Comics this week

For the first time in a few weeks, we have under 15 books to review! It's all contingent on how many Iron Man books are out this week, with Iron Man 9 a sure bet, Iron Man 258.1 a distinct possibility, and Iron Man: The Coming of the Melter a little more suspect, we have somewhere between 12 and 14 books. So what stands out from the rest when forced to choose a third of them?

Hawkeye 10
Boy did I end up talking about Hawkeye for a while during my Eisner Award post. It's all deserved but I certainly just kept on rolling with it. Now, after the Clown's first appearance last issue, we're heading into darker waters with Clint, who was inspired by Grills to go talk to Jessica before Grills was killed. So there are things happening and, frankly, even if there weren't I'd be recommending this book.

Indestructible Hulk 7
The Waid-Simonson team up continues, as does the Hulk-Thor one. As last issue set up, Banner has seemingly gone to the past, a time before Thor knew who he was, and has teamed up alongside Thor against Frost Giants. However, Thor didn't see Banner transform so will likely not know Hulk is Banner when he sees the green monster. To make matters more complicated, the last issue ended with Hulk able to pick up Mjolnir. That alone garners a recommendation this week. Interested to see where this goes.

Red She-Hulk 65
X-51 and Red She-Hulk have been transported to another dimension after X-51 diverted Tesla's plans to send them somewhere he wanted them to go. Now they've gone somewhere seemingly far worse, as they land in front of a version of Mt. Rushmore that has four major villains (Dr. Doom, Loki, Red Skull, and Ultron) carved into its face. Parker knows how to write scary and diabolical other dimensions, as evidenced by Dark Avengers, so I'm excited to see where these two have ended up.

Winter Soldier 18
Winter Soldier's penultimate issue, and the first since the announcement of its cancellation. Bucky has run afoul of the Electric Ghost at last and will have to confront her and his own past. He has to confront his past a lot, but it's not typically in the form of some sort of monster created because he killed a little girl's parents. How will Winter Soldier play this one while also starting to close down shop?

X-Men Legacy 10
This book is great and it's on the pull list because it's great. There's an ongoing plot only insofar as Legion's on a mission and he has to continue that mission. It's like a series of one-shots with a plot boiling down underneath but no sign of when it will come to the forefront. Still, each release it deserves to be on this list if just for the single stories and the characters Spurrier is creating.

Eisner Awards

I was out of state last week (as I said pretty often) which meant that I had to push reviews through Mondays, which is usually my free day. As a result, I didn't have a chance to really talk about Eisner Award nominees in Marvel. I don't have a ton to add, but let's go over it as it pertains to Marvel, which is what pertains to this blog.

Best Continuing Series
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction and David Aja

Since this blog is called "Marvels" and its URL is readmarvel, I can only really offer my input on Eisner nominees from Marvel. That leaves us pretty limited in terms of what I can talk about here, as there are only a handful of Marvel titles sprinkled through the awards. Hawkeye cleaned up nominations, as far as cleaning up goes with the big two right now (DC had nothing nominated). Hawkeye has been an absolutely phenomenal series and has changed the way that superhero comics can act. I read a blurb in the Nerdist newsletter saying that Hawkeye is one of the heroes who should get a movie in Marvel's Phase III. They cited Fraction and Aja's series as how to make the movie. I have a little trouble seeing that, at least in the tone that the Marvel movies are coming out now. It reads more like an indie movie than anything else. It would be hard to make it a major blockbuster. That doesn't matter for this though, I just found it interesting and it's an example of how different this series is as a whole.
(I feel it's important to note that both Ed Brubaker's Fatale series and Jonathan Hickman's The Manhattan Projects were nominated for this category. Though Brubaker doesn't have a spot in Marvel any more, it's hard for me to separate him out, and obviously Hickman is doing great stuff with Marvel right now)

Best New Series
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction and David Aja

Not much more to add here. Great series. I wouldn't be surprised to see more Marvel titles pop up on this list next year with the strength of their books right now. Indies rule the Eisners though, so we'll have to see. I'm admittedly disappointed by how little mention of books like Captain Marvel there is right now. This was a weird year for Marvel, with Marvel NOW! starting in the middle/end of the year, so a transition year finds fewer nominees, I would say. However, Captain Marvel and Hawkeye have both been around about the same amount of time. Both are great (Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick are totally Marvel's power couple right now, I think they could do anything they wanted and the fans would love it).
(Brubaker's Fatale was also nominated for this category, as was Ryan North's Adventure Time series. I'm not a big Adventure Time fan as far as the cartoon goes. I haven't read the comic but I am all for Ryan North being nominated for stuff, largely because of his fantastic Dinosaur Comics webcomic. He's one of my favorite people)

Best Publication for Kids (age 8-12)
Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

I pretty much only review main Marvel superhero stuff on this blog because that's where my heart's at. As a result, I've left out a few books like Road to Oz and Powers and things like that. I've only read a couple issues of Road to Oz but it seems really compelling. An adaptation of The Wizard of Oz series, obviously, it reads well and, most importantly, features Skottie Young's incredible art. One of the things that's saddest about only reviewing mainstream Marvel is that Skottie Young so infrequently comes up. His baby variants throughout Marvel NOW! have been phenomenal and he's just an incredibly talented guy.









Best Adaptation from Another Medium
Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

Road to Oz appears again on the nominee list and again is deserving. Another thing I like about it, especially as it appears in best publication for kids, is that it doesn't ever seem to talk down to its audience. The best children's material seems to be the type that respects its audience enough to give them a chance to get behind it. I always loved Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books for exactly that reason. It defines words for kids (sometimes a little too specifically for the situation) but it never comes across as talking down to children. From what I've read of this series, it's much the same way.
(A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, adapted by Hope Larson is also on this list. I always liked that book when I was younger and I like Hope Larson and her husband Bryan Lee O'Malley a lot. Just a note there)





Best Writer
Matt Fraction, Hawkeye; Casanova: Avaritia

Fraction again comes up and he totally deserves to be on this list. Hawkeye is a great book and, as I've said before in reviews, is a character who almost never sustains a book. Everybody likes Hawkeye as a character (he graces many "favorite Avengers" lists) but nobody wants to read about what he's doing on his days off. Almost as if that was a challenge, Fraction has written a book that touts itself as what Clint is doing on his days off. Casanova's another fun title (published under Marvel's creator-owned wing Icon) that is...well, it's hard to define. I'm not willing to try. It's worth checking in on, but don't necessarily be surprised if it's not to your liking. I think, as with most creator-owned works, it's more a niche comic than a superhero book is. Still, Fraction is clearly a great writer and he understands the medium and what he can do with it like few others.
(Also on this list are Brubaker and Hickman, which continues to be worth noting for the purposes of this blog)

Best Penciller/Inker
David Aja, Hawkeye

I've already talked at length about how great Hawkeye is, but I guess I'll say some more. Aja's art on this book make it what it is. There's no other way around it. The art is gorgeous but deceptively simplistic. It matches the tone of the book perfectly in that respect. It's hard not to look at this book and instantly fall in love with it. I think that Aja has revolutionized the way Clint Barton will be portrayed for years to come. He's also already clearly had an effect on the look of Kate Bishop, as she carries something more similar to her Hawkeye look into McKelvie's portrayal in Young Avengers. Their art styles are completely different but she looks exactly right in both. It's incredible to watch.








Chris Samnee, Daredevil

Samnee, who switched from Captain America and Bucky over to Daredevil, seemed a perfect fit. I remember when they were teasing a new artist for Daredevil (hard to try to figure out, as Paolo Rivera and company had done such a great job when Waid initially took the book over) and then revealed it would be Samnee. I had been reading Cap and Bucky and loving the art and understood what a good fit it could be. Samnee has been everything fans could have asked for Daredevil. Good choices here.











Best Cover Artist
David Aja, Hawkeye

Not a lot more to say (not that I won't still say it). The Hawkeye covers are phenomenal. Again, deceptively simplistic and they lay out a perfect feel for the book before you even dive in. Aja has such a feel for Fraction's writing and what this book should be and he seemed to have it from page one (cover one, even). It makes such a difference to have that understanding of what the book will be. Fantastic.













So that's all of the nominees directly linked to Marvel this year. It would seem, also, that that's all the blabbing I can do about Hawkeye right now, but I'm sure I'll find an excuse to talk about the series more (especially as Hawkeye 10 comes out this week). GOOD TALK, GUYS.

This week's picks!

Twenty books makes it a little trickier to narrow the field down to three. However, this week was also interesting as I was on such a high after the first day of reviews that I knew right off the bat all three picks would come from that day. I was excited about the state of comics for days after reading my Avengers day comics on Wednesday, which certainly helps the reviewing process. So what three shall I pick?

Avengers 10

I really liked the feel of this issue. As I've been saying in my reviews about this series, there's not a super huge entry point to this series as a new reader, which can make it difficult to get onboard, but the story is really paying off if you are there. I've also said that I'm not sure that we're going to get as much character interaction in this book as in the other Avenger titles (or other books in general) because the team is huge and rotates people in and out. Still, there were nice little character pieces sprinkled throughout, particularly between Captain America and the Falcon. I love those two and I love their relationship so I might be a little more biased than others, but the point remains the same. It's a good interaction and it feels natural and helps build a sense of the team without feeling like a stretch. The story remains solid and the book feels like an Avengers book, like it should be leading Marvel right now. Pretty exciting.

New Avengers 5

It's going to be hard for me to not pick this book every time it's released solely on the art and the colors if this keeps up. The book looks perfect. Everything Hickman's doing with the writing and the story is perfectly reflected in the characters and the surroundings and the palette. It's a truly gorgeous book. I love the art in a lot of books throughout Marvel right now, but this one feels more epic, grander in scale, which is fitting as we're watching some of the heaviest weights the Universe has fighting a foe that can't just be punched away. On top of the art, I absolutely adore the story and I think that this book is doing a lot to characterize its players. Like with Avengers, the plot is decidedly taking the focus but it totally fits. All of these characters know each other well and have all worked well together (barring Namor and most of them). There's no need to learn about how they interact with one another but there's definitely a need to learn how they act in general and how they react to this problem. It's a great book in every sense of the word. It's also adding a new element with Black Swan. Can she be trusted? Is she going to look out for Earth's best interests or will she jump ship for another, better Earth at the first turn? Lots of questions, great plot, exciting character, top three book every time.

Young Avengers 4

I think this comic book is going to do things mainstream comics/superhero books simply don't do. I think that Gillen and McKelvie are just getting their feet wet right now. This book was the last one I read on review day and I'm really glad it was. I don't know how I could have kept reading after this one on the same day. In truth, and this is cliche obviously, it kind of blew my mind. They're doing things with panels and to superhero conventional wisdom that feels completely original while also perfectly capturing the tone of the book. It was a beautifully drawn issue (that's always going to be true, thanks McKelvie) and the story is perfect. It's an interesting parents/kids storyline that has so many moving parts underneath it. To underscore it, we start really seeing Loki be Loki this issue, as he challenges Teddy in ways Teddy's never thought to consider before. It's a perfect set-up and a brilliant question that Loki poses, but it's also Loki posing it so how trustworthy can we expect him to be? Fantastic pieces all bound to come together. Next issue we'll find out if Loki will stick it out with this team or if he's going to simply disappear when they need him most. What a book. I'm excited just talking about it again.


Best panel/page:

When I decided to add in a random "best" element to each week-in-review post last week, I thought "best panel/page" would be a good addition but I couldn't remember every panel from that week, as I hadn't been planning ahead. This week, I did realize I could plan ahead and figure out while I read some good panels. I read Avengers 10 first and picked out a couple panels that were good. By the end of the day, I'd read Young Avengers and simply deleted my whole list. Obviously this was the best page.
A two-page spread which McKelvie himself breaks down on his blog, this is the perfect synchronization of Noh-Varr's developing character and a wonderful action sequence. It helps that we know Noh-Varr is doing this because he knows how awesome it looks. Around the edges we get looks at how certain sequences look up close, magnified for our benefit, while in the center we get a full map with key of Noh-Varr's movements. On top of being mixed with Noh-Varr's action-based plan, we also get a couple quick looks at how he feels about Kate. This page doesn't waste any space and gives us something to marvel at as we enter the book (this appears on pages two and three). It sets the tone better than just about anything could have. Brilliantly done.

Deadpool 8, Deadpool Killustrated 4

Deadpool 8
Duggan and Posehn (w) and Hawthorne (a) and Staples (c)

We return to present day in Deadpool, with Agent Preston living inside of Deadpool's head now (or, as she posits once, being a guilty memory living itself out through Deadpool). He brings her to her house to allow her to see her son briefly before being chased out by her husband. She manages to tell her son that she's in Deadpool's head but makes him promise not to tell his father. They leave and come across Vetis, the shady record executive demon who enlisted Deadpool's help in trying to make Iron Man drunk in issue seven only to be outwitted by Deadpool and sent to Mephisto's punishment. It turns out that Vetis was behind Michael raising all the dead presidents and now is trying to earn his way back out of Mephisto's wrath by trying to deliver more souls. He wraps Deadpool into it by saying that he's still in jeopardy after agreeing to a "satisfaction guaranteed" clause in the contract and leaving Vetis not satisfied. To wipe that smear off of his record, he has to kill five people who traded their souls for some power or another. The first is Corrado Coloruno, a bank robber who traded his soul for invulnerability. Deadpool covers his head in cement, ending him by forcing him to stop breathing (the deal had been that as long as he drew breath he'd be invulnerable). In the meantime, Ben Franklin and Michael had met with Deadpool/Agent Preston to discuss how to get her into a new body. They've decided that one of the bodies Deadpool kills will probably suffice if Michael can muster the magic. She chooses against Corrado, so we'll see where next issue puts us.
The in-jokes were way down this issue, which definitely strengthened the feel of the issue overall. I will say, though, that I got to a point while reading this comic and was like "geez, where is this issue going, it must be almost done already" just to find out I was only on page ten. Very slow going to start. It sped up a bit with the re-introduction of Vetis and the attack on Corrado, but the first ten pages dragged and didn't give us much it felt like we really needed (such as Preston and her son and husband). It's weird that the second arc, like the first arc, will feature Deadpool killing hard-to-kill entities at the behest of someone he doesn't fully trust and doesn't really trust in him. Will Vetis also die and end up in Deadpool's head? Only time will tell. But he's a demon, so I imagine he probably won't? Look, it just feels a bit one-track is all. We'll see if I'm wrong. I hope I am, because the last two issues have at least been better than the first arc. Still not totally impressed, but glad it's going slowly in the right direction.

Deadpool Killustrated 4
Bunn (w) and Lolli and Parsons (a) and Gandini (c)

The Deadpool Killustrated mini-series comes to an end as the fictional universes start caving in on themselves. Deadpool has killed so many literary icons (including the witches of Macbeth, the Poe figure in "The Raven," Dorian Gray, and Gregor Samsa) that it's starting to really have an effect on the landscape. Sherlock Holmes is starting to forget pieces of the case as his forefathers and his world are being erased. Finally he and his team catch up to Deadpool, who himself is starting to lose coherency (more so) as his own predecessors are exterminated. Beowulf and Watson team up to kill the Frankenpool and Mulan severs Deadpool's arm with his time travel device, forcing him to run for HG Wells' time machine (which Holmes' team has been traveling in). Holmes catches up with him and they fight through a void. Holmes eventually pushes Deadpool out into the nothingness, but not before Deadpool makes his point that the ideaverse won't heal properly now that he's planted the seed of heroes dying. After Deadpool falls, wondering what will happen to him, Holmes tries desperately to remember all the literary heroes Deadpool killed, to try to keep them alive and "set the bone properly," as they say. Whether or not it works is up for debate and will possibly be the question with the next teased series, Deadpool Kills Deadpool.
I was pleasantly surprised by this series from the outset, enjoying it far more than things like Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe or others in that line. The idea of the ideaverse was pretty interesting and I loved the glimpses of heroes flashing in front of Deadpool as he killed each new victim. It's a clever little homage to the vast library of fiction that created all our heroes and to the very idea that our heroes are created by a long history of heroes. I'm not totally sure what to make of this ending, as Deadpool floats off into some ill-defined nothingness waiting to disappear. Maybe the next series will start with him discovering that he hasn't disappeared and that Sherlock set the bone properly enough to restore some heroes and now his biggest adversary is himself. Not in a figurative sense, like something within him, like his other selves from other universes. I've no idea. I'm still not totally convinced that the Deadpool Kills Deadpool series is a real thing that will happen. I guess we'll all just find out.

Ultimate Spider-Man 22, Scarlet Spider 16, Morbius the Living Vampire 4

Ultimate Spider-Man 22
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)

It wouldn't be Spider-Man if a parent figure didn't die in his arms, right? Or a literal parent. Whatever's handiest. Also, and I might be too much of a cynic for saying this, they've just killed off the only likable supporting cast member for Miles. Ganke's sweet or whatever, but he's pretty annoying. Jefferson is too angry all the time. Other roommate is angry and suspicious. MJ and Gwen have just been added to the book and they're both annoying. Leaving Miles' mom as the loving and even-keeled parent figure and oh, she's dead now.
Right, so there were some spoilers above. Sorry. Anyway, Miles tries to tell Maria Hill that he's not Spider-Man, no matter what she thinks, and she responds like a five-year old would, saying "Then I'm wrong. Except I'm not." I really hate Maria Hill, you guys. I was hoping to give her Ultimate version a chance because the 616 version is terrible and I figured she could be different in the Ultimate version. WRONG. She's terrible. Also, writing anyone in this book like a five-year old is not stellar writing. And that comes in back-and-forth dialogue mode. On top of how I think that breaks flow, it makes every single character sound exactly the same. We should all stop writing exclusively in back-and-forth dialogue. Anyway, while Miles is trying to tell Maria Hill he's not Spider-Man, she gets word that Venom has attacked the hospital Jefferson has been brought to. She tells Miles he'd get there faster, and he leaves, putting on his costume on the way. He arrives and starts fighting Venom, who claims he needs Spider-Man. They fight for a bit with Miles' mom Rio watching in horror and refusing to leave (she moves some patients of the hospital to safety, then returns to watch). Venom then wraps Spider-Man up inside of himself saying that he's the key to Venom's future. Rio offers herself in his place and Venom decides for a second to take them both before Miles explodes Venom from within. That's a pretty sweet panel. Then, as the man attached to Venom is revealed, the cops show up and instantly shoot him, which, when I think about it, seems a little abrupt. No warning and no time for Spider-Man (granted, vigilante) and Rio (totally innocent) to get out of the way. Hm. Anyway, somehow Rio gets shot, even though Spider-Man seems to get totally clear in time and is shielding her while diving away. LOOK, she gets shot and it's fatal and she dies in his arms. No nitpicking, it's sad. Then Miles tears up his costume and says "NO MORE" a lot. Also, Roxxon was somehow behind Venom and behind trying to create a new Spider-Man. I'd normally go into pros and cons of the issue here, but I think I pretty well covered what I was thinking above. Oh well.

Scarlet Spider 16
Yost (w) and Pham, Pallot and Olazaba (a) and Fabela (c)

Like with Venom 31 a few months ago, I think this is a really well-timed issue. Kaine has been through an awful lot the past few months, what with a horrible beast currently living inside of him deeming everything prey and the recent questions about Aracely coming to the forefront. He needs a bit of a break. And what better break in Houston than a great big rodeo? All his pals bring him there, much to his chagrin, and force him to wear a cowboy hat. Annabelle, his new love interest, shows up too and is pushed away by Kaine, who thinks he can't have a relationship with anyone whatsoever. She runs off and Aracely demands he chase her. When he does, he tries to explain his problem as vaguely as he can and she doesn't care. Then they're approached by an ex-boyfriend of hers who is getting a little possessive again. Kaine begins to threaten him before Prey pops into his head and labels the guy as "prey." Kaine backs off, trying to be less like the monster inside him, and suggests maybe they talk about it. It's at that moment that ex-hero/ex-villain Armadillo pops up riding a bull in the rodeo, drunk and crying for his ex-girlfriend who has just announced she's marrying a rodeo star. Scarlet Spider, who cannot believe any of this is happening to him, rides a horse into the ring, swearing it was the fastest way. He starts to fight Armadillo before being caught off-guard by the giant, armored foe's tears. He tries to talk with him and starts thinking about how they're both monsters and it means neither of them can be in relationships when he's interrupted by Armadillo's ex-girlfriend running into the arena (is it an arena in a rodeo? Is it just a rodeo? Whatever) and declaring her love for him, saying she thought he didn't want her any more. Scarlet Spider is completely taken aback by this and slinks off before reappearing as Kaine, knocking out Annabelle's ex-boyfriend and kissing her. A journalist who has fallen so low he's reporting puff pieces at rodeos determines he'll get back into serious news by finding out who Scarlet Spider is.
So there's a bit of drama there at the end and there's an overwhelming sense of drama in the form of Kaine battling all of his inner demons (one of is a real being) and his conceptions of how his life is supposed to work. By and large, though, the issue is a fun step back from what's been happening lately in Kaine's too-exciting life. When we got the "Venom moving to Philly" issue, some future plot points were certainly set up but it was largely in the series to calm the tone from the string of high-risk fights he'd been in lately. Same situation here, as Kaine's life has gotten too hectic recently and he needed to pull back a bit. Fun issue, definitely well timed.

Morbius the Living Vampire 4
Keatinge (w) and Elson (a) and Fabela (c)

Probably more than any other issue of the series so far, this issue was meant to develop Brownsville as a really crappy neighborhood. Obviously we knew that already, with Morbius running into Noah in the first issue and getting himself shot right off the bat, among other things, but this issue wanted to make it absolutely clear that this district is worse than any other place on Earth. Noah, if we're to believe Rochelle, was the best thing to happen to the place. Regardless of what he did, he kept the gangs from warring over Brownsville and spilling far more innocent blood. So where did Noah come from, then? Well we get some flashbacks that Morbius isn't privy to of a shadowy figure taking young social reject David Brill and transforming him through some means or another into Noah, the extraordinarily strong ruffian we've seen throughout the book. With Noah dead, Rochelle worries that the whole district will come crashing down around them. She's almost immediately proved right as a group that share the same masks as the shadowy figure's helper burst into the building and take Noah's body away. Morbius tries to stop them but is shocked by one of the mysterious henchmen. Literally shocked, not just surprised. They get away with the body and the villain is revealed as the Rose.
I didn't actually know that there had been four Roses through Marvel history (thanks, Wikipedia!). I only knew Wilson Fisk's son Richard, who tried to overthrow his father Kingpin and take over the family business. He was killed by his mother, though, so I was surprised to see him pop up here. Apparently I was wrong to be surprised, as there have been four in total and only two are dead. Who knows, maybe this is a fifth, or maybe it's one of the two that are still living. Also important to note that these are comics and it's ENTIRELY possible he's one of the dead two. If I had to guess, it's Phillip Hayes, the fourth Rose, who apparently had a lot to do with gene research and manipulation. FITS THE BILL. Anyway, Morbius is characterized well here, willing to risk a couple more of Noah's gang members in the hopes that it will save his friends that Rochelle has sent people after. It kind of does, but not as much as Henry's mom does when she appears in front of a gang member tasked with killing Henry and Becky and takes his gun and disassembles it, saying that she's lived in Brownsville her whole life, she can protect herself. That got a little heavy-handed, the whole "BROWNSVILLE IS A HARD PLACE" thing, but I suppose it's necessary. Maybe not that necessary, but necessary. Not bad though, as Morbius will now find out what Brownsville is like without Noah and will likely come across the Rose in the coming issues.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Journey into Mystery 651, Fury MAX 11

Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Bendis (w) and McNiven, Pichelli, Dell, and Morales (a) and Ponsor (c)

The Guardians go into London to stop the Badoon attack. The Badoon have cut off all types of communication to and from the city, leaving the Guardians as the only ones available to fend off the invasion (aside from possibly Captain Britain, but Iron Man waves off the suggestion inexplicably). The team splits up and each hero, aside from Groot who is still regrowing, takes a Badoon ship to take out. They do pretty well, with Rocket perhaps doing the best. He storms through a ship, killing off anyone in his way, before setting the ship to self-destruct and crash into another ship. Drax is on that ship and only barely, with the aid of Gamora and Iron Man, escapes the explosion. When they land, they ask if he's okay and he waves them off angrily. Meanwhile, the Spartax King (Quill's father) holds a meeting with the Kree Supreme Intelligence, Young Annihilus, Gladiator of the Shi'ar, the queen of the Brood, Freyja the all-mother of Asgardia, and Y'Gaaar of the Badoon in the Negative Zone, which apparently can just be opened and closed at will. They meet to discuss Earth, which J-Son says is likely one generation from space travel and is a constant pain in everybody's butt just by staying where they are. He cites the numberous times they've rebuffed Galactus, the Phoenix, Thanos, the Kree, the Skrull, and so many others. He asks to hear if anyone is on his side and everyone except Freyja seems to be. Freyja says that declaring war on Earth is tantamount to declaring war on Asgard. J-Son and Y'Gaaar share a knowing glance. Back in London, the Spartax army descends on the Guardians and declares them prisoners of war for supporting and protecting Earth.
I'm still not totally sold on this premise as it all revolves around the many aliens in the Marvel Universe feeling as if Earth is such a threat it's worth destroying at this point. While the argument that Earth is a formidable enemy is a solid enough one, given how often they've stopped threats, it seems silly to not welcome them into space and assume they won't send many conquering forces. Sure you have to be ready for their abilities if you're J-Son, in case they're not so amenable, but it feels like the types of leaders these guys are (well, maybe not the evil ones like Annihilus and the Badoon) would at least offer a chance. That's what Freyja says too. I'm glad Freyja didn't agree with them because then I'd have some real issues with the premise feeling like everyone does it just to advance the story. Still, it's enough to push the story and the characters are compelling enough as it stands. I worry about Rocket, who has the most obviously funny lines, turning into something like Deadpool. I suppose he could pan out that way logically, but it worries me anyway. The dialogue works best in short bursts from characters and works worst, I would say, when it's snappy back and forth. That's the way it goes. It's largely bursts, which helps and helps differentiate the characters. We'll see where three takes us.

Journey into Mystery 651
Immonen (w) and Larraz (a) and Bellaire (c)

I admit to being a little confused but pleased with this one. I don't really know enough Asgardian lore to comment particularly much on Fenris, the great wolf who has troubled Asgard in the past, or on what the dwarves are doing. That's all on me, I accept that. However, the issue is certainly still paced well enough and is fun enough to cover any sort of confusion there might be. The issue revolves around Volstagg's daughter Hilde bringing Heimdall's dog (one of Loki's litter from his JiM run) out for a walk in the dead of night and running across the Fenris wolf, being brought by Asgardia by two dwarves. Hilde runs and gets Volstagg, who is awake having a midnight snack. Volstagg rushes to rouse the other two of the Warriors Three before they together get Thor and Sif. There's a lot of really fun dialogue between the characters, making them all feel close, closer than we usually get a chance to see them in the midst of battle in these Asgard books. The relationships feel effortless, simply like they've been happening behind the scenes for years and are coming out naturally. It's a lot of fun stuff, even as they have to battle against Fenris and try to get, essentially, his leash back on him. They eventually listen to his demands and allow, as he requests, Hilde to bring him a golden apple from Idunn's tree. Hilde, cleverer than anyone anticipated, apparently gets the leash on him via sleight of hand.
There's not a ton here if you're looking for plot or an extended story, as this seems like a one-off. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and they're going to bring this issue back later, but it seems like a solo shot. Still, the characters are a lot of fun and the dialogue is delightful. I can't stress enough how nice it is to see the characters interacting like a family. Volstagg and Hilde have a great father-daughter relationship and everyone else has a great sibling-like relationship to one another (except Sif and Thor, who are definitely NOT acting like siblings in this issue). It's a lot of fun. Definitely worth reading if you're up for a fun issue of character relationships and dialogue.

Fury MAX 11
Ennis (w) and Parlov (a) and Loughridge (c)

Fury MAX has another pretty solid issue as Fury and Hatherly try to get to the bottom of America's involvement in the drug trade in Nicaragua. It turns out the officer who committed "suicide" left a note, which sounds way too forced and like it was written in honor of Fury far too much. Both Fury and Hatherly sniff it out but choose to act like they're buying it. Fury sends Hatherly to check on a fake lead from the note which he expects will lead to the things Barracuda will want them to see while Fury secretly goes after Barricuda. He throws the pilots of his helicopter off his scent before booby-trapping the chopper, giving them no way to communicate with the base. He tells the pilots to stick around the site while he tries to go find Barracuda and the rest. He stakes them out and hears what he needs to hear. Barracuda, though, hears from his man that they THINK Fury and Hatherly drove off, but that a later outpost wasn't sure if Fury was in the transport. Fury slinks off from the area and sees a nearby village Barracuda's crew already hit. He's disgusted to find that they've burned the town and mutilated all the people. Meanwhile, Pug and Shirley have a fight about infidelity and Pug talks about how helpless Shirley is without him.
Though the plot is still interesting and a real world sort of story is incredibly intriguing to watch. However, I do feel like this one went far further to earn its MAX designation than ones in the past have. Lots of swears, lots of dirty images and things. I'm not sure it really improves the issue. In terms of grounding it in realism, I'm not totally sure it works either. I'm not really sold on over-saturating work with swears because it feels too forced and, after a bit, tends to pull the audience out of the story. Otherwise, solid story with some really graphic imagery to get past.

Fantastic Four 7, FF 6

Fantastic Four 7
Fraction (w) and Bagley and Hennessey (a) and Mounts (c)

The Fantastic Four go into prevention mode as Franklin saves the team from the sun and Blastaar explosion by sending them through time and space to the end of the universe, just before the aliens who sentenced Blastaar to being the first death in the universe send him back to it. They arrive and instantly head it off with the aliens, who help repair their ship and talk to Reed, Susan, and Ben about how their bodies are decaying. They know that Reed's cellular structure is decaying while something is happening to Ben's mind. Ben is angry Reed didn't tell him, but has more pressing issues. The next day is the one day a year where he transforms out of the Thing and into Ben Grimm for 24 hours and he'd like to be able to spend that day himself. Reed promises to be done with what they're doing at the end of the universe by then to allow Ben to choose where ever he wants to go. The whole team works together to pull one over on the aliens (after the aliens fix up and improve the F4's ship and everything) by rescuing Blastaar for themselves. If he isn't sent back in time to the start of the universe, he'd never explode there and they'd never be caught in the explosion. Johnny asks the question "what sparks us to come back here if he never explodes?" opening up a loop of time travel issues, but Sue rebuffs him by simply demanding he not ask. Val creates a containment unit for Blastaar that should keep him from exploding and helps prepare the ship. Everyone plays a role in the long con and eventually they end up leaving with Blastaar, who they drop off in the Negative Zone. Reed asks Ben what he wants to do with the rest of his day (they've taken out an hour doing this) and he asks to go home.
It's a nice little issue that has a lot of layers to it. There are nice mentions from the aliens of Franklin (when they first see Franklin, who is unconscious from the effort to bring them there, they tell him he's not the first Franklin Richards they've seen) and Valeria (the head alien says "while your species as a whole may not have survived this long, everyone knows of Valeria Richards"). It all fits in nicely with the F4 mythos without dominating too much of the story. Now 3/4 of the Fantastic Four know that their powers could be killing them, which will likely bring out some more tension as we continue. There's also a Reed-defining moment as he says to the alien, once the long con is complete, "your society, this civilization, you might have a few billion years on me and mine, sure...but I'm Reed Richards. Nobody's smarter than me." Fun issue. By the end it does feel rather like a heist movie (hence all the long con references) with all the pieces coming into place. Nicely done.

FF 6
Fraction (w) and Quinones (a) and L. Allred (c)

We get a fun look into the Baxter Building (complete with map of the tower) as Dragon Man searches for his roommate Bentley-23, who we know has been taken by Medusa. Dragon Man's character has been pretty fun in this series, if far removed. He's constantly off to the side, reading a newspaper and making "hmm" kinds of sounds. This issue starts the same way, though with several more "hmm"s. He searches the general area and starts asking about Bentley, but no one can tell him anything. At breakfast, he brings it up again, as Ahura (Medusa's son) brings up that she's missing. Meanwhile, Scott has been having trouble sleeping because of an incredibly depressing dream about his daughter that's keeping him from rest. He too questions where Medusa is as She-Hulk shows Darla the paper, which has hacked cell phone pictures of her trying on different headwear (as seen last issue). Darla is furious but has to get over it to go to a gig at Carnegie Hall. Of course, the Yancy Street Gang, who has joined the modern age as hackers, is behind it. Tong, one of the Moloids, expresses to his brothers that there's something inside him now that "there is a girl inside of him" and she dons a dress and asks for their understanding. They grant it and parade through the Baxter Building, to the enjoyment of She-Hulk and Darla and the confusion of Scott. She-Hulk and Ahura meet with his father Black Bolt to tell of Medusa's disappearance. It's actually a pretty funny scene as Black Bolt and Ahura communicate telepathically and Black Bolt continually gets closer to his son's head. Ahura reveals that Black Bolt has given them permission to take Lockjaw with them (rad) to help them find Medusa again. Darla's gig goes badly as everyone in attendance has been brought there by the Yancy Street Gang and are all wearing Thing masks and throw things at her to force her off the stage. Scott has seemingly disappeared on her and she eventually meets up with him at an internet cafe. He's invited the heads of the YSG to the cafe and reveals to them that he was with them as they went home that night, watching as they hacked things. He got all of their passwords and sent them around to any other hackers or news organizations or embassies they've embarrassed. He tells them to back off and it seems to have the desired effect. It's nice for Scott to finally win one. They return home to find that Dragon Man has connected Medusa and Bentley-23's disappearances after all, just in time for the whole building to be sent to the Negative Zone.
If this recap seemed like it jumped around a lot, it's because it did. There are a lot of things going on at the Baxter Building these days and a lot of storylines Fraction wants covered. He switches back and forth between them effortlessly and doesn't really seem to care if you're comfortable with the pace. There are places to be and things to do. I think it's a solid way to approach this book, which he's set up as being a pretty hectic time. Of course it would be hectic, there are 15 or so children living in one building with four adults (three right now) who don't quite know how they fit with one another yet, or how they fit into the lives of the children. The jumping back and forth at random and quickly, without allowing us to get too comfortable in one story, helps show how chaotic the FF life is. When I said above it was nice that Scott was able to win one, I meant it. It felt like such a victory for him in that it was a near-total victory over the YSG and it was so needed. Will it help stem the tide of emotion over Cassie? No, of course not. But it's nice to win occasionally. Good book. Next issue we send everyone into the Negative Zone. Fun stuff ahoy.

Gambit 11, A+X 7

Gambit 11
Asmus (w) and S. Mann, C. Mann, Vlasco, and Medina (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Things are happening a little too swiftly for Gambit after a nice little interlude sleeping with Joelle in a snowbank. Rogue shows up, prompting a hostile response from Joelle, which Gambit eventually stops, after letting it last long enough to see if it was still his dream (that's weird, Gambit). Things settle down a bit and Rogue asks to speak with Gambit privately well Joelle waits on the ship. Gambit and Rogue talk for a bit about their feelings and about how she's worried that Gambit is getting himself into more than he can handle. She proves correct as Tombstone's men descend on them and Joelle takes off in the ship. Tombstone has been probing Fence for information back on the mainland. Fence has given up Gambit's coordinates, confident that Gambit can get himself out of trouble. Tombstone prompts him to look deeper into Joelle's history, which Fence is willing to do as he has no loyalty to her. It turns out she's far older than she's letting on and that she's been around for a long time. The item that she stole, Tombstone informs him, is a WMD, not a cure for whatever child she's convinced Gambit she has. We see Joelle at her child's bed at the end of the issue (her child is an elderly woman now), swearing vengeance on the world in lieu of a cure. Tombstone meets her there (with the information Fence learned) and cuts her throat as the issue ends.
So there are intriguing things happening with Gambit right now. Tombstone, though he seems to realize Gambit didn't really know what he was getting into with Joelle, is still out for blood against our Cajun hero for stealing from him and destroying the wall of his night club. The team he sent after Gambit and Joelle, too, are unaware of who it is they're chasing, knowing only that it's one male and one female. Unfortunately for Rogue, she and Gambit fit under that banner so she's tied up in this beyond her attachment to Gambit now. On top of that, they have their own relationship problems to work out, having broken up previous to this series so Rogue could get a little bit of space and "find herself" before jumping back into another relationship. The twist of Joelle being older than she appears and fighting for a daughter who is in her twilight is a neat little twist, reminiscent of what I've read of Brubaker's Fatale series. I need to read more of that series (just nominated for a couple Eisners) but this kind of does fit that bill. Still, Fatale works, among other reasons, because that's a solid premise so a little pilfering (if that's what this is) doesn't hurt Gambit. I'll be interested to see where this goes.

A+X 7
Iron Man and Beast: Wells (w) and Keown and Lee (a) and Hollowell (c)
Thor and Iceman: Yost (w) and Bernales and Turcotte (a and c)

Another couple fun stories from A+X, which has really carried on longer than I'd have expected. It's kind of a glorified Marvel Team-Up but without a story that runs through it. Anyway, the first story is Iron Man and Beast, who team up at the behest of SHIELD to create a protection system in case Hulk should ever turn on his new employers. SHIELD has come up with, essentially, a new version of Tony's Hulkbuster armor while Beast had come up with a serum to try to make SHIELD officers temporarily Hulk-like (it did not work). They bring in Tony to stop hostile code from overtaking their Hulkbuster armor, as it's threatening to do. Tony brings down the safeguards in place so he can eliminate the code, but it moves faster than he anticipates. Before long, the Hulkbuster armor is completely compromised and starts attacking them. At the last second, Hulk himself jumps in and crushes the armor before powering down into Banner. As Tony and Beast leave with their tails between their legs, Banner reveals that he had planted the code just to show Tony and Beast who's smarter. It's a fun story with a lot of fun banter. When I told my girlfriend about the team-up, she accurately pointed out that it sounds like it would be obnoxious. It is, but Wells clearly knows it would be so is smart enough to make the obnoxious banter fun. He also is smart to make sure neither character "wins," as it means each has to kind of back off on their bravado. Overall a pretty fun story for fans of the two characters with a couple of real fun moments (like Beast faulting Tony for creating a helmet that splits down the middle simply because it looked cool and Tony accusing Beast of calling him "dude" in the middle of their fight).

The second story is my favorite of the two. The art style is completely different than any other comic I know and makes the story feel very much like a Pixar film, specifically the Pixar film The Incredibles. It doesn't hurt that Thor serves as a good stand-in for Mr. Incredible and Iceman makes a good Frozone (as those two characters in the movie were based heavily on at least the types of characters like Thor and Iceman, particularly Frozone-Iceman). Ymir and the Frost Giants are attacking Earth with the newly made casket of future winters, accidentally activated by Thor when Ymir goads him into using his lightning. Thor is angry with the Frost Giants but perhaps angrier with Iceman, who is joking throughout the entire issue. Finally he snaps at him and Iceman calmly explains that he jokes to keep everyone sane because the Avengers and X-Men already have "grim, stoic, and angsty" pretty well covered. He also explains that he's not taking this threat seriously because they've turned the world into ice and he's Iceman. He uses the ice to power himself up and take the Frost Giants down pretty handily. As the winter starts to disappear, his powers start decreasing and he gets weaker, cracking a final joke (about the Jotuns needing to be careful about licking their wounds, lest they freeze to themselves) that Thor actually laughs at and says is "truly funny." The writing is tight and solid and the questions from Thor are valid, is as the response from Iceman. It's not exactly a world shattering revelation (all the joking type heroes in the universe eventually have to answer for why they joke and it's always that answer) but the story itself is well done and Iceman is truly funny in it. Good book, pretty fantastic art, particularly the full-page spread of the reveal of the Frost Giants.

X-Termination 2, Uncanny X-Men 5, Wolverine and the X-Men 28

X-Termination 2
Lapham, Liu, and Pak (s) and Lapham (w) and Lopez, Mogorron, Valdez, Lolli, Ho, Ruggiero, Cuevas, and Martinez (a) and Mossa (c)

It's worth noting in this final issue of the event (which I should have noted a while ago) that there are usually a lot of artists on these books because the book is broken up into chapters (which, admittedly, is kind of random) and that different artists draw each chapter. Also, in terms of my own process, I put pencils and inks all under the "artists" label, for better or worse, so half of that (a) up there is made up of pencillers and half of inkers and they all switch off throughout the book. ONWARDS.
Nightcrawler prepares himself for what he has to do, which is mostly jump back and forth through the portal carrying people. As we saw with little Kurt Waggoner, it's an extremely exhausting task and will leave him weakened, but it's the only way to save people. He brings people back one by one until everyone we've seen recently (which does not include most of the AoA crew) except Dazzler and Prophet remain. Prophet even sends for AoA cast member Harper Simmons (from the 616 originally) so Nightcrawler can bring him back, saying that someone has to tell the story. Dark Beast also hijacks a trip back with Nightcrawler and ends up on the other side of the portal. Dazzler doesn't want to abandon the AoA but Prophet knows it's the only way and refuses to hear her out. He also says he'll fight to win or go down with the ship. Jean swoops in and knocks him out and tells Dazzler to send him to the other side. She's still pretty much in control of the Apocalypse power but she knows she's likely to be overwhelmed by the monsters. Dazzler and Prophet leave. On the other side of the portal, the teams need to figure out how to close off the AoA. The solution, it seems, is for Nightcrawler to grab the "end" of the portal (black swirls on the border that have a physical form) and teleport them back into the AoA. The trip will kill him, but it will close the portal. Nightcrawler redeems himself, even in the eyes of Wolverine, and shuts the portal. The threat passed on the 616, the three remaining members of the X-Treme X-Men part ways and Wolverine offers Dazzler a spot at the school, impressed with her actions here. She wants time to think about it. Prophet and Harper Simmons meet a few weeks later to talk and Dazzler happens to be on the same beach. It ends with a short in memoriam to those who died.
I liked this event a lot. This final book was maybe the weakest, if only because everything turned out okay. I don't mean that in a "I WANT EVERYONE TO DIE" nor a "THE AGE OF APOCALYPSE DIDN'T MATTER, I'M GLAD IT'S A PRISON FOR THE MONSTERS" way. I mean that in a "oh, the plan worked" kind of way. Okay, look, there's no way to say that that doesn't feel stupid. I guess the issue is that the event was so good at taking twists and turns and putting insurmountable enemies against them that a plan working out seemed out of the question. Then it did. Still, it's a solid event that didn't overstay its welcome and gave us a solid story while effectively wrapping up two different series. Good event. Now it'll be interesting to see the fallout from that, with Dazzler probably going to join the school and a William Stryker back in the world.

Uncanny X-Men 5
Bendis (w) and Irving (a and c)

There are problems with Magik's powers after all. She seems to be holding her powers together through the Darkchilde, a fierce and mysterious force that isn't totally unlike the Hulk of magic. Dormammu has taken over Limbo in Magik's absence, berating her for spending so much time away. Magik attacks him but loses until the Darkchilde takes over and wins. Now she's having trouble stuffing it back down, despite a pep talk from Scott. Meanwhile, SHIELD frets about the new team after Scott's on-camera declaration about defeating the Avengers and the sudden emergence of a new mutant who can stop time being on their team. Speaking of her, they're also trying to set up a love triangle or something between her, Emma, and Cyclops, despite the fact that she seems to be a teenager and she's only ever seen Cyclops in his costume, which looks RIDICULOUS. I haven't really gotten into their new costumes in this book but I'm against pretty much all of them. I think Magneto's all-white costume looks okay but there's a weird obsession Bendis has with taking a character's iconic colors and replacing them with white. He did it with Iron Fist too. Neither looks bad, it's just an odd choice. Also, it severely reduces the number of heroes with the green and yellow motif and the number of characters with the maroon motif. Magneto is one of the most famous villains/characters in the Marvel Universe; it's an interesting decision to change the costume. It all represents a new era for the X-Men, sure, but if you're going to have Magneto as a defining member of that team it seems like you shouldn't pretend he's a different Magneto than the one he's always been or than the one he's been recently. On top of that, he doesn't fit the black theme that the rest of the team has. He's a literal white sheep. Well, not literally a sheep. Whatever. Anyway, I've gone off-topic here. Cyclops looks RIDICULOUS. I have trouble believing that the teenager, who dubs him a "beautiful man," could really believe that physically. If it's based on his personality, what she knows is a man who shows up and takes kids and possibly killed his master. I think she's heard all that. It's all hard to separate because plot points get repeated about a thousand times. That's about all that happens. Magik hulks out and is still having trouble controlling it and that girl expresses affection for Cyclops. And some more wacky things happen with the other new mutants. Just wacky.

Wolverine and the X-Men 28
Aaron (w) and Perez (a) and L. Martin and Milla (c)

The Savage Land field trip wraps up as Wolverine meets up with Idie and Broo, who have taken refuge in a cave where Idie hopes to live out the rest of her life (she fears returning to the temptations and evils of normal life). Meanwhile, Eye Boy, the only student who we haven't seen use Wolverine pep talk to help them aside from Glob Herman who is terrible, reveals that he's more impressive than he looked. He can see more than just physical things as he focuses and Sherlocks the rest of the team, citing random physical actions as proof of Shark Girl's abandonment issues and Sprite's need for validation while perfectly shooting down a robot. It's a neat little turn for the character that actually makes him a useful addition to the team. Whether Wolverine suspected that would happen or not is up for debate, but it's certainly happened. He helps neutralize the immediate threats and gets everyone back on task before Dog shows up again and threatens the kids again. They stand up to him this time before Wolverine steps in and allows Dog to beat him up a bit. One of the time traveled bad guys shoots Dog, demanding answers. Dog, upset by the fact that he still couldn't best Wolverine as the best Logan, time travels himself and some of the others who are displaced in time away. Logan is angry that he got away, but angrier at himself for allowing the kids to be taken from him. He has a whole slew of doubts about his abilities with these kids. He passes them all on the assignment and, as such, the course, except for Glob Herman, who ran away. Wolverine suspects, and the audience sees, that he's gone off with Sauron to join the Hellfire Club. It's fine, he was always a terrible character.
I have to say, I'm often kind of suspicious about this book. It doesn't tend to deliver the best characters nor the best stories. It's usually a little more fun-oriented than other Marvel books, though it certainly has its share of tension at times. However, this arc went a long way to characterizing the newest students of the Jean Grey School. Some of them have been around for a while now and some are pretty new, but it's all worth exploring. I would say that Bendis' Uncanny X-Men book needs an arc like this to let us know more about the new recruits they've gotten, but I'm not sure that's for the best, entirely. He's done stuff each issue to try to build their characters through dialogue and a little through action, but they still feel largely indistinguishable from one another. My worry with an arc like this would be that they'd remain indistinguishable and wacky. If he could do an arc that characterized them and made them worth caring about, great. If they're all going to keep their stock personalities, it's far less great. Well done by Aaron to go out of his way to make sure these guys all had a specific personality and a specific interaction with Wolverine. Interesting arc.

Young Avengers 4, Avengers Arena 8

Young Avengers 4
Gillen (w) and McKelvie w/ Norton (a) and Wilson (c)

This is the most noise I've ever made reading a comic. I feel pretty confident about that. Between the laughs (both sustained and in short barks) and the gasps and the "whoa"s, I heard myself being an audience for about the first time in my comic reading life. I've made noises at other books (actually, Avengers Arena has often elicited some sort of response out of me after particularly shocking endings) and I'm impressed by plenty of books, but this was a different sort of "making noise." I've talked already about how Young Avengers likes to take the whole comic genre and tilt it onto its side occasionally to see how things look over there. YA four is no different, dedicating nearly a whole page to a small map, with reading key, showing Noh-Varr's attack on the parents in the nightclub. On the edges of the page we get close-ups of a couple of his actions (still corresponding to the key that's been laid out) and we get details (some small, but certainly large enough) into what he's thinking throughout. Noh-Varr, who has appeared in this series for only a couple pages in issue one previous to this, is almost instantly defined. Is it a full definition of the character? No, of course not, that would be ridiculous in just a couple pages. But it's more than enough for now. It encompasses his brash and show-off kind of attitude, his desire to impress Kate, a little bit of his history, a little bit of his powers, and his view on Earth, particularly tied to what we saw in the first issue. This is more characterization, better presented too, than you'll see in most series over issues and issues. Noh-Varr is set up for us in about five pages total. Brilliant work, wasting no space. The action, too, is gorgeous. McKelvie is an absolute treasure.
Noh-Varr rescues the team from the parents in fantastic fashion before making a sweet exit (and Terminator reference) to his ship, which Kate piloted to him. The team joins him on the ship and they try to escape all their parents, including the addition of Noh-Varr's powerful progenitors. His father flies through the ship and grabs Billy, damaging the engines in the process. America goes after him as Noh-Varr's ship goes down. There's a great moment here where Loki talks to Teddy about his relationship with Billy, intimating that Teddy, who happens to be a Skrull prince who happens to live in the same city and go to the same school as Billy and who happens to be gay, is dating a reality warper. It's an amazing little seed and one that has inexplicably never come up before. Loki is the perfect character to mention it because there's no way of knowing if it's a reasonable point or a Loki-point (which might still be reasonable but is very likely to also be a Loki game). With a wave of different parents (including normal human bystander parents who have been whipped into a frenzy by the mind games at play here) descending on the team, Loki finally convinces Billy to hand over his powers for ten minutes then promptly disappears with them. There's still a very good chance Loki comes back, sure, but it's also exactly what Loki would have done one way or another. Along with everything else happening in this book that warrants mentioning, it's more of Gillen's amazing Loki that he played with in Journey into Mystery so successfully. The characters are great, the writing is perfect, the art is tremendous, and the story is perplexing. Everything's going right for Young Avengers.

Avengers Arena 8
Hopeless (w) and Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

Everything's going wrong for the kids in Avengers Arena. With Kid Briton recently decapitated, Apex runs off, trailed by a curious and confused Death Locket. She throws herself on to the ground in a rage of emotions and, when she picks herself back up, she is transformed into a he. Now going by Tim (too few Tims in the Marvel Universe, frankly), he seems to have no memory of what's happened and who he was before. Death Locket is probably the worst person to be with at this point, given her limited understanding of what's been happening. X-23, meanwhile, has had to keep away from Hazmat and Reptil while they walk off the trigger scent. She finds Juston's Sentinel crash-site and investigates, expecting the worst. However, she finds him inside. He's angry and saddened at losing his best friend (the Sentinel) and only form of protection and bitter because no one came to look for him. He also reveals that he thinks he's paralyzed from the waist down. X-23 helps him transform the Sentinel into giant robotic legs with weapons for himself. Back at the safe zone, Bloodstone invites the newly arrived Chase, Nico, and Cammi to share their wealth of food in exchange for their help in burying Kid Briton. He's stewing over the new relationship between Nara and Anachronism and Cammi susses out the fact that he might be in love with Anachronism. They stick together for the rest of the issue, which interests Cammi as she pegs Bloodstone as a loner sort. Why he'd choose now to gain new friends is beyond her understanding. Finally, Juston and X-23 reappear, with Juston charging his new Sentinel legs into battle (X-23 falls off, unaware of his plans). Juston attacks Death Locket for destroying his Sentinel. Nico tries to help but gets blasted aside, causing Chase to show off his new Darkhawk powers for the first time and enter the fray. CONTINUED NEXT TIME.
The book continues to push forward on all fronts. There's a nice little talk between X-23, who is upset that this island seems perfectly honed for what she used to be and what she's trying not to be any more, and Juston, who knows she's a frontrunner and he's far closer to the back. They talk about those sorts of rankings and about how Arcade knows just how to play everyone. It's the first time that anyone's really even started the talk about Arcade and what he is and it's probably coming from two people who are capable of trying to figure it all out. However, it continues to not be important enough to dwell on, as things at the forefront need to come first. It's a great strategy to make everyone need to focus so much on the now that they can't think about the future or even the past that brought them here. The book continues to be solid and, with another big fight upcoming, will likely continue the trend next time.

Avengers 10, New Avengers 5, Uncanny Avengers 7

Avengers 10
Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and Martin (c)

One of the things that's been most impressive about this Avengers series so far is the fact that it's a long term story. It's not just a few arcs here and there and maybe an underlying story revealing itself over time. It makes no attempt to hide its main story, the new system that is spreading across Earth, and prefers to keep that in the open while building character bits around that. The last few issues have revolved around the creation of systems and what the systems mean and the Avengers, like the audience, are simply trying to gather information at this point. When you take away the fact that godlike beings on Mars are repurposing the Earth, the story feels more realistic than most comic stories. It's a realism in a major superhero comic that isn't often focused on because it's potentially less exciting. The Avengers are in fact-gathering mode. Maybe my assertions aren't fair to other comics (and don't mistake what I'm saying as a slam for other comics, I'm clearly a big fan of most, it just feels different), which do typically have at least a few issues now and then of set-up or decompression or other things that aren't really big action. That said, there are usually big reveals, showing a villain who's working his way to the hero or plotting against the hero. Maybe that's still happening here, we're just not recognizing the villain. Regardless, it gives the Avengers a different feel. I've talked about how I think the Avengers knows what its doing and doesn't really care if you know just yet; you'll either figure it out or you won't and neither option particularly matters to the book (obviously it matters because Marvel would prefer you keep buying it, but that's beside the point). I'd add to that sentiment that Avengers isn't really making a huge effort to let you in. It's not falling back on normal superhero book standards, throwing the obvious villain in to lure you into the book or giving you familiar faces for fan service. Everyone is there for a reason and Avengers doesn't particularly care if you know what that reason is. I think it's really incredible and it's exactly what a book like Avengers should be doing right now. The Avengers and Marvel have never been so popular. This is your flagship book in a lot of ways. Test the waters a bit. Very exciting.
The issue revolves around the suicide of a SHIELD agent who had accompanied the Avengers (under permission of Canada's Department H) to the new system in Regina, Canada. That system is the one Ex Nihilo deemed the "evolution" system. Heroes under Department H's jurisdiction had already gone in to see what was happening and had largely been killed. The Avengers are sent in, along with the SHIELD agent Michaud, and find a forest area instead of the city they'd expected. While in there, something happens that startles them enough to not tell SHIELD about it. Validator, who'd led the mission for the Canadian heroes, is still kind of alive, but has evolved beyond what she was into something new. She whispers something into Michaud's ear (we find out later that Michaud was her father), everything goes black, and the Avengers get out. Upon leaving, Michaud shoots himself in the head. Wolverine later explains to Manifold and Smasher that Michaud had decided that whatever he'd seen or heard in there was worth more as a secret than his life was. We find out that they had seen evolution in there, with everyone watching themselves evolve into something new (in many cases, this means everyone sees themselves aging or getting new uniforms down the line, but some things are more drastic, like Falcon seeing himself transforming into something far more bird-like). Validator told Michaud that the system was online. Another interesting issue that shows the power Ex Nihilo has used on the Earth. There are also some great little character pieces (like Falcon telling Captain America that he's going to feel really bad flying away when the little aliens inside the system lure them all into a trap and kill them, to which Cap requests Falcon say nice things at the funeral) and a great definition of SHIELD's relationship with the Avengers (SHIELD lies, the Avengers withhold, there's little trust and no reason for it). Very neat little issue on a neat little book. As always, this review has come in far longer than I expected it to and it's just one of three. Bad formatting, Tim.

New Avengers 5
Hickman (w) and Epting and Magyar (a) and D'Armata (c)

This book continues to be stunning. The story, the art, the characters, it's all a nearly perfect book in my mind. We learn a bit about the Black Swan in this issue as Panther allows her out of the cage he's kept her in. She has only stayed in it because of a high yield bomb she discovered underneath it, though Panther gives another to her on a necklace as he frees her from the cage. She explains that the incursions of worlds has always been happening and will always happen, as they are a sacrifice to the great destroyer Rabum Alal. Her world was destroyed long ago, but she was able to escape through a passage in her world to a sort of way station to the multiverse (since destroyed). There she was raised by the Black Swans (now scattered) and taught about Rabum Alal. She has destroyed worlds to escape her death. Her goal at this point, and why she's chosen willingly to help the Illuminati, is simply to stay alive. She says that one of the ways to avoid everyone on the planet dying is called "Shading the Apocalypse." It's the "eighth way" and involves evacuating the world and destroying it completely. She says it's the cowardly way, but chosen often and, in fact, often orchestrated by other Henry McCoys. More on that in a second. The team wants to hear more of the ways to avoid the incursions but before they can continue, she senses another incursion and their infinity gems light up. The cliffhanger for the next issue? The newest incursion site is Latveria.
The tension builds after the team allows Galactus to destroy another world, though capturing Terrax in the process. He remains an option for them, they think, in terms of getting information. A showdown with Doctor Doom leaves the book open to go in many different directions, all of them pretty interesting. More interesting is the characterization of so many of these characters, particularly given how much plot is going on around them. Every character is written very specifically, to the point where Panther interrupted Reed from off-panel just saying "no" and you knew it was Panther talking. The timing, saying 'no' at the point in the discussion he did, and the brevity he speaks with all play a role in characterizations of all the characters. Perhaps most compelling so far (other than, I'd say, Panther simply because he's always the most compelling character whenever he's around) is Beast. Beast has been remarkably quiet since his introduction to the team only a few issues ago. Beast is often written as very talkative, though clearly brilliant. He certainly comes across as more lighthearted than most of these characters (save maybe Tony) in almost every other appearance. However, it doesn't feel like a poorly written Beast. On the contrary, it's a seemingly perfect fit for the character, one who has seen the mutant race decimated and reborn at the cost of one of his best childhood friends killing his mentor and losing control of himself. One of his first lines in the series was telling Captain America that Cap was asking the man who had seen his race decimated if he would make the morally right choice no matter the cost. It was very defining dialogue for him and the fact that he's keeping so quiet is even more defining. When Black Swan tells him that the name "Beast" is famous in the "great game of worlds," he isn't struck by the horror of his other selves destroying worlds to save his own, nor is he impressed by them. He only asks if it would save his universe. It's brilliant characterization to keep him quiet except when he's needed to speak, not launching into the sorts of jargon-filled speeches he normally goes into. Just another example of a wonderful book.

Uncanny Avengers
Remender (w) and Acuña (a and c)

Three different Avengers books reviewed today (and released today, though my next review today will have the two other Avengers-related books, not including A+X so holy crap, there are a lot of books out today) and three completely different feels to all of them. Even between Hickman's two books, no tone feels exactly the same (I wouldn't have said that about the last volumes of Avengers and New Avengers) and each, instead, represents a very different team facing a very different threat. Now Uncanny Avengers (I consider these three the main Avengers books, with Young Avengers and Avengers Arena sitting in the backseat; not because they're lesser books because I love them both, but because none of them feature anyone who you'd consider a main Avenger, nor do they claim to) comes in and continues to feel a little like an older style story in the telling. There is a bit more exposition and it comes largely in the form of narrative captions. It's a completely different feel from the other two Avengers books but still totally fits its story and art. It's, truth told, a little jarring to switch from one Avengers book to the next to the next, but it's all totally worthwhile. Also, what's the deal with the Celestials popping up everywhere?
As the Horsemen of Apocalypse accompany Genocide (Apocalypse's son) to be deemed the new Apocalypse by a Celestial, they are shocked to learn that the twin children of Pestilence and Archangel (from his time in Remender's Uncanny X-Force as the new Apocalypse) have indeed survived and are coming to claim their birthright (they would be next in line for Apocalypse-dom, as Archangel was the most recent Apocalypse. This terminology is getting very confusing and I apologize for that. I guess you should probably just read Remender's X-Force). They attack and kill the Celestial (not an easy thing to do, despite what the X-Termination event opened with) and attack the horsemen who resist them (War and Famine). They offer Genocide the chance to serve them as their new Death, but he is mad about them stealing his spotlight and about how they just killed a Celestial. Valid concerns. Anyway, they head towards the Peak, headquarters of SWORD. Meanwhile, Alex tries to bench Rogue, keeping her out of the spotlight and on the hunt for Magneto while her killing of Grim Reaper (the charges were cleared as she acted in self-defense) fades away but does so with very little success. Scarlet Witch and Rogue continue to fight before Scarlet Witch meets privately with Wonder Man, who is in love with her. She pushes off his advances after he opens his all-red eyes. I don't think that's being shallow; if I had to guess it has to do more with the look of Vision or maybe it's her being scared by Wonder Man, WHO KNOWS. Remender, probably. Anyway, they get called by Cap and Sunfire, who are meeting with SWORD about the Celestial death and the oncoming ship. The Unity division is called to aid them but will arrive too late, as the ship crashes into the Peak. Sunfire pushes Cap into an escape pod before regretting his decision to stay behind. Thor, who saw footage of the Apocalypse twins wielding Jarnbjorn, has a whole bundle of regrets himself and takes off away from the UA to go on ahead. It honestly feels like too much happened here to really dive in (as this post is already absurdly long) but the character relationships here are some of the focuses. As I said, it feels like an older story and that relationship aspect definitely comes straight from that feel. The other two Avengers books cares about the way the characters interact but treat them very differently. Avengers has too many moving parts to see the team living together and bonding every day or something and New Avengers has stuck together characters who already have a rapport and are major players in the Universe while also putting them up against a plot too big to leave them with much opportunity to hang out. UA feels like an older Avengers title in the way its told but also in the sense that they're all living together (more or less; it at least feels that way) and in the way their relationships are so far at the forefront. Three very different Avengers titles, all knocking it out of the park at every moment.