Remender (w) and Romita Jr. w/ Janson, Palmer, and Hanna (a) and White and Rosenberg (c)
Cap, Jet, and Sharon all need to try to escape Zolandia while chased by mutates with the ticking time bomb (both figuratively and literally, since Sharon strapped explosives to it) that is Zola's battle station set to attack Earth. Adding to that is that Zola played on Jet's mind as he sacrificed himself for her, leaving her conflicted and realizing that she's now left with no father, no brother, and no home. Steve and Sharon work to convince her that she's doing the right thing but it's a little harried since they have to escape the attacking mutates and Zolandia before the battle station blows. As they close in on the finish, Zola reveals himself not to be dead (surprise) and to be, instead, a giant blue monster thing (actual surprise). The three don't have enough time to escape with Zola fighting them so Sharon says her goodbyes to Steve and slips out of his hand with the detonator and her gun. She fights Zola for a bit, giving enough time for Steve and Jet to push through (with Steve demanding they go back) and then detonates the explosives, saving the world from Zola. Steve and Jet make it back through the portal and Steve instantly tries to step back in only to find, thanks to the accelerated time in Dimension Z, that the entirety of the battle station area has been destroyed and is now overgrown, as if years have passed. It leaves Steve lost, which is something he's going to have to get used to because he's now the man further out of time. He spent more time in Dimension Z than he has in the present day (ten years or so) and, though nothing has really changed since he left, he's obviously a different man. Also, now Jet's there and Sharon's not. We do get a little epilogue for Dimension Z that shows the mutates still attacking the Phrox and tells us that rumors persist that Zola may have survived somehow (surprise) but it also tells of the Phrox's new defender, a shadow of a legend fighting for the Phrox but never really confirmed (and wearing the clothes and wielding the shield of one of the Captain America mutates), a true nomad (actual surprise).There's definitely a lot that went on here (hence the long summary paragraph) and it's largely worth talking about. The Jet stuff is very interesting; even if she sees through Zola's attempts to make her doubt her new convictions, she still has lost everything she ever had and now she's partnered in this strange new world with a man she was raised to hate. Steve gets a little bit of closure from his memories as he defeats another of his own mutates while the two argue about the memories of Steve's mother. And of course Sharon. This isn't fridging or something like that. Sharon has been a character since the '60s (and also isn't dead) so this is a meaningful loss for Steve. It would be anyway, really, even if they just told us it was, but it certainly is here. Still, the adoption of the Nomad name is a neat little twist and I'll be excited if they manage to drag Ian (spoilers: the Nomad is Ian) back to Earth with that. Guys, never trust not seeing a body.
Captain Marvel 15
DeConnick and Van Meter (w) and Olliffe and Geraci (a) and Troy (c)
For people unsure of that, it's probably worth checking Wikipedia for Captain Marvel's history (actually, obnoxiously, you have to go to Ms. Marvel's page. You can get there through the Carol Danvers blurb on the Captain Marvel page but, I mean, come on guys). Suffice it to say, Binary is an incredibly powerful and somewhat unstable part of Carol's past. Still, incredibly powerful can't hurt right now. Probably. I mean, incredibly powerful is good against the Builders and in these battles but it would be better for a Carol who remembers her team and, you know, isn't going to break Kit's heart. Still, there's plenty going on in this book and it's a pretty great read (as is typical for this book) that gives us a great feel for what's happening with Carol right now. Always the soldier, she's taking it all in stride and just doing her best to step up to the current situation. Great characterization abounds in this book, as it so often does, and again it's a great series.
Thor: God of Thunder 12
Aaron (w) and Klein (a and c)
Thor is done with this crazy God Butcher business and is back to his business as a god among mortals. We see a little bit from each Thor, including young Thor's return to Earth that sets up the rest of the book in a way. Thor is an immensely powerful character with little or nothing in common with mankind yet he always spends his time on Earth, helping the people and fraternizing with the people. It's great for people (and for us as an audience because it would get boring if it was just all Asgard all the time) but there's reason it could strike you as a little odd. It's a little like Doctor Who in that way; he's disconnected from the people and infinitely more powerful (in different ways) but he never really places himself above them and always wants to help them. And it comes down to the same reason, essentially: the two love humans and Earth. That's enough to carry them. And it's particularly well done here as I think that's something that can be a little lost from Thor. Instead, he's very clear that he's on Earth because he loves its people. It's not just all fighting aliens and protecting the people. In this issue, Thor does numerous good deeds simply because he can. Nothing like hitting Doctor Doom or anything, just bringing fruit to people or accompanying a convict he's grown close to on his way to his execution and talking and drinking with veterans and more. It's a really lovely piece. He goes on to accompany a graduating SHIELD agent to a celebration party thing (it looks a little like a prom, honestly) because she requested it on a video on the internet (Tony relayed the message to Thor, who doesn't use the internet). His age and his need to help peek through a little as he visits a sick Jane Foster, post-chemo, and insists that he find some way to help cure her, which she refuses. She prefers to stick with human science for all of this, but she does accept a trip to the moon with Thor to watch the sun go down behind the Earth. They talk for a while and she tells him to meet someone new so he goes back out with new SHIELD agent Roz Solomon. Meanwhile, in the future, King Thor returns to Earth because Thor always returns to Earth, even though this Earth is decrepit and broken.Really great issue. Obviously not every issue can be this one, a break from the action wherein we see Thor doing just really nice things and we get an understanding of what it is to be a god to men and how fulfilling Thor finds it. However, getting an issue like this one once in a while is great both for his character and for our understanding of his place in the world. He's a god; surely there are bigger things out there to be worrying about than a planet with a multitude of heroes already to its name? But no, that's not really the case for Thor. He's a god of Midgard and he loves its people unquestioningly. So Thor always returns to Midgard. It's a really nice look into a character whose scale, by its very nature, has to exceed anything we actually know in real life. It's a little like Cap except that Cap is human; he's stuck with us even if he's better than us in every way. Thor could abandon the humans at any time but he chooses not to out of sheer love for the species. It's a really touching idea and it certainly still comes at a cost. He's seen scores of people he's cared about die and he's seen plenty more he doesn't care about do terrible things. Still he's here, though, because Thor always returns to Midgard. It's a great idea and it's extremely well-executed. Good comeback from the drama and intensity of the God Butcher. And Nic Klein's art really steps up here, no easy feat to follow Esad Ribic but a solid showing nonetheless.
