This week's picks

Another long and exciting week of Marvel comics down so it's another attempt to choose the three most worthy of recognition this week. Tricky in a week full of ambitious number ones, game-changing ultimate or penultimate issues, and fifth issues of varying degrees of interest. Look, lots of books out this week, is what I'm saying. Let's pick some.

All-New Ghost Rider 1

I don't know that this is truly one of the top three books of the week (it edges out books like UNCANNY AVENGERS, NEW AVENGERS, AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, SILVER SURFER, etc.) but it is the most ambitious of the new books out this week and probably of all the other books out this week. The unique art style and coloring, on top of the creation of a new character who tries to shield his younger brother from the darkness of the world suddenly becoming one of the darkest anti-heroes out there, made for a book that feels like it's got places it can go. For a number one, not being locked in to some specific trajectory so early on feels like such a big first step. Robbie Reyes has a whole world out in front of him and we'll see that world with art that isn't really any where else on the shelves right now.

Hawkeye 18

Don't get me wrong, I adore this series. But as a reviewer, it was almost a relief when HAWKEYE stumbled a bit in production and took a little longer to come out than it normally would have because then there were wild cards in the weekly pull list post. With HAWKEYE rocketing out several times in the last month+, it's almost a given that it's going to wind up on this list every single time. Annie Wu's art is tremendous and matches the tone and style of Fraction's writing for Kate, the story is compelling and engaging, the characters in Kate's new life are well-developed, and the stakes of the story rise at what seems like the perfect speed. It's a phenomenal series. Don't let the fact that it's regularly up on this list make you feel like it's going to stagnate at a certain point, albeit a rather high point. Each one makes it on to this list for all of the same reasons but also entirely new reasons. It's clearly Fraction, Aja, Wu, and Hollingsworth aren't really up for doing the same thing twice at any point with this book. Check it out if, for some ridiculous reason, you haven't already.

Superior Spider-Man 30

I'll be honest, this one, like so many issues of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN or even AMAZING SPIDER-MAN before it isn't necessarily as clean as the books I tend to pick and put up here (which is why these books tend to go through waves of making the list and not making the list); it often has a little more over-explanation than I'm looking for in a book, maybe a few too many mentions that Spider-Man 2099 is from the future, maybe it gets a little more heavy-handed and leaves a little less to the audience. HOWEVER, Slott and Gage both clearly understand the reasons we're involved in a Spider-Man story and even though we all pretty firmly knew that Peter Parker was on his way back (particularly as solicit news broke it a couple months ago) seeing him get back into action is fulfilling in every way as a Spider-Man fan. So as the trials and tribulations of the Superior Spider-Man come to a close, Gage and Slott do a fantastic job to get us back into the swing of things (PUN) with Peter Parker's triumphant return. Boy, he's got a lot of cleaning up to do. Nothing's ever easy for that guy.




REAL BEST BOOK OF THE WEEK:
Captain America 117

I mean obviously this was the best book of this week and any other week it "debuted." WATCH, AS RED SKULL ENACTS HIS MOST DASTARDLY PLAN: NOT PAYING FOR A CAB RIDE ACROSS TOWN.

All-New Ghost Rider 1, Silver Surfer 1, Iron Patriot 1

All-New Ghost Rider 1
F. Smith (w) and T. Moore (a) and Staples and Daniel (c)

Robbie Reyes lives in East LA with his brother, a handicapped child, and works on cars at an auto shop during his days. Desperate to get his brother out of their neighborhood, he trusts no one and does the work every day, hoping to earn and save enough every day to get them to a safer place. The first issues shows Robbie at work, protecting his brother from bullies, and steering his brother back home past crime scenes and gun shots. Late at night, he breaks into the shop where he works and takes the car he's been working on (which seems like a modified Charger BUT I have what could quantifiably be called the tiniest amount of car knowledge and I'm guessing at that based on the fact it kinda looks like Michael's car in Burn Notice. Seriously, that's the research I did on this) out to a street race, where the winner will be given fifty thousand dollars. He's on the verge of winning the race when a helicopter shines a light on him and demands he pull over. He tries to outrun and outmaneuver it, believing it to be the cops, but is eventually forced into an alley. He emerges from the car with his hands up, ready to give himself up in the hope of leniency, but he's promptly and brutally gunned down, slaughtered by men who apparently aren't cops but are a big ol' drug cartel seeking the contraband in his car's trunk (what, did you not even CHECK the trunk Robbie?). The men leave Robbie in the alley and set the car ablaze, preferring to leave no real evidence. The fire engulfs Robbie and out of it comes the all-new Ghost Rider, with a fresh set of wheels.

The best way to describe this book is "kinetic." It moves well both in pacing and in the art style. Tradd Moore's cartoony style allows him to draw speed lines and shooting flames without the slightest hint of irony and that's what makes the book work. Felipe Smith does his part by crafting a character who we can't help but like (literally can't help it. It's a real save-the-cat moment to have his first real act be saving his wheelchair-bound brother from the absolute worst people in the world but its hard to even see that as overly cynical because this is comics and comic characters are BUILT on doing exactly that sort of thing, brother or not) and with whom we sympathize. We want him to get out of East LA and we understand why he's willing to "borrow" the car to do it, even going so far as to enter an illegal street race and risk imprisonment or what-have-you. Also nice is that the appearance of Ghost Rider doesn't come as a complete surprise despite the fact that Robbie Reyes seems like an entirely good guy and Ghost Rider is a spirit of vengeance because Moore's art shows the spirit creeping in around the edges well before the final transformation. I could see people being turned off by the cartoony style of the book, perhaps even especially core Ghost Rider fans, but I think it's the best way for this book to work. Definitely a solid opening for ANGR (a pretty fantastic abbreviation for the series, far ahead of ALL-NEW X-FACTOR'S ANXF), worth checking in on before it gets too involved.

Silver Surfer 1
Slott (w) and M. Allred (a) and L. Allred (c)

Dawn Greenwood lives in Anchor Bay, a small seaside New England town, where she and her father run a very popular bed and breakfast while her twin sister Eve advertises for it worldwide (hard to say that you have to suspend your disbelief that a B&B would advertise all over the world when I'm going to go on to talk at great length about a character called the Silver Surfer without any such warning). Eve travels the world, just as she's always wanted, while Dawn stays at home in the little town she's always loved. Recently though, it's started to dawn on her (DAWN, GET IT?) that maybe she's missing out a little. MEANWHILE, Silver Surfer, in his endless quest to redeem himself for his past with Galactus, has saved the people of Brundlebus 3 by rekindling their sun with his power cosmic (they are a tiny people) and has subsequently been tabbed as champion by the very secretive Impericon, a planet that takes great pains to shield itself from Heralds of Galactus. Surfer is unsure what any of this means but he allows himself to be taken there and, eventually, agrees to be their champion against the foe they've been fighting for so long, a potential world-destroyer named the Never Queen. Unfortunately for Dawn Greenwood, Zed of the Impericon takes precautions in case their chosen champion refuses to help and, with a machine called the Motivator which shows the past, present, and future of a given champion, Zed has learned that the being who means the most to Silver Surfer in all the cosmos is Dawn Greenwood and has subsequently captured her in the hopes that Surfer will comply. Surfer is outraged that they would use such means, particularly as he had already agreed, but admits he doesn't know who Dawn is.

It's a brand new solo title for Silver Surfer and this one shows hints of sticking around. It seems like people are ready for a new SILVER SURFER and the team-up of Dan Slott's often fairly light-hearted writing and Michael and Laura Allred's always light-hearted and colorful art seems to be a near perfect blend. The first issue maybe cuts a few corners here and there, particularly with the introduction of the Motivator, a machine that seems specifically built to move this plot forward, an almost literal deus ex machina but like, one that just moves the story along instead of ending a story, but overall it's a good read and one whose tone and pace certainly work well. One of the strengths of this issue is the pacing; though there's a lot to establish here, as with any new series, Slott makes good use of quick cuts to keep the book flowing and to make sure readers want to keep up. No one really has time to feel bored throughout the course of the book which ensures people will at least have some sort of opinion by the end; the worst situation would be if no one finished the book, as is sometimes the case with Marvel cosmic characters and with regular human characters getting a spotlight, particularly new ones. It's certainly a good start for a book that I expect to do pretty well, particularly if this is the kind of effort that Slott and the Allreds are going to keep putting forth (which, knowing all of their past work, I'm sure it is).

Iron Patriot 1
Kot (w) and G. Brown (a) and Charalampidis (c)

It's a new age for James Rhodes as he trades in his War Machine look and name for the more peaceful sounding (depending on who you are) Iron Patriot. With the new name comes a new take on his role in the world; he's no longer going to be a weapon for the United States military to wield, but rather a homeland based defense and recovery asset. He's going to do what he can to make the United States better and to help the world where he can. His new role, which has been approved by Congress and the president, also means that he's been spending a bit more time with his father, Terrence Rhodes, and his niece Lila Rhodes, daughter of James' deceased sister. Lila is a budding engineer and quickly jumps to her uncle's aid when a member of Congress decries Rhodes' new position. As nice as the sentiment is and as powerful as it apparently is in this world (her online video supporting Rhodey goes viral very quickly), it unfortunately paints a bit of a target on Lila as a shadowy organization after Rhodes decides that they'll be kidnapping two people instead of one in their attempt to hurt Rhodey. He's hurt enough, though, when he attacks randomly appearing monsters in the Gulf of Mexico and his armor shuts down.

A new direction for Rhodes and a focus on his family life are the cornerstones to this young book and I think it's probably a good way to go. There have been enough stories about Rhodey's involvement with the military (though obviously this still plays on that because it's unavoidable) and with Tony Stark that getting away from it and deciding to focus on his family and, in turn, Rhodey as a person is likely the best way to get new stories out of him. There are very few military-based Marvel superheroes and even fewer that are military while they're superheroes. There are certainly stories to be told with the new Iron Patriot and writer Ales Kot clearly wants to explore those sorts of stories. Overall, the book works pretty well and the art style, though nothing particularly groundbreaking, works for the tone of the book. As nitpicky as this seems, the end of the book feels a little off as suddenly the narration changes to an almost memoir-esque narrative, with Rhodes talking about the events we're seeing in the past tense. It could very well be building to something bigger down the line with the tense change and the more formal sort of tone, but in the moment it's jarring and foreign. Still, doesn't ruin the book overall which is a fine first issue. Hooray, three for three on first issues debuting this week! Marvel is taking risks and launching new solo titles and they're WORKING. TWO of these, it should be mentioned, feature a minority in the lead role (I don't think "silver" is a minority). Long overdue and still probably not enough.