Thunderbolts 6
Way (w) and Dillon (a) and Guru eFX (c)
I like the direction this book is headed in. I like that we're watching a team full of people who shouldn't ever be on a team and I like that they seem to understand that they shouldn't ever be on a team and that, for as tightly strung as this team is just on its concept, it's getting more tightly strung every step of the way. Right now, Punisher and Elektra are having a weird and kind of disgusting affair, known only to Deadpool who has eyes for Elektra. I think if you had told me that Deadpool would be attracted to Elektra before this series started I would have been against the idea. Deadpool has always seemed to stray from any sort of romantic involvement, knowing his own psychopathic limits. However, it fits well in this series and it humanizes Deadpool a bit. There is a huge risk with writing Deadpool that makes him just a joke machine and a weapon. Remender and Way have both gone a long way (ha, Way went a long way, GET IT, I'm just saying the same word but one's a name and one's a word) to make Deadpool more, to make him an actual human in a mask, without forgetting the fact that he's a deeply troubled and broken human. Some Deadpool books are trying to backtrack away from that, but we'll ignore those for now. Anyway, the point is that I think I like his little obsession with Elektra, and it makes for a surprisingly interesting plot twist. There's a great line when he confronts Punisher, who has figured out his jealousy, and Punisher threatens him with a gun and Deadpool says "You might kill me first, but I guarantee I'll kill you last." That's a great Deadpool line right there.
Anyway, the team is tense and made all the more tense by all the machinations of Red Hulk that are starting to come to light. For instance, they were never in Kata Jaya to kill a dictator; they were there to destroy a secret gamma particle accelerator that Madman has been using to try to study gamma radiation with the hidden knowledge of the Leader. Instead, the Leader makes his head explode. Now the team has to reluctantly stick together to stop a boat that Leader suspects will kill millions of people if it reaches its destination. Drama! Intrigue! Romance! What next?
Fearless Defenders 2
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)
No matter how comfortable I pretend to feel about Asgard stuff in the Marvel Universe, there are always pieces that I feel I'll never quite understand. Case in point: anything to do with the Valkyrior. Bad news for me, guys, this whole arc, at least, seems to be predicated on some sort of interest in the Valkyrior of Asgardia. From what I can gather (and likely read at some point but have since blocked it right out of my mind), Valkyrie was tasked with finding more valkyries, charged to protect Asgardia and shuttle the honorable warriors who lost their lives to their final rest, on Earth, choosing from the super heroes of Midgard. Valkyrie has failed to do that and now the Shieldmaidens may be awoken, Odin's original Valkyrior-like role but who are far more brutal. So Valkyrie's meeting with the All-Mother and Hela's showing up with her own protector in the form of Warrior Woman Hippolyta (who I think I'm wholly unfamiliar with). And Misty and Annabelle are tagging along. And something's happening with Dani Moonstar, another Valkyrie though powerless right now, wherein she is being held captive by a Le Fey who wants to be a Valkyrie.
It's all pretty convoluted by issue two and, I'll be honest, I'm not totally loving it. It seems like random match-ups for random match-ups' sake. I think maybe if we were in a plot that wasn't Valkyrior-based, I might be happier with it, which is my own bias. If you're a fan of the Marvel Universe Asgardian stuff, this is probably a good bit of extended culture for you. The other problem I'm having, and this seems entirely nitpicky, is that I really don't like the little introductory captions for characters. I KNOW, it's whiny. In comics, there will often be a caption to introduce a character to an issue or a book. It might come in the form of a box saying "Captain America - Super Soldier" or something along those lines. Very brief, name and powers to keep everyone caught up. In this book, it's taking the quirky route. In this issue, our main stars are in a diner to start and it says thing like "Misty Knight - Detective, bionic arm, doesn't believe in decaf" and "Vakyrie - uh, a Valkyrie. Not a breakfast person." I know, I said it was nitpicky. But it really does make it feel like this book isn't sure where it wants to sit, tone-wise. Is it a quirky buddy-cop book? Is it a serious "universe in jeopardy" book? Whenever I start believing the latter, the captions come in and make me second guess. Whenever I'm thinking the buddy-cop thing, I'm reminded that doom is on the horizon by the plot. Maybe it'll settle in and that juxtaposition will become less jarring. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose.
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