Hawkeye 17, Black Widow 4

Hawkeye 17
Fraction (w) and Eliopolous and Aja (a) and Bellaire (c)

Back in issue six of HAWKEYE, Clint was invited into Simone's apartment to watch some holiday specials with her kids. This issue brings us back to those heady days with a frame of Clint sitting on the couch with the kids before all the pages between the first and last show us that cartoon, entitled "Winter Friends." The Winter Friends are a superhero group consisting of animals representing various holidays (including Santalope, the Kwanzaagator, the llama Rama-in-Pajamas, and Menorable, a cat with a menorah on its head) and they're up against one of their biggest foes yet: Mister Sun, who is turning the winter into summer, meaning no one needs the feeling of warmth and kinship provided by the winter holidays. With all of the Winter Friends defeated, Steve, the dog with no powers that they hang out with for some reason, is called into action. Joined by his smaller sidekick dog Lil and his brudder dog Herman, they set off to find the Winter Friends. They're attacked by the Dingoes, a bunch of tough dogs who slow up the three dogs. Eventually, three friend dogs Birdie, Lady, and Spooky jump in the fight and help Steve and his friends, despite his continued insistence that he can do it all by himself. He sets off alone for the sun palace and attacks Mister Sun, though he can't really do much against him without any powers. Steve continues the fight, though, because he's not going to let people get away with things just because no one will fight them. Eventually his other dog friends show up and save the Winter Friends, who summon Mother Winter to help them defeat Mister Sun. Before she goes, she calls Steve a good dog. Later, at the multidenominational pantheistic all-inclusive seasonal festivities, Steve thanks Lil for her help and admits he couldn't have done it without her. This lesson, though, may be lost on Clint, who has fallen asleep on the couch.

OKAY, first things first, I was totally wrong in my pre-game this week when I said this was promised to be "the dog issue of sign language issues." BUT, IN MY DEFENSE, the site I use to see what comics are out in a given week lied to me first. Now, about this issue, it's absolutely great. HAWKEYE has found this incredible little niche where it's able to do just absolutely insane things seemingly at will and, guess what, they always pull it off. This is a series that wasn't expected to go past about six issues; according to Fraction himself on the recent LiveWire podcast, he was on his way out of comics in that people were starting to stop calling when HAWKEYE was set to kick off. On top of that, Hawkeye never lasts more than about six issues whenever someone starts up a new series about him. Instead, it took off and did really well, well enough to justify issues like the dog issue and the time-bending and the interesting storytelling and so on. So it does unheard of things (which I think has also inspired Marvel to allow others to try new things, sometimes working and sometimes not) and, most importantly, it always pulls them off and are always worth reading. This issue has series regular artist David Aja illustrating the first and last page, the frame with Clint, and series regular letterer and children's book artist and cartoonist Chris Eliopolous drawing all the pages in between to give it a real sense of a cartoon holiday special. It's incredibly well done and the beats are all funny and sweet as Steve attacks everyone who tries to help him. Perhaps the funniest part is when Birdie, Spooky, and Lady appear as the comic drops all pretenses of passing for a regular special (Birdie, Spooky, and Lady, who represent Mockingbird, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman respectively, all very obviously have explicit ties to their counterparts). Things start to get more and more obvious throughout the issue, presumably as Clint loses any grip on the show as he falls asleep. Really great stuff in here and very, very sweet. If you came here for the ongoing story of the HAWKEYE series, this one may disappoint you, as, you know, it's a children's holiday special set in a HAWKEYE issue that was over ten issues ago. However, if you're here because you've liked what the book has done so far, you'll love it.

Black Widow 4
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Black Widow gets caught up in an assassination plot when she's sent to go plant bugs in a foreign embassy only to have the embassy blown up while she's outside. She spots the bomber and gives chase over the rooftops but, when she catches up to him, he mutters a Russian word and cracks a hole in the ceiling of the church they're standing on, sending them both to the ground. Natasha blacks out with a broken arm while her assailant escapes. Her next step, under the authority of Maria Hill, is to spy on a meeting in the Cabinet of Ministries in the Ukraine to find what they know. She finds that they haven't authorized this man, Molot Boga, but that his next target is the Croatian ambassador, who will soon be stopping off in South Africa. Sure enough, when the ambassador arrives, Molot Boga is standing in the middle of the street, giant machine guns blazing. Natasha tries to intercept but has some trouble with accuracy with her broken arm. Still, she gets a couple of shots on him, though it seems to do him no harm. He calls himself the Hammer of God and continues to rail bullets against her. When he runs out on his giant machine gun, he fires a grenade at her, knocking her back into a storefront and giving him the opportunity to assassinate his target. He's in the wind before she can recover. She vows to follow him and meets with Hill to procure what she needs. Meanwhile, Molot meets with his benefactor, the man Molot may believe is God, and tells him that his next target is hard to kill and recommends that he destroy the plane the man is coming in on, regardless of the casualties.

This series has done something really interesting in its layout, something that comic books don't tend to do these days. BLACK WIDOW spent its first three issues creating this Natasha and showing her doing her work around the world. Some of it, of course, has seeds that will be harvested later, but the first three issues were more episodic than serial, in that you could follow the action and the character choices but, by the end of the issue, the story was over. Of course, the Iron Scorpion is someone likely to return but the story he first appeared in here ended with the issue, not a "to be continued" sort of thing. I think it served the series well. Natasha is a character, as I mentioned in my review for SECRET AVENGERS this week, who tends to flummox writers some, unsure if they should make her somewhat maniacal or somewhat unhinged or completely cold and efficient or, you know, more human. This series has a very clear view of Natasha, a very human view, and so sets about establishing that before it tries anything else. HAWKEYE, actually, was not too too different. Of course, there were even more seeds at the start of that series, with appearances by the tracksuit draculas and a slew of supervillains and so on, but every issue ended without an explicit "to be continued." Most books now immediately plunge into arcs within the first or second issue. Here, though, Edmondson and Noto have chosen to give the audience some time to get into the character and the style of storytelling before getting us into a full story. I think it's going to really pay off. Another wonderful issue with absolutely gorgeous art. Phil Noto's Natasha may be my favorite Natasha. Amazing stuff.

Hawkeye 15, Fantastic Four 1

Hawkeye 15
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

The Barton boys are trying to piece together what the tracksuit draculas are up to with the help from Team Clint's Exes. Mockingbird drops by to tell Clint that she's followed the records of the strip club he busted up through several shell companies and eventually to its own, Ivan Banionis, the man Clint had deported before buying the building. She also has figured out that he and his companies own every building for three blocks except Hawkeye's, making him a big ol' target for them. Next up is Black Widow, who has dug up 18 murders in the tri-state area that seem to be a result of the tracksuits and their hitman, who Natasha warns Clint is practically a ghost, someone who can sign his work as loudly as he wants because no one knows anything about him. Meanwhile, a backroom meeting commences as the shady people above the tracksuits discuss the plans for the land, a three block by three block premiere luxury shopping center that would replace the medium and low income housing currently in the area. The only hold-up is Clint's building which the Clown, out of disguise (or into it, I suppose), says is still legally owned with the city by Ivan Banionis and that Clint's name appears as "interim superintendent and owner," a title the Clown doesn't think is terribly legal. He meets with the tracksuits next to tell them that Clint's stay there isn't exactly legal, which means that he can't call the cops on them so they don't really have to worry about the little games they've been playing; instead, they can go for a full attack. Clint and Barney beat up a bunch of the tracksuits in a van on the street but are rushed back inside when they hear Simone screaming. They run to her apartment and take out a few more tracksuits before Spider-Woman meets up with them in their apartment to tell Clint that he can't just "buy" the building, that things aren't that easy. Barney asks how the tracksuits got in and Clint realizes it must have been the roof and that they could still be inside. Clint runs downstairs and checks outside but the van is gone. As he comes back in, the Clown stabs him in the head with his own arrow and shoots an oncoming Barney in the gut before leaving both Barton boys on the ground.

Here's the thing about HAWKEYE that's been so rewarding for readers: that summary. Not, like, I did a really good job with it or anything like that (I'm fishing for compliments here, dear reader, take a hint, okay?), but the fact that it's so packed with things that happened. Every part of the issue was important and I STILL didn't cover everything in the book. Despite how jam-packed it is, the comic reads really well. It moves quickly, it keeps you exactly the right amount off-balance to keep you reading and entertained but not overly confused or lost, it has compelling characters with compelling relationships, and it's ultimately about the failures of Hawkeye more than the successes. Granted, it's a slightly different feel when Kate is our star because, simply put, Kate succeeds more. Hawkeye is a hero with the Avengers, he's someone who always shows up, usually does his part (which is sometimes actually helpful), and goes home. At home, though, he's a different person, trying to do his best with just about no sense of the actual world. This book was created by someone who understood Clint's life, who saw the bigger picture of Clint Barton. He was an orphan, he became a circus act, and he moved into a life of crime before being plucked from it and becoming an Avenger, which he's been ever since. That didn't leave a lot of time for studying or for understanding the way the real world worked, which is why Clint is where he is now. It's all summed up in an exchange with Jess where he says that he's just trying to do the right thing, that what the tracksuits were doing wasn't right and he wanted to fix it. When she tells him it's not that easy, he mutters "yeah, but it should be." Perfect Clint, perfect book, another good issue. AND GUYS, this analysis didn't even mention the fact that the Barton boys are seriously injured by issue's end.

Fantastic Four 1
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Kesel (a) and Aburtov (c)

The Fantastic Four are back, donning new red costumes and out to save the city again. The issue is framed by a letter from Sue to her kids which is very much the style of "how did things go wrong?" sort of storytelling, where we know something has happened to break this family up but we have to build our way there. She says that Reed is now a broken man, a shell of himself who she sometimes hates for everything that's happened, that Ben is in jail after Reed's testimony, and that Johnny is a wild card, a loose cannon, etc. BUT HOW? Well it apparently starts with them fighting Fin Fang Foom in downtown New York, which causes Reed to ask why he suddenly seems out of control, no longer the plotting and planning foe of theirs that he's used to. They defeat him pretty quickly and go their separate ways, with Reed and Sue watching over the house and the FF, missing Valeria who went to stay in Latveria after some anger at her parents, Ben going to see on-again-off-again girlfriend Alicia Masters, and Johnny going to see his rock-star manager. All seems to be back on track for the F4 until, late at night, some monsters burst out of Reed's lab and into New York.

James Robinson has been in comics for a couple of decades now but I'm only just getting around to hearing about him. He's spent much of his time over at DC with long stints with characters like Superman and Starman but, as you may have guessed, I don't have a whole lot of history with DC. Pretty much, I know Batman and even that is at a far lesser level than I know about the more minor Marvel characters. Robinson's written things for Marvel before but I can't safely say that I've read it (he did a few issues of HEROES REBORN: CAPTAIN AMERICA and I'd hazard a guess to say I've read them, as I've read some HEROES REBORN and I love Captain America, but I can't recall anything about them so here we are). Now he's the writer of the ongoing ALL-NEW INVADERS and FANTASTIC FOUR. This long intro to James Robinson is essentially just my way of talking for a while before I have to say that I'm getting a similar vibe out of both of these books and that vibe is the same sort of vibe, albeit less egregious, I get from Robinson's fellow countryman Paul Cornell, he of WOLVERINE. I have less patience with Cornell after the last WOLVERINE series because it just flat-out bored me, which Robinson has not yet done with either of these two books. However, there is a robotic kind of feeling to the writing that kind of shows there are characters here but makes it feel like, even this early into both series, we're not going to get anything new from these characters. New stories, new situations, sure, but the characters themselves seem like such boilerplate versions of the characters we already know. That said, we are EXTREMELY early into both FANTASTIC FOUR and ALL-NEW INVADERS so I'd be delighted and unsurprised if they turned me around (I'd also be surprised if I ever got to the point with these books that I have with WOLVERINE) and this may be nothing more than an incorrect gut feeling but it's worth noting that it's certainly what my gut is telling me right now.

Superior Spider-Man 27, Secret Avengers 15

Superior Spider-Man 27
Slott (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

GOBLIN NATION is finally in full swing (SWING, guys, like how Spider-Man swings, are you with me on this?) as the glitch in Spidey's spider-bots has finally become apparent to the controversial hero. After a slew of these anomalies, Spider-Man throws himself into his work, ignoring his responsibilities to Parker Industries and Anna Maria. Finally he tracks down Uatu Jackson, who designed the facial recognition software in the spider-bots, and the two of them realize that Spidey can use the program's constant refresh to track where the block is coming from. He goes down an abandoned subway line and finds himself face-to-face with the Green Goblin. The two talk and Goblin reveals that, through the captured Carlie's journal, they've discovered who Spider-Man really is, offering to partner with Otto to rule the city. Spider-Man rejects him and prompts Goblin to attack. Fortunately for Spidey, he had sent a hologram of himself in from Spider Island. Less fortunately, Goblin doesn't cede victory so easily and orders a strike from his troops waiting just outside Spider Island.

Even though the players have changed, this is shaping up to be a classic Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin fight. I've talked plenty about how Otto is a new sort of Spider-Man (whether or not you believe he's superior), one who relies on planning and preparation more than Peter ever did. In that respect, it makes this battle more of the sort of chess game style battle than you usually see out of this pair, which is largely driven by irredeemable actions by Goblin met with inconsolable rage by Spider-Man. This one will still have some of those points to it, particularly as Otto takes it extremely personally whenever he's outplayed, but the opening gambit here finds Otto sending in a hologram to scope out the area while Goblin lays siege to Spider Island. That's not even to get into the subplots of J. Jonah Jameson commissioning new Spider Slayers, a testament to how much he hates Spider-Man right now given that the last appearance of the Slayers ended with his wife's death, and ensuring that Spider-Man knows that they work by his hand and the fact that Peter is still trying to work his way out of his own body's memories to gain control of the body itself. He throws himself into Otto's memories to hide and finds himself almost immediately swept up in them, hoping to retain himself as he lays low to plot and plan against Otto. Need another subplot? Captain Watanabe is still after Peter for the disappearance of Carlie Cooper and the Avengers are still suspicious of Spider-Man. Geez, you guys. There's still a lot of ground to cover before April's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1.

Secret Avengers 15
Spencer and Kot (w) and L. Ross (a) and M. Wilson (c)

All of the active Secret Avengers are in the same place now as Clint breaks into Bobbi's quarters to get her out, only to discover that her memories are shattered and that she's incredibly confused and unsure of what's happening. At times she remembers Clint and that she killed Taskmaster and why that was bad but at others she forgets everyone around her. They escape and rejoin Natasha and Fury who, with the unseen help of Mentallo, defeated the Shang-Chi adaptoid. Together, they all make their way for the submarine they arrived in but Forson has other plans. He orders his small team to prepare for attack, commanding them to take Mockingbird down first as she has the most intel on AIM. Before he gives the order to take the shot, the team is accosted by Yelena Belova and instantly she and Mockingbird begin to wrestle. They disappear from view for a moment and, as soon as Mockingbird emerges, Forson has his sniper take the shot, killing her instantly. Clint jumps to her aid while Fury and Natasha take care of the rest of the team. As they pile into the submarine, Clint still carrying Mockingbird, the camotech on Mockingbird disengages to reveal that it was actually Yelena Belova who was shot and who is now in their possession.

Neat little trick ending though it was somewhat telegraphed by a Chekhov's gun style mention of the camotech as Clint rescued Bobbi in the first place and as we don't see "Belova's" body after Mockingbird stands. Still doesn't exactly tell us what's happening with Mock but we can likely assume it's something and not just "oh, she's dead too, Belova killed her but now Belova's dead." There's also some weight to parts of this issue that involve Maria Hill and MODOK working out the kinks of their new and very strained relationship, including the hint that Forson has a double agent working in SHIELD (surprise, SHIELD is beset by double agents and corruption). Luke Ross' art is impressive here and manages to stay emotive even in the midst of big fight scenes, which is always tricky. At times, the style of the book's art and the book's layout confuse unnecessarily, including a long sequence where Fury duels with a sniper, but you can more or less get easily past it just knowing it's a fight scene and Fury wins, all set. There's still one more issue of this iteration of SECRET AVENGERS before it nearly instantly reboots in March but this issue does a nice job setting up the ending of this little story.

Secret Avengers 14, Cataclysm - Ultimates 3

Secret Avengers 14
Spencer and Kot (w) and Guice and Rubinstein (a) and Wilson (c)

Our story is happening on about three fronts right now. On AIM Island, Mockingbird is being reprogrammed by AIM Scientist Supreme Andrew Forson. He's giving her memories that span back years and years and make her believe that she's been all for the AIM Island plan since the start. Forson is trying to completely overwrite and eradicate Bobbi's old mind but Bobbi's not quitting just yet. Elsewhere on AIM Island, Mentallo continues to seclude himself, clearly still not so thrilled with the way things are going. He learns of Taskmaster's death and it seems to depress him further. Back on the helicarrier, MODOK dispenses more AIM intel to Maria Hill. On the AIM submarine en route to AIM Island, Yelena Belova transports Fury, Hawkeye, and Black Widow to AIM Island. When they arrive, they break out of their handcuffs and prepare to finish their assault on the island.

I've had problems in the past with this series for what seemed like a lack of focus. I think it rather continues here as we're reaching a point where all of the plots are kind of coming to a head but some of them kind of feel like they're not done yet. I read this issue late on Wednesday (I was trying to review it for Wednesday, as I do with almost every AVENGERS title, but I didn't get my hands on it until late) and flipped through it again briefly today to refresh my memory and the flip through made me like it more than I had. I think that, as a book with various acts and plots coming together and things like that it works rather well. However, when reading the issue all the way through, it's really easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of it. I don't know if that's a function of needing to rush to get through everything before the series "ends" next issue (the reboot comes a little later this year) or if it's simply not wanting to spend more time on establishing the reprogramming and everything else. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate that they don't want to spend more time on it but I think cramming more words and images in doesn't necessarily speed things up. Ah well, I guess we'll see as this one ends down next time. Maybe...maybe Bucky will return?

Cataclysm - Ultimates 3
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Quintana and Charalampidis (c)

Hercules continues to fight the horde of infected while Danny Ketch, Fury, and Dum Dum Dugan put Punisher down and prepare to take the fight to Tarleton, running the whole thing from his floating city. They key in on Falcon's coordinates and, after picking up Herc, teleport up there. Hercules attacks Tarleton and wrenches him from running the Gah Lak Tus swarm, leaving an opening for Falcon to work on cutting Tarleton's influence off. He's able to do it but he realizes that just killing Tarleton won't be enough; someone has to take his place to run everything or else the infected won't become uninfected. Without a second thought, Danny jumps into the spot and, with the help of Falcon's instructions, saves everybody still infected, sacrificing himself in the process. Tarleton tries to escape, summoning some of the swarm to him to try to get away but Ketch directs the remaining Ultimates to leave the floating city and he destroys it, catching Tarleton in the explosion. The civilians are restored (those who weren't destroyed as members of the swarm, anyway) and the newly restored Giant Woman helps to catch civilians falling from the sky. They laud Danny's sacrifice and Danny himself, our narrator for the story, is surprised when he finds that he's actually not dead; he's greeted by Agent Coulson and told that they spent a lot of money rebuilding him. They're calling him Machine Man now.

Pretty cool finale to this little mini series as CATACLYSM itself starts to wind down, ready to give way to the new-look Ultimate Universe. Fialkov has done a pretty good job with the rising tension, climax fight, redemption stuff we've seen in the last year from him (between ALPHA and all of his work in the Ultimate Universe). It's no different here as Ketch has a pretty strong narrative throughout and brings it to a head as he talks about the problems he's had and the person he's been that's led him to this spot but ultimately brings it to a head as he remembers the promise he made to himself and to his family to not let someone die while he was just standing by. It's a nice little mini-series and a solid ending for the mini as the new Ultimates manage somehow to survive the day and come out a little ahead (I mean, they lose Punisher but they'll live). Nice book.

Avengers Assemble 22, Secret Avengers 13

Avengers Assemble 22
DeConnick and Ellis (w) and Buffagni and Diaz (a) and Woodard (c)

Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman, and Black Widow have been captured by Kashmir Vennema and AIM and Vennema is prepared to have them killed. Thanks to Spider-Woman's pheromone control, though, it doesn't happen, as Jessica befuddles all the guys guarding them in the room and uses her spider bursts to get them out of their binds, allowing them to dispatch the AIM guards easily. They enlist the help of Wolverine and Bruce Banner to surprise Vennema in her private car and find out who she sold the Inhuman cocoon to. Vennema reveals that it was Toxie Doxie, Dr. June Covington, and the Avengers (after a sincere scare to Vennema) reconvene at Avengers Tower. Spider-Girl and Spider-Woman plan to go after Covington (the others, including Black Widow, have to back out and deal with other problems around the globe), who has done some research of her own into her detonated cocoon. She managed to salvage the man inside and has reasoned that he doesn't show up on mechanical scans, a power she'd like to add to her own collection. Her penchant for accruing genetic abilities means that, by issue's end, she's identified the gene in Anya's teacher that is responsible for his new powers.

Another pretty interesting issue as the tie-ins to INHUMANITY continue to press on. I'm not wholly decided on them, positive or negative, just yet and I think it would probably be wrong to lump them all one way or another anyway but it's certainly, in many cases, provided for some intriguing stories. Here, as with the entirety of AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, the key to the issue's appeal comes from the typically fun and entertaining writing. The team interacts far differently in this series than it does in any other, but not in a way that entirely breaks character. They just seem more friendly with one another here, or, in the very least, far more personable. Not to say characters are done poorly in, say, AVENGERS, but that book has its focus and tone and this book's focus and tone tend to be a bit different. It's always nice to have this book around, which gives us a somewhat lighter feel for the team, not always so incredibly heavy but with its own sorts of drama and tension. Comic pro Warren Ellis jumps in to co-write with regular writer (and rising star at Marvel and in comics in general) Kelly Sue DeConnick but the series tone doesn't seem to shift in any real way, feeling as natural and as fresh as any other issue. Fun book, always a pleasant surprise.

Secret Avengers 13
Spencer and Kot (w) and Guice, Rubinstein, and Palmer (a) and Wilson (c)

Things are going badly for the Secret Avengers as Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Fury have been ambushed at the underwater AIM station MODOK had led them to, Mockingbird is still in the field and apparently discovered, and their one useful outside-asset is the ever-unreliable Taskmaster. MODOK and Maria Hill bicker about whether or not he's setting her up and what he has to gain from SHIELD's involvement taking down Scientist Supreme Forson. In another attempt to gain favor with Hill, he reveals another secret base and Hill sends Banner and Iron Patriot there to collect AIM secrets at the base, which Forson detonates shortly after their arrival. She again accuses MODOK of treachery and he again says that he wants Forson removed and points her to her own organization as having leaks in it. Meanwhile, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Fury have been captured by what seems to be some AIM-led adaptoids and are being transported back to AIM Island. Taskmaster is betrayed by his new apprentice, a beekeeper who turns out to be Anton Trask, and is apparently executed by Mockingbird at the behest of Forson.

Plenty happening here and it's getting a little tricky to keep track of it all. I have to say, I think the idea of pitting MODOK against Hill in a battle of possible lies vs. almost definite incompetence is probably the best way to build suspense while also keeping to continuity in a SHIELD book. As I was writing this review, I kept saying "boy, how could she be so stupid as to send teams in on MODOK's advice?" At the same time, I don't necessarily believe that MODOK is lying; I believe him when he says that he wants Forson deposed and that AIM has become something unrecognizable to him, not to mention that I believe him when he says that he could have just sent a proxy in to tell Hill these things and keep out of harm's way. However, by the same token, this is MODOK we're talking about and, to add to it, Hill seems to be playing this guns blazing, even worse than Daisy sending a hit team to AIM Island in retribution for killing her friend. This keeps MODOK in character, playing his cards to regain AIM's control, and keeps SHIELD in character, being terrible. Boy, do these guys miss the original Nick Fury or what? Anyway, plenty happening and I'll admit that I'm going to be pretty sad if Taskmaster is actually dead. Always liked that guy. Also interested to see what's happening with Bobbi; I hope she too isn't dead but I don't believe that she's a traitor, which doesn't seem to fit her character in any way. Probably something more with adaptoids, am I right?

Inhumanity 1, Young Avengers 13, Secret Avengers 12

Inhumanity 1
Fraction (w) and Coipel and Morales (a) and L. Martin (c)

The Terrigen Mists have flooded the Earth, revealing new Inhumans all over the planet. To add to the confusion about the new Inhumans, Attilan has fallen and our core Inhumans are spread about the world. Karnak, one of the wisest Inhumans, has gone a little crazy and the Avengers try to talk him down before having to bring him down and contain him at Stark Tower. Hawkeye gets him talking a bit and, as Karnak relates the history of the Inhumans, more Avengers filter in to listen and ask questions, including the Illuminati and Cap, among others. Karnak explains the origin of the Inhumans, the Kree experiments that led one-time neanderthal humans to be enhanced and to evolve faster. He talks about the Terrigen Mists as a way to enhance the new Inhumans further, to prevent the Kree from ever coming back and trying to absorb them into their kingdom. With the Terrigen Mists came the splintering of Inhuman tribes, with many Inhumans refusing the Mists and separating from the core of the people. As they separated and spread further over time, more and more Inhuman children were born and then had children and so on, never exposed to the Mists. Karnak deduces that Black Bolt and Maximus brought down Attilan, an unfortunate side-effect to their true goal: world-wide Terrigenesis of these hidden Inhumans. At this point in the explanation, Medusa has shown up and questions Karnak further. Things start to piece together in Karnak's head faster than he can explain them and he realizes that he's made an error in calculations and that, to survive as the new leader of the Inhumans, Medusa will have to forget everything she knows about their past and their people. As he says this, he bemoans the fact that he was wrong and that he failed her so, all while using his finger to crack the unbreakable Wakandan crystal that the window is made of. The window shatters and before Tony can turn off the forcefield keeping him in, he throws himself from the building. They manage to get in and peer down in time to see his body on the ground below, dead.

Ominous start to this little event. It's a little hard to say what this event is going to entail and how long it's going to last, let alone the effects. The start was pretty strong, with solid writing and, somehow, still enough time for characterization. The INHUMANITY checklist at the back of the issue lists a lot of tie-in books but nothing by way of an event ongoing or anything like that, though I believe there's supposed to be an INHUMANS book coming, from Fraction as well, that will be an ongoing by itself, not serving as an event or anything of the sort. Still, this issue serves as a great introduction to the Inhumans for people who aren't so familiar but covers enough new ground so as to not bore longtime Inhuman fans. As I said, on top of the expanding plot and the need to educate, a solid amount of characterization comes through, helped by the fact this this book is a bit longer than a typical one, just shy of a true double-issue. Nice start to this whole little event and something certainly worth exploring further.

Young Avengers 13
Gillen (w) and McKelvie w/ Norton and Thompson (a) and Wilson (c)

Loki, as Loki does, was manipulating everything. He betrayed Mother, he created all of their resurrected villains (not the ones from the other dimensions, but the ones who directly impacted our heroes, except the Patri-not, who is still mysterious and about), and it's only after America sacrifices herself to save him that he realizes what he's done. It's not a full sacrifice, though the intention was there; she dove in front of the Ultimate Nullifier's ultimate nullifier to protect Loki but, of course, it was eventually revealed to be Loki-created so it goes away when Loki confesses. And Loki does confess; he confesses everything, even up to the fact that he's a copy of the old Loki who was left to destroy the kid Loki (of JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY fame), and that he's not the murderer Loki, he's the murderer's weapon Loki. With the confession, there enemies disappear and Loki is able to save Teddy from being a chair. David convinces him to go to Billy and to give him the strength he needs, reassuring him that whatever it is they have, whatever started it, is really love. With their love rekindled, Billy is able to ascend to Demiurge status and look over creation, enough to vanquish Mother once and for all before being pulled back to his real place in the world (had he stayed, he might have fixed everything or, as Loki points out, he might just have broken it more). With the spell gone, the adults of the world would have been able to see the other-dimensional invading villains and so, rather than get destroyed, they all go home. Everyone (including Billy's parents) is restored to normal and Loki disappears, hiding himself away from the rest of the team. It's not the end, it only feels like it.

I'm not sure how much more I have left to say about this series as a whole. It's wonderful. Every issue has a real and defined root in its characters and the story has been built upwards from that. As impressive as the plot has been (or, perhaps, as the characters would likely tell you, as cliche) it's all worked because this book and a sincere love for its characters and for its storytelling, which is sometimes more important than the story itself. The plot of this issue involved everything coming to a head, all of the plots we've already seen including Loki's past, Loki's manipulations, Billy and Teddy, Mother, the Patriot, parents, Kate and Noh-Varr, America's past, and more AND YET, everything I'm taking away from this issue has to do with the characters and the way the story unfolded (and with the art, but that's a different bit entirely). That's not to lessen everything plot-wise that happened here; it's to show how well-formed and important these characters are. Loki has a huge, emotional moment. Billy has a huge, emotional moment. Teddy has a huge, emotional moment. Prodigy has a huge, emotional moment. America has a couple huge, emotional moments. Kate has a huge, emotional moment. Noh-Varr has a huge, emotional moment. This issue is normal length and it never once drags. It could probably have used more space but Gillen and McKelvie made sure it didn't need it. the plots, the characters, the questions, they're all resolved by issue's end. Well, not resolved, maybe, but addressed, certainly. It's a truly wonderful book with some of the most awe-inspiring art I've seen in comics in the last few years. That is to say, it's just another issue of YOUNG AVENGERS.

Secret Avengers 12
Spencer and Kot (w) and Guice (a) and Wilson (c)

Mockingbird is still deep undercover at AIM and not exactly sure why. Unfortunately, she doesn't have much time to figure it out as she's expected, in the guise of her AIM officer, to give a presentation on a project she's supposedly working on to the high council. She tries to stumble through it but eventually Scientist Supreme Forson reveals that he knows she's Mockingbird and they bring her to the interrogation room. Forson's show in front of the high council only engenders more distrust towards him, which might be part of why a group of AIM scientists has gone to Maria Hill to try to work out a deal. A faction of AIM, not led by Forson, wants things to go back to the old way but to work with SHIELD more than against, like, as they describe it, Nazi scientists working with American scientists after the war. She's skeptical so they offer her, in exchange, knowledge about Forson's secret underwater base, where he's training his black ops team. She sends Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye to check it out and they're quickly set upon by Yelena Belova and her troops and someone who looks and acts an awful lot like Avenger Shang Chi. By the end of the issue, Maria Hill has discovered that these scientists, the ones who don't want to keep working under Forson, are led by someone else: Modok.

Let's talk about SHIELD a bit. I've had some qualms with this series in the past because, by its very mission statement, SHIELD pretty much runs this op. Ask me how many times I've actually sided with SHIELD over the course of a series, let alone wanted to follow their exploits. I'll assume you asked. Twice. Steranko was a legend with them, Hickman was great with them. The thing about SHIELD is that, in most Marvel superhero comics, they're opposing the superhero in question in one way or another. Sure they might work alongside now and again and, perhaps, as an entity, they're not as bad as AIM or someone along those lines. As an entity, they're trying to do good. That doesn't really help the fact that they tend to oppose our favorite superheroes. The other thing about SHIELD is that, typically, there are ulterior motives at play. When done well, this can mean an exciting wheels-within-wheels story, like Hickman developed back in SECRET WARRIORS. When done half-heartedly or with too many irons in the fire, it can weaken what might have already been a fairly weak story. I had the chance to talk recently over Twitter (the only way anyone talks these days, right?) with writer James Asmus about ABC's Marvel's Agents of SHIELD show, which it occurs to me I meant to review at some point and still haven't. Asmus was wondering why he liked the Marvel movies so much but didn't like SHIELD and I raised the points then that I raise now, about SHIELD being pretty terrible in the comics too, aside from Hickman and Steranko. He brought up the fact that there's no espionage element to it, no shady underside, pointing out that Captain America: Winter Soldier looks like it will delve into more (guys, it's seriously gonna be so awesome). He also mentioned that it feels like the show is limited in what it can use and not having something like Hydra or AIM is really hurting it. Why isn't AIM in that show? Seriously. Then I got to the last page of this issue and remembered a discussion my girlfriend and I had had about that very topic and about how Modok exists. Okay, whatever. The point is, this issue STILL DIDN'T HAVE WINTER SOLDIER IN IT.

Avengers Assemble 20, Hawkeye 13

Avengers Assemble 20
Ewing (w) and Larraz (a) and Woodard (c)

Tie-in to Infinity as we see some of the aftermath of the mass Terrigenesis alongside the Uncanny Avengers' Wasp, Wonder Man, and Scarlet Witch. They're forced to investigate Terrigenesis after defeating some of Thanos' troops and finding themselves suddenly up against a giant, naked man. He's startled but Simon, preferring his new non-violent ways, talks to him and they come to understand what's happened; the man's wife underwent Terrigenesis and the power she gained was the power to change the size of seemingly whatever she chooses. She accidentally giant-sized her husband while shrinking herself, her neighbor, and her neighbor's daughter (along with their house) into the micro-universe. Janet gets Wanda to shrink her down as well so she can go there and fight against Lord Gouzar, the tyrant who kept her there the months she was missing after Secret Invasion. She gets the newly powered woman to fight back against Gouzar and to size them all back up to normal while sizing her husband back down. It sets everything back to normal and helps the civilians get back to their normal life, which they hadn't had since their son died.

Nice little tie-in issue as Avengers Assemble defines itself some more. It's not just the main Avengers team, it's the smaller stories for all of the Avengers out there. This is a nice story but certainly a smaller one in the scale of the things that are happening in Infinity. Still, we get some good characterization from two characters I don't particularly care for and decent stuff out of Scarlet Witch. Wasp and Wonder Man have a pretty good argument about what Simon's non-violent pact really means which helps put both sides of the argument in good perspective. Simon believes that violence is never the answer and that his powers can be used for peace just as effectively but Janet argues that he still doesn't hesitate to call on the Avengers when things get hairy so why not just use his powers himself. I still think he's kind of on the dumb side of the argument, though I do get the idea of wanting to promote peace through non-violence as a superhero. Still, pretty dumb, right? That's what this issue kind of wants to ask and I think it does a good job of asking it. Nice issue for relationships and for characterizations and the like.

Hawkeye 13
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

Finally another new Hawkeye. In case you forget what happened last time, the intro page covers it nicely. They. Killed. Grills. This issue takes place mostly between Grills' death, which was after Clint's infidelity, and when Kate leaves, which is before the events of the annual. Time moves in very much its own way in this book and it's always worth it. This issue fills in some of the blanks in that time. He's writing a letter to Jess then has to go out on some Avengers business (with Jess, Black Widow, and Mockingbird) before getting called by Kate and learning that Grills has been killed. He drinks himself to sleep though gets interrupted part-way through by a call from Barney, who asks to come stay with him. Clint promises they'll meet the next night (though Barney, as we saw in his issue, mistakes it for day and ends up giving up on Clint before having to call again). Clint tells Grills' dad what happened to his son and his dad ends up moving into the building and taking up the spot his son had. Kate and Clint attend the funeral and Kate gives a really nice speech to a passed-out Clint. She leaves later, taking Lucky with her. Barney sticks around and Clint introduces him to the building.

Guys, I know you may be expecting a superhero book out of this (though I don't really know why at this point in the book's run you think you'll get one) but that summary above might tell you this isn't really that, not in the conventional way. It's still a wonderful book and I'm so glad to have it back (glad enough, in fact, that I decided to review four books after work today just because I wanted an excuse to read this one tonight). As I said above, time moves very much in its own way in this series, which has been a defining aspect of the run as a whole. It's very smartly done and, unlike, say, Infinity, it has no desire to keep you informed of how that works. You just kind of have to know or place it with your own reading skills. Infinity, of course, breaks up the different pieces of the story by nearly blank, white chapter title pages. Hawkeye moves back and forth in time in any given issue and you may not realize you missed time until four issues later. It's a masterpiece in its design and its seeming effortlessness chaos. Again, it doesn't feel like a normal superhero book but you won't even notice, if that's what you're looking for, because the writing keeps you so on your toes and the characters and story are so well-defined. Really great book. I believe another new one (focusing on Kate with Annie Wu art) is out next week. Pretty pumped, you guys.

New Avengers 9, Uncanny Avengers 11, Secret Avengers 8

New Avengers 9
Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c)

Thanos' army, led by his Black Order, is attacking Earth and, more specifically, attacking the Illuminati. After the events of Infinity 1, Thanos has learned that most of the Infinity Gems have been destroyed, shattered by the effort it took for Cap to blow up a planet. However, one simply disappeared. It's Thanos' prerogative, then, to hunt for that last gem by interrogating the Illuminati. Reed and Tony, together in New York City, use Stark Tower defenses to take down parts of the invading fleet while members of the Black Order lead squads to the other Earthbound Illuminati members. Dr. Strange is taken captive by the Ebony Maw, Beast and the X-Men are besieged by Corvius Glaive and Supergiant, Wakanda is attacked by Black Dwarf, and Atlantis, struggling after Wakanda's recent attack, is set upon by Proxima Midnight. The battles are fierce and our team wins some and loses some but the most important bits to take from it all is Proxima Midnight offering lenience to the already defeated Atlantis in exchange for information and the way Black Bolt reacts to it all from above New York in Attilan. Namor bows to Proxima, telling her that the Infinity Gem she seeks (and where she should point all of Thanos' troops) is in Wakanda, which managed to stave off Black Dwarf's attack but will have more trouble fighting off the rest of the army. Black Bolt, meanwhile, is ready to put his secret plans in motion.

Plenty happening here to coincide with Infinity 1 (this book, like Avengers 18 though only tangentially related, falls between Infinity 1 and 2, as evidenced by the pretty nifty and useful flowchart at the back of each book) and to push our story forward. We've been introduced to Thanos and his desires (which didn't take much introducing, as this is pretty much what Thanos does whenever Thanos shows up) as well as his Black Order, who will certainly have more to do with the coming story. It's still an interesting story and, as I've said plenty already, there's enough going on here to justify the event. It's really smart to have these two major event-scale things happening in one event because it will, over time, likely make us feel better about the length of the event (in this way, it will almost feel more like two separate events at half the size as opposed to an overly long single event that loses momentum halfway through). As for this issue, it continues the New Avengers tradition of being a solid series with, perhaps, a little less personality than you'd like. The story is still good enough and there are enough character-driven moments to keep things going (like Namor faux-bowing to point Thanos' troops at Wakanda) but the writing for the characters feels a little weaker. On the one hand, I think that the big plot removes some of the insider-feeling this and Avengers had both given, where you'd figure out what was going on maybe halfway through the issue and be left to deduce things yourself. Here, there isn't a ton of subtext; there are characters saying things that advance the plot left and right or that simply summarize bits here and there. It's still a good book but I think the actual writing takes a hit while it opens itself for more plot. Still not bad and it still makes the event feel pretty giant.

Uncanny Avengers 11
Remender (w) and Acuña (a and c)

Eimin and Uriel, with the help of their four horsemen, are moving forward with their plans to save mutants. This plan, unlike the two big plans mutants tend to adopt (cohabitation vs. war with humans), involves separation. Not in the style of concentration camps or anything of that ilk; more in the vein of Utopia or Asteroid X but in a bigger scale. A new planet fully inhabited by mutants, where mutants can be free to use their powers and do what they will while keeping humans on Earth and allowing them to do what they do (which is mostly hate mutants but, you see, fixing that now!). It's an interesting idea for peace though it obviously has its flaws, what with taking mutants by force to this new planet to live and forcing humans and mutants to separate. Also there's the matter of scale of the actual plan, though the twins believe they can combine the sheer power of Wonder Man (trapped by Grim Reaper in a machine of Uriel and Eimin's design) and the abilities of Scarlet Witch to up and move everyone all at once. It's hard to imagine that wouldn't work; Wanda deactivated nearly every mutant's powers with just words. Combined with Wonder Man, she could go greater. Meanwhile, Sentry's gone even crazier but is still strong as ever, if not stronger (certainly stronger in his crazy convictions), and is keeping Thor pretty well occupied off-planet while Daken has, with great ease and relish, killed Wolverine. Yes. That's a thing that happened. Granted, he's Wolverine, he was also killed in New Avengers this week (whoops!) so these things tend to work themselves out.

One of the impressive things about this book is that it seems to continually lose me a little in the middle as so many plot points converge on one another or as we get a little lost in speeches but they always manage to pull me back in, getting me invested even more by the end. This one certainly had a lot going on and needed to keep cutting back and forth a fair amount but started to bog down a little, particularly as Sentry lectured Thor, before leaping back up with the impressive cliffhanger of Eimin and Uriel addressing the world's population and Wanda seemingly consenting to aid them in their plan. Like I said above, the solution they've come up with isn't ideal but it's hard to argue that it's not practical and that, if everything happens the way it's been promised, it's not less bloody. It could still have major ramifications as the superhero community will be suddenly fairly weakened by the loss of so many heroes but it's an interesting idea and certainly an interesting story all the same. One last thing to mention: Sentry said that the Void has been left in the White Hot Room, which is either a weird expression being used nowadays that I'm not aware of or is the same White Hot Room that Fantomex mentioned in Uncanny X-Force.

Secret Avengers 8
Spencer (w) L. Ross (a) and M. Wilson (c)

Mockingbird has been left behind by SHIELD as part of the new Maria Hill-led takeover. It's left Bobbi in a precarious position, though, as she's left on AIM Island in her disguise as biologist Harold Bainbridge. She has no memory of the mission or any sort of briefing on the life that Bainbridge led, certainly not enough knowledge to get out or to call for SHIELD's help or anything. In fact, she's not even convinced she's who she thinks she is. She remembers being Mockingbird and has some inkling that the recent attack on AIM Island by Hawkeye, Nick Fury Jr., and Black Widow has something to do with her but the whole situation is throwing her through a variety of emotions. As the issue ends, she's lasted a couple days on the island by keeping her head down but now she's being dragged into giving a presentation that apparently Harold was supposed to give to the Council. We also get a look at the Council in slightly greater detail so we have a better sense of how AIM Island runs.

This is the first time since Hawkeye was taken captive in the first couple issues that we've seen the ramifications of the memory based espionage. There are several good moments within that and you can understand the choice for making Mockingbird the first significant test of this plot. She's had plenty of issues in her past and her most recent set of issues had to do with being taken and replaced by a Skrull, which is now weighing on her as she begins to consider that maybe she is a Skrull, placed here by Skrull higher-ups to infiltrate. It's not the best explanation and to someone on the outside of this it seems pretty obvious what the real case is, but she's not on the outside of this so her alternate explanation is "I started my day in the gym and then I was here on AIM Island in the body of a 40 year-old man named Harold Bainbridge AND THAT IS NORMAL," which is not great either. The look into AIM Island is kind of interesting but also a little slow. The series as a whole continues to be, for my money, the weakest Avenger book coming out right now but I still have high hopes for it as the ideas aren't bad and this is the first time we've really explored what those ideas are. Still, basing your book around SHIELD isn't really a recipe for success. Not a bad issue, though.

Secret Avengers 3, Hawkeye 9

Secret Avengers 3
Spencer (w) and Ross (a) and Wilson (c)

I think that the seeds are here for a good book. Maybe it's that I'm coming out of the books a little less confused than I've come out of Avengers and that Avengers is a bimonthly book so there's less time to wonder what comes next, but it's hard not to sit this book next to Avengers and wonder who's doing the better book. It's an unfair comparison for sure because Avengers is bimonthly and is on issue nine while Secret Avengers is only through issue three and has probably as many seeds planted (if not more) than Avengers had at issue three. However, sitting in my future chair secure in the knowledge of the way things are turning out over in Avengers, it's hard not to wonder about this book. It seems like things slowed down a little in this issue. That might just be because I tend to zone out a little when SHIELD gets involved (particularly problematic given the fact that these Secret Avengers are essentially the SHIELD Avengers team, as they point out in the series). However, both Avengers and Secret Avengers are planting seeds and sprinkling water and fertilizer on them so we can eventually see the results. Right now, I'd say the seeds sprinkled in Avengers are blooming a little more impressively. Again, this is totally an unfair comparison to make because Avengers has triple the books out over Secret Avengers right now, but I think the mystery is in the telling right now. Avengers is featuring new characters Ex Nihilo and Abyss playing roles we're unsure of and doing things we're not familiar with whereas Secret Avengers is featuring longtime villains AIM establishing a UN formally-recognized nation and asking us to question what they're up to and our answer has to be "something sinister." No one reading this book would believe (and I don't think that Spencer is asking us to) that AIM is up to anything near legitimate. Now they've stolen the Iron Patriot armor from the US government and are planning to put Mentallo into it. There are interesting things being built, particularly in Taskmaster's maybe-allegiance to SHIELD and in the idea that these Secret Avengers have to be brainwashed  to be accepted in missions, but none of that is really featured in this issue, which I think makes it a weaker issue than the previous two (which have featured both of those things in some order or another).
This book feels like it's still kind of finding its footing. Maybe I'm putting that onus on a book that doesn't deserve it but that's the way it's coming off right now. I don't think my own comparisons to Avengers are particularly fair but they're a little hard not to jump on to. I do think there are things happening right now and off-panel that are going to work to this book's favor and I'm still interested in seeing how Hulk and Winter Soldier (both teased for this team) are going to fit into the narrative, but I think right now we're reaching a pretty crucial point in this book, a point that's going to decide the type of book this is going to be. I think the SHIELD-run Avengers is an intriguing idea, especially when the members have to be brainwashed to accept missions, but SHIELD has never been a particularly interesting organization and that's even more true when Nick Fury (original, not current) isn't in charge. Fury always has that wheels-within-wheels thing going on that makes him an incredibly dynamic character and one who can usually be trusted but you never know quite why you're trusting him. Otherwise SHIELD often comes off as a bit inept at the best of times and entirely irritating (Maria Hill) at the worst. It'll be hard to structure an Avengers book around the organization but I think it's probably possible. The next few issues will go a long way in showing if this book is capable of it.

Hawkeye 9
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

This Hawkeye series, for the past nine issues, has done things that no other mainstream comic does. I think it does a lot of those things. It constantly plays with the narrative and the time in a way that no book, particularly books from Marvel, is willing to consistently do. It focuses on character in a way that most books don't. It humanizes its main superhero, an Avenger, in a way no other book can. It highlights relationships in a real way that no other series tends to do. And it does all of these things expertly. Through nine issues, Hawkeye has appeared in his Hawkeye costume for maybe two full pages, if that. Fraction joked during the holiday issue that Clint has now officially appeared in more panels with a Santa hat on than in his costume. It was a joke in that it was funny, but not in that it was untrue. I can't remember the last time Hawkeye shot someone with an arrow. That might be because I have a bad memory but it also might be because I don't think it's happened in months (real time, not book time). If you ask people who have a fleeting sense of Hawkeye or even who are big Marvel fans but have only seen Hawkeye in the Avengers books what Hawkeye's about, they'll say he's an archer and he has a purple costume. I can almost guarantee that. People who have seen him more might mention that he's hot-tempered and brash for someone with no powers. All of these people are right. So how is it that a book about Hawkeye wherein he never wears his costume and rarely shoots arrows is one of the best books being distributed by anyone anywhere?
It's a really great question and it all comes down to this creative team. I'll be honest, Hawkeye was one of my favorite characters early on in my comic reading but the last few years had kind of put a damper on him for me. He's an Avenger but his solo titles don't tend to last so it can be a little hard to get a true sense of him. He's snarky, sure, he's hot-tempered, definitely, he's a regular guy, okay. All of these things are somewhat true (regular guy is a push) but it's more or less what we had before this series. In recent years, his biggest writer was probably Bendis, who clearly loves the character (I might say a little too much) but who didn't have a ton of time to characterize because he was writing a thousand other characters between all his Avengers books so he mostly keyed in occasionally with something snarky. Fraction has changed that all by delving deeply into Clint's personal life and, as the book states at the start of every issue, the things he does when he's not being an Avenger. It's a bold move and it's paid off time and time again. This issue finds the women in his life, Black Widow (the work wife), Mockingbird (the ex-wife), Spider-Woman (the friend-girl), and Kate (Kate) trying to figure out what he's been getting up to in non-Avengers time. It's a really great idea because a.) it puts us in a place where we get to see Clint's relationships through a nice little lens and b.) it really cements the idea that this is truly the stuff he's doing when he's not an Avenger. It's often hard to kind of separate heroes out from their various allegiances and teams and what not because you'll get a pretty constant stream of guest stars in a book and references to the teams they're on or it's simply in the reader's mind. Fraction and Aja want you to forget all of that and realize that the Avengers know far less about what's happening in Clint's life than we'd assume, to the point where they don't even know where he lives, let alone what he's doing with his time. It's a really brilliant idea and it's presented wonderfully. Meanwhile, the plot moves forward as Natasha has a great scene wherein she catches Penny/Cherry (whose real name is finally revealed as Darlene Penelope Wright) and learns that Clint's in real trouble. We also get Kate and Bobbi beating up some tracksuit Draculas who are hanging outside of Clint's apartment and finally we get the clown from hell who shoots one of Clint's supporting characters and presumably fan-favorite Grills/Gil. This book really has everything; interesting plot, compelling threats, and fantastic characters. And it's all for 2.99 a month. Worth every cent and some (but don't take that as authority to raise the price, Marvel execs who no doubt read this).