Thanos Annual 1, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude 2

Thanos Annual 1
Starlin (w) and Lim (p) and A. Smith (i) and Staples (c) and Caramagna (l)

It's a trip through Thanos' past as we see him at his lowest point, his defeat at the hands of the original Captain Marvel when he first got his hands on the cosmic cube. While he tries to figure out his next move (and sulks), a future version of Thanos (just an avatar the real Thanos sent out), complete with the Infinity Gauntlet, shows up and tells him that he's going to have a pretty great life. Though he continues to fail, at least someday he'll get the Gauntlet, right? It comes with a warning to Thanos that the end of everything might be coming but it's decidedly vague. The issue ends as future Thanos' avatar returns to Thanos and as the old Thanos starts to feel a bigger purpose.

Bit of an odd book, an annual to a series that does not exist, but I suppose when you have Jim Starlin available to write a book (or maybe asking to do one, I don't really know how this one came about) then you have him write a book that's just in his wheelhouse. It's certainly strange and I'm not sure we're coming away with much more here than a bit of a look at Thanos and his past (and maybe his future, who knows) but it's a fine book from which to get a bit of a history lesson on a lot of the cosmic goings-on. Worth a miss but also not an unworthy book if you're looking to maybe get a crash course on Thanos.

Total Score: 3/5


Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Prelude 2
Abnett and Lanning (w) and Alves (p) and M. Clark (i) and JD Ramos (c) and Cowles (l)

As we look to Guardians of the Galaxy for the next major comic movie release, we see our second and (I think) final issue of this prelude series which gives us a look at Rocket Raccoon and Groot. The two are low on funds and low on prospects as they show up in the Hub, a giant space station with severe social status disparity (the rich live near the top, the center is dangerous). They're hired to steal a case out of the rich section and manage to get up there and snag the case, with Rocket also snagging an impounded gun. They escape the guards at the top and bring the case down, though it's not easy, and hand over the case to find out it's filled with sentient life, essentially snails, whose essence the purchaser wants to use to tile his house. The snails plead to Rocket and offer him double so he instantly takes out his purchaser, takes his money, and he and Groot rescue the snails and fuel up their ship to return the snails home.

It's an okay standalone as we get a quick look at the way this duo lives and what it is they're good at. It's not meant to really be anything more than that so I can't find too many faults with it. There's not a lot in here that goes a lot deeper but a prelude book to a movie isn't supposed to go further. It continues to please me to see Abnett and Lanning returning to the Guardians. It scores pretty well because it does what it's supposed to do (even if it gets a little dull).

Total Score: 4/5

Deadpool 29, Giant-Size Spider-Man 1

Deadpool 29
Posehn and Duggan (w) and J. Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

Deadpool and Shiklah have been targeted by Dracula and his legion of vampires after Deadpool broke up Drac and Shiklah's one-time affair and ended up marrying Shiklah. Now Dracula's out for vengeance and it's up to Deadpool to deal with the attack while Shiklah tries to handle things through negotiation. Deadpool's plan is to enlist Dazzler, which proves difficult because Dazzler is actually Mystique. So instead, he travels back in time (thanks to some F4 device) to rope in the past Dazzler, disco star. Meanwhile, ORIGINAL SIN rages on behind them and Agents Preston and Adsit discover that Deadpool's daughter had been raised by Butler's brother.

It's the first ORIGINAL SIN tie-in both for this series and, really, for the greater Marvel Universe. Of course, AVENGERS is technically an ORIGINAL SIN tie-in right now but it's not exactly so clear-cut as that. Here, though it's currently the B-plot, we see a different angle of the final scene from ORIGINAL SIN 2 and it leads to the knowledge about Deadpool's daughter Eleanor. Deadpool is still dutifully ignoring the idea of his daughter (though he can't help but ask about it when he runs into Preston and Adsit) and doing what he can to embrace his wife's life. It still feels like there's something darker to Deadpool's new life and his willful ignorance of his possible daughter (because we're told repeatedly there's more there) but we'll put it aside for a story that pits Deadpool and Dazzler against Dracula's vampires. There's maybe a story in here but it feels a teeny bit disjointed, as is sometimes the case with a tie-in issue.

Total Score: 3/5


Giant-Size Spider-Man 1
Caramagna (w) and Koblish, Caracuzzo, Ciregia, Casagrande, and Seeley (a) and Sotocolor (c) and Caramagna (l)

It's a slew of stories from Spider-Man's start from expert letterer Joe Caramagna in this triple-sized issue which tells three stories, including Spider-Man's origin, a run-in with Vulture, with Dr. Octopus, and with Sandman. It ends with Peter, for the sake of his aunt, setting up weekly meetings with the school counselor to work through his issues with Uncle Ben's death.

I always like seeing people who are known for one thing in comics (Caramagna as a letter showing off as writer here, Chris Eliopolous as a letterer drawing phenomenal art for a recent HAWKEYE issue, Javier Rodriguez jumping from colorist to full pencils and inks and colors for DAREDEVIL) do a separate thing and do it pretty well. Caramagna isn't doing anything here that's blowing anyone out of the water (I actually preferred his little catch-up story in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1 because its fun tone felt more decisive) but it's nice to see. Overall, though, the story is a watered down version of one that Spidey fans have seen about a million times without too much added. It's a whirlwind rush through a few introductions to Spider-Man's villains with really condensed origins for the three of them so maybe it'll work for people looking to dive into his history a little without much knowledge to start. It's not terrible by any stretch but it's not really anything I can point to for a big recommendation. Peek through it if you're not super familiar with the character and would like to be. For those who already have some thoughts on Spidey, it's not really going to change your outlook in anyway and it might be a bit of a slog.

Total Score: 2/5

Rumors surround FANTASTIC FOUR comic fate

There are rumors out there, put out by terrible reporters Bleeding Cool (whatever, all I do is espouse opinions anyway), that Marvel may be canceling (or at least "putting on hold") comic series FANTASTIC FOUR and ULTIMATE FF to try to draw potential movie ticket sales away from Fox Studios and their upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Look, I'm not in the business and I don't know the real story but we can pretty much all agree this is the stupidest rumor, right? Bleeding Cool pretty exclusively promotes rumor as near-fact and speculation as journalism. On top of that, I can't imagine anyone believes that these comic series, these new volumes, will draw heaping crowds to Fox or that Marvel believes Fox won't already have crowds. Usually they build on this sort of movie hype (even if it's not from their own studio) to sell more comics. They're not going to take comic characters created over fifty years ago out of circulation because they're about to get more popular. That'd be the dumbest business strategy ever and, while I've been skeptical and critical about Marvel's business the last few months, I certainly don't think they're stupid or petty. On the flip side, I wouldn't be all that surprised if either book was shelved because ULTIMATE FF seems like a risky title as is and FANTASTIC FOUR is, in this reviewer's opinion, simply not very good. More alarming (though Marvel never releases their own numbers so this is only a little more than speculation) is the news midway down the page of the above-linked article (from CBR, I'm going to try to never link to Bleeding Cool, even when this sort of story nearly requires it) that projects CAPTAIN AMERICA, IRON MAN, X-FORCE, AVENGERS WORLD, and ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER as selling worse. Three of those books are gold and two are pretty new but still pretty good, it seems. Look, whatever. There are a lot of things happening that I have an opinion about right now.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 4, Wolverine 7, B-B-B-BONUS Savage Wolverine 19

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 4
Remender (w) and Boschi (a) and Chuckry (c) and Cowles (l)

As the train goes crashing into a small village, Ran Shen and Mila manage to use a grappling hook to stay above the explosion, just as Winter Soldier and the Drain hover out of it on Bucky's jetpack. The Drain starts to open Winter Soldier's mind to his past, draining his will to live by showing him what he's become after what he'd been. Bucky is barely able to keep from killing himself but jettisons the Drain on to the village, blasting himself a bit away from his influence. The Drain calls out to Shen and Mila, appealing to Mila's desire to help people by making the villagers kill themselves and draining their willpower. When she shows herself to make him stop, he does the same to Shen, calling him out as someone whose given everything to a country he no longer believes in and citing a mission that went wrong and led to plenty of innocent deaths. As Shen is beginning to believe that he should kill himself, the Winter Soldier shows up again and punches the Drain, forcing him to flee with Mila and giving Bucky a chance to appeal to Shen for his help. As they advance, he tells Shen that his memories are blurry and that the Hydra psychic opened something up in him. When they catch up to the Drain, the psychic convinces Mila to kill herself, preferring she die than fall into enemy hands. As Shen attacks the Drain, Winter Soldier dives off the cliff and catches Mila.

I've been writing shorter reviews this week rather pointedly but between this and the earlier THUNDERBOLTS issue, I just can't stop telling you the plot. That's sometimes not a great thing because sometimes it means there's too much plot told through too much exposition and I have to relate it all for the summary to make sense. In this case (as with THUNDERBOLTS though probably more here), it's because I'm excited by the story and because so much happened in 22 pages that I want to say it all. It's a pretty phenomenal issue and it's such an interesting limited series as we get to see a Cold War-era Winter Soldier remember who he is and temporarily break out of his programming. Remender has so much happening but it never bogs him down; instead, the pacing is near-perfect and the characters all get their moment and it's all compelling. Roland Boschi's art is great and Chris Chuckry's colors complement it perfectly. Really phenomenal book and I'm sad but excited to see the way it all ends next time. This has, so far, been one of the most satisfying limited series I've read in a long time.

Total Score: 5/5


Wolverine 7
Cornell (w) and Sandoval (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Some monkeys steal the orb that Wolverine needs to get for MI-6 before Sabretooth can get it while he plays his team and pretends that he's still trying to get the orb for Offer so he can make a deal with Sabretooth. As Sabretooth goes in pursuit of the Orb, the Hand bring Wolverine down with poisoned arrows. Faiza shows up to extract the poison and save Wolverine before withdrawing, but she can't leave before Pinch sees her and it confirms Pinch's fears about Logan. They finally get their hands on the orb and it fights Logan, who can't get the passcode, with his opposite Logan. When the doppleganger's been put down by Pinch, who, with the help of Fuel, can interact more successfully with the Orb, she and the team leave Wolverine behind. Captain Britain extracts him but Sabretooth finds Pinch and the others, kills Fuel, and shows Pinch that he has her daughter.

There's a lot of fairly interesting stuff here that's tied together by a somewhat loose few strings. The first loose string is that the orb is rather a convenient plot device of a weapon, one that announces to Pinch that Wolverine is a hero and pulls his opposite version, a feral villain, out of the ether to fight him to further confirm things (also that it needs a passcode, which is weird for an orb). The second and probably more important string for the big character moment of this issue is that I don't buy Pinch and Wolverine's relationship. Granted, Cornell may not have had a couple years to cement their relationship as something that seemed real before this arc but it still feels like their relationship was something wispy and hardly there and now it's the crux of this entire emotional journey. It feels weak from both sides so using it to raise up the entire story causes the whole thing to rather collapse. There are some interesting ideas in here and I like Sandoval's art for the story (makes things look a lot more dynamic than anything in Cornell's first WOLVERINE story and feels maybe a little more cartoonish in the action than Stegman's stuff, though Stegman didn't have as much action to draw), but it all falls somewhat flat on their relationship (and, to a lesser extent, on the convenient orb).

Total Score: 3/5


Savage Wolverine 19
Simone (w) and N. Edwards (p) and Pallot (i) and Sotomayor (c) and Petit (l)

Note: This is a b-b-b-bonus review insofar as it came out last week but I didn't get my hands on it until pretty late so I rather put it off more than I should have. So, not so much bonus as "here it is, late." Here it is either way though, SAVAGE WOLVERINE 19 written by the incomparable Gail Simone (I wrote this blurb before I read the issue so hopefully I have only good things to say about Simone afterwards)

Wolverine dreams of a home under the Northern Lights, removed from people, with Jean. Of course, it's too good to be true and Professor X communicates with him to break him out of the dream, reminding him that he and Jubilee have been captured by AIM for testing. They're trying to get a hold of where the two are but for now, he has to get out of his restraints and find Jubilee. He manages it and learns that they're under a new sedation method that makes them dream of something they really want, meaning that they don't really fight the sedation and the brain does all the work for them. Though Wolverine broke out of his, Jubilee remains attached to hers (where she's one of the most powerful X-Men, even with her powers, and Wolverine is her sidekick) even when he breaks her out. Professor X informs Logan that they're closing in and that he shouldn't break Jubilee's illusion in the fear that it's strong enough to do real damage to her mentally if she comes out unexpectedly. So Wolverine, acting like Jubilee's sidekick, follows her as she storms through the compound being ineffective. Finally she does get smart to what's really happening but, as it happened softly enough, she's okay, just a little hurt by how bad her powers are. However, as Wolverine gets blasted, she manages to hold off AIM long enough for him to recover and for them to get out of there. He cheers her up as they leave, telling her that her powers, in his eyes, are some of the best around (he harkens back to the Northern Lights as he compliments them).

It's a rather sweet issue and an overall very fun issue. One of the things that I really like about Gail Simone (though I haven't read too much by her as she's mostly with DC these days) is that she gets into the head of a character so well and that she seems to understand the humanity of a character. On top of that, she's not afraid to pull punches. In this issue, she teams Wolverine, someone who claims to be the best there is at what he does, with Jubilee, someone with the power of fireworks (the only way you can be more '80s/'90s is by dressing like Jubilee did in the '80s/'90s). Jubilee's happy place is a place where she is more powerful than she actually believes she is. On top of it, she snaps out of it and almost immediately says "my powers suck," which is rather true but also rather cutting. You don't see that sort of self-awareness from a lot of characters. On top of that, Simone cuts right to the core of things (very important for a self-contained issue) and teams Wolverine and Jubilee, two characters who don't particularly see themselves fitting in with the X-Men at any point. It's immediately a compelling story and one that instantly works. Obviously she's not the first person to team the two and it's a duo that's worked to varying degrees in the past but she dives right in and makes it her own here. Solid book, definitely worth a look.

Total Score: 4/5

Guardians of the Galaxy 15, Thunderbolts 26

Guardians of the Galaxy 15
Bendis (w) and Bradshaw and C. Stewart (p) and Bradshaw, Stewart, and Wong (i) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

The Guardians have been separated and captured with Rocket landing with the Kree (to be experimented on), Gamora left with the Badoon brotherhood (to be questioned about Thanos), Drax left to the Shi'ar (to be punished), newly acquired Venom attacked on Knowhere by the Skrulls, Groot left with the Brood, and Star-Lord being held on Spartax. They all seem to be failing at escaping except, as the issue ends, potentially Star-Lord. Despite the cover, no sign of Captain Marvel.

Unless you're a completionist and you're looking to obtain this whole series, it's worth missing this one. There are tiny little glimpses of character in the way each Guardian reacts to his or her capture (Rocket shows fear for the slightest moment, Gamora refuses to stop fighting, Drax threatens calmly but sighs to his deceased wife, etc.) and obviously we see where everyone is but that's pretty much all that happens in twenty pages of book. There are as many double page spreads in this issue as I've ever seen and it ends up just meaning that we get less story in fewer meaningful pages. There's no doubt in my mind that this could have been done just as effectively in ten pages and we could have had another half issue to move to the next step, maybe featuring, oh, I don't know, star of the cover Captain Marvel. Seriously. Look at that cover. Is that the cover of a book that doesn't see nor hear about Captain Marvel in the slightest? It's a low score for this one, then, not because it's a particularly bad book but just because it slows things down at a time when things don't really need to be slowed down and it means you're paying full price for half a book's worth of content (not to belittle Nick Bradshaw and Cameron Stewart's work, which is fine but didn't blow me away to the point where I'll ignore a stagnant story).

Total Score: 2/5


Thunderbolts 26
Soule (w) and Diaz (a) and Silva (c) and Sabino (l)

Ghost Rider's been eaten by a swamp monster thanks to Leader's treachery and Elektra and Punisher have been crushed by a cliche. Deadpool saves Leader from Cordoba and his men, enraged by what they've been through, but it doesn't stop Leader from trying to kill Deadpool as they go into the temple. Deadpool sees through the ruse and stabs Leader but leaves him alive enough to still enact his plan and send Deadpool into a pool of lava. Leader moves forward to find the artifact their after, the head of a long dead Celestial left here by the ancient Deviants, a race the Celestials created then deemed imperfect and unfit to inherit the world. The Deviants killed the young Celestial and left the head here, hoping it could transform their people into something more capable but then lost it to time and struggle. Now Red Hulk's former men have found it and Mancuso, the one who reached out to Red Hulk, explains (after Red Hulk kills his one-time lover scientist lady who turns out to be a Deviant looking for this exact thing) what's happened since he found it. Leader arrives, drinks some Celestial blood, and has his head explode from the power. With his whole team dead, Mancuso tells Red Hulk that he has two options: for Mancuso to kill him and give him the death he seeks or to work for the light. After a moment's hesitation, Red Hulk chooses the light and we're transported back to the very start of this mission, where Red Hulk tells the team that they're actually going to do something else now.

It's Charles Soule's last issue on THUNDERBOLTS, which is rather a shame because he took this book that I found somewhat middling, even if it featured a team that really intrigued me, and he immediately made it something fun and fresh, completely worthy of my one-time excitement. Still, he leaves the book on an up-swing, with the team all alive and perhaps destined for bigger and better things. It's definitely entertaining to see how the final deaths play out (Deadpool has a particularly nice moment as he sees through Leader's attempt to kill him, though it still leads to Leader killing him) and it leaves the book in an interesting place where we know what these characters would have gone through and how they would have acted in this adventure but now this adventure never happened so they don't necessarily know how it would have played out. Ben Acker and Ben Blacker have a really interesting job to take on and I'm excited to see what they produce. But let's not forget to laud Charles Soule for his fantastic take on this book and for, as I see it, righting the ship as soon as he jumped on to it.

Total Score: 5/5

Iron Man 26, Iron Patriot 3

Iron Man 26

Gillen (w) and Bennett and Ross (p) and Hanna and Ross (i) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)

Malekith, unable to defend himself from the other six rings and their wearers, makes a deal with Tony: he'll give the ring up if Tony will get him out of the area safely. Tony is wary but agrees, preferring, as Malekith puts it, to win than to take revenge. Tony returns to Earth with the rings intact and hides them away in his encasement. something is happening with the Bride (from way back in the Extremis storyline) and it may just be tied to the fact that Tony has discovered that Arno is trying to perfect Extremis. It's a problem Tony will have to deal with later, though, as four rings has brought them closer to their own goals, which seem to be constructing a ring of their own.

The book is appropriately dark, both in tone and in art/color, for the sorts of shady goings-on that are happening here. Between Iron Man making a deal with Malekith to protect him from the ring-bearers and Iron Man discovering who some of the other ring-bearers are and Arno trying to work the kinks out of the extremely dangerous Extremis and the two of them concocting something to do with the rings, there are a lot of threads here and exactly none of them guarantee any sort of a happy ending. There are outcomes, potentially, that may be less terrible than others available, but many of the possible outcomes are very worrying for Iron Man and it's impossible not to recognize that to some extent in this story. Well done overall.

Total Score: 4/5

Iron Patriot 3

Kot (w) and G. Brown (a) and Charalampidis (c) and Cowles (l)

Rhodes nearly dies from his time underwater but his mysterious savior/possible attacker revives him with a jolt of electricity as a homemade defibrillator. Rhodes attacks him but is forced to stop when the armored man threatens James' father and Lila. Meanwhile, James' father throws himself at the kidnappers, who seem to have some personal issue with him, allowing Lila a chance to run. Back with the masked man, a former agent of SHIELD, James learns that the man has kidnapped him in the hopes that he'll assassinate the former president for him, throwing the country into a civil war over how soldiers are used.

It's a compelling enough story and, I'd say, the most compelling aspect of it is how fast each issue reads. I try not to compare a writer's work to his other work (I do this unsuccessfully OFTEN) but it's hard to separate that I haven't really liked Kot's work with Marvel to this point, mostly because I think it's trying too hard to hit too many points and it ends up slowing an issue down or needlessly complicating things. Here, Kot has an interesting story and seemingly complicated moral decision for our protagonist to make and he's keeping the exposition and the dialogue to a minimum, letting both the art breathe and the story to stand on its own. Each of these issues has read quickly but not because they're uninteresting or poorly written or anything along those lines. They're gripping and compelling and Garry Brown's art and Jim Charalampidis' colors work extremely well with the tone and the content.

Total Score: 5/5

All-New Invaders 5, Fantastic Four 5

All-New Invaders 5
J. Robinson (w) and Pugh (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

Everything works out because Winter Soldier breaks out Aarkus and he and another Eternal find the God's Whisper while Torch knocks out the watching Kree soldiers and Steve uses a computer virus laced shield (??) to shut down the Supremor for a time while they make their way off-planet. Back on Earth, Namor returns to the deep, Bucky goes back to wherever it is Bucky goes, and Cap recruits Jim to SHIELD while they muse over what Aarkus could be doing with the Eternals (hint: controlling Galactus in the Negative Zone with the God's Whisper if they should ever need him).

That "everything works out" bit above is only there partly because I'm lazy. Moreover, though, it's there because that's the spirit of this issue. It's very much a book that revolves around the old school style "I only wanted you to THINK I'd missed when, in fact, I was aiming at that device above you that's currently toppling on you" or some such that I swear happened in every other issue of AVENGERS back near the start of its run. Here it's all meaningless misdirect as Bucky buys time, Cap has a computer virus on his shield (not how that works, for the record, don't care what kind of comic book technology you have), and Torch ups the radiation in the room with Cap waving it off by literally saying "I'm immune." If the solutions are ridiculous then the stakes are meaningless. It's like being in an imaginary shootout with a child who keeps saying "no, you didn't hit me! I have a forcefield and the shot bounced and hit you!" You can make up the rules all you want, that doesn't mean I'm going to be on board with it. Pugh's art is pretty good though.

Total Score: 2/5


Fantastic Four 5
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk (p) and Leisten and Magyar (i) and Aburtov (c) and Cowles (l)

The Fantastic Four are on trial and the prosecutor is dragging them through the mud about every major superhero thing they've played a role in and how many people it hurt and it ends with a ruling that we don't get the full sense of yet but means the kids of the FF are shipped off to Camp Hammond to be watched by new SHIELD agent Jim Hammond (very quickly making his first SHIELD appearance from above). Oh, and in other news on this book, it made me as angry as any other book I've read in the past year and a half and I can't believe Marvel decided to charge five dollars for a book with five extra pages in it (albeit with art from all sorts of different artists).

Seriously. The courtroom superhero drama hasn't been compelling since the first time it was done and, when it's done this poorly, it throws everything into question. There's a writing trick wherein a writer knows exactly how a sane character would get out of a problem but dutifully ignores that solution because there's no drama in it. That's what Robinson's doing but it's not just Robinson who knows how to get out of it, it's every single person reading this book ever. The prosecutor has the shakiest grasp on how to prosecute and his terribleness and the terribleness of the entire plot draws the lawyering abilities of She-Hulk, the F4's lawyer, into severe question. It's a rare book that can take a completely separate book that I really like (SHE-HULK) and call it into question by painting its protagonist so weak. It's choppy writing at best and it's a terrible and cliche story that's executed about as badly as it could be. It feels like it was an excuse to get a bunch of guest artists in (who all do admirable work, though it sometimes feels like it's Marvel trying to hard sell their other books as Samnee draws some Daredevil related business and the Allred's pop in to draw Galactus and the Silver Surfer) and to charge an extra dollar for five extra pages and the book is garbage. Literally within the first three pages I was angry at this book.

Total Score: 1/5

Inhuman 2, Ms. Marvel 4

Inhuman 2
Soule (w) and Madureira (a) and Gracia (c) and Cowles (l)

With new Inhuman, or Nuhuman, Dante and sister Gabby successfully in the fold (though they're certainly hesitant about this new life), Medusa moves on to other business, such as securing more of fallen Attilan and staking a claim in the new world. With the help of Captain America, she defends a piece of Atillan from AIM attackers and then broadcasts and announcement to the world, saying that over the Hudson is their place now and that Nuhumans are welcome to join. As her day winds down, one more person comes to meet with her, a possible Inhuman named Lineage, who claims he knows why Black Bolt did what he did and that she's messing things up.

This is something of a tough book to write, and not just because of the production problems it suffered early on. Soule is tasked with getting readers up to speed on the Inhumans as a whole and all these new threats and new challenges. Still, he has to try to develop characters like Medusa, Gorgon, the doctor Vinatos, Dante, and Gabby, not to mention Lash (from last issue) and now Lineage. There are a lot of balls in the air right now and Soule is doing what he can to keep them there or catch them. There are certainly some bumps in this book but by and large it's a worthwhile read. Joe Mad's art is pretty spectacular and his fight art is stunning. Hopefully the book will be a little more engaging when all our players are in place.

Total Score: 4/5


Ms. Marvel 4
G.W. Wilson (w) and Alphona (a) and Herring (c) and Caramagna (l)

Bruno's younger brother Vick fled after accidentally shooting Kamala, still shifted to look like Captain Marvel. Bruno calls an ambulance but Kamala reverts to her regular self which, on top of showing Bruno who she is, heals her. It's not a perfect heal, as if she switches back to Captain Marvel she's still wounded, but she's able to safely stay Kamala. She and Bruno talk about the trouble Vick is in and Kamala vows to help him. She goes home and assembles a costume then she and Bruno meet at the shady house that Vick has been going to, home of, perhaps, new villain the Inventor. A newly outfitted Kamala busts in calling herself Ms. Marvel and takes out, with some difficulty, the robots guarding the place before finding Vick and finding herself face-to-face with the Inventor.

One of the things that has made this book so compelling from the start (and it's something that I think NOVA has hit on a few time in its run) is that it's fresh. You can feel the youth in this book, regardless if the book is actually created by younger people or not. What I mean to say is that this book (and at times in NOVA, mostly during Wells' and Duggan's runs) does a pretty good job putting a realistic kid in these situations. Kamala is fresh and fun and, though she's clearly smart and good, she's undoubtedly still a teenager. It doesn't feel like "this person is writing a teenager!" for the majority of the book. Instead, it feels like simply a compelling young woman. Adrian Alphona's art can't be left out of this. Though G. Willow Wilson is writing a solid Kamala, Alphona's art grounds this series in a way, to such a degree, that very few artists can do. Overall just a really fun and interesting book that feels like it has places to go.

Total Score: 5/5

Avengers 30, Uncanny Avengers 20, Mighty Avengers 10

Avengers 30
Hickman (w) and Yu (p) and Alanguilan (i) and Gho (c) and Petit (l)

The group of Avengers heavies from last issue (Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hyperion, and Starbrand) have been transported to the future, which seems nice on the outside but is hiding something darker, as a fifty-years-older Hawkeye shows up remembering this day and his team starts to intimate the deaths they've seen and future-Hawkeye ends up beating the crap out of Stark until he's pulled off. He gives the team a few warnings about the futures they'll travel to next (the time gem will keep pushing them further) and a secret warning to Cap. Then the team is, indeed, transported away, though Tony returns himself to the present with the device in his palm that warns his team of incoming incursions. Next stop for the rest of them: betrayal+422 years.

The fight between Tony and Steve continues to be remarkably compelling though it ends quickly as they have to get their bearings and figure out the next step. The tensions raise higher, though, as Tony points out that whatever he did must have worked because here the world is, just 50 years later, looking great. Steve's argument is helped by the enraged future-Hawkeye (though he's admittedly not the best judge of character). Some strong stuff in here, some typical Marvel time-travel stuff (note who is and isn't on the team here, Hawkeye makes mention of kids, and so on), and the surprise ending of Tony returning to the present to do what he needs to do and leaving his fellow Avengers bouncing through time. Overall a pretty strong book and, though I find I can't particularly fault it for asking these questions as they're natural questions to ask, I could always do with a little less "HEY AUDIENCE, ASK SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS FUTURE!"

Total Score: 4/5


Uncanny Avengers 20
Remender (w) and Acuña (a) and Cowles (l)

Havok, Beast, and Kang's group fight against the X-Council and X-Force on behalf of trying to save the world. Cyclops turns on Magneto to help his brother, deciding that a chance at saving Earth was better than what they had. He and the rest of the X-Council turn on X-Force to give the others the chance to get away, which they do, going with Kang to attack Eimin and restore Shiro and Wolverine. With the surviving Unity Squad reunited and Eimin out of the fight, punished by her adoptive father, Kang and Magistrate Braddock send the team back.

There are a lot of really strong character moments in here for our team, between Thor seeking retribution on Eimin and eventually giving the speech that should serve to unify the broken team, Wolverine threatening to sabotage the entire plan if Kang doesn't send them far enough back to save Rogue and knocking out Shiro when Shiro tries to rebel against the plan and Kang's involvement, etc. Plenty of great character moments even in a book loaded with plot and with fight scenes. It's a testament to the strength of the writing that we come out with a bigger and better sense of our players even with so much action. Daniel Acuña's art and colors continue to amaze as well. Very strong stuff.

Total Score: 5/5


Mighty Avengers
Ewing (w) and Land (p) and Leisten (i) and D'Armata (c) and Petit (l)

The Watcher's been murdered and everyone is on the case. Blue Marvel, a friend to Watcher, goes to meet with Ulana, wife of Uatu, on the moon. He swears revenge but she requests something different from him: that he be the godfather to their newborn child. Meanwhile, Cage, Spectrum, and Falcon take down one of the Mindless Ones in New York before agreeing to jump into the case as well. Finally, Blade has been brought down by a legion of were-birds after plenty more were-animals have attacked him over the last few weeks and now he's at the center of a plot to unleash a new breed of Deathwalkers.

I was thinking a lot about the role of UNCANNY AVENGERS in the present Marvel Universe and, while I love the fact that these characters all exist in this rich and detailed world where they can run into one another and where the events of the world affect everyone, how nice it is to see a book that feels so removed from all of it. Okay, so obviously UNCANNY AVENGERS is driven at its core by mutant-human relations and what that's meant the universe over (and it obviously impacted a lot of other books early on in its run) but it hasn't touched the last couple of events and it hasn't crossed with many other books (they pop up more in other books than other teams pop up in theirs) and it feels SO REFERESHING. Meanwhile, this book seems to want to get its hands into every little thing the comes along and that kind of works for what Ewing has built, a team that exists only to intercede where it's needed, but it makes it hard to see this book as its own thing. It's not an awful issue by itself but it doesn't really feel like it's about to come into its own, even with the ongoing Blade storyline and the Blue Marvel storyline.

Total Score: 3/5

QUICK NOTE ON REVIEWS THIS WEEK

Hey all my buddies, just a note to say that I'm feeling a little burned out on reviews right now (happens every so often here at Marvel because sometimes I just want to read Marvel comics for fun again without worrying about what I'm going to say about the comic or worrying about what it says for Marvel as a business. Is this too much detail to get into?) so I'm going to aim to shorten up my reviews at least for the coming week until I start to get more into the swing of things again. Maybe if one really blows me away I'll extend its review but right now I just want something simple. Plus, you know, Mario Kart is out this week so it's entirely possible I'll be too busy ever again to do anything else. Just kidding, comics always come first. ALWAYS.

Comics this week

Another fairly busy week this week with 17 new releases scheduled to hit and some fairly big ones to boot. Still, five stand out, as they ever seem to, from the rest of the pack.

Avengers 30
AVENGERS had slipped somewhat out of my top titles to look for lists but the last couple issues, detailing Banner and Captain America finding out about the reformed Illuminati (or finding out again, as the case may have been), have brought an incredible tension to the book and have kept me on the edge of my seat (does that cliche work when you're reading? I don't really need to lean forward to get a closer look). With AVENGERS 30, I'm looking for more of that.

Inhuman 2
I'm not so sure what to make of this series still but Charles Soule has been good to us since he made his way to Marvel and I don't expect that to change. The biggest flaws in the series thus far have been on the business end; problems launching and shipping have led to a somewhat stagnant feeling behind the main message. Still, hopefully Soule will be able to pull us in with this series as it's clear Marvel has some big plans for the Inhumans.

Ms. Marvel 4
If you're not reading this book yet, it's time to get on board. It's drawing comparisons to books like ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, which is one that people still reference as one of their favorite books all time. Get into this one before you've missed the rush of it and while it's still retailing, miraculously, for $2.99. Also, if the characters, writing, and interior art weren't enough (note: they are), Jamie McKelvie is doing the covers for this series at current and they are amazing.

Uncanny Avengers 20
While the Marvel Universe shifts into ORIGINAL SIN, UNCANNY AVENGERS stays its course, continuing to tell the story it's been telling for a solid 15 issues or so at this point. It's a true epic of a tale, something that's almost impossible to see in Marvel these days. More impressively, it remains good and compelling. Time to head back to Planet X while we push towards the end.

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 4
I've really been enjoying this book so far, an extremely interesting story in its own right but clearly a story that's working to a greater end (it continues to be a story both about the Winter Soldier, always worth reading, and about Ran Shen, current villain of CAPTAIN AMERICA, well before he was a villain and back when he was a high-ranking SHIELD officer). The gorgeous covers and the fantastic interior art have set a tone for this limited series that is rarely seen from Marvel.

This week's picks

Plenty of books out there this week but the top three rather stand out to me. Guess I can't ask for easier than that? AND, spoilers, THEY'RE ALL FROM ONE REVIEW THIS WEEK.

Amazing Spider-Man 2

I'm particularly impressed in this issue how much Slott is setting up without it ever feeling like "geez, we get it." I got that feeling a few times nearing the end of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN (or perhaps it was the middle, when Spidey 2099 started popping up and Sup Spidey was kicked out of Horizon and so on) and I've seen Slott fall into that trap before. Instead, here, he's rearing to go with a lot of stories (you just know that Dan Slott has been the one most eagerly anticipating Peter's return) but he's, as of now, planning to roll them out only when it's really time to roll them out. With so much happening already in the plot, it's nice to see the book waiting until the time is right to add more stories in. On top of that, this issue was strong in its own right, fast and fun and this volume still has the new car smell so we should all be excited to show it off to all our friends before it starts to get worn in.

Daredevil 3

There are weeks when I try a little harder (or the books try a little harder, I suppose) to make my picks a little less standard, trying to shine a light on other books that have the ability to unseat one of my typical choices. NOT THIS WEEK, friends. I praised DAREDEVIL on its consistency this week and I don't just mean that it's consistently putting out a readable book, which would be a feat in its own right. No, this book is consistently one of the best books on the shelves and 2013 saw it winning its fair share of "best of" lists (or at least placing near the top). Mark Waid has been writing a really engaging Daredevil while telling a really interesting story and Chris Samnee has been doing stellar work all the way through. Even steps that should have felt a little predictable in this issue feel fresh and exciting and the writing and tone alone would make for a completely worthwhile top pick, but Chris Samnee and Javier Rodriguez's art just always shoot this book up to another level. Great work.

Elektra 2

Though we're only two issues in, I'm really enjoying this series. It's a little hard not to draw critical comparisons to BLACK WIDOW as we see two typically colder characters, both professionals and neither afraid to get their hands dirty, start to get their own unique narratives and enter into their own unique stories, but I'm not about to start complaining (about either book). Mike Del Mundo's art is gorgeous, the story is compelling, and the characters, from what we've seen about them so far, seem more than capable of carrying this series. Both Edmondson of BLACK WIDOW and Blackman of ELEKTRA are also doing the smart thing with the dialogue: neither of these protagonists are chatterboxes and neither writer is finding it necessary to turn them into such to advance the plot. They're both excellent at showing, not telling, and at building character through action and, of course, narrative (never hurts to have a direct line into the thoughts of a character, even though these books are still keeping those somewhat close to the vest). Really neat book so far.

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: All-New Doop 2, Deadpool Annual 2

All-New Doop 2

Milligan (w) and Lafuente (a) and L. Allred (c) and Cowles (l)

Despite Doop's sudden ability to speak English, Kitty still refuses his marriage proposal. He brings her between the margins, which freaks her out a little, but he treats her to an ultimately nice night. He also tells her (as this happens during BATTLE OF THE ATOM) that she should have the courage of her convictions and that she should fight for what she believes, in this case that the ANXM should be allowed to choose if they want to stay or go back (GOD, still so stupid). By issue's end, he's given her the courage to voice her beliefs but he's also run afoul of the future's Kitty Pryde, who of course turned out to be Mystique's son Raze, who stabs Doop.

The "traveling through the margins" thing continues to be a pretty neat visual and a useful plot device but his love of Kitty still seems so sudden and thus so baffling that it's a little hard to get into this series. Making matters worse (for me) is the connection to BATTLE OF THE ATOM and that Doop's interference here is helping Kitty to step up for something so dumb (I'm all for people getting to choose their own fate except when their choice might break the entire time-space continuum. That's one of very few exceptions). Still, Lafuente's art is good and there's enough new here to at least make the book worth checking out.

Total Score: 3/5

Deadpool Annual 2

Hastings (w) and Camagni (a) and Milla (c) and Sabino (l)

The Chameleon is terrorizing Spider-Man, rapidly changing into seemingly innocent civilians in need of help before stabbing Spider-Man with a knife or a sedative and disappearing again. Deadpool, once he proves to Spider-Man he's really who he says he is, vows to help his "amazing friend." After Spider-Man is sedated by Chameleon and Deadpool throws Chameleon out a window, Deadpool drags Spider-Man into a closet to change clothes with him and allow him to rest. Pool takes up the Spider-Man identity for the day, foiling crimes and trying to out Chameleon. After a strange fight with the Master, a snake-based villain who is changed into a giant mouse, Chameleon appears and tries to sedate Deadpool. The real Spider-Man, wearing Deadpool's costume now, shows up to help and Chameleon tries to imitate him to confuse the gun-wielding true Deadpool. Deadpool figures it out, shoots the right Chameleon in the leg, and he and Spidey part amicably.

It's a fairly fun one-and-a-half size issue, one that doesn't require a whole lot of outside reading or a whole lot of knowledge of either character but is certainly entertaining enough to justify reading it. As a giant size issue, it's $4.99 and I can't fully endorse it at that price, as much as I love Christopher Hastings and as much as I like his Deadpool. It is fun writing and it is strong art but it very much is something of a throwaway book, fun to read once but probably never to be revisited. In other words, typical annual stuff.

Total Score: 4/5

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Ultimate FF 2, Miracleman 6

Ultimate FF 2
Fialkov (w) and Guevara (p) and Vlasco, Hanna, Pennington, and Leisten (i) and Rosenberg (c) and Sabino (l)

The FF, complete with new member Victor Van Damme, are tasked with finding out what happened to group of disappeared rich people living in an underwater luxury destination built near the ruins of Lemuria. Falcon and Stark speculate that the abrupt disappearance has to do with dimensional shifts but they have to put their theories aside when suddenly Namor, the thought-dead emperor of Atlantis, appears, as does apparently the entire population of Atlantis, all of whom have super strength because everyone seems to be from a different dimension.

It's a little hard to follow some of the different dimension talk because the theories start to ask if just about everyone they stumble upon isn't from a different dimension but nothing is ever really confirmed. Some of the bickering between the team is fun (a good Doom is typically a welcome addition to any sort of team book or, you know, any book) but some of it feels a little out of place and forced. Still, the book has an energy and a sense of fun to it that's certainly welcome. I should mention that Tom Grummett is credited with layout work on the art in this book but I didn't want to double use the letter "L" above.

Total Score: 4/5


Miracleman 6
Moore (w) and A. Davis and Ridgway (a) and Oliff (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miracleman and Evelyn Cream head to Paraguay to find Gargunza, who Miracleman suspects has his wife. While Cream wrestles with his motivations for all of his actions, Miracleman stays decidedly quiet, seemingly scared. Gargunza, meanwhile, runs some tests on Liz thinking about how neat it's going to be to be immortal. We also get a flash to the past of Gargunza and MM as, back in the testing days of the '60s, Gargunza observed and experimented on Miracleman. One particular set of tests, though, started to see Miracleman's subconscious begin to try to rouse him from his sleep, to set him to the task of stopping Gargunza. Gargunza manages to set his mind at ease at the last moment but the fear he raised is palpable.

Another strong issue, though this one feels almost like a rest issue, giving us a chance to kind of catch up with the story and prep for the upcoming encounter between Miracleman and Gargunza. There are interesting things happening with Cream that we're only kind of privy to but dishing it out slowly is an effective way to keep us interested. Plenty of cool things still happening in this book and it continues to be a worthwhile read even for those not so interested in the re-release.

Total Score: 5/5

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Nova 17, Magneto 4

Nova 17
Duggan (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Curiel (c) and Deschesne (l)

Sam wants to help his mother out of their financial woes but, as so many have learned before him, there's not a lot of money in superheroing. Meanwhile, his comings and goings have attracted the attention of plenty of UFO-seekers and his mom requests he keep a lower profile. They talk about the possible eviction and about his dad, who Sam tells his mother is alive, according to the news he received from the Watcher. Sam decides he'll talk to the Watcher more to try to get help (but he won't, because ORIGINAL SIN).

It's a little bit of a rest issue here after the long space-based arc with Beta Ray Bill but it does its work to ground Sam a little more. One of the challenges of such a book is to make sure that it still feels human, even with all of the space travel and such. It's helped by the fact that Sam is just a child so he's limited in how long he can go without returning to Earth. As such, it's a nice break issue and it helps to keep this series feeling pretty human, even if it means we're not seeing a huge advancement in the plot. The writing is still pretty strong and the characters get a chance to really shine through in this one. Medina and Vlasco do some solid work here as well, I don't usually have anything to complain about with them.

Total Score: 5/5


Magneto 4
Bunn (w) and J. Fernandez (a) and Bellaire (c) and Petit (l)

Magneto has found a base of Purifiers who have been taking unsuspecting mutants (particularly those with more evident physical mutations) to "a farm where they can be free" which, of course, means to their death so they can be studied. Magneto wrecks through the compound and adds the names collected by the Purifiers to his giant list of lost mutant names.

With the first arc over, we get a standalone issue here, a sort of standard "this is my mission" issue which finds Magneto going after standard hate-based enemies the Purifiers. It's not a bad issue, per se, and it's a good standalone of "this is what Magneto does," but it does feel a little perfunctory, as if it knows it's just filling space. Javier Fernandez does a pretty good job stepping in for Gabriel Walta but the art star here is Jordie Bellaire, whose colors take us all over the world to all sorts of environments and still she manages to keep the book feeling like the series has so far and make the art leap off the page. Full marks, as ever, to Bellaire.

Total Score: 4/5

Edgar Wright leaving ANT-MAN over creative differences

News broke today that Edgar Wright, director of such films as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The World's End, will be leaving the much-anticipated Marvel film Ant-Man over "creative differences." This is rather crushing news as literally the only thing I've been reliably complimenting about this move was the brilliant hire of Edgar Wright, who has a sterling track record and is one of my personal favorite directors. The parting, reportedly, was amicable, though it raises some concerns for me about the shape of Marvel movies in general that there were irreconcilable creative differences between studio and director. Marvel is not currently in talks with other directors. Now I guess I'll just have to be satisfied that it's a movie about Ant-Man, everyone's favorite superhero.

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Thor: God of Thunder 22, Hulk 3

Thor: God of Thunder 22
Aaron (w) and Ribic (a) and Svorcina (c) and Sabino (l)

Dario Agger continues to pillage Broxton with his Roxxon factories and, to add to the problems, massive sinkholes have begun opening up in the small town. To make even those matters worse, Roz Solomon has discovered those sinkholes are full of trolls. Though Thor has been banned from the area (and gotten a stern talking to from Roz), he returns to beg Agger to stop, saying that his care and concern for the people of Broxton is greater than his pride. As he says all this, though, Agger opens more of the ground, killing even his lawyers, and he goes minotaur while some trolls hold Thor. Meanwhile, in the distant future, Thor's granddaughters fight a charged up (from eating the Earth) Galactus in the hopes of finding Thor, while Thor himself races to the black hole in which he tossed Gorr's weapon, the Necrosword.

The key to this issue is seeing Broxton fall apart and, subsequently, both seeing how devastating and fast Agger can be while also seeing what Thor is willing to do to stop it. As Coulson points out to Solomon, this is the threat of the new age. It's not Nazi's and decoder rings any more, it's billionaire CEOs. It's a problem Thor can't so easily punch away. It's a problem Thor has to think his way out of which, as Loki would point out, is not particularly a strong suit. At the same time, Agger seems every issue to sink lower and lower into full-on psychopath, which makes it a little harder, in this case, to find him as compelling for me. The King Thor vs Old Galactus storyline is still engaging enough, watching the fight, but the stakes are still a bit strange as it's hard to feel connected to it. I think it's there to show how much Thor loves Earth but it's still hard to feel that seeing Earth as a cold, dead place. Still, it's engaging to read and I guess we can't ask for much more than that.

Total Score: 4/5


Hulk 3
Waid (w) and Bagley (p) and Hennessy (i) and Keith (c) and Petit (l)

The Abomination has been set loose in the small Colorado town Banner has been hidden in and Maria Hill wants answers. She gets them from a small attack force sent to grab her who find themselves outmatched. She learns that Abomination is nothing more than a zombie reanimated with brain tissue from the Hulk but before she can learn more, the force is teleported away. The Avengers (Captains America and Marvel, Iron Man, and Sunspot) show up on the case, having been looking for Hulk since he disappeared, and begin to drive Abomination back, though they can't hold him without Hulk's help. Out of the fight, Hulk reverts to Banner and we see that his brain has healed a little more. Hill warns that switching back and forth like this will do more harm than good though and that the brain needs time to adjust and to mend. However, Banner refuses to leave the Avengers on their own and takes the risk, hulking out to help.

There are still perhaps more questions than answers here as the explanation for the healing of Banner's brain helps but also feels more than a little like "hey, hang on, these are very clearly made-up rules." Okay, so OBVIOUSLY they're made up rules, Hulk doesn't exist in a place where we study brains, just as an accelerated healing factor doesn't exist in a place where we study brains. Still, typically you can allow for a bit of soft science and either have it hit you so hard that you go "ugh, shut up Reed, I believe you" or you go "hey, you know what, sure, that seems right." I'm not feeling either of those here and it's making it harder to buy into the storyline. On top of that, we still need to learn a little more about this villain with all his crazy resources and his absolute disregard for morals. Also, the Avengers really booked it to Colorado, huh? WHATEVER, it still reads fine and the art is fine.

Total Score: 3/5

SUPER QUICK REVIEW: X-Men: Days of Future Past

As ever, no spoilers until there's been more time for people to get out and see the movie (believe it or not, I'm still optimistic I'll get full reviews out for all the movies I've missed).

I worried from day one that X-Men: Days of Future Past was going to suffer from a hugely complicated story and from having too many characters. I'm delighted to report that, while the story is pretty convoluted and while there are plenty of roles in this movie, there was no such suffering through this one. There's a bit of suspension of disbelief in play here to get through some of the finer points of the story (though likely no more than you had to suspend to get into comics and the X-Men in the first place) but it's not troubling enough to taint the movie. There are maybe a few too many winks and nudges at the audience (big winks and nudges too, broad ones that everyone can follow and not just the diehard fans who are searching them out). Regardless, the movie easily stands on its own and is certainly one of the strongest movies in the franchise to date, if not the strongest. As ever, stay til the end of the credits for an exciting, if somewhat predictable, teaser.

Gillen leaving IRON MAN, Waid leaving HULK

Gillen from his fantastic blog post today
on how to pre-order a comic at your LCS

News has broken on a couple of fronts in the last few days as the August solicits have come out. Chief among it has been the odd disappearance of IRON MAN among those solicits (as well as THOR: GOD OF THUNDER - as yet, I've heard nothing on that one). Kieron Gillen (seen at left) confirmed today that he is indeed leaving the book after ORIGINAL SIN. According to Gillen, he's been offered a major opportunity at Marvel (very exciting) and he needed to make room somewhere. He realized that ORIGINAL SIN would be a pretty perfect spot to leave IRON MAN and pulled the trigger, making his total issue count (including the Annual) 31, the same count he left UNCANNY X-MEN and JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY after. Guess we can't ask for more than that. Extremely sad to lose him on IRON MAN after a very impressive run but thrilled to hear about his new opportunity and to see that Marvel continues to recognize his strong work and reward it with greater opportunities. I've seen no news yet as to whether IRON MAN will restart or who will take it over.

In the same vein, veteran Marvel writer Mark Waid has announced that he is leaving HULK after ORIGINAL SIN (conveniently, he and Gillen will work together on the OS tie-in series ORIGINAL SIN: HULK VS IRON MAN) and that writer Gerry Duggan (already writing NOVA and co-writing DEADPOOL with Brian Posehn) will be taking over on that book. As seen below, Waid assures his fans that there's no bad blood, that Duggan will be great, and that he simply wanted to get further ahead on his other projects, which is a lot to say in fewer than 140 characters.

.@GerryDuggan will do a spectacular job on HULK. Zero bad blood--I just want to get further ahead on Daredevil and http://t.co/vOHwbZDFMi!
— Mark Waid (@MarkWaid) May 21, 2014

Also worth noting, though it's not Marvel related so I'm hiding it here, at the bottom of this post, that Si Spurrier has announced that he's doing a book with Alan Moore and I think that's pretty neat.

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Amazing X-Men 7, Wolverine and the X-Men 4, All-New X-Factor 8

I was trying not to get into SQRs until later (Wednesday and Thursday I tend to review the most Avengers/X-Men related books or the biggest releases or what-have-you) but then I felt KINDA like there was no other way to do this one? Look, let's just get into it.

Amazing X-Men 7
K. Immonen (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Rosenberg (c) and Caramagna (l)

Firestar and Iceman are sent to the local mini-mart to pick up snacks for "the big game" only to find themselves hurled into an interstellar negotiation as Spider-Man shows up tracking a baby that's just appeared in their cart. After some fighting (plenty of which has to do with resentment about Doc Ock), it's explained that the baby is actually an alien that serves as the only trade-bait that Spider-Man has to re-acquire the mascot for one of the teams in "the big game" that was taken by the aliens for reasons. After much fighting and chasing and squabbling and other actions, the aliens come back down and Spider-Man successfully works out the deal and returns the mascot, a goat, to the game while Firestar and Iceman return to the X-Mansion.

I really love a lot of the stuff I've seen from Kathryn Immonen (I will defend her JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY run with my very LIFE) but this book borders on absolutely inexplicable. There are fun moments throughout, certainly enough to make for an enjoyable enough read but it sometimes does seem to get a little bogged down under the weight of so much joke-making (also, Spider-Man kind of comes off like a jerk, which I suppose is not sacrilege in an X-MEN title). The plot is admittedly thin with plenty of references to "the big game" that don't particularly add weight. Still, it's hard to mistake the tone of this issue as more a fun issue and a throwback to the old Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends cartoon so it's also hard to judge this one harshly because I do think it hits its mark, it's just not a mark I'd be looking to buy.

Total Score: 3/5


Wolverine and the X-Men 4
Latour (w) and Asrar (a) and Silva (c) and Cowles (l)

While reaching out psychically for help, Quentin was discovered by the Cuckoos and co and Cyclops gave the order to pull him to their base. He throws a little simulated psychic fight at him to see how trustworthy he is and he fails pretty miserably but Cyclops decides to listen anyway, hearing about what Quentin saw but unable to offer much advice about the right way to handle news of the Phoenix or Apocalypse. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Storm continue to push forth in their fight to Edan Younge before Wolverine sends Storm back to the school, knowing they'll need her help to stop Faithful John, who is currently pushing through the X-Mansion and convincing some of the students that Evan will be Apocalypse. Preparing to enter the fight to protect Evan, though, is Fantomex, who has secreted Evan to the World and emerges out of it to defend the mansion.

There's a lot happening here and a lot of it is interesting but some of the Younge stuff starts to get a little convoluted in the midst of everything else that's happening. It feels rather like there's just one too many stories happening here (which could, of course, all be skillfully linked together when the arc is said and done) and that one seems compelling but doesn't feel like it fits yet. Obviously Younge was the catalyst for all this but it's still such a weird and disjointed story that it's almost distracting from the other stories which are just as if not more compelling. Still, it's a pretty solid issue and Mahmud Asrar has some pretty strong art to go with it. I also rather like Latour's Quentin Quire, a character I tend not to like.

Total Score: 4/5


All-New X-Factor 8
David (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Loughridge (c) and Petit (l)

Cypher has had all the water drained from his body and the team is a bit startled by it. As things very slowly piece themselves together and the situation starts to go crazy as Dakei calls all the cops on the mutant intruders, the team convinces Georgia to do what she can to restore the incredibly weak Cypher. She's never done it before but she vows to try. They bring her past all of the guards and to the kitchen where she can get some water to transfer into Cypher. She eventually succeeds as the team yells at Dakei for berating and hating mutants while his daughter was one and then, as things reach a boiling point, Harrison Snow shows up and has a private meeting with Dakei (who he apparently knows) and the two emerge having come to the decision that Snow will take Georgia.

The tone of this book jumps around so quickly that it's hard to really latch on to it. Sometimes it's tense while they hope for the best for Cypher but then it turns into strange humor but then it jumps into mutant-rights outrage but then it shifts to almost casual conversation. Not helping anything is the inability to lock down an age for Georgia, who occasionally acts like a five-year-old and occasionally acts like a ten-year-old and occasionally acts like a fifteen-year-old. I think we're supposed to get that she's incredibly sheltered (various characters tell us that repeatedly) but I've met some incredibly sheltered people in my life and they still manage to act a consistent age. The humor in the book occasionally works but it also occasionally feels really out of place, which is sometimes pointed out but sometimes ignored. A book that cannot settle on a tone is a book that has some fundamental problems. Hopefully this one straightens it out next time.

Total Score: 3/5

X-Men 14, Uncanny X-Men 21

X-Men 14
Wood (w) and C. Mann (p) and C. Mann and S. Mann (i) and Mounts (c) and Caramagna (l)

The Future has attacked two students, Primal and Sprite, and, in doing so, somehow broken past every defense that the X-Men have. Monet and Rachel tear off after Primal's shooter and track him to a train in an attempt to make a getaway. They manage to take him down before he can shoot himself, bringing him back to the school for questioning while Psylocke ups the mansion's defenses and Beast attempts to save the wounded. Storm calls everyone together to tell them that she's officially announced them as a team (AKA made it known to Wolverine) but her speech is interrupted when the Future strikes again shattering more defenses and breaking through where they were holding the original shooter. Storm's future daughter Kymera helps protect Shogo and trounces the shooter, who turns out to be a bomb, and the ensuing explosion complicates things further.

Story
The Future, despite his name, continues to be a frustratingly compelling villain, one who is able to inexplicably get past all of the mansion's many defenses and to remain hidden from even the talented psychics on the premises. Amid the fear of the Future is a story about the team forming and starting to work together as Storm begins to back down from her leadership position, allowing for more voices of dissent or more strategies and at least stalling the overthrow talk. Wood has always done a solid job at ramping up and balancing tensions and this issue is a prime example. 5/5

Character
There are a number of strong characters in this book and Wood should be praised for keeping their voices almost entirely distinct. It's the sort of book where you could focus on the words on the page and know who's speaking. The only time that that line gets a little muddied is with Rachel, who occasionally plays the side that's convenient to the advancing plot, though I'd also say that I'm not really sure I've read a really great Rachel Grey before and I'd say that I've read great versions of all of the other major characters elsewhere. 4/5

Writing
Wood bounces back and forth between locations and characters enough to make the book feel really fast-paced even when a lot of this issue is just fortifying defenses and reacting to last issue. It creates the sort of panicked and terrorized tone for the issue that allows the reader to begin to understand what the outlook is like at the school. Particularly effective with this is seeing Beast's full-on sadness at what's happening and his seeming inability to help the injured. 5/5

Art
Strong art from Clay Mann, as is typical. There's a nice panel as Ororo apologizes for her recent behavior and announces that they're officially a team where, though the camera is pulled back far enough that there's not much detail to the characters' faces, we get a good sense of the situation from the position and the posture of each character, with Storm fretting anxiously, Rachel listening o obediently, Monet with her arms-crossed, Psylocke with her hands on her hips, and Jubilee cradling Shogo. It's a nice characterization of all of them in the briefest of moments. 5/5

Miscellaneous
As in the last issue, the mini-story BROMO-SUPERIOR continues in this issue, again written by wood but with art from Phil Briones and colors from Matt Milla. It's fine, or whatever.

Total Score: 5/5


Uncanny X-Men 21
Bendis (w) and Bachalo (p) and Townsend, Irwin, Mendoza, Olazaba, and Vey (i) and Bachalo (c) and Caramagna (l)

Cyclops and Magik have lost control of their powers upon arriving at the Jean Grey School to question Beast on whether or not he's tracking their movements with Cerebro. The mutants at the mansion subdue the pair just as Dazzler arrives and demands to take Cyclops into custody. Beast fights her on it, convinced something is wrong with them and realizing he's best suited to understand what and who is attacking them. Maria Hill steps in and eventually sides with Beast, giving him an hour to study Cyclops. The mysterious entity behind the attacks sees his opportunity and uses the SHIELD helicarriers to attack the school while Beast begins to study Cyclops in his lab and realizes who is behind everything. Meanwhile, Magneto frees Dazzler in Madripoor and swears he'll help her find revenge.

Story
Though I thought that Cyclops' reason for coming to the Jean Grey School was kind of stupid and convoluted (the dude's just going to keep making excuses to go there apparently and the more he does it the less of a dramatic "OH NO, LOOK WHO'S HERE" sort of a moment it is. Soon we'll just assume he's a part-time professor), you can see here why Bendis chose to send them. Though the ends don't necessarily justify the means, we're here to examine this issue and not the last one and the at ion of this issue is compelling enough. I do have some problems with the fact that this book can't seem to go more than a few issues without pulling in the other mutants or SHIELD or anything else, but we are moving quickly to our mysterious adversary. The most compelling story of the issue, though, is Emma Frost's refusal to completely give up on Scott as a love interest. Just kidding, of course it's not that, I could not care less about that. I swear, every time I start to fight for this book, I'm reminded that I'm actually annoyed by it. No, it's Magneto. His determination to get Dazzler out and stop the MGH production is a nice arc for his character and it boosts this up from the 3/5 I was going to give this issue after remembering Emma Frost's contribution. 4/5

Character
Like last time, I'm going to fall back on Magneto's arc here because there's not a lot else to look at. There's Emma Frost and I continue not to care even a little bit about that relationship. Magneto's stuff is strong, I'm still not particularly into SHIELD's involvement though Maria Hill's agreement to let Beast check out Cyclops was both interesting and baffling. 3/5

Writing
Bendis reins in the back-and-forth dialogue here which I really appreciate since there's a lot of fighting and a lot of exploding in this issue and I really hate it in those moments. I think the tone of the book works pretty well but I'd have to put that to the colors as much as anything. Still, writing didn't hurt that and that's sometimes just as important as actively fostering it. 5/5

Art
As I said, I think the colors really helped the art in this one. Bachalo's art is typically impressive and it's extremely consistent. This issue loses a point in art for a weird gratuitous upskirt of one of the girls in the Jean Grey School (I'd call her Surge but I've not known Surge to wear a skirt and I'm unclear if she's there or not. Who knew I'd have to choose between blue-haired girls?). 4/5

Miscellaneous
I think this book has the ability to shine through some of the problems I've had with it but it keeps barely scratching that surface instead of leaping over it.

Total Score: 4/5