This week's picks!

Man, really good week for comics. There were some weaker entries out there but the strong entries were really strong. As soon as I read them, I knew pretty much all three that I wanted on my pull-list but that left one particularly strong book out, with four books vying for three spots. Good news though, it turns out I govern this blog as well as write it so HERE IT IS, a very special FOUR BOOK PULL-LIST.

Avengers Arena 10

This book just keeps getting better and better. The stakes have been upped, Hopeless has introduced a villain on the island in one of the combatants and made her a real force, and he continues to be unafraid of killing off big characters. Every piece of this book has been interesting and compelling and has made it just as worthwhile to pick up as the last one. Obviously I'm still suspicious, seeing how this is comics, that everyone who has died could just come back later, which would make their deaths a little weaker in a way, but I think this book will still hold up even if that is revealed to be true. Everyone here legitimately believes they're on the brink of death or dying and that makes it hard to watch them die, as if it wouldn't have been anyway. For added intrigue, Nico has dumped our ever-shrinking anti-Apex force somewhere on the island and, in her dying breath, called for help (but all magic-like). Great art all through this issue, really showcasing Nico's struggle. Really exceptional issue.

Iron Man 11

I can't stop thinking about the implications of this book. I've never seen a book so effortlessly turn the entire Marvel Universe to view it from a new angle. Does it actually change anything except in Tony Stark's life? No, not really. And that's what's so remarkable about it. It's a shift of massive proportions, with the conceit that Tony is the reason the world still exists and that Tony was designed specifically to save the world, without actually rewriting a single moment of Marvel history, only the way Tony perceives it. That makes it a big deal to the Marvel Universe in that there's a new way to view all of the events and attacks and everything on Earth and it's a big deal to Tony in how he processes and reacts to this news (will he become even more full of himself, knowing he alone could have ever saved the Earth? Or will this put the typical superhero angst on him? No one knows for sure). Iron Man 11 is a near perfect book in that it changes the game ever so slightly for the Marvel Universe as a whole while really and truly impacting Iron Man without needing a big event for it or anything. Everything and nothing has changed.


Red She-Hulk 66

I'm a sucker for this book and, especially after this last issue, I can't believe it's ending after the next issue. Its leads in Red She-Hulk and Machine Man have become such strong characters and have been developed so nicely throughout this shortened run (for those just tuning in, Red She-Hulk hasn't been the feature for all 67 issues; she took the book over in issue 58, I believe, so we'll only really have had ten issues with her when this is all sad and done). Every bit of dialogue has been important in explaining plot or in building these characters or both. Whether it's the relationship that's built up between Betty and Aaron or the flaws in both of them or the plot that's driven this whole thing, everything has seemed really well-constructed. This issue focuses on an alternate dimension where Red She-Hulk is, in fact, the only Hulk and Bruce Banner is just a scientist and it's executed wonderfully. It's not easy to do alternate universe books but Jeff Parker really knocks them out of the park and makes them meaningful and logical. In the end, it ties back to X-51's (yes, I like to use all his names in every review I write) "just a machine" background that he's always had to deal with and that he has had to deal with more recently with the Yologarch specifically. It's a really wonderful and thought-provoking book with good art and fresh writing. Pick this book up then come back next month for 67.

Winter Soldier 19

It would be impossible to leave this book off the list. It's the conclusion of the Winter Soldier series that has been so good. From his humble beginnings as a brainwashed Soviet killing machine way back in Captain America volume five, issue one to this conclusion of his very first solo series as a recovering brainwashed Soviet killing machine, Winter Soldier has seen it it all. He really is a wonderful character and hopefully the movie will inspire new media with him (and also be absolutely great because if it's not I might have to quit everything forever). This final issue ties in very nicely to the roots of Winter Soldier and the emotions that he's had to cope with while giving him permission to abandon those roots or use them to move on as a fully-formed person. Bucky is coming to terms with his life and his past and it'll only strengthen the character going forward. Great art by Klein and Latour's compelling story and understanding of Bucky drive this final arc but the series as a whole is really worth catching up on. Don't be surprised if you see Bucky again soon, even in this very review.


Best cover

These covers have been wonderful throughout. Declan Shalvey is a really talented artist, as his work on Venom and those covers, as well as these ones, have proven time and time again. Jordie Bellaire's colors are perfect on this "explosive final issue" cover. The explosion is mighty impressive, the projectile Bucky and the chaotic "Winter Soldier" title add to the turmoil of this, the final issue. You see this book on the shelf and you're interested because none of us can look away from an explosion (except Bucky but that's really only because he's been propelled from it forcibly for trying to look too closely).

Winter Soldier 19, Red She-Hulk 66, X-Factor 257

Winter Soldier 19
Latour (w) and Klein (a and c)

The final issue of Winter Soldier finds Tesla having created a cosmic cube of some sort, the Tesla Tesseract. Her plan is to create chaos by going back in time with it to kill the people who have brought her pain. She advises Bucky to take the opportunity to go back and finish Novokov before he can hurt Natasha or wipe her memories. He refuses, knowing that time shouldn't be broken this way. He watches helplessly as she jumps them to various points in her life where she was hurt and kills whoever was torturing her. All the while, Bucky pleads with her to return and live the life she has. Finally, she brings him back to the day he killed her father and tells him that now he has the chance to make all of this go away by not killing her father. He explains that he understands what he was and who he is and how everything feeds into his life and how he can't just go back in time and change things, as much as he wants to erase his Winter Soldier past. No good can come from altering the past. Tesla attacks him, using the body of Father Hammer, who was evidently watching Bucky even at this point to see his skills. As Bucky gives up the fight, he shows Tesla her reflection on his knife. When she could have gone to see her father in this time, she chose instead to look like Father Hammer. Mortified by this, she brings them back to the present and admits her mistakes, fighting a war on soldiers. Unfortunately, it's too late to save them as the cosmic energy is expanding too quickly. Bucky uses his arm, rigged with a homing beacon, to send them back to Earth while she keeps them intangible so they don't crash into anything. They land in the ocean and she sinks away, disappearing, while he emerges at the top. There's a nice wrap-up for Joe Robards where he acknowledges without acknowledging that he knows Bucky killed his wife but he understands the weight of having a mission. Bucky returns to the cube despite himself and goes back in time to kiss Natasha at a time when she knew him before leaving again.

It's a wonderful and fitting wrap-up for the Winter Soldier, whose biggest demon since his return, and rightfully so, has been his past as the Winter Soldier. This issue gives him an out, a way to try to erase the things he's done and the person he was in that time, or even small parts of it. He could erase the horrible acts he's committed, he could erase Novokov and get back Natasha, he could do just about anything. Instead, he comes to terms with what the past means. Will he ever be over it? No, probably not. He probably shouldn't ever be. But maybe he can move past it with this feeling. Latour and Klein inherited an almost impossible job (replacing a beloved writer who created this character on a near-failing book) and did very nice work anyway. Klein's art really stands out here as there's a great piece at the beginning that shows the Winter Soldier's beginning as Bucky falls into the water from the drone he couldn't stop which calls back to early Avengers style art and uses great colors. The issue is solid and their run was well-executed. Still very sad to see this book go. Well at least the other two books in this review are still going strong and will never-oh.

Red She-Hulk 66
Parker (w) and Pagulayan, Olliffe, Bennett, and Jose (a) and Staples (c)

Red She-Hulk and X-51 arrive in the Florida Everglades, the Nexus of Realities, according to the Terranometer. Time is different here and Aaron is hopeful that they'll have the best shot of changing a fixed point in time by going to where time is least fixed. As they arrive, Red She-Hulk instantly spots and attacks Man-Thing, home after his journey with the old Thunderbolts some months ago. He teleports her into a different reality, one where she goes out and saves Bruce Banner on the gamma testing site where he saved Rick Jones and became the Hulk. As a result, she becomes the Hulk (still red and a she, but now the only Hulk) and he's just a great scientist. In this reality, Banner is able to help Betty keep Hulk in check and maintainable, leading to her eventual transformation into a form far more like the Red She-Hulk we know. As a result, she's more accepted in society and is a valued Avenger (who makes out with Thor at least once in her lifetime), all of which makes Banner jealous. Banner teams with Dr. Stack and creates the Machine Men, used to attack super-powered individuals. This whole time, Aaron has been trying to contact Betty in this world to get her to remember who she really is and bring her back to their universe. He can only effectively communicate with her through dreams and she shakes them off in the morning, fully embracing her new life when awake. When Banner and Stack create the Machine Men, Aaron is finally able to enter the world as more than just a spectator, as he enters his own alternate body. Man-Thing continues to watch from the sidelines, unsure of what exactly is happening and unable to teleport them back in any useful way. On the plus side for them, though, She-Hulk has tracked Red She-Hulk with the help of Echelon before leaving them in the dust to reach Betty and Aaron first. She arrives as Aaron, who, in this world, is programmed to hunt superheroes, is trying to tell Betty that this world isn't hers and she needs to go back with them. Unfortunately, Aaron is just a machine and must continue attacking her while trying to give her advice so it comes off pretty misleading. Man-Thing is able to open Betty's eyes to her past, but now she has both histories running through her mind so she's not in great shape. Man-Thing and Aaron try to get She-Hulk to help but Betty goes full Hulk right as General Fortean arrives so everything is going completely wrong and crazy as the series ends next issue.

GUYS, I can't believe this series is ending. I've loved this book since it switched over to Betty as the primary character and this issue illustrates again how perfect it is. First and foremost, this is an alternate timeline done right. Parker did it very well in Dark Avengers but this is a different animal, as it's one change that has meaningful implications and that logically moves from one step to another. I could name other books where, for example, Hank Pym is killed and then everything changes to such a ridiculous degree that you might mistake Hank Pym for God. Instead, one switch changes the whole Hulk dynamic of the Marvel Universe and everything naturally follows from that switch. On top of that, we have our characters acting in character (except occasionally Betty, who doesn't actually know what her character is) and doing what they can to solve this. One of the best parts, though, comes from Aaron who is fresh off his failure against the Yologarch because he couldn't escape the fact that he's just a robot following code. In this new universe, he is humbled again to find that he still can't break code so, as human as he is, he can't stop attacking Betty, his friend, while he's trying to save her. It's a brilliant extension of the ideas addressed with Aaron before this, and something that comes up occasionally with AIs but is still an engaging idea made far more engaging by the long game Parker has been playing to make us like Aaron so much and to give him so much personality over the course of this series. It's hard for me to understand why this book is ending, though Jeff Parker has assured me it's not my fault so I feel pretty good about that.

X-Factor 257
David (w) and Edwards and Carnero (a) and Milla (c)

"The End of X-Factor" six-part arc has officially started which should bring us right up to Peter David's final X-Factor issue and the final issue of this run on X-Factor (there is some speculation that it will be restarted as a part of Marvel NOW! or Marvel NOW! 2 which is apparently a thing that is happening that I'll probably have to look into more when I haven't written a few overly giant reviews already (stop writing and canceling great books and maybe I'll stop typing so much...but don't actually stop writing great books, okay? And look, in the interest of honesty, I probably won't stop typing so much). We jump right into it as Layla has tracked the demon goat-headed Madrox to Marrakesh, Morocco where he's being held by a boy named Aziz who hopes to use him to open a portal to the afterlife and bring his mother back from it. Yes, it's already kind of the saddest story. Layla, who knows things, has found her powers to be a bit off of late. This run-in with Aziz and his uncle (who has dabbled in dark arts and thinks he can use Jamie to open the portal successfully) was something she saw in her thoughts but it was supposed to be a quick detour as the portal never opened and Madrox was supposed to still be Madrox when it happened, not goat-head Madrox. Unlike her visions, though, they successfully open the portal and goat-head goes in and pulls the mother out. Unfortunately, the mother is a horrible demon thing now and kills Aziz almost instantly before approaching Layla. Layla's forcefield doesn't protect her from this otherworldly being and she's about to suffer the same fate as Aziz when goat-head Madrox pulls the demon back and throws her into the portal. Layla disguises Madrox and they leave, still unsure of what to do next and Layla unsettled by her inaccurate visions.

This is a certainly compelling storyline. I love Madrox, as readers of this blog should certainly know by now, and so I'm happy if this final arc focuses on trying to get him back. The idea that Layla's visions aren't predicting the correct events is an interesting one and how exactly she'll be able to translate those to help could lead to a great story. On top of that, this seemed to be the first time that we saw goat-head show some sort of semblance of an idea of what was happening, as he saves his wife and escapes with her pretty willingly. Whether that's more a survival instinct or part of Jamie's personality coming through is up for debate. Still, the issue was a very quick read and was over well before I was ready for it to end, which is always a good sign, if a little depressing. I'll be interested to see where this one takes us to trigger the ending.

This week's picks

Tough week to pick a top three as there were a handful of top three-worthy releases. While that's good for comic readers, it's considerably worse for readers of this blog. As a result, I'm leaning on some old favorites here and few new entries to the list. By few, I really meant zero. But you could kind of guess that, couldn't you? You're very clever, reader.

Hawkeye 10

I've written an awful lot about Hawkeye lately so I'm not sure anyone needs me to write more. I will though. I liked this issue even if it was largely setting up the villain. Fraction keeps you entertained and the temporary artist switch to Francesco Francavilla totally works, given Francavilla's style mixed with the fire and darkness of the story. Francavilla's color palette also fits the story incredibly well so giving Matt Hollingsworth the day off works for the book too. There are some great lines for Kate and a particularly telling scene between the Hawkeyes (as well as a really nice insight into the way Kate feels about Clint when she's away from Clint). I'm going to tell you right now that the next issue, which has been teased already, is certainly going to make this list next release. It's Pizza Dog centric and billed as "Pizza Dog in 'Pizza is my Business.'" Sorry any other worthy books, that one might take all three spots.

Winter Soldier 18

Not to stop people from reading my pull list entry for the week of June 5th but it's already 2/3 decided and I haven't any idea what books are out for the entire week and CLEARLY I haven't read them yet. However, Hawkeye 11 (wherein Pizza Dog solves a murder) will be out that week and the final issue of Winter Soldier will be out. So yes, those two will almost certainly make the pull list then. So why is Winter Soldier on my pull list now? To be honest, while I was reading it I wasn't sure it would be. However, the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. That happens a fair amount, particularly while I'm blogging. I like the idea of Bucky being afraid that he can live with what he's done, not being afraid that he can't. It fits his character extremely well and makes the villain of this arc more interesting. Like with Hawkeye, this issue was largely focused on establishing the villain (though, unlike Hawkeye, it wasn't a little out of place considering the next one will be the last. Story timetables getting rushed are among the saddest sights) and it does a good job of it. She's smart, she's brutal, and she's not particularly predictable. She goes out of her way to establish for Bucky that she doesn't hate him for killing her parents, or hate him at all even. That's a pretty good villain. Interested to see how this series will wrap up.

X-Men Legacy 10

I told you it was going to be all old standbys. Not that any are undeserving. I think these are all great books and there were all solid issues of great books. Right off the bat we get David INSTANTLY agreeing to a deal with the extremely powerful Xavier personality in his brain so that he can try to see the future and the ways around how he destroys the mutant race. So there's plenty to look forward to storywise there. Then David takes active steps to try to stop himself from abusing his power. This issue also establishes a villain, like the other two picks this week. However, this villain isn't villainous in any way. He's extremely unfortunate and sympathetic but he doesn't even hate mutants. He's got a cure for powers but he's not forcing it on people. It's there, if it's needed he has it, if people want it they can have it. He's very straightforward about it, he doesn't seem to be hiding anything, and he's not doing it for personal gain or a vendetta or anything. He just knows well enough that there's a high probability mutants will do serious harm to the world on accident (or on purpose). It's hard to argue against that when we know our main hero is primed to do exactly that. Interesting ideas, well-executed. Solid book just keeps getting better.



Best cover
This was a tricky one. There were two solid Francavilla covers out there, with Hawkeye being solidly in the vein of Aja's simplistic covers but still looking distinctly Francavillan. I liked the baby Iron Man of Iron Man 9 and X-Men Legacy covers are always pretty great. Superior Spider-Man was close, with the plot pretty much set up by the cover and as succinctly explained as anyone could have done. Ultimate X-Men was simultaneously technically good and haunting. I ended up choosing the other Francavilla cover largely for the great colors and the appeal of the cover itself. Even if I didn't read every Marvel book every week, if I saw this cover, I feel confident I'd pick up the book, no matter how interested I had been in it previously. That's exactly what you want a cover to do so mission accomplished. I don't think it's necessarily a cover that blows you away but it more than does it job. Can't ask for anything more than that out of a cover.

Another book cancelled

Winter Soldier cancelled with issue 19

After missing the memo last time around about X-Treme X-Men and Age of Apocalypse's cancellations, I created a Google alert to warn me when the term "Marvel cancels" appears. Already, one new cancellation in, it feels a bit like getting a call in the middle of the night from a family member and knowing it can't be good news. Of course, it didn't help that the first cancellation my new alert informed me about is one of my favorite ongoings. So yes, the news is out, Winter Soldier is officially cancelled, ending with issue 19 in June. Suspicions arose with the July solicits revealed this past week and no sign of Winter Soldier 20. So sadly, we couldn't even figure out what Bucky's been doing for 20 issues, we just get the 19. I'm sure we'll get more of what Bucky's up to as time goes on, but for the time being, we're going to be left with what last month's solicits showed, Bucky in space intertwined with someone who may or may not be the Electric Ghost. Presumably it will the arc he's on now, as well as the series.

Readers of this blog will know that Winter Soldier is both one of my favorite ongoing series and one of my favorite characters. I love the conceit behind Winter Soldier and the story of his origin enough to boost him there (let alone his tie with other favorite character Captain America), but through his time in the Marvel Universe his personality and the strength of his books have further cemented him in my heart. I'm extremely saddened to see this series go. It seems like Latour and Klein are both reaching a level of comfort with the character and with the story that would have brought Bucky to new places and new areas of his life. It's particularly sad because Bucky is entering a new point in his life, fresh off re-entering his own life after the brainwashing that created the Winter Soldier. After Brubaker's run ended, he's without Natasha and presumed dead by most of the world. His connections are as diminished as they've ever been and the start of Latour's run aimed itself at reintegrating him into missions from Nick Fury. On top of that, all the things I said about X-Treme X-Men and Age of Apocalypse being really solid and entertaining books that have been kind of pushed to the side for bigger events and titles and characters apply to the Winter Soldier title as well. I'm sad about this, though I think we all kind of knew from the get-go this was either going to kill or never survive. It's the kind of book that has probably more of a niche than most superhero books and those tend to have some trouble surviving (with obvious exceptions like Hawkeye leaping to mind).

As sad as I am about the cancellation, it's not entirely a surprise. Like I said, I think most fans of the book probably knew we were living on borrowed time with this one. In fact, we only got as far as 19 because of the announcement last Comic-Con that the new Captain America movie would have the title "Captain America: Winter Soldier." Brubaker revealed in some of his exit interviews that the book had been teetering on cancellation before that. He had said, after announcing his exit from Captain America, that he intended to remain on Winter Soldier for the foreseeable future, at the time expecting the foreseeable future to put him pretty much where he ended, given the book's cancellation. Instead, the title saw a bit of a sales boost after the movie reveal and Brubaker had to jump ship anyway. Latour and Klein both note in their blog posts dealing with the cancellation (below) that they knew they were fighting an uphill battle when they signed on but that it didn't change their desire to do the book. The problem with a character and a book like Winter Soldier is that, even though fans of the cinematic universe might leap on to the book to prepare for the upcoming movie, it requires the origin story to truly understand. Bucky is so woven into his own history that jumping into the series midway through probably didn't help a lot of new readers, eager to learn about the character who will feature in the motion picture. Also, the motion picture will cast him as a villain and suddenly he's a completely different character, one that audiences of the first Cap movie will recognize as dead, in the book.

I'm sad to see the book go and that's my primary view on this. Was it expected? Yeah, a little bit. Was I happy to have whatever time I got from this book? Sure was. Do I think that this is the end of Winter Soldier appearing in the Marvel Universe? Absolutely not. Marvel will certainly continue to throw Bucky into situations, likely starting with Secret Avengers where he was promoted even before the book launched, because he's a great character and he's well-liked. Hawkeye hadn't caught on in a solo series until Fraction's and he's still cited as plenty of people's favorite Avenger. With a movie coming out, Marvel isn't going to keep Bucky on the bench. So take some solace, then, that James Buchanon Barnes won't be on the sidelines long before we see him again. Will it be in his noir-ish solo series? Probably not. Is that super depressing? Sure is. Is there comfort in knowing good characters won't just fall by the wayside? Yes. So thank you Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice and Michael Lark and Bettie Breitweiser and Jordie Bellaire and Declan Shalvey and Jason Latour and Nic Klein and everyone else involved with this risky book from the start and from the middle and from the end. It was a great title that, yeah, deserved a bit better than it got but certainly gave it all. Pick up every issue from here on out for support and, you know what, go back and buy the rest too.



Writer Jason Latour's blog post about the cancellation can be found here. Artist Nic Klein's can be found here.