Avengers Assemble 11, Avenging Spider-Man 16, Dark Avengers 185, Ultimate Iron Man 4

Avengers Assemble 11
DeConnick (w) and Caselli (a)

I was skeptical starting this book. It started releasing around the time of The Avengers in theaters so I pegged it as a tie-in book or a cash-in book. I'm willing to say I was wrong. Comics are still a business so there certainly was a cash-in aspect, releasing a new Avengers series to coincide with a huge blockbuster and give readers a jumping on point to start buying comics. It's a gateway series. It's not necessarily a bad thing to get new readers, but often the book has to be a little dumbed down (dumbed down isn't the right word; it has to be more understandable for non-comics readers who are less willing to deal with timeline splitting and alternate dimensions and resurrection at the onset of a new comic) and sacrifices something that a hardcore comic fan, if such a thing exists, wants to see. This arc has proven that there are real benefits to this book beyond as a jumping-on point, something I'll repeat that I am in favor of.

There is definitely a decided lack of the kind of timeline splitting, alternate dimensions, resurrection, etc. plot lines that you see in a lot of the established series. Still, there are meaningful character moments, Avengers-level threats, and the team camaraderie you want to see out of a team like the Avengers. I'm not a hundred percent sure where it fits in the greater Marvel Universe (something that always keeps me off-balance), but I think I've heard it's meant to coincide with 616. I could be wrong. I think it fits there, though it could also fit into the cinematic universe. These are the kinds of questions that the book doesn't want to have to delve into at the fear of losing new readers, and rightly so, so I'll leave it be and just enjoy it for the characters and the stories.

I do enjoy it, for what it's worth. I will say it's probably one I wouldn't be buying regularly considering the level of comfort I have with the Marvel Universe and the level of money I have to spend on comics. It's still a fun book with a lot of worthwhile aspects, not least of which is watching a Hulk interact with the Avengers again (and don't tell me that Red Hulk was on the Avengers in Bendis' run because he fought with them a couple times, then disappeared into background character and occasional "hit things really hard" character). Definitely worth reading if you're looking for a way into comics. But watch out, that's how they hook you.

Avenging Spider-Man 16
Yost (w) and Medina (a)

Boy, that Doc Spidey is sure having a hard time adjusting to Spider-Man's social life, huh? I do think it's necessary to have the same issues come up ("hmm, he's acting strange, oh, now he's acting kind of normal almost as if he's covering the strange, sheesh, he's getting pretty brutal with these guys, I wonder if everything's okay, OH WELL") with each hero/group he "meets," especially as Spider-Man is so entrenched in every corner of the Marvel Universe, but I can definitely see it wearing thin. It's the same complaint I have about any attempt in media to portray Hulk ("OH GOD, it's Hulk! Everyone run! Oh wait, he seems to be saving the day? What a weird thing! Now he's leaving. Boy, I feel like we've learned something today"). These things might be the way it would really play out, but it can wear on a bit.

THAT SAID, this issue has some more interesting moments to it. On the plus side for this story, Doc Ock's whole personality has been a little skewed by imbuing it with Peter's memories, so we're seeing a newish Doc Ock too, meaning it's kind of a learning experience for everyone. It's still fun to watch the way he interacts with people and with other heroes and likely will be for some time. His new approach, brain before brawn, is worth mentioning again here as it does feel like a significant change, and an interesting one at that. Also, he beats up Wolverine at one point, rather impressively, so that's worth checking in on. Still fun to read and useful if you're trying to get a full read on Doc Spidey's new persona.

Dark Avengers 185
Parker (w) and Edwards (a)

The Dark Avengers just took the role of the Thunderbolts in this book a couple months ago, after a bit of a crossover between the two. My head has still been a little reeling from that and trying to figure out who is who (I wasn't a regular Thunderbolts reader before the switch so it's all a little tangled in there) but things are starting to come together. What DOESN'T help is that the Dark Avengers are in an alternate reality where New York, the last remnant of civilization in this world, has been divided into factions by remaining former heroes who are all trying to make a play for full control of the city. But again, it's all clearing up for me, which is useful because it's definitely a good story.

There seem to be several factions, including the four we've seen most prominently, Doctor Strange's, Iron Man's, the Thing's, and Mr. Fantastic's. We've also heard mention of ones controlled by the likes of Namor and Iron Fist. It's a bit of fun, inherent to these alternate reality stories, waiting to see where your favorite alternate reality heroes have ended up. I'm pretty excited that, in all this desolation and destruction, Iron Fist seems to be doing pretty well for himself. Anyway, in terms of plot we DID see, Iron Man has captured (Dark) Scarlet Witch, (Dark) Spider-Man, (Dark) Thor, (regular) US Agent, and maybe (Dark) Hawkeye (I say "maybe" because I didn't see him in this issue and don't remember him in the last one). He has Hank Pym working on analyzing ways to control them when, last issue, Scarlet Witch changed his attitude toward her. He spends this issue helping her (while remaining loyal to Iron Man; he doesn't particularly know that he's helping her the way he is) restore her teammates and learn about the society around them. Meanwhile, Skaar and Moonstone are under the control of Dr. Strange, who intends to use them to start a turf war between Iron Man and Thing.

While the story is a little much to dive into, it's compelling once you're there. There's a nice part where, in order to confuse the Thing's and Iron Man's forces, Strange makes Moonstone appear as Captain Marvel, causing her to wonder what "fetish" men have that they have to keep dressing her up as Carol Danvers characters. There's also the always readable "need to find a way home" story lying underneath of the mystery of this society. Like I said, it's a little much to dive into halfway in, but it's certainly worth reading and this issue felt a lot more straightforward than the last one (though again, that could have been my own confusions).

Ultimate Iron Man 4
Edmondson (w) and Buffagni (a)

This mini-series comes to a conclusion as the true power behind the Ultimate version of the Mandarin comes to light. It seems the Mandarin is a business entity in this universe, picking up shares in every influential company to keep a finger in many a sinister stew. Stark Industries, because of the sins of Tony's father, is now caught up in a revenge scheme for the Mandarin, who intends to destroy the company by ruining its stock and relations to other companies through what essentially amounts to acts of terrorism. The Mandarin has already taken control of all of Tony's assets, including his satellites, and begins to send the company's own drones to crash into military bases. Tony, unable to activate his suit, argues with them for a bit over what his father had done before Rhodes tracks him down and begins an assault in new Iron Giant-esque War Machine armor. Tony tracks the caretakers of the Mandarin and gives them a speech about his father's principles and, with help from Jarvis, manages to override their systems and upload a virus, devastating the Mandarin for the time being.

There's a good bit of father-son understanding here as Tony lauds his father for the decision he made to cut ways with Mandarin when he figured out that their intentions were not so savory. Overall, the ending's a little weak but then I wasn't too huge on the whole series. I don't know why, but it takes a lot to get me to care about Stark Industries. I think, if I were to guess, it's that I'm probably not reading comics to see how a business is operated. Not that that's overwhelming in many Iron Man books, but it comes up enough to sometimes cause me to check out. A bit of deus ex machina and we're back to square one, with a possible Mandarin resurgence likely planned somewhere. If you're keeping up with the Ultimate Universe, this is one of those books that really lets you see a little deeper into one of the less viewed areas of the world, but otherwise there's not a huge amount there. Not poorly written or illustrated, just another book in the sea.


Stay tuned tomorrow for X-Men day, which has become my very favorite thing to plan out, especially given that there's usually more than enough X-Men books per week to fill up a full day's schedule.