Some poor-quality pictures of stuff I bought at Granite State Comic-Con!

Hey dudes, I said a while back that I would eventually maybe post some pictures of the stuff I bought at Granite State Comic-Con late last month and now I finally intend to do that! As a note, these are pretty poor quality because I took them with my phone's camera and I didn't have any desire to do it, you know, well. So Some of these are framed, the lighting is bad, etc. However, the prints are all amazing and you should check out the artists, all of whom I tried to link (or will have tried, once this post is officially created).

Chris Uminga

Wolverine, purchased by my girlfriend, not me,
point of fact

Sandman, this one purchased by me. The
glint in his eye is unintentional but, kind of works?
New Sandman book out THIS VERY WEEK, GUYS.

Kent Archer

My totally great Spider-Man/Venom picture

My girlfriend's Sonic picture. Kent mailed
this one to her after technical difficulties at the show.
Good guy. Also inks Dr. McNinja.

Josh Siegel at ModHero

Iron Fist and Power Man. Love me some Heroes for Hire.

Three smaller pictures, L-R Captain America, Daredevil,
Spider-Man. DD and Spidey are my girlfriend's.

Three more, L-R 11th Doctor, Hulk v Wolverine, Black Panther.
Again, 11th Doctor and Hulk v Wolverine are my girlfriend's.

Chris Giarrusso

Great Giarrusso adaptations of classic covers.
He also did a sweet TMNT sketch for Amanda
that I didn't end up taking a picture of.

Scott Wauchope

Wauchope also had a great 10th Doctor print.
Spider-Man was real neat though, so now it's mine.

Matthew J. Fletcher

Great Deadpool picture. I liked Fletcher's
style; I'm not sure this is super indicative of
it but I also really loved this one.

Tim Collins maybe?

Venture Brothers! Bought by my girlfriend and
I'm actually not sure who the artist is. I think
it says "Tim Collins" on it, but I tried to find him
online and found a mid-western painter. I'm
not convinced he's the same guy. Also, apparently
there was a 12 year-old named Tim Collins at the
con who won the kids' costume contest so, you
know, not great by way of help there.

X-Men Battle of the Atom 2, Ultimate X-Men 33, Uncanny X-Force 13

X-Men Battle of the Atom 2
Aaron (w) and Ribic w/ Camuncoli and Currie and Palmer (a) and Svorcina w/ Mossa and Guru eFX (c)

Everyone has to take a moment to deal with the SHIELD attack started by Xorn and Xavier. By and large, the X-Men seem to realize that maybe this is a little out of form for SHIELD but they do eventually have to ask some questions as some SHIELD-authorized Sentinels appear. It's these attacks that are more troubling (why do they have Sentinels?) and more damage-inducing, as they kill old Hank McCoy and old Jubilee. Xavier also kills old Colossus and I THINK that's the full casualty list. You'll note, of course, that all of these deaths are from characters that may or may not exist in the future? Anyway, time travel. So the combined X-Men manage to defeat the Brotherhood (though the surviving members scatter in the present, like real jerks) and Ilyana teleports them all back to Westchester. There are a number of epilogues by a number of different X-creators and it basically boils down to the following: the team from the future goes back, the original X-Men are staying in the present because of course they are, Storm's future daughter Kymera is staying behind to track the Brotherhood, and Kitty and the original X-Men are going to Scott's X-team.

I really hated this event, you guys. And now that it's over, I can safely say that I hated it all the way through and that nothing changed my opinion about it. There's a ton of the back-and-forth dialogue here with altogether too many quips for the seriousness of the situation. There are very few (if any) of the kind of idealogical questions that X-Men has been known for over time (other than, you know, the ethics of time travel, a thing that doesn't exist). The original X-Men are still here and now Kitty, who was, perhaps, more burned than anyone by the Phoenix Force business, is leading them to Scott's camp because she feels like she can't trust anyone at the school to have her back because they didn't listen to her when she said she wanted the kids to stay (I think? It's not a very clear argument). Just so, so glad this business is over. Hard not to compare it to Infinity as both are happening at the same time but one has wonderful pacing and a huge, epic feel to it that certainly had its share of fights but they were all meaningful and different. Guess which event I'm talking about now? Guys, it was Infinity. Obviously it was Infinity.

Ultimate X-Men 33
Wood (w) and A. Martinez and J. Lucas (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Pixie is teleporting everyone from Tian to Utopia while Kitty meets with Jean hoping against hope for a peaceful resolution. They fight for a bit but still Kitty does it with the hope that Jean will listen to reason. Jean's main argument, of course, is that Tian is a sacred and perfect place and that mutants need to be united. Kitty explains why she doesn't believe that; she believes mutants are united, they just don't want to be ruled by Jean and this has kind of shown why. Kitty knocks down Jean and reunites with a healing Jimmy before Jean knocks them both out from behind, believing she's won the war. However, she suddenly realizes that there are no more citizens in Tian and Pixie appears to take Kitty and Jimmy away behind her, saying that she'll come back for Jean if Jean wants, especially given the bombs that are now raining down on the city. Jean struggles to survive through the falling Utopian attack and is eventually rescued by Storm and brought to Utopia, where she begins to make a new life for herself, admitting a couple weeks later that Tian feels like a thing of the past and that she's gotten better than she deserves from the people of Utopia. Kitty, meanwhile, suffers no retribution for the attack on Tian, for which she takes absolutely all responsibility. The government is still rebuilding and doesn't have the time nor the funds to press any charges if, indeed, there are charges to be pressed here. Everyone seems a little more comfortable with Tian off the board and they all seem okay with mutants policing themselves for the time being. World War X isn't entirely without casualties, though, as the Sentient Seed's consciousness is apparently dead.

Plenty still happening and a very cool ending for the World War X arc we've just finished but I want to note that this is also a really good way to end the series, if indeed Cataclysm does bring the Ultimate Universe to its end. Another good issue from the Ultimate X-Men team as we get some resolution at last for the problems that have been building for some time now. It's also got a nice question, a little bigger and broader than a lot of X-Men theme questions, which normally focus on good vs. evil and the like (okay, they're bigger than that). These are questions about nation-building and the place of this race in the world in an even broader sense than in the "humans fear us" kind of way. Pretty cool and it still fits really well with the themes we've built over the last year as Kitty has taken her X-Men to the next level here. As a quick note, Magneto destroyed New York with a tidal wave once in this universe and yet these X-Men, though smaller, seem like they may be doing better than the 616's X-Men. Who is dropping the ball over there?

Uncanny X-Force 13
Humphries (w) and Briones w/ Unzueta (a) and Curiel w/ Rosenberg (c)

The Revenants, led by Cassandra Nova, are primed to enter our world and Psylocke and company realize that they could use some help with the oncoming storm. Unfortunately, Nova, an omega-level telepath herself, has locked down psychic transmissions coming in or out of Los Angeles so Psylocke cannot contact anyone quickly enough (I guess as a psychic, you stop carrying cellphones). It's up to their little ragtag band to stop Nova from opening the portal to allow all of the Revenants in and, failing that, up to them to try to help stop the Revenants, an impossible army consisting of angry shadow-duplicates of every living being on Earth. They manage to crash Nova's party just as the Revenants are starting to come through and the fight quickly turns south as Nova has counter defenses for some of them specifically and as she manages to repossess the Demon Bear that's been at Psylocke's side for the majority of this journey. Now the Great Corruption (as Bishop calls it) is open and only the death of a telepath can close it. Bad news, as Nova now has Psylocke so controls the local telepaths.

This series is shaping up nicely with a pretty intense story and some nice characterization shining through in this issue, particularly between Storm and Psylocke. I know that it's a comic book but the rules of this little venture seem a bit arbitrary, which would be my biggest complaint about this. This is a new sort of enemy (even if Nova isn't new) so there are no established rules for this sort of thing, yet Bishop and others keep throwing out rules as if we know them. I'm not complaining, necessarily, about the rules themselves, but it it a little hard to follow without anything set up ahead of time and it makes it feel like simply roadblocks when we actually get to a big moment. The psychic shut-down of LA, for example, meaning no one thinks to pick up a phone is strange. The death of a telepath thing feels like something that was well-thought out but never really explained to us so it comes off as arbitrary even if it wasn't by design. Still, overall an engaging story with signs of progress for a series that felt like it was kind of spinning its wheels for a while.

Avengers AI 5, Captain America Living Legend 2

Avengers AI 5
Humphries (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)

After Dimitrios' attack on Washington, AI fears are at an all-time high, making it considerably more difficult for Vision and Alexis to protect the populace and keep order. Making it slightly more easy, though, is that Alexis is successfully cutting her way through Dimitrios' encryptions that kept her memories sealed off from her, giving her a new purpose: she is a protector of all types of life. She also seems to have gained some sort of limited precognition, which she uses to stop an unstable man from blowing up a bank after the bank lost everyone's money in Dimitrios' attack. Back at home, Pym has sealed himself away in his lab to cope with his own bipolar disorder, recognizing (after thorough charting) that he's about to hit a downswing. Monica Chang isn't thrilled with the decision and makes her frustrations clear as she reveals that Victor, with his seemingly dying breath, protected the server's black box but only Pym can actually access it. Meanwhile, Doombot is attempting to revive Victor, feeling that Pym hasn't done enough. Victor's consciousness, on the other hand, has found itself in the Diamond.

I think the pieces are here for a substantial book but right now it's kind of circling around a point. I'm not exactly sure about what's making the book feel uncomfortable right now but something isn't quite clicking. It might be the vagueness of the enemy or the abruptness of the team; we're kind of used to teams needing to build together but, in a day and age where the market is so filled with content, books don't have as much of a chance to build, forcing those "coming together" kinds of arcs to be too short or too staged. I think Humphries has done a pretty good job trying to pull something together for that; everyone here still feels like (with maybe the exception of the mysterious Alexis) he or she has his or her own voice, even in how early we still are in the series. I'd like to see that developed a little further. Another worry is that every book these days, again because there are so many, has to start with a bang or else you won't get any sort of market share, or at least that's how it feels. Therefore, this threat has to be big but it also has to be meaningful and it also has to be beatable by this ragtag team. That's a lot of constraints to put on a first arc, let alone the need to build a team and a theme and what not. I think this book will have to find its legs soon or risk waiting too long.

Captain America Living Legend 2
Diggle and Granov (s) Diggle (w) and Alessio (a and c)

Cap has been sent to Russia to find the crashed DEUS Project and any survivors of the crash. He manages to get there in time to find Dr. Lauren Fox but worries that the Russians must be hot on their trail. She tells him what happened in space and they speculate that maybe the Russians have a little less to do with this than it would appear, given that the area where DEUS was brought down doesn't seem to be constantly patrolled already. The Russians are reactive here, not proactive. There's also a bit of a moral question as Cap informs Fox that her attempt at finding clean, renewable energy has been secretly bankrolled by the Department of Defense, who clearly intend to weaponize whatever she finds. She's mad about it and indicts Cap too, saying that the serum that created him could have been used for peace, not soldiers. They don't really have time to argue, though, as they're attacked by what seems to have been a Russian patrol at some point but is now a mess of metal controlled by some unseen force. Of course, that would be Volkov, eagerly awaiting Cap's return to Russia.

Another neat little issue (though Granov doesn't provide the art for this one, as I had previously assumed; Alessio still does a fantastic job, keeping with the feel of the book Granov had created while clearly making the art his own) that, again, impressive goes out of its way to characterize people who aren't our main characters. In fact, again they're Russian and they die almost immediately after their characterization. I know, that seems like a small thing to bring up, especially to lead an analysis paragraph, but it's really not. It both makes it feel like a real situation (not just comic book villains everywhere, there are real people really dying as a result of...okay, as a result of the comic book villain) and it makes me feel better as an American that there is a depiction of normal Russians as just people. Diggle's not American, sure, but it's still nice to see. Like, all of our war games that make, you know, untold billions of dollars seem to feature Russians as the enemy these days because we still think maybe we can win the Cold War or something (more like the COD War, am I right? Classic) and it's honestly a little uncomfortable. Comics (good ones, anyway) tend to be pretty good about spreading the right message in these sorts of situations; there's a Captain America book from just after 9-11 that depicted Americans surrounding an innocent Middle Eastern man before Cap steps in. The Middle Eastern man comes off looking great and the Americans look like jerks which was a pretty big statement for a country that wanted nothing more than war. Anyway, getting a little off-topic, I didn't mean for this point to carry on throughout the whole paragraph. I guess I can let it do that because Diggle's a solid writer and he's writing a good Cap and a good story, leaving me with time to talk about the little things instead of talking about what doesn't feel right. Sure the obvious antagonist is still a Russian and, perhaps, a more Russia-obssessed Russian, but Diggle has gone out of his way to make sure we know that he is not your typical Russian. And it makes a difference.

New Winter Soldier Mini-Series Announced

Hooray! Another shot for the Winter Soldier! On top of appearing in upcoming issues of Secret Avengers and Captain America and being one of the leads in the just announced All-New Invaders, Bucky Barnes will return in February of next year for a mini-series entitled "Winter Soldier: Bitter March." The series will be written by Captain America scribe Rick Remender and will feature art from Roland Boschi. Taking place in the Cold War (so we have a Russian controlled Winter Soldier), this story plans to tie in heavily to events just down the road in Captain America. It also looks like it will pit Winter Soldier against 1960s SHIELD as the Russians and Americans look to secure scientists with potentially war-ending breakthrough weapons. You clever devils will likely also note that the release of this new five-issue mini will coincide nicely with the new Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie set to be released in early April in the US (why yes, I am bitter that we seem to get it later than nearly everybody else out there...sorry Germany and Brazil). The upside of this series for comic fans (other than it will be just another place to see one of the most popular characters created since the 1980s...I've heard the list is Wolverine, Deadpool, Winter Soldier but I heard that from Ed Brubaker so, you know, grain of salt) is that this will tie back to the Captain America ongoing so it doesn't seem like it will be merely a movie tie-in. Fun stuff abound!

Infinity 5, Avengers 22

Infinity 5
Hickman (w) and Opeña and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)

Thor and the Avengers have shown that the Builders can be broken and that message has resonated through the universe, giving the conquered worlds the inspiration they need to fight again. Though there are casualties throughout the universe, the resistance is overwhelmingly a success and many worlds realize the Avengers are to thank and, as a result, become "Avengers worlds." Cap and co are heartened by this but soon receive news from Gladiator that Earth is besieged by Thanos, so their celebration is cut short. Back on Earth, everything is coming up Thanos. His Black Order has secured Wakanda's Necropolis and the world-ending weapon therein, which they're able to activate by scouring the memories of the totally-still-alive Black Bolt (score! Except for the activation codes, that's a bummer). Meanwhile, the Ebony Maw has found Thane, son of Thanos, and immobilized him, delivering him unto Thanos. The Illuminati return to their world to find Wakanda in flames and the Necropolis invaded. Help is on the way, but will it come too late?

I really can't say enough about the pacing of this series. Every issue has felt like it's been worthwhile. You can't say that about too many events these days, yet every one of these seemed to have a structure to them and a piece of the story that was necessary for the whole event. Even insofar as it spanned to Avengers and New Avengers. Perhaps the scale of the story helped that; a story this big was bound to need this many parts, as it really is kind of two events wrapped into one (the Builders in the universe and Thanos on Earth). Still, I don't see that as a coincidence or a fault of the series by any means. It feels instead like really great planning and great execution. It's been a story worth telling and it's been told right. Every issue of Infinity, I've gone into the next wary that there won't be enough story to sustain. Now we enter the last issue with almost too much to tell. Of course, there are two Avengers issues between now and then (one reviewed NEXT) to help push the story along which will certainly help alleviate the burden on Infinity 6 (not to mention a post-Infinty New Avengers issue to wrap up the whole event for good, presumably). Really looking forward to seeing how this goes. There are plenty of events (one ending this week, in fact) that I cannot say that about.

Avengers 22
Hickman (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Gho w/ Curiel (c)

The Avengers have beaten the Builders back and earned the respect and admiration of the universe in the process, putting them in a rather unfamiliar place as they head back home. It's a good place to be in, though, especially as they'll need help when they get back home in defeating Thanos and his army. We see a little bit of what's going on within the Avengers' ranks as we discover a relationship between Cannonball and Smasher, met with confusion by Sunspot. We also see Manifold, who has played a huge role and is undoubtedly the unsung hero of this whole event, trying to come to terms with what's happened recently. It's easily the biggest event he's been involved in and he's having some trouble making sense of it. The Captains America and Marvel try to downplay it a bit, attempting to remove any sense of fate or faith or destiny attached to it, though Thor comes in and does exactly the opposite, which seems to calm Manifold a bit. Meanwhile, a strike team hits Titan to knock out any reserve troop Thanos might have. There's not too much waiting in the wings but it serves to let Thanos know that they're coming, a message they're not afraid to send.

It's hard not to assign action-adventure tropes to stories like these and a couple, in particular, shine through that make me a little worried about the fate of some of these characters. The Avengers, for their part, have not really lost much of anyone in their time in space, a tremendous outcome considering how total the threat was. Now they return home and will all be very clearly on the front lines. There are no more guerrilla style attacks, no more plotting and quick strikes. This is going to be a straight assault (though, admittedly, with a sneak-attack part of the plan) and it could very well cost the Avengers. It seems events don't happen without some death being attached to them so be prepared. The tropes I was hinting at, by the by, were the idea of the relationship that's developed here, the idea of the two best pals (I've been predicting a Sunspot or Cannonball death since the start of this event and the relationship between Cannonball and Smasher seems only to strengthen that argument), and the idea of the young, tired secret weapon who questions the meaning of it all. Okay, that one's a little more specific. I guess my fear for Eden is that he had so many lines this issue. It's like watching Lost or the The Walking Dead; the moment someone has above average lines, you know they're about to go down. Of all of those mentioned, Eden's the one I want to lose least so this one strikes a particular fear-chord (that's a thing, right? Fear-chords?). Nice to see a little bit more character from the smaller characters here (though I'm still constantly surprised to see Shang-Chi there, maybe we should highlight him some more?) but it comes with the distinct fear that at least one or two of them (or maybe more) are being built up to be killed next time out.

Comics this week

Plenty of big books out this week. But which ones are the BIGGEST? I don't really know. Well, okay, I have some ideas. I usually do. QUICK HITS.

Avengers 22
Infinity presses on in two major books this week, Avengers 22 and Infinity 5 (SPOILERS: guess what other book is on this list). We're rapidly reaching the end of this big event and I'm certainly excited to see how it plays out. Look for a focus on the Builders' story in this one, hot off the heels of what was, essentially, the defeat of the Builders themselves.

Captain America Living Legend 2
I really liked the first issue of this mini-series, penned by Andy Diggle and drawn wonderfully by Adi Granov. There's a solid characterization of both Cap and some of the Russians we saw the first time out. Downside, of course, is that we won't see most of those Russians this time out. Plus side is that it was still good writing and good characterization of clearly non-essential characters. That should give some encouragement going into issue two.

Infinity 5
I said pretty much what I needed to say up above, right? Except, of course, to note that this will give us more information about everything that's happening throughout the event, not just the events up in space. I'm really liking this event and I hope to see it go out strong. A lot of events lately have gotten complaints about slowing down in the middle. I don't think this one really has but I'd hate to see it stagnate now.

Scarlet Spider 23
We're getting close to the end of Scarlet Spider (sad, and so close to losing Venom. Where are our non-Spider-Man Spider-Man books going?) and I'm excited to see how this all goes down. I thought the last issue was pretty powerful, showing Kaine, despite the urging of Prey and the intense situation, fighting back against Kraven without killing. Of course, the twist now is that Kraven wants to be dead, so, you know, tricky.

Ultimate X-Men 33
This spot was almost given to Battle of the Atom 2 because I'm that excited for that event to be over, but, ultimately, I'm still not looking forward to actually reading that book. This one, though, I'm very much looking forward to. This continues to be one of the strongest books out there and the strongest Ultimate Universe book right now, maybe ever. Very strong story, great characters, incredible pacing, smart writing, good art, just a very good book all around. Every arc feels like an event without the downsides that tend to come with events.

What I'm Reading (non-Marvel edition)

Pretty much every post of this blog is, in truth, "what I'm reading." However, it's pretty much always on the Marvel side of things and there are, despite my unending affinity for Marvel, plenty of really great books out there that aren't Marvel. Clever readers that you are, you'll likely recognize some of the creators, as I tend to follow creators more these days and they never seem to disappoint. Let's just name a few.

Batman
The most well-known book on my what-I'm-reading list, though I haven't read it in a couple issues (got a little thrown by some of the recent events in that universe, which I'm not so up-to-date on at current). Scott Snyder writes a really fine book and it's a fascinating take on the character. Some good stuff. I didn't hate Batman Incorporated either and I'd like to read Batman '66 but I haven't really had the time (I love Jeff Parker though and I've heard good things so maybe at some point).

Pretty Deadly
Kelly Sue DeConnick, Emma Rios, Jordie Bellaire, Clayton Cowles, goodness, it's a list of truly wonderful people. The first issue just came out this week to resounding numbers and I highly encourage you to read it. Not a superhero book, though it certainly already has supernatural elements. It also has a real Western feel to it. Very cool first issue, gorgeous book with really pretty writing and an intriguing story. Looking forward to issue two. Pick up book one, though, if you haven't already.

Velvet
I fell a little behind on Ed Brubaker's Fatale (though I have every intention of catching up at some point), though I heard wonderful things about it and Brubaker has just about never disappointed before. Velvet is his newest creator-owned book and it's pretty neat already. It's a spy book, still in Brubaker's noir-obsessed tone, and with an already interesting protagonist in Velvet Templeton. Art by Steve Epting (who Brubaker worked with back in their prime Captain America days) and gorgeous Bettie Breitweiser colors to make it all come together. Really looking forward to this book as it continues.

Sex Criminals and Satellite Sam
Two different Matt Fraction books that are, perhaps, a little less family-friendly than I tend to recommend. Sex Criminals, as you might imagine, is proving itself the less family-friendly of the two but it's still pretty clever writing with some quirky ideas and mostly likable main characters. Chip Zdarsky's art is clean and pretty and fits the tone well. Satellite Sam is a bit more intensive, following the mystery around the death of the lead actor in a 1950s space television show. There's a huge cast of characters (which makes it a little head-spinning from issue to issue) but the writing is tight and Howard Chaykin's art is my absolute favorite from him that I've ever seen. This one is a little risqué but, even if it didn't revolve a bit around sex, I wouldn't recommend it for a particularly young audience because I think it requires a little more patience and enthusiasm for characters, period pieces, and/or writing. Really good book though.

Lazarus
Greg Rucka and Michael Lark have created a fascinating dystopia predicated on the idea that pretty much all of the wealth in the world is held by a few families. They have so much wealth, in fact, that they were able to bioengineer one of their own children to be the family's protector. For the Carlyle family, their youngest daughter Forever is her family's Lazarus, capable of fighting and strategizing and, you know, coming back from the dead for her family. It's left her feeling a little unsure of her humanity, which comes at a bad time for the Carlyles as they're embroiled in a bit of an internal struggle for power. There's a lot to really like here. The ideas are pretty fantastic, the world is very well-created, and the characters are interesting. Michael Lark's art is fantastic, perfectly matching the tone of the writing and the seriousness of the characters.

Crossed: Wish You Were Here
This is the only book I'm reading that's free to read online. Si Spurrier's take on Garth Ennis' original series (I never read that so you can definitely pick this one up just from Spurrier's take, though I'm sure Ennis' work is phenomenal) which focuses on a group of survivors of some sort of horrible epidemic that makes people worse than zombies. I used to have fears of zombies but, after reading this series, that all changed. It can definitely get worse. This is another one definitely not meant for kids. Very good writing, very good characters, extremely compelling story, it's all here. Like I said, it's free to read but definitely not for everyone. Looking forward to Spurrier's next free-to-read series, Disenchanted, which should actually be live by the time this posts so maybe click that link and check in? This one is supposed to be, after a fashion, about fairies and other similar fantasy tropes, but in a very, very dark and bleak world. It goes live today (10/28) so I trust it's there now (I'm writing this Sunday night, okay?).

The Walking Dead
Robert Kirkman's most well-known series is certainly still as intense and good as ever. This is typically just about the fastest read I have, one that constantly surprises me when it ends. Well-written, well-developed characters, always interesting plot, plenty happening to keep it fresh. I've heard from a reliable source that Kirkman's superhero comic Invincible is actually better, but I've not read that yet so you'll have to deal with this pretty stock suggestion.

Uncanny
It's hard not to draw comparisons to X-Men with Andy Diggle's new Uncanny series, particularly with a name like "Uncanny." Of course, it's less like X-Men and more like "criminals with mutant powers," or even like "questionably good people caught in a bad situation or, perhaps, bad situations with questionably bad people and all of them may or may not have mutant powers." Okay, it's maybe a little bit long for a tagline but that doesn't make it any less apt. Good writing, questionably likable characters, a plot involving criminals and double-crosses and regular crosses and just so much. Good stuff.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Okay, don't just rule me out now, alright? TMNT creator Kevin Eastman has returned to the Turtles and is delivering a heckuva story for us. The characters are largely the ones you remember, though, depending on what iteration you've seen, they may be a little more intense than you remember. Really broad, sweeping story that involves most of the Turts universe at any given time and that constantly draws you in. The art fits really well with the tone and it's a pretty mature story for a property that has had something of an identity crisis over the last couple of decades, trying to decide who it's for. For the record, I also really love the new Turtles cartoon on Nickelodeon.

Sandman
Guys, if you haven't read Sandman, you should really do that. Obviously this is a bit of an older series but I've never actually read it all the way through. I had read the first few arcs several times over in the last few years but hadn't ever kept going; not for lack of interest, just from lack of ability. I'm working my way through the whole series now and GEEZ, it's just really good all the way through. Beautiful and thought-provoking story with amazing characters and a full history and world all its own. Neil Gaiman's writing is as strong as ever and the art, despite the revolving door of artists, stays consistently wonderful throughout. One of the most timeless and meaningful comics available.


I'm sure there are more I'm not thinking about right now but these are the biggest ones I can come up with off the top of my head. This blog's intent, of course, is to review Marvel comics but that doesn't mean that's where my interests stop. These are my favorite non-Marvel titles at the moment though I'm willing to read just about anything so there could always be more that come up from time to time. I'd recommend all of these to just about anyone. Support indie comics and all that, a message I never really have time to give in a blog about the biggest comic company around.

This week's picks

Lots of solid comics to choose from this week. Eagle-eyed readers, though, will note that I said in my pre-game that there were 18 books to be reviewed this week and even eagler-eyed readers will note that I only ended up reviewing 17. What tomfoolery is this? I didn't review Marvel NOW What?, the kind of self-mocking issue with joke stories from all sorts of people. I read it but didn't really review it because it doesn't totally strike a chord with me but I'm pretty sure it'll be fine for others. That's my review. Not for me. ANYWAY, on to this week's picks!

Uncanny Avengers 13

This nearly didn't make the cut over Superior Carnage and a couple of other books but, the truth is, I'm a sucker for a well-done hearing-damage joke. In this issue, Captain America has extensive hearing damage from a direct blast from Banshee and it plays throughout the entire issue. Guys, it's pretty hilarious. On top of that, there's other far more serious things happening and Remender does a fantastic job balancing out the funny with the dramatic, pulling us back in after kicking the issue off with Cap's shouting and moving to Wolverine's extreme pain. There's a lot to really like in this issue and, as has been true so far in this series, one of the most impressive things about the book is that it feels like everyone on the team gets pretty equal screen-time, certainly enough to give us a sense of the characters and their personality while not depriving us (or them) of their story. Good book all around.

Venom 42

Honorary final issue pick. This has been a really phenomenal series all around and one that I think didn't really see a huge downgrade or upswing from Cullen Bunn's replacement of Rick Remender. That may sound like something of a slight but I don't think it is. I think Remender was doing a fantastic job on a hard book and Bunn came in and really kept it running smoothly. I don't think it saw the biggest of upswings because Remender had done a solid job with the character and Bunn felt that. Why change a good thing? I do think Bunn took his own spin on the character and the story so it's not like a Roy Thomas-Stan Lee thing but the book's quality never really changed. Just a really solid, pretty long-lasting book, especially for one that could have flopped out of the gate. Sad to see this one go.

Young Avengers 11

This book is just really good, you guys. It's very sharp, it's very clever, it's very fun, it's very tense. Everything about it is pretty much the mark of a good comic. The pacing is good, the writing is smart, the story is interesting, the characters are well-developed and deep, the art is amazing, everything. And, like the best books, there are wheels within wheels and stories within stories here that are all, each one of them, worth telling. This issue sees the transformation of Loki from the more innocent and, at one point, more trust-worthy Kid Loki to the new, more Tom-Hiddleston teen-early 20s Loki. Really neat character design, really neat story to prompt the change, just a very smooth transformation, which you can't always say about comics. Really fun book. Excited for the next couple issues as we're bound to start seeing massive cameos from other young heroes in the universe and the resolution of the Mother story, probably. Though, admittedly, sad to see Kid Loki go.

Infinity the Hunt 3, Infinity: Heist 2

Infinity the Hunt 3
Kindt (w) and Sanders (a) and Campbell (c)

The kids at the Pan-Asian School, who were launched into space as a protective measure to keep them from the attacks on the ground, have re-routed themselves and crashed down in Wakanda, hoping to fix up their pod and send it to Atlantis to help the Atlantis students. Wakanda, of course, has problems enough as it is and the students from Wakanda have very little interest in helping out Atlantis. The Pan-Asian students help convince them to be the better heroes and, when they eventually arrive, they find that the other kids have beaten them to the area, though the situation itself is pretty dire as Atlantis is already in trouble and these kids have little training and little experience working together. They do their best, which is considerably good, but, in the end, everyone seems primed to be eaten by a ridiculously giant sea-creature.

My problems with this series continue pretty unabated; we're inventing too many new people to really have stakes. There are a handful of students we already know and they're the only ones we can really pick out and, therefore, hope survive. Sure, it'd be neat if everyone made it out alive, but we don't know these other guys, you know? There's no connection and there's no chance to really, in such a short tie-in, make a connection. I'd also say, and this might be only for me personally, that, for as long as the X-kids we're seeing here (like Quentin Quire and Sprite) have been around, I care way more about the FF kids and the Avengers Academy kids, again limiting the weight of the series. It's not necessarily a bad story, per se, it's just...kind of empty?

Infinity: Heist 2
Tieri (w) and Barrionuevo (a) and Pantazis, Mossa, Loughridge, and Fabela (c)

Blizzard passing out last issue, it turns out, was a result of the Terrigen Mists spreading over Earth. That's right, Blizzard is an Inhuman. Now that he's awoken, he sees his transformation as a way to start his life over. He's not quite sure what his transformation means for his powers or anything else but now seems like a good time to turn his life around. Of course, it comes at a bad time for everyone around him, as Spymaster doesn't take the decision to bow out of the heist very well. In retribution, he attacks Blizzard's friend Whirlwind and, when she tries to intercede, Firebrand. He insist they follow-through lest worse happen to them, though he secretly tells Whiplash that none of them is to make it out of the next day alive.

This has a little more weight to it than Infinity the Hunt. It might be because we know the characters a little bit more, it might be because we know the story a little bit better (villain wants to turn his life around but gets pulled back in), or it might just be because it's a smaller cast here. Really, we're only on the side of three people, whereas, in the Hunt, we're on the side of like, probably a billion kids. Granted, they're kids, but they're mostly teenagers and teenagers can be pretty annoying. Who hasn't pictured them eaten by a giant sea-creature at some point? I...I sense I'm getting a little off-topic here. Anyway, this one is decent. There are stakes, there's an enemy who has proven himself fairly powerful and not to be trifled with, there's redemption, there's backstabbing (even for villains), there's a new power-set to be revealed, etc. Plenty happening here to at least make this an entertaining, if not particularly memorable, story.

Nova 9, Thunderbolts 17

Nova 9
Wells (w) and Medina and Vlasco (a) and Curiel (c)

Nova has arrived home to find that Kaldera, the slave of Proxima Midnight, has invaded and taken his mother and sister hostage. Kaldera's offer to Nova is that they fight for the lives of his loved ones without their powers. He agrees and promptly starts getting beaten. Of course, he's not particularly beholden to fighting fair with the psycho who attacked his family so he quickly puts the helmet back on, beginning to gain an edge in the fight again. As he attacks her, the two are teleported back to Thanos' ship, where Sam finds another Nova helmet (Kaldera had taken it as a prize after she had killed its owner) and it uploads itself into his. He goes on to strike down Kaldera before being sent him by her attendants, who worry that her failure to kill him will mar them all if Thanos discovers Nova was on the ship. Sam returns home triumphant while Kaldera is punished in space for her failures.

This was, I believe, Zeb Wells' last issue of Nova before handing the reigns off to Gerry Duggan. I'm a bit sad about this because I think Wells found a really good tone for Sam and his cast, one that won't be so easily replicated. I hope I'm wrong; I want to be reading a good book as much or more than the next person. Regardless, it's still a bit of a sad change for me. It's a nice final issue for Wells, though, as Sam bests someone it seems he had no right besting and is able to show his mom that he's a hero worthy of joining a team, even if she refused to allow him to join the Avengers. She changes her tone just a bit here as she excitedly asks him about the new team he's set to join, the New Warriors (which Speedball clearly gushed to her about while Sam was in space). There are nice pieces in this issue for sure, with more big moments for Sam and a couple of fun lines here and there. There's more focus on Kaldera here so we have a little less of the supporting cast who kind of had to sit in the background of this one, though they still have their moments, albeit fewer. Pretty good issue, nice little wrap-up for the arc.

Thunderbolts 17
Soule (w) and Palo (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Punisher and his team strike the Paguros' warehouse while Red Hulk and Leader try to deal with the invasion in the city as well as the new threat of Mercy in a city during an alien invasion, where people are wishing for death left and right. Leader's having some issues of his own and needs to connect to the internet to reboot his mind. Red Hulk gets him an iPhone with a connection and waits him out while his mind reconnects. It's then Leader's idea to get Mercy to attack Thanos' ship by making the people inside wish for death, something Red Hulk is able to do with relative ease. Meanwhile, Deadpool finally arrives at the pizza place and gets his much sought-after pizza as the Terrigen Mists flood the Earth. Among those they transform are the cowardly Nobili family, hiding out with the Paguros as Punisher, Elektra, and Venom attack.

This is a fairly long tie-in, maybe the longest that's not directly related to Infinity (like Avengers and New Avengers). Honestly, it might be longer than those. Regardless, it's still a pretty good story and a story that has mostly kept up its momentum. If anything, I'd say this issue is the weakest of the arc but only because Punisher's attack on the Paguros' safehouse has taken us this long to get to. It is exciting, at least, because now he's finally there and the three of them are really wrecking the place. In truth, though, I'd say that this plot ranks third of the three plots in order of interest for this issue, and that includes one plot where a guy gets pizza. Still, third of three good plots isn't a horrible place to be in and the characterizations still hold strong here as we get a pretty good look at, particularly, Red Hulk, Leader, Mercy, and Deadpool. Flash gets another pretty good look as he continues to argue (somewhat half-heartedly) on behalf of some of the criminals but it's a characterization we've seen pretty consistently in this arc from him. Still a strong book with very strong art and writing. My mild impatience with this one might stem more from wanting to see what Soule does with the team when he's not writing a tie-in, though, as far as long tie-ins go, this has been a good one. I'm anxious to see what happens next when we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Wolverine and the X-Men 37, Savage Wolverine 10

Wolverine and the X-Men 37
Aaron (w) and Camuncoli and Currie (a) and Milla w/ Silva (c)

A big fight breaks out as Scott's Uncanny X-Men arrive on the scene of the future's Brotherhood trying to send the original X-Men back to the past. Or, to be more precise, one doesn't break out because Xorn goes into Scott's head and stalls him there while they escape. The Brotherhood bring the original X-Men to Cape Citadel, the site of their first fight with Magneto, and are pretty public about their appearance, drawing the other X-Men teams and SHIELD to the base. Amidst all the fighting, Maria Hill appears in her helicarrier and tells the mutants to stand down. Xorn, unbeknownst to the other mutants, takes control of the helicarrier's weapons and fires down on all the mutants, showing the original X-Men that humans hate and fear them.

Guys, this is still stupid. There's still too much winking about the future, there's still way, way too much banter in these fights, there are still too many fights, there's still too much craziness in the plot, there are still too many characters, and this is still stupid. I can't add too much more than that, honestly, because I can't say more than I've already said, both here and in all my other posts about Battle of the Atom. One more, though. One more.

Savage Wolverine 10
Jock (w and a) and Loughridge (c)

Wolverine is still on the foreign planet and still awfully confused about it. He gets some answers but mostly questions from the kid he's now traveling with but they do manage to find themselves squared off against a giant ship. Wolverine, the kid in tow, hurls himself at the ship and manages to grab hold, tossing the kid aboard before pulling himself in. It's apparently the kid the people in the ship are after and Wolverine ends up having to fight out through the henchmen loaded up on the ship. It's easy enough for him but still one of the bad guys manages to pull the kid into an escape pod and leave the ship. Wolverine follows them and, with a great deal of pain, brings the ship down, killing the pilot and rescuing the kid. Their crash-landing throws them under the surface of the planet, where they happen upon a lab of some sort with a whole bunch of stasis tubes.

Like last issue, this one's a little hard to judge as we still don't have a ton of information on the plot of the arc. It seems like most of it will be revealed in the arc's conclusion next issue. Still, this one's not bad for the intense Wolverine-ing we get as Wolvy does his best to keep the kid's spirits up and to fight his way viciously through whatever enemies he runs into. The art is pretty gorgeous (as are Loughridge's colors, the second time this week I've pointed that out) and Jock uses his time on the book to illustrate the violent side of Wolverine, the one that dives at would-be assailants with his claws out. Weirdly, it seems, Wolverine doesn't feel the same when he's able to be wounded, as in Cornell's book right now. This Wolverine feels pretty classic; brooding, more than a little lost, and just really, really violent. I'm not complaining.

Daredevil 32, FF 13

Daredevil 32
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and Rodriguez (c)

Foggy's not dead and Matt isn't fooled by the dummy hanging in front of him, nor is he fooled by the cyanide-laced "suicide note" that "Foggy left." He picks up the trail again after taking down a couple of dirty cops and enlisting Foggy's help in research on the Serpent Society. The research leads him down a more mystical path and so Daredevil pays a visit to his personal mystical consultant, Dr. Strange. Strange, in turn, points him to known-werewolf Jack Russell down in Kentucky. Matt arrives in Kentucky to find Russell and finish his research. It doesn't go as planned, though, when he ends up unwittingly defending a posse of monsters led by Satana, daughter of the devil. He escapes into the trees to figure out his next move where he is shot by a member of the angry crowd chasing the monsters.

Geez, now we're going to be maybe-killing a character at the end of every issue apparently. It's a good issue though with Daredevil immediately outwitting Jester and a nice little look from Jester at how some of the villains in the world view him. Even when supervillains know that Matt is Daredevil, they don't necessarily know the truth about Matt. Jester's Foggy prank relies entirely on Matt seeing the body, not smelling it, as well as seeing the suicide note instead of smelling the cyanide inside. Some nice character work between the Matt and Foggy as they get a nice moment of tough love from Matt, slapping some junk food out of Foggy's hand. More good Matt character stuff as he pays a visit to Doc Strange (wouldn't be upset if Strange started getting a bigger role in this book) and Strange doesn't reveal Russell's...condition to Matt, leaving him a little in the dark when he arrives and thinks that the townspeople are simply crazy racists, not monster-haters (unless "monster" is a race, in which case they're still totally racist). There's a lot happening here and most of it, despite the interesting and kind of abrupt plot-change, is character-based. More great Samnee art, of course, as Daredevil continues to be one of the most complete solo books out there, maybe second only to Hawkeye (if it's second to Hawkeye). I think Captain Marvel would be up there but the art team has changed so much it's hard to call it continuously the most complete solo book. It's still certainly up there. Okay, I'll stop ranking now.

FF 13
Fraction and Lee Allred (s) and Lee Allred (w) and M. Allred (a) and L. Allred (c)

The FF has been transported somewhere after Alex's tampering with the portal intended to bring the F4 back. They've been transported somewhere...impossible. That's right, obviously they're in the fabrics of the pants of the Impossible Man. Scott instantly realizes that this is Alex and Ahura's doing and puts them aside for now. The Impossible Man drops them off on the moon alongside the Watcher (and, inexplicably, a lady Watcher), who Scott instantly threatens with a fake Ultimate Nullifier so that his motley crew can stay there and plan their next move. After a weird and useless subplot with the Red Ghost trying to steal secrets from the Watcher and freaking out about everyone he sees, Scott starts planning their return and their next move against Doom, one that he'll have to come at with less emotion than he's been reserving for Doom of late.

The FF has had a fairly quirky bent throughout its recent run but, over the last couple issues, it's gotten openly more goofy. There is a difference, in case you haven't thought about it before. Quirky still leaves room for solid emotion and solid growth, things like Tong deciding she's female and the clone of a supervillain marring attempts to foil a date and only making it more wonderful. Goofy's a little different and allows for less character while we get a little more comic relief. The problem with comic relief is that it needs to relieve something. If there's not enough going on in the story or if that story doesn't have much by way of stakes or drama, it means that comic relief doesn't quite work. Of course, there is still a plot going on that has drama inherent to it (the F4 are in space and their replacements aren't feeling particularly confident with how things have gone, no one knows what to make of old John Storm, two kids just tried to commit murder, Scott is going to be pitted against the man who was responsible for his daughter's death, etc.) but it feels like the excess of comic relief has taken away from that. There aren't many issues of FF left and they'll need to turn that tone around pretty quickly if they want to make a meaningful exit.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 5, Superior Carnage 4

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 5
Yost (w) and Checchetto (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Alchemax has hardly opened its doors and already its the site of a supervillain attack as the Wrecking Crew start busting their way in, in search of an experimental particle engine. Spider-Man 2099 is inside getting ready to fight them when the Superior Spider-Man shows up with his own team, his new Superior Six. Finally we learn Doc Ock's plan for his former Sinister Six teammates as the villains he's captured are now working for him, mind controlled to fight and move on his behalf. It is...sketchy, morally, but it's effective. Spidey admits to himself that maybe he brought them out a little too early and he requires a little help from a new Sun Girl (apparently a hero! Wikipedia has little to say of her as yet) to bring the Wrecking Crew down. They scamper back to their boss Lightmaster, who assures them that next time they will have a bigger team to fight off this new Superior Six. Meanwhile, Spidey settles things out at home with the imprisoned ex-villains and Sun Girl, who was knocked unconscious during the fight and brought back to Spider-Island while she recovered.

An interesting repurposing of the Sinister Six that fits with this new do-what-it-takes Spider-Man and which has just the right level of absolute sketchiness and kind-of brilliance. It also slots nicely into the current events of Superior Spider-Man as we catch a glimpse of Spider-Man 2099 (albeit being very ineffective) and the newly formed Alchemax. Clearly there are some big plans going forward in the Spider-Man universe that will involve everything going on right now on both sides of the ball. How the superhero community (and the civilian community) will react to the new Superior Six is still up for debate and won't be answered immediately but BOY, someone's going to have to start realizing that, as off as Spidey's been acting lately, he's branching out into all new levels of crazy. Right? Like, one person will have to be like "hey guys, I know we already scanned him with our non-scientifically inclined people, but maybe we should like, kick the tires again?" Right?

Superior Carnage 4
Shinick (w) and Segovia and Chrisostomo w/Mexia (a) and J.D. Ramos, Gandini, and Rosenberg (c)

Spider-Man was lying in wait for the Wizard, Klaw, and Carnage at City Hall but it turns out even Spidey might not be enough to stop them. They out-power him at every turn before he eventually grabs Wizard, the one clearly in control of the situation (sort of) and escapes with him. He holds him above an ally in an attempt to get him to call off Carnage but Wizard reads his mind briefly and realizes he's Octavius, which causes Spidey to drop the villain onto a car below. Wizard's hold on Carnage is released and Carnage goes to town, killing Spider-Man's minions and following Klaw out to where Spidey and Wizard are talking. Spider-Man admits to Wizard that he is Otto and promises to get him to his son if he controls Carnage and puts him down. Klaw, thinking Spider-Man's attacking Wizard, charges him before being run through himself by Carnage's secret vibranium weapon, taken from Wizard armory. Klaw explodes in a burst of sound, launching Carnage off of Dr. Malus and onto Wizard.

Solid penultimate issue as we get an impressive fight scene with the ever-threatening Carnage managing to put the fear into the typically collected Superior Spider-Man. Wizard continues to shift back and forth between dastardly genius and sad, old man trying to reconnect with and impress his son, adding some pathos for both the character and the crowd who overhears his hopes. Spider-Man, for his part, keeps trying to fight what keeps looking more and more like a losing battle and whose only serious misstep is allowing Wizard to fall after hearing his own secret identity revealed. As Carnage launches from Malus to Wizard, we're in for an exciting last issue that could certainly go any direction and might even keep Wizard, a longtime Marvel villain, from completely losing his mind. Or maybe it will accelerate that EVEN MORE. Who knows? Certainly not me. Absolutely fantastic cover too, one that would certainly makes me interested in picking up the book if I saw it in my LCS. Mission accomplished, you guys.

First look at CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER

Hey guys, amazing. Just...amazing. More thoughts later, OBVIOUSLY.

Venom 42, Ultimate Spider-Man 28

Venom 42
Bunn (w) and Coelho (a) and Loughridge (c)

The final issue of Venom ends as Venom and Mania summon Mephisto to discuss the Devil's Mark that has apparently passed from Venom to Mania. Mephisto reveals that the symbiote appears to have cloned itself and pushed the Mark out with the clone, the crafty guy. Mephisto still will not remove the Mark, meaning that Mania is now the possible successor to Mephisto, as the Mark was attached to the symbiote, not to Flash. Flash, feeling fatherly, attacks Mephisto on behalf of Andi, though it has no effect on the devil. Mephisto waves if off, allowing Flash to live and act as a guardian for his possible successor, keeping her safe until her number is called. They, along with a little help from Mephisto, fight back Crossbones and his team, and end the current threat. Mephisto withdraws and Flash promises Andi he'll find a way to get the Mark off of her, to save her.

It's a nice final issue for Flash and it highlights a lot of the themes he's gone up against throughout the run on this book. Obviously his father was a really big theme and it kind of comes full circle here as he takes on a father's role for Andi (who just lost her father in the midst of all of this) and dedicates himself to her protection. It's also an introspective and retrospective time for Flash, who remembers all of his dreams throughout his life, becoming an all-star, a hero, a soldier, and realizing that, through all the hardships and all of the setbacks, he's really been able to do it all. Whether it's all he wanted it to be or not is still up for debate but there's no denying that his life has had some aura of greater purpose to it. It's a nice last issue with more impressive art by Coelho and really nice colors by Lee Loughridge (one of the times it stuck out to me was just flipping through the issue to get to the last page to remember exactly what had been said there and kind of zoned out as I flipped, just watching the colors go by, very stark, very different, very defined, great colors). Sad to see this book go, definitely one of the good, longer-running books. Surprised it lasted this long and certainly happy it was able to.

Ultimate Spider-Man 28
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)

Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Bombshell, Cloak, and Dagger make their strike against Roxxon with fairly sound success. Mr. Roxxon himself is every bit the jerk you'd expect him to be and the kids act accordingly. He's not dumb, though, and he has his science team (all of whom, of course, have some level of power to themselves) come to his aid. He's also figured out Miles' true identity and flaunts the information over Miles as Miles, for several pages, keeps him dangling from the side of the building. There's a lot of info there, about the creation of this Spider-Man and Roxxon's place in the world and about Miles' family but it's not really stuff Miles is terribly interested in at the moment. The kids beat the science team and Jessica calls in SHIELD to clean up, though it's a little complicated because SHIELD has had contracts with Roxxon. As Monica Chang grills Jessica Drew, Jess reveals that she'd like to start up some sort of ongoing team with this group (hint number one that maybe Cataclysm won't, as advertised, destroy the Ultimate Universe).

Not a bad issue, which is certainly good considering where I tend to stand on certain Brian Michael Bendis books these days. There's still perhaps a little more back-and-forth jokey-joke dialogue for the feel the book wants. Actually, maybe that's part of the problem. It's hard to place what feel the book wants if you have these intense fight scenes as a result of this outrageous moral behavior but have people quipping and bickering playfully throughout. It's not always off-center as you have a bunch of teenagers working this case but it certainly doesn't help the flow of the book. Regardless, the story is pretty good and the art is phenomenal. Making the decision to have Roxxon dangle off the side of the building, webbed up by his feet, with Spider-Man sitting above him for a few pages works pretty well. We get a fair amount of information in a way that, while feeling kind of over-exposition-laden, makes sense because we see Roxxon panicking and freaking out a bit, no matter if it's out of fear or rage or parts of each. Keeping Miles silent through it all, only to end by saying "you're under arrest" after Roxxon explodes for a few pages, is another solid call, giving us a nice side of Miles and letting us watch Roxxon deteriorate. As I said, fine art helps carry the issue as well, making the fight scenes more entertaining and the exposition more interesting. Pretty good issue.

Secret Avengers 10, Iron Man 17, Indestructible Hulk 14

Secret Avengers 10
Brisson (w) and Ross (a) and Wilson (c)

Infinity tie-in as one of SHIELD's own, a computer tech named Sarah Garza, turns out to be an Inhuman, accidentally destroying her own apartment building as her energy-based powers manifest. Fortunately, there were no casualties as the apartment had already been evacuated in the midst of Thanos' attack. Maria Hill decides to immediately deputize Sarah, who has no real training for this, and send her into New York's battlefield in desperate need of backup. With a modified Stark suit and minutes of training from James Rhodes, Sarah is deployed and instantly makes an impact, helping Rhodey, Fury, and Coulson hold back the aliens. Before they can celebrate too long, though, the small group is besieged by what appears to be another new Inhuman who blames Sarah for destroying their neighborhood.

Not a bad tie-in issue, to be sure. I'm a little annoyed with the timing of it, as I kind of stated in my pre-game this week if only because I think Secret Avengers has hit a nice little patch for itself and it's tough to see it interrupted right as it starts to get going (also when Bucky appears). Still, don't want to judge this book by the book it could have been so, looking at this issue by itself, it certainly stands up alright. Pretty solid writing and characterization with the creation of an interesting new character and an immediate threat presenting itself against that character specifically. It also seems to me a fairly tricky book to write, one that requires its protagonist not to be too skilled to start but to be able to learn quickly. If she's too skilled, you lose the character you've built and a semblance of (bear with me) realism. If she can't pick it up quickly, you don't have much of a book, considering this is a two-issue arc. I think Brisson did a nice job combating that by making her adapt fairly well and also putting her in a Stark suit. The suit allows for an explanation on how she is able to harness he powers so quickly; Tony Stark was ready for her. Easy enough! Good art by the talented Luke Ross and, as ever, great Matt Wilson colors, kind of evocative of Bettie Breitweiser, who excels in these war-torn colors.


Iron Man 17
Gillen (w) and Pagulayan and Hanna (a) and Guru eFX (c)

There was one more secret that the Starks were keeping, even from 451, at the time of their son's birth. Not trusting 451, Howard had kept a watchful eye over the birth of the boy and realized that 451 had implanted another piece to his DNA, a sort of genetic clock that would expire when the boy turned 30 or so. Howard created a cocktail in the hopes of stopping that clock, something he injected into Maria but that they kept secret successfully from 451. However, it ended up introducing a degenerative disease to their son, one that was barely kept at bay by medicine. Now, decades later, Tony has learned this secret and figured it out; he was always a decoy to show 451 that the child he'd masterminded was still alive while the real child he'd masterminded was hidden away, kept alive by science. Tony works it out and, at the Maria Stark Foundation Hospice, he finds his brother Arno. Tony was adopted, Arno is the child that 451 created, there are two Starks, Arno and the world are safe with 451 out of the picture, so on and so forth. Mic-drop from Kieron Gillen (coincidentally, the name of Gillen and McKelvie's third Young Avengers trade is set to be "Mic-Drop at the Edge of Time and Space").

Lots of stuff to get into here and, well, I'm not quite sure how to take it. I really liked the Secret Origin of Tony Stark; it was bold, it was inventive, it was creative, it was a little crazy but it also fit the history of the character extremely well, giving us a big, bold change without sacrificing continuity, a rare feat. Now there's a big, bold change that, I would say again, doesn't really sacrifice continuity, but, somehow, it feels less strong. Tony's adopted. The upside of this is, of course, the one downside that Secret Origin had had before, which is that it reinstates Tony as a self-made genius, someone who grew under his father's tutelage and who excelled at being everything we've come to expect from Tony. That was kind of tainted under the Secret Origin explanation and now it's back, which I'd say is good for Tony as a character. Still, I liked the Secret Origin plot and I'm a little ambivalent to the secret addition of a second Stark. Mostly I'm holding off judgment. I immediately lauded Secret Origin for its boldness and its creativity but I'd rather hold judgment here as things get a little weirder. Still a good story and one that has potential to yield really interesting results but I'm not totally willing just yet to call it a masterstroke. I'm most interested to see where the addition of Arno Stark puts Tony. As great as it is to be back in a place where we know Tony has raised himself up to his current standing, Arno really is the masterpiece 451 created (minus the ability to physically do much of anything and the kill-switch). We already have hints that maybe Arno is more intelligent than Tony (though we have only Arno's word for that) while being, perhaps, a bit more down-to-earth as well (he's actually surprisingly tender with Tony). It'll be interesting to see where this lands everyone after the dust settles.

Indestructible Hulk 14
Waid (w) and Jacinto and Asrar (a) and Staples (c)

The last remaining Chronarchist is messing with Hulk's personal timeline, sending him to fit big enemies in various times and places all through history all while switching back and forth between Hulk personas. Regular Hulk, Mr. Fixit, Gladiator Hulk, they all appear. Banner, stuck in his bot, knows that they're quickly running out of time and that the fights, though Hulk is excited by them, are just distractions. The more time they take, the less chance Banner has of stopping the Chronarchist from changing Hulk's origin story. We find out at this point, of course, that Chronarchist is working on behalf of someone else, the god-you-really-should-have-seen-this-coming Zarrko. Banner manages to steer them to the Gamma Bomb site just in time. He transfers his consciousness into the actual Bruce Banner (albeit years too early) right as the bot itself breaks down. However, Hulk interferes, knocking Banner aside from the blast and getting hit with it himself. Banner isn't Hulk, but Hulk is now extra Hulk.

This is going to be a tricky one to talk about and to recover from. Time travel is always always always tricky. Because it doesn't exist and there aren't real rules but that didn't stop us (that's the collective us, nerds) from making multitudes of rules about it. Are we seeing a butterfly effect situation? Are we seeing divergent timelines? Are we seeing Looper-like time travel rules? Well, I just saw Looper yesterday and it seems like they might be our best chance to explain this. Joseph Gordon-Levitt shoots his future self who is sent back to the past (as all Loopers eventually do) then lives out the rest of his life on the Looper retirement plan. Eventually his life gets better and he falls in love (when he becomes Bruce Willis) and, as the mob come in to kidnap him and send him back to the past to be shot by JGL, they shoot his wife. He manages to then get sent back in time and stop JGL from shooting him, creating a new timeline based on the events of an old timeline. LOOK, it's very complicated and WHY did I just spend half a paragraph talking about Looper? Anyway, it was pretty good and maybe you should watch it if you like science fiction stuff in that realm (you're here, I know you do) and this is all my way of saying that it's hard to review this book because it continues to be good as an individual issue progressing the story but it's hard to judge it without the end of the story to look at. Okay? Okay.