Superior Spider-Man 17, Venom 40, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 3

Superior Spider-Man 17
Slott (w) and Stegman and Livesay (a) and Delgado (c)

The rips in the time stream opened up by Bendis in Age of Ultron and dutifully ignored by Bendis in Battle of the Atom (yes, I'm still mad) are now impacting the Spider-Man world as Miguel O'Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099, is starting to see the effects of the rips. He's sure that it's caused by Alchemax, the evil science corporation of the future, and goes to investigate. While the time rips are particularly problematic for Alchemax, they haven't been caused by them and they convince O'Hara to go back to the Heroic Age, where they've realized the rips are originating from. He reluctantly agrees and enters the timestream with a device Alchemax has. Meanwhile, Max Modell is being taken into custody for all sorts of offenses (which boil down to the events of the last few years for Spider-Man) and his arrest is also triggering a hostile takeover of Horizon Labs by Allan Chemical (led by Liz Allan, ex-wife of Harry Osborn and mother of his son Norman) and Tiberius Stone, current enemy of Spider-Man and Modell and eventual father of Alchemax's Tyler Stone (and grandfather of Miguel O'Hara. What a twisted world this all is). Spider-Man is furious with the takeover and stops their cars as they leave. Back at Horizon, Grady decides they should use his new and improved time door to go back and prove Stone was behind most of the problems Modell was involved in. Before they can do it, though, Spider-Man 2099 comes out of the door (that was the time machine Alchemax had!) and Alchemax is revealed to be, probably, some sort of mash-up name involving Allan Chemical. 2099 runs out to find the source of the time rips and comes across Spider-Man preparing to attack Tiberius Stone.

I like the mythos of Spider-Man 2099 and I think it's an interesting story to deal with, particularly as it puts a Spider-Man in a place one hasn't totally been before. There's some amount of Spider-Man vs. evil corporations in the present but he's mostly against specific men and women. 2099 is up against an evil corporation that mostly runs the world and it's an interesting idea. That said, I would say this is the weakest issue of Superior Spider-Man yet. It really drags as we have just altogether too much exposition that needs to come out. I don't know how you tell this story without as much exposition as you have other than trusting your audience to piece things together, but there are a lot of old-comics moments where a character flat out erases subtext and makes everything just text. Not a lot of "show not tell." In addition, I really really can't stand fake swear words. I've mentioned this before at some time or another on this blog but I just can't deal with them. I think they're distracting and stupid. The rest of the English language survived intact to the future but the swears changed? And in this case, they changed to words that already exist as words that don't mean anything negative? Words like jam, shock, and bitheads (that one may be a legitimate title but I don't know and it fits in the way they created the other swears) suddenly are swears and are used seemingly non-stop. I know it sounds petty but it's really not. If you make up swears and they don't work, you're pulling the audience out of the moment they were in and forcing them to ask a lot of questions that aren't worth asking and that they never would have asked otherwise. And it just sounds so stupid. Decent plot behind this issue so I'm hoping the next one will be a little less encumbered by exposition. Otherwise, fairly weak issue.

Venom 40
Bunn (w) and Coelho (a) and Loughridge (c)

The questions about Andi and the symbiote, collectively named Mania, persist and Venom wants to get to the bottom of it. The two have a bit of a chat wherein she's more aggressive than Flash would like, vowing to kill Ogre and his people for what they did to her dad. He admits that he doesn't know her so well that he should know how aggressive she normally is but he does know how the symbiote sounds and it sounds more like symbiote than human. He has to go out of town for a bit as Katy Kiernan calls him to Austin for something he needs to see but promises Mania that they'll both go after Ogre together when he returns. She isn't bothering to wait, though, as she starts tearing the city apart searching for Ogre. Her methods and attitude are brutal and she manages to get face-to-face with Ogre, killing or disabling some of his lieutenants before he slinks away. Meanwhile, Venom arrives in Austin to find Katy at a morgue. Katy shows him her find: Daimon Hellstrom, dead, with the pentagram on his chest skinned off. Venom argues that Daimon is still locked away in Virginia, where Flash left him the last time they met, and Katy informs him that this isn't the only "Daimon" who's been killed and skinned lately. Venom visits Virginia and talks with Hellstrom, who informs him that the pentagram is essentially a ticket to be chosen as a new hell lord, which would make Venom a target as much as it would make Hellstrom a target if Venom still had his demon. However, Hellstrom points out, he doesn't. Wherever it is, it's not on Flash. Of course, we see that it's on Mania who suddenly finds herself not only targeted by Lord Ogre, but also by Crossbones and a slew of other henchmen who want control of hell.

Really interesting story and it's well presented. There's a lot going on here but it never feels like it drags or like there's too much explanation. Both stories that are running are intriguing ones and it's interesting how Bunn is choosing to now combine the storylines, with the hunt for Lord Ogre by the new and mysterious symbiote complicated by Crossbones' quest for pentagrams to become a new hell lord. There's plenty happening here but it never feels overwhelming nor over-explained. It's a solid issue through and through. The art change is a little jarring at first but it works, particularly with people in costume or symbiote (I didn't love Coelho's faces, which look a little emptier and more static, but his action and his bodies are impressive). Still sad that we're losing this book as it's been consistently good and it's certainly the book that's made me most confident in Cullen Bunn. Excited to see where this all goes as we press forward. Also, every issue continues to feature an astounding cover by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. Worth it every time for that alone.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 3
Spencer (w) and S. Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Boomerang's been assigned former villainous teammate the Beetle, now Mach VII, as a parole officer upon his release from jail. This doesn't thrill Boomerang, who explains at length to the audience the way that villains feel about other villains who have given up the life or switched sides (they're fine with guys who give up the life, less fine with guys who turn evidence on old friends, and really not fine with guys who go hero). We also get an in-depth look at what may have happened with the head of Silvio Silvermane. Silvermane had been a powerful mob boss running powerful mob in the city before his body started to give out on him. One of his last ditch efforts to keep things running was to wear a metal suit that kept him alive. In a fight with the Owl, the head got knocked off and was found by Owl, who kept it (still alive, thanks to the cybernetics in the headpiece) in order to torture the old mob boss. The head is worth a ton as it means the Silvermane line is still running if someone can turn up with it and it's Boomerang and his team's mission to try to find it, which is aided by the fact that Boomerang was once a trusted lieutenant of Owl. Unfortunately for Boomerang, his team has decided that the sudden introduction of a superhero in Mach VII to Boomerang's life has made him too vulnerable and they cut him loose. He's understandably very angry about this and fights back against the team, getting no where. After he leaves the team HQ, he calls Mach VII to attend some supervillain AA group where he shows signs of remorse, at least enough that he then tells Mach VII what his team is up to and asks him to send some of his superpowered pals to stop them. The issue ends with the original Heroes for Hire, Luke Cage and Danny Rand (weirdly, in a suit with his typical Iron Fist mask on), busting down the wall of the HQ.

Can't say I'm not really excited to get some Iron Fist/Heroes for Hire action out of the next issue (not a huge Luke Cage fan, though I warm on him the longer he's not Bendis' obsession). The story in this book continues to be of mild interest and the dynamics of supervillains, particularly C-list supervillains, continues to be pretty fun and a relatively fresh take. There's still a bit too much narrative for my liking; there are a couple theories expounded on where Silvermane's head could be and it takes a couple of pages of long narration to get through and I think it drags the book unnecessarily, especially considering Boomerang is so sold on one of the theories, having been Owl's lieutenant for so long. If you want to make a joke on the other theories (one is that a young boy found the head and eventually they became unlikely friends in what may be a nod to Iron Man 3 or, potentially, so many other things), you're free to do that, just, I'd recommend, make it a lot tighter. Still, the highlights of the series continue to come as the supervillains talk with one another or interact with the world. Boomerang's narration is nice in that it stays in character and gives us a good sense of who he is, but I'm not sure it's needed at this length. Otherwise, standard pretty good stuff. This series feels a little like one that Marvel would have, maybe as recent as a few years ago, ran as a shorter series in the back of some book or another, a five page bonus story that ran for a few issues on the tail of another book. It's interesting to see they've taken a risk with it as a full series. If it pays off, it could have a significant impact on the sorts of books we see coming from Marvel. That's if it pays off, though.

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.

Deadpool 13, Nova 6, Thunderbolts 13

Deadpool 13
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Koblish (a) and Staples (c)

It's another flashback issue for Deadpool as we get a brand new story from Deadpool's made-up past, this one placing him in the '70s and trying to ingratiate himself with Luke Cage and Iron Fist as the Heroes for Hire. Along the way, he beats up some random people on the street and in the bathroom, he annoys the Heroes for Hire, and he follows predictable plot point to predictable plot point. The issue ends, like the last flashback, with the reveal that the villain he defeated in the past is coming back out of the woodwork to fight in the present.

I've had no limit of problems with this series but I had somewhat higher hopes for this one. The last flashback issue was better than, I think, most of the issues of this series so far, and this Deadpool is at his best when there are other heroes around because they can play straight man to him. Despite that, the issue drags like crazy and is so stalled by all its references to life in the '70s and its desire to nudge you with its elbow as if to say "do you get it? This is a part of Marvel history! Deadpool knows it!" that it negates any good bits from the Heroes for Hire, instead boiling them down to the over-the-top blaxploitation attitude Luke Cage was back then and spending way too much time comparing Iron Fist's iron fist to predictable sex jokes. Predictable is the word I need to keep coming back to because, although the jokes aren't for me, I get that the jokes are supposed to be what's driving this book. You don't choose a comedian to co-write this without making sure it focuses on jokes. So people who are fans of this book could rage at me all they want about how we're not here for the plot, we're here because it's funny, and I'd still deny that in both parts. First, if you're just here for the jokes, why does this have to be a full-fledged series that will run through, at least, two years of issues (they've confirmed it will at least run through issue 21 already, giving me the sense that this book is doing pretty well) doing nothing but cracking jokes with the occasional plot point? Why couldn't that have just been some sort of mini or something that happens in the back of a real issue of Deadpool or something? More than that, though, the jokes are entirely predictable, seen from a mile away and created so awkwardly by supporting characters that they don't give any semblance of cleverness or with to Deadpool, just the guy who keeps yelling "that's what she said!" to inevitably hit on a real one at some point. Why am I reading this book? More to the point, why are you reading this book? Deadpool's an interesting character with seemingly real stories to tell (granted, not as interesting as some of the other characters in the long haul, but he's more popular so whatever) and we're throwing that away by encouraging this series. The art was pretty spot on here though. Nice touch.

Nova 6
Wells (w) and Medina and Vlasco (a) and Curiel (c)

We appear to be up to full present as Nova has defeated Titus and established himself as the new Nova in this universe and he's now officially, in this series, been asked to join the Avengers by Thor (hearkening back to AvX, which will seemingly still not leave us alone). He's also been gone for some time, though, as his mother has been worrying about him non-stop. He returns home to a lecture and to misinterpret a lesson from his mother before flying off again to be Nova in New York.

Bit of a break issue here for Nova as new writer Zeb Wells hops on to the book and establishes his own voice for the character. I will say, I liked this issue more than I've liked previous issues and it seems thanks to the new tone. It feels like a better written teenage character, which is such an important and difficult voice to nail down when you're not a teenager yourself. It often comes off as the stereotypical kind of teenager that you see in TV and movies that doesn't quite give you the sense of being a real person. Gillen and McKelvie are doing a great job over on Young Avengers with it but they also have plenty of characters to bounce back and forth between. Here it's even more difficult because Nova has to find a nice voice and keep it with no one to fall back on. If even one of the Young Avengers isn't written well (purely hypothetical, they're all written well), we would still have good characters surrounding them. Here, Marvel has invented a brand new teenage character and given no support system while he finds his feet. Wells' voice seems less predictable and a little more childlike while still maintaining the personality that Loeb left for him. This one is definitely an issue meant to reset us a bit, now that we're aware Nova can mostly handle his Nova powers and he's finished his first big fight, and to set up our next arc in very vague terms. Sam wants to go help the world as Nova and he might actually be able to do it. I'll be interested to see where this one goes.

Thunderbolts 13
Soule (w) and Noto (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Finally we get some answers about the mysterious Mercy in this issue as Flash confronts her and, finding that a little out of his league, goes and confronts Ross about her. Her origin is still pretty covered up, though Ross reveals to Flash that she was a regular-Hulk enemy back in the day (and a Wikipedia check confirms it, you guys) before going on to explain how he dug her up and why he brought her along. The conceit of Mercy is that she is incredibly powerful and she tries to help people who can't help themselves. Sounds good, but the "helping people" bit is more "helping people who want to die but don't have the strength to kill themselves" than it is "find somebody a job" or something. Her power levels are pretty through the roof and Ross admits to Flash that she's on the team because he wants to be able to keep an eye on her but, in truth, she might be more than he can handle.

It's an interesting issue and it starts to bring out a lot of new information for this team, which is useful. In addition to learning a little bit about Mercy's powers and her goals, we get a very brief look into why she's staying here, if she's more powerful than Red Hulk. He thinks that it's because she simply hasn't realized yet that she has a bit of the upperhand here but it seems more driven by her own goals than that. She tells Flash at the start of the issue that he's not interesting to her any more, explaining that she would have helped him commit suicide when he was at his lowest in life, when he considered it. Now he doesn't consider it (which is at the root of Ross' argument against her; everyone can have a bad day, week, year, etc. and be at the end of their rope but it doesn't mean people don't pull through it) but it seems like she's still interested in the rest of the team. It not only gives us more interest in Mercy, it really makes you look at the rest of the team that Ross has assembled. At first, they were all just stone-cold mercenaries, right for the job and willing to do whatever it took. Now, knowing that Mercy has interest in them, it's hard not to see them as the darkness they each have inside of themselves. Really interesting way to recast the team and give us a little bit more as we push forward. Good issue, solid series building.