New Warriors 11, She-Hulk 9

New Warriors 11

The Eternals have picked up the fight against the New Warriors on behalf of the High Evolutionary, making things infinitely more difficult for the young team. Justice gets dragged away to the Arctic Circle, trying desperately to explain to his captor that they just want to save everyone while Jake Waffles mourns the loss of Mr. Whiskers and the rest of the New Warriors gets pummeled or otherwise captured. Only Zuras of the Eternals, though, seems complicit in the actual plan, the rest of the Eternals clearly think something else is happening, with Zuras keeping them from the truth. Meanwhile, Justice comes to in the Arctic Circle, ready to rush back to the High Evolutionary's ship and get his team back.

It's a huge loss for the New Warriors here but the pieces sure are in place for an outstanding comeback. Yost and Burnham work together here to build our characters up while also developing the plot into something familiar but exciting. The key to making a familiar story worth reading is developing characters that the reader cares about and Yost has spent this whole series making sure that's true. Even the least developed character (probably Water Snake) matters and you care about what happens to her. In the spotlight in this one is Speedball, whose inner monologue keeps fighting but wonders if maybe this isn't for the best, as he recognizes that this is the second massive tragedy he's been at the start of. Poor guy. There's something for everyone and the book is doing a great job of keeping the stakes raised even as the end nears.

Total Score: 5/5


She-Hulk 9

The day in court goes rather badly as prosecutor Matt Murdock plays his cards the right way and keeps She-Hulk off-balance. We hear the charges lodged against Steve Rogers, part of a deathbed confession that accuses Steve of getting the recently deceased man's brother killed back before Steve was Captain America. The plaintiff, Harold Fogler, said that he had gotten in with some bad guys out on the West Coast while his smarter, more gifted brother studied to be a doctor back in Brooklyn. When his brother caught wind of the things Harold was getting up to, he made his way west with his friend Steve to try to get Harold home, only to get the two of them captured by the bad guys. Steve, of course, refuses to be silenced and his insistence on demanding the bad guys do the right thing leads to said bad guys shooting Harold's brother. Harold had kept his mouth shut even after Steve became Cap because he recognized that Cap was good, but he always believed Steve to be the reason his family had suffered for so long. As the day in court ends, She-Hulk isn't feeling great about the whole case and tries to train Steve for the stand, though Steve is prepared to go up and tell the truth without concern. Daredevil comes to visit She-Hulk at night, asking her to take a run with him. They run through the city as Matt tells Jen that he had declined the case, basically laughing in the face of the plaintiff, but that he warned Steve a case might be coming, whereupon Steve asked Matt to take the case and argue it to the best of his ability. Annoyed, She-Hulk heads back home and, the next day, calls Steve on to the stand, only to have him immediately say that everything Fogler said was true, to the frustration of his lawyer.

Rounding out this week's "soon-to-end" books, SHE-HULK once more brings forward a story and several characters that we can immediately care about and that we can be entertained by. I talked in this week's AVENGERS review about how I'm having trouble with the take on Steve, not because I think it's impossible and a terrible character change, but just because it takes his good qualities and pushes them too far, making them stubborn, bad qualities. Here his good qualities are on full display and they're pushed to, for She-Hulk, a frustrating place but still a ridiculously good one. It's the idea that his goodness will get him in trouble versus the idea that his goodness could turn into bitterness and obsession. While I think both ideas are potentially valid (when placed in the right stories), I much prefer reading this one, which also hinges on the humor of She-Hulk rolling her eyes and continually being taken aback by the way Steve does things. Soule and Pulido put in the perfect ending to this issue as Steve takes the stand and ignores She-Hulk's urging to tell his side of the story, instead saying that everything in Fogler's account is accurate, eliciting a gritted teeth "COME ON" from She-Hulk. Great moment, really excellent and fun book.

Total Score: 5/5

Comics this week

Shorter week than last on new releases, which is pretty neat, but I'm not altogether too excited by the slate of releases, which is less neat. Should I maybe keep that to myself in the future? Feels like it gives away some personal biases that you all surely already know.

Amazing X-Men 12
I dunno, this one's been pretty neat since the inimitable Chris Yost took over. Probably one of the biggest Wendigo events I've ever seen. Anyway, it's been pretty cool and it's a short week and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to send in the ringers on this one (HINT: I rarely plan these out. This is what two years of this blog does to me).

Avengers 37
Do I remember what's happening in this series? No. Of course I don't. I bet it's related to AXIS? WAIT. I do remember, it's eight months later, Sunspot is pulling the strings on the Avengers and on AIM, which are both, suddenly, under the same umbrella. Despite that first sentiment above, I have been enjoying these issues. I just have a bad memory and it's late.

New Warriors 11
Beating out AXIS despite a strong last issue, NEW WARRIORS has been knocking it out of the park since its start and it's time (read: too late) to shine a bigger light on it. Know how I mentioned I like Chris Yost above? I really like Chris Yost and I don't understand how his books don't survive. They're constantly really well-written and a lot of fun. Also, the good will this guy built up from Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes might make him untouchable in my mind.

She-Hulk 9
This too is beating out AXIS since I remembered the last issue ended with She-Hulk preparing to defend Steve Rogers on the stand against none other than Matt Murdock as the prosecutor. Twists and turns abound. This is another book that's regularly been good but hasn't outshined a lot of its competition. Wrong time, wrong place, I suppose. But it's here now!

X-Force 11
I reread X-FORCE 10 a couple days ago and it was still great. This book has been one that I regularly reread and find myself enjoying even more, which should come as a surprise to my readers if only because I won't shut up about this series even on the first read-through. Maybe it won't be a surprise, though, because I also won't shut up about that X-MEN LEGACY book by Si Spurrier so, shocker, I love this one too. This one I predicted I'd love and features one of my favorite writers from the last year and a handful of great characters. Spoilers?

This week's picks

The week that I earlier proclaimed to be "an embarrassment of riches" insofar as what books would be released ended up living up to its hype, providing plenty of really good issues to explore. It was one of those weeks that helps someone who might be a little burned out get excited about just sitting down and binge reading every issue. ANYWAY, it still wasn't as hard as I'd have thought to pick the top three but note that there aren't too many ways you can go wrong this week choosing a book or two to pick up.

Black Widow 7

In a week of great character moments and defining issues, BLACK WIDOW 7 stood out as one that I'll be thinking about for some time. This issue was the perfect juxtaposition of Natasha's role in today's world and exactly how the world sees her and the role she used to try to play when comics didn't want their heroes to kill at any cost. Now it's a bit murkier and Natasha knows her position and isn't afraid to take someone out. This whole series has shown her struggling with which jobs to take and how blind she should be to the jobs she takes and it's made the audience comfortable with everything she does, including the more minor or abrupt killings (like the guy from whom she took the computer virus in this issue, the messenger she would replace). Now, as Natasha thinks about the need for friends, we see her judged by a former extremely close friend and found to be untrustworthy. It's a tough blow to Natasha and it burns here. Nathan Edmondson is doing phenomenal work on this title (and on PUNISHER) and Phil Noto is absolutely destroying it on the art of this book. Just a really great series that you need to be reading.

Moon Knight 4

This one takes a spot on this list without too much contention if just because it fits so nicely into the world Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire have created. There's an interesting story with a creepy but satisfying twist at the end and Ellis, as always, knows just when to pull back and let the art reign. I think I've mentioned here before that my first experience with now top-5 (for me, at least, but probably for EVERYONE, right?) artist Jamie McKelvie was Ellis' SECRET AVENGERS 16 (another book that centered on Moon Knight, in fact, though there were plenty of other great characters to be seen there). It was another standalone issue (like each of these MOON KNIGHT issues so far, though "standalone" is maybe too broad a term for this series) and it involved an entire city created beneath Cincinnati, one that was prepared to bomb the city above. Even amidst how heavy that plot obviously was, and how much it was to explain in just one issue, Ellis pulled back for pages at a time to let McKelvie's art carry the load and it worked incredibly. That's what this series has done in full. Declan Shalvey's art, which I've always liked a lot but never seen like this, carries this book in a lot of ways but it never feels like the writer is trying to overshadow that or speak unnecessarily to explain something we can see on the page. Really great book, one that (like the rest) you'll just fly through because you're so engrossed (and they read really quickly) but you'll catch yourself flipping through again and again to see the art.

New Warriors 5

I don't necessarily know that this is one of the three best books out there this week (I don't know though, it's definitely up there, competing against titles like IRON FIST: THE IMMORTAL WEAPON, CAPTAIN AMERICA, AVENGERS WORLD, PUNISHER, and even a couple others) but I wanted to shine a light on it here because I think, maybe along with SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN, it does the most this week to really affirm its tone and the feel of this book. In just five issues, Chris Yost and his artists (typically Marcus To but here Nick Roche) have established such a strong feel for this book and created such a unique tone to enforce that feeling. It's fun and it's exciting but that also doesn't trap them into going too light. Instead, there are a few dark moments in this issue that work perfectly amidst all of the fun and energy here, particularly as Speedball is stunned out of his re-found happy-go-lucky attitude by the mention of Stamford and his time as Penance. It's a jarring moment, one that's perfectly timed and excellently executed (particularly in this issue, as we watch Roche's very kinetic and almost cartoonish depiction of Speedball actually stopping). I can't guarantee that this book is for everyone but I'd encourage everyone to try it; like with Yost's SCARLET SPIDER before it, I think NEW WARRIORS is so sure of its characters and so sure of its place in the universe and its tone that it's going to continue to be a strong book for as long as it continues.

This week's picks

Lotta good books out there this week. Makes it tricky to pick the top three and it's helped none by the fact that so many books got full 5 star reviews from me, even some that didn't necessarily strike me as much as others (technical five stars count just as much as gut-feeling ones! That's all this is, really, gut feelings! And maybe I should stop bringing that up so much!). HOWEVER, as there were so many good books this week, I want to shine a light on a few different books, worthy of this list but would undoubtedly be unseated by the likes of BLACK WIDOW and MOON KNIGHT (both of which I do still wholeheartedly recommend). So let's talk about some different books this time.

New Warriors 4

NEW WARRIORS has an interesting story and some compelling characters, enough so that it would warrant a look even without the strong writing and art. Simply put, it feels like a book that's doing everything right so far. This one is certainly more of an all ages book than some of the other books/team books that are coming out right now (though parents be forewarned that there are some bleeped out swears here and there, mostly from Kaine, so if that's something you worry about your kids seeing, maybe read through the book yourself first, or maybe do that anyway?) but there's still plenty there for everyone. The characters are all worth learning about and the team has set itself up as something fairly diverse without going for blatant diversity. The book is the whole package, story, characters, writing, art, and everything else. Strong, strong book.

Punisher 5

There were a number of really fast-reading books out this week that struck a chord because of the pace at which they moved and the way that the art worked with the writing. PUNISHER was a prime example of this and reads extraordinarily well because of it. We're getting some good glimpses of character here and there (although Punisher is perhaps a character more set in his ways than most) and some really interesting story stuff. Mitch Gerads' art feels like a perfect fit for this story and for, really, any Punisher story that's ever happened. As opposed to going the common route of bigger and more cartoonish (that's not what all Punisher artists do but it's one of the directions some artists go in light of such big and brutal stories), Gerads' realism (even in the shape and design of someone like Castle) hits on a very poignant note and carries the series into a spot that lifts the series into another realm.




She-Hulk 4

I continually give Charles Soule a lot of credit for taking THUNDERBOLTS, a book that I thought had a fairly strong premise and a really interesting team but had already gotten bogged down into its own stories, and making it a book that was both exciting and really fun. Now he's jumped on to SHE-HULK and immediately made it his own, giving it the same tone of fun and excitement and real story-telling that's made THUNDERBOLTS such a success (look, I think it's a success, I don't know what the numbers say). Jennifer Walters is a delightful character who gets handed problems and finds ways to solve them. The writing is fun, the characters that support her work well with her, and the art is working wonderfully for the tone. Can't ask for anything more out of a series than that.

Aaron leaving AMAZING X-MEN, Kyle and Yost to take over

Scheduling demands have forced Jason Aaron to leave new title AMAZING X-MEN after only six issues, as CBR reports. His run will end with April's AMAZING X-MEN 6, which will be the conclusion of the current arc and Nightcrawler's return. Issue 7 will feature the fantastic Kathryn Immonen writing before Craig Kyle and Chris Yost take over on issue 8. It will mark a return for the two Thor: The Dark World writers to the X-world after their run on an X-23 miniseries and books like YOUNG X-MEN back in the 2000s. Aaron's explanation is here, in several tweets:

So yeah, because of my overall schedule demands, I had to step away from Amazing X-Men a bit sooner than I'd hoped.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

Though as far as parting shots go, I think the Return of Nightcrawler is a pretty satisfying way to end my tenure as an X-writer.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

Without Amazing, that leaves me writing Original Sin, Thor, Southern Bastards and a couple of other things I can't talk about yet.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

It was definitely weird to leave the X-verse behind after spending pretty much my entire Marvel career there.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

But I couldn't be happier with the stuff I'm working on now. Fun times ahead!

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

Superior Spider-Man 20, Scarlet Spider 23

Superior Spider-Man 20
Slott (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

Doc Spidey has a lot on his plate at present. His time with Horizon Labs is officially ended and its put him on the job hunt once more but, being Otto Octavius and not Peter Parker, he has some big plans for that. He intends to start his own company, Parker Industries, with girlfriend Anna Maria Marconi and former Horizon scientist Sajani Jaffrey at his side. On his way to tell Anna Maria, Spider-Man runs into sometimes-villain, sometimes-hero, sometimes-lover Black Cat and, unlike what the cover would have you believe, swiftly beats her up and webs her for the authorities. Obviously, Black Cat is furious and swears to never forget this. Meanwhile, Carlie Cooper has what she believes is definitive proof of something weird with Spidey now that she's found a paper trail (albeit from suspicious sources) linking Spider-Man to Doc Ock's bank accounts. She calls MJ to warn her to stay away from Peter and that she should tell May and Jay to stay clear too. MJ is busy, though, trying to learn more about the firefighter who saved her life during her nightclub's fire. Finally, Peter goes to present his doctoral thesis, his last step in becoming Dr. Peter Parker. After a seemingly very successful presentation, Dr. Lamaze gleefully jumps up and calls Peter a fraud, saying that he's simply stolen the unpublished work of the late, great Otto Octavius. He swears to have Parker expelled for this and Doc realizes that this could ruin everything he's worked for unless he stops Lamaze somehow.

One of the really interesting things about this series has been Slott's systematic destruction of everything in Peter's life pre-Superior. It's typically come in little waves, with the hero community becoming a little suspicious of him and kind of wavering back and forth on their acceptance of him, followed by his friends getting sick of his new attitude, followed by this and that and so on. This is another great example as Doc absolutely ruins Black Cat. Slott and Camuncoli leave absolutely no room for discussion about it; it's a solid beat-down, remarkably swift and pretty brutal. Honestly, if they hadn't brought Black Cat into it, I probably wouldn't have thought about her as such a staple in his life; she just kind of comes and goes into it as she pleases. Now that it's been brought up and so thoroughly dispatched, though, I realize how important she is to Peter and how jarring this attack is. It's another example of a well-thought out and well-realized story for Slott. I think, as fans, we're all kind of aware that Peter Parker will SOMEHOW, at some point, come back. Of course, it's not a guarantee but it's as close to a guarantee as comics can make. The fact Doc has stuck around this long (ten months now, impressively) has been a remarkable show of restraint. Still, it leaves fans looking at these situations going "gee, that's gonna be tough for Peter to clean up" and the like, but issues like this one make it very clear that Slott knows what he's doing with these characters. Doc Ock isn't treating it like he's a placeholder for Peter; he is Peter now and he intends to stay as Peter forever, hence Parker Industries and his insistence that he become Dr. Peter Parker, even if it means sitting through school again. Really good stuff here and a very complete issue.

Scarlet Spider 23
Yost and Burnham (w) and Baldeon (a) and Sotomayor (c)

It's Kaine vs. Kraven in Kraven's newest hunt that can only be ended by one killing the other. To ensure that Kaine doesn't simply walk away, what with his newfound hero personality, Kraven has tied up all of Kaine's friends and swears to kill them if Kaine doesn't go along. Kraven is still a force to be reckoned with and it proves hard for even Kaine, stronger and faster than Spider-Man, to keep up. He continues to insist that he won't give in, that he won't kill Kraven, but the situation gets more and more dire. Kraven believes that Kaine is the only one who can kill him, as its Kaine's blood that brought him back from the grave in the first place and won't allow Kaine to leave until the deed is done. As they fight, Kraven sends Ana to kill one of Kaine's friends. She chooses Donald Meland and slashes him through the stomach. Furious, Kaine tries to go to him but Kraven holds him back, swearing that Ana will kill all of his friends before this is through. Kaine promptly kills Kraven with a force palm to the chest and rushes to his friends, slashing Ana across the face first. He tries to save Meland and eventually cuts his other friends down so they can help (particularly Meland's husband Officer Wally Layton). Kaine, meanwhile, goes back to Kraven and resuscitates him, bringing him back to life. Now, Kaine reasons, that he's killed him, just like Kraven wanted, and now any connection between them is through. Wally manages to stop the bleeding enough to transport Donald to the hospital but the surgeries are very touch and go and it's hard to say whether he'll live or not. Wally, through with Kaine, researches him for the first time in a superhuman criminal law enforcement database and learns about his past.

Tons happening in this issue and it's really a tremendous book. As much as I was bummed by Venom ending last week, I think I might be more broken up about this book when it comes to its end in the coming months. There's such a solid feel throughout this book and such a nice core to it. Kaine's a very complicated character and this is a great arc for him, as he has to directly face his past as a killer, something he decidedly doesn't want to be any more. It's been a nice transformation for him as the series has progressed, especially considering its start. Kaine was simply leaving New York so he wouldn't be apprehended or anything of that nature; he never intended to stay in Houston, let alone America, and to be dragged into his "brother's" heroic ways. But here he is, doing whatever it takes to try to save his friends and finding out that sometimes it's just not enough. It's a really well-written issue here as there has to be just enough sentimentality placed towards his friends and the way they view him without going too overboard and becoming repetitive. It works well and it creates a good picture of the new Kaine. The fighting is extremely well-paced and we see the pain in Kaine as Kraven works him over for a while before Kaine finally unleashes and immediately defeats Kraven and Ana. There's plenty happening here and it'll be interesting to see where we go from here.

Scarlet Spider cancelled?

Quick second post today as news just seemingly broke with the new Marvel solicits that Scarlet Spider will end with issue 25. This is a bit sad for me as I've really enjoyed this series and I unabashedly love Christopher Yost's work. More details will hopefully emerge as we push forward (who knows, when they say "LAST DEVASTATING ISSUE" maybe they don't mean it will be the last issue, just the last one in which devastating things happen?) but for now, it seems like this series will end come December.


It's also possible, thanks to Twitter, that maybe we're not the only ones just getting this news?

Whoa whoa whoa. Wait. WHAT is getting cancelled?!?

— Christopher Yost (@yost) September 12, 2013

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 2, Scarlet Spider 20

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 2
Yost (w) and Checchetto (a) and Rosenberg (c)

What a fortuitous week where we get one crossover event that starts AND finishes in one fell review. That's right, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up gets its very first crossover in its whopping two issues, crossing with Scarlet Spider, who is no stranger to crossovers nor team-ups (kind of weird, for such a lone wolf, that maybe half of his issues have found him teamed up with some other hero. Usually that's not exactly a sign of good sales but I hope that's not the case as I've come to really like that book). Kaine is in New York following his last team-up with Wolverine and decides to pay his twin a visit only to find that Peter is very angry to see his clone. Kaine isn't thrilled by this but he reluctantly gets it, going so far as to recognize that he has plenty of sins to atone for but still confused as to why this is happening now, on the heels of getting Peter's more-or-less approval which kicked off the Scarlet Spider series twenty issues ago. I have a feeling that sentence didn't make a lot of sense but I guess we'll just have to deal with that. Anyway, this is Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, so WE KNOW WHY HE'S SO MAD! Doc Ock's only encounter with Kaine ended with Doc dead (to be resurrected later by the Hand, back in the Clone Saga) and he still has a bone to pick about that. So he's attacking Kaine, Kaine's attacking back, and Jackal, meanwhile, has his own plans that involves capturing both of them, which he's able to do with his spider mutants and clones of Captain and Gwen Stacy, which is a predictably low blow, or would be if Doc Ock had any care for her.

Intriguing idea and putting Scarlet Spider, the clone of Peter Parker, face to face with Doc Ock in Peter's body has been a long awaited and exciting idea. The vitriol Doc feels for Kaine is par for the course while we've been hanging out with his superior Spider-Man but that's a pretty neat thing to get to say in and of itself. I won't stop singing the praises of Christopher Yost any time soon but he's been particularly adept at working with characters who have been established by others and writing them in a near pitch-perfect way. Doc has been no exception in the times he's written him (throughout Avenging Spider-Man's last several issues and now here, in Superior Spider-Man Team-Up) and it's just such a comfort to know you have a writer who isn't going to confuse you about why a character suddenly sounds the way he or she does. Anyway, Kaine is solid as always and the Jackal is exactly the right amount of crazy for his character. What is he planning? When oh when will we find out?

Scarlet Spider 20
Yost and Burnham (w) and I. Lee w/ Oliffe and Bit (a) and I. Lee w/ Loughridge (c)
Epilogue (I and II): Yost and Burnham (w) and Medina and Vlasco (a) and Loughridge (c)

Right now, as it happens! That's...that's when we'll find out. That punchline really requires you read the last review and aw geez I hope you did. If you didn't, read the last two-three sentences of the last review, read the first sentence of this one, then don't read these two, just skip to the next one starting after this period. Jackal wants Spider-Man's DNA (he's willing to take Kaine's too but it's less meaningful as he's just a clone, you know? Hurtful words, Jackal), as he typically does. He has Kaine and Spidey chained up and tells them he's already gotten all the DNA he needs (including inferring that he might have gotten sperm samples from Spider-Man too which is BEYOND ICKY) and also that they can't break out. Of course, at that moment, Kaine is busy breaking out. He knows the fight is too one-sided with Spider-Man still chained and, though he doesn't understand his behavior today, he breaks him free too. Spidey assists in the fight for a bit until he sees his opportunity to kill every bird with one stone, blowing up the machinery next to all the DNA samples which, in turn, blows up pretty much everything around. Spidey gets out unscathed and is awful proud of himself for destroying everything and everyone inside when Kaine busts out, yelling at him. Kaine leaves him saying that he's fully aware he's not a hero but Spider-Man sure is and he should probably act like one. There are two epilogues to end this book which plant us back in Kaine's life to end this issue of Scarlet Spider, where he arrives home in Houston and begins developing symptoms of his degenerative disease again (once thought beaten but now it seems he might be going through it again, #cloneproblems) while epilogue two shows us that Jackal and Carrion (who was the villain of Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 1 and also working for Jackal) survived the blast and Jackal even managed to keep a vial of Kaine DNA.

I don't know when I started drifting back to nearly-full summaries but don't worry, I didn't give everything about this issue away. Well, I gave away most of the plot. But really, did you think that Spider-Man and/or Scarlet Spider were going to die in this kind of unadvertised crossover? Me neither. What I didn't tell you is really the meat of why you should check out this comic. The art is pretty incredible photo-realistic and the fight itself is impressive. There are a lot of telling moments to add depth to both Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider including their thoughts on clones, which is a pretty interesting ethical question. We also get a really great (if rather short) fight between Kaine and Carrion and both issues show a great understanding of this new dynamic between Kaine and notPeter. Don't expect them to be friends after this, as much as some of us might want it (siiiiiigh).

Superior Spider-Man 14, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 1, Scarlet Spider 19

Superior Spider-Man 14
Slott (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado (c)

The Superior Spider-Man has officially established himself as a force in the new Marvel Universe and now, with the backing (or blackmailing, I suppose) of the mayor, he's waging a one-man war on the crime bosses of the city. He's been taking them down quietly throughout the series, in the background of other, more intricate stories, but now he's at full-on war. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Jameson granted him use of the Raft last issue as a base and he's already enhanced that by creating weapons and hiring a veritable army of henchmen. His first stop on this new power tour? Shadowland to remove the Kingpin. However, patiently waiting out Spider-Man's purge of the underworld is the Green Goblin, whose army is snapping up the underlings of every fallen organization to build a rather impressive force of his own. Will Spider-Man turn his attention to Goblin too late?

This is certainly a very interesting story and anyone nervous that Doc Ock might too quickly discover his humanity and turn into just a jerkier version of Spider-Man is probably feeling pretty assuaged of that fear right now. This is clearly not the same Spider-Man Peter Parker was. He's not the ever-innocent young man who finds himself caught up in desperate problems and may regret the innocent way out later. This is a guy who solves the problem the most permanent way he can, someone who sees black and white in terms of what's right and wrong and who acts on it, even if it's not particularly popular. It's kind of Punisher like, but if Punisher was very slightly more concerned with who he kills (Spider-Man often doesn't deal with lower criminals, hence why so many henchmen are escaping to join up with Goblin) and if Punisher was an awful lot smarter. When this series was announced, I saw it going a lot of different ways. I'm happy to say that this isn't one of them. I don't know who would have predicted that Doc Ock actually becoming a superior Spider-Man in maybe not-so-savory ways was coming to us with the death of Peter Parker, but I'm certainly not disappointed by it. It's a nice change of pace for the book in general and it's an even nicer change from what I expected to get (which mostly ended up going back to "Peter will be back within six months." We've officially passed that deadline and, while it's certainly not unlikely that Peter will return sooner or later, the book is moving really well.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 1
Yost (w) and D. Lopez and A. Owens (a) and Rosenberg (c)

The days of the Avenging Spider-Man are over. Spider-Man doesn't really avenge any more, preferring instead to strike first, and the Avengers have him on probation anyway (my girlfriend pointed out to me that he's still appearing regularly in Avengers, though. My theory is essentially that if you have a world threatening problem on your hands, are you really going to not call Spider-Man? Seems awfully petty. Really, not sure what "probation" means for the Avengers. You don't have access to Jarvis?). However, he's still out heroing which means he's still going to interact with other heroes pretty often, and maybe some other villains, especially considering the way he was gathering them up at the end of Avenging Spider-Man. At the start of this series, though, he appears to have gone crazy, attacking and beating up many of the city's superheroes in what looks, from the outside, like something of a power play to show who is who in this Universe. But not everything is as it seems and, while it's a step above the old comics that had a cover showing the Avengers fighting only to reveal on the first page that they were fighting in the training room, comic readers will probably take to the explanation pretty quickly. That said, the book has kicked off pretty successfully with Christopher Yost again proving why he's one of my favorite people on this Earth with his delightful comics and the long-standing appreciation I have for him after the amazing Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (my appreciation for him and that show has only gone up after watching as much as I could bear of the truly awful Avengers Assemble cartoon that took its place).

Despite what I said above about the reason Spidey's attacking heroes being somewhat predictable, it's delivered in such a manner that it keeps the audience guessing until the reveal, wherein the reader goes "oh, of course it's just that." It doesn't hurt that no one is quite sure what to make of Superior Spider-Man right now and we're all waiting for the penny to drop with Doc Ock at the helm, so it's not unbelievable to the audience particularly (but even to the Avengers) that he would go around showing his strength by putting down the other heroes. Yost is also careful not to explain until he has to, not even giving Spider-Man any significant lines until he has to exposition a bit. Issue one is certainly a fun ride and the art helps the book stand apart. Running afoul of the Avengers again does make Spidey recognize the usefulness in having a team but he refuses to be a part of a team like that. Doc Ock doesn't play particularly well with others; he plays fairly well above others. Don't be surprised to see him using his own team in less of a "team" fashion and more of a "I will make you do what I tell you to do" sort of fashion. No guarantees, but it certainly fits more. Still, good first issue, solid writing and nice character ideas to boot.

Scarlet Spider 19
Yost and Burnham (w) and Barberi, Wong, Pallot, and Bit (a) and Lokus, Soto, and Fabela (c)

Kaine and Wolverine are still in the heat of battle against the Assassin's Guild and the matter is complicated more by the appearance of the mysterious Red Death, someone who had been killed by the X-Men at some point in the past, according to a little bit of a flashback for Wolverine. The Assassin's Guild is caught totally off-guard by her and isn't quite sure how to proceed. Belladonna wants to stay in her good graces and work alongside her, fearing her retribution, while many in the Guild seem to think Wolverine and Kaine have a good shot at killing her, keeping them potentially alive. Kaine and Wolverine continue to interact pretty flawlessly with one another and the writing is quick and fun. The threat itself is pretty intimidating as well, which helps the book. Kaine uses a bit of wily thinking and he and Wolverine work well together (making it honestly a little sad that they've sworn never to work together again, a promise that I can't imagine will be broken given the ending of this issue). Still, there seems almost no respite as they have to battle the Red Death herself and, if they should happen to survive that fight, they'll still be facing the Assassin's Guild. Read the issue to find out if and how they manage it.

The thing that impresses me most about Christopher Yost is the ease that he seems to have slipping into characters. Everyone he writes has their moments of humor, like everyone in real life, all while sticking to their basic character. Obviously Kaine and Spider-Man are both characters he writes regularly, so there aren't many surprises there, but even when he throws guests into any of the books (which he's had to do with regularity, particularly since the Spider-Man book he writes is entirely made up of guest appearances), he manages to write them within their own character but in a manner that slides so well into the tone of the book and alongside the tone of his main character. It was certainly what drove Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the dialogue between characters and the way that they fit alongside one another, and it continues to work perfectly in the books he gets involved in. Scarlet Spider is reaching its 20th issue and is really roaring along. Each issue is interesting in some way or another and the characters have developed nicely, particularly Kaine and Aracely. This book is always entertaining and always worth reading. Just a fun book.

Avenging Spider-Man 15.1

I'm a sucker for Christopher Yost because he wrote all (I think) the episodes of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and I will never be over the fact it's cancelled. Just a great show with a good sense of its characters (guys, I care about characters, okay?) and compelling plots taken from the comics. I remember constantly seeing a set-up for future episodes, like the "Madame Hydra was a skrull" reveal and the introduction of Winter Soldier, and saying "How ambitious!" (That's how I talk, normally, when addressing my television.)

So I like Christopher Yost. I also like Scarlet Spider. Let's get back to that, though. Like, another day, not in this post. Let's get back to Yost in this post (nailed it). I'm still kind of on the fence about the .1 issues. I like the idea behind them, often, but I'm not sure I've seen too many really stick to that idea without having to really babysit the reader, coddling them from point A to point B. Some just seem like previews of the next arc, which seems off-base to me. Not to say there haven't been good ones, they just tend to feel a little tacked on to me. Avenging Spider-Man 15.1 was a bit different.

It definitely had a somewhat easier time to it, I'll admit. There are massive changes in the Spider-Man universe going on this very moment. A book to quickly explain what exactly is happening seems well-worth it. This one is. It's a nice introduction to the Doc-Ock-as-Spider-Man conundrum we're all still trying to wrap our heads around. I like Yost's choice to make the plot revolve not around a battle or around other characters (which I find SO IMPORTANT to Spider-Man) but around Otto belittling (or struggling with appreciation for) Peter Parker. To have thrown in his strained relationship with anyone else in Peter's universe would have made the issue feel a little claustrophobic and would have told us what we already knew (Otto's not good with people) instead of what we need to know (how Otto is going to make this work).

Paco Medina's art certainly works well with the issue. There's nothing too over-the-top because the story's the focus here (as with any .1). There's still good and attractive art, highlighted by a nice mini-fight and some good background set pieces that tend to loom over Doc's Spidey. The issue ends with the new costume for the Superior Spider-Man, featuring smaller and more goggle-looking eyes, a sharper spider and a claw on each foot. The claw on each foot is a little weird and the goggle-eyes are perhaps more functional but something to adjust to. Still a nice issue, worth picking up, especially if...

Okay, I was going to say "especially if you're a Spidey fan" because that seemed to make sense, but maybe not? It's useful as a Spider-Man fan, sure, but it's probably more useful as someone not as into Spidey's solo books or even Avenging Spider-Man as a whole. That's why this is a successful .1. If you skipped over Amazing Spider-Man 700 (you shouldn't have) but still read Marvel comics (why are you here if you don't?), this one's worth picking up. It'll give you a look at the new Spider-Man with a short history of both Otto and Peter without delving too deeply into any of it. You know Superior Spider-Man's going to be all over the Marvel Universe, so this is as good a chance as you'll get to discover him.