Keatinge (w) and Elson (a)
Michael Morbius is a longtime Spider-Man villain, back from the day Spider-Man had six arms (it was seriously a day). He's one of those somewhat popular line of villains who are villains because of what they are, not who they are. For a while, Spider-Man's own Lizard, Dr. Curt Connors, was the same way. They actually both appeared in that six-armed issue. Morbius is a vampire, but he's not a bad guy. He therefore tends to suffer from the sort of Hulk mentality writers have, where they like to show him off by having him turn up, have everyone get scared, he proves himself a sulking hero, everyone sees what he did, and he leaves. Even though those character conceits tend to be good, that mentality wears on me a bit.
The positive to Morbius 1 is that they haven't done that. He doesn't save anyone (except one bad guy at one point), he doesn't do anything particularly heroic, and he's just broken out of jail. There's no conception to anyone around him that he's a hero. Also like the Hulk, it's not easy to hide his appearance, nor does he make a particular effort. Unlike the Hulk, he could be seen as strange looking or as a junkie and people will accept that. Hulk can't really say he's just having an off day and have people go "oh yeah, sure, our bad." Morbius broke out of prison in Amazing Spider-Man 699.1 (all the way back in 2012) and promptly moves into Brownsville, New York to avoid superheroes lurking about. He attempts to keep to himself but, of course, gets embroiled in the affairs of some bad guys and we start the comic as he runs from them, a fresh wound in his chest. The comic explains some pros and cons about his particular brand of vampirism and he gets shot through the chest before we go back and tell the beginning of the story. Finally we end back with Morbius with a hole in his chest, explaining that this is how he became "a dead vampire."
If I don't sound too enthused, there's a reason for that. There's reason for hope in some of the quirky storytelling techniques and Elson's art is solid, but overall the plot is kind of familiar and, so far, we haven't gotten into anything particularly deep about the character. Anyone coming in probably knows he's a vampire so there's not too much gained by the "advantages/disadvantages of being vampire-ish" lists Keatinge lays out. Also, I didn't feel particularly driven by his plot, something they'll no doubt build on. Still, compare it to something like Hawkeye 1 last year (comparing any comic to any other comic is probably a bad idea, especially one starring an established star Avenger like Hawkeye and a relatively little known Spider-Man villain like Morbius, but we're doing this anyway) and you'll find that, though neither had sounds of an overarching or especially menacing plot, Hawkeye was gripping and charming and entertaining. Morbius didn't feel quite so blessed. We'll have to see, moving forward.
All-New X-Men 5
Bendis (w) and Immonen (a)
The first arc of this series ends in grand fashion as young Jean Grey has developed telepathic powers a year early because of...shock? That's how it's kind of explained. Whatever, we'll move on. Young Beast finds a problem with old Beast's equations and heals him because of...double checking math? Okay, let's keep going. Logan asks students and faculty to vote on if he should kill young Cyclops to prevent Charles Xavier's death because of...I don't know, hormones maybe? Maybe Jean's making him crazy? Because I've never felt like Wolverine would showboat like that and the entire reason he made the school was so kids wouldn't be thrown into decisions like those. That's why he made X-Force and kept it explicitly away from the kids. But let's move on from that. The five young X-Men vote to stay in the future to help undo what they've seen because...someone at Marvel thought that was a good idea?
Look, if you can't tell, I'm not sold on this series. I like seeing the first class of X-Men again well enough, and I think the idea that they'd all be shocked to see what they've become or what's become of them is a fair one and probably an interesting one. There are just some things, not unlike the things I mentioned above, that nag at me while reading this series, and we're only five issues in. I also am probably more invested/interested in timeline splitting than a lot of casual readers. I'm not sure that excuses some of the issues going on. Yes, I think probably the series will be explained away eventually by saying that they eventually went back in time and Prof. X wiped their memories and THAT'S why these things never came up in the old books and maybe Xavier will, in the process, even learn that he's supposed to die at Scott's hands. Maybe they'll stay in the present long enough to help but not long enough to age noticeably. Maybe all the new skills they pick up here will be forgotten in the mind-wipe. It just seems like a lot of questions and loose ends for little payoff. We already have an Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Cyclops in this world. Sure Angel is...different now, and Cyclops is Brotherhood now, but they're all here. I'm not sure the ends will justify the means. Also, Kitty volunteers to help them do what they want, which is okay, except that Kitty has recently seem more opposed to students doing exactly what these student-age future-pro-X-Men are planning to do. I hate characters feeling out of place.
Immonen's art is, expectedly, solid. There's a scene where Jean sees her entire history (presumably through Beast's eyes because she's in his head, but that's not really talked about) and it's pretty gorgeous. Beast appears to have a new mutation (or maybe just a new haircut) that makes him look more gorilla-like than feline. I've nothing against any of that. We'll have to see where this series goes in the long-run. Cyclops setting up his own school and their trouble with their powers are all, as it stands, a bit more interesting than the other plots. Like some of Bendis' other work, I kind of can't believe it's been five issues already because it feels like a lot of this could have been done in two, maybe three. That was probably my biggest problem with his Avengers book so I also tend to be a little more on edge around it now, which could be my fault. Still, I'll keep up with the book and with his new X-Men book to see where they lead.
Iron Man 5
Gillen (w) and Land (a)
Marvel NOW! is a great idea. I had some issues with it at first and sure, the renumbering always seems like a new way to make money. At its core, though, it's a lot of what attracts me to comics. The characters aren't new; in almost all cases, they're decades old, half a century old. So how do you keep them adapting? With new perspectives. There are certain facts about every character, a certain feel to their personality and powers. Captain America is moral and righteous, confident and loyal. Black Panther is smart and reserved, a king first and a hero second. Iron Man is brilliant and headstrong with certain impulse control issues. Beyond the key facts, though, there is always room for new challenges and new quirks. One writer can have one perception of a character and another can have a totally different but equally valid perception. This constant evolution and the constant need for change is something that really works to the advantage of comic books.
Kieron Gillen's Iron Man still has the headstrong, "I can do this MYSELF" mentality that Iron Man is so known for. However, like Fraction's Fantastic Four, he's going back to his roots. The F4 is doing it because Reed needs to explore for a cure, but the idea is the same. It's a return to F4 number one, the astronauts going back into space to explore new worlds. Iron Man is an inventor, a creator. The first five issues have been all about something in Tony's past. Maya Hansen's Extremis is loose in the world, with the highest bidders taking it (or the best thieves stealing it) and warping it in some way that Tony fears can threaten everything. He's vowed to shut it down in her memory. It rings all too true to Tony, who has seen his inventions used against the principles he stands for as much as anyone. It's this final issue, though, that shows where it leads. After shutting down the final Extremis project, a space station with humans enhanced to withstand space in their natural state run by an old friend, Tony realizes he hasn't made enough of an impact. Despite, Pepper argues, his many contributions to the world, Tony knows that he could go bigger if he set his mind to it. Because Tony is brilliant and headstrong with certain impulse control issues.
It's a new look to Tony Stark but it's certainly based on the blueprint of every other Tony Stark that's come before Kieron Gillen's. Tony sets off in a new suit, the one that will be featured in the new "Godkiller" arc that's being advertised, and with a new P.E.P.P.E.R. AI (no, I don't know what it stands for, probably nothing, it's just Pepper, okay?) to keep him balanced and takes off into space. I'll be interested to see where Gillen's Stark goes, and also if Gillen is as intent as Fraction was (during his most recent Iron Man run) on keeping the rest of the Iron Man cast in focus, even if Tony's not around them. This is a good issue, definitely worth a look. Greg Land's art is clean and focused. Background characters who you know will never appear again seem to have a personality, not just filler. It's a nice touch, especially considering Tony's Sherlockish attention to detail. It'll be interesting to see where the book takes Tony, both in the very physical realm of space and the mental realm of Tony's mind. He's already worried about not being anchored to Earth and free-floating, I'm sure we'll see more of that. Will Tony be able to survive without anyone to be smarter than?
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