Thanos Rising 5, Deadpool 15, A+X 11

Thanos Rising 5
Aaron (w) and Bianchi w/ Pieruccini (a) and Svorcina (c)

The conclusion of the Thanos origin story begins as Thanos returns to Tian, now with a skeleton crew running his fleet (he's killed, you know, a bunch of them), to raze his home world. He has the crew stay inside after the initial wave of bombing, deciding to walk the grounds himself. The last man standing on Tian, Thanos' father, confronts him with a gun of his own design. Even with everything Thanos has done and how betrayed his father is, he can't bring himself to shoot his son. Thanos has no such issues, takes the gun, and shoots himself in the head with it. It doesn't work well and Thanos discards it, shooting his father in the stomach with his own weapons. The two have a chat about everything that's happened and, in the course of the chat, Thanos reveals that he's done it all for Death, who he still thinks is an actual person beside him. A'Lars is shocked by this and implores Thanos to check all the devices in his lab to tell him whether or not there's anyone else with them. Thanos keeps clinging to the idea of her but he begins to get a little concerned. Thanos shoots A'Lars again, still not enough to kill him, just enough that now A'Lars can watch the destruction Thanos spreads across the universe. It was enough, though, to sour him on the idea of Death as a physical person and he walks away from her, leaving her to follow him across the universe begging for him to acknowledge her.

I'm still thrown a bit by this series as a whole. Obviously the timing makes a whole bunch of sense with new readers coming from The Avengers and his likely subsequent appearances in other movies as well as his importance in the recently started Infinity event. This gives all those new readers a sense of Thanos as a villain and the lengths he's willing to go to and what drives him and the way his mind works and so on and so forth. While I liked the way this series ended (as opposed to the way I feared for a while it was going, where some tangible person was poking and prodding at the mighty Thanos to make him evil), I'm still unsure whether it's a series that needed to be done. In a business sense I'm sure it did so I'm willing to accept that answer. Comics are a business and you don't ever want to exclude new readers just as you don't want to upset old readers unduly. I think this series is a good example of that, giving a backstory for new readers while being inoffensive to old readers. Still, I've always seen Thanos as one of those "death for death's sake" kind of guys or the Iago trope of someone who seeds destruction because he's a sociopath. Less that, perhaps, than some others but in that vein. Giving him a driving backstory kind of takes that away (though you could make an argument to say this particular backstory doesn't because all of his motivation still comes from within). Oh well. Can't complain, solid business move and an acceptable creative move. Nicely handled, Marvel.

Deadpool 15
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c)

Deadpool suspects that the people who have been harvesting his organs, led by the mysterious Butler, are connected to the Weapons Plus program, the same program that created Deadpool and Wolverine (as well as Fantomex, though I don't know, sadly, that we'll get him in this arc) and that was based around the Captain America model. He's not wrong, as we see Butler reprimanding one of the Weapon Plus scientists for rejecting Deadpool after they thought they had failed with him (they cured his cancer even if they didn't feel successful with his brain damage). Butler sees this is a huge oversight and wishes to test on him more, though he has his own ulterior motives in the form of someone he loves who's apparently in suspended animation or something similar. Anyway, Deadpool infiltrates Stark Tower to talk with Wolverine about the issues. Wolverine isn't much help and thinks Deadpool is being paranoid (well, not entirely, he thinks probably people are after Deadpool but he doesn't think it concerns Weapon Plus). Deadpool and Agent Preston go next to have a chat with Captain America at an AIM base he's bringing down. Cap follows Deadpool's logic in coming to see him but also doesn't quite believe him. He recommends Deadpool find someone to talk with about everything and come in out of the cold to find where he belongs in the world. Deadpool isn't assuaged and decides to put a mysterious device in his leg in case anything happens to him. Solid call since that night he's attacked by Butler and his cronies and taken in for testing (after a dream wherein he and Wolverine successfully defend from the Weapon Plus guys). Butler commands that Deadpool's legs and arms be removed as Deadpool's not going anywhere.

First and foremost I want to say that this is a legitimately good issue. I've had a lot of well-documented problems with this series in the past though I think it's steadily been improving bit by bit. I think the plot and the humor of the first arc was at its worst, slightly improved in the second arc, and slowly working its way up from there. One thing this team has done pretty well so far has been characterizing pre-existing heroes from the Universe and this arc is going to be a good test of that with super-established Wolverine and Cap joining the ranks. More than that, the plot seems sound and Deadpool is making fewer stupid jokes. Maybe he's talking less, I don't know. It does also make me feel like the supporting cast has been holding the book back (I haven't been a fan, exactly, of SHIELD agent Michael nor Ben Franklin nor really Preston, let alone the other bit-part characters that have come through). I've mostly liked the art in this series so far as well but I feel like we can't overlook this arc's art team of the awesome Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. But really, it's a good issue with almost entirely good writing and ideas (there are still a couple of unnecessary and overkill jokes in there) and a solid plot to put us up against. I'll be thrilled if this series as a whole turns it around. As I've said, I don't like not liking books and I hate not having a good Deadpool book out there. Rooting for it here.

A+X 11
Thor and Magik: M. Benson (w) and Texeira (a) and Loughridge (c)
Spider-Man and Cyclops: Krueger (w) and Lim (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Another issue of A+X and I still don't know what this series is doing. The first story is Thor and Magik and it's a doozy. Thor, visiting the Asgard armory for just about the first time ends up inadvertently touching a weapon that sends him to Limbo (don't know why Asgard has that). Magik feels the disturbance and travels to Limbo to get Thor to stop messing around in her dimension. Thor isn't happy to see her and demands to bring her back to justice. He's also not really dying to give up on the fight with all the demons but eventually she just brings him back out to Earth anyway. Then she leaves. And that's the issue. Really weak story with pretty bad characterization. Very bare bones (Thor likes fighting, Magik runs Limbo, so on) and somewhat strange and off-character writing (Thor literally says "I tip my wings to his lady wife" at one point and what what does that even mean, Thor). Not much to be gained from this one.

Second story features Cyclops chasing a mutant body snatcher named Malice into the New York subway trains only to find himself confronted by Spider-Man, who sees Cyclops picking on average people (Malice doesn't just shape-shift, she takes over a body). When Spider-Man begins to hear Cyclops out, Malice tries to take him. Spider-Man is not so easily taken, though, as he's a bit familiar with people inhabiting other bodies. Eventually, Malice puts Cyclops in a position where he has to make body contact with her to save the life of the human she's attached to. She takes him over, which actually works according to Spidey's plan. He's able to take down Cyclops and restrain him enough to pull Malice out of Cyclops (Doc Ock has his ways to pull a mind out of a body). The two chat back in Spidey's lab for a minute wherein Spidey tells Cyclops it could help him to use the villain identity as it suits him. It's a fair sight better than the first story as we actually get some decent characterization here both between Cyclops being the hero and still being bewildered to find himself such a villain and between Spidey as Doc Ock still having trouble dealing with insults to Doc Ock and being as smart as he is. Better stuff, still a bit of a silly series. I swear some day it will end.

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.

Hunger 1, What If...AvX 3

Hunger 1
Fialkov (w) and Kirk (a) and Aburtov (c)

After the events of Age of Ultron, the time and spacelines are split a bit and everything is wonky. Issue 10 of Age of Ultron showed Galactus popping into the Ultimate Universe (where he "exists" in the form of a swarm of robot drones and flesh eating viruses called Gah Lak Tus) and that's what this four issue mini-series is focusing on. To start, it focuses on Rick Jones, who is far more powerful in the Ultimate Universe than he is in the 616 and has been tasked by the Watcher to protect the Universe and who is currently trying to take something of a break from that life. He's unable to when he's thrown through a portal by the Watcher that sends him to a battlefield where the Kree and Chitauri (the Ultimate version of the Skrulls, pretty much, which are now also in the 616 thanks to The Avengers and Bendis' Guardians of the Galaxy, among other things) are attacked by the Gah Lak Tus swarm. It's here that the rift in the time opens up, depositing the 616's Galactus in the middle of the fight as well.

The Gah Lak Tus swarm and Galactus are obviously already huge threats on their own but this mini-series introduces the idea of two versions of Galactus teaming up and wreaking unbelievable havoc, among other worrying things about the rips in time and space. The decision to focus this, at least for now, on Rick Jones is an interesting one as I believe he's been rather inactive for rather some time (well, by his own admission, he's been incredibly active but we've not seen him in some time) but he's a wonderfully powerful entity and therefore is a good gauge for how strong the Galacti are. At the same time as this giant disaster, Fialkov is writing the giant disasters ongoing in the Ultimates at current and he's fresh off a startlingly good Alpha mini-series. I don't read a ton outside of Marvel and a handful of  other indies (and Scott Snyder's Batman which I have to admit is a pretty awesome book, even if I won't recommend it here lest it ruin my Marvel cred) so I hadn't seen Fialkov prior to this set of Marvel comics but he's certainly a capable writer with a good eye for character and a story to tell. He was recently on the Nerdist Writers Panel podcast and said that one of the approaches he likes to take is to tell the story of a character on their worst day, which is a nice frame for a lot of these stories and which tells a good amount about the character in the way he or she reacts. Solid start here. It'll be interesting to see how this resolves as I find it hard to believe the 616 will be lacking a Galactus permanently.

What If...AvX 3
Palmiotti (w) and Sandoval and Tarragona (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Quick note again: Marvel has to get their credits together. This is another in a series of issues I've seen recently where the credits on the cover don't match up with the credits on the interior. The interior is claiming Gerardo Sandoval is the main artist but the cover claims Jorge Molina, as does the shipping list I check. I went with Sandoval because I've seen more Molina art and it doesn't really look like his style. I could be wrong, of course, but I'm sticking with it. Anyway, glad this took up so much space because there's not a whole ton to talk about with this issue. Hope was, at the end of last issue, possessed by the Phoenix in the company of Magneto and Emma Frost and the Avengers space strike team was in hot pursuit. They get there only to find Hope controlled by the Phoenix and starting to be manipulated by Magneto, which doesn't bode well for the humans on Earth. On Earth, everyone is getting pretty antsy about the reports from space and the Avengers and X-Men put their differences aside to try to stop Magneto. It won't be that easy, though, to stop the master of magnetism teamed up with the impossibly powerful Phoenix. They have one more issue to try to do so.

I'd be interested to hear how someone who prefers comics and stories for their plots is reacting to this What If series. I like plot and a good plot can certainly carry a comic sometimes but it would have to be an insanely good plot to make up for weak characters. I care mostly about characters and think the best characters can easily hoist up a bad plot and make you forget all about it. This story is not about the characters. That much has been clear from the get-go. Events sometimes have trouble doing that because there are so many pieces to the story. It's why I liked the Age of Ultron tie-in stuff more than Age of Ultron (well, that and other reasons); I preferred to hear how these events impacted the characters I care about rather than how the story would settle itself out. Civil War was pretty solid for defining character because it was such a morality question and just choosing a side told a lot about character. Here, though, the character doesn't really impact the story. It's good that it doesn't, though, because every character continues to be either written exactly the same, in the case of any backgroundish character, or to their basest elements, in the case of the characters most in the foreground. Everyone is simply saying whatever best advances the plot and no one seems to have a personality to them except for the personality foisted on the stars of the book, like Magneto (hates humans), Cap (soldier), Cyclops (X-Man) and Iron Man (Avenger). On the other hand, pretty much anyone else could be swapped with any other character and it would all look about the same. Nova, here Sam Alexander, talks like he's been a superhero for years and is maybe actually Richard Rider under there instead of a 15 year old who just got powers. Black Panther literally says, in conferring with Tony about a scientific weapons device, "From what you told me, this thing packs a wallop!" which ignores the fact that the Panther we know would already know the exact scope of the tech he's using, would never say "wallop," and likely hasn't had an exclamation point anywhere near him in decades. These may sound like nitpicks from someone who's a little too into comic books (if that's what you're thinking, why are you here? That's pretty much ENTIRELY what this blog is supposed to be), but they really do break the flow and the weight of the book by making it feel like the writer didn't care about the characters, so why should I? I adore Black Panther, he's in my top five superheroes, and it couldn't have mattered less to me that he died in this issue (he died in this issue, btw). Sure it's a "what if" so I know it's not in continuity anyway, but I still should have felt something: I knew he wasn't actually going to be dead at the end of Age of Ultron and I was still legitimately mad when he got killed off (though that was largely because he got killed by a bad fall, the dude with maybe the best reflexes in the world). Here, it didn't matter. He was just words on a page. And that's an ugly thought to be left with when your job description boils down to "words on a page."

Thanos Rising 4, What If...AvX 2

Thanos Rising 4
Aaron (w) and Bianchi and Pieruccini (a) and Svorcina (c)

Thanos is getting closer and closer to the Thanos we know today and it's all been at the urging of his mysterious would-be lover. He ravages world after world in the hopes that someday it will be enough to please her but she insists that he should be nothing short of a god and so no amount of worlds will ever be enough. Finally the truth comes to light for Thanos: the woman is not a real person, rather it is Death itself. He's horrified to find this but still, he's come this far, so he insists that she love him even if it means killing his own homeworld.

I don't know how much I like this recast of Thanos. It works fine, sure, and I don't know enough about Thanos to say that he wasn't a perfectly fine, inquisitive little boy at first, egged on by Death. The twist here is definitely scores better than the way the series had been pointing otherwise, which meant that a woman drove Thanos to become the universe's biggest murderer, taking blame somewhat off him and putting it on to her. At least here it's kind of saying "of course Death was behind this, Death is the only one who profits from Thanos." Still, in a way, it takes the blame a little bit off Thanos and that's a bit strange, all said. I suppose we like our villains more complicated now but I'm not sure it's really done that. Instead, I think it's complicated him less in the guise of complicating him more. Instead of killing machine with ever-unknown motives, we have a killing machine who is killing simply to kill and that's a little strange, right? Of course, they have to give him a deeper background as we launch into Infinity and, of course, as we'll start to see him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe not too long from now. I guess no other origin would have worked so neatly for Thanos and would have tied him so irrevocably to death as actually tying him so irrevocably to Death. Still, it feels a little weak and, if you haven't noticed from my faffing about here, I can't quite put my finger on what it is. One issue left in the miniseries as Thanos turns towards Titan and, likely, back towards Earth.

What If...AvX 2
Palmiotti (w) and Molina and N. Lee w/ Magyar (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Magneto has destroyed the helicarrier holding all of the Avengers while the Phoenix continues to rush towards Earth. The Avengers fare somewhat well, truth told, despite the helicarrier crumpling. They lose Falcon and Colleen Wing, both of whom I like very much but, frankly, it seems like it could have been a lot worse. Meanwhile, Magneto goes with Hope and Emma to the moon to await the Phoenix while Namor sort of kills Wolverine by beating him up pretty well and throwing him underwater, presumably not giving him a chance to heal. Cyclops and Iron Man shout a bit at one another but Cap directs their attention away, preferring to team up against Magneto and his plans over anything else. Up in space, the AvX space strike-team encounters the Phoenix and, as before, falls to it. However, in this reality, Hope takes on the Phoenix herself on the moon.

This one definitely moves better than the last. I still have some issues with the conceit of this changed reality, wherein Magneto and Namor snap so suddenly and are willing to kill the Avengers so readily. However, burying that a bit now that it's set and we're looking at this issue as it fits into this story, this reality is now playing out differently as Cyclops removes himself a little before the Phoenix attack to presumably ask what he and his X-Men have become if they're this willing to kill Avengers. It still, obviously, remains to be seen what the X-Men will think when a full-strength Phoenix comes back to Earth (in AvX, the full-strength Phoenix only appeared before the real events of the book and at the very end, when Scott went crazy and killed Xavier) but at least we're firmly on this track now and the book is stuttering a little less because of it. Some of the characters still feel a little copy-pasted and it's hard to pull a real identity out for many of them, which is a flaw now and could be a greater one going forward, though I don't think this series will go on long enough to delve too deeply into character for it to matter too much, but the art is pretty great and the story is now at least a bit more of a reasonable "what if" as, instead of asking "what if Magneto and Namor went a bit crazy and killed some of the Avengers before AvX," it's now asking "what if Hope did take on the Phoenix on the moon?" Better question to ask, really.

Daredevil Dark Nights 2, Deadpool Kills Deadpool 1, What If...AvX 1

Daredevil Dark Nights 2
Weeks (w and a) and Loughridge (c)

The storm of the century is still battering New York as Daredevil tries to make his way across the city to bring a dying girl a new heart that may or may not still exist somewhere in the snow. Among all the other trials he's faced, including the mugging from earlier, the snow, and the pressure of it all, he keeps hearing other various crimes being committed but his faltering energy and the direness of the situation at hand means he has to ignore these crimes to focus on saving Hannah back in the hospital. After a long struggle, he finally finds his way to the helicopter crash site. Just as he gets there, hearing two heartbeats the helicopter crashes into a frozen pond just below. Without thinking, DD dives in and rescues one of the pilots who is weak but alive. She says that the other pilot is dead, that she saw him die, but Daredevil know he heard two heartbeats so he dives under again, leaving the woman with two nearby onlookers. When he reaches the other pilot, he finds that she was right and the man is dead. The other heartbeat belongs to the still-beating heart (thanks to the advanced technology that it's sealed in and that we're told about extensively in the dialogue) Daredevil is trying to save. He brings the container out with him a little ways away, just far enough that there's no one around to help him. As he begins his journey back to the hospital, he hears a homeless woman staying at a shelter get attacked by a man and he can't help but step in. Daredevil kicks the door in (little bit reckless in this weather, Deeds) and frightens the man out before passing out from exhaustion and hypothermia himself.

There's a lot to enjoy about this book but it's hard not to feel like it's lacking something despite that. First and foremost, the art is pretty gorgeous. There are a lot of wonderful moments (though having it all set in giant snowstorms seems a bit of a cheat as those make anything look majestic) with Daredevil pressing onwards that serve both the story and the feel of the book. There's also the fading consciousness of Daredevil to delve into as he starts confusing memories and trying to inspire himself to action which add a neat little layer. Something about this series seems slow, though. It's hard to put my finger on it but, if I had to guess, it's everything that doesn't concern Daredevil. There are a few scenes in the hospital with the couple of workers who know his identity trying to conceal it from everyone (which seems an unnecessary plot) and Hannah's father enlisting any help he can get, as a wealthy man who is owed favors. He has Kingpin on the line now but it all kind of feels like it's getting in the way of a story that would be good in its own right. We'll see how the third issue pans out to see if it would have been better handled simply tossing out the B and C plot or if it truly does enhance the series. As yet, it feels like it's slowing us down.

Deadpool Kills Deadpool 1
Bunn (w) and Espin (a) and Gandini (c)

Don't think too hard about this one, okay? Though this story spawns from the other similar books (Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe, Deadpool Killustrated) I don't think it's technically the same. The other books had the Deadpool of whatever universe that took place in killing off every hero in every universe. Of course, he didn't make it through the whole multiverse so he doubled back in Killustrated and tried to snuff out the root of the problem in destroying the literary heroes. So maybe this is spawned of that series. Or maybe it's separate. Don't think too hard about this one or you end up a person like me. Instead, let's just take the plot for what it is. Deadpools the multiverse over have entered into a sort of suicide war, with about half the Deadpools trying to kill the others to make sure that "dead is dead" and that their story has an ending. It starts with a Deadpool killing off Headpool (of Deadpool Corps limited fame and one of the Marvel Zombies runs) before setting off for more kills. Our main universe's Deadpool (currently dubbed, by me, 616pool because I'm beginning to understand how ridiculously difficult it will be to talk about this series) is surprised to find himself saved in a big fight against Ultimatum by the Deadpool Corps (also have Deadpool Corps limited fame, as you might have guessed). However, 616pool only recognizes three of the five Deadpools their ship has brought with them: Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, and Dogpool (strike that, I'm beginning to understand how ridiculous it will be to talk about this series at all). They try to warn 616pool about the suicide war but are interrupted by one of those Deadpools, who stabs 616pool through the chest but is attacked by Dogpool before he can really end 616pool. The newpool kills Dogpool and one of the other new 'pools before being killed by 616pool. As the Deadpool Corps gets into the Bea Arthur ship (I regret reviewing this book so much), the Watcher appears to explain to the 'pools what exactly is happening (tune in next time when I continue to never want to write again).

Despite the confusion, this book has the potential to be interesting. Not exactly sure where it's going so I can't talk too much about this but these Deadpool books have a way of being more intriguing than they have any right to be. So far, it doesn't really require a lot of background into Deadpool and the Deadpool Corps, despite what my summary may have lead you to believe, because I'm not sure it matters entirely. All you need to know is that they're there and that they want to help 616pool. Really, it's more important to know about the multiverse and that Deadpool is a character in the Marvel Universe who has gained a lot of popularity over the years and maybe the basics about the character but, in truth, you're probably only picking this series up if you know a bit about the character so you should be in decent shape. Hopefully it goes to the same sort of interesting places Killustrated took us. Decent start, a proper amount of exposition to guide us and enough of the story to keep us hooked.

What If...AvX 1
Palmiotti (w) and Molina and N. Lee (a) and Rosenberg (c)

For those unaware, the "What If" series is an oft-used alternate reality sort of title for the Marvel Universe that allows writers and artists to examine how things might have turned out differently for the Universe if some minor changes occurred. Usually these are narrated by the Watcher, who has the ability to see every path. This one is not explicitly showing us that frame but it seems just to rely on the fact that the reader knows by now what a What If book is. This book asks the question "what if, through a series of escalating events at the start of the major Marvel event Avengers vs. X-Men, Wolverine killed Storm and then, in retaliation, Magneto crumpled the helicarrier all of the Avengers were on, presumably sparking all-out war between the two factions and quite possibly killing a bunch of huge Avengers right at the start?" So that's a pretty long question but a little bit of a hard one to really sell. AvX, as a quick recap, focused on the idea that the Phoenix was coming back to Earth and, presumably, had chosen Hope as its new carrier. Scott Summers of the X-Men believed that it had the power to reignite the mutant race while Captain America and the Avengers viewed the Phoenix as a dangerous destroyer. Both were pretty right, of course, with Scott eventually overjoyed to find that new mutants were popping up again after being brought into custody for losing control of the Phoenix Force and killing Professor Xavier. Cap and Scott led their factions, which divided surprisingly neatly on the X-Men/Avengers line aside from Wolverine and Hank McCoy, mostly, and it was a big slugfest for everyone. The difference between that and this seems to be that Scott, in a decidedly stupid move, sent Magneto and Namor with Storm to talk to the Avengers because that was guaranteed to go calmly.

I cannot get behind this series. I don't mind What If, though they're essentially useless, because it's an interesting idea if it's done well. The last couple issues of Red She-Hulk were What If in a way, asking "what if Betty Ross had been hit with the gamma bomb instead of Bruce Banner?" and I've gushed about this issues endlessly. However, I still am more than a little annoyed with how long AvX has carried on (I'm still afraid that Fear Itself is secretly still going somewhere) and I kind of resent the idea of going back to it. AvX felt like such a marketing play, going "WAIT, LET'S MAKE THESE TWO BIGGEST FRANCHISES FIGHT" so it's hard to take it seriously as it enters its second full year as a seemingly ongoing event. On top of that, this issue is nothing to write home about in story or execution. No character really seems to define him or herself in any meaningful way beyond "Wolverine's the stabbing one, Magneto's the angry one and also Namor's the angry one." Obviously we're only one issue in (of, I believe, 4) but it's hard to see where this plot wants to go and if it can go into a meaningful direction from here. Other What If books typically focus themselves on smaller pieces but there was nothing small about AvX. There were very few subplots that weren't just showing us fights between different Avengers and X-Men and those didn't really drive the plot in anyway that are worth exploring alternatives. Thanks to that, this series seems like it will be one story fully examined in an alternate universe instead of a few different and thought-provoking mini-stories per issue. There's plenty wrong with this series at its start but it's hard for me to rail too much against Jimmy Palmiotti because I just bought a great book called The Marvel Art of Joe Quesada for a steal of a price and they so frequently collaborate that I'm hard-pressed to find fault with the man. Granted, they collaborate as artists and not writers but still, I'd like to lay off before I hurt myself.

A+X 9, Wolverine MAX 8

A+X 9
Captain America and Wolverine: Edmondson (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado (c)
Doctor Strange and Quentin Quire, Eyeboy and Pixie: Lapham (w and a) and Loughridge (c)

It's getting harder and harder to review these as it just boils down to a plot summary for A+X because there isn't supposed to be a huge examination of these characters. The problem with it boiling down to plot is that there also isn't supposed to be a huge plot. So we run into a few problems in writing something even a little compelling. This is a particularly weird issue as we have one story, in Captain America and Wolverine, which features two characters who have a really long and complicated relationship teaming up and another story where Doc Strange and a group of X-kids meet up in a team-up I can't imagine anyone was asking for. In this case, Cap and Wolverine are going to help Doc Strange (these stories weren't supposed to come out together but this one got pushed back) rescue a Shaman friend of his who is in trouble. They argue about the sanctity of life and eventually learn a lesson from Doc Strange about how no number of team-ups between Avengers and X-Men can stop all the evils in the world. What's weirdest about this story is that these guys have such a long history and there are really interesting ways to look at it (one is happening in Uncanny Avengers, for example), whereas many of these team-ups so far have been just oddly matched characters interacting for the first time or maybe a little more in-depth than normal. So these guys have a relationship already and it's not even really that closely examined. It feels like it's a random meeting between the two, a pair who have never really worked together before. It just feels like this would have been a nice time to get a little further into their world.

In story two, Quentin Quire and Pixie have had a series of bets that will result in, for the loser, a series of shameful acts. At the moment, Quentin seems to be losing and will be forced to wear baby's clothes at the Jean Grey School. Their next bet is to steal something from the Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange. Whoever steals the best thing wins. They bring Eyeboy along as an impartial judge. They manage to sneak into Strange's and split up, with Quentin demanding Eyeboy help him. While they search his home, Eyeboy stumbles into Doc's room, where Strange himself is being attacked by the demon D'Spayre. Eyeboy goes screaming for help, bringing Pixie and Quire back. D'Spayre shows people their worst fears and begins to with the kids before Quentin shuts him out of their brains. The group, with the revived Doctor Strange, vanquish D'Spayre. Strange thanks them and sends Pixie and Quentin home, keeping Eyeboy around to give him a gift that enhances what he can see, especially on the magic spectrum. He also tells Eyeboy to hang around with better people. Not much here, not too much to get into. It's hard to figure out how the world views and/or should view Eyeboy, who is often the butt of jokes or the doing something pretty useful. So is he a joke? Is he not going to die at some point to thin out the herd? It's always tough to tell in these cases. NEXT ISSUE, though, is a team-up between Fantomex and Black Widow, so it's possible this whole series has been worth it.

Wolverine MAX 8
Starr (w) and Ruiz (a) and Brown (c)

Wolverine is a little dead but he's quickly recovering. Now he's being brought out to the country to be buried by a couple of Franky's henchmen. When they come for them, he kills both of them quickly and heads back for the mansion. Now with the element of surprise, he's able to storm the mansion and kill just about everyone. He catches up with Candy, who tells him that what's happened was never her intent and she really did quite like his dog. Also, if he kills her, he won't be able to find Franky before he flees. This makes some sense to Wolverine, so he listens to her and they go to the roof, where Franky is getting into a helicopter. Wolverine stops him and brings down the chopper, catching up with Franky and dropping him off the roof. He brings Candy back down and, still mostly unbelieving of her story, tells her to leave the country and return to England. If he ever finds her again, he'll be less forgiving, he promises.

It's hard to write too much about this series that I haven't already. It still feels weird to me that this book takes itself so seriously. Obviously the MAX line has the ability to do that (or not do that, in the case of books like Deadpool MAX) in a way that the normal lines really can't. These are directed for a far more mature audience and allow different aspect of Wolverine's more mature life to be revealed. Instead, it feels kind of cliche and entirely predictable. It's unfortunate because, while I do think this book is capable of doing everything Savage Wolverine has wanted to do (and done somewhat more effectively at this point), there's some real meat in Wolverine's life that hasn't been uncovered in all this time. Still, it's going to go uncovered, it seems, as we'd rather focus on him being angsty and stabbing more stuff while swearing without censors.

Ultimates 26, Ultimate Spider-Man 24

Ultimates 26
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Charalampidis w/ Quintana (c)

Reed Richards, the Hulk, and Quicksilver have teamed up with Kang the Conqueror of this universe to create the New World Order, which is dedicated to bettering the world in ways the Ultimates never seemed able to do. This means world peace (negotiated between all nations with a helping push from Reed's Herbietron security bots and minimal loss of life), the destruction of copyrights and patents to free scientific discovery and creativity, the elimination of financial institutions, and mass-producing Stark's version of the sentient seed to end world hunger. He announces this to the world before jabbing at the Ultimates by saying that "this is how you save the world." The Ultimates themselves are in disarray. Thor is outraged that they're not fighting back more quickly, Tony is unable to use any of his suits (Reed has hacked his system and locked Tony and Anthony out), and Monica Chang has been locked out of SHIELD, which is more or less disbanded. They've sent Sue to talk to/distract Reed while Hawkeye tries to rescue Cap, which doesn't go particularly well. Sue and SHIELD agent Ben Grimm attack Reed, lasting pretty well against him, but Kang easily catches and tortures Hawkeye. Banner tracks Thor to a pub, where they get into a massive fight, and Quicksilver arrives at the Ultimates' hiding place and knocks out Monica before seemingly shutting down and/or destroying Anthony (Tony's sentient tumor, because comics are weird) and reporting to Reed that he's found the infinity gem. Is Anthony an infinity gem? Tune in next time to find out, I suppose.

There are some interesting parts to this story but it is moving a little strangely overall. It might be because I'm a little more disconnected from this universe so I'm having more trouble getting into the heads of the villains of this arc than I usually do in the 616, as I know less about their motivations here. Also, as with what happened in Avengers vs. X-Men last year, it's a little hard to know which side to be on here, which may be intentional. Like, these are all pretty hardcore crazy people in the Ultimate Universe so it's hard to be on their side and they're clearly in direct competition with the titular heroes of this series but they're doing things like creating world peace and ending world hunger, even if they're forcing that on the world. It's what the mutants did with their Phoenix powers in AvX so the fight that the Avengers brought to them was based more on "they're doing this without any sort of system to check them and there's a chance they go evil." I like ambiguous villains as much as the next guy (assuming that guy likes ambiguous villains) but sometimes they feel a little too extreme in either direction. Still, the big disassembled event is set up pretty nicely now so we're in line for some action and/or drama going forward and there's always the added risk in this universe that people can die and stay dead and that every single one of these characters is not currently leading their own book. Kind of a thrilling thing for a superhero comic reader in some regards.

Ultimate Spider-Man 24
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Cloak and Dagger have appeared in the Ultimate Universe and they've almost immediately run afoul of Miles Morales, who was simply trying to have a nice dinner with his father at the Chinese restaurant where Gwen Stacy happens to work because every Spider-Man universe has to be almost absurdly interconnected. The duo are fighting Bombshell and no one seems to know what to expect out of anyone in the situation. We get the backstory for this Cloak and Dagger, which involves them both as class presidents at different high schools and falling in love then, on their prom night, getting into a major car accident. Both were in a coma and seemingly unlikely to awaken when a group of clearly evil doctors at a Roxxon think tank (including Ultimate Layla Miller, Nathaniel Essex, Samuel Sterns, and Arnim Zola III) secret them away by claiming that they did die and the hospital staff accidentally cremated them (is this a thing that happens?) so there are NO REMAINS. The pair are taken to a Roxxon testing facility and used in experiments that Sterns has come up with which involves injecting dark matter into them for soft sciencey reasons. Now they have these powers and apparently they broke out but we didn't get that part of the story just yet. Meanwhile, the fight with Bombshell continues as both sides try to feel each other out. Miles, his dad, Gwen, and the woman who owns the Chinese restaurant escape and Gwen demands Miles get back on the horse and become Spider-Man again, which he is contemplating by the end of the issue.

This issue was largely dedicated to exploring who Cloak and Dagger are. It's useful, particularly if they're planning to stick around, but it's also a little formulaic. Beyond just the star-crossed lovers bit, the two are only really defined by their positions in student government. We learn that they're both their class presidents and that they're smart and cute and concerned with the world, etc. It's a bit of a way to give us ideas about the characters and some key personality aspects without actually having to develop a personality for them. Maybe that will come later (and don't tell me it happened here because it didn't; they had back-and-forth dialogue several times but every single character in this book has that at some point or another so that is not a defined personality) but it's all we're getting for now, which is a little strange considering this issue was dedicated to introducing them. I'm sure we're not done with these guys and smart money says that Miles will start being Spider-Man again at some point in the near future.