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?
Showing posts with label Spider-Woman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Spider-Woman. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Edge of Spider-Verse 2, Superior Spider-Man 33
Edge of Spider-Verse 2
The newest Spider-Man we get a chance to look in on isn't, in fact, a Spider-MAN at all (see what I did there? Capitalizing the "man" part implies that is where the difference lies. Italicizing it would have had much the same effect). Instead, it's Gwen Stacy, Spider-Woman! Gwen of this universe was bitten by a radioactive spider, granting her spider-based powers which she now uses in her life as a vigilante crime-fighter. Her story of power=responsibility hinges on the fact that fellow classmate Peter Parker, in an attempt to be more like the new Spider-Woman, injected himself with a dangerous toxin of his own design that turned him into the Lizard, who would ruin the school and die in Spider-Woman's arms. The police, led by Captain George Stacy, are on the hunt for Spider-Woman. Meanwhile, Gwen just wants to play the drums for the Mary Janes, the rock outfit led by Mary Jane Watson. However, everything comes to her doorstep when Kingpin hires Rhino to take out George Stacy in a show of faith to the new Spider-Woman. Rhino attacks at the Mary Janes' show and Spider-Woman fights him off, eventually revealing her true identity to Captain Stacy, all under the watchful eye of another Spider-Man.
We're still on the EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE, so we're not really getting into the main thrust of the story just yet, we're more getting a sense of the players. This Spider-Woman already seems like a hit and Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez make the most of their one-shot with her, with Latour writing a very solid character and developing, in twenty short pages, an entire universe that makes sense and intrigues (Matt Murdock is a villain lawyer! But how??) and Rodriguez drawing an absolutely fantastic book and designing a really cool costume for Gwen. In addition, Rico Renzi adds some outstanding colors to the book. It's a pretty quick read (as quick as you can manage for a one-shot that has to develop a new character and new universe and new problems) and it looks really good. It moves quickly but it also gives more than enough time for quiet moments and introspection. Great stuff.
Total Score: 5/5
Superior Spider-Man 33
Superior Spider-Man has teamed with a number of other Spider-Men/Women/Girls/Monkeys and has gone after the spider-killer named Karn. Doc Ock has developed a device he thinks will work well on the killer but is overwhelmed by the being's power, particularly when members of Karn's family show up, a pair of twins named Brix and Bora. The spiders manage to get away, escaping to 2099 to regroup while the siblings bicker. Doc Ock removes himself for a bit, talking to his Anna Maria computer, and comes back with a new plan. The spiders set to work while he pulls aside Spider-Girl (Ashley Barton) and Assassin Spider-Man to let them know he agrees with them, that killing these villains is a necessity and that they may face resistance from the other spiders but that nothing can be allowed to stand in their way.
It's a tough loss for Doc Ock as his team is forced to flee and he's forced to wonder how it's even possible to stop Karn, let alone Karn's apparently pretty big family (there's an extra story at the end of this issue that revolves around Karn and his family, showing just how big it is and, of course, showing that Morlun is a member of it). There's a brief moment of hubris for Doc, as ever, as he believes he defeats Karn only to have it shot back in his face. Still, it's good character building and Gage does a pretty good job building the supporting cast of spiders, who each register a specific voice and tone, even though none of them is given a particular focus in this episode. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 33 adds to the already interesting event, establishing a bit more about our villains and a tiny bit more about our heroes. Strong work.
Total Score: 4/5
We're still on the EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE, so we're not really getting into the main thrust of the story just yet, we're more getting a sense of the players. This Spider-Woman already seems like a hit and Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez make the most of their one-shot with her, with Latour writing a very solid character and developing, in twenty short pages, an entire universe that makes sense and intrigues (Matt Murdock is a villain lawyer! But how??) and Rodriguez drawing an absolutely fantastic book and designing a really cool costume for Gwen. In addition, Rico Renzi adds some outstanding colors to the book. It's a pretty quick read (as quick as you can manage for a one-shot that has to develop a new character and new universe and new problems) and it looks really good. It moves quickly but it also gives more than enough time for quiet moments and introspection. Great stuff.
Total Score: 5/5
Superior Spider-Man 33
It's a tough loss for Doc Ock as his team is forced to flee and he's forced to wonder how it's even possible to stop Karn, let alone Karn's apparently pretty big family (there's an extra story at the end of this issue that revolves around Karn and his family, showing just how big it is and, of course, showing that Morlun is a member of it). There's a brief moment of hubris for Doc, as ever, as he believes he defeats Karn only to have it shot back in his face. Still, it's good character building and Gage does a pretty good job building the supporting cast of spiders, who each register a specific voice and tone, even though none of them is given a particular focus in this episode. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 33 adds to the already interesting event, establishing a bit more about our villains and a tiny bit more about our heroes. Strong work.
Total Score: 4/5
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Secret Avengers 5, Avengers World 9
Secret Avengers 5
Kot (w) and Walsh (a) and Wilson (c) and Cowles (l)
It's sort of a day off for the Secret Avengers with all of their recent missions end it and the team spends it in their own ways. Spider-Woman talks to the living bomb and learns from it that she is an empath, Coulson demands a vacation and takes it even after it's denied, Fury is sent into Coulson's locker only to have acid sprayed in his good eye for his troubles, Black Widow helps Maria Hill interrogate the terrible poet and reveals that she knows about MODOK, Hawkeye eats lunch and shoots some arrows, and Maria Hill and MODOK discuss whether MODOK can be trusted. Though MODOK swears he can and swears that he wants to make the world better, Hill secretly believes that everything that's happened recently, from the hitman to the recently discovered pregnancy of the Fury to the poet and the living bomb, has MODOK's fingerprints all over it.
There are directions in which this book can go that I think would make it an interesting book and I think that Kot has wisely kept many of those directions open. One of the benefits of an occasional rest issue is that it allows a reader to reset and the writer to nod at different potential plot lines. You need to fill space in a rest issue and you don't want it to be wasted space so the best thing you can do is keep some balls in the air. Kot is doing that nicely here, but there is a little bit of a flaw here in that Kot's biggest ball still in the air is that MODOK maybe can't be trusted. I wasn't particularly onboard at any point with MODOK joining up with SHIELD because I don't think it tracks at any point in MODOK's existence (it tracks in SHIELD's existence because SHIELD is the worst) but neither sincerely wanting to help SHIELD nor subterfuge and subtlety in trying to take SHIELD apart from the outside has ever been a strong suit for MODOK, so to find that this book's drama is currently hinging on whether or not we trust MODOK left me feeling a little letdown. Still, I enjoyed this issue more than the previous ones because it felt a little more down-to-Earth (I don't think the book should be forced to keep to sort of generic comic book standards, but I do think it needs to choose a real tone and stick with it) and didn't get too caught up in its own perception.
Total Score: 4/5
Avengers World 9
Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)
Cannonball and Sunspot are being treated pretty well by AIM and it's throwing them off a bit. They're not able to leave but they're treated to fine dining and first-run movies (with as blatant a nod to Marvel's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy as you're about to see in comics, even including the movie tie-in books). Still, their rescue team didn't pan out but Maria Hill was able to establish contact. With the help of a future Jocasta unit recovered back in Spencer's SECRET AVENGERS, Hill has learned that AIM Island has blossomed because the AIM of the future is sending back tech and info to the past. She knows how they're doing it and sends Cannonball and Sunspot to go shut it down at the source, traveling to the future to stop the flow of information to the past. A future Jocasta meets them there and brings them to see the kidnapped children of the Avengers.
I talked in my pre-game about how much I'm enjoying this series as a whole, with smaller teams and somewhat more personal quarters and missions. It's been a really strong book altogether and I think this issue is no different. This one is a little more light-hearted as Cannonball and Sunspot, particularly together, are more light-hearted characters, but it works here as the situation still feels big but they, with all of their powers and bravado, don't quite fit into it, leading to the humor and the slightly-off tone. It works. Also, there's a major Back to the Future reference which is then called back very nicely and a good Back to the Future reference will typically get me on your side (I'm calling it Back to the Future because the line in question, "it's your kids, Marty, something has got to be done about your kids!," is at the end of the first movie and is repeated at the start of the second movie but we're NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE SECOND MOVIE. Whole stupid thing hinges on Marty not being able to walk away from someone calling him chicken. So dumb, you guys! But that first one is gold).
Total Score: 5/5
Back to the Future Total Score: 1.21 GW
Kot (w) and Walsh (a) and Wilson (c) and Cowles (l)
There are directions in which this book can go that I think would make it an interesting book and I think that Kot has wisely kept many of those directions open. One of the benefits of an occasional rest issue is that it allows a reader to reset and the writer to nod at different potential plot lines. You need to fill space in a rest issue and you don't want it to be wasted space so the best thing you can do is keep some balls in the air. Kot is doing that nicely here, but there is a little bit of a flaw here in that Kot's biggest ball still in the air is that MODOK maybe can't be trusted. I wasn't particularly onboard at any point with MODOK joining up with SHIELD because I don't think it tracks at any point in MODOK's existence (it tracks in SHIELD's existence because SHIELD is the worst) but neither sincerely wanting to help SHIELD nor subterfuge and subtlety in trying to take SHIELD apart from the outside has ever been a strong suit for MODOK, so to find that this book's drama is currently hinging on whether or not we trust MODOK left me feeling a little letdown. Still, I enjoyed this issue more than the previous ones because it felt a little more down-to-Earth (I don't think the book should be forced to keep to sort of generic comic book standards, but I do think it needs to choose a real tone and stick with it) and didn't get too caught up in its own perception.
Total Score: 4/5
Avengers World 9
Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)
Cannonball and Sunspot are being treated pretty well by AIM and it's throwing them off a bit. They're not able to leave but they're treated to fine dining and first-run movies (with as blatant a nod to Marvel's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy as you're about to see in comics, even including the movie tie-in books). Still, their rescue team didn't pan out but Maria Hill was able to establish contact. With the help of a future Jocasta unit recovered back in Spencer's SECRET AVENGERS, Hill has learned that AIM Island has blossomed because the AIM of the future is sending back tech and info to the past. She knows how they're doing it and sends Cannonball and Sunspot to go shut it down at the source, traveling to the future to stop the flow of information to the past. A future Jocasta meets them there and brings them to see the kidnapped children of the Avengers.I talked in my pre-game about how much I'm enjoying this series as a whole, with smaller teams and somewhat more personal quarters and missions. It's been a really strong book altogether and I think this issue is no different. This one is a little more light-hearted as Cannonball and Sunspot, particularly together, are more light-hearted characters, but it works here as the situation still feels big but they, with all of their powers and bravado, don't quite fit into it, leading to the humor and the slightly-off tone. It works. Also, there's a major Back to the Future reference which is then called back very nicely and a good Back to the Future reference will typically get me on your side (I'm calling it Back to the Future because the line in question, "it's your kids, Marty, something has got to be done about your kids!," is at the end of the first movie and is repeated at the start of the second movie but we're NOT GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE SECOND MOVIE. Whole stupid thing hinges on Marty not being able to walk away from someone calling him chicken. So dumb, you guys! But that first one is gold).
Total Score: 5/5
Back to the Future Total Score: 1.21 GW
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Avengers World 8, Iron Man 28
Avengers World 8
Spencer (w) and Checchetto (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)
In Velletri, Italy, Starbrand has wandered off to find the voices he's been hearing only to find Morgan Le Fay, the sorceress behind the dead rising again. While she captivates him, Spider-Woman, Hawkeye, and Nightmask continue to fight hordes of demons and the undead, eventually sealing off their entrance before they stumble on the Euroforce team that had gone missing, prompting the Avengers' appearance. The Euroforce team is led by none other than the Black Knight, who reveals Le Fay's involvement, to Spider-Woman's chagrin (they have a whole thing). Anyway, Le Fay is leading her armies of the dead to the world of the living. Problems!
I've really grown to like the conceit of this book. Where Hickman's AVENGERS, while very good, has focused on the huge team dealing with big, sweeping problems that never seem really solved, Spencer is taking smaller, dedicated teams to more classic style stories. I've liked Hickman's work a lot but it's nice to see stories that are a little more self-contained and feel big, but not so broad. Each of the three stories Spencer is juggling has proven itself interesting and compelling. This issue, particularly with its narration captions that speak often of death and how its what the people deserve, has a sort of EAST OF WEST feel, another Hickman book that is absolutely incredibly so forcing me to draw comparisons certainly isn't a drawback. I mean, this book isn't blowing me away like EAST OF WEST but that's a pretty tall order. Still, lot of fun here.
Total Score: 5/5
Iron Man 28
Gillen (w) and J. Bennett, C. Richards, and D. Santacruz (p) and Hanna and Magyar (i) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)
With most of the rings neutralized, Red Peril takes down Alec Eiffel, Iron Patriot takes down the Influence ring, Arno takes down the Exile, and Iron Man realizes that Marc, who is doing this because he loves Pepper and hates that Tony has treated her so poorly over the years, wouldn't actually threaten Pepper and blasts through the Liar ring's projection to hit him. Mole Man, the last hold out, tosses his ring away to avoid persecution, and the Starks recover them all. With everything turning up Stark, they call the Rigellians to come pick up 451. The Rigellians, super nice dudes, explain to Tony that it was actually something in 451's programming that upgraded the Mandarin rings to act the way they did and a mixture of Tony's position in the world and the original Mandarin's hatred of him caused them to attack him specifically. Everything's wrapped up as Arno secretly sends Abigail Burns the Incandescence ring, allowing her to continue being Red Peril and as Pepper breaks up with Marc, repeating that she doesn't need saving.
Kieron Gillen isn't necessarily known for his happy endings (though it's been seen at times before) but this is about as big a win as Tony could have hoped for (particularly as it seems the rest of the Marvel Universe is crashing down around him). Pepper dumped her apparently crazy/overprotective fiancee, the Stark brothers are as good as ever, 451 is off-planet and the Rigellians were like, super nice, and they've captured all of the Mandarin's rings. Pretty solid day for Tony as Gillen ends his IRON MAN run (though he will team with HULK's Mark Waid for ORIGINAL SIN 3.1-3.4, which will pit Hulk against Iron Man). As I thought with the last couple issues, this series felt like it was starting to wind down really quickly by the end, often going the route of telling instead of showing (which is pretty rare for Gillen, who tends to be acutely aware of that). Still a very good series overall though it's hard not to feel like it peaked with 451.
Total Score: 4/5
Spencer (w) and Checchetto (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)
I've really grown to like the conceit of this book. Where Hickman's AVENGERS, while very good, has focused on the huge team dealing with big, sweeping problems that never seem really solved, Spencer is taking smaller, dedicated teams to more classic style stories. I've liked Hickman's work a lot but it's nice to see stories that are a little more self-contained and feel big, but not so broad. Each of the three stories Spencer is juggling has proven itself interesting and compelling. This issue, particularly with its narration captions that speak often of death and how its what the people deserve, has a sort of EAST OF WEST feel, another Hickman book that is absolutely incredibly so forcing me to draw comparisons certainly isn't a drawback. I mean, this book isn't blowing me away like EAST OF WEST but that's a pretty tall order. Still, lot of fun here.
Total Score: 5/5
Iron Man 28
Gillen (w) and J. Bennett, C. Richards, and D. Santacruz (p) and Hanna and Magyar (i) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)
Kieron Gillen isn't necessarily known for his happy endings (though it's been seen at times before) but this is about as big a win as Tony could have hoped for (particularly as it seems the rest of the Marvel Universe is crashing down around him). Pepper dumped her apparently crazy/overprotective fiancee, the Stark brothers are as good as ever, 451 is off-planet and the Rigellians were like, super nice, and they've captured all of the Mandarin's rings. Pretty solid day for Tony as Gillen ends his IRON MAN run (though he will team with HULK's Mark Waid for ORIGINAL SIN 3.1-3.4, which will pit Hulk against Iron Man). As I thought with the last couple issues, this series felt like it was starting to wind down really quickly by the end, often going the route of telling instead of showing (which is pretty rare for Gillen, who tends to be acutely aware of that). Still a very good series overall though it's hard not to feel like it peaked with 451.
Total Score: 4/5
Saturday, April 12, 2014
All-New Ultimates 1, What If? Age of Ultron 2
All-New Ultimates 1
Fiffe (w) and Pinna (a) and Woodard (c)
Spider-Woman, now going by Black Widow, Spider-Man, Cloak, Dagger, and Bombshell meet up at the secret Hell's Kitchen hideout of the All-New Ultimates (which is pretty much all of them with an open invite for Kitty Pryde). From there, Black Widow gives them all special communicators (formerly used by the now-defunct SHIELD) and they decide their next target will be a drug lab manufacturing drugs from Roxxon. While Black Widow tries to talk Kitty into joining up with them, Bombshell stumbles on to a drug deal gone wrong. She calls in the Ultimates and they team up to try to take down the enhanced drug dealers. Cops show up as the fight is happening and prepare to take everyone into custody before reinforcements for the drug dealers come, led by the mysterious Diamondback.
Spider-Man's team back from ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN regroup here as a brand new full-on superhero team, set to battle Roxxon particularly, as they had been just before CATACLYSM shook the Ultimate Universe. Also making a seemingly obligatory appearance is Ganke Lee, Miles' best pal. The first issue is something of a long read, explaining a lot and checking in on every character. There's a feeling of wanting it all here, hoping to infuse humor and lightheartedness with a dark story and some dark situations. Hopefully it's something that settles in but at current it doesn't totally work for me. Also, Spider-Woman changing her identity and her look makes sense to me but I don't think her new look or name necessarily work right now. We'll see as things go on. As with any number one, it's hard to judge now. Let's let the team settle in a bit and then see how we're feeling.
What If? Age of Ultron 2
Keatinge (w) and Villalobos (a) and Redmond (c)
Because of the ripples caused because of dealing with the Ultron problem, we take a look into another universe where we see an alternate future based on a different outcome to the famous Armor Wars Iron Man storyline. In this world, Stark succumbs to his alcohol addiction at the hands of Obadiah Stane and Stane wins the Armor Wars, powering up incredibly and even trying to get his hands on real Stark armor. Wolverine wants to take Stane down and destroy the Master Mold in the Savage Land that's spitting out new armors regularly. He joins up with a new Ghost Rider and tracks down the retired Peter Parker before both go to enlist a meditational Hulk. They go to the Savage Land together and, while Hulk tries to beat up the Master Mold, they see that a Stark armor is powering everything as well as a descendant of Bolivar Trask (a Trask descendant is needed to power the Master Mold), a young girl used against her will to power things. Spider-Man wastes no time sacrificing himself to shut down the Master Mold and Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider leave with the girl, the mission complete.
I just do not get this story. On the one hand, I don't understand why this is under the AGE OF ULTRON umbrella. I understand it in the sense of "oh, timelines all shifted because the timestream was all sorts of messed up during AGE OF ULTRON so now we can tell a story from ANY time" but I don't understand it in that I'd be MUCH more interested in reading a book that was called WHAT IF? ARMOR WARS (pretty sure that already exists but WHATEVER) than WHAT IF? AGE OF ULTRON that then goes on to have nothing to do with Ultron or his age. On top of it, I have a lot of trouble following the story (and why does Captain America end up dead in like, every single possible future ever? The guy lived through WWII, doesn't that give him any sort of respect?) and it really feels like this one had a solid premise and then needed to be finished on a deadline. I don't know. This one's not for me. I like Villalobos' art, though. Very different than normal comic art these days but definitely something interesting to look at. Why is AGE OF ULTRON still haunting me?
Fiffe (w) and Pinna (a) and Woodard (c)
Spider-Man's team back from ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN regroup here as a brand new full-on superhero team, set to battle Roxxon particularly, as they had been just before CATACLYSM shook the Ultimate Universe. Also making a seemingly obligatory appearance is Ganke Lee, Miles' best pal. The first issue is something of a long read, explaining a lot and checking in on every character. There's a feeling of wanting it all here, hoping to infuse humor and lightheartedness with a dark story and some dark situations. Hopefully it's something that settles in but at current it doesn't totally work for me. Also, Spider-Woman changing her identity and her look makes sense to me but I don't think her new look or name necessarily work right now. We'll see as things go on. As with any number one, it's hard to judge now. Let's let the team settle in a bit and then see how we're feeling.
What If? Age of Ultron 2
Keatinge (w) and Villalobos (a) and Redmond (c)
I just do not get this story. On the one hand, I don't understand why this is under the AGE OF ULTRON umbrella. I understand it in the sense of "oh, timelines all shifted because the timestream was all sorts of messed up during AGE OF ULTRON so now we can tell a story from ANY time" but I don't understand it in that I'd be MUCH more interested in reading a book that was called WHAT IF? ARMOR WARS (pretty sure that already exists but WHATEVER) than WHAT IF? AGE OF ULTRON that then goes on to have nothing to do with Ultron or his age. On top of it, I have a lot of trouble following the story (and why does Captain America end up dead in like, every single possible future ever? The guy lived through WWII, doesn't that give him any sort of respect?) and it really feels like this one had a solid premise and then needed to be finished on a deadline. I don't know. This one's not for me. I like Villalobos' art, though. Very different than normal comic art these days but definitely something interesting to look at. Why is AGE OF ULTRON still haunting me?
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Mighty Avengers 9, Secret Avengers 2
Mighty Avengers 9
Ewing (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and D'Armata w/ Delgado (c)
Blue Marvel tries to reason with his son Max while his other son Kevin, larger than life, begins to come out of the portal. Kevin is too unstable to bring back into this world and he's primed to explode if he's not sent back into the portal, taking the solar system with him. Max refuses to believe it and thinks that he can stabilize Kevin with just a little more time and so refuses to lower the forcefield. Spectrum becomes gamma radiation and enters She-Hulk to power her up more, giving her the strength to break through the forcefield and, when the two separate again, they manage to force Kevin back into the portal. Max is still furious with his father and Adam is more depressed than ever. Meanwhile, Ronin fights off one of some enemies looking to get their hands on the talisman he took and finally reveals himself to be Blade.
There's a lot of Brashear family backstory here as we see Adam's relationship with Kevin as the two fought off major threats on the down low and we see the circumstances of Kevin's disappearance right at the start of the Marvel Age. It's very clear that Adam loves his family and is full of regret for Kevin's loss, as well as his wife's death and the subsequent anger from Max that separated them. So like, it's easy to see how much he loves them but it's also not hard to extrapolate that maybe he's the problem? Anyway, it's a big moment for Blue Marvel in this issue and a tiny universe-threatening problem defeated but not a ton more to deal with on this front. Ronin is Blade, something probably pretty evident considering how often they kept saying Deathwalkers and, well, not hard to switch that on over to Daywalker. So that's that. Not an awful book and certainly it keeps with the tone of this series so far but there just kind of feels like there isn't a whole lot here this time out.
Secret Avengers 2
Kot (w) and Walsh (a) and Wilson (c)
Coulson and Fury are drifting through space as the Fury (not Fury) drifts into the sun. At the same time, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Hawkeye use the SHIELD car to drive to the space station to repair the console to stop more satellites from falling out of the sky and killing more people. All this while an assassin comes to kill Maria Hill for actions she's taken that led to deaths. So it's a busy day for the Secret Avengers as Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Hawkeye make it to the space station and stop the satellites, MODOK sends a lab rat with a syringe on its back to take out the assassin from the vents, and the saved Maria Hill uses one of MODOK's designs, the nanobot blanket, to have her team rescue Fury and Coulson from impending doom.
Readers of my first review of this series will know that I was not so onboard with it. It felt like it was gratuitous and trying way too hard to be something it simply can't be. Kot himself compared the series to a Michael Bay movie, a Breaking Bad episode, and an Arrested Development episode. I said that in the first review too and I bring it up again here because it felt to me too much like it's trying to be too many things at once all the while trying to be different from other comics but trying to ape some similar styles. It's hard not to read any HAWKEYE influence into books like this one, ones that are maybe more chaotic with more personal risks than universal risks and that's probably not fair. However, it's also hard not to read those influences into THIS book particularly as the first issue took the Hawkeye-face-covers-exposed-genitals and and second issue finds Clint out of costume with bandages all over his face, a la HAWKEYE. I also talked in the first review about not writing this book off because it's so early and I'm going to continue to not write it off. I lodged some of these same complaints against SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN at the start of its series and I think that one has nicely carved out its own little niche. Here's hoping that Kot can do the same thing though I'm maybe secretly a little more skeptical. This one just seems so derivative to kick things off. LOOK, I'll stop talking about it now because I'M NOT WRITING ANYTHING OFF.
Ewing (w) and Land and Leisten (a) and D'Armata w/ Delgado (c)
There's a lot of Brashear family backstory here as we see Adam's relationship with Kevin as the two fought off major threats on the down low and we see the circumstances of Kevin's disappearance right at the start of the Marvel Age. It's very clear that Adam loves his family and is full of regret for Kevin's loss, as well as his wife's death and the subsequent anger from Max that separated them. So like, it's easy to see how much he loves them but it's also not hard to extrapolate that maybe he's the problem? Anyway, it's a big moment for Blue Marvel in this issue and a tiny universe-threatening problem defeated but not a ton more to deal with on this front. Ronin is Blade, something probably pretty evident considering how often they kept saying Deathwalkers and, well, not hard to switch that on over to Daywalker. So that's that. Not an awful book and certainly it keeps with the tone of this series so far but there just kind of feels like there isn't a whole lot here this time out.
Secret Avengers 2
Kot (w) and Walsh (a) and Wilson (c)
Readers of my first review of this series will know that I was not so onboard with it. It felt like it was gratuitous and trying way too hard to be something it simply can't be. Kot himself compared the series to a Michael Bay movie, a Breaking Bad episode, and an Arrested Development episode. I said that in the first review too and I bring it up again here because it felt to me too much like it's trying to be too many things at once all the while trying to be different from other comics but trying to ape some similar styles. It's hard not to read any HAWKEYE influence into books like this one, ones that are maybe more chaotic with more personal risks than universal risks and that's probably not fair. However, it's also hard not to read those influences into THIS book particularly as the first issue took the Hawkeye-face-covers-exposed-genitals and and second issue finds Clint out of costume with bandages all over his face, a la HAWKEYE. I also talked in the first review about not writing this book off because it's so early and I'm going to continue to not write it off. I lodged some of these same complaints against SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN at the start of its series and I think that one has nicely carved out its own little niche. Here's hoping that Kot can do the same thing though I'm maybe secretly a little more skeptical. This one just seems so derivative to kick things off. LOOK, I'll stop talking about it now because I'M NOT WRITING ANYTHING OFF.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Hawkeye 17, Black Widow 4
Hawkeye 17
Fraction (w) and Eliopolous and Aja (a) and Bellaire (c)
Back in issue six of HAWKEYE, Clint was invited into Simone's apartment to watch some holiday specials with her kids. This issue brings us back to those heady days with a frame of Clint sitting on the couch with the kids before all the pages between the first and last show us that cartoon, entitled "Winter Friends." The Winter Friends are a superhero group consisting of animals representing various holidays (including Santalope, the Kwanzaagator, the llama Rama-in-Pajamas, and Menorable, a cat with a menorah on its head) and they're up against one of their biggest foes yet: Mister Sun, who is turning the winter into summer, meaning no one needs the feeling of warmth and kinship provided by the winter holidays. With all of the Winter Friends defeated, Steve, the dog with no powers that they hang out with for some reason, is called into action. Joined by his smaller sidekick dog Lil and his brudder dog Herman, they set off to find the Winter Friends. They're attacked by the Dingoes, a bunch of tough dogs who slow up the three dogs. Eventually, three friend dogs Birdie, Lady, and Spooky jump in the fight and help Steve and his friends, despite his continued insistence that he can do it all by himself. He sets off alone for the sun palace and attacks Mister Sun, though he can't really do much against him without any powers. Steve continues the fight, though, because he's not going to let people get away with things just because no one will fight them. Eventually his other dog friends show up and save the Winter Friends, who summon Mother Winter to help them defeat Mister Sun. Before she goes, she calls Steve a good dog. Later, at the multidenominational pantheistic all-inclusive seasonal festivities, Steve thanks Lil for her help and admits he couldn't have done it without her. This lesson, though, may be lost on Clint, who has fallen asleep on the couch.
OKAY, first things first, I was totally wrong in my pre-game this week when I said this was promised to be "the dog issue of sign language issues." BUT, IN MY DEFENSE, the site I use to see what comics are out in a given week lied to me first. Now, about this issue, it's absolutely great. HAWKEYE has found this incredible little niche where it's able to do just absolutely insane things seemingly at will and, guess what, they always pull it off. This is a series that wasn't expected to go past about six issues; according to Fraction himself on the recent LiveWire podcast, he was on his way out of comics in that people were starting to stop calling when HAWKEYE was set to kick off. On top of that, Hawkeye never lasts more than about six issues whenever someone starts up a new series about him. Instead, it took off and did really well, well enough to justify issues like the dog issue and the time-bending and the interesting storytelling and so on. So it does unheard of things (which I think has also inspired Marvel to allow others to try new things, sometimes working and sometimes not) and, most importantly, it always pulls them off and are always worth reading. This issue has series regular artist David Aja illustrating the first and last page, the frame with Clint, and series regular letterer and children's book artist and cartoonist Chris Eliopolous drawing all the pages in between to give it a real sense of a cartoon holiday special. It's incredibly well done and the beats are all funny and sweet as Steve attacks everyone who tries to help him. Perhaps the funniest part is when Birdie, Spooky, and Lady appear as the comic drops all pretenses of passing for a regular special (Birdie, Spooky, and Lady, who represent Mockingbird, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman respectively, all very obviously have explicit ties to their counterparts). Things start to get more and more obvious throughout the issue, presumably as Clint loses any grip on the show as he falls asleep. Really great stuff in here and very, very sweet. If you came here for the ongoing story of the HAWKEYE series, this one may disappoint you, as, you know, it's a children's holiday special set in a HAWKEYE issue that was over ten issues ago. However, if you're here because you've liked what the book has done so far, you'll love it.
Black Widow 4
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)
Black Widow gets caught up in an assassination plot when she's sent to go plant bugs in a foreign embassy only to have the embassy blown up while she's outside. She spots the bomber and gives chase over the rooftops but, when she catches up to him, he mutters a Russian word and cracks a hole in the ceiling of the church they're standing on, sending them both to the ground. Natasha blacks out with a broken arm while her assailant escapes. Her next step, under the authority of Maria Hill, is to spy on a meeting in the Cabinet of Ministries in the Ukraine to find what they know. She finds that they haven't authorized this man, Molot Boga, but that his next target is the Croatian ambassador, who will soon be stopping off in South Africa. Sure enough, when the ambassador arrives, Molot Boga is standing in the middle of the street, giant machine guns blazing. Natasha tries to intercept but has some trouble with accuracy with her broken arm. Still, she gets a couple of shots on him, though it seems to do him no harm. He calls himself the Hammer of God and continues to rail bullets against her. When he runs out on his giant machine gun, he fires a grenade at her, knocking her back into a storefront and giving him the opportunity to assassinate his target. He's in the wind before she can recover. She vows to follow him and meets with Hill to procure what she needs. Meanwhile, Molot meets with his benefactor, the man Molot may believe is God, and tells him that his next target is hard to kill and recommends that he destroy the plane the man is coming in on, regardless of the casualties.
This series has done something really interesting in its layout, something that comic books don't tend to do these days. BLACK WIDOW spent its first three issues creating this Natasha and showing her doing her work around the world. Some of it, of course, has seeds that will be harvested later, but the first three issues were more episodic than serial, in that you could follow the action and the character choices but, by the end of the issue, the story was over. Of course, the Iron Scorpion is someone likely to return but the story he first appeared in here ended with the issue, not a "to be continued" sort of thing. I think it served the series well. Natasha is a character, as I mentioned in my review for SECRET AVENGERS this week, who tends to flummox writers some, unsure if they should make her somewhat maniacal or somewhat unhinged or completely cold and efficient or, you know, more human. This series has a very clear view of Natasha, a very human view, and so sets about establishing that before it tries anything else. HAWKEYE, actually, was not too too different. Of course, there were even more seeds at the start of that series, with appearances by the tracksuit draculas and a slew of supervillains and so on, but every issue ended without an explicit "to be continued." Most books now immediately plunge into arcs within the first or second issue. Here, though, Edmondson and Noto have chosen to give the audience some time to get into the character and the style of storytelling before getting us into a full story. I think it's going to really pay off. Another wonderful issue with absolutely gorgeous art. Phil Noto's Natasha may be my favorite Natasha. Amazing stuff.
Fraction (w) and Eliopolous and Aja (a) and Bellaire (c)
OKAY, first things first, I was totally wrong in my pre-game this week when I said this was promised to be "the dog issue of sign language issues." BUT, IN MY DEFENSE, the site I use to see what comics are out in a given week lied to me first. Now, about this issue, it's absolutely great. HAWKEYE has found this incredible little niche where it's able to do just absolutely insane things seemingly at will and, guess what, they always pull it off. This is a series that wasn't expected to go past about six issues; according to Fraction himself on the recent LiveWire podcast, he was on his way out of comics in that people were starting to stop calling when HAWKEYE was set to kick off. On top of that, Hawkeye never lasts more than about six issues whenever someone starts up a new series about him. Instead, it took off and did really well, well enough to justify issues like the dog issue and the time-bending and the interesting storytelling and so on. So it does unheard of things (which I think has also inspired Marvel to allow others to try new things, sometimes working and sometimes not) and, most importantly, it always pulls them off and are always worth reading. This issue has series regular artist David Aja illustrating the first and last page, the frame with Clint, and series regular letterer and children's book artist and cartoonist Chris Eliopolous drawing all the pages in between to give it a real sense of a cartoon holiday special. It's incredibly well done and the beats are all funny and sweet as Steve attacks everyone who tries to help him. Perhaps the funniest part is when Birdie, Spooky, and Lady appear as the comic drops all pretenses of passing for a regular special (Birdie, Spooky, and Lady, who represent Mockingbird, Black Widow, and Spider-Woman respectively, all very obviously have explicit ties to their counterparts). Things start to get more and more obvious throughout the issue, presumably as Clint loses any grip on the show as he falls asleep. Really great stuff in here and very, very sweet. If you came here for the ongoing story of the HAWKEYE series, this one may disappoint you, as, you know, it's a children's holiday special set in a HAWKEYE issue that was over ten issues ago. However, if you're here because you've liked what the book has done so far, you'll love it.
Black Widow 4
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)
This series has done something really interesting in its layout, something that comic books don't tend to do these days. BLACK WIDOW spent its first three issues creating this Natasha and showing her doing her work around the world. Some of it, of course, has seeds that will be harvested later, but the first three issues were more episodic than serial, in that you could follow the action and the character choices but, by the end of the issue, the story was over. Of course, the Iron Scorpion is someone likely to return but the story he first appeared in here ended with the issue, not a "to be continued" sort of thing. I think it served the series well. Natasha is a character, as I mentioned in my review for SECRET AVENGERS this week, who tends to flummox writers some, unsure if they should make her somewhat maniacal or somewhat unhinged or completely cold and efficient or, you know, more human. This series has a very clear view of Natasha, a very human view, and so sets about establishing that before it tries anything else. HAWKEYE, actually, was not too too different. Of course, there were even more seeds at the start of that series, with appearances by the tracksuit draculas and a slew of supervillains and so on, but every issue ended without an explicit "to be continued." Most books now immediately plunge into arcs within the first or second issue. Here, though, Edmondson and Noto have chosen to give the audience some time to get into the character and the style of storytelling before getting us into a full story. I think it's going to really pay off. Another wonderful issue with absolutely gorgeous art. Phil Noto's Natasha may be my favorite Natasha. Amazing stuff.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Mighty Avengers 8, Secret Avengers 1
Mighty Avengers 8
Ewing (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)
The Mighty Avengers have managed to get away from Gideon Mace and his militantly conservative hate group but there is still talk of a lawsuit given White Tiger's attack on the headquarters. Now the team has brought Ava to Blue Marvel's undersea base Kadesh in the hopes that they can find some way to remove the Tiger God's influence on her. Before they're able to come up with anything or summon any magic specialists, Blue Marvel is called away by a threat from WESPE, a European sort of AIM style group with a focus on providing scientists with money and resources in exchange for deadly tech down the line. Blue Marvel, She-Hulk, and Spectrum go to find out what the alert in the Pacific is about. Blue Marvel is particularly worried as it seems to be occurring in an area that serves as a gateway to the Neutral Zone, a dimension he found long before and apparently where one of his sons, Kevin, is trapped. Dr. Max Brashear, Adam's other son, has teamed up with WESPE in the hopes that he can find a way to bring Kevin back. As you may imagine, he has some serious problems with his father. He traps Spectrum and She-Hulk in a forcefield strong enough even light can't get in or out and then he uses his volcano base to rupture the space between the world and the Neutral Zone, hoping to bring Kevin back. Meanwhile, the Tiger God has appeared to Ava and demanded answers for her interference in his hunt. She reams him out, explaining to him exactly how feared tigers aren't in this day and age and daring him to kill her, seeing where that would leave him. When he realizes he can't, she demands he give her all his power, which he seems to do. She wakes up again, apparently better than ever.
There are some interesting things going on in this book and with this team. I don't know a ton about Blue Marvel but he's got a pretty good story and an intriguing conceit. White Tiger, too, is showing a lot of promise in this book. The interactions between the team are compelling, at some points anyway, and sometimes interesting enough in and of themselves. Still there are a few too many jokey-jokes and tonal shifts in the writing that throw me off. I really cannot get past jokey introduction captions (this will come back in the next review too, guys. Look forward to it, if not to the next book). On top of that, Max, or Dr. Positron as he's calling himself, is a little more comical a villain than I think this book needs at its outset. I understand the appeal of writing him as somewhat childish; he is the child of Blue Marvel and his personality couldn't be more different than his father's. Regardless, he borders on silly and it makes him a little hard to take seriously. This book, too, is already more concerned with the rest of the Marvel Universe than almost any book in the modern era, making references to a handful in just one issue. Again, I understand the point of that and I get that Ewing found easy enough ways to reference books like Blue Marvel's initial series, YOUNG AVENGERS, and his own LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD, just like I get that Marvel is a business and likes to get fans interested in those sorts of tie-ins, but sometimes it feels a little cynical and a little too hitting us over the head. In a way, it's either a book that's good in spite of itself or a book that's not quite good despite itself. Tricky, tricky book to get behind.
Secret Avengers 1
Kot (w) and M. Walsh (a) and M. Wilson (c)
The Secret Avengers are back up and running on Maria Hill's watch as her new and uneasy alliance with MODOK begins. For her team's first mission, she's sent Coulson and Fury Jr. (gotta start referring to him like that as Nick Fury Sr. is set to reappear in the upcoming ORIGINAL SIN) to space to investigate a SHIELD satellite having some troubles while Black Widow and Spider-Woman spend their day relaxing, something apparently important to Black Widow. They've gone to get massages and gelato and to test out some weaponry at a place Natasha knows well. Unfortunately for them, though, they're interrupted by a naked Hawkeye on the run from AIM (not a single person knows why he's naked except that Kot and the team wanted to parrot the Hawk-blocked bit from HAWKEYE which they do not once but twice in what might be the cheapest move in the entire...you know what, we'll get into it later). As they escape AIM in Natasha's car, Hawkeye naked and the two women covered with towels, they're called by Hill to assist Coulson and Fury Jr., who are dealing with the cybiote and Captain Britain foe the Fury in space.
Guys. I would have words with this book. I've been a little skeptical of this reboot of SECRET AVENGERS, coming, as we all know, very shortly after the end of the last volume. I didn't think the last volume was great and I think that the last arc of it was something of an unfulfilling mess. Ales Kot had a big hand in wrapping that volume and now kicks off this volume promising to take readers somewhere they've never gone before with something fresh and new. And yet, he also describes the book as a Michael Bay directed episode of Breaking Bad by way of Arrested Development, thereby referencing three things this book will be similar to instead of just being its own thing. This is just issue one so I'm trying not to be too judgmental about it but it's kind of hard. In most cases, I think I'd rather a first issue swing for the fences and miss because at least it tried something. The last thing you want is for your first issue to be boring. I think we've had a couple of those recently (sadly, I kind of have to point to ALL-NEW INVADERS and ALL-NEW X-FACTOR for those examples, though I have hopes for both books). However, eye-rollingly unimaginative and derivative isn't exactly a great swing either and that's rather what this was. Not only did we get a naked Hawkeye for literally no reason after he, trying to evade AIM, breaks into what happens to be the same exact Russian baths in New York that Natasha and Jessica are at. Then they do the now infamous "Hawkeye-face comic-code-style covering Hawkeye's genitals" to him and then, later on, they cover what would be a Spider-Woman exposed breast with a Spider-Woman face because apparently the joke that really only worked when it was new back in HAWKEYE was hilarious enough to work twice in this issue. It's all just ridiculous and derivative and that's not even getting INTO the fact that it often seems like there are maybe five people who I've seen write Natasha Romanoff and have managed to create a believable character for her backstory and this doesn't seem to be one of them. I'm cutting myself off here because, again, it's the first issue and I don't want to throw the series entirely away based on one issue but I will tell you that we're not far from it. OH, and Kot spent some time having Maria Hill and MODOK discuss Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias" and Shelley's contemporary Horace Smith because literature debates are the way we expect Hill and MODOK to talk and aren't condescending at all (Kot would go on to talk about Sylvia Plath in his opening letters-page column because UGH). OKAY, I'm seriously done now. Join me later for me being angry at ALL-NEW X-MEN because I don't know why I scheduled the books I'm most looking forward to for the Thursday through Saturday stretch.
Ewing (w) and Schiti (a) and D'Armata (c)
There are some interesting things going on in this book and with this team. I don't know a ton about Blue Marvel but he's got a pretty good story and an intriguing conceit. White Tiger, too, is showing a lot of promise in this book. The interactions between the team are compelling, at some points anyway, and sometimes interesting enough in and of themselves. Still there are a few too many jokey-jokes and tonal shifts in the writing that throw me off. I really cannot get past jokey introduction captions (this will come back in the next review too, guys. Look forward to it, if not to the next book). On top of that, Max, or Dr. Positron as he's calling himself, is a little more comical a villain than I think this book needs at its outset. I understand the appeal of writing him as somewhat childish; he is the child of Blue Marvel and his personality couldn't be more different than his father's. Regardless, he borders on silly and it makes him a little hard to take seriously. This book, too, is already more concerned with the rest of the Marvel Universe than almost any book in the modern era, making references to a handful in just one issue. Again, I understand the point of that and I get that Ewing found easy enough ways to reference books like Blue Marvel's initial series, YOUNG AVENGERS, and his own LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD, just like I get that Marvel is a business and likes to get fans interested in those sorts of tie-ins, but sometimes it feels a little cynical and a little too hitting us over the head. In a way, it's either a book that's good in spite of itself or a book that's not quite good despite itself. Tricky, tricky book to get behind.
Secret Avengers 1
Kot (w) and M. Walsh (a) and M. Wilson (c)
Guys. I would have words with this book. I've been a little skeptical of this reboot of SECRET AVENGERS, coming, as we all know, very shortly after the end of the last volume. I didn't think the last volume was great and I think that the last arc of it was something of an unfulfilling mess. Ales Kot had a big hand in wrapping that volume and now kicks off this volume promising to take readers somewhere they've never gone before with something fresh and new. And yet, he also describes the book as a Michael Bay directed episode of Breaking Bad by way of Arrested Development, thereby referencing three things this book will be similar to instead of just being its own thing. This is just issue one so I'm trying not to be too judgmental about it but it's kind of hard. In most cases, I think I'd rather a first issue swing for the fences and miss because at least it tried something. The last thing you want is for your first issue to be boring. I think we've had a couple of those recently (sadly, I kind of have to point to ALL-NEW INVADERS and ALL-NEW X-FACTOR for those examples, though I have hopes for both books). However, eye-rollingly unimaginative and derivative isn't exactly a great swing either and that's rather what this was. Not only did we get a naked Hawkeye for literally no reason after he, trying to evade AIM, breaks into what happens to be the same exact Russian baths in New York that Natasha and Jessica are at. Then they do the now infamous "Hawkeye-face comic-code-style covering Hawkeye's genitals" to him and then, later on, they cover what would be a Spider-Woman exposed breast with a Spider-Woman face because apparently the joke that really only worked when it was new back in HAWKEYE was hilarious enough to work twice in this issue. It's all just ridiculous and derivative and that's not even getting INTO the fact that it often seems like there are maybe five people who I've seen write Natasha Romanoff and have managed to create a believable character for her backstory and this doesn't seem to be one of them. I'm cutting myself off here because, again, it's the first issue and I don't want to throw the series entirely away based on one issue but I will tell you that we're not far from it. OH, and Kot spent some time having Maria Hill and MODOK discuss Percy Shelley's "Ozymandias" and Shelley's contemporary Horace Smith because literature debates are the way we expect Hill and MODOK to talk and aren't condescending at all (Kot would go on to talk about Sylvia Plath in his opening letters-page column because UGH). OKAY, I'm seriously done now. Join me later for me being angry at ALL-NEW X-MEN because I don't know why I scheduled the books I'm most looking forward to for the Thursday through Saturday stretch.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Hawkeye 15, Fantastic Four 1
Hawkeye 15
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)
The Barton boys are trying to piece together what the tracksuit draculas are up to with the help from Team Clint's Exes. Mockingbird drops by to tell Clint that she's followed the records of the strip club he busted up through several shell companies and eventually to its own, Ivan Banionis, the man Clint had deported before buying the building. She also has figured out that he and his companies own every building for three blocks except Hawkeye's, making him a big ol' target for them. Next up is Black Widow, who has dug up 18 murders in the tri-state area that seem to be a result of the tracksuits and their hitman, who Natasha warns Clint is practically a ghost, someone who can sign his work as loudly as he wants because no one knows anything about him. Meanwhile, a backroom meeting commences as the shady people above the tracksuits discuss the plans for the land, a three block by three block premiere luxury shopping center that would replace the medium and low income housing currently in the area. The only hold-up is Clint's building which the Clown, out of disguise (or into it, I suppose), says is still legally owned with the city by Ivan Banionis and that Clint's name appears as "interim superintendent and owner," a title the Clown doesn't think is terribly legal. He meets with the tracksuits next to tell them that Clint's stay there isn't exactly legal, which means that he can't call the cops on them so they don't really have to worry about the little games they've been playing; instead, they can go for a full attack. Clint and Barney beat up a bunch of the tracksuits in a van on the street but are rushed back inside when they hear Simone screaming. They run to her apartment and take out a few more tracksuits before Spider-Woman meets up with them in their apartment to tell Clint that he can't just "buy" the building, that things aren't that easy. Barney asks how the tracksuits got in and Clint realizes it must have been the roof and that they could still be inside. Clint runs downstairs and checks outside but the van is gone. As he comes back in, the Clown stabs him in the head with his own arrow and shoots an oncoming Barney in the gut before leaving both Barton boys on the ground.
Here's the thing about HAWKEYE that's been so rewarding for readers: that summary. Not, like, I did a really good job with it or anything like that (I'm fishing for compliments here, dear reader, take a hint, okay?), but the fact that it's so packed with things that happened. Every part of the issue was important and I STILL didn't cover everything in the book. Despite how jam-packed it is, the comic reads really well. It moves quickly, it keeps you exactly the right amount off-balance to keep you reading and entertained but not overly confused or lost, it has compelling characters with compelling relationships, and it's ultimately about the failures of Hawkeye more than the successes. Granted, it's a slightly different feel when Kate is our star because, simply put, Kate succeeds more. Hawkeye is a hero with the Avengers, he's someone who always shows up, usually does his part (which is sometimes actually helpful), and goes home. At home, though, he's a different person, trying to do his best with just about no sense of the actual world. This book was created by someone who understood Clint's life, who saw the bigger picture of Clint Barton. He was an orphan, he became a circus act, and he moved into a life of crime before being plucked from it and becoming an Avenger, which he's been ever since. That didn't leave a lot of time for studying or for understanding the way the real world worked, which is why Clint is where he is now. It's all summed up in an exchange with Jess where he says that he's just trying to do the right thing, that what the tracksuits were doing wasn't right and he wanted to fix it. When she tells him it's not that easy, he mutters "yeah, but it should be." Perfect Clint, perfect book, another good issue. AND GUYS, this analysis didn't even mention the fact that the Barton boys are seriously injured by issue's end.
Fantastic Four 1
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Kesel (a) and Aburtov (c)
The Fantastic Four are back, donning new red costumes and out to save the city again. The issue is framed by a letter from Sue to her kids which is very much the style of "how did things go wrong?" sort of storytelling, where we know something has happened to break this family up but we have to build our way there. She says that Reed is now a broken man, a shell of himself who she sometimes hates for everything that's happened, that Ben is in jail after Reed's testimony, and that Johnny is a wild card, a loose cannon, etc. BUT HOW? Well it apparently starts with them fighting Fin Fang Foom in downtown New York, which causes Reed to ask why he suddenly seems out of control, no longer the plotting and planning foe of theirs that he's used to. They defeat him pretty quickly and go their separate ways, with Reed and Sue watching over the house and the FF, missing Valeria who went to stay in Latveria after some anger at her parents, Ben going to see on-again-off-again girlfriend Alicia Masters, and Johnny going to see his rock-star manager. All seems to be back on track for the F4 until, late at night, some monsters burst out of Reed's lab and into New York.
James Robinson has been in comics for a couple of decades now but I'm only just getting around to hearing about him. He's spent much of his time over at DC with long stints with characters like Superman and Starman but, as you may have guessed, I don't have a whole lot of history with DC. Pretty much, I know Batman and even that is at a far lesser level than I know about the more minor Marvel characters. Robinson's written things for Marvel before but I can't safely say that I've read it (he did a few issues of HEROES REBORN: CAPTAIN AMERICA and I'd hazard a guess to say I've read them, as I've read some HEROES REBORN and I love Captain America, but I can't recall anything about them so here we are). Now he's the writer of the ongoing ALL-NEW INVADERS and FANTASTIC FOUR. This long intro to James Robinson is essentially just my way of talking for a while before I have to say that I'm getting a similar vibe out of both of these books and that vibe is the same sort of vibe, albeit less egregious, I get from Robinson's fellow countryman Paul Cornell, he of WOLVERINE. I have less patience with Cornell after the last WOLVERINE series because it just flat-out bored me, which Robinson has not yet done with either of these two books. However, there is a robotic kind of feeling to the writing that kind of shows there are characters here but makes it feel like, even this early into both series, we're not going to get anything new from these characters. New stories, new situations, sure, but the characters themselves seem like such boilerplate versions of the characters we already know. That said, we are EXTREMELY early into both FANTASTIC FOUR and ALL-NEW INVADERS so I'd be delighted and unsurprised if they turned me around (I'd also be surprised if I ever got to the point with these books that I have with WOLVERINE) and this may be nothing more than an incorrect gut feeling but it's worth noting that it's certainly what my gut is telling me right now.
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)
Here's the thing about HAWKEYE that's been so rewarding for readers: that summary. Not, like, I did a really good job with it or anything like that (I'm fishing for compliments here, dear reader, take a hint, okay?), but the fact that it's so packed with things that happened. Every part of the issue was important and I STILL didn't cover everything in the book. Despite how jam-packed it is, the comic reads really well. It moves quickly, it keeps you exactly the right amount off-balance to keep you reading and entertained but not overly confused or lost, it has compelling characters with compelling relationships, and it's ultimately about the failures of Hawkeye more than the successes. Granted, it's a slightly different feel when Kate is our star because, simply put, Kate succeeds more. Hawkeye is a hero with the Avengers, he's someone who always shows up, usually does his part (which is sometimes actually helpful), and goes home. At home, though, he's a different person, trying to do his best with just about no sense of the actual world. This book was created by someone who understood Clint's life, who saw the bigger picture of Clint Barton. He was an orphan, he became a circus act, and he moved into a life of crime before being plucked from it and becoming an Avenger, which he's been ever since. That didn't leave a lot of time for studying or for understanding the way the real world worked, which is why Clint is where he is now. It's all summed up in an exchange with Jess where he says that he's just trying to do the right thing, that what the tracksuits were doing wasn't right and he wanted to fix it. When she tells him it's not that easy, he mutters "yeah, but it should be." Perfect Clint, perfect book, another good issue. AND GUYS, this analysis didn't even mention the fact that the Barton boys are seriously injured by issue's end.
Fantastic Four 1
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Kesel (a) and Aburtov (c)
James Robinson has been in comics for a couple of decades now but I'm only just getting around to hearing about him. He's spent much of his time over at DC with long stints with characters like Superman and Starman but, as you may have guessed, I don't have a whole lot of history with DC. Pretty much, I know Batman and even that is at a far lesser level than I know about the more minor Marvel characters. Robinson's written things for Marvel before but I can't safely say that I've read it (he did a few issues of HEROES REBORN: CAPTAIN AMERICA and I'd hazard a guess to say I've read them, as I've read some HEROES REBORN and I love Captain America, but I can't recall anything about them so here we are). Now he's the writer of the ongoing ALL-NEW INVADERS and FANTASTIC FOUR. This long intro to James Robinson is essentially just my way of talking for a while before I have to say that I'm getting a similar vibe out of both of these books and that vibe is the same sort of vibe, albeit less egregious, I get from Robinson's fellow countryman Paul Cornell, he of WOLVERINE. I have less patience with Cornell after the last WOLVERINE series because it just flat-out bored me, which Robinson has not yet done with either of these two books. However, there is a robotic kind of feeling to the writing that kind of shows there are characters here but makes it feel like, even this early into both series, we're not going to get anything new from these characters. New stories, new situations, sure, but the characters themselves seem like such boilerplate versions of the characters we already know. That said, we are EXTREMELY early into both FANTASTIC FOUR and ALL-NEW INVADERS so I'd be delighted and unsurprised if they turned me around (I'd also be surprised if I ever got to the point with these books that I have with WOLVERINE) and this may be nothing more than an incorrect gut feeling but it's worth noting that it's certainly what my gut is telling me right now.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Uncanny Avengers 16, Avengers Assemble 23, Inhumanity 2
Uncanny Avengers 16
Remender (w) and McNiven, Dell, and Leisten (a) and L. Martin (c)
With most of the Unity Squad pulled into the ark, it's up to Thor, Wasp, and Captain America to stop the ark from leaving with all of the world's mutants and save the world from execution at the hands of the Celestial Exitar. Fortunately, the arrival of Exitar has not gone unnoticed and some of the big science brains in the Marvel Universe (non-mutant) are busy working on solutions. Thor's got his own solution too, which is to find Jarnbjorn and talk with Exitar or, barring that, hopefully kill him before he can attack the Earth. Knowing that the Apocalypse twins have Jarnbjorn, Thor attacks Uriel and Eimin in the ark. He frees Steve from his captivity (Cap-tivity) and together they manage to separate the twins, which stops the biggest of their powers from working. While Thor whales on Uriel, Cap manages to outmaneuver Eimin and launch her out of the spaceship (it was pretty cool you guys). Thor follows Uriel to Jarnbjorn and punches up Uriel some more. Meanwhile, Wasp is trying to shut down the tachyon dam that's keeping Immortus from entering with his reinforcements but gets interrupted by Grim Reaper, who tells her the only way to shut the dam down is to kill him first. Back on the ship, Thor continues to annihilate Uriel, eventually shoving him into an exploding portal, potentially killing him. As Thor follows the explosion to the exterior of the ship, he finds Eimin, holding Jarnbjorn in the shadow of Exitar, ready to fight him for it.
Very intense issue. While I like this whole team and I think Remender's done a good job overall to develop the entire time and to grant focus to everyone at various points, I think this issue benefits from the small remaining team. It's a big issue with lots going on and it really highlights very good one-on-one battles between, particularly, Thor and Uriel and Cap and Eimin (we don't see a lot of Wasp and Grim Reaper). It also gives us a chance to really settle into this plot which has multiple parts. McNiven's art is very good and well suited for the story, particularly with the Cap stuff. Laura Martin holds her own too, giving the art a sense of weight and scale that matches the tone of the story. Even with all of the plot going on and all of the battles, there are some really nice character moments tucked away in this issue, including Cap's admission, while battling exactly the way he intends to battle, that he's maybe a bit past his prime, Thor's deference to Cap as a leader, and Thor's reaction to seeing Scarlet Witch killed. Very good issue all around and this one remains one of the better Avengers titles and, even without the mutants around, one of the better X-titles. Good stuff.
Avengers Assemble 23
DeConnick and W. Ellis (w) and Buffagni (a) and Woodard (c)
Araña and Spider-Woman talk with Maria Hill about the Toxie Doxie situation and Hill sends some information over while the two spiders chat. Shortly, though, Spider-Woman tags out for Wolverine, mostly benched by Cap while he figures out the healing factor business, and he and Anya make for Covington's lab, but not before Wolverine can thoroughly chew out Spider-Girl for unpreparedness. Freshly decked out in a new costume that isn't just her spandex, Anya accompanies Wolverine to the lab and the two of them take down the assistants and looters within, finally getting some answers from one of Covington's assistants who reveals that the man in the cocoon may still be alive. Covington herself has also gotten some answers as well as she's tracked down the man who delivered her the exploding cocoon and learned that it was a New York AIM branch who had it delivered to her. Now powered with some Inhuman DNA, she's ready to make a move.
This book has been a fun one throughout its run (sadly ending soon) and this issue manages to straddle the line of being very fun and pretty serious. After a nice little learning and bonding session from Spider-Woman (with an amazing reference to Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, an incredible cartoon also ended before its time though that one was replaced with something far worse and AVENGERS WORLD will likely still be pretty good, though probably pretty different), the tone changes as Wolverine takes charge and demands that Spider-Girl stop treating her life like it's a game. The Wolverine in this book is a really strong one, one who clearly has the weight of his life on his shoulders. He's not incapable of making a joke or two but he has things he needs to say before he can get to it and Spider-Girl, even with her teenage ways, can't help but bow to his requests and understand his reasons for making them. There's an interesting plot going on here but it's really only a backdrop to the great character work and fun writing that's happening in the foreground. Matteo Buffagni's a good choice for the book as his art is both not entirely cartoony and yet not entirely realistic so it fits nicely with the tone. Good work all around.
Inhumanity 2
Fraction (w) and Bradshaw, Nauck, Hanna, and Palmer (a) and Fabela and Mossa (c)
After a bit of a stall in the last couple months (hindered by creator differences and a complicated shipping schedule thanks to the holiday season) INHUMANITY pushes on as we see up close and personal what's going on with the Inhumans themselves as the Terrigenesis Wave spreads through the world. For Medusa, leader of the Inhumans, she must tamp down the presumed loss of her husband (Black Bolt was still in Attilan as it fell and has not been seen since, though we know he's alive) and the disappearance of her son (Ahura and all other Inhuman children have gone missing since the teleports out of the city) as she leads the Inhumans into this new world. To make matters more complicated, the human world is looking for answers and many have reacted in different ways, with some humans experimenting on cocoons or capturing them for study and some thought-gone Inhumans re-emerging to take the cocoons for their own, presumably to build an army against the current throne. There's plenty for Medusa to do and she starts by crashing down with a small team on an AIM base where experiments on the cocoons have taken place and ensures they don't have anything to experiment on and that the fear of Inhumans has been struck in their human hearts.
It's not a bad issue but it's a little hard not to separate from the time between where we've already seen so much happen. Even in books like IRON MAN we've seen Medusa in a proactive role, though this book gives the sense that it took her a bit of time to reach that point. Not a long time, mind, she steps up when she needs to step up, but enough that there are some tensions among her people and even within her own mind. However, the separation between the end of INFINITY and this issue isn't the most jarring thing about this issue; that award goes pretty firmly to Nick Bradshaw's art. All of the women look both sort of anime and super-feminized. All the women, as opposed to the men in the book, have the classic big, bright eyes with completely unblemished skin and big, pouty mouths, none of which seems to work with the tone of the book and none of which works with me on a personal level. With that said, it's hard to take the tone of the book seriously, which is too bad because, removed from the art, it seems to hit on the chords Fraction wants it to hit. Can't really recommend this one because I don't think it's going to give you a huge look at this event or status quo change or whatever this is from an angle we're not seeing done just as well elsewhere and the art really drags this one down.
Remender (w) and McNiven, Dell, and Leisten (a) and L. Martin (c)
Very intense issue. While I like this whole team and I think Remender's done a good job overall to develop the entire time and to grant focus to everyone at various points, I think this issue benefits from the small remaining team. It's a big issue with lots going on and it really highlights very good one-on-one battles between, particularly, Thor and Uriel and Cap and Eimin (we don't see a lot of Wasp and Grim Reaper). It also gives us a chance to really settle into this plot which has multiple parts. McNiven's art is very good and well suited for the story, particularly with the Cap stuff. Laura Martin holds her own too, giving the art a sense of weight and scale that matches the tone of the story. Even with all of the plot going on and all of the battles, there are some really nice character moments tucked away in this issue, including Cap's admission, while battling exactly the way he intends to battle, that he's maybe a bit past his prime, Thor's deference to Cap as a leader, and Thor's reaction to seeing Scarlet Witch killed. Very good issue all around and this one remains one of the better Avengers titles and, even without the mutants around, one of the better X-titles. Good stuff.
Avengers Assemble 23
DeConnick and W. Ellis (w) and Buffagni (a) and Woodard (c)
This book has been a fun one throughout its run (sadly ending soon) and this issue manages to straddle the line of being very fun and pretty serious. After a nice little learning and bonding session from Spider-Woman (with an amazing reference to Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, an incredible cartoon also ended before its time though that one was replaced with something far worse and AVENGERS WORLD will likely still be pretty good, though probably pretty different), the tone changes as Wolverine takes charge and demands that Spider-Girl stop treating her life like it's a game. The Wolverine in this book is a really strong one, one who clearly has the weight of his life on his shoulders. He's not incapable of making a joke or two but he has things he needs to say before he can get to it and Spider-Girl, even with her teenage ways, can't help but bow to his requests and understand his reasons for making them. There's an interesting plot going on here but it's really only a backdrop to the great character work and fun writing that's happening in the foreground. Matteo Buffagni's a good choice for the book as his art is both not entirely cartoony and yet not entirely realistic so it fits nicely with the tone. Good work all around.
Inhumanity 2
Fraction (w) and Bradshaw, Nauck, Hanna, and Palmer (a) and Fabela and Mossa (c)
It's not a bad issue but it's a little hard not to separate from the time between where we've already seen so much happen. Even in books like IRON MAN we've seen Medusa in a proactive role, though this book gives the sense that it took her a bit of time to reach that point. Not a long time, mind, she steps up when she needs to step up, but enough that there are some tensions among her people and even within her own mind. However, the separation between the end of INFINITY and this issue isn't the most jarring thing about this issue; that award goes pretty firmly to Nick Bradshaw's art. All of the women look both sort of anime and super-feminized. All the women, as opposed to the men in the book, have the classic big, bright eyes with completely unblemished skin and big, pouty mouths, none of which seems to work with the tone of the book and none of which works with me on a personal level. With that said, it's hard to take the tone of the book seriously, which is too bad because, removed from the art, it seems to hit on the chords Fraction wants it to hit. Can't really recommend this one because I don't think it's going to give you a huge look at this event or status quo change or whatever this is from an angle we're not seeing done just as well elsewhere and the art really drags this one down.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Avengers Assemble 22, Secret Avengers 13
Avengers Assemble 22
DeConnick and Ellis (w) and Buffagni and Diaz (a) and Woodard (c)
Spider-Girl, Spider-Woman, and Black Widow have been captured by Kashmir Vennema and AIM and Vennema is prepared to have them killed. Thanks to Spider-Woman's pheromone control, though, it doesn't happen, as Jessica befuddles all the guys guarding them in the room and uses her spider bursts to get them out of their binds, allowing them to dispatch the AIM guards easily. They enlist the help of Wolverine and Bruce Banner to surprise Vennema in her private car and find out who she sold the Inhuman cocoon to. Vennema reveals that it was Toxie Doxie, Dr. June Covington, and the Avengers (after a sincere scare to Vennema) reconvene at Avengers Tower. Spider-Girl and Spider-Woman plan to go after Covington (the others, including Black Widow, have to back out and deal with other problems around the globe), who has done some research of her own into her detonated cocoon. She managed to salvage the man inside and has reasoned that he doesn't show up on mechanical scans, a power she'd like to add to her own collection. Her penchant for accruing genetic abilities means that, by issue's end, she's identified the gene in Anya's teacher that is responsible for his new powers.
Another pretty interesting issue as the tie-ins to INHUMANITY continue to press on. I'm not wholly decided on them, positive or negative, just yet and I think it would probably be wrong to lump them all one way or another anyway but it's certainly, in many cases, provided for some intriguing stories. Here, as with the entirety of AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, the key to the issue's appeal comes from the typically fun and entertaining writing. The team interacts far differently in this series than it does in any other, but not in a way that entirely breaks character. They just seem more friendly with one another here, or, in the very least, far more personable. Not to say characters are done poorly in, say, AVENGERS, but that book has its focus and tone and this book's focus and tone tend to be a bit different. It's always nice to have this book around, which gives us a somewhat lighter feel for the team, not always so incredibly heavy but with its own sorts of drama and tension. Comic pro Warren Ellis jumps in to co-write with regular writer (and rising star at Marvel and in comics in general) Kelly Sue DeConnick but the series tone doesn't seem to shift in any real way, feeling as natural and as fresh as any other issue. Fun book, always a pleasant surprise.
Secret Avengers 13
Spencer and Kot (w) and Guice, Rubinstein, and Palmer (a) and Wilson (c)
Things are going badly for the Secret Avengers as Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Fury have been ambushed at the underwater AIM station MODOK had led them to, Mockingbird is still in the field and apparently discovered, and their one useful outside-asset is the ever-unreliable Taskmaster. MODOK and Maria Hill bicker about whether or not he's setting her up and what he has to gain from SHIELD's involvement taking down Scientist Supreme Forson. In another attempt to gain favor with Hill, he reveals another secret base and Hill sends Banner and Iron Patriot there to collect AIM secrets at the base, which Forson detonates shortly after their arrival. She again accuses MODOK of treachery and he again says that he wants Forson removed and points her to her own organization as having leaks in it. Meanwhile, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Fury have been captured by what seems to be some AIM-led adaptoids and are being transported back to AIM Island. Taskmaster is betrayed by his new apprentice, a beekeeper who turns out to be Anton Trask, and is apparently executed by Mockingbird at the behest of Forson.
Plenty happening here and it's getting a little tricky to keep track of it all. I have to say, I think the idea of pitting MODOK against Hill in a battle of possible lies vs. almost definite incompetence is probably the best way to build suspense while also keeping to continuity in a SHIELD book. As I was writing this review, I kept saying "boy, how could she be so stupid as to send teams in on MODOK's advice?" At the same time, I don't necessarily believe that MODOK is lying; I believe him when he says that he wants Forson deposed and that AIM has become something unrecognizable to him, not to mention that I believe him when he says that he could have just sent a proxy in to tell Hill these things and keep out of harm's way. However, by the same token, this is MODOK we're talking about and, to add to it, Hill seems to be playing this guns blazing, even worse than Daisy sending a hit team to AIM Island in retribution for killing her friend. This keeps MODOK in character, playing his cards to regain AIM's control, and keeps SHIELD in character, being terrible. Boy, do these guys miss the original Nick Fury or what? Anyway, plenty happening and I'll admit that I'm going to be pretty sad if Taskmaster is actually dead. Always liked that guy. Also interested to see what's happening with Bobbi; I hope she too isn't dead but I don't believe that she's a traitor, which doesn't seem to fit her character in any way. Probably something more with adaptoids, am I right?
DeConnick and Ellis (w) and Buffagni and Diaz (a) and Woodard (c)
Another pretty interesting issue as the tie-ins to INHUMANITY continue to press on. I'm not wholly decided on them, positive or negative, just yet and I think it would probably be wrong to lump them all one way or another anyway but it's certainly, in many cases, provided for some intriguing stories. Here, as with the entirety of AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, the key to the issue's appeal comes from the typically fun and entertaining writing. The team interacts far differently in this series than it does in any other, but not in a way that entirely breaks character. They just seem more friendly with one another here, or, in the very least, far more personable. Not to say characters are done poorly in, say, AVENGERS, but that book has its focus and tone and this book's focus and tone tend to be a bit different. It's always nice to have this book around, which gives us a somewhat lighter feel for the team, not always so incredibly heavy but with its own sorts of drama and tension. Comic pro Warren Ellis jumps in to co-write with regular writer (and rising star at Marvel and in comics in general) Kelly Sue DeConnick but the series tone doesn't seem to shift in any real way, feeling as natural and as fresh as any other issue. Fun book, always a pleasant surprise.
Secret Avengers 13
Spencer and Kot (w) and Guice, Rubinstein, and Palmer (a) and Wilson (c)
Plenty happening here and it's getting a little tricky to keep track of it all. I have to say, I think the idea of pitting MODOK against Hill in a battle of possible lies vs. almost definite incompetence is probably the best way to build suspense while also keeping to continuity in a SHIELD book. As I was writing this review, I kept saying "boy, how could she be so stupid as to send teams in on MODOK's advice?" At the same time, I don't necessarily believe that MODOK is lying; I believe him when he says that he wants Forson deposed and that AIM has become something unrecognizable to him, not to mention that I believe him when he says that he could have just sent a proxy in to tell Hill these things and keep out of harm's way. However, by the same token, this is MODOK we're talking about and, to add to it, Hill seems to be playing this guns blazing, even worse than Daisy sending a hit team to AIM Island in retribution for killing her friend. This keeps MODOK in character, playing his cards to regain AIM's control, and keeps SHIELD in character, being terrible. Boy, do these guys miss the original Nick Fury or what? Anyway, plenty happening and I'll admit that I'm going to be pretty sad if Taskmaster is actually dead. Always liked that guy. Also interested to see what's happening with Bobbi; I hope she too isn't dead but I don't believe that she's a traitor, which doesn't seem to fit her character in any way. Probably something more with adaptoids, am I right?
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Avengers Arena 18, Uncanny Avengers 14, Avengers Assemble 21
Avengers Arena 18
Hopeless (w) and Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)
Katy and Death Locket watch the teen heroes fight from Arcade's bunker with Katy's finger on the trigger the entire time. The raging battles between Cammi and Nico and Anachronism and Reptil come to a grinding halt when attention is directed at the imploding Hazmat, ready to wipe them all out unintentionally. Reptil transforms into a a bigger dinosaur, one with more speed and a longer mouth, and promises he'll help her, picking her up in his mouth without a second thought, despite her protests, and rushing her into the water, where everyone sees her explode. Katy, angry that the fights have stopped, unleashes some of Arcade's last tricks, forcing the kids to fight for their lives until Tim takes a brief moment of control over Katy and demands Death Locket, still in love with Tim, kill them. Suddenly, the insect swarm, sand people, and napalm winds subside and Death Locket appears by the other survivors to explain. With the game over and Arcade gone, they decide, with the insight of the returning Hazmat, now out of her suit and not glowing but alone as she leaves the water, that they won't say anything about what happened. SHIELD and the heads of the schools come to pick the kids up and investigate but they refuse to say a word about what happened, not wanting to give Arcade the satisfaction, though Arcade gets his satisfaction as he begins to upload his 30 part video series "What Really Happened in Murder World."
Really great series, very nice ending. Our final survivor count sits at nine, I believe, leaving us with Cammi, Death Locket, Nico, Anachronism, Hazmat, Cullen, X-23, Chase, and (this is the only "I think" on the list) Chris Powell. I'll be honest, it never really occurred to me for some reason that Reptil could die in this series and, only looking back do I realize, I have no idea why I thought that. First and foremost, he wasn't that big a character, no bigger than, say, Mettle, who was exploded in the first issue also trying to save Jen. Somehow he always felt off the table so I'm a little sad to see him go here. Still, there's a nice finality to the series as the kids all get off the island and get to go home with their respective school heads. Even the discussion of how they address all of this is interesting, though I'm not sure if it takes into account the idea of the video getting out. Regardless, it's a very exciting set-up for the next step in this teens-in-peril streak Hopeless is on as some of our characters aim to infiltrate the Masters of Evil in AVENGERS UNDERCOVER. Pretty excited to see Hopeless and Walker pick up again in March. Sad this series is over, glad the characters will move on.
Uncanny Avengers 14
Remender (w) and McNiven and Dell (a) and L. Martin (c)
At various points in the future, Kang is gathering an army of supers presumably in the hopes that they can help him defeat the twins. Meanwhile, back in the present, Shiro and Rogue rush to the Ark to stop Wanda and Simon from completing the spell they think will separate mutants and humans forever, not knowing that Wanda intends to bring the mutants to the Ark to stop the twins. Rogue is dead-set on stopping Wanda any way possible but it will have to wait a moment as Daken and Grim Reaper lie in wait and pounce as soon as Rogue and Shiro appear. Wolverine, apparently following Shiro and Rogue, jumps into the fight to give Shiro the chance to remove Simon from the spell. Wolverine continues to insist no killing but is held by Daken long enough to watch Rogue escape Reaper and charge Wanda, stabbing her through the chest with her borrowed Wolverine claws. Wanda falls and Simon follows her down. Grim Reaper gets the drop on Rogue as she reaffirms to herself that it was the only way to stop Wanda. Reaper stabs her through the heart with his scythe and then, with his enhanced powers, leaves no room for doubt that she's dead as Wolverine, dispatching Daken, sprints towards him, watches him electrify her. Simon rushes to Wanda's side and, as she dies, he pours all of himself into her to power her spell, dissipating himself to help her finish her plan, calling all the mutants to rise against the twins.
Geez. Huge issue. Two major characters die and one Wonder Man maybe dies. I'm not sure how much more I have to say about this. The past thirteen issues of UNCANNY AVENGERS built to this, from Rogue and Wanda's feud to Wolverine's insistence that everyone find a no-kill solution to Wonder Man's non-violence to the return of Grim Reaper and Daken, among the other horsemen, to Rogue's killing of Grim Reaper to the mutant solution to just everything all comes down to this issue, where Rogue kills Wanda and then Grim Reaper kills Rogue all while Wolverine watches. Nearly perfect culmination of everything that Remender's been working towards all along and something that very clearly isn't a conclusion but a climax. Although it's something that we've been building towards, it's not the final step, we still have plenty to look forward to. Let's also not overlook the fact that he just killed off a couple major Marvel Universe characters, for however long. What a big and well-executed issue.
Avengers Assemble 21
DeConnick (w) and Buffagni (a) and Woodard (c)
INHUMANITY has started and the Avengers have to deal with the slew of Terrigenesis cocoons that have started popping up. Among those cocoons is the social studies teacher of Anya Corazon, aka Spider-Girl, who brings her case to the Avengers, hoping they'll be enticed by the fact that he was kidnapped while in cocoon. Spider-Woman and Black Widow team up with Anya to form a full blown spider-lady team and strike at an AIM lab that has connections to the kidnapping. They hit the lights, giving them ten seconds to dispatch of the beekeepers inside, which they manage to do with relative ease. As they start to question one of the fallen, they're surrounded by a secondary AIM team led by Widow's former foe Kashmir Vennema, the inter-dimensional arms dealer Widow ran into back in CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BLACK WIDOW. Vennema reveals that one of the cocoons they captured died (Anya's teacher) and the other is still available for sale. She also decides to have the three Avengers killed, knowing she's protected because AIM is an officially recognized entity that has now been invaded. Meanwhile, June Covington aka Toxie Doxie is on the hunt for cocoons and for vengeance for her purchased and subsequently exploded cocoon.
Nice to have a little bit of a less tense book following up AVENGERS ARENA's conclusion and UNCANNY AVENGERS' biggest issue probably ever (kind of willing to say it might be one of the biggest issues of any non-event series in recent history). Not to say this doesn't have its tension...actually, it kind of doesn't. I feel like maybe it should have had more but it's really hard to say if the lack of tension is created because it's, you know, just AIM and they're Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Spider-Girl or if it's less tense because I'm so fresh off reading these darker and grittier books. Not to say this isn't still a fun book; there's a lot of great characterization stuff between the three leads of this issue as well as between Captain Marvel and Spider-Girl, who spar a bit over what's important and who's being condescending to whom (hint: it's Captain Marvel to Spider-Girl). Fun issue, nice little arc developing. I still really like this book as a bit of a more relaxed and character-focused Avengers title. Nice issue.
Hopeless (w) and Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)
Really great series, very nice ending. Our final survivor count sits at nine, I believe, leaving us with Cammi, Death Locket, Nico, Anachronism, Hazmat, Cullen, X-23, Chase, and (this is the only "I think" on the list) Chris Powell. I'll be honest, it never really occurred to me for some reason that Reptil could die in this series and, only looking back do I realize, I have no idea why I thought that. First and foremost, he wasn't that big a character, no bigger than, say, Mettle, who was exploded in the first issue also trying to save Jen. Somehow he always felt off the table so I'm a little sad to see him go here. Still, there's a nice finality to the series as the kids all get off the island and get to go home with their respective school heads. Even the discussion of how they address all of this is interesting, though I'm not sure if it takes into account the idea of the video getting out. Regardless, it's a very exciting set-up for the next step in this teens-in-peril streak Hopeless is on as some of our characters aim to infiltrate the Masters of Evil in AVENGERS UNDERCOVER. Pretty excited to see Hopeless and Walker pick up again in March. Sad this series is over, glad the characters will move on.
Uncanny Avengers 14
Remender (w) and McNiven and Dell (a) and L. Martin (c)
Geez. Huge issue. Two major characters die and one Wonder Man maybe dies. I'm not sure how much more I have to say about this. The past thirteen issues of UNCANNY AVENGERS built to this, from Rogue and Wanda's feud to Wolverine's insistence that everyone find a no-kill solution to Wonder Man's non-violence to the return of Grim Reaper and Daken, among the other horsemen, to Rogue's killing of Grim Reaper to the mutant solution to just everything all comes down to this issue, where Rogue kills Wanda and then Grim Reaper kills Rogue all while Wolverine watches. Nearly perfect culmination of everything that Remender's been working towards all along and something that very clearly isn't a conclusion but a climax. Although it's something that we've been building towards, it's not the final step, we still have plenty to look forward to. Let's also not overlook the fact that he just killed off a couple major Marvel Universe characters, for however long. What a big and well-executed issue.
Avengers Assemble 21
DeConnick (w) and Buffagni (a) and Woodard (c)
Nice to have a little bit of a less tense book following up AVENGERS ARENA's conclusion and UNCANNY AVENGERS' biggest issue probably ever (kind of willing to say it might be one of the biggest issues of any non-event series in recent history). Not to say this doesn't have its tension...actually, it kind of doesn't. I feel like maybe it should have had more but it's really hard to say if the lack of tension is created because it's, you know, just AIM and they're Black Widow, Spider-Woman, and Spider-Girl or if it's less tense because I'm so fresh off reading these darker and grittier books. Not to say this isn't still a fun book; there's a lot of great characterization stuff between the three leads of this issue as well as between Captain Marvel and Spider-Girl, who spar a bit over what's important and who's being condescending to whom (hint: it's Captain Marvel to Spider-Girl). Fun issue, nice little arc developing. I still really like this book as a bit of a more relaxed and character-focused Avengers title. Nice issue.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Venom 42, Ultimate Spider-Man 28
Venom 42
Bunn (w) and Coelho (a) and Loughridge (c)
The final issue of Venom ends as Venom and Mania summon Mephisto to discuss the Devil's Mark that has apparently passed from Venom to Mania. Mephisto reveals that the symbiote appears to have cloned itself and pushed the Mark out with the clone, the crafty guy. Mephisto still will not remove the Mark, meaning that Mania is now the possible successor to Mephisto, as the Mark was attached to the symbiote, not to Flash. Flash, feeling fatherly, attacks Mephisto on behalf of Andi, though it has no effect on the devil. Mephisto waves if off, allowing Flash to live and act as a guardian for his possible successor, keeping her safe until her number is called. They, along with a little help from Mephisto, fight back Crossbones and his team, and end the current threat. Mephisto withdraws and Flash promises Andi he'll find a way to get the Mark off of her, to save her.
It's a nice final issue for Flash and it highlights a lot of the themes he's gone up against throughout the run on this book. Obviously his father was a really big theme and it kind of comes full circle here as he takes on a father's role for Andi (who just lost her father in the midst of all of this) and dedicates himself to her protection. It's also an introspective and retrospective time for Flash, who remembers all of his dreams throughout his life, becoming an all-star, a hero, a soldier, and realizing that, through all the hardships and all of the setbacks, he's really been able to do it all. Whether it's all he wanted it to be or not is still up for debate but there's no denying that his life has had some aura of greater purpose to it. It's a nice last issue with more impressive art by Coelho and really nice colors by Lee Loughridge (one of the times it stuck out to me was just flipping through the issue to get to the last page to remember exactly what had been said there and kind of zoned out as I flipped, just watching the colors go by, very stark, very different, very defined, great colors). Sad to see this book go, definitely one of the good, longer-running books. Surprised it lasted this long and certainly happy it was able to.
Ultimate Spider-Man 28
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)
Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Bombshell, Cloak, and Dagger make their strike against Roxxon with fairly sound success. Mr. Roxxon himself is every bit the jerk you'd expect him to be and the kids act accordingly. He's not dumb, though, and he has his science team (all of whom, of course, have some level of power to themselves) come to his aid. He's also figured out Miles' true identity and flaunts the information over Miles as Miles, for several pages, keeps him dangling from the side of the building. There's a lot of info there, about the creation of this Spider-Man and Roxxon's place in the world and about Miles' family but it's not really stuff Miles is terribly interested in at the moment. The kids beat the science team and Jessica calls in SHIELD to clean up, though it's a little complicated because SHIELD has had contracts with Roxxon. As Monica Chang grills Jessica Drew, Jess reveals that she'd like to start up some sort of ongoing team with this group (hint number one that maybe Cataclysm won't, as advertised, destroy the Ultimate Universe).
Not a bad issue, which is certainly good considering where I tend to stand on certain Brian Michael Bendis books these days. There's still perhaps a little more back-and-forth jokey-joke dialogue for the feel the book wants. Actually, maybe that's part of the problem. It's hard to place what feel the book wants if you have these intense fight scenes as a result of this outrageous moral behavior but have people quipping and bickering playfully throughout. It's not always off-center as you have a bunch of teenagers working this case but it certainly doesn't help the flow of the book. Regardless, the story is pretty good and the art is phenomenal. Making the decision to have Roxxon dangle off the side of the building, webbed up by his feet, with Spider-Man sitting above him for a few pages works pretty well. We get a fair amount of information in a way that, while feeling kind of over-exposition-laden, makes sense because we see Roxxon panicking and freaking out a bit, no matter if it's out of fear or rage or parts of each. Keeping Miles silent through it all, only to end by saying "you're under arrest" after Roxxon explodes for a few pages, is another solid call, giving us a nice side of Miles and letting us watch Roxxon deteriorate. As I said, fine art helps carry the issue as well, making the fight scenes more entertaining and the exposition more interesting. Pretty good issue.
Bunn (w) and Coelho (a) and Loughridge (c)
It's a nice final issue for Flash and it highlights a lot of the themes he's gone up against throughout the run on this book. Obviously his father was a really big theme and it kind of comes full circle here as he takes on a father's role for Andi (who just lost her father in the midst of all of this) and dedicates himself to her protection. It's also an introspective and retrospective time for Flash, who remembers all of his dreams throughout his life, becoming an all-star, a hero, a soldier, and realizing that, through all the hardships and all of the setbacks, he's really been able to do it all. Whether it's all he wanted it to be or not is still up for debate but there's no denying that his life has had some aura of greater purpose to it. It's a nice last issue with more impressive art by Coelho and really nice colors by Lee Loughridge (one of the times it stuck out to me was just flipping through the issue to get to the last page to remember exactly what had been said there and kind of zoned out as I flipped, just watching the colors go by, very stark, very different, very defined, great colors). Sad to see this book go, definitely one of the good, longer-running books. Surprised it lasted this long and certainly happy it was able to.
Ultimate Spider-Man 28
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c)
Not a bad issue, which is certainly good considering where I tend to stand on certain Brian Michael Bendis books these days. There's still perhaps a little more back-and-forth jokey-joke dialogue for the feel the book wants. Actually, maybe that's part of the problem. It's hard to place what feel the book wants if you have these intense fight scenes as a result of this outrageous moral behavior but have people quipping and bickering playfully throughout. It's not always off-center as you have a bunch of teenagers working this case but it certainly doesn't help the flow of the book. Regardless, the story is pretty good and the art is phenomenal. Making the decision to have Roxxon dangle off the side of the building, webbed up by his feet, with Spider-Man sitting above him for a few pages works pretty well. We get a fair amount of information in a way that, while feeling kind of over-exposition-laden, makes sense because we see Roxxon panicking and freaking out a bit, no matter if it's out of fear or rage or parts of each. Keeping Miles silent through it all, only to end by saying "you're under arrest" after Roxxon explodes for a few pages, is another solid call, giving us a nice side of Miles and letting us watch Roxxon deteriorate. As I said, fine art helps carry the issue as well, making the fight scenes more entertaining and the exposition more interesting. Pretty good issue.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Avengers Assemble 20, Hawkeye 13
Avengers Assemble 20
Ewing (w) and Larraz (a) and Woodard (c)
Tie-in to Infinity as we see some of the aftermath of the mass Terrigenesis alongside the Uncanny Avengers' Wasp, Wonder Man, and Scarlet Witch. They're forced to investigate Terrigenesis after defeating some of Thanos' troops and finding themselves suddenly up against a giant, naked man. He's startled but Simon, preferring his new non-violent ways, talks to him and they come to understand what's happened; the man's wife underwent Terrigenesis and the power she gained was the power to change the size of seemingly whatever she chooses. She accidentally giant-sized her husband while shrinking herself, her neighbor, and her neighbor's daughter (along with their house) into the micro-universe. Janet gets Wanda to shrink her down as well so she can go there and fight against Lord Gouzar, the tyrant who kept her there the months she was missing after Secret Invasion. She gets the newly powered woman to fight back against Gouzar and to size them all back up to normal while sizing her husband back down. It sets everything back to normal and helps the civilians get back to their normal life, which they hadn't had since their son died.
Nice little tie-in issue as Avengers Assemble defines itself some more. It's not just the main Avengers team, it's the smaller stories for all of the Avengers out there. This is a nice story but certainly a smaller one in the scale of the things that are happening in Infinity. Still, we get some good characterization from two characters I don't particularly care for and decent stuff out of Scarlet Witch. Wasp and Wonder Man have a pretty good argument about what Simon's non-violent pact really means which helps put both sides of the argument in good perspective. Simon believes that violence is never the answer and that his powers can be used for peace just as effectively but Janet argues that he still doesn't hesitate to call on the Avengers when things get hairy so why not just use his powers himself. I still think he's kind of on the dumb side of the argument, though I do get the idea of wanting to promote peace through non-violence as a superhero. Still, pretty dumb, right? That's what this issue kind of wants to ask and I think it does a good job of asking it. Nice issue for relationships and for characterizations and the like.
Hawkeye 13
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)
Finally another new Hawkeye. In case you forget what happened last time, the intro page covers it nicely. They. Killed. Grills. This issue takes place mostly between Grills' death, which was after Clint's infidelity, and when Kate leaves, which is before the events of the annual. Time moves in very much its own way in this book and it's always worth it. This issue fills in some of the blanks in that time. He's writing a letter to Jess then has to go out on some Avengers business (with Jess, Black Widow, and Mockingbird) before getting called by Kate and learning that Grills has been killed. He drinks himself to sleep though gets interrupted part-way through by a call from Barney, who asks to come stay with him. Clint promises they'll meet the next night (though Barney, as we saw in his issue, mistakes it for day and ends up giving up on Clint before having to call again). Clint tells Grills' dad what happened to his son and his dad ends up moving into the building and taking up the spot his son had. Kate and Clint attend the funeral and Kate gives a really nice speech to a passed-out Clint. She leaves later, taking Lucky with her. Barney sticks around and Clint introduces him to the building.
Guys, I know you may be expecting a superhero book out of this (though I don't really know why at this point in the book's run you think you'll get one) but that summary above might tell you this isn't really that, not in the conventional way. It's still a wonderful book and I'm so glad to have it back (glad enough, in fact, that I decided to review four books after work today just because I wanted an excuse to read this one tonight). As I said above, time moves very much in its own way in this series, which has been a defining aspect of the run as a whole. It's very smartly done and, unlike, say, Infinity, it has no desire to keep you informed of how that works. You just kind of have to know or place it with your own reading skills. Infinity, of course, breaks up the different pieces of the story by nearly blank, white chapter title pages. Hawkeye moves back and forth in time in any given issue and you may not realize you missed time until four issues later. It's a masterpiece in its design and its seeming effortlessness chaos. Again, it doesn't feel like a normal superhero book but you won't even notice, if that's what you're looking for, because the writing keeps you so on your toes and the characters and story are so well-defined. Really great book. I believe another new one (focusing on Kate with Annie Wu art) is out next week. Pretty pumped, you guys.
Ewing (w) and Larraz (a) and Woodard (c)
Tie-in to Infinity as we see some of the aftermath of the mass Terrigenesis alongside the Uncanny Avengers' Wasp, Wonder Man, and Scarlet Witch. They're forced to investigate Terrigenesis after defeating some of Thanos' troops and finding themselves suddenly up against a giant, naked man. He's startled but Simon, preferring his new non-violent ways, talks to him and they come to understand what's happened; the man's wife underwent Terrigenesis and the power she gained was the power to change the size of seemingly whatever she chooses. She accidentally giant-sized her husband while shrinking herself, her neighbor, and her neighbor's daughter (along with their house) into the micro-universe. Janet gets Wanda to shrink her down as well so she can go there and fight against Lord Gouzar, the tyrant who kept her there the months she was missing after Secret Invasion. She gets the newly powered woman to fight back against Gouzar and to size them all back up to normal while sizing her husband back down. It sets everything back to normal and helps the civilians get back to their normal life, which they hadn't had since their son died.Nice little tie-in issue as Avengers Assemble defines itself some more. It's not just the main Avengers team, it's the smaller stories for all of the Avengers out there. This is a nice story but certainly a smaller one in the scale of the things that are happening in Infinity. Still, we get some good characterization from two characters I don't particularly care for and decent stuff out of Scarlet Witch. Wasp and Wonder Man have a pretty good argument about what Simon's non-violent pact really means which helps put both sides of the argument in good perspective. Simon believes that violence is never the answer and that his powers can be used for peace just as effectively but Janet argues that he still doesn't hesitate to call on the Avengers when things get hairy so why not just use his powers himself. I still think he's kind of on the dumb side of the argument, though I do get the idea of wanting to promote peace through non-violence as a superhero. Still, pretty dumb, right? That's what this issue kind of wants to ask and I think it does a good job of asking it. Nice issue for relationships and for characterizations and the like.
Hawkeye 13
Fraction (w) and Aja (a) and Hollingsworth (c)
Guys, I know you may be expecting a superhero book out of this (though I don't really know why at this point in the book's run you think you'll get one) but that summary above might tell you this isn't really that, not in the conventional way. It's still a wonderful book and I'm so glad to have it back (glad enough, in fact, that I decided to review four books after work today just because I wanted an excuse to read this one tonight). As I said above, time moves very much in its own way in this series, which has been a defining aspect of the run as a whole. It's very smartly done and, unlike, say, Infinity, it has no desire to keep you informed of how that works. You just kind of have to know or place it with your own reading skills. Infinity, of course, breaks up the different pieces of the story by nearly blank, white chapter title pages. Hawkeye moves back and forth in time in any given issue and you may not realize you missed time until four issues later. It's a masterpiece in its design and its seeming effortlessness chaos. Again, it doesn't feel like a normal superhero book but you won't even notice, if that's what you're looking for, because the writing keeps you so on your toes and the characters and story are so well-defined. Really great book. I believe another new one (focusing on Kate with Annie Wu art) is out next week. Pretty pumped, you guys.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Avengers 20, Avengers Assemble 19
Avengers 20
Hickman (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Curiel (c)
After the Council's victory against the Builders, both parties regroup a bit and plot out their next moves. We don't really see the Builders regrouping but we see the Builder who accepted the surrender on Hala explaining why the Builders aren't worried; simply put, the odds are still greatly in their favor. Cap and the Council, meanwhile, debate chasing the Builders and trying to press their victory. Cap thinks, though, that they should use this time with the upper hand to negotiate with the Builders. Ex Nihilo and Abyss, though, have been summoned by the Builders' Ex Nihilos and they agree to visit. When there, the Builders' Ex Nihilos ask why this Abyss is still alive, only to find out that the way the Builders are using them (to destroy worlds, mostly) has caused the deaths of their Abysses. Outraged by the choice the Builders have left them with (servants and/or world killers), our Ex Nihilo goes black and rallies the others around him. Back at the Council, Gladiator has spoken with the Builder on Hala and arranged a one-man negotiation with the Builders. No one is quite sure what to expect out of it or if it's the right call but Cap says that this is it, there's only one option left: surrender.
Much like the Council, this issue slows things down a little bit instead of capitalizing on the victory. I'm a little torn on the pace change. On the one hand, I often think that books that just keep ramping up and up and up and never break at all suffer from too much action. Still, this one might have come just an issue prematurely. Of course, that doesn't matter if Cap's real intent is to surrender; if it is, then obviously this issue comes now and, by its very nature, has to slow things down. There are a couple of pages I don't think we really needed in this extra-long issue (mostly as the Builder on Hala, in conjunction with the Supremor, gives percentages for the likelihood of the Builders still winning) and I think those hurt the issue a bit, but by and large we had a nice push for plot and a really nice B-plot with Ex Nihilo and Abyss. That's going to be a major deal as we move forward, if Ex Nihilos turn on the Builders, particularly as their world-destroyer ships have been taken off the board. Some decent stuff here and there's less of the male gaze I had an issue with last time. It's still present but it's not nearly as distracting. The amount of recap is still pretty reasonable for people reading every Infinity-related book though I could see it getting out of hand. I think I might be able to answer if it is or not with my next review. Let's find out.
Avengers Assemble 19
DeConnick and Van Meter (w) and Kitson and Magyar w/ Leisten and Geraci (a) and Woodard (c)
The Council is making the plan to destroy the Builders' ships but Spider-Woman and Black Widow, with the help of Shang-Chi, step in to demand they be allowed to go to the Builders' head ship to see if Carol's missing shipload of people are there. Captain America agrees to the terms and sends the second strike team that way. They make their way through the ship in much the same way we saw (though with a heavier focus, obviously, on this team) in the last Captain Marvel issue. We see them all meet up again and rescue the rest of their teammates held on the bridge and destroy the Builders' ship like we've seen a couple times now. As the team blows the ship and Manifold gets them out of there, Jess admits to Clint that she's glad he's not dead, even though they ended in a bit of an ugly way.
The focus on this issue is really on Jessica. There are still, though, some nice moments from Natasha and a couple from Shang-Chi. People who have been reading all of the Infinity books will gain very little to nothing plot-wise, so don't get this book if you're expecting too much in that regard. This is very much more focused on the personal, as this book has been throughout. It's nice to see Jess realize that maybe things are better than what she thought, at least in her personal relationships (not so much in the event that's going on right now). Carol doesn't necessarily have her memories of Jess but she still has the personality that made her and Jess so close in the first place, exemplified by their banter and by Carol's decision to have Starbrand blow up the ship. She's mad with Clint at the way things ended but the two of them can still talk and get along well enough considering and it really did impact her when she thought he was dead. There's a lot of nice stuff going on here but, like I said, if you're looking for plot that you haven't seen elsewhere in Infinity, you're not getting it here. The art is pretty good and fits the book well, a slightly less dark book (even if the events are similar to what we've already seen) calls for less foreboding artwork and colors. Pretty good stuff all around.
Hickman (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Curiel (c)
Much like the Council, this issue slows things down a little bit instead of capitalizing on the victory. I'm a little torn on the pace change. On the one hand, I often think that books that just keep ramping up and up and up and never break at all suffer from too much action. Still, this one might have come just an issue prematurely. Of course, that doesn't matter if Cap's real intent is to surrender; if it is, then obviously this issue comes now and, by its very nature, has to slow things down. There are a couple of pages I don't think we really needed in this extra-long issue (mostly as the Builder on Hala, in conjunction with the Supremor, gives percentages for the likelihood of the Builders still winning) and I think those hurt the issue a bit, but by and large we had a nice push for plot and a really nice B-plot with Ex Nihilo and Abyss. That's going to be a major deal as we move forward, if Ex Nihilos turn on the Builders, particularly as their world-destroyer ships have been taken off the board. Some decent stuff here and there's less of the male gaze I had an issue with last time. It's still present but it's not nearly as distracting. The amount of recap is still pretty reasonable for people reading every Infinity-related book though I could see it getting out of hand. I think I might be able to answer if it is or not with my next review. Let's find out.
Avengers Assemble 19
DeConnick and Van Meter (w) and Kitson and Magyar w/ Leisten and Geraci (a) and Woodard (c)
The Council is making the plan to destroy the Builders' ships but Spider-Woman and Black Widow, with the help of Shang-Chi, step in to demand they be allowed to go to the Builders' head ship to see if Carol's missing shipload of people are there. Captain America agrees to the terms and sends the second strike team that way. They make their way through the ship in much the same way we saw (though with a heavier focus, obviously, on this team) in the last Captain Marvel issue. We see them all meet up again and rescue the rest of their teammates held on the bridge and destroy the Builders' ship like we've seen a couple times now. As the team blows the ship and Manifold gets them out of there, Jess admits to Clint that she's glad he's not dead, even though they ended in a bit of an ugly way.The focus on this issue is really on Jessica. There are still, though, some nice moments from Natasha and a couple from Shang-Chi. People who have been reading all of the Infinity books will gain very little to nothing plot-wise, so don't get this book if you're expecting too much in that regard. This is very much more focused on the personal, as this book has been throughout. It's nice to see Jess realize that maybe things are better than what she thought, at least in her personal relationships (not so much in the event that's going on right now). Carol doesn't necessarily have her memories of Jess but she still has the personality that made her and Jess so close in the first place, exemplified by their banter and by Carol's decision to have Starbrand blow up the ship. She's mad with Clint at the way things ended but the two of them can still talk and get along well enough considering and it really did impact her when she thought he was dead. There's a lot of nice stuff going on here but, like I said, if you're looking for plot that you haven't seen elsewhere in Infinity, you're not getting it here. The art is pretty good and fits the book well, a slightly less dark book (even if the events are similar to what we've already seen) calls for less foreboding artwork and colors. Pretty good stuff all around.
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