Deadpool 12, Fury MAX 13, Scarlet Spider 18

Deadpool 12
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne, Gorder, and Lucas (a) and Staples (c)

The Vetis storyline comes to a close as Deadpool is forced to fight the demon who is supercharged with the souls that Deadpool has retrieved for him. The fight is certainly a losing one for Deadpool, who is severely outmatched but Michael appears from Hell at just the right time, now dressed in all white and looking a bit more refined than crazy. Michael begins casting spells to help Deadpool but he'll need more time to be able to destroy Vetis. Mephisto shows up and berates Vetis, who slices the demon's head off pretty quickly. Michael gives Deadpool the chance to kill Vetis by stabbing him in the chest, which Deadpool promptly does, freeing all the souls that he'd taken, including, apparently, Ben's. Mephisto, pleased with how the day has turned out, offers Preston and Deadpool a deal; he'll give her her body back if she'll just ask for his help. She thinks it over but ultimately decides that they can find a way that doesn't involve the devil. Deadpool gets a vote too and goes the same way. Mephisto leaves, saying the deal is still on the table. Michael and Deadpool snipe at each other for a bit as Michael is angry that Deadpool killed him and left him in Hell for years (time moves slower there, is the description, but it might mean faster and look, I don't know, you get it though, right?) and Deadpool is angry that Michael doesn't understand it was the only way and that look, it's all worked out. Ben goes to help Michael, who storms out of Deadpool's head (this is where the negotiation between Mephisto took place) while Preston stays to comfort Deadpool, swearing that she'll help him, now that his mental block is down and he might start remembering horrible things again.

Like I'd said, this arc is way better than the first one though the idea kind of rings the same (Deadpool has to go all over the place killing superpowered beings while a bigger evil boss-battle waits for him at the end). The writing still isn't blowing me away and a lot of the jokes feel forced and unnecessary. There are far fewer quips and annoying jokes than in the first arc, which is a welcome relief. I understand that Deadpool kind of asks for this sort of writing but it often comes off as overkill. Hopefully as we move forward with his memories kind of coming back through his mental block, we'll start seeing a slightly deeper Deadpool. The shallow Deadpool is fine for team-ups or one-shots but a series needs to bring more depth to him than this one has. They've given themselves a way to open that up a bit, which would certainly help the series.

Fury MAX 13
Ennis (w) and Parlov (a) and Loughridge (c)

It's 1999 and George Hatherly, Fury's friend, is dying. Shirley goes to visit him in the hospital and ends up complaining to him about her life. They're both old now and neither of them has the Infinity Formula that Fury has so they look it (actually, I just found out that this series is on a separate Earth than the 616, one that correlates to Punisher MAX and so on, a world without superheroes and so forth. Probably should have known all along but it didn't really matter. However, that makes this a different Fury and one who may not have that formula; he just may still look better than anyone else his age). Shirley complains that Pug has a mistress living with them and bemoans the fact that she had to marry Pug, but that he was still a better choice than Fury would have been. Hatherly admits that he always thought she was lovely, which kind of sends her over the edge, knowing that there was a good man out there for her that presented a third and altogether more attractive road than either of her other thoughts. Fury attends Hatherly's funeral but is ignored by almost everyone there, angry that he didn't ever visit Hatherly in the hospital. Hatherly's granddaughter approaches him, knows who he is and understands, through Hatherly, why Fury never went to visit. She tells him that George had told her a little about what they'd done and had gotten sad talking about it, said that they'd started off with the best intentions but that everything had gone wrong and it was all pointless. She wants to know what the intentions were or why they felt they needed them. The comic detours away from the answer for a moment, giving us instead an encounter between Fury and former enemy combatant Letrong Giap from Vietnam. The two talk beside the Vietnam Memorial, walking through the sights of DC. It's a rather lovely talk about war and about what soldiers believe and how they're treated. He eventually wishes Fury well, shaking hands with him as they depart. We see into Shirley's home where she's just dropped a glass bottle of vodka. Pug's mistress comes in, gets a drink, and leaves, leaving Shirley behind to drink from another bottle of vodka. The scene turns very dark in ways I don't really want to describe for younger readers but ends with Shirley killing both the mistress and Pug before she calls Fury, a little delirious, and kills herself. Fury eventually makes it to Shirley's home and finds the cops clearing everything up. We see him recording again, years later, and decrying the fact that he just can't seem to die. He wanted war, the girl, and the victory and he only chose one. We cut back to his answer to George's granddaughter which involves the first meeting between Fury and Hatherly, where Hatherly genuinely believed that he was signing up for the job because he owed a debt to the past and a responsibility to the future, symbolized by the American flag which shows blood on the bandaged wounds of brave men and all the stars in the sky. The series ends with a portrait shot of Fury, alone in a dark room with a microphone and a gun on the table next to him.

Really heartbreaking ending. It goes nicely along with everything else this series has done and gives a cold, hard look at a very dark man. Nick Fury is one of the most interesting characters in any Marvel Universe, when done right. He's the guy who has plans within plans, wheels within wheels, and so on. He's never totally in a corner because he's always planned for that corner and has an idea of how to get out of it. This series shows the times his plans only led to darker corners and deeper holes. It would be depressing for any character but it seems more so for Fury. Add to that the questions that we saw recently in Greg Rucka's Punisher: War Zone series that had Thor telling Punisher that his war had left him behind and that he knows what it feels like to be a warrior without a war. That's very much Fury, who continues to find his own wars in this and leaves everything else behind, no matter the cost. It's depressing and it's heartbreaking and it's kind of wonderful.

Scarlet Spider 18
Yost (w) and Barberi and Wong w/Garza (a) and Lokus (c)

Kaine has just killed Wolverine and one of the Assassin's Guild's spies has seen it happen. He's seen Wolverine's heart stop and the X-Men surround Kaine and Wolverine. Belladonna calls the spy home just in time for him to miss Beast restarting Wolverine's heart as he heals. Wolverine agrees to help Kaine take down the Guild and understands his reasons. Aracely had gone into young Jean Grey's head and told her that Kaine needed to kill Wolverine for the Assassin's Guild outside. Jean psychically reported this to Wolverine and Wolverine accepted. Now the two, leaving Aracely at the school, have taken off for the Guild. Aracely is talking non-stop to the mutants and asking all sorts of questions. Hank is running tests on her and has determined that she has another entity living inside her body. Meanwhile, Kaine and Wolverine enter the Assassin's Guild, stealthily killing a few guards inside before they're found out and descended upon. The fight becomes much harder but they continue to push forward, eventually finding Belladonna, who screams that the Red Death is coming because of these events and she's eventually, an inch away from being killed by Kaine, proven correct as the Red Death, a very powerful woman, appears, killing some of Belladonna's henchmen quickly and aiming at Kaine and Wolverine.

This is one of the only team-ups we've gotten between Kaine and someone who actually knows Spider-Man, which is really fun to read. You suddenly get a better sense of how he interacts with people. Sure he's still the brooding anti-hero, cynical and jaded, but he's also a Peter Parker clone. He still has the same sort of humor and love for battle-quipping as Peter but it's decidedly darker material. Teamed with Wolverine, it's all pretty fun. Both of them, by the time the issue concludes, have (mostly jokingly) offered to kill the other to stop the fight. Kaine tells Wolverine that his plan, as things reach their most tense, is to leave while they're busy killing Wolverine. There's a lot of stuff like that in this book and it's entirely enjoyable, even as the story ramps up in tension for the characters. Another solid issue, well-written and well-drawn.

Comics this week

NOPE. TOO MANY.




Okay, if my count holds, there are twenty-two new comics from Marvel this week. As much as I love comics and just want to be reading them all the time, this saddens me greatly. It saddens me thinking of how many reviews have to be written, it saddens me knowing that the more comics there are the more comics I won't like. It saddens me because there's an Age of Ultron 10.1A.I. What. Okay, let's just dive in instead of listening to this guy whine about the job he made himself which just involves talking about comics. Plus side, it's impossible NOT to be excited by five+ of these books.

Avengers Arena 11
This book is great every time and now we're coming fresh off another death (of a pretty big character, no less) who used her dying breath to wish for help. Not astounding on its own but when you consider that her wishes are made of magic, it's not a bad way to go. Meanwhile, a big part of our cast just jumped into a portal with no idea where it will lead. Finally, if the cover of this week's issue is to be believed, we have a couple of guys we haven't seen in awhile showing up again; a couple of guys who would have no idea what's been happening with the rest of the cast and, particularly, with Katy. Exciting times ahead, dear reader.

Captain America 8
The most depressing fight in the world is set to happen unless twists hit pretty early. Cap is squared off against Ian in just the saddest battle. I don't think I can objectively write more about that at this point, since I'll just keep thinking about how sad it is. Guys, Cap has raised this kid for SO LONG. He's been in Dimension Z LONGER THAN IN PRESENT DAY MARVEL, by his calendar! And he's going to have to fight the CHILD who he's raised THAT ENTIRE TIME. WHAT.

Fury MAX 13
Final issue of this thoroughly impressive book. There have been times where it's slowed in this long arc but overall it's been a really nice piece. Garth Ennis is kind of exactly the right person to be writing Nick Fury, especially a retrospective Nick Fury. This book has been an entertaining read all the way through and has left me pretty satisfied, as someone who finds Nick Fury a very compelling character in the right hands. Ennis' hands were definitely right for this. Sorry if that sounds incredibly odd.

Hawkeye 11
"Pizza Dog in 'Pizza Is My Business.'" Sold.

Ultimate X-Men 28
Everything that so nicely fell into place over the last couple issues and particularly last issue will either shape up or shatter completely here as the mutants of Utopia learn whether or not they'll have to fight or if Utopia itself can protect them. If it can't, is this fight worth it? What can be gained? What will be lost?Who will remain and what will be left of them? These answers and more, hopefully in this week's new Ultimate X-Men.

Young Avengers 6
OKAY you caught me. I'm sneaking a sixth pick in here and covering it by writing particularly short (for me) blurbs for each. This book has been outstanding since panel one and I expect nothing less, even as Kate Brown sits in for superb series artist Jamie McKelvie on this one. Old Young Avenger (and long-lost twin brother to Wiccan) Tommy/Speed is working a desk job? With former Young Avenger X-Men equivalent Prodigy? How will this affect our team and its roster? It's a very rare book that can make me excited for a story with new characters and also thoroughly depressed that we might not see much out of the normal characters, especially where we haven't dealt with them nearly enough for my liking just yet. I think it's safe to say that Marvel has hit absolute gold with Marvel NOW and its new slew of Avengers book. I can't point to a one and say it's bad or that I dislike it. In fact, the majority of them are in my current favorites category. Exciting time to be a Marvel fan.


Yes, I stuck six pregame picks in but can you blame me? This post didn't even MENTION Daredevil WHO WILL BE CONFRONTING A CATATONIC BULLSEYE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE DD KILLED HIM IN SHADOWLAND nor X-Men 2, which I still have very high hopes for. YOU GUYS. I changed my mind while writing this; this week is going to be awesome.

This week's picks

Short week for comics this week and kind of a weird one. I'd say most of these books were fine and good reads, but I don't know how many totally stand out. PLUS SIDE, at least three of them do and that's all I need!

Captain America 7

I kind of can't get over how good this book is. I love the perspective on Cap and I love the humanity of Cap, which is something I feel like I haven't talked about enough. On top of the fact that we're seeing Steve as a father and dealing with the issues his own father left him with, we're seeing Steve in pain and struggling. Granted, he's in pain a fair amount in comics, as are most superheroes, but he's noting his pain so frequently. Constantly he'll get hit or take a fall or something and he'll instantly diagnose himself (it's been happening since issue one too) with what's wrong and he'll keep pushing through. That's kind of a difference from most other hero books, where you'll see a hero take a big hit, then just get up or struggle to his or her feet or something and keep on fighting. After a few big ones, the drama of "oh he/she must be really hurt" sets in, but here it's amplified by the fact we know EXACTLY how hurt Cap is ninety percent of the time and we see him continue to stand back up. It's absolutely perfect for his character in every aspect; he falls but he never succumbs, he bends but he never breaks, he's not the same level of power as Hulk or Thor or something but he never seems weaker, and, to a less defining but equally understandable extent, he can self-diagnose in a heartbeat. It's a near perfectly written Steve and, as if the story wasn't compelling enough to keep tuning in for (it is), it's worth reading just for that.

Fury MAX 12

It's sometimes hard to do a "this week's picks" because saying that implies that my subjective way of viewing books is worth listening to and is similar enough to what everyone's view is or what everyone's view SHOULD be. Usually I can get over that because I know, in my heart of hearts, that the books I've chosen are phenomenal and no one should be disappointed by them, in the very least. Of course, people still will be because that's how humanity functions, but I'm over that. However, this is a strange pick because it's probably the one of the more polarizing books I've chosen for this segment throughout the last six months. For action fans, there's not a lot of action. For fans of quick and snappy dialogue driven books, there's almost none of that. For fans of happy endings or beginnings or middles, there's nothing much to choose from here. For people who don't like swears or violence or a touch of nudity, this book won't really land. For people who don't want discussions of America's shady involvement in Nicaragua and similar areas of possible communist aggression or discussions about politics and Congress, this book is not a fun one. However, the weight this book puts on Nick Fury and the hopelessness Fury feels, a feeling he is not used to, is so palpable and so heavy that it would have been hard for me not to pick this book. Fury's very well characterized and his struggle is so hard to look on and to deal with that it adds such a layer to his character and to this world that I wouldn't have been able to look away from it. The art, which I wasn't sure about at the start of this series, has proven so perfect for the subject and the tone that it's a near perfect book, if you're looking for strange things in a book and none of the things I mentioned above. So I recommend this book knowing full well that many people would not like this book. Still, I'd be remiss if I didn't recommend it anyway and I'd sure hate to be remiss.

New Avengers 6

Have I mentioned that I adore this book? It turns out I have, almost non-stop. There's such a weight to this series and to these characters and it all ties back in, in a great way, to Captain America, which is why Hickman so adeptly utilized him for the first few issues. These are characters who are abnormally strong in different ways, whether it's with their powers or their intellects or their convictions, and they're being tested in all of those ways in what is essentially a no-win scenario. The problem that this team had with Cap being there is that Cap bends but doesn't break, the same characteristic that makes his solo book (and almost all of his other appearances) so compelling. In a lot of situations, he won't even really bend. The problem this team is facing (they're never referred to as the New Avengers so I'd almost rather call them the Illuminati still but the BOOK is the New Avengers so it seems like I SHOULD still call them New Avengers but that also seems like a marketing ploy since there's almost no reason for them to be called the New Avengers and they're seemingly more secret than even the Secret Avengers and...you know what, this doesn't matter. Let's just get back to what I was saying) is one that requires them to make horrible and inhuman choices to save their world and there's no way around that, at least not yet. Namor constantly points out that these heroes want a way to have everything, a safe two planets, but that there isn't any way to have that. They have to bend and break. Cap wouldn't have been able to, as they all well knew, so he had to be removed from the team. What a devastating book this is that the first order of business was removing the conscience of the team. By the same token, though, what a phenomenal book to read where they know that's exactly what they've done.

Best Panel:

I don't necessarily love picking the best cover or panel from one of the books that I chose as a "best" book, even though that kind of logic follows to a certain extent. However, this panel from New Avengers took a tone that was already dark and shifted it to be just a bit darker and to really focus on the people under the masks in such a simple and elegant way that I felt like I needed to highlight it. Of course, I'm also a big fan of Epting's art and I love the way that D'Armata colors this book. From issue one this book has felt like, in all departments, it knows what it wants to be and what it needs to be to be successful. This panel is just another example of that, as Hickman manipulates the characters and Epting manipulates the view of the characters and D'Armata manipulates the tone of the scene all aimed at making us see the book they want us to see. Brilliantly done.

Gambit 13, Iron Man 258.4, Fury MAX 12

Gambit 13
Asmus (w) and Pinna and Martinez (a) and Rosenberg (c)

With Fence near-dead in his warehouse, Gambit sets out to steal some tech that can hopefully save his friend's life. Unfortunately, that tech is owned by Tony Stark and it'll require Gambit breaking into an apartment armory of his and getting out of there with a suit without being spotted. Of course, things don't go quite as planned as alarms trigger when he gets in and Pepper sends Rhodey in to check and Rhodey discovers Gambit in a suit, using an override Fence gave him to enter and use the suit. Gambit is powering it himself, which is interesting, and manages to stun Rhodey long enough to get out of the armory and start flying away. Rhodey's suit is far better than the one Gambit stole and his isn't self-powered. Rhodey, now knowing that Gambit is inside the suit, tries to get Gambit to power down peacefully before resorting to blowing him out of the sky. Fortunately, he has gotten far enough away that he crashes down in Fence's warehouse and Rhodey sees the injured man and wants to help keep him alive. It seems like they got there in time but something sinister is still up as Fence has apparently hacked the Iron Man network and is beginning to transfer data out of there on behalf of some silhouetted probably-villain.

One of the things that I think slows this book down so much is the amount of mid-fight banter that takes place in every Gambit fight scene. There's always a ton of dialogue as characters aren't sure whether they want to quip or explain themselves or cryptically not explain themselves or do any mix of the three. It's not so bad that it makes the books, which are usually at least interesting if a little predictable at times, unreadable, but it definitely slows the pacing of the books down. This book started with a real spy feel to it and it seems like that's not a bad angle to take with a character like Gambit. In that case, I would say the over-explanation hinders the momentum and the tone of the series. Still, there are usually enjoyable pieces spread throughout each issue and I'd say the series is still worth reading, particularly if you're a Gambit fan, as it winds down.

Iron Man 258.4
Michelinie (w) and Ross and Layton (a) and Sotomayor (c)

The Iron Man 258 saga wraps up as Tony enacts his plan to defeat the Entity. Hammer lets Iron Man into the space station as he reveals that he is, in fact Tony Stark. They manage to send a low-tech message to Rhodey to tell him to meet Tony back at the sewer entrance hideout, where Tony gives Rhodey a different suit, one that more closely resembles his own. The plan is to distract the Entity while Tony gets in and injects it with a virus that would destroy it. They get to Stark Enterprises and are met with a slew of defenses as well as a couple special Iron Man suits directed by the Entity. As they begin to successfully fight off the Entity's defenses, the Entity brings foreign missiles online. Hammer warns the duo that the fight has just gotten far larger and Tony decides to rush through, no matter the cost. He manages to get through the building quickly enough to inject the Entity and end the threat. However, now Hammer knows who Iron Man is and Rae is still dead. Not everything is a victory for Tony Stark upon the defeat of the Entity but, as Rhodey says "that needs to be enough."

It occurs to me I probably could have gone back and read the storyline preceding this one but I'm afraid I would have fallen into a Starkhole and never climbed out of it. Once you start reading a comic storyline all at once, you may not ever stop. However, it would have probably given me more relevant things to talk about in this reviews, including how well it fits into the story and how well it works with the Tony of the time. However, it's just as well as most readers probably don't have access to the preceding and following storylines so we should probably just judge this arc the way it stands on its own. It's not easy to ignore the fact that this is a weirdly timed story. Iron Man is currently in the 500s somewhere, I believe, so it's a bit strange to double back and tell a story the slots so specifically into time actual decades ago now. Sure Iron Man is probably the focus character of May for Marvel (two-thirds of my Marvel calendars had Iron Man on them this past month; the third was Thing, inexplicably) thanks in large part to the third movie coming out, but it's still a bit of an odd choice to give readers this storyline at this point. It's not so odd because, frankly, I found it more compelling than a retelling of his history or something like that that tends to come out as new readers enter stores, but then, I'm a comic fan. Oh well, I shouldn't nitpick. For Iron Man fans, it's worth picking up this arc. It's an interesting enough story and it moves smoothly enough. If you've been an Iron Man fan since the days of Michelinie and Ross, you probably don't need me to tell you to get this book because you've probably gotten it already. Modern day fans without an eye for the past probably won't care for it but Marvel wasn't expecting that anyway.

Fury MAX 12
Ennis (w) and Parlov (a) and Loughridge (c)

Barracuda's men stopped Hatherly on his way as a distraction and roughed him up a bit to bring back to Fury, who is primed to gun down the whole camp. Barracuda explains what's happened and how little the army and the potential war and communist aggression means to him. All Barracuda has ever been interested in is the money and the drugs that he can get out of this deal and there's no way for Fury to stop it. If he tries to shoot them, he's so outnumbered that someone would kill him and, though it might have made something of a small dent, it wouldn't stop anything. They can't kill Fury because he's a legend and a high-ranking official so it would bring even more people down to their operation. So all Fury and Hatherly can do is leave. Hatherly announces to Fury on the plane that he's quitting when they get back because he can't stand the kinds of things that these secret wars are causing. Secret wars mean no accountability and that leads to people like Barracuda. When Fury returns to Pug, Pug denies him the chance to go hunt down Barracuda or to reveal anything. Too many people in Congress and the military are involved or complicit in someway so he can't expose the operation and Barracuda and some of his best men have all taken off from the location, mailing copies of evidence to some of those complicit in Washington with the threat that they'd send more to the mass media if anything happens to any of them. Fury has to accept it. If anything goes south for Pug, he loses his votes and his money and everything else; if anything goes wrong for Fury, he loses his war. Fury can't do anything. He and Shirley have a bit of a falling out as well as they both acknowledge that they've each been trapped by Pug and as Fury is kind of a jerk to her anyway. Fury waits a few years and finds Barracuda and breaks all of his limbs with a bat, which is something that isn't quite a solace.

The next issue is the final issue of Fury MAX, which makes me a bit sad. I'm not fully sold on the MAX line as a whole but I'm absolutely sold on Nick Fury's character time and time again and I think that this character as part of the MAX line makes total sense. It doesn't NEED to be completely explicit content in every issue but Fury's a violent character and he has a lot of darkness to him. Some of the most interesting characters in literature are the planners and the thinkers. Fury has always been one of those types and a well-written Fury is an incredibly compelling character. There is definitely a lot of darkness there though, particularly in his willingness to sacrifice to bring about the best outcome. He's not a guy that necessarily frets over the cost of getting the job done, he just gets the job done. However, in the way that Parlov his illustrated him, Fury MAX really brings out his age and the weight of his decisions over time. It's a solid read but it's definitely a specific solid read, as anything in the MAX line. I'm still sad to see it go. A lot of the books we've seen ended recently (or that we've seen cancelled recently, whether they've ended yet or not) have been books I'd categorize as "different" in some way or another. As much as I like Marvel's line of comics as a whole, it's sad to see so many road-less-traveled books fall by the wayside because it seems to signal that the only books that can survive are the ones that they know can survive.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Journey into Mystery 651, Fury MAX 11

Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Bendis (w) and McNiven, Pichelli, Dell, and Morales (a) and Ponsor (c)

The Guardians go into London to stop the Badoon attack. The Badoon have cut off all types of communication to and from the city, leaving the Guardians as the only ones available to fend off the invasion (aside from possibly Captain Britain, but Iron Man waves off the suggestion inexplicably). The team splits up and each hero, aside from Groot who is still regrowing, takes a Badoon ship to take out. They do pretty well, with Rocket perhaps doing the best. He storms through a ship, killing off anyone in his way, before setting the ship to self-destruct and crash into another ship. Drax is on that ship and only barely, with the aid of Gamora and Iron Man, escapes the explosion. When they land, they ask if he's okay and he waves them off angrily. Meanwhile, the Spartax King (Quill's father) holds a meeting with the Kree Supreme Intelligence, Young Annihilus, Gladiator of the Shi'ar, the queen of the Brood, Freyja the all-mother of Asgardia, and Y'Gaaar of the Badoon in the Negative Zone, which apparently can just be opened and closed at will. They meet to discuss Earth, which J-Son says is likely one generation from space travel and is a constant pain in everybody's butt just by staying where they are. He cites the numberous times they've rebuffed Galactus, the Phoenix, Thanos, the Kree, the Skrull, and so many others. He asks to hear if anyone is on his side and everyone except Freyja seems to be. Freyja says that declaring war on Earth is tantamount to declaring war on Asgard. J-Son and Y'Gaaar share a knowing glance. Back in London, the Spartax army descends on the Guardians and declares them prisoners of war for supporting and protecting Earth.
I'm still not totally sold on this premise as it all revolves around the many aliens in the Marvel Universe feeling as if Earth is such a threat it's worth destroying at this point. While the argument that Earth is a formidable enemy is a solid enough one, given how often they've stopped threats, it seems silly to not welcome them into space and assume they won't send many conquering forces. Sure you have to be ready for their abilities if you're J-Son, in case they're not so amenable, but it feels like the types of leaders these guys are (well, maybe not the evil ones like Annihilus and the Badoon) would at least offer a chance. That's what Freyja says too. I'm glad Freyja didn't agree with them because then I'd have some real issues with the premise feeling like everyone does it just to advance the story. Still, it's enough to push the story and the characters are compelling enough as it stands. I worry about Rocket, who has the most obviously funny lines, turning into something like Deadpool. I suppose he could pan out that way logically, but it worries me anyway. The dialogue works best in short bursts from characters and works worst, I would say, when it's snappy back and forth. That's the way it goes. It's largely bursts, which helps and helps differentiate the characters. We'll see where three takes us.

Journey into Mystery 651
Immonen (w) and Larraz (a) and Bellaire (c)

I admit to being a little confused but pleased with this one. I don't really know enough Asgardian lore to comment particularly much on Fenris, the great wolf who has troubled Asgard in the past, or on what the dwarves are doing. That's all on me, I accept that. However, the issue is certainly still paced well enough and is fun enough to cover any sort of confusion there might be. The issue revolves around Volstagg's daughter Hilde bringing Heimdall's dog (one of Loki's litter from his JiM run) out for a walk in the dead of night and running across the Fenris wolf, being brought by Asgardia by two dwarves. Hilde runs and gets Volstagg, who is awake having a midnight snack. Volstagg rushes to rouse the other two of the Warriors Three before they together get Thor and Sif. There's a lot of really fun dialogue between the characters, making them all feel close, closer than we usually get a chance to see them in the midst of battle in these Asgard books. The relationships feel effortless, simply like they've been happening behind the scenes for years and are coming out naturally. It's a lot of fun stuff, even as they have to battle against Fenris and try to get, essentially, his leash back on him. They eventually listen to his demands and allow, as he requests, Hilde to bring him a golden apple from Idunn's tree. Hilde, cleverer than anyone anticipated, apparently gets the leash on him via sleight of hand.
There's not a ton here if you're looking for plot or an extended story, as this seems like a one-off. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and they're going to bring this issue back later, but it seems like a solo shot. Still, the characters are a lot of fun and the dialogue is delightful. I can't stress enough how nice it is to see the characters interacting like a family. Volstagg and Hilde have a great father-daughter relationship and everyone else has a great sibling-like relationship to one another (except Sif and Thor, who are definitely NOT acting like siblings in this issue). It's a lot of fun. Definitely worth reading if you're up for a fun issue of character relationships and dialogue.

Fury MAX 11
Ennis (w) and Parlov (a) and Loughridge (c)

Fury MAX has another pretty solid issue as Fury and Hatherly try to get to the bottom of America's involvement in the drug trade in Nicaragua. It turns out the officer who committed "suicide" left a note, which sounds way too forced and like it was written in honor of Fury far too much. Both Fury and Hatherly sniff it out but choose to act like they're buying it. Fury sends Hatherly to check on a fake lead from the note which he expects will lead to the things Barracuda will want them to see while Fury secretly goes after Barricuda. He throws the pilots of his helicopter off his scent before booby-trapping the chopper, giving them no way to communicate with the base. He tells the pilots to stick around the site while he tries to go find Barracuda and the rest. He stakes them out and hears what he needs to hear. Barracuda, though, hears from his man that they THINK Fury and Hatherly drove off, but that a later outpost wasn't sure if Fury was in the transport. Fury slinks off from the area and sees a nearby village Barracuda's crew already hit. He's disgusted to find that they've burned the town and mutilated all the people. Meanwhile, Pug and Shirley have a fight about infidelity and Pug talks about how helpless Shirley is without him.
Though the plot is still interesting and a real world sort of story is incredibly intriguing to watch. However, I do feel like this one went far further to earn its MAX designation than ones in the past have. Lots of swears, lots of dirty images and things. I'm not sure it really improves the issue. In terms of grounding it in realism, I'm not totally sure it works either. I'm not really sold on over-saturating work with swears because it feels too forced and, after a bit, tends to pull the audience out of the story. Otherwise, solid story with some really graphic imagery to get past.

Gambit 10, Thunderbolts 7, Fury MAX 10

Gambit 10
Asmus (w) and C. Mann w/ Kirk and S. Mann and Leisten (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Gambit and Fence make a plan with Joelle to get to the secret HYDRA base that, according to information from an ex-HYDRA officer, was used by Baron Von Strucker to defeat death. Joelle's stated plan is to find whatever serum or formula HYDRA came up with and use it on her dying daughter. Gambit and Joelle travel to the base, a skull-shaped snow base in Canada, and use the access codes the ex-HYDRA officer gave them (or rather, the ones Gambit stole when he got involved at the villain club last issue). The deeper they go into the base, they begin to realize that their HYDRA officer wasn't exactly the highest-ranking, so his codes stop working at a certain point and leave Gambit and Joelle fighting their way through horrible defensive abominations. They make their way to the serum, take it, and manage to escape by snowmobile. After camping out in the snow together overnight, Gambit and Joelle wake up to find Rogue standing over them. Meanwhile, Tombstone has tracked down Fence and demanded the whereabouts of Joelle and Gambit. Fence tries, to his credit, to get Tombstone to back off, citing Joelle's daughter. Tombstone reveals that Joelle is not what she claims to be.
This was a fun issue, sure, with all the staples of Gambit books so far. There's a bit of repetition throughout that gets a little stale (Gambit constantly reminds everyone that he's been in situations like this before, and he and Joelle constantly affirm that they're trusting each other in this) but overall the book's enjoyable enough. Tombstone seems intent on bringing us somewhere in this Joelle storyline, which is something of a relief. I'm interested to see how the introduction of Rogue to this story will play out. Frankly there's not much else to say about the issue. It reads like every other issue of Gambit so far, which is neither a bad thing nor a particularly ringing endorsement. The book has been fun so far but ten issues that feel like they're spinning their wheels a bit makes you worry about the longevity of a title like this. I'm on its side, though, for now. It's a fun book with an interesting main character, though Gambit books don't have a history of lasting. We'll see how the next few issues shape up.

Thunderbolts 7
Way (w) and Noto (a) and Guru eFX (c)

The key to this book, at least in my mind, is the team itself. When the first issue came out, I absolutely picked it up because of the team presented on the cover. I was very interested in this black-and-red team because it was so clearly not a team. Everyone in the book is used to working by him or herself primarily (with the possible exception of Flash, but Venom tends not to get along with people). The first arc was interesting because it took that team and physically divided them while creating emotional divides between them. We left the first arc with no one trusting team leader Red Hulk, Deadpool angry with Punisher for his fling with Elektra, Punisher angry at Red Hulk for bringing Leader on to the team, and Venom particularly angry with their time in Kata Jaya. Issue seven takes a well-planned turn by putting the team in the same place again and making that place a submarine. Is there still a story happening here? Sure. But I don't really care about it, not yet anyway. Deadpool has an uncomfortable exchange with Elektra, which leads to Deadpool assuming her relationship with Punisher has continued though it hasn't (or at least, not by way of an actual relationship). As a result, Deadpool has spent time in the not-Danger Room (pretty much just a Danger Room) killing Punisher 300 times, according to Red Hulk. Meanwhile, Red Hulk has to deal with a mutiny as the rest of the team gets sick of his lies and one another. He handles it easily enough and explains the coming plot; the transport that left Kata Jaya just before them was carrying the materials, Ross explains, for a Gamma bomb. He has Leader looking over the schematics in the hopes that he'll be able to prove or disprove his theory. This is all going on with the backdrop of a CIA issue wherein a terrorist cell they didn't know existed seems to have blown itself up or, as they privately suspect, was dismantled by something (there's a great appearance by the Uncanny Avengers as the CIA tries to figure out who was responsible. "Look at what I'm carrying...does it look like a broom to you?" Captain America says, holding his shield. "Clean up your own mess." He then returns to fighting AIM, riding giant, rocket-propelled gorillas. THAT'S the story I want to read). Leader bursts in to Ross' briefing saying that it's not a bomb they're building; it's a battery. Enter gamma-powered robotic suits as the upcoming villains.
I like the way this book has been structured, especially as the pieces start to come together on the heels of the first arc. I think, looking back, that I got a little dismayed by how little the team, which had interested me in the book in the first place, was interacting with one another. Have faith though, says Daniel Way. We simply went through all of that to make it more important for the team to be trapped in a submarine together. Good issue and the foundations are all there for a good book. I have to say, too, I was a big fan of the Noto art over the Dillon art. I could stand to look at the characters' faces.

Fury MAX 10
Ennis (w) and Parlov (a) and Loughridge (c)

I like the Fury MAX book because it feels like an indie comic with the backdrop of a "normal" Marvel world. It's nice to occasionally pull back from the capes of the superhero world and read a book about a mostly normal (though pretty darn crafty) guy somewhere in the espionage world. I do think that there's too much swearing.
Let's step back and take a look at that line real quick, shall we? It occurs to me that I've complained about swearing in several books. I complain about excessive swearing in books where excessive swearing appears, I've complained about Bendis' fake swears in Guardians of the Galaxy, I've complained about Humphries' black-box swearing in Uncanny X-Force, etc. I'm not opposed to swears. I'm not on some campaign to remove swears from modern day society. I swear somewhat frequently myself. I don't do it in this blog so much because it's typically not necessary and usually sloppy writing. There are typically better words to use. I think it's fair to toss it into fiction occasionally because you're creating human characters and humans swear. I don't really like it when people swear non-stop in fiction because I tend not to run into people who swear that much and it takes me out of the book when you throw that many unnecessary words at me. Swears don't upset me. Bad writing does. Let's head back to Fury MAX 10.
So a problem with the MAX line is the ability to swear pretty much at will. I can usually get past that but by and large I find it overdone. Still, there's an interesting story happening here, and one that's not so outrageous you have to suspend disbelief. I love comics (obviously) and I love superhero comics, but clearly you go in with a level of suspended disbelief. It's nice occasionally to have a story that seems like it might be real. In this case, Fury is recounting his time surveying an American armed support group in Nicaragua in 1984. The questions and plot mostly revolve around whether or not the American forces are getting into the drug-dealing game with material from Nicaragua. It's a compelling story that seems to be going in a very interesting place as a captain on the base has just been found dead, holding a gun in front of a pile of cocaine. It's a compelling story set in a compelling world that isn't particularly foreign to readers (unless it's a child reading, in which case STOP READING THE MAX LINE). Good place to start this arc.

Cable and X-Force 4, Fury MAX 9

Cable and X-Force 4
Hopeless (w) and Larroca (a) and D'Armata (c)

I hadn't read anything by Dennis Hopeless before Marvel NOW! (I don't think, I could have read singles here and there that I'm not remembering), but boy has he won me over. Avengers Arena has exceeded all expectations and kept me very interested and involved while overcoming my objections and my lack of prior knowledge. Cable and X-Force did the same. I had more prior knowledge about these characters and fewer objections, but I was wary of any book titled X-Force on the heels of Remender's tremendous series, not to mention the fact that there was ANOTHER X-Force book slated for Marvel NOW! This one obviously is a few issues further along than Sam Humphries' X-Force entry, but so far this book has been nothing but delightful.

First and foremost with me, I like the characters and their interactions a whole lot. There are already some alliances here from the past (Cable and Domino, Cable and Forge, Domino and Colossus, etc.) that Hopeless is leaning on and building on and give a sense of friendliness to the team (which I think is probably the wrong word but it's the word I'm choosing anyway). There are also newer dynamics, like that of Dr. Nemesis and anybody because I really love Dr. Nemesis so I don't care what the justification is. On top of all of these good characters, we're getting complicated plots with complicated solutions that are getting more and more complicated as time goes by. HOWEVER, they don't bog you down. You don't get to a point with all of these complications and say "geez, they lost me." If you ever do that, it's because the team is lost too. When Deathlok appears and disappears in this issue, the team is just as unsure as you are what role he's playing. But otherwise, we're largely seeing compelling but easy to understand plots complicated by the ramifications of their outcomes.

This issue also brings in the focus of what this group is willing to do. On the one hand, they're willing to stop a giant threat to humans and mutants alike at all costs, exploring non-lethal methods first and, upon exhausting them, eventually moving to those more devastating solutions. This decision weighs on everyone but we particularly see Colossus' trouble dealing with it. He knew some of the innocent men who died after getting caught up in everything through no fault of their own. On top of that, he knew they were just trying to lead innocent lives, like he's been trying to find since AvX. It's heart-wrenching to watch him watch them fail. A lot of really good things to look for in here. If you're looking for an X book that's a little outside the mainstream and a little less convoluted than bringing past X-Men to the present, you should check this book out. Can't go wrong with it so far.

Fury MAX 9
Ennis (w) and Parlov (a) and Loughridge (c)

I considered not reviewing this issue. I considered it for a number of reasons. For one, it's in the MAX line, which is Marvel's way to take itself really seriously. Not that I don't take Marvel seriously, but MAX is the way they can do it with swearing and excessive violence and sex. It only works for some characters so they only really put some characters up for the MAX line, including Fury and Deadpool. I guess there are some benefits to it, but they're typically not benefits I read comics for so I tend not to give too much credence to them. Another reason I almost didn't review this was that I hadn't read any of this series prior. In fact, I think one issue of this has come out since I started this blog and I missed that one entirely and pretended it didn't exist. On the other hand, if I want to make a blog about Marvel comics, it feels weird to be so selective about what I feel Marvel should do. And, at the end of the day, I love comics. I'd read it anyway, probably, I might as well say some things on it.

Like I said, I've never read Fury MAX before, so I only have Fury's regular style history and my knowledge of the MAX line to go on coming in. Not necessarily awful. I don't hate the MAX comics, I just tend to disregard them. This issue didn't totally REQUIRE the MAX identifier on it; except for a couple swears and maybe a tiny bit more blood than usual (though I can't be sure), it felt like it could have fit any where in the regular Universe. I've seen Deadpool MAX issues that are just a free-for-all of swears and gore and sex, so this was a relatively tame one. It also happens during the Vietnam War, which leads you to believe there will be some blood. Fury and Frank Castle are teamed up to assassinate a Vietnamese leader who has evidence of illicit activities taking place fairly high up in the American government. If that evidence were to come to light, it could effectively end the war and destabilize America. When Fury eventually does get to the Vietnamese leader, he's asked why he would want to stop the evidence from getting out. After all, it would end this horrible war. The Vietnamese leader indicates that he's done many things for love of his country; this is just another of those. Castle still shoots him from the window and Fury torches the place. They get out right before the Air Force air strikes the place, in case Fury and Castle failed. Upon his return home, Fury meets with a conniving senator whose wife has a relationship with Fury and is told that the senator did everything he could to try to call off the air strike. The audience knows it's not true (we saw him earlier obstinately not doing anything) and probably Fury knows. He's left with the idea that his actions only protected people who don't deserve protecting and prolonged a war that maybe he's ill-prepared to stop fighting (like Punisher in War Zone and Nightmare; the war never leaves the soldier). Pretty interesting stuff. Compelling. I'm sad it has to be in the MAX area because I think readers might treat it like I do, even though I think Ennis has smart things to say. Who knows though, I certainly don't slog through Marvel's sales reports. Maybe it's doing just fine. Fury-based books never seem to last without that MAX tag, so maybe this one will break that mold. Good luck to it.