Gambit 16, Wolverine MAX 10

Gambit 16
Asmus (w) and C. Mann (a) and Rosenberg (c)


Gambit needs to save himself from death in a pit filling with water while his hands are locked with vibranium chains (because vibranium is almost impossible to get unless it's for a throwaway item that will never come back again in which case it is all too easy to get) with, I don't know, really good locks, look that's not the point, the point is he can't pick his way out so he Gambits his way out, charging everything kinetically and bursting forth. The people who kidnapped him (the guy who raised him and some others, with the help of Fence) inform him that they're looking to install a new leader for the International Thieves Guild and that they think he'd be perfect, what with his big character and reputation and his mad skills. The problem with that is then that there are a handful of other talented players with powers of their own (including Ajna the clairvoyant and Nil the technomancer) who would rather they be in charge than Gambit. To prove his worthiness, he must retrieve a ring for Nil that the technomancer's father took to a maximum security prison with him after he killed his wife. Gambit will have to break in, steal the ring out of a safety deposit box, and escape. Of course, somehow Gambit fails to see that this is a trap and is suddenly caught off-guard when he's contacted by Nil from within the safe deposit room and told that this is all a trap. Nil gives him a chance to leave with other valuables or perish with the bomb he left in another box. Gambit chooses to try to stop the bomb, which explodes, though Gambit keeps the explosion relatively contained at personal risk only to find himself greeted by original series villain Mr. Cich, who Nil had informed of the plan.

This is the second to last issue of Gambit so he's going to have to work his way out of this one pretty rapidly. Or, you know, die or whatever. My money's on working his way out of it but there's certainly a lot happening for one issue remaining. Gambit will have to escape Cich and his bodyguard Remlik (plus others) while probably making them non-threats, likely he'll have to take out Nil, and we'll have to resolve the thieves guild business all in one issue. Or, like I said, Gambit could die or whatever. That might be the road I'd take if I was Asmus, seems easier than all of these threads. The issue was decent though I'd say a lot of the exposition lasted too long (we had a lot of Fence interjecting little bits of jokes or more exposition than necessary which didn't help things). Maybe they could have cut some of that and used it to wrap up a plotline? I don't know. I guess how good this issue was with spacing will come down to how well done the final issue is? We'll have to see.

Wolverine MAX 10
Starr (w) and Boschi (a) and Brown (c)

Wolverine leads the mysterious man he's run into a couple of times now back to the man's home to grill him for more information. Wolvy immediately realizes there's a dead body in the house but has no time to deal with that right now. Instead, he wants to know what the man knows about him. The man, whose name is Bobby Fragosi, tells Wolverine that he used to work for the FBI back in the late '70s and that he tailed a Punisher-esque Wolverine for quite some time before losing him and coming to terms with the fact that he'd never be able to catch him in the act well enough to lock him away. Fragosi became the fall guy for the department's failures to catch Wolvy and his life spiraled out of control, which has now left him broke, hence why he has been following Wolverine: he thinks Wolvy has money stashed away nearby, why else would he show up in this area? Cops show up at Fragosi's place and Wolverine gets the pair of them out of there, driving Fragosi out to the desert before killing him and leaving him behind to make his way to Vegas.

This series continues not to impress me. I think there's a way to do this story, where Wolverine has no idea what's happened in his life and is trying to piece things together in whatever way he can, that might be interesting but this isn't it. In addition, I think it's a story that's already been done more than enough. If you're coming back to this side of Wolverine's life, I think you have to come back here with a purpose, have a real story that's worth telling or a real angle that hasn't been explored. I haven't seen that at any point from this story, begging me to ask again who is benefitting from it. We get Jock covers, which is neat, but not much else to it. Also, frankly, if you're insistent on continuing the MAX line and putting Wolverine in a MAX series, you should probably use that a little more viscerally. It seems like there are overdone amounts of swearing just because there can be but Wolverine is one of the more violent heroes in the Marvel Universe. If you have a MAX book and you spend most of it rolling out rather boring flashbacks that largely focus on a guy who's going to be dead at the issue's end, at least load it with violence. I'm not saying that makes for a good book or anything (and if that's what had been done here, I might be complaining about it anyway because I'm fickle) but it seems strange to have the go-ahead to do that and then to waste all your rated R stuff on swears (and a couple of naked women). What this book shouldn't be is boring and that's what each issue leaves me with.

Thanos Rising 5, Deadpool 15, A+X 11

Thanos Rising 5
Aaron (w) and Bianchi w/ Pieruccini (a) and Svorcina (c)

The conclusion of the Thanos origin story begins as Thanos returns to Tian, now with a skeleton crew running his fleet (he's killed, you know, a bunch of them), to raze his home world. He has the crew stay inside after the initial wave of bombing, deciding to walk the grounds himself. The last man standing on Tian, Thanos' father, confronts him with a gun of his own design. Even with everything Thanos has done and how betrayed his father is, he can't bring himself to shoot his son. Thanos has no such issues, takes the gun, and shoots himself in the head with it. It doesn't work well and Thanos discards it, shooting his father in the stomach with his own weapons. The two have a chat about everything that's happened and, in the course of the chat, Thanos reveals that he's done it all for Death, who he still thinks is an actual person beside him. A'Lars is shocked by this and implores Thanos to check all the devices in his lab to tell him whether or not there's anyone else with them. Thanos keeps clinging to the idea of her but he begins to get a little concerned. Thanos shoots A'Lars again, still not enough to kill him, just enough that now A'Lars can watch the destruction Thanos spreads across the universe. It was enough, though, to sour him on the idea of Death as a physical person and he walks away from her, leaving her to follow him across the universe begging for him to acknowledge her.

I'm still thrown a bit by this series as a whole. Obviously the timing makes a whole bunch of sense with new readers coming from The Avengers and his likely subsequent appearances in other movies as well as his importance in the recently started Infinity event. This gives all those new readers a sense of Thanos as a villain and the lengths he's willing to go to and what drives him and the way his mind works and so on and so forth. While I liked the way this series ended (as opposed to the way I feared for a while it was going, where some tangible person was poking and prodding at the mighty Thanos to make him evil), I'm still unsure whether it's a series that needed to be done. In a business sense I'm sure it did so I'm willing to accept that answer. Comics are a business and you don't ever want to exclude new readers just as you don't want to upset old readers unduly. I think this series is a good example of that, giving a backstory for new readers while being inoffensive to old readers. Still, I've always seen Thanos as one of those "death for death's sake" kind of guys or the Iago trope of someone who seeds destruction because he's a sociopath. Less that, perhaps, than some others but in that vein. Giving him a driving backstory kind of takes that away (though you could make an argument to say this particular backstory doesn't because all of his motivation still comes from within). Oh well. Can't complain, solid business move and an acceptable creative move. Nicely handled, Marvel.

Deadpool 15
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c)

Deadpool suspects that the people who have been harvesting his organs, led by the mysterious Butler, are connected to the Weapons Plus program, the same program that created Deadpool and Wolverine (as well as Fantomex, though I don't know, sadly, that we'll get him in this arc) and that was based around the Captain America model. He's not wrong, as we see Butler reprimanding one of the Weapon Plus scientists for rejecting Deadpool after they thought they had failed with him (they cured his cancer even if they didn't feel successful with his brain damage). Butler sees this is a huge oversight and wishes to test on him more, though he has his own ulterior motives in the form of someone he loves who's apparently in suspended animation or something similar. Anyway, Deadpool infiltrates Stark Tower to talk with Wolverine about the issues. Wolverine isn't much help and thinks Deadpool is being paranoid (well, not entirely, he thinks probably people are after Deadpool but he doesn't think it concerns Weapon Plus). Deadpool and Agent Preston go next to have a chat with Captain America at an AIM base he's bringing down. Cap follows Deadpool's logic in coming to see him but also doesn't quite believe him. He recommends Deadpool find someone to talk with about everything and come in out of the cold to find where he belongs in the world. Deadpool isn't assuaged and decides to put a mysterious device in his leg in case anything happens to him. Solid call since that night he's attacked by Butler and his cronies and taken in for testing (after a dream wherein he and Wolverine successfully defend from the Weapon Plus guys). Butler commands that Deadpool's legs and arms be removed as Deadpool's not going anywhere.

First and foremost I want to say that this is a legitimately good issue. I've had a lot of well-documented problems with this series in the past though I think it's steadily been improving bit by bit. I think the plot and the humor of the first arc was at its worst, slightly improved in the second arc, and slowly working its way up from there. One thing this team has done pretty well so far has been characterizing pre-existing heroes from the Universe and this arc is going to be a good test of that with super-established Wolverine and Cap joining the ranks. More than that, the plot seems sound and Deadpool is making fewer stupid jokes. Maybe he's talking less, I don't know. It does also make me feel like the supporting cast has been holding the book back (I haven't been a fan, exactly, of SHIELD agent Michael nor Ben Franklin nor really Preston, let alone the other bit-part characters that have come through). I've mostly liked the art in this series so far as well but I feel like we can't overlook this arc's art team of the awesome Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. But really, it's a good issue with almost entirely good writing and ideas (there are still a couple of unnecessary and overkill jokes in there) and a solid plot to put us up against. I'll be thrilled if this series as a whole turns it around. As I've said, I don't like not liking books and I hate not having a good Deadpool book out there. Rooting for it here.

A+X 11
Thor and Magik: M. Benson (w) and Texeira (a) and Loughridge (c)
Spider-Man and Cyclops: Krueger (w) and Lim (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Another issue of A+X and I still don't know what this series is doing. The first story is Thor and Magik and it's a doozy. Thor, visiting the Asgard armory for just about the first time ends up inadvertently touching a weapon that sends him to Limbo (don't know why Asgard has that). Magik feels the disturbance and travels to Limbo to get Thor to stop messing around in her dimension. Thor isn't happy to see her and demands to bring her back to justice. He's also not really dying to give up on the fight with all the demons but eventually she just brings him back out to Earth anyway. Then she leaves. And that's the issue. Really weak story with pretty bad characterization. Very bare bones (Thor likes fighting, Magik runs Limbo, so on) and somewhat strange and off-character writing (Thor literally says "I tip my wings to his lady wife" at one point and what what does that even mean, Thor). Not much to be gained from this one.

Second story features Cyclops chasing a mutant body snatcher named Malice into the New York subway trains only to find himself confronted by Spider-Man, who sees Cyclops picking on average people (Malice doesn't just shape-shift, she takes over a body). When Spider-Man begins to hear Cyclops out, Malice tries to take him. Spider-Man is not so easily taken, though, as he's a bit familiar with people inhabiting other bodies. Eventually, Malice puts Cyclops in a position where he has to make body contact with her to save the life of the human she's attached to. She takes him over, which actually works according to Spidey's plan. He's able to take down Cyclops and restrain him enough to pull Malice out of Cyclops (Doc Ock has his ways to pull a mind out of a body). The two chat back in Spidey's lab for a minute wherein Spidey tells Cyclops it could help him to use the villain identity as it suits him. It's a fair sight better than the first story as we actually get some decent characterization here both between Cyclops being the hero and still being bewildered to find himself such a villain and between Spidey as Doc Ock still having trouble dealing with insults to Doc Ock and being as smart as he is. Better stuff, still a bit of a silly series. I swear some day it will end.

Scarlet Spider 21, Ultimate Spider-Man 26

Scarlet Spider 21
Yost and Burnham (w) and Barberi, Baldeon, Pallot, and Olazaba (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Kaine has returned home from his trips to Westchester and New York City only to find himself afflicted with the degenerative disease he had thought gone long before. It's driving him a bit mad and he's snapping under the pressure. Meanwhile, each of his friends is hunted down and attacked (hunted down, that's a clue). While Kaine webs around the city, looking for some sort of relief, he's attacked by Ben Reilly, the original Scarlet Spider and the first successful Spider-Man clone (a. Kaine was the first clone but had the degenerative problem at first so Ben was the first one to be a complete success and b. that guy has a bunch of clones, geez). Kaine isn't prepared for the fight and finds himself quickly on the losing side. He escapes to gather his mind. He's convinced the attacker isn't really Ben Reilly, who he thought dead, but has no way to prove it. Reilly catches up with him (hunts him, almost) and rips off the mask to reveal that it is indeed Ben Reilly. Kaine puts up a good fight but his powers are degenerating and he eventually gives up again. This time, though, Reilly reveals that, psych, he's not actually Reilly and Kaine is just seeing things because of the heavy hallucinogenic dart he was hit with back at the airport and his attacker is actually Kraven the Hunter (Kraven's daughter has been attacking Kaine's friends one by one).

I wasn't sold on how fast Kaine decided he was losing his powers because I felt like there would be more skepticism to how fast the disease returned, with no warning, and how quickly it affected him. However, I think now that it works out pretty well as it leads to a bit of a breakdown on Kaine's part, which all works together to show how tightly strung Kaine is and how he's only barely managing to hold things together. In that respect, I think this plot works pretty well and it's a solid build for the arc and the character. Kaine has developed a decent little life for himself and if you remove Prey and the incident that caused it, he's been really very successful at turning his life around. But you can't remove those incidents and you can't remove his recent shake-up with Spider-Man and Jackal so he's understandably on a bit of a precipice here. It's certainly not going to help that he's up against the Kravinoffs, the family who killed him during Grim Hunt (guys, he came back, no big deal). Should be an interesting arc.

Ultimate Spider-Man 26
Bendis (w) and D. Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Miles is back on the scene as Spider-Man and he and Jessica Drew team-up to find Bombshell after her fight with Cloak and Dagger. The story is interspersed with Bombshell's origin story and the goings-on at Roxxon as a result. Bombshell's mother had been in prison for armed robbery when Roxxon got her out in order to use her as a test subject in their attempts to create a new super soldier. She consents and they begin testing. It doesn't result in a super soldier like Cap was but does grant her the power to create explosions with her hands. Immediately after the first successful test, a scientist reveals that she's pregnant and Bombshell's mother breaks out of the facility. Seemingly she went on to live her life and give birth to her child without Roxxon nearby, though it seems they've been keeping tabs because Bombshell's name appears on a list of Roxxon test subjects, a list that Cloak and Dagger got a hold of in the hopes they could take down Roxxon. Meanwhile, Roxxon has hired a bounty hunter of sorts, codename Taskmaster, to track and bring back Bombshell and Cloak and Dagger. The issue ends after Bombshell's told her story to the Spiders and Taskmaster manages to knock all three unconscious.

There's plenty going on here and there's a lot to like about this issue. I do think there's still a bit of that back-and-forth dialogue that gets in the way of the good stuff but it feels a little more at home in this issue, as there's less fighting and fewer characters, meaning that it doesn't feel as excessive as it does when five or six people are doing it in one scene. Still, apart from that, the story is interesting enough and there are nice touches here and there to help build character. There's a joke that gets played out twice (which is the perfect amount, it will get annoying if it comes around again later) as Spider-Man misses Bombshell with his web and has to frustratedly explain to doubters that he's out of practice. There's also a scene between Cloak and Dagger which is good in explaining their motives a bit more and expressing their concerns with their own plan, though it does get a little weakened by its cutesy back-and-forth. Still, overall a good issue with some really good art and a solid plot to build on.

Astonishing X-Men 66, Uncanny X-Men 11, Wolverine and the X-Men 35

Astonishing X-Men 66
Liu (w) and Pinna (a) and C. Peter (c)

The second-to-last issue of this series (we have a couple second-to-lasts this week) finds the X-Men cleaning up after Bobby's meltdown (not entirely the best way to put it, most of it hasn't yet melted BOOM, NAILED IT). They do what they can to help the people during the day but at night they decide to be in each other's company, having fun and enjoying themselves. It's, of course, interrupted when a creature that has apparently been awoken (and separated from its parents) starts controlling New Yorkers and making them kind of like zombies, but ones who crave companionship instead of loneliness. It's, uh, it's a little on the nose. The X-Men handle it (by comforting, not punching!) and it scurries away. Instead of following it, the team chooses to continue their night which leads to a big talk about what it is to be X-Men and how important it is to be a family and be there for one another. They let Bobby fall through the crack and allowed him to believe he couldn't come to them with his problems so they determine that they need to focus up on the things that are important as a team. The issue ends with what seems to be another weird alien thing (related to the first, probably a parent of some sort) materializing over Earth.

I'm a little happy that the strange alien is coming back for the final issue if just because, like I said, it felt a little on the nose to see a one-shot alien who happens to isolate people and make them feel disconnected in the midst of this whole story. Still, it's a good story with important implications. I talk a fair amount about teams that feel like family and about how the X-Men particularly are built this way; they're not just a team put together because of their abilities, they're a family brought together by a shared genetic code and a similar life experience because of it. It's nice to have the X-Men reset a bit to prioritize that idea. Still going to be sad to see this book go, as I still think it's one of the stronger X-Men books (of which there are just so, so many). The new X-Men series by Brian Wood is still too new to pass judgment on but last issue was a pretty solid one. I still like Ultimate X-Men best but that's neither here nor there as those characters aren't even these ones, you guys. Still, I hope the moral of this issue passes around through the other X-Men books and we get more of that family feel. For all of Claremont's dedication to X-Men and his saving the brand and everything, one of the most important things he did through his run was to occasionally take time out to show the more personal plotlines, where the team could help one another or just hang out with one another. That's important for these guys. Hopefully it permeates through the Universe in the coming days.

Uncanny X-Men 11
Bendis (w) and Irving w/ Anka (a and c)

Cyclops' team has appeared spontaneously at a pro-mutant protest in Michigan only to be met with a new sort of adaptoid Sentinel (or at least similar to a Sentinel). We get Cyclops' perspective throughout the whole issue which oscillates from anger at the way mutants are treated to acceptance of the way mutants are treated to anger at the way mutants are treated to pride at his new team in the way they jump into the fight to anger at the way mutants are treated. Meanwhile, the fight isn't entirely going their way and it's leading to a lot of frustration from Scott and his team. Even when they get a few good hits on the thing, it adapts to their attacks and keeps coming. They eventually overcome only when whoever sent this thing pulls it back. Meanwhile, Mystique (as Dazzler) is scoping out a meeting on Madripoor (which Mystique wants to own) between Madame Hydra and the Hand.

I like the way that the team fights here. They don't seem entirely above their station (remember, they've only had their powers and been working on their powers for a short time) but they're doing well enough to show that their training is paying off. Basic uses of their powers and no one's crumbling under pressure. I still have my issues with Bendis' need to put the snappy dialogue in, which I think undermines the shock and seriousness of the situation on top of counteracting Cyclops' narration. Counteracting that, though, might not be the worst idea as it comes off fairly heavy-handed and like a beginner's guide to X-Men. "Why does the world treat us this way? They'll never see us as equals! I killed Professor Xavier, who really helped pave the way for mutants, so maybe I deserve this but the rest of mutants don't! My team is really good, here's a rundown of who everyone is!" and so on and so forth. It's the worst kind of "tell don't show" exposition and it hinders what otherwise works pretty well as an issue. It might be a function of the upcoming X-Men event Battle of the Atom (debuting, I believe, next week), making this issue feel like a catch-up issue for new readers, which I think weakens this issue, actually. If you feel you have to catch readers up, do it in the event, not before it when you're probably still just dealing with readers you already have. It makes even less sense as a catch-up issue, I think, because the structure of the upcoming crossover is such that it will take up two issues of every existing main universe X-Men book (not Astonishing, as there aren't two issues left of that) plus two bookend issues called Battle of the Atom. To get the full scope of this event you're already going to need to pick up something like 10 books in the next two months or so, now you're asking readers to pick this up as an introduction too? FURTHERMORE, I've heard in an advance review of Battle of the Atom 1 that the start of it reads like a summary of recent events anyway. You know what, I was relatively happy with this issue and now I'm not. Geez you guys, pack it in.

Wolverine and the X-Men 35
Aaron (w) and Bradshaw and Wong (a) and L. Martin w/ eFX, Mason, Milla, and Sotocolor (c)

The Hellfire Club's coup doesn't quite work as the two betrayers stupidly use Kilgore-made weapons to attempt to kill Kade, which have safeguards in place to not harm Kilgores. That doesn't mean things are going well for Kade, though, as the X-Men are breaching rapidly and even the students infiltrating the Hellfire Academy seem to be having some success in their escape. Quentin Quire and Idie kiss and are quickly dating (while they try to escape) and Toad pulls every skin off of Husk to reveal her true self underneath (looks like Paige still, not like a skeleton, but not evil now, conveniently). There are various turns back and forth in battle but it ends with the X-Men winning out and forcing a number of the bad guys into the Siege Perilous while capturing the two Hellfire Club members who tried to betray Kade (they end up enrolled at the Jean Grey School against their wishes). Meanwhile, as Starblood starts to leave with Broo, Broo is visited by a Bamf, who Broo quickly bites. The bite seems to transport his mind a bit to a vision of a man in a white cloak with a Bamf on his shoulder telling Broo it's time to come back. With that, Broo attacks and successfully subdues Starblood, crashing the ship near where the X-Men have landed after the explosion at the Hellfire Academy (there was an explosion there, by the way). Broo emerges, back to his old self with the help from the mysterious stranger.

Hey guys, that stranger was totally Nightcrawler. There's a little epilogue of sorts that shows the man in the cloak surrounded by Bamfs and hoping that the X-Men are willing to risk their lives once more to save a dead friend. And he's got weird feet and he's blue. Guys, it's Nightcrawler. This isn't the biggest surprise as promo art for upcoming X-books has shown a swashbuckling Nightcrawler returned but it's still exciting to see because, hey guys, I love Nightcrawler. I know, I know, people being resurrected over and over lightens the threat of death and makes death just a slightly more inconvenient plot point. I get that. But I really love Nightcrawler, is the thing. The rest of this issue was pretty good, as was the last issue, which was exciting after a string of weaker issues. I'm a fan of books occasionally taking a moment to reset themselves and balance out all the adrenaline and action of a series but, though the plot was kind of building, I felt like this title went through a wave of meaningless issues that didn't help anybody. But that was that and this is this and now I think they've righted themselves a bit. Bit of an upswing as we hit Battle of the Atom.

Journey into Mystery 655, FF 11

Journey into Mystery 655
K. Immonen (w) and Schiti (a) and Bellaire (c)

Whatever is in this space station is infecting Gaea and Skuttlebutt/Ti Asha Ra and Sif is pretty sure at this point, especially as she looks upon the new and monstrous form of Gaea, that this is not all for the best. They manage to rescue Ti Asha Ra, who tells them that the ship is insistent on finding new lifeforms and it's accepted Ti Asha Ra now that she is melded with Skuttlebutt because that makes her something new and different, maybe better. Now the ship has its hands on Gaea and boy, looking for a new lifeform and you find that and it's pretty exciting. However, it's also a little more than the ship can handle and it's losing a little bit of control, now zooming at Earth in the hopes to find more new and pure lifeforms. Sif and Beta Ray Bill get to the front of the ship to try to stop it from getting to Earth and are somewhat quickly restrained by the new Gaea. Sif manages to break through and communicate with Gaea and the ship and explain the everything in the universe is the way it is and there's no changing that. Plenty of things simply are and there is no way of fixing that; it's not a problem to be solved, just a puzzle which can't be perfected, only nurtured. Her talk is good enough to stop the ship and release Gaea and Ti Asha Ra who, along with Sif and Bill, crash-land in Asgard. The book (and the series) ends with another nice moment from Sif who, in talking with Gaea, confesses that she truly hated the experience of being the source of the now burgeoning garden in Asgard.

Really sad to see this series go. I've been a supporter of it for some time and I think Immonen's really found the voice for Sif, both as it pertains to this series and as it pertains to the character as a whole. It's been an entirely lovely ride with absolutely gorgeous art and color (this issue really outdoes itself) and I'm sad that such a reliable and different series has to fall by the wayside. It's been such a fun and fresh experience with plenty of stellar moments and drama laced with natural and flowing humor. There are laughs in nearly every issue, genuine ones, that don't come from a place that feels like they needed to add laughs and so stuffed a few jokes in. Instead, they're natural and everything fits every character. There are really great bits to this book and every new issue I came out happy with the outcome. You can't ask for more than that. I hope to see Sif (and particularly this Sif) again soon. But guys, really, buy this book. I don't care if you don't know what's happening with the series or the arc, the art and the writing will be more than enough to get you through the single issue. Sad to see this one go. It's bee a great run.

FF 11
Fraction (w) and M. Allred (a) and L. Allred (c)

So I was wrong in my pre-game and this is actually the second to last, I believe, issue of FF helmed by Fraction. Anyway, let's push on. Maximus the Mad is free and roaming the halls of the Baxter Building (kept badly under wraps by Ahura and company), Julius Caesar is now a teacher of the Future Foundation, and the new Fantastic Four are trying to use Caesar's time machine to return to the moment the old Fantastic Four left (that's a weird sentence, that is). The new F4 are yanked out of the timestream, though, by the Impossible Man, a character from the '60s who has always been more of a jokester than a villain. He does mess with them a bit but ultimately tells them he'll help them find the old F4 if they take his son, Adolf Impossible, back to the FF with them. They agree but find it a little hard coaxing Adolf to come with them. Eventually he consents (thanks in no small part to Medusa) and the Impossible Man tells the F4 that the other F4 are on the verge of being lost into a parallel dimension. Meanwhile, Caesar meets and introduces himself to Maximus and the two form an easy alliance.

Speaking of books that are fun, this is definitely one of them. Every issue, like with JiM, has several easy laughs and pretty natural writing (JiM's writing is both natural and Asgardian-unnatural, which is a super interesting thing to come across). Even after 11 issues, it's a little hard to get a read on this team as a team, which I think is a really smart idea. Maybe I would be against it if these people were all good friends and we weren't getting the team-vibe out of them after this long but these guys are mostly acquaintances (with the exception of Darla who didn't know any of these guys beforehand) and it shows. Not only are they acquaintances, they're acquaintances who were only supposed to be needed to band together for four seconds. Now they find themselves in the tough position of needing to be a full fledged superhero team and work together with no desire or ideas on how to actually do that. It's shining through particularly well right now as She-Hulk snipes sarcastically at everyone and Darla does what she can (as something of a newbie to this world) to band everyone together. Medusa is likely the most fit to lead the team as the long-time queen of Attilan but no one trusts her after the Wizard's manipulation. Scott, who seems to be the actual leader (after taking Reed's spot on the team specifically), is still coping (poorly) with the death of his daughter not long ago and Ant-Mans don't tend to make the best leaders. So it's an immensely interesting team dynamic, and one that seems to be coming to a head right now as tempers flare. Oh, and the Impossible Man is pretty funny here. Good stuff, you guys.

Captain America 10, Captain Marvel 15, Thor: God of Thunder 12

Captain America 10
Remender (w) and Romita Jr. w/ Janson, Palmer, and Hanna (a) and White and Rosenberg (c)

Cap, Jet, and Sharon all need to try to escape Zolandia while chased by mutates with the ticking time bomb (both figuratively and literally, since Sharon strapped explosives to it) that is Zola's battle station set to attack Earth. Adding to that is that Zola played on Jet's mind as he sacrificed himself for her, leaving her conflicted and realizing that she's now left with no father, no brother, and no home. Steve and Sharon work to convince her that she's doing the right thing but it's a little harried since they have to escape the attacking mutates and Zolandia before the battle station blows. As they close in on the finish, Zola reveals himself not to be dead (surprise) and to be, instead, a giant blue monster thing (actual surprise). The three don't have enough time to escape with Zola fighting them so Sharon says her goodbyes to Steve and slips out of his hand with the detonator and her gun. She fights Zola for a bit, giving enough time for Steve and Jet to push through (with Steve demanding they go back) and then detonates the explosives, saving the world from Zola. Steve and Jet make it back through the portal and Steve instantly tries to step back in only to find, thanks to the accelerated time in Dimension Z, that the entirety of the battle station area has been destroyed and is now overgrown, as if years have passed. It leaves Steve lost, which is something he's going to have to get used to because he's now the man further out of time. He spent more time in Dimension Z than he has in the present day (ten years or so) and, though nothing has really changed since he left, he's obviously a different man. Also, now Jet's there and Sharon's not. We do get a little epilogue for Dimension Z that shows the mutates still attacking the Phrox and tells us that rumors persist that Zola may have survived somehow (surprise) but it also tells of the Phrox's new defender, a shadow of a legend fighting for the Phrox but never really confirmed (and wearing the clothes and wielding the shield of one of the Captain America mutates), a true nomad (actual surprise).

There's definitely a lot that went on here (hence the long summary paragraph) and it's largely worth talking about. The Jet stuff is very interesting; even if she sees through Zola's attempts to make her doubt her new convictions, she still has lost everything she ever had and now she's partnered in this strange new world with a man she was raised to hate. Steve gets a little bit of closure from his memories as he defeats another of his own mutates while the two argue about the memories of Steve's mother. And of course Sharon. This isn't fridging or something like that. Sharon has been a character since the '60s (and also isn't dead) so this is a meaningful loss for Steve. It would be anyway, really, even if they just told us it was, but it certainly is here. Still, the adoption of the Nomad name is a neat little twist and I'll be excited if they manage to drag Ian (spoilers: the Nomad is Ian) back to Earth with that. Guys, never trust not seeing a body.

Captain Marvel 15
DeConnick and Van Meter (w) and Olliffe and Geraci (a) and Troy (c)

So what exactly happened to Carol at the end of Enemy Within? We've gotten a bit of it through Jess' re-telling in Avengers Assemble but let's hear it from her. She apparently lost some of her brain tissue in the battle against Yon-Rogg. Mechanically, she's fine now; her Kree side took care of that well enough to heal her. However, it couldn't heal memories so now she's got all of the skill and only traces of the history. She doesn't feel connected to her Avengers family in any way any more, which is pretty sad and is doubly sad when you realize SHE'S NOT GOING TO REMEMBER KIT EITHER. Look at that little girl.

She worships Captain Marvel, she's going to be DEVASTATED. Ug. Okay, anyway. We see the Battle of the Corridor (the battle that took place in Avengers 18 and also Avengers Assemble 18) but from the perspective of Carol and her ship this time. And things are heating up. We already pretty much know the story by now (though it's certainly worth reading this issue to see her side of it) but we don't know the aftermath. Here we get a bit of that (it'll likely be expanded upon with other Infinity books too) as Carol gets her ship's crew into their escape pods to be launched at a nearby Kree vessel. Carol will blow the ship right as everyone launches to give a little extra push (they're fighting against a black hole, they could use some push) and she will try to get to them herself through space. Everything goes seemingly according to plan when, as she leaves the ship, she goes Binary.

For people unsure of that, it's probably worth checking Wikipedia for Captain Marvel's history (actually, obnoxiously, you have to go to Ms. Marvel's page. You can get there through the Carol Danvers blurb on the Captain Marvel page but, I mean, come on guys). Suffice it to say, Binary is an incredibly powerful and somewhat unstable part of Carol's past. Still, incredibly powerful can't hurt right now. Probably. I mean, incredibly powerful is good against the Builders and in these battles but it would be better for a Carol who remembers her team and, you know, isn't going to break Kit's heart. Still, there's plenty going on in this book and it's a pretty great read (as is typical for this book) that gives us a great feel for what's happening with Carol right now. Always the soldier, she's taking it all in stride and just doing her best to step up to the current situation. Great characterization abounds in this book, as it so often does, and again it's a great series.

Thor: God of Thunder 12
Aaron (w) and Klein (a and c)

Thor is done with this crazy God Butcher business and is back to his business as a god among mortals. We see a little bit from each Thor, including young Thor's return to Earth that sets up the rest of the book in a way. Thor is an immensely powerful character with little or nothing in common with mankind yet he always spends his time on Earth, helping the people and fraternizing with the people. It's great for people (and for us as an audience because it would get boring if it was just all Asgard all the time) but there's reason it could strike you as a little odd. It's a little like Doctor Who in that way; he's disconnected from the people and infinitely more powerful (in different ways) but he never really places himself above them and always wants to help them. And it comes down to the same reason, essentially: the two love humans and Earth. That's enough to carry them. And it's particularly well done here as I think that's something that can be a little lost from Thor. Instead, he's very clear that he's on Earth because he loves its people. It's not just all fighting aliens and protecting the people. In this issue, Thor does numerous good deeds simply because he can. Nothing like hitting Doctor Doom or anything, just bringing fruit to people or accompanying a convict he's grown close to on his way to his execution and talking and drinking with veterans and more. It's a really lovely piece. He goes on to accompany a graduating SHIELD agent to a celebration party thing (it looks a little like a prom, honestly) because she requested it on a video on the internet (Tony relayed the message to Thor, who doesn't use the internet). His age and his need to help peek through a little as he visits a sick Jane Foster, post-chemo, and insists that he find some way to help cure her, which she refuses. She prefers to stick with human science for all of this, but she does accept a trip to the moon with Thor to watch the sun go down behind the Earth. They talk for a while and she tells him to meet someone new so he goes back out with new SHIELD agent Roz Solomon. Meanwhile, in the future, King Thor returns to Earth because Thor always returns to Earth, even though this Earth is decrepit and broken.

Really great issue. Obviously not every issue can be this one, a break from the action wherein we see Thor doing just really nice things and we get an understanding of what it is to be a god to men and how fulfilling Thor finds it. However, getting an issue like this one once in a while is great both for his character and for our understanding of his place in the world. He's a god; surely there are bigger things out there to be worrying about than a planet with a multitude of heroes already to its name? But no, that's not really the case for Thor. He's a god of Midgard and he loves its people unquestioningly. So Thor always returns to Midgard. It's a really nice look into a character whose scale, by its very nature, has to exceed anything we actually know in real life. It's a little like Cap except that Cap is human; he's stuck with us even if he's better than us in every way. Thor could abandon the humans at any time but he chooses not to out of sheer love for the species. It's a really touching idea and it certainly still comes at a cost. He's seen scores of people he's cared about die and he's seen plenty more he doesn't care about do terrible things. Still he's here, though, because Thor always returns to Midgard. It's a great idea and it's extremely well-executed. Good comeback from the drama and intensity of the God Butcher. And Nic Klein's art really steps up here, no easy feat to follow Esad Ribic but a solid showing nonetheless.

Avengers Arena 14, Young Avengers 9

Avengers Arena 14
Hopeless (w) and K. Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

We're approaching, far too quickly for my liking, the planned end of this series. This is an ongoing series but it does have a conclusion in mind (just as it always must have, given the nature of this story) and we'll reach that conclusion with issue 18. For now, though, we have to ask who's going to make it that long. Apex and Death Locket are still underground at a laboratory/morgue somewhere on the island. The rest of the survivors, minus Nico and Chase, have been wandering the island for seven days hoping to find their way to Arcade or off the island. Anyone who's separated from the group has disappeared; Reptil first, going to scout ahead only to vanish, then Hazmat and X-23, chasing after something Hazmat saw and hoped was Mettle. Now Cullen Bloodstone, Anachronism, Nara, and Cammi are at breaking point with only a couple days left before Arcade's deadline. Cullen shares his story with Cammi after he and Anachronism had a bit of a row (they're British, they say things like "row") but the story is interrupted when a trigger scent is released by a Mettle skeleton walking around the island (so at least Hazmat's not going crazy! She might be dead though, she was with X-23 when the trigger scent activated). The concoction is flooding the island and a feral X-23 is attacking anything that moves, including, presumably, a newly spawned monster from deep within Cullen (activated when he took off his Bloodstone Ring).

You can see how we might be winding down to the end of the series as Arcade floods the island with kill hormones for X-23. Even without that, though, the attitude of those who remain is markedly down, even if it was never particularly up. They've plotted, they've planned, they've strategized, they've learned about the island, and it's all for nothing because, at the end of the day, they're still totally stuck and exactly where they started. People have disappeared the last couple days, leading to even lower spirits, and the end is nigh. The book has always been really good at tone and really good at, in a natural way, giving us backstories for its main characters. We haven't really had a good one in a few issues (most people have been explained by this point, particularly the ones we don't really know in the main Marvel Universe) but Cullen's is disseminated intelligently and at the right moment. Sure, it's not in the form of flashbacks, like so many of these ones have been; instead, it's Cullen flat out telling his backstory, but it fits well here and Cammi's the right person to bring it out of him. The reason she's been alive so long is that she knows when and how things need to be done and now is when this story needs to come out, both for them and for us. I also really like the use of the trigger scent here. Well, I hate it for Laura but I like it for story and motivation. One of X-23's biggest problems she's had to try and overcome is being used by people as a weapon and that's exactly what's happening here. Tough stuff to try to come back from. This series continues to impress and I'm sad to see it go with 18, even if I wouldn't have said that at the start of the book and if they've promised us something cool after (I feel like I've read that somewhere).

Young Avengers 9
Gillen (w) and McKelvie w/ Norton (a) and M. Wilson (c)

Last issue ended with a load of cliffhangers so we have to get through those little by little as this issue progresses. First and foremost: the kiss. David explains to Hulkling that he realized, when he lost his mutant power but his brain was still fully opened to him, that he was bisexual, though it hasn't come up in recent days because he hasn't been looking to start a relationship. He's still not, really, but he admits that he would have regretted dying without kissing Teddy the once because he views Teddy as the remarkably strong one in what looks like a rather strong relationship. Teddy admits his fears to David who suggests he try to take some time off, if he can, to get his head together. Of course, that can only happen when they're not stuck in Mother's dimension running from her. Working on that is the rest of the team, who are still facing down Leah in the barren place Loki had sent her. She talks to them briefly and with much vitriol before America leads them out. Loki tells what is mostly the truth to his teammates: she is sort of his ex and he sent her to this dimension because he couldn't hurt her here. Kid Loki, trapped in Loki's mind, taunts him for the reveal of the truth (being the best lie) but he doesn't have time to deal with that. He concocts a plan to rescue David and Teddy which involves running through a bunch of their evil dimensions to gather a horde of villains to dump on Mother as they make their escape with their teammates. It, improbably, works, and Mother is left to clean up her dimension while they make it back to their Earth. They discuss their next plans, which are basically to stay the course of Loki teaching Billy magic (Billy could be the most important person in the universe so it's probably good that he learn how to use his tools). Teddy approaches Billy at the end and tells him that they need to take a break. He departs to go meet with a therapist in the form of a support group for people who, weirdly enough, have been left feeling abandoned and confused by their partner. His therapist? A seemingly more grown-up Leah (Teddy didn't meet her when they all ran into her).

Oh man, too much to say about this issue. Guys, that's a really long summary and frankly I don't think I covered enough. There are weird bits and pieces that deserve their own analysis (Mother asking Kate when her birthday is and threatening that she's about to join Mother's side) but THAT'S HOW MUCH THERE IS HERE. This series remains as complicated and beautiful as ever, with McKelvie's art really shining through as there are plenty of long panels meant to illustrate a single character's features and emotions. There are a pair, on back-to-back pages, that show Leah and Loki in separate wide-angle panels that focus on their eyes that are just stunning. I've long praised, on this blog and in life, the art of Jamie McKelvie but the emotion he brings to characters continues to blow me away. The first real look at his art was in a Secret Avengers issue written by Warren Ellis (16, I think, of the last volume of Secret Avengers) wherein McK drew this amazing underground city with insane architecture and had Moon Knight soaring around it. It was absolutely gorgeous and that still tends to be what I think of when I think of him. Though I've seen plenty more of his work by now, this series is really changing my perception of him, going from that guy who draws these beautiful and fluid set pieces with really strong characters to being one of the best in the business at drawing people and their various emotions and tics. It's truly wonderful to see. Aw geez, I've spent all my analysis time talking about the art. Maybe you guys should just check this book out. No wait, you definitely should. One of Marvel's top books for sure. And I mean, just look at that cover! Teddy has long been probably my least favorite member of this team (I don't dislike him, I've just never particularly been drawn to him by anything he's done or said or whatever) and this cover still makes me want to die a little inside. Beautiful.

New Avengers 9, Uncanny Avengers 11, Secret Avengers 8

New Avengers 9
Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c)

Thanos' army, led by his Black Order, is attacking Earth and, more specifically, attacking the Illuminati. After the events of Infinity 1, Thanos has learned that most of the Infinity Gems have been destroyed, shattered by the effort it took for Cap to blow up a planet. However, one simply disappeared. It's Thanos' prerogative, then, to hunt for that last gem by interrogating the Illuminati. Reed and Tony, together in New York City, use Stark Tower defenses to take down parts of the invading fleet while members of the Black Order lead squads to the other Earthbound Illuminati members. Dr. Strange is taken captive by the Ebony Maw, Beast and the X-Men are besieged by Corvius Glaive and Supergiant, Wakanda is attacked by Black Dwarf, and Atlantis, struggling after Wakanda's recent attack, is set upon by Proxima Midnight. The battles are fierce and our team wins some and loses some but the most important bits to take from it all is Proxima Midnight offering lenience to the already defeated Atlantis in exchange for information and the way Black Bolt reacts to it all from above New York in Attilan. Namor bows to Proxima, telling her that the Infinity Gem she seeks (and where she should point all of Thanos' troops) is in Wakanda, which managed to stave off Black Dwarf's attack but will have more trouble fighting off the rest of the army. Black Bolt, meanwhile, is ready to put his secret plans in motion.

Plenty happening here to coincide with Infinity 1 (this book, like Avengers 18 though only tangentially related, falls between Infinity 1 and 2, as evidenced by the pretty nifty and useful flowchart at the back of each book) and to push our story forward. We've been introduced to Thanos and his desires (which didn't take much introducing, as this is pretty much what Thanos does whenever Thanos shows up) as well as his Black Order, who will certainly have more to do with the coming story. It's still an interesting story and, as I've said plenty already, there's enough going on here to justify the event. It's really smart to have these two major event-scale things happening in one event because it will, over time, likely make us feel better about the length of the event (in this way, it will almost feel more like two separate events at half the size as opposed to an overly long single event that loses momentum halfway through). As for this issue, it continues the New Avengers tradition of being a solid series with, perhaps, a little less personality than you'd like. The story is still good enough and there are enough character-driven moments to keep things going (like Namor faux-bowing to point Thanos' troops at Wakanda) but the writing for the characters feels a little weaker. On the one hand, I think that the big plot removes some of the insider-feeling this and Avengers had both given, where you'd figure out what was going on maybe halfway through the issue and be left to deduce things yourself. Here, there isn't a ton of subtext; there are characters saying things that advance the plot left and right or that simply summarize bits here and there. It's still a good book but I think the actual writing takes a hit while it opens itself for more plot. Still not bad and it still makes the event feel pretty giant.

Uncanny Avengers 11
Remender (w) and Acuña (a and c)

Eimin and Uriel, with the help of their four horsemen, are moving forward with their plans to save mutants. This plan, unlike the two big plans mutants tend to adopt (cohabitation vs. war with humans), involves separation. Not in the style of concentration camps or anything of that ilk; more in the vein of Utopia or Asteroid X but in a bigger scale. A new planet fully inhabited by mutants, where mutants can be free to use their powers and do what they will while keeping humans on Earth and allowing them to do what they do (which is mostly hate mutants but, you see, fixing that now!). It's an interesting idea for peace though it obviously has its flaws, what with taking mutants by force to this new planet to live and forcing humans and mutants to separate. Also there's the matter of scale of the actual plan, though the twins believe they can combine the sheer power of Wonder Man (trapped by Grim Reaper in a machine of Uriel and Eimin's design) and the abilities of Scarlet Witch to up and move everyone all at once. It's hard to imagine that wouldn't work; Wanda deactivated nearly every mutant's powers with just words. Combined with Wonder Man, she could go greater. Meanwhile, Sentry's gone even crazier but is still strong as ever, if not stronger (certainly stronger in his crazy convictions), and is keeping Thor pretty well occupied off-planet while Daken has, with great ease and relish, killed Wolverine. Yes. That's a thing that happened. Granted, he's Wolverine, he was also killed in New Avengers this week (whoops!) so these things tend to work themselves out.

One of the impressive things about this book is that it seems to continually lose me a little in the middle as so many plot points converge on one another or as we get a little lost in speeches but they always manage to pull me back in, getting me invested even more by the end. This one certainly had a lot going on and needed to keep cutting back and forth a fair amount but started to bog down a little, particularly as Sentry lectured Thor, before leaping back up with the impressive cliffhanger of Eimin and Uriel addressing the world's population and Wanda seemingly consenting to aid them in their plan. Like I said above, the solution they've come up with isn't ideal but it's hard to argue that it's not practical and that, if everything happens the way it's been promised, it's not less bloody. It could still have major ramifications as the superhero community will be suddenly fairly weakened by the loss of so many heroes but it's an interesting idea and certainly an interesting story all the same. One last thing to mention: Sentry said that the Void has been left in the White Hot Room, which is either a weird expression being used nowadays that I'm not aware of or is the same White Hot Room that Fantomex mentioned in Uncanny X-Force.

Secret Avengers 8
Spencer (w) L. Ross (a) and M. Wilson (c)

Mockingbird has been left behind by SHIELD as part of the new Maria Hill-led takeover. It's left Bobbi in a precarious position, though, as she's left on AIM Island in her disguise as biologist Harold Bainbridge. She has no memory of the mission or any sort of briefing on the life that Bainbridge led, certainly not enough knowledge to get out or to call for SHIELD's help or anything. In fact, she's not even convinced she's who she thinks she is. She remembers being Mockingbird and has some inkling that the recent attack on AIM Island by Hawkeye, Nick Fury Jr., and Black Widow has something to do with her but the whole situation is throwing her through a variety of emotions. As the issue ends, she's lasted a couple days on the island by keeping her head down but now she's being dragged into giving a presentation that apparently Harold was supposed to give to the Council. We also get a look at the Council in slightly greater detail so we have a better sense of how AIM Island runs.

This is the first time since Hawkeye was taken captive in the first couple issues that we've seen the ramifications of the memory based espionage. There are several good moments within that and you can understand the choice for making Mockingbird the first significant test of this plot. She's had plenty of issues in her past and her most recent set of issues had to do with being taken and replaced by a Skrull, which is now weighing on her as she begins to consider that maybe she is a Skrull, placed here by Skrull higher-ups to infiltrate. It's not the best explanation and to someone on the outside of this it seems pretty obvious what the real case is, but she's not on the outside of this so her alternate explanation is "I started my day in the gym and then I was here on AIM Island in the body of a 40 year-old man named Harold Bainbridge AND THAT IS NORMAL," which is not great either. The look into AIM Island is kind of interesting but also a little slow. The series as a whole continues to be, for my money, the weakest Avenger book coming out right now but I still have high hopes for it as the ideas aren't bad and this is the first time we've really explored what those ideas are. Still, basing your book around SHIELD isn't really a recipe for success. Not a bad issue, though.

Comics this week

I've been lulled into a false sense of security by non-crazy release weeks only to be completely thrown by the fact I have twenty books out this week. Yipes. There are bound to be some misses in there but we're fortunate enough to have plenty of hits this week, as well as a couple of bittersweet moments. Let's jump in.

Captain America 10
Cap, along with Sharon Carter and possibly Jet, depending on how she feels with Zola seemingly killed trying to save her, is on his way out from Dimension Z. This issue will likely show whether or not he makes it (safe bet that he does) and, most importantly, whether or not those with him make it and what the ramifications of everything involved with all of that are. This has been a stellar series so far and it's help up well over its first nine issues, which I found refreshing; a lot of books have started with a long arc like this one (Thor jumps to mind) and I don't think they've tended to sustain their energy throughout. This one has done a solid job, even when I went back to read through it. This is the last issue of this storyline and of John Romita Jr. as artist. Carlos Pacheco will jump on in 11 to help Remender with a new storyline (that sounds pretty interesting). Let's hope this one goes out as impressively as it's come.

Captain Marvel 15
I feel bad for the slew of books that follow the same release schedule as Captain America and Captain Marvel (which seem always to come out on the same week) because, instead of having a five slots available in this pre-game post, I end up with three. These two books seem always at the top of my list (which, granted, is alphabetical) and nearly impossible to crack through. Captain Marvel should be an incredibly interesting book this week as it's Carol's first solo book since the events of Enemy Within, which got a bit of a nod in Avengers Assemble but which will likely be more fully explored here. Big week for Carol and those around her as we see what the cost of defeating Yon Rogg really was on one of Marvel's most powerful and well-loved heroes.

Journey into Mystery 655
The final issue of Journey into Mystery will likely see the resolution of this most recent arc, with Sif trying to save Gaea and Beta Ray Bill trying to save Skuttlebutt. Admittedly, this probably beat out some other really deserving books because it's the final issue and I have a soft spot for that, but this book wholly deserves to be here. I loved Gillen's run back when this was Loki's book and I've really enjoyed Kathryn Immonen's run with Sif, a character I knew less about than Thor or Loki, maybe than any other major Asgardian. I think Immonen has brought out a great character and a few cool storylines in which to show her off and I'll be sad to see this one go. Don't get me started on the ramifications on female-led books and female-led books with female-led creative teams. Suffice it to say I wish this one was going strong after 655.

Thor: God of Thunder 12
This is Jason Aaron's first issue with Thor that will take place on Earth and likely have to do with Earthly things, or at least non-godly things. I mean, it still might. I'm going in with little knowledge on this except to know that it's set on Earth and that Gorr is dead so this officially kicks off the first arc not pertaining to that story (technically the Gorr story encompassed two arcs). The Gorr story was an interesting one for sure and it was well worth telling. It's gotten tons of praise from fans and critics and deservedly so. Now's the time to see what else Jason Aaron can do with the god of thunder. Should be interesting and worth talking about.

Young Avengers 9
Well geez, if Young Avengers is going to come out the same week as the Captains America and Marvel books we're effectively shutting down over half the board on the other books. YOU GUYS, I'm not even including New Avengers on this list and I LOVE New Avengers. That's how interested I am in these other books (and how sad I am about Journey into Mystery). Let's not even get into Fraction's final FF book, Avengers Arena, the penultimate issues of Astonishing X-Men and Gambit (ooh, Gambit as a character is in a rough way here, huh?), and the always-fun Scarlet Spider. Too much happening here that's good, which I suppose I shouldn't complain about. Anyway, Young Avengers is always stellar, constantly a book I put down with that giddy feeling that makes me love comics all over again, so I'll never not include it here (I've said that about New Avengers though, look how the mighty have not-really-fallen). Even if it wasn't a masterwork in plot and character and visual storytelling (it is all of those things) we left last time on a couple of CRAZY cliffhangers and I'M SO EXCITED THIS BOOK IS COMING OUT.

Good news to balance earlier's bad news

This Cable & X-Force issue I'm writing is so full of Forge/Nemesis crazy, I had to jump up and down with both feet to cram it all in.

— Dennis Hopeless (@HopelessDent) August 26, 2013

Venom cancelled with issue 42

WHAT IS THIS. I spent Venom's whole review this week talking about how much I liked it and how impressive it was that it's lasted this long and how it's nice to see a book that doesn't deserve to be cancelled not being cancelled ONLY TO FIND OUT TODAY that Venom has been cancelled (apparently it was announced over the last week and a half but I'm a little late to the game). That's right, Marvel cancels Venom with issue 42, a short THREE ISSUES from now! Well. That's a bummer. I'd talk more about it but, you know, I already did, this week, with my review of Venom. Sad times you guys.

This week's picks

Kind of a tough week to narrow down to three picks, for which I could not be happier. So, uh, here it goes?

Avengers Assemble 18

I think sometimes events lose characters a little because they're so clearly plot-driven that the characters themselves (unless it's an event in a single character's book) get a little lost in the shuffle. Not always a bad thing but I love these characters and I want to learn more about them just about every time out. Like with Age of Ultron's crossover events, these already seem more dedicated to how the action impacts the people. First up, in fact, shows the impact of both this event and recent events as Spider-Woman's life is now changed by her deteriorating relationship with Hawkeye and the drama of Enemy Within has changed the way Captain Marvel interacts with people. It's a great issue to show the intricacies of the relationships between superheroes and a really phenomenal issue for Spider-Woman. I said in my review this week that DeConnick has changed my view of the character entirely and this just adds to it. She's not perfect but she's also not perfectly flawed, in such a cookie-cutter way that she could only be a comic book character. She feels real and that really comes across here.

Daredevil 30

Anyone who didn't see this coming hasn't been reading my blog enough. I love this book, I love Samnee's art and Waid's writing, I love the new feel of Matt Murdock, and guys, I really love Silver Surfer. Both characters are written extremely well and the plot gives a chance for each to shine as well as allowing Samnee and Rodriguez to shine. It's also really just a ton of fun, with great beats like Daredevil driving the surfboard and navigating the world of being Matt Murdock and Daredevil. This issue has an emotional weight to it, though, as Matt has to come to terms with possibly working with an ex-girlfriend and knowing that, if Ru'ach wasn't lying, he doesn't have a shot with her. Matt Murdock not having a shot with a woman? That's a pretty new concept and it'll take him some time to come to grips there. Great issue, always happy with this book.

X-Men Legacy 15

I really love this book but I'm a little disappointed it's in my top three this week. My Saturday reviews gushed about how impressed I was with the turn that the three books have taken and how delightful each was to read this week, despite initial fears in each book/arc. So, in my head, I was debating which to pick to add to my top three this week. Would it be Ultimates for its fast-action and really quick and fun pacing? Would it be Nova for its turn to make Nova into a believable 15 year old and its examination of how novice superheroes get into the game? Or would it be Thunderbolts for that one panel I posted with Deadpool talking to Punisher? Oh right, none of them because X-Men Legacy is just too great every time it's released. Okay, I'm not that disappointed it's up here because I really love this book and the emotions this one brought out really gave a great feel to this issue. I've liked when emotion has permeated this book but none of it was quite so palpable as here, as David has to cope with his abandonment issues from both parents and lingering feelings about his parents as, very suddenly, now both of them are dead. Tough stuff for anyone to deal with, let alone an omega-level mutant with hundreds of omega-level personalities inside his head. Cyclops should probably be worried, given the control David's found over his powers.


Sorry guys, not going to do an extra feature this week. I would do best cover but it would probably be Daredevil and you've already heard me gush about that all week. I would do best panel but, despite my girlfriend's protests that it should be this one:

it would probably just be the Deadpool one I posted this past week from Thunderbolts. Hilarious. I would do best character but no one really featured in more than one book this week. Weird, right? Oh well, I tried.

Ultimates 29, Thunderbolts 14, Nova 7

Ultimates 29
Fialkov (w) and Di Giandomenico and Ruggiero (a) and Charalampidis (c)

Reed's team only needs the one remaining Infinity Gem to finish out the gauntlet and things really should be less complicated as Tony Stark is dead and his armor seemingly under Reed's control and the Ultimates are imprisoned. Unfortunately for Reed, Tony's smart enough to have uploaded his consciousness into his network, meaning that he can hack just about anything now. Bit of a buzzkill for Reed as it allows him to take his own armor offline, mostly, instead of allowing Reed to use it and it means he can hack Reed's systems and control a suit himself. The book moves incredibly fast as Tony works his way through all of Reed's plans, culminating in a rescue of the Ultimates and the serious delay of all of Reed's work, if not the ultimate end. Meanwhile, Quicksilver has used John Storm to drill to the Earth's core to retrieve the last Infinity Gem for Kang, who he believes is his sister Wanda. As he returns with the gem, he reads through Reed's math (Pietro admits he's not smart but he's great at math because the speed he can analyze it means that he knows math well purely through repetition) and realizes that Kang's plan isn't going to end the way he thought it would and it's not anything that Wanda would ever do. She's not Wanda. Kang realizes that Quicksilver's found out and quickly catches up with him, admitting it to him before taking the gem and ending his life, giving him 30 seconds in which he sprints to Wanda's grave to give a final speech to her, pouring his heart out before he dies by her side. It's that speech that serves as a sort of narrator for this book, starting right with the beginning of the comic and ending as Pietro actually reaches the grave before starting anew out of Pietro's actual mouth. So who is Kang? The Ultimates find out as they gang up on Reed that Kang is future Sue Storm and she'll kill every one of them if they get in her way.

There is a TON happening here. Really impressive the level of climax we had here. Guys, I know this is the Ultimate universe and people die here but Tony Stark is kind of dead and Quicksilver just died. I recounted this book to my girlfriend and the fact that Quicksilver died came up and was, honestly, kind of off-handed because Tony obviously is a bigger death and she had to stop me to be like, "wait, what? Don't they stay dead over there?" I know! That's not to say it's poorly done or something, the fact that it's more off-handedly mentioned. In fact, it's very well done. It's incredibly sweet (ignoring the weird Pietro-Wanda relationship in the Ultimate universe) and it justifies a lot of his actions. He's suddenly more understandable and more helpless than conniving and kind of pure evil, as he's been shown lately. But it still fits nicely and his sentiments are very sweet and very touching. The pace of the book is great as Tony consciousness runs circles around Reed, thwarting and mocking him at every turn. Everything is fast and smart and the Sue Storm end reveal (with present Sue Storm in the room working against future Sue) is pleasantly surprising and well hidden. Solid work here. I've had some skepticisms about this Ultimates Disassembled business but this issue really straightened some worries out, giving us plenty to look forward to next time. High fives all around.

Thunderbolts 14
Soule (w) and Palo and Pallot (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Guys, I'm going to be honest and give some review-spoilers here: the three books reviewed today all get slightly surprised high fives. I could not be happier that this is true; I've had my troubles with each of these series that extended even as far as the most recent issues before these but I found myself genuinely enjoying each of these books and happy to be reading them. Let's talk about the specifics more, hm? Okay, so Thunderbolts. The change is official: Charles Soule is the new Thunderbolts writer with Daniel Way stepping aside to make way for him. I'm a Daniel Way fan; I thought his run on Deadpool was great and really helped the character along in the Marvel Universe (don't talk to me about the new one, whatever guys, I'm having fun right now) and he carried that solid Deadpool into this book. There was plenty to like about this Thunderbolts team but I wasn't falling in with the tone of the book, which wasn't particularly well-established, and the other characters didn't have too too much meat to them. Soule takes over along with artist Jeffte Palo and the tone is immediately changed. I've liked the last couple issues a bit but they were meant to tie up final plotlines. In 12, Soule's first issue, Punisher hunted down Elektra's brother. In 13, we learned about Mercy. Here, in 14, Soule is building his first set of issues. They're kind of tied-in to Infinity in that the Avengers are off-Earth here and Thanos is likely on his way, which might have an effect or might be a backdrop to our story. But Ross is keeping to his promise for the team; he built the team with the assurance to each member that they'd have resources and a team at their disposal to do things for themselves and that the team would alternate missions, one for Ross, one for another team member, one for Ross, one for another team member, and so on. So he's sticking to it. The first team member to get to choose a mission, after picking names from a ridiculous hat, is Punisher. He says that his mission is that he wants their help taking down a crime family in New York, which is followed by this nearly perfect beat (I don't often post panels in my summaries but this was too perfect to pass up. It might still make its way to panel of the week this week):

Great, right? Anyway, Punisher wants help taking out a dangerous crime family who has the support of every other crime family in New York. A success would mean crippling New York crime, potentially even by taking out tons of players, but the risk comes with the fact that every crime family in New York is willing to drop everything to defend the Paguro family. Risky business. There's another fun moment where Punisher starts to make a plan which dances around utilizing the whole team, knowing that attracting the attention of the Avengers isn't a great idea but, as soon as he learns the Avengers are off-world, he changes the plan to a full on assault.

Look, this is a really long post because I'm very happy with this change in tone and pace and even art. I liked Phil Noto's stuff but it was kind of as tone ambiguous as Way's writing. The book had funny moments but wasn't funny and it had serious moments but didn't feel that serious. This book has its own serious moments but the humor really shines. The art also gives it a lighter feel, with Jeffte Palo's more cartoony artwork giving us a really great match for the writing. Lots of great moments, genuinely fun beats and an exciting plot. I can't ask for more out of a team that I originally anticipated being incredibly fun and exciting. Full-on applause for this one.

Nova 7
Z. Wells (w) and Medina and Vlasco (a) and Curiel (c)

Nova has been given permission to keep Nova-ing but isn't yet ready to join the Avengers. Point of fact, he's not really ready to keep Nova-ing. He ignores the damage he did to the skate park in his hometown during his first arc and speeds to New York, only to be immediately accosted by angry NYPD and to crash into a more angry and more dangerous Spider-Man. Spidey curses him out for his inexperience and naivety before sending him on his way with the useful suggestions of getting a police scanner to identify real emergencies and maybe going to a city without superheroes to practice (which would be any other city on Earth, practically). Sam rushes off to do these things, using his helmet to identify some real world problems and zooming around after a failed attempt in Los Angeles (with a not-so-thinly-veiled and a bit eye-roll-worthy nod to Joss Whedon and a quick cameo by former New Warriors Justice and Speedball). He quickly learns that rushing into situations isn't the best approach (there are some neat bits where he admits to construction workers back at his skate park where he's reluctantly decided to help that firemen are better at fires than he is and that angry crowds aren't easy to talk to) and slows things down, returning to Carefree, Arizona to start small. However, Thanos is on the horizon, so don't expect him to stay small for too long.

I really enjoyed this issue. Nova sounds like the fifteen year-old he's supposed to sound like and the book wants to have a more fun feel to it, something that books that try to hard fail miserably at. Instead, it works very well here and the laughs are mostly genuine (the Joss Whedon does indeed get an eye-roll). This one's applause comes with rather a wary eye, though. I wasn't a huge fan of the Nova reboot here. First and foremost, he spins right out of the newish Ultimate Spider-Man TV show which is garbage. Still, comics don't necessarily follow TV or movies word for word so he was still jumping into an established universe. I liked the idea behind the Black Nova corps but I didn't love the story or the character particularly under Jeph Loeb. It felt strained and very cliché. Zeb Wells took over recently and got me a little more onboard, giving Nova a more genuine sounding voice and putting the character back on new ground on Earth. I've liked the work he's done and this issue is certainly no exception; in fact, I'd say it's the strongest of the series so far. But issue 10 will see another writer change on the book, replacing Wells with Gerry Duggan. Remember above, in my Thunderbolts post, when I mentioned not liking the new Deadpool book? Or every Deadpool review where I've said that? Duggan is one of the men behind that. Don't get me wrong, that certainly doesn't mean Nova is bound to cross borders I don't care for. Deadpool's a different character and Duggan's a pro, who is also, it should be mentioned, writing Deadpool alongside a stand-up comedian in Brian Posehn. Still, I'm wary of the new direction that could be coming, especially after I liked this issue so much. Hoping that Wells' stay, if nothing else, is memorable. Truly hoping for better beyond that, but I'd except a solid five issues.


Geez guys, sorry for the really long post today. I've tried to limit my number of three review posts but sometimes you have fourteen books and you can't help yourself in four days. Also, I was really impressed by these three books and really surprised at how impressed I was. Days like these make me love comics anew. Wonderful. Maybe not the best books this week (building suspense for THIS WEEK'S PICKS tomorrow) but good enough to make me excited.