Avengers Arena 18, Uncanny Avengers 14, Avengers Assemble 21

Avengers Arena 18
Hopeless (w) and Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

Katy and Death Locket watch the teen heroes fight from Arcade's bunker with Katy's finger on the trigger the entire time. The raging battles between Cammi and Nico and Anachronism and Reptil come to a grinding halt when attention is directed at the imploding Hazmat, ready to wipe them all out unintentionally. Reptil transforms into a a bigger dinosaur, one with more speed and a longer mouth, and promises he'll help her, picking her up in his mouth without a second thought, despite her protests, and rushing her into the water, where everyone sees her explode. Katy, angry that the fights have stopped, unleashes some of Arcade's last tricks, forcing the kids to fight for their lives until Tim takes a brief moment of control over Katy and demands Death Locket, still in love with Tim, kill them. Suddenly, the insect swarm, sand people, and napalm winds subside and Death Locket appears by the other survivors to explain. With the game over and Arcade gone, they decide, with the insight of the returning Hazmat, now out of her suit and not glowing but alone as she leaves the water, that they won't say anything about what happened. SHIELD and the heads of the schools come to pick the kids up and investigate but they refuse to say a word about what happened, not wanting to give Arcade the satisfaction, though Arcade gets his satisfaction as he begins to upload his 30 part video series "What Really Happened in Murder World."

Really great series, very nice ending. Our final survivor count sits at nine, I believe, leaving us with Cammi, Death Locket, Nico, Anachronism, Hazmat, Cullen, X-23, Chase, and (this is the only "I think" on the list) Chris Powell. I'll be honest, it never really occurred to me for some reason that Reptil could die in this series and, only looking back do I realize, I have no idea why I thought that. First and foremost, he wasn't that big a character, no bigger than, say, Mettle, who was exploded in the first issue also trying to save Jen. Somehow he always felt off the table so I'm a little sad to see him go here. Still, there's a nice finality to the series as the kids all get off the island and get to go home with their respective school heads. Even the discussion of how they address all of this is interesting, though I'm not sure if it takes into account the idea of the video getting out. Regardless, it's a very exciting set-up for the next step in this teens-in-peril streak Hopeless is on as some of our characters aim to infiltrate the Masters of Evil in AVENGERS UNDERCOVER. Pretty excited to see Hopeless and Walker pick up again in March. Sad this series is over, glad the characters will move on.

Uncanny Avengers 14
Remender (w) and McNiven and Dell (a) and L. Martin (c)

At various points in the future, Kang is gathering an army of supers presumably in the hopes that they can help him defeat the twins. Meanwhile, back in the present, Shiro and Rogue rush to the Ark to stop Wanda and Simon from completing the spell they think will separate mutants and humans forever, not knowing that Wanda intends to bring the mutants to the Ark to stop the twins. Rogue is dead-set on stopping Wanda any way possible but it will have to wait a moment as Daken and Grim Reaper lie in wait and pounce as soon as Rogue and Shiro appear. Wolverine, apparently following Shiro and Rogue, jumps into the fight to give Shiro the chance to remove Simon from the spell. Wolverine continues to insist no killing but is held by Daken long enough to watch Rogue escape Reaper and charge Wanda, stabbing her through the chest with her borrowed Wolverine claws. Wanda falls and Simon follows her down. Grim Reaper gets the drop on Rogue as she reaffirms to herself that it was the only way to stop Wanda. Reaper stabs her through the heart with his scythe and then, with his enhanced powers, leaves no room for doubt that she's dead as Wolverine, dispatching Daken, sprints towards him, watches him electrify her. Simon rushes to Wanda's side and, as she dies, he pours all of himself into her to power her spell, dissipating himself to help her finish her plan, calling all the mutants to rise against the twins.

Geez. Huge issue. Two major characters die and one Wonder Man maybe dies. I'm not sure how much more I have to say about this. The past thirteen issues of UNCANNY AVENGERS built to this, from Rogue and Wanda's feud to Wolverine's insistence that everyone find a no-kill solution to Wonder Man's non-violence to the return of Grim Reaper and Daken, among the other horsemen, to Rogue's killing of Grim Reaper to the mutant solution to just everything all comes down to this issue, where Rogue kills Wanda and then Grim Reaper kills Rogue all while Wolverine watches. Nearly perfect culmination of everything that Remender's been working towards all along and something that very clearly isn't a conclusion but a climax. Although it's something that we've been building towards, it's not the final step, we still have plenty to look forward to. Let's also not overlook the fact that he just killed off a couple major Marvel Universe characters, for however long. What a big and well-executed issue.

Avengers Assemble 21
DeConnick (w) and Buffagni (a) and Woodard (c)

INHUMANITY has started and the Avengers have to deal with the slew of Terrigenesis cocoons that have started popping up. Among those cocoons is the social studies teacher of Anya Corazon, aka Spider-Girl, who brings her case to the Avengers, hoping they'll be enticed by the fact that he was kidnapped while in cocoon. Spider-Woman and Black Widow team up with Anya to form a full blown spider-lady team and strike at an AIM lab that has connections to the kidnapping. They hit the lights, giving them ten seconds to dispatch of the beekeepers inside, which they manage to do with relative ease. As they start to question one of the fallen, they're surrounded by a secondary AIM team led by Widow's former foe Kashmir Vennema, the inter-dimensional arms dealer Widow ran into back in CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BLACK WIDOW. Vennema reveals that one of the cocoons they captured died (Anya's teacher) and the other is still available for sale. She also decides to have the three Avengers killed, knowing she's protected because AIM is an officially recognized entity that has now been invaded. Meanwhile, June Covington aka Toxie Doxie is on the hunt for cocoons and for vengeance for her purchased and subsequently exploded cocoon.

Nice to have a little bit of a less tense book following up AVENGERS ARENA's conclusion and UNCANNY AVENGERS' biggest issue probably ever (kind of willing to say it might be one of the biggest issues of any non-event series in recent history). Not to say this doesn't have its tension...actually, it kind of doesn't. I feel like maybe it should have had more but it's really hard to say if the lack of tension is created because it's, you know, just AIM and they're Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Spider-Girl or if it's less tense because I'm so fresh off reading these darker and grittier books. Not to say this isn't still a fun book; there's a lot of great characterization stuff between the three leads of this issue as well as between Captain Marvel and Spider-Girl, who spar a bit over what's important and who's being condescending to whom (hint: it's Captain Marvel to Spider-Girl). Fun issue, nice little arc developing. I still really like this book as a bit of a more relaxed and character-focused Avengers title. Nice issue.

Avengers Assemble 20, Hawkeye 13

Avengers Assemble 20
Ewing (w) and Larraz (a) and Woodard (c)

Tie-in to Infinity as we see some of the aftermath of the mass Terrigenesis alongside the Uncanny Avengers' Wasp, Wonder Man, and Scarlet Witch. They're forced to investigate Terrigenesis after defeating some of Thanos' troops and finding themselves suddenly up against a giant, naked man. He's startled but Simon, preferring his new non-violent ways, talks to him and they come to understand what's happened; the man's wife underwent Terrigenesis and the power she gained was the power to change the size of seemingly whatever she chooses. She accidentally giant-sized her husband while shrinking herself, her neighbor, and her neighbor's daughter (along with their house) into the micro-universe. Janet gets Wanda to shrink her down as well so she can go there and fight against Lord Gouzar, the tyrant who kept her there the months she was missing after Secret Invasion. She gets the newly powered woman to fight back against Gouzar and to size them all back up to normal while sizing her husband back down. It sets everything back to normal and helps the civilians get back to their normal life, which they hadn't had since their son died.

Nice little tie-in issue as Avengers Assemble defines itself some more. It's not just the main Avengers team, it's the smaller stories for all of the Avengers out there. This is a nice story but certainly a smaller one in the scale of the things that are happening in Infinity. Still, we get some good characterization from two characters I don't particularly care for and decent stuff out of Scarlet Witch. Wasp and Wonder Man have a pretty good argument about what Simon's non-violent pact really means which helps put both sides of the argument in good perspective. Simon believes that violence is never the answer and that his powers can be used for peace just as effectively but Janet argues that he still doesn't hesitate to call on the Avengers when things get hairy so why not just use his powers himself. I still think he's kind of on the dumb side of the argument, though I do get the idea of wanting to promote peace through non-violence as a superhero. Still, pretty dumb, right? That's what this issue kind of wants to ask and I think it does a good job of asking it. Nice issue for relationships and for characterizations and the like.

Hawkeye 13
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

Finally another new Hawkeye. In case you forget what happened last time, the intro page covers it nicely. They. Killed. Grills. This issue takes place mostly between Grills' death, which was after Clint's infidelity, and when Kate leaves, which is before the events of the annual. Time moves in very much its own way in this book and it's always worth it. This issue fills in some of the blanks in that time. He's writing a letter to Jess then has to go out on some Avengers business (with Jess, Black Widow, and Mockingbird) before getting called by Kate and learning that Grills has been killed. He drinks himself to sleep though gets interrupted part-way through by a call from Barney, who asks to come stay with him. Clint promises they'll meet the next night (though Barney, as we saw in his issue, mistakes it for day and ends up giving up on Clint before having to call again). Clint tells Grills' dad what happened to his son and his dad ends up moving into the building and taking up the spot his son had. Kate and Clint attend the funeral and Kate gives a really nice speech to a passed-out Clint. She leaves later, taking Lucky with her. Barney sticks around and Clint introduces him to the building.

Guys, I know you may be expecting a superhero book out of this (though I don't really know why at this point in the book's run you think you'll get one) but that summary above might tell you this isn't really that, not in the conventional way. It's still a wonderful book and I'm so glad to have it back (glad enough, in fact, that I decided to review four books after work today just because I wanted an excuse to read this one tonight). As I said above, time moves very much in its own way in this series, which has been a defining aspect of the run as a whole. It's very smartly done and, unlike, say, Infinity, it has no desire to keep you informed of how that works. You just kind of have to know or place it with your own reading skills. Infinity, of course, breaks up the different pieces of the story by nearly blank, white chapter title pages. Hawkeye moves back and forth in time in any given issue and you may not realize you missed time until four issues later. It's a masterpiece in its design and its seeming effortlessness chaos. Again, it doesn't feel like a normal superhero book but you won't even notice, if that's what you're looking for, because the writing keeps you so on your toes and the characters and story are so well-defined. Really great book. I believe another new one (focusing on Kate with Annie Wu art) is out next week. Pretty pumped, you guys.

Infinity: Heist 1, A+X 12

Infinity: Heist 1
Tieri (w) and Barrionuevo (a) and Sotomayor (c)

The Avengers are up in space which means it's open season for the supervillains of Earth. Of course, it's not quite as straightforward as that because there are still a number of heroes left on the planet but that's the mentality of the supervillains. That mentality is out in full force as Blizzard and Whirlwind plan an attack on the Wakandan embassy, which just received a shipment of gold. They successfully break in and fight their way past the Wakandans only to find Spymaster waiting for them in the vault. He's already stolen the gold (and diamonds!) and sold them but he has another job for them, one that is even better paying. They meet him at a supervillain nightclub (these pop up pretty frequently) and find their team, adding Whiplash, Unicorn, and Firebrand to the duo. Spymaster explains that they're going to rip off Tony Stark then introduces the last member of their team, Titanium Man. As soon as Titanium Man bursts into the room, Blizzard has some sort of attack and can't breathe, collapsing to the floor.

It's a little hard not to compare this to Superior Foes of Spider-Man because there are some obvious similarities. First and foremost, we're focusing on the supervillains. I'd also put Whirlwind and Blizzard on the same level as Boomerang and company (okay, maybe a tiny step up, if only because "whirlwind" and "blizzard" are both Pokémon moves and therefore more dangerous while "Boomerang" is not. If his name was "Bonemarang," maybe he'd have a case). The tones aren't dissimilar, though I'd say that Spencer's book aims for the funny more than this one does (though there are comedy bits in here too). However, with the similarities come the same overall problems. A book like this relies very heavily on characterization of these villains, who have only ever been characterized as villains before. Some may have more nuances to them, depending on how long they've been around and who's handled them before, while some may have fewer. However, they're not, for most people, the characters we've long been rooting for. As a writer, you have to make the villains sympathetic enough that you want them to kind of succeed, or at least not die trying to fight the hero we're actually rooting for. Because, in most cases, the reader goes in rooting against your protagonist and the antagonist is the hero your reader does care about. Tricky stuff here. We'll have to let this one carry on a bit further before any judgement can be made.

A+X 12
Wonder Man and Beast: Gage (w) and D. Williams (a) and Gandini (c)
Captain America and Jubilee: Jordan (w) and Unzueta (a) and Mason (c)

This issue of A+X feels a little more like the form this book should be taking, or at least one of the forms it should be taking. The first story re-teams former Avengers and former best pals Wonder Man and Beast as they decide to meet up for drinks at a bar. The two reminisce a bit before each expresses disappointment in what the other has become. For Beast, Wonder Man going crazy and attacking Avengers before becoming a superhero pacifist is a strange turn and for Wonder Man, Beast bringing the original X-Men forward in time to relive the past is completely out of character. And guess what, I agree on both counts. Wholeheartedly. Anyway, the two wonder if they can recover their friendship and decide to go out on the town like they used to. It's a nice night out for the two of them and they return to the bar toward the end of it, only to walk home drunkenly singing like they used to. It's not a bad story (and this is coming from someone who doesn't really care for Wonder Man) and finally shows characters in the Marvel Universe making some sense. Wonder Man's a pacifist? Beast, the scientific genius who would like nothing more than to talk about the dangers of time travel, bringing the original X-Men to the present? It's a crazy, crazy, sometimes ridiculous plot-driven world out there and someone is finally highlighting it. Christos Gage, even in his random one-shot appearances here and again, writes some compelling characters and relationships, I tell you what. Hoping to meet him tomorrow at Granite State Comic-Con but THAT DOESN'T REALLY MATTER HERE, DOES IT?

The second story is one of the more unusual team-ups we've seen as Captain America pairs with Jubilee to take down a sunken submarine of Nazi vampires, a sentence I just wrote. Cap's actually had a couple of weird team-ups, notably this one and one with Quentin Quire in maybe issue five or six. They work in similar ways, in truth, as Cap again pulls a younger hero out from the X-Men and guides him or her somewhere (subterranean, no less) to show the kind of positive impact they could have on the world. In this case, Cap was hoping that the Nazi vampires would give up their fight, realizing that their war was well over, and would see Jubilee and realize that vampires don't have to be evil. It doesn't quite work out but it still leaves a nice impression on Jubilee, who realizes Captain America has respect for her, enough that he wanted to bring her as a role model, in essence. I suppose, in a book like this, that's what Cap's role is going to be, a guiding hand for younger heroes. He teamed up with Wolverine as more or less equals and next issue will team him, likely uncomfortably, with Cyclops, but there are certain characters who break down in certain ways and Cap is either the leader, the teammate, or the kind of guiding hand. That's him throughout his appearances in this series. Not a bad story and a better full issue overall than we've seen in a bit from this book.

Uncanny Avengers 12, Young Avengers 10

Uncanny Avengers 12
Remender (w) and Larroca (a) and F. Martin (c)

Wanda has to choose for or against helping the Apocalypse Twins move every mutant off Earth and to an ark to be brought to their new home on Jupiter, leaving the humans to ruin Earth themselves. What's more, if she chooses that path, she has to convince Wonder Man to help her accomplish it. She's very torn on it and she reveals to Simon just how broken she still is over her role in decimating the mutants, something she hasn't really let on too much about since she's returned to the Universe. It's been a little on the outside, kind of seeping in (no thanks to Rogue's incessant anger), and now it comes to a head here as she sobs to Simon about the weapon she became. She asks him to make the decision, afraid that she won't make a strong one. According to Eimin, who has used her temporal powers to see this future, he will agree to help her. Meanwhile, Cap, Havok, and Wasp are trying to shut down the tachyon transmitters that are blocking aid from the future from coming in. This is all on Immortus' request, who is not the most reliable person but who Havok and Cap feel they have to trust in this situation. They're set upon by Banshee as they're closing in on the tachyon transmitters in one of the Akkaba Society cities and a fight breaks out, slowing their way as Wonder Man makes his decision. Flash forward about 2100 years to the Kang Dynasty where Kang, thrilled that his twins are going to remove the mutant threat from Earth, has a rude awakening as the twins, in a recorded message to Kang, reveal that they've sabotaged his home. It begins crumbling away in front of him as they congratulate him for being king for a day.

There's plenty in this issue, which is particularly exciting as this was kind of billed a little bit as an origin story for Uriel and Eimin. There are certainly elements of that, as we see them try to break from Red Skull's future mutant internment camps only to face more punishment (Uriel is told to cut out Eimin's eyes to prevent her seeing more opportunities for escape), but this is largely involved with the things that are going on at present. Not to say I don't want to hear Uriel and Eimin's origin stories; I think what they've been through is both interesting and obviously integral to this story, but it's not usually great to break from the main story as it's getting intense for a flashback. The way Remender structured it here, showing us a horrible moment clearly pulled from a slew of horrible moments while humans continually let the twins down, was perfect, giving us plenty of backstory and motivation without needing to dedicate an entire issue to it. This gives us a little extra room for a somewhat fun interaction between Havok, Cap, and Wasp as we hear a little too much information from Wasp about her run-ins with the Hellfire Club and as we get a little bit of flirting between Wasp and Havok, which Cap has to somewhat embarrassingly break up. Nice bit of fun, well-timed and well-executed. Really good book overall. I wasn't necessarily thrilled that Salvador Larroca was illustrating this one (I've tired of him a bit over in Cable and X-Force) but the art didn't both me. I think he's better off drawing people in smaller panels or with fewer tight close-ups. Frank Martin's colors don't hurt either. Really good story and some bonus characterization in this one.

Young Avengers 10
Gillen (w) and McKelvie w/ Norton (a) and Wilson (c)

Loki pays a quick visit to Mother back in her dimension to get some questions answered. We find out that, though her entry to this dimension is Billy's fault, it was Loki who subconsciously planted the idea in Billy's head to try to resurrect Teddy's mother. Loki now, though, feels fully in charge of the situation, having used magical rules to his own end and successfully playing the game, which leaves Loki with the trust of Billy, the wizard whose future will dictate the future of magic itself, and leaves Mother stuck in her dimension as long as none of the Young Avengers return to New York. The variable he didn't account for, unfortunately for the team, is Leah's re-emergence. After Loki leaves Mother's dimension (and after a very quick appearance by the Patri-not), Leah pops in to suggest the two team up to take down Loki. She returns to Earth to accompany Teddy to their group in Austin, which consists of her, three former lovers of Noh-Varr, Ultimate Nullifier (from the Teen Brigade America came from), and Patri-not. They all share stories of being dumped and how they all want revenge for these slights. When asked to share, Teddy denies them all, saying that they're all crazy stalkers and that hurt feelings are no reason to hurt people. Leah says he's welcome to leave the magic circle whenever he likes, which he does choose to do. Unfortunately, the magic circle has transported them to New York and Teddy emerges from the basement only to be besieged by Mother and her cronies.

Crazy stuff happening as Leah becomes, yet again, a major player in a Marvel book (pretty exciting, in truth, even if it goes against our team). More than that, we're starting to understand a little bit better the dynamic between this Loki and our team. Specifically, we're seeing the plans Loki has put into place (Loki is always putting plans into place) and how everything is connected. It all pours nicely back into the demiurge idea of Billy being the most powerful being in creation (and nicely points to Loki trying to rush him out of that dimension), which connects very nicely with possible Loki plans. Nothing else out of the rest of the team but Teddy's bits are certainly nice touches here. I think I've mentioned before that I don't have a particular fondness for Teddy, which is different than literally anyone else on this team (even the newest characters are higher on the list typically than Teddy is for me). It's nothing against Teddy, he just doesn't really have a personality that clicks with me (or a personality, sometimes). He gets a little lost in the shuffle as primary supporting character to Billy. Here he actually speaks out and defines himself, not allowing himself to be absorbed into the group of burned lovers. Solid issue for him and a really great Gillen-writes-Loki-and-Leah issue. Art continues to be outstanding, still worth mentioning. Great book.