This week's picks!

Another long week filled with long comics and some that felt too long and some that felt too short. Honestly, more that felt too long than ones that felt too short. I feel like I have to note here that CABLE AND X-FORCE barely didn't make the cut this week, which would have made this an incredibly easy list of picks to find in the comic book shop as they would have been all perfectly in a row on the shelves.

Captain America 14

Rick Remender continues to push Cap to his absolute limits and we're seeing it out there. It's rare that Cap is put through such unquestionable tragedy and put through something that maybe even he, who has seen just about every sort of horror, can't get past but it's possible Remender has found something of that sort here and it's coming through in very intense ways. One of the debates that has raged for a while with Bucky-Cap carrying a gun and whether or not Cap kills people and so on but I've always landed on the side of "Steve Rogers is a soldier. He has done these things. He's a great guy and has an unflinching moral compass but he does what needs to be done." That starts to come out in this issue with the idea that he might kill Nuke, with his rational brain saying that it's this or all of Nuke's future rampages are on his head but we can see as an audience that there is no rational brain here. On top of that, Falcon has some good moments and has to ask some questions himself. Just a lot of strong stuff happening here.

Captain America Living Legend 4

I've really liked this mini throughout and I think it ended just as strongly as it started. Throughout, I lauded this book for creating real-feeling peripheral characters who created sympathy for an entire nation and for the civilians in these crazy situations. It continues right up to the end as Colonel Gridenko immediately develops into a strong character when he's brought to the forefront of the story. It's a really interesting story and it's got solid writing and absolutely phenomenal art, making the whole of this series totally worth reading. Always nice to see writers I've not seen write Cap before write him really well. Sometimes you run into popular writers or people you've seen before take him and really just blow it. I didn't see that at all here. It didn't hurt that everyone had a good role in this series.





Superior Foes of Spider-Man 6

This one makes the cut over CABLE AND X-FORCE and THUNDERBOLTS, particularly, because of its sense of fun and it's pretty quick-paced tone. There's a lot happening here in terms of story and character but the fun of it all really comes out in the dialogue. I mentioned in my actual full review that the best scene came in the argument between Boomerang and Mach V as Mach V accuses Boomerang of breaking his parole and suspects him of continued supervillainy. One thing that's been obvious throughout this series is that Spencer has a real voice in his head for Boomerang and that's really been the driving factor of the book as a whole. As intriguing as parts of the plot have been (even when they move somewhat slowly) the key to the series has been the distinct voice and the tone of the book as a result. It's at its strongest here and it makes the book strong in turn.


Best Cover
Thunderbolts 19

I mean, look at this cover. Hilarious. Compare it to the first issue of THUNDERBOLTS and you can probably see the change in tone for the book, a change that I think has made the book far better and far more unique.

Captain America 14, Captain America Living Legend 4

Captain America 14
Remender (w) and Pacheco and Taibo (a) and White (c)

Captain America and Nuke have been fighting for quite some time before Cap starts to get through to him, explaining how his orders are wrong and how they have to go back to America and set things right. Nuke relents and helps Cap up as the American journalist who has seen the whole thing unfold takes another picture and reveals herself, setting Nuke off again. It takes all the remaining might of Cap and Falcon to slow him enough to give the journalist a head start and Falcon, after getting slashed across the stomach by Nuke and berated for being a civilian, still has to fly off a cliff to rescue her. When they land, he asks to have the camera to follow his orders and to make sure the pictures can't be skewed to look like America as a whole has anything to do with it but the journalist makes an impassioned plea to Falcon about freedom of the press and the orders he's following, which leads to him allowing her to keep the camera. Meanwhile, Cap has attacked Nuke again and finally hits his breaking point, something he knew he was reaching during the whole fight. He wails on Nuke and puts him down brutally before preparing to land a killshot, fearing that allowing Nuke to live only means allowing more wars to start and more innocents to die. Falcon shows up and takes the shield from Cap's hand just before he can bring it down on Nuke and Nuke falls unconscious, but not before he reveals that he did it all to make Cap and the other soldiers proud. Fury shows up to take Nuke away and to bring the heroes home and reveals that the journalist released the picture of Cap and Nuke shaking hands and framed it in such a way that it seemed like American operatives attacked the country, not just the broken Nuke. In China, the Iron Nail swears that America will be better for these attacks and that he needs to topple SHIELD to really start things rolling.

This is another emotionally charged issue that sits really well in this series. When Ed Brubaker started his already-legendary run on CAPTAIN AMERICA back in 2005, he started with a Captain America who was particularly aggressive and angry with the ways things had been falling and put more pressure on him by launching him into the epic Winter Soldier storyline. Steve was a little unhinged, though always in his "still morally better than you" way. He was strong in his convictions and he, of course, ended up being right but he didn't necessarily go about things the right way, rushing in half-cocked to certain delicate situations. We're seeing a bit of that Steve here, though maybe even more amplified, which makes sense. Brubaker's Steve had been worn down over time where this Steve has seen real personal tragedy and ten years of his life erased in the course of a week and, guess what, he's still in that week. Cap openly admits in his narration that he's tapping into a rage he hasn't felt before, something that's been hidden in him and brought out by the recent goings-on. He also is able to see that it makes him a worse fighter and a worse soldier so he continues to try to tamp it down, but it comes out in full as he pounds Nuke at the end. On top of the amazing character work that we're seeing and the decidedly different while also true-to-history Cap, there's a really interesting plot happening here with a world that is turning on SHIELD, if it was ever on SHIELD's side. Foreign powers working against America or working to smear America isn't new but the idea that a foreign power would want to, in whatever way, improve America by breaking it down first and allowing it to rebuild (he compares it to the re-birth of Germany after the fall of the evil reich) free from its corrupt government and SHIELD is a somewhat new twist on it and it comes at a time when the American people have less faith in their government and more suspicions than ever before. Really compelling story that's highlighted by phenomenal character work and really great art. Can't complain as Cap continues to grow.

Captain America Living Legend 4
Diggle and Granov (s) and Diggle and Robson (w) and Alessio (a and c)

Cap is being taken in by the dark energy entity before Volkov, deep within the base, manages to grasp control of it and pull Steve out. The energy keeps attacking and, with Cap's shield off in the distance, they have no weapons to defeat it. Cap rushes to his shield while the others buy a second's time, throwing it back in just as it prepares to overtake them. He leaves the shield with Dr. Fox and tasks Colonel Gridenko and his men with getting her to the Deus device so she can shut it down and stop the dark energy once and for all while he makes his way to Volkov. Gridenko knows that usually means death but lets him go all the same. Cap manages to reach Volkov, who tells him that he should have died that day Cap saved him and that his survival set in place a course of action that led to all of this. Even now, he cannot manage to die and the dark energy that's lived in him since his time in space consumes him, both of them hoping to die but unable to do so. He tells Cap that it's taken him 40 years to control the energy enough to allow a moment's respite and asks Cap to kill him in that time. Cap declines, wishing to get him to medical and scientific help but Volkov is adamant that it cannot save him, it will only kill any who'd get close enough. Finally Cap relents and prepares to shoot the soldier. He does and, for a second, it seems not to work. At that moment, though, Fox manages to activate the Deus device and pulls all of the dark energy in, destroying it there and leaving Volkov to peacefully die. Cap, Fox, and Gridenko leave the station with Cap still mourning Volkov and Gridenko essentially telling him not to waste his breath. Gridenko regrets what's become of Russia and its army as, to underline his point, a Russian bureaucrat shows up to question Gridenko on what's happened and why the Americans aren't being detained and so forth. Gridenko ignores him as Cap blows up the station. The Colonel then throws the bureaucrat to the ground and asks Cap for political asylum in America, which Cap happily informs him they can offer.

A pretty nice ending to the book, really powered by some great art, a compelling story, and nicely developed characters despite the length of the book. This is a shining example of a solid writer telling a good story but doing just enough to make sure the characters are all fully-fleshed out even without the benefit of a long series. So it is possible, you guys, and you don't have to sacrifice much to get it. Granted, I think Alessio's art really cemented this book; I think the writing was tight and the story was good but I may as well have just been distracted the whole time by the visuals. Still this is one of those stories that I think would be a good complete set to show someone who wasn't sold on Captain America or who didn't know a lot of comics, a really good beginner arc. There is an amount of soft science and the kind of stuff that will gain you some blank stares when you explain it out loud to non-comic readers but good luck finding any comic story worth its salt that won't. I don't actually know what the phrase "worth its salt" means because, I mean, it's salt, right? This day and age, that's not worth all that much. Anyway, I'm fairly certain it is a saying (please don't correct me if it's not, I don't need that you guys, just all assume I'm right). So another good issue to round out a good mini!

This week's picks

Kind of a short week for new books (I still feel like I missed one or two out there. Not counting the All-New X-Men special because I certainly didn't miss that one). Still, short week didn't mean there weren't standouts. LET'S GET TO IT, FRIENDS.

Captain America Living Legend 1

I like where this one is going and I'm excited to see it through. The first issue, with rather limited facetime for Cap, brought us solid characterization for the series antagonist and even a good amount for the series protagonist. On top of that, I mentioned in my review mostly seeing Adi Granov's work on covers and how nice it is to be seeing him on interiors. That one hundred percent still stands and, now that I've had a little bit of space from my review, may even be a stronger plus for this book than it was before. It's just really astounding art, very majestic. I've said before (during the first arc of Daredevil Dark Nights) that it's almost cheating putting this much snow on the ground in a comic because snow, when you're not standing in it, is really absurdly lovely. That happens a bit here but it's not as much the focal point here as it was in Dark Nights. It's just a lovely backdrop for truly phenomenal art. Good stuff, you guys.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 1

This book, I'd say, gets the benefit of a rather slow week. Even typical standout Iron Man had less of a showing this week as the hero/villain climax was mostly resolved last issue, putting Tony up against a ticking clock for half of the issue and putting him up against a birthday party for the second half. That's not to demean this book; it still earned its spot over Iron Man and Hunger and Mighty Avengers. However, this is definitely one that will need to stick the landing in the second issue to push this series from definitely interesting to definitely good. The worry with books that are more experimental is that they don't necessarily have anything hiding behind the surprising look and feel of the book. On the plus side, Rudy's art is phenomenal so even if this does end up thinning out with ideas, we'll have to look forward to. In truth (and with endless optimism), I'm not overly worried about it not pulling its weight. I think it's going into a good spot. Also really encouraging on Marvel's part that two of my top picks this week are the first issue of a new series. Constantly moving in the right direction (except in certain X-related fields, perhaps).

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 4

This one gets the call because of how strangely fun it is. This book has been moving for that tone throughout but I really felt like it hit here. The story is still advancing (albeit in its own time) but we're more concerned with the characters in this series than we are with the story. That's a risky move to pull in a new comic, especially one that focuses on a character we haven't really examined before. It's not Spider-Man, who we all know pretty inside and out and who can sell a book even if it's just about his personality (though don't be mistaken, the fact that "Spider-Man" is in the title is one hundred percent Marvel showing that they know what they're doing). Now that it's spent a few issues developing character and story, it can really delve into those characters and their relationships, a little more secure in their resolve. Really solid, really fun issue with an exciting little twist at the end. It steals the "fun" spotlight from Thunderbolts this week, which, as the last two T-Bolts issues have proven, is not an easy thing to do.