Quick update post

Hey guys, just a couple notes here to varying degrees. First and foremost, next week my schedule should kind of finalize for a while so hopefully things will get a little less crazy. No promises on that, but I should at least have a mid-week day off so hopefully I'll get a little more regular with my posts. Still not on Wednesdays, those remain a little tricky (new comics are released Wednesdays so it always depends on when I actually get them, let alone read and review them). Hopefully the other days will even out a bit though.

Secondly, I went to the Granite State Comic-Con yesterday (having missed my own state's comic-con earlier this summer). It was phenomenal. Not a lot of big name Marvel guys but plenty of great art to be had and plenty of perhaps lesser known men and women with just as much talent as anyone working in Marvel. Got a lot of really great stuff there and perhaps someday I'll post pictures. We'll see. I almost definitely will, it's just a matter of when. Really phenomenal con though. Less comics related, I also got to meet voice actors like Rob Paulsen (who might just be the nicest man in the world), Richard Horvitz, Jim Cummings, Jess Harnell, and Quinton Flynn. Even got to see a panel with four of the five of them. Really solid time.

That's it for now, love you all. As ever, thanks for checkin' in and for being supportive, you guys are the best.

This week's picks

Plenty of books to choose from this week with a whole slew of them out there. A lot of books, kind of like last week, where I feel like we got some set-up for bigger issues down the road. I think I've got it pretty locked down in my head though so let's knock these down before I second-guess myself.

Nova 8

I've really liked Zeb Wells' run on this book and I am sad it's coming to a close soon. I think this was a book that was written by someone who wanted to write a teenager in the same way typical older people write teenagers, which is a little hard to quantify but not that hard to recognize. Wells has done a great job of late to make sure that Nova feels real. He makes real mistakes that a new and young hero would make, not just ones that are meant to drive the plot and weigh on him for the rest of his life (Peter Parker letting a villain escape when he could have stopped him). He takes his helmet off in the atmosphere because he's a dumb teenager who doesn't realize that he was wearing his sunglasses because the sun was really bright. On top of it, Wells has a humor and a characterization inherent in his writing that shines through in just about every character. Speedball and Justice have appeared in two issues and only really had significant dialogue in this one and they both feel pretty fully defined. It's really great writing and the book has an effortlessly fun feel to it. Good stuff happening here. Hopefully Duggan will slide into the role well after Wells' final issue next time out.

Uncanny Avengers 12

Another solid Uncanny Avengers issue, one that feels like it kind of rights the ship again. I don't think the book has a bad issue yet, or even really a weak issue yet, but I think it's hard for the pace not to have slowed with the bang-bang start it had and even with the introduction of the Apocalypse Twins. Anytime Apocalypse comes back around it's something to keep an eye on, doubly so when it's Remender in charge. But this issue had lots of everything. The plot was good and kind of cleaned up a little of the confusing bits we've had over the last several issues while steering us nicely ahead as well. The characterization was really strong from the characters we had featuring in this issue. One of the weaknesses of a big team like this is that we don't usually get a ton of characterization because we simply don't have the time to see everyone in such a short time. Over a long run we'll have gotten a taste but it usually takes a while with lots of character moments spread evenly throughout. I think Remender has done well overall with this book, giving us good moments from just about every character. This issue is no exception; in fact, I'd say that limiting the issue to five of our main teammates meant that he could really get in to those guys' relationships. Solid work, excited to see where it's all going.

Young Avengers 10

I talked in my Nova review about older people writing teenagers and making it sound a little too "LOL this is what teenagers say, RIGHT GUYS? OMG LOL." This book has never had that problem and, in fact, sometimes goes out of its way to show that it's never had that problem. Sometimes, whether it's in the splash page or in little pieces somewhere or other (the Instagram page back a few issues ago stands out), we'll see a hint of that but it always feels tongue-in-cheek. It's just always a very cleverly written book and one that doesn't talk down to its characters or to its audience. And all of this gushing praise and the inclusion of this book on this list comes on an issue that I would deem weaker than some of the others so far. That's how reliably great this book is. In an issue that's a little weaker, we learn Loki's plan, we see the start of Leah's plan, we get a little more out of Mother, we see the way Teddy's dealing with things, and we see the re-emergence of Mother as a serious villain, as well as seeing the re-emergence of the thought-dead older Loki consciousness as a villain (well, readers didn't think he was dead, but young Loki did a great job convincing the public that the older Loki was gone before the older Loki elbowed his way back in). There's a ton happening here, as ever. The story is great, the writing is great, the art is perfect (just LOOK at Loki's grin over there!), just a near flawless comic series through and through.


Best Cover
Deadpool 17 - Shalvey and Bellaire

I'm just always so happy with Shalvey/Bellaire covers. They're consistently so good, with such a great purpose and a brilliant tone. Fun fact to people who don't know, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire are also dating! It's...it's kind of adorable? And they make reliably wonderful covers. This one's only real flaws, in my eyes, are the face of Captain America (which looks just a tad goofy) and the excessive amount of writing on the cover but that's not really their fault, is it (except for Cap's face)? Really wonderful symmetry in the Cap/Wolverine/Deadpool poses as they leap into battle and wonderful colors to match. Really great cover that edges out a cool Jorge Molina Avengers Assemble cover, a good Paolo Rivera Superior Spider-Man Team-Up cover, and a very nice Dave Marquez Ultimate Spider-Man cover (and a pretty neat Mateus Santolouco Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cover but that wasn't really in the running because this is a MARVEL comics blog, you guys, pay some attention).

Deadpool 17, Nova 8, The Trial of the Punisher 1

Deadpool 17
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Shalvey (a) and Bellaire (c)

Deadpool has freed Captain America and Wolverine and fills them in on the situation: North Korea, Weapon Plus, Butler, mutants based off of Deadpool's DNA and others', Deadpool's daughter, etc. Though they're not totally trusting of Deadpool (despite, as he points out, the fact that he warned them about this very sort of thing happening just a day or two before this very thing happened), they immediately understand the horrors of what's happening here and vow to help. The mutants borne of the Deadpool's DNA are planning to break out but they have to rescue their families first, knowing that leaving them there or alerting anyone to the breakout is as good as killing them. Deadpool, with the help of Cap, takes down the guard towers. A couple of other North Korean guards are prepared, though, as they inject themselves with some sort of serum that turns them into giant rock-like monsters. The pair kill a couple of the mutants (in horrifyingly grotesque ways) before Deadpool and Wolverine team up to blow one of them up. The other surrenders and tells them everything he knows about the situation, up to and including where Butler is now: Camp 23, the same place the families of the new mutants are being kept.

This book continues its upswing as the plot keeps its pace and the characters get fleshed out a little more. We get brief but somewhat interesting looks at the new mutants and we see a good amount about Cap and Deadpool particularly at various times. For Cap, the situation here bears a striking resemblance to Auschwitz and he doesn't hesitate to get involved in this, even if it could be seen as a sort of declaration of war from America. Deadpool, meanwhile, realizes that he's been told since his time in experiments that he's always been told who he is and, instead of being better, he's played the part. We've seen a deeper and more introspective Deadpool over the last two issues without sacrificing too much of the somewhat-crazed and typically funny Deadpool. He has a couple of nice moments with the two heroes and one really nice moment with Wolverine as they talk about Wolverine's healing power being lost (the only book outside of Cornell's Wolverine to even mention it). Some more stellar art from Shalvey and Bellaire and we have yet another book I'm really pleasantly surprised by.

Nova 8
Wells (w) and Medina and Vlasco (a) and Curiel (c)

Nova has finished rebuilding the skate park with the local workers and begins to walk away as the girl he has a crush on from school recognizes his voice. He freaks out and flies high into the sky, where he takes off his helmet to yell at it for not disguising his voice. To his credit, he realizes this was a pretty dumb move and instantly falls back to Earth, not protected by his Nova armor. He manages to get the helmet back on right before he hits (ruining the skate park again). There he's picked up by the watching Speedball and Justice, who have followed him since he zoomed by them last issue. They explain that they'd like him on their team and that they know a bit about Novas, enough to entice him to come with. Unfortunately for him, things may be complicated as Thanos has been made aware of the presence of a Nova on Earth and, though he doesn't have time to deal with it himself, he sends Kaldera, the maybe-daughter of Proxima Midnight. The issue ends as Kaldera, in full supervillain regalia, shows up at Sam's house.

Another pretty well-paced book as we get a fair amount of action with some really quick writing. This is the difference, in a nutshell, between back-and-forth dialogue and good, snappy writing in comics. Fewer words per panel moves the book far better. Speedball talks a lot but it's very clear he's talking extremely fast; it's his character and it's specific to him. Justice tries to slow him down but keeps getting overridden by Speedball's energy. When one person is talking in chunks like this, it defines them. Speedball, then, is incredibly well-defined here. His character's a little strange, given the angst he's gone through recently, after Stamford, but it's not a bad turnaround for his character. Like I said, it's a little strange, maybe a little jarring, but it definitely can still work. A lot of time has passed and he's done what he can (as seen mostly in Avengers Academy) to try to pitch in for his part in the accident. Anyway, the book continues to be pretty smart and funny (I had a laugh that startled my dog as Nova crashed right back into the skate park again; granted, it's not at all difficult to startle my dog) and seems to be heading in the right direction. Rather sad that writing is being handed off to Duggan on issue ten; Deadpool is turning around so I'm not as disappointed in this as I was a couple months ago but I'm still not totally sold on him and I am totally sold on Zeb Wells, who impresses me every time I see him pop up. Sad to see his run gone so soon.

The Trial of the Punisher 1
Guggenheim (w) and Yu (a) and Gho (c)

Surprise review as I didn't catch this one on the "new comics" list until after I'd written my pre-game post this week and was standing in the comic book store looking at a new Punisher book. Neat. Anyway, Punisher has handed himself in after killing a district attorney and bringing the body directly to a police station. He's immediately brought to prison and put on trial, where his tough attorney, who doesn't appear to be afraid of him but is equally unsure about what he's trying to pull, begins to make the claim that he's legally insane. The prosecution, then, brings in witnesses who have seen Castle committing crimes or seen the resulting crime scene and have some expertise in the matter, painting a picture of a man with an agenda and with enough mental faculties to be considered aware of what he's doing and aware of a sense of right and wrong. Meanwhile, Castle seems to be plotting something, as he shows his attorney a notepad with what looks to be gibberish on it, claiming it's his "to-do" list.

Not a bad book, though somewhat hard to place in the Marvel Universe. If you're not looking for chronology or anything like that and are a fan of Punisher and/or procedurals, you could do worse than this book. It's not a Punisher book in the sense of "look at all these bad guys he's killing right now, look at him plotting to do it then doing it" (though it could very well turn into that in the second and final issue of this mini). It's more a Punisher book in the sense that it features a nearly silent protagonist who clearly has something going on but who is not about to reveal it right away. The bonus of this is that it's only a two-issue mini, so we're not going to have to wait long for our answers. Hopefully we'll get even a little more than that, as there's a little author's note at the end of this where Guggenheim talks about how he wanted to put the Punisher on trial and have Matt Murdock show up as a witness or somehow related to the trial, as both an antagonist of Punisher and as a lawyer. There was no sign of Murdock here, though, so maybe he's coming next time? Still, the book holds up well enough on its own without any guest stars so now it just kind of feels like a weird note. Solid writing, good characterization for a lot of the newly created characters (one of the police interrogators and Lisa Santos, Frank's lawyer, are both well characterized simply by the way they talk), and a pretty interesting plot. Should have a nice wrap-up next time.

Infinity: Heist 1, A+X 12

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

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

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

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

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

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

Scarlet Spider 22, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 3, Ultimate Spider-Man 27

Scarlet Spider 22
Yost and Burnham (w) and Baldeon, Olliffe, Green, Pallot, and Olazaba (a) and Sotomayor and Loughridge (c)

Kaine's stuck facing off against Kraven, who is in typical recent-days Kraven mode; he still wants/needs the hunt but boy does he want to die. We get a bit of history as we hear how Kaine got involved in the life of the Kravinoffs and Kraven, disappointed in Kaine's first showing, says (over loudspeakers at the zoo he's brought Kaine to) that he wants to draw the animal out from Kaine before leaving him to deal with his daughter. To do it, his daughter has captured all of Kaine's friend and has told Kaine she's killed them (all except Aracely). Kaine viciously attacks her, ready to kill her for what she's done. Right as he's about to give up, though, he remembers the strong influences in his life and holds off. She tells him where Kraven is and Kaine quickly makes his way there to find that his friends aren't dead. Yet, anyway. Kraven wants to fight and he's holding Kaine's friends, ready to kill them should Kaine refuse the fight.

There's a lot of history here which might bog down some readers who know the whole story backwards and forwards but let's not act like that wasn't a ridiculously confusing storyline when it happened, let alone a few years removed from it. The recap, then, is pretty useful and maybe more than a little necessary. It moves well and doesn't slow the pacing too much. The battle Kaine has been struggling with since the start of this series really comes full force here as he has to pull himself back right from the brink of murdering Ana Kraven. The Kravinoffs tend to bring out the worst in Spider-Men and this is no different. Solid issue and, though the set-up shouldn't be unfamiliar to people who have, you know, read a comic book before, there's a chance for very interesting resolution as it impacts both Kraven and Scarlet Spider. Plus, if this series truly is winding down, we're going to have to start learning about Aracely sooner rather than later, so be on the lookout for that any time now.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 3
Rodi (w) and Del Mundo (a and c)

We check in with Spider-Man as he works with the Mighty Avengers against Thanos' invading army. He's momentarily pulled away from the action when one of his spider-bots reports a surge of power in a nearby library. Spider-Man goes to check it out only to find that it's a medieval studies student who has been somehow transformed by a green mist into an electricity-based super-person. She loathes technology but suddenly finds herself thrust into it. Spider-Man doesn't really have time to sort her out but he's entranced by the idea of studying her. For the moment, he explains to her that she can likely travel via the electrical grid (like the other electricity-based super-people he's met) and tells her to meet him downtown. When he gets downtown, he realizes, thanks to messages she's broadcasting through all available electronics, that she doesn't know how to get out of the grid. She quickly learns a bit about the situation, though, as she then realizes the potential of the power she wields and begins destroying all the electronics nearby, promising to plunge the world back into the Middle Ages.

Not a bad plot here and Spider-Man is written particularly well; condescending as ever and ready to leave a fight with Thanos to explore his own interests, Spider-Man is every bit the Spider-Man we've seen in Slott's book and elsewhere. The character, who names herself Fulmina at Spider-Man's insistence that she adopt a new name to replace Sylvia Prell, is perhaps a little overblown (does anyone really think the Middle Ages were a better time to live?) but she serves the story as well as she needs to. The art is pretty good and the colors are particularly interesting as they give everything a slightly faded feeling, like it's dusk or perhaps there's a bit of dust on our lens. Not sure how much of a lasting story we'll get out of this (or indeed, this entire book) but I'm not sure we're looking for big lasting stories here. This is strictly a team-up book; maybe it will crossover with other Spidey books at times but I'm pretty sure we're not in this for the meaningful stories. We're in it to learn about character and this does that pretty nicely. Solid entry to the young series (that feels not-so-young on the heels of Avenging Spider-Man).

Ultimate Spider-Man 27
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Mounts w/ Ponsor (c)

Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and Bombshell have been paralyzed by a banned HYDRA device used by the Taskmaster. Spider-Man manages to anger Taskmaster enough that Taskmaster hits him, knocking him free of the device's range long enough to get back in the game and save his teammates, freeing them from the paralyzer as well. The Spiders fight Taskmaster as Bombshell runs away. They begin to learn, little by little, that Taskmaster absorbs power and redirects it, making Spider-Man's venom blasts particularly weak against Taskmaster but allowing him to use it on them. Bombshell doubles back to help the Spiders but ends up powering Taskmaster even more. Of course, the same thing happens all over again as Cloak and Dagger arrive on the scene. Fortunately, Cloak wraps Taskmaster up before too much more damage can be done. Spider-Woman does some quick research on her phone and learns that Taskmaster is a hired killer who was, in this case, hired by Roxxon. She advises they bring the fight to Roxxon and expose them for what they are.

Mostly a fight scene issue, which isn't bad for a book that has had its main character take a year off (though it was only, like, two issues in our world). A little bit of action was in the cards for this book and it comes here as Spider-Man has to pull out all the stops (many of which he doesn't remember because he's been prematurely retired for a year) to beat the energy absorber. It means that there's a whole lot of web-slinging in this issue, though not ever super successfully. Still, the banter here borders on, if not fully crosses the line into, excessive and it makes the characters all sound mostly the same. Remove names and gendered pronouns and read this script and you probably could not guess who was saying what at any given time, which is a worry for a book that, in its long run (with the volumes before this and up through this one), has wanted to make a real character out of its protagonist. I'm not an endorser of back-and-forth dialogue in comics, which this book obviously has (note the writer), but I feel I should qualify that by saying I'm fine with it used sparingly or with certain characters. If every character is using it and/or using it all the time, no one manages to sound particularly different and the book is slowed tremendously, which is the opposite feeling you're intending to get out of back-and-forth dialogue. It doesn't work used often on a page. No real surprises here.

Wolverine and the X-Men 36, Gambit 17

Wolverine and the X-Men 36
Aaron (w) and Camuncoli and Currie (a) and Milla w/ Delgado (c)

Battle of the Atom parts 1 and 2
Battle of the Atom part 3
Battle of the Atom part 4
And then Jean and Emma and the Cuckoos have a psychic fight against future Jean and Magik brings young Iceman and Beast to the future to find out that mutants seem to be doing okay.

Yeah, that's all I'm writing about this issue. Every issue of this event has been EXACTLY the same minus the location and maybe the parts. Occasionally a thing will "spice up" the ending, like the announced Jean and Emma fight or this ending. But that's it. And frankly, I've already said everything I need to say about this in any of the reviews I linked above.




Gambit 17
Asmus (w) and C. Mann, Leisten, and Tadeo (a) and Rosenberg (c)

The final issue of what has been a pretty fun series, maybe with a few slow points here and there. Here we enter where we left off last issue, with Gambit in a pit surrounded by Cich, his men, and a bunch of random supervillains. Outnumbered and outgunned, not to mention rather dazed and recently exploded upon, Gambit seems in a bit of trouble. He holds his own for a split second before getting rather overwhelmed. He's not without resources, though, as he manages to call out his code word: all in. In response, Pete Wisdom, accompanied by Excalibur and Black Knight, turn up to help in the battle. As some of the villains begin to flee, suddenly feeling less confident, Rogue, Captain America, and Havok show up to provide additional back-up. The tide of the battle turns on a dime and the heroes start winning handily, until Cich shoots Gambit in the forehead. Gambit falls and Rogue leaps to his side. The other heroes descend on him while Rogue cradles Remy. Faiza walks up and says she can help, managing to magic the bullet out of him and restore him. Way to go, Excalibur! Gambit immediately goes for Cich and ends up essentially disintegrating him, with his powers changed a bit by Faiza's resurrection. As the enemies are rounded up, the heroes disperse. Remy tells Rogue he's not cut out for Avengers life and he has to find his own way for a little bit longer. He returns to the school where he's welcomed back.

Nice final issue here as we get to see most of the guest stars we've had from the run of the series as Gambit realizes he can't always do everything alone. Still, he's not exactly powerless here and he shows that off nicely as well. It's a good wrap-up, eliminating the threat of Cich and still giving us a pretty satisfying ending for the series. The art continues to be good (Clay Mann's work has been more than a little impressive throughout the series) and we get a lot of it. There's a good amount of the quiet art, showcased as Rogue and Gambit talk, and plenty of action art. Not much more to say than this. Nice book, very good conclusion to the series. Everything good that's happened in this run is duplicated here and we don't get any of the slow moments the book has occasionally been plagued by. Really nice ending to a series that could have gone a lot worse.

FF 12, Guardians of the Galaxy 6

FF 12
Fraction and Lee Allred (s) and Lee Allred (w) and M. Allred (a) and Laura Allred (c)

Scott is having his typical panic attacks over Cassie's death and over whether or not he should be the leader of these children. In addition, he now needs to contend with the fact that Alex and company have brought Maximus the Mad to the FF and he's teamed with Julius Caesar to conquer. The kids are dealing with their own issues as they try to help Adolf Impossible fit in, a task that has no easy answer. They explain to him that his father is a supervillain, which doesn't go over well, though eventually he bonds with Luna over some superhero shojo anime. That out of the way, we see what Maximus and Caesar, with the help of old John Storm, have been building; it's a portal meant to pull the true F4 back to Earth, to the excitement of the current F4 and the FF and to the extreme displeasure of the spying Dr. Doom. Of course, the portal doesn't quite work as advertised and everyone eagerly waiting (not Doc Doom, hanging with Immortus and Ravonna) is zapped away somewhere.

There's a pretty good story here (not dissimilar, it feels, to when they were suddenly zapped away by the Wizard not too long ago) though I think this might be a bit of a learning experience for new writer Lee Allred. You may have seen up above that Fraction had a hand in the story but writing responsibilities have shifted to Lee Allred, who is, I believe, the brother of artist Mike Allred and the brother-in-law of colorist Laura Allred. The transition isn't totally seamless but it feels good enough that, with some time, it might work really well. I don't think Allred's writing is bad here, just a little more openly jokey than we've seen. There are far more obvious laugh-lines than we're used to and far fewer kind of funny moments. Still, that's an adjustment that may come with time or it may simply be the new order for the show. That may be fine but right now it leaves the book feeling a little weird because it doesn't feel that different to Fraction's style so it's clearly not a break from the style of the book already, but it also feels a little different. It's a tricky road to navigate and I think it's a little bit finding its legs here, but overall not a bad issue by any means. Still some good character bits and some legit laughs and, as ever, solid Michael and Laura Allred art. I'll be interested to see how a full family book goes.

Guardians of the Galaxy 6
Bendis (w) and Pichelli and Coipel w/ Morales (a) and Ponsor and Svorcina (c)

Angela is in the Marvel Universe and there's still not much to tell about who she is, why she matters, and how she got here (aside from the Age of Ultron time rips that have impacted so very little of the 616 except for when people want it to and when they don't need to use time travel in a book). She and Gamora fight while Peter Quill meets with Thanos to talk about, you know, destruction and stuff. Thanos is pretty sure Earth will destroy the universe and it will definitely destroy itself. Starlord eventually leaves and joins up with Gamora, who has been joined by the rest of the team in the fight against Angela, and they successfully knock her down. It's not by any means an easy fight and it's only after the entire team gets in on it that they are able to subdue her. When they ask what she is, the Watcher shows up to say her name is Angela and that he can't say any more.

To this issue's credit, it feels like a lot more happens than actually does. It's a fight scene book; it's not uncommon in comics to have an issue more or less dedicated to good guy vs. bad guy for an entire issue with little more by way of substance. There's not necessarily much more you have to do in that case, though you always run the risk of carrying it on too long and alienating and/or boring people. Even the best fight scene can overstay its welcome. This one doesn't have too many problems in that respect and the fight is pretty interesting, at least. It also rather disguises the fact that not much more happens; the cuts between Gamora and Quill make it seem like there are more things happening though, as seems normal these days, the appearance of the Watcher (he kicks our book off in typical Watcher fashion as he spends a page explaining who he is and what he does, because his name doesn't give it away) kind of hurts the book again. In a book full of flying people and green ultimate fighters, the Watcher always stands out as ridiculous and more than just a little plot-devicey. Still, the book rolls mostly well enough, even if not a ton happens to advance the plot. You want to talk about plots that don't advance, wait til my next review, later tonight (suspense!).

Uncanny Avengers 12, Young Avengers 10

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

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

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

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

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

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

Avengers 20, Avengers Assemble 19

Avengers 20
Hickman (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Curiel (c)

After the Council's victory against the Builders, both parties regroup a bit and plot out their next moves. We don't really see the Builders regrouping but we see the Builder who accepted the surrender on Hala explaining why the Builders aren't worried; simply put, the odds are still greatly in their favor. Cap and the Council, meanwhile, debate chasing the Builders and trying to press their victory. Cap thinks, though, that they should use this time with the upper hand to negotiate with the Builders. Ex Nihilo and Abyss, though, have been summoned by the Builders' Ex Nihilos and they agree to visit. When there, the Builders' Ex Nihilos ask why this Abyss is still alive, only to find out that the way the Builders are using them (to destroy worlds, mostly) has caused the deaths of their Abysses. Outraged by the choice the Builders have left them with (servants and/or world killers), our Ex Nihilo goes black and rallies the others around him. Back at the Council, Gladiator has spoken with the Builder on Hala and arranged a one-man negotiation with the Builders. No one is quite sure what to expect out of it or if it's the right call but Cap says that this is it, there's only one option left: surrender.

Much like the Council, this issue slows things down a little bit instead of capitalizing on the victory. I'm a little torn on the pace change. On the one hand, I often think that books that just keep ramping up and up and up and never break at all suffer from too much action. Still, this one might have come just an issue prematurely. Of course, that doesn't matter if Cap's real intent is to surrender; if it is, then obviously this issue comes now and, by its very nature, has to slow things down. There are a couple of pages I don't think we really needed in this extra-long issue (mostly as the Builder on Hala, in conjunction with the Supremor, gives percentages for the likelihood of the Builders still winning) and I think those hurt the issue a bit, but by and large we had a nice push for plot and a really nice B-plot with Ex Nihilo and Abyss. That's going to be a major deal as we move forward, if Ex Nihilos turn on the Builders, particularly as their world-destroyer ships have been taken off the board. Some decent stuff here and there's less of the male gaze I had an issue with last time. It's still present but it's not nearly as distracting. The amount of recap is still pretty reasonable for people reading every Infinity-related book though I could see it getting out of hand. I think I might be able to answer if it is or not with my next review. Let's find out.

Avengers Assemble 19
DeConnick and Van Meter (w) and Kitson and Magyar w/ Leisten and Geraci (a) and Woodard (c)

The Council is making the plan to destroy the Builders' ships but Spider-Woman and Black Widow, with the help of Shang-Chi, step in to demand they be allowed to go to the Builders' head ship to see if Carol's missing shipload of people are there. Captain America agrees to the terms and sends the second strike team that way. They make their way through the ship in much the same way we saw (though with a heavier focus, obviously, on this team) in the last Captain Marvel issue. We see them all meet up again and rescue the rest of their teammates held on the bridge and destroy the Builders' ship like we've seen a couple times now. As the team blows the ship and Manifold gets them out of there, Jess admits to Clint that she's glad he's not dead, even though they ended in a bit of an ugly way.

The focus on this issue is really on Jessica. There are still, though, some nice moments from Natasha and a couple from Shang-Chi. People who have been reading all of the Infinity books will gain very little to nothing plot-wise, so don't get this book if you're expecting too much in that regard. This is very much more focused on the personal, as this book has been throughout. It's nice to see Jess realize that maybe things are better than what she thought, at least in her personal relationships (not so much in the event that's going on right now). Carol doesn't necessarily have her memories of Jess but she still has the personality that made her and Jess so close in the first place, exemplified by their banter and by Carol's decision to have Starbrand blow up the ship. She's mad with Clint at the way things ended but the two of them can still talk and get along well enough considering and it really did impact her when she thought he was dead. There's a lot of nice stuff going on here but, like I said, if you're looking for plot that you haven't seen elsewhere in Infinity, you're not getting it here. The art is pretty good and fits the book well, a slightly less dark book (even if the events are similar to what we've already seen) calls for less foreboding artwork and colors. Pretty good stuff all around.

Comics this week

Fewer comics this week but not by too many. The risk here is that I kind of want to pick all four Avengers related books this week but I also kind of don't? I'm still on the fence about it. While cross that bridge when we get to it. Not too too many standouts for pre-game but plenty of could-be-hits coming through. Also, Infinity surges on as we get another three or so tie-ins. So does Battle of the Atom and Jason Aaron has a chance to show his side of this story. Rumor has it this is all his brainchild so he has an awful lot to answer for in my book. FUN FACT: that one will not make this list.

Avengers 20
This is the biggest Infinity book this week as it's not merely a tie-in, it's billed as a full-fledged part of the event, as each Avengers and New Avengers title has been. This event has, as I've remarked time and again already and will no doubt continue to remark, really surprised me with the true scale of it and the tension and characterization it's brought. I'd love to see more of that characterization, particularly in books like Avengers where they may have more space to do it, but the event is still mostly holding its own. This will be the first Avengers issue since Carol and team were rescued, meaning that soon everyone's bound to know of J-Son's betrayal. Should make for some good reading. Also, bad news non-Avengers/non-Infinity fans, I've decided I'm going to end up choosing four Avengers books in this top five. Don't blame me, they're just putting out really good Avengers books right now (and not so great X-Men books right now).

Avengers Assemble 19
I've talked recently about how Kelly Sue DeConnick has, for all intents and purposes, turned me around on Spider-Woman. I always saw her in the worst light, someone underpowered and typically underprepared and angsty for angst's sake, who managed to get on Avengers teams the entire Bendis era. Now, between this book and DeConnick's Captain Marvel series, she's become someone whose powers are a bit more meaningful (she can control Hulk, guys) and who has more of a real personality, both stronger than we'd seen before and seemingly entirely her own in this big Marvel Universe. It's with that in mind that I chose Avengers Assemble 19, another issue that will follow Spider-Woman in Infinity as she fights alongside her team to rescue Carol's, a team she's not so sure about but which she should be really sure about. I'm even looking forward to this book despite the fact caught-up readers will know what's going to happen. Weird, right? No, just a good book.

FF 12
This just now got the call to be on this list. It was between this, Nova 8 (which I'm not necessarily super excited about but which I think has a chance to solidify itself a little better under Zeb Wells, although I think the plan is for a third writer to hop on soon), Scarlet Spider 22 (Grim Hunts abound!), and Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 3 (I just like it, okay). FF wins out partly because Fraction is leaving the book so abruptly, due to his schedule, and because the series as a whole has been a lot of fun, maybe even a little unexpectedly. I'm hoping it will continue to stay fun but this is kind of a choice to say "just in case this is our last fling." Also, the story should hold up on its own, as we have a squabbling replacement-F4 mixed with some children who may be hanging out a little too much with Maximus the Mad for their own good. Fun stuff.

Uncanny Avengers 12
I feel like it's been so long since we've gotten one of these and it's been a reliably good book. I'm happy to have it out this week, and am thus including it on this list, because I can't help but think fondly on it. I think it's slowed a bit since it's incredibly powerful and moving first couple of issues but it's maintained a fairly high level of quality and it still has a big old plot going on right now. Plus I think Wolverine is technically dead right now and that merits a check-in. No one seems to like to beat up Wolverine more than Rick Remender, who constantly put him in the absolute worst position in X-Force (usually charred to a crisp or ridden with every disease all at once) to open the door for the other X-Force members to shine. Anyway, big stuff happening, plus the potential return of Kang and the Red Skull, as I think this issue might be more of an origin story for the Apocalypse Twins. I kind of hope it's not just that, though, as there's really too much happening right now to not want to see it all.

Young Avengers 10
Because of course Young Avengers 10. Do I even have to write this post? I love this book. Wholeheartedly. It has really not made a mistake in my mind. You guys know what I'm talking about, right? If not, go pick up the issues or the first trade, at least ("Style>Substance"), or just search for Young Avengers on this blog, okay? It's great and you should just be reading it or listening to me gush about it. I really didn't need to write this. OH MAN, and Leah's going to be back and the cover for this one has a burning Loki costume and WHAT.

This week's picks

Thee were a lot of books that were good this week but not too many that really stood out as blowing me away. That's not a bad thing; I'll take a book that's reliably good over a book that hovers around a mediocre point with a few blow-away issues mixed in. It's incredibly rare for a series to blow you away with every issue (though there are a couple books I'm skipping over this week in picks that have kind of done that throughout their series). That said, I do think there were a good deal of good books and plenty that I think laid the groundwork for possible huge issues. Still, this post requires a few books that stood out beyond the rest so HERE THEY ARE, in alphabetical order yet still somehow starting with 's.'

Secret Avengers 9
I've been a bit put off by this series so far, which I think has a lot to do with the needed set-up for the series, which is fairly convoluted, and the focus on SHIELD as an organization. SHIELD is a tricky animal because it exists so prevalently in the Marvel Universe but kind of needs to be crappy so that our heroes can shine. This issue still focuses on SHIELD in a wide-angle sense but it's more personal, dealing with Johnson vs. Hill. It's a more intriguing story and it's pretty easy to follow, even with the persistent talk of mind-wipes and international incidents. As I said in my review this week, the Secret Warriors feel doesn't hurt the book either. I'm not going to lie, this also gets added points for the inclusion, though we knew it was coming, of Winter Soldier. This is a good role to put him in, squaring him up against SHIELD knowing that they're toying with Natasha's memories (even if she agreed to it). Should be fun going forward. Also nice to see Guice drawing Bucky again.


Thunderbolts 15

Speaking of fun, this book is absolutely full of it suddenly. There's a real characterization to this Thunderbolts team which is rather the characterization I was waiting for when the lineup was announced. It's a solid team that lends itself to both tension and a sense of fun, in the same sort of way an action movie can. Deadpool's a great character for that feel because his brand of fun can be both like an action movie and something else entirely, just regular type fun. For example, this issue finds him strolling the streets of New York, being called Spider-Man and kind of rolling with it. It's not like the our and sometimes obnoxious Deadpool who would proclaim himself Spider-Man and get a little too into character, shouting through the streets. Instead, it's a Deadpool who is called Spider-Man and kind of just goes "yup, sure. Web things are broken so I'm taking the subway." It's a really good Deadpool, you guys. Even with the fun sense in the book, there's a real underlying tension ready to burst, with the Leader quietly sabotaging Red Hulk and the extremely powerful Mercy just dying to get freed (dying, that's kind of a pun, you guys, keep up). Really solid book. Still really like the artwork here.

Ultimate X-Men 31

This book continues to be one of the best books out there for pacing and overall storytelling. That's not to say that characters are a weak point or anything, I'd still say they're fairly well-defined, even given how big the cast is. But the tension, which continually ramps up without feeling overwhelming, is a really impressive touch. That's been true arc after arc and it continues here, as Kitty and Jean both react to moves made by the other. There's a lot happening and it would be easy to get lost in subplots or minutiae here but Wood stays his path and keeps putting out a really reliably good book with strong characters. Also, for all the worry of a lack of strong female characters in comics, this one features a few really solid ones. Kitty leads the pack but there's also Storm, Rogue, Mach Two (even for her age), Jean (even for her crazy), and plenty of smaller characters we haven't seen much of but who haven't been weak, for sure. Really good book all around, continues to delight issue after issue. I'd have to say this is one of the most consistently worthwhile buys.


Best Cover - Ultimate X-Men 31
G. Hardman w/ E. Breitweiser
I've long been a fan of the Ultimate X-Men covers which tend to go more for symbolic or idea over a standard comic cover of a specific character or characters doing something rather extreme. This week is a change from that as we get three of our lead characters driving and riding in a jeep while attacking an unseen target just to the side of the camera. It's a well-drawn cover but really, this goes back to the coloring for me, which is superb. There was a nice comforting feeling about this cover when I first looked at it, like someone I hadn't seen for a while showed up again in my life. That's exactly what happened, in fact. These are, one hundred percent Bettie Breitweiser colors and guys, she is amazing. I said way back in my post about colorists that Breitweiser was the first real colorist I noticed and could pick out because her palette was so defined. Even these colors, which aren't really the colors I've seen her use too often in the past (her great work through a lot of Captain America and Winter Soldier stuff tends to stray darker than this), stick out as being part of that very specific palette. Really wonderful stuff. This one beats out another solid Shalvey/Bellaire Venom cover and a Samnee/Rodriguez Daredevil cover.

Savage Wolverine 8, Wolverine MAX 11

Savage Wolverine 8
Wells (w) and Madureira (a) and Steigerwald (c)

Wolverine has been captured by the Arbiters, who Elektra continues to fight, while Kingpin is faced with his resurrected, though deadly and seemingly brainless, wife. Elektra was offered a chance to leave but refused to do so without Wolverine, which gave her more respect in the eyes of the Arbiters. Now they seek to test Wolverine by bringing the animal out in him and seeing what he will do with it around. He instantly jumps back into combat with the giant Shikaru and easily bests him. As the fight concludes, though, Logan takes control again and refuses to kill him, showing mercy and convincing the Arbiters to also allow him to leave. Meanwhile, Fisk attempts to talk Vanessa into stopping, trying to refuse to fight her, which is what the Hand wants to see. Eventually he cannot help himself, wishing to end her suffering by taking her away from it. As he does it, though, she shows just a glimmer of memory and awareness, causing him to slip further into his own wretchedness. By the end of the issue, Elektra is cutting her way through the Hand to track down Bullseye, Kingpin is firming up more brutal and violent takeovers for the Hand, and Wolverine is sitting in silence with Spider-Man at Avengers Mansion.

Another pretty nice issue for Savage Wolverine, which stumbled out of the gate. There's less open humor in this one than in the last couple as we get down to the nitty-gritty of the story, which involves an actual full-out judgment of character from the Arbiters, something that's worth putting Wolverine up against here and there. Wolverine is constantly his own biggest critic; he knows what he is and he may not like it (or he may, some debate there) but it's the role he exists in and he fills it. Occasionally a third party, particularly one with no interest in his future, has to appear to tell him that he's maybe not as bad as he seems. The Arbiters are downright wonderful to him, considering, as they tell him that he cannot take the things he does so hard, that you cannot blame the lion for the slaughter of the gazelle. Even when Wolverine retorts that he's not an animal, they agree with him. Can't get much nicer to Wolverine than that. Still, pretty good issue with really perfect art by Joe Mad to work with the story. He draws a good Wolverine and a pretty solid Elektra, among other things. Liked his Spider-Man too, frankly. Good issue. I think we might get a few written and drawn by phenomenal artist Jock soon. Rather looking forward to it.

Wolverine MAX 11
Starr (w) and Ruiz (a) and Brown (c)

Wolverine has made it to Vegas, though he's not quite at the Vegas everyone pictures when they picture Vegas. He's a little ways away, fighting in cage matches to make a little bit of money before he sets out into the city. After a good fight, he goes home with a woman he meets and talks to her for a while. She tells him that she's a psychic though later adjusts it to hypnotist. He eventually gets himself home, though he blacks out a little in the middle. The next day, the guy he'd fought the previous night wants a second round and Wolverine obliges, only to find out he has little to no control of his body now. He can't pop his claws and he can't even really fight. After getting thoroughly beaten down, he goes to find the woman again. When he enters her trailer, he begins yelling but she calms him quickly before revealing herself to be this off-shoot universe's Mother Night.

For those unaware, Mother Night is a somewhat big villain (not really huge) who occasionally went up against the Avengers and individual heroes. In recent years, she's largely come up as a lack for Red Skull, even being the one to raise Sin, Skull's terrible daughter, one of the orchestrator's of Fear Itself. That's at least a bit of an interesting turn and, truth told, this issue worked better than the rest of the series really has so far. I've voiced confusion at this series in the past based solely on the fact that it's honestly kind of boring. Not much happens in a book where no end of things can happen. Wolverine is kind of the essential MAX character, a guy who is unbelievably violent and dark but who also has plenty of run-ins with women. The MAX line, which can show tons of violence as well as nudity and swearing, seems tailor-made for that. So to write a story that doesn't flow well and that isn't particularly action-packed for the MAX line seems a bit of a waste. This one has a bit more by way of the violence and a bit by way of the nudity, which at least justifies it being its own MAX book and not an arc of another Wolverine book. He's still memory-less and the book continues to be a little heavy-handed in reminding us of that but the inclusion of a real, identifiable villain who has powers that can effectively hurt Wolverine but that might be able to help Wolverine (who knows, maybe she could get him to recall some memories?) could certainly help the book over time. Still not entirely impressed by the issue and series but this seems like a step in the right direction.

Cable and X-Force 14, Thunderbolts 15

Cable and X-Force 14
Hopeless (w) and Larroca (a) and D'Armata (c)

Hope is on her way back from the future to save Cable with a psychic scimitar that, upon contact with Cable's brain, should expel the excess telekinetic energy. It's a particularly tricky time to do that, though, because X-Force is fighting the Uncanny Avengers on the lawn of Avengers Mansion while Cable's powers go completely out of control in the Mansion itself. There's a good deal of fighting; X-Force holds its own for a little while before being ultimately overpowered by the Uncanny Avengers. Hope shows up just in time to cut through the fighting and stick Cable with the pscimitar, discharging his powers and, at least for now, saving his life. Havok agrees to let Cable and his team go (at least to give them a headstart) even though they're still technically fugitives.

This is a nice little wrap-up to everything that's already come out. I feel like the series has slowed a little from the big bang beginning, hopefully wrapping up this bit of the storyline will kind of jumpstart things again. The communication between the team still seems pretty solid, though occasionally we get some all-too on-the-nose lines from people (it's very hard to write Dr. Nemesis well enough to make him not sound like a Dr. Nemesis parody and here he kind of toes that line). I think that will get better as we focus a little more on the team and perhaps a little less on what's happening to Cable and the bigger plots and different teams and what-not. This is a book that, by its very nature, needs to be a bit of a smaller book than it's been the last few issues. I think that'll settle nicely though and will leave us with much the same book we started with and we thought we were getting. There are a lot of people who don't like Larroca's style and, though I've never been against him, I think the book could also serve from an artist change. Each one of Larroca's books tends to have a few panels that make me cringe a little so his staying power on a book, I think, suffers the longer he's on that book. I don't think he's necessarily a bad artist (I think most people don't like him for his methods) but I think the book might be better suited with another one, at least for a little bit.

Thunderbolts 15
Soule (w) and Palo and Pallot (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Punisher is driving a van with a secret weapon (undisclosed throughout the book), Elektra, Venom, and Deadpool to various small-time gang stomping grounds to get answers about the Paguros. Bored waiting in traffic, Deadpool chooses to get out and walk, promising he'll meet up with them again later. The other three begin abducting and interrogating gang members and, though they get plenty of confessions out of them, manage to learn nothing more about the Paguros. Venom and Castle are a bit at odds as Frank wants to torture and/or kill the crooks while Flash refuses to allow it. Their bickering comes to a head as Thanos' ships descend on Earth and Flash insists they help the city while Frank insists they stick to the mission. Frank ultimately wins out though Flash only agrees on the terms that they help people they run into who are in trouble. Meanwhile, Deadpool has found himself caught up in the attack, moving from the subway to the streets of New York while trying to help civilians who keep referring to him as Spider-Man. Adding more intrigue to the book, the Leader, down in the command sub with Ross and the contained Mercy, is beginning to sabotage Ross' plans, including not warning him of the aliens he saw on radar and surfacing the sub to expose them.

Really good book. I liked last issue a lot and felt like it had turned a corner with just about everything; plot, character, and art had all shifted for the better. This issue seems to confirm it as there's just something about it that keeps the pace and tension up while simultaneously staying fairly fun and fresh. The art is spot on for the newer feel and kind of reminds me of what Invader Zim would look like as a comic book. I think everyone is well represented in this book and the characterization is stronger than it's been throughout the series prior but I think Deadpool has seen the biggest upward spike. That's particularly surprising as I like the way Daniel Way writes Deadpool and have since he had his long run with the character. Still, this is a really fun Deadpool who is somehow both the same as the one we know and typically love while being something different entirely. I'd like to see more from him before I say why he's different but he feels a little bit like a funnier version of the one we saw in Remender's Uncanny X-Force. That was the best Deadpool I'd read and it added layer after layer to the character (or perhaps expounded on layers we'd already seen). This one feels similar but is maybe a little more funny in his narrative than he is jokey. Overall, really good book, very happy with the way it's coming around.

Daredevil 31, Thor: God of Thunder 13

Daredevil 31
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and Rodriguez (c)

Current events mix with the Marvel Universe as a case very similar to 2012's Trayvon Martin case (the trial was this year, I know you guys, I keep up with current events too) has cropped up in New York City. The details are extremely similar and, like in that case, the defendant walked free. However, that's where things change in the 616. In the 616, prosecutor James Priest, who has been hailed as a civil rights leader, leaves the courthouse, upset with the verdict, and produces a page with names, addresses, and pictures of everyone on the jury, should people want to exact revenge for their blowing the trial. The city is instantly whipped into a frenzy and only Daredevil knows that someone interrupted the live feed with an excellent impression of Priest and flashed those names. It's confirmed when everyone physically near Priest as he made his speech shows confusion at what they've been told happened on the television broadcast. That doesn't matter to Daredevil, though, as he needs to concern himself with protecting the jurors and finding out who did this. The Serpent Society is clearly behind it, considering their recent infiltration of the legal system and the case being one with such connections to race, but it's the Jester who actually did the impression of Priest and interrupted the feeds. Daredevil discovers that Jester left a trail; his name and address are on the lineup of the jurors though he wasn't one of them. Matt goes to Jester's house to find someone in a Daredevil t-shirt, distributed by Foggy at the hospital, hanging in the house.

You guys, it might be Foggy. I'm not sure I can objectively analyze this issue if that's Foggy so I'm going to pretend, for the moment, that it's not or that it's a ruse or something. Maybe even that he's not dead but even if he's not dead, the dude is still a cancer patient and he was brought there by Jester as part of this whole game and WHAT IS HAPPENING TO FOGGY LATELY? Crap, AND Matt and Foggy's last conversation ended with Matt angry because he found out it was Foggy who hired Kirsten in his place. You guys, that better not be Foggy Nelson. Everything about this issue is really intense and pretty good. There's another DD-Hank Pym team-up as DD gets Pym to use his ants to create rain throughout the city, pretty good at dispersing the riots that have started. Really interesting story rooted in a sad sort of realism with great art and solid writing. It's not Foggy though, right?

Thor: God of Thunder 13
Aaron (w) and Garney (a) and Svorcina (c)

A very small troop of Dark Elves (from the realm of Svartalfheim) have journeyed to Niffleheim to free their imprisoned king Malekith the Accursed. It's not an easy trek and most of the group die, leaving only one alive when Malekith is freed. Together, the elf Scumtongue and Malekith leave Niffleheim for Svartalfheim, where Malekith assumes he will be welcomed back to the throne. Meanwhile, in Asgardia, our Asgardian heroes are enjoying a feast to celebrate Volstagg's election to the congress of worlds. One of the Dark Elves living in Asgardia suddenly feels Svartalfheim's pain and alerts Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three to the issue. They journey immediately to Svartalfheim and find Malekith standing over the bodies of a village of slaughtered Dark Elves. He tells them of the civil war brewing (Svartalfheim, it turns out, was not exactly eager for Malekith to take over the throne again) and disappears before Thor and company can stop him. Malekith, for his part, swears to kill every single Dark Elf who goes against him, no matter where they hide.

This may be the most spell-check has ever disagreed with my posts. And I write a comic book blog. Anyway, solid issue and story, happy to give readers a look at Malekith before he stars as the main villain in Thor: The Dark World. Or cash in on that connection, LOOK, IT DOESN'T MATTER. It's still a good story and it seems it will be a nice reintroduction to the nine realms as this arc continues. With Dark Elves spread out across the nine realms, it seems we'll spend a bit of time in each and maybe give people a chance to, with relative ease, learn a little bit more about Thor's history. There's even a nifty map of the nine realms (drawn by Haemi Jang) at the back of this issue, which will certainly be good for spelling reference in the future for anyone who may have a comic blog. Always a little wary of books that aren't quite movie tie-ins but are clearly movie tie-ins, but this one seems like a story worth telling so far. This five-issue arc will be in full swing by the time Thor: The Dark World premieres, giving movie fans a quick book to jump into (they need only pick up the two to three issues prior to the newest one by the time they wander into a comic shop) and will give comic fans a nice introduction or re-introduction to Malekith before his big screen debut. Nice little mix. Well-respected comic veteran Ron Garney hops onboard for this arc as the new artist and his art is pretty stellar.

Uncanny X-Men 12, X-Men Legacy 17, Ultimate X-Men 31

Uncanny X-Men 12
Bendis (w) and Bachalo, Townsend, Irwin, Mendoza, Olazaba, and Vey (a) and Gracia (c)

Jean and young Scott have come to older Scott's X-Men team for help, hoping that his rogue team might offer them an alternative to being sent back to the past, where they belong. After much discussion and thought, Scott says that he will help to protect them from being sent back (Scott of all people should really be against this) though Emma is against it. Meanwhile, Kitty continues to argue with impassioned and nonsensical speeches about allowing people to do what they want with their lives to her X-Men team and the future X-Men team that they should be allowed to stay. Future Jean and Xavier get a lock on young Jean and Scott and everyone goes to Utopia to retrieve them or fight on their behalf. Future Jean freezes the others and knocks young Jean out. Of course, Emma and the Cuckoos are not frozen and Emma tells future Jean that, though she thinks the original team should be sent back, knocking young Jean out while being future Jean is not okay and gets ready to battle her.

I've been pretty harsh on Uncanny X-Men, All-New X-Men, and, most recently, Battle of the Atom. Sometimes I have to pull back and ask if my dislike is warranted or if I don't like, perhaps, some of the conceits or the writing or whatever factor and am now blowing it out of proportion. Uncanny X-Men 12, to me, feels like the proof I need to say "nope, definitely not." I hate this issue. I hate everything about it and it culminates in what seems to be the biggest, dumbest fan service with even a wink, in case we needed it, to say that it's the biggest fan service. Haven't seen Jean and Emma fight in nearly a decade? Worry not, WE'VE GOT YOU COVERED. Want people who see time travel regularly to still be flummoxed by the rules of time travel? Covered. Want to see normally smart characters suddenly turn absurdly dumb? How about if they have impassioned speeches that come from the heart even if they are unbelievably stupid? Covered and covered. Want more of that back-and-forth dialogue that is meant to be fast but, in fact, slows down the flow of the book to a ridiculous degree? Hey. We've got you covered. So yes, I think this book and this event are both terrible and it's hard to see it as anything other than the weakest form of fan service that I can't, in good faith, believe was actually asked for. And this is coming from someone who read Avengers vs. X-Men. I rather wish I wasn't reviewing this with Legacy and Ultimate X-Men, both of which are really good books and which are weakened by being on the same post as Uncanny X-Men. But I already made a schedule and I'm sticking with it.

X-Men Legacy 17
Spurrier (w) and Pham (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Cyclops and David have begun their "no powers" fight and are right in the middle of it as we begin this issue. We get a fair deal of David's inner monologue (and a little bit of fourth wall breaking as he addresses the audience, the people reading his thoughts) and a whole bunch of recap of things that have come before as the two trade blow for blow. Though Scott is a trained martial artist and is stronger and quicker than David, it's a reasonably even fight because, as David points out, Scott doesn't usually get to brawling with people, instead using his powers vs. their powers, and Scott has a code of honor. David doesn't have that, particularly, and he's really, really angry and, he admits, a bit envious of Scott, as he was viewed by Charles. The fight finally ends with, of course, David finally succumbing. Down and out, he uses his powers just enough to incite Scott, who blasts him into the new mutant Scott and his team had found (she fuses living matter together) and this action, thanks to Scott's attack, creates the world worm we've seen David, in his visions of the future, turn into. David becomes a part of the world worm and begins reaching out for more mutant minds. That means mutantkind is doomed unless Blindfold can kill David before things get too out of control. However, before she can strike, she's stopped by what seems to be a robot containing the mind of Blindfold's brother Luca.

There is an awful lot happening here. There'd be plenty to talk about even if this issue was just Scott and David fighting but then we get the whole last half of the book. The recap is maybe a little heavy at times but it's particularly understandable once we get to the end of the issue, which reveals Luca again, not to mention the world worm. There's also a fair amount of monologue, a lot of text, which slows things down a bit at the beginning (thanks, in no small part, to all the recap). Unlike with most books I say that about, here it still flows pretty well. Spurrier has created such an interesting and complex character with David that his thoughts are more than just the usual superhero book fodder. He's not just narrating what's happening and maybe making a quip or an aside or a reference here and there; he's a fully fledged person with a real personality and a lot to think on. It comes with real questions and doubt and confidence and strength and sadness and anger and happiness and love and many other emotions while also incorporating many human tics and behaviors. All around great writing throughout this series. This issue kind of feels a little like it's leading to a series conclusion but, to my knowledge, the book hasn't been cancelled. I'm hoping that stays true and this just feels big because it is big, not because it doesn't have a chance to get bigger.

Ultimate X-Men 31
Wood (w) and A. Martinez and J. Lucas (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Tian has more or less announced war on Utopia and Kitty has made arrangements by deciding to step down as the head and face of Utopia and put Colossus in charge. She's done this, she explains to her conflicted people, to give the world a different face to look at, one they haven't likely seen and one who is more than a little intimidating without the intent to look intimidating. She can now also be a part of the army that's formed on Utopia. We see a little bit more of what will be defending Utopia before we look in on Tian. Storm has eyes on the nation and is wreaking havoc with the weather there. On the island itself, Jimmy Hudson is having some qualms with the way Jean is running things. He lets slip that he still believes in Utopia and she asks him to choose which side he's on. He's locked up shortly thereafter and Jean formulates a plan, based on the announcement of Kitty's resignation. To attack now would make Tian seem like the aggressors (they rather are, but the world doesn't necessarily see it that way). Jean, then, intends to release Jimmy into Tian to murder civilians, looking like a Utopian terrorist. She plays with Jimmy's mind and releases him, warning Tian of the "breakout." She also authorizes Farbird to find and kill Storm.

It's hard to say tensions are still ramping up when the tensions are already so high. I really like this series and I'm continually impressed by the way tension ratchets up in some new way every issue without ever feeling like it's piled too high, high enough that it's broken past the point of believability, even in this world. The only thing that one could possibly point to as a little weird in these dealings is how far gone Jean Grey seems to be, but even that is a weak point at best. Something is clearly going on with Jean and it's hard to say exactly what but it's certainly impacting this story in pretty extreme ways. Still, everything else seems perfectly reasonable within this world. The actions Kitty and Utopia have taken don't seem out of sync with their possibilities; the logic is always there. The same mostly holds true in Tian, where Jean seems unhinged but is still making kind of logical decisions given how unhinged she may be. Really good stuff which moves the book extremely well and never piles too high to wear the reader down. It's enough to keep a lurking sense of dread, which is perfect for this book.