Mighty Avengers 11, Secret Avengers 4, Avengers Undercover 5

Mighty Avengers 11
Ewing (w) and Land (p) and Leisten (i) and D'Armata (c) and Petit (l)

Luke Cage (formerly Carl Lucas) has just found out from the Watcher that his dad, James Geary (formerly James Lucas), was part of some sort of super team back in 1972, a team he'd never told his son about, even going so far as to completely excuse himself from Luke's new life because he didn't want to be involved in anything super heroic. Cage interrogates his dad about the team and what they did. James tells his son about a time when a bat-man (but not that one) was found dead on the streets of his homicide beat and, in trying to learn more about it, James ended up working alongside reporter Constance Molina, dark sorcerer Kaluu, Blade, Blue Marvel, and the Bear (from Howard Stark's little super team back in Gillen's SECRET ORIGIN OF TONY STARK storyline for IRON MAN), who reveals that the bat-man is actually a Deathwalker. His dad is reluctant to tell the whole story but Luke informs him that Blade is part of their team now but is missing, seemingly taken by Deathwalkers, and now Constance Molina and Kaluu are apparently prepared to go up against the current Mighty Avengers.

There's a lot of exposition to get through here as Ewing has limited time to explain James Lucas' history in a book not about James Lucas. Of course, it ties to some of the prior events already in MIGHTY AVENGERS and seems like it will drive the series further, which is a benefit not always seen in tie-in books, but it's also hard to feel like this isn't a little bit slow. There's a lot of exposition and rather a lack of subtext in favor of simply text in the hopes of pushing the story forward. Still, it's a very nearly engaging story but I think the true story lies in the story of why the Bear's dogs are so big here and not, as I believe they originally were, corgis. Boy, that's a weird word and somehow looks weirder pluralized.

Total Score: 3/5


Secret Avengers 4
Kot (w) and Walsh (a) and Wilson (c) and Cowles (l)

While Coulson, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman are off disabling a poetry bomb, Fury and Hawkeye have been sent to Kowloon Walled City in China to capture The Fury, although the Kowloon Walled City no longer exists. MODOK speculates that the city was brought back in to China from another dimension, possibly as a place to trap The Fury. It's a bit of a crazy story but it's the best they can come up with for why a thought-gone city has reappeared and, frankly, it doesn't really matter because they just need to capture The Fury. Thanks to the help of a MODOK-made gun and a little theory about the way The Fury's brains work, Hawkeye and Fury are able to take the alien down and SHIELD is able to extract him. Meanwhile, though, MODOK starts to get under Hill's skin and the assassin who had tried to kill Hill winds up dead in his containment.

With a little less happening and a little less quipping and bantering, this issue leaps out as probably my favorite so far of the new series. It's not without its issues (most of which are convoluted-plot based) but it's certainly a step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned. The characters acted in a way that felt more within themselves and some of the interesting layout choices and unconventional pages worked in a way that I thought some of the attempts in previous issues hadn't (namely the weird text-adventure game that ran through Natasha's head at one point, which was kind of fun as an idea but didn't work for me because there's little doubt in my head that Natasha has never played nor thought about a text-adventure game so framing her thoughts as such seems like it's only there as a fun idea and not anything more substantial). Still, this issue largely works (though I still can't get a great read from a couple of characters, but that may be thanks to the nature of this team) and I think toning it down works to the advantage of the book (though, in this case, toning it down is a secret strike team capturing a deadly space alien in a city that shouldn't exist).

Total Score: 4/5


Avengers Undercover 5
Hopeless (w) and Walker (p) and Gorder (i) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

The group of kids (they really need a better collective name) are given the night to think over Zemo's offer of a place in his organization (which is pretty much the whole of Bagalia) or to return to their homes and likely go to jail for killing Arcade. Their split into three groups to tour the area with Nico and Cullen going with Daimon Hellstrom to see the magic part of town, Constrictor showing Chase and Death Locket the more group-themed entertainment (basketball court!), and Madam Masque quickly leaving the perceived remaining leaders of the group, Hazmat, Cammi, and Anachronism, behind as she goes to her own business, saying that she's told them they can have the world on a platter and that there's nothing more she can do to convince them than that. There are surprises all around as Hellstrom continues to sympathize with and help teach Nico before revealing none other than her thought-dead ex Alex Wilder (of RUNAWAYS fame), as Death Locket continues to hit it off with Excavator, and as Hazmat forms the idea of infiltrating Zemo's group to gain leverage in eventually becoming heroes again. When the group reconvenes, she and Anachronism reveal the plan and give everyone the chance to join, telling them they don't know where it will lead or when they'll back out, but it's a chance to eventually return to being heroes and to disconnecting themselves from Murder World. The next morning, everyone but Cammi tells Zemo they'll join with him while Cammi, flying away from the city to return home, is dragged out of the sky by Constrictor.

My official mantra should be "there's plenty happening in this book" and probably something to do with the word "interesting" but it's hard not to say here again, as overused as it is on this blog, that there's plenty happening in this book and it's already, even before we start moving towards the bulk of the plot, plenty interesting. Of course, Hopeless was lucky enough to take hold of all of these compelling characters with mostly rich personalities and backgrounds before he absolutely helped himself by writing a spectacular book in the form of AVENGERS ARENA and really helping to cement where those characters are at. Now he gets to take that experience and those well-developed characters and drop them into an all-new story with plenty of exciting roads to go down. For as great a character piece as AVENGERS ARENA was, it was a decidedly contained story, one that literally couldn't go outside the bounds of the island on which Arcade had trapped everyone. Here Hopeless expands the playground with even more fleshed out characters. It's exciting to see and I'm really looking forward to where it's going.

Total Score: 5/5

Avengers Undercover 3, Iron Patriot 2

Avengers Undercover 3
Hopeless (w) and Green II (a) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

Cammi is furious with Cullen that he brought them to Arcade without asking any of them, saying that it should be their choice if they want to go seek revenge. The team is divided on the issue but doesn't have much time to fight it out because any sort of plan needs to happen now, as Arcade has opened a new "Murder World," which is essentially just crazy old billionaires paying to fight to the death. The team splits up with one group going to shut down Arcade's power and the other, along with a near-comatose Hazmat, distracting Arcade. Arcade is thrilled to see them, talking to them about how high they'd all risen and how they'd never get that high again, himself included. Just as they're nearly defeated, Death Locket manages to fry the high processing computer near Miss Coriander that powers Arcade and suddenly he's back to just being a guy. They pound on him but don't quite go to killing until Hazmat wakes out of her stupor and recites the words Arcade said to the group when he killed Mettle: "Whatever you say, kid. Welcome to Murder World." She fries him as video is relayed to Baron Zemo, Madam Masque, Hellstrom, and Constrictor.

Story
Things continue to heat up in AVENGERS UNDERCOVER as these would-have-been heroes turn to murdering Arcade amidst the least debate about revenge maybe ever. Even Cammi, who believes they should have all been asked prior to being sent to Arcade, relishes in the revenge part. The turn, of course, is that Hazmat goes the extra step and destroys their enemy (we, I suppose, don't necessarily know he's dead, but that seems hard to come back from) without any sort of debate, though her teammates have varying degrees of shock and horror on their faces (important and well done by Timothy Green II, which, I think, may be the name of a Disney movie?). Between this and the video sent to Zemo and the others, who excitedly watch the outcome, there are plenty of great places for this series to go and it's off to a strong start. 5/5

Characters
There's a lot happening in this issue and much of it is plot-based but that doesn't mean Hopeless doesn't have time to establish some character in here. There's a slight look at everyone if just in their willingness to fight or the way the others regard their willingness to fight (there's a fun moment where Death Locket eagerly volunteers to help fight her way through the billionaires to reach the control panel and she's met with surprise by her teammates). It's rare that a story so plot-heavy and so revenge motivated, particularly surrounding a team, manages to bring out its characters so well but that's what we have here. Hopeless, of course, helped himself enormously in AVENGERS ARENA by making all of these living and breathing characters but dropping them into a new series would only require a new reader to know the most basic of facts about them to really become invested quickly. Solid work. 5/5

Writing
The tone of the book is what it needs to be, nothing particularly outstanding about what's created here as the key to this issue is all in the story and the characters. The dialogue flows pretty well and each character has a unique voice and attitude. I don't know that there's a lot more that Hopeless needed to do here to improve on his story or characters through the writing or the tone or what have you but he does solid work nonetheless. 5/5

Art
The art is appropriately chaotic as the kids rush through the new Murder World on something of a time-sensitive mission. The emotions of these characters are what drive the art here as everyone brings a different level of reluctance or of anger to this journey and it all comes out in their faces, leading up to the important reaction shot of Hazmat's attack on Arcade. Great work by Timothy Green II who, as I stated before, may be the same Timothy Green who had an odd life in a Disney film that I find myself disappointed to discover I know so much about. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Not a ton to add. Really like this book so far just as I really ended up liking ARENA. I also think the team that Zemo has pulled to be his new Masters of Evil is an interesting team-up. Should be fun to watch as things unravel.

Total score: 5/5


Iron Patriot 2
Kot (w) and G. Brown (a) and Charalampidis (c) and Cowles (l)

Iron Patriot is underwater, the suit malfunctioning with Rhodey still in it. His last hope is to eject out of it, though the eject is pretty specific in that it will launch the suit like a rocket while ejecting its operator. Rhodey points it out at the monster stomping around the water, effectively taking it down, as he makes a last push to swim to the surface. He barely makes it but passes out as he gets there. Meanwhile, his father Terrence has been captured by terrorists (though he put up a fight) and his niece Lila, who evaded the first round of captors, gets picked up as well. Things go from bad to worse as Rhodey is picked up in a helicopter by two men claiming to be journalists but working for whoever is behind the attacks that have struck all over the country. They drop him off in New Orleans where he nearly passes out from compression sickness before being approached by an armored individual, the apparent mastermind behind all of this.

Story
IRON PATRIOT is off to a hot start as a full-on attack on America has been the driving force behind the start of the series. There's so much happening story wise but Kot does a good job making it manageable to understand while also making it chaotic enough to see how rampant it is. It's a tough line to walk, one where Kot needs not to overwhelm the audience with information right at the start of a new series but does need to show just how serious the problems are, particularly in a book for a non-A-list character. So far, so good. 5/5

Character
Most of the characterization in this issue comes from the actions that these characters take. Rhodey acts to take down the monster while trying to save himself as a second priority, Terrence chooses his moment and takes down one of his kidnappers (until the second one gets the drop on him), and Lila cleverly evades capture and learns as much as she can about her grandfather's abduction before being fooled by more terrorists acting as police. There's nothing particularly outstanding about any of the character developments here, nothing that would shock to the core or anything, but everyone acts in a very specific way and it gives a great sense of our players in this book so early on. Every book doesn't need to have a shocking revelation for a character, it just has to make sure the characters acts in an appropriate way for that character and Kot is doing a good job maintaining status quo as the plot drives things forward. 5/5

Writing
The tone here, one of desperation and chaos, shines through and carries the writing of this one. There's some narrative and some dialogue that helps put things in perspective and establish our characters but the key here is the tone, one that shows us just how bad things are. The book reads extremely quickly with so much action and so little dialogue and narrative but it's not an insubstantial read for that. It's just the sort of book that will surprise you when the end comes because you assumed you had only read maybe half an issue only to find, nope, plenty happened and they just covered a whole issue. Well done. 5/5

Art
I had some opinions on Garry Brown's faces last time out but they don't really persist into this new issue as everything Brown does, with the assistance of Charalampidis' colors, adds to the tone and the desperation of every situation. The faces, the emotion, the action, it's all well drawn here and it adds to the story rather than taking away from or simply maintaining. For now, it seems Brown is perhaps the perfect guy to draw this book. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I don't have a lot of experience with Ales Kot, having only seen him on books like SECRET AVENGERS recently but the experience I had had given me pause. I'm surprised and delighted to say that this issue stepped right over that pause and turned out to be a pretty great read. Of course, the series will still hinge on the reveal of the bad guy (got some suspicions on that front, as I'm sure anyone reading this book does) and the purpose of these attacks, but as a stand-alone couple of issues, these have really worked.

Total score: 5/5

This week's picks

Some really good comics out this week and some comics I really, really disliked this week (looking over at you SECRET AVENGERS). So which three comics make up the list of the top three of the week? Well...look, I'm figuring that out.

Avengers Undercover 1
I thought this was a good issue, maybe even a very good issue, in and of itself. What elevates it to "top picks" status over, say, CAPTAIN MARVEL or X-FORCE (which, truth told, I think I probably enjoyed more as a book), is that I think it's setting up its own world so extremely well. I think it's often really hard to incorporate what came before either as a direct or indirect sequel and build another story with changed characters around it. I think that AVENGERS UNDERCOVER has already done a marvelous job at showing what these kids are up to and what they're up against for this series, which is an incredibly difficult feat for a first issue. Very rarely does a series world build so effectively in one issue. Of course, that comes with the caution label that reads "AVENGERS ARENA finished just a couple months ago and is fresh in my mind so maybe that's what has built the world more than this issue" but I think you could come into this book without having read AVENGERS ARENA and still have a good sense of what's happening here. More impressively, I think you could come into this book knowing what happened in AVENGERS ARENA and not be plagued by over-excessive backstory and summarizing. That's particularly hard to do in the case of books that take such a huge shift, especially where so much tangibly happened last series. Good start to this one, really looking forward to how it shapes up.

Black Widow 4

Another new release week, another issue of BLACK WIDOW gracing the top picks list (get ready to see another familiar name on the top of the next entry). BLACK WIDOW is the kind of book that seems to have everything; writing, characters, plot, art, and colors. Everything is working on this series and, as Edmondson and Noto enter into Natasha's first arc of the new series, it seems like this is going to be more of the same. Normally when people say "more of the same" it's a negative, worrying that the book isn't trying anything new. WELL GOOD NEWS, this book is incredible already so "more of the same" is just "more of the doing great work" kind of thing. This one didn't get as much into Natasha's character as the last three did, though it works here because Edmondson clearly set out to establish her character in those first three issues and did a magnificent job of it. Getting us into story now is definitely a good way to go. Also, this book will find it hard not to make my top three every time if Phil Noto continues to absolutely bring his A-game in the art. Incredible and definitely able to carry a subpar book anyway. Fortunately, this isn't a subpar book.

Hawkeye 17

HAWKEYE has long been doing things unprecedented in mainstream superhero comics. The conceit of the book as a whole was that it would focus on the days when Hawkeye wasn't with the Avengers or whatever other team he may be a part of at the time. That means it was the daily life of a superhero with no powers while he set up his DVR or bought tape or watched a holiday special. With this most recent issue, these are all things he's done in this series, and done to tremendous effect. This issue finds Clint falling asleep watching a wintertime holiday special and dreaming of said special which happens to mirror his own thoughts on things and his own situation. He denies help from everyone repeatedly but they refuse to be sent away and, as a result, he and the others overcome the problems. Will this message translate to Clint's life? Probably not. He's kind of stupid. But it's a wonderful book and it's one that's incredibly well-done with artist Chris Eliopolous stepping in for series regular David Aja and providing exactly the right style of art and the right feel for the book (as well as expert colorist Jordie Bellaire stepping in for series regular expert colorist Matt Hollingsworth). I talked a lot in my full post this week about how HAWKEYE has succeeded while trying all sorts of new things and things that, on paper, absolutely should not work, so I won't recount it all here (just click that link above, guuuyyyys) but all of that is part of why this book makes this list. Also because it's great.

Avengers Undercover 1, Deadpool 25

Avengers Undercover 1
Hopeless (w) and K. Walker (a) and Beaulieu (c)

The survivors of AVENGERS ARENA are dealing with their new lives in their own ways, with Hazmat trying to keep her head down (though she can't help punishing some jerks commenting on the videos), Chase making a new living on the interview circuit, Nico trying to keep to their shared promise of NOT making a new living on the interview circuit, Death Locket trying to get her Deathlok soft and hardware removed, Cammi returning home, and Cullen hunting Arcade wherever he may be, to the chagrin of Anachronism. They're each trying to return to civilization but it's made infinitely more difficult by the release of the videos by Arcade, which has played into the world's love of reality television and the like. After one of Cullen's most recent online videos in a line of videos he's posted where he searches and torches a number of Arcade's hideout, it's become clear that he's bitten off a bit more than he can chew when he attacked Baron Zemo's new Masters of Evil and been captured. The other survivors (minus X-23 who is out galavanting with the O5 X-Men) agree to go try and help Cullen.

Really strong first entry into this new series as Hopeless and Walker move directly from AVENGERS ARENA to AVENGERS UNDERCOVER. The personalities are still fresh in their minds just as the events of AVENGERS ARENA are fresh in ours. It's a really interesting and compelling idea to have the entirety of AVENGERS ARENA available to view in this universe, giving regular people a chance to watch it all and ignore the horror, instead focusing on the competition and the strategies where there were strategies. Suddenly, people like Hazmat who weren't even on the radar of normal people find themselves endlessly talked about and discussed and critiqued when all they want to do is forget that part of their past. It's huge and inescapable and really fascinating to see already. Excited to see how this one progresses, particularly given how strong this opener was.

Deadpool 25
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne (a) and Bellaire (c)

Deadpool chats with Crossbones for a while over a few beers before they eventually take to the streets to battle. Crossbones, of course, is furious with Deadpool for leaving him up in a hot air balloon and Deadpool is sick of everything in his life right now and goaded into even more violence by the Preston voice in his head, though the Preston voice seems to actually just be another voice in his head as the real Preston, alongside Coulson and Adsit, shows up just in time to keep Deadpool from completely murdering Crossbones. The SHIELD agents have also brought Deadpool's money with them, giving him a chance to take off on vacation out to Europe to get away for a little while.

For a fight issue, this one definitely moves a little slower than the average. It's not a bad issue, per se, but typically when you have an issue that's almost entirely made up of fighting it moves a little quicker than this. If a fight comic does move this slowly, it's usually saying a little bit more. There's some weight here as we start to see just how much the recent events have impacted Deadpool's already fragile state of mind and how much it may mean to him going forward. Still, it's maybe a little heavy-handed in its presentation of a depressed Deadpool, though it doesn't cross the line to boring at any point. On top of it, posehn and Duggan wrap up, if a little anti-climactically and abruptly, the Gorman storyline as he drops into the fight randomly and gets thrown into a trash compactor for his efforts. Bit of a weird way to wrap it up there. Still, certainly the way has been paved for Deadpool's next adventure.

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.

This week's picks

I...I can't. Look, there were too many books and too many good books and too many important books this week. How do you knock it down to three? Well hey, we're officially in the holiday season right now and, in America, this week marked the very worst ritual we have, Black Friday, so, in the spirit of excess, let's categorize what books you should get!

Best books ending this week:
Avengers Arena 18

Really sad to see the series go but glad to see it go on such a fitting last issue. The survivors have some serious darkness to them now, a darkness they'd rather not reveal to the world but one that might come out anyway. It will lead nicely into Hopeless' new AVENGERS UNDERCOVER.








Infinity 6

I have to call this the best major Marvel event in a long time, one that was both satisfying and epic enough without, for a change, pitting heroes vs. heroes. Don't get me wrong, CIVIL WAR is still my favorite event and it was the ultimate example of heroes vs. heroes but when you then have like, 50 straight events that do that, it loses some meaning. Here we had enemies and we had heroes and we had insurmountable odds being surmounted. This will lead nicely into both INHUMANITY and books like AVENGERS WORLD as the Avengers have really never been higher.


Best Avengers books this week:
New Avengers 12

Really phenomenal ending to INFINITY as we see the toll this has taken on the most troubled of the heroes right now. Where the Avengers have never been higher, the Illuminati have never been more out of their depth, facing Earth-shattering problem after Earth-shattering problem and finding themselves at the base of everything. Black Panther has been cast out of Wakanda, Black Bolt has been severely depowered and finds himself in hiding, Dr. Strange has turned to his darkest spells, and the others have to face the people they've teamed with, including Black Swan and, potentially, the frozen Thanos. So much happening, so many, as Namor said, kings without kingdoms.


Uncanny Avengers 14
Huge book for both this series and for the Marvel Universe as a whole as we see two major Marvel characters seemingly die (always have to add "seemingly" in there, though BOY does Rogue seem pretty dead) and one turn into ions, but he's done that before. On top of that, it's kind of all Rogue's fault, as she attacked Scarlet Witch not knowing her plan (and still not trusting her) and then wavered for a moment afterward, allowing Grim Reaper to strike. Whoops! Lots happening here and lots to be anxious about as we move to the next issue.




Most fun books this week:
Hawkeye 14

Matt Fraction has really developed a character for Kate Bishop, who had ever really only appeared in YOUNG AVENGERS before, a book that was both a team book, thus typically taking some amount of individuality out, and a book that required her to step up and take the mature role amongst a bunch of younger people. She was sarcastic and clearly competent there but Fraction has turned that just a bit as she really gets to thrive by herself. She's fun, she's resourceful, she's caring, she's persistent, and she's a star now so she gets to shine here. Annie Wu does absolutely fantastic art for Kate, filled with complexities and emotion. Great issue.


Deadpool Annual 1

Not a ton by way of substance here but, well, honestly kind of more than I tend to expect out of annuals. Still a really fun issue that brings out the sort of Deadpool I tend to like most, one that is funny and probably insane but that is less absurd and less weird than the world he's entered into. The book itself had some nice little moments, including sound-effects and transitions like "TURN-AROUND," "CATCH," and "ATTACH." Also a couple of good Looney Tunes homages in there.

Scarlet Spider 24

This might seem a strange one to put in "most fun," as it mostly features a really fundamentally troubled Kaine and it ends with our hero and his friends being shot with a rocket launcher, but it did have a sense of fun to it. Part of that was in the pacing, which is very strong even as it leads to an extremely chaotic finish. Another part was in the individual moments and dialogue. The most fun part of the book, for me, was the homage to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 50, the infamous "Spider-Man No More!" story, as Kaine throws his costume in a trash-can and lights it on fire, saying "Scarlet Spider no more!" only to find that the unstable molecules in the costume prevent it from catching fire. There are other fun bits with Aracely here and there and the ramping tone gives everything a frenzied but somewhat fun sense. Good issue.

Books I didn't mention but that, you know, were still pretty good:
Avengers Assemble 21
Spider-lady team!












Indestructible Hulk 16

D'aww, Randall Jessup.












Nova 10

Some neat little moments, including dream sequences and the Watcher!

Avengers Arena 18, Uncanny Avengers 14, Avengers Assemble 21

Avengers Arena 18
Hopeless (w) and Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

Katy and Death Locket watch the teen heroes fight from Arcade's bunker with Katy's finger on the trigger the entire time. The raging battles between Cammi and Nico and Anachronism and Reptil come to a grinding halt when attention is directed at the imploding Hazmat, ready to wipe them all out unintentionally. Reptil transforms into a a bigger dinosaur, one with more speed and a longer mouth, and promises he'll help her, picking her up in his mouth without a second thought, despite her protests, and rushing her into the water, where everyone sees her explode. Katy, angry that the fights have stopped, unleashes some of Arcade's last tricks, forcing the kids to fight for their lives until Tim takes a brief moment of control over Katy and demands Death Locket, still in love with Tim, kill them. Suddenly, the insect swarm, sand people, and napalm winds subside and Death Locket appears by the other survivors to explain. With the game over and Arcade gone, they decide, with the insight of the returning Hazmat, now out of her suit and not glowing but alone as she leaves the water, that they won't say anything about what happened. SHIELD and the heads of the schools come to pick the kids up and investigate but they refuse to say a word about what happened, not wanting to give Arcade the satisfaction, though Arcade gets his satisfaction as he begins to upload his 30 part video series "What Really Happened in Murder World."

Really great series, very nice ending. Our final survivor count sits at nine, I believe, leaving us with Cammi, Death Locket, Nico, Anachronism, Hazmat, Cullen, X-23, Chase, and (this is the only "I think" on the list) Chris Powell. I'll be honest, it never really occurred to me for some reason that Reptil could die in this series and, only looking back do I realize, I have no idea why I thought that. First and foremost, he wasn't that big a character, no bigger than, say, Mettle, who was exploded in the first issue also trying to save Jen. Somehow he always felt off the table so I'm a little sad to see him go here. Still, there's a nice finality to the series as the kids all get off the island and get to go home with their respective school heads. Even the discussion of how they address all of this is interesting, though I'm not sure if it takes into account the idea of the video getting out. Regardless, it's a very exciting set-up for the next step in this teens-in-peril streak Hopeless is on as some of our characters aim to infiltrate the Masters of Evil in AVENGERS UNDERCOVER. Pretty excited to see Hopeless and Walker pick up again in March. Sad this series is over, glad the characters will move on.

Uncanny Avengers 14
Remender (w) and McNiven and Dell (a) and L. Martin (c)

At various points in the future, Kang is gathering an army of supers presumably in the hopes that they can help him defeat the twins. Meanwhile, back in the present, Shiro and Rogue rush to the Ark to stop Wanda and Simon from completing the spell they think will separate mutants and humans forever, not knowing that Wanda intends to bring the mutants to the Ark to stop the twins. Rogue is dead-set on stopping Wanda any way possible but it will have to wait a moment as Daken and Grim Reaper lie in wait and pounce as soon as Rogue and Shiro appear. Wolverine, apparently following Shiro and Rogue, jumps into the fight to give Shiro the chance to remove Simon from the spell. Wolverine continues to insist no killing but is held by Daken long enough to watch Rogue escape Reaper and charge Wanda, stabbing her through the chest with her borrowed Wolverine claws. Wanda falls and Simon follows her down. Grim Reaper gets the drop on Rogue as she reaffirms to herself that it was the only way to stop Wanda. Reaper stabs her through the heart with his scythe and then, with his enhanced powers, leaves no room for doubt that she's dead as Wolverine, dispatching Daken, sprints towards him, watches him electrify her. Simon rushes to Wanda's side and, as she dies, he pours all of himself into her to power her spell, dissipating himself to help her finish her plan, calling all the mutants to rise against the twins.

Geez. Huge issue. Two major characters die and one Wonder Man maybe dies. I'm not sure how much more I have to say about this. The past thirteen issues of UNCANNY AVENGERS built to this, from Rogue and Wanda's feud to Wolverine's insistence that everyone find a no-kill solution to Wonder Man's non-violence to the return of Grim Reaper and Daken, among the other horsemen, to Rogue's killing of Grim Reaper to the mutant solution to just everything all comes down to this issue, where Rogue kills Wanda and then Grim Reaper kills Rogue all while Wolverine watches. Nearly perfect culmination of everything that Remender's been working towards all along and something that very clearly isn't a conclusion but a climax. Although it's something that we've been building towards, it's not the final step, we still have plenty to look forward to. Let's also not overlook the fact that he just killed off a couple major Marvel Universe characters, for however long. What a big and well-executed issue.

Avengers Assemble 21
DeConnick (w) and Buffagni (a) and Woodard (c)

INHUMANITY has started and the Avengers have to deal with the slew of Terrigenesis cocoons that have started popping up. Among those cocoons is the social studies teacher of Anya Corazon, aka Spider-Girl, who brings her case to the Avengers, hoping they'll be enticed by the fact that he was kidnapped while in cocoon. Spider-Woman and Black Widow team up with Anya to form a full blown spider-lady team and strike at an AIM lab that has connections to the kidnapping. They hit the lights, giving them ten seconds to dispatch of the beekeepers inside, which they manage to do with relative ease. As they start to question one of the fallen, they're surrounded by a secondary AIM team led by Widow's former foe Kashmir Vennema, the inter-dimensional arms dealer Widow ran into back in CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BLACK WIDOW. Vennema reveals that one of the cocoons they captured died (Anya's teacher) and the other is still available for sale. She also decides to have the three Avengers killed, knowing she's protected because AIM is an officially recognized entity that has now been invaded. Meanwhile, June Covington aka Toxie Doxie is on the hunt for cocoons and for vengeance for her purchased and subsequently exploded cocoon.

Nice to have a little bit of a less tense book following up AVENGERS ARENA's conclusion and UNCANNY AVENGERS' biggest issue probably ever (kind of willing to say it might be one of the biggest issues of any non-event series in recent history). Not to say this doesn't have its tension...actually, it kind of doesn't. I feel like maybe it should have had more but it's really hard to say if the lack of tension is created because it's, you know, just AIM and they're Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Spider-Girl or if it's less tense because I'm so fresh off reading these darker and grittier books. Not to say this isn't still a fun book; there's a lot of great characterization stuff between the three leads of this issue as well as between Captain Marvel and Spider-Girl, who spar a bit over what's important and who's being condescending to whom (hint: it's Captain Marvel to Spider-Girl). Fun issue, nice little arc developing. I still really like this book as a bit of a more relaxed and character-focused Avengers title. Nice issue.

Comics this week

GEEZ, HOPE YOU GUYS WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING OVER THE THANKSGIVING WEEKEND AS WE HAVE JUST TOO MANY COMICS TO READ. That's right, tons of books releasing this week including a handful of really big ones and a handful of ones I don't really want to read but I will because I, you guys, am a hero. Anyway, let's talk about some of them!

Avengers Arena 18
The final issue of the surprisingly amazing AVENGERS ARENA. I've loved this series for quite some time now and I'm sad to see it end but I'm glad that presumably we'll get some closure. Everyone out there should be interested to see who lives, who doesn't, who wins, what happens to Arcade, etc. Glad this one's lasted seemingly as long as it was meant to.

Deadpool Annual 1
Okay, so this maybe isn't the biggest book in a week filled with really big books and it might not even be the one I'm most excited for BUT this one definitely deserves a look. The preview for it looked like a lot of fun and it's written by the spectacular writing team of Ben Acker and Blacker, writers and creators of "The Thrilling Adventure Hour" podcast, among other things. The duo is immensely talented and clearly has a love for comics. They made their Marvel debut with WOLVERINE SEASON ONE early this year, which I didn't necessarily love, but I think Deadpool will fit their tone really well. Also they have a bit more experience now, as they just released the "Thrilling Adventure Hour" graphic novel I still need to check out.

Hawkeye 14
HAWKEYE this week, you guys! I believe this will be the first issue that officially splits Hawkeye and Hawkeye up, East Coast vs. West Coast, and will also kick off the artist rotation of the amazing David Aja and the increasingly impressive Annie Wu. This is one of the best books out there and it took a bit of a break in the middle there so now any time we get it back is exciting.

Infinity 6
The end of INFINITY (minus the last tie-in book) is here and I have some trouble believing that everything will go perfectly smoothly and that everyone will survive. I've been hedging my bets on this for a while and my predictions for who won't make it out are pretty well-documented at this point but, more than that, we're reaching the end of a major Marvel event, one that has very much defied expectations throughout. Looking forward to it.

New Avengers 12
DID SOMEONE MENTION A LAST TIE-IN BOOK? Yes. I did, in the parentheses near the beginning of the last entry. This was all planned, you guys. The event is ending and the phenomenal story of NEW AVENGERS will officially bring us there. There's so much happening in this event and so much in this book overall, both before and during the event. Really looking forward to where the tensions of this team land us in the aftermath. Should be a lot of fun and, as much as I've liked this event, I'm still excited for the main story to return.

Avengers Arena 17, Captain America Living Legend 3, Thor: God of Thunder 15

Avengers Arena 17
Hopeless (w) and Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

We're one issue away from the end of Avengers Arena and the stakes have never been higher, which is saying a lot for a series which started with a guy with a metal exoskeleton exploding. The survivors are a day away from the final day of Murder World and tensions are running high. X-23 is still tearing through Hazmat, her consciousness blacked out from the trigger scent. Anachronism saves Hazmat by attacking X-23, who he blames for killing Nara. Reptil attacks Anachronism. Nico is trying to kill Cullen, knowing that, with the ring off, he's the strongest one left and Darkhawk Chase is watching her back. Cammi takes down Chase swiftly and rips the amulet from his chest, becoming Darkhawk herself and stopping Nico from killing Cullen. Meanwhile, below the surface, Arcade used Chris Powell's lingering sickness from stasis as a chance to escape. Death Locket and Chris go to get some water, leaving Katy to hack Arcade's system and shut down the game, which she will do as a pragmatist wanting to leave the island, despite her killer attributes. Unfortunately, Death Locket and Chris leave her alone long enough for Arcade to chime back in and convince Katy that she can be the winner of all of this and the video footage he has and will release will show her as the strong survivor of the games, not as the villain who killed without remorse. It's too tempting for her and she locks Tim out, allowing the games to continue. The issue ends with Hazmat going critical.

This is a series that has had absolutely no downtime since maybe the first few issues, when we were still getting to know our competitors (geez, remember Kid Briton? That was something). Even then, there was plenty going on in terms of the events on the island and the character-building. It's no surprise, then, that the last couple of issues would come down to almost non-stop action and compelling character moments. Everything this series has asked boils down to these last couple of decisions. What is the cost of survival in this world? What are the ramifications of being the bad guy? How do you play a game that relies on your worst side coming out? Finally, as an audience, who are you rooting for? One of the most impressive things Hopeless has done has been to make every character compelling and sympathetic. There's not really anyone left I don't want to survive. There are people who I had no knowledge of previously and who are going to be the biggest losses if they die. Granted, we're mostly down to previously known characters (mainstays like X-23 and our Runaways) but there are still a handful of Hopeless' creations and people who Hopeless has developed over the course of this series to a point that they're as or more compelling than anyone else out there. Exciting times and nerve-wracking times as we head to our final issue.

Captain America Living Legend 3
Diggle and Granov (s) and Diggle and Robson (w) and Alessio (a and c)

Volkov has been locked underground in a Russian facility since his return from space, where he seemed to have taken on a passenger, some sort of alien comprised of dark matter that wreaks havoc with human minds. In the past, it led to the death of nearly everyone in the Russian facility, encouraging them to kill themselves even if it was against their own will. The facility was sealed off and a soldier on the premises at the time, Gridenko, is now a colonel with the Russian army, tasked with bringing a squad back there and recovering the Deus project and, if possible, Volkov. He is, understandably, not thrilled with the assignment and says so to the Minister of Science, who has organized the mission. As soon as they get on site, other soldiers start transforming into the metal-like entities shown attack Cap and Doctor Fox at the end of last issue. The Russians' bullets have no effect but Cap shows up and his shield instantly destroys the enemies. After some half-hearted attempts to arrest Cap and Fox, Gridenko and his men relate the history of Volkov and the area. Fox realizes that the vibranium in the shield must be interfering with the dark matter and is effectively what's keeping them all human now. The team goes to destroy the Deus project but the one of the metal beings inside manages to evade the thrown shield, allowing it to sail out past him, leaving the group unprotected. The issue ends as Cap begins to transform.

Another solid and interesting issue as the plot begins to take shape and some questions start to get answered. There's a shift here that's leading the threat from something more scientific to something more science fiction, which is a neat little shift with a kind of classic science fiction set-up. My constant compliment of this series has been the way it's seamlessly developed background characters into real people with fully-fledged lives that you assume they'd go home to if they survived beyond their one line of dialogue (okay, very few of them do that). It continues and it kind of all pays off here as Gridenko is rather the ultimate example of someone developed through quick lines of dialogue and who then promptly went on to be a developed and necessary character. After seeing him for a page or so in 1973, we have a real and useful sense of who he is as we come to the present day. Frankly, I felt good for him because he was a colonel now! That dude worked at it! Way to go, Gridenko, I was rooting for you. It's things like that which have really cemented the series for me and made it something unique and enjoyable. Excited to go into the last issue of this one.

Thor: God of Thunder 15
Aaron (w) and Garney (a) and Svorcina (c)

Malekith is still running rampant through the nine realms, his legion always a step ahead of Thor and his League. They've managed to catch up and end a few of the dark elves following Malekith but by and large, the mission is failing at every turn. Thor takes a time out to try to get his team to work more favorably together by making everyone go an Alfheim tavern and bond while he makes out with Waziria, the dark elf on their team. The bonding seems to work at least a little and the team sets out for Jotunheim, land of the giants, to find Malekith chasing the other hiding dark elves. The fight is going well until Malekith launches himself into the mouth of the League of Realms' giant Oggy, killing him from the inside out. As Thor swears revenge, the team is dismayed to find that Malekith has managed to find favor with the dreaded frost giants of Jotunheim, adding considerable might to their side.

I'm a little torn on this arc as yet. On the one hand, I'm a little cynical from the get-go because I tend to roll my eyes a little at obvious sales ploys. I think this is a pretty good story and one that differs enough from Thor: The Dark World to justify its telling. However, it's hard to separate it from the fact that a major motion picture starring Malekith just came out and this is a clear "get the fans of the movie to buy the comic" move. I can't complain too much about that, though; comics are, after all, always a business and you do what it takes to survive. On top of that, this Malekith is a far different one than the one in the movie, who hates everybody and hardly wants to talk about his feelings. The comic Malekith is quite the chatterbox, more crazy than serious. Also, while I find the plot engaging and interesting, it's hard not to shrug a little at the League of Realms, which seems like a cliché at best and a silly conceit at worst. It's not so unbearable or anything that it's not worth reading but it rather seems to weaken a story that was working previously. Why the Congress of Worlds decided that they needed to present a united front to the realms against what is unquestionably a menace in this universe is beyond me. I would get the League if this was a more delicate issue and the realms needed to show how vast their support was but here, it feels like this is a guy whose downfall everyone benefits from. Now it just feels like a way to show us there are different realms and those realms don't really like each other but what an unusual foe who would bind these guys! I don't necessarily hate the characters (I also don't necessarily love them - it's hard not to seem them all as pretty stereotypical characters, despite their fantasy origins) but I think the idea that they have to be teamed up weakens the premise of the book, which is otherwise pretty strong. I have, you guys, some conflicting emotions about this story.

Comics this week

Similar week to last week in terms of number of books out but a little different in terms of books I'm super excited about. There are enough, though, and certainly enough that fit the bill of "important to the line" to make the picks pretty easy. So let's get at (h)it. QUICK HITS.

Avengers Arena 17
We are rapidly approaching the end of AVENGERS ARENA, unquestionably the biggest surprise of the year for me. Sad to see this one ending but glad to see that it will end on Hopeless' terms and not continue. This was never meant to be one that lasted so long and it'll be nice to see where it takes us. The last issue brought us some major fights among the largest group of survivors while our once-villains of the series, Death Locket and Apex, and believed-dead Darkhawk find themselves face-to-face with a powerless Arcade. EXCITING TIMES AHEAD.

Captain America Living Legend 3
I'm still pretty into this book, you guys. I figure we'll find out a bit more about our villain in this coming issue, particularly as Cap gets closer and closer to discovering him and, presumably, recognizing who he is. I like the plot and the art of this series and I've been a big fan of the characterization of just about everyone we've seen, somehow most notably in the people who have one line. It makes a difference as a reader and it's coming across well.

Deadpool 19
I have been rather in favor of this arc, "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly," and I think it's helped to define this series better than any arc prior. At least to define it in a positive way. At least for me. Whatever. Anyway, I think the way the creative team sticks the landing will show us a lot about the way this book will carry on. I'm interested to see it.

Marvel Knights X-Men 1
Another new Marvel Knights book which means another chance for Marvel to reestablish their Marvel Knights line. This one will be led by Brahm Revel (new to Marvel) and he's planning to take this small X-team (seemingly consisting, at the start, of just Wolverine, Kitty, and Rogue) on a bit of a darker adventure. Like I said when MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN 1 came out a few weeks back, this is an important book to establish how the new MK line differs itself from the main X-Men series (plural). It would be hard not to go darker than those books, but I'm happy to see this one will still.

Thor: God of Thunder 15
I'm just on a Thor high, okay guys? It'll probably be neat!

Avengers Arena 16, Avengers AI 4

Avengers Arena 16
Hopeless (w) and Moline and Pennington w/ Magyar (a) and Beaulieu (c)

In the wake of Nara's death, everything that's been so loosely tied together for these kids falls apart. Anachronism takes a swing at Cullen, Cammi blasts him for it. Nico and Chase turn on Reptil while, in the forest, a near-death X-23 hunts a nearer-death and radiation-leaking Hazmat. It's a full-on brawl with the remaining topside young heroes that gives the two kids under the surface, Apex and Death Locket, the chance to try to sabotage the system. Apex has spent the week, alternating between Katy and Tim, fixing Death Locket's arm-gun so that Death Locket can create a diversion while Apex tries to hack Arcade's computers and bring everything down. Death Locket finds it a little hard to create a meaningful diversion until she walks to original Darkhawk Chris Powell's in-stasis body only to see his eyes pop open. While Arcade investigates her scream, Apex hops down and starts hacking. She gets pretty far but not quite far enough to stop everything when Arcade gets back, dragging Death Locket with her new gun removed. He decides to keep them alive for now, letting them watch as everything topside goes crazy. Unfortunately for him, Powell is alive and has gotten out of his containment, sneaking up on him and hitting him on the back of the head with a metal bar and, as luck would have it, the protections on Arcade don't work underground.

We have two issues left of this pretty phenomenal series and the entire game has turned on a dime. The kids have hit their breaking point, a day away from the final, and now it's everyone for him or herself (or, in rare cases, themselves). Meanwhile, the kid we could best classify as the villain of the series, Apex, is working diligently with Death Locket, who had been her tool, to try to stop Arcade. It's a nice little turnaround, especially considering Apex was really the first, several weeks sooner than everyone else, to realize they'd have to play the game to win, no matter the consequences. Of course, in addition to that now, we also have the intrigue of Arcade's vulnerability underground squared off against a weaponless Death Locket, a somewhat machineless Apex, and a powerless Darkhawk. Who will win out and how will it impact the kids above ground? This is all very exciting and we're really rushing headlong to a conclusion now. As mad as I am at people who haven't read this series, I envy them because they'll have the opportunity to read it all at once at some point in the future. For as well as it's read in serial form, I imagine it will read very well as a complete work. Sweet Francisco Francavilla cover on this one too.

Avengers AI 4
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Vision loves the Diamond and what it represents but he's not willing to start an all-out war with the humans, especially not as a first swing. He believes that the humans can be reasoned with and that they can all live harmoniously. The AI in the Diamond don't like his new message, preferring war against the humans to defend the Diamond at all costs, the option that Dimitrios has presented. It sets up a sort of Xavier vs. Magneto style debate but, instead of the X-Men siding with Vision, no one in the Diamond seems happy with Vision and he's forced to leave and deemed a traitor, which all seems to be according to Dimitrios' plan. Meanwhile, SHIELD and Hank Pym have set up a strike team to try to extract what they need out of the Diamond but, of course, they arrive and find it's a trap. They're quickly outmanned and outgunned, forcing the human SHIELD agents back while Victor and Doombot try to push ahead. They find their way to what seems to be the center of the Diamond, where Doombot accidentally activates a booby-trap bomb. Victor throws him out of the Diamond and tells him to make sure everyone else evacuates while he tries to contain the explosion. The mysterious Alexis has also joined the fray and shows off her considerable power while saving SHIELD agents and taking down more than a few bad bots. Before long, though, Victor can't hold the explosion and, with everyone evacuated (including Dimitrios and his bots), the oil rig the Diamond was held on explodes. Vision returns just in time to see it all go up in flames and to find Victor possibly on his deathbed back in the helicarrier.

Geez, I really have to get back to writing shorter summaries. As I said above, we set up a sort of "stay and fight" vs. "live harmoniously" story for the AI, which is kind of interesting in that it sort of grants the AI a similar status in the Marvel Universe as mutants, who have long been such an integral part to Marvel's existence. It does, of course, mean that the argument is nothing particularly new; it's one that we've seen more than enough in this universe, but it certainly could be changed a bit, especially as we learn more about Dimitrios, whose true identity seems hidden. The team itself is not unimpressive, even for their relative inexperience, as they jump into their roles readily. The story is still a little bogged down in itself but the characters have enough definition to pull through as it stands. If this book can really get rolling on all cylinders, I think we'll have a solid title on our hands. As is, I think there's some strong writing and some strong characterization (I still can't get a read on the AI masses and Dimitrios, though that may be intentional) with a story that seems interesting but also doesn't seem eager to let people in.

Infinity 4

Infinity 4
Hickman (w) and Opeña and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)

Cap and the resistance have decided to come to the Builders to surrender while, on Earth, Thanos fights Black Bolt to find his son. Let's deal with Earth first, though the stories are mingled in the book. On Earth, the machine Maximus the Mad has built has been activated by Black Bolt's scream. The machine's purpose is to convert the incredibly powerful sound to light which then carries the power of the Terrigen crystals, which activate Terrigenesis, the process by which Inhumans develop their powers, all over the world. Anyone on the planet, then, who has Inhuman DNA in their line somewhere (and there is a great number of people to whom that applies) is transformed, including Thanos' son, who lives with a sect of Inhumans who do not have access to a full Terrigen crystal. Thane, the son of Thanos, had been a healer for his people. As his powers manifest, he accidentally kills seemingly everyone in the village. Meanwhile, Thanos not-so-accidentally seemingly kills Black Bolt. :(  Back in space, the Builders have agreed to meet with a sole representative to accept surrender from the resistance, an act which the Builders will broadcast throughout Hala, where the surrender will take place, and to all the other worlds. Cap sends his best representative, Thor, who is told to disarm himself, which he does with a quick prayer to Mjolnir and an awfully impressive throw into the atmosphere. When Thor is met by the Builder controlling Hala, he explains that they are planning to surrender but that he demands certain assurances. The Builder slaps him and demands he kneel instead. Thor does kneel and we get a little Avengers as the Builder gives him the Loki speech of "is this not your rightful place?" As Thor is reprimanded by the Builder and told of humanity's fate, Mjolnir zooms through the cosmos, going so far as to charge itself through a sun before turning back. Clever readers may see where this is going. The villain keeps soliloquizing and we get a few more shots of Mjolnir (seriously, I'm laying this out for you) before finally, Thor responds saying to the Builder's threat that mankind is done by saying that he is not a man before Mjolnir hurtles back to his hand, crashing through the Builder and killing him. It is telegraphed. It is not a secret. And it is amazing.

Man, I really did intend to write a shorter review here but an awful lot happened and then we got into that whole Terrigenesis explanation and Mjolnir and speeches and geez, here we are. Really solid issue. The decision to split the issue up explicitly with white title pages separating chapters continues to be a really great decision, as it gives the reader more than enough time to settle between each story and reset a bit, which is pretty necessary in a weighty book like this. Black Bolt's heroics are meaningful and well-executed and gee I hope he's not dead. If he is dead, though, he died the way you'd expect him to, which certainly counts for a lot in an event. Meanwhile, the space plot keeps building steam and the seeds planted by Hala's surrender bear wonderful fruit as we get to see Thor and the resistance's mighty answer. Like I said above, there's nothing about this, particularly when Thor is shown as the representative and when he tosses Mjolnir into the sky with a quick prayer, that wasn't foreseeable but it still really pays off in a big way, both physically (with the great artwork and fantastic layout) and emotionally (with the idea of the triumphant freeing of a conquered land and its people). Really excellent issue with as strong an ending as any event of recent. I'm genuinely excited to see what comes next.


Single review today for a few reasons. I meant to team this with Avengers Arena and AI but I couldn't get my hands on Arena. I considered teaming it with Cap and Thor but I already have those set for later in the week and splitting Avengers Arena and AI didn't work for me. Also, it's already pretty late and I'm real tired so the rest will come in the coming days. Isn't this one long enough for you guys? Let's pretend I had planned this so you could marvel (Marvel) over this book. Love you guys, see you tomorrow.

Comics this week

Couple of big books out there this week and plenty to choose from for my pre-game picks. Speed round!

Astonishing X-Men 68
For real, the final issue this time. Last issue left us in a good place, wrapping up the last mini-arc and giving our team a chance to really have an issue to themselves as the long-lasting series comes to an end.

Avengers Arena 16
Another Avengers Arena issue so another Avengers Arena issue makes the pre-game (speaking of, I sure bet Captain America won't make this list! Haha, just kidding, it's totally next up). We're bound to see soon what became of Apex and Death Locket but will it come before the aftermath of Nara's death? Guys, there's seriously so much happening right now.

Captain America 12
Last issue's art change was somewhat welcomed; I liked Romita Jr.'s art on the book and it certainly managed to often fit the feel but, as great and well-respected of an artist as JRJR is, I'm not that upset to be getting a break from him. Excited to see how the new-look, no-regrets Cap will act or if last issue's symbolic history-burning was purely for the symbol of it. That's a pretty big commitment for Cap, given his history and his character. Ah, going too long on this one! Next book!

Infinity 4
We're halfway through Infinity and I think I'm finally willing to say that I'm enjoying this series and rather looking forward to the tie-in stuff. I'm about ready for some of it to come to an end (I don't need it taking up more time all the way across the universe) but it's certainly an engaging and interesting epic, worthy of the title "event." Hoping it keeps up as we pull past the halfway mark (ah, there's that negativity again! Quickly, on to the next book before it infects this post!).

Ultimate X-Men 32
Just a really, really good book. Li'l Wolverine is about to tear through Tian at Jean Grey's secret command while Utopia continues to prepare for a war they hope they can avoid with diplomacy and smart moves. The tension here is thick and I'm excited to see what use the series gets out of that.

This week's picks

Sorry about the somewhat erratic posting schedule this week (that may only concern me). I've just started a new job that I will, in theory, get paid for as opposed to this one which I only pretend to get paid for (unless someone wants to start doing that, right, literally anyone?). That could mean more erratic posts in the future. My thought is that either things will get much better with scheduling posts or much worse. We'll talk about it later, you guys. Anyway, this week's a little bit tricky because there weren't many standouts and, in fact, the non-standouts weren't all that good anyway. Let's talk about it ANYWAY.

Avengers Arena 15

This one never really has a non-standout issue and this week's was no exception. Some more character-building, even this late in the game and even with the character we're building dying in this issue. I think we're in for some really stellar finale books coming up. There's still so much to do in this book, so many plots that need wrapping and so many characters who need arcs resolved. The main villain of the piece hasn't come close to even being touched pretty much since issue one. Now Apex and Death Locket might be in the best position for that but god knows what way they'll go when we get down to it (mostly what way Apex will go and which way Death Locket will have to go as a result). That's not even to talk about what's going to happen with Anachronism as his girlfriend, with whom it seemed to be getting rather serious fairly quickly, has been killed by a monster his best friend, who not so secretly has a bit of a crush on him, turned into. Guys. That's a real sentence I just wrote about this series. Why aren't you reading this series?

Captain America 11

Another nice entry into what has been a pretty reliably solid new series for Cap. There's decidedly less action in this than in the first ten issues, giving Cap and the audience a chance to kind of catch their breath (though Nuke is still all action all the time). Emotionally, though, taking a breath isn't necessarily what Cap wants to do. He's still reeling from the loss of both Ian and Sharon and now he's being asked to reacquaint himself with a time period he left more than a decade ago. That's not easy for anyone, let alone someone who has so much loss in his past. The way to hopefully get through it? Forget the past, focus on the future. As good as separating from the past might be for Cap, who has always been anchored there in some way or another, it's still a bit of a gut-wrenching moment as he piles all of his memorabilia on the roof and sets it aflame. Tough stuff. Really interested to see what next issue brings.

Ultimates 30

This one came as a bit of a surprise to me. Not the quality of the book, that's been pretty solid for a good time now. It wasn't really on my radar for the last pick though until as I was doing my last check over the list of new comics this week. This beats out primarily Avengers and Deadpool (Mighty Avengers is somewhere not far behind but far enough out that it was only going to make it if every other book got injured this week). Avengers had, I think, just as good of a plot and solid writing but really, the male gaze thing I talked about in my review of it lingers for me as a big negative. Deadpool makes a surprise pull but I think Preston and the middle of the issue in general slowed the book down a bit too much to make the final leap. Ultimates, though, was a great lesson in tone and momentum swings, which are huge in a book like this. The plot has remained interesting and the characters have been key as every Ultimate gets a chance to shine at one point or another in this one. There's a lot to like here, even if it got a little muddled in the middle and maybe a little too "don't peak behind the curtains" at certain points. Solid stuff.


Best Cover
Avengers 19
Yu and L. Martin

Well, I mean, this one. Sure the issue lost some points for male gaze but boy if this cover isn't beautiful. Great characterization of Carol. Great, kind of haunting image. Fantastic colors. If I was in the comic shop and not concerned with reading every single issue of every single week, I'd look into buying this one to find more out about this character who resembles Captain Marvel but maybe in this reality I don't know her history so like, why's she on fire? The last issue of Captain Marvel featured Carol going Binary too but it wasn't quite as dramatic nor impressive as this (also I think it kind of ruined the surprise at the end of the issue, frankly). Really nice cover here.