X-Force 9, Wolverine 9

X-Force 6
Spurrier (w) and J. Molina (p) and Yeung (i) and Rosenberg (c) and Petit (l)

Volga's thrown Cable out the window and subsequently exploded him and now has the team trapped and even MeMe, our narrator in this issue, rather trapped in a computer. She seems to be taking Cable's death particularly hard but takes the time to give us a brief rundown on what happened in Alexandria. She had been there, working for Volga, and saw the bomb explode, aiming for mutants, and had seen Cable and Hope affected. Back with Volga in the present, the villain prepares to start experimenting on the surviving team just as Cable and Dr. Nemesis teleport into the room, revealing that Cable has been sending copies of himself into fights as the real Cable, poisoned during the bomb, is in stasis and continually sends his copies out to die while receiving the memories and information they gain in his headband. They escape Volga's grasp and Psylocke again tells MeMe that she has to reveal to Cable who she really is...Hope, piggybacking on the real but brain dead MeMe's powers.

What do I have to tell you people to get you to read this book? Or are you all doing it already? Let me know, okay? Because seriously, it's so great. I explained this whole series to someone today and, even with my babbling summarization (familiar with those?), the book sounded AWESOME. To me, at least. I think the audience I was telling it to was genuinely interested but, you know, babbling. Really great issue and how crazy is it that the reveal of the bomb's real impact and that Cable's been sending copies of himself out into the world while he slowly dies at home AREN'T the biggest reveals. Check this series out.

Total Score: 5/5


Wolverine 9
Cornell (w) and Anka (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine continues to chat with Death while Iron Fist and Shang-Chi fight the Hand outside. Wolverine learns from Death that he's still rather afraid of dying but that he also still has honor and pride and whatever else. He also learns that Sabretooth has Pinch, her daughter, and Lost Boy and he's ready for a rematch.

THE DEATH OF WOLVERINE is looking more and more like a rebranding than an actual, literal death. There's talk in this issue about what a name means and what his name is and other things of that vein. Death also scoffs at the idea she told him he'd die in three months. ANYWAY, I still can't get behind this book. The talk with Death as an actual person continues to not be that compelling to me, particularly as Death just espouses super basic psychology kind of stuff that should absolutely blow no one's mind. Also Rose makes another appearance and his dumb rose tattoo does the same. Hoping his healing power comes back just to get rid of that.

Total Score: 2/5

SPEED ROUND: All-New Invaders 6, All-New Ultimates 3, Deadly Hands of Kung-Fu 2, She-Hulk 5

Sorry everyone, these should have come out last week (not helped by the fact that I only have busy weeks from here on out) but they didn't so here these reviews are, in all their glory. Except, in this case, "in all their glory" means "literally as short as I can make them."

All-New Invaders 6
J. Robinson (w) and Laming (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

Japanese-American superhero Radiance was in Manhattan for the ORIGINAL SIN truth bomb and learned that the Invaders had the power to stop the atom bomb in WWII but that they didn't. She demands a meeting with an Invader and gets Human Torch after taking some SHIELD agents hostage. He reveals it had to do with the second Golden Girl, Gwenny Lou Sabuki, grandmother to Radiance.

This book continues to move extraordinarily slowly as Robinson dispenses seemingly unending back-story, exposition, and clunky dialogue. I one hundred percent recommend this book if you're trying to find a comic that stumbles its way through 70 years of Human Torch history. But that's just about the only way that I would recommend this comic. I know, it breaks my heart too.

Total Score: 1/5


All-New Ultimates 3
Fiffe (w) and Pinna (a) and Woodard (c) and Cowles (l)

Jess is saved from her poisoning by her naturally produced antitoxins and some careful monitoring from doctors. Bombshell double-agents her way back into her drug dealer boyfriend's life to allow Spider-Man a chance to break up a powerful drug ring. Scourge appears on the scene and manages to evade all capture from the pursuing Spider-Woman, Kitty Pryde, Cloak, and Dagger.

If that summary made this book seem exciting or maybe even like it's on the right path after a shaky start, well, I'm sorry for misleading you. For all of the action of this issue that eventually comes, it's a crawl to get to just about anything meaningful. Meaningful's still kind of a stretch: there's a lot of cliche teenage emotion and hints that there's a bigger story that what our heroes have seen but there's not much more to it than that. And did i mention this story moves really slow for something that's trying so hard?

Total Score: 1/5


Deadly Hands of Kung Fu
Benson (w) and Huat (p) and Yeung (i) and Aburtov (c) and Sabino (l)

Shang-Chi has been asking around about the White Dragon, hoping to discover more about the death of his friend Leiko Wu but he's met at every turn by resistance. His digging brings out old enemy Skull Crusher, with whom he speaks about Leiko Wu and the changes in her over the years. He points Shang to a brothel owned by White Dragon where Shang subsequently is pointed to a nearby memorial where White Dragon sometimes hangs out where Shang meets up with Daughters of the Dragon Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, staking out the White Dragon themselves, before FINALLY being pointed to a nightclub White Dragon runs, where Shang comes face-to-face with White Dragon at last.

This story bounces from locale to locale as Shang-Chi traverses some seedy parts of London to try to find a lead on Leiko Wu, though it never feels particularly overloaded with new locations. There's more to the story of Leiko Wu than Shang wants to admit but still he proves an affable protagonist as he politely asks his questions and tries to remain above violence, though easily turns it on when he needs to. The addition of the Daughters of the Dragon is not unwelcome and I was glad to see Misty looking like regular Misty and not like she does on the cover, as I worried her two most recent appearances (here and in her inexplicable arc in DAREDEVIL: DARK NIGHTS) would both feature her in some sort of strange and underdressed love interest way. Nope, all good here and it's still good to see Huat and Yeung on art in this book. Nothing here that will blow readers away but still easily a readable book.

Total Score: 3/5


She-Hulk 5
Soule (w) and Wimberly (a) and Renzi (c) and Cowles (l)

She-Hulk and her team have set about researching the blue file, sending Hellcat to find Tigra, Angie Huang to a North Dakota courthouse, and She-Hulk to Shocker's apartment. After some understood fear out of Shocker, She-Hulk has a decent conversation with him and learns he doesn't know about the file, doesn't remember much of anything  because, apparently, his prolonged exposure to the vibrations make him super susceptible to concussions. She gets what she can out of him and heads home. Hellcat, though, ended up somehow triggering a response in Tigra, causing her to attack Hellcat when she brought up the file and to nearly kill herself. Meanwhile, Angie finds the files she needs in the ND courthouse but also finds herself at gunpoint from the office clerk. Hellcat tries to warn She-Hulk that the blue file seems to have a trigger word problem that makes those involved ready to kill themselves but Shulk doesn't get the message as she's busy telling a rock climbing Wyatt Wingfoot about his involvement.

Plenty happening in this book as it's an interesting story on three different fronts. Even the least action-filled section, She-Hulk's talk with Shocker, leads to some fun moments and some good characterization out of both characters. It's another strong entry into this series from Soule, though the art style of Ron Wimberly is decidedly different than, say, series regular Javier Pulido's. It's more than a little distracting at times and, while it does the job, I'm not sure it's totally for me. Still, solid book, solid series, interesting story.

Total Score: 4/5

Wolverine 8, Savage Wolverine 20, Nightcrawler 3

Wolverine 8
Cornell (w) and Anka (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine, guided by Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, visits a mystical temple where it is said that death takes a holiday. Offer comes to Sabretooth to, in theory, work out a way for him to free Pinch and her daughter Annie and Lost Boy. Of course, he doesn't really care about that and manages instead to offer up a way to track Wolverine in exchange for his services. Accepting, Sabretooth sends a team of ninjas to attack Wolverine.

With the much advertised DEATH OF WOLVERINE coming, Cornell kicks off his three part THREE MONTHS TO DIE run by sending Wolverine, still trying to rediscover himself in the new killable world, to meet Death and to work out with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist. I tend to be wary of the physical representation of Death whenever it appears in fiction, just as I'm still a little flummoxed by the physical Heaven that we saw in AMAZING X-MEN to bring back Nightcrawler (although, somehow, I'm past the point of quibbling over Hell existing in Marvel - maybe it's just time that these things need). I tend to believe that having a character who actually is Death is a little on the nose for my liking. Still, teaming Wolverine with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist isn't a bad thing so maybe this will all turn out okay. Still don't like businessman Sabretooth.

Total Score: 3/5


Savage Wolverine 20
Tieri (w) and F. Ruiz (a) and Brown (c) and Petit (l)

It's the roaring '20s (the roaring late '20s, to be exact) and prohibition is all over the place with Al Capone running the most successful bootlegging gig though it puts him at odds with Bugs Moran, a Canadian bootlegger who's enlisted Wolverine. When Wolverine's girlfriend turns up dead (fridging at its finest), he hunts down Capone, who gives him the name of the man who actually did it. Of course, that man is Sabretooth and Sabretooth enacts the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, of which Wolverine was a victim before healing.

The tone of this book is pretty dead on to where it needs to be and Felix Ruiz does a swell job making it feel like the '20s, making this another interesting enough installment of "how does Wolverine play into this time/this event?" a game that this series has been playing since the first couple of arcs passed. Still, the story isn't particularly compelling (which might be my own bias against gangster stuff, I just tend not to care unless it's really a different take on gangsters) and somehow businessman Sabretooth turns up again, albeit in a more questioning and mercenary sort of way. I wouldn't say that I'm burnt out on Wolverine, exactly, which is a credit because boy is he EVERYWHERE but I am certainly, at this point, well burnt out on Sabretooth.

Total Score: 3/5


Nightcrawler 3
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Petit (l)

Trimega, showing up with three robots now, attacks the circus and immediately begins to show off how powerful he is, tearing through Kurt's friends and adopted family like nothing. Margali shows up just in time and easily overpowers them and Kurt decides, to keep the others safe and to get some back up, that he'll bring Amanda and Margali to the Jean Grey School, where they're greeted with suspicion and hostility. There are far deeper issues at play, though, as Margali and Amanda attack their interrogators behind closed doors and as a horde of Trimegas show up to attack the school.

While the story feels like it's moving a little too slowly to be particularly compelling, there's a bit more to like here. I want to clarify - the story itself isn't necessarily moving that slowly but the sheer amount of dialogue and exposition slows down the actual pacing of the book to a point where it's sometimes hard to get really drawn into the story itself. There is some decent characterization based on the way the X-Men react to Margali and to Kurt and the way Kurt has to continue to struggle with his return to life, leaving behind everything he'd lived his previous life working towards. Heaven is real, confirming all of his hope and faith, but he still rejected it, which is a compelling story but seems pretty well over by the time the issue's done with.

Total Score: 3/5

Original Sin 3, Avengers World 7

Original Sin 3
Aaron (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

While the Avengers in the immediate vicinity of the Orb (who, it turns out, was working alongside Oubliette's father Dr. Midas, all of which makes me quite glad I read Morrison's MARVEL BOY not too long ago) are sent reeling from the weight of their secrets (soon to be seen in all the tie-in books), the mysterious murder investigation boss's teams are spread out finding other such murders. Black Panther, Emma Frost, and Ant-Man examine bullets they've found while Punisher and Doctor Strange discuss the people who could shoot a target from such a huge distance. Meanwhile, Moon Knight, Winter Soldier, and Gamora explore space and find a trail of meteor-sized bullet casing that lead to a murdered sentient planet (not Ego the Living Planet, but similar enough that Gamora namedrops him). While Moon Knight and Gamora discuss how much this must narrow down the possible suspects, Bucky destroys their ship and teleports to Fury's base, where he's trying to glean more from the eye they've recovered. Winter Soldier proclaims that everyone has to pay for their sins and that there will be no more secrets before he shoots and stabs Fury and takes the eye.

In FEAR ITSELF, the last event he appeared in, Winter Soldier (at the time, Captain America) seemingly died in issue three. Now he returns to events as he seemingly murders someone in issue three of ORIGINAL SIN. There's a lot going on and plenty that's hinted at for us to read elsewhere (some pretty intense selling of the tie-ins as everyone starts to see their applicable secrets, with the most egregious being Thor yelling "BY THE SPIRES OF ASGARD, I HAVE A SISTER?") but the murder investigation and Bucky's apparent betrayal take center stage here. Like in any crime drama, it feels rather too early a reveal for Bucky to be the actual killer (not to mention that like, does he even know who the Watcher is?) but there's still clearly something pretty deep happening here. Also interesting is Fury's concern that everyone in the vicinity saw their secrets but he didn't see anything. Plenty happening, including a bit of less appealing salesmanship, but it's hard to read where this one will go next.

Total Score: 4/5


Avengers World 7
Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)

Madripoor has lifted off the Earth on the back of an ancient dragon at the behest of Gorgon, who has defeated Shang-Chi while his teammates Falcon, Black Widow, and Wolverine try to calm riots on the street. Black Widow calls for extraction, saying it's futile to keep fighting there, while Falcon goes to find Shang. With no birds in the sky around them (what do you think Redwing does on his days off? Bird social worker?), it's up to Sam entirely to find the missing Avenger and he follows a drone leading away from the flying nation. The drone drops him at a giant airship hovering near by called the Circle (because it's circular). He enters and meets Xian Zheng, who informs him that the Circle is his ship and it's one of many new Chinese airships. He explains that China realized it had relied too much upon SHIELD and the Avengers when the war of the Builders struck and now they've put together their own force, called SPEAR, with their own team of heroes called the Ascendants including Weather Witch, Saber, Vector, Devastator, and the Monkey King (last seen in IRON MAN 2.0, I think). Zheng tells Falcon it's nothing that he need worry about, that they're all fighting for the same cause, just that the world looks to China for defense and protection and China hasn't provided it yet. He also asks Falcon to help deliver the message to the world, which he does by appearing on footage broadcast around the world with the new team.

Occasionally a series will delve into the politics of the world, moving away from the individual superheroes and the individual villains and giving us a look at the world that these heroes and villains have created and how it differs from ours. AVENGERS WORLD 7 is one of the times where such a look is smart and compelling. We've seen other country-sanctioned teams and loyal national heroes (Britain has the most obvious example but there are heroes in the Middle East and in Russia and in Japan and, well, pretty much everywhere our heroes occasionally visit) but there's nothing out there with the sort of power and reach that SHIELD has. Now we've taken a story that was interesting, featuring Gorgon raising Madripoor on the back of a dragon, and turned it into something else entirely, introducing SPEAR (the acronym is never explained by Zheng points out that there has always been the shield in the west and the spear in the east so, I mean, pretty much just a word, huh?). I like having Falcon run point on this because he's someone who can understand the need for something like this without feeling entirely threatened. He's worked with SHIELD, he's worked against SHIELD, and he understand the way the world is changing so he's skeptical and hesitant but ultimately willing to give this a shot. Cool idea overall, we'll have to see how this plays across the rest of this arc and the rest of the universe.

Total Score: 5/5

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Fantastic Four 4, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 1

Fantastic Four 4
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk (p) and Kesel and Leisten (i) and Aburtov (c) and Cowles (l)

The new Frightful Four (Wizard and the Wrecking Crew) have been powered up by some genius, apparently, who wants the city at least partially destroyed. It takes the combined might of the Fantastic Four (even Johnny as a powerless distraction) and She-Hulk, Ant-Man, and Darla Deering showing up at the right moment to take them down. They hand them off to SHIELD then return to the Baxter Building to find Maria Hill and some more SHIELD and NYPD officers denying them access to the building and giving Reed summons to appear in court.

It's hard not to feel like there's just a little too much exposition throughout this one. It feels like an older comic with new comic art, which is a bit strange. Robinson wants to make sure everyone knows what's happening at every moment, including name dropping everyone who appears and giving a little bit of history for a number of them, plus some clunky dialogue to make sure we're all caught up with what's happened already in the series and what's happening at current. I think there's a story here that's probably worth telling but sometimes it can be hard to get to it beneath the writing.

Total Score: 3/5

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 1
M. Benson (w) and Huat (p) and Yeung (i) and Aburtov (c) and Sabino (l)

Leiko Wu, an agent of MI6 and a former love of Shang-Chi, has been hunted and killed in London's Chinatown. Shang requests time off from the Avengers (after successfully bringing in a fleeing Crossbones) and goes to her funeral. Though he claims he does not want revenge, he can't help visiting the place where she was killed, where he is quickly attacked by a few random agents claiming to work for White Dragon. MI6, led by Black Jack Tarr, swoops in on the scene and Tarr, an old friend of Shang's from his days with MI6, warns him not to pursue Leiko's killer but knowing that's bound to send him to it even faster.

DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU, a four issue limited series, kicks off with the unenviable position of needing to cover a lot of ground. People unfamiliar with Shang-Chi will likely find themselves unsure who many of these people are and what their connection is. However, it's certainly manageable and Shang-Chi on the trail of someone who killed his first love will likely lead to an intriguing story. As a huge X-MEN LEGACY fan, it's also pretty neat to see Huat and Yeung back on the case.

Total Score: 4/5

Avengers World 3, New Warriors 1

Avengers World 3
Hickman and Spencer (w) and Caselli (a) and F. Martin w/ Fabela and Delgado (c)

With the nation of Madripoor raised up on an ancient dragon's back at the hand of Gorgon, Shang-Chi summons all of his strength to fight a much greater opponent. Shang does what he can, fighting in the dark to avoid Gorgon's gaze and, when that fails, using Gorgon's own torch to blind him, and drawing on the power, boldness and resilience of three of his predecessors (whose stories we see briefly as they flash through Shang's mind). In the end, though, it's not enough and he falls to Gorgon, who walks him to the edge of the moving landmass and drops his limp body off.

Not much by way of summary here because there's not too much to summarize. What there is a lot of, though, in this issue is characterization for Shang-Chi, an often forgotten (if somewhat reasonably) member of the Avengers. The book's writing and its focus on Shang as someone who connects deeply with his past and his heritage as well as on his own makeup and his own fortitude is what really drives this issue. And it works, thankfully. It's a pretty quick read and it's worth picking up, at that, even if what you get is a long fight scene that doesn't necessarily provide any new information. I don't know guys, this is a pretty weird one to review. I can't really point to anything that's particularly great about it but I'd definitely slide it to the "pick this issue up" side of the pile over the "worth a miss" side. Stefano Caselli's art is, as ever, impressive and Frank Martin brings his A-game to an issue that relies heavily on dark and on fire to set its tone. Solid work, overall, not a real game-changer of an issue but they don't all have to be, do they? It's the journey. If you want more Shang-Chi after this issue, well, you won't have long to wait. On top of me speculating he's probably not dead by issue's end, he'll be appearing in a new miniseries brought to us by Mike Benson and Tan Eng Huat (he of X-MEN LEGACY fame) in May called DEADLY HANDS OF KUNG FU.

New Warriors 1
Yost (w) and To (a) and Curiel (c)

Speedball and Justice are still dedicated to re-forming the New Warriors and, though they haven't really picked up supporters beyond an on-call and very hesitant Nova, they've set out to start righting wrongs. They start in New Salem, home of the Salem's Seven and their leader Vertigo. Justice and Vertigo get to talking and Justice learns the history of New Salem, a refuge for the magical born. As they talk, they're surprised by robots (Iron Man-esque robots) descending on the town to destroy what they call "half-breeds." Justice and Vertigo aren't the only ones running into this problem as Sun Girl runs into the robots attacking some mutated peoples in the subway lines of New York, and Nova runs into them in New Mexico, where we find that the robots are Evolutionaries and are led by what seems to be the High Evolutionary himself. Scarlet Spider and Aracely, meanwhile, find themselves on a beach in Mexico that is suddenly full of dead Atlanteans and Faira Sar Namora of Atlantis looking for heroes.

Geez, first issue and Yost didn't waste any time covering ground. We've met just about all of our players and, in good comic book form, they've all run afoul of the same enemy. This team should be assembled in no time and, though we knew plenty of the players well in advance, it seems like it will be a really fun one to watch. One of the things I've really liked about Chris Yost is that, on top of writing stellar ongoing titles like SCARLET SPIDER, he seems able to slot into just about any book for an issue or two and can write just about any character pretty well for whatever story he intends to tell. That will be put to the test here as he wrangles plenty of different heroes from different ends of the fame spectrum, ranging from new and unknown to older and unknown to older and moderately known to newer and moderately known. What I'm saying, guys, is that this isn't the Avengers and Yost isn't aiming for it to be. Justice even says that he's not sure there's room for the New Warriors in a world with the Avengers. All the more reason for everyone to check this book out. Even if you're not familiar with all the characters (I'm certainly not, particularly when it comes to the Salem's Seven), it's a quick read and one that explains just about everything you have to know for now within its pages without having to bog you down with exposition. Very well-handled and should be a refreshing read issue to issue.