Fearless Defenders 12, Guardians of the Galaxy 9

Fearless Defenders 12
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

The Fearless Defenders, upon defeating their Caroline Le Fey-gathered adversaries a few issues ago, captured Enchantress, Ruby Thursday, and Quicksand and were able to gain from them the whereabouts of Le Fey's final plan, which they of course then proceed to crash. As a fight breaks out between the Defenders and the Doom Maidens, Annabelle pleads to Valkyrie to come and join the fight, hot off a fight of their own which made Valkyrie feel like she was losing herself to Annabelle. They talk about it a bit and decide to revisit it later as Valkyrie takes the forefront, leading the other Defenders into battle and eventually overrunning the Doom Maidens and Le Fey, who steps into the energy pit they had managed to open which was supposed to bring something much worse. Misty has new recruit Frankie Raye AKA Nova (but not that one) siphon off the energy of the pit, saving the world from its destruction. Of course, that was only one of Le Fey's plans; it was really secondary to the success of her first plan, bringing back her mother, Morgan Le Fey.

This issue has all of the makings of a huge rush job. I've talked a lot about this series being one that was ultimately hampered by tie-ins to events, eating up what must have been right around half of the total issues. Tie-ins can absolutely still be useful to a series in terms of building character or, in some cases, still showing a good segment of plot. In this case, I think any kind of plot we got during a tie-in was shoehorned in and we really only got character from Annabelle, Valkyrie, and a little bit Hippolyta. By and large, the size of this team and the number of plots it had to run through made it very difficult to devote any real time to establishing characters other than the focal point of this series, which was very clearly the Annabelle-Valkyrie relationship. Now, as the series ends and we get the hurried last issue, plot starts leaking out all over the place and everything has to very suddenly come to a head. The story feels rushed and fairly forced; again, not a surprise considering it's just off of its INFINITY tie-in, which was kind of just off it's hugely unnecessary AGE OF ULTRON tie-in. I'm surprised Dani Moonstar didn't get them wrapped into BATTLE OF THE ATOM. I think this is a book that Marvel wanted to succeed but panicked a bit when it wasn't fiscally succeeding and forced it to try to sell with the bigger books while not allowing the story the room to grow on its own. Ultimately a lost opportunity. I've seen a lot of comic pros on Twitter calling this series truly remarkable and something that will change comics but I never once got that sense. I would say the last DEFENDERS series (headlined by Matt Fraction and the Dodsons and, eventually, Jamie McKelvie) had a bigger impact on comics as a whole and was really Fraction's Marvel-launching point for trying out the sorts of new things that he gets to play with regularly elsewhere. Overall, FEARLESS DEFENDERS feels like it will be the smallest of footnotes, more a horrible excuse for not giving female-led books a chance than seen as something that changed comics.

Guardians of the Galaxy 9
Bendis (w) and Francavilla (a and c)

The GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY INFINITY tie-in concludes as Peter and Rocket, alongside Abigail Brand, are saved by the sudden re-appearance of Angela, crashing into the PEAK and giving the others a chance to regroup and push forward in the hopes of bringing down Thanos' blockade around Earth and granting the Avengers access to the planet. The downside of this issue is that we already know they get through because shifting comic production schedules means that INFINITY has officially ended and yet, here's this story that's integral to the ending. Angela holds Thanos' troops at bay while the others move on but she's pretty quickly overrun herself before being rescued by Drax and Groot. Aboard the PEAK, Peter manages to lower the shield around Earth and let the Avengers back in but he, Rocket, and Brand are set upon by more of Thanos' guard and rescued at the last second by Gamora, who regrets the way she left. They flee the PEAK together and Brand, despite her love for the ship, blows it up behind them.

As I said before, the stakes were somewhat lowered here by the fact that we already knew that they'd successfully lower the shields and let the Avengers back onto Earth, since we already saw the Avengers back on Earth. The drama, then, comes from the idea that the Guardians might not all make it out of this or that Angela might not make it out or whatever other drama you can glean from it. Perhaps you can't glean that much because the writing is so overly quippy and back-and-forth that it might give you something of a headache instead of building a sense of tension. There's also a growing sense of Peter as the ultimate love interest, which is something that Bendis puts into every single of his books and it's equally annoying everywhere he does it. He's done it with Hawkeye in AVENGERS, he's done it with Cyclops in UNCANNY X-MEN (and, to a lesser extent, Scott in ALL-NEW X-MEN), and now it's happening all over again as Quill takes center stage for a possible love triangle here. Woo. It's a little hard for me to shake the image of Bendis writing this dialogue, this hilarious back-and-forth in the middle of intense action scenes, and flipping down his sunglasses, smirking at how cool he's being. It's not an easy thing to shake and it's maybe a bit unfair but boy is that sentiment there the more I read this. Can't win 'em all, right?

Ultimates 30, Fearless Defenders 9, Deadpool 16

Ultimates 30
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Charalampidis (c)

Kang is Sue Storm from the future, still sure that the only way to save the Earth is to gather the gems and get to work right away. We see how she convinced Reed and how she got the pieces in place but Tony and the Ultimates keep resisting, eventually pushing back enough to get their hands on the final gems. Tony uses it to revive his body and put it back in the armor while also using some of Reed's future tech to armor Thor up a bit, giving him a new Mjolnir and pretty much giving him his powers back. As it looks like the Ultimates are going to win out, everyone experiences the sort of vision into all universes that we got at the end of Age of Ultron and Sue realizes she's come too late again, that there's no way to save everyone from what's coming. The gems break and Sue-Kang disappears. The Ultimates win the day and imprison Reed, who then informs Sue that something more powerful than just the regular Gah Lak Tus storm is coming and that it's broadcast one word: hunger.

Neat little ending for this neat little arc. There's a bit more "this is happening because we said it's happening" in this one than there has been throughout the rest, which has mostly landed on the comic-book side of possibility. Tony revives his dead body and then makes Thor a god again with future tech and "a little know-how" which is kind of the ultimate "look, this is happening now, no point arguing." Bits like that are surprisingly easy to ignore, though, and it leads to a place we probably want to be anyway, with Tony alive and Thor powerful again. The tone stays impressive again; just as the start of this arc had an overwhelming feeling of "oh no, these guys can't be beat," the ending, between this issue and the last, has a real feel of a momentum swing and then the feeling of "oh boy, these guys can't be beat!" It locks down pretty well and it should segue nicely into what will undoubtedly be our next major storyline for the Ultimates.

Fearless Defenders 9
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

The Defenders are on their way to meet, as scheduled, a slew of current and ex-boyfriends at a pub in the city when they're sidetracked by more of Caroline Le Fey's hired help who are trying to awaken ancient sentient (though currently dormant) sculptures called the Pandemonium Axles and walk them through the city. I...I don't really know why. Maybe that's on me, but we'll get to that bit in a minute. The Defenders are momentarily stunted by they pretty quickly recover themselves and engage in the battle with the Axles and the villains, joined now by the men who were waiting on them at the pub. The men have been talking amongst themselves all this time about how the new team needed a helping hand or maybe they needed to stop teaming up altogether. They bring this up with the women as the battle ends and are deservedly rebuked. The Defenders, though, have prisoners to interrogate.

Guys I really hated this issue. First and foremost, plot wise, I didn't really have any idea what was happening. It's pretty sloppily put together. I had to read it a couple of times, once to read the whole thing as it was written, once to read what was happening with the women by skipping over the men part and once to read what was happening with the men by skipping over the women. It seems like reading a book a few times for coherency's sake should be a major warning sign for an issue. In addition, the tone of the book again suffers. I've had problems with this from the get-go with this book. Does it want to be snappy and funny or dark and dangerous? It doesn't play down the middle somewhere smart, it alternates back and forth all too often, leaving both aspects weak for it. The biggest problem that I have, though, is the blatant sexism it puts on the male characters. I've been a little wary of this book because it's heralded as an all-female book and that has clearly been its intent. Like I said with my pre-game this week for Mighty Avengers and like I've said before, I'd rather have Marvel overdoing it than not doing it at all, so I'm onboard. I'm admittedly more wary because it's a male writer writing a female team (as with Wood in X-Men) but that shouldn't necessarily make it bad. However, playing to these tropes of "the men think the women are doing too much on their own! How terrible!" both comes off as insanely preachy and as disingenuous from a male writer. I'm not trying to say that Cullen Bunn is intending to do anything sexist by going so blatantly anti-sexist with his females, I think he's just scraping off the top of the barrel here. Worse than that, it's taking characters who, on the whole, don't really have any sort of this kind of sexism in their history and making them sexist. Suddenly Flash Thompson doesn't think women can handle a team on their own. Iron Fist is there (though I thought he and Misty had been broken up for a while; maybe I missed something, though I'm not really upset about them, I've always liked that couple) and, though he doesn't necessarily agree with Flash and the also-suddenly-sexist Stephen Strange (a little more believable as Fraction made him a bit creepy in the last Defenders incarnation), he's complicit now in this sexism. It seems like such a cliche approach to making an all-female team and now it's actively hurting other characters who didn't need to be involved. I don't think that's the way this team should be handled. I think having an all-female team should be handled as if it's just that, simply another team. Sure maybe villains make references occasionally or something like that, but they should ignore it because hey guys, they're superheroes. All kinds of problems with this one.

Deadpool 16
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c)

Deadpool is in captivity and dreaming about things under heavy sedation. He's starting to figure out a little subconsciously that he's in trouble and he manages to disconnect a tube with the mechanism he'd implanted a few issues ago into his thigh. It's enough to give him time to get out of the lab and make a break for it. As he's on the brink of escaping what he finds out is a laboratory and holding facility in North Korea, of all places, Butler finds him and begins to talk to him. Despite Preston's pleas, Deadpool listens and learns of a whole camp of created superheroes for North Korea which have been spawned from Deadpool's DNA. They're based on other, real superheroes, mostly mutants, but they're all descended from Deadpool's DNA, making them all pockmarked and hideous (not entirely sure why). Butler, of course, shoots Deadpool in the back of the head at the first opportunity, but not before telling him of the daughter he is and who they have under containment, the daughter he had with the girl from the Iron Fist/Power Man flashback issue (so at least that had a point, retrospectively). The brain heals slowly and Preston comes back online, trying to get Deadpool's mind to come back. It's hard to say how long it's been back as he's sitting in silence thinking about what Butler said. One of the mutants, a Nightcrawler, teleports into Deadpool's holding facility and gets him out of there. They talk as they start making an escape and Nightcrawler informs them that they're going to try to break out tonight and would love his help. They come upon a heavily guarded barn and Preston and Deadpool are curious as to what's inside. Nightcrawler says that it's never been that guarded before and Deadpool manages to break in with Nightcrawler joining him once he's inside. Within, they find what's being so heavily guarded: the real Captain America and Wolverine, under heavy sedation.

It's another pretty solid plot and overall pretty solid issue from Deadpool which, again, is so encouraging. The weight of a possible child really affects Deadpool and it does effectively shut him down for a little while, which is an impressive characterization. I will say, though, that I think the book is weakest as Preston tries to rally Deadpool, which might go back to my concerns for the book that maybe the writing is going well only when already established characters are there. I don't think either Michael nor Ben Franklin have been very good, let alone even less established characters, and this issue points to Preston not being a particular favorite of mine either. I haven't really liked her a lot throughout the series but I always figured it could be worse than having a straight man to Deadpool's funny guy in his head. Now I'm not so sure. I complained near the beginning of Superior Spider-Man that, as much as I loved him and was rooting for a return, Peter Parker in Doc Ock's head was grating and rather annoying, constantly just saying things we already knew, like "Come on, what are you doing? Spider-Man would never do that!" It's kind of the same with Preston and it weakens the writing a bit. However, overall, this issue again impresses and continues a pretty solid plot. I'm legitimately interested about what's coming next. Hopefully it keeps it up.

Deadpool 14, Fearless Defenders 8

Deadpool 14
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Koblish (a) and Staples (c)

Deadpool is teaming up with a reluctant Luke Cage and Iron Fist again as they combat a foe swearing revenge on them who they've all forgotten (but who we saw just an issue ago in a flashback). The villain, the White Man, has taken hostages to the Empire State Building and is demanding the three heroes meet him there. They do and Cage and Iron Fist are turned to stone and taken hostage, forcing Deadpool to recruit some of the kids from Iron Fist's dojo to help save them. They succeed in breaking the true Heroes for Hire out and throwing White Man, now turned stone again himself, to the bottom of the river. The issue ends with a scene showing Deadpool countering a couple of hitmen who are intent on knocking him unconscious and stealing his organs. We've seen these people before and it seems their arc will be the next to be examined, possibly in a storyline having to do with the Weapon Plus Program (the next arc, titled the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly will team Deadpool with Captain America and Wolverine, all of whom have some affiliation with the Weapon Plus Program).

The issues that star other characters, established other characters, tend to run smoother than the ones focused just around Deadpool and his newly created little world or ones that focus on one-shot villains. That certainly isn't a ringing endorsement, given that we should be reading this book for Deadpool, not for other characters, but I've found it very accurate. That said, this issue relies on maybe three jokes to carry everything. There's Deadpool's typical brand of humor, there's the stupidity and inherent racism of the White Man, and there's Cage and Iron Fist denying Deadpool was ever on the team. Those aren't necessarily bad jokes in and of themselves but they're each carried so long that they wear down pretty quickly. Also, the issues tend to take a long time to get through because each panel is so loaded down with words in an attempt to fit as many jokes in as possible. Quantity over quality. That's not helped by the sudden ending of the White Man story with five and a half pages left, diving into the next story in the middle of this one. Really calls attention to how long the issue feels. Still, all that said, the series is taking a turn every new issue for less openly obnoxious, which is, you know, mildly encouraging.

Fearless Defenders 8
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

Annabelle Riggs and Valkyrie officially share a body now, switching off seemingly at will. At will, in this case, means that Annabelle is around to help Misty and monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone try to figure out who's behind a series of strange occurrences in Chinatown and Valkyrie tags in when they discover it's Zheng Bao Yu, who may be the daughter of Fu Manchu (real name). Her father's identity is kind of guarded, with only a slight reference from Valkyrie which is cut off by Yu, which would fit with the weird and convoluted publication and licensing history of Zheng Zu. Anyway, she's leading a group of scientists and fighters from the Hai Dai clan to breed genetically manipulated Brood at, apparently, the direction of Caroline le Fey.

Still not totally sold on this series. I don't mind the Annabelle/Valkyrie sharing a body bit but, and this is a weird thing to say given the circumstances, it's been done before. Comics is rife with normal people and superheroes switching off back and forth. Granted it's not typically as amicable as this body-sharing seems to be right now but I imagine some frustrations will boil eventually. I also, and this is probably on me, am almost wholly uninterested in what's been developed with Caroline le Fey as it stands. Bunn is also making a push to cast her as a legitimate villain by having her sound tough (she has a weirdly out-of-place speech about her ties with the super-villain society that ranks her without actually having to establish her, which is annoying and a little hard to buy). The writing still perplexes me a bit, with people acting perfectly in character one second and then a little less so the next. It's also pretty aware of that fact, as Valkyrie refers to Elsa and Misty as "you guys" at one point and Misty is confused by her sudden vernacular. It could be a nod to Annabelle now being part and parcel with Val but it's not yet been explained so it feels a little out of place. Still not my favorite book. Still have high hopes for it and still hope it succeeds; we only get more female-led/female-driven books if the ones we have sell well.

Fearless Defenders 7, What If...AvX 4

Fearless Defenders 7
Bunn (w) and Hans (a and c)

Annabelle Riggs is in Valhalla after dying a hero's death and she doesn't quite fit in. Instead of partaking in the paradise, she stows away in her room and sulks a bit, like you'd presumably do if you died unexpectedly. Valkyrie isn't happy with the way things ended and seeks a means to set things right. The only person she can think of who owes her a favor and might have the sort of power necessary to bring Annabelle back is Clea, the Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension and former love interest and longtime ally of Doctor Strange.

I talked last issue about fridging and the death of a character who hadn't been around six issues ago and where it left this book and now it's all moot because Annabelle Riggs is on her way back. I think the points are mostly still valid but now we're adding the question of death in comics and I don't want to have that talk again, you guys. It's also still, I would say, too soon to tell whether or not Annabelle is worth the trouble we're going to in order to get her back. Is it interesting for Valkyrie's character to make these choices and to risk so much to bring Annabelle back? Yeah, sure, though it does mean you have to kind of alter your understanding of Valkyrie who, as she herself acknowledges here, has spent her whole life watching warriors die. It was kind of her job description. She's more responsible for this warrior's death, sure, but it's still a strange question. I guess we'll have to see whether or not this pays off in making Annabelle an interesting character or if the old school Captain Marvel sort of twist pans out. Otherwise, though, Stephanie Hans art continues to be impressive and among the most worthy Asgardian art out there. Marvel is smart to have her and Esad Ribic drawing Asgard stories now and again as their scale and regality fits so nicely in.

What If...AvX 4
Palmiotti (w) and Molina, Sandoval, N. Lee, and Cuevas (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Magneto has warped Hope to his will and, as such, humans are now nearing extinction, almost immediately. The remaining Avengers and X-Men are dedicated to teaming up against the two of them when Hope begins to realize what she's done. Magneto kills her and gets the power of the Phoenix himself (which, as far as I know, isn't an attribute of the Phoenix). He promptly goes on to kill a bunch more Avengers before Charles shuts his mind down just long enough for Hulk to throw Wolverine at Magneto, killing him but unleashing the Phoenix on the world which leads to, inexplicably, Wolverine and Jean being reunited and needing to restart Earth on a barren but well vegetated planet.

I've been against this series from the start, pretty openly. I don't take What Ifs seriously because they're not meant to be serious. However, that doesn't mean that they can't be good. A What If book is at its best if it uses an opportunity in a situation to show a character in a new light or to show an interesting facet of causality. This does nothing like that. As I've said previously, characters are entirely one-dimensional, sometimes ignoring any dimensions they may have had previously (Hope is not so soft-willed, for example, that Magneto could instantly change her mind to genocide, even with the Phoenix begging for destruction), therefore the characters aren't shown in any new and well-thought out light. The change in the event isn't so much a "what if some interesting part of this story was changed in a way that makes us think about the outcome differently?" as it was "what if the absolute worst possibility could have happened?" which I will amend further to "what if the absolute worst possibility could have happened with little to no provocation and little to no care for the characters involved?" Sometimes I'll start reading a book and get three pages in or something and go "my god, this book is going to be perfect," which isn't the best response to have as a reviewer because it may well taint the rest of the book, so it's important to try to ground myself after that. However, what it does mean, regardless if I'm right about it being perfect going forward, is that an idea was presented or a character was tweaked or a writer or an artist put something in that was so remarkable you could see the book edging neatly into a great place. If the book goes downhill from there or things change to revert it away from that excitement, ah well, it still gave something to think about. This was different. A few pages in I was audibly saying (to no one but myself) "this is garbage." Again, it could have tainted the way I felt about it as the book wore on but it signifies the same thing as a great idea early in a book. Something has gone so horribly wrong with this issue that there can be no coming back from it. I'm sorry to say I wasn't wrong on that one.

Fearless Defenders 6, Thor: The Dark World Prelude 2, Ultimates 27

Fearless Defenders 6
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

Valkyrie had to give herself in to the Doom Maiden Brunhilde that was inside her all along, hidden away, to defeat the other Doom Maidens. We get a bit of her past in this issue, clearing a lot of this up. She had led Odin's hand-chosen Shield Maidens, who were glorious warriors, almost untouchable in the battles they entered. They went around the universe, showing Asgard's influence and reminding worlds of their existence but they traveled too far, to the cold depths of the universe, and saw things that broke them. Eventually they became Doom Maidens, still unable to be defeated but far less honorable. Odin himself finally had to step in, vanquishing them. He had a soft spot for Brunhilde though, as his first Shield Maiden, and he was able to box away her memories inside of her, keep them untouched, and give her a new personality to go with her new job as Valkyrie. It's all come out now though, as she defeats the Doom Maidens and her bloodlust turns towards her friends. She takes everyone down brutally and swiftly, eventually leaving to head for the nearby village for more battles and deaths. Only Annabelle is left conscious, having been hidden by Dani Moonstar, and she takes it upon herself to try to go wake Valkyrie from this. She goes and talks to Brunhilde, hoping that she can call her back. She's able to glimpse Valkyrie through Brunhilde the more she talks but not without alerting Brunhilde. Finally Valkyrie does return in full, only to discover that she's too late: Brunhilde has killed Annabelle. Valkyrie brings the body and her story back to the other heroes, where she explains that there will always need to be people monitoring the rise of evils like these Doom Maidens but that there always have been; they're the heroes of this Earth who Valkyrie has fought alongside time and time again. There will be a time for the Valkyrior to rise but it's not now, now the world needs defenders. Her stirring speech leaves little impact on the rest of the group as Misty punches her in the face and they all walk away.

I don't totally know what to make of this issue. I thought a lot of the backstory into the Shield Maidens was kind of interesting but it faltered with the vague "saw something at the edges of space," which is both cliché and a bit of a copout. I also saw a lot of discussion on something I hadn't heard defined before but something that it's hard not to think about if you read enough comics or watch enough movies. It's called women in refrigerators (I think the verb form I saw was "fridging") and it refers to women who have been created for a story or an arc only to die or lose their powers or so on. Sure that happens with tons of characters, both genders, but it's far more common with women. It's true of Annabelle Riggs here, though I'd be interested to hear what people think about it as it relates to gender, as the entire cast so far has been female. Still, there is that feeling regardless of the idea of women in refrigerators that felt weird even before I knew the term, which is simply creating a character to die that arc. That takes away a lot of what the character's life was or what they did and makes them a plot device instead of a character. It's hard for me to, retroactively, feel too good about Annabelle (the series hadn't won me over on her to this point, either) because this kind of casts her whole creation as simply a means to an end. Plenty of characters play that role but rarely this quickly do they reach their end and rarely are they so shoved at us, trying to will us to care about them. It's also a weird decision to have her die because it's more or less left us in the position we were in before this title started; six issues after the series launched, Valkyrie is looking for people to defend this Earth and has decided that heroes are the best ones to do that, she and Misty don't really have a relationship, and Annabelle Riggs doesn't exist. I would have said those same things before the series started. Sure the Doom Maidens and all that, but frankly I would have believed you if you told me that had happened anyway.

Thor: The Dark World Prelude 2
Yost and Kyle (w) and Lim and Hennessy w/ Magyar (a) and Troy w/ Sotomayor and Mossa (c)

As we build our way back to bridge the gap between the events of The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World, our story focuses more and more on Jane Foster and pal Darcy. As Coulson told Thor in The Avengers, Jane and Darcy have been relocated to Norway on some specious assignment but, unlike anything we thought about in The Avengers (I think we mostly decided she just wasn't part of the plot, or, more specifically that Marvel didn't really feel like paying Natalie Portman for a minute of screentime that wasn't part of the plot), she's figured out it's a specious assignment and wants to know what's really up. Darcy, showing a level of computer knowledge I did not grant her in Thor, has found a stream of the events in New York and the two settle in to watch. Of course, the good guys win and Thor returns to Asgard with Loki and the tesseract. He arrives home amidst worrying reports about the nine realms in chaos. Since the destruction of the Bifrost, isolating Asgard from the other realms, things have gone a bit haywire all over, leaving Asgard woefully out of the loop. Thor, home with the tesseract, believes that they can rebuild the bridge and straighten things out. Jane Foster, though, back on Earth, is a bit peeved that Thor didn't even stop in to visit.

So we have a lot of plots swirling to give us some background information here for November's release of Thor: The Dark World (which still seems awfully far away from this prelude's conclusion). This is a tricky book to write as you want it to be meaningful and worth reading for the audience without making it essential reading for the moviegoers. You can't add too much in that you won't see in the movie because you can't and shouldn't assume that everyone will read it (even as a big comic reader, I wouldn't have if I wasn't reviewing it and I rather love Christopher Yost) and yet you want to add enough by way of fun tidbits to make it an actual worthwhile read. I think they toe the line pretty well; again, I don't think I would have read it if I wasn't reviewing it unless I was a huge Thor supporter (the movie, not even the character, hence the italicization) and wanted to just imbibe every fact about the movie I could. Still, it's definitely readable and it moves fairly well. Seeing characters drawn to look like real people that I can actively identify is still a bit jarring but that might be a more personal note. Take this for what it is: a book to reignite the story for potential moviegoers and a decent jumping on point to either. It's not necessary to read to keep your head well above water with the story of the movie or of the comics but it's not a waste of time either. Mission accomplished.

Ultimates 27
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Charalampidis (c)

The Ultimates are split up and broken, with Thor battling Hulk in Arizona, Hawkeye and Cap captured by Kang and co, Monica Chang unconscious and left behind, and Tony Stark on the operating table of Reed Richards, having his skull opened up so Reed can dig out the Infinity Gem within. Tony, fortunately for the reader but probably far less fortunately for him, is still conscious during the surgery and Reed happily explains why he's doing what he's doing. He's learned the way that universes die and he's seen it happen, in the Negative Zone specifically. The Negative Zone was once a fully functioning universe but had reached its extinction event. Just before, though, a genius there had discovered that the Infinity Gems of his universe might save them all. The Gems are unearthed by these catastrophic events, as we learned from Sue's explanation two issues ago or so. The Negative Zone's genius figured it out and used the Infinity Gems to try to stop the extinction but he was too late. He saved himself, becoming the Watcher in the process, but couldn't help the Universe beyond what it looks like today. Reed, though, has figured this out and found the solution thousands of years ahead of schedule, hopefully giving him enough time to dig out the Gems and set to work. He even rather hints that his last appearance created a Gem's appearance and that it was intentional. He's also putting a lot of faith into the hands of Kang, who comes from the future and has seen that he survives what he's attempting. Meanwhile, Cap and Hawkeye are being watched by Kang, kept from an escape, Sue and Ben Grimm are fighting an extension of Reed's body that he grew into a full size replica and very soon after have to deal with Quicksilver, who kills Ben and stops Sue, and Monica is found by Nick Fury, the one bright spot to all this. Fury has assembled his army, consisting of heroes like Cassie Lang, Falcon, Abomination, and others, including newcomer Hercules, to fight against Reed and his crew. It's possible, though, that it will be too late for Tony, who apparently dies at the end of the surgery.

This is an interesting idea as it posits that, if Reed is correct, he is definitely saving the world by unearthing all of the Infinity Gems and using them. However, he's also quite possibly totally insane. I don't know the Reed of this universe well enough to guarantee either option (though I'm not sure anyone could guarantee any option) but it's definitely a story worth telling. It also puts the Ultimates up against a line of foes that strategically counter them and are smart enough to know what's coming next in all of these plans. Tony has a bit of bravado talking about how the Ultimates will never stop coming after them and how they will fail because the Ultimates always win, but it's punctuated with his death so it's a little hard to fully feel threatened by that. There's a lot going on here and much of it is interesting. We'll have to see how Fury's ragtag bunch of hooligans enter into the equation before we can see the chances for the Ultimates. Still, it's a good story on its own as it is and hopefully it continues to be one as we push forward. It will also give us a chance to examine death in the Ultimate universe, which is always a more interesting examination than in the 616. Solid issue improves an interesting arc.

Fearless Defenders 5, Thunderbolts 10, Ultimates 25

Fearless Defenders 5
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

Valkyrie, Hippoylta, and Dani Moonstar have made their way to Brazil, to Asgardian holy ground made holy by missionaries of Asgard long ago, to face off against Caroline Le Fey and the Doom Maidens. Valkyrie frets, in her internal monologue, about whether or not she's actually betrayed her friends by bringing them here. The Doom Maidens descend upon them and outnumber them greatly before Misty shows up with her group of hired heroes, twelve women superheroes in addition to Misty and Annabelle. They quickly jump into the fray and there's much quipping and strangely timed small-talk between the heroes, who range from Storm, Captain Marvel, and Black Widow to Hellcat, Thundra, and Tarantula. While they help to fight off the Doom Maidens, Valkyrie uses the opportunity to transform herself into Brunhilde, the Doom Maiden she once was, knowing that all the heroes in the world couldn't stop the Doom Maidens and only her rage could. She-Hulk, knowing "a thing or two about rage," worries that Valkyrie won't be able to come out of it so easily.

My biggest issue with this comic is still that I'm having trouble nailing down the tone of the series. It alternates between seeming cute and cheeky and seeming dire and tense. It's not like a subtle shift, either, where the characters happen to be cute or cheeky naturally and put into dire and tense situations. Instead, someone will have a cute and/or cheeky line (or, always weirder, the narration will) and then a super dire and/or tense line the next time. It's hard to get a feel for the book that isn't sure what feel it wants to have. Still, the story is compelling and next issue will likely be interesting as Valkyrie gives in to her Doom Maiden past and could need to be shut down. Oh, and despite what I said about the tone not knowing where it wants to be, it's nice to see Misty and Colleen Wing chat again. Haven't seen that in a few years, I feel like.

Thunderbolts 10
Way (w) and Noto (a) and Guru eFX (c)

The T-bolts have traced the call that activated the bomb to Orestez Natchios, Elektra's brother. We haven't seen much of their relationship but, after a couple pages of her silent memories, we get the sense it isn't the best relationship. Meanwhile, people still don't trust Ross and don't like being left in the dark on parts of his plans. The Leader, particularly, is getting sick of it. Though he's not the same intelligence and, seemingly, the same personality he has been in the past, he's getting annoyed that he hasn't earned any trust and that he isn't being told any part of any plan. He causes a little bit of a scene as Ross, Punisher, and Elektra walk with him to go meet a contact of Ross' to try to get more information. They had decided to send Elektra in to meet with her brother, deciding that she could gain information if it wasn't a trap and Red Hulk could come in for backup if it was. They've linked to Natchios and Vanko together but Deadpool and Venom discover that Vanko has died suspiciously. The news is reporting it as a suicide but the reader already saw Natchios kill Vanko and Deadpool and Venom both know it's a little too convenient. No one seems to be happy with Natchios as the group who has been using the Dynamo soldiers to propel their holy war are shocked to find they've been betrayed by him but are happy that Vanko assumed he might and gave them control over the armor. They send some armors after Natchios as Ross and crew are surrounded by cellphones ringing. Red Hulk answers one tentatively and hands it to the Leader, telling him that it's him on the other line.

I'll admit, I'm getting a little lost in this plot. There are a lot of moving parts that make me feel like I missed an issue or two somewhere along the line, but I'm pretty sure I didn't. I'm happy to assume this is my fault but it is a potential hazard for this book as I know it's not the first time I've felt this way. There are definitely high points to this book and I think there's probably a compelling story here that I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around. I continue to really enjoy seeing Way write Deadpool again and I'm finding the way he's handling every other character interesting. Maybe part of my issue with not understanding this is that I'm depressed I can't just watch these characters interact non-stop. I really like the way Flash is being presented (as a soldier but one who doesn't trust his CO) and I think there's something beautiful happening with Elektra just under the surface, which is where everything with her should happen, given how tightly guarded she is. There's a lot to like, I'm just not sure how the story fits with the rest.

Ultimates 25
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Charalampidis (c)

I tend to push the Ultimate Universe a little bit back in my mind, preferring to focus on the 616 and all of the information that comes with that. There are a lot of things to like about the Ultimate Universe and I know I've highlighted some of it on this blog but my efforts tend to focus more on the main Marvel Universe. As such, I've missed big gaps in the Ultimate Universe. I do like the way that this universe fits together and how well-developed this world is for being so small. Sometimes in the main universe you can get caught up in how crazily big it is and how weird Marvel time is. However, when major events hit, it can leave me wondering how this world pieces together all the time and makes me wonder just how much I missed. This is definitely one of those cases. I've read the first few tens of issues of the Ultimates and then I think I fell off that wagon for a bit, only coming back over the last year or so (I'd kept up on Ultimate Spider-Man but that keeps to itself mostly, outside of events). In my head, there's not much I missed but I'm so very clearly wrong about that. Let's get into it. Sue and Thor have brought the Infinity Gauntlets and the gems they have to the attention of the Ultimates and they begin to discuss what's happening as a mysterious figure goes below them, to the basement, to free Bruce Banner from the chemicals he's hooked up to that will kill him if he hulks out. Hulk bursts out through the ground, destroying the Triskelion and taking the Gauntlets. Also freed by the mysterious figure, this time from the Cube, is the horribly deformed and evil Reed Richards, who takes control of the Gauntlets when he appears. The last member of their motley crew Quicksilver shows up with another of the gems, giving them nearly all of the gems. Cap demands Thor teleport the rest of the Ultimates away to regroup, leaving him behind to distract Hulk and Richards. Thor, under protest, does this, and Cap is quickly knocked out by Hulk. Now, with the gems and Captain America, these Dark Ultimates (as they're kind of billed) seem to hold all the cards, along with their benefactor, now revealed to be Kang the Conqueror.

I think this is an interesting start to this issue and billing this event as "Disassembled" is a very intriguing way to start this, given what that means in the main universe. I will say this is one of the times where I've found myself feeling at a disadvantage for not having read more Ultimates. Also for having a pretty bad memory. I know I've been reading Ultimates since Reed Richards' latest exploits as one of the Children of Tomorrow but I still don't feel like I'm prepared for this arc with the background information I need. I also feel like I missed something along the line with Hulk and I'm not sure if this is Kang's first appearance or what. Maybe I'll look into this stuff and get back to you. Either way, the stakes are high and Cap, who is no longer President Cap, assuming everything he requested went through after last issue, is the captive of these new Dark Ultimates and, on top of being powerful just based on who they are, they control the majority of the Infinity Gems. So there's stuff to see soon.

Avengers Assemble 15AU, Fearless Defenders 4, Deadpool 9

Avengers Assemble 15AU
Ewing (w) and Guice and Palmer w/Magyar (a) and D'Armata

For those asking where Captain Marvel has been through all this Age of Ultron business, Al Ewing has your answer in this Avengers Assemble tie-in. She, like Black Widow in Avengers Assemble 14AU, was on vacation when Ultron struck. Unlike Black Widow, she was in Britain and managed to touch base with Captain Britain, the Black Knight, and Excalibur (the hero). Excalibur (the sword) is keeping Ultron away from them and giving them a chance to save civilians but they desperately want to take back the rest of London before Ultron gets too strong. They can't go into Otherworld for fear of Ultron infecting the omniverse. Carol saves a seemingly random citizen who is trying to talk to a couple of the Ultrons (he gets them to change their credo from "submit or perish" to "exterminate") and manages to get him back to the British Museum, their current base. Carol also explains to the audience that this AU timeline is happening in the same time as her solo book because she can't fly here either. The random civilian turns out to be an old superish-hero named Computer Graham, a former hero who could enter computer programs (oh, the 80s). He can still do it but he admits that he has more trouble now as the computers have gotten so advanced and he hasn't really kept up. Still, they form a plan around him, hoping to take him to St. Paul's Cathedral, Ultron's base, and giving him time to fight Ultron in the code. Captains Britain and Marvel intend to escort Graham there but Captain Britain forbids Black Knight from coming, saying that his sword, the Ebony Blade, is the anti-Excalibur and gains more power with killing sentient life and ultimately spreads fear and hate. He's already killed a bunch of Ultrons, which are sentient life, so the Ebony Blade is getting out of control. They can't risk it going any further, as Brian warns it would be worse than Ultron. Excalibur (the hero) can't go because she's a healer and is needed at the museum. Instead, a young girl who is a great soccer player goes (oh, England). They get there successfully, Graham enters Ultron's code, young Mel is killed when she refuses to run, Captain Brian (who has bequeathed Captain Britain to Excalibur in case he doesn't make it) has a moment of weakness as he blames himself for Mel's death and is also killed, Graham dies unsuccessful, and Captain Marvel absorbs and reflects the horrible energy Ultron is putting out, presumably killing her but taking out a bunch of Ultrons with them.

This issue continues to make me believe that the tie-ins for Age of Ultron are better than the Age of Ultron series. You get a little more depth to the characters in the tighter format and you get the chance to see how they're affected by everything and how they plan to strike back. It's nice to be in Captain Marvel's head for this and Ewing seems to pretty much nail the character. On top of that, it's always nice to see British heroes pop into the world now and again and to get a dose of Marvel UK history. Ewing's story is a good one and there are still a couple of laughs to be had in this very morbid tale (including Ewing labeling each hero for our reader, saying things like "Faiza Hussain is EXCALIBUR" and eventually needing to change things up as Captain Britain gives his title to her, giving her a new reveal line that says "Faiza Hussain is CAPTAIN BRITAIN" and showing Carol asking Brian what that makes him, to which he responds "...Captain Brian?" and the caption follows suit, saying "Brian Braddock is CAPTAIN BRIAN." Look, it's fun. Did I overexplain it? Probably. I'll own that. Just, trust me, it's fun. Also, if this whole issue was an excuse for that joke, I'm still onboard.). It's a good story where we don't really have to care about the outcome, sad as it is, because we know Captain Marvel isn't dead. Still, the feelings of the tie-ins are real and seeing the way Carol and the others react to the horrors is worth seeing.

Fearless Defenders 4
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

The Doom Maidens have accused Valkyrie of being one of them, though she has no memory of this. It all comes rushing back to her though just as the Doom Maidens start gaining power. She insists that they retreat while they can. As they leave, they find themselves up against the Doom Maidens now riding a sort of dragon. Valkyrie teleports them away. As they regroup at one of Misty's safe houses, they plan out their next move. For Valkyrie, that means leading the Doom Maidens away from Earth alongside Hippolyta and Dani. For Misty and Annabelle, it means Misty setting up shop as a leader of Heroes for Hire again.

I think the book is finding where it wants to be. I still don't really understand the tone of the series so far, which alternates between serious and goofy without any real warning. The covers have all been a little goofy and the character intros continue to attempt playfulness. However, the story is shaping up and I won't act like I'm not excited to see Misty running Heroes for Hire again. That will hopefully lead to good times while Valkyrie and her crew head to inevitable bad times. There's also a romantic storyline developing or, perhaps, decidedly not developing between Annabelle and Valkyrie. They shared a triumphant kiss in the first issue which Valkyrie waved off but has clearly weighed a bit on Annabelle, who tries to comfort her in this issue by holding her hand but is shaken off again. Look, sometimes there are really long reviews and sometimes there are really short reviews.

Deadpool 9

Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne or Moore (a) and Staples (c)

First things first: the cover says the artist is Hawthorne and the title page says the artist is Tony Moore. So I guess either could be the artist. I didn't look it up if they weren't going to.

Deadpool and Agent Preston find themselves locked in Deadpool's mind for a bit after their run-in with the woman who steals Deadpool's organs. With Deadpool unconscious, Agent Preston searches Deadpool's mind and finds a strange museum of himself that she decides must represent the way he views himself. Deadpool finally wakes up in the street and runs across Michael and Ben Franklin again, who need to access an ancient library underneath Ryker's prison that could hold the magical books they need to restore Preston to her body. Deadpool concocts a plan wherein Michael is arrested by the police, then teleports them into his cell. Michael, Ben, and Deadpool head to the library from there where Deadpool leaves the other two to research. He and Preston have to kill Vetis' next target to give Michael and Ben time to research. This target, unlike the last one, apparently wished for aquatic powers  in order to save other people's lives, not for personal profit. Deadpool still kills him to Preston's disgust. Deadpool and Vetis talk after the demon arrives to collect the dead man's soul and Deadpool gets the idea to tip Mephisto off to what Vetis is doing (which is essentially trying to overthrow Mephisto so he's not an underling of his any more). To get there, though, Deadpool decides the fastest way would be to kill Michael, which he does as the book ends.

I suppose my biggest compliment for the title right now is that it's not actively making me angry at this point. Obviously my first few reviews of this title made it pretty clear that I was painfully unhappy with the series. They've toned down some of the in-jokes and the obvious set-up/punchlines that dominated the first arc (though both aspects are still totally present) and are more focused on the more complex storyline this arc. That might be a function of the fact that it is a more complex storyline, requiring more focus, whereas the first arc just needed to show dead presidents. Either way, I'm certainly still not onboard with this series (in fact, I think I find it Marvel's weakest offering right now) but it's stepped a spot up in its quality.

Uncanny X-Men 4, Fearless Defenders 3

Uncanny X-Men 4
Bendis (w) and Bachalo, Townsend, Mendoza, Vey, and Olazaba (a) and Bachalo (c)

In my last All-New X-Men review, I speculated that the original X-Man who was going to go with Scott's crew was Jean. It made sense to me, even if it was a little formulaic, because she had heard the Jean Grey School faculty talking about how useful it would be to have a mole in the school and she's the most capable and the most gung-ho about this "staying in the future" business. Instead, it was Angel. I'm going to decide that this is a machination of Jean's and not Angel going of his own free will, which is better than what I had decided during that issue anyway. If Angel is there of his own free will, I'm having some troubles. Yes, Jean psychically made him change his mind about leaving just before all this happened (again leaning into the theory that Jean sent Angel there) but Angel is skeptical of this whole future and why they're here anyway. So how would he be the one to willingly go off with a team that featured Magneto? And, as was true last All-New X-Men issue, the Stepford Cuckoos also go with Scott's new X-Men team.
If it seems like I'm retreading a lot of ANXM ground with this issue's recap, it's because this issue was the last issue of ANXM, by and large. There are some things happening between the Cuckoos and Emma, as they talk to her psychically while Scott's at the school and discover that she's without powers but by and large, a third of this book or so is literally the same meeting from ANXM. You have to assume, of course, that not everyone who reads Uncanny X-Men will be reading All-New X-Men and you have to give some sort of recap to explain how the Cuckoos and Angel ended up with Scott and his team, but I'm not sure you have to take up a third of the issue copying down the majority of a different issue. I think the Emma and the Cuckoos stuff is worthwhile and fits in this book but the book is so insistent with showing us what's happening between Scott and everyone else and I'd say that's not necessary here. Again, though, this comes from someone who read both books. Maybe someone who's just reading Uncanny X-Men really profits from getting that whole talk. I'm not sure I profited from it when it was only in All-New X-Men so I'm particularly against it now. It's the same general problem I tend to have with Bendis' books, all boiled down; I feel like we have a lot of wasted space in this issue. But again, that's coming from someone who knows the full story going in. Meanwhile, the other new recruits continue to be somewhat uninteresting and make me sigh when I see blocks of text coming out of them and something is happening with Magik's powers. I need to give more time for the new recruits, obviously, who have no training and are just learning about what it is to be mutant, but it's that back-and-forth dialogue every time they show up that makes me cringe a bit. Magik will likely be explored next issue.

Fearless Defenders 3
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

Alright, now the book's starting to jump into it a little bit. We're starting to understand a little bit more of the threat that's been presented to us. The Doom Maidens are a dangerous and formidable bunch who are being raised by Caroline Le Fey and her assistant Mr. Raven. We still don't know what their goals are, aside from "end of the world" kind of talk, but we've at least seen, from Hela's description, how brutal they can be. Hela has then raised Hippolyta by calling in many favors and promising many more to different death lords and has chosen her to fight for Asgardia. She doesn't want Valkyrie in on this because she fears that Valkyrie could be turned against them. When asked what her motivation is in trying to stop the Doom Maidens from wiping out the gods and humans and what not, who, Valkyrie points out, would only strengthen Hela's army, Hela responds that the Doom Maidens would then tear from the lands of the living to her lands and have already captured Dani Moonstar, shieldmaiden to Hel, to open up a path. So the pieces are mostly in place here, which helps open some things up for the audience. The All-Mothers accept Hippolyta but also overrule Hela, saying that the three who just came to Asgardia (Valkyrie, Misty, and Annabelle Riggs) will go with Hippolyta to fight the Doom Maidens. Honestly, not that I'm trying to badmouth these three, this seems a little ill-prepared from the All-Mothers. They know Valkyrie is good for this kind of fight and it's her fault that it's happening (though they should consider Hela's warning about turning Valkyrie against them), but they don't know much about Misty Knight and Annabelle Riggs is a non-powered archaeologist. Yes, yes, teamwork and overcoming odds and all, but it REALLY seems like if this threat is so big they're willing to work alongside Hela, who was willing to raise the ruler of the Amazons for the task, they should maybe vet their candidates a little better.
So the new team heads to Harrowpoint Island in Washington, where Hela tracked the resonances of the Doom Maidens, and sets off on their search. Valkyrie is drawn to a spot in the little abandoned town under a church, where they find some groggy Doom Maidens and the rock-encased Dani Moonstar. Hippolyta quickly begins to fight and finds herself doing pretty well, though the other three are a little more taken aback. Riggs rescues Dani, though Le Fey, from her monitoring station, says that the ritual was near complete anyway so losing Moonstar isn't a huge problem. She also says that the Doom Maidens have just woken up after sleeping for a few thousand years, so they probably just have to shake off the cobwebs. Once they do, the maiden of seduction slows Hippolyta and Valkyrie, still fighting, realizes that something seems to be awakening in her. The Doom Maidens stop fighting her and call her their sister as the issue ends. So this book seems to be going places after a couple set-up issues that seem necessary, especially in retrospect. There's still only a little bit connecting these heroes, so it'll be important to see those connections and ties grow as the book continues, meaning that we'll have to get some more character focus in coming issues. Still, I'm more optimistic about this book after this issue than I had been after a somewhat slow, if necessary, start.

Thunderbolts 6, Fearless Defenders 2

Thunderbolts 6
Way (w) and Dillon (a) and Guru eFX (c)

I like the direction this book is headed in. I like that we're watching a team full of people who shouldn't ever be on a team and I like that they seem to understand that they shouldn't ever be on a team and that, for as tightly strung as this team is just on its concept, it's getting more tightly strung every step of the way. Right now, Punisher and Elektra are having a weird and kind of disgusting affair, known only to Deadpool who has eyes for Elektra. I think if you had told me that Deadpool would be attracted to Elektra before this series started I would have been against the idea. Deadpool has always seemed to stray from any sort of romantic involvement, knowing his own psychopathic limits. However, it fits well in this series and it humanizes Deadpool a bit. There is a huge risk with writing Deadpool that makes him just a joke machine and a weapon. Remender and Way have both gone a long way (ha, Way went a long way, GET IT, I'm just saying the same word but one's a name and one's a word) to make Deadpool more, to make him an actual human in a mask, without forgetting the fact that he's a deeply troubled and broken human. Some Deadpool books are trying to backtrack away from that, but we'll ignore those for now. Anyway, the point is that I think I like his little obsession with Elektra, and it makes for a surprisingly interesting plot twist. There's a great line when he confronts Punisher, who has figured out his jealousy, and Punisher threatens him with a gun and Deadpool says "You might kill me first, but I guarantee I'll kill you last." That's a great Deadpool line right there.

Anyway, the team is tense and made all the more tense by all the machinations of Red Hulk that are starting to come to light. For instance, they were never in Kata Jaya to kill a dictator; they were there to destroy a secret gamma particle accelerator that Madman has been using to try to study gamma radiation with the hidden knowledge of the Leader. Instead, the Leader makes his head explode. Now the team has to reluctantly stick together to stop a boat that Leader suspects will kill millions of people if it reaches its destination. Drama! Intrigue! Romance! What next?

Fearless Defenders 2
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

No matter how comfortable I pretend to feel about Asgard stuff in the Marvel Universe, there are always pieces that I feel I'll never quite understand. Case in point: anything to do with the Valkyrior. Bad news for me, guys, this whole arc, at least, seems to be predicated on some sort of interest in the Valkyrior of Asgardia. From what I can gather (and likely read at some point but have since blocked it right out of my mind), Valkyrie was tasked with finding more valkyries, charged to protect Asgardia and shuttle the honorable warriors who lost their lives to their final rest, on Earth, choosing from the super heroes of Midgard. Valkyrie has failed to do that and now the Shieldmaidens may be awoken, Odin's original Valkyrior-like role but who are far more brutal. So Valkyrie's meeting with the All-Mother and Hela's showing up with her own protector in the form of Warrior Woman Hippolyta (who I think I'm wholly unfamiliar with). And Misty and Annabelle are tagging along. And something's happening with Dani Moonstar, another Valkyrie though powerless right now, wherein she is being held captive by a Le Fey who wants to be a Valkyrie.

It's all pretty convoluted by issue two and, I'll be honest, I'm not totally loving it. It seems like random match-ups for random match-ups' sake. I think maybe if we were in a plot that wasn't Valkyrior-based, I might be happier with it, which is my own bias. If you're a fan of the Marvel Universe Asgardian stuff, this is probably a good bit of extended culture for you. The other problem I'm having, and this seems entirely nitpicky, is that I really don't like the little introductory captions for characters. I KNOW, it's whiny. In comics, there will often be a caption to introduce a character to an issue or a book. It might come in the form of a box saying "Captain America - Super Soldier" or something along those lines. Very brief, name and powers to keep everyone caught up. In this book, it's taking the quirky route. In this issue, our main stars are in a diner to start and it says thing like "Misty Knight - Detective, bionic arm, doesn't believe in decaf" and "Vakyrie - uh, a Valkyrie. Not a breakfast person." I know, I said it was nitpicky. But it really does make it feel like this book isn't sure where it wants to sit, tone-wise. Is it a quirky buddy-cop book? Is it a serious "universe in jeopardy" book? Whenever I start believing the latter, the captions come in and make me second guess. Whenever I'm thinking the buddy-cop thing, I'm reminded that doom is on the horizon by the plot. Maybe it'll settle in and that juxtaposition will become less jarring. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose.

Fearless Defenders 1, All-New X-Men 7

Fearless Defenders 1
Bunn (w) and Sliney (a) and Gandini (c)

I have some high hopes for this book, but I'm a little nervous. This issue wasn't a stunning open, but a lot of them aren't. I think we set too much stock by the first issue of a series. There are some that will just blow you away (i.e., New Avengers, which is my permanent go-to for "how to make a comic book" in any stage) but plenty don't need to wow you right off because they're going to save that for the whole comic. I'd rather have a series that's consistently good than one that has a phenomenal first issue and peters out because it sold everything out with the punch. So don't judge this book only by the first issue.

That probably lowered expectations a lot about this issue. It's not a bad issue. It's just not phenomenal, either. I think there's a lot to build on. The character dynamic between two very different characters in Misty Knight and Valkyrie is enough to build a comic on, let alone adding characters like Dani Moonstar as we go along. Anyway, this issue finds Misty back in action after a stint running both a Heroes for Hire team and a Villains for Hire team (just...don't worry about it, okay? She's back and fully functional) and from other dark things in her life. She's now working freelance for a friend recovering ancient artifacts a la Indiana Jones (the book sure isn't shy about it so I won't be either). She runs into more resistance than she'd anticipated and is only able to come away with one piece, a sort of Asgardian messenger spirit statue that doubles as a music box that brings vikings back to life all around Misty and her archaeologist friend, Dr. Annabelle Riggs. Valkyrie shows up to aid in dispersing the vikings and gets made out on by Riggs (that felt a bit forced in there, honestly) and then reveals that the messenger spirit was explaining some things and its fingers were pointing at Valkyrie for this problem. So we have a plot, we have characters, and we have a direction to go. Now let's just let the book take us there.


All-New X-Men 7
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Gracia (c)

This was another one that I thought went on a bit too long. I KNOW, it's just on Bendis books that I criticize this and maybe it's because I'm looking for it more in here, but we spent seven of this book's 20 or so pages in a bank while Scott found artifacts from his old life. High-five, bank lady, for a.) not stopping this guy who is right now being treated as a terrorist and b.) not figuring that the first person you told would tell the guards. That's suspension of disbelief. The best part of this issue was Mystique pretending to be Wolverine to get young Scott out of the bank unharmed. It's nice to see Mystique play that kind of role because we all know she plays dirty and her relationship with Wolverine probably gives her great satisfaction pretending to be him to get what she wants. I guess she just carries a fake copy of Wolverine's Avengers card where ever she goes. SUSPEND.

Otherwise, though, we see her telling Scott to go and lead his team and stop Wolverine's school. I can't complain about that, I think it's a pretty smart move on her part. I was even buying her act until she said a bit about Wolverine taking the school and teaching the students to become killing machines, which was the exact opposite reason Wolverine took the school versus Scott's "we have to train them to fight" mentality back after the Schism. Then I was like "hey wait a minute, that's not what...oh." Fair play, All-New X-Men. It does make you wonder how Scott will proceed. Will he ask anyone about Mystique? Will he find files on her and decide she was likely using him? Or will he set out on his own and listen to her? I will say, that's something that I think likely WILL happen but I don't think really fits his character. I know this Scott is reasonably upset that he's being treated as an outcast and a terrorist when he hasn't had that kind of mentality at all to this point in his life. However, the Scott at this point in his life should be the one dedicated to leading his team and to doing due diligence. One of Scott's defining characteristics was the sort of strategic leader. I find it a little hard to believe he wouldn't figure out who Mystique is and make his own judgment, especially considering the grown versions of Hank, Bobby, and Warren (albeit a bit different) all still reside at the school, which is called the Jean Grey School. Ignoring those facts, sure, maybe go off and incite riots based on Mystique's word. Whatever. Boys will be boys and all that.

Short aside, as I never talk about art enough, I really like Marquez's art in this book. This is the second straight book where I've actually noticed facial expressions and, in particular, eyes. This isn't to discredit any other artists Marvel has; I tend to like the great majority. Unfortunately, I come from a writing background and I tend not to focus nearly enough on the art aspect unless I'm really blown away (I tend to notice art more from people who have incredibly different styles, like Skottie Young or Filipe Andrade, or people who are incredibly efficient and just absolutely gorgeous, like Jamie McKelvie or David Mack). It's a problem I definitely have when I write this blog because I never want to ignore the artist but I almost always do. Regardless, Marquez's art really captures people very well, which is important to a book like this because it's all about the people.

Indestructible Hulk 3, Punisher Nightmare 3, Venom 30

Indestructible Hulk 3
Waid (w) and Yu (a)

One of the great things about Hulk's power is seeing its limits. By that, I mean seeing what his limits aren't. If we'd seen his limits, he'd be more dead than he is now. SPOILERS: he doesn't end up dead after this issue, despite fighting a new version of the Quintronic Man and also fighting some lava. Neither killed him, though both tried and both expected to. After a neat sleight of hand trick by SHIELD (I rarely call anything SHIELD does "neat," which gives me some extra level of intrigue for this series), Banner is subbed in for the last surviving original Quintronic Man operator as he's being kidnapped by AIM. Once there and examined, he hulks and Hulk fights the aforementioned Quintronic Man and lava. Meanwhile, Banner and Maria Hill work on finding him a staff for his new lab, all of whom have some kind of personality and distinctive trait.

It's too soon to say whether the addition of a lab staff is a good play or not. I think that it's smart to give Banner a supporting crew he hasn't had before and to give him one with so much mystery surrounding it (Hill is certain that at least one of the hires is hiding something). We'll see if these characters are strong enough to hold the book up (you know, aside from Banner and SHIELD). Like I said, too early to tell, as they weren't the focus of the issue. The focus of the issue was strategic SHIELD and indestructible Hulk. That was still pretty good to watch. We're three issues in and I'm not as sold on this series as some other new ones (ie New Avengers, OBVIOUSLY) but more sold than I am on some others (All-New X-Men). It's somewhere in the middle, though my trust of Waid and Yu puts it far closer to the New Avengers category.

Punisher Nightmare 3
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a)

This book is going very back and forth in my head. I liked the first issue and didn't know if it could hold up but I enjoyed it. Issue two started pretty well then kind of dragged and ended up losing me a bit. Issue three changed courses out of nowhere, but it also made the plot more interesting and made me like the book again. Though it's still carrying the repetition and complication that issue two had, it works better in this one. It's somehow less complicated than it was in two, when we were seeing only Niman's shattered mind, because now we're seeing the minds of Punisher, Niman, and a soldier from Niman's old platoon named Dubose, who appeared last issue. It sounds a little weird, I know, that adding two narrators made the whole thing less confusing but that's the way it works.

From Niman we still have the splintered mind unsure of who his enemies and friends are, from Punisher we have regret over not killing the Kozlowski brothers (the shooters who killed Niman's family), and from Dubose who does what's necessary because he's a soldier. We also get flashbacks from Dubose to his days in the army, when he was assigned to kill Niman and his family (spoilers) and from Punisher to his days involved in Civil War and the anti-registration forces. I'm also a sucker for Civil War tie-ins and anti-registration forces. I do remember Punisher's mini-storyline in there ending predictably and never really feeling like there was anything surprising to it. Granted, I didn't read as many comics then and knew far less about Punisher so I didn't really care that he didn't get any kind of extra explanation. Still, it's nice to see his thought process then and how it translates to now. He is what he is and he'll do what he does. I'm not sure that this series adds a ton of depth to Punisher though I think that's a little bit the point so I'll cut it some slack. Good issue and so far a good series. We'll see what the next one puts me through.

Venom 30
Bunn (w) and Silas and Robinson (a)

After getting thoroughly beaten by the U-Foes in the last two issues, Venom finally beating up the U-Foes is good to see. What's better, though, is whatever combination of the demon infecting Flash and the symbiote he wears taking control. It's not necessarily encouraging to watch Flash go through it, but it does signal bigger happenings coming down the pipeline. I will say though, as I said last time, it's undermined a little bit by the need to put Valkyrie's boobs and butt in in every panel she's in at the same time. That's not how bodies work, guys, no matter how much you want to see butt and boobs at the same time. I KNOW, it's a pain you have to go all the way around a body to see one or the other (barring an elastic spine), but that's the way anatomy works and when you start changing anatomy to fulfill sexual whims, it tends to take a reader out of a book. I hope. It took me out each time.

That aside, the development of the symbiote and the demon teaming up or one working over the other (Flash isn't sure what's happening, he blacks out as it/they take over) is certainly a step forward. It's setting up something as the book moves into a new symbiote-related villain, Eddie Brock's Toxin, steps up. I'm sure we'll hear more on this symbiote/demon as we enter into a symbiote storyline. Not to mention that Flash ends this issue by Moon Knighting two personalities to talk to with his symbiote. So now there's some crazy mixed in to everything else. Like he needed that. Anyway, solid issue with some confusing fighting and weird Valkyrie obsessions but also with some exciting developments to move forward with.



This week's picks coming up tomorrow. Remember to come back no matter what I say next. Most of the picks will likely be the same as they were in the looking forward post I had this week. BUT WHICH THREE WILL BE CHOSEN FROM THAT PREVIOUS FIVE? Yeah, now I've got you hooked.