to do whatever he wants so he and them can leave each other alone

[@coleodonoghue2981]

Original mantis is pretty much the definition of “my oc solos beats ur oc”

[@deaf-tomcat]

poor Mantis. i read the celestial madonna storlyine was just aghast at how she was portrayed. i'm slowly making my way through Empire and find it incredibly hilarious that Swordsman and Seqouia are actually such big characters.

[@sMyMe9540]

Where are you reading these? I'd like to read them too

[@deaf-tomcat]

@@sMyMe9540 lol i buy and borrow physical copies. the big WandaVision omnibus includes the celestial madonna storyline, as well as Empyre and I think some Secret Empire volumes. idk if you have any comic book stores near you, or any libraries with a good comic selection but that's how I do it. i don't like reading comics online, so I don't know where to direct you on that front. (although, my old library did have e-rentals so you could also try that!)

[@shinyocelot04archive]

I can't get over the Mantis & Friends gag at 5:03. These gags just get better overtime with each video.

[@sonicx24cool51]

I like how simplified Mantis was in the MCU to being just a Bug girl who can use telepathy and was the spawn of Ego that he kept around cause of her powers and joined the Guardians after Ego’s defeat

[@DiceNinja]

I’m a bit confused how an empath with basic martial arts background is supposed to be as strong as all the avengers together??? At least Captain Marvel had the excuse of being a living nuke

[@blackmagician7645]

What's with the Swordsman anyway? All the team needs, is the guy with the bow.😄

[@ComicDrake]

Good thing I have a whole video about him. 😉 kzbin.info/www/bejne/nXWmnICLqLJ3oNk

[@davidgraham8299]

Steve Englehart agreed with you.

[@luigiboi4244]

Thank goodness that James Gunn, Slayer of Scrappy-Doo, changed her movie interpretation enough so that she could be enjoyable for the movies. I also should give Pom Klimentieff (sorry I spelled her name wrong, French names are hard to spell except for Jacques) some credit for bringing her character to life. I much prefer her movie interpretation than to her comic counterpart.

[@B3RS3RK3R2323]

This reminds me of the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas special where Mantis tells Kevin Bacon "Be Kevin Bacon but like if you didn't suck!" lmfao

[@michaellogan8359]

I was 13 when the Celestial Madonna storyline started, and it was my favorite comics thing ever at the time. But I will admit that comics Mantis has never worked for me in any other story. I was all #notmymantis when she first showed up in the GOG movies, but I got over myself because that character is just delightful.

[@CaptainCat101]

I can't wait for the Mantis Spinoff Cinematic Universe

[@leonglitch]

Me too

[@jojojett]

I love how MCU mantis It has NOTHING of all that 616 stuff 😂

[@hmulford3851]

I would love for you to speak about the history of the High Evolutionary! His portrayal in GotGv3 was incredible, and I'd like to see how the dots were connected from "geneticist that makes animal people" to "adopter of Adam Warlock", and how that was translated into the movie to become Rocket's creator.

[@lainkey]

Quality aside, I do really like the idea of the creator taking his character with him wherever he wanted. The writer's and artists really should have some ownership on their creations, rather than these massive conglomerates owning everything even if they'll never use them again.

[@mttylerdurden9]

That's why IMAGE comics exist.

[@lainkey]

@@mttylerdurden9 Ik I just think it should be an industry standard lol

[@Juniper_Rose]

"Her neighborhood is called Willimantic..." Hey, that's an actual town here in Connecticut! It is less on the nose, but it's a real location!

[@featherguardian6023]

Damn,Mad Respect to Gunn turning a Terrible Character into One of the Most Beloved Characters in Marvel.

[@eliwam400]

The storyline where she married a tree was one of my first introductions to avengers comics

[@calumhouston3308]

Wait, so Marvel was uncomfortable with Mantis kissing a Black man, but the Avengers/Defenders building a planet sized "fleshlight" was perfectly fine?

[@alexanderarias8273]

Mantis was some sort of Mantis sue back in the 80's.

[@thisrandomdude_]

God I love Mantis. She's so funny and like, genuinely cool at times, and her chemistry with Drax is some kind of perfect formula lemme tell ya

[@youngrootv]

Comic book Mantis is actually one of the worst comic book characters. I’m glad that she got a rework in the MCU. She’s also not bad in the GotG video game.

[@pendantblade6361]

Professional writers really act like a bunch of fanfic writers with their super special OC, huh.

[@Azure70]

11:43 “Try to follow me” We make no promises

[@vcom741]

“Man, no one made GotG videos tying into the volume 3 coming out” Drake: “This” Me: “ooo”

[@theravenpirate4744]

Mantis's MCU glow up is amazing

[@BehemothPhoenix]

Dave is one of many money lending companies throughout history that will tie you into an endless loop of payday loans. Ideally, you use it once or twice as necessary. But in reality, poor folks get desperate to pay a bill, or have two concurrent financial troubles that prevent them from paying on time. The bread and butter of these payday loans is sticking people with as many fees as they possibly can. If you are considering using a payday loan or similar company, please seek literally any other alternative for your own good. Do NOT use Dave.

[@BehemothPhoenix]

Taking these sponsorships is incredibly irresponsible.

[@YourMom-jd6jp]

​@@BehemothPhoenix *Sigh*. Welcome to KZbin, where your favorite creators peddle scams because they're too focused on dollar signs to read the fine print.

[@lucjan1897]

A tree person whose child is going to be a savior of universe but he can't make the child because he's a tree and has to use someone's else's body for that? That literally happened in Swamp-Thing too

[@Toto-95]

i"ve read somewhere that she's one of the worst case of "teacher's pet" syndrome. It really shows in the comics

[@DeltaGaiya]

I always wondered how mantis was in the comics because Im criminally bad at reading them so this came at a good time

[@hannahstarinieri1351]

MCU mantis is such a great character and her design is super cute and her personality is so cute. She’s incredibly sweet and her character arc is well done, MCU-wise.

[@interstelllar1888]

I couldn't agree more!

[@gamerzpro091]

At 9:18 I got somewhat of a hilarious timed ad because right after why, played an ad of a mech shooting rockets almost telling me that I’m not allowed to know. Then it continued and he never explained it XD

[@paulieswalnut]

I knew nothing about Mantis before GotG2 and now that I do, Im gonna pretend that I know nothing about Mantis before GotG2 😊

[@OdaKa]

4:50 a big evil what?

[@NojoJojo598]

I saw this come up and my first thought was "Didn't Drake already do a video on Mantis?" This goes into way more detail about her in general then just her histroy

[@matchamochi781]

Mantis in the MCU is one of my favorite characters so it sucks to know a majority of her comic stories are garbage.

[@danielramsey6141]

Yep, that happens. Decades worth of Awful stories by a bunch of random artists that couldn’t make up their minds about her.

[@lighthawk4344]

Another great video that chronicles how a poorly designed character can become great!

[@TwigTheThird]

I really liked the Guardians video game version of Mantis. Split the difference between comic and MCU nicely

[@gregcourtney751]

Yeah englehart is... interesting. On the one hand you have his cap run including the arc commenting on watergate where steve, after seeing whats implied to be nixon do suicide after one last power grab, gets a new idemtity with "man without a country" in the name and a 70s run on dr strange that defined how he is commonly seen. On the other hand the mantis nonsense and being the writer who had hal jordan recipicate the advances of his underage student in an aged up body. I think drake might have a video on.

[@repulser93]

So he's like Bruce Timm to Batman - responsible for a lot of good shit about the character and mythos, but with a few out-there hang-ups.

[@meinkraft501]

Englehart he/him ; Bruce Timm (he/him)

[@jlev1028]

​@@meinkraft501That isn't necessary.

[@meinkraft501]

@@jlev1028 it never is

[@YangTheAce]

Mantis is an adorable jellybean that needs to have her smile protected at all costs.

[@dr_chunko439]

I do think Mantis' appearances in Abnett's run deserve special mention, because she was a lot more interesting there to the point that I was originally disappointed in her MCU interpretation. She worked a lot better for me in GOTG3 though and I was really happy with how they used her in the Crystal Dynamics game.

[@c0urt_la]

You can't just say "giant evil fleshlight" and not explain it

[@alicethemad1613]

I love that panel where she’s basically like “yeah I’m happy I’m not green anymore lol” and groot just smiling and giving her a lil hug

[@carljensen333]

I adored her as a kid. She married a tree and the ghost of the Swordsman and maybe that should have been the end of her arch. She was still a decent pop-up in cosmic stories but then someone wrote Empyre, and that ruined Mantis, the Cotati, and we should all just forget her son. I did adore her though so that’s the memory I choose. MCU made her fun. She’s still adorable, she is not an example of higher wisdom however. I’m okay with that. Gunn changes things but gives just enough nod to canon to satisfy me.

[@dravidpaiva686]

Comics back then were weird huh. Although I guess these days they are weird too.

[@L1701]

Comics being weird is an old tradition.

[@repulser93]

So, if Mantis were first introduced as a character in today's comic media... She'd likely fuel several thousand videos' worth of complaining about "wokeness", "SJWs ruining comics", "Mary Sues", etc. My god, the comics industry really is cyclical.

[@acario100]

You're totally right. Though I think Mantis would have been hated no matter what race or gender for being an obvious Mary sue

[@L1701]

GOD, yes, she would.

[@repulser93]

@@acario100 This is the first time since Alice from Resident Evil where I've seen a character for whom the term "Mary Sue" would actually be warranted.

[@nerdwarp112]

14:17 Willimantic is actually a place in Connecticut lol, though tbf I’m aware most people don’t know much about our state.

[@KainGerc]

Mantis is back to being one of the main characters in the newest Guardians comic (probably because of the third movie being recently released)

[@dharmabird1]

It was so great to hear Tyler’s voice on this video. I’m glad he’s back online.❤😜

[@thephantomgamez]

Mantis is an interesting character.

[@AdamSoucyDrums]

Drake dressed as Iron Man holding an Iron is an underrated bit

[@RockR277]

Not even half way through and this character sounds absolutely insufferable. Writers really gotta be careful about not making Mary Sues. Glad MCU Mantis is nothing like this, I really like her. Dude the more of this I hear, the more I dislike this dude as a writer. This is just awful.

[@repulser93]

I normally loathe how that term is mis-used when deriding certain female characters in sci-fi franchises... But yes, comic!Mantis actually sounds like one of the few characters to warrant that term.

[@StudioNama]

The version of Mantis in the Guardians video game was pretty good too. Very Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but not in a dated sorta way.

[@gabrielhagedorn5942]

Hey, I know that voice at 5:08 that’s Tyler from the Imaginary Axis! Great to hear his voice again!

[@cdadamly]

Great video! I do think it's worth pointing out that an Asian woman kissing a white man is an interracial kiss, so Mantis's bizarre introduction to [most of] the Avengers beats the example you referenced by four years.

[@ikariiprince]

I love the film and videogame versions so much more than any I’ve read in the comics. The videogame especially seems to strike a nice balance in her personality between the “Madonna” and the sillier bug girl

[@TevyaSmolka]

Mcu mantis is probably ten times better then her comics counterpart who’s probably a mess in my opinion.

[@daelen.cclark]

I like Englehart, but it’s complications like this that makes me appreciate MCU changes. Though if MCU Mantis can learn & develop more over time, then it’ll be even better!

[@glasshorse6893]

shes got the most weird and convoluted plot around her that makes her important above the main characters cause, if i may quote courtneysnt, shes special