Mighty Avengers 8, Secret Avengers 1

Mighty Avengers 8
Ewing (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

The Mighty Avengers have managed to get away from Gideon Mace and his militantly conservative hate group but there is still talk of a lawsuit given White Tiger's attack on the headquarters. Now the team has brought Ava to Blue Marvel's undersea base Kadesh in the hopes that they can find some way to remove the Tiger God's influence on her. Before they're able to come up with anything or summon any magic specialists, Blue Marvel is called away by a threat from WESPE, a European sort of AIM style group with a focus on providing scientists with money and resources in exchange for deadly tech down the line. Blue Marvel, She-Hulk, and Spectrum go to find out what the alert in the Pacific is about. Blue Marvel is particularly worried as it seems to be occurring in an area that serves as a gateway to the Neutral Zone, a dimension he found long before and apparently where one of his sons, Kevin, is trapped. Dr. Max Brashear, Adam's other son, has teamed up with WESPE in the hopes that he can find a way to bring Kevin back. As you may imagine, he has some serious problems with his father. He traps Spectrum and She-Hulk in a forcefield strong enough even light can't get in or out and then he uses his volcano base to rupture the space between the world and the Neutral Zone, hoping to bring Kevin back. Meanwhile, the Tiger God has appeared to Ava and demanded answers for her interference in his hunt. She reams him out, explaining to him exactly how feared tigers aren't in this day and age and daring him to kill her, seeing where that would leave him. When he realizes he can't, she demands he give her all his power, which he seems to do. She wakes up again, apparently better than ever.

There are some interesting things going on in this book and with this team. I don't know a ton about Blue Marvel but he's got a pretty good story and an intriguing conceit. White Tiger, too, is showing a lot of promise in this book. The interactions between the team are compelling, at some points anyway, and sometimes interesting enough in and of themselves. Still there are a few too many jokey-jokes and tonal shifts in the writing that throw me off. I really cannot get past jokey introduction captions (this will come back in the next review too, guys. Look forward to it, if not to the next book). On top of that, Max, or Dr. Positron as he's calling himself, is a little more comical a villain than I think this book needs at its outset. I understand the appeal of writing him as somewhat childish; he is the child of Blue Marvel and his personality couldn't be more different than his father's. Regardless, he borders on silly and it makes him a little hard to take seriously. This book, too, is already more concerned with the rest of the Marvel Universe than almost any book in the modern era, making references to a handful in just one issue. Again, I understand the point of that and I get that Ewing found easy enough ways to reference books like Blue Marvel's initial series, YOUNG AVENGERS, and his own LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD, just like I get that Marvel is a business and likes to get fans interested in those sorts of tie-ins, but sometimes it feels a little cynical and a little too hitting us over the head. In a way, it's either a book that's good in spite of itself or a book that's not quite good despite itself. Tricky, tricky book to get behind.

Secret Avengers 1
Kot (w) and M. Walsh (a) and M. Wilson (c)

The Secret Avengers are back up and running on Maria Hill's watch as her new and uneasy alliance with MODOK begins. For her team's first mission, she's sent Coulson and Fury Jr. (gotta start referring to him like that as Nick Fury Sr. is set to reappear in the upcoming ORIGINAL SIN) to space to investigate a SHIELD satellite having some troubles while Black Widow and Spider-Woman spend their day relaxing, something apparently important to Black Widow. They've gone to get massages and gelato and to test out some weaponry at a place Natasha knows well. Unfortunately for them, though, they're interrupted by a naked Hawkeye on the run from AIM (not a single person knows why he's naked except that Kot and the team wanted to parrot the Hawk-blocked bit from HAWKEYE which they do not once but twice in what might be the cheapest move in the entire...you know what, we'll get into it later). As they escape AIM in Natasha's car, Hawkeye naked and the two women covered with towels, they're called by Hill to assist Coulson and Fury Jr., who are dealing with the cybiote and Captain Britain foe the Fury in space.

Guys. I would have words with this book. I've been a little skeptical of this reboot of SECRET AVENGERS, coming, as we all know, very shortly after the end of the last volume. I didn't think the last volume was great and I think that the last arc of it was something of an unfulfilling mess. Ales Kot had a big hand in wrapping that volume and now kicks off this volume promising to take readers somewhere they've never gone before with something fresh and new. And yet, he also describes the book as a Michael Bay directed episode of Breaking Bad by way of Arrested Development, thereby referencing three things this book will be similar to instead of just being its own thing. This is just issue one so I'm trying not to be too judgmental about it but it's kind of hard. In most cases, I think I'd rather a first issue swing for the fences and miss because at least it tried something. The last thing you want is for your first issue to be boring. I think we've had a couple of those recently (sadly, I kind of have to point to ALL-NEW INVADERS and ALL-NEW X-FACTOR for those examples, though I have hopes for both books). However, eye-rollingly unimaginative and derivative isn't exactly a great swing either and that's rather what this was. Not only did we get a naked Hawkeye for literally no reason after he, trying to evade AIM, breaks into what happens to be the same exact Russian baths in New York that Natasha and Jessica are at. Then they do the now infamous "Hawkeye-face comic-code-style covering Hawkeye's genitals" to him and then, later on, they cover what would be a Spider-Woman exposed breast with a Spider-Woman face because apparently the joke that really only worked when it was new back in HAWKEYE was hilarious enough to work twice in this issue. It's all just ridiculous and derivative and that's not even getting INTO the fact that it often seems like there are maybe five people who I've seen write Natasha Romanoff and have managed to create a believable character for her backstory and this doesn't seem to be one of them. I'm cutting myself off here because, again, it's the first issue and I don't want to throw the series entirely away based on one issue but I will tell you that we're not far from it. OH, and Kot spent some time having Maria Hill and MODOK discuss Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias" and Shelley's contemporary Horace Smith because literature debates are the way we expect Hill and MODOK to talk and aren't condescending at all (Kot would go on to talk about Sylvia Plath in his opening letters-page column because UGH). OKAY, I'm seriously done now. Join me later for me being angry at ALL-NEW X-MEN because I don't know why I scheduled the books I'm most looking forward to for the Thursday through Saturday stretch.

Avengers Assemble 24, Mighty Avengers 7

Avengers Assemble 24
DeConnick and W. Ellis (w) and Buffagni (a) and Redmond (c)

Anya, detached from Wolverine after a rather harrowing day with him, returns to Avengers Tower to try to figure out the next step. She gets the help of Tony Stark in this next phase (and gets lectured about the studying and preparation that comes with being a superhero) and they trace Covington to a couple of different smaller AIM hideouts in her strike on AIM. In the process, they manage to recover Anya's teacher, the one whose disappearance kicked off this whole event, and bring him to the hospital. They also realize that his new Inhuman trait has to do with being invisible to machines (Iron Man can't see him through his armor) and determine that Covington has begun to simulate this trait and is using it in her attack on AIM. Now, as she moves to make a big strike, Anya meets with Cap, finally, and he calls the rest of the Avengers in to ready them to move against Covington.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE is ending soon, cancelled likely because of sales and because its successor, AVENGERS WORLD, is already on bookshelves and in long boxes, but this arc is just one of the reasons that's a pretty sad cancellation. I've long said that AVENGERS is the "oh god, you're in pretty deep" Avengers title, with Hickman's intense, very rigidly plotted and often confusing (though good) writing and stories where AVENGERS ASSEMBLE is more the starter-Avengers book or, barring that because it sounds condescending, the more fun-Avengers book. However, this arc is playing at a bigger game. It's showing us Anya, Spider-Girl, sure, but it's going deeper and showing us the roots of these superheroes. It's showing us the way these individual heroes act and move and think and plot and avenge on their own and it's giving us their individual styles (while explicitly giving it to the young hero Anya) before rejoining them all to show the Avengers in action. In a nutshell, it is the heart and soul of an Avengers team, it is the "Earth's Mightiest Super-Heroes team up to fight the foes that no one of them could fight alone" mentality hard at work, and it is paying off. It's going to be sad to see this one go for a lot of different reasons but this arc is one of those arcs that is certainly fun to read, worth reading while it's happening, but really a deeper and more profound arc to look back on afterwards, or even during. Really good stuff and really clearly a great Avengers book.

Mighty Avengers 7
Ewing (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

Ava has learned, intercepting Falcon's call to Cage, that Gideon Mace is out on the streets somewhere, inexplicably freed from prison as a hero to anti-cape Americans who gained particular prominence with the movement during Civil War (though I don't believe he had a part in it, this issue retcons the idea that people, at the height of hating superheroes, took to this man). Now Ava's out to find and kill Mace while her Mighty Avengers brethren are out to stop her from becoming a murderer and inciting a war with Mace's supporters, who have formed the "American Policy Research Initiative," an organization that has set out to essentially buy politicians and form its own militias to counteract laws with which it doesn't agree. It's a delicate process for the Mighty Avengers to try to remove Mace from the situation without getting him killed or inciting some sort of war with these guys made more difficult when Ava turns her body over to the Tiger God to allow him to hunt and run free on Mace, making her loads more powerful and more ruthless, less willing to listen to reason. She makes her way to the APRI and attacks, which She-Hulk claims is grounds enough for the APRI to sue them, but they manage to subdue her with a little subterfuge and some well-placed hits. It's not over so quickly for the Avengers, though, as Mace calls the police on them and immediately makes it all look like an attack on him and his group in front of news organizations and the cops and everyone.

The power of one good issue or one good arc cannot be overstated. I was very luke(cage)warm on this book to start because it immediately got off to the sort of "silly captions and silly moments mask a serious book" stuff I tend to take umbrage with for some reason or another (I mostly just hate incongruous tones; there are ways to add humor or levity to serious matters without making it so blatantly obvious, that's one of the keys to writing). It carried on for about five issues with me not really getting anything else out of the book but last issue saw a big shift for me. Things started to actually happen and the tone really started to solidify a little bit better. This issue continues that trend (although it still does the slightly irritating caption-humor I have such a, probably irrational, distaste for) and keeps the book pretty focused, giving it an enemy and putting it into political and physical turmoil along with really helping to establish our heroes. Pretty good stuff out of this one and I can only hope that it continues this way (like the slightly slower turnaround in the DEADPOOL series after an unbelievably hated first arc).

New Avengers 14, Mighty Avengers 6, Avengers AI 9

New Avengers 14
Hickman (w) and Bianchi (a) and Dall'Alpi (c)

The Illuminati, in their quest to find some solution that's a little more permanent, continue to watch other worlds be invaded by the Mapmakers and deal with Incursions of their own only to find that even the most prepared worlds fall with very little resistance. This time out they find a world, Earth-2319, that has been separated pretty firmly into humans and mutants (with all of the mutants following their savior Magneto's example and setting up a new utopia for themselves in the mutant-established country of Tian) but one willing to work to stop the incursions and the Mapmakers. While they watch, every hero they observe dies, even the ones to whom the Mapmakers give the opportunity to flee. The alternate Reed Richards dies sacrificing himself to (very temporarily) save Dr. Doom, who was actually capable of destroying one of the Mapmakers. No closer to any answers, the Illuminati look away. MEANWHILE, the descent of Dr. Stephen Strange continues as he seeks a way to help more with the problems of these incursions. With his soul already seemingly in jeopardy from the way the Illuminati have been forced to deal with the incursions, he goes to the Sinner's Market (a Black Arts Market, essentially) and asks for a transaction that will grant him the power he needs to unseat planets from the skies. When brought to the throne and asked how much of his soul he is selling to gain the power he seeks (for the power he's asked about, he'll need to give up a fifth of his soul), he replies "all of it."

While seeing the destruction of Earth-2319 at the hands of the Mapmakers was interesting and certainly pushes our own Illuminati further into doubt and madness, the Dr. Strange storyline is the more compelling one to me at the moment. I don't know that we gain a lot more out of the Earth-2319 story than we did from the last issue, seeing the destruction of Earth-23099, except that we see Doom defeat one of the Mapmakers proving them beatable (at least in an individual sense) and, weirdly, a little bit sentimental about the loss. Back to Strange, though. Hickman's played kind of a long game with Strange and it's beginning to pay off. He obviously belongs with the Illuminati, given his expertise in magic and his position as Sorcerer Supreme but he's found that his particular brand of combat and problem-solving hasn't been entirely useful in the fight thus far. Now he appears willing and ready to give himself up to be the power he claims to be, a no-holds-barred version of the most powerful magician on the planet. It's the idea that Dumbledore would have dwarfed Voldemort if he had been willing to use the Dark Arts. It's been a real journey, mostly in tiny little snippets, for Strange to get to this point in the book and it's coming across wonderfully now. It's also a fundamental change for a character with a rich history and with a potentially richer future (there's plenty of talk of a Dr. Strange movie in Marvel Studios' Phase Three). Should be real interesting.

Mighty Avengers 6
Ewing (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

Luke and Jessica are swapping apartments with Dave Griffith, operator of the Gem Theater, so that Dave gets to live in the Gem, which he loves, and Luke and Jessica and Danielle have a home removed from the action that the Mighty Avengers hotline will bring to the Gem. Helping with the move are Blue Marvel, Iron Fist, and White Tiger. Blue Marvel gets along amicably with everyone, though none of them are too familiar with one another, until he and Luke begin to argue about their pasts, with Blue Marvel holding Cage's criminal past against him and Cage holding Blue Marvel accountable for retiring and hiding instead of providing a seemingly all-powerful role model for African-Americans. It's a good argument and one that, particularly from Luke's vantage point, holds water. Across town, Spectrum and She-Hulk work with Power Man to increase his strength, learning that if he studies and feels a connection with the spot he's in (they test this on Liberty Island) he is able to draw more chi from the spot and therefore is more powerful. Elsewhere, Falcon uses his bird connections to follow a far-right nutjob responsible for burning down a bookstore that he claimed promoted Marxism and who Falcon suspects is working with Gideon Mace, former Cage villain and, more recently, murderer of practically the entire family of the current White Tiger (including the past White Tiger).

There's a good amount happening here despite the lack of immediate action and I'm happy to say that this one is, for my money, easily the best issue of MIGHTY AVENGERS thus far. We're starting to get a better look at the personalities of our individual team members and understand a little where each one is coming from. Cage makes a nice speech (that could easily have gone a little far into preachy but managed to avoid that line) about his visibility (though he fails to mention that he spent the better part of his career doing it to make money, it still hits the mark exactly where it needs to) and how meaningful it would have been to know that there was someone out there for decades even before him who was a shining, unbeatable force and who happened to be black. We see a little of Ava's personality as we can pretty easily see her dedication to being a hero (which we've gotten little tastes of already) and the guilt and hurt that remains over the deaths of her family members and, as referenced in the issue, even the kidnapping and deaths of plenty of her Avengers Academy friends during the events of AVENGERS ARENA. We get Monica as a teacher, Power Man as a reluctant student (not the first time he's been there, am I right Iron Fist?), and Falcon as a total pro at his job. For as much character work as I liked in the book, the bit that was maybe coolest for me, as a big ol' Falcon fan, was seeing Sam so perfectly use his advantage and come off almost as a Batman-esque character (though less angsty and less murdered-parentsy). Some very cool stuff in here, hope this tone continues and I also wouldn't mind seeing a bit more Iron Fist, if he's going to be around longer than just as a babysitter (though I also wouldn't mind seeing that).

Avengers AI 9
Humphries (w) and Araújo (a) and D'Armata (c)

Pym, Doombot, Vision, Captain America, and Rogue (pre-UNCANNY AVENGERS 14, as evidenced by the fact that she's not a charred corpse) have been pulled into the Diamond to fight Dimitrios' troops. They have to adjust to the inner workings of the Diamond where they're only limited by what they can imagine. Victor and new friend Gibson are elsewhere in the Diamond, being interrogated by anti-Dimitrios AI but manage to convince them that the Avengers, just arrived, are there to help and to fight Dimitrios so they reluctantly go to help and, with their powers combined, manage to defeat the horde of Dimitrios' troops. Vision and one of the other AIs work together to try to find the source of Gascheck, the app that's driving the world insane, but have to swear to the anti-Dimitrios group that the Avengers will help them in their fight against Dimitrios before they are able to get a lock on the app. Meanwhile, Alexis meets with her first-six sister, the gardener Eton, in the hopes of unlocking her memories further. Back on the surface, Maria Hill has given Monica Chang and new partner Jocasta their first mission and Jocasta introduces Chang to the rest of the team, a handful of varied-ability Jocastas.

This is a tricky series because it's hard to pinpoint exactly what isn't working about it for me. When I pull back and examine the story as a whole (little Inside Baseball here: I've been thinking of changing up the format of these reviews to break down the various elements a little better and to focus what I talk about with each book to make it a little more standardized, but that's unrelated to what I'm saying oh god why did I start talking about this?) it works as a fairly interesting story. I don't think it's the best out there or the most revolutionary out there but it's certainly one that's capable of holding my interest. However, when I actually read the issues, something gets lost in the translation (or the step before the translation. In this case, it rather feels like the translation is the better part). I don't even think Humphries' writing is bad, per se, I think it just kind of gets in its own way a bit. It feels like there's a lot of dialogue there that must be unnecessary as you kind of keep losing the thread of what's happening. Until you pull back and think about the story by itself, it's very easy to miss the forest for the trees. That puts this whole series into some weird in-between space where I want to like it and want to ignore it ALL AT THE SAME TIME. There have been issues, too, that felt a little less bogged down and therefore read a bit better. Come to think of it, I think I mostly felt similarly (though I couldn't express it as well) about Humphries' UNCANNY X-FORCE. There was something there and also something missing.

Mighty Avengers 3, Marvel Knights Spider-Man 2

Mighty Avengers 3
Ewing (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and D'Armata (c)

Shuma-Gorath continues its attack on the city, allowed some access through Thanos' attack and protected by Ebony Maw's manipulation of Dr. Strange, while Spider-Man tries to save a gravely injured Spectrum. Blue Marvel arrives on the scene just in time to stall Shuma-Gorath and begin the healing process on Spectrum, who he gives extra photons to in order to boost her weakened areas which previously non-existent anti-photons have attacked. The process is painful but it strengthens Spectrum and saves her life. Amidst all the terror, Power Man and White Tiger return to the scene to help. Under the direction of the mysterious Spider-Hero, Power Man summons chi from all over the city and focuses it on White Tiger, who unleashes the Tiger God on Shuma-Gorath, effectively weakening it enough for Blue Marvel and Spectrum to destroy its physical presence in New York. As the fight ends, a nearby reporter asks them about their team-up and Luke dubs them an official Avengers team.

I'm interested to see where this team is going more than I'm interested in these first few issues. Starting a team in the middle of an event is tricky business and allows for just about no relationship building which leaves this team feeling cobbled together and a bit slap-dash. I think there is a part of this book where that is supposed to be true; these aren't the heroes that went to space to fight the aliens or the ones who are gathered in Wakanda, these are the heroes who were left-over. Not to say they're not a formidable team, they're just not a team. As a result, it's hard to judge the book based on what we're seeing in these first few issues. On top of that, we have a character whose true identity has yet to be revealed, two young characters with little experience, a Spider-Man who isn't Peter Parker, and a hero of a bygone age starring alongside Avengers veterans Luke Cage and Monica Rambeau. It's a strange team and one that will require team-building if the series is to last, something that, as I said, wasn't particularly possible in these first few issues. If anything, kicking this off in an event gives Ewing a chance to showcase the physical strength and problem-solving skills of the team, leaving the team-nature to later. As I said, the team is formidable for sure, just not really team, as yet, which will have to be worked out as the series progresses.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 2
Kindt (w) and Rudy (a) and Staples (c)

Spider-Man finds himself falling from the sky into water amidst the wreckage of a plane and needs to recount the events of the last fifteen minutes. Aboard the plane, he fought Sandman, Shocker, Hydro-Man, and Mysterio, fairly big name Spidey villains and ones who probably shouldn't be, on the best of days, fought in a constricted space. Spider-Man walks us through the fights, revealing that his spider-sense does more than just warn him of incoming danger, it helps him plot his attacks; a bad attack plan will cause his spider-sense to go off while a better plan will leave it silent. Pretty neat, huh? Anyway, he uses this to best his enemies before bursting out of the plane while it disappears (maybe? The art and the writing both get a little vague at this point) and he heads for the ocean as he wonders who it is behind all of this, who's rallying the troops here and as a word floats through his head: who is the kingpin of all this?

Another interesting story with really stunning art and some surprisingly good characterization. I say surprisingly because this doesn't feel like it's a book meant to be exploring too deep into Spider-Man's thoughts; it feels more like an intense fight-based book meant to really elevate the artist more than anything else and to put layout and comic design above story and character. That's not entirely the case, though, as we see an interesting introspective side of Spidey, one which can't help wondering about the repeated failures of his villains and about their mental states as he defeats them. He recognizes that, despite all of his hardships, he's never the one who ends up in prison or losing the majority of the fights so the look in the villains' eyes as he knocks them out is beyond anything he's aware of. It's an interesting side of Spider-Man, who is one of the more introspective and sympathetic heroes in the Marvel Universe already. Again, though, it's the art that really elevates this book to a new level. It's very cool and very unique, though sometimes it does get a little in the way of the storytelling. Sometimes it's a little hard to follow and to understand what exactly is happening but by and large, it's an easy enough story and enough of a well-known character that there's very little the art can do to hinder the writing. It's not like we're trying to guess Peter Parker's motives or we're trying to guess at the motives of his enemies. We get all that, we get this story (though it's still a little in the shadows) and so there's plenty of leeway for the art. Spectacular art.

Comics this week!

Ton of good comics out this week. Picking four I'm most excited about was easy. Picking the fifth from a pile of other comics I'm really excited about it not so easy. I'll let you know when I have it.

Captain America 4
I think I've probably said it enough but that won't stop me from saying it again. I really like this book. I trusted Remender and I trusted the character, but the premise was so different than any long-term Cap premise that I was still nervous. It's been great so far and I'm looking forward to it again. I also tend to waver on JRJR's art, but I think it's been pretty stellar so far in this series.

Captain Marvel 10
SPEAKING OF ART, I'm thrilled we get another issue of a terrifically written book like Captain Marvel with gorgeous and distinct art like Filipe Andrade's. This book would be on my pull list without Andrade because Kelly Sue's knocking it out of the park throughout Marvel right now, but Andrade's drawings and Bellaire's colors mean pick up this book.

Daredevil 23
It's impossible for me not to look forward to each Daredevil book this team has put out. On the heels of a particularly sad revelation at the end of last Daredevil, I'm more invested than ever. Foggy Nelson in trouble, maybe trouble Matt can't save him from? Of course I'm anxiously awaiting this book. Also, if I was to guess, it probably will have Daredevil in it. That right there is a pretty solid selling point.

Thor: God of Thunder 5
This book is wonderfully written and majestically illustrated. I've liked a lot of Thor books in the past, including Fraction's recent run and several JMS arcs. I remember the exact day I went from being annoyed by Thor (my first intro to him was in original Avengers comics, wherein he stopped every single problem because he was simply better than everyone) to loving Thor; it was off the heels of Civil War and he kicked the crap out of Iron Man without a problem, admitting he's been holding back. His godliness and his love and his rage were all there in force. It was pretty great. This book, though, this book better exemplifies Thor than I would have thought possible. Ribic's art is gorgeous and mighty. Aaron's story weaves together all of Thor's personalities (godinalities?) seamlessly. It's stunning.

Nova 1
This one is not set in stone. Well, it is because I'm writing it down so it's here and I'm far too lazy to go back and change it ever, if that was a risk. But I'm not as confident in this one as I am in the previous four. It was really between this, Indestructible Hulk, Avengers, Dark Avengers, and Superior Spider-Man. Eventually I went with this one because it's the one I'm most interested in. I like Nova as a character, but this is a new and seemingly younger Nova at the start of this new series. This worries me anyway, but it worries me more having seen the new Ultimate Spider-Man show, which I really dislike, even though I totally shouldn't (aside from the fact it's made for children; that's never stopped me before). A show about Spider-Man with Nova, Iron Fist, Cage, and White Tiger, along with every other bit of Spidey ethos? I should love it. But instead, everyone in it is pretty annoying and it makes it hard to watch. If that's the sort of Nova they're going to build here, I'm very skeptical. If it's not, the creative team is solid and Nova is a good character. This one is on my pull list for what it could be. Hopefully it is.