All-New Invaders 4, Fantastic Four 3

All-New Invaders 4
J. Robinson (w) and Pugh (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

The Invaders have been captured by Tanalth and the Kree with the help of Ikaris, the Eternal they control with the God's Whisper. The Supreme Intelligence wants to dissect the Vision (already off in another chamber for testing), Human Torch, and Captain America to try to make their own forces stronger but they have no plans for Bucky, who launches forth as if to try to escape. He is shot and pronounced dead by the Human Torch. Namor is brought back to them and Tanalth and the Supreme Intelligence demand they fight Ikaris for the amusement of all present. Cap, Torch, and Namor manage to hold off Ikaris long enough for Bucky, obviously not dead, to sneak away and break Vision out, which had been the plan all along.

Story
For the first time, all our players are generally in the same area and rather aware of the situation. The story right now is the fight against the Kree and against the God's Whisper which gives everything something of an old-fashioned feel, sending this team away from the perils of Earth for a minute to deal with a possible alien war before it can become one. Okay, that's not really what makes it feel so old-fashioned but we'll get to that. The twist of Bucky being alive isn't so much a twist as it is another sort of call-back to a simpler times in comics (specifically to the time when everyone would go "I only wanted you to THINK I'd missed!" before a shield/arrow/Mjolnir/avalanche hit its intended strategic target. The God's Whisper is certainly compelling but even that can only take us so far. 4/5

Character
Cap's the strategist, Torch is proud of being more human, and Bucky doesn't want to be made a mindless slave as he relates in an all-too-long tirade while he's trying to enact an "escape" that would cause his "death." You can very nearly give him a pass for that strange and sudden speech because maybe he's just overacting but it is still a jarring sort of speech. Namor shows real emotion as he admits that it was his pride that put them all in this position and killed Bucky (he was not aware of the plan). It's an okay moment to see him open up to the only people would who really call him a friend but it still seems rather out of place, even in the midst of all of this. Namor isn't really a character who apologizes or recognizes his own pride. Honestly maybe a little too easy to get a grip on these characters. 3/5

Writing
The old-fashionedness I was talking about above comes out most of all in the writing. There's a lot of over-explanation for a plot that I have to imagine everyone understood as soon as Bucky was pronounced dead. It's like in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows when Voldemort (spoiler) thinks he kills Harry and has one person whose been grumpy with him all book check to confirm, then goes "WELL THAT OUGHTA DO IT." But even worse here for the brilliant strategist Kree, they let one of their ENEMIES check on their other ENEMY and totally believe him. It's the kind of basic suspension of disbelief that pulls you out of any sort of story. On top of that, the characters do feel so sort of cut-and-paste copies of themselves that it's hard to really be worried about any of them, which is particularly sad because I love the Invaders. This isn't me coming from a place of "oh, these characters are okay, I guess, I don't really know much about them or know why I should care." I love these characters through and through and I'm not invested in a single thing that happens to them in this book. Ugh. Whatever. 1/5

Art
Art's fine. Maybe a little too reliant on face lines for me but it gets the point across. I'm just depressed, okay? 4/5

Miscellaneous
Oh, who cares?

Total score: 2/5


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

Johnny's powers have been wiped out since science. Something about the Negative Zone and Johnny's time there and the antigens in the bomb Reed had to make on the fly. Either way, his powers are gone now and Reed will work on getting them back but, you know, no promises. Meanwhile, Fury has detained all of the inert monsters from that other zone and plans on disposing of them until Reed learns that, underneath their monstrous exteriors, they're all humans. While Sue takes the kids on a field trip through Atlantis, Johnny and Ben walk through Times Square talking about his power loss only to be attacked by the new Frightful Four, led by an apparently healed Wizard.

Story
There's something specific going on for each F4 member, meaning that they're all more or less on their own as this story starts to take shape. While all of this is happening at home, Valeria has left for Latveria to spend some time away from her family and to hang out with ol' Uncle Doom. The Fantastic Four has always been about unity and family so keeping them apart as the series starts to really move could lead to something more interesting. There are hints that we'll be examining the love life of everyone as the story progresses as Ben and Alicia rekindle a relationship, Johnny mentions the Skrull Lyja he once loved and explains that he searched the Negative Zone for her but couldn't find her, and Namor guides the field trip Sue sets up while also looking adoringly at her. While the rest of the story is starting to take some shape, I'm not a huge, huge fan of multi-faceted love stories? So I have some concerns about that. We'll air those when we get to it though. 4/5

Character
Like with the above ALL-NEW INVADERS, it feels almost like these characters are too easy to grasp. These ones are maybe a little less carbon copy of the normal F4 representation (mostly in that Ben seems quieter and Johnny is more wistful than powerful) than the ANI are of the Invaders so far, but it's still not making for an altogether engaging story. I just don't have a strong enough connection to these characters right now to make much of what they go through dramatic for me. Now, I admit that that may have more to do with these characters over the long haul (I've never been a huge F4 fan) than about Robinson's new run, which is still very young. Still, I'll need to see more out of these characters to get behind this series. 2/5

Writing
References to the rest of the F4 Universe seem to be the order of the day for FANTASTIC FOUR as Nick Fury drops in and everything from the FF's encounter with Doom at the end of the recently ended FF series to Wyatt Wingfoot, Darla Deering, Lyja, Doom, Namor, and the Negative Zone are all referenced. Certainly Robinson wants to establish the depth of this corner of the world but references like these seem often to  be there just for fan service and that ends up being tricky. Of course, a lot of it, I'm sure, is sowing seeds for the future of this book but there's no need to put it all here in issue three. Let the book find its footing before you start plotting out its future. 3/5

Art
The art sometimes looks a little too soft for me but i tend to project what I'm feeling about a book onto its art so maybe I'm not the best judge of this one. I think the book is moving a little slowly in its tone, even for one that's seen so much action and life-shifting in just three issues. There was an issue of HAWKEYE where Clint set up a DVR and it was more engaging than any of these three issues where there's been an invasion of Earth, powers lost, and shocking revelations. Tone means everything. The art helps too, I guess, since we're in the art section, right? Look, I'm maybe not on my game today. 3/5

Miscellaneous
This book feels very much like it wants to be darker than it's currently coming off. Right from the get-go this creative team has promised major changes to this world, including Johnny's lost powers and the possible arrests of Ben and Dragon Man, not to mention the harsher red costumes instead of the classic blue ones. Still, there's very nearly nothing dark about this tone through three issues. It's hard to tell a great story if you can't get your tone, writing, and story to match up.

Total score: 3/5

Captain America 7, Indestructible Hulk 8

Captain America 7
Remender (w) and Romita Jr., Hanna, and Janson (a) and White (c)

The issue starts by delving again into Cap's past, but this time from the perspective of present day Cap (or, more specifically, the Cap of two years ago, who farmed the land with the Phrox and Ian. Remember, an absurd amount of time has passed while he's been here) as he looks back on the man his father was. He reveals to Ian that his father collapsed under the pressures of his time and was unable to stand back up, something Steve is able to more easily understand now that he's been raising Ian. Ian asks if Steve will ever disappear on him and Steve admits that his intense desire to not be like his father has led him down a wholly different path altogether; instead of abusing the ones he loves, he becomes emotionally unavailable to them. He promises Ian he'll never disappear. Flash forward to today, as Cap works his way through Zola's tower to try to find Ian, who is being brainwashed by Zola. Steve has already subdued, but not killed, Ian's sister Jet so Zola knows he's on his way. Jet is freed by some of Zola's minions and pursues Steve again. Meanwhile, Steve is having a hell of a time in this assault, forcing his already broken body further and further until he is again confronted by Jet. She attacks him but her heart isn't really in it and Steve escapes the fight momentarily to save a Phrox from being mutated, a process Zola has been enacting to further his plans (soon revealed!). He saves her but it leaves the two of them dangling from the walkway with only Jet around to save them. Steve convinces her to act on the impulses she's been feeling lately, including her confusion about Steve and the recent guilt she's experienced at Zola's plans. She tells Steve the entire plan (now revealed!) which involves Zola infecting many powerful people of Earth with the liquid consciousness he infected Steve with, though a greater dosage, and effectively create a world of Zolas run by Zola. The plan is already pushing quickly forward and Steve needs to find a way to derail it and to save Ian. Jet makes him swear to save Ian and then tells him where her brother is. When he gets near, he is shot through the side of his stomach by a seemingly fully brainwashed Ian.

There is so much happening in this issue (hence my really long description) and it's hard to break it all down. Steve reveals that the memories of his childhood that he's been experience aren't just there for the reader's benefit, they're there because they've recently forced their way to the top amidst all of these new experiences. This, tied to his understanding of his own psyche and emotions (the idea that he pushes people away as a response to his father's abuse) gives us such a different view of Steve while keeping so nicely to the character itself. It's unimaginably difficult to write an entirely new angle for a character while being somewhat handcuffed by 70 years of backstory but Remender has proven again and again that he's more than capable of it. Now Steve will have to face the hardest fight of his long life as he battles Ian to try to save him all while Zola furthers his own plot. This is an even harder fight than Steve had with Bucky back when Bucky was Winter Soldier because a.) he's actually spent more time with Ian over the years they've been stuck here, b.) he physically raised Ian like a father, as opposed to Bucky who was more of a best friend or even brother with maybe a hint of father mixed in, and c.) Ian is a child. Come back next time for an even harder inner turmoil for Steve, if that's the sort of thing you want to see. It is admittedly rather painful as Steve is forced to deal with all of these things, as well as dealing with numerous physical injuries that he is constantly diagnosing and working through. Still, brilliant book.

Indestructible Hulk 8
Waid (w) and Simonson and Wiacek (a) and Charalampidis (a)

We learn a little bit more about the semi-suicidal Patty as well as about the way Mjolnir is viewed in the scientific community as this Jotunheim arc concludes. Patty has a degenerative brain disease that is all but incurable at this point but she is the sole provider for her father. Suicide would mean that the insurance companies wouldn't give him anything but dying at the Hulk's hands would surely compensate him, as opposed to her simply dying from the disease and leaving him alone and with nothing. Bruce tries to get her to believe it's curable or at least worth trying to cure but she's a bit of a hard sell. They talk about why Mjolnir is immovable but she's not interested in it unless it has to do with a cure for her. Meanwhile, they devise a plan to return home with a lot of soft science (I'm supremely happy that I'm not a scientist because I can just read whatever writers say in here and be like "yup, makes total sense to me. I'm sure this is a real solution") which is ultimately interrupted by the Frost Giant possessing Randall revealing himself and leading his fellow Frost Giants in an attack on Midgard. They are eventually rebuffed by Hill, on the other side of the portal, and Hulk's emergence. The whole team, including the rather wounded real Randall, make their way back to Earth and Thor and Hulk part ways for the time being. Bruce hopes that the whole experience has opened Patty's eyes to not being alone in the universe because, as he says, "alone" is poison. Next issue will team Hulk (or pit against) with Daredevil in a clash of Mark Waid authored heroes.

This arc was certainly interesting and it was very nice to see Simonson drawing Hulk and Thor together (even if he made Bruce and, by relation, Hulk's hair somewhat Osborn-like). The story went a long way to develop the characters that Waid has introduced to Banner's world, which definitely needed to be done after several issues that focused on Hulk and/or Banner working with SHIELD. This book is going to have to toe an interesting line of keeping Hulk available for SHIELD while focusing itself on Bruce and his work with the science he's dedicated himself to. The conceit of this book, which makes it very different from most Hulk books, is that Bruce is determined to make something of himself after all this time as a super-scientist and it'll be neat to watch as Waid puts that in the forefront and tries to leave Hulk a bit on the sidelines, as much as you can leave Hulk there. It's largely untested waters and it'll be fascinating to see if Waid can still make a compelling book when you take one of the more famous characters in Marvel history and put him on the bench in favor of the other half of him. If anyone can do it, though, it's probably Waid.