SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Fantastic Four 4, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 1

Fantastic Four 4
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk (p) and Kesel and Leisten (i) and Aburtov (c) and Cowles (l)

The new Frightful Four (Wizard and the Wrecking Crew) have been powered up by some genius, apparently, who wants the city at least partially destroyed. It takes the combined might of the Fantastic Four (even Johnny as a powerless distraction) and She-Hulk, Ant-Man, and Darla Deering showing up at the right moment to take them down. They hand them off to SHIELD then return to the Baxter Building to find Maria Hill and some more SHIELD and NYPD officers denying them access to the building and giving Reed summons to appear in court.

It's hard not to feel like there's just a little too much exposition throughout this one. It feels like an older comic with new comic art, which is a bit strange. Robinson wants to make sure everyone knows what's happening at every moment, including name dropping everyone who appears and giving a little bit of history for a number of them, plus some clunky dialogue to make sure we're all caught up with what's happened already in the series and what's happening at current. I think there's a story here that's probably worth telling but sometimes it can be hard to get to it beneath the writing.

Total Score: 3/5

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 1
M. Benson (w) and Huat (p) and Yeung (i) and Aburtov (c) and Sabino (l)

Leiko Wu, an agent of MI6 and a former love of Shang-Chi, has been hunted and killed in London's Chinatown. Shang requests time off from the Avengers (after successfully bringing in a fleeing Crossbones) and goes to her funeral. Though he claims he does not want revenge, he can't help visiting the place where she was killed, where he is quickly attacked by a few random agents claiming to work for White Dragon. MI6, led by Black Jack Tarr, swoops in on the scene and Tarr, an old friend of Shang's from his days with MI6, warns him not to pursue Leiko's killer but knowing that's bound to send him to it even faster.

DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU, a four issue limited series, kicks off with the unenviable position of needing to cover a lot of ground. People unfamiliar with Shang-Chi will likely find themselves unsure who many of these people are and what their connection is. However, it's certainly manageable and Shang-Chi on the trail of someone who killed his first love will likely lead to an intriguing story. As a huge X-MEN LEGACY fan, it's also pretty neat to see Huat and Yeung back on the case.

Total Score: 4/5

Marvel news - Young Avengers and Wolverine and the X-Men ending, Wolverine and F4 relaunch news

The first bit of news here is the heartbreaking news - Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie will be ending their run of YOUNG AVENGERS, effectively ending the fourth volume of YOUNG AVENGERS (it might just be the third? I don't really remember and I'm too broken up to check), with issue 15. It sounds like this was a decision made by Gillen and McKelvie, not by Marvel, as addressed on Kieron Gillen's Tumblr. All along they've referred to this ongoing story as the first season of YOUNG AVENGERS, leaving themselves with enough story and enough of an opening to keep going if they wanted but also giving them a backdoor if they wanted a way out. They're taking the latter and, while I accept and maybe even kind of adore their choice (go out strong, make sure you don't let it sit too long and stagnate), it's still heartbreaking news. Brilliant book all the way through, will definitely cherish the final few issues. I will also say that it doesn't come as a HUGE surprise because they've definitely been very guarded about their plans after the first season's conclusion, which certainly has the feel of a goodbye issue.

WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN will also seemingly be coming to an end in February with issue 42, as reported by Aaron on his blog. In the very least, it will be Jason Aaron's last issue with the book, whether or not that exactly means the book is ending. He was hoping to run this book and AMAZING X-MEN side-by-side but it seems like his work schedule is catching up to him and he had to let one book go. I'm not terribly upset about this one.

Meanwhile, it's been confirmed that WOLVERINE will be relaunching as a part of All-New Marvel NOW in February, following the conclusion of Paul Cornell's "Killable" arc on the current WOLVERINE series. The relaunch will feature Cornell still writing but swapping out Alan Davis for Ryan Stegman. While I like that move (I prefer Stegman's work to Davis' by about a mile), I'm still not totally into Cornell's WOLVERINE as is and I'm not sure how I feel about him continuing the run. This new series will apparently feature a shift for the character, though, as Wolvy seems to be coming out of this arc still without his healing power; the teaser image proclaimed "MORTAL" and Cornell has said that it will impact the way he works, giving us a more strategic Wolverine rather than a more guns-blazing Wolverine. Could be interesting, though this one promises to also put Wolverine on a team of not-so-good-guys so we'll see. According to the article linked above, they've apparently also announced a Fantastic Four relaunch that I think I missed. OH NO WAIT, I remember seeing something about it. Hang about.

James Robinson, who will also be leading the new ALL-NEW INVADERS series (pumped), is relaunching FANTASTIC FOUR with a bit of a strange bent to it, from the summary. The FF are evicted from the Baxter Building, Johnny is powerless, Thing is arrested for murder, Dragon Man is sentenced to death, Franklin's imagination is running wild, Val is on her own, etc. Weird, right? We'll see how this goes too.