Captain America 21, Black Widow 7, Iron Man 27

Captain America 21
Remender (w) and Klein (a) and White (c) and Caramagna (l)

The Gungnir has fully deployed, turning into a giant robot over the small country of Nrosvekistan in Iron Nail's attempt to show SHIELD and America tyrannically and devastatingly eliminating an underpowered enemy. With Mindbubble out of play, the SHIELD agents onboard have started to wake up, though they're groggy from their time mindbubbled. Captain America continues to fight Iron Nail and manages to stall him a bit, enough for Maria Hill to tell him that he needs to destroy the Gungnir's power core. Cap races down, pursued by the Iron Nail, and weak and injured, manages to make one last throw to send his shield caroming into the power core and shutting down the Gungnir. Iron Nail manages to get some of his weapons into Cap, draining him of his life force and aging him incredibly before Falcon arrives to save him, though it affords the Nail a chance set the Gungnir to destroy, hoping to take everyone down with him. Falcon pulls Cap out as Ran Shen is engulfed in flames but  it may be too late for Steve, who recovers in a hospital bed old and frail.

There's a lot of strong character work in this book as Steve pulls himself together for a final attempt at shutting down the Gungnir. He yells at himself for letting this all happen on his watch, for not seeing that Nuke was clearly a part of a bigger scheme, and for losing himself in thoughts about Dimension Z when it was already past, that he would mourn his past while he lost his present. Poor Steve is just about the only guy whose gone through that sort of thing TWICE and now he's here and upset with himself for being sad about it. He remembers his role as the super soldier, as Captain America, the guy who gets the privilege of wearing the uniform, as he continues to push himself and continues to stand. It's meaningful and hopeful and restorative right up until the moment when Iron Nail ages him up (hard to say if it's aging him up or extracting the super soldier serum from him, all possible, though I don't know that the latter would age him so incredibly). It's a strong finish to the Iron Nail's arc and it's certainly going to leave plenty of story pieces to pick up as we move forward.

Total Score: 5/5


Black Widow 7
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c) and Cowles (l)

Black Widow's new target, a group of cyberterrorists, are making a buy in San Francisco, new home to former lover and ally Daredevil. Natasha remembers her days with Daredevil in San Francisco, where she walked the line between contract killer and hero and where he could read her like everyone else. She takes out the seller and poses as him to try to make the drop but she's found out quickly and ends up in a rooftop chase with a sniper who tried to take her out. She catches up with him and holds him at gunpoint, trying to get more information out of him but he doesn't know enough. Before anything else comes of it, Daredevil appears and intercedes, telling Natasha that he'll make sure the authorities take the sniper. He tells her to leave San Francisco as he cannot read her heartbeat any more, meaning he doesn't know if he can trust her and his job is to protect the city.

As Isaiah hopes for Natasha to make some friends, Natasha finds that maybe she's lost one of her oldest. It's a poignant and meaningful story and rather heartbreaking. It's the first time we've seen Natasha as she's viewed in the superhero community and the first time we've seen her in this series outside of her own bubble, where we know what she's doing and we root for her because she's our protagonist. Now Daredevil steps in and tells us that maybe Natasha's role isn't so sacred. There's a flashback to kick this one off as Natasha, years ago in San Francisco, lies to Matt about a job she's just done and he tries to get her to reconsider her jobs. Juxtaposed with this story where Matt can't afford to give her the benefit of the doubt, it's a little painful to watch. It also pretty starkly gives us the contrast between the Natasha of then (someone trying to shelve her killer past) to now (someone trying to atone for sins but unafraid to kill, which puts her at odds with so many heroes, including Daredevil). On top of ALL OF THAT, we get a bit more on Isaiah, a former mob man who somehow got himself and his sister out and believes himself indebted to Natasha, despite his sister's protests. Really excellent writing in this one and some of the best character work I've seen a single issue do. Oh, and Phil Noto is still on this book so it continues to be outstanding art.

Total Score: 5/5


Iron Man 27
Gillen (w) and C. Richards and J. Bennett (p) and Hanna (i) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)

The Stark brothers have made their own ring and know at least some of the plans of the current Mandarins. All they need is someone who has interfaced with these rings to put their plan of taking down the Mandarins in action. That, of course, leads them to Abigail Burns, the Red Peril (I want everyone to know, right here and now, that I almost called her "Abigail Brand, the Red Fury" but DIDN'T EVEN STUMBLE because I knew how wrong that was and instantly course corrected both words. I wish I could also say I didn't look it up afterwards to be sure but I'm not that self-secure), who needs convincing but agrees when she learns that Nazi Alec Eiffel is one of the ring-bearers and she wants to stomp a Nazi. With her help, the Starks manage to find and take down the Mandarins pretty handily, except for the so-far-unrevealed Liar, who reveals himself to be Marc Kumar, PR person for Stark and fiancee to Pepper Potts (who can't have anything nice). Oh, and speaking of Pepper Potts, Marc has her hostage and forces Tony to a standstill.

There's a lot happening here to explain the rings and the Starks' methods for bringing them down and Iron Metropolitan (which is a full battlesuit and which is activated to stop Mole Man and his pals) which rather slows this issue down. It's a lot of exposition and a lot of soft science from all angles (we have to talk about the rings, about the plans that each known Mandarin has, about the way to stop them, about tech vs. magic, etc.) but I don't know that there's a better way to do this. I think if you stretch this issue out into two it doesn't work and I think if you sprinkle this sort of exposition across books, you forget the relevant parts by the time we reach the showdown. Gillen has sprinkled in some of this information already but it really is a bit of an information dump here (which is rare from Gillen) and it's a little hard to get through at times. Not a bad book by any stretch but certainly not as impressive as I'd like from this typically top-notch book.

Total Score: 3/5

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.

Thor: God of Thunder 19, Winter Soldier: Bitter March 1

Thor: God of Thunder 19
Aaron (w) and Ribic (a) and Svorcina (c)

King Thor examines Earth millennia in the future, now a cold, dead rock, with his three granddaughters, who are less enamored of Midgard than Thor was. As King Thor laments the way the world defeated itself, we turn back the clock to see what's happening with Thor the Avenger. It turns out he's trying to land a date with SHIELD agent Roz Solomon, who is, herself, trying to bring down the somehow constantly re-formed Roxxon. Thor helps her bring down some whalers before the two of them head for a new Roxxon unveiling with new Roxxon head Dario Agger. Agger has led an expedition to drill ice from Jupiter to try to "cure thirst" or something along those lines but Solomon knows that it's just a way to control the profits of Jupiter water. Thor arrives at the press conference with way more ice straight from Jotunheim, killing a lot of Agger's profits (business, am I right, guys?) and putting Thor and Solomon right on the map for Agger. After this act, Solomon agrees to go for coffee with Thor. Now we go back...to the FUTURE to see King Thor and his granddaughters on Earth as Galactus approaches.

Very clear set-up issue as plenty of seeds for the new arc are planted. There's something remarkably endearing about Thor trying to win a date with Agent Solomon that's worth seeing in this book and, of course, Esad Ribic's art flourishes here as he gets to draw giant underwater scenes and some big Asgardian style scenes. The issue starts to lose a little bit of steam as Roxxon gets involved, as Aaron is tasked with setting up a new agenda for Roxxon and a new CEO for the always always always corrupt company. I'd say that the Jupiter ice thing falls a little bit flat too since it's such a specific thing and it's hard to really see the point of it (though I suppose you could make the case that it's readily available water that Agger, like the villain in Quantum of Solace, would have at his control but, unlike that villain, Agger doesn't control the entire region's supply of water). Likewise, it's a little hard to muster up some sort of feelings for the Midgard of the future as it's far out enough that it's, you know, kind of expected that it will eventually die. Like, Thor HAD to have been told this at some point, right? Still, the seeds could harvest interesting fruit (just how I like my fruit) given just a little more time.

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 1
Remender (w) and Boschi (a) and Chuckry (c)

It's 1966 and Fury and SHIELD have learned that Hydra has captured Nazi scientists who have perfected the alchemy formula, which would allow Hydra untold resources if they're able to glean the formula for themselves. It's up to Fury and SHIELD's number two agent Ran Shen to break into a secure Hydra facility (Castle Hydra on a sheer cliff face in a snowy, remote locale) and capture the Nazi scientists or, if they can't manage capture, kill them. Shen and Fury wager on who will find the fastest way into the castle and Shen goes in the front door, counting on his smarts and ability to blend in to get him through, while Fury scales the side of the castle and goes in the drainage pipe. Shen seems to blend in okay and ends up hitting it off with a woman who seems to know something about Hydra's inner workings. The pair of them leave the party to be alone and the woman reveals herself to be the absolutely horrible new creation Madam Worm. With worms crawling out of her and into and all over Shen, designed to show Shen the beauty of Hydra, Fury appears and flamethrowers her into a big ol' pit. They manage to find the scientists and escape, to Fury's chagrin, up through the castle. They manage to avoid all guards going that way and make it outside only to have their new charges instantly stolen from them by none other than the Winter Soldier. Shen and Fury pursue him, all three essentially hang-gliding away from the castle. Shen distracts Winter Soldier while Fury attacks, causing him to drop the two targets. Shen manages to catch them and land but Fury is shot in the chest and falls elsewhere. Winter Soldier's wings are damaged and he, too, falls into the forest. Shen lands with the two scientists in the forest, realizing that he's up against a man thought only to be a myth, on foot with two Nazis, in the middle of a frozen forest.

All of our players are here, all of our plot is right here, laid out for us for this limited series, as we get our first real, extended look at a Cold War-era Winter Soldier. It's a really neat idea and the idea of three superpowers, SHIELD, Hydra, and Russia, vying for the formula tucked away in the heads of a pair of old Nazis, is a compelling story in and of itself. Throw in the fact that it'll both pit Shen and Fury against Winter Soldier and will establish the relationship that Shen has with all the players today (appearing in CAPTAIN AMERICA as the villain Iron Nail) and we have a pretty fascinating limited series on our hands. The art and the tone of the book hit their mark, feeling like a pretty solid spy story (too bad I spent so much time talking about James Bond in my THOR review, huh? Requisite Bond time has already been taken up). Matching that tone perfectly, by the by, are Andrew Robinson's covers for the series. SECRET AVENGERS has been trying to go for a spy, '70s era feel with its covers and fonts and things for a little while now and I think they've been okay but often a little convoluted for my tastes. These ones are much cleaner and the cover for issue two is pretty astounding, really looking forward to that one. Of course, I say all this but I still ended up with Chris Eliopoulos' animal variant (seen at right) for this issue ANYWAY. Look, it had Batroc as a fox, what was I supposed to do, not buy it?

Captain America 14, Captain America Living Legend 4

Captain America 14
Remender (w) and Pacheco and Taibo (a) and White (c)

Captain America and Nuke have been fighting for quite some time before Cap starts to get through to him, explaining how his orders are wrong and how they have to go back to America and set things right. Nuke relents and helps Cap up as the American journalist who has seen the whole thing unfold takes another picture and reveals herself, setting Nuke off again. It takes all the remaining might of Cap and Falcon to slow him enough to give the journalist a head start and Falcon, after getting slashed across the stomach by Nuke and berated for being a civilian, still has to fly off a cliff to rescue her. When they land, he asks to have the camera to follow his orders and to make sure the pictures can't be skewed to look like America as a whole has anything to do with it but the journalist makes an impassioned plea to Falcon about freedom of the press and the orders he's following, which leads to him allowing her to keep the camera. Meanwhile, Cap has attacked Nuke again and finally hits his breaking point, something he knew he was reaching during the whole fight. He wails on Nuke and puts him down brutally before preparing to land a killshot, fearing that allowing Nuke to live only means allowing more wars to start and more innocents to die. Falcon shows up and takes the shield from Cap's hand just before he can bring it down on Nuke and Nuke falls unconscious, but not before he reveals that he did it all to make Cap and the other soldiers proud. Fury shows up to take Nuke away and to bring the heroes home and reveals that the journalist released the picture of Cap and Nuke shaking hands and framed it in such a way that it seemed like American operatives attacked the country, not just the broken Nuke. In China, the Iron Nail swears that America will be better for these attacks and that he needs to topple SHIELD to really start things rolling.

This is another emotionally charged issue that sits really well in this series. When Ed Brubaker started his already-legendary run on CAPTAIN AMERICA back in 2005, he started with a Captain America who was particularly aggressive and angry with the ways things had been falling and put more pressure on him by launching him into the epic Winter Soldier storyline. Steve was a little unhinged, though always in his "still morally better than you" way. He was strong in his convictions and he, of course, ended up being right but he didn't necessarily go about things the right way, rushing in half-cocked to certain delicate situations. We're seeing a bit of that Steve here, though maybe even more amplified, which makes sense. Brubaker's Steve had been worn down over time where this Steve has seen real personal tragedy and ten years of his life erased in the course of a week and, guess what, he's still in that week. Cap openly admits in his narration that he's tapping into a rage he hasn't felt before, something that's been hidden in him and brought out by the recent goings-on. He also is able to see that it makes him a worse fighter and a worse soldier so he continues to try to tamp it down, but it comes out in full as he pounds Nuke at the end. On top of the amazing character work that we're seeing and the decidedly different while also true-to-history Cap, there's a really interesting plot happening here with a world that is turning on SHIELD, if it was ever on SHIELD's side. Foreign powers working against America or working to smear America isn't new but the idea that a foreign power would want to, in whatever way, improve America by breaking it down first and allowing it to rebuild (he compares it to the re-birth of Germany after the fall of the evil reich) free from its corrupt government and SHIELD is a somewhat new twist on it and it comes at a time when the American people have less faith in their government and more suspicions than ever before. Really compelling story that's highlighted by phenomenal character work and really great art. Can't complain as Cap continues to grow.

Captain America Living Legend 4
Diggle and Granov (s) and Diggle and Robson (w) and Alessio (a and c)

Cap is being taken in by the dark energy entity before Volkov, deep within the base, manages to grasp control of it and pull Steve out. The energy keeps attacking and, with Cap's shield off in the distance, they have no weapons to defeat it. Cap rushes to his shield while the others buy a second's time, throwing it back in just as it prepares to overtake them. He leaves the shield with Dr. Fox and tasks Colonel Gridenko and his men with getting her to the Deus device so she can shut it down and stop the dark energy once and for all while he makes his way to Volkov. Gridenko knows that usually means death but lets him go all the same. Cap manages to reach Volkov, who tells him that he should have died that day Cap saved him and that his survival set in place a course of action that led to all of this. Even now, he cannot manage to die and the dark energy that's lived in him since his time in space consumes him, both of them hoping to die but unable to do so. He tells Cap that it's taken him 40 years to control the energy enough to allow a moment's respite and asks Cap to kill him in that time. Cap declines, wishing to get him to medical and scientific help but Volkov is adamant that it cannot save him, it will only kill any who'd get close enough. Finally Cap relents and prepares to shoot the soldier. He does and, for a second, it seems not to work. At that moment, though, Fox manages to activate the Deus device and pulls all of the dark energy in, destroying it there and leaving Volkov to peacefully die. Cap, Fox, and Gridenko leave the station with Cap still mourning Volkov and Gridenko essentially telling him not to waste his breath. Gridenko regrets what's become of Russia and its army as, to underline his point, a Russian bureaucrat shows up to question Gridenko on what's happened and why the Americans aren't being detained and so forth. Gridenko ignores him as Cap blows up the station. The Colonel then throws the bureaucrat to the ground and asks Cap for political asylum in America, which Cap happily informs him they can offer.

A pretty nice ending to the book, really powered by some great art, a compelling story, and nicely developed characters despite the length of the book. This is a shining example of a solid writer telling a good story but doing just enough to make sure the characters are all fully-fleshed out even without the benefit of a long series. So it is possible, you guys, and you don't have to sacrifice much to get it. Granted, I think Alessio's art really cemented this book; I think the writing was tight and the story was good but I may as well have just been distracted the whole time by the visuals. Still this is one of those stories that I think would be a good complete set to show someone who wasn't sold on Captain America or who didn't know a lot of comics, a really good beginner arc. There is an amount of soft science and the kind of stuff that will gain you some blank stares when you explain it out loud to non-comic readers but good luck finding any comic story worth its salt that won't. I don't actually know what the phrase "worth its salt" means because, I mean, it's salt, right? This day and age, that's not worth all that much. Anyway, I'm fairly certain it is a saying (please don't correct me if it's not, I don't need that you guys, just all assume I'm right). So another good issue to round out a good mini!

Captain America 13, Captain Marvel 17, Iron Man 18

Captain America 13
Remender (w) and Klein (a) and White (c)

Back in the late '60s, Nick Fury calls in undercover operative Ran Shen, meant to be infiltrating the Communist party in China to question him on why he hasn't reported back in two years. Of course, Fury doesn't really ask questions he doesn't already know the answers to and the interrogation pretty quickly turns south as he accuses Shen of creating his own party to rival Mao's, a claim Shen doesn't back down from. He then reveals his own enhancements and attacks Fury and Dum Dum Dugan, breaking out of his containment and rushing, with a scan of Fury's eye, to a high security location at the SHIELD hub. He's not the only one, though, as the Russian spy/assassin the Winter Soldier has watched the whole thing go down and attacks Shen once Shen gets inside the secure location. After a quick fight, both are attacked by a Dum Dum and Fury-led SHIELD team and both escape, though we see what Shen was after: a giant wing labeled "Weapon Minus." Lot of information here for the first ten pages of the book. Back in the present, Maria Hill calls Steve and a protesting Falcon (protesting on Steve's behalf) to take down Nuke in Nrosvekistan, claiming that it has to be Steve who does that, it has to be the icon of America to show that America doesn't support Nuke's actions. The two arrive and pretty quickly have some trouble taking the broken super-soldier down. It's a fight that will continue into the next issue.

Geez but there was a lot happening in those first ten pages. Sometimes you'll read a book and it will flow or, perhaps, even slow down (I think this book had a little of both) to such an extent that it covers the fact that we've just gotten so much information. I'm fortunate because I write a comics blog and so I end up delving in to help clarify some things but, if I didn't, I imagine I would forget a lot of key plot points (I still kind of do but that's more poor-memory related than anything else). The beginning of the book, with Ran Shen's interrogation and the Winter Soldier's involvement, are particularly interesting, though it starts to slow a little bit when we get into Shen's point of view, which almost entirely consists of a page or so of Shen hating America. I think it serves a purpose here, really giving us a depth of vitriol and catching readers up with the Iron Nail's beliefs, but it does feel a bit like it drags the story out. Winter Soldier's involvement is neat and it's cool to know that there's a deeper story there (perhaps one set to be explored more in WINTER SOLDIER: BITTER MARCH), expressed as Shen recognizes Winter Soldier and Winter Soldier reveals that Shen's target isn't his target; his target is Shen. Plenty happening here and that's BEFORE we get to Captain America himself, my thoughts on whom have been pretty regular of late. I find it really interesting to see Cap this despondent and Remender does a great job to, despite that, still show Cap as the force he was from the start of this book, someone fighting through anything and everything in his way (physical, internal and external, and mental) though there is an added sense of desperation and hopelessness there that didn't feel as present at the onset of this series. Stellar writing for Cap again. Great book. It would take something pretty impressive to follow this one up in a review. SEGUE.

Captain Marvel 17
DeConnick (w) and Andrade (a) and Bellaire (c)

Carol Danvers has returned to New York for the first time since the Enemy Within storyline's conclusion and it's a bit of a different world now. She's very open with her friends (hard not to be with this) about the state of her memories, though it doesn't impact her personality. Ultimately it means that she has no memories of people in her life like self-proclaimed sidekick Kit, personal assistant Wendy, and friends Tracy and Frank. On the flip-side, a ceremony is being held in her honor by the city of New York, appreciative of her efforts in Enemy Within. One individual, though, is not happy with her (really not happy with the world, but taking it out on her), new villain Grace Valentine, a self-made business success and genius computer engineer who wants more and finds herself overshadowed by the superhero events of recent days. She attacks the award ceremony (where Carol is given a key to the city and, perhaps more importantly, a new apartment in the CROWN OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY whaaaaat) and Carol springs into action. Valentine has hijacked several drones and uses them swoop down on Carol, stunning her momentarily. As Carol recovers, Valentine sends a message to the world about who she is and who Carol is and why people should overlook Carol's perceived "achievements" for her own before revealing that she's targeting Carol by her star insignia. The crowd then jumps into the action, revealing their own insignias and shouting "I am Captain Marvel" and confusing the drones while inspiring Carol back into the fight. Valentine decides that she has no problem attacking Carol's supporters and sets her drones to the task when Carol leaps back in and saves the day. The day ends with Kit settling in to the CROWN OF THE STATUE OF LIBERTY apartment and showing Carol a comic book she wrote and drew to help re-educate Carol on who Captain Marvel is and what she's done, including inspiring (unbeknownst to even Kit) a young New Jersey teen with superpowers of her own.

A truly phenomenal issue and one that someone with less emotional restraint than I may have even teared up at a bit. Not me, that's not the point, you guys. It's just...it's not the point, okay? Anyway, it's a great issue that pulls on everything DeConnick has built for Carol through the course of this series. I talked about it at length during Enemy Within, which built a nightmare around Carol and enveloped all of her friends, a weight that doesn't feeling weighty if DeConnick doesn't put in the time to create a world around Carol. She did create that world, though, and so the involvement of Carol's friends continued to have resonance throughout the story and it's coming around again here, as Carol suddenly doesn't even remember who her friends are. The characters, though, are so real and so fleshed out that you can feel the love and care from them as they try to work around Carol's recent losses and find a way to get her involved again. What's more is that you're actively rooting for them and for Carol on their behalf. I can't think of another superhero comic populated by non-superheroes where this is more true. Even in Spider-Man, which has one of the most expansive casts of non-superhero characters (though that tends to change pretty frequently as different writers power up different characters in his life, geez), there are a few duds I can point to at anyone time that I can honestly say "yeah, I don't care about that guy/lady." Here, I actively care about everyone in Carol's life and this book doesn't work if you, as a reader, don't. Phenomenal job and a truly wonderful issue.

Iron Man 18
Gillen (w) and Bennett and Hanna (a) and Guru eFX (c)

We get a simulated look at the world of 30 years from now as Tony and Arno Stark immediately get to work on trying to better the world, trying to help the people and protect them. After that simulated 30 years, Tony and Arno have created a self-sufficient and self-protecting city that they can manage from above. As wonderful and idyllic as it is and despite how much it matches their dreams, it's inevitably immediately destroyed as the AI they've had around and based on 451's designs has covertly worked to undermine them, even when it was unaware of doing it. The two are wrenched out of the simulation and Arno emphasizes to Tony, back in the present day, that they cannot trust AI, a fact that Tony keeps glazing over because, as much as he knows he can't trust anything to do with 451, he can't help but be fascinated at the technology. Arno suspects that he's actually just avoiding talking about the adoption. Tony is saved by the bell on that one as an Avengers distress call comes in and he dispatches his Iron Man suit, complete with PEPPER, to handle it. Arno frowns on it but understands Tony's decision to be more proactive in building this new way of life than reactive in trying to stop supervillains as they pop up. Meanwhile, they seem to have a doozy of a supervillain primed to pop up as some sort of possible AI or enchanted ring-dispenser is targeting individuals around the world and making them Mandarins, presumably 1-10 (we see the creation of Mandarin Seven here).

Still a lot happening in this book, though plenty of this issue is dedicated to a simulation of a possible future. That feels like it should slow the book but I didn't even notice how much of the book it had taken up until I flipped through again to look something up for my summary. It moves well and it serves a distinct purpose, showing us what Arno and Tony are set to do. Tony has always been the engineer of the Marvel Universe; it's on his back that the technology and wonders (and sometimes also threats) of the Marvel Universe appear so it's important that we see what his aims are moving forward, as well as what his concerns are. In this case, his aims are perhaps greater than they've ever been, a self-sufficient city that can protect its inhabitants from both natural and alien threats in a particularly threatening new world. We also see some of the newest concerns as Arno warns Tony repeatedly that he can't trust AI, which Tony has more and more begun to trust with time. The addition of a new Mandarin-based threat at the end of the issue is just icing on the cake as we already have more than enough here to talk about and think about moving forward. It would have been relatively easy to take this issue as a sort of break issue, to reorient and keep away from supervillains and the like while Gillen establishes Tony's new life with Arno but, instead, we get plenty of new threats and new promises for Tony. Pretty neat stuff.