Captain Marvel 4, Hulk 4

Captain Marvel 4
DeConnick (w) and D. Lopez (a) and Loughridge (c) and Caramagna (l)

With no easy solution in sight to the plight of the new Torfans, Captain Marvel tries to think up ways to transport everyone off the planet, as opposed to J-Son's offer of relocating the thousand strongest and leaving the others behind. While she bounces ideas off of Tic, Gil, a Sentimault named B-Bop, and chief engineer/defense minister Ja Kyee Lrurt (nicknamed Jackie), the Haffensye attack again. Captain Marvel and her new band set off after them to pillage them back, succeeding in at least one sector and hoping to salvage some more parts to make more ships.

Captain Marvel as a space pirate for righteousness? I'm not going to turn this idea down, you guys. My pre-game this week and my analysis last time out said that part of the fun of this new arc would be seeing Carol up against a problem she can't punch away. That problem and therefore that tension still remains in large part, particularly as she's got the shadowy dealings of J-Son to contend with, but this is, after all, still a superhero comic book and punching is rather the norm so DeConnick has found a way that allows Carol to punch and to problem solve. Still, for all the excitement of this book, if you're coming into this issue looking for some serious pirate action, there's not a lot to be had, with the book revolving mostly along dialogue and explanations and arguments. A times that slows things down but it's also a little necessary at this point as we get to know an entirely new cast of characters. Still solid stuff overall and certainly enough to get this series rolling.

Total Score: 4/5


Hulk 4
Waid (w) and Bagley (p) and Hennessy (i) and Keith (c) and Petit (l)

Maria Hill explains to the onsite Avengers what's happening with Banner and Hulk and they attempt to aid him in his fight against Abomination while Iron Man reconfigures a teleportation device Maria got off one of the crew sent to take her out. With some luck and plenty of skill, they manage to teleport Abomination pretty well away (Tony estimates Jupiter) and have time to deal with the situation. Stark takes Banner and brings him to Troy, where he and Arno plan to put a little extremis in him to help heal his brain. Meanwhile, Maria Hill is forced to tell Daredevil about Banner's condition, possibly compromising the information Banner had given to his lawyer in case he should ever wind up harmed at SHIELD's request.

There are plenty of plots swirling around (particularly interesting as I believe this is one of the books soon to go on a little break while ORIGINAL SIN mixes things up a bit, though I could be wrong) but sometimes it feels like they're not held together terribly well. The teleportation device feels like a deus ex machina, particularly when Tony is able to rejigger it to teleport on contact and they attach it to Cap's shield which Hulk is convinced to throw and still the shield doesn't teleport (as does, for that matter, the fact that it just so happened to be Sunspot and Captain Marvel, capable of absorbing Abomination's radioactivity, that Iron Man and Captain America brought with them on this mission). Still, as abruptly as the end of the fight came and as maybe conveniently as it came, there are plenty of good and interesting plot movements out there, ready to be expanded on. And guys, Hulk has an improved version of extremis? Who thought that was a good plan?

Total Score: 3/5