Leftovers 7/9/14

100th Anniversary Special: Amazing Spider-Man 1
S. Ryan (w) and I. Lee (a and c) and Cowles (l)

Another glimpse into the future as we see where Peter Parker might be in another few decades, battling Kingpin over a techno-symbiote, a Venom that grants him access to the world's electrical data. In a city where even the cars are connected to a giant grid, it gives him unparalleled control and the ability to hunt Peter at any turn. Peter manages to escape into the technology-less Central Park and make himself a torch, which he wields as Venom approaches. He dives at Kingpin with it and manages to burn off the suit, taking Kingpin down. He returns home and we learn that he's recently lost Aunt May (hard to feel too bad, she lived to maybe 700 years old, given the way she looks in early SPIDER-MAN) but he's ready to keep fighting. It's not a bad in medias res book (though it claims to be 8 of 8 and it's the first time Kingpin is revealed as the villain, so it's indicative of a pacing problem in the arc) and Sean Ryan's writing doesn't over-explain too much (as would be the temptation as you jump into a whole new world and the end of an arc) while In-Hyuk Lee's art is very impressive. Strong stuff, certainly entertaining enough to read, though it seems a little heavy-handed about the role of electronics and the pace of technology and so forth. 4/5

All-New Invaders 7
J. Robinson (w) and Laming (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

Torch continues to explain to SHIELD agent Malloy what happened with Radiance, which leads to a story within a story within a story and ALL OF THEM ARE BORING. The original Invaders were set to cause a tsunami in Japan that would likely end the war but Golden Girl, Radiance's grandmother, could not abide the loss of innocent lives the tsunami would cause. She and the Kid Commandoes fight against the Invaders and eventually cause them to see the innocent people and they all refuse to go through with the plan, prompting the army to drop the bombs. Radiance backs off, ashamed that she took such steps to nearly really hurt some people, and Torch takes the fall for her and he explains it to Malloy and Malloy is apparently an alien AI and I DO NOT CARE. This book has SO MUCH over-exposition, kicking off with Malloy literally saying "let me list what you've said" at one point and it's just stuff like that that make this one of the most poorly written and therefore boring books I've seen. 1/5

Amazing Spider-Man 1.3
Slott (w) and R. Pérez (a) and Herring (c) and Caramagna (l)

As the science fair approaches, Peter decides to enter a magnetic device he used against the Vulture. It fails to impress but it works well when Clayton Cole shows up at the fair in his Clash get-up and Peter assumes the worst, changing to Spider-Man and attacking before Clash can hurt anyone. Of course, it makes matters worse and Clash is more powerful than he was before. Spider-Man forces him to flee with the magnetic device but has earned the ire of everyone around and his turned Clash even more against Spider-Man. This is a fairly slow issue with equal time given to the new storyline as to the old ones (like the Vulture fight) so you already know a lot of the stuff that's happening. More than that, though, it reverts Spidey to his original personality maybe a little too well, making him far less likable and more reactionary. He is rather the cause of all of these troubles (with a generous helping of Clayton Cole's insanity). 2/5

Avengers Undercover 7
Hopeless (w) and Walker (p) and Gorder (i) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

Chase is in neurosurgery even after Nico uses her power to heal his chest and it rather sends her off the deep end. She's been training with Alex, her evil, one-time, thought dead boyfriend, who has determined that her power is legendary but her willingness to use it is holding her back. When Chase returns near death, she flips and decides to give up, letting in to her more wrong desires and kissing Alex. Meanwhile, Maria Hill, Hank Pym, and Steve Rogers lament the loss of AIM's prisoner, a SHIELD agent named Crenshaw who pretty much built their entire communications security and who is now in Zemo's grasp and Cammi, kept quietly in a cell, creates a peephole to see where she's being kept only to find out that it's right above Zemo's living room. She sees them celebrating, Zemo's hand around the waist of a woman with her back to the cell, and can't figure out what the celebration is for, leading her cellmate, the still alive Arcade, to offer some theories. Really interesting book as these kids only get more interesting and as their situation seems to get more dire. Lot of fun with a couple of good twists and turns and the promise of the next issue zooming us three months into the future. 5/5

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 3
M. Benson (w) and Huat (p) and Yeung (i) and Aburtov (c) and Sabino (l)

Shang-Chi, with the help of the Daughters of the Dragon and MI6, follows after White Dragon and a mysterious friend, learning that they've taken hold of a book of powerful dark magic. Shang is joined by sometimes adversary Skull Crusher, also believing White Dragon is up to something too sinister to continue. They sneak into the White Dragon's lair and come upon him, managing to subdue him but ultimately succumbing to the magic in the room. Then Dragon's friend appears, revealing himself to be Midnight Sun, brother to Shang-Chi, who is set on taking his father's place and running the crime world of England. They've already killed most of the Triads' leaders, using their heads for their enchantments, and White Dragon offers up his own to Midnight Sun, who takes it and then proceeds to take Skull Crusher's. Things look as bad as they have for Shang-Chi, who is facing quite an adversary in his own brother. The book moves well and doesn't over-explain, though still gives enough of a sense of things for unfamiliar readers to get a foothold in the story. I'm also particularly partial to Huat's art after X-MEN LEGACY so this book is doing pretty well in my book, though it does get a little too deep into Shang-Chi's story for the casual reader. 4/5


Deadpool 31
Posehn and Duggan (w) and J. Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

While Deadpool and Dazzler keep pulling apart the vampire nests, Preston meets with Butler's brother in Chicago. She meets Ellie, who has something of a fondness for violence and gore, but she's asked to leave by Utler before anything really happens. However, a separate task force appears to capture Ellie and Preston manages to all but fight them off. When she's shot and taken out in the process, though, she manages to spend a text to Deadpool to tell him what's happening, which sends him looking for any help to get him to Chicago quickly. After exhausting all his likely allies, he happens upon Thor at Avenger's Mansion, who allows him to hang on to Mjolnir while he throws it for Chicago. The book moves pretty well and advances the plot nicely, though the vampire hunt seems to be taking something of a backseat to the Ellie situation, which feels a little strange. The art is maybe a little more disconcerting than I'd like but otherwise, pretty strong showing. 4/5

Fantastic Four 7
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Haspiel (p) and Haspiel and Kesel w/Magyar (i) and Aburtov and Woodard (c)

Johnny ruined Reed's chance to help Ben in the past and now Thing remembers it all and demands Johnny not speak to him again. He leaves Johnny's apartment and heads to the bar, where he gets a call from Alicia saying she's been kidnapped by her step-father, the Puppet Master. He rushes to her, calling Reed to come help on the way. When Reed arrives, he finds Thing standing over the body of Puppet Master, swearing that he didn't do it. Much of the first half of the issue is dedicated to the ORIGINAL SIN flashback, which is rather unnecessary as we pretty much got the gist of it last time. There's still plenty going on with Puppet Master and it feels like this is the sort of crime/trial/mystery that could go on for a while and maybe have an easy wrap-up. Still, the book reads alright, though a little over expository, and the differing art styles (Haspiel for the OS flashback and Kirk for the rest) work for their parts. 3/5

Nightcrawler 4
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Sabino (l)

The Trimegas attack the school and Wolverine and Nightcrawler find that Margali has escaped after dismantling Storm and Beast to just their memories. Amanda sets to work repairing them but finds that they have memories missing, specifically the ones about Kurt's return. Her plan seems to be to go to Heaven and conquer that world with her Trimegas and her magic but Kurt and Amanda find and stop her out on the lawn, though not before she opens a portal between the two. Amanda dives into it to help close it from that side but Kurt is barred access, already having chosen to leave Heaven. She refuses to let him try, fearing he'll erase himself from eternity of he tries (??) but promises she'll be waiting for him and the portal closes. The adventure is a fairly strong one and it intends in classic Claremont fashion but the issue is bogged down a little by unnecessary dialogue and explanation, such as Nightcrawler's inner monologue that runs through his list of everyone fighting, something that has come up in just about every issue so far and which wasn't even necessary the first time. There are things here that are interesting but they'll have to get past the bogged down presentation to really unleash them. 3/5

Original Sins 3
Inhuman: Soule (w) and Browne (a) and Delgado (c) and Cowles (l)
Young Avengers: North (w) and Villalobos (a) and Gibson (c) and Cowles (l)
J. Jonah Jameson: Slott (w) and Bagley (p) and Rubinstein (i) and Mounts (c) and Cowles (l)

An Inhuman named Lineage learns that Black Bolt started a war with the Kree, the Young Avengers are convinced to make a mini-Cerebro for the Hood to learn everything they can from the drug addicts who took too many secrets, and J. Jonah Jameson fires a young reporter who digs a little too deep into Spider-Man's past only to learn that Jameson had once reviewed Spidey's one-man show positively. The INHUMAN story, written by INHUMAN writer Charles Soule, seems to indicate more coming, the YOUNG AVENGERS story continues to be well-written with a lot of fun moments but ultimately a little slow, and the Jameson story is a fast enough read that it's just a cute little one-off. Can't complain too much on this one. 4/5

Spider-Man 2099 1
David (w) and Sliney (a) and Fabela (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miguel O'Hara, posing as Mike O'Mara in the present, is the Spider-Man of 2099 but he's trapped in 2014 and trying to make ends meet. He works for Alchemax, the company that will go on to ruin the world by his time and he rents a pretty crappy apartment in the city. He's chased by something of a timecop, sent back to destroy him before he changes anything, but he manages to outmaneuver it, causing it to blow its own head off instead of his or Alchemax owner Liz Allan. As Spidey 2099 leaves her office, Liz has her assistant verify that no windows have been broken, believing that this Spider-Man is on her payroll somewhere. There are interesting things happening as this series kicks off, particularly with the added twist of an intelligent Liz Allan immediately taking steps that seemingly no one else has ever taken for Spider-Man, but the issue starts to get a little too cute as banter slows things down and makes the timecop (from future agency TOTEM) almost comical at times while being threatening and cold at others. Still, strong first entry and only a couple times with Miguel saying future-swear "shock." 4/5

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 13
Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Chameleon managed to get away from the crime scene as the cops and Mach VII showed up, but most of the other guys were taken away. Boomerang and his team, though, successfully snuck out with the portrait, planning to head to a safehouse. Meanwhile, Shocker and the head of Silvermane make it out of their predicament when Shocker realizes he can use his gauntlets to fly away from Hammerhead and his goons. He lands at the safehouse before Boomerang, setting Shocker and his old team for a reunion. The book drags a little bit when it focuses on Shocker and Silvermane but overall it's an incredibly fun book with a lot of truly funny moments. Many books that go for funny fall a little flat because they seem to come out of left field or the situation doesn't really call for funny or something like that but this book reliably manages to hit just the right tone and to keep the book fun. Strong showing for this one. 4/5


Wolverine 10
Cornell (w) and P. Woods (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Sabretooth has access to the weapon now and is ready to transform New York entirely, making it truly Darwinian world, one where his strengths should set him up to be the ruler of all (which seems to work in counterpoint to his new CEO Sabretooth appearance). Meanwhile, Wolverine tracks him with help from the X-Men, to whom he apologizes, and prepares to attack with the help of his Guerica Bar pals, to whom he apologizes, Thor, to whom he apologizes, and SHIELD, to whom he apologizes. Wolverine has decided to accept help finally and now it'll be a matter of timing about whether Wolverine's forces can stop Sabretooth before he unleashes his weapon. Things are shaping up here for a big final showdown but it's still slowed by the stupid Guernica Bar stuff, the maudlin Wolverine, some weird art, and CEO Sabretooth. 3/5