Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Best Marvel comics of 2013 (part five of five): 1-5

HERE WE ARE, the best of the best of 2013. A quick note to, again, say thank you to everyone who checked in on the blog even once this year and happy new year to everyone out there. Let's count down.

5. Captain America
This is really pretty much the only book really in this top twenty that I wonder about, wonder if maybe I gave too much credit to because of my fondness for the character. However, when it's all said and done, I think that this is a book that, had it been anything less than exemplary, I wouldn't have been onboard for so the fact it's considered in the top ten, less the top five, means it deserves to be there. Captain America has been around for over 70 years so when I say this is him at his lowest point, know that it's a pretty low point to have to reach to be there. Rick Remender threw Steve into another dimension run by one of his archenemies and kept him there for a decade, re-writing the book on how sad it is to be Steve Rogers. Now, after ten years in Dimension Z, he's just returned to present-day Earth where, according to Marvel time, he's spent less time since being thawed from the ice than he had in Dimension Z and he has the added weight that he's lost the fiancee he just saw for the first time since he was trapped there and the adopted son he raised the entire time he was there. The only person who has any real sense of what it was like there is the daughter of the archenemy they killed and left behind and who is having enough trouble adjusting herself to the new world. On top of it all, Remender has done a phenomenal job showing an injured Cap, making sure that the super soldier is constantly working his way through severe injuries and convincing himself to get back up and keep fighting. It's a great new look at Steve (with a nice, never-before-seen look into his pre-super soldier days) while simultaneously being one of the hardest things to watch him go through. Very interested to see where the coming days take him and glad that Falcon is back in his life as a support and that, presumably, Bucky will be popping up sooner or later (he should be involved in the Iron Nail storyline and he'll have his own mini-series WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH coming soon not to mention ALL-NEW INVADERS next year). Should be fun.

4. New Avengers
NEW AVENGERS was a book that was gunning for number one right from the word go and only really slipped out of it as it had to dedicate too much time to tie-in. Don't get me wrong, the NEW AVENGERS link to INFINITY was very strong and still told a good story, one that was necessary to the event while still focusing on the characters we needed to see in NEW AVENGERS, but ultimately it slowed down a series that was moving at a ridiculous and very exciting pace. Regardless, the combination of this team and story was always going to ensure that NEW AVENGERS landed pretty high up on the best-of list and now HERE IT IS. Every character is extraordinarily interesting and comes off with what feels like the exact amount of weight that's appropriate for their situations. On top of dealing with the book's main threat, incurring worlds that regularly threaten to destroy our own via crashing together (okay, written out it sounds a little stupid but all the more reason for it to be up here because, in practice, it is amazing), we have some of the top egos in the world clashing, particularly as T'Challa and Namor continue to meet and try to figure out ways to stop the incursions while their countries fight a bitter war against one another. As the first year closes out, everything has come to a head with Black Bolt weakened and, if I was reading correctly, thought dead, T'Challa cast out of Wakanda, and everyone still coping with how they're going to stop incursions and how they're going to live with themselves afterwards. There's a ton happening here and this is one of those books that clearly has plenty more to say so I don't anticipate it losing any steam in the months ahead (in fact, a new issue comes out THIS VERY DAY and I'll get around to reviewing it AT SOME POINT).

3. Hawkeye
I think that HAWKEYE has unquestionably changed the way that mainstream comics can run. I'm not saying every mainstream comic has taken up its unique storytelling methods or its run-down and deeply flawed protagonist but there are certainly a number that have (I still look at SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN as something that, in the very least, started out being something of a HAWKEYE clone). On top of that, HAWKEYE has earned itself well-deserved huge critical acclaim and has brushed up against the mainstream with reviews and praise from all over various media. For all the books it's inspired and all of the lenses on it, HAWKEYE has never once backed down and continues to do its brand of character and story and storytelling best of all its competitors. It's an amazing book with an amazing core and a perfectly established cast consisting almost entirely of Clint and Kate. The writing is continually sharp and balanced, the art is always among the best in the business (even now as it oscillates between David Aja's proven style and Annie Wu's newcomer talent), and the characters are Venture Brothers-level depressing (fun fact: Annie Wu also works on The Venture Brothers). The only real reason this book didn't go even higher on this list is a delay in the publishing that meant that we didn't get it for a couple of months in the late summer, early fall. Still, an overall amazing book that's really set a precedent in the Marvel Universe and that's doing it better than anyone else, the only time Hawkeye has ever been able to say that.

2. Young Avengers
Guys, I legitimately had to walk away from the computer for a bit so that I could decide which book belonged in which spot up in the top two and it ended up meaning that I actually walked away from the computer for like, four hours and, frankly, I still haven't really come to a decision. YOUNG AVENGERS did some things that I've never seen done in mainstream books (actually, each of the top three picks here read unlike any other mainstream book I think I've ever read) and brought Kieron Gillen's signature writing excellence and Jamie McKelvie's signature absolutely outstanding artwork to the project. As a book, I think that this one probably merits being number one. There were times that I finished an issue and my mind was just absolutely blown. There were times where I would turn a page and lose my mind because something so gorgeous or so striking or so very different had happened. I came into this book with rather high expectations, given that Gillen was pretty fresh off the amazing JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY and that Jamie McKelvie was Jamie McKelvie. Despite raised expectations and a certain amount of attachment to the characters, this book never once disappointed. Brilliant every step of the way and had a cast that rivaled any in comics in likability with a story and artwork to challenge anything I'd ever seen before from Marvel. Simply put, this book was next-level in every single aspect. If you believe it was better than the number one pick and deserved to be there, well, I don't disagree necessarily and please feel free to read these two in any order. So so sad to see this one go next week.

1. X-Men Legacy
Had you asked me at the start of this year, or even several issues into this run, if this book was going to hang around and be such an important book in 2013, I'd've probably shrugged and said "well it's pretty good. Surprisingly good. But I don't know about best of the year good." Still, here it is, December 31st and that's precisely what I'm saying. Like HAWKEYE and YOUNG AVENGERS, this book has done things I've never seen done in books before and given us a character in David Haller who is so challenging to read and so perfectly formed that it feels impossible to read this book and not love every second of it, not get so invested in it that each week it's not released feels like a let down. Just a really impressive title and one that, from the outset, had no right being so impressive. David Haller is not a massive character in the Marvel Universe, despite his power set and despite his lineage. He's had big storylines here and there throughout the X-Wing of the Universe but he's never really reached beyond that. So I can only imagine what it was like to Si Spurrier to jump onto a book where David would be the main character and have to work backwards from the crazed and ultra-powerful being that was Legion and try to make him relatable. I don't know if this was a book Marvel wanted written and pegged Spurrier for it or if it was a pitch that Spurrier made to Marvel but I have to imagine it was the latter because the sheer weight of Spurrier's run and the intricacies with which he plays with David makes me believe that Spurrier was born to write this book. This book may not have been the knockout every issue that YOUNG AVENGERS or HAWKEYE was but its slow-burn and its gutsiness really catapulted it up the chart. This is a book that is entirely unique for Marvel and that works so incredibly well. Every piece of it: the not-entirely likable main character and his extremely human problems despite all of his massive powers, the girl troubles (and the trouble that stems from the idea that she's the only one who has the ability to stop him if things get to their worst inside of him), the prison inside David's head for all of his powers, the amazing idea to have the narration play in loudspeakers inside of David's head whenever we peek in there, the villain of the series, the character interactions, the story itself, the X-Force feel of the lone character, everything, felt so perfectly placed and so well-executed that this series has staying power well beyond its years. This deserves to be in every top ten list and deserves to be the sort of book that's revisited years and years down the line. I wasn't sold on the art it first but it slow-burned just as well and now I can't imagine this book with any other art. Tan Eng Huat and Koi Pham alternated on some issues and both brought such a perfect design to every character and such a sharpness to each situation while also staying appropriately psychedelic when need be. A near perfect full series. Guys, how sad is it that the two top books of this year are both ending in the next couple of months?




So that's that. Enjoy your New Year's Eve everyone and tune in tomorrow for the top ten books to look for THIS COMING YEAR.

Best Marvel comics of 2013 (part four of five): 6-10

Here we are, the official TOP TEN for the Marvels blog. Okay, well the official bottom part of the top ten but STILL really impressive comics. Let's find out what they were, shall we?

10. Iron Man
I hinted yesterday (okay, probably more than hinted) that SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN got bumped into 12-spot by some rabble-rousing book that had leapt clean over AVENGERS and into the top ten and, you guys, this was that very book. I think Iron Man has a lot of interesting foibles (fun fact: foible is also the name of the weaker part of a fencing sword!) as a character but his books don't really tend to hold my interest. I wish I'd paid a bit more attention to Fraction's run because I think he probably did a remarkable job on the character and did a lot more than I gave him credit for at the time (though I think I'm in the camp that tends to find Larroca's art somewhat boring). Regardless, Kieron Gillen has taken a lot of those aspects of Tony and really focused in on them while also telling a story that is quite probably more engaging than any other single Iron Man story I've read in a long time. "The Secret Origin of Tony Stark" was a phenomenal story and one that really changed the way I viewed the character (I'm still a little sour on Tony after all the CIVIL WAR stuff). Also, Gillen created one of the most complex and interesting villains I've seen recently in 451. There were twists and turns and retcons and re-retcons and just everything and, here's the thing, it all worked for me. Really brilliant stuff and now it seems to be giving way to Tony the futurist and the guy obsessed with fixing things working on a way to fix the future. Excited to see what this year holds in store for Tony both in this book and in the AVENGERS titles.

9. Daredevil
I struggled on this number a WHOLE LOT you guys and I think it's only going to get harder from here on out. I feel as though I've talked a lot about DAREDEVIL in the past few weeks so regular readers will probably know my feelings on this series. I think that Mark Waid has done a tremendous job turning Daredevil around as a character. This was someone who spent the majority of the last thirty years (since Frank Miller's run on the character) brooding and being dark after a start as a fairly fun (if overly similar to Spider-Man) somewhat unique (again, a little overly similar to Spider-Man) character. Not to say I didn't like aspects of Daredevil over the last few decades (okay, I liked him plenty, but bear with me, alright?) but that just made Waid's run with Daredevil all the more likable. If this run had been anything less than perfect, it would have been thrown out immediately. A new and cheery, NAY, CHIPPER feel to Daredevil? This is coming directly on the heels of Andy Diggle showing Daredevil snapping and killing Bullseye and taking over a criminal empire in Hell's Kitchen. So it's a drastic change of pace for the character but one that seems, in retrospect, ultimately necessary. Between Mark Waid's crisp and fun writing and Chris Samnee's similarly crisp and fun art (with the occasional pleasant interlude from Javier Rodriguez), Matt Murdock has been brought nicely into the folds of the Marvel Universe again. Looking forward to the way this series ends and then, promptly thereafter, the new one begins.

8. Uncanny Avengers
Rick Remender has been doing a spectacular job and, frankly, a rather underrated job in the Marvel Universe. I've enjoyed every book he's touched over the last couple years. He jumped on my radar with UNCANNY X-FORCE and made a real impact before kicking off VENOM (which ended up on this top list, even after he'd left it) and taking over on SECRET AVENGERS following Ed Brubaker and doing a stellar job of it before landing himself this year on CAPTAIN AMERICA and UNCANNY AVENGERS, both of which deserve to make the top ten (and both of which, spoilers, will). UNCANNY AVENGERS seems on the outside like a can't-fail book; a team that is specifically comprised of Avengers and X-Men fighting foes that may threaten each? Neat! However, you dig a little deeper into that and you realize just how tenuous the arrangement is and just how bad this book COULD have been. Instead, it's been a really thought-provoking and very challenging book. At times, it's been remarkably hard to read. At other times, it's illustrated the Marvel Universe better than almost any other book. Overall, it's been an always engaging and worthwhile read with a sharp story and solid dialogue to match the consistently incredible art. The intricacies of the Marvel Universe are best shown here and Remender is clearly the best man for the job.

7. Avengers Arena
It's possible that AVENGERS ARENA skipped a few spots up on the chart by sheer defied expectations. Following the example set by Christos Gage's AVENGERS ACADEMY, Dennis Hopeless gave us a roster of untested teen superheroes and made sure we cared about them. Unlike with Gage in ACADEMY, though, he then proceeded to kill the majority of them. Also unlike Gage, Hopeless had an initial cast of 14 and only 18 issues to show them off and still tell a worthwhile story. He succeeded on all counts and gave us a book that was simultaneously well-written, enjoyable, and tense all the way through. Even though I (sort of reluctantly) liked AVENGERS ACADEMY, I came into this book thinking of it as a sort of stunt, something where the kids would have to band together in order to defeat Arcade, a supervillain hardly worth the time of real heroes in the universe. Not only was it immediately proven not to be a stunt (thanks to the explosion of fan-favorite Mettle in the first issue), the kids never really banded together to stop Arcade. Instead, they turned on each other when the cards were all down, just as Arcade had wanted, and those who eventually survived only did so because the most innocent of them killed the most cold-blooded of them. Guys, it was a really good book, is what I'm saying. Even as I'm recounting it, I'm a little jealous of people who have yet to read it but who plan to (also, I'm sorry if I just spoiled most of the story for you). Solid work by Dennis Hopeless and I'm excited to see where he moves next (including the upcoming AVENGERS UNDERCOVER, which will pick up the reins from this book next year).

6. Captain Marvel
Yeesh, this was another tough one to place. I knew from the get-go that Captain Marvel was in the top ten and, honestly, had it in the top five in my preliminary thoughts but then there were a LOT of good books out there this year. I always liked Carol Danvers, even when she did some pretty nasty things for what I considered to be the wrong side in CIVIL WAR, there was always a character there who, while maybe a little boring in her own books, was a real character, a woman who was both competent and extremely powerful. Kelly Sue DeConnick has taken that same character and turned the camera JUST A BIT to give us a character who is both the same one who was created all those decades ago but who was completely her own and unique at the same time. My girlfriend and I talk about this series a lot in terms of a book that has maybe changed the tone of the character (for the better) while still sticking to her roots. One of the things I like best about comics is that these are characters who have existed for as long as they've existed and still find ways to surprise while ultimately remaining those characters. Usually this is accomplished by a new creative team deciding to take a chance on the character. DeConnick has shown herself adept at exactly this while also managing to create new characters and stories that stand out. One of my favorite aspects of CAPTAIN MARVEL over the year and a half or so it's been coming out has been her cast of supporting characters, something I almost NEVER point to as a bonus of a series. DeConnick created a cast and showed us tiny glimpses every issue, never so much that we lost track of Carol or the main story but just enough to establish that character when his or her number was called for a bigger role. Great writing, some outstanding Filipe Andrade art this year, and a wonderful character; I couldn't have asked for better from Captain Marvel.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Best Marvel comics of 2013 (part three of five): 11-15

Let's keep it rolling with picks 11-15.

15. Scarlet Spider
One of the real surprises on the list even though it probably shouldn't have been. Writer Chris Yost has an impressive resumé and 2013 saw issues 13-25 of SCARLET SPIDER so it's not like we hadn't had a year's worth of comics to deem this one "good" already. Even still, I think there's a part of me that still believes this book had no right being good. An evil clone version of Peter Parker flees New York to start a new life in Mexico and gets held up doing good in Houston with a whole new cast of characters doesn't really sounds like the best pitch. Yost never gave it up, though, and showed us what a well-written and well-established Kaine can do. The character was great, the writing was fun, the story was engaging, the fights were impressive and unique, and the ending was appropriately brutal for Kaine. After establishing himself as a reluctant hero in Houston, a city that apparently desperately needed one, and finding himself a slew of new friends in the city, Kaine's life was turned upside down by none other than Kraven the Hunter, the man who most recently killed Kaine, and things spiraled out of control quickly from there, culminating in an unhappy ending as Kaine finally reaches Mexico after all. Sad to see the series go, glad that Yost will pick up Kaine's reins again on NEW WARRIORS in the coming year.

14. Venom
This is another one of those books that lasted far longer than I would have predicted going in. This book kicked off a few years ago with Rick Remender at the helm of a Flash-Thompson-is-Venom story where the high school bully of Peter Parker turned war hero turned paraplegic alcoholic is called back into duty as a newly weaponized military-controlled Venom. Solid start to the series back then and Cullen Bunn this year managed to take the helm and still tell a worthwhile story with some worthwhile characters. As everything starts to crash down around Venom from his new home in Philadelphia, Flash is put up against challenges in the form of Toxin, Carnage, and his own demons. That's not a metaphor, he really did get his own personal demon fighting for control of the Venom symbiote somewhere along the line. On top of that, he lost longtime girlfriend Betty Brant and he gained new pseudo-sidekick Mania after he tossed some symbiote to her to protect her from the attack of his kind-of archnemesis Jack O'Lantern. A more angry and wild new symbiote-wielding character, Mania had the demon transferred to her and began fighting like the dickens (if that's what the dickens does) to avenge her father's death while Flash struggled with the morality of allowing this girl to be a symbiote and a killer. Nice book all the way around and one that allowed Cullen Bunn to play around a little in the Spider-Man world and come out of it with a successful book after all was said and done.

13. Red She-Hulk
For as much as I said I couldn't really believe SCARLET SPIDER worked, RED SHE-HULK certainly shouldn't have worked, at least for me. I was never the biggest Hulk fan (though my top-ten books to watch list early this year will describe my turnaround on the character) and I didn't know these characters very well. Jeff Parker, though, did a phenomenal job creating and developing a wonderful friendship between the rather new character Red She-Hulk and the older but not particularly used X-51. The two had really distinct personalities and their team-up came about incredibly naturally as X-51 was tasked with keeping tabs on Red She-Hulk and bringing her down when the Avengers decided she was a hazard. X-51 analyzed his own findings and decided there was something more to her than what the Avengers had seen and chose to intervene on her behalf, eventually siding with her in the fight against the sketchier branches of SHIELD and General Fortean. Really good characterization supported by an intriguing story that took the pair all over the world and eventually into an alternate reality where Betty Ross became the Hulk back at the test site when Banner should have. This series certainly would have ranked higher if it had continued past the summer but what we did get was a really great book that was able to very clearly do what it set out to do and tell a story worth telling with characters that mattered. Very fun book.

12. Superior Spider-Man
The way I went about constructing this list was to first list off every book I thought worthy of consideration for the top (then) ten. When the list got too long, I adjusted it to the top twenty. Then I looked a little deeper into it and started to arrange by "top ten" and "bottom ten," finally beginning after that to sort more directly within those lists. As we near the top ten, only two books have really switched sides, one jumping out of the bottom ten and into the top ten (to be revealed TOMORROW) and the other sinking down to number 11, only to eventually fall to number 12. That was THIS VERY BOOK. I really love the way that SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN started this year, giving us a look at the brand-new Superior Spider-Man, Doc Ock with the powers and (kind of) the responsibilities of Peter Parker. It was a real separation from the Peter Parker Amazing Spider-Man, someone who leapt headfirst into danger to help and save those who needed helping and saving, no matter if he was playing into a villain's hands. The Superior Spider-Man, meanwhile, plotted and planned, rapidly developing his own methods for protecting the city and doing it with such aplomb and vigor that...well, that he was put on probation from the Avengers. Regardless, it was a great new look at a new type of Spider-Man and one that Dan Slott really stuck with despite plenty of hate tweets and death threats (still illegal, you guys). It slipped out of the top ten with the last few months of 2013 as it started to get into weaker arcs (notably one that stranded Spider-Man 2099 in the present) and started to present more of Doc's personality than I think we really needed at this point. Still, the series never became a bad read, necessarily (okay, it got a little tedious in the late months there) and it seems to be coming out of its spin a bit but the first half of this year with the new Spider-Man really solidified its place somewhere in this list; then it just became where it would land.

11. Avengers
Jonathan Hickman has taken over the major part of the Avengers wing of the Marvel Universe and has really done absolutely phenomenal things with it. I said in that very same top ten list at the start of this year that I wasn't really onboard with what Bendis had been doing in Avengers the last few years (as I'm suddenly even more vehemently against the happenings over in the majority of the X-books now) and that I was hoping for a solid change out of Hickman. Well I got it and I couldn't really be happier about it. All three of Hickman's AVENGERS related titles (INFINITY, AVENGERS, and, spoilers, NEW AVENGERS) will have made this list when it's all said and done and everything about that part of the universe seems to be on the upswing. AVENGERS has been a really interesting book, one that hoped you'd be following along but wasn't ultimately too concerned if you missed a beat or two. There were a lot of really cool single issues at the start of the series to establish some of our newer characters (like Smasher and Hyperion) and eventually the whole series got wrapped into INFINITY and told the tale of the story with a focus on the fight against the Builders. It was a pretty masterfully executed event and all of the groundwork was laid here, in AVENGERS. Looking forward to the next movements by Hickman as the Avengers celebrate one of their biggest victories with no doubt larger foes on the horizon.

Best Marvel comics of 2013 (part two of five): 16-20

NOW, after that teaser first post, we're on to the actual top twenty. Let's not tarry any longer...ranked from 20 right down to 16 (I broke the top twenty into four separate posts to save you scrolling down too far to find out everything after I inevitably talked for TOO LONG), the list of my best 2013 Marvel books starts HERE.

20. Winter Soldier
This one BARELY squeaked by the not-quite-the-best list, where it would have landed only for the inconvenient timing it had for 2013. It only went from issue 14 to issue 19 in 2013 but they were, upon further inspection, very solid issues. We kicked the year off with Ed Brubaker's final issue with the character he created not so very long ago and it really rather changed the game, showing a depressed Bucky telling SHIELD to stop trying to restore Natasha's memory of him, as she's been through enough. One of the ways that I know this blog has made me a better comic reader in general is that, in going back to fetch a picture for this entry, I re-read the comic and it broke my heart in far more ways than it had the first time through. Beautiful work. Jason Latour did a fine job in his short time on the book but ended up stalling a little out of the gate and only picking up steam as the end was in sight. Very strong book showcasing one of the most popular new characters in his first (but undoubtedly not last) shot at a solo book. No one really gets it in one, Bucky, chin up.

19. Thunderbolts
THUNDERBOLTS absolutely made the list on the strength of newcomer Charles Soule when he took over the book with THUNDERBOLTS 12 and when he started his first full arc back in THUNDERBOLTS 14. Soule brought a new feel to the book and took a series that was promising but a bit forgettable and made it into something worth reading for various reasons each and every time out. The team was already extremely interesting on paper back when it kicked off but Daniel Way had taken it in a bit of a more gritty way than I think was necessary, which is weird to say about a book that consists of Flash-Venom, Elektra, and Punisher. Of course, the rest of the team is Deadpool, Red Hulk, and the Leader, so maybe the cold-blooded coup feel of the book wasn't ever going to work. Soule has done a great job revitalizing the book and making it a refreshing and fun read issue to issue or as a full arc. Looking forward to this one going forward and, even more surprisingly, looking forward to Soule's addition of the new Ghost Rider to the team next year.

18. Infinity
I'm as surprised as you are to find that a mini-series, no less an EVENT, has made the top twenty but here it is. In fact, the only reason Jonathan Hickman's INFINITY is so low in the top twenty is that I found it hard to divorce it entirely from the fundamental help it got from the titans that were AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS, not to mention the various tie-ins throughout the universe. I wonder if this book stands up as strong if read by itself. I have a feeling it still stands up pretty well but the other books in the sort of required reading elevated the event as a whole. That was by design, sure, but I can't award this mini-series those points. INFINITY lands on the list for being an entirely engaging read and an event worthy of being an event. The other two major events (AGE OF ULTRON and BATTLE OF THE ATOM) this year were total busts for me and events in the last few years have really fallen flat even as they grow more popular than ever within the business. INFINITY was a breath of fresh air as we got an event big enough to really be called an event and to warrant the action with real implications that we'll be seeing through the coming year(s). Also, no one from our casts died, which was an exceedingly bold choice in this day and age (throughout, I was predicting the shock value deaths we'd get only to be disappointed and equally not disappointed when they did not come to pass). Hopefully Hickman helms any other major events in the near future.

17. Journey into Mystery
This is another book that landed this low only after a mid-year cancellation stopped it short of contending all year long. As someone who truly loved Kieron Gillen's run on the book that turned the ever-devious Loki into a lovable rapscallion only to see him destroyed and have his true nature take the credit, I was both looking forward to Kathryn Immonen's look at Lady Sif and a little wary of it replacing a book that was a long-form love story to the form. After it was all said and done, though, Immonen took us on one of the most fun and most thoroughly engaging treks through Asgard I think we've ever seen. Sif is a character who is typically explored through the eyes of Thor or Loki or someone bigger in that Marvel-style pantheon but we got a book here that viewed her as every bit the warrior we hope she'd be outside of the pages of THOR or any other Asgardian based book. Immonen gave a real character to Sif and stuck to it. The final art, featuring Valerio Schiti art, really solidified the greatness of this book, one of those rare occasions where the perfect people teamed with the perfect character for them and really made it shine. Solid stuff all the way through.

16. Ultimate X-Men
ULTIMATE X-MEN surprised me when it appeared on my own top-ten list last year so this year I was a bit more ready for it and it didn't disappoint. Things in the Ultimate Universe are almost unquestionably worse all the way around than they are in the 616 and it was never so obvious as it was with the ULTIMATE X-MEN this year (unless we're talking about book quality, am I right you guys? Ha, I am though, which is sad). Sure, things aren't great for mutants in the 616 but Brian Wood showed us a tremendously diminished mutant population being given practically desert land and not much else and being left to sort out their problems themselves. These problems included questioned leadership, limited resources, hate and paranoia from the country surrounding them (which was just full to the brim with the stuff), and secret infiltrators. Whenever things started to look up for the X-Men, something interfered and pushed them two steps back. They're given a new place to start over, free of US jurisdiction? An omega-level telepath hidden amongst them works in secret to overthrow their new leading party. They create the sentient seed? The US government claims ownership over mutants and their creations and nearly starts a war to get its property back. They begin to succeed as a little nation all their own? Tian, a jealous sister country, instigates war and pretends that Utopia started it. Tensions were CONSTANTLY up in Utopia and Brian Wood never once backed down. The pacing, the characters, the story, the art, it all added up to a superb book overall, and certainly the best that the Ultimate Universe had to offer this past year, and maybe ever.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Best Marvel comics of 2013 (part one of five): Not quite the best

It's that time of year again, the time when everyone starts pulling up the year-in-review lists and begins to wave away the year with little blurbs about bits of it. Hm. That wasn't exactly poetic. Whatever, moving on. LAST YEAR, I wrote this year-in-review list about five days into this new blog with nothing but a shoddy memory and a love of comics. This year I'm coming at it with much of the same in my arsenal but ALSO, fortunately, armed with a YEAR'S WORTH OF BLOG POSTS ON THIS VERY SUBJECT so suddenly I remember far more comics deserving of this list.

Marvel put out an awful lot of books this year and I reviewed just about every single one of them (this is my way of patting myself on the back, obviously). What's particularly impressive about that is that I genuinely liked PROBABLY the majority of them. There were still a distinct number of books that did not really move me or did not carry a lot of weight with me or that I fully did not like (the X-Wing of the Marvel Universe will be not-so-mysteriously absent in this countdown) but by and large, I really enjoyed this year at Marvel comics. Considering that, I decided to stretch this review to the top TWENTY books released by Marvel this year. I figured I would just end up with a section of "these books only didn't make it because there wasn't room" that was as long or longer than the top ten so why not just expand? Guys, I have the authority to make that call. That said, let's start with the "these books only didn't make it because..." section (even this ended up being long enough that I wanted to separate the 16-20 picks into a different post...geez guys).

Books not appearing in this list for, you know, reasons

Avengers Assemble
Really fun book, the most fun of the AVENGERS titles but one that ultimately couldn't crack the top twenty in a stacked competition

Cable and X-Force
You guys, this one was really close after a really strong opening. I felt that it kind of stumbled in the middle and I don't think, in retrospect, that Salvador Larroca's art really fit the book well enough to give it that last little push. Still a fun book, for sure, and one I'm sad to see end but one that was ultimately just a hair too weak.

Dark Avengers
I can see this making the top twenty with very little effort if it had continued a bit longer. Really fun spin by Jeff Parker with an intriguing cast and an ever-interesting story behind it.

Indestructible Hulk
This one's another one right on the cusp but I think it was really hurt by event tie-ins. I'll temper that by saying it had consistently interesting tie-ins but, in the end, it wasn't able to spend enough time telling its own story and had to waste too much telling everyone else's.

Thor: God of Thunder
I think the incredibly strong opening arc (led by Esad Ribic's great art and an interesting premise from Jason Aaron) overstayed its welcome just a bit and then led into a considerably weaker second arc. I would say that telling two stories in a little over twelve months was a downside to the book but there's a book that cracked the top ten that's pretty much on par with that so it's not really a valid excuse.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Avengers 24, Origin II 1

Avengers 24
Hickman (w) and Ribic, Larroca, Deodato, and Guice (a) and White, Mounts, F. Martin, and L. Martin (c)


It's a new page for the Avengers as they celebrate their victories in INFINITY (and their total lack of deaths! Props to Hickman for not capping this event with any deaths) before being reminded that they're the Avengers and that they can't take days off because a time traveler from the year 3030 might show up at any moment to warn them of their impending doom thanks to a rogue planet on a collision course with Earth. With the help of the Iron Man derived time traveler, they build a device that allows the two worlds to exist on more or less the same plane but the message is clear; someone launched this planet at them and they likely won't just stop at that. The time traveler also gives Tony a special new weapon in private and explains that she's doing it because he's going to need help soon and that everyone he knows is going to be trying to kill him. Bum bum buuuuuum.

Pretty neat little book for the holidays. People should at this point realize that I'm a fun of the occasional hang-out issue where the team gets to unwind just a little bit, even if it's only for a handful of pages before a giant new threat emerges. I like that the team realizes the enormity of their success, even if it comes with a heavy weight still for Tony, who is still hiding his Illuminati business and for people like Steve who is never done working. There's a great contrast there between the party going on up at the top of Avengers tower and the planning Steve and Tony have going on downstairs. Tony still has the Illuminati business on his mind so he's not exactly leaping to party (despite his typical mode) and Steve probably never feels quite right at a party. One of the things that's great about a well-written Steve Rogers is that he's still sometimes fun and can be funny but, when he's not leading people into battle, he's not really a hang-out kind of guy. This issue was a nice way to change pace just a bit as the seriousness of NEW AVENGERS starts to bleed into AVENGERS as we turn the corner into All-New Marvel NOW! Technically the label for this review should have been AVENGERS 24.NOW but I've made a conscious decision to not include those point-words things. Kind of weird. It's a big year coming and many of the books on sale in January will have to do with the new Marvel branding. This isn't a bad lead-in for it.

Origin II 1
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin (c)

After the events of the first ORIGIN, we're sent back into the woods to see a still feral Wolverine living with a family of wolves as he makes his way in the natural world. There's some amount of narration from a third person omniscient narrator, someone who's able to tell us that wolves stay together as a pack not out of fear or particular survival instinct but because they want to. It also tells us that they don't typically accept others into their pack but relate that this particular pack has accepted the wolfish man in as he has spent so much time protecting and helping them that he's essentially a part of the family. There's a polar bear lurking around that Wolverine has sort of communed with and there's a lone wolf watching with a peculiar red marking on its forehead. With Wolverine out hunting one day, the polar bear finds its way to the home of his wolf family and brutally kills them all. Wolverine returns too late to help and fights the bear in a battle that kills them both. Of course, being dead doesn't stop Wolverine from getting back up and killing the lone wolf when it comes to gnaw at his carcass. The final shot of the issue shows a wounded and mourning Wolverine behind the body of the polar bear which has a metal tag on it, asserting that the bear is property of Nathaniel Essex, Mr. Sinister.

ORIGIN was a really seminal work for Wolverine fans and one that went a long way to giving a fan favorite character a true backstory. It's not often that a retconned backstory really lands with fans and is so readily adopted but ORIGIN certainly was. Why not go back to that trough to make another hit and to put a new spin on a character who, by this point, we've seen almost entirely too much of? Wolverine is one of the characters like Spider-Man who is everywhere in the Marvel Universe (interestingly, in AVENGERS 24, Cap removed both of them from the team, citing Wolverine's recently lost healing factor and Spider-Man's erratic behavior) and given the amount of minis and on-goings he's had, it feels like we know all there is to know about the character. Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert set out to prove that wrong as they go back to the end of ORIGIN and start from there, with Gillen revisiting his own history as he pulls out Mr. Sinister, one of his biggest villains from his run on UNCANNY X-MEN. I don't think that Marvel could have chosen a more interesting writer to take a spin on Wolverine; as I said, this is now a character who we know a TON about because he's everywhere all the time. If anyone's able to find new ground, it's going to be Kieron Gillen. Adam Kubert's art in this issue (as well as Frank Martin's colors) is amazing and particularly haunting in the full page panel of the bear with the dead wolves around him. The writing is somewhat minimal in this issue but the story is very clearly there and our character is very clearly established. The art does the rest of the work and Gillen again does a great job knowing when to tell and when to show. The book is a bit longer than a standard book (reaching about 30 pages) which may justify (kind of) the five dollar price point but, in truth, it's probably because they know it has the ability to be a real hit. Is it worth the money? Yeah, probably. Really gorgeous book with some A+ characterization to kick our story off.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Comics this week!

Easiest. Pre-game. Ever.

Avengers 24
The first AVENGERS issue post-INFINITY. This is our lead-in book to All-New Marvel NOW, the newest rebranding and something I've already had to write out too many times. As I said a couple weeks ago when I mistakenly put this on my pre-game, it's a big issue anyway but it's particularly big (as in large) when purchased with the Daniel Acuña foldout AVENGERS 50th Anniversary poster. Look for that one, you guys.

Origin II
You know how when people talk about great Wolverine stories, they always bring up ORIGIN? Well now's your chance to jump onboard with another possible legendary mini-series as Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert join forces to tell the tale of Wolverine set after ORIGIN, with Wolverine still living his days in the wild. I'm sure this series is going to be a fun ride and something with extra meaning and I'm really interested to see how Gillen works on this, a story set in the past of the Marvel Universe and which is a set five issues, meaning he has to really speed up his more novel-like storytelling. I'm heartily recommending this book as I will with just about anything Kieron Gillen touches these days, but I will add a caveat: Marvel apparently is aware of how big the first ORIGIN was so the price on this mini is 4.99 an issue. Kind of pricey for what seems to be a normal sized issue. I'll confirm that at some point.

THAT'S IT! Just two books out from Marvel this week so neither of them have to fight for top spot on pre-game or on post-game (spoilers). Truth told, though, I can't envision even the most hectic week going by without me suggesting these two books anyway. If you have the ability, get out today (comic shops should have these books out the 24th, as Christmas itself falls on the Wednesday) and check these ones out. Should be fun. I may post my reviews of them ANY OF THESE NEXT THREE DAYS so, I mean, keep checking back? And tell all your friends?



I'd like to say, again, thank you to everyone who's ever shown any sort of even mild interest in this blog. Any and all support means a ton to me. This started as a way to make sure I'm writing about something, anything, just about every day but it's turned into something of a way of life for me. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad, but the support is incredibly meaningful. This blog will reach it's one-year anniversary on Thursday, when I started it because I had been thinking about it in vague terms for a while and I had things to say about the very controversial AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 700 (and, because I'd already started the blog by that point, the less controversial AVENGING SPIDER-MAN 15.1). If you've stopped by for even a moment, even if it was just to snag a screen cap or to hear some news or because you clicked my insidious links on Twitter accidentally...thank you. Thank you all. There might be changes in 2014 to the way I review or to the volume of books I review (GUYS, this has been a ton of books) but we'll talk about that later. Thanks guys. Happy holidays.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

This week's picks

FOR THE HOLIDAYS, I GOT YOU GUYS AN EXTRA LONG POST WHERE I PICK THREE BOOKS BUT NOT-SO-SECRETLY ACTUALLY PICK SIX.

This was one of those weeks where it was exceedingly difficult to pick the top three for any number of reasons. Unlike most weeks where that's true, I had to actually break down my full list of comics into ones that could make the top three or at least could snag an honorable mention on here. That brought me down to six titles that were all worthy of some amount of higher praise.

The first one I eliminated from those six was INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK 17, which was a solid and fun book that really managed to tell a good story that ties in to current MU events while also giving us a great breakdown of characters.

The second one down, surprisingly, was UNCANNY AVENGERS 15. I honestly thought going into this post that UNCANNY AVENGERS was a lock as a top pick. It's a huge story that manages to actually ramp up tension after an issue where three major Marvel characters died but it still spends enough time with individual characters to show us their personal stakes, like Wolverine's belief that his violence had rubbed off on Rogue too much or like Cap's belief that his splitting up the Unity Squad led to the deaths of two of his friends and two heroes (he hasn't heard about Rogue yet) or like Thor realizing that the Earth might be executed in retribution for events kicked off by his enchanting Jarnbjorn way back when. Really, really good stuff in here but ultimately I pushed it aside to make room for things that may have been better in different ways.

Astute readers (and ones who are still reading this much-longer-than-average picks post - I felt behind on every single post this week except for this one so I'm relishing it and extending it, okay?) will notice that we've eliminated two contenders from the original six in an attempt to pare down to three, leaving ONE MORE on the chopping block. Unfortunately, this week's final cut went to the surprise "wow, that hung on for a while longer than I'd've predicted" book, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP 8. Chris Yost has a way with looking at characters and getting right down to the most compelling parts of them. There has been something compelling about Doc Ock in Peter's body from the get-go, which is why the series is doing so well, but there's only so much you can do with "egomaniacal sociopathic genius learns value of responsibility and justice" before it starts to feel a bit stale. Yost took a different angle after the first full arc on SSMTU (don't think that acronym is going to catch on) and showed us an egomaniac whose pride has been bruised and who has to deal with the weight of a massive failure with this newfound sense of responsibility. On top of giving us a great look at that character, we get the character who perfectly represents an egomaniac who will almost undoubtedly never feel the weight of a massive failure like this one because he doesn't see himself as a failure in Namor. Really great issue but one that ultimately just barely falls short of my actual list which may seem inexplicable and judged by whimsy and caprice more than fact but SURPRISE, THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING FOR A YEAR NOW.

Daredevil 34
What Mark Waid has done best with DAREDEVIL is hard to say. This is a book led by a character who, since Frank Miller took the reins on him, has been known as an exceedingly dark character. There have been moments of light and he's had a certain playfulness to him but, since Miller, it's been underlined by a distinct rage and violence which had only escalated in the years preceding Waid's run with Brian Michael Bendis and Ed Brubaker before culminating in Andy Diggle's finale, SHADOWLAND, which saw Daredevil snap and live out his darkest moment. Mark Waid then jumped onboard (following Diggle's follow-up DAREDEVIL: REBORN) and turned the character back to a far more light-hearted, happy to put down any connections to Daredevil as Matt Murdock (although everyone knew), happy to interact with others character. He still has his darkness and Waid has still put him through his paces but this is a far different character than the one Matt had evolved into while somehow staying entirely the same. If this series hadn't been so extremely good, it would have been a disaster. Instead, here we are, 34 issues later and Waid is still putting out gold for Matt Murdock. This issue adds to the fun and light-heartedness of the series while still showing Matt at a time that's particularly dark for him as he sees his legal system, the one thing that hasn't truly hurt him in the past, in the hands of horrible racists and corruption. Also, Waid has built Kirsten McDuffie into what is already the best Daredevil female supporting character since Echo (who only appeared in two DAREDEVIL arcs and those were separated by a sea of issues). Great book, great fun. Really long post today, huh?

Scarlet Spider 25
Okay, so SCARLET SPIDER has definitely benefitted this week from the bump I tend to give good books as the series closes but, in truth, that bump needed to do less work than you think it did. If anything, it skipped it over UNCANNY AVENGERS and SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP. Like with SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP, it's hard not to point to Christopher Yost's mastery of character as the driving point in all of his books. Yost took a character in Kaine who was only ever a bad guy; even when he worked for the right side, he was still something of a jerk about it. Here's the thing of it: after 25 issues of what turned out to be a really good series, I'm not sure I can definitely say that Kaine isn't still just a jerk. That's not to say that the book has been vague about it or his character hasn't gone deep enough; the opposite, in fact. Yost didn't want the audience to come out of this book saying "Kaine is the most morally upstanding citizen, a true hero, in the Marvel Universe." Yost wanted people to come out of this book saying "gee, how about that Kaine guy?" And I think he did it. The fact that this book doesn't wrap cleanly, that Kaine ends up fleeing Houston without the girl, without the friends, without the esteem, and winds up ignoring a street mugging in his new Mexico home is both such a wonderful choice and such a punch in the gut. Back in the Stan Lee days of comics, the idea was to leave every book the way you came into it; at the end of the month (or, as arcs started to grow, the end of every story) the team or the individual would be right back where he started. That's kind of happened with Kaine but now we have a wealth of knowledge about who he's been and who he's capable of being. It's solid work and truly defining for the character and it's the best promotional work I can imagine for Yost's NEW WARRIORS next year.

Young Avengers 14
I think I'm actually incapable of leaving this book off my recommendation lists. Throughout its 14-issue run (concluding in two weeks, as I will not stop reminding you) YOUNG AVENGERS has done thing that no other superhero comic has ever done, and that's coming in an age where you can say that about a handful of books so it's safe to say the medium is stretching out a bit. The story, the self-awareness, the art, the layouts, everything about this book has offered something new to its readers and I think this is the sort of book that will reverberate in the years to come. This issue even goes so far as to do something that isn't entirely uncommon in ending a series with a number of guest artists on a giant-sized issue (the finale is two issues but I have a feeling it'll read just as well as one) but still does it in what feels like a revolutionary way. This is a series of vignettes about our characters as individuals more than it is a closing chapter for a team book. That's not to say that the next issue out, our true finale, won't bring the team together again to let us look on them as one, but this one has skirted that by separating them into the pieces they were when the book started; Billy and Teddy are together, America is alone, Kate is alone, Noh-Varr is alone, David is alone and slinking off, and the book is a team book that featured a team that was, overall, hugely successful. Again, I'd be very surprised if the series doesn't end on a more team-centric feel (I would not be surprised, then, if it ended around a diner's breakfast options) but this issue has seen to it that we get some sense of our team as individuals first and foremost. In addition to great character work, the art of this book is tremendous. I will forever champion Jamie McKelvie but I can't even say I'm upset that this book isn't entirely made up of his art, which is something I can't say about many books he's not even attached to. Emma Vicielli, Christian Ward, and Annie Wu (good God that woman draws a great Kate, what a steal to have her on HAWKEYE too) supply some of the best art I've seen this year in little five page pieces. Amazing stuff.



CHARACTER OF THE WEEK
I know, this post really should be over. The one time my post-game post actually takes longer than my everyday post and I'm LENGTHENING it, something I almost never do these days? Well I couldn't help it because how do you ignore the fact that Dr. Strange, a favorite character in his own right, appeared in FOUR SEPARATE BOOKS that he had almost NO connection to previously. We got to see Dr. Strange in LONGSHOT SAVES THE MARVEL UNIVERSE (which he did, in fact, have a connection to previously), DAREDEVIL (okay, again, he has some long-standing connections to Matt that make him something less than a series regular but something more than a strange appearance) (HA), DEADPOOL, and THUNDERBOLTS ANNUAL. Guys. Four Dr. Strange appearances despite no ongoing Dr. Strange book and no NEW AVENGERS, the only book he's regularly promised in. WHO'S COMPLAINING? I'm willing to speculate right here and now that we're in line for another attempt at a Dr. Strange ongoing in the near future. Between these four appearances and talk of an upcoming movie (nothing official yet but pretty much as official as unofficial can be) in the works for something like 2016 or something, time seems ripe to get someone on that. Hopefully it's Fraction or Gillen/McKelvie's next gig. Or, you know, someone else.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Amazing Spider-Man 700.4, Amazing Spider-Man 700.5

Amazing Spider-Man 700.4
Casey (w) and Green and Wong (a) and Simpson (c)

Spider-Man is still, pre-Superior days, in the Black Lodge, the little hospital for supervillains, but he knows his time there is short and that someone will figure him out soon. However, he still isn't well enough to move and he thinks he might push his luck and stay a little longer. The Surgeon General decides to inform the other patients of Spider-Man's identity and let them loose on Spider-Man, swearing not to inflict damage himself but knowing that Spider-Man cannot be left to destroy the hospital. The villains attack and Spider-Man still manages to outfight them. One of the nurses, though, messes with Firebrand's medicine too much and causes an explosion in the hospital. The Black Lodge nurses and doctors, led by the Surgeon General, pack things up while Spider-Man saves the villains from burning inside. He then goes home to rest.

This series still flummoxes me and I can't tell if I don't care about this storyline because I can't fathom why it exists or if it's because I truly don't care about this storyline. If forced to make a bet, I'd say it's a little from both columns there. It's just a little boring and it's not exactly wonderfully written. It's a step up from purely poor writing but there are weird things that Casey gets into, including really forced quips and working in a strange attraction to one of the nurses. He also cannot stop telling us that the members of the Black Lodge will CERTAINLY soon find out that he's Spider-Man, which may be less a fault of Casey's and more a fault of Spider-Man's, who has a penchant for this kind of repetitive inner monologue. Don't worry, I bet I won't have to review another one of these. WHAT'S THIS...?

Amazing Spider-Man 700.5
Reed (w) and Chen and Florea (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Okay, so I think I've heard this is the final one of these books for real. Anyway, Johnny Storm shows up at Peter's apartment saying that he has to protect this potential universe ending mechanism from getting into Reed's hands until the end of the day. The rest of the Fantastic Four are on Johnny's trail and asking him for the mechanism but Johnny believes he can't trust them with it and flees again. Spider-Man joins up with the other three as they track Johnny to MJ's apartment (to Spider-Man's frustration). They all arrive at MJ's and decide to sit with the package until the day ends. Finally, Spider-Man opens the bag the Calvin Mechanism is in only to find that there's a note from future Ben (who delivered the package and instructions to Johnny) that reveals it was a prank.

So this one again doesn't really fit anywhere into continuity beyond "it's before Superior and Peter is dating MJ" BUT, and this seems like it might answer the question I asked in the last review, I did find myself enjoying this one. There were funny bits throughout and they idea was at least interesting enough to keep the comic moving at a decent pace. This is one of the better ways to view the Fantastic Four in general: from an outsider's point of view. They have these quirky little stories that may not come across particularly well if we're just living out their lives but when they dump Spider-Man into the middle of it, it's not a bad little story. Definitely the most fun of this little inexplicable series.

Cataclysm - Ultimate X-Men 2, Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe 4

Cataclysm - Ultimate X-Men 2
Fialkov (w) and A. Martinez and J. Lucas (a) and Bellaire (c)

Rick Jones showed up in the nick of time to explain some things and Mach Two, with the help of Amp, was able to take the oncoming Gah Lak Tus swarm and crush them into a ball together. The group starts to move and goes into tunnels under the little island they're on. While they talk a bit about home and about the circumstances, the Gah Lak Tus swarm has been healing and upgrading to protect itself from Mach Two again. They swarm again and attack Jimmy, beginning to turn him while they try to escape. Rogue refuses to let him die and powers herself up to go fight with Jimmy to keep him in control. Pixie comes to help too, teleporting infected cells out of Jimmy's body. He seems saved, though somewhat weakened, and Pixie feels ready to get them home...until she's killed by the swarm, stranding them in this other dimension.

Tensions are ramping up here and it's putting these people, who are pretty much still kids, through more than they've been through in their lives, which is particularly impressive considering how much they've been through in their lives. It's nice to see what's up with the swarm while Galactus gets air time over in the main part of the Ultimate Universe. It's also good to explain where the bulk of the X-Men are while we're primed to see the other X-Men start to make appearances over in the main titles. There is good character stuff in here, which is a bonus because there wasn't a ton the last time out and I was afraid some of these characters would just get washed over with the volume of characters in this mini and the scale of the plot. There is still time for character stuff and Fialkov uses it well. Not a bad entry to CATACLYSM.

Longshot Saves the Marvel Universe 4
Hastings (w) and Camagni, Calderon-Zurita, and Pallot (a) and Milla (c)

Things are getting desperate as the fight to return things to normalcy rages on. Longshot escapes to try to join up with Spider-Man and Dr. Dipson but he's followed by the controlled Deadpool who isn't quipping and who is driven by his one objective: killing Longshot. Just as they get to Dipson's and as things reach their most dire for Longshot, Deadpool is distracted and brought out of his stupor by the taco truck outside of Dipson's. Dipson reveals that the teddy bear he's been tasked with protecting is actually part of the cosmic cube Longshot used to start everything. They rejoin the parts and return the universe to its normal state, which leaves Longshot facing down the In-Betweener, back as one being. Longshot prepares to face his own death, as this is what the In-Betweener was aiming for the whole time, but the In-Betweener decides that it was probably the broken cosmic cube causing the problems he'd assigned to Longshot and spares him.

Not a bad ending for the series which was a pleasant surprise of a series. I had my doubts, as did probably most people, when they announced a Longshot mini-series because, well, Longshot, you know? I was encouraged by the decision to use Christopher Hastings as the writer and it's one that clearly paid off as the fun in this series outweighed any sort of convoluted plots or anything of the like. The writing was solid, the characters were fairly solid, even the ones who appeared here and there like Captain America or Dr. Strange or the Superior Spider-Man (there's a nice scene in this issue where Dipson tells Spider-Man of the time he foiled Doc Ock and made him look stupid that Spider-Man has to grit his teeth at). Nice little series.

Thunderbolts Annual 1, Deadpool 21

Letting the quick hits roll.

Thunderbolts Annual 1
Acker and Blacker (w) and Lolli (a) and Campbell (c)

The Thunderbolts are secretly hired by WAND, SHIELD's branch that deals with magic, to assassinate Doctor Strange, who has apparently snapped and is making everyone happy all the time and whose influence will remake the world within a week. After gathering various magical artifacts from typically unwilling sources in order to protect themselves, the T-Bolts attack and start to press towards Strange, who WAND can't kill themselves because he's an Avenger. One by one, the T-Bolts start to get too happy to accomplish the mission until Punisher manages to make it to Strange and brutally murders him, saying that the killing is what makes him happy. It's revealed that Strange, of course, wasn't really Strange but was a demon from another realm posing as Strange and the real Strange shows up to help with the cleanup. It's not the only book this week that will find Strange interacting with a Thunderbolt!

Pretty fun book. There's a lot to get through in it as there are a lot of moving parts including the introduction of a new wing of SHIELD, the gathering of artifacts from people like Elsa Bloodstone and Valkyrie, the covert explanation of the mission (WAND high command tells Red Hulk and Leader what the plan is but makes them misremember how they'd come to it so they can't trace back involvement), and the fight with Strange, all in one extra-size issue. Pretty fun with a lot of really good moments over a somewhat intriguing plot. The best character bit is the fact that everyone else gets overrun by happiness but that Punisher's happiness comes from killing. Maybe not the boldest statement for Punisher but a nice statement that no one else felt that way. Another solid enough outing for Acker and Blacker.

Deadpool 21
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne (a) and Bellaire (c)

The cover lists Koblish as the artist but the interior lists Hawthorne and my comic list says Hawthorne so SORRY IF I'M WRONG. Anyway, Doctor Strange pays a visit to Deadpool's mind (I told you!) and tells him how messed up it is while also relating that it might be better this way. He also says he could do a soul trap spell on Preston but he has nowhere to put it once he has it. Meanwhile, the Preston LMD is running around committing crimes and answering online work ads because she just needs to work. Agent Adsit discovers it while trying to make his own Preston LMD to find Preston a new body and reports it to Agent Gorman, the jerk from earlier in the series. Gorman is secretly controlling the Preston LMD and, when Adsit tells him that the real Preston is still alive, he orders a hit on Deadpool for anyone who's interested. Crossbones strikes first to no avail but then the Preston LMD itself shows up to get in on the action. In a covert location, Adsit meets with Agent Coulson to inform him that they've baited Gorman.

Not a bad issue as things start to return a bit to form after what was kind of a train-wreck last issue. I still find myself mostly uninterested with the Preston stuff and I think that hurts the overall issue but they're pretty well stuck into that plot now so I have no better course of action for them to take. The mercenaries should be a lot of fun in this book as I maintain that the writing team is at its best when it puts Deadpool up against or up next to other established Marvel characters. Deadpool's team and any other created character doesn't really land for me but this team has a god history with writing for other heroes, like Daredevil, Captain America, Wolverine, and, most recently, Dr. Strange. Should be fun to see all the mercenaries up against one another and up against Deadpool. It usually is relatively fun when all the mercenaries are called to one location.

Fantastic Four 15, FF 15

Okay guys, time to get serious. Today shall be the QUICKEST OF QUICK HITS because it's the holidays and no one wants to read all these reviews. Let's hit it.

Fantastic Four 15
Fraction and Kesel (s) and Kesel (w) and Ienco (a) and Mounts (c)

The F4 are in that other dimension and trying to stop the bonding of Doom, Immortus, and Annihilus all while restoring their powers which were apparently toyed with by the F4 of this dimension. Everything in that respect sort of works out, things with the villains do not as Immortus gets Annihilus' powers and goes to kill Doom but then Doom flips it around and gets all of their powers.

Still a rather interesting story though one of the neatest bits about this storyline is also one of the most confounding. I find it extremely interesting that both FANTASTIC FOUR and FF are kind of doing the same story but evidently in different universes with slightly different outcomes and different ways to fight it. This book is uniquely able to do this sort of thing and it's a really cool idea but I think execution is a little lacking. The F4 side is a little boring and the FF side is a little obnoxious. I think it would be going better if it played it just a little more straight on both ends.

FF 15
Fraction and Lee Allred (s) and Lee Allred (w) and M. Allred (a) and L. Allred (c)

In this universe, Immortus didn't get so close as in the universe the F4 are in currently to achieving "annihilating conqueror" status. Instead, Doom seems to have done what Doom does and conquered there. The FF plan is complicated and presented in 12 rhyming parts and one not rhyming part. Robots controlled by the kids from a remote area attack Doom's lair and the replacement F4 show up to wail on Doom after he takes power before Scott shows up to finish the job.

This book has suffered, particularly since Fraction left, from tonal problems in that there's something of an incredibly serious threat going on and something of a tone-for-a-five-year-old going on. I think Fraction toyed with this a bit, giving the book a lighter feel and Mike Allred's art matched it wonderfully but he knew when to pull back and the way to bring it back to seriousness. It's a really hard spot to find and I don't really blame Lee Allred for not totally hitting it because he was kind of thrown into it and now wavers a little too much to the goofy side which makes coming back to serious particularly hard. As a result, this book gets a little intolerably cutesy and drags. Ah well. Still a cool idea, I suppose.

Friday, December 20, 2013

All-New X-Men 20, X-Men 8, Uncanny X-Force 15

All-New X-Men 20
Bendis (w) and Asrar and Peterson (a) and Silva w/ Gracia (c)

X-23 wakes up in the Uncanny X-Men base, the abandoned Weapon X facility (which, I don't think I covered this, I don't really know how it's abandoned still, you guys) and, of course, it doesn't go very well. She eventually believes the ANXM are who they say they are but still runs out of the facility. Young Cyclops goes after her and talks to her there while the others watch from the door of the facility. Jean reveals to the team that Scott has already taken a bit of a liking to X-23 and starts to reveal what's happened to X-23 but Kitty tells her to stop and that there are minds you shouldn't read (because I guess we've entirely given up on telling Jean not to do things). X-23 wants to go after the Purifiers so they all do. My comic reader will not allow me to get past too many double page spreads, though, and so freezes up every time with about three pages left so I don't know how this one ends. A Christmas miracle, you guys.

Guys, I continue to truly hate this book. The entire conceit remains awful to me (who is letting these kids stay in the present? I know I harp on that every single review but it remains terrible every single issue). Kitty has proven a somewhat ineffectual leader, which is too bad because I like her so much every where else she appears in the MU, going along for the ride rather than actually teaching things. Occasionally she'll tell them something about how to fight or will, clearly the only reason she's really there, tell them who they're up against, but by and large she seems just there to say something or other about what they shouldn't do, which they then proceed to do almost immediately. Jean Grey is the single most obnoxious character in this entire universe right now which would be an interesting debate of nature vs. nurture if it didn't just come off as the way Bendis writes every single character. Even X-23, whose entire history and personality and reputation is based off the fact that she doesn't really know how to fit into human society, immediately begins talking in teenage terms. Guys. I hate this book. Also, I involuntarily roll my eyes every single time I see this cover.

X-Men 8
Wood (w) and T. Dodson, Kesel, Kitson, Hanna, and Pallot (a) and Keith (c)

Typhoid Mary has broken into the school and stolen the box Lady Deathstrike/Ana Cortez wants before being noticed by security. Psylocke chases her through the school and then, with a psychic tag on her, follows her down to Cortez's hideout where Cortez is working with none other than John Sublime. Sublime knows that Cortez has gone after Arkea and warns her not to try to use Arkea as he's still convinced Arkea will destroy the world. Of course, Cortez isn't stopped by this and reveals that Mary has stolen a piece of Arkea. She opens it (it's basically a hard drive) but Sublime realizes that it's a dead piece. Arkea, news to Sublime, can be killed. Cortez realizes that Sublime suspects there may be more Arkea pieces out there and has Mary pull the information from his mind before they leave him there. Psylocke picks him up and brings him back to the X-Men while Cortez and Mary travel to Norway to enlist the help of the exiled Enchantress. The three form a sisterhood bent on finding and freeing Arkea and benefiting from the powers she holds.

More interesting story though bringing Arkea back in seems a little over-complicating. However, she seemed a pretty worthy adversary who was trumped a little too quickly so I guess it makes sense and it could absolutely work to the advantage of the story. I hate to draw too many comparisons between this and FEARLESS DEFENDERS because it just seems too easy to draw comparisons between the only two major Marvel all-female team-up books and it seems to cheapen the idea but this book seems more comfortable just to be a comic. FEARLESS DEFENDERS never really felt like it knew what it wanted to do; the tone alternated between serious threats and wacky characters with no real need to be wacky. By the same token, the team-ups seemed arbitrary at best and there was this underlying feeling of "do you get it, it's all women!" which may have stemmed more from the fact that we were digging into serious B-listers than from a show-boating kind of way. This book very clearly does not care that it's all women, it simply is all women. Again, that might just be a result of the book starring A-list heroes including Storm, Psylocke, and Rachel Grey (at least A-list among X-Men). However, between the good characters and the "no wasted words" mentality, this book is hitting pretty well right now. I'm excited to see it continue to build steam as the issues pour out.

Uncanny X-Force 15
Humphries (w) and Briones and Talajic (a) and Curiel (c)

Psylocke and Puck are in the shadow world and need to find themselves a way out before they're overrun by the Revenants and before Cassandra Nova completes her plan to move the Revenants fully into the real world. Psylocke tries to call out to the Demon Bear to break Cassandra's spell over him but it doesn't have any effect until Storm, leading Spiral and Bishop into the battle, strikes lightning down on Nova and the Demon Bear and breaks the spell. Demon Bear rushes to Psylocke's aid and gets them out, sacrificing himself and staying behind to get them out. Spiral uses Bishop's special Envenom loaded weapons to cut Nova out of Ginny and instantly teleports the saved Ginny away. Nova latches on to the Psylocke Revenant (British form Betsy) nearby and begins to take up the fight again. Psylocke turns up though and kills her, officially sacrificing a psychic to stop the invasion (still seems arbitrary) and stopping Nova while also ending her chance at getting back into her original body. Bishop, meanwhile, has discovered that Storm is keeping his memories from him and is not so happy about it.

This whole series has seemed more than a little bogged down through its entirety. This is one of the series that I constantly have to refresh myself on or risk not remembering anything that's happening because, in truth, it just doesn't seem that memorable. I think the Revenants are a sort of interesting idea and a sort of interesting villain but it also seems like a fight that's gone on forever and that is completely weighed down by these weird and arbitrary things. Need to kill a psychic to stop the Revenants. Cassandra Nova brought a psychic Revenant into her house despite taking all other precautions to keep psychics out. Demon Bear is under a spell until he's not. Puck continues to have little to no role in the book. I don't know, maybe it's just not for me, which is too bad since I was so looking forward to this series when it started. Also, keep an eye out in this issue for appearances of Fantomex, who is on the cover (SPOILERS: none of the Fantomexes appear even a once). This series crosses over with CABLE AND X-FORCE for the "Vendetta" storyline which promises to be a fun one next before both cede to Si Spurrier's likely incredible X-FORCE next year.

Daredevil 34, Indestructible Hulk 17, Thor: God of Thunder 16

Daredevil 34
Waid (w) and J. Rodriguez and A. Lopez (a) and J. Rodriguez (c)


Matt brings the piece of sacred text he took to Dr. Strange who admonishes him for stealing from Satana, swearing that will catch up to him. Strange also informs him that the text holds a secret word, a name that, when uttered, can have intense persuasive abilities but warns him that he'd have to research the word before saying if it had a harm on the user. Matt comes up with a plan to bring out the Serpents but he needs Kirsten McDuffie's help for it so he drops the not-Daredevil act and enlists her for her fearlessness. With the help of former Serpent Nate Hackett and favors called in (off-panel) to various Avengers, they put together a city-wide broadcast system for Matt to call out all of the Serpents. As he demands Jester be released to him alive, Kirsten reads the word out to prove they mean business. The Serpents comply but try to leave a trap for Daredevil, which he easily bests. However, Kirsten goes off book while Daredevil's roaming the streets and puts herself in harm's way while delivering an important message about the Serpents. The Serpents find her (tracking her from the wind behind her in the broadcast) and try to shoot her but Nate tackles her, saving them both long enough for Daredevil to bring the helicopter down. As they prepare to celebrate (seems like Matt and Kirsten may be getting back together), Kirsten gets a call from the office and tells Matt it has to do with Foggy.

Another really solid issue. Daredevil is on top of his game after a stretch of self-doubt and seemingly overwhelming odds. This one strikes again at the heart of Waid's run, showing Daredevil as resourceful, clever, fearless as ever, and just a ton of fun. The height of fun comes as Matt officially outs himself to Kirsten in the most show-off way ever, jogging backwards alongside her in the park, skipping over roots and obstacles, and, still as Matt Murdock, stopping a mugging under a bridge they cross. If Matt's going to reveal himself, this is how you want him to do it, particularly this iteration of Matt. Great story, solid cast, fun writing, and really incredible art. Even with Samnee off the book for a bit, it's been amazing to see Javier Rodriguez step so comfortably into the artist role and match the tone and pace of the book so perfectly. Also glad that Kirsten McDuffie doesn't even really mildly annoy me, which has been a downfall of Matt's typical love interest (other super-people very obviously excluded). Anxious about the word on Foggy but couldn't help laughing when the book ended with the worry about Foggy juxtaposed against the words "Next: Elektra." Oh boy, I'd love to see more Foggy-Elektra team-ups.

Indestructible Hulk 17
Waid (w) and C. Mann, S. Mann, and Sepulveda (a) and Staples (c)


INHUMANITY has struck and the big scientists of the Marvel Universe are out in force trying to learn more about the Terrigenesis and its effects. Banner demands Stark and Pym, who turn up in his lab, and the rest give him a 24-hour window to look into it alone, as the de facto expert on "monstrous physiological changes brought about by radiation." They give him his start but quickly take it back as things go south for Banner, who prepares to bring his team into the field only to find that they've been grounded by Maria Hill because at least one of them may undergo Terrigenesis. Pym and Stark return, now with Beast, before the window closes and see that Banner's project is in the form of a bomb, which immediately puts them on edge and they prepare to shut him down without listening to him. Banner can't stop himself and transforms, taking the bomb and leaping out of the lab. The other heroes chase him and fight valiantly to stop him before Beast and Pym point out that this is rather all Tony's fault for belittling Banner and Beast points out that maybe this bomb things will work. It's Tony's call, as the scientist who's known Banner longest, on whether they keep fighting or give up. After a moment's hesitation Tony shoots the bomb himself.

I really like this issue and it continues to play to the themes Waid has built up (something, judging solely by this issue and the above DAREDEVIL, that Waid is phenomenal at doing). Everything is here, making this a pretty solid jumping-on point if you're thinking about getting into this new HULK series. You can get a good sense of Banner's desire to impact the world with his science more, you get the way that the science and superhero community view Banner and the way he's been ostracized, you get a good quick look into his team, you get some solid action and some good writing, you get some good art, just a lot of really good things to this issue. I think, and this may sound like a weird sort of slight but isn't, that Waid might be the best at creating natural jumping-on points for readers. A lot of the would-be jumping-on points for books (which comics are constantly doing because it can be incredibly overwhelming to get new readers into a series that's had 50 years of history go into it) fall short because the writing is stunted, giving way too much exposition for new readers to follow or old readers to care about, or because it's such a basic introduction that it doesn't really tell anything about the character. Waid creates jumping-on points by rehashing themes of the book and establishing characters with little glances here and there, not with full-on stares. Great work overall, which is more than I can say about my attempts to quick-hit these things.

Thor: God of Thunder 16
Aaron (w) and Garney and Lupacchino (a) and Svorcina (c)


Malekith, having proven his point with the appearance of his new Frost Giant allies, disappears, leaving the League of Realms to sulk and stew and to point fingers. Everyone begins to believe there's a traitor in their midst, someone feeding information to Malekith. The most fingers start pointing at Lady Waziria and most of the League wants her burned alive. Thor, though, has his eyes set on the troll as their traitor and knocks him out before executing him. The League, somewhat in horror and not really believing he was the traitor (not to mention this won't please the troll community), disbands. Thor has a plan, though, and brings Waziria with him to Midgard to a hidden Dark Elf guard station. Shortly after their arrival, Malekith again strikes, leading Thor to assume that Waziria is indeed a traitor. However, Malekith reveals that Thor is the traitor by calling forth a horrible worm thing from his body.

The fight against Malekith rages on and it continues to be just a little bit boring. The actual fight stuff isn't that bad and some of the interactions aren't awful but the League of Realms stuff continues to feel a little too Lord of the Rings for me and it kind of cheapens the whole thing. I don't know if that's entirely fair to say since THOR: GOD OF THUNDER is a little too easily put into that fantasy camp, as the realms are populated almost entirely by fantasy tropes which kind of all spring from LOTR, meaning that any sort of team-up will have an LOTR feel to it regardless of its content. However, there is a cynical part of me viewing this arc as a cash in on November's Thor: The Dark World and a cash in on The Hobbit and the new one (with that dragon, you guys). I imagine the creative team was working on this book and then went to see the movie and was disappointed to learn that Malekith's role in the movie was less a cunning psychopath and more a set piece with maybe a total of five lines in two hours. Oh well, guess you should have put more Jane Foster and more...Kat Dennings character in this one. So I guess what I'm saying is "it could be worse."