X-Force 10, Punisher 11

X-Force 10


With Pete Wisdom's advice to watch out for the bugs, Cable's X-Force team recognizes that they're being watched. They're intent to make the surveillance work for them, though, and Dr. Nemesis has a plan to do it. Thanks to Psylocke's keen noticing skills, she has recognized that something has been going on at the X-Mansion, that there's been some unseen entity there, and MeMe has learned which toilet the entity uses, allowing them to teleport the mutant, who Nemesis suspects can only be remembered when seen, to their base. The mutant is ForgetMeNot, from Si Spurrier's (among others') X-MEN LEGACY 300. Nemesis intends to use a power suppressor to make ForgetMeNot, who doesn't have a bug watching him because Volga doesn't know/remember he exists, appear to Volga's systems, at which point Volga will send a bug after him and Nemesis will put a tracker on that bug before removing ForgetMeNot's suppressor and making the bug and Volga forget he was there, sending the bug back to Volga's base. After a long time trying to catch ForgetMeNot (and many viewings of a video Nemesis recorded to fill the team in on ForgetMeNot's presence, which of course is forgotten every time they lose sight of him), Nemesis is finally able to talk to him and reveal the plan, which ForgetMeNot, who absolutely hates these guys after spending some time in their presence, agrees to help with. Unfortunately, when the bug is dispatched, it doesn't forget him when the suppressor is removed. Fantomex knocks Nemesis out, reveals to ForgetMeNot that he knew the whole time he was there (the benefit of his advanced brain) and promptly kills the mutant, causing everyone to forget he was there and sending the bug back to Volga.

Boy, this book is something else. It's often so smart and so self-aware and so much fun, all at the same time. This is a perfect example of that as the ultimate plot and plan is extremely compelling and fun, as is the inclusion of Spurrier creation ForgetMeNot, and as we get a great characterization of everyone here. I wrote a summary that was altogether much longer than I wanted it to be and still couldn't convey everything I wanted to say about this book. There are so many great things happening in this issue between great looks at the viciousness of X-Force and of the broken people who have been chosen by Cable. This is a book that uses its space remarkably well, dragging very little while getting so much across. Excellent stuff. And it's great to see Tan Eng Huat and Craig Yeung once more teamed up with Si Spurrier (as well as the great X-MEN LEGACY homage cover by Rock-He Kim).

Total Score: 5/5


Punisher 11

Punisher gets out of the prison after learning what he wanted to learn for both himself and for Black Widow, who worked out a deal with him on the way to the prison to try to learn information from one of the inmates. After breaking out, Frank calls on former partner Rachel Cole-Alves to pick him up. As they talk on the ride back, he admits that he's thinking about hanging it up, feeling too old and broken for everything that's happening. She tells him how bad things have gotten in LA, even indicating that the Dos Soles are stronger than ever and looking for political sway (which they are). She convinces him by asking if maybe the Dos Soles and the American commandos trying to kill him are connected. Meanwhile, Officer Stone has taken the Punisher route to exact justice on the thugs who put Lou in a coma.

Edmondson, who has really been getting back to Punisher's roots, goes a little deeper into Frank's personality as he shows a rare moment of "maybe I'm done" from Frank. He also does a lot to show the effect Punisher has had in the last few years, obviously showing what Officer Stone has been inspired to do but also revisiting Rachel Cole-Alves, who last was investigated for killing a cop as Punisher's partner and for whom he took the fall, drawing the ire of the Avengers in last year's (I think, I was definitely doing the blog at that point) PUNISHER WAR ZONE. Edmondson is doing a lot of world-building here as we're seeing so much of what's happening in LA and with the Dos Soles looking to extend their reach. Another strong issue with some really good Mitch Gerads art.

Total Score: 4/5

Black Widow 9, Punisher 9

Black Widow 9
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c) and Cowles (l)

Black Widow got a hot-tip that Chaos, the organization she's after, has some link to a ship out in the ocean. She arrives there to find it apparently empty but her presence set off a number of alarms elsewhere, including on Crossbone's plane which he's using to transport Punisher back to his boss. He's also planning, apparently, to rig the same ship Black Widow finds herself on to explode. Crossbones arrives on the ship and he and Black Widow scuffle, finding themselves at a stalemate which skews towards Crossbones since he has henchmen. Of course, his henchmen are busy being picked off one-by-one by Punisher, who does appear to help Natasha. With about four minutes left before the ship blows, Natasha gives the ship a once-over to see if she can't find any leads. She finds one worker on the ship who does seem legitimately to not know anything but she comes dangerously close to torturing him anyway before PUNISHER stops her (that capitalization was to show how crazy that sentence is). They manage to escape the ship in time with the innocent worker, from whom Natasha manages to get a little bit more information. Then she turns the tables on Punisher, holding him at gunpoint. More on his landing place in the next review. Fast forward to the next day where Maria Hill wants to know who could have hacked SHIELD's communications and to a phone call Natasha receives where she learns that Isaiah has been taken.

Strong stuff overall and the crossover business is pretty cool as two really good Edmondson books with very strong looks come together. One of the coolest things between the two is a page that has the same starting lines and the same ending lines, which makes comparing and contrasting the page layouts and the focus of the panels really interesting. I'm onboard with this sort of really small, really contained crossover, particularly in this case, which will undoubtedly add to the coming stories in both books (helped by the fact that both books are written by Edmondson). Also, guys, Phil Noto continues to be amazing and I really like this cover AND really like PUNISHER's cover, to be seen JUST ABOUT NOW.

Total Score: 5/5


Punisher 9
Edmondson (w) and Gerads (a and c) and Petit (l)

Punisher is being transported by Crossbones when he breaks out of the jet, taking a couple henchmen down at the same time. He saves Black Widow after working his way through more henchmen and reveals that Crossbones rigged the ship to blow. He takes out more henchmen and saves the worker from Natasha's torture before getting both of them off the ship. Black Widow turns her gun to him, though, and he quickly remembers his standing with the Avengers. She drops him off at a Central American prison and he also remembers that he doesn't really like the Avengers.

Look, I said most of what I wanted to say above. More strong writing, though there's a running comparison of his stressful day to a vacation and it falls maybe a little flat, particularly since it feels a little out of serious Punisher's voice. Still a lot of fun in this crossover and a really well-drawn book by Mitch Gerads. And check out that cover!

Total Score: 5/5

Comics this week

According to my count, we have 18 new books out this week. However, it's a bit of a tricky week because a handful of those books are throwing me off, like 100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL FANTASTIC FOUR 1, or DAREDEVIL 0.1, or GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: GALAXY'S MOST WANTED 1. We'll have to see if those three make the cut when I'm pressed for time. On the flip side, there are a slew of books that I'm really, REALLY excited for this week. Let's get into them (and also I'll mention ORIGINAL SIN 5, which I'm not really, REALLY excited for but, you know, I'm sure I'll mention it).


Black Widow 8
Amazing, amazing book as it is BUT writer Nathan Edmondson teased a couple months ago that phenomenal series artist Phil Noto "draws a mean Winter Soldier" when referring to BLACK WIDOW 8. To sum up: it's a book that I absolutely love where we may just see the first sign of fallout on Natasha's side about how things broke down with Bucky back in Brubaker's WINTER SOLDIER. Excited!

Captain America 22
Super soldier no more? We've had a number of fake-outs with this sort of thing in the past and I'd be surprised if Steve Rogers were about to lose his super soldier serum altogether but leave it to Remender to shake things up. Let's see where Steve is when the dust settles.

Moon Knight 5
This book has been blowing me out of the water so far, leaving me a little shell-shocked as each issue ends. This is the penultimate issue for series creators Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey and I expect it will travel very much in the vein the rest of the book has so far traveled. Looking forward to it.

Original Sin 5
We're at the halfway point of the summer's big event and I'm still undecided on it. I was a little harsh on the first couple issues but I think there are some strong things happening here. I didn't reach a decision on INFINITY for quite some time, wary to give it a stamp of approval (which I ultimately did), and this book seems to be no different, though I am leaning in a less positive direction from this one than I did with INFINITY. Still, big things are set to happen as we reach the midway point and Tom Brevoort promises a new character in this issue who he thinks has real sticking power in the MU. I'm a little bitter at this book, though, because I didn't want to cheat and add a sixth book to my pre-game and this one took the place of the outstanding IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON

Rocket Raccoon 1
It's a pretty GUARDIANS heavy week this week as we get a likely movie tie-in with the aforementioned GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: GALAXY'S MOST WANTED and two new series in Sam Humphries' and Paco Medina's LEGENDARY STAR-LORD and the incredible Skottie Young's ROCKET RACCOON, which already has crazy pre-order numbers and will be both written and drawn by Young. Very much looking forward to seeing how Young handles full responsibility on an ongoing. I think he's a huge and exciting talent and I'm looking forward to checking this out.

Thunderbolts 27, Punisher 7

Thunderbolts 27
Acker and Blacker (w) and Barberi (p) and Cuevas (i) and Silva (c) and Sabino (l)

The Thunderbolts quietly take down a team of hitmen aiming to take down the Avengers while they battle downtown. The stealth team discovers that these hitmen were being led by someone operating out of a high school which, they soon discover, is full of dead children. The dead start to rise and begin attacking the Thunderbolts, overwhelming them before it's revealed that it was Captain America villain Dr. Faustus using a psychogenic gas to plant images in the heads of the T-Bolts. Deadpool, though, quickly detected the gas and kept himself from inhaling it, playing dead when Faustus arrived and taking the villain down himself. As the others come to, Punisher demands they kill Faustus but Red Hulk vetoes him, preferring to force Faustus to work for good. Punisher, unable to allow that, quits the team. As the team moves on, Punisher returns to a New Jersey safehouse and finds a bomb in his apartment (as it explodes) with a note apparently indicting the T-Bolts.

Acker and Blacker don't disappoint in their first time out with the THUNDERBOLTS main series (they wrote THUNDERBOLTS ANNUAL within the last year), bringing an interesting new vibe to the series. The team still sticks with the covert "doing the missions the Avengers can't" kind of idea but Red Hulk seems determined to live up to his realization from last issue and do more than just help out, indicating that he'd like the Thunderbolts to expand with more divisions, possibly comprised of captured villains (like Faustus) working against their will to make up for their sins. The voices are distinct and a lot of fun, just what we'd want to see from this team (it's what Soule did right during his time on the book that I felt Way missed in the first arc). Of course, the intrigue of a quitting and punished Punisher doesn't hurt either.

Total Score: 5/5


Punisher 7
Edmondson and Maurer (w) and Carnero (p) and Pallot (i) and Fabela (c) and Petit (l)

Wounded Punisher finds his way down to Mexico to recover and plot out his next move while he tries to figure out who attacked him. A back alley surgeon fixes him up, removing the bullet and closing the wound, though he also drugs him and sells him off to the highest bidder so it seems like they're even by the end. The highest bidder in this case is a Mexican gangster named Ortiz, AKA El Diablito. Ortiz and his men beat up Punisher a bit then sell him again to an unknown group (though probably Dos Soles, right?), who send Crossbones to pick Frank up. Not to be caught unaware again, Frank breaks out of his cell along with another captured vet, and the pair of them, with help from the vet's squad monitoring Ortiz, escape into the woods, where Punisher advises the other vet to move forward while he takes on the cartel.

PUNISHER 7 provides a nice respite from the story we've been dealing with since issue one, which is a good story but perhaps worth taking an interlude from here. Given Marvel's recent push for faster turnaround time on books, these sorts of issues seem to happen a little more frequently (particularly at this sort of issue number, where the main creative team gets a jumpstart on the book and getting about six issues in the can before issue one even goes to press) where a guest writer comes in (sometimes) along with a different artist (more frequently, as illustrating a book takes more time than writing it, typically). Still, the story is strong and fits in the same vein as the rest of the series, though it's hard not to miss Gerads' art on the book and I'm going to have to deduct a point here for how frequently a footnote tells us what an army code translates to. I'd rather have them say the actual words before going to acronyms, though I understand that's less realistic, or to simply say the code and allow readers who want to explore deeper to look it up themselves; the all-too present footnotes end up being distracting and breaking the flow. Also, I don't like that cover. Looks like Punisher's been stung by bees. Still, strong issue and certainly worth looking at if you've been enjoying this book.

Total Score: 4/5

This week's picks

The week that I earlier proclaimed to be "an embarrassment of riches" insofar as what books would be released ended up living up to its hype, providing plenty of really good issues to explore. It was one of those weeks that helps someone who might be a little burned out get excited about just sitting down and binge reading every issue. ANYWAY, it still wasn't as hard as I'd have thought to pick the top three but note that there aren't too many ways you can go wrong this week choosing a book or two to pick up.

Black Widow 7

In a week of great character moments and defining issues, BLACK WIDOW 7 stood out as one that I'll be thinking about for some time. This issue was the perfect juxtaposition of Natasha's role in today's world and exactly how the world sees her and the role she used to try to play when comics didn't want their heroes to kill at any cost. Now it's a bit murkier and Natasha knows her position and isn't afraid to take someone out. This whole series has shown her struggling with which jobs to take and how blind she should be to the jobs she takes and it's made the audience comfortable with everything she does, including the more minor or abrupt killings (like the guy from whom she took the computer virus in this issue, the messenger she would replace). Now, as Natasha thinks about the need for friends, we see her judged by a former extremely close friend and found to be untrustworthy. It's a tough blow to Natasha and it burns here. Nathan Edmondson is doing phenomenal work on this title (and on PUNISHER) and Phil Noto is absolutely destroying it on the art of this book. Just a really great series that you need to be reading.

Moon Knight 4

This one takes a spot on this list without too much contention if just because it fits so nicely into the world Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey, and Jordie Bellaire have created. There's an interesting story with a creepy but satisfying twist at the end and Ellis, as always, knows just when to pull back and let the art reign. I think I've mentioned here before that my first experience with now top-5 (for me, at least, but probably for EVERYONE, right?) artist Jamie McKelvie was Ellis' SECRET AVENGERS 16 (another book that centered on Moon Knight, in fact, though there were plenty of other great characters to be seen there). It was another standalone issue (like each of these MOON KNIGHT issues so far, though "standalone" is maybe too broad a term for this series) and it involved an entire city created beneath Cincinnati, one that was prepared to bomb the city above. Even amidst how heavy that plot obviously was, and how much it was to explain in just one issue, Ellis pulled back for pages at a time to let McKelvie's art carry the load and it worked incredibly. That's what this series has done in full. Declan Shalvey's art, which I've always liked a lot but never seen like this, carries this book in a lot of ways but it never feels like the writer is trying to overshadow that or speak unnecessarily to explain something we can see on the page. Really great book, one that (like the rest) you'll just fly through because you're so engrossed (and they read really quickly) but you'll catch yourself flipping through again and again to see the art.

New Warriors 5

I don't necessarily know that this is one of the three best books out there this week (I don't know though, it's definitely up there, competing against titles like IRON FIST: THE IMMORTAL WEAPON, CAPTAIN AMERICA, AVENGERS WORLD, PUNISHER, and even a couple others) but I wanted to shine a light on it here because I think, maybe along with SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN, it does the most this week to really affirm its tone and the feel of this book. In just five issues, Chris Yost and his artists (typically Marcus To but here Nick Roche) have established such a strong feel for this book and created such a unique tone to enforce that feeling. It's fun and it's exciting but that also doesn't trap them into going too light. Instead, there are a few dark moments in this issue that work perfectly amidst all of the fun and energy here, particularly as Speedball is stunned out of his re-found happy-go-lucky attitude by the mention of Stamford and his time as Penance. It's a jarring moment, one that's perfectly timed and excellently executed (particularly in this issue, as we watch Roche's very kinetic and almost cartoonish depiction of Speedball actually stopping). I can't guarantee that this book is for everyone but I'd encourage everyone to try it; like with Yost's SCARLET SPIDER before it, I think NEW WARRIORS is so sure of its characters and so sure of its place in the universe and its tone that it's going to continue to be a strong book for as long as it continues.

This week's picks

Lotta good books out there this week. Makes it tricky to pick the top three and it's helped none by the fact that so many books got full 5 star reviews from me, even some that didn't necessarily strike me as much as others (technical five stars count just as much as gut-feeling ones! That's all this is, really, gut feelings! And maybe I should stop bringing that up so much!). HOWEVER, as there were so many good books this week, I want to shine a light on a few different books, worthy of this list but would undoubtedly be unseated by the likes of BLACK WIDOW and MOON KNIGHT (both of which I do still wholeheartedly recommend). So let's talk about some different books this time.

New Warriors 4

NEW WARRIORS has an interesting story and some compelling characters, enough so that it would warrant a look even without the strong writing and art. Simply put, it feels like a book that's doing everything right so far. This one is certainly more of an all ages book than some of the other books/team books that are coming out right now (though parents be forewarned that there are some bleeped out swears here and there, mostly from Kaine, so if that's something you worry about your kids seeing, maybe read through the book yourself first, or maybe do that anyway?) but there's still plenty there for everyone. The characters are all worth learning about and the team has set itself up as something fairly diverse without going for blatant diversity. The book is the whole package, story, characters, writing, art, and everything else. Strong, strong book.

Punisher 5

There were a number of really fast-reading books out this week that struck a chord because of the pace at which they moved and the way that the art worked with the writing. PUNISHER was a prime example of this and reads extraordinarily well because of it. We're getting some good glimpses of character here and there (although Punisher is perhaps a character more set in his ways than most) and some really interesting story stuff. Mitch Gerads' art feels like a perfect fit for this story and for, really, any Punisher story that's ever happened. As opposed to going the common route of bigger and more cartoonish (that's not what all Punisher artists do but it's one of the directions some artists go in light of such big and brutal stories), Gerads' realism (even in the shape and design of someone like Castle) hits on a very poignant note and carries the series into a spot that lifts the series into another realm.




She-Hulk 4

I continually give Charles Soule a lot of credit for taking THUNDERBOLTS, a book that I thought had a fairly strong premise and a really interesting team but had already gotten bogged down into its own stories, and making it a book that was both exciting and really fun. Now he's jumped on to SHE-HULK and immediately made it his own, giving it the same tone of fun and excitement and real story-telling that's made THUNDERBOLTS such a success (look, I think it's a success, I don't know what the numbers say). Jennifer Walters is a delightful character who gets handed problems and finds ways to solve them. The writing is fun, the characters that support her work well with her, and the art is working wonderfully for the tone. Can't ask for anything more out of a series than that.

Black Widow 6, Punisher 5, Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 2

Black Widow 6
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a) and Cowles (l)

Black Widow has been captured and has spent her interrogation trying to learn what she can about her captors but it's only led her to realize that they're more scared than anything, desperately striking out while they can at anything that could give them information. She breaks out of her bonds when the time is right and begins to make her way down to Damon Dran, who has apparently reconstructed Molot Boga in the hopes that the new steel Hammer of God will be able to protect him from whatever's after him. Widow throws him overboard and captures Dran but whoever it is that's after him has infiltrated SHIELD to some extent as well, turning one of their officers who delivers a poisonous gas to Dran in his cell. Not knowing who she can trust, Natasha returns to her regular life and gets her new assignment from Isaiah.

Story
Edmondson is doing something really interesting with this series so far. He's telling quick stories, getting in and out with a good read on the character and a good sense of what these sorts of missions are. Of course, between this new ongoing plot line and the Iron Scorpion plot line from issue two, there are plenty of directions still to go out there but neither requires immediate action. Instead, they create an atmosphere around Natasha, one that shows the world seemingly closing in around her and closing her off (there's a nice theme through this one that she can't trust anyone and that it's possible she'll need friends going forward with Hawkeye tossed out as a possibility). 5/5

Character
The biggest character movements here are seeing Widow using her interrogation to learn more about her enemies, something not uncommon to Widow's character (even enough that it was referenced in The Avengers), and when she realizes just how alone she is. Seeing how she copes with that, if she decides to pursue allies or pushes forward alone, will show a lot about her character while also allowing us a glimpse behind her process. Really looking forward to it. 5/5

Writing
Edmondson, on top of getting in and out of stories relatively quickly, even the ones that he leaves open-ended to return to later, knows that fewer words can often tell more. There's limited dialogue and limited narration, never distracting from the story or the art but still doing more than enough to convey the plot and the character and everything else he may need to do. Natasha has always seemed a terse character and Edmondson isn't afraid to let her action do the talking. Of course, that's made easier when you have Phil Noto doing astonishing work on the book. 5/5

Art
Gorgeous book with phenomenal characters, solid emotion, great action, and perfect colors. I've already said it all about this series but Noto continues to impress. This issue kicks off with a full page panel of a close-up on Natasha's punched face and it still looks phenomenal. I put this issue down, as I do with seemingly every new release from this book, going "geez, this book is great to look at." 5/5

Miscellaneous
Man, it's going to get a five. It'd be nice if she had her memories of Bucky because NATASHA, I KNOW SOMEONE YOU COULD TRUST.

Total score: 5/5


Punisher 5
Edmondson (w) and Gerads (a) and Petit (l)

The Commandos after Frank tagged the coyote Loot with a tracker and waited while he traveled from Tuggs' place to Frank's hideout. Frank returns to Tuggs, freeing him from his binds, but doesn't have time to think on who attacked him as Electro has just shut down all power to the city. With the power out and the green light given, the Dos Sols attack every cop they can find, killing off police officers with abandon and creating havoc while their boss prepares to trigger the chemical weapon. Punisher finds him and manages to slow him down, nearly able to kill him, before Electro arrives and strikes at Punisher.

Story
The attack on LA is ramping up quickly as the Dos Sols begin to shoot cops and wrap their hand around the city. Guillermo, their leader, is ready to kill the city to show his strength and to advertise his gang to any who would join up. Meanwhile, the Commandos are still after Punisher and the other characters that have joined Frank's new life are all getting enough screen time to show that they'll warrant some attention here as well. Another strong outing from Edmondson as he shows a city in real chaos (which is, coincidentally, a buzzword in this week's BLACK WIDOW as well). 5/5

Character
It continues to be hard to judge Castle's character as he continues to be someone who plays things pretty close to the vest and doesn't have the benefit that, say, BLACK WIDOW has because there's not a lot of narration to show the reader what's really going through Frank's mind. Still, the speed with which he reacts to Loot's presence and his single-mindedness to stop the Dos Sols and Electro say a lot about him. Like with BLACK WIDOW (it's hard not to compare the books as they star protagonists who are similar in their demeanor and sort of in their skills and as they're both written by the same guy right now), Edmondson keeps it pretty short with Frank's dialogue and allows the art to do the talking for the character. It's strong work and it can be rare to see in a Marvel book but Edmondson is doing well in both his books. 5/5

Writing
Covered a lot of this section both in the story and character sections and in my BLACK WIDOW review, honestly. This story, obviously, is more of a traditional long arc than what B-Widz is going through right now but that makes sense with who Punisher is. You don't send Black Widow into a Punisher story any more than you'd send Punisher into a Black Widow story. Though they're presented in a similar fashion in some of the technical stuff, the stories are pretty diverse and I think Edmondson is showing a lot of poise in crafting them the way they need to be crafted. 5/5

Art
Mitch Gerads is doing really cool stuff with this book both in the action sequences and in the colors. It's a very dark book but he continues to mix in moments that are a bit lighter in their presentation if not in their tone, necessarily. Of course, this issue is largely darker because the power's gone out all around the city and cops are being killed in droves. Still, everyone has a very distinct look and Frank and Electro fighting has the sort of kinetic energy (and electric energy) that it should. 5/5

Miscellaneous
It's a testament to this book that I'm not sure I'm coming around a lot on Frank Castle as a character but I'm still finding this series remarkably engaging and well executed.

Total score: 5/5


Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 2
K. Andrews (w and a) and Caramagna (l)

Danny has to rush to K'un Lun, which isn't supposed to intersect with this plane for years still to come. Fortunately, he has a secret path back secreted away under Rand Tower, a way to teleport into the magic city. While the girl Brenda calls an ambulance for the messenger in Danny's apartment, Danny recalls more of his childhood, now remembering the crazed look in his mother's eye as she swears Danny to avenge his family on Harold and as she sacrifices herself to the wolves so Danny can make it to K'un Lun. Now he's apparently made it to K'un Lun, overrun by the cybernetic ninjas that attacked his apartment, where just days ago Davos, son of the original Thunderer, attacks his sister, who has since taken on the mantle of Thunderer while their father has taken on the role of Yu-Ti, leader of K'un Lun. When Danny finally arrives in K'un Lun, he finds it aflame with what seems to be a decapitated Shou-Lao front and center.

Story
Andrews really throws it all at us right at once, which is a gutsy move for someone delving so deep into K'un Lun history in just the second issue. We see Davos, we see the Thunderer, we see Shou-Lao, we see more Iron Fist origin, etc. It's kind of stunning all presented in there and it shows a lot of guts to hope that readers who may not know all of this will understand it as we push forward and that they'll stick with the book long enough to see how it fits together or where it's going. Still, the story itself is something of a mystery but what we need to know now is that there's discontent in K'un Lun and that someone somehow related to its past is transformed and attacking. It's an interesting story but we'll have to see where it goes now. 4/5

Character
There's a bit more to Danny revealed here particularly as Andrews ekes out the last bit of his childhood origin in this issue and as we get a slightly better sense of his voice through the narration and the way he views himself. We also get a quick tutorial in the way Davos thinks, which will undoubtedly be important, and we get a quick look at the new Yu-Ti (new-ish, anyway. I think this is one of the first times we've seen him acting as Yu-Ti). There are moving parts all around here and the story is at the forefront so there's maybe a little less character than the first issue's initial information dump but there's still a bit here to learn about. You can't expect every issue to come with major revelations. 4/5

Writing
The tone, helped along by the art and the color, is decidedly dark and hectic, all of which comes through pretty strongly here. Andrews deciding not to go into tons of detail about who these characters are and how their lives fit together may be a somewhat risky move in terms of keeping readers onboard but it makes sense as far as establishing a frantic tone and keeping an air of mystery to the book. It's a clever move, we'll just have to see if it pays off as we continue. 4/5

Art
Andrews' art continues to be pretty outstanding and the colors really help to set the tone effectively. The switches between looking at the present and looking at Danny's past are made more interesting and made easier to see as Andrews switches art forms a little bit and switches color palettes while also giving the past sections a more classic comic book faded feel. It's effective and it's useful to establish what's going on in a book that can come off so chaotic at times, intentional or not. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Another strong issue though there are real concerns about how vague and cryptic Andrews is going to be as we push forward. Obviously way too early to tell if this is a real concern just yet.

Total score: 4/5

This week's picks

Tricky week this week. There weren't many that were true standouts based on the impact they had or the glee I felt reading them. I toyed with just knocking the "top three" down to one or two but the day I can't figure out three comics worth reading shall be a very sad day indeed. This isn't, then, necessarily the three comics that, if you're going to buy comics, are the ones you should go for (with the exception of MOON KNIGHT). Instead, these are the ones that really went for it this week and certainly are worth mentioning.

Moon Knight 1

A pretty good first entry, giving us a look at our hero and the problems he'll be facing this time out. Of course, they're in the same ballpark as the problems he's dealt with before, but Ellis is taking a slightly different approach to them, giving them an almost more mythological feel to them, which is, of course, a nice move. Shalvey and Bellaire are incredible and the series is off to a solid start. This one should be fun and I'm sure it's going to be one that really makes us think and that will be different than everything we've seen from Moon Knight before.

Punisher 3

This series continues to really press on what makes a solid PUNISHER book. It's raw, it's calculated, it moves with logic and reason, and it's not afraid to get its hands dirty. I don't know that it's in my list of favorite books being released by now (geez PUNISHER, BLACK WIDOW took literally no time to crack that list, it's taking you upwards of three issues) but it would have to be a really phenomenal book to win me over to a PUNISHER solo series. He's not my guy, I get that. With that said, Edmondson's put together a compelling book with an interesting lead and some good supporting characters. Mitch Gerads, for his part, has done a terrific job selling me on LA and on the sort of war Frank is fighting. Keep an eye on this one.

She-Hulk 2

I'm in favor of the SHE-HULK series in just about every aspect. I've immediately come to like Charles Soule (as has, it seems, the entire comic industry, given the raves I've heard about books like SWAMP THING over at DC), I like the idea of more female-led books, I like She-Hulk as a character well enough, and I'm happy to check out Pulido's art. Still though, the book hasn't exactly gripped me the first couple issues out, though it's certainly putting a lot on a book to ask that it work for me right away like I'm expecting. I'm not necessarily asking for that, I think, just stating that this one hasn't burst out of the gate like so much HAWKEYE, BLACK WIDOW, or NEW AVENGERS. Regardless, it's certainly establishing its world and its tone, both of which will be paramount for the book ahead. If it can keep this up and keep pressing, it'll find itself in an awfully favorable position when the stories start hitting.

Black Widow 1, Iron Man 20

Black Widow 1
Edmondson (w) and Noto (a and c)

Black Widow kicks off her new solo book with a couple of quick missions and a sense of how the book is going to play out. We join her in the middle of a mission as she convinces a possible suicide bomber with a gun who is hiding out in a hotel room, ready to detonate if it comes to that, that she is working on his side and that she was hired by his employers to get him out of the tight spot. She relaxes him with a bit of a backstory and a shared heritage (the bomber is also Russian). When he inevitably opens the door to her, she cuts the detonation wire and takes the gun from him before strapping him up to a rope to rappel him down the building with and pushes him out the window to the cops waiting below. Twenty hours later, she's meeting in Central Park with her lawyer/manager Isaiah to get her next assignment. They talk about her reasons for taking jobs and why she's not in it for money beyond the money she needs to repay debts and live life and so on. There's a nice moment where Natasha seems to zone out and watches a woman play with her red-headed daughter and her son. Another 36 hours later and she's in Dubai trying to stop an assassination by taking out the target's bodyguards, as well as the bodyguards of the man with whom he's meeting. Once everyone is down and Natasha has breached the room, she explains the situation to him and puts a bulletproof vest on him before shoving him in front of a window. The sniper planed across the way fires at him, hitting the vest, and Natasha shoots a rocket back. Fifteen hours later back in New York, she tells a not-quite-adopted cat the story and wonders if she's too far gone to pay back her debts.

Obviously this comic is taking a lot of its cues from The Avengers and the "I've got red in my ledger" mentality of that Natasha. Not to say that she doesn't have those feelings in the comics throughout her history but it's being brought into focus here and it's hard not to feel like it's trying to match the movie. That, of course, doesn't mean it's not a compelling story to tell. The more important thing to it, though, is the way that Natasha carries and conducts herself in the midst of all of this and that's what Edmondson, already, is proving he can do. This Natasha is already proving to have everything I like about Natasha's character and, as yet, none of the weird psychotic sort of tendencies that are sometimes ascribed to her. Occasionally people will write her with a sort of psychopathic cold-blooded thing that I don't think is fair but I think comes from the idea that she has been an assassin and a mercenary and everything else. Certainly she's not entirely normalized but some writers can make that lean a little too far and make her almost bloodthirsty. That very clearly isn't Edmondson's intent and he gives her a couple of really human moments throughout the book, between watching the mother and her children and her conversation (which is simultaneously sweet and no-nonsense) with a cat and a couple of wistful stares (between this book and one of the Marvel previews books lurking around out there). Also, I'm ashamed that I've gone this far in analysis and not mentioned Phil Noto's frankly incredible art. The only thing I'd really heard about the book before I read it was that everyone was saying how great the art was. I assumed it would be very good; people's word and Phil Noto's reputation and history wouldn't lie to me. But I'm not lying when I say every person was absolutely right, the art is amazing in this book. Natasha looks stupendous and very real, the supporting characters all have real personality built in, and the set pieces are gorgeous. Great, great art. Very fun book and a great way to kick off the new series.

Iron Man 20
Gillen (w) and Bennett and Hanna (a) and Guru eFX (c)

The christening of Troy has been interrupted by one of the Mandarin's rings, specifically, as Tony realizes, the Remaker. Unwilling to sit by and let it happen without her, Abby Burns (just got that, "burns") jumps in with her newfound Mandarin ring, the Incinerator (see, burns). The ring and Abby talk back and forth about ways to further destroy Stark and about how she's using the ring and so on before a ring-caused solar flare shorts out all electronics in the area (of course, not including Stark's suit, he's beyond that) and Tony has to flee to check on Arno. Arno is safe, having taken his own precautions against this sort of thing in the past, but Burns escapes and tweets a video of herself next to a space satellite. Tony vows to find her and to find the Remaker but starts to understand just what all of this means; the Mandarin's rings are loose. He and Rhodey pay a visit to SHIELD's high-security weapons vault to check on the rings and see that they're all there, but Tony quickly realizes that one of the rings, the Liar ring, is actually creating a false image of all of them; it subsequently disappears, leaving Tony and Rhodey to wonder where the rings are, who has them, how long they've been gone, and how long they've been apparently sentient. The rings, meanwhile, have decided to escalate things now that Incinerator and Remaker have shown their hand.

There's a lot going on and a lot to like in this series. The idea of the rings as sentient and dead-set on destroying Stark is certainly something that changes the playing field a bit and makes Mandarin an exciting and almost entirely new foe. There's also an undercurrent of mild suspicion around Tony that is both warranted and unwarranted. Rhodey points out that everyone's a little worried about what Tony's up to with this city and these new ideas and locking himself in his lab for weeks at a time, but Tony counters it with his usual "whenever I'm up to something new, the military worries, even though I'm pretty definitively one of the good guys." There are valid points to each argument and it's clear that this debate is one that Gillen will shine light on as we keep pressing. The art looks good and fits the issue well, particularly the action of the issue. There are some bits of the issue that I had to re-read because I started to gloss over them, particularly with Abby. She's a tricky character to read because she's suddenly so at home with this ring and so quickly adapting to possible supervillainy. She's also somewhat irritating, which doesn't help matters. Still, the good easily outweighs the bad here and it's nice to see a re-imagination of one of Iron Man's classic foes. But, you know, not like the re-imagination in Iron Man 3. Which was garbage.