This week's picks

Slower week of releases this week and some pretty clear picks jump to mind. Then why are we wasting time when we could just be getting to it?

Daredevil 2

Things stay interesting in issue two of Matt Murdock's new stay in San Francisco. Waid, Samnee, and Rodriguez introduce him to some new friends and new foes and to people maybe somewhere in between. It's a lot of fun without ever forgetting its plot or its goals. On top of it, as has been true with this book from day one, even back in the Paolo Rivera days because of course even in the Paolo Rivera days, the book is gorgeous and conveys everything it needs to artistically while remaining one of the top books out there for interior art (and cover art, hence why Samnee was nominated this year for best cover artist at this year's Eisner's after a win for best penciller/inker last year). The spirit of this book persists and the tone that Waid and his various art teams worked so hard to establish still permeates through the series even after all of the tense events at the end of the last volume and the move to San Francisco to kick this one off. Really great overall comic book and I can't recommend it enough, you guys.

Elektra 1

Really great first issue for this new series, one that writer W. Haden Blackman will have to work hard to make relevant in a day and age where so many books are coming out and a seemingly B-list character will have to really stun to stand out. So far, so good. As I talked about in my review this week, Elektra is a tricky character to write over a long term but Blackman very clearly has plans for her and very clearly know what he wants to do with the character. On top of it, Mike Del Mundo, phenomenal, Eisner nominated cover artist for my beloved X-MEN LEGACY, is already crushing it on the art for this series. There's a lot happening in this first issue and a story that looks interesting, though it looks like it may have the ability to trump any sort of character developments. We'll have to hold out on any of those judgments and just really focus on how neat this first issue was.

Iron Patriot 2
This one gets the nod over AVENGERS UNDERCOVER, THUNDERBOLTS, and UNCANNY AVENGERS because it was a very good book but also because it surprised me with how good it was. There are certainly still nits to be picked here but it's a series I didn't expect much out of; I've had some troubles with writer Ales Kot in the recent past and I don't know how much I trust an Iron Patriot series to really shine but if Kot and artist Garry Brown can keep the book going like this then I think there's a real opportunity for an impressive series. It's another in a long list (one that also includes ELEKTRA) of recent risky series for Marvel to take a chance on and hopefully another one that will pay off. I love how many risks Marvel is taking but I do worry a little bit about flooding the market with books and how expensive those books have become (Robert Kirkman was in the news recently talking about Marvel's business plan of exclusively 3.99 titles) and what that will mean for books with smaller general followings. Still, hopefully the cream rises to the top and the books that deserve to be kept are kept when the numbers start getting crunched.

Comics this week

Hey all my buddies, it's the start to another new comics week so it's time to highlight the five I'm anticipating most. There are eighteen new books out this week and more than a QUARTER of them start with the worlds "ALL-NEW," as the list on the right would indicate (unless you're looking at this post sometime after the week of this post, in which case there are hopefully different comics there). Though I am interested to see how ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER 2 is after a pretty strong debut issue, I refuse to put it on this list because there are FIVE "ALL-NEW" TITLES and I kind of hate the "ALL-NEW" designation. The tiniest protest aside, there are still more than enough books to choose from this week.

Avengers Undercover 2
A strong opener from Dennis Hopeless and company put the survivors of AVENGERS ARENA back on the map and now they're reunited to try to save the revenge-fueled Cullen Bloodstone from destruction or worse at the hands of bigger villains than even Arcade because, you know, Arcade isn't that big of a villain outside of his island. The tone and the focus on characters drove the initial series and I'd look for it to drive this one too.

Captain Marvel 2
Carol Danvers has gone to space hoping that the time off Earth gets her in a new headspace. It's a whole new start for Carol Danvers and one that will shake things up a bit for our hero. She's taken on a role for the Avengers as a sort of space warning system, fighting off or alerting the Avengers to threats to Earth coming from space. She's also set to join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy as they continue to gain popularity. Could lead to interesting stuff.

Daredevil 1.50
This is one I'm not a hundred percent sure of as it launches. To celebrate the fiftieth year of Daredevil, this 1.50 issue is a standalone issue that will purportedly give us a glimpse into DD's 2014 from the creators of his current series as well as a few stories from DD's past from past creators. By "not sure of it," I mostly mean that I tend not to put in standalone stories or retrospective stories to this list but I really like Daredevil and I think this one will still matter in the long run. Plus, I'm sure it'll still be good.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1
Everyone's favorite K'un-Lun chosen one returns to the forefront of Marvel comics as IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON takes off. Writer/artist Kaare Andrews will lead Daniel Rand through all sorts of new and, given Andrews' work with Iron Fist before, presumably beautiful places in this all-new (but pointedly not ALL-NEW) series. I love Iron Fist; he's somewhere up pretty high in my pantheon of superheroes. I'm really excited to see where this series goes.

Nightcrawler 1
With the return of beloved mutant Nightcrawler comes the return of beloved X-Men legend Chris Claremont. I'm very intrigued to see how Claremont comes at this new series. He was always a little wordy for my tastes but that was also certainly a product of the times. Now, in a world where comics are more accepted and understood and the artists are able to do more storytelling with a page, we'll see how Claremont handles a brand new series. I'm interested enough that I'm not even going to mention how much I miss X-MEN LEGACY, the book this one is replacing (kind of, anyway. Originally Nightcrawler was just going to take over LEGACY but then they were like "well hey, let's just title the book NIGHTCRAWLER." Regardless, I think Spurrier's LEGACY would have been over anyway).

This week's picks

A lot of strong books out this week that landed probably somewhere in that above average to great line but a limited number of truly great books and a fair amount of "I'm finding it hard to get through this one" books. Good thing we don't highlight the latter here over at Marvels so LET'S FIND THOSE GOOD'UNS.

Daredevil 1

How much will change for everyone's favorite blind lawyer/superhero in the wake of his major identity reveal and subsequent move to San Francisco? Well probably a lot. We just don't have the time or the desire to see it all here because that would be crappy writing. What we do see is a clear shift in some of Daredevil's normal actions as he adjusts to his new life, including acting almost as more of a detective with the police, able to reveal how he knows as much as he does about certain situations, and his getting acclimated to a vastly different San Francisco skyline. There's a lot to like in this first issue and I think there's a lot to build on for Waid and Samnee as they move forward with this new new look for DAREDEVIL (their new look was already with the last DAREDEVIL launch so this is new new).

Thunderbolts 23

This one narrowly won out this week over other titles like IRON MAN, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL, and AVENGERS WORLD, in part because I think this one was just about the most fun book to read this week, on top of giving a level of depth to our much loved team. Obviously it's a somewhat big issue on its own as Venom leaves the team but there are also revelations about how the team views one another (though we've seen a good amount of that already) and how the team works as a team (or, perhaps, specifically how it doesn't). It also continues to be one of the best books at infusing humor into whatever dark (or light) scene. It's not heavy-handed, it's not a joke for a joke's sake, it's just there, in the words or actions of characters from whom you believe the humor. THUNDERBOLTS continues to be both fun and exciting while altogether maintaining a complete comic book.

Winter Soldier: Bitter March 2

I'm very impressed with the workmanship of this book. Remender is threading plot lines back and forth between this not-quite-prequel to the current events of CAPTAIN AMERICA and CAPTAIN AMERICA and he's making it look easy. We're getting a taste of everything here, between Ran Shen's history with SHIELD and his blossoming thoughts on how the world should work (thoughts that would eventually lead him to his new persona as the Iron Nail), Horace Littleton and his work (that would eventually lead him to his new persona as Dr. Mindbubble), and a taste of the hatred between SHIELD and Hydra/other factions of the world. It's doing all of that, which is neat enough on its own, but more than that it's a really interesting WINTER SOLDIER story by itself. I feel confident that if you weren't reading CAPTAIN AMERICA right now and you picked this up because you were like "oh hey, that Winter Soldier seems like a pretty cool cat and by golly he's the star of an upcoming movie I take it," you'd still be reading a book that you can completely understand and one that still holds your interest. Great stuff. And look at that cover. Just really cool.

This weeks picks

Kind of a slow week this week. Not a lot of standouts and not many that'll really stick with me but surely enough to fill this list out, right? Right?

Daredevil 36

It's a little hard to add too much weight to this finale as the book will pick up again next month with the same creative team. Fortunately, that's not really why it stands out this week. The fight and the court case are all good, particularly as Matt realizes just why he's protected his identity for so long and just what that protection has meant. There are a couple of really nice pages in the issue but the real driving force is the opening scene between Matt and Foggy. They have one of the best relationships in comics and one of the most unique and it's come through pretty well here as they've repaired their friendship pretty solidly (though it still had its bumps this volume) and the series ends with Foggy, despite the pressure it'll bring on him and the health care it will take away, urging Matt to reveal himself as Daredevil. Very nice stuff.

New Warriors 1

I don't think this was a perfect first issue by any means. I wasn't blown away by it in the same sort of way I was by NEW AVENGERS or BLACK WIDOW or HAWKEYE though, if I compare every book to those, most books will lose. What I really liked about this book, though, is it was a very confident set-up book. Sometimes writers on a new book will try to cram too much in or try to introduce too many storylines all at once. What makes this number one even better is that, looking back at it, it feels like this book very much could have had those problems as it showed a bunch of our new heroes and showed them all up against a new enemy but it never felt overloaded or slow. It moved well, it had a good tone, and I think it's planting seeds that will work pretty well. Very interested to see where this one goes.

Punisher 2

I don't know that this was really the best book out there this week and it certainly makes this list as a benefit of the slow week but all of these qualifications don't mean that this book isn't still worthy of consideration or of checking out. One of the things that this book is already doing really well is one of the intangibles of any sort of literature or media, creating a tone. It's still pretty early and so there's not really a way to even guarantee what that tone is but it's certainly establishing a unique and consistent feel for the series. A lot of that tone is built with Mitch Gerards' art and colors but I think Edmondson has also shown between this book and BLACK WIDOW that he understands the worlds that his characters inhabit. Time will still tell if this is a really top-notch book, more than just a top-notch Punisher book, even, but there are certainly hints of a greater world and greater character development and plot here, all helped by the established tone.

Daredevil 33, Fantastic Four 14, Indestructible Hulk 15

Daredevil 33
Waid and Samnee (s) and Copland (a) and J. Rodriguez (c)

Daredevil, slipping away from reality as he suffers from a severe gunshot wound, dreams of himself and Foggy (or his representation of Foggy, having never seen him before) at the ocean, talking about things, when Foggy walks into the sea with Matt helpless to stop him, unable to move. He awakens to find himself surrounded by the gang of monsters from last issue, wrapping him up tight with the mummy's bandages to stop the bleeding while Satana and Jack attempt to use their magic to close the wound. They manage it, despite Matt's misgivings, and he's quickly back on his feet asking Jack about the Darkhold. Jack reluctantly tells Matt about the book, which is in his possession, and about missing pages from the book, which he believes are in the possession of a man in town named Lucien Sinclair, who seems tied to the Sons of the Serpent. They've attempted in the past to get the pages back but found themselves driven nearly mad by the hallucinatory sights and sounds on the way to Sinclair's home. Daredevil takes off for it instantly and finds himself in a similar predicament, though he need not see what they've seen. The gauntlet he has to run through is one made up almost entirely of the suffering of other races (particularly African-Americans) and the message that whites and the Serpents are the true rulers of the world. It nearly breaks Matt but he's able to push through and, as he reaches a doorway, he begins to worry that more horrors that he won't be able to cope with lie ahead. He realizes, though, that this isn't a torture mechanism; it's a test. True Sons of the Serpent would have no problem traversing the hallucinations, they'd revel in it. Enraged, he bursts through the door and sets the entire house ablaze, grabbing the pages he needs (and keeping them hidden from the monsters) and tossing Sinclair to the others waiting outside.

Guys, this was my summary after I cut things OUT. Anyway, it's a really powerful issue and one that covers a lot of ground. The Sons of the Serpent are an oft-seen hate group in the Marvel Universe and I think it's easy to kind of push them aside; we've all seen hate in real life and we've all seen prejudice and the KKK and things like that, so sometimes it's easy enough to wave these guys away as just another sect of that, a villain group that is 100% villains with no subtext to them and one that should be and typically is dispatched by our stalwart and righteous heroes. The true extent of their hatred rarely really comes across with the vitriol and power that it does here. Pretty tough one to get through and Daredevil's pain is real, even if it's mental anguish over physical, which makes his rage palpable when he finally breaks into Sinclair's. Good book and solid fill-in art from Jason Copland with ever-perfect colors from Javier Rodriguez.

Fantastic Four 14
Fraction and Kesel (s) and Kesel (w) and Ienco (a) and Mounts (c)

Old John Storm isn't exactly Old John Storm, as it turns out, he's Alternate-Universe John Storm. He tells the F4 that he's afraid that his F4 was partly responsible for the degenerative disease afflicting the F4 now and that they can definitely cure it, though it will require going to his universe, one ruled by Doom, Kang, and Annihilus. With no other options available, they travel to the other universe and find themselves greeted by a barrage of missiles and a distinct inability to properly control their powers. Sue manages to protect them with forcefields for as long as she can but it drains her immensely. Other John Storm goes out to distract Doom and his team, leaving Johnny behind because  activating his powers will leave him stuck in flame form. An electromagnetic barrage hits the ship and knocks out all the mechanics, leaving them hurtling towards Earth and defenseless to the missiles coming at them. Sue pulls out her last trick, a whistle given to her by Medusa that brings Lockjaw to them, who transports them to the ground before taking Val and Franklin back home to their own dimension. All is not well, though, as Johnny was still hit by shrapnel from the exploding ship and needs to activate his flame powers to burn the metal out. He's bleeding and the team needs to stitch up the wound to save him, using the last of Sue's powers to create a needle and some thread from the unstable molecules in their uniforms. She manages it then passes out herself as Reed and Ben realize that Johnny will die of dehydration within a day if they don't get him help. Meanwhile, Kang betrays Doom (who was, of course, planning to betray him) and takes a device meant to control the Negative Zone, making him the ruler of time and space.

Geez, another long summary. This iteration of the series is winding down and the action is stepping up as a result. Things are clearing up as we see the alternate dimension Johnny is from with a little more clarity and we get to see the two F4 teams meeting up at the end of the issue. Big things in store for the next couple of issues. There's not a ton of room, though, for characterization in these last couple issues, which comes as both a bit of a surprise and a bit of a let-down. These are big things that are happening and they're somewhat unprecedented in F4 history. I'd like to see exactly how they're weighing on the team. Granted, this whole series has done an awful lot of character work and now feels like the time to focus on story, but the voices are starting to blend together a little bit. There's another argument to be made that the F4 is the oldest and most consistent team in the Marvel Universe and that they don't really need a ton more by way of characterization. However, I'd say that the start of this volume saw a lot of big character moments that changed the way I viewed these characters in a couple ways. It's a little sad that they'll have to shift over to plot to end the series. Also, did Doom really not see Kang betraying him coming?

Indestructible Hulk 15
Waid (w) and Jacinto (a) and Staples and Loughridge (c)

Banner is separated from Hulk who has just received a double dose of gamma making him Hulk-squared, an even stronger and more uncontrollable force. Banner is excited for a moment, realizing that he's suddenly separated from Hulk, everything he'd wished for, but quickly understands that he might be the only thing capable of stopping this Hulk, as they're in the time before the Avengers, the Defenders, Thor, whoever else. He's the best chance at righting history, and he's given extra motivation when he learns that all of this meddling as erased Betty Ross from time. He attacks the Chronarchist, who reveals to him that this is all Zarrko's doing, and manages to push them back just far enough in time to link him with Hulk again and to reach through time to stop Zarrko. It's...it's confusing and extremely timey-wimey. Everything is set mostly right and Betty herself, in Red She-Hulk form, reaches through to pull him back out and bring him back to the present. Everything is right again but Banner can't help feeling like there's something very slightly different in his past but he can't zero in on what it is, though it certainly seems big enough for someone to be curious about it, as we see a file stolen at the end of the issue with the test results for Project Gamma.

There was a fair amount of cool stuff through this Agent of TIME arc and it was a story that I would say was mostly worth telling. It harkens back to the Stan Lee days of "everything changes, everything stays the same," where all of the crazy convoluted soft-science and timeline crossing is ultimately pretty ignorable because everything returns to the way it was again at the end. Obviously it's setting up a bigger game here with something in Banner's history changed enough to make an impact somewhere down the line but BOY if this wasn't the windiest road we could have taken to get there. Not a bad arc overall and not a bad story to wind it up, with a couple of nice character moments sprinkled throughout (Banner gets to unabashedly yell at General Ross, Banner attempts to leave the Hulk to someone else, Banner expresses his love for Betty, etc.), but it's hard to feel as if this wasn't just a little bit unnecessary. A story that ends more or less the same as it started with a big twist likely planned somewhere in the future but ultimately distracting us a bit from the goings-on prior to this; Banner's science team is just about the only non-powered superhero assist team I've found myself wondering about when they're not appearing (sorry Deadpool and Wolverine's teams).

This week's picks

Kind of a tough week to narrow down to three picks, for which I could not be happier. So, uh, here it goes?

Avengers Assemble 18

I think sometimes events lose characters a little because they're so clearly plot-driven that the characters themselves (unless it's an event in a single character's book) get a little lost in the shuffle. Not always a bad thing but I love these characters and I want to learn more about them just about every time out. Like with Age of Ultron's crossover events, these already seem more dedicated to how the action impacts the people. First up, in fact, shows the impact of both this event and recent events as Spider-Woman's life is now changed by her deteriorating relationship with Hawkeye and the drama of Enemy Within has changed the way Captain Marvel interacts with people. It's a great issue to show the intricacies of the relationships between superheroes and a really phenomenal issue for Spider-Woman. I said in my review this week that DeConnick has changed my view of the character entirely and this just adds to it. She's not perfect but she's also not perfectly flawed, in such a cookie-cutter way that she could only be a comic book character. She feels real and that really comes across here.

Daredevil 30

Anyone who didn't see this coming hasn't been reading my blog enough. I love this book, I love Samnee's art and Waid's writing, I love the new feel of Matt Murdock, and guys, I really love Silver Surfer. Both characters are written extremely well and the plot gives a chance for each to shine as well as allowing Samnee and Rodriguez to shine. It's also really just a ton of fun, with great beats like Daredevil driving the surfboard and navigating the world of being Matt Murdock and Daredevil. This issue has an emotional weight to it, though, as Matt has to come to terms with possibly working with an ex-girlfriend and knowing that, if Ru'ach wasn't lying, he doesn't have a shot with her. Matt Murdock not having a shot with a woman? That's a pretty new concept and it'll take him some time to come to grips there. Great issue, always happy with this book.

X-Men Legacy 15

I really love this book but I'm a little disappointed it's in my top three this week. My Saturday reviews gushed about how impressed I was with the turn that the three books have taken and how delightful each was to read this week, despite initial fears in each book/arc. So, in my head, I was debating which to pick to add to my top three this week. Would it be Ultimates for its fast-action and really quick and fun pacing? Would it be Nova for its turn to make Nova into a believable 15 year old and its examination of how novice superheroes get into the game? Or would it be Thunderbolts for that one panel I posted with Deadpool talking to Punisher? Oh right, none of them because X-Men Legacy is just too great every time it's released. Okay, I'm not that disappointed it's up here because I really love this book and the emotions this one brought out really gave a great feel to this issue. I've liked when emotion has permeated this book but none of it was quite so palpable as here, as David has to cope with his abandonment issues from both parents and lingering feelings about his parents as, very suddenly, now both of them are dead. Tough stuff for anyone to deal with, let alone an omega-level mutant with hundreds of omega-level personalities inside his head. Cyclops should probably be worried, given the control David's found over his powers.


Sorry guys, not going to do an extra feature this week. I would do best cover but it would probably be Daredevil and you've already heard me gush about that all week. I would do best panel but, despite my girlfriend's protests that it should be this one:

it would probably just be the Deadpool one I posted this past week from Thunderbolts. Hilarious. I would do best character but no one really featured in more than one book this week. Weird, right? Oh well, I tried.

This week's picks!

Like I said in my pregame this week, 22 books in a week means there's a good pile of great books, a reasonable amount of mediocre books, and a couple of unfortunate books. However, it's rare that all three books that I choose in my pull list post come from the same review. Where do we find ourselves this week, you may ask? IN THAT VERY POSITION.

Captain America 8

This book, though starring my personal favorite character, was the closest to not making this list. I don't think what happened here was predictable, though I did pick up on the possibility of it about halfway through the issue, nor do I think it was written purely to shock. I think this is a real story that has a real place to go and real consequences for its characters but it's hard to shake the shock of it. In that way, it was almost edged out by Young Avengers, which I found delightful and full of character and story, despite only have twenty pages or so to introduce and establish two brand new (to this series) characters. However, Cap edged it out as a perfect culmination of everything Remender's worked for. The story isn't as palpable and crushing as it ended up being if Remender doesn't put in the proper amount of set-up time throughout the series. We know what Ian means to Steve and what Steve knows about situations like this and Remender forces us to ask if Steve did the right thing, taking Ian away from Zola. That's right; Rick Remender makes an argument worth listening to wherein we ask ourselves if Captain America, the pinnacle of morality, should have taken a child from notorious madman and Nazi Arnim Zola and raised it as his own. No brainer, right? Maybe not.

Daredevil 27

This is another book that makes the list as much for this issue as for the time dedicating to setting it up. Not only is it enough of a wait from Daredevil snapping and killing Bullseye to go back and pull Bullseye as the villain and give him a viable enough story to set him up as the mastermind behind all this, Waid and Samnee perfectly created tension and fear in Daredevil before this issue, making Ikari a real threat and giving the audience the sense of dread that permeates through the scenes that show Murdock's friends and associates with unseen and quite possibly psychopathic agents. Then we get the perfect twist for someone dubbed "the man without fear;" he's overcome his mental blocks in this case and has prepared wonderfully for this moment, enlisting Daredevil's friends to keep watch over Matt's friends and fighting Ikari in smart (if lucky) ways. It's a wonderful book and the perfect finish to this story. Each part feels like it needs the next as much as anything. No space went to waste in this arc and it all comes together in the end. Truly an issue worth reading of a series worth reading.

Hawkeye 11

Ever since this issue was announced I knew it was going to end up here. First and foremost, I'm a sucker for dogs. Most dogs but particularly good sized ones. I've been sold on this series since Arrow/Pizza Dog/Lucky joined the cast. Even putting that aside, though, this book is gorgeous. There's a real story that comes through with a beautiful idea of the way that dogs think. It's not condescending, it's not cutesy, and it's not a waste issue. It respects the subject matter, the narrator, and the audience by not treating this as if it was just an idea they had and it didn't matter beyond that. There was care and purpose put into this issue. When I was in school, many times when I had the chance to pick my own subject matter for an essay or a presentation, I chose something that I could be entertained writing about. It often came down to Sonic the Hedgehog or comics. Despite the first instinct that would say these papers would be garbage, I know that I poured more into them and made them far better papers because I'd need to convince the reader that it was even more legitimate than maybe more serious subject matter. This issue kind of rings of that; they knew from the start this was an uphill battle to prove this issue was going to be worth reading and paying for. So they did it. Great issue.

Best cover

GUYS, I know, I'm picking the same thing as one of these books. I know, I know. But sometimes covers are just amazing and even if I've seen them for weeks before they were released I have to pull myself out and say "BOY this is a really good cover." So this is a great cover and it deserves to be here even if this post SEEMS super lazy because they're all pulled from the same day of posting comics but guys, I can't help it if I wanted to read all three of these books real bad. So you're going to have to deal with it and also be thankful that I'm not also choosing a best panel because, hey guys, it would be from one of these three books.

This week's picks

There are five or six books I'm trying to narrow down to three for this week's picks and it seems like, at any moment, any three books could take the spots. It can be frustrating trying to whittle that many books down to three, but the upside, of course, is that I got to read a bunch of really good comics this week. Never going to be upset about that.

Daredevil 26

Daredevil has long been billed "the man without fear" and he almost always lives up to that title. Even if he's losing a fight, he tends to appear unafraid, just angry or depressed. His lack of fear often pushes him to keep fighting. However, here, in Daredevil 26, he is flat out terrified of what's going to happen next. After being soundly defeated by Ikari last issue and told that he'll be killed at some point, Daredevil is seeing threats everywhere. The really great thing, though, is that he's not necessarily wrong. Yes the people he's accusing could be completely innocent and appear to be after he attacks them, but each time something additional happens to show that he wasn't wrong. The issue culminates in a nice Matt/Foggy scene and in the reveal that Bullseye is behind everything. Daredevil gets back on track and finds Bullseye, taking out Lady Bullseye in the process. It's a great examination of everything Matt tries to be and what it takes to make him break. Great issue for comic fans and extra great for Daredevil fans.

X-Men Legacy 11

Like seeing Matt's resolve weaken under all his pressure and strengthen again after Foggy's pep talk, we get a chance to watch David tested over and over, by his own father's brain, by his own feelings about himself, and by the Red Skull. Instead of Matt, whose strength makes him aim to take down the villains he's facing, David's strength means giving up against Red Skull and sacrificing himself to save the world from the future he causes. The writing continues to be tight and David continues to be a perfectly broken protagonist. One of the great things about this issue is that it turns the expectations about comics on its head. As David keeps getting opportunities to turn tail or to discover that the facility he wants to use is, in fact, evil, his resolve continues not to break and he continues to want the chance to take his powers out. In every other comic that Marvel puts out, the hero MIGHT have made it this far, but then would have fought Red Skull and tried to think of another way or something. In this case, everything that piles up makes David say "I don't care, someone will deal with you eventually, the pill works, I want it." It's really brilliant and such a twist if simply because it's what he had wanted all along and he stuck to it. It's a twist without a twist. Fantastic.

Young Avengers 5

I like everything that happened in this issue. There's a lot of really fun stuff and anything that could be construed as cheesy is pointed out to be cheesy right away, before the reader can do it himself. What really boosts this book over other books this week like Avengers or Fantastic Four or Journey into Mystery or Superior Spider-Man is the Loki discussion that it generates. Loki finally reveals himself to the audience to be the original Loki posing as the much more lovable and kind of trustworthy kid Loki but there's a twist; kid Loki is still there as Loki's conscience of sorts (he points out that he's not real, of course, but he's still in there). For anyone who loved Gillen's run on Journey into Mystery (if you didn't, maybe go read all of it this instant), there's tons to be excited about going forward. There are lots of directions to go with this series and with these kids and with Loki. The book jumped right in and clearly intends to keep at this level even as the first arc winds down. This is a near perfect book for anyone. I would recommend this title to any comic reader and to a whole lot of non-comic readers.


Best Cover

Again, a lot of good ones out there. Superior Spider-Man had a weirdly haunting cover, Daredevil's cover is more beautiful Samnee art and Young Avengers is a really neat concept well executed by McKelvie. However, this run of X-Men Legacy covers have kind of blown me away one after another and manages to continue to do so here. It's a great image of David sliding on a bunch of pills, a bit out of control, as the pills form up to make the Red Skull. It highlights everything that needs to be highlighted that will come in the story and that the character is going through without giving the whole book away. Also, the art is solid on it and the very basic color scheme makes the image stand out even more.

Eisner Awards

I was out of state last week (as I said pretty often) which meant that I had to push reviews through Mondays, which is usually my free day. As a result, I didn't have a chance to really talk about Eisner Award nominees in Marvel. I don't have a ton to add, but let's go over it as it pertains to Marvel, which is what pertains to this blog.

Best Continuing Series
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction and David Aja

Since this blog is called "Marvels" and its URL is readmarvel, I can only really offer my input on Eisner nominees from Marvel. That leaves us pretty limited in terms of what I can talk about here, as there are only a handful of Marvel titles sprinkled through the awards. Hawkeye cleaned up nominations, as far as cleaning up goes with the big two right now (DC had nothing nominated). Hawkeye has been an absolutely phenomenal series and has changed the way that superhero comics can act. I read a blurb in the Nerdist newsletter saying that Hawkeye is one of the heroes who should get a movie in Marvel's Phase III. They cited Fraction and Aja's series as how to make the movie. I have a little trouble seeing that, at least in the tone that the Marvel movies are coming out now. It reads more like an indie movie than anything else. It would be hard to make it a major blockbuster. That doesn't matter for this though, I just found it interesting and it's an example of how different this series is as a whole.
(I feel it's important to note that both Ed Brubaker's Fatale series and Jonathan Hickman's The Manhattan Projects were nominated for this category. Though Brubaker doesn't have a spot in Marvel any more, it's hard for me to separate him out, and obviously Hickman is doing great stuff with Marvel right now)

Best New Series
Hawkeye, by Matt Fraction and David Aja

Not much more to add here. Great series. I wouldn't be surprised to see more Marvel titles pop up on this list next year with the strength of their books right now. Indies rule the Eisners though, so we'll have to see. I'm admittedly disappointed by how little mention of books like Captain Marvel there is right now. This was a weird year for Marvel, with Marvel NOW! starting in the middle/end of the year, so a transition year finds fewer nominees, I would say. However, Captain Marvel and Hawkeye have both been around about the same amount of time. Both are great (Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick are totally Marvel's power couple right now, I think they could do anything they wanted and the fans would love it).
(Brubaker's Fatale was also nominated for this category, as was Ryan North's Adventure Time series. I'm not a big Adventure Time fan as far as the cartoon goes. I haven't read the comic but I am all for Ryan North being nominated for stuff, largely because of his fantastic Dinosaur Comics webcomic. He's one of my favorite people)

Best Publication for Kids (age 8-12)
Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

I pretty much only review main Marvel superhero stuff on this blog because that's where my heart's at. As a result, I've left out a few books like Road to Oz and Powers and things like that. I've only read a couple issues of Road to Oz but it seems really compelling. An adaptation of The Wizard of Oz series, obviously, it reads well and, most importantly, features Skottie Young's incredible art. One of the things that's saddest about only reviewing mainstream Marvel is that Skottie Young so infrequently comes up. His baby variants throughout Marvel NOW! have been phenomenal and he's just an incredibly talented guy.









Best Adaptation from Another Medium
Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum, adapted by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

Road to Oz appears again on the nominee list and again is deserving. Another thing I like about it, especially as it appears in best publication for kids, is that it doesn't ever seem to talk down to its audience. The best children's material seems to be the type that respects its audience enough to give them a chance to get behind it. I always loved Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books for exactly that reason. It defines words for kids (sometimes a little too specifically for the situation) but it never comes across as talking down to children. From what I've read of this series, it's much the same way.
(A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle, adapted by Hope Larson is also on this list. I always liked that book when I was younger and I like Hope Larson and her husband Bryan Lee O'Malley a lot. Just a note there)





Best Writer
Matt Fraction, Hawkeye; Casanova: Avaritia

Fraction again comes up and he totally deserves to be on this list. Hawkeye is a great book and, as I've said before in reviews, is a character who almost never sustains a book. Everybody likes Hawkeye as a character (he graces many "favorite Avengers" lists) but nobody wants to read about what he's doing on his days off. Almost as if that was a challenge, Fraction has written a book that touts itself as what Clint is doing on his days off. Casanova's another fun title (published under Marvel's creator-owned wing Icon) that is...well, it's hard to define. I'm not willing to try. It's worth checking in on, but don't necessarily be surprised if it's not to your liking. I think, as with most creator-owned works, it's more a niche comic than a superhero book is. Still, Fraction is clearly a great writer and he understands the medium and what he can do with it like few others.
(Also on this list are Brubaker and Hickman, which continues to be worth noting for the purposes of this blog)

Best Penciller/Inker
David Aja, Hawkeye

I've already talked at length about how great Hawkeye is, but I guess I'll say some more. Aja's art on this book make it what it is. There's no other way around it. The art is gorgeous but deceptively simplistic. It matches the tone of the book perfectly in that respect. It's hard not to look at this book and instantly fall in love with it. I think that Aja has revolutionized the way Clint Barton will be portrayed for years to come. He's also already clearly had an effect on the look of Kate Bishop, as she carries something more similar to her Hawkeye look into McKelvie's portrayal in Young Avengers. Their art styles are completely different but she looks exactly right in both. It's incredible to watch.








Chris Samnee, Daredevil

Samnee, who switched from Captain America and Bucky over to Daredevil, seemed a perfect fit. I remember when they were teasing a new artist for Daredevil (hard to try to figure out, as Paolo Rivera and company had done such a great job when Waid initially took the book over) and then revealed it would be Samnee. I had been reading Cap and Bucky and loving the art and understood what a good fit it could be. Samnee has been everything fans could have asked for Daredevil. Good choices here.











Best Cover Artist
David Aja, Hawkeye

Not a lot more to say (not that I won't still say it). The Hawkeye covers are phenomenal. Again, deceptively simplistic and they lay out a perfect feel for the book before you even dive in. Aja has such a feel for Fraction's writing and what this book should be and he seemed to have it from page one (cover one, even). It makes such a difference to have that understanding of what the book will be. Fantastic.













So that's all of the nominees directly linked to Marvel this year. It would seem, also, that that's all the blabbing I can do about Hawkeye right now, but I'm sure I'll find an excuse to talk about the series more (especially as Hawkeye 10 comes out this week). GOOD TALK, GUYS.

This week's picks!

Bit of a hectic week, what with my vacation and all. Still got it in just under the wire though and now, to complete the week (the morning that I start the new week), let's delve into my overall picks. I think I want to add a couple things to the "this week's picks" posts. Not a hundred percent sure what that's going to be yet. I'm thinking at least of highlighting favorite covers or art or something. I don't know. Maybe favorite scene. Maybe a favorite panel. I don't know. Maybe I'll do a few things. Or maybe I'll pick three comics and I'll be done. I guess we'll all have to wait and see, hm?

Captain America 6

This was a tricky pick for me. Obviously I'm biased where ever Cap is concerned but even with that, it's hard for me to point to this issue and say it was the best issue I've read of this series. I don't know that it is (not that that would mean it's undeserving of this list) and I'm not sure it beats out some of the other strong books this week. However, it stuck with me more than any other book this week and it was the one that I most constantly looked back on. Actually, all three books I've chosen this week are ones that, after I finished reading (and I read each of them twice), I found myself thinking back to at any given moment. For this book, it was the angry Cap characterization I talked about at length in my review. I've talked about how much I like this book and how I appreciate the desire to look at Cap from different angles. He's been around for seventy years, it's not easy to come up with no approaches to the character. However, it's strange that simply "being angry" counts as a new approach. Make no mistake though, it definitely does. And it comes off strongly but appropriately in this issue. I think the next issue will be more on that lines with Cap angrier than ever and possibly crossing a few lines here. It's exciting territory for Remender to enter with Steve. And this book might stick with me more than it sticks with others simply because I like Cap over most other heroes but the fact is it still stuck.

Daredevil 25

Like with Captain America, this book stuck with me because it featured the lead character feeling something new. Not necessarily entirely new for his long history (as with Captain America) but new enough and one that's not typically seen out of the main character. Cap got angry. Daredevil gets scared. This is the issue we've been building up to for a long time now. In fact, we're not all the way there even yet, but we've gotten right to the breaking point. Now Matt has to deal with a mysterious figure in the shadows who knows everything about him and knows everything about his powers. On top of that, he's created Ikari, a near-clone of Daredevil but with sight on top of all his other enhanced senses. It begs the question of whether or not Ikari's sight is also enhanced. Maybe it doesn't. Maybe it just begged me that question. I don't know. Anyway, it's interesting to see Matt paired up against someone who matches him so completely. It's not like Bullseye, who is as obsessive as Daredevil and maybe just a hair more unhinged. Ikari's powers are exactly like Matt's because they are Matt's, only Matt didn't anticipate how good he'd be with them. On top of that, the art continues to be fantastic and the colors match the book perfectly. It's particularly impressive because I didn't feel, reading it, that Matt was conveniently toned down in his abilities or anything of that nature, or that Ikari was getting impossibly lucky. It felt like Matt came in strong and was just outmanuevered. Maybe he would have been more successful if he didn't start off as confident, but that's how Matt would have entered the fight. It's another great issue and it's another great demonstration of how Waid understands the character.

X-Men Legacy 9

Another great entry for X-Men Legacy that proves what Spurrier and this book are capable of. It starts with a reference to Watchmen, a fitting reference that connects David to Dr. Manhattan and asks a well-informed comic audience what it would take for David and his power to disconnect from humanity in the same sorts of way that Jon Osterman did. The book then promptly goes on to ask if killing a once-hero to possibly save hundreds of mutants IF David's visions are accurate. We tend to believe David, as he's our focal point for this book and we know he's capable of powers that would allow him to accurately see the future, but it's worth questioning. Even if it IS true, is Ruth wrong in saying that they can't stop Aarkus before he comes to Earth? Is there no other way? You could start trying to get into it a little deeper, asking if maybe David couldn't have tried a little harder. Yes, he needs to stop Aarkus from destroying mutants. Yes, if all else fails, maybe it's worth incapacitating him to do it. And yes, it does seem Aarkus has gone a bit mad without any sort of filter, anyone to bounce his ideas off of and talk to. But he's not so far removed that David couldn't have maybe brought this to Wolverine and Wolverine couldn't have simply checked in with Cap and said "hey, your old bud the first Vision? We're not totally sure on this, but we think he might hate mutants. Could you maybe check with him and see? Maybe stop him from genocide, if you could? Thanks." But, at the same time as I say that, there's a voice in me screaming that David wouldn't think like that, that he wouldn't bring the X-Men or Captain America into it. It's entirely possible that he wouldn't dig into Aarkus' history beyond the basics. So now he's the judge and it's definitely worth Ruth asking how he could think himself worthy of that weight. Another great issue.

Best cover:

This was actually a really tough one. I went in thinking it was going to be one book, then remembered a handful of other worthy covers (including both X-Men Legacy, which always deserves mention for its cover, and Daredevil) and then ULTIMATELY decided to go against even my first thought (Venom), only to settle on this one. I've really liked the Thunderbolts covers so far and I've loved the color scheme of the team. This matchup of the brutality and tension between Deadpool and Punisher while also perfectly fitting in with this line of covers and the colors the book has centered on. Making the background the standard T-bolts red too was an interesting choice but it worked really well. Deadpool is still defined well enough and both his belt-buckle logo and Punisher's bloody shirt stand apart enough to draw attention to the images. On top of that, it definitely draws the eye to the cover and gives people an idea of what's to come. For those not reading the book, there's still not really a way for this cover to attract attention. Exciting cover.

Daredevil 25, Daredevil: End of Days 7

Daredevil 25
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and Rodriguez (c)

I want to start quickly by saying that I like the idea in some Marvel books to christen the writer and artist as, like in this book, "storytellers" instead of "writer" and "artist." This book does it and Hawkeye does it (they don't really say "storytellers," they just present Fraction and Aja's names together in the credits) in the Marvel books (there might be more but I can't think of them) and I would bet more indie comics do it. It just feels like a nice touch and a nice response to the question of who drives a book. They're both necessary. This book has a killer team-up too, with Eisner award winning Mark Waid teamed with this year's Eisner award nominee Chris Samnee (totally deserving). Anyway, onwards we go.
Last issue ended with someone who had been experimented on turning up at Matt's doorstep (well, Foggy's hospital room doorstep). Matt has this guy, Larry, lead him to the place where the experiments were done, though he reveals as they touch down that he knows it's a trap. Larry didn't seem to know, just like he didn't know that the people trying to trap Matt gave Larry a defective pacemaker. Larry dies on the spot and leaves Matt waiting for an attack. He falls into the building below him as the glass on the rooftop breaks. There he's soliloquy'd to by a new villain, who reveals that the experiments were just the test subjects, weak and enfeebled already. They figured out the correct concoction and used it on someone more capable. Enter this guy, dubbed Ikari (Japanese for "fury") who comes in wearing Matt's father's boxing robe and wielding two Kusurigama blades (they're like baby scythes). Matt gets overconfident, feeling that he's mastered his own powers and there's no way a guy who has only just gotten them could be as prepared as he is. He's wrong, though, as he finds himself pretty evenly matched against Ikari. They do pretty equal amounts of damage to one another before Matt realizes the need to wrap it up. He flees momentarily from Ikari, disappearing into a closed sporting goods store. The store is confusing to a radar sense, with many different objects and smells, and Matt lights a match near a smoke alarm to set off a sprinkler system. Matt hides out, waiting for Ikari to get close enough and revealing to the audience that his radar sense is maybe 5% of what it normally is in rain but he anticipates that Ikari, without long training and experience, won't even be up to that. As Ikari inches closer to Matt's hiding place, Matt starts to grab at a bat. Ikari, next to him now, suggests he grab the red one. In a moment of nearly unprecedented fear and horror, Matt realizes Ikari isn't blind and Ikari beats him to within an inch of his life, allowing him to leave but warning him that the person who sent him will kill Daredevil, somehow and when he least expects it, but sometime soon.
It's another great issue with fantastic art and a lot of really fascinating ideas. Whoever is behind this (there is certainly speculation to be had on that front) knows how to scare Matt and how to enrage him. He also knows how his powers work and how Matt is trained to use them. We also get to learn a bit more ourselves about how Matt's powers work and how he uses them. It's always a fun part in Daredevil books when we reach a point where Matt explains the best places for him to fight and we can kind of see how his environment shapes the way he fights. In this case, learning about the sprinkler system (and Matt's own worry that someone would use that against him) is pretty interesting and, another bonus, negates what Daredevil, the 2003 really bad superhero movie, said on the subject, which was that his radar sense was enhanced in rain. Any separation you can get from that movie the better. This series continues to be one of Marvel's best and this issue is no different. Wonderfully done.

Daredevil: End of Days 7
Bendis and Mack (w) and Janson and Sienkiewicz (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

I am not against reading. In fact, I am very pro-reading. I also love reading comic books. I appreciate that comic books have moved away from the "block of text" style of narration because it breaks up flow. Comics are, by their nature, an incredibly visual medium. There has to be something of a balance between art and word or else you're pretty much just writing a book. Or a script. Maybe script is a more apt description for where I'm going with this. Where I'm going with this is that the first page of this issue has 22 different boxes of narration over four-ish panels of art. I say "ish" because there's one drawing on the background that goes across the entire page and focuses as one to two panels and there are three actual panels on top of it. Don't get me wrong, I like the art in this book. I like both Janson and Sienkiewicz and I continue to think that the series has done a good job spanning Daredevil art styles and even artists. The first half of the book or so, though, is like the first page, with dialogue and narration just cluttering the page like crazy. And not particularly worthwhile dialogue. This is the problem with Bendis' need for snappy back-and-forth writing. It might work in television or movies because those are inherently different. You can see the scene under the words. The words might only take a few seconds to throw out. In this, the same conversation covers up the drawings and distracts from the scene while taking pages to get through. Also, one character who talks through a bunch of the first half, a secretary at the Daily Bugle, is super obnoxious and unpleasant to read. That doesn't help anything. So the question, then, is "is all of this dialogue/narration necessary?" I'd say some of it is. Certainly not all of it. The bonus of having an inherently visual medium is that you can allow your artist to do some work for you. You want to see Urich struggling with the things he's found out and the questions that remain? Look at the pictures. And Janson and Sienkiewicz show him that way. Throw in a couple lines about how frustrated he is, sure. You don't need to cloud a page with it all. It gets to a point where you're forced to start wondering what the level of trust in the artist is. Most of these problems disappear midway through the issue or so, as Ben Urich is attacked by the Hand and the narration and dialogue gives way to action. Here we actually start to get to new information, as Urich enters the apartment Melvin Potter said he'd sent plenty of costumes to before. On the computer, he sees all sorts of files, including one labelled "Map" and one labelled "One." Don't think that this is going to bring us to the secret of "Mapone" because apparently we'd rather save that for the LAST issue, as Urich views the files and we get to see his horror. It's weird to follow a character as our main narrator and see what he sees through the series only to, at the biggest reveal, not get to see what he sees. ANYWAY, the Hand finds Urich there and attacks, but he's saved again by the new Daredevil and Punisher. The new Daredevil rushes Ben to safety before going back to try to help fight the Hand with Punisher, who is mowing the ninjas down. When Daredevil returns to Urich, the reporter has an arrow through his gut. Daredevil rips off the mask to reveal Urich's adopted son Timmy as the new Daredevil. I have some problems with this, but I'd like to see where the last issue goes before airing them. I think I've said enough already.

This week's picks

I really need to stop prefacing these posts with a "gee whiz, but this was awful hard!" intro because it's a little worn by now. Is it hard to pick the three best comics Marvel put out this week in a totally subjective method? Yes. Most of the time. Well like, one third of the time. In that I usually have two picks or so right up at the top and need to whittle down the third. So let's start off with those two this week and see if I come up with the third one along the way.

Captain America 4

I don't think I can stress enough how much I'm enjoying this book. It has a leg-up on this kind of subjective "pick of the week" post because Cap is my favorite character, yes. I won't deny that, I'm biased. But after a huge switch from the Captain America veteran Ed Brubaker to Rick Remender there was the possibility that I wouldn't like this book as much and would write it off more easily than if Brubaker's run had just kept going. I am thrilled to report that is not the case. The look backwards into Steve's childhood tied with the present of his raising a child of (sort of) his own is a pretty delightful change. On top of that, the series is tense and rife with action and adventure and what not. I don't think Remender sacrificed any one aspect of the book to build on another; they're all there in seemingly equal parts. The art and colors are matching the tone perfectly. It's just a lovely book.

Captain Marvel 10

No surprises that this is on my list, as it keeps landing here and on my pre-game lists. The last two issues have received a boost with Filipe Andrade's art but they'd be landing here regardless. This is just a great series with a great main character and the fearlessness to add new characters to its pages. A lot of writers starting a new book would hesitate to build up a supporting cast and throw the book so deep into the Marvel Universe, but DeConnick has pushed Carol's fellow Avengers into this book in nice and easy increments while also giving Carol a few non-hero contacts to strengthen her personality. From the people she crosses every day to the people who live around her to the people she bumps into, Carol has a unique relationship with every single character she meets. That's a rare trait, especially in a comic. One of the reasons I've liked Fraction's Hawkeye so much is that he has an easy-going kind of personality with all the people outside of his world. It's similar to Captain Marvel's, except that Hawkeye doesn't have to ever switch from that personality into huge ultra-powered hero. Sure he still is a hero and does heroic things, but he can't talk to someone then fly off mid-conversation to energy blast some bad guys. I'm not saying Hawkeye's easier to write or anything like that because it has its own challenges, but for Captain Marvel to so believably transfer from that friendly conversational mode into hard-hitting action is no easy feat. Great book.

Daredevil 23

I had to go back and read this issue before choosing it. My plan was to read the few that were up for this spot (Thor, Superior Spider-Man, Avengers, Nova) but I got to Daredevil first and, by the end, there was no question. The emotional punch that this issue packed teamed with the fact that there's a real long-running story going on here made for a pretty easy choice after all (though it's always hard not to pick Thor). On top of the fact that this issue ends in a gorgeous and heart-breaking, near-wordless page about where Foggy's going from here (pictured at left), not to mention that the rest of this issue beautifully showed Matt and Foggy's friendship, the individual behind a recent string of direct attacks on Daredevil is taking new and extreme steps to challenge the man without fear. This issue shows an attempt to replicate the accident that made Matt into Daredevil, using prison inmates as subjects. There are lots of places for this series to go right now and I think pretty much any of them are going to be exciting. Also, Samnee and Rodriguez are killing it on art and colors.