Yeesh, sorry about the lack of posts the last few days. As frequent blog readers know, I tend to get fairly busy during the week then backload my reviews towards the weekend, but I try not to put all the reviews on the weekend. I'm happy to shoulder some of the blame for that this week, though let's not act like Marvel's completely without fault. I also try, with my own never explained reasoning, to have the earliest reviews focus on the books I find most important, whether they're events or AVENGERS or X-MEN books. This week was kind of a snooze for all that so I went about reading all the books hoping the cream would rise to the top. I have bad news about this week's books: there is very little cream. There's not a lot out there that's egregiously terrible, but there's not much that stands out. That's a tough week for me, a week where I can't really win. I can't promote a book really worthy of your attention, I can't take a stand against a book I think you should ignore (I should mention, I've read most of the books so far, I haven't read FANTASTIC FOUR yet so there's a good chance there are still books out there that fall into this category), and I don't have any major MU books out this week to put in the spotlight. So here we are. My extended reviews are tie-ins that don't really require extension. HOPEFULLY it'll at least mean I can rein it in this week and stop rambling so much, though if this intro is any indication, NOPE.
Axis: Revolutions 1
The Hate Wave has gone out and some of our heroes are doing their darndest to deal with it in this tie-in to AVENGERS AND X-MEN: AXIS. In the first of two stories, Spider-Man attempts to quell a riot by showing a young hooligan the price of hate. Dennis Hopeless (which, sadly, is the perfect last name for a Royals fan, as Hopeless is) and Ken Lashley guide Spidey through New York as he tries to break meaningless fights that have escalated to full on riots up, attempting to get people to understand that they don't really hate each other and that they maybe wouldn't hate each other if they really knew each other. The story has a couple of decent lines and it's certainly a Spider-Man story in the long-standing tradition of "with great power" sorts of stories where Spider-Man wistfully thinks back to his aunt and uncle and the morals instilled in him. Overall, it's far too heavy-handed to really be called entertaining, almost serving more as a PSA against hate than, say, a comic.
The second story reunites, for the second time this month, Si Spurrier, Tan Eng Huat, and Craig Yeung for a fun half-issue wherein Dr. Strange, himself affected by the hate wave (though refusing to admit it) and trying to stop the incessant and obnoxious riots outside his Sanctum Sanctorum. He decides he needs a pure, un-hating vessel who he can use to calm everyone but it proves extremely difficult to find in the midst of New York. Finally he turns to Wong, who has been extremely patient with him despite his constant outbursts and jabs, believing that Wong's lack of retaliation is proof of a stronger fortitude. Unfortunately, Wong is just passive-aggressive and really has been raging on the inside, ultimately poisoning Strange's tea, coffee, and eggs. It's an entertaining story and Spurrier brings his penchant for writing funny anger and impatience to the characters, making everyone hope this is an audition for a gig writing DOCTOR STRANGE. Like the first story, it perhaps carries on a bit too long, but unlike the first story, it's not eye-rollingly message-laden.
Total Score: 3/5
Axis: Carnage 1
The Inversion has struck in AXIS: CARNAGE, like it had in AXIS: HOBGOBLIN and now Carnage finds himself feeling every emotion, something he hasn't had to do on the regular as a psychopath. With a sudden desire to be a hero but no knowledge on how to do such a thing, he clumsily goes about maiming and terrorizing people he believes to be criminals. Meanwhile, an amped up Sin Eater is killing news-people to absolve them of their sins. Carnage comes into contact with him as he attempts to get help learning about empathy from a newscaster he saw broadcasting the death of a coworker. Carnage knocks out Sin Eater and escapes with the fainted newscaster.
As we've seen with a few of the tie-in books already (AXIS: HOBGOBLIN, DEADPOOL), the Inversion is going to take our heroes and reorder their priorities and feelings. It's starting to feel, and maybe this is too early to say this, like simply a cheap excuse to make heroes act like villains and villains act like heroes. Events often have that kind of goal in mind; not necessarily this specific goal, I should mention, but
a specific goal to bring about some drastic change or to play with some story idea. That's not necessarily a bad thing but the last couple (ORIGINAL SIN reveals the Marvel Universe's secrets! AXIS turns heroes into villains, or at least jerks!) have been so obvious that it's hard not to shake your head and sigh. It's entirely possible there are plenty of people out there who believe that this is a fine tactic, that the end result and the different perspectives are what matter. For me, though, I prefer a rich story that spawns naturally from something and goes naturally to something, not a magic MacGuffin that instantly gets us to an outcome. ANYWAY, this book isn't great and I have no need to see Carnage attempt to be a hero and struggle with emotions, particularly when it's so superficial, as a tie-in kind of has to be (thanks to length and inclusiveness).
Total Score: 2/5
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