Avengers Arena 14, Young Avengers 9

Avengers Arena 14
Hopeless (w) and K. Walker and Gorder (a) and Beaulieu (c)

We're approaching, far too quickly for my liking, the planned end of this series. This is an ongoing series but it does have a conclusion in mind (just as it always must have, given the nature of this story) and we'll reach that conclusion with issue 18. For now, though, we have to ask who's going to make it that long. Apex and Death Locket are still underground at a laboratory/morgue somewhere on the island. The rest of the survivors, minus Nico and Chase, have been wandering the island for seven days hoping to find their way to Arcade or off the island. Anyone who's separated from the group has disappeared; Reptil first, going to scout ahead only to vanish, then Hazmat and X-23, chasing after something Hazmat saw and hoped was Mettle. Now Cullen Bloodstone, Anachronism, Nara, and Cammi are at breaking point with only a couple days left before Arcade's deadline. Cullen shares his story with Cammi after he and Anachronism had a bit of a row (they're British, they say things like "row") but the story is interrupted when a trigger scent is released by a Mettle skeleton walking around the island (so at least Hazmat's not going crazy! She might be dead though, she was with X-23 when the trigger scent activated). The concoction is flooding the island and a feral X-23 is attacking anything that moves, including, presumably, a newly spawned monster from deep within Cullen (activated when he took off his Bloodstone Ring).

You can see how we might be winding down to the end of the series as Arcade floods the island with kill hormones for X-23. Even without that, though, the attitude of those who remain is markedly down, even if it was never particularly up. They've plotted, they've planned, they've strategized, they've learned about the island, and it's all for nothing because, at the end of the day, they're still totally stuck and exactly where they started. People have disappeared the last couple days, leading to even lower spirits, and the end is nigh. The book has always been really good at tone and really good at, in a natural way, giving us backstories for its main characters. We haven't really had a good one in a few issues (most people have been explained by this point, particularly the ones we don't really know in the main Marvel Universe) but Cullen's is disseminated intelligently and at the right moment. Sure, it's not in the form of flashbacks, like so many of these ones have been; instead, it's Cullen flat out telling his backstory, but it fits well here and Cammi's the right person to bring it out of him. The reason she's been alive so long is that she knows when and how things need to be done and now is when this story needs to come out, both for them and for us. I also really like the use of the trigger scent here. Well, I hate it for Laura but I like it for story and motivation. One of X-23's biggest problems she's had to try and overcome is being used by people as a weapon and that's exactly what's happening here. Tough stuff to try to come back from. This series continues to impress and I'm sad to see it go with 18, even if I wouldn't have said that at the start of the book and if they've promised us something cool after (I feel like I've read that somewhere).

Young Avengers 9
Gillen (w) and McKelvie w/ Norton (a) and M. Wilson (c)

Last issue ended with a load of cliffhangers so we have to get through those little by little as this issue progresses. First and foremost: the kiss. David explains to Hulkling that he realized, when he lost his mutant power but his brain was still fully opened to him, that he was bisexual, though it hasn't come up in recent days because he hasn't been looking to start a relationship. He's still not, really, but he admits that he would have regretted dying without kissing Teddy the once because he views Teddy as the remarkably strong one in what looks like a rather strong relationship. Teddy admits his fears to David who suggests he try to take some time off, if he can, to get his head together. Of course, that can only happen when they're not stuck in Mother's dimension running from her. Working on that is the rest of the team, who are still facing down Leah in the barren place Loki had sent her. She talks to them briefly and with much vitriol before America leads them out. Loki tells what is mostly the truth to his teammates: she is sort of his ex and he sent her to this dimension because he couldn't hurt her here. Kid Loki, trapped in Loki's mind, taunts him for the reveal of the truth (being the best lie) but he doesn't have time to deal with that. He concocts a plan to rescue David and Teddy which involves running through a bunch of their evil dimensions to gather a horde of villains to dump on Mother as they make their escape with their teammates. It, improbably, works, and Mother is left to clean up her dimension while they make it back to their Earth. They discuss their next plans, which are basically to stay the course of Loki teaching Billy magic (Billy could be the most important person in the universe so it's probably good that he learn how to use his tools). Teddy approaches Billy at the end and tells him that they need to take a break. He departs to go meet with a therapist in the form of a support group for people who, weirdly enough, have been left feeling abandoned and confused by their partner. His therapist? A seemingly more grown-up Leah (Teddy didn't meet her when they all ran into her).

Oh man, too much to say about this issue. Guys, that's a really long summary and frankly I don't think I covered enough. There are weird bits and pieces that deserve their own analysis (Mother asking Kate when her birthday is and threatening that she's about to join Mother's side) but THAT'S HOW MUCH THERE IS HERE. This series remains as complicated and beautiful as ever, with McKelvie's art really shining through as there are plenty of long panels meant to illustrate a single character's features and emotions. There are a pair, on back-to-back pages, that show Leah and Loki in separate wide-angle panels that focus on their eyes that are just stunning. I've long praised, on this blog and in life, the art of Jamie McKelvie but the emotion he brings to characters continues to blow me away. The first real look at his art was in a Secret Avengers issue written by Warren Ellis (16, I think, of the last volume of Secret Avengers) wherein McK drew this amazing underground city with insane architecture and had Moon Knight soaring around it. It was absolutely gorgeous and that still tends to be what I think of when I think of him. Though I've seen plenty more of his work by now, this series is really changing my perception of him, going from that guy who draws these beautiful and fluid set pieces with really strong characters to being one of the best in the business at drawing people and their various emotions and tics. It's truly wonderful to see. Aw geez, I've spent all my analysis time talking about the art. Maybe you guys should just check this book out. No wait, you definitely should. One of Marvel's top books for sure. And I mean, just look at that cover! Teddy has long been probably my least favorite member of this team (I don't dislike him, I've just never particularly been drawn to him by anything he's done or said or whatever) and this cover still makes me want to die a little inside. Beautiful.

Avengers Arena 13, Secret Avengers 7

Avengers Arena 13
Gage (w) and Moline and Pennington (a) and Beaulieu (c)

Someone outside of the Arena suspects that something's wrong. Unfortunately for the people in the Arena, the person who suspects something is wrong is 12 year-old Molly Hayes (is she 12? I'm pretty sure that's the last age I remember her being but it's entirely possible I made that up, you guys. Don't tell anyone). Molly doesn't believe that her fellow Runaways Nico and Chase have, as they reported it, simply disappeared to try to work some things out away from home. Molly doesn't believe the texts they keep getting or even the phone calls they occasionally receive. She brings her problem to Avengers Academy head Hank Pym who promises to look into it. He works out a few pieces of the problem, realizing that he lost kids (Juston, who went back home allegedly, and Hazmat and Mettle, who ran away so they could stay in a relationship Hazmat's parents didn't approve of) the same time the Runaways ran away. With a little investigating, he finds out that X-23 and some of the Braddock Academy kids disappeared at the same time. All of it bothers Pym tremendously but he can't seem to convince anyone else something is wrong and, more than that, he can't find any substantial evidence. Arcade has done a truly phenomenal job (or, in truth, Miss Coriander has) covering his bases and only pulling kids likely to disappear for one reason or another and maintaining a presence for them within their communities. Eventually Pym has to give up the fight when he's met by Mettle (Arcade's trump card, cybernetics hidden under what appears to be, disgustingly, Mettle's real skin) and assured that everything is okay but that they still have to lay low because Hazmat's parents are trying to call it a kidnapping. Is there anyone else out there looking for the young heroes?

Solid explanation of why no one has become suspicious in the world and, given everything else that Miss Coriander has arranged for Arcade, it fits well within the scope of the story. It's also rather nice to see Christos Gage writing another story that ties so nicely to Avengers Academy, which was a deceptively good book, surprising in the same way this book is but probably a little less action heavy. Minor complaint to start (and it's incredibly minor and petty but it's been bugging me so WHATEVER): Tigra appears in this book (she's number two at Avengers Academy and romantically linked to Hank right now) and her caption calls her a were-woman, which is entirely wrong on a couple fronts. First off, "were-," as in "werewolf" translates to "man," hence why it's werewolf and not wereman or manwere. So calling her a were-woman is saying she's a man-woman which complicates PLENTY and she's already complicated, okay? Secondly, it implies that she transforms back and forth and I'm pretty sure she doesn't, she's just all Tigra all the time. That's PRETTY MUCH my only complaint though so I guess it evens out. Nice explanation, slows down the series a little bit from all the high-action we've seen lately but certainly a necessary addition to the book.

Secret Avengers 7
Spencer (w) and Guice and Magyar with Epting and Theis (a) and M. Wilson (c)

Maria Hill continues her unbeaten streak of being my least favorite Marvel character in existence. There are plenty of contenders in that race, including Wonder Man and Milla Murdock (okay, some are more relevant than others), but no one ever holds a candle to Maria Hill. Maybe its my own biases here but I have real trouble believing, as the recap page says, that Hill had to make a terrible decision. I don't think she ever thought it was terrible, having Daisy removed from SHIELD. Just like I have my doubts that she had problems making this call. Sure, give her a look like it was a really hard decision and soften her up later but I'll never buy it. Man. Maria Hill, am I right? Anyway, we flash over to Barbuda to find that the strike team needs a way out and that Mockingbird has a shot at the real Scientist Supreme (AIM had warning of the attack and got their man out of the way). Hill shuts her down, wipes the memory of her being on this mission from the team, and gets them out of there. So Mockingbird is stuck on AIM Island with no idea what she's doing or why she's there. Maria Hill, ladies and gentlemen.

This was, admittedly, the first issue in a while for Secret Avengers where I was surprised and intrigued by the ending. I'm still not totally onboard with this Avengers team that has chosen to work for SHIELD (SHIELD and Avengers notoriously don't get along and many could say it's because of issues like this and YES, "issues" there is a double meaning because I'm a great writer and I want you all to know it) and chosen to have their memories played with by SHIELD. It just doesn't feel entirely right, largely, I think, because all of these heroes (and that is an all-encompassing "all") are broken and they all (all) have trust issues and frankly they probably could have figured out that AIM Island was bad news without SHIELD's help. On top of that, I have trouble viewing SHIELD with any real constructive eye; they're always sort of backups to the Avengers or blocking the Avengers in some way  (because their literary function isn't to be the heroes, that the hero's job, it's to throw up more roadblocks or, best case, to assist the hero in some minor capacity) so it's hard to view them as doing anything competently. Despite them being the focus of the book in a way, it's hard still to say they're doing anything competently, which makes it far harder to like them which, in turn, makes it harder to like a book driven by their actions. Tricky scenario Nick Spencer has worked himself into. Let's see if he can get out of it (maybe throw Winter Soldier on the team, hm?).