Harvey Award nominees announced

The Harvey Awards are among the most prestigious of the awards given to comic professionals. The nominees for the awards, which will be presented in September, were announced today. As is typical for this Marvel-centric blog, I'll be highlighting a few of the choices out of the House of Ideas (creative name, by the way).

Best Colorist:
Marvel alums Laura Allred, Laura Martin, and Jordie Bellaire were all nominated for Best Colorist, though only Allred was specifically nominated for her work on a current Marvel book (SILVER SURFER). Her work there is stunning and the crazy cosmic art of Michael Allred on the book certainly requires Laura to be at her best at all times on the series. Laura Martin also does excellent work and has been recognized for it in the past, with a couple of Eisners and a Harvey Award already under her belt. She has done loads of incredible work for Marvel over the past couple decades. My money, though, goes to Jordie Bellaire, a once up-and-coming colorist who seems to have really hit her stride with books like JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, MAGNETO, MOON KNIGHT, and THE VISION, among many more from Marvel in the past five or so years. Bellaire is unbelievably talented and an outspoken force-for-good in the comics community, shining a light on colorists and the under-represented in comics. Check out this sweet AV Club interview with her for some examples of her art and a good look into her history.

Best New Series:
The only new Marvel series the Harveys nominated this year was THE VISION, by Tom King, Gabriel Walta, and Jordie Bellaire. THE VISION has been lauded since its first issue for its complex portrayal of the titular Vision, his relationship with his family (a wife, and a teenage boy and girl, all of whom he created), and their relationship with a world that finds them, in the best case, creepy. Though the book has featured excellent art from Walta and Bellaire, and a compelling story with multifaceted characters, it hasn't really grabbed my attention in the way that other instant standouts like Fraction and Aja's HAWKEYE and Hickman and Epting's NEW AVENGERS. Admittedly, that's a tall order, and I'm not exactly sure what counted as a new series last year (though I'd hazard a guess that books like UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL and SPIDER-GWEN might be in the running; who knows, what with all the reboots and events). That said, THE VISION is certainly worth a read and it's not particularly a surprise to see it on this list.

Most Promising New Talent:
The only Marvel entry here is the aforementioned Tom King from THE VISION. Read above for my thoughts!

Special Award for Humor in Comics:
Chip Zdarsky is Marvel's only official entry in this category for his work on HOWARD THE DUCK, a book that is certainly always entertaining and decidedly worthy of consideration in this spot. It is baffling, though, that books like UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL (which consistently delivers laughs) and even Zdarsky's work as an artist in SEX CRIMINALS aren't even mentioned (particularly when USG -spoilers- is mentioned later among the nominees). Many of the other nominees in this category have other ties to Marvel, with Marvel regular James Asmus (GAMBIT) making an appearance for QUANTUM AND WOODY MUST DIE! and Elliott Kalan (SPIDER-MAN AND THE X-MEN) getting the nod for UNITY. Hard for me, a fan of The Daily Show and The Flophouse podcast, to vote against Kalan here, but Zdarsky would definitely merit a win here.

Best Cover Artist:
Marvel great David Aja (HAWKEYE, IMMORTAL IRON FIST) is nominated here for his work on HAWKEYE (which seems to never be out of the running? I guess maybe we'll all just keep throwing it back into consideration), but it's literally impossible for me not to root for Mike Del Mundo (X-MEN LEGACY), here nominated for his covers on ELEKTRA. It's worth noting that Del Mundo has also been doing the covers on THE VISION and they've also been (perhaps unsurprisingly) unbelievably good. Also bears mentioning that Marvel artist Paolo Rivera is nominated for his work on THE VALIANT for Valiant Comics.

Best Continuing or Limited Series:
The only Marvel book in contention is UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL, which is truly a phenomenal book. Though I wouldn't say that USG ever really faltered, even out of the gate, writer Ryan North and artist Erica Henderson have found their voice and the results have been stellar month in and month out. If you haven't been reading this book and enjoy well-written and really fun comics, check it out. I do think SPIDER-GWEN could also have gotten a nod here but, as I mentioned in a previous post, Marvel's had a bit of a weird year, so the lack of other books didn't really irritate me as much as it has in the past. Other former and current Marvel talents Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jason Aaron also see some love here for BITCH PLANET and SOUTHERN BASTARDS, both from Image Comics and both with a derogatory B-word in the title isn't used derogatorily. Is this a key to success? Check in after the Harvey Awards to find out! (It's not).

Best Writer:
Only G. Willow Wilson gets the nod from Marvel proper (and she's certainly deserving; I feel like I've fawned over MS. MARVEL enough for you to know all the key points I'd hit, so let me just say that it's incredible, Wilson is spectacular, and let's move on), but other Marvel past and present writers like Jason Aaron (SOUTHERN BASTARDS; apparently I should have kept reading that one), Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, though he's also writing about half of Marvel's current line), Brian K. Vaughn (SAGA, which will be nominated forever and ever, evidently, not that it's not good. He's also a former Marvel writer, but like, technically, probably everyone nominated has worked there at some point in some capacity), and Mark Waid (ARCHIE, but also DAREDEVIL, ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS, and others) also get the nod. Whoops, that was somehow all one sentence.

Best Artist:
Chris Samnee is already worthy of every ounce of praise you could foist on to him. Declan Shalvey recently compared him, entirely in earnest and with merit, to Jack Kirby. So his nomination for DAREDEVIL is fully deserved. Jason Latour is nominated for SOUTHERN BASTARDS, and while he hasn't done any real recent work for Marvel as an artist, I want to just point out again that SPIDER-GWEN (which Latour writes) is really very good.

Best Single Issue or Story:
SILVER SURFER 11 was fine. Just fine.

Disappointing news out of Marvel

Hey everyone. Some of the bits of news that have come out this week, on the heels of February solicits, include the ending of Waid and Samnee's run on DAREDEVIL, the cancellation of ELEKTRA (slated to end with issue 11 in February), and several more books that seem to be wrapping (though I don't have links for those), including X-FORCE (brutal) and STORM (though I'm not hearing that that one's actually being cancelled, just that the numbers are much lower than they'd like). DAREDEVIL, it sounds like, is ending based on Waid and Samnee wanting to move on, but the others all seem to be numbers-based. One of those sad days where really good books aren't getting enough eyes on them and are being dropped, undoubtedly, for more events.

Bit of internal news, I doubt there will be many more reviews this week. I've read just about every book this week and many are very good (DAREDEVIL, BLACK WIDOW, ELEKTRA, AVENGERS, NEW AVENGERS, MOON KNIGHT, SPIDER-WOMAN, and several more) but, as you all know, it's getting harder and harder to get these reviews out on time. We'll see what the start of this week brings.

Comics this week

It's new release day which means this post is, SURPRISE, late. But that doesn't mean we can't still get into it. First and foremost, though, big ups to short-titled books this week. With a slew of books like BLACK WIDOW, ELEKTRA, DAREDEVIL, MAGNETO, INHUMAN, PUNISHER, and more, this is one of the few weeks where I'd guess the average title length is only about two words (thrown off, of course, by the extraordinarily clunky AVENGERS AND X-MEN: AXIS and DEATH OF WOLVERINE: THE WEAPON X PROGRAM). Also, I don't usually talk about reprints or anything like that because they serve only to confuse me on the comic list but I want to shine a light on the fact that we'll get a SEVENTH printing of MS. MARVEL 1 this week. How crazy is that? Pretty fantastic though. Okay, so what am I excited about? Well, a good deal, as a matter of fact, but it is tempered by how dumb the current event is (not to mention that said event has a release this week and two books that directly tie-in to it plus several others, I'm sure). ANYWAY, on to the good'uns.


Black Widow 12
I love this book and it's quickly become one of those titles that washes over me with a cool wave of relief right after seeing books like AXIS: REVOLUTIONS or ALL-NEW ULTIMATES or something like that alphabetically. I was feeling down and then BOOM, B-Widz. Knocking it out of the park.


Daredevil 10
Geez, those Purple Kids are freaky. Even still, they're an interesting villain beyond just the fact that they're kids and DD probably shouldn't make a habit of beating up kids. They've all been directly and indirectly created by the Purple Man: directly because he's their biological father and he bestowed his powers unto them and indirectly because the impact he left on their lives and the havoc he wreaked on their upbringing by not being there left them emotionally fragile, even more so than regular children. Also, as I've been saying for three years now, we've got to be seeing the fallout from SHADOWLAND here. Huge credit to Mark Waid for holding off and patiently waiting to deliver greater results.


Moon Knight 9
Brian Wood and Greg Smallwood have already shown the chops for creating this book that Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey built so effectively and so efficiently (they're all helped by the phenomenal Jordie Bellaire on colors) but I'm more interested than excited to see this book for another week. Still trying to see what mark Wood and Smallwood will leave on the characters.


Spider-Woman 1
I'm leery of books kicking off during events (great work, CAPTAIN AMERICA AND THE MIGHTY AVENGERS) and, frankly, I'm still leery of Spider-Woman as a character. I've never really loved her but I certainly came to like her more the more that Kelly Sue DeConnick used her in CAPTAIN MARVEL and AVENGERS ASSEMBLE. I also am a fan of Dennis Hopeless so here's hoping that it's the perfect storm of wary optimism that will actually pay off.


X-Force 12
So the team is probably a little more aware of Fantomex's sinister motives now that he's attacked all of them and sworn to kill them only to have Domino reveal herself and save the team. So much happening here and it's all been great through and through. Geez, good slate of books this week, huh guys?

Daredevil 9, Ms. Marvel 9

Daredevil 9

Matt, Foggy, and Kirsten talk about Matt potentially writing a book with Kirsten's father, an idea Kirsten is against and Foggy worries about, though the advance check is crazy intriguing. Foggy, though, worries that Matt delving back into his life for an autobiography will dig up the parts that he's done so well to push down, a fear Matt doesn't seem to share. Meanwhile, the Purple Children are living large, walking around and scaring everyone, overwhelming everyone with their feelings, magnified to a child's level, and driving some cop cars around. Though Daredevil has more experience than most at fighting Purple Man, he's overwhelmed by the children's sense of fear and despair and loneliness and rage and grief and everything Matt's buried comes back up to the surface, wrecking him and leaving him curled up on the ground under an overpass where the healing Purple Man discovers him.

This is it, everyone. Everything Mark Waid has been building to and everything we've expected to come over the last few years of Waid's run is finally coming to a head and it's masterfully done. I've been guilty, of course, of expecting this sort of thing to come much sooner but Waid's patience is important here as every issue that Waid waited to have this sort of thing happen strengthened the payoff. This issue has a great balance of fun with Foggy, Kirsten, and Matt and of darkness with the Purple Children, a surprisingly sympathetic villain for Matt, who recognizes that the kids aren't acting like Killgrave, that they're not trying to convince people, they're just blasting their kid emotions at peak levels, as he puts it. It's too much for Matt and now we have our way in to the next story. Excellent work from Chris Samnee and Matt Wilson, whose highlight here comes in a full page juxtaposing the kids feeling their emotions and memories in Daredevil's head related to those emotions. It's absolutely incredible and it defines the issue so well. Fantastic work all around, as if that will come as a surprise to anyone with this title.

Total Score: 5/5


Ms. Marvel 9

Kamala is forced to fight in just her regular street clothes as she finds she can't change her appearance in the midst of a fight with one of the Inventor's robots going after her school. She wins the fight but passes out, not healing quickly enough to keep up. Bruno manages to force his way into the fight area and finds Kamala passed out at the center. Medusa, keeping a close eye on the new Inhuman, appears and has Lockjaw transport them all to New Attilan, where Inhuman healer Vinatos helps and monitors Kamala's recovery. He also tells her when she wakes up that her healing ability seems to revert things back to their normal form, so the more she heals the less she may be able to shapeshift. Rejuvenated and now aware that she's an Inhuman, Kamala returns home and apologizes to her parents, happy to see them. That night, she goes back to the place where she rescued Vick, prepared to free the kids inside. Doyle is waiting for her and unleashes another big robot for her to fight, which Kamala defeats with the help of Lockjaw. She finds the people inside the building only to find that they weren't kidnapped, they're volunteers.

There are few books that have developed a supporting cast as quickly and as strongly as MS. MARVEL under G. Willow Wilson's direction. Wilson has done an excellent job making us care about Kamala, about Kamala's family, about Kamala's friends, and about the heroes who have crossed Kamala's path. That's extremely difficult to do, particularly when you're building an entirely new character in her own entirely new book. If a character is created in a separate book and built over an arc in someone else's book, you can use a new solo series to further develop that character. Wilson doesn't have that benefit here, meaning that she has so much work to accomplish and she's 100% accomplished it already. My girlfriend and I recently, just because this is who we are, wrote big long lists of our favorite superheroes, ranking them in order as best we could. I don't know if you guys know this, but I love superheroes. After careful deliberation, I found that I'd placed Ms. Marvel at number sixteen. That put her between Captain Marvel and Dr. Strange. AMAZING company (worth noting that after the top like, three, the difference in position is negligible because I just really like them all so much everyone). This wasn't really a haphazard list, I really did think about it a lot and gave reasons for everyone at every position (I got up to 30 heroes before putting the list down). Maybe this sounds self-indulgent (uhhhhh, have you read this blog? Because obviously it's self-indulgent and, frankly, I'd call it self-important) as I focus on my own personal opinions of this character but I think it's important to note that, after nine issues (only seven or eight, really, when I made the list), Kamala Khan had cracked the top twenty. That says a ton about this book, whether you trust my judgment or not. Great work as ever and this book just continues to be a lot of fun.

Total Score: 5/5

Comics this week

Tons of books out this week. How much is there to love? I mean, not as much of a ton. But certainly some! Let's talk about it.

Daredevil 9
As anyone who's read this blog knows, I'm pretty into this DAREDEVIL run by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee. The last issue set up the newest arc for this team (now joined by colorist extraordinaire Matt Wilson), an arc that will pit Daredevil against the evil children of the recently hit-by-a-bus Purple Man. Creepy, creepy stuff almost definitely coming.

Death of Wolverine 4
As I've intimated the last couple reviews that have connected to DEATH OF WOLVERINE, this series has suffered a couple of delays that have made the tie-ins a little less effective. The upside is that this series has been a fairly strong (and, perhaps more excitingly, quick) little event. It's clearly a big shift for the Marvel Universe as key character since his inception Wolverine will, if the title is to be believed, die. So goodnight, sweet prince. Hopefully your death will at least settle out some of these tie-ins.

Ms. Marvel 9
Just a fantastic book. I really can't stop raving about it in my every day life. I wish someone would help me because it's starting to really impact my relationships negatively. But I don't want this book to be less good, so I suppose it's a push.

New Avengers 25
We're eight months in the future and Black Panther is having a tough time. It's never easy to watch Black Panther having a tough time. We're lucky because he so rarely is. That dude knows what's up, like, all the time. But now eight months have passed and NONE of us really know what's up. All we know is that the Cabal is BAD NEWS BEARS and it's going to be quite the fight to stop them. That fight isn't made easier by the fact that the regular type Avengers are none too pleased with the Illuminati. So much happening in this series that has been so reliably good since it started.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 16
It came down, at the end, to voting for SUPERIOR FOES or voting for AXIS as the final book to recommend this week and AXIS left a bad taste in my mouth last week whereas SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN has not disappointed me yet. Or at least since the start of the series. That was like, a year ago, I can't be expected to remember that far back. Anyway, check out this series before it leaves us.

Further NYCC announcements

New York Comic-Con has ended, thereby effectively ending convention season for the year with ostensibly the second biggest annual con (though early numbers suggest that it may have brought in more visitors than SDCC). I've already outlined some of the news that came out this weekend (including the announcement of a new Squirrel Girl ongoing, the new Ant-Man ongoing, the creative team change on HAWKEYE, and the cancellation of FANTASTIC FOUR) but there was plenty more that happened (sorry, I had put off reviews so late that I was busy with those all day and didn't get caught up on the news until TOO LATE. I really need someone to pay me for this, okay world?). Let's try and go beat by beat, with our friends from CBR.

Hickman and Ribic launch a new SECRET WARS

Marvel revealed this weekend that there's a long-game in place for Jonathan Hickman's TIME RUNS OUT arc and that it will lead to a brand new SECRET WARS. Readers will remember the original SECRET WARS from the mid-80s as a huge crossover event (one of the biggest, if not the biggest, to that point) from writer and eventual EIC Jim Shooter. It was...you know, kind of cynical at the time? Kind of a big money grab. Also, I do not love it. However, you have to imagine if Marvel is willing to go back to this well, no less with top flight talent like Hickman and Ribic, that they have to have something more planned. By the same token, is anyone else a little event-exhausted? I sure am. And SECRET WARS, if it keeps with its history and even with its Alex Ross cover (at left), will tie everyone up for a little while so don't expect it to be a one-and-done kind of event.

News about Netflix's new Daredevil series

NYCC had the first significant news and images for the upcoming Daredevil series, set to premiere on Netflix in 2015. Included in that news was a first look at Charlie Cox as both Matt Murdock and as Daredevil (donning a JRJR-esque black suit that the producers called "his first suit"), Rosario Dawson's role as Claire Temple (billed as a "nurse who works at night" and critically important to Matt's story, though it also seems like she'd be a good low-key but important character/actress to tie the four upcoming shows together neatly), Joe Quesada's concept art for the show (seen at left), and a nice panel with much of the announced cast (with plenty more announcements made this weekend). All in all, it's our first real news drop since Cox's casting and it sounds like everyone is optimistic about the pace at which this development is happening.





Weekly WOLVERINES book set to hit in January
Following the death of Wolverine and the loss of plenty of his secrets, an unlikely team comprised of heroes and villains such as Sabretooth, Mystique, X-23, and Daken will need to work together to uncover some of those lost secrets. Charles Soule and Ray Fawkes will head up the series, which will be an ongoing weekly series sure to break anyone's wallet who even considers buying it. Though there's been no price point revealed yet, I have to imagine it's minimum $2.99 but more likely $3.99, given Marvel's current release price average, meaning a prospective buyer would be spending about 16 dollars a month on this book. Yipes.

New Marvel Cosmic event set to kick off in February
Did I say I was sick of events? I meant GEEZ, LET'S GET SOME MORE IN HERE. In a move not unlike the changing of AXIS to AVENGERS AND X-MEN: AXIS, short and sweet ominous title THE BLACK VORTEX will actually be named GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AND X-MEN: THE BLACK VORTEX because somehow Marvel made a name LONGER than AVENGERS AND X-MEN: AXIS (am I just capitalizing book names or am I shouting, no one will know). The event will be bookended by two issues of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AND X-MEN: THE BLACK VORTEX with multiple crossovers in-between. The event will move through books like LEGENDARY STAR-LORD, CAPTAIN MARVEL, NOVA, ALL-NEW X-MEN, CYCLOPS, and some other yet-to-be-announced books (money on GAMORA, in the least). Well. On the other hand, I'm happy to see ROCKET RACCOON's not on that list so if Skottie Young stays attached and sticks to his typical issues, I guess I won't be too upset.

New SILK ongoing announced

SILK 1 cover by Dave Johnson

Following the character's recent introduction in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, Cindy Moon, AKA Silk, will be getting a new ongoing written by Robbie Thompson with art from Stacey Lee. Thompson claims that the series will flesh out Silk and follow her "from bite to bunker." The new series is set to begin in February.














New SPIDER-GWEN ongoing announced

SPIDER-GWEN 1 cover by Robbi Rodriguez

A link so nice we used it twice. The hit Spider-Gwen from Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez's EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE 2 will be returning for a new ongoing in February. Latour and Rodriguez will return to the book, which is enough to make anyone excited, given the fun and the great look of Gwen's debut issue. Excited to delve more into that universe.













Juggernaut returning to the Marvel Universe in Yost's AMAZING X-MEN
Come January, the X-Men and likely some bad dudes will be racing to find the Ruby of Cyttorak, the gem that transforms anyone into Cyttorak's unstoppable Juggernaut, in Chris Yost's AMAZING X-MEN. The upcoming arc, titled "THE ONCE AND FUTURE JUGGERNAUT" will start in issue 15 of the current run and would at least seem to potentially expand the X-Men villains a little more than just Mystique and Sabretooth.

Limited series OPERATION S.I.N. to premiere in January
A new five-issue limited series exploring the Marvel Universe in WWII days is set to launch in January. Written by Kathryn Immonen with Rich Ellis art, OPERATION S.I.N. will involve characters such as Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, and the recently introduced Woodrow McCord (ORIGINAL SIN) fighting some aliens. I really like Kathryn Immonen and this will at least have a different focal point than most WWII releases from Marvel. Looking forward to Immonen's take on a recently well-spotlit Peggy Carter.

GAMORA ongoing scheduled for Spring 2015
Some news in that link just there about the new GAMORA upcoming, written by Guardians of the Galaxy co-screenwriter Nicole Perlman.

Also, G. Willow Wilson to have a four-issue arc on X-MEN
Same link, different news. MS MARVEL's G.Willow Wilson will have a four-issue arc on X-MEN starting in January with X-MEN 23. The arc will be titled "THE BURNING WORLD" and will kick off at a Burning Man-esque festival.

Women of Marvel variant line set for March 2015

Stephanie Hans' THOR 7 variant

Third time using the same link is purportedly the charm so here goes. Following the announcement of Phil Noto variant month in February (still excited about that), March will find Marvel releasing 20 Women of Marvel variants by such artists as Sara Pichelli, Stephanie Hans, Vanesa Del Rey, Jill Thompson, Stacey Lee, and Faith Erin Hicks. Pretty neat.













There was also a bunch of other news about things like a James Patterson miniseries, some STAR WARS bidness, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy cartoon, the upcoming animated feature film Big Hero 6 (which I think we can all agree looks great), and probably more, but we here at Marvels are focused on the comics and only occasionally on the peripheral stuff. Like how terrible the new animated shows are and how much we miss shows like Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Spectacular Spider-Man. Or how boring we find Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (though this season's debut had more interesting plot points than anything that happened last season). Or how interested in Big Hero 6 we are (pretty interested, you guys). Or those Netflix series that it occurs to me don't fall under the umbrella of comics but still got decent coverage in this here post. Look. Whatever.

Daredevil 8, Elektra 6

Daredevil 8

Matt and Kirsten take in the town on a vigilante-free date when Kirsten reveals that she recently got a call from her somewhat estranged father, who lives in the Bay Area and invited Kirsten and Matt out on his boat. They accept and it goes rather well for a bit, up until Kirsten's father, a publisher, reveals that he wants Matt to write an autobiography, which annoys Kirsten. They head home with Matt sort of thinking about it (he calls it a flattering offer, which Kirsten points out is his kryptonite). Meanwhile, the Purple Man is back on the scene and collecting his illegitimate children, who have the same powers he has but who he hopes will be immune to his own powers and will therefore love him for who he is and not for an ulterior reason. Unfortunately for Purple Man, they don't love him for ripping them out of their homes and killing their mothers and they use their considerable combined powers to send Purple Man walking in front of an oncoming bus before preparing to tour the town.

The Purple Children are already proving themselves to be formidable and terrifying foes for Daredevil to go up against in short time and Mark Waid does a good job to illustrate these kids right off the bat while Chris Samnee and new colorist Matt Wilson do a phenomenal job showing just how creepy they are. Another thing I don't think I've talked about enough with this series is that Waid is doing a really nice job with Kirsten McDuffie. Obviously Daredevil is one of those characters who tends to make an impact with women and has both a slew of long-lasting relationships and one-night-stands on his resume. By and large though, I tend not to like the women writers bring in (obviously excluding ones who I do like from the larger Marvel Universe but still may not like in context of him dating, like Black Widow, Elektra kind of, and Black Cat) and Kirsten marks the first love interest since probably Echo that I've found myself liking and who doesn't seem to play the typical superhero love interest. Of course, that probably means Waid is ready to kill her off.

Total Score: 5/5


Elektra 6

Elektra has led Cape Crow, Kento, and Matchmaker from safe house to safe house, only to be attacked every step of the way by mercenaries and assassins looking to bring in the sizable fee on all of their heads. Elektra has met every challenge but finds herself worn out and running out of safe places. They reach Cape Crow's last safe house only to be attacked by the Serpent Squad. Elektra sends Cape Crow (no longer a killer) and Kento running for the house only to realize a moment too late that the Serpent Squad is a distraction and that sending Cape Crow into the house is exactly what whoever is behind this trap wants. She disposes of the Squad and rushes for the house with Matchmaker, who discovers Cape Crow's helmet torn apart by a sword before she herself is stabbed through the back by the culprit: a healed and monumentally more powerful Lady Bullseye out for revenge on Elektra.

About half of this book is a recap of their recent days interspersed with information about the assassin's guild and their extensive fees and health care plan, which Lady Bullseye utilizes. It's an effective storytelling technique as we stay with our main characters and learn a bit about them through dialogue and through their interactions with one another but also get key plot points, like the experimental and probably fatal procedure Lady Bullseye agreed to undertake to wipe out her debts to the guild and save her life temporarily, giving her a chance to go after Elektra. Though I think the art is pretty good here, it's hard to go from Del Mundo to anyone else and my love of this issue suffers a little as a result (not to mention that Matchmaker has ditched the amazing aviator cap and goggles for a more Alex-in-A-Clockwork-Orange outfit, which is a super bummer, you guys). Also, I'll be pretty upset if they kill off Matchmaker, I think she's phenomenal and I simultaneously want to learn everything about her and be given no explanation for her. It's complicated. Really like that cover, too.

Total Score: 4/5

Comics this week

Hey everybody, pretty busy week for comics with a few books that you'll definitely want to keep an eye on (and a few that I'm certainly not going to tell you to). Here are some examples!

Avengers 35
This recommendation comes with a bit of a caution: this will start Hickman's grand conclusion to his AVENGERS time (if memory serves and I'm not just making that up) called TIME RUNS OUT, so it's bound to be a pretty big issue but it's also $4.99. Don't get me wrong, it's meant to be an extra-sized issue so it may be worth that extra dollar after all. I just tend to be wary (and everyone else should be too) of Marvel putting out so many extra-priced books. I'm all for people getting paid appropriately for their work but I worry what all of these releases could mean for my wallet going forward.


Daredevil 8
We're back in San Francisco after a brief New York/Wakanda detour for the ORIGINAL SIN tie-in and this issue will kick off a new arc about THE PURPLE CHILDREN, seemingly the many offspring of persuasive villain Purple Man (or perhaps just some dumb kids under his thrall, though illegitimate love children makes more sense to me for a guy who has persuasive powers and is a real creep). Purple Man, despite being a real creep, obviously has some scary potential and Daredevil fighting children should be fun. Wait, maybe I could word that better.


Edge of Spider-Verse 2
I think this event has the makings of some really interesting stories (I do tend to like well-done alternate dimension stuff, we'll see if this falls into that camp) and this, I believe, is the debut of the much advertised Spider-Gwen, the alternate universe Gwen Stacy Spider-Person. Could be fun!


Elektra 6
I really like this book, you guys. Give it a shot, willya?


Thor: God of Thunder 25
This one edges out UNCANNY AVENGERS, AVENGERS WORLD, and SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN as it marks the start to a really monumental shift for Thor, who we last saw in ORIGINAL SIN being told some secret by Fury that caused his hammer to IMMEDIATELY deem him not worthy and drag him down to the moon's surface. What was that secret? Who will be deemed worthy? What's the secret origin of Malekith? Possibly all that and maybe some more, up this week!

Comic Suggestions

Hey guys, been a while since I've had an extra post/a Monday post at all, so thought I'd drop one in this week. FULL DISCLOSURE: this is actually the body of an email I sent to a family member not long ago when he asked me for comic recommendations, particularly ones that didn't require much extra reading beyond the main series. This is my answer, full of Marvel and Image recommendations. And just, you know, really full. You think I ramble on HERE? Imagine answering a question I love answering to a family member. Actually, NO NEED TO IMAGINE, my friends, JUST LOOK BELOW... (I added the pictures, just to make this look better on a blog)

So you're not wrong, obviously, in saying that it's hard in superhero comics to find something that doesn't tie into a ton of other books (I can't speak much for DC since I don't know as much over there but I know I was turned off of BATMAN for exactly that reason, though that book was pretty solid. I also hear good things about RED SONJA, but we're getting off-topic already). If it is an ongoing superhero comic you're looking for, I have several recommendations, though obviously it depends on what you like to read.

HAWKEYE is one of the best series I've ever read and stays really self-contained for a book about a guy who has only ever been viewed in context of Avengers teams. It's not a prototypical superhero book (Hawkeye himself appears in a Santa hat for more panels than in his actual costume) so if you're looking for a little more action, this one may be a little slower.

While we're talking about solo titles, BLACK WIDOW and ELEKTRA are both really impressive right now and are staying fairly self-contained (BLACK WIDOW just had a very small crossover with PUNISHER, which has also been good, but you certainly don't need to read the PUNISHER issue to get the full feel for it). BLACK WIDOW has a really strong narrative and outstanding art. It's featured other characters in bit roles here and there but nothing aside from the slight PUNISHER crossover that requires other reading. ELEKTRA is fairly new but it also has great art and a really interesting and dark story.

DAREDEVIL is another good one that has been good for some time now (it's very recently tied in to the Marvel event ORIGINAL SIN but it's not a tie-in that requires you to know more than the very basic outline of the event). Mark Waid and Chris Samnee have taken a character who has been more than a little dark and brooding since Frank Miller and made him a little more fun, kind of more classic DAREDEVIL but with a Miller darkness at the edges. It just renumbered to give fans a jumping-on point so it's only on issue four or five, though this creative team has been working with the character for a couple years now. CAPTAIN AMERICA too has been very strong and kept itself as contained as a major character like Cap can.

As a matter of fact, most solo titles, while I'm thinking about it, are keeping relatively to themselves. The X-MEN books are a little more interconnected (though Si Spurrier's new X-FORCE has already been phenomenal through seven issues and is worth checking out if you like a bit of a heady run mixed with a bunch of asterisk's-out swears; Spurrier wrote X-MEN LEGACY recently and it was my favorite book last year) and some of the main AVENGERS titles have been bouncing in and out with one another (though NEW AVENGERS has more or less kept to itself since INFINITY, last year's event, and that book has been great since the start). There are definitely more Marvel books I'd be happy to recommend but I'm inexplicably already at something like nineteen paragraphs and I haven't even gotten what I'm slowly getting around to.

The worry that a book you like will tie in to a bigger universe is certainly not irrational but it's something you don't really have to worry about with books from, say, Image. I've been reading a handful of those books recently and there are certainly some great ones worth looking into if it's your thing (though they do tend to be a bit more explicit because, I suppose, they can be). SAGA is pretty fun and interesting and it wins Eisner after Eisner, though I personally think it's a little overrated. VELVET and LAZARUS are both really good and pretty new books. VELVET (from Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, the guys who created the Winter Soldier storyline in CAPTAIN AMERICA) focuses on a spy who has been accused of killing her department's best spy (Brubaker pitches it as "if Moneypenny was accused of killing James Bond"). LAZARUS is about a dystopian future where America is divided up between the richest families while the rest of the world lives in a really regimented caste system. Each family has a programmed warrior to defend them, called a Lazarus, a member of the family who has been genetically augmented and trained to keep his or her family protected and the series focuses on Forever Carlyle, the Lazarus of the powerful and corrupt Carlyle family.

While we're talking about dystopian futures, Jonathan Hickman's EAST OF WEST might be the best comic I've ever read. It's certainly in contention and it's just fourteen issues or so in. The conceit of the book is that there was a giant meteor that struck the dead-center of America in the middle of the Civil War, putting an end to the fighting but also leading to the formation of several separate nations within America. At the same time, a prophecy about the end of the world emerged from a few different sources. Now, centuries later, the nations of America stand on the precipice of war while a handful of zealots sit atop each nation and meet in secret to discuss The Message. If that weren't enough, the driving storyline is about Death falling out with the three other Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It's got a lot of really great art in it and Hickman's writing is really detailed, cool, and smart. I've read that he plans out his arcs in two year blocks, which is pretty crazy in and of itself. Look, it's a really great book, but only, I would think, if the heady plot is your kind of thing.

FINAL PSEUDO-RECOMMENDATION: Ryan North and Boom! Comics just finished an eight-issue run on an original series called THE MIDAS FLESH that explores the myth of King Midas and what its effects on a world/universe would be. I love North, who writes the very funny webcomic Dinosaur Comics, and his humor and interesting scientific questions are all on display in this series. Lots of fun in this series based on an idea in one of his Dinosaur Comics though it did just end, so not a ton of longevity on that one.

Daredevil 7, Elektra 5

Daredevil 7
Waid (w) and J. Rodriguez (p and c) and A. Lopez (i) and Caramagna (l)

Daredevil hitches a ride with SHIELD to Wakanda, which SHIELD isn't willing to fly over because they're not entirely stupid. DD drops down into the most technologically advanced nation on Earth and is quickly captured, which, of course, turns out to be part of his plan. Instead of hoping to fight his way through Queen Shuri and the rest of Wakanda, he aims to lawyer the nuns out of jail, which he does by revealing that he's brought the corrupt army general to Wakanda and made his disappearance known, which will certainly get people looking and checking into his background and likely lead them to Wakanda. Shuri's only option is to release the nuns and separate herself from the general before things start to look ugly for them, which she does. On the way home, Maggie explains to her son that she had severe postpartum depression and it caused her to attack her husband and, nearly, her infant son, which led her to leaving the house and the family and taking up with God to protect her loved ones. With Jack proven innocent and a relationship with Maggie rekindled, Daredevil gets to return home happy.

I'm fairly pleased that this didn't end up being a "I have daddy issues" sort of revelation. Instead, it's far more nuanced and a bit more interesting as we learn a good deal about the rarely seen Maggie and get to see Daredevil spend some meaningful time with his family, who were misunderstood and not abusive after all. This one, as opposed to, say, ORIGINAL SIN: HULK VS IRON MAN, paints someone as a villain then reveals them to be a hero...but I found it interesting as opposed to somewhat predictable and boring. Javier Rodriguez does pretty phenomenal work here. I'll certainly miss his contributions on the book, though I look forward to colorist extraordinaire Matt Wilson's take on Samnee's art starting next issue.

Total Score: 4/5


Elektra 5
W.H. Blackman (w) and Del Mundo (a) and Del Mundo w/D'Alfonso (c) and Cowles (l)

Cape Crow fights with Elektra and reveals that he was able to beat all of his previous attackers because he has extremely limited pre-cognition. It's maybe only half a second, but it's enough for him to use his instincts and win each fight. Elektra, armed with this knowledge, manages to clear her head and fight on pure instinct, defeating him in a close fight. With Cape Crow down and his helmet removed, she learns that he is, in fact, her dead father. But not really, that's just some psychic image put there by Kento, who has some amount of psychic power. She's super mad but agrees to continue to help them assuming Kento never does that again and that they still pay her. Bad news, though, Bloody Lips has arrived, still desperate to eat Elektra. Having a pretty tough day already, Elektra cuts herself and drips blood onto Bloody Lips' lips, giving him a full range of her memories and experiences, which breaks him and he stumbles off a cliff. So long, Bloody Lips! Anyway, Lady Bullseye is back and vows revenge on Elektra.

Lots of really great stuff here, including Elektra's bio-signature-based sai (nice try using them against her, Cape Crow), a great taste of her fighting prowess and strategies, the demise of Bloody Lips after a really impressive and very cool if mildly horrific double page spread detailing Elektra's memories, the promise of more assassin fights, and the promise of more Matchmaker, who, if I haven't said it enough, is the best. I really like this book and I think Blackman has plenty of ideas for this book and Del Mundo is an unbelievable artist who really brings this book alive. Just really fun stuff with lots of upside.

Total Score: 5/5

Comics this week

Hey all my buddies! I'm writing this away from the list of comics out this week so let's take an adventure and guess at what books (and what specific number issues) are out this week!

Daredevil 7(? 6? I think 7)

I'll level with you, I didn't remember what had happened last issue until I started writing this sentence (which called for tense changes, though now I'm convinced it's issue 7). I just trusted that I wanted to read a new DAREDEVIL. And I do. The ORIGINAL SIN tie-in may not be my favorite thing in Marvel currently but this series has proven itself reliably good and the story is certainly strong enough to warrant checking this one out. Also, are these Javier Rodriguez pencils? With Matt Wilson taking over coloring duties, this may be the last time we see Rodriguez on this title, where he's been excellent. So check him out in his last hurrah, unless I'm wrong and he's not drawing this one. Then just check it out for another reason.

Elektra 5 (pretty sure that's what I wrote down yesterday, I suppose it could be 6. Feels too well-developed for just four issues right now)

It's hard to overstate how onboard with this book I am right now. Really interesting concept and story propped up by some great character work and phenomenal artwork. I'm very impressed with what this book has shown so far and I'm looking forward to it with every new release.

Ms. Marvel 7

I feel I haven't highlighted MS. MARVEL enough, giving more attention to other phenomenal books out at the same time. Well take note, friends, I'm highlighting it here. Really fun book, really great characters all around, and currently a delightful team-up with Wolverine to enjoy. Check it out.

New Avengers 23

Another incursion! A falling out between the Illuminati! Fights! Failures! Follow-ups! Figureheads! Fun!

Nova 20

Real talk: I have no idea what else is out this week worthy of consideration so NOVA gets a bit of a cheat-win. It's not that much of one, though, as I've really liked this series overall and do find myself looking forward to the newest issues when they drop, so it's not not-worthy, it just may be less worthy than something else out there this week. Maybe ORIGINAL SINS if just for the Chip Zdarsky short story in this week's issue? Look, NOVA's a good book, check it out.

Amazing Spider-Man 4, Daredevil 6

Amazing Spider-Man 4
Slott (w) and Ramos (p) and Olazaba (i) and Delgado (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

Parker Industries is trying to work out ways to safely capture Electro, including an electric proof net (which is such a cartoon idea. In fact, it's so cartoon that it's something Team Rocket constantly uses),  but again Peter is quick to disappear when an Avengers call comes in, to the concern of Anna Maria and to the frustration of Sajani. She storms off and is taken by the onlooking Black Cat, who has stolen some of the plans for the Electro capture tech and needs someone to help her understand them. Meanwhile, Peter arrives at the ORIGINAL SIN storyline, thrilled to be hanging out with his Avengers pals again, as the truth bomb reveals to him that there was another person bitten by the spider that bit him. Ezekiel Sims, totem of the spider and convinced that Peter is too, found young Cindy Moon and had her locked away while she trained and explored her powers, claiming to do it to stop Morlun from finding and killing her. Peter races to go save his totem sister and lets her out of the room she's in, telling her Morlun is dead. As Cindy, codename Silk, excitedly joins Peter out in the world, he admits that Morlun has a way of coming back from the dead and she flips out on him, proving that her skills are maybe even a little more advanced than his. Indeed, though, Morlun does wake from some sort of slumber, awakened by "the spider-bride." And then Peter and Cindy make out. PRETTY AGGRESSIVELY, YOU GUYS.

We're four issues back with Peter and it remains very clear that Dan Slott loves writing the true Peter Parker. He should, too, he's pretty good at it. There's always a sense of fun and, dare I say, whimsy to the character under Slott's direction. The other thing Slott always manages to do really well with Peter, even if it doesn't always look like it's heading that way, is construct a story that feels rather like it's closing in on our hero at all times. There are always wheelings, dealing, stealings, healings, and feelings that Peter isn't privy to but that the audience sees from issue to issue and that tend to culminate all at once. That's happening pretty blatantly here and it's entirely possible, maybe even likely, that it will wind its way towards an excellent conclusion. However, it's also possible that it will remain as skeptical-eyebrow-raising and frustrating as it is now. There are still moments to enjoy in this issue but the Black Cat/Electro storyline makes very little sense to me (with Black Cat on some sort of crazed revenge fantasy and Electro just crazed, seemingly to correlate with the worst parts of the last Spider-Man movie) and it's clearly making its way into the spotlight. On top of that, I've never been a big supporter of the Spider Mythology sort of storyline that the series occasionally heads back to. I like Peter Parker and I think his longevity and his appeal, part of it anyway, comes from the fact that he's just an average guy who gained these powers and, after a brief hiccup of being a jerk, realizes he has a responsibility to use his powers to help, not for self-profit. The totem stuff makes it feel that he's not an everyman, he's a very specific man and he was chosen to be Spider-Man, not that he himself chose to be Spider-Man. I think it weakens his story and plays more to the idea of fate rather than choice, which rather feels like the opposite of Spider-Man's story. LOOK, what I'm trying to say is that it's kind of weird that the Spider would have these two make out.

Total Score: 2/5


Daredevil 6
Waid (w) and J. Rodriguez (p) and A. Lopez (i) and J. Rodriguez (c) and Caramagna (l)

Daredevil's been ORIGINAL SIN'd and he's learned, perhaps, that there was more than meets the eye to his father, or, in the very least, that he'd repressed some seriously bad memories of the man who has stood so tall over Matt's life. Memories rush back to him of a beaten and bruised mother with Battlin' Jack standing over her and he has to know the truth. He tries to track his mother, a nun, only to learn that she and two other nuns have been arrested and await extradition to Wakanda for trial after trespassing and graffiti-ing on private Wakandan property. Matt can't believe the story and moreover can't believe the extreme punishment for what amounts to a tiny infraction. He attempts to investigate but is shut down in every direction, eventually leading him to stay silent in a closet in the Wakandan embassy for hours in the hopes of hearing some hint of the proceedings. Eventually he does, learning that there's a coverup from the American military involved as well. He confronts the Wakandan and an army general only find himself stopped dead in his tracks by a waiting sonic. The Wakandan informs him that Wakanda has purchased the land onto which his mother trespassed, making it officially Wakandan soil and therefore any crimes committed are to be treated as crimes against Wakanda, dealt with however they want. With perhaps more than a hint of WATCHMEN, the Wakandan tells Matt that he's only giving out this information because there's nothing the hero can do about it as the nuns were sent on a plane an hour ago.

Let me say this first: I think the Wakandan storyline, while a bit farfetched because of my biases towards Wakandan and the idea that Black Panther wouldn't check his cellphone once in a while from someone who he's been so close to in the past as Daredevil, is a fairly interesting one. I think pitting Matt against such a powerful nation on behalf of his rarely-seen mother is an intriguing storyline. I think that the abusive father storyline, while not necessarily unexpected out of a down-and-out boxer, is perhaps a bit overdone in the Marvel Universe as a whole. Not to say it's not pertinent or meaningful for the character, particularly one like Matt who rather sees his father through rose-colored glasses (because ALL OF HIS GLASSES ARE ROSE-COLORED, though I suppose he doesn't really see through them so never mind, my bit is ruined). Still, I couldn't help saying "aww, nooo" when the reveal was made. Again, it's not necessarily unexpected and it's not exactly farfetched (it may not even be the first time this has been seen from Battlin' Jack, I'm not sure) but it did kind of make me go "aw, can't we just have one character without daddy issues?" I'm not saying this to minimize the horror and wrongness of abuse (particularly in the light of Ravens running back Ray Rice's minuscule two-game suspension for pretty clear and public spousal abuse and the terrible comments from the terrible people on the ESPN comment sections on any articles referring to it) but rather to shine it as something of an overused trope in fiction (important to remember they could just as easily have not made Jack hit Maggie as these aren't real people with real histories) which makes the actual act seem less flagrant by its overwhelmingly abundant usage. LOOK, maybe when I make a real statement of some sort, I shouldn't conflate it by adding two long parenthetical statements in the middle. LOOK, maybe we're all just learning that now?

Total Score: 3/5

Comics this week

We get a bit of a break this week as the new release total drops down to under 15 for the first time in what seems like the entire history of mankind, back to the very first cavemen who were forced to spend more than they wanted on comics every week because, you know, percentage-wise it's not that bad, considering how many books are out total. ON THE FLIPSIDE, this pre-game post traditionally chooses the top five books to look out for in the coming week and I literally only have three that I'm particularly concerned about (and one is kind of a push anyway, honestly). So let's take a look at two and a half books I want you to read this week and two others that are on this list because I hate breaking tradition.

Amazing Spider-Man 4
Is it me or has their been a drop off in production of this book? Actual physical production, not like, Peter Parker is less efficient than he has been. An easy way to check would be to look across my old blog posts but, well, we all know how likely I am to do that. Instead, I'll ask the question here, probably receive no answer, and go on with my life. Anyway, I like the directions this book can go in though I'm a little at a loss about the Electro story and the Black Cat story, which are, in fact, coming together now, so let's see if Slott manages to turn me around on those.

Daredevil 6
This is a really fun book, you guys. The last issue just came out, like, two weeks ago and explored the "death" of Foggy Nelson, a topic I hadn't anticipated, so just read my last pre-game for this book and transfer that praise on to this one.

Mighty Avengers 12
I don't want to write this series off entirely because it's shown glimpses of really innovative and exciting things. Of course, the fact that it's in the midst of an ORIGINAL SIN tie-in doesn't exactly warm my heart or, indeed, push me to recommend it more, but here we are. It won the lottery of "I don't care a lot about most of these books," beating out DEADPOOL which, somehow, almost never gets even a little bit of consideration. I've mostly enjoyed the book beyond the much hated (by me) first arc and yet it remains just kind of a comic that exists, not one that I'm particularly pumped about (though I loved the Declan Shalvey arc and I'm looking forward to a team-up between old man Steve Rogers and Deadpool). Anyway, MIGHTY AVENGERS: it's out this week (Marvel, you can use that catchphrase if you want it).

Original Sin 5.2 - Thor and Loki
Gah, another tie-in book to an event I'm not sold on? Geez, slow week. Anyway, big shifts coming for Asgard lore (and for Thor, as news broke last week) and the start to those shifts seem to be coming in this tie-in and did I mention it's a slow week?

Storm 1
My thought, you guys, is that this is a slow week, one where I, the guy who willingly writes reviews of every major Marvel release, am tepid on the majority of the books that are releasing, so you have no excuse not to buy STORM by Greg Pak and Victor Ibanez. Go check it out, support the rad X-Men leader in her first solo ongoing, and guarantee that Marvel keeps making it and keeps trying new things.

Captain Marvel 5, Daredevil 5

Captain Marvel 5
DeConnick (w) and D. Lopez (a) and Loughridge (c) and Caramagna (l)

Captain Marvel realizes that the Haffensye aren't intercepting goods coming to Torfa, they're covertly mining the planet for natural resources, in this case vibranium. This also explains the recent sickness that's washed over the community, a reaction to the vibranium and easily treated now that they know with what they're dealing (like so much House). Carol and her team (sans Tic, who has been captured) explain everything to the people and Carol goes on to deduce that some of the once-friendly Sentimault, still living amongst them, are helping the Haffensye mine the vibranium and that said vibranium is to be delivered to J-Son to give the Spartax an impregnable army. The Haffensye and J-Son are quibbling over the vibranium themselves and Spartax is prepared to come to the planet and take it on their own, only to be met by a war-ready Captain Marvel.

With the mystery solved, Carol returns to form as she makes herself heard and refuses to leave a struggling people even as their leader tells her that she should not get involved. The final pages of the issue, giving the audience another emotional speech, not unlike the the first issue of the last volume (wherein Carol received advice and strength in a letter from her childhood hero), that has been something of a driving force for DeConnick's run. Following that is a pretty gorgeous double page spread that shows Captain Marvel hovering in space, staring down a fleet of Spartax ships. It's a powerful moment and one that sticks with the ongoing feeling of the book and the strength of Carol's character through this run. It's a solid way to end the issue.

Total Score: 5/5


Daredevil 5
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and J. Rodriguez (c) and Caramagna (l)

We flash back a few months to Foggy's last minutes "alive" to Matt explaining to his friend that faking his death is the best way to proceed, that it's the only way to get him out of the spotlight and to ensure that his treatment isn't tampered with. As they run through the park together, Ant-Man in Foggy's blood to keep trying an experimental method to deal with some of the cancer, Foggy complains to Daredevil about how hard it will be to pick back up when they reveal he's not dead after all, that he's not a superhero and normal people don't just return from death. At that moment, "supervillain" Leapfrog emerges from a pond in new battle armor, picking up Foggy and scrambling away with him, proving Matt's fears about leaving him in the open. DD pursues and eventually catches up with Leapfrog, managing to snare him. Leapfrog tries to escape, hoping that Daredevil will focus on his friend rather than the villain, but DD catches him, believing Foggy can handle himself. However, everything changes when Matt realizes that Leapfrog was desperate to escape because his abandoned suit is actually a bomb. Matt makes a big show to yell to foggy that the suit is a bomb and he needs to get it out of the city, that he's the only one who can enter it in time and leap high above the civilians. Foggy doesn't hesitate, climbing in and preparing to sacrifice himself. As the suit explodes in midair, Ant-Man returns to the ground with Foggy. Everyone believes Foggy's dead after a very public and extremely heroic sacrifice.

It's a nice Foggy-centric issue here (always like those) and it answers a couple of questions hanging over the series and over Daredevil's decision to reveal himself to the world. It's, admittedly, maybe a little convenient as Leapfrog makes his perfectly timed appearance, seemingly not orchestrated by Daredevil, and there's no way to make the ending anything but predictable for the audience, who should remember Ant-Man is with Foggy and who, of course, knows that Foggy survives, but Waid and Samnee do a good job to keep the action and the fun up anyway, giving something of a laugh as Daredevil very obviously lets the entire street know what's happening as he yells to Foggy while still making it a poignant and feel-good story as Foggy, not realizing that he'll be saved, immediately makes the choice to save everyone else. Solid issue with more great Samnee art and Rodriguez colors.

Total Score: 5/5

Comics this week

Plenty of comics this week but I'm not sure anyone will be surprised by the ones I'm highlighting here. Doesn't make them the wrong ones to highlight.

Avengers Undercover 7
Fairly certain that I've read recently that this series is actually more of a miniseries, one that I want to say is ending with issue ten. It's a shame as this series already is showing that it has some legs. By the same token, it's a shame that I'm so tired and don't feel like looking up if that's true or not. I mean, I'm pretty sure. Ah well. Let's take it issue-by-issue and enjoy it while we can because, even if number ten isn't the final issue, we're all dying, Melissa.

Captain Marvel 5
We're creeping towards the end of the first arc of this new series, one that has found Carol Danvers in space and making new friends and some new enemies, as well as new people (aliens) who regard her with indifference. So a little of everything. That said, I think one of the strengths of the last series was DeConnick's insistence on shining a light on Carol's life outside of her work so that she was a fully fleshed out person and her allies were fully fleshed out people. I think she's doing a rush job with that here and I don't think it will have the weight when the time does finally come. Still, it beats out AVENGERS 32 because they're still time-traveling, which is more interesting out of Hickman but still is only so interesting.

Daredevil 5
After somewhat middling praise for the first two books on this list that seem to highlight perhaps a slower release week this week, our last three books come with full and unwavering recommendation. DAREDEVIL continues to be fun and fresh and to feel new, even though it was the same creative team who took the man without fear out of New York and brought him to California to start a new book. Go take a look, pals.

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 5
The conclusion of the pretty fantastic WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH limited series from Rick Remender comes out on a week when Remender himself is facing some controversy for a scene in the most recent CAPTAIN AMERICA, one that I didn't even realize was a controversy and the controversy of which seems largely to stem out of unhappy fans annoyed with the breadth of Remender's run. The controversy seems to come from Jet and Falcon's newfound affair with some (wrong) people calling it "statutory rape," which seems ignorant at best and offensive and hateful at worst. Talking about the reaction, not the scene, because, as you may have gathered, I don't buy it. It feels very much like looking for problems and drama and spewing hate and un-researched opinions (complete with its own Fire Rick Remender hashtag on social media). Instead of listening to me, listen to Marvel editor Tom Brennan and writer Kieron Gillen, both of whom are better at this sort of thing than me and who aren't supposed to be writing about WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH right this very instant. Look, just read this one, okay? And support Rick Remender. He's done great work the last few years at Marvel.

X-Force 7
Geez, that last post went on SO LONG and didn't even talk about WINTER SOLDIER! Let's do half of the opposite here and write a post that's SO SHORT while still not talking about the book at hand. Go buy it Wednesday, this series is great.

And the rest

Another review dump. I'd expect this sort of thing to be the norm for a bit, you guys. Don't necessarily think that the books that are saved for Saturday aren't worthy of your time: still trust the little blurbs and the total scores. As with everything else on this blog, the decision that forces books on to a Saturday dump are practically arbitrary. Look, you get it, I don't know why I'm explaining it more except that, obviously, all I ever do is ramble. Let's just get to it.

All-New X-Factor 10
David (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Loughridge (c) and Petit (l)

Georgia has been taken by her supervillain father Memento Mori and the team is eager to get her back. Mori treats his daughter well, showing her his five-star hotel and giant mall, but also demands she use her powers in his service, which puts them at odds. With the team reassembled, they manage to get to Georgia. They teleport away with her with the help of a Serval Industries matter transporter which just so happens to leave Gambit, who inadvertently slept with Snow's wife, behind. Some strong parts in this that are maybe a little clouded by somewhat forced pop culture arguments (something David loves and I don't want to begrudge him but I will) and humor that occasionally hits but occasionally tries too hard. 4/5






Daredevil Road Warrior 0.1
Waid (w) and Krause (a) and Kalisz (c) and Sabino (l)

This is just the motion comic that came out not long ago that preceded Daredevil's move to San Francisco. Pretty sure I already reviewed it all (or at least parts of it!) but I had it on my list so here it is! Still alright, interesting to see a motion comic re-translated into a regular comic. I dunno, 4/5?

Deadpool vs. X-Force 1
Swierczynski (w) and Larraz (a) and Woodard (c) and Sabino (l)

After obsessed-with-time-travel millionaire Francis Talbot's grandson dies in a firefight in Desert Storm (this story is set pre-X-Force and all), he hires Deadpool, a hitherto unknown mercenary, to go back and save him. Cable, keeping tabs on Talbot, is disappointed that he would mess with the time stream so but agrees to go back with the new mutants (soon-to-be-X-Force) and retrieve Deadpool, who, of course, went off-mission to the American Revolution. After messing around in the 1700s for a bit and finding himself at odds with X-Force, Deadpool jumps to the Civil War. Kind of an interesting story developing here (that wreaks just a bit of havoc with the Marvel timeline) but perhaps a bit too much exposition here in the first issue to set everything up which, albeit, is a lot to set up. 3/5

Fantastic Four 100th Anniversary 1
Van Meter (w) and Estep (a and c) and Sabino (l)

The first in Marvel's new experimental line that asks what might be happening in decades to come for some key Marvel titles. First stop, FANTASTIC FOUR. The original F4 have been separated and/or lost in timespace for 15 years and Val leads the new F4 (including two of her own children and two other young heroes) from a control center. Visions reach out to her and she teams with her mother Sue to pull the other original members back into the real world. Hard to really summarize a standalone book of all-new made up things. Still, easy enough to get into, drags a little bit but that probably has more to do with not knowing what's happening and the exposition needed to establish all of that. Sort of interesting idea, best to just group this sort of thing with WHAT IFs though. 3/5

Guardians of the Galaxy: Galaxy's Most Wanted 1
Corona Pilgrim (w) and Di Vito (a) and Villari (c) and Cowles (l)

Movie tie-in that finds Rocket and Groot short-changed on a bounty when Groot realizes that Rocket has a bounty on his head. As a slew of bounty hunters turn on Rocket, Groot protects him (though his attempts at protection are first mistaken for betrayal by Rocket) and the pair manage to confront the rival hunter who placed the bounty, demanding he take it down. Predictable and rather cookie-cutter, which is often what you expect from a movie tie-in. It moves relatively well, but I think mostly it's because you can skip almost all of the dialogue and know what's happening. 2/5

Magneto 6
Bunn (w) and J. Fernandez (a) and D. Brown (c) and Petit (l)

Armed with his new information from Briar Raleigh, Magneto strikes and strikes and strikes at the Marauders, who, as it happens, are mostly clones of the key Marauders. He goes through legions of clones while the SHIELD agents on his tail try to piece together what they can from one of the Scalphunters he didn't fully kill, just horribly maim. Magneto, though, finds his way to one of the Marauder control centers and realizes he may just be able to reprogram the clones to work for a new master. Interesting stuff as Magneto may just be ready to build himself an army. Maybe a little less introspective than the rest of the series has been so far but still with the driving justice theme behind it holding the series up pretty well. 4/5






Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 3
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

Miles reveals to Kate that he's Spider-Man and she runs off. Before he can chase her, homicide detective Maria Hill shows up to question him about the appearance of the other Spider-Men, who are now responsible for at least one death. Meanwhile, news gets out that Norman Osborn is alive and Monica Chang, ex-leader of SHIELD, leads a team to Oscorp to try to track him. He is there as they arrive and he decimates the team, including probably murdering Chang (certainly at least burning her face off). Miles hears that Goblin is alive and speeds off to Peter Parker's house, worried that Goblin will come for Aunt May. Of course, right as Miles realizes how unprepared he is for this fight (being a less-experienced Spidey than the original who died at Goblin's hands and now lacking his web shooters thanks to the somehow also alive Peter Parker), Goblin shows up. Pretty strong issue. I think that the dialogue once again bogs down what is an interesting and compelling story but there's enough happening right now and you can't help but care about Miles enough that it holds pretty well. 4/5

Miracleman 8
A. Moore (w) and Austen (a) and Oliff (c) and Caramagna (l)

Pluto has destroyed Cream and now leaps at Michael Moran, eating the gun out of his hand and taking two fingers with it. As he plays with his would-be victim, Moran comes enough to his senses to shout "Steppenwolf," the keyword that changes Pluto back to a regular dog, and bashes the dog's head in with a rock. After the hour passes, Moran changes back into Miracleman and hunts down Gargunza, grabbing him by the throat and bringing him to the edge of space before tossing him down to burn through the atmosphere. Dark ending, that, but a good look at what a full-powered and rage-filled Miracleman is capable of as he plows through trees and people alike, unyielding in his fury. 5/5

New Warriors 7
Yost (w) and To (a) and Redmond (c) and Cowles (l)

The new Inhumans who have taken Haechi's family hostage, waiting for his return, attack the New Warriors upon their entrance. They manage to capture Haechi and Sun Girl in their dark energy teleportation, leaving Justice behind to call the rest of the team, who are, in the case of Speedball and Jake Waffles, looking for traces of celestial energy and, in the case of Scarlet Spider, Aracely, and Mr. Whiskers, looking for demons surrounding them. With the help of old New Warrior Silhouette Chord, they trace the dark energy signature and find Haechi and Sun Girl. Haechi is tied up and unable to transform and the other Inhumans, disciples of Lash (from INHUMAN), are preparing to kill Sun Girl when she manages to shoot Haechi's chains off. They're safe for the moment but Lash himself finally appears and it's a whole different story. Meanwhile, the team's teleport is manipulated from an outside source and they land in a warehouse full of armed bad guys. Strong story, plenty going on but still enough time for the talented Yost to establish more about our characters. 5/5

Punisher 8
Maurer and Edmondson (w) and Carnero (p) and Pallot (i) and Fabela (c) and Petit (l)

With some amount of struggle and a fair amount of injury and losses (including Ortiz at the hands of an irritated Crossbones), Punisher manages to buy enough time for Special Forces Tom to get what remains of his troop out, sacrificing himself to be caught by Crossbones in the process. It's more a story about the Special Forces group and Frank's tangential relation to them (and the impact he would have on them in the time to come) than about Punisher himself, though it does put him firmly in Crossbones' grasp at the end. There's a little too much going on to make this a really clean read and a lot of the new soldiers look a little too much alike to separate particularly well, making the whole read somewhat chaotic and confusing. 2/5

Thor: God of Thunder 24
Aaron (w) and Alessio w/Ribic (a) and Alessio w/Svorcina (c) and Sabino (l)

Dario Agger managed to get away from the authorities to absolve himself of any blame and now, at a press conference, pins all of the blame on the fact that Asgardia stays in the sky above Broxton. The Congress of Worlds meets in Asgardia to decide if Asgard should move elsewhere on the World Tree and, of course, they decide that they should, despite Thor's protestations. Before they go, the gods do what they can to help Broxton clear out the rubble, leaving mounds of Asgardian gold and other gifts behind as well. Thor, disappointed with the way things turned out and mad that all he's done is destroy, just as he did when he was young, also delivers his own personal castle, his home on Asgardia, to Broxton so that the displaced people might live there while the town rebuilds. He also nominates Jane Foster to the Congress of Worlds to represent Midgard. Dario Agger, for his part, eyes the other realms for his own conquest. In the far future, King Thor and his daughters rebuild Earth but who knows for how long, as the All-Black merges with Galactus. The issue ends up being immensely powerful as Thor has plenty of time for introspection and finds himself depressed in the result. It's a very strong issue and a solid conclusion to an arc that could have gone either way. 5/5

An apology - and some reviews and picks

My friends, my followers, people who clicked on this link completely by accident (who even ARE you?): You are owed an apology. I missed a couple posts this week (as I've not so subtly been hinting, that may be happening more often lately as I'm away from my computer more and more often). I had been traveling to a wedding a ways away and spending some time with family which is NEVER AN EXCUSE FOR NOT REVIEWING COMICS. I'm kind of kidding. Those who understand blogs likely have guessed that I don't make money on this blog (not for lack of asking for money) and so it often has to take a backseat to actual life events. Still, this is something that I like to do and I've been astounded to find that some people even seem to like to read. As such, I'm going to continue to make a concerted effort to update as regularly as possible. There may be changes coming soon but for now, I'm going to try to keep running things as smoothly as I can. AS FOR THE MISSING REVIEWS...


Iron Patriot 4
Still moves pretty well, this issue finds Rhodey unable to fight back against his captor, determined to kill the ex-president, but Lila and Rhodey's father are still capable of retaliation and manage it somewhat nicely. 4/5

Nova 18
An ORIGINAL SIN tie-in finds Nova discovering his friend the Watcher has died and trying to seek his killer for revenge. His search brings him to New York and he (sort of) assists in the fight against Exterminatrix and The Orb, getting caught up in the truth bomb and learning that his dad maybe wasn't so righteous as he'd hoped. Lots of drama with Sam and some really fun writing as we see a few team-ups happening in the background. 5/5

Wolverine and the X-Men 5
I'll be honest (because I'm tired): I still rather don't know what's happening in this book. Quire doesn't believe he and Evan will be forced to kill each other some day, Fantomex protects the World from Honest John, and Storm returns to the school to stop John's attack dead. Moves rather well, seems pretty spirited even if it's a little hard to follow. 3/5

Ultimate FF 3
This book has been cancelled due to POOR SALES AND NOT AT ALL DUE TO SOME TERRIBLY STUPID RUMOR SPREAD AROUND BY BLEEDING COOL. It will end with issue six (sadly, due to a sickness, issue six wasn't even written by Fialkov). Anyway, this issue was okay, I think the book overall is trying really hard to be something but it's getting a little stalled and now, obviously, it won't have that chance to save itself. 3/5



THIS WEEK'S PICKS

Daredevil 5
This book is great, you guys. Get on board with it if you somehow haven't already. Nice look from Waid this time at some of the anger stored away in Matt and at how he's living his life these days. Plus, it's just a nice book to look at.

Elektra 3
Look, this book's real pretty. I think it's a really interesting story and there are nice looks here and there behind the curtain at Elektra (I was legitimately taken aback when she referred to Daredevil as "Matthew" in this issue) so the character and the story certainly isn't hurting this series but I really like this art, you guys.

Thunderbolts 27
I recognize that maybe I'm coming in with a bit of an Acker/Blacker bias here but this issue was really fun and refreshing, nice to see that the spirit of the book will carry even as the creative team changes. Edges out NOVA, which was also a heap of fun, and AVENGERS WORLD, which continues to be interesting.