Hawkeye 12, Superior Spider-Man 13

Hawkeye 12
Fraction (w) and Francavilla (a and c)

Barney Barton's back and I'm kind of dumb for not connecting it all. I don't know if you guys did but I sure didn't. Last issue, Lucky saw a guy who he thought might have been Clint getting beat up by tracksuit draculas and barked at them to help him get away. That guy, of course, was Barney. Fraction does a great job in all of his books but in this one particular framing stories against one another. It comes up a ton in this book where something from an issue or two previous will play a very minor role in the next book just to give us a sense of time. It's a really phenomenal tactic if done right and it keeps the reader involved. So here, Barney is back, penniless and begging for change, and wants to meet with Clint. The story is split between present day and flashbacks to their youth, where they were abused by their father and where Clint couldn't help fighting back. Barney kept out of it, mostly, but did his part to make sure Clint was strong enough to fight. In the present, Barney has accidentally run afoul of the tracksuit draculas simply by looking like Clint. They offer him money to let them hit him, which he accepts, but of course they renege on the deal. Twice. The second time, he fights back, beating them all up with relative ease. They try to run but he draws his bow from his duffel bag and shoots the tires of their van out, collecting the money from them when they've screeched to a halt. Finally he meets up with Clint at Clint's building and they embrace.

It's a very sweet issue for Barney, who has taken a lot of heat in the last several years at Marvel, from joining Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers to blinding Hawkeye for a bit in there. This issue would make it seem like he might be trying to come back a little bit, in his own way, but it's hard to put too much on that at this point. Still, the relationship that Fraction establishes between the brothers is a touching one and one that fits nicely into their past, even despite everything that's come before. Not to mention Clint could use another ally or two right now and, given Barney's strength, his brother would make a pretty useful one. Francavilla's art is, as ever, pretty gorgeous and his colors are always haunting. He does a great job, even alongside Aja's art, making Barney look the role of the older brother to Clint's younger brother. Aja has redefined Hawkeye, especially as Jeremy Renner's influence pours into the 616, as a dirty and beat-up kind of guy, making him look maybe a little older than his cinematic counterpart or his typical Avengers look, but Francavilla frames it nicely under Barney's age, who looks fine but rather more beaten and aged. Little touches add immensely to the bigger picture.

Superior Spider-Man 13
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli, Dell, and Pallot (a) and Fabela (c)

Spider-Man has been given the go-ahead from Jameson to stop Smythe by any means necessary. Smythe, meanwhile, is counting on Peter's personality and his need to save the civilians. He continues to flaunt the fact that he's sent Scorpion and Vulture to attack Jameson and the onlookers in the hopes that Spider-Man will allow him to escape in exchange for their lives. Unfortunately, this continues to not be Peter Parker and so he's not going to be dissuaded by a little thing like innocent lives. He attacks Smythe full out, landing a couple of huge blows that eventually kill Smythe. Doc doesn't waste time on pitying him, choosing instead to think about how worthless Smythe was and how he would never have let the hostages go. He returns to the rest of the people to find that Vulture has been talked down a bit (mostly by Nora, who invokes the knowledge of his grandson, and by everyone else playing on leaving him a legacy worth remembering) and then stunned by that jerk security guy and that the Lizard, apparently gone full Curtis Connors (aside from the appearance), has saved Jameson from Scorpion. They all return to the entrance of the Raft before Smythe reappears, his body almost entirely destroyed and his consciousness barley running on fumes. He unleashes his final plan: to swap consciousness with Spider-Man. Of course, Doc Ock is maybe the only person in the world who would be prepared for such an attempt and, as such, he stops Smythe again, revealing to him that he is, in fact, Doc Ock as Smythe dies. On the ride back to the mainland, Spidey convinces Jameson (through a little bit of blackmail) not to close down the Raft but, instead, to turn it over to him as a base of operations, dubbing it Spider Island 2. The last page shows Spider-Man making some phone calls to build himself a bit of an army.

The most impressive thing about this book so far has been the slow burn we've seen with Doc's personality. Has he been, at his best points, a more efficient superhero than Peter was? Sure. Has he crossed the lines that Peter would never cross? Yes, for better or worse. Each issue out, though, it seems like his plan for a superior Spider-Man coincides with the way he ran things as Doctor Octopus. It's still a little early to say (because Slott doesn't want to waste his ammo so quickly and it would be silly to do so) but each step seems to push him a bit more away from Spider-Man and a bit more towards Doc Ock. Maybe he'll re-design Spider-Man's old Civil War Iron Spider costume to give himself the extra arms. Either way, it's been a stellar book with these new fresh changes and, though I continue to miss Peter (and wouldn't be surprised to see him revived in time for his new movie next May), there have been a lot of interesting developments to keep this idea fresh, not just a series of Doc Ock trying to keep his identity secure.

Superior Spider-Man 12, Morbius the Living Vampire 6

Superior Spider-Man 12
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli, Dell, and Pallot (a) and Fabela (c)

Spider-Man has taken the necessary precautions to keep both Alistair Smythe from escaping and his potential hostages (those there to oversee his execution) from being undefended. His spider-bots surround the civilians and create a forcefield around them, giving only enough time and warning for J. Jonah Jameson to break free before the forcefield closes on them. He decides to go after Smythe himself, to ensure that justice is served. He meets with Spider-Man, who reprimands him for breaking out but Jameson waves him off. Jameson gives Spidey explicit permission to do whatever it takes to make sure that Smythe doesn't escape then sets him on his way. Of course, Smythe isn't alone now, as he's enhanced Boomerang, Scorpion, and Vulture to aid him in his fight. The three split up, with Scorpion tracking Jameson, Vulture going after the hostages, and Boomerang keeping Spidey busy. Before long, though, Spidey tires of Boomerang and causes his bomberangs (a thing Boomerang has) to explode in his own face, quite possibly killing him. Meanwhile, Smythe has determined that Spidey's defenses are all linked to the generators and has decided to shut those off to give himself the upper hand. Of course, this just plays into Spidey's hands, who has his defenses backed up several times through and whose leading Smythe to the generators simply served to help Spidey locate the criminal. The generators going down did knock out non-Spidey stuff in the prison, though, meaning that Lizard, the only remaining prisoner, has escaped his cell. Smythe still feels confident he'll win the day as Spidey will have to choose to save either Jameson from Scorpion or the people from Vulture. Spider-Man refuses, instead announcing that he's only going to go after Smythe.

Another solid, action-packed issue as we get a sense of what's important to Doc Ock in these scenarios. Is he letting Scorpion and Vulture go because he firmly believes that his defenses will hold against them or that Jameson would rather let Scorpion kill him than be saved by Spider-Man at the expense of Smythe finding a way out? Or is he dedicated to the job Jameson has given him and will follow it through to the end, even if it means losing a handful of lives in the process? My guess, considering Doc's ego, is the former but he also has a score to settle with Smythe and the consent and direction of Jameson to go after Smythe at all costs. Doc Ock is very much an "at all costs" kind of guy where Peter was far more a "I have to help people and I'll be mad if the villain gets away but it's not the worst thing that could have happened, I guess" kind of guy. All these little differences are worth noting as we keep pressing forward. Still a very compelling series.

Morbius the Living Vampire 6
Keatinge (w) and De Landro (a) and Fabela (c)

A quick note at the start here: Marvel has officially decided to cancel Morbius the Living Vampire after issue nine. So we'll have this and a few more to try to win me over and prove that was a bad decision instead of me thinking it was a weird decision to start this book in the first place. On to the review. Morbius is now moving his way through Brownsville and trying to shut down as much crime as he can, with the sometimes help of new "sidekick" Becky. It's not long, though, before Spider-Man tracks him down and brings him to New York again to meet with Morbius' friend and former employer Max Modell of Horizon Laboratories. Max informs Morbius that he thinks they can work together to try to recreate the formula that would have taken the vampirism out of Morbius but he needs something from Max first. Someone broke into his old lab and possibly stolen something. His team hasn't had time to catalogue everything in there so he wants Morbius to take a look around and see what he can find. Spider-Man and Max go with him to the old storage area and a mysterious super-powered woman crashes through the wall, controlling some of Spider-Man's spider-bots as she comes. The spider-bots send Spider-Man spiraling as they set off his spider sense something fierce and she easily dispatches him. She threatens Max and Morbius comes to his aid, only to be similarly put down. She throws out a whole lot of villain banter then leaves, bringing her results to the Rose. It seems the Rose is in the market for an Ultimate Nullifier and it's possible she's brought him what he needs to get it.

This tends to be a formula at Marvel, and for seemingly good reason. If a book isn't doing well and there's any excuse to bring in a major character, bring him/her in. Actually, mostly just him, there are very few hers that Marvel views as having that kind of weight. The biggest appearances come from Spider-Man and Wolverine (speaking of, I hope that Scarlet Spider is selling well). In this case, it's Spider-Man, of course, who comes to join Morbius in his doomed book. On the plus side, Spidey seems integral to the plot and not just a piece of the scenery. Okay, he's a little bit that here but he seems to at least have enough of a reason to be involved in the story. We'll have to see as we move on. The story has enough going for it to keep it interesting but, and maybe this is just me, I have some trouble seeing Morbius as a compelling crime fighter or as a snarky superhero, both of which they're trying to force him into. It's still not totally fitting right.

Superior Spider-Man 11, Iron Man 11

Superior Spider-Man 11
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Delgado (c)

Spider-Man has been asked by Mayor Jameson to attend the execution of Alistair Smythe, the Spider-Slayer and the man who killed Jameson's wife. Jameson fears that Smythe will attempt a getaway during the execution and recognizes that, despite their checkered past, Spider-Man is the best hope in keeping him contained. Before heading there, Doc Ock has a few encounters that leave him annoyed with Peter's life, the life he's inherited. There's some more talk about how he's the superior Spider-Man and he shouldn't have the same limitations Peter had as removing those limitations have made him a better crime-fighter. When he does finally arrive at the Raft, where only a few prisoners with Jameson shutting the prison down, he sets up a few extra precautions around the place. In the midst of this, though, he also wanders back to his old cell, the cell where Doc Ock could have died had he not switched bodies with Peter. He leaves to attend the execution, where he again finds himself surprised to realize that he's a bit of a changed man (he berates Smythe for pretending he's changed and saved by God because murderers never really change before stopping to realize the irony of that thought). He doesn't have long to ruminate on it though as Smythe does put a plan into effect. First his mini-Slayers (like the Spider-Bots) infiltrate the room, which Spider-Man defeats by using his own bots to take them down. Then, with the mini-Slayers forming new armor around Smythe, he tries to punch through the walls of the execution chamber but Spider-Man has prepared for that as well and the walls don't give. Each vent he tries to escape through presents new challenges in the form of lasers or fire. Finally, he turns on Spider-Man, hoping to kill him to give a chance to escape. He's not alone in this, as his Slayers have also found their way to Spider-Man's most recent badly injured foes Scorpion, Vulture, and Boomerang and have created armor for them as well, healing their injuries (at least for the time being) and strengthening them again. Smythe commands them to come kill Spider-Man and they can all go free.

I don't know yet where this story is going but it's clearly setting up some big ideas. We've already seen Doc Ock annoyed with the life Peter's built for himself but this feels a bit different. He's less annoyed with the limitations on Peter's life and more retrospective on what he had done with his own life. I wouldn't say it's remorse, exactly, but there's definitely a hint of introspection there. It might not hurt, too, that he's attracted to Anna Maria, his tutor for the physics class he needs to get his doctorate ("tutor" is a bit of a misnomer; that's how she was introduced as Doc had missed most of the class, but it's quite clear he doesn't need one), and it could be making him think about other things in life. Just a bit of speculation. I was going to complain about how heavy-handed the issue is in telling us again how he views himself as the superior Spider-Man and justifying himself, but having reached the end of the issue I think it's mostly necessary. It depends where Slott and Gage want to go with this story and where Slott wants to go with the character in general, but you want to really understand his feelings on this thing and it may well turn out that he is trying to justify his takeover of Peter to himself, which is an interesting concept and would leave himself open to repeating it again and again. Solid issue. Good action coming up, no doubt, with some intriguing character development primed and ready to roll.

Iron Man 11
Gillen (w) and Eaglesham (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Wow. I picked this book in my pregame this week more because I felt I hadn't given it enough love so far and less because I was thinking this book was going to be a huge game-changer. When I was looking at the titles this week, I thought to myself "gee, I'm really enjoying Iron Man. I'm not sure where it's going but I like Gillen enough that I'm sure it's going somewhere good and I feel I haven't given it much credit because I keep fawning over all the Avengers titles too much, among other things." So I picked it. Then I read it. I'm apparently GREAT at this. This book was so crazy. In a good way. It redraws almost the entire history of the Marvel Universe without so much as batting an eyelash. Or whatever it is a comic book would do to seem unperturbed. Usually, especially these days, revelations like this can only come as part of a huge event but here, in Iron Man 11, Kieron Gillen has said "wait, who is Tony Stark anyway?" and then EXPERTLY answered it and, after seventy years of Marvel comics, somehow changed the entire universe just a bit. Let's get into it. Tony is still with 451 and still not quite trusting of his story (quick note: if this story ends up being a lie to just manipulate Tony, I'm going to be SO depressed). We learn a bit more of it as 451 explains his diagnosis to Howard and Maria. 451 can save the unborn baby and make sure he lives, but it will come at a cost. They both have to agree to terms on the baby. Not some weird "when he's 12, I get him" or something like that. The problem, 451 says, is that Earth is hurtling towards the nuclear age and mutants and superpowers have started emerging rapidly. Any one of these events would have triggered further investigation from the cosmic powers that be but all three definitely make Earth a bit of a liability. 451 fears that the imperial powers would destroy the Earth in about thirty years, if the Earth isn't prepared. The rate the world is going, it will not be prepared in thirty years without a hand from the outside. 451 can't simply begin to help because his interference will only speed up the imperial powers' decision to attack Earth. Instead, he plans to enhance Tony to be a builder and a genius. The conceit, as would have come naturally, is that Howard was a rich genius so Tony had good genes and a curious mind and all sorts of resources at his disposal to become an even richer, even smarter genius than his father. Instead, according to 451, Tony had that and alien enhancements built right into his DNA that made him more inquisitive and more practical and more intelligent and more dedicated to arming Earth and everything else that makes him Tony. Tony still doesn't believe 451's story but 451 makes a couple good points. Tony, in a world full of geniuses, is the one who isn't focused on peace (like Reed Richards or Hank Pym or T'Challa) and who has the ability to change the entire world in the way he operates (unlike AIM or Doom or HYDRA or anything else). Without Tony's weapons, Earth would never have sustained attacks from the Skrulls and the Krees and everyone else they've come into contact with. Even as Tony is skeptical, he admits that, if he were in 451's shoes, he would have built someone like Tony.

And just like that, the whole Marvel Universe has a new frame around it. I'm not saying that Tony is the new centerpiece of the Marvel Universe (though boy, for an egotist already this is sure to go to his head a bit), just that he's quite probably the most important person to ever live on Earth. Okay, maybe I was saying that? I don't know. Anyway, it's definitely a weighty stance but it's one that shakes the 616 to its core without actually upsetting anything. Instead, it shifts everything without needing to recast anything. It just means that everything Tony has done and every attack the Earth has weathered now has a secondary background to it; Tony saved the world because he was born to do it. Brilliant stuff. This issue is pretty remarkable, guys. Great writing and ideas, the art is solid throughout (particularly a scene where Howard and Maria discuss the options with 451 (with great coloring too) and the ensuing ultrasound of Tony and explanation of his enhancements. Very good issue.