Black Widow 11, Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier 1

Black Widow 11

Black Widow knows her attorney's gone missing and she is not thrilled about it. With the suspicious intel of Tori Raven and the help of X-23 (who, I suspect, has teamed up with Natasha thanks to events that we maybe were already supposed to know about from the aftermath of DEATH OF WOLVERINE, though I don't know that that's true and I certainly don't want to do research on such a thing), she storms the casino where Isaiah is being held and makes it up to the top floor, where she finds that Isaiah has been taken away by his captors and a bomb has been left in their place. Natasha and Laura manage to evade the bomb and catch up with the helicopter leaving the casino. Natasha keeps X-23 from killing one of the men, hoping for answers, and keeps Isaiah from keeping Rashid, the man Natasha once saved long ago. However, Rashid forces her to let him go from the helicopter, plunging into a pool below and surviving, but not before muttering that "they hadn't told him about this part," leading Natasha to suspect something about CHAOS, assuming it is them behind this, has to do with some sort of precognitive ability. This seems confirmed when we see, after Natasha, Laura, and Isaiah have successfully left the casino area, Tori take a call from the people at CHAOS and imply once more that they have access to future information.

On top of the gorgeous art of this book which, hopefully, you have checked out by now, one of the great things about this book is the tone and atmosphere of the story. I've already talked at length (perhaps ironically) about the terse dialogue and narration of the book, which makes the book move really quickly and keeps Natasha's character pretty well-defined while still ensuring to keep things decidedly close to the vest, even with the ever-present and unseen audience. However, in the broader sense, Edmondson is doing a fantastic job keeping CHAOS out there and somewhere on the outskirts. It's the same sort of thing you see in a lot of spy or crime series. One notable example is the tandem of Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, the first two Daniel Craig James Bond movies. The end of Casino Royale introduces this new apparently anti-MI6 terrorist group called Quantum and then Quantum of Solace, which picks up just minutes after the end of Casino Royale, goes on to illustrate them as this ubiquitous group that hides in plain sight, showing Bond that he can't trust anyone and forcing him to rely only on himself and anyone he can tangibly prove isn't working with the organization. In just 11 short issues (and far fewer concerning CHAOS), Edmondson has nicely planted the seeds to view this group in that sort of light, some sort of ubiquitous but unseen enemy that is constantly closing in on Natasha. It's a perfect adversary for her and it's presented brilliantly by both Edmondson and Noto. It's classic spy stuff and it's so far striking the perfect balance that makes them a massive threat but not something that requires Avengers attention on it (always a worry in a shared universe: why didn't so-and-so just call the Avengers? They can't ALWAYS be off-world!). Really great book just doing what it does, continuing to be really great.

Total Score: 5/5


Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier 1

Bucky Barnes has taken on Nick Fury's role as "man on the Wall," the guy who protects the planet from interstellar threats before they can even make it to Earth. This first issue finds him all over the galaxy with his chosen sidekick-who-isn't-a-sidekick Daisy Johnson. They start on a planet, kill a dude, take a weird little pet off the planet, investigate a drug trade through Atlantis, and team up with Namor only to find that the drug dealer's middle man was Loki and then the drug dealer is killed by someone else who seems impossible to identify in the murkiness of the final page.

I hate to say "I told you so" but I especially hate to say "I told you so" to myself, who was really starting to eagerly anticipate this book. I have had my problems with Kot in the past (I think SECRET AVENGERS is all over the place and certainly has become a book that isn't for me, a thing I hate dealing with because I still force myself to read every book like some dummy. I also think Kot really wants you to know that he's smart and thoughtful and progressive, something I would honestly have believed if he just wrote books I like because I think writers who can make good books ARE smart and thoughtful and progressive and don't always need to have an agenda LOOK, we're on a tangent again) and they're all coming right to a head here as he loads each page with dialogue and exposition and throws it all at us over Marco Rudy's really specific art style. One of the problems with that is that Rudy's art style involves using space on the page in a way that's very rarely, if ever, done. There are a lot of circular panels in the middle of a page that kind of branch out to create the rest of the page's layout and, when used effectively, create a really neat and unique sort of page. Here, though, it's really hard to follow the art because the words are so very present and it's a struggle just to find your way around the story, meaning you can't really make room for the art. Hopefully this is something that will settle out as the book continues (which is certainly a possibility as the two become more comfortable working with one another) because I still want to believe this book has potential. I just need to stop rolling my eyes at it.

Total Score: 2/5

Captain America 25, Thor 1

Captain America 25

The gathered heroes and villains wait below while Falcon brings the bomb into the sky, detonating away from everyone else. Iron Man catches Falcon's falling body before he hits the ground and, while Cap lauds him for his bravery and calls him more than just a hero, he opens his eyes again, saying that he got Tony to whip him up some vibranium wings that took the brunt of the blast. All isn't entirely well though, as Zola tells Jet that these people don't see her as a hero and that she won't change their minds only to be almost instantly proven right as Sharon begins to accuse her of teaming up with her father to enact this plan. Furious that even Steve won't stand up for her, Jet leaves with her father back to Dimension Z (why is no one stopping him??). One week later, Steve calls together all past and present Avengers to Avengers Mansion to announce he's taking on a leadership/behind-the-scenes position and handing off the Captain America mantle to Falcon. An epilogue also shows that one of those Avengers is a double-agent for Hydra and the Unknown Council. The traitor reveals that Falcon is taking over the position and Madam Worm and the Drain, from Remender's WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH series, believe they're ready to break the new Captain.

Sam says it himself in this one as he's introduced: "You guys all knew it was me, didn't you? There's literally no drama left in this reveal." I recognize that that's something of a tongue-in-cheek (or perhaps just blatant announcement) bit of dialogue from Remender, who voices what the audience is thinking. As I said last issue, Falcon's heroic sacrifice isn't made meaningless by the fact we, as the audience, all know he's going to survive (though the vibranium wings take something of the heart of it, even if it makes more sense that he survived because of them, though ostensibly less sense because where did Tony get vibranium and...you know what, tangent, whatever). Falcon didn't know he was going to when he chose to sacrifice himself, so it's still just as meaningful. It's the argument for characters dying in stories even if we know they'll come back: these keeps some level of stakes on the table and the hero's death is still meaningful because they still sacrificed their life without the intention of being reborn. ANYWAY, all that isn't to say that this issue isn't still predictable and a bit slow for it. As a special size issue (and primarily as a big, undoubtedly high-selling book), it costs $4.99 and, for the first time in this series, I can't say it's particularly worth it. We know what's going to happen, the Zemo storyline wraps up so anticlimactically (the climax was really last issue when Falcon took the bomb up, then things just kind of peter out this issue as Zola straight up just leaves the area with Jet), and there's an extended scene at Avengers Mansion that's played for laughs but doesn't quite hit (a little baffling since Remender certainly can be funny, I've seen it plenty). Pick it up if you're interested in owning a big moment in Cap/Marvel history, but if you're looking for an entertaining and compelling story, there are other places to look.

Total Score: 3/5


Thor 1

Thor has been sitting on the moon with an inert Mjolnir for some time now, not sleeping, not eating, and not talking to anyone but his beloved hammer. All the Asgardians have come out to see and learned that not only can Thor not lift the hammer any longer, no one can. The Warriors Three have all tried to no avail and even Odin himself cannot lift the hammer he once enchanted. Thor is only coaxed from the hammer when he learns that Midgard is under attack by awoken Frost Giants in the sea. He gets Jarnbjorn out of the armory and heads back to Earth, where he runs afoul of Malekith, who relishes in the unworthiness, defeating Thor handily and cutting off one of his arms. Meanwhile, back on the moon, a shadowy figure prompts the writing on the hammer to change to say "Whomsoever holds this hammer, if she be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor." As the inscription changes, the mysterious woman picks up the hammer and is instantly imbued with just such power. It is hinted that the figure is Freyja, or at least that it is she who is behind changing the inscription, but no firm details are given.

I think the story is an interesting one; something out there has changed Mjolnir's enchantment in some way and now Thor isn't the only one who can't pick up the hammer (woulda been weird if an elderly Steve Rogers went up there and grabbed it, imbuing himself with Thor powers now that his super soldier serum is gone). The mystery around the new Thor could remain interesting for some time but it'll have to be played right (or just revealed quickly, which would be the easier path to take). Still, it does feel like something is missing in this book and, like with the new CAPTAIN AMERICA reveal, I think that this massive and interesting twist is underhanded by the solicits and the press junket for the whole thing. In today's day and age, perhaps it's impossible to keep this a secret, particularly for a market that is, inexplicably, dependent on pre-orders, but this issue (and CAPTAIN AMERICA) certainly suffer for the lack of a twist in what would have once been a huge, huge shock. Though I do rather like the new THOR logo design.

Total Score: 3/5

Comics this week

Boy, it doesn't get much easier than this one, huh? There are weeks where I really have to weigh things out, pick out the top five books I'm looking forward to/that I believe are most important in the coming week, whether because there are too many vying for this prestigious list or because I just can't get myself up to five I'm excited about. But boy if five didn't jump right off the page to me this week. Is it a perfect five? No, probably not. I didn't have room for DEATH OF WOLVERINE on the list so now no one will know it could have been here as well. But the five that are here? Oh, I think you'll be interested in them.

Black Widow 11
WELL LOOK, I'M INTERESTED IN THEM, OKAY? How many times do I have to tell you to be interested in this one? Look, I'll level with you, I don't know if you're reading this book or not, I shouldn't be so mad at you. I'm just saying you should be reading this book. It's interesting because, logically, based on the other books that are coming in this list, I should have cut this one to make way for the important DEATH OF WOLVERINE, but it literally did not cross my mind. I'm not cutting this book from this list.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier 1
One of three premiere books this week (along with GUARDIANS 3000 and THOR) and one I'm really interested in. Yes. Interested is the right word. I go very back and forth on writer Ales Kot, who I wanted to like in his first SECRET AVENGERS take, don't like in the current SECRET AVENGERS series, and do like in his current IRON PATRIOT series. The series will be illustrated by Marco Rudy who I am rather obsessed with right now (loved his MARVEL KNIGHTS: SPIDER-MAN and his NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL). Also worth noting: its protagonist is a character I love in Bucky Barnes. Color me warily optimistic.

Captain America 25
WHO IS THE NEW CAPTAIN AMERICA? We all likely know by now but that last page of the last issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA saw our best guess fly a bomb straight into the air, so maybe we're not a hundred percent sure? Look, it's a momentous issue for the series and I'd advise you check in on it (and it's been a really good series ANYWAY).

Thor 1
The second premiere issue to make the list this week (sorry GUARDIANS 3000, but I also kinda don't know why you exist) and, as with CAPTAIN AMERICA, big changes are here as we get our first real look at the new Thor. If that doesn't entice you at least a LITTLE, maybe you're on the wrong blog.

Uncanny Avengers 25
I know I may say this frequently, but we're right on the verge of AXIS and this book has been excellent to this point. Want to get the scoop on the upcoming Marvel event (or maybe even the one that's starting here, in UNCANNY AVENGERS 25? I don't know, I can't be bothered to do the slightest amount of research)? Check out this issue.

Original Sin 8

Original Sin 8

Nick Fury attempts to fight off Dr. Midas, Oubliette, and the Mindless Ones Midas has in tow. Help arrives as his gathered team of investigators show up to take on the Mindless Ones has Fury chases Midas to The Watcher's body, where Midas hopes to gain all of the deceased's secrets and power. Fury admits that he was the one who killed The Watcher after all, though flashbacks show us it was a little more complicated than that, and uses the remaining eye to destroy Midas. As the clean-up begins, no one is entirely sure what happened, only knowing that Uatu and Fury seem to really be dead. However, unbeknownst to everyone, a new being named the Unseen has emerged, someone bound to witness all just as Uatu did. In finishing news, Thor still can't pick up his hammer, Oubliette has one of Midas' still working hands, and Winter Soldier has seemingly taken Nick's place on the world's front lines.

One of the things that ended up frustrating me about this series was that I don't think it was poorly written or that the characters weren't well-done or something. I do think there were parts that dragged a bit and I think that the story wasn't particularly strong, certainly not strong enough to overcome my cynicism about releasing all these secrets into the world (especially the secrets that didn't end up impressing me) and about events as a whole. Still, it's hard to complain too much as we walk away from ORIGINAL SIN with a couple of big, key changes (no more Watcher, no more Nick Fury, Thor can't lift his hammer, Bucky's in space, etc.) and as there were a couple of good character moments. I didn't think Nick Fury's plot was very strong; I'll always consider Fury the wheels-within-wheels guy as opposed to the front-lines-of-Earth guy. I think that there's certainly room for both definitions and that one doesn't necessarily preclude the other, but there's something much more clever and much more sly to the first than to the second and that's the Fury I like reading. Anyway, though I didn't like his story, I thought that Aaron wrote him well enough to generate real sympathy and real heart for him as the series ends. I think everyone else gets a fair shake too. Geez, what a conflicting event. I guess I'm still not totally impressed with it but I can't say I full-out didn't like it. Sounds like a certain score to me...

Total Score: 3/5

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier ongoing, Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy mini announced

Couple of news announcements this week out of Marvel and they're pretty big ones (well, one is. The other is fairly predictable). The first is the announcement of a new ongoing, BUCKY BARNES: THE WINTER SOLDIER. Writer Ales Kot (SECRET AVENGERS, IRON PATRIOT) and artist Marco Rudy (MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN, NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL) plan to take Bucky all around the Marvel Universe, having him do his spy work anywhere and everywhere. It's an interesting move, one that was certainly bound to happen given the success of the movie and the success of the character, even pre-movie. I'm still lukewarm on Kot, not enjoying his SECRET AVENGERS pretty much at all but finding myself liking IRON PATRIOT. On the other hand, I'm already anything but lukewarm on Marco Rudy, absolutely loving MK SPIDER-MAN and his recent Dr. Strange-centric NEW AVENGERS ANNUAL. It'll be interesting. BUCKY BARNES: WINTER SOLDIER is set to debut in October.

The other new announcement is the follow-up to the anticipated DEATH OF WOLVERINE series later this year with a mini-series entitled DEATH OF WOLVERINE: THE LOGAN LEGACY. A seven-issue mini set to run through October, November, and December, will alternate creative teams, placing the focus on various villains, mostly (with a nod to X-23). The first and the final issue will both be written by DEATH OF WOLVERINE scribe Charles Soule. It has drawn comparisons to the post-Captain America death book FALLEN SON. So that's two more new books coming with big, long titles, because apparently Marvel doesn't care about bloggers who have limited tag-space on a given post.

Comics this week

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

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

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

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

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

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

Captain America 22, Black Widow 8

Captain America 22
Remender (w) and Pacheco (p) and Taibo (i) and White w/Loughridge (c) and Caramagna (l)

Everyone needs a rest once in a while and I can't think of anyone in the Marvel Universe after the past few months who needs one as badly as Captain America. The serum-less and frail Steve Rogers spends a day in his big bed at Avengers Mansion watching his reputation be tarnished and his ethics questioned by a number of SHIELD critics in the wake of Nrosvekistan and watching Louie while Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, and (kind of) Thor try to find some trace of the serum in his blood and to restore him to Cap status. Steve is roused from his bed at last, though, when a portal to Dimension Z opens and Zola's minions come pouring out with Zola himself discussing his plans with the Red Skull.

I've said it before and I'll no doubt say it again: every book needs a sort of rest issue now and again to slow things down and to keep the intensity of the action-based issues high by giving something to compare against. That's what this is for CAPTAIN AMERICA, a solid rest issue that establishes where we stand right now and what we should be thinking about as the series continues (mostly Zola, Red Skull, the serum-less Cap, and the fact that Jet and Falcon have, against Falcon's better impulses, started up some sort of a relationship following a wine-fueled night). It's a very good book and one that manages to reset the pace and tone, exactly what Remender set out to do, while still not resting on its laurels, preferring to still push the plot forward.

Total Score: 5/5


Black Widow 8
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c) and Cowles (l)

While Isaiah tries to secure some funds for their operation, Black Widow has a new job: stealing back some key data for a client from a courier on a train in Prague, or a reverse train heist, as she calls it. She easily makes it on to the train and recovers the package but she's surprised when Winter Soldier turns up, hired to stop an international gang from robbing the train. They work together well to get off the train and evade the attacking gang but Natasha is shot in the leg in the process and the two make their way to an empty house for Bucky to patch her up and for them to plan the next move. Bucky insists that she leaves before the gang catches up to them, arguing that her job was to secure the briefcase and that his was to handle the gang. She accepts reluctantly and begins to leave before Bucky calls out to her again. Unable to say anything to her about their one-time relationship (thanks to Natasha's complete amnesia of it), he wishes her luck and she leaves. She returns home to find a new lead waiting for her from Maria Hill while Isaiah has been taken by some anonymous party.

It's no surprise for me to say that I absolutely adore this book and that this issue, one that teased a Winter Soldier appearance that would team the two for the first time since Natasha's memory wipe at the hands of Leo Novokov, had a particular draw for me. Edmondson and Noto deliver as the book is appropriately exciting and fast while also being layered and heart-breaking. Edmondson handles the team-up extraordinarily well, not letting on (save for a few quick lines that could go either way) until the very end that something is on Bucky's mind while making their interaction feel like two spies who are really good at their jobs and who have an obvious chemistry together. Noto continues to amaze as both Natasha and Winter Soldier look incredible (my girlfriend pointed out how consistent Noto is in Natasha's appearance, something that you can't always expect from this medium) and setting their fight against some gorgeous backgrounds and colors. Another month, another great BLACK WIDOW issue.

Total Score: 5/5

Original Sin 4, Avengers 31

Original Sin 4
Aaron (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

As the mysteriously led groups converge on a single location, led there by various data, each small group discovers it's part of a larger entity. They also find Bucky, the first one to arrive at the small station on the blue side of the moon. Though tempers flare (Gamora and Moon Knight aren't so pumped to have been ditched by Bucky and had to catch a ride with Rocket Raccoon), particularly as Bucky reveals the head of Nick Fury, things are explained a bit when Gamora stabs the head, shorting it out and proving it's a sophisticated LMD, and when an elderly Nick Fury emerges from a door in the station with several other LMDs.

The various groups have converged and are looking for answers, understanding now that maybe they've been lied to and suddenly they recognize how tenuous their groupings are and how distrustful they are of one another. There's a lot of sniping as everyone tries to feel each other out and tries to figure out his or her own role in this investigation. As such, the tension is written pretty well and Deodato's ability to draw just about any character in any situation pays off as he's forced to draw plenty of team scenes and fights and powers and so on and so forth. The book moves as fast as any of these issues have and Aaron's love of The Orb continues to shine through as he has the heroes bring the nonsensical root of all this along with them. Strong issue. Still unsure about the scale of this book (it doesn't feel like an event in a lot of ways, though so many are involved) but that's not a concern the book really needs to answer and, as such, doesn't affect an overall good performance.

Total Score: 5/5


Avengers 31
Hickman (w) and Yu (p) and Alanguilan (i) and Gho (c) and Petit (l)

The Avengers have been sent 500 years in the future now and Hawkeye, just as his future self predicted, won't go any further, falling away in the timestream and aging to dust. The Avengers aren't worried about him unduly, believing that this is what the Hawkeye they just met predicted. They're more worried, though, when they end up trapped in the future and when they learn that Ultron controls the planet with about 30 million humans surviving and future Thor working for the AI (who he claims is also the All-Father). The Ultrons take Cap and Black Widow away and plant a bomb in Cap while the future equivalent of Black Widow speaks in guarded language about wanting her own freedom. Enter time gem, sending Cap, Black Widow, and Starbrand (Thor and Hyperion fall away as Hawkeye did, ending back in Stark's lab with Clint) some five thousand years into the future.

The glimpses of the future continue to be interesting, if a little confusing. I think it's to Hickman's credit that we land in each future for less than an issue's length, just as it's to his credit that all of the future talk isn't winks and nods to the audience, as so many future time travel books are ("this event could happen!" or maybe "this Avenger has died!" or so forth; this book is doing a little of that by the way each future looks and occasionally a quick aside about, like future Thor saying he remembers when he was worthy of Mjolnir, but there are very few explicit, hitting you over the head kind of moments, which I appreciate). There's a lot to try and keep up with and it reads like a story that will make more sense in time, as is so often true with Hickman. Certainly more than readable now as is (and there are some good character moments, particularly as Cap is knocked out and dreams of the Illuminati, undoubtedly only enraging him further) but the true plot has yet to really come across.

Total Score: 4/5

Original Sin 3, Avengers World 7

Original Sin 3
Aaron (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

While the Avengers in the immediate vicinity of the Orb (who, it turns out, was working alongside Oubliette's father Dr. Midas, all of which makes me quite glad I read Morrison's MARVEL BOY not too long ago) are sent reeling from the weight of their secrets (soon to be seen in all the tie-in books), the mysterious murder investigation boss's teams are spread out finding other such murders. Black Panther, Emma Frost, and Ant-Man examine bullets they've found while Punisher and Doctor Strange discuss the people who could shoot a target from such a huge distance. Meanwhile, Moon Knight, Winter Soldier, and Gamora explore space and find a trail of meteor-sized bullet casing that lead to a murdered sentient planet (not Ego the Living Planet, but similar enough that Gamora namedrops him). While Moon Knight and Gamora discuss how much this must narrow down the possible suspects, Bucky destroys their ship and teleports to Fury's base, where he's trying to glean more from the eye they've recovered. Winter Soldier proclaims that everyone has to pay for their sins and that there will be no more secrets before he shoots and stabs Fury and takes the eye.

In FEAR ITSELF, the last event he appeared in, Winter Soldier (at the time, Captain America) seemingly died in issue three. Now he returns to events as he seemingly murders someone in issue three of ORIGINAL SIN. There's a lot going on and plenty that's hinted at for us to read elsewhere (some pretty intense selling of the tie-ins as everyone starts to see their applicable secrets, with the most egregious being Thor yelling "BY THE SPIRES OF ASGARD, I HAVE A SISTER?") but the murder investigation and Bucky's apparent betrayal take center stage here. Like in any crime drama, it feels rather too early a reveal for Bucky to be the actual killer (not to mention that like, does he even know who the Watcher is?) but there's still clearly something pretty deep happening here. Also interesting is Fury's concern that everyone in the vicinity saw their secrets but he didn't see anything. Plenty happening, including a bit of less appealing salesmanship, but it's hard to read where this one will go next.

Total Score: 4/5


Avengers World 7
Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)

Madripoor has lifted off the Earth on the back of an ancient dragon at the behest of Gorgon, who has defeated Shang-Chi while his teammates Falcon, Black Widow, and Wolverine try to calm riots on the street. Black Widow calls for extraction, saying it's futile to keep fighting there, while Falcon goes to find Shang. With no birds in the sky around them (what do you think Redwing does on his days off? Bird social worker?), it's up to Sam entirely to find the missing Avenger and he follows a drone leading away from the flying nation. The drone drops him at a giant airship hovering near by called the Circle (because it's circular). He enters and meets Xian Zheng, who informs him that the Circle is his ship and it's one of many new Chinese airships. He explains that China realized it had relied too much upon SHIELD and the Avengers when the war of the Builders struck and now they've put together their own force, called SPEAR, with their own team of heroes called the Ascendants including Weather Witch, Saber, Vector, Devastator, and the Monkey King (last seen in IRON MAN 2.0, I think). Zheng tells Falcon it's nothing that he need worry about, that they're all fighting for the same cause, just that the world looks to China for defense and protection and China hasn't provided it yet. He also asks Falcon to help deliver the message to the world, which he does by appearing on footage broadcast around the world with the new team.

Occasionally a series will delve into the politics of the world, moving away from the individual superheroes and the individual villains and giving us a look at the world that these heroes and villains have created and how it differs from ours. AVENGERS WORLD 7 is one of the times where such a look is smart and compelling. We've seen other country-sanctioned teams and loyal national heroes (Britain has the most obvious example but there are heroes in the Middle East and in Russia and in Japan and, well, pretty much everywhere our heroes occasionally visit) but there's nothing out there with the sort of power and reach that SHIELD has. Now we've taken a story that was interesting, featuring Gorgon raising Madripoor on the back of a dragon, and turned it into something else entirely, introducing SPEAR (the acronym is never explained by Zheng points out that there has always been the shield in the west and the spear in the east so, I mean, pretty much just a word, huh?). I like having Falcon run point on this because he's someone who can understand the need for something like this without feeling entirely threatened. He's worked with SHIELD, he's worked against SHIELD, and he understand the way the world is changing so he's skeptical and hesitant but ultimately willing to give this a shot. Cool idea overall, we'll have to see how this plays across the rest of this arc and the rest of the universe.

Total Score: 5/5

This week's picks

Tough week to pick the top three. There were a handful worthy of consideration and plenty that weren't (actually, I suppose, that makes it rather not tough to pick the top three). There are a couple books out there not on this list that I'd heartily recommend anyway (MS. MARVEL and IRON PATRIOT come to mind), but here are the ones I'd raise just a little above the rest.

Thunderbolts 26

I liked this one a lot anyway but it gets a special nod this week because it's Charles Soule's last issue on the book he helped really turn around and that he made enjoyable every single issue. It's been a fun team from the start but it felt like Soule took that team and decided to make the book match it, making the book more fun and setting it more in the true THUNDERBOLTS vein instead of trying to go too dark/mysterious intrigue. Check out this issue to see every member die (they get better) and to see a pretty good sendoff for, in the very least, Deadpool, before the book turns over. I have high hopes for Ben Acker and Ben Blacker as they take over on the series (my love for them is well-documented on this site, even if they've only written two Marvel comic books prior to this) but I can't help feeling like it was Soule who helped this book survive to 26 issues as is. Solid issue, great series.

Uncanny Avengers 20

The more I've thought about it, the more I've appreciated what I talked about in my review for this book: the idea that an ongoing is keeping to itself. UNCANNY AVENGERS has blasted past a couple of major line-wide events and shifts and not veered from its course (even though it was spawned from an event itself) and that feels really refreshing in this day and age. I don't want to bash the feeling of a connected universe because I think that can be really cool (though too often the events take advantage of that feeling and steer books off-course while they scoop up tie-in after tie-in) but sometimes it's nice to see a series just stick to its own story. And what a story this one is, huge and sweeping with plenty of characters and possible-version characters and threats as big as the destruction of Earth and the extermination of the human race. With all of that, Remender still makes sure there's time for character moments and quieter beats and it's led him to a really strong book overall.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 4

This issue (and this series as a whole so far) kept me invested from the very first page. It's a big action issue with the train crashing and a fight between Winter Soldier and the Drain and between the Drain and Ran Shen and the Winter Soldier and Ran Shen and, you know what, just everyone was fighting, and with the Drain making sure Mila can't fall into enemy hands even if it means losing the formula. Action issues have a tendency, for better or worse (kind of case-by-case there), to kind of lose focus on the characters in the fight. In this issue, though, Remender makes sure the audience is always aware of what everyone's fighting for and how the fight is affecting everyone. It's a really strong series for Ran Shen that gives us a look at the darkness within him and the start of his fallout with SHIELD and it also manages to be a strong series for brainwashed assassin Winter Soldier, who snaps out of it here for what will undoubtedly be a really depressing final installment. Remender's writing is complemented perfectly by Roland Boschi and Chris Chuckry on art and colors. This limited series is absolutely worth picking up.

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 4, Wolverine 7, B-B-B-BONUS Savage Wolverine 19

Winter Soldier: The Bitter March 4
Remender (w) and Boschi (a) and Chuckry (c) and Cowles (l)

As the train goes crashing into a small village, Ran Shen and Mila manage to use a grappling hook to stay above the explosion, just as Winter Soldier and the Drain hover out of it on Bucky's jetpack. The Drain starts to open Winter Soldier's mind to his past, draining his will to live by showing him what he's become after what he'd been. Bucky is barely able to keep from killing himself but jettisons the Drain on to the village, blasting himself a bit away from his influence. The Drain calls out to Shen and Mila, appealing to Mila's desire to help people by making the villagers kill themselves and draining their willpower. When she shows herself to make him stop, he does the same to Shen, calling him out as someone whose given everything to a country he no longer believes in and citing a mission that went wrong and led to plenty of innocent deaths. As Shen is beginning to believe that he should kill himself, the Winter Soldier shows up again and punches the Drain, forcing him to flee with Mila and giving Bucky a chance to appeal to Shen for his help. As they advance, he tells Shen that his memories are blurry and that the Hydra psychic opened something up in him. When they catch up to the Drain, the psychic convinces Mila to kill herself, preferring she die than fall into enemy hands. As Shen attacks the Drain, Winter Soldier dives off the cliff and catches Mila.

I've been writing shorter reviews this week rather pointedly but between this and the earlier THUNDERBOLTS issue, I just can't stop telling you the plot. That's sometimes not a great thing because sometimes it means there's too much plot told through too much exposition and I have to relate it all for the summary to make sense. In this case (as with THUNDERBOLTS though probably more here), it's because I'm excited by the story and because so much happened in 22 pages that I want to say it all. It's a pretty phenomenal issue and it's such an interesting limited series as we get to see a Cold War-era Winter Soldier remember who he is and temporarily break out of his programming. Remender has so much happening but it never bogs him down; instead, the pacing is near-perfect and the characters all get their moment and it's all compelling. Roland Boschi's art is great and Chris Chuckry's colors complement it perfectly. Really phenomenal book and I'm sad but excited to see the way it all ends next time. This has, so far, been one of the most satisfying limited series I've read in a long time.

Total Score: 5/5


Wolverine 7
Cornell (w) and Sandoval (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Some monkeys steal the orb that Wolverine needs to get for MI-6 before Sabretooth can get it while he plays his team and pretends that he's still trying to get the orb for Offer so he can make a deal with Sabretooth. As Sabretooth goes in pursuit of the Orb, the Hand bring Wolverine down with poisoned arrows. Faiza shows up to extract the poison and save Wolverine before withdrawing, but she can't leave before Pinch sees her and it confirms Pinch's fears about Logan. They finally get their hands on the orb and it fights Logan, who can't get the passcode, with his opposite Logan. When the doppleganger's been put down by Pinch, who, with the help of Fuel, can interact more successfully with the Orb, she and the team leave Wolverine behind. Captain Britain extracts him but Sabretooth finds Pinch and the others, kills Fuel, and shows Pinch that he has her daughter.

There's a lot of fairly interesting stuff here that's tied together by a somewhat loose few strings. The first loose string is that the orb is rather a convenient plot device of a weapon, one that announces to Pinch that Wolverine is a hero and pulls his opposite version, a feral villain, out of the ether to fight him to further confirm things (also that it needs a passcode, which is weird for an orb). The second and probably more important string for the big character moment of this issue is that I don't buy Pinch and Wolverine's relationship. Granted, Cornell may not have had a couple years to cement their relationship as something that seemed real before this arc but it still feels like their relationship was something wispy and hardly there and now it's the crux of this entire emotional journey. It feels weak from both sides so using it to raise up the entire story causes the whole thing to rather collapse. There are some interesting ideas in here and I like Sandoval's art for the story (makes things look a lot more dynamic than anything in Cornell's first WOLVERINE story and feels maybe a little more cartoonish in the action than Stegman's stuff, though Stegman didn't have as much action to draw), but it all falls somewhat flat on their relationship (and, to a lesser extent, on the convenient orb).

Total Score: 3/5


Savage Wolverine 19
Simone (w) and N. Edwards (p) and Pallot (i) and Sotomayor (c) and Petit (l)

Note: This is a b-b-b-bonus review insofar as it came out last week but I didn't get my hands on it until pretty late so I rather put it off more than I should have. So, not so much bonus as "here it is, late." Here it is either way though, SAVAGE WOLVERINE 19 written by the incomparable Gail Simone (I wrote this blurb before I read the issue so hopefully I have only good things to say about Simone afterwards)

Wolverine dreams of a home under the Northern Lights, removed from people, with Jean. Of course, it's too good to be true and Professor X communicates with him to break him out of the dream, reminding him that he and Jubilee have been captured by AIM for testing. They're trying to get a hold of where the two are but for now, he has to get out of his restraints and find Jubilee. He manages it and learns that they're under a new sedation method that makes them dream of something they really want, meaning that they don't really fight the sedation and the brain does all the work for them. Though Wolverine broke out of his, Jubilee remains attached to hers (where she's one of the most powerful X-Men, even with her powers, and Wolverine is her sidekick) even when he breaks her out. Professor X informs Logan that they're closing in and that he shouldn't break Jubilee's illusion in the fear that it's strong enough to do real damage to her mentally if she comes out unexpectedly. So Wolverine, acting like Jubilee's sidekick, follows her as she storms through the compound being ineffective. Finally she does get smart to what's really happening but, as it happened softly enough, she's okay, just a little hurt by how bad her powers are. However, as Wolverine gets blasted, she manages to hold off AIM long enough for him to recover and for them to get out of there. He cheers her up as they leave, telling her that her powers, in his eyes, are some of the best around (he harkens back to the Northern Lights as he compliments them).

It's a rather sweet issue and an overall very fun issue. One of the things that I really like about Gail Simone (though I haven't read too much by her as she's mostly with DC these days) is that she gets into the head of a character so well and that she seems to understand the humanity of a character. On top of that, she's not afraid to pull punches. In this issue, she teams Wolverine, someone who claims to be the best there is at what he does, with Jubilee, someone with the power of fireworks (the only way you can be more '80s/'90s is by dressing like Jubilee did in the '80s/'90s). Jubilee's happy place is a place where she is more powerful than she actually believes she is. On top of it, she snaps out of it and almost immediately says "my powers suck," which is rather true but also rather cutting. You don't see that sort of self-awareness from a lot of characters. On top of that, Simone cuts right to the core of things (very important for a self-contained issue) and teams Wolverine and Jubilee, two characters who don't particularly see themselves fitting in with the X-Men at any point. It's immediately a compelling story and one that instantly works. Obviously she's not the first person to team the two and it's a duo that's worked to varying degrees in the past but she dives right in and makes it her own here. Solid book, definitely worth a look.

Total Score: 4/5

All-New Invaders 5, Fantastic Four 5

All-New Invaders 5
J. Robinson (w) and Pugh (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

Everything works out because Winter Soldier breaks out Aarkus and he and another Eternal find the God's Whisper while Torch knocks out the watching Kree soldiers and Steve uses a computer virus laced shield (??) to shut down the Supremor for a time while they make their way off-planet. Back on Earth, Namor returns to the deep, Bucky goes back to wherever it is Bucky goes, and Cap recruits Jim to SHIELD while they muse over what Aarkus could be doing with the Eternals (hint: controlling Galactus in the Negative Zone with the God's Whisper if they should ever need him).

That "everything works out" bit above is only there partly because I'm lazy. Moreover, though, it's there because that's the spirit of this issue. It's very much a book that revolves around the old school style "I only wanted you to THINK I'd missed when, in fact, I was aiming at that device above you that's currently toppling on you" or some such that I swear happened in every other issue of AVENGERS back near the start of its run. Here it's all meaningless misdirect as Bucky buys time, Cap has a computer virus on his shield (not how that works, for the record, don't care what kind of comic book technology you have), and Torch ups the radiation in the room with Cap waving it off by literally saying "I'm immune." If the solutions are ridiculous then the stakes are meaningless. It's like being in an imaginary shootout with a child who keeps saying "no, you didn't hit me! I have a forcefield and the shot bounced and hit you!" You can make up the rules all you want, that doesn't mean I'm going to be on board with it. Pugh's art is pretty good though.

Total Score: 2/5


Fantastic Four 5
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk (p) and Leisten and Magyar (i) and Aburtov (c) and Cowles (l)

The Fantastic Four are on trial and the prosecutor is dragging them through the mud about every major superhero thing they've played a role in and how many people it hurt and it ends with a ruling that we don't get the full sense of yet but means the kids of the FF are shipped off to Camp Hammond to be watched by new SHIELD agent Jim Hammond (very quickly making his first SHIELD appearance from above). Oh, and in other news on this book, it made me as angry as any other book I've read in the past year and a half and I can't believe Marvel decided to charge five dollars for a book with five extra pages in it (albeit with art from all sorts of different artists).

Seriously. The courtroom superhero drama hasn't been compelling since the first time it was done and, when it's done this poorly, it throws everything into question. There's a writing trick wherein a writer knows exactly how a sane character would get out of a problem but dutifully ignores that solution because there's no drama in it. That's what Robinson's doing but it's not just Robinson who knows how to get out of it, it's every single person reading this book ever. The prosecutor has the shakiest grasp on how to prosecute and his terribleness and the terribleness of the entire plot draws the lawyering abilities of She-Hulk, the F4's lawyer, into severe question. It's a rare book that can take a completely separate book that I really like (SHE-HULK) and call it into question by painting its protagonist so weak. It's choppy writing at best and it's a terrible and cliche story that's executed about as badly as it could be. It feels like it was an excuse to get a bunch of guest artists in (who all do admirable work, though it sometimes feels like it's Marvel trying to hard sell their other books as Samnee draws some Daredevil related business and the Allred's pop in to draw Galactus and the Silver Surfer) and to charge an extra dollar for five extra pages and the book is garbage. Literally within the first three pages I was angry at this book.

Total Score: 1/5

This week's picks

Sorry for the no-post yesterday everyone. Festivities kind of snuck up on me and i only realized halfway through an Italian feast that I had made no post. Guys. My bad. Anyway, let's talk about the best of the week.

Superior Spider-Man 31

SPIDER-MAN is always a tricky book to name top book of the week if just because I tend to think it over-explains and sometimes has choppy writing for it. I don't think this week's issue was the smoothest issue but there was a real sense of love to it, which shines through overall and carries the book. That's what you want from a SPIDER-MAN book; the characters are some of our favorite at Marvel, the stories endure, and Spider-Man continues to make the great power=great responsibility theme matter even after all of these years. So it may not have technically been the best book out there this week but Peter Parker is back and the creative team here is thrilled about it. It shines through and it makes this book absolutely worth reading.



Winter Soldier: Bitter March 3

This was a tough one to put on the list, barely beating out ULTIMATE FF and NOVA (which I had thought would be a sure thing this week when I was reading it because it was so fun and so sure of itself), but it largely made it here because of its art, which I think is fitting this book so well and deserves recognition. The story is pretty great, the characters are compelling to watch, and the writing is sharp, but it's really the art putting this one over the top, particularly the way the art works with the tone of the book and the story of the book. It also benefits from, for the second issue in a row, a somewhat weaker release week. Still, you could definitely do worse than checking this limited series out.


X-Force 3

Very little makes me happier than a book that I want/expect to be good being great. I've been burned in the past by books I've wanted nothing more than to love but then I just couldn't be excited about. It's nice to have things work out this way instead. X-FORCE is already proving itself to be a strong, character-driven title. The special thing about a character-driven book is that the plot can falter and we'll still be sucked in because we want to see what these characters are up to. Spurrier does some of the best character stuff out there right now, between his work on X-MEN LEGACY and his web/print comic CROSSED: WISH YOU WERE HERE and now on X-FORCE. Even this early on, it's hard not to recognize that Spurrier is weaving narratives together and building up some really interesting players for this book. We've had a look at three of our four characters from their own perspectives (though this week's Psylocke perspective was admittedly more guarded, though she laid out her thoughts to her teammates well) and it's building a definite tone for the series. The writing, the art, the tone, the story, it's all working right now.

Winter Soldier - Bitter March 3, Nova 16

Winter Soldier - Bitter March 3
Remender (w) and Boschi (a) and Chuckry w/ Wilson (c) and Cowles (l)

Ran Shen's plan to get Peter and Mila Hitzig out of Hydra's clutches has put him at odds with the Soviet's plan and thereby put him at odds with the Winter Soldier. To make matters worse, it's also put him at odds with Peter Hitzig's plan, who wants to return to Hydra with his wife. All these plans collide on the train as Hydra enforcers Shocky Dan (maybe the best name?) and the Drain have shown up. After an all-out fight that leaves Shocky Dan with a melted face and Shen with a couple bullet holes, Winter Soldier makes his way for the scientists. Shen recovers enough to use some adrenaline (or maybe Infinity formula? Who knows?) from Fury's cache and is able to use Shocky Dan's shocking gloves to rush Hydra on the other side of the train. The Drain, who has already had Peter Hitzig kill himself, tumbles out of the train with Winter Soldier, though he's wearing a jetpack so neither fall to their death immediately. Shen goes to Mila and tries to think of a new plan but the bomb Hydra left on the train puts everything on something of a faster timetable.

Story
All the plot lines involving the Hitzigs have come to a head here as Hydra goes up against SHIELD goes up against Winter Soldier. On top of it, it all happens on a train with a bomb in it. Couldn't ask for a more action-packed story. Plus, a story with Shocky Dan and the Drain? How could we be so lucky? 5/5

Character
Though Shen is ostensibly our protagonist here, the key character developments come from the Winter Soldier himself. Shen only has development insofar as "he's a pretty tough guy." Winter Soldier, though, gets another random flash of Cap which tells him not to kill Shen when he's badly wounded and defeated. The issue also ends for him as the Drain sees into his soul to realize he's been brainwashed and who he really is, coming dangerously close to revealing everything to Bucky before directing him to kill himself. There's not a lot that can be done with character here (we know Winter Soldier has to survive and we know that he's probably not going to learn that he's Bucky Barnes) but what can be done is done interestingly. 4/5

Writing
Remender continues to hit on a great tone here as everything starts to go crazy. It's action-packed and it's tense but it manages to the pseudo-noir feel consistent even as these crazier elements, like Shocky Dan and the Drain, are introduced. The book moves pretty well and our villains are enticing enough to keep everything particularly tense, even we start to gain sympathy and worry for Mila. 5/5

Art
The art in this book is unflinchingly good as Roland Boschi nails the look of every character, making everyone unique while still not cramming in so much detail that it draws the eye away from the story. His Winter Soldier is appropriately terrifying just as his Drain is appropriately creepy. The colors fit the style and the tone perfectly with a lot of reds and blues, nothing too showy. The colors in the flashback moments as Bucky involuntarily pictures Cap are a little more muted and serve to show us the separation of time and tone really well. 5/5

Miscellaneous
This cover doesn't blow my mind the way the last one did but I still rather like it. I'm also into the idea that someone with psychic sorts of abilities could see into Bucky's past through all the brainwashing and that they could just as easily undo his training if they had a shot at it. Hadn't really considered it before but it's pretty neat to see now.

Total score: 5/5


Nova 16
Duggan (w) and Baldeon (p) and Pallot (i) and Sotocolor (c) and Deschesne (l)

Nova and Bill have tracked Skaarn only to find that he's armed himself with incredibly powerful weapons. Bill is removed from the fight quickly as Skaarn draws his attention away by attacking the bay of his own ship holding the Korbonites. Nova sticks with Skaarn but quickly finds himself outmatched. He regains the edge when Skaarn begins to threaten Earth, nearly pulverizing Skaarn. Instead, he captures Skaarn and decides to hand him over to Cadivan the Mighty so he can get the bounty in exchange for the Nova helmet he still has. The whole mission has set Nova back on a path to find his father, which will likely be made more difficult by the fact that his family is being evicted back on Earth.

Story
The continuing fight between Bill, Nova, and Skaarn finally reaches its climax here and, as we've seen a couple times already, Sam seems to have a wealth of power inside him that really explodes outward when his adrenaline kicks in. The defeat of Skaarn and Sam's grown-up decision to not kill him and to let someone else get the credit for taking him down while he gets to give a Nova corpsmen a proper burial make for good story points as well as good character moments. This series has plenty of directions it can move in and Duggan is setting himself up a nice little corner of the universe to play around in. 5/5

Character
I've already said a good deal about Sam's character here but it's important to note that the writing style is really paying off. He's clearly still childish but he's making strides to be more of a hero and it's shining through here. Nova's starting to understand his role in the universe a little bit more and starting to gain a little bit of Spider-Man's much vaunted "responsibility." Of course, that responsibility is a universal thing but it's also going to mean at home which could lead to much more. 5/5

Writing
Pretty much feel like I've covered this one already. The writing is pretty sharp and the characters all come across nicely. The threats are big enough to be worrisome but never so big that this book shifts its tone from "a book driven by a child superhero." Strong stuff here. 5/5

Art
David Baldeon's pencils and Terry Pallot's inks are sharp and clear, further upholding the "book driven by a child superhero" tone and making sure that it never strays too far away from the Spider-Man style of books (that's the best comparison to draw to this book, really, and it feels like the comparison they'd want me to make, so I think that's all positive). The colors are brighter and the effects are bigger during some of the fights and it all matches the almost colorful tone of the book. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I really enjoyed this issue. Beta Ray Bill's involvement didn't hurt as I'm a big ol' sucker for that guy but I think this arc and this issue have really stood out as defining pieces for this NOVA run. There's plenty going on and plenty to look forward to for this book.

Total score: 5/5

Comics this week!

Pretty short list of comics this week but some really important ones nonetheless. Also some I'm less excited about. You know what? I can probably stop saying that every week. I can. But I won't. ALSO, be on the lookout for a new review format this week. I've been thinking about changing it up for a while now and it seems this week, a relatively light week in terms of volume, is as good a time as any to see how it rolls out. More on this later, as I actually figure out what my plan is. For now, let's see what we've got for books this week.

Superior Spider-Man 31

It works out that possibly the biggest new release, the finale of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN, is also the first alphabetically on this list (rare that we start with "S"). Okay, so maybe that only matters to me but it does. Anyway, kind of easy to see why this one is here; the journey with Otto Octavius as Spider-Man, which everyone expected to last a couple months, ends after a full year, nearly a year and a half, and we'll get our first taste of the aftermath this very week.

Ultimate FF 1

Narrowly beating out HULK 1 as most anticipated reboot of the week, ULTIMATE FF promises to give us a look at the new science superhero team of the Ultimate Universe. Recent Ultimate architect Joshua Fialkov takes over this new group, starring Sue Storm, Tony Stark, Sam Wilson, and the new Machine Man (Danny Ketch), which gives me some confidence for the series. Should be fun. And really, really awful for these guys, if Fialkov's record holds true.

Winter Soldier - Bitter March 3

Rick Remender's very cool noir-like story of Ran Shen's attempt to outwit and survive the Winter Soldier gets more complicated as Hydra gets involved in the extraction of the former Nazi scientists. This is the first issue of the limited series since the release of the fantastic Captain America: Winter Soldier, which will likely have no effect on things in this book but felt worth noting. It's still a good book, you guys. 

X-Force 3

Si Spurrier continues his exciting new run on X-FORCE this week as the narrative reigns switch over to Psylocke. Each issue thus far has featured a different member of the team narrating and Spurrier revealed on Tumblr this week (in a post I would link if I weren't writing this on my iPad) that this issue's narrator will be everyone's favorite British ninja. Really interested to see his take on Betsy Braddock, which we saw a little of in Spurrier's X-MEN LEGACY. X-FORCE has been stupendous so far and I'm excited to see it continue this week.

X-Men 13

With Arkea defeated, the X-Men will have to find a new mission and new conflict to go up against. I've liked this book so far but I'm really interested to see where Brian Wood takes the series next. I had the same feeling after its crossover in BATTLE OF THE ATOM ended, hoping to see where Wood would go next, but it just reverted back to Arkea. This new arc will represent the first true new arc since the start and I'm curious to see where it will go.

NOT a full CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER review

SOOOO I promised everyone Thursday night that I'd have a Captain America: Winter Soldier review up today but I have had all sorts of trouble today putting my thoughts into words and those words into coherent sentences and those coherent sentences into a blog post. I have lots of feelings about this movie and they're almost entirely really good feelings. I really enjoyed the movie, you guys. This is one of the best Marvel has so far put out and it's one that only gets better on repeated viewings, which I think they've lacked since Avengers. It's edgy and dark and gritty without having to be edgy or dark or gritty because Captain America has no time for dark or gritty. He's not Batman, toeing the line between "one bad day" vigilante and the only justice in a town corrupted. The movie has plenty of great themes including security vs. freedom, trust, and friendship and manages to really explore those themes in interesting ways. The action is great, the writing is solid, the performances are incredibly impressive. It's everything I liked about the first film but with an entirely new feel to it at the same time. It's a sequel that really adds to the franchise and improves on the mythos, the first movie I think that's really true for from Marvel. I still have lots to say on this and I'll likely post it eventually (I have a long blog post that's not even like, a fifth done yet sitting in my queue right now but I've come to the realization that that one isn't getting posted today) but for now, suffice it to say that Marvel has absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one. Sorry for throwing a sports metaphor into a comics blog.

Quick hits: CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER

Hey everyone, just saw Captain America: Winter Soldier. I'm not willing to give a full review of it right now (particularly if I want to get tomorrow's reviews done tonight which, my friends, I do) because I want to let it sink in and I want to let other people see it first before I start going crazy with spoilers and, well, let's face it, I want to see it again first. Suffice it to say right now that it's entirely unlike any Marvel movie so far and I think it may go down as one of Marvel's best movies. AS A HEADS-UP A FULL FOUR OR SO DAYS IN ADVANCE: My full review (I'm aiming for that to come on Monday) will certainly be RIFE with spoilers. If you don't want to hear spoilers by Monday, maybe don't check out that review just yet. I'll mark it pretty clearly on Monday too but that's your cue to go and make this a huge box office opening, okay? I'm pretty sure this blog has the sway to do that, right?

This week's picks

A lot of strong books out this week that landed probably somewhere in that above average to great line but a limited number of truly great books and a fair amount of "I'm finding it hard to get through this one" books. Good thing we don't highlight the latter here over at Marvels so LET'S FIND THOSE GOOD'UNS.

Daredevil 1

How much will change for everyone's favorite blind lawyer/superhero in the wake of his major identity reveal and subsequent move to San Francisco? Well probably a lot. We just don't have the time or the desire to see it all here because that would be crappy writing. What we do see is a clear shift in some of Daredevil's normal actions as he adjusts to his new life, including acting almost as more of a detective with the police, able to reveal how he knows as much as he does about certain situations, and his getting acclimated to a vastly different San Francisco skyline. There's a lot to like in this first issue and I think there's a lot to build on for Waid and Samnee as they move forward with this new new look for DAREDEVIL (their new look was already with the last DAREDEVIL launch so this is new new).

Thunderbolts 23

This one narrowly won out this week over other titles like IRON MAN, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL, and AVENGERS WORLD, in part because I think this one was just about the most fun book to read this week, on top of giving a level of depth to our much loved team. Obviously it's a somewhat big issue on its own as Venom leaves the team but there are also revelations about how the team views one another (though we've seen a good amount of that already) and how the team works as a team (or, perhaps, specifically how it doesn't). It also continues to be one of the best books at infusing humor into whatever dark (or light) scene. It's not heavy-handed, it's not a joke for a joke's sake, it's just there, in the words or actions of characters from whom you believe the humor. THUNDERBOLTS continues to be both fun and exciting while altogether maintaining a complete comic book.

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 2

I'm very impressed with the workmanship of this book. Remender is threading plot lines back and forth between this not-quite-prequel to the current events of CAPTAIN AMERICA and CAPTAIN AMERICA and he's making it look easy. We're getting a taste of everything here, between Ran Shen's history with SHIELD and his blossoming thoughts on how the world should work (thoughts that would eventually lead him to his new persona as the Iron Nail), Horace Littleton and his work (that would eventually lead him to his new persona as Dr. Mindbubble), and a taste of the hatred between SHIELD and Hydra/other factions of the world. It's doing all of that, which is neat enough on its own, but more than that it's a really interesting WINTER SOLDIER story by itself. I feel confident that if you weren't reading CAPTAIN AMERICA right now and you picked this up because you were like "oh hey, that Winter Soldier seems like a pretty cool cat and by golly he's the star of an upcoming movie I take it," you'd still be reading a book that you can completely understand and one that still holds your interest. Great stuff. And look at that cover. Just really cool.

All-New Invaders 3, Winter Soldier: Bitter March 2

All-New Invaders 3
J. Robinson (w) and Pugh (a) and Guru eFX (c)

We start with a quick flashback to just three days before as Namor is captured by Tanalth, who uses his pride and arrogance against him before using a weapon that drains the moisture from him, effectively weakening him entirely before she brings him back to Hala. Jump to the present to find the Supreme Intelligence searching his mind for the location of the Gods' Whisper. Fortunately, or so the team thinks, Thor and the other Asgardians are immune to the Gods' Whisper these days, having already created protection to shield from it as soon as they heard of its existence. Thor tells Captain America and the Human Torch this as they prepare to embark from Avengers Mansion on the next step of their journey. That next step is meeting up with Bucky, who has tracked down Aarkus in what is addressed as a particularly hard job but is only a couple panels' worth of work in practice, in New Mexico so they can create a bunch of smoke on which they can all travel with Aarkus to Hala. When they arrive, they find Tanalth waiting for them and she surprises them with a god already under their control, Ikaris of the Eternals.

I think this series would be twice as good with half the words. Right now, it can't seem to get out of its way with exposition and unnecessary and clunky dialogue. The following is a generalization and likely not a fair one at that: sometimes, comic writers brought up in a different age won't easily break from that age. James Robinson comes from a time in comics where exposition and linking the universe were the orders of the day and so he clearly wants to keep every potential new reader in the know about the Marvel Universe. However, it's something comics have broken from more recently. Sure, Marvel wants every person with any disposable income to buy any or all of their books but there is a realism to it that they can't assume anyone is buying or reading every book and they certainly can't cater to the person that knows everything that's happening in the universe. Each book needs to work on its own because, as you can pretty clearly see in this issue and the preceding two issues (though not as much as here), it just doesn't work when you try to tell the reader everything. You have Cap explaining things to Torch that Torch clearly already knows, even going so far as to say "as you know" in his sentences. Therefore, that dialogue is ONLY there to help the audience but it's posing as actual natural dialogue between two characters. Things like that or references to other books in the Marvel Universe are everywhere in this issue. When things don't need explaining, they're over-explained. When things do need explaining, they're under-explained. It's just something of a mess, which is a shame because I do love these characters and this team and I think even the story has real potential (though it continues to be hard, as someone who does read every book, to understand why the Kree are so set on attacking Earth at this particular moment; sure they're a warring race and MAN is Earth annoying to anyone not on Earth but you'd think the Builders would have bought Earth a little bit of time). Overall, though, the writing comes off as completely unnatural and long-winded. Hopefully once the plot is mostly laid out, Robinson will settle in a little more and cut back on some of the exposition.

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 2
Remender (w) and Boschi (a) and Chuckry (c)

Ran Shen has managed to keep the scientists alive through three days in the forest with the Winter Soldier lurking around somewhere in pursuit of them. He makes his first appearance when Shen finds a town and uses a phone to get in touch with SHIELD. Shen arranges an extraction with Horace Littleton (he who would be Mindbubble) but Littleton tells him that he has to get out of the country and make it to West Berlin before they can safely pick him up. Unfortunately for Shen, this is where Winter Soldier finds them and forces them to flee from the town. They barely make it out when Shen uses one of his wrist arrows to detonate on Winter Soldier's arm, giving them a chance to escape. Shen and the two scientists find their way onto a train heading out of country but while Shen and Mila discuss politics and flirt, Peter makes a secret meeting with Hydra aboard the train. Everything comes to a head suddenly when Winter Soldier bursts into the train and attacks Shen just as Hydra shows up to take back the scientists and, presumably, kill the other two.

There is an insane amount of stuff happening in this book and I'm going to go ahead and praise my own scheduling when I put this book alongside ALL-NEW INVADERS in the review circuit this week because it provides a pretty perfect counter. There's a lot happening over in CAPTAIN AMERICA and obviously this story, though a precursor in continuity, is driven very much by events over there. However, you can very easily read this story by itself and it reads well and it's interesting and exciting. The dialogue works and you can see all of the story threads here but it's not all over-explained. Granted, this is a prequel of sorts so Remender has to say all of this without saying anything specific, which could make it easier or harder than trying to load exposition about things that have happened into a book. But this book nails it on tone, on dialogue, and on laying out the sort of stuff it needs to lay out, even on top of creating a story that is perfectly readable as a Winter Soldier story in its own right. Well done all around.

Comics this week

Buncha new comics out this week, ranging from pretty exciting to not so exciting for me. As is the Marvels way, I'll be highlighting the ones I am excited about. Let's get to it.

Daredevil 1
Daredevil has moved out west and is presumably about to settle in as a new number one drops this week. Excited to see how Waid and Samnee are going to shake things up for everyone's favorite blind lawyer/superhero as he makes his home in a new and alien city. Matt's journey, of course, wasn't without its own trials as has been documented in the infinite comic DAREDEVIL: ROAD WARRIOR, which I've been reading but not reviewing. I'll...I'll cover it if it matters. Super Adaptoid and the likes, you know?

Iron Man 23
Iron Man vs. Malekith in what should be a very interesting battle. Well, that's what's coming, anyway. I would guess we won't see too much of that right away because Tony still doesn't know who it is that's orchestrating the sudden capture of several of the Mandarin Rings. So with Tony hunting down Malekith and Arno left to run Troy, where will those Stark boys go next?

Ms. Marvel 2
The expectations were high for MS. MARVEL 1, a book that would create a new character, a Muslim superhero teenage girl. Most of those words, as far as publishers go, are risky ventures. I thought MS. MARVEL 1 was good but not amazing so I think the onus will really be on issue two to set up the world a little more and to show us our new hero in action.

New Avengers 15
Hey guys, is Dr. Strange going to be okay?

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 2
I really enjoyed the first issue of this series, which introduced a compelling plot, some interesting characters (perhaps made more interesting by the fact that we know who these characters will turn into), and a really swell layout and feel for the comic. I'm looking forward to this one for all those reasons and for a cover that, when I saw it last time, totally blew me away. In that way, it edges out THUNDERBOLTS 23 for my excitement, though I'm sure that cover is going to be amazing too.