Amazing Spider-Man 10

Amazing Spider-Man 10
Slott (w) and Coipel (p) and Von Grawbadger (i) and Ponsor (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

A team of Spiders led by the Superior Spider-Man enter the Ultimate Universe to rescue Miles Morales and that universe's Jessica Drew from Verna of the Inheritors. Superior Spider-Man leads them back to the 2099 Universe, where a number of Spiders including the newly onboard "true" Peter Parker, Miguel O'Hara, Spider-Woman, Kaine and some others go to bring them into the cosmically guarded alternate Earth. Unfortunately, the mass influx of Spiders in the 2099 Universe (and particularly the draw of Silk, who wasn't supposed to tag along with Peter but did) brings a handful of Inheritors to the 2099, only for Superior Spider-Man to kill what ends up being a clone of Daemos and managing to get away with the body. Teams of the various Spiders split off and begin setting out on different goals, meant to throw us into such tie-ins as SPIDER-WOMAN, SCARLET SPIDERS, and SPIDER-MAN 2099. As Peter leads Superior Spider-Man and a couple others back to the cosmically protected universe, Doc Ock decrees that he is in charge during this war.

SPIDER-VERSE continues with another pretty strong outing (not least helped by the impressive Olivier Coipel on pencils). What's particularly weird about my reaction to this book (and you all should know by now I largely review these books just based on reaction) was that I found myself really intrigued and, dare I say, excited about the tie-ins they were promising. It's hard to ignore (and I'm sure this is what the Spider-Man team at Marvel formed this event around) the multitude of really great Spiders in these universes. It's a curious thing as this event seems every bit as manufactured as AXIS ("let's get all the Spiders together!" vs. "let's make all the heroes into villains and vice versa!") but I'm far more willing to suspend disbelief on this one. I think that comes from a number of factors, starting with the idea that this impacts Spiders alone and can certainly be tied up neatly after the fact. AXIS (geez, I really need to get over this) bold-facedly claims to be a major event and feels instead like something that will be washed away with little problem and a solid forty bucks+ out of a lot of people's pockets (calculating the cost of AXIS just made me really sad). So yes, I'm enjoying this manufactured series more than I'm enjoying AXIS and, in fact, possibly a good deal more than that.

Total Score: 4/5

Amazing Spider-Man 9, Spider-Verse Team-Up 1

Amazing Spider-Man 9

Spider-Man and Silk are having a discussion about how they should deal with their crazy urges (Silk suggest Spider-Man leave New York) when Spider-Woman, Arana, Spider-Man 2099, and a few Spiders from other worlds show up to take them all away, bringing them to their safe zone world, one where Spider-Man never gave up his cosmic powers, making him too powerful for the Inheritors to challenge (though if he leaves that world, the cosmic powers stay behind, so he can't help in the fight either). Meanwhile, Morlun's oldest brother Daemos has arrived in the 616, despite Morlun's protestations (Morlun claims he is saving that world, though the other Inheritors believe it is the only world he fears, thanks to previously dying there), and incapacitated the New Warriors in an attack on Scarlet Spider. Three more Spiders show up to rescue Kaine with one of them, Bruce Banner Spider-Man (not a Hulk), dying in Kaine's place while Kaine and the other two escape. All the Spiders fill Peter in on the details they know and tell him that he's their secret weapon because he's the greatest Spider of them all. Meanwhile, Morlun's sister Verna launches an attack on the Spider-Man and Spider-Woman of the Ultimate Universe.

If you HAVE to do an event, this is certainly a better way to do it than AXIS. It's far more contained than a typical event (though, to be fair, it is billed as Spider-Man's event of the year) and it's interested in character at least as much as story. The story itself is a fairly simple one masking itself as a more complicated one, which actually works pretty well. Despite all of the new characters and the invocation of the "Great Web," the basic gist of the story is that the Inheritors like killing Spiders and the Spiders want to team up to avoid being killed. At its core, simple. Will there be twists and turns along the way? Yeah, probably. But that's what we need to know to progress. So instead, Slott focuses on establishing several characters, which he does to varying degrees of success. Still though, as has always been true for Slott, it's obvious he's having a really good time writing this story and that carries a lot of weight here. For all of the complaining I did about events yesterday, I'm feeling onboard with this one.

Total Score: 4/5


Spider-Verse Team-Up 1

Our first SPIDER-VERSE TEAM-UP has two stories with two different sets of Spiders. The first story features Spider-Ham, Old Man Spider-Man (seems redundant but that's what they call him), and Ben Reilly fighting off some of Verna's hounds; this time a slew of vampiric Vultures taken from different realities. It's a more brutal fight than Ben Reilly is used to but he begins to understand pretty quickly why it has to be that way and the three of them manage to escape, knowing Ben's chosen world is safe as the Peter Parker of that world never became Spider-Man. The second story finds the Six-Armed Spider-Man and the decidedly more brutal Spider-Man Noir teaming up to help a newly changing Spider-Man avoid his inevitable fate as food for one of the Inheritors. This new Spider is turning full spider, a change that will ruin his otherwise happy life (Uncle Ben and Aunt May are both safe in this reality) and will leave him very open to attack, so Six-Armed Spider-Man manages to whip up a version of the serum that gave him his extra arms but that he hopes will, thanks to the differences in their stories, simply cure this Peter like it was meant to cure him. The serum works, taking this Peter firmly off the Inheritor's radar and keeping his life happy, which Noir's plan of shooting him wouldn't have pulled off.

These are two pretty good stories that accomplish exactly what they set out to and what I think is very important to this event: building character. I talked in the above review about how the simplicity of the story at its core allows Slott to build character and focus on that character throughout the series. The problem he faces, of course, is that there are just so many characters to focus on that the story will inevitably get diluted as Slott has to spend so much time establishing new guys. SPIDER-VERSE TEAM-UP, on top of being a potentially interesting and obviously profitable tie-in, allows Slott to build the Spiders himself or to spread the wealth a little and let other writers have a crack at these fun characters. It's likely the first idea Marvel had when this event was first introduced but, as opposed to, like, everything in AXIS, it actually will help the main series. How much it helps remains to be seen. It'll require some strong writing and a stronger editorial team to keep a unified tone and unified voices through all SPIDER books. Solid start to this event.

Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 10-22-14

All-New Ghost Rider 8

Johnny Blaze has tracked Robbie Reyes and spirit Eli Morrow down, determined to learn more about this all-new Ghost Rider. Eli convinces Robbie to let him take the reins to fight Blaze as Johnny looks into his soul and discovers Eli is a murdering Satanist, news which shouldn't surprise Robbie but rather does. Eli is overpowered by Blaze but manages to escape, continuing to wrestle Robbie for control and eventually winning it, throwing Robbie's life into chaos and attacking an old contact of his. Still not a bad series though it occasionally gets a bit heavy-handed in this one. It's an interesting idea but it's not one that's particularly a shock at this point as anyone with a brain can see Eli's not a good dude. The art is occasionally confusing this issue, particularly as the two Ghost Riders fight, but it still looks compelling visually overall. Total Score: 4/5





All-New Invaders 11
The Invaders are trying to find Human Torch and settle him down. They suspect he's going crazy because the energy burst that he and Namor were hit with affected him differently. The exact line, and I'm not making this up, from Namor is "It stunned me but, I assume due to his synthetic makeup, drove Jim insane." That's it. End of diagnosis. Everyone essentially nods and says "Mhm, that sounds likely, great work Namor. Or should I say 'Dr. Namor?' You seem to be a pretty solid scientist now." So they find Jim and he freaks out about how he needs to be killed because all the bad energy in him and they all say no but they also kinda say yes (great friends, these dudes) and Namor steps up and talks about how Jim has always been the conscience of the team (sure, a team with constant do-gooder Captain America and the guy struggling with humanity is the conscience, whatever) and he's always made Namor a better guy and then true love's kiss from an unexpected source (Namor) saves the over-powerful and fearful Human Torch, whereupon he learns that he can control his powers and flies into the atmosphere to burn off the bad energy. Look. It's pretty much Frozen. But, and I can't stress this enough, with worse writing. I'm not even a big ol' Frozen fan and GEEZ I'd rather watch the hour and a half of that rather than read this comic again. Total Score: 1/5


All-New X-Factor 15

X-Factor is trying to keep World War Hate at bay in DC as Polaris and Gambit attempt to quell rioters, Cypher, Luna, and Georgia try to quell different rioters, Danger and Warlock provide a shield between the Pentagon and the people, and Quicksilver swaps out the nuclear launch codes the president is bringing to a remote location to use on Russia with a briefcase full of comics. Some complications ensue but they're all overcome and X-Factor stays above the hate (mostly) thanks to Danger and Warlock. However, as they regroup back at Serval, they learn that the briefcase Quicksilver stole has a tracking device on it and some Sentinels make their way over to Serval. Some interesting stuff here. The issue manages to drag somehow, despite the immense amount of action it hinges on. There's a lot of dialogue but it doesn't all advance the plot or build character, some of it just seems meant to drag, which is an odd use of dialogue. Dynamic art works in the book's favor, though, as it's a very kinetic book to flip through. Total Score: 3/5


Amazing Spider-Man 8
Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man team up successfully to bring down Dr. Minerva, who claims to be working on behalf of the Kree to procure the cocoon. When a baby pops out of the cocoon, even one of Minerva's henchman recognizes how wrong what they're doing is and turns on the others, modifying their sonic scanner into a weapon and using it on his fellow henchmen. As Kamala and the henchman watch over the baby, Spider-Man sends Dr. Minerva scurrying away, calling her bluff about her affiliation with the Kree army. He then correctly identifies the henchman as none other than Clayton Cole and tells him to call up Peter Parker at Parker Industries if he's looking for a job. He also gives Kamala a killer pep talk. Meanwhile, Silk gets a new costume and, in the second half of the issue, Spider-Girl barely escapes Daemos, one of the Inheritors (that's apparently what they're called!), though her father and mother, Peter Parker and MJ Parker, aren't so lucky. Along with her baby brother Ben, Spider-Girl follows a couple other spiders out of her world and into the rebellion. The Kamala-Peter stuff is pretty great and is a crossover worth checking in to, if just to show how much Kamala's story mirrors Peter (though obviously there are some differences). We're also officially at the very edge of SPIDER-VERSE now as the true event is meant to kick off in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 9. The table's set, now it's time to actually serve up this next event. Total Score: 4/5


Amazing X-Men 12
Everyone is falling to the Wendigos and Tanaraq is nearing the breach between his world and the real world, prepared to conquer the world with his army of Wendigos. Storm convinces the other gods, beaten and corralled by Tanaraq, to give the X-Men their powers. With those powers combined, they manage to pull Tanaraq back from the portal and, along with the previously eaten Guardian, burst that guy up, ending the Wendigo Curse everywhere and reverting all those changed back to their regular forms. Altogether a pretty good first arc for the new creative team on this series. Yost and Kyle managed to make sure everyone they brought on this first story had some sort of an impact on the plot, which is easier said than done on a big team book like this. Better yet, the story itself was interesting enough alone. This ending is a little abrupt, as Storm basically says "hey you gods, give us your powers" and the gods go "well, okay, that's something we can evidently do." Still, strong work all around. Total Score: 4/5


Axis: Hobgoblin 1
Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin who has taken to selling criminal identities to up-and-comers, has changed his method and now sells hero identities to up-and-comers, rebranding himself has a motivational speaker of sorts and making crazy money in the process. The Goblin King, though, isn't so thrilled with the arrangement and wants Menace, Lily Holister, on his side to take down Kingsley. Menace has lost her goblin powers since Spider-Man injected her with the antidote but Goblin King believes that blowing up her car and forcing her into the river will probably do the trick to remind her she needs him (specious logic). Unfortunately, it wipes her mind a bit and sends her crawling to Roderick Kingsley in the hopes that he'll give her an identity. Kind of an interesting premise here but it relies on caring about a lot of Goblins, so if you don't you'll probably end up a little uninterested in this tie-in limited series. There are some fun bits but overall it's hard to nail a tone down on this one, which occasionally goes full joke but often also backs off and tries to go darker, weakening both. Total Score: 3/5


Cyclops 6
Cyclops and Corsair have been reunited with Corsair's team but, thanks in no small part to Scott not knowing what he's doing in space, they get captured by Starjammer enemy Malafect (I'm calling all space enemies Babbleblop Spaceman from now on because that's what most space baddies might as well be named). Corsair pretends to be furious with Scott to influence Spaceman, who decides to take Scott on as his own crew member after Cyclops, playing along, blasts Corsair with eyebeams. Babbleblop is into it and adopts Cyclops as his own (crew member). This issue, with a new creative team than the original (not a hundred percent sure if that's permanent or not, but Rucka and Dauterman are definitely both busy, so it, you know, still could be either), has lost a little bit of the spark of the first arc, which focused so much on building characters and bonding. This one gets more into the action and the typical sort of plot. It's still interesting enough to keep reading, but that's something to keep an eye on moving forward. Also, these sorts of space enemies tend to be interchangeable and uninteresting to me (hence: Babbleblop). Total Score: 3/5


Deadpool 36
Deadpool teams with Magneto and his crew to take down the Red Onslaught and his hero-killing Sentinels, which kind of draws the ire of his wife, who believes he needs to spend more time at home and helping her with her kingdom. As the Inversion Wave hits, things change quite a bit for Deadpool. Most of the heroes get surlier with him and oust his refugee friends from the X-Mansion. For Deadpool himself, though, the inversion has turned him peaceful and forgiving, giving way to an all-new Deadpool. It's a pretty neat idea and it's the first real mention of the effects of the inversion, proving that there could be interesting things ahead for AXIS. Since an initial terrible arc, DEADPOOL has turned itself into something really respectable (with a couple of road bumps) and a series that really knows its way around a crossover. Total Score: 4/5


Death of Wolverine: The Logan Legacy 2

X-23 freaked out a bit after Wolverine's death and left the Xavier School, angrily storming out on Kitty. She goes and parties in some weird and skimpy outfit and then gets involved in a strange gang fight and teams up with and talks with The Chinook, ex-mutant formerly known as Windshear, who teaches her some things about mourning and healing and whatever else. She's all better by the end and heads back home, proud of her clone-dad. Really distracting that there's this story about a teenager who is dressed so ridiculously. I think a lot of people are having trouble with X-23, not knowing how to write her as she starts to evolve a bit, and this is no different. I think there's a compelling story (KIND OF, not really) but it's so weirdly handled and overshadowed by everything else that it gets drowned out. Total Score: 2/5





Secret Avengers 9
We are so close to done this and yet WE'RE NOT DONE YET, what's the deal? I've been writing this for altogether too long. Okay. What happened in this book? There was probably some more condescension as Kot references purportedly more high-culture literature and art. This book is rather a hipster and guys, I hate hipsters. Anyway, Tlon is coming and Deadpool is done distracting Hawkeye and MODOK escaped and is hanging out with a shaman. I still don't care about this book. The Deadpool-Hawkeye team-up is pretty alright though. Total Score: 2/5


X-Force 11

MeMe has been dumped by Fantomex and, after a lifetime of never being dumped and not really understanding how relationships work, Hope is dedicated to finding out why. In the middle of invading Volga's campus, Hope sneaks into Fantomex's mind, suddenly believing him to be scared of Cable, which is why he broke things off with her. Of course, Fantomex knows she's there and snaps at her, screaming about how he doesn't fear anyone and how he's sick of this team belittling him and underestimating him. He has Eva expel Hope from his mind and makes his next move. With Volga's team dispatched, Fantomex turns on his teammates, incapacitating them before explaining that he must kill them all to prove how much better he is than all of them. Before he can do it, though, Volga's mysterious assistant, who had been wreaking some havoc on them earlier, shoots him in the head, revealing herself to be Domino. Really great twists and turns here and Spurrier continues to do excellent work with Fantomex and the rest of the team. I think Hope is a little weakly developed here but I think he has more to say about her and to explore with her. Spurrier did CBR's X-Position this past week and gave, as ever, a really interesting interview that I've been wanting to show to you guys all week. Check it out here and learn more about his really interesting take on these guys. Anyway, continues to be great, this book. Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 10-8-14

All-New Ultimates 9

Scourge is being transferred to federal prison and the Ultimates want to watch over the transfer, which proves to be the right thing to do as a white-supremacist group, believing Scourge to be one of them, breaks him out. The Ultimates stop the racists but Scourge, who doesn't want to be associated with the white-supremacist group, gets away. Dagger is wounded in the fight and she and Cloak leave to get medical assistance, only to be sniped by a mysterious assailant, thus showcasing the one exciting moment this series has ever had, though also distracting from it by dealing with more relationship crap just beforehand. Total Score: 3/5

Amazing Spider-Man 7

The first half of this issue is a team-up between Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel, written by Christos Gage, which is delightful. The second half is an EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE tie-in by Dan Slott that finds Billy Braddock, Spider-UK of the Captain Britain Corps observing the family of Spider-Killers doing some work on the multiverse's spiders. The Ms. Marvel team-up, which will be continuing next time, is great and the EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE tie-ins are starting to drag a bit, though it is still interesting. Things are much nicer in this book when we don't see crazy Black Cat. Total Score: 4/5

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool 1

Hawkeye and Deadpool have been forced into something of a team-up as someone who ran into both of them on one night has been killed. Also on the case (perhaps more effectively) is Kate Bishop. Deadpool and Hawkeye's investigation leads them to more brainwashed super soldiers and to Black Cat, the one seemingly behind all of this, while Kate's leads her to the place where Ellsden shot his video, where she runs into Agent Adsit. When Hawkeye returns home, though, someone else is waiting for him looking for help. It's a relatively fun little book but we'll have to see where the plot is going before we can make too many judgements. Total Score: 3/5

Nightcrawler 7

Wolverine has died (because the release schedule is all messed up) and Nightcrawler has to deal with it. This one's a bit weird because the story credit is given to Marguerite Bennett with Claremont scripting but the story pretty much amounts to "Nightcrawler misses Wolverine, here's some flashbacks and some weird coping mechanisms." The problems start with the troubled release schedule and end with "this book is boring." Total Score: 2/5

Savage Hulk 5

Years ago, Dr. Strange sent Hulk to a mystical crossroads where he could access a number of other planets, ones where he couldn't do harm. While on trial for his unilateral decision on Earth, a representative from one of the planets Hulk could visit appears and accuses Strange of genocide, sending Hulk to his planet. Strange, accompanied by a SHIELD agent, heads to the other world to find that Hulk has destroyed weapon after weapon the citizens have sent after him and that he has a cave full of dead citizens. This one's certainly a more interesting storyline than the last and Strange is proving to be compelling all on his own. Pretty strong work, though I'd like to see a little more before I make a judgment on it. Total Score: 4/5

Amazing Spider-Man 6, X-Force 9

Amazing Spider-Man 6

Black Cat unmasks Spider-Man on live TV but Jameson inadvertently blocks the shot the entire time in a swing and a miss at humor. Silk manages to bust Peter out of the fight before any lasting harm can come of it but they know now to be prepared for Electro and Black Cat at every turn, which is good because the villains, on the sort-of coerced advice of Sajani, plan an attack on Parker Industries' big reveal of their new Electro-depowering tech. Everything at the press conference goes crazy but the ultimate result is a massive explosion that falls on Parker Industries and Spider-Man's rep, though it does indeed manage to depower Electro. Black Cat escapes and finds herself back in the good graces of a slew of underling supervillains, pledging to become the queen of the thieves, while Silk gets an internship with a news station in hopes of finding more about her family, and Peter feels rejuvenated by the success of the Electro device and believes he's in a good place with his work and his friends Sajani and Anna Maria, who are whispering even now about undermining some of his work.

I've already voiced some disapproval and concern about this book as it has focused on a pair of villains who just come off as crazy and well out of their own character, particularly Black Cat (I think Electro has been slightly better and a little more interesting). Cat has oscillated between petty criminal and vigilante for some time now so this full U-turn to hardcore crime boss because she's been wronged continues to seem really far-fetched. It may seem overkill to keep harping on that but right now that's what the entire story hinges itself on so it's impossible to overlook or to overstate its significance. What's more, the writing has been exposition heavy and the repeated attempts at jokes and humor have come off forced and mostly weak. I think there are interesting nuggets here and there (Sajani's sort-of betrayal, Anna Maria as sort-of sidekick to Spider-Man, Peter's determination to "heal" supervillains, etc.) but they're hard to find right now beneath the problems of the book.

Total Score: 2/5


X-Force 9

X-Force has been revealed in the desert and, despite Dr. Nemesis' hopes for a dialogue, a fight breaks out between X-Force and Pete Wisdom's team. Meanwhile, Agent Mel, the leader of the soldiers, is taken right from under their noses by the guerrilla Quaddees they were chasing in the first place, which, along with the insane power the seemingly least powerful soldier has, serves to end the fight and open a dialogue, to Nemesis' satisfaction. The soldiers in this unit have volunteered for superpowers, essentially, that will kill them all within a year but that will aid Volga until then. Now aware of their situation and the stakes, they agree to accompany X-Force to find their missing commander. When the team finds her, they're overwhelmed by powered-up Quaddees. Psylocke and Meme manage to bust through and read the captured Mel's mind, learning about the experiments and the power of the soldiers. Unfortunately, there seems to be no reasonable way out of this scenario so X-Force is x-forced to stick to Mel's plan, which involves her own team self-destructing, more or less, to take out the Quaddees and to stop their own powers from getting out into the work. Wisdom leads his team back home, though he warns Cable first about the bugs around them as Volga's spies (which we saw just two issues or so ago).

Things remain a little confusing this issue, as they were last issue, but Spurrier's managed to clear up enough and to keep a lot of the banter entertaining enough to allow us to proceed with the story. It's a true in media res story overall as we only get bits and pieces of the soldiers' mission, only the parts we need to know as they pertain to X-Force, which makes for a bit of a confusing issue but still allows us to come out the other side with a slightly better sense of our team and of Volga's capabilities, not hurt by Wisdom's reveal. It's a particularly strong Dr. Nemesis issue (a character Spurrier unabashedly loves, and rightfully so) as his unending disdain for superheroes finds a real home with this team. Some strong writing and fun character moments (one of the constant joys of this series is watching Fantomex repeatedly assert he is the best as whatever he's doing only to be proven wrong immediately, a joke that never seems to get old) carry this one.

Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 8-13-14

Hey all my buddies, we've reached the end of another long week and I've reached the end of another string of longer reviews. You know what that means: focusing up to whip out this review dump in under an hour (tricky business, that, considering how many I left for myself. Did you guys realize I hadn't actually reviewed AMAZING SPIDER-MAN or SPIDER-MAN 2099 yet? Because I sure didn't). LET'S HIT IT.

Amazing Spider-Man 5
Slott (w) and Ramos (p) and Olazaba (i) and Delgado (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

Spider-Man and Silk make out for a while until she reveals that she knows he's Peter Parker, which jolts him back into his regular state of mind. Disturbed by both of their actions, he brings her home to try to figure out what should happen next, but they quickly end up making out again until Anna Maria comes home. She tells him that Sajani hasn't appeared to any press events as scheduled and he must do it himself, so he goes on J. Jonah Jameson's new talking heads show and begins to talk about his desire to capture and cure Electro and other villains only to be interrupted by Black Cat and Electro busting on to the set to hold Peter hostage. Silk emerges and fights the pair while Peter changes but Electro manages a hit on Peter that renders him immobile while Cat prepares to unmask him on live television. I still really don't like this Black Cat-Electro team-up and I really hate the crazed Black Cat that's emerged from it. Also, her luck powers seem to be working overtime, as do her luck-based mantras and BOY that never gets annoying. Total Score: 2/5


Avengers Undercover 8
Hopeless (w) and T. Walker (a) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

It's been three months since the kids joined up with the villains and some are ready to join up officially while the others are on the cusp of being in deep enough to turn the tables on their "allies." When the now-together Hazmat and Anachronism decide they've gained enough trust, they escape momentarily to contact Hank Pym and tell him what's been happening. He's not thrilled but he agrees to help them when the moment comes. Unfortunately, Zemo seems wise to their game and brings down each one of the kids not already under his sway (Death Locket seems pretty entrenched already and Cullen is being controlled by Daimon Hellstrom). It's a really nice bit of sleight of hand by Hopeless as he keeps the reader focused on the changes that have occurred over the last three months and on which of the kids will follow through on their original plan before revealing that Zemo already has the drop on them because, you know, in retrospect, of course he does, he's Zemo and this plan isn't foolproof, let alone Zemo-proof. Good issue. Total Score: 5/5


Avengers World 11
Spencer (w) and Ienco (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)

The Avengers kids are on hand and they prove themselves by taking down a flock of SHIELD agents before Maria agrees to their help. They go to AIM Island and, with the help of Manifold, take down plenty of AIM agents and use a device to gather the intelligence AIM has gathered and block its transmission. They manage to stick it to one of the bio-networked AIM agents and then distract Forson long enough to escape while the present Avengers head to the White House to defend it from AIM, who have more or less declared war on America after Iron Man's "attack" on Forson on live TV. Mostly interesting stuff here though the re-emergence of the Next Avengers mostly just serves to confuse me as to why they're back and, you know, timeline stuff and the like. Whatever, still doing alright. Total Score: 4/5


Deadpool 33
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

Deadpool fights off wave after wave of Ultimatum soldiers before their boss Flag-Smasher appears and Deadpool gets incapacitated enough for Flag-Smasher to throw Ellie out the window. Deadpool struggles to his feet and begins his attacks anew, furious and sad, until Genesis shows up to help his ol' pal Deadpool with own pal Quentin Quire in tow. Evan caught Ellie going out the window and the girl is unharmed, which doesn't keep Deadpool from annihilating Flag-Smasher, ensuring he stays alive so no one else picks up the mantle and comes after him and threatening him with horrible consequences should he ever come near Deadpool or Ellie again. Deadpool convinces Preston to take Ellie in and he himself buys a house across the street from Preston to be in constant view of his daughter. Meanwhile, Adsit reveals to Preston that Deadpool killed his own family. Pretty good issue, plenty of fun and interesting stuff here. I don't love Lucas' art, which makes anyone unmasked look fairly grotesque and kind of distracts from the situation at hand. Not bad otherwise though. Total Score: 4/5


Fantastic Four 8
J. Robinson (w) and L. Kirk (p) and Hanna (i) and Aburtov (c) and Cowles (l)

Thing is accused of murder, Sue attacked the Avengers after losing her kids, and Johnny's been booted from his live tour in favor of Robinson's ALL-NEW INVADERS creation Radiance. Thing is moved to a high-power prison facility and Sue and Reed are brought to Eden, a community hovering above Lake Michigan led by a man named John Eden because creativity isn't worth anything, I suppose. This is a book I legitimately finished, planning to read a few more comics upon its completion, and I found I couldn't continue because sometimes books are just too bad. It seems telling that the blurb they took from a Newsarama article for the cover simply says "Marvel's premier dysfunctional family" and not anything lauding this actual series. It seems like something is pulling the strings here on the F4 and you can almost be assured that's true because Robinson basically has Reed say it a couple times without actually saying it because Reed apparently hasn't figured it out yet but is taking liberty to simply dance around it. Maybe they didn't have any space to say it outright because they had already used up all of their real estate on exposition. I really don't like this book. Total Score: 1/5


Hulk 5
Duggan (w) and Bagley (p) and Hennessy (i) and Keith (c) and Petit (l)

Hulk has been injected with Extremis and it's made him incredibly smart, though it made him also shave his hair into a mohawk and start calling himself "Doc Green" so maybe we're meant to question exactly how smart he really is. He's smart enough, though, to have formulated a way to cure gamma-enhanced beings, though the serum won't work on himself. He's realized that gamma-enhancements are too dangerous to have around and he's made enough of the serum and fashioned enough adamantium nanites for delivery to the other gamma-enhanced beings, starting with Rick Jones, who isn't so crazy about the idea. Very interesting new direction for the series as Gerry Duggan takes over the book (a little sad that it's not Mark Waid because I was going to talk about how I met Mark Waid last week and he was delightful and very kind but now I have no idea when I'll be able to mention it). I'm distracted, still, by the mohawk and the name Doc Green but I like a lot of the other stuff. Total Score: 4/5


Inhuman 3
Soule (w) and Madureira (a) and Gracia (c) and Cowles (l)

Lash has taken a few more Inhumans to Orollan, though no one really knows what to make of his cultish ways. Meanwhile, Lineage has sought council with Medusa to tell him what he knows about Black Bolt's plan, gleaned from the information he's received from the voices in his body. Allegedly, something worse is coming for the Inhumans and Black Bolt unleashed the Terrigen Mists because they'd need all the help they can get. Medusa brings a handful of combatants to Orollan to tell Lash about the threats and to warn him off killing any more Inhumans, which he very reluctantly agrees to. Lots of good stuff here and a lot of interesting new places to go but you do have to get through a lot of exposition in this issue to get to the meat of the series. Total Score: 4/5






GUYS, maybe there will be more later but I am burned out and APPARENTLY I really left a ton for myself for today/tomorrow so I'm takin' a break. Love you all, spoilers for the future post: THUNDERBOLTS and X-FORCE are both worth reading. Can't say much else.

Amazing Spider-Man 4, Daredevil 6

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

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

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

Total Score: 2/5


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

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

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

Total Score: 3/5

Comics this week

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

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

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

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

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

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

Leftovers 7/9/14

100th Anniversary Special: Amazing Spider-Man 1
S. Ryan (w) and I. Lee (a and c) and Cowles (l)

Another glimpse into the future as we see where Peter Parker might be in another few decades, battling Kingpin over a techno-symbiote, a Venom that grants him access to the world's electrical data. In a city where even the cars are connected to a giant grid, it gives him unparalleled control and the ability to hunt Peter at any turn. Peter manages to escape into the technology-less Central Park and make himself a torch, which he wields as Venom approaches. He dives at Kingpin with it and manages to burn off the suit, taking Kingpin down. He returns home and we learn that he's recently lost Aunt May (hard to feel too bad, she lived to maybe 700 years old, given the way she looks in early SPIDER-MAN) but he's ready to keep fighting. It's not a bad in medias res book (though it claims to be 8 of 8 and it's the first time Kingpin is revealed as the villain, so it's indicative of a pacing problem in the arc) and Sean Ryan's writing doesn't over-explain too much (as would be the temptation as you jump into a whole new world and the end of an arc) while In-Hyuk Lee's art is very impressive. Strong stuff, certainly entertaining enough to read, though it seems a little heavy-handed about the role of electronics and the pace of technology and so forth. 4/5

All-New Invaders 7
J. Robinson (w) and Laming (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

Torch continues to explain to SHIELD agent Malloy what happened with Radiance, which leads to a story within a story within a story and ALL OF THEM ARE BORING. The original Invaders were set to cause a tsunami in Japan that would likely end the war but Golden Girl, Radiance's grandmother, could not abide the loss of innocent lives the tsunami would cause. She and the Kid Commandoes fight against the Invaders and eventually cause them to see the innocent people and they all refuse to go through with the plan, prompting the army to drop the bombs. Radiance backs off, ashamed that she took such steps to nearly really hurt some people, and Torch takes the fall for her and he explains it to Malloy and Malloy is apparently an alien AI and I DO NOT CARE. This book has SO MUCH over-exposition, kicking off with Malloy literally saying "let me list what you've said" at one point and it's just stuff like that that make this one of the most poorly written and therefore boring books I've seen. 1/5

Amazing Spider-Man 1.3
Slott (w) and R. Pérez (a) and Herring (c) and Caramagna (l)

As the science fair approaches, Peter decides to enter a magnetic device he used against the Vulture. It fails to impress but it works well when Clayton Cole shows up at the fair in his Clash get-up and Peter assumes the worst, changing to Spider-Man and attacking before Clash can hurt anyone. Of course, it makes matters worse and Clash is more powerful than he was before. Spider-Man forces him to flee with the magnetic device but has earned the ire of everyone around and his turned Clash even more against Spider-Man. This is a fairly slow issue with equal time given to the new storyline as to the old ones (like the Vulture fight) so you already know a lot of the stuff that's happening. More than that, though, it reverts Spidey to his original personality maybe a little too well, making him far less likable and more reactionary. He is rather the cause of all of these troubles (with a generous helping of Clayton Cole's insanity). 2/5

Avengers Undercover 7
Hopeless (w) and Walker (p) and Gorder (i) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

Chase is in neurosurgery even after Nico uses her power to heal his chest and it rather sends her off the deep end. She's been training with Alex, her evil, one-time, thought dead boyfriend, who has determined that her power is legendary but her willingness to use it is holding her back. When Chase returns near death, she flips and decides to give up, letting in to her more wrong desires and kissing Alex. Meanwhile, Maria Hill, Hank Pym, and Steve Rogers lament the loss of AIM's prisoner, a SHIELD agent named Crenshaw who pretty much built their entire communications security and who is now in Zemo's grasp and Cammi, kept quietly in a cell, creates a peephole to see where she's being kept only to find out that it's right above Zemo's living room. She sees them celebrating, Zemo's hand around the waist of a woman with her back to the cell, and can't figure out what the celebration is for, leading her cellmate, the still alive Arcade, to offer some theories. Really interesting book as these kids only get more interesting and as their situation seems to get more dire. Lot of fun with a couple of good twists and turns and the promise of the next issue zooming us three months into the future. 5/5

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 3
M. Benson (w) and Huat (p) and Yeung (i) and Aburtov (c) and Sabino (l)

Shang-Chi, with the help of the Daughters of the Dragon and MI6, follows after White Dragon and a mysterious friend, learning that they've taken hold of a book of powerful dark magic. Shang is joined by sometimes adversary Skull Crusher, also believing White Dragon is up to something too sinister to continue. They sneak into the White Dragon's lair and come upon him, managing to subdue him but ultimately succumbing to the magic in the room. Then Dragon's friend appears, revealing himself to be Midnight Sun, brother to Shang-Chi, who is set on taking his father's place and running the crime world of England. They've already killed most of the Triads' leaders, using their heads for their enchantments, and White Dragon offers up his own to Midnight Sun, who takes it and then proceeds to take Skull Crusher's. Things look as bad as they have for Shang-Chi, who is facing quite an adversary in his own brother. The book moves well and doesn't over-explain, though still gives enough of a sense of things for unfamiliar readers to get a foothold in the story. I'm also particularly partial to Huat's art after X-MEN LEGACY so this book is doing pretty well in my book, though it does get a little too deep into Shang-Chi's story for the casual reader. 4/5


Deadpool 31
Posehn and Duggan (w) and J. Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

While Deadpool and Dazzler keep pulling apart the vampire nests, Preston meets with Butler's brother in Chicago. She meets Ellie, who has something of a fondness for violence and gore, but she's asked to leave by Utler before anything really happens. However, a separate task force appears to capture Ellie and Preston manages to all but fight them off. When she's shot and taken out in the process, though, she manages to spend a text to Deadpool to tell him what's happening, which sends him looking for any help to get him to Chicago quickly. After exhausting all his likely allies, he happens upon Thor at Avenger's Mansion, who allows him to hang on to Mjolnir while he throws it for Chicago. The book moves pretty well and advances the plot nicely, though the vampire hunt seems to be taking something of a backseat to the Ellie situation, which feels a little strange. The art is maybe a little more disconcerting than I'd like but otherwise, pretty strong showing. 4/5

Fantastic Four 7
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Haspiel (p) and Haspiel and Kesel w/Magyar (i) and Aburtov and Woodard (c)

Johnny ruined Reed's chance to help Ben in the past and now Thing remembers it all and demands Johnny not speak to him again. He leaves Johnny's apartment and heads to the bar, where he gets a call from Alicia saying she's been kidnapped by her step-father, the Puppet Master. He rushes to her, calling Reed to come help on the way. When Reed arrives, he finds Thing standing over the body of Puppet Master, swearing that he didn't do it. Much of the first half of the issue is dedicated to the ORIGINAL SIN flashback, which is rather unnecessary as we pretty much got the gist of it last time. There's still plenty going on with Puppet Master and it feels like this is the sort of crime/trial/mystery that could go on for a while and maybe have an easy wrap-up. Still, the book reads alright, though a little over expository, and the differing art styles (Haspiel for the OS flashback and Kirk for the rest) work for their parts. 3/5

Nightcrawler 4
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Sabino (l)

The Trimegas attack the school and Wolverine and Nightcrawler find that Margali has escaped after dismantling Storm and Beast to just their memories. Amanda sets to work repairing them but finds that they have memories missing, specifically the ones about Kurt's return. Her plan seems to be to go to Heaven and conquer that world with her Trimegas and her magic but Kurt and Amanda find and stop her out on the lawn, though not before she opens a portal between the two. Amanda dives into it to help close it from that side but Kurt is barred access, already having chosen to leave Heaven. She refuses to let him try, fearing he'll erase himself from eternity of he tries (??) but promises she'll be waiting for him and the portal closes. The adventure is a fairly strong one and it intends in classic Claremont fashion but the issue is bogged down a little by unnecessary dialogue and explanation, such as Nightcrawler's inner monologue that runs through his list of everyone fighting, something that has come up in just about every issue so far and which wasn't even necessary the first time. There are things here that are interesting but they'll have to get past the bogged down presentation to really unleash them. 3/5

Original Sins 3
Inhuman: Soule (w) and Browne (a) and Delgado (c) and Cowles (l)
Young Avengers: North (w) and Villalobos (a) and Gibson (c) and Cowles (l)
J. Jonah Jameson: Slott (w) and Bagley (p) and Rubinstein (i) and Mounts (c) and Cowles (l)

An Inhuman named Lineage learns that Black Bolt started a war with the Kree, the Young Avengers are convinced to make a mini-Cerebro for the Hood to learn everything they can from the drug addicts who took too many secrets, and J. Jonah Jameson fires a young reporter who digs a little too deep into Spider-Man's past only to learn that Jameson had once reviewed Spidey's one-man show positively. The INHUMAN story, written by INHUMAN writer Charles Soule, seems to indicate more coming, the YOUNG AVENGERS story continues to be well-written with a lot of fun moments but ultimately a little slow, and the Jameson story is a fast enough read that it's just a cute little one-off. Can't complain too much on this one. 4/5

Spider-Man 2099 1
David (w) and Sliney (a) and Fabela (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miguel O'Hara, posing as Mike O'Mara in the present, is the Spider-Man of 2099 but he's trapped in 2014 and trying to make ends meet. He works for Alchemax, the company that will go on to ruin the world by his time and he rents a pretty crappy apartment in the city. He's chased by something of a timecop, sent back to destroy him before he changes anything, but he manages to outmaneuver it, causing it to blow its own head off instead of his or Alchemax owner Liz Allan. As Spidey 2099 leaves her office, Liz has her assistant verify that no windows have been broken, believing that this Spider-Man is on her payroll somewhere. There are interesting things happening as this series kicks off, particularly with the added twist of an intelligent Liz Allan immediately taking steps that seemingly no one else has ever taken for Spider-Man, but the issue starts to get a little too cute as banter slows things down and makes the timecop (from future agency TOTEM) almost comical at times while being threatening and cold at others. Still, strong first entry and only a couple times with Miguel saying future-swear "shock." 4/5

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 13
Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Chameleon managed to get away from the crime scene as the cops and Mach VII showed up, but most of the other guys were taken away. Boomerang and his team, though, successfully snuck out with the portrait, planning to head to a safehouse. Meanwhile, Shocker and the head of Silvermane make it out of their predicament when Shocker realizes he can use his gauntlets to fly away from Hammerhead and his goons. He lands at the safehouse before Boomerang, setting Shocker and his old team for a reunion. The book drags a little bit when it focuses on Shocker and Silvermane but overall it's an incredibly fun book with a lot of truly funny moments. Many books that go for funny fall a little flat because they seem to come out of left field or the situation doesn't really call for funny or something like that but this book reliably manages to hit just the right tone and to keep the book fun. Strong showing for this one. 4/5


Wolverine 10
Cornell (w) and P. Woods (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Sabretooth has access to the weapon now and is ready to transform New York entirely, making it truly Darwinian world, one where his strengths should set him up to be the ruler of all (which seems to work in counterpoint to his new CEO Sabretooth appearance). Meanwhile, Wolverine tracks him with help from the X-Men, to whom he apologizes, and prepares to attack with the help of his Guerica Bar pals, to whom he apologizes, Thor, to whom he apologizes, and SHIELD, to whom he apologizes. Wolverine has decided to accept help finally and now it'll be a matter of timing about whether Wolverine's forces can stop Sabretooth before he unleashes his weapon. Things are shaping up here for a big final showdown but it's still slowed by the stupid Guernica Bar stuff, the maudlin Wolverine, some weird art, and CEO Sabretooth. 3/5

And the rest

Sorry for all of those days off this week. Sadly, I think it's probably set to be more the norm than the exception here. I'm likely going to change from a "Reviews all major Marvel releases" to a "Reads all major Marvel releases and tells you which ones to read" sort of thing.  So here's where the rest of this week's books landed themselves. Search out the pictures for the quick hits of the (admittedly predictable) top-rated in this group!

All-New Doop 3
Milligan (w) and Lafuente and Camagni (a) and L. Allred (c) and Cowles (l)

Doop keeps trying to help out in the Battle of the Atom but things aren't working so well. He can't out future Kitty as Raze because he fears Raze knows something about Doop's mother, who Doop fears. His only real help is temporarily taking Kitty and Bobby out of the fight so they can break up in peace. He then confronts his mother with the help of a couple X-Statix members. It continues to be hard to rate this book because I continue to not know exactly what it's hoping to accomplish so I can't rightly say if it's done so or not. 3/5


All-New Ghost Rider 4
F. Smith (w) and T. Moore (a) and Staples (c) and Caramagna (l)

Robbie, the new Ghost Rider, encounters and fights a Hyde-serum boosted Grumpy but has to flee the fight, promising to get stronger. Meanwhile, Dr. Zabu has decided Grumpy needs to be dealt with and, with a new and more powerful pill, begins recruiting an army, including Robbie's daytime nemesis Guero. This book continues to have a pretty strong through line and Tradd Moore's art continues to really fit the tone and action. Strong stuff. 5/5











All-New Ultimates
Fiffe (w) and Pinna (a) and Woodard (c) and Cowles (l)

It's beach day for the girls of the All-New Ultimates and they play in the arcade, tan, and gossip while Cloak works on his powers and Spider-Man asks Ganke about what his kiss with a villain means for his relationship with Kate Bishop. Also, Jessica Drew comes out as a lesbian and Bombshell's boyfriend is killed by Diamondback and her crew, luring Bombshell back to his place, where she's captured and drugged into subservience. It's too bad the reveal of a possibly strong gay character is buried by a book that's so boring and eye-rollingly uninteresting. 2/5


Amazing Spider-Man 3
Slott (w) and Ramos (p) and Olazaba (i) and Delgado (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

Peter is trying to get his workers to like him, now that he's removed from Doc Ock, but it doesn't quite work out. Still, his new aim to safely capture Electro and bid for a new prison contract is met with lukewarm response at best, even when he takes a few of his key scientists out to view a fire started by Electro. As Spider-Man has to scurry away to help deal with the fire, he determines that MJ's new boyfriend is a pretty good guy and runs afoul of a very angry Black Cat, who he confuses and evades for the moment by pretending he's still Doc Ock. She flees and finds Electro, with whom she teams. It's not a bad issue, per se, but if you read the entirety of the extra-long AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1, you probably could skip this one. It's good for building more on these characters but it's not really enough to separate from the bones of that first issue. 3/5


Avengers Undercover 6
Hopeless (w) and Green II (p) and Gorder (i) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

It's time, after a few weeks settling in, for a couple of the Murderworld Bunch (I'll come up with a better name eventually) to go on an actual mission and earn their keep. Chase and Death Locket, accompanied by Death Locket's new romantic interest Excavator and others, jump into a battle on AIM Island in an attempt to steal some tech only to suddenly see Captain America entering the scene. Excavator encourages Death Locket to take the shot on Cap and to take him out, which she very slowly comes around to doing but Chase tackles her as she's shooting, sending the shot elsewhere. He tells her their plan of blending in for now while they find a way to restore hero creed, which leaves her confused when Excavator attacks Chase and the two fight, leaving Death Locket with a choice. She shoots Chase. Strong issue, plenty happening and a nice jump forward in time to let us see what's been going on. Good development for Death Locket too, who was too much a naive pawn in the last series to get a ton of characterization. 5/5


Deadpool vs. Carnage 4
Bunn (w) and Espin (a) and Gandini (c) and Sabino (l)

A newly en-symbioted Deadpool attacks Carnage, still trying to convince him that he's predictable, at least to Deadpool. The two fight and fight with Carnage refusing to believe Deadpool's claims, still believing himself to be his own man. However, when Deadpool tricks him into killing Shriek by understanding the way he thinks, Carnage has to reassess. He delivers himself to the police office in the hopes that his imprisonment will give him a chance to think some things over. Deadpool wins another one though this one really felt like it had lost its focus from the start. But maybe, given these two characters, that was the aim. 3/5


Fantastic Four 6
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Haspiel (p) and Kesel and Haspiel (i) and Aburtov, Gandini, and Woodard (c) and Cowles (l)

The kids have been taken away from the F4 and they return home to find that the courts have also refused them access to the Baxter Building. The Avengers are onsite to keep them out because this book just keeps getting more ridiculous. The kids have learned from a SHIELD agent that Dragon Man is to be deactivated and they appeal to fellow android Human Torch to help their friend. Meanwhile, as ORIGINAL SIN hits, Ben learns that Johnny may be responsible for sabotaging a device that would have reverted Thing back into human form for good. This book has shown again and again that it has a goal and it's willing to walk all over any logic that might stop it from getting to said goal. On top of the insane court case that the F4 and Jen Walters somehow lost, now the Avengers are hired security to ensure a smooth transition because apparently the whole hero community would INSTANTLY turn on the F4 (though, you know, they are pretty boring). 1/5


Guardians of the Galaxy 16
Bendis (w) and Bradshaw, Marquez, and Masters (a) and Ponsor, Delgado, and Villarrubia (c) and Petit (l)

Angela swoops in to save Gamora from the Badoon as Captain Marvel swoops in to save Star-Lord from leaping out of a building to his death. J-Son and Star-Lord have a verbal fight in front of all the cameras J-Son insisted on having to show his son's punishment and it turns many against J-Son as Star-Lord gives an impassioned speech about the role of the Guardians. It even convinces the Supreme Intelligence to release Rocket. Meanwhile, Skrulls try to use the Venom symbiote and fail, which results in their deaths as it reattaches to Flash and Drax is sentenced to death by Gladiator and given the chance to choose his means. He chooses a battle to the death with Gladiator, who accepts. Plenty still happening but I think that the slow issue 15 hurts this one a bit as this one feels very much like the last one but, you know, the opposite? It's kind of hard to explain, but it's a situation where everything is happening so exactly the way they'd want it to happen that it kind of negates any drama from last issue. 3/5


Ms. Marvel 5
G.W. Wilson (w) and Alphona (a) and Herring (c) and Caramagna (l)

Kamala is quickly overwhelmed by The Inventor's henchmen, led by punk scientist Doyle, and forced to flee. She manages it but gets in some trouble with her parents when she returns home less-than-stealthily. She enlists Bruno to help her up her game with training and a new costume. After a montage, she returns to Doyle's place and takes them apart, rescuing Bruno's brother Vick without too much trouble. However, now The Inventor and Doyle's gang are out for blood. Solid issue, complete with some good training for Kamala (and some training that makes a bit of sense, not just a leap to "I'm a superhero now!" status) and good characterization for everyone involved, including Bruno and Kamala's parents. Strong work continues and just look at that McKelvie cover. 5/5





New Warriors 6
Yost (w) and Roche and Baldeon (p) and Roche and Tarragona (i) and Redmond (c) and Caramagna (l)

Wundagore Mountain, thanks to a bit of confusion out of the dog and cat priests (Jake Waffles and Mr. Whiskers), has been transported right to the center of New York City. Fortunately, it's phased a bit out of place and therefore it doesn't actually affect anything around it, just confuses plenty of people, Avengers included. Captain America and Iron Man meet with Justice and Speedball while Thor sits in with the rest of the team (minus Nova, the only one with a connection to Thor, thanks to a previous engagement). While Justice argues with Cap over the meaning of the New Warriors, Water Snake starts to see more visions, eventually attacking Thor because of them. While a big fight breaks out in the middle of Wundagore Mountain, Hummingbird reveals the demon bothering Water Snake and settles everything down, the misunderstanding cleared up. Justice quits the Avengers and dedicates himself to the New Warriors in the face of scrutiny, mistrust, and condescension from Cap. Another strong issue for the young book as fun and energetic voices mix with dark memories and weighty issues. 5/5


Savage Hulk 1
A. Davis (w and p) and Farmer (i) and Hollingsworth (c) and Cowles (l)

In the midst of X-MEN 66, Bruce Banner and the X-Men try to find a way to help Xavier out of his coma. Though Banner's device helps them to do it, it opens up Xavier to realizing he needs to do what he can to help Hulk. He sends his team of X-Men to try and find Hulk and help him find a cure for his situation but Hulk has encountered problems of his own, as the army and the Leader descend on him and as Abomination descends on the X-Men. It's hard to know if a lack of familiarity with the source material is keeping this one confusing for me but it's hard to point to the source material for why this one is so slow. For all of the crossed paths and all the excitement this one feels it should have, it seems to actually carry none of that. It also may have to do with my own distaste for Davis' art. 2/5

Comics this week

Hey bros and ladybros, we have a pretty big slate of comics this week because the universe hates me! Let's call out this week's top recommended books in our weekly pre-game.

Amazing Spider-Man 3
Slott has jumped right back into the swing of things (HA, how many times has that pun been used overall for Spider-Man or other superheroes, really, do we think? I'd put the over-under at 2,500) and this book feels rejuvenated for it. Been fun so far, looking for that fun to continue.

Ms. Marvel 5
If you're not reading this book yet, you should probably get on the bandwagon while there's still room. Seriously. Bandwagons aren't really known for their size, mostly for their propensity for heading towards things that people like. ANYWAY, it's been a fun book and, if Jamie McKelvie's covers are to be believed, young Kamala Khan is headed on a collision course with the rest of the Marvel Universe sooner rather than later.

New Warriors 6
This was VERY NEARLY replaced on this list by NEW AVENGERS 20 but I didn't want to have to write "SERIOUSLY, they're gonna fight those dudes at SOME POINT" a third time so instead, I'm choosing NEW WARRIORS, a book that deserves to have a little light shed on it. This book has had a really interesting mix of voices and I'm looking forward to seeing where these characters take us. So far, we have three choices that are a bit against the grain in that they're all what I'd describe as genuinely fun books. WILL THE TREND CONTINUE? NOPE.

Uncanny Avengers 21
Rick Remender's epic story continues as the remaining Unity Avengers prepare to "trust" Kang and travel back to the past to save the rest of their team. Can they manage it? What will become of the timeline they've grown to know and, perhaps most importantly, what will become of little Katie Summers? STORY ABOUND.

X-Force 6
If you even TRY to tell me you're not reading this book I'll be of a mind to slap you. Spurrier has brought his typical heady but extraordinarily fun style to this book about the world's covert mutant good guys and it's fired on every cylinder so far. Really enjoying this book. It's always refreshing to have a book for which you have high hopes actually meet or exceed those expectations. LOOK NO FURTHER, this book is GREAT.

Amazing Spider-Man 1.2, Deadpool 30

Amazing Spider-Man 1.2
Slott (w) and R. Pérez (a) and Herring (c) and Caramagna (l)

With Peter still trying to attend counseling and maintain the busy Spider-Man schedule on the down-low, new possible hero Clash has his first outing, which goes rather unsuccessfully. Clayton Cole, though, unlike Peter Parker, comes from a wealthy family and is able to literally buy time with Spider-Man through his agent. Spidey, needing the money, shows up but is pretty quickly creeped out and webs Clash up and leaves, making himself a new enemy in the process.

There's a lot to this little limited tie-in series that could enrich a reader's understanding or view of Peter Parker at the start of his career, which is certainly a nice thing, but it also rather means that the story runs a little slowly as there's just maybe a little too much context, particularly for older readers. It is certainly still a valid Peter Parker story and does an interesting job weaving and winding between classic Spidey stories but it tends to move pretty slowly between those stories (seeing Peter Parker in counseling, it turns out, is maybe not so thrilling, partly because it's more Peter pretending not to be Spider-Man which wears a little thin after 50 years and partly because who would actually think that would be thrilling?). Still an entertaining enough story, even if Clash starts to sound a little like Max Dillon in Amazing Spider-Man 2, a villain I had a lot of trouble with (was he actually mentally handicapped? Should we be rooting for Spider-Man to defeat the mentally handicapped villain?).

Total Score: 3/5


Deadpool 30
Posehn and Duggan (w) and J. Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

While Deadpool and Dazzler, at the behest of Shiklah, seek out vampire nests all throughout New York, Preston and Adsit deal with what they saw in the ORIGINAL SIN explosion. Preston saw where she can find Eleanor and Adsit saw something horrible enough he's refusing to talk about it. Preston goes by herself to Chicago to visit Butler's brother. She finds Eleanor, hidden away in a doghouse and, back turned to the camera, Preston reacts to her visage.

Deadpool's plan to take down the vampires (a plan my girlfriend, not reading the series, referred to as "pretty funny, actually") is working pretty well, even if it's grossing Dazzler out. We get maybe a teensy bit too much of it here as things start to turn to obvious jokes and quips, making things a little cheesy to read at times. However, the plan remains an interesting one and the Deadpool-Dazzler team-up is fun and fresh. There are more hints to dire goings-on as Adsit remains silent on what he saw in the explosion, though hints that maybe he's not going to be so thrilled with Deadpool the next time they meet, and as Preston meets Eleanor only to be horrified by whatever she looks like or is or something. Plenty fun enough to read, slows down a little maybe midway through as we hit the point where they have to drag the issue on a little to leave the reveal for next time.

Total Score: 4/5