This week's picks

This might not come as a shock to anybody, but this week was pretty hard to choose. Marvel is putting forward a lot of good books right now and, especially with so many number ones coming out to build excitement, this whole first month of my blog has been hard to choose what three I eventually recommend. This week is really hard because there are two that I am absolutely choosing and several that could be in contention for the third spot. I'm lucky, really, to have this kind of a problem, but it's still a problem. FUN FACT: Deadpool 4 will not be on this list.

Uncanny Avengers 3

This was rather a no-brainer for me. It's largely a no-brainer because I've been thinking about it constantly since it came out. Whenever a book does that, it's hard not to pick it as a must-buy for the week. To my memory, this is just about the darkest arc I've seen Marvel do in a long time. The book feels like it's more deeply seated in the Marvel Universe than many I've seen in the past. There are consequences to this book that, barring major events and crossovers, feel more long-term than other books are usually willing to do. However, it isn't dark simply for the sake of dark. It is dark because dark is what the Marvel Universe should feel like right now. There's a lot of distrust of mutants out there, especially hot off the heels of the Phoenix, and suddenly their numbers are exploding again. Race riots are exactly what I'd expect to be happening, even if the Red Skull, of all villains, weren't stoking them. A lot of civilians have died in the midst of this, as I imagine they would. It feels real and it feels powerful and it's just a really stellar plot and book. Worth reading, even amidst all the darkness.

Winter Soldier 14

It's possible this one's on here more for me than for you. Like I said in my review, this is Brubaker's last issue on the book he created with the character he created and, likely, his last book at Marvel. It's certainly a sad day. It's also sad because I love Bucky and it's entirely true that no one knows Bucky better than Brubaker because he's the only one who's really written him. I worry a bit about that moving forward, though I think Marvel's done a good job transitioning to new writers by and large so far. Still some worrisome times for Winter Soldier fans ahead. Anyway, this issue is worth your reading for the final team up of Brubaker and Guice and Bellaire/Breitweiser (who have done such a fine job coloring in all of their own books and who you should pay ENORMOUS respect to, even though I don't pay nearly enough respect to colorists in these posts, something I aim to remedy in the coming days/weeks). It's also the end of the Black Widow Hunt storyline, which is both action-packed and heart-breaking. So many hyphenated feelings to go around. This book is one of Marvel's 2.99 books and it's absolutely worth the price of admission. Pick it up, for sure.

Punisher: Nightmare 4
I know, I can't believe he picked that one either. In a week that gave us fantastic and totally-worthy-of-this-list entries like Avengers, FF, and Young Avengers, not to mention a fairly strong showing from the first issue of the new X-Force, I'm going with the fourth and penultimate book in a Punisher mini-series. Who'd've guessed? OKAY, so I really liked Avengers for, of all things, its inaccessibility and I don't know if you should buy it based on that if you're looking to buy one this week. I like the sense of fun and old-school comic-ness of FF, and, frankly, I think Young Avengers will do just fine without my recommendation (though probably that would be on this list ANYWAY if not for Punisher). Punisher: Nightmare has rather blown away my expectations and this book is tying everything together really nicely. I don't think this book has missed a beat yet, particularly. Two wasn't my favorite issue and three got a little murky, but both were still necessary steps to the arc. I think four is possibly the best so far, though maybe with the least action. We see a lot of Frank understanding why he does what he does, perhaps especially interesting to see parallel to Punisher War Zone, wherein he's being forced to wonder about why he's still doing what he does. I might be turning around on Punisher, you guys. We'll have to see.



Anyway, just ABOUT on time, hopefully next week will be a little less hectic and a lot less anger-filled. We passed one month of my blog this week and I couldn't be happier with it so far. Well, okay, yes I could. But really, I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you all are too. Even if you just come here for the pictures.

Thunderbolts 3, Cable and X-Force 3, Punisher: Nightmare 2, Punisher War Zone 3, Marvel Universe vs the Avengers 4

Thunderbolts 3
Way (w) and Dillon (a)

One of the things I talked about at length in my X-Force post-game entries near the start of this blog was the way in which Remender handled Deadpool. He's got a crazy streak to him and he's certainly unbalanced, but he's good at what he does and he has something of a moral center. This is, I feel, especially true in Uncanny X-Force, maybe more so than in his own series, but the groundwork was definitely laid by Daniel Way over in Deadpool. For as much as I love Remender's Deadpool, I think I like Way's better. On the one hand, he's had him longer and has been able to focus more attention to him, but on the other, I think he's got a really good mix of absurdity and seriousness. Thunderbolts looks to be a good outlet for that.

Our ragtag bunch of killers are working in Kata Jaya in Southeast Asia to train freedom fighters to destabilize a jerk dictator who apparently set off a gamma bomb. Elektra has been caught (intentionally) and Venom and Punisher are working with the freedom fighters to get more supplies and work on thinning the enemy ranks a little. Meanwhile, in Madripoor, Red Hulk and Deadpool have a frank discussion of Red Hulk's plans, which include using the mind of a de-powered Leader who Red Hulk is slowly re-powering to actually make his mind worth using. This is one of the more entertaining parts of the book, and where Way shows his Deadpool skills. A lot of writers would have had Deadpool flippant the whole time and almost unbearable beside Red Hulk and seeing the Leader. Way gives him his sense of humor but also makes him a valuable voice in the conversation. He points out that this plan doesn't seem so great and that, even if there is a good plan somewhere within it, Punisher will shoot the Leader right in the forehead if he finds out. By the end of the issue, he has.

There are some stories boiling in here, both in the tensions between team members (turns out NO ONE thought bringing the Leader along was a good idea) and in the story. The cliffhanger of this issue, or one of them, is that the jerk dictator didn't set off a gamma bomb to destroy a village, there's something else afoot. Also, Elektra is being held by the Leader's brother, Hulk villain Madman. I still think that Deadpool is the strongest written character of the group, but that could shift. For now, though, the most enjoyable parts of the book involve Deadpool. Then again, I'm biased; I'm not a huge Punisher nor Red Hulk fan. We'll see what I'm feeling halfway through this series.

Cable and X-Force 3
Hopeless (w) and Larocca (a)

My, but X-Force books are fun. As I eagerly await the new Uncanny X-Force that comes probably next week (look, I'm pretty sure that's when it is) and stars a couple members of my beloved X-Force team (including a few that are Fantomex), this Cable and X-Force team is really something. I was nervous about two separate X-Force books coming hot on the heels of Remender's, and that worry isn't out the window until the new book comes out, but so far Cable and X-Force has proved immensely readable. As I said in yesterday's Avengers Arena review, I like the Nick Fury-esque sort of planning aspect of a team leader/strategist. Apparently Dennis Hopeless does too. This book highlights that aspect quite nicely, as Cable is a pro at this sort of work and everyone on the team has some sort of experience with it and with him. There's a nice bit where he explains their mission and they all, one by one, offer their plan with him rejecting each one. It's a fun bit of quick character building that really works. It also works because the team is so small. It's easier than in most books to understand the relationships within the team because there are only six team members and they all have pretty well-established connections already. ALSO, I get happy whenever I remember that Dr. Nemesis is on the team.

This book dives right into the "threat to mutantkind" mantra of X-Force and goes to shut down an anti-mutant fast food chain because Cable has seen the future and a virus starts there that would kill thousands of humans and leave mutants untouched. Rather than allow it to be blamed on mutants and let the bigoted head of the company blame mutants for it, they aim to shut the virus down at its start, a factory. Forge has a talk with Theresa Payton, the aforementioned bigoted head, and finds out that she's not as bigoted as she might have seemed and that, unlike what the team is thinking, she seems to have no knowledge of the virus. Forge exhibits some cool Sherlock-like detail noticing about a robot bodyguard she has and disables it and breaks loose to head home. Things go slightly awry in the plans and they finally make it to the factory to find that the plague is already at work within and has incapacitated Colossus already.

Okay, as I was typing the summary, I noticed that it sounds absolutely crazy. I don't think I did a horrible job summarizing because all of that does happen, but the problem is that there's no useful way to summarize MOST comics, and this seems to be one of them. This book really is worth reading. I heartily recommend the series so far so maybe stop reading that summary and just read everything else I've written. The fun bit is that people who HAVE read the issue would read that summary and go "I KNOW, WASN'T IT GREAT?"

Punisher: Nightmare 2
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a)

We continue where we left off last week, with Punisher and Niman/Johnny Nightmare (his murderer persona) out searching for the twin killers who killed Niman's wife and daughter. We start to get into a more mysterious backstory for Niman. He wasn't just a soldier who had a couple personalities within him and who is currently on the track to becoming another Punisher. Through some strained memories and plenty of repeated dialogue, Niman remembers that he was the sole guinea pig in a new series of inoculation tests during his training at Fort Bragg. Though they discontinued the treatments, they seemed to have a lasting effect in terms of accelerated healing and, to some extent, strength and vision and focus, etc. A sort of mini-super soldier serum. However, it also seems to be opening the door to the Johnny Nightmare persona taking over. Whether that was in there before and was amplified by the war and the serum or if the serum caused that has yet to be discussed.

The writing of this issue was interesting. Complicated. As I said, there's a lot of strained memories and repeated dialogue to illustrate the cracks in Niman's mind. It's effective, but I think it tends to lose some of that effectiveness after too much time. After enough time for a reader to go "right, got it, now you're just holding me up." I also do find it interesting that the title character of this book was present for the entire issue and had about four lines. I'm not saying that as a negative. I don't imagine Punisher as the chatty type (besides, Marvel has enough of those as is) and I think this level of dialogue is about accurate, especially when we're focused on the other character in the book. The book has taken a bit of a turn from what I was initially anticipating, so we'll see if it holds interest in the final three issues.

Punisher War Zone 3
Rucka (w) and Di Giandomenico (a)

Okay, I keep saying I don't like Punisher. I'm going to have to go back and read Rucka's run because this Punisher War Zone book is pretty incredible. YES, it definitely sucks me in that it has the Avengers and YES they are often the focus more than him but STILL. There's a lot of really good examination of what Punisher is and what he does. It's like the Wolverine-in-X-Force idea of using something as an outlet for your animal nature. Thor examines this after chasing down Punisher in Indonesia and being led into a secret munitions stockyard. Punisher hides out to the side as Thor, doing exactly what I said YESTERDAY he doesn't do, makes extremely quick work of the whole affair. I'm not bringing that up because I think it's out of character for him to do it, I bring it up because it really is something he doesn't really do. Thor doesn't tend to fight regular humans because he would devastate them. Of course, if he's led into a place with clearly illicit and dangerous things going on, it's well within his character to stop it. He just typically doesn't go to those places. It's a nice touch and follows from the last issue of the book, where Punisher led Black Widow to an exploited group of young boys and girls so she might save them instead of fight him. It's a good strategy for Castle but, of course, he ends up being caught by Thor because, while Natasha's problem last issue took time to resolve, Thor had destroyed the place in a matter of seconds.

Though the premise of this book has been that the Avengers are trying to bring Punisher in because he's a public danger and because his protege is going to get the death sentence after she was caught to make an example of him, Thor chooses not to bring in Punisher. He has a talk with a captive audience, letting Frank know that he's free to take his arms and go after their talk but it would be wise to listen. They have a couple beers and talk about what it is Punisher does. Though Frank says Thor doesn't know anything about him and the war he fights, Thor quickly shows off his own knowledge of war and being a warrior and seems to nail down Frank's entire personality. This was telling to me and the moment I decided I needed to go back and read Rucka's run. He clearly knows what he's doing with Punisher and clearly has a plan for him of some sort. This book is definitely worth reading, as Rucka treats the Avengers well in their limited capacities and clearly has a grasp on Punisher. Also, the art, particularly the art surrounding Thor's attack on the base, is pretty fantastic.

Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers 4
Maberry (w) and Fernandez (a)

I'm going to be honest, I'm not really a huge fan of these books. Marvel Universe vs., Marvel Zombies, Deadpool kills, etc. I don't know why. But I have a few theories. One is just that I don't understand the universe. I know this is all kind of a possible future or an alternate timeline or, you know, fiction. But in a Marvel world so organized, I have trouble piecing together where this fits in. Also, there's always that zombie-story feel of "we don't know why this started but it did and here we are and there's no way to stop it." There's never a cure in any of these books, which is probably fitting but even if you put one cure in one of these books, it would make it feel like it was possible in any of them. That would be the reference point as a reader to say "Oh, well they survived beyond the series that one time, so it could happen again here." In a way, that leaves books like this with no stakes. You see your favorite heroes fall and some may survive but there are no stakes because you know they won't eventually. Like, know, not just have a bad feeling. That leads to the last and likely more truthful theory: I don't like watching my favorite characters all die.

Anyway, my favorite characters all died in this book. The writing wasn't bad, the art was good throughout, but all characters became possessed or became dead. Except Punisher. I still don't care.


So this ends "necessary force" day, as I dubbed it when picking out which days I'd review which books. Get ready for "X-Men day (minus X-Force)" tomorrow.

Red She-Hulk 61, Punisher: Nightmare 1, Iron Man 3 Prelude 1

Red She-Hulk 61
Parker (w) and Pagulayan and Alves (a)

I admit when I was bemoaning the lack of female-driven titles while praising Captain Marvel (there IS still a lack and I DO still praise Captain Marvel) I had completely forgotten Red She-Hulk was a book. I give myself some leeway since it only switched over to focus on her a few books ago and Wikipedia tells me she only became Red She-Hulk in 2009, but the blame is still on me. It's largely still on me because I do like what I've read of this book. There's a nice bit of soft science tying together a plot with Betty being tracked by Machine Man as he tries to apprehend her for the Avengers before ultimately joining up with her. Before this, I'd seen her crop up in Fear Itself and The Defenders, which I quite liked. I like the idea of a Hulk becoming a Hulk late into a world where Hulks are so present. There's not so much of the "WHAT AM I? WHAT HAVE I BECOME?" and more of the "boy, I'm really strong and really powerful and I'd like to go punch things that are bigger than me." She admits as much in this issue, telling Machine Man that her inhibitions seem to disappear when she's red, a feeling she seems to appreciate. In those times, she explores and seeks out thrills, unlike many of the Hulks before her. It's a fun and more loose way of looking at a Hulk and it's definitely appreciated.

At the end of last issue, she changed from her still-humanlike Red Hulk form into a far more Hulk-like form after being set upon by enhanced super-soldiers of the "Echelon Project," designed solely to make more superhumans but apparently actually working (unlike so many other projects like this). When she looked like she would lose the fight, Machine Man notes, she turns more Hulk and thus loses more of herself. The Echelon Project leader contains her before Machine Man frees her and whisks her away to give her a chance to power down. She goes full human and explains to Machine Man what exactly is going on with her. There's a great sense, to build on the inhibitions idea in various Hulk forms, that very different things matter to her as Betty Ross and as Red She-Hulk. As Red She-Hulk, she's very upset at an ancient, hidden pyramid that stole her "BIG-%#& SWORD." When she follows leads about what could have happened in the pyramid, now as Betty Ross, she's more intrigued by the mystery and less attached to the sword.

It's a great idea, one that's both inherent to the Hulk mythology and a bit warped for her purposes. She is certainly a different Hulk than the others, though she shares the same powers. For regular Hulk, there's no middle ground stage. He's either Banner or he's Hulk. There's still a sense of Banner within Hulk, to varying degrees depending on the writer or the time or whatever magics they apply to him, but it's never as pronounced as with Red She-Hulk, or even regular type She-Hulk, for that matter. That's always been a weird sticking point for me about the Hulks; She-Hulk far prefers the Hulk side of her and doesn't shy away. Certainly she's lost control in the past and will do it again in the future, no doubt, but there's never been the sort of feeling of a totally changed person. Meanwhile, Hulk is typically very much one or the other. This issue of Red She-Hulk helps explain away a good amount of that, with different degrees of Hulking. It's a very good idea put to good use here. Machine Man is a solid character dug up from depths of Marvel for it. The art in the book is very strong in its action and settings, which are varied and they're beginning to delve into the recently storied history of SHIELD. Overall, solid book on what has so far been a solid title. Worth reading.

Punisher: Nightmare 1
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a)

I'm not really a Punisher guy. I never have been. I've always kind of thought he's been a one-trick pony and I hate that. It's also why I hate when people who don't know Captain America try to portray Captain America. In video games, he's always like "These colors don't run!" and "I've been fighting since before you were born!" We get it, video game developers, he's got a flag on his chest. That's kind of the first thing we saw. But to people who know Cap, there's more there than just crazy patriotism. In fact, crazy patriotism isn't really there (despite the flag bit). With Punisher, it's always been "these guys are bad, I'm bad too, but a different kind, so I'll kill them."

Here's the inherent hypocrisy of that, in case you didn't catch it. I like Cap because I read deeper than his costume. I don't like Punisher because I don't. I've read maybe 15 books total that really have to do with Punisher, and half of those are from the perspective of other characters (his Civil War appearances, when he jumps into Daredevil, etc.). I don't know how much goes on between the costume. I will say, in my defense, that just about every one of those books did follow the same formula. I will also say, against my defense, that I was compelled enough to read on then denounced Punisher as a weak character EACH TIME. As this blog continues, I hope to stay on top of just about every Marvel book. That will include a heavy dose of Punisher. I've read some of this most recent series, Greg Rucka's take, and I've been at least willing to keep going in many cases. So we'll see if any of this changes.

On to Punisher: Nightmare 1. We get a lot of Punisher backstory here (which, despite my distaste for the character, I do know already) and so it kind of drags a bit to readers who know. Still, it works well enough as it's interspersed with fragments of his non-origin story past and with the way the origin story scene plays in his head on a constant loop. It's also important to have it there in terms of building this story, introducing a new character who is going through almost exactly what Castle went through when he became Punisher. Another war vet, wife and kid, finally home from the war and his family gets murdered in the crossfire of a gang assassination. This one had some issues in the war differentiating between the good guy he was and the murderer he could be on the battlefield. I'm not sure if that parallels Castle's war days (where I know he was a good soldier and he must have learned a whole bunch, but I'm not sure if he was as kill-happy as Johnny) but it certainly parallels his once-days and his now-days. Gimple and Texeira paint a good picture of Castle-now as the Johnny persona, the murderer person of John Niman. Castle-then was likely more like John's J persona, the diplomat, the intelligent family man. There are two extremes with Frank, before Punisher and Punisher. Johnny is both in one. It's an interesting concept and I'll keep with the book because personality interests me. Even if I've written Punisher off as having a one-track personality, it's still a personality of a sort and examining it from all sides is something that intrigues me.


Iron Man 3 Prelude 1
Gage (w) and Kurth (a)

This book is meant as a movie-tie in for Iron Man 3, which is interesting to me because it's only a two book limited series and I don't think that will bring us to movie release date, but I might have that release date wrong? Oh well, just seems early is all. Anyway, it's standard stuff, establishing characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe like Tony, Pepper, Coulson, and Rhodes. This story, actually, focuses on Rhodes. Tony designs a new War Machine suit for him, with his own weapons instead of Hammer weapons and Rhodey takes it to war, only to find out that he's up against the Ten Rings, the same organization Tony escaped from in the original Iron Man. It's a smart premise and keen-eyed fans will have already noticed by now that Iron Man 3's antagonist is set to be the Mandarin, he of the ten rings (GET IT, TEN RINGS?). So the Ten Rings of the first movie was just a cell of the entire organization which is no doubt run by Mandarin. Anyway, they don't know all this (they know about the cells, not about the Mandarin) in this issue and Rhodey is trying to find any information he can on the organization as a whole, which is supplying heavy weapons to them.

One of the more interesting bits to me is that there's an Avengers tie-in sequence in here too. Though it's certainly a nod to the blockbuster and ground-shattering movie, it's used more as an explanation to Rhodes' whereabouts during the event. It's a question that didn't ever come up to me until I saw it in this issue, but where WAS Rhodey? You'd think that another Iron Man suit would be invaluable in that attack on New York and the army would certainly send him. This issue explains that he's just cleared up a hostage situation in Asia and, even at supersonic speeds, it would take him hours to get to New York and then he gets attacked by what appear to be more Mandarin forces ANYWAY.

Take this issue for what it is. It's providing some sort of backstory for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and doesn't really tie in to the Marvel 616. Still, Gage is a good writer and makes the story interesting and answers some questions about that Universe. It's somewhat fun because, though the characters resemble their 616 counterparts, there are clear differences and this kind of book allows the writer and the artist to render their own interpretation of that character. Not a bad book. If you're looking to get into comics and your way in is the movie, this would be a great way to jump in. Something with characters you're familiar with and where you don't feel like you need the decades of history to understand the comic. This just requires knowing about a couple movies you probably already know about. It's not so bad for a full-on comic fan too; good writing, good art, intriguing story. Better than a lot of movie tie-in books, for sure.