Captain America 19, Black Widow 5

Captain America 19
Remender (w) and Klein (a) and White (c)

Steve is aboard the Gungnir as it fires on the two helicarriers in pursuit of it, two helicarriers the combined power of which couldn't so much as scratch it. The Gungnir's response is far more powerful, destroying the helicarriers immediately and showcasing the power of SHIELD's new devastating weapon. Steve allows himself no time to mourn just as he's been left no time to deal with the losses of Ian and Sharon. He pushes his way through the SHIELD agents guarding Mindbubble and Ran Shen and lashes out at them, quickly taking the upper hand in the fight. However, Shen sees he won't convince Steve and begins to transform into the Iron Nail as Mindbubble reappears and bubbles up Cap's head.

We knew this showdown was coming and we knew, as much as we maybe didn't want it to happen, that Cap would be mindbubbled sooner or later. For as much of a buildup as we've had waiting for these villains and our hero to meet, the key here is in the way all of the characters are presented. For Shen and Mindbubble, it's two old friends who believe in what they're doing even if they're aware it goes against the people they used to be. Though their methods and maybe even their philosophies are debatable, this issue humanizes them more than they've gotten throughout their runs in the series and it's a nice touch. On top of that, we see Cap pushing past everything he's been feeling lately and kind of taking control of his life again, even if it's maybe not that encouraging at this point and if it's not fully realized because, you know, now he's bubbled. Of course, Cap is always one of those characters who seems less susceptible to psychic attacks because his will is so strong, though we've seen him cave in the last year or so to Red Skull's psychic attacks and the likes. ANYWAY, what I was getting to is that there's a solid Cap scene here where he recognizes for the first time since Dimension Z that he's Captain America and, though this would break other men, he can't afford to act like other men. There's even a nice characterization bit for Jet here, who only has one line this issue, when we see her feet propped up on the coffee table as she watches the news. Welcome to Earth, Jet; we're pretty chill here.

Black Widow 5
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Natasha, in a bind for information about the Hammer of God and who he's working for, turns to and old acquaintance (though new to this universe, as near as I can tell) named Tori Raven. Raven tells her that the monk is Molot Boga and that he's a former Russian Orthodox monk who was kicked out for his violent mood swings and now he works for some one putting his faith to murderous action. Raven wasn't able to figure out for whom he works but knows that he's going to blow up a plane within two hours. Natasha rushes off to the airport indicated and finds that she's just too late as she tries to shoot Boga while he fires a rocket launcher. She doesn't stop him in time and he hits the plane. The two battle while the plane goes down and Natasha finally gets the upper hand as she pushes him back just far enough to get sucked into the 747's turbine. She hurries on to the plane to try to help the passengers but discovers, as things get weirder and weirder, that there's only one passenger aboard. SHIELD questions him but he won't say who his attacker is or who bought out the entire plane for him. Raven calls Natasha and tells her that she can find answers to some of her questions on a boat just off the coast of Montenegro. Natasha heads that way but discovers that she's been sold out as she's surrounded by boats and brought on to the main boat she was after only to learn that her captor is Damon Dran, the indestructible man, who is off-site and seemingly in hiding from whatever it is she's after.

There's so much happening here as this book continues to build its first full storyline. Edmondson has done something incredible with this book already and he's going, it seems, in all the right directions with it. After spending the first few issues establishing Natasha's character and showing her in action, he's now building up the world around her, a world that heavily includes informants, Maria Hill, Isaiah, and presumably others as we push forward. The other thing that Edmondson is doing well, particularly so early into this run, is really illustrating Natasha as a character who takes what she does very seriously and who is very good at what she does but who certainly isn't perfect. This issue's narration focuses heavily on the importance of intel and Edmondson makes sure we know that Natasha feels naked without the intelligence she needs, which is why she dives so readily into the water to chase down the boat at the end; it has all the makings of a trap but she's so desperate for sound intelligence that she's willing to chase down any lead. It's a good issue, maybe not the best so far of the run (taking into account how amazing the run has been), but it's certainly setting some things up for the future and, of course, Phil Noto's art remains incredible. I can't articulate any better, I feel like, how good this run is.

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.

Captain America 18, Iron Man 22

Captain America 18
Remender (w) and Klein (a) and White (c)

Mindbubble has control of Fury and, in turn, control of the Gungnir, a new helicarrier the size of a city and probably with the firepower to level more than just that. Maria Hill calls for all the backup she can get to try to stop Mindbubble. Fortunately for her, Cap and Falcon were nearby trying to spy on the goings-on, suspicious of SHIELD for having weaponry and villains that even Steve isn't allowed to know about. As they approach, they find themselves set upon by SHIELD agents thinking that the two heroes are Hydra. They take them down non-lethally and Cap steals one of their bikes to go after the helicarrier. On the way, Steve calls Jet, who had been interrogating a cyborg tasked with guarding Weapon Minus, and learns from her about Mindbubble, an ex-SHIELD scientist who had wanted to create a less violent alternative to warfare. SHIELD, of course, wanted an alternative to Weapon Plus, in case their experiments ever turned on them. Mindbubble used the super soldier serum and LSD to create a new concoction he hoped would be more peaceful. With no willing test subjects, Mindbubble used the serum on himself and quickly went crazy, turning on SHIELD and taking down a number of SHIELD agents before he could be restrained. Jet also informs Steve that Mindbubble's mindbubbles create a sort of dream map for the victim, placing him in the fantasy world his own heart desired. When Mindbubble is done with them, the fantasy turns dark and kills the victim. She advises Steve to kill himself rather than let the fantasy do it if he's mindbubbled. Steve arrives on the helicarrier with an entire SHIELD fleet on his tail as the issue ends.

Still a lot going on here though this issue does feel a little redundant. The Mindbubble origin isn't exactly foreign to us at this point so retelling it isn't too effective only a couple issues later. Also, much of this issue is fighting and a chase scene between SHIELD and Steve and Falcon. Despite all that, though, the issue is still entertaining and it moves really quickly for how much information is dispensed. Hill somehow remains the only one un-mindbubbled of the agents sent to take down Mindbubble and Fury and she sets the Gungnir to self-destruct though she's surprised and stopped by the Iron Nail amidst everything else that's happening. It's a solid issue and there are some nice moments between Steve and Sam. The narration continues to be fairly strong and sets up plenty of feelings for Steve, letting us know that he's got a lot to fantasize about when he eventually has to go up against Mindbubble and letting us know that he has just about exactly the right amount of trust in SHIELD. The colors on this issue were a nice departure from the grim and dark metal colors we've seen lately in this book, setting up the chase over plenty of orange desert making it seem a little more light than it had lately, even if it's only as an interlude between tense moments. I don't think you'll miss a lot if you miss this issue but it's still one worth reading. Can't complain.

Iron Man 22
Gillen (w) and Bennett and Hanna (a) and Guru-eFX (c)

It's Red Threat and Iron Man up against Lord Remaker and the Exile in a battle of Mandarin Rings and Stark Tech for the new city Troy. Abigail Burns has changed her mind about the city and fights alongside her hated foe Tony Stark to defend it but Tony's mind is on the Troy Core, the heart of the city and the last known whereabouts of Arno Stark, that Lord Remaker just destroyed. Tony continues fighting but is soon surprised when Arno emerges from the wreckage in his new battle suit, a giant Iron Man suit of his own design. The reinforcements force the Exile and Lord Remaker to flee. Red Threat tracks Lord Remaker in the city with her own ring and finds him dead at the hands of someone else, the ring gone. Just as quickly, her hands are sliced off and the attacker again disappears with the ring. Tony finds her and brings her to a hospital where he and Marc question her about the rings. She tells them that the rings just want to destabilize and cause chaos and that they seem to really hate Tony Stark. Therefore, their mission is two-fold: wreak havoc and wreck Tony. According to Abigail, this means Stark has painted a bullseye on Troy with his very presence. He acquiesces and holds a press conference to announce his decision to leave the city in the hands of the capable and mysterious new designer Arno. Meanwhile, new series villain Malekith counts the three rings on his fingers and vows to complete the set.

This is one of those situations where I hate hate hate solicits. I understand, to a point, the purpose of them. In this, the information age, no one wants to wait three months to find out what to expect from a new series or, for retailers, to know what's going to be on the shelves. Sometimes, books are able to guard their secrets in solicits but that's usually just for big events and deaths and things. This would have been a crazy reveal, one that really shakes up what's happening in IRON MAN and leaves a lot of questions to the reader. I try not to read solicits as often as I can but it's impossible at this point not to see some things, given the websites I frequent and the twitterers I follow. Even though many in the comics industry tend not to like solicits, they're forced to lean into them and advertise storylines in advance. I can't blame them for that; the news is out there, best to control it and answer questions the way you want them answered. In this case, I knew about Malekith joining the book a couple months ago so when a hand appeared and snagged Lord Remaker's ring, I wasn't at all surprised. It's too bad too. I kept thinking about this as I was reading, how curious I'd be if I wasn't aware of what was coming. GUYS, I think it'd be PRETTY CURIOUS. Still a good book and one that's well-written and exciting. Still a fun and exciting book as IRON MAN presses on.

Captain America 17, Iron Man Annual 1

Captain America 17
Remender (w) and Klein (a) and White (c)

Dr. Mindbubble, the product of the mysterious Weapon Minus program, is loose and his old friend Ran Shen, the Iron Nail, is the first to contact him. They talk about how SHIELD has lost sight of any boundaries and how its power is too great before Mindbubble agrees to do his part to slow its growth. He finds Nick Fury, having lost Falcon, at the bottom of the cliff and quickly mindbubbles him (GET READY, I'm using this as a verb whenever I see fit). Back in New York, Cap and Jet talk about Cap's idealism and how, in Jet's opinion, he could maybe stand to have a little less. Cap does seem to recognize that occasionally his desire to capture and not kill allows greater crimes to happen later but it's not something he's willing to strike right away. He's pulled into a situation wherein a dirty bank manager is attacked by Shen's people, ready to bring him to Shen's dirty bank manager mine. Cap stops them but looks with disgust at the man he saved. He's called back to the Hub by Maria Hill, who informs him of Nuke's explosion and the deaths it caused, including the presumed deaths of Fury and Falcon. Cap blames himself but gets the slightest reprieve when Jet reveals that she can sense Falcon two miles downstream from the site, not dead. MEANWHILE, Dr. Mindbubble has so mindbubbled Fury that Fury attacks a SHIELD base, thinking it's a Hydra base, and "steals" the plans for a new and seemingly indestructible helicarrier.

There are a lot of things to really like about what's happening in this book right now. Among those things is the idea of Dr. Mindbubble. I'm not going to say yet that I think Mindbubble is a great character (though, I can't stress this enough, mindbubble is a great verb) because it's just too soon. However, the idea that Weapon Minus was a SHIELD project meant to counter Weapon Plus is very intriguing and rather goes to Iron Nail's point that SHIELD maybe does have too much power (anyone who's ever read anything with SHIELD in it, except maybe Hickman's work or Steranko's work, could have told you that). Where everything that came out of Weapon Plus (Cap before it was officially Weapon Plus, Wolverine, Deadpool, Fantomex, the Skinless Man, etc) was created for his strength and fighting prowess, Mindbubble was created for his power over the mind, where everyone of them (aside from Fantomex, who takes his own precautions) is susceptible. Actually, you know what, tangent time. In a world where like, EVERYBODY wears costumes that entail some sort of headgear, why does only Magneto, of the major characters, have the sort that blocks out telepathic communication. Sure in SOME cases it makes sense, it may be more likely that Wolverine will WANT to communicate telepathically with, say, Psylocke than that he'll be controlled telepathically but shouldn't there be like, some sort of switch or something that blocks telepathic communication? Like, your head is ALREADY covered, dude, just throw in some lead or something. ANYWAY, pretty good issue, glad Falcon's not dead (though I wouldn't have supposed he was), really like the idea of Weapon Minus to counter Weapon Plus.

Iron Man Annual 1
Two Cities: Gillen (w) and A. Martinez and R. Fernandez (a) and Sotomayor (c)
Orbital: Gillen (w) and Padilla and Hanna (a) and Staples (c)
By Moonlight: Gillen (w) and Marz (a) and Sanz (c)

Three stories in this IRON MAN ANNUAL, or IRON MANNUAL, that all focus around recent events in the IRON MAN universe. The first ties to the recent Iron Man infinite comic FATAL FRONTIER wherein, on the moon, abandoned Soviet probe Udarnik the Shockworker used a new fuel source, called Phlogistone, to build a wonderful city for anyone who would join him and Tony, to prevent the free flow of Phlogistone getting out of hand, tried to keep the peace by pitting prospective Phlogistone manipulators against one another. It ended badly and Tony realized that Phlogistone poisoned humans, driving them mad. Everyone abandoned the city and Tony neutralized the metal. "Two Cities" picks up after that as Tony pleads with Udarnik to remove the remaining Phlogistone from his system. Udarnik isn't exactly on good terms with Tony, though, after the shutdown of his own city left him alone in space again. Tony convinces him by telling him of Troy and the impact it will have in space and reaching to the moon. Udarnik doesn't like it and hates the cruel irony that Tony, who destroyed his city, wants Udarnik to save him so he can finish building his own great city but Udarnik also can't help believing that Tony is the world's greatest hope to building a city like he claims and reaching to space and so saves him, telling him to leave and bring back other people. "Orbital" finds Arno Stark reaching out to Warren Ellis Eli Warren and his New Modernist Army (from that first arc with Extremis, the guys who were in space) to man Troy's geostationary orbital platform. Warren is skeptical and doesn't want to help anything Stark-related (though he doesn't know that Arno is Stark-related, just that Troy is) but Arno makes a compelling case and they agree, though not before informing Arno that Tony had destroyed every piece of Extremis which likely would have had the power to fix Arno's physical maladies, rebuilding him from the ground up. Finally, "By Moonlight" shows us a series of double-page spreads that start nine months ago, with Pepper and Marc's first meeting, followed by one a month later with the two of them on a date, and culminate with a date in Scotland three months ago when Marc proposed marriage and Pepper proposed a business relationship between Marc and Stark Resilient.

Geez, long summary, but remember I'm summarizing three different stories in one issue and (very briefly) one four-part (maybe?) infinite comic so let's cut me some slack, okay? The best thing about this issue, hands down, is how into Tony it gets without even really placing Tony front and center for the three different stories. In fact, he's only arguably the star of one of the three stories and even then Gillen has to cover some backstory that he can't be sure the reader of this comic has actually gotten around to reading yet, even if he's promised to do it and has it somewhere. In that first story, though, Tony is hallucinating about Yinsen, his friend from the day he became Iron Man, and Yinsen pretty explicitly offers up the theme of this issue and it's a powerful one. Yinsen says, as Tony believes himself to be dying (before Udarnik reluctantly helps him), "you're always willing to ask others to sacrifice for your greater good" and it's perhaps the most compellingly true thing about Iron Man. It's hard to argue that Iron Man has done good for this world, that his genius and his, after the Iron Man-creating incident, ethics have made the world a better place. In some ways, that's a part of what can make Iron Man boring if he's not well-handled; we know he's a good guy at this point and we know how nearly unbeatable he can be given some tools. But this, the idea that his egomania and arrogance make him exactly who he is, someone willing to make people give up their dreams to further his own because he knows them to be good, is certainly a compelling take on Iron Man and it's one that I certainly can't find fault with. As if his asking Udarnik to sacrifice his city and pride to help Tony build his own isn't enough, we get the second story where Arno learns that Tony destroyed Extremis despite the good it could have brought into the world. Very neat stuff, worth checking out to get a good sense of who Iron Man is.