Captain Marvel 8, Rocket Raccoon 4

Captain Marvel 8

Chewie has had a number of Flerken babies and Captain Marvel's ship is being attacked by some aliens who want them all dead. Rocket Raccoon, feeling a kinship with Chewie upon learning that she's the last of her kind, helps defend Chewie on the ship from one such alien who has made its way onboard while Tic takes the shuttle off the ship full of Flerken younglings and Carol attacks the invading ship from the outside. Together, they all manage to ward off the aliens and Rocket learns that Chewie is actually pretty alright. They drop the Flerken kittens off at a refugee planet but Tic and Chewie refuse to leave Carol, preferring to stay on as part of her team.

It's not a bad issue and it moves pretty well. Marcio Takara does a pretty great job on the art duties of this one (as does Lee Loughridge on colors). I'm feeling less of an attraction to this series than I did with its predecessor. I'm still not convinced Captain Marvel's place is in space. We've spent so much time with new characters lately that it's taken Carol sort of out of the spotlight and swapped in a handful of characters I don't care so much about. It's a delicate line to walk with a solo book, leaving the focus on your protagonist and building up her support characters. One of the best parts of DeConnick's first volume on CAPTAIN MARVEL was that she seemingly easily navigated that line, creating a whole world in which Carol could comfortably live all while never forgetting that she was the focus of the book. One of the problems, too, with space books at current are that most books have to spend so much time establishing who the threats are that we have less time for the heroes we're ostensibly there to see. DeConnick has certainly built up more than enough good will that I'm still looking forward to seeing where everything is going to go next.

Total Score: 3/5


Rocket Raccoon 4

The other mysterious raccoon has captured Groot and sends away Rocket's backup with a bigger payoff offering than Rocket had. Finally alone, the other raccoon pokes and prods at Rocket, berating him for being alone in the universe before revealing that he himself is not similar to Rocket at all, unzipping his costume and revealing himself to be mercenary Blackjack O'Hare. He tells Rocket that this has been a plan years in the making, concocted after Rocket ruined his chance at assassinating Princess Amalya and making enough money to happily retire on. Rocket's two storylines intersect at just the right moment, though, as Amalya bursts in with her cadre of Rocket's ex-girlfriends to exact their revenge on Rocket, who had a habit of seducing them and stealing their goods. The ensuing fight leaves Rocket the last one standing, though certainly exhausting and worse for wear, before the Guardians show up to pick him up. He celebrates with them but goes to bed early, depressed still that he's the only one out there. HOWEVER, that still may not be true, as we see a raccoon-esque captain leading her ship to find the book Rocket was so desperate to hear more about.

I very nearly didn't include this book as one of the ones I did a longer review for (reverse-spoiler: I'm running really late on reviews this week so this many long ones certainly seems counter-intuitive) because, though the issue was excellent, I wasn't sure I'd have more to say than I've been saying. For those who haven't been paying attention, I've been saying that this book is the most fun book Marvel is putting out right now, with Young really knocking it out of the park in the tone, the story, the art (my god, the art), the dialogue, and really, everything. I'm not sure I have more to add to that but I decided to still shine a light on this book because not having much to add doesn't mean I shouldn't still do a little more to recommend it. For real, it's a great book, you guys. It's the perfect marriage between art and writing, between character and tone. This one even shows that the book can go further than just wild and crazy hijinks, delving here into Rocket's sadness and loneliness. Excellent stuff.

Total Score: 5/5

Death of Wolverine 1, Rocket Raccoon 3

Death of Wolverine 1

Wolverine, on the recommendation of Reed Richards, has removed himself a bit from the heroing life while Richards tries to work on a way to reboot his healing factor. Unfortunately, the world doesn't stop moving just because Logan tries to step away from it. He finds himself on the wrong end of a bounty and suddenly has a number of interested mercenaries trying to cash in. One such merc is failed super soldier Nuke, who tracks Wolverine to the woods of British Columbia. Wolverine, who has already faced down a number of these mercs successfully, despite the toll it's taken on him, manages just barely to survive a fight with Nuke and learns that the bounty requires he be brought in alive and that the price on his head decreases the longer the bounty is out, making it a race for everyone interested. He also learns that it was placed by Viper, who also has Sabretooth in chains.

Strong first entry to the DEATH OF WOLVERINE event that seems primed to stand in the tradition of OLD MAN LOGAN sorts of stories (even going so far as to have McNiven still at the art helm). The problem with a shared universe, of course, is that Nuke has so recently had a big appearance in CAPTAIN AMERICA so I'm reading the whole thing trying to ignore that my brain is like "wait, Nuke's dead unless this is before the events of CAPTAIN AMERICA which would kind of make sense except that Steve's old now and I bet old Steve and Wolverine have appeared together since but maybe they haven't which would mean that this could all happen before that and that could be a link between...you know what, never mind." I don't like that my brain does that and I don't think it's fair that a single book be tied to the rest of the universe in a way it can't really help (though nothing specifically "Nuke" happens so it feels like they could have put any merc in his role and avoided all the confusion). Still, pretty good start as Charles Soule sets out to kill one of the most beloved Marvel heroes.

Total Score: 4/5


Rocket Raccoon 3

Rocket, Groot, and Macho attempt to fight off Rocket's ex-girlfriends, still unsure who they're fighting and why, when Macho uses one of his fish-themed escape plans to get them safely out of harm's way and on to Funtzel's home planet, which, coincidentally, puts them back in harm's way. However, the harm isn't too worrisome as Rocket quickly destroys Funtzel's guards and makes it to his compound to ask him a few questions. He knows that the guard who was shot by the impostor raccoon was one of Funtzel's men and figures Funtzel has done some sort of investigating to find the perpetrator, which is accurate. Funtzel says that he's barely gotten any answers back, just references of some tower and the book of Half-World, which astonishes Rocket though Funtzel calls it a fairytale. Before Rocket can tear into him for a perceived slight, the lights in the compound go off and Rocket investigates, finding the impostor raccoon on sight with Groot tied up behind him.

I've said it already but this one hundred percent feels like the book Skottie Young wants to be writing. It's often very rare that you see such a chemistry between a writer/artist and an idea but this book is so very clearly straight out of Young's imagination and Marvel should be lauded for letting him do his thing. A quick scroll through Young's website and his other work shows such a depth of ideas and creativity that would almost be wasted by just having him illustrating a book. Of course, he's a phenomenal illustrator so it's never a waste to "just have him illustrate," as if that's a minor achievement, but you see books like this or his sketchbooks or his warm-up sketches and you can kind of see how many stories he has wanting to get out. Here he's set Rocket out on his own, far away from the rest of the Marvel Universe, so it's very nearly acting like an indie book, which is very rare for a comic to do. Really strong stuff and extremely fun. It's not the kind of book I'll mention in the same breath as the heady and introspective HAWKEYE or X-MEN LEGACY or something like that because it's not going for that sort of feel, but it's certainly one that I'll recommend to anyone anywhere and would be astonished if they don't like it.

Total Score: 5/5

Rocket Raccoon 2, Legendary Star-Lord 2

Rocket Raccoon 2
Young (w and a) and Beaulieu (c) and Eckleberry (l)

After handing himself in, Rocket is put in and subsequently, with the help of the Groot shard he smuggled in, breaks out of one of the highest security prisons available. On the way out, he finds and takes with him fellow inmate Macho Gomez, a criminal he put in prison originally but who will actually have transport available once they get out. Though Macho does not like Rocket, he wants to get out of prison and he wants to see his own boss Funtzel, with whom Rocket wants a meeting, destroy the raccoon. As they escape and set out, to the chagrin of the other raccoon-like life form, they're accosted by the fleet of Rocket's ex-girlfriends.

This book is unrepentantly and unabashedly fun, something you rarely see in mainstream comics these days. I would say that something like SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN is the closest you'll get to this level of humor and excitement and weird plot turns and so on, but even that is a little more entrenched in the giant established Marvel Universe. There's only so much you can do with a group of characters who live in a continuity-based universe and are acting in the one major city on which that universe focuses. Rocket, on the other hand, has a whole unexplored galaxy to play in with completely different rules and freedoms. He's only tied to things insofar as he's a functioning part of this universe (now more than ever) but everything else Young is having him play with is fair game. It's exciting and lawless and fun and Young is taking full advantage.

Total Score: 5/5


Legendary Star-Lord 2
Humphries (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Curiel (c) and Caramagna (l)

Star-Lord has just found out he has a sister (well, half-sister) who works on behalf of the Spartax Empire. Though he's captured by her in an attempt to collect a giant bounty on his head from a Mr. Knife, they manage to come to a middle ground where each can understand where the other comes from. Star-Lord is, you know, Star-Lord, we pretty much know his deal, and half-sister Victoria wants to collect the bounty in order to help the destabilized innocents of the Spartax Empire since Star-Lord threw things into chaos by exposing J-Son's crimes. They work out a plan wherein Victoria turns Star-Lord over to one of Knife's lieutenants but the two end up duping him and cashing in even more credits from all of the accounts Knife holds. Though it paints a bigger target on Star-Lord and Victoria, it gives her the money to really help the Spartax and at least leaves her feeling amicable towards her half-brother. Meanwhile, though, Mr. Knife isn't so pleased.

Boy, it sure was clever of me to review ROCKET RACCOON first, though my typical alphabetical listings skewed the other way at first glance. I'm glad that I did that one first because I almost wish this book, already, was more like that one. This one is embroiling Peter in the same sort of anti-Spartax fight he seems to be constantly fighting in GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY. Some of that is fine, sure, and he certainly has more personal vendettas than someone like Rocket in his established history already, but I'd love this series to come in with a bang as we see this wild card roguish chaotic good sort of dude tramping around the galaxy and pretty much Han Soloing or Mal Reynoldsing. Instead, we get right into the politics and the daddy issues we've been seeing so much of in GUARDIANS. This seems the perfect place to break away from that a little and, particularly on the coat-tails of Chris Pratt's charming portrayal of the character, give us that sort of character for this universe. That's not to say it's not coming, certainly, but to get so invested in a sort of standard story when you have such a galaxy of opportunity, like in ROCKET RACCOON, seems like a waste. This issue isn't awful by any stretch, I just feel it's a missed chance to really explode with fun and excitement but it ends up feeling a little boilerplate.

Total Score: 3/5

Rocket Raccoon 1, Legendary Star-Lord 1

Rocket Raccoon 1
S. Young (w and a) and Beaulieu (c) and Eckleberry (l)

Rocket Raccoon, gun-toting rogue and last of his species, takes a date to a wrestling match between his friend Groot and another powerful alien. However, things take a turn for the worse when Rocket and the girl are caught on the kiss-cam and the arena's jumbotrons immediately begin to out Rocket as a wanted criminal. He's forced to flee through the sewers with guards in hot pursuit, leaving his date behind and picking up a splinter of the nearly destroyed Groot from which the tree will once again grow. He tries to call for help to Star-Lord and his fellow Guardians but they're a little busy on their own, though Peter is able to discern why Rocket's a wanted raccoon. There are plenty of cases of murder open on him, which Rocket contests, believing any murders he's committed were done on the down low or with the rightful conviction of the law. It gives him pause, wondering if rumors he heard about another of his kind looking just like him might not be true. Thinking about it, he turns himself in to the authorities, hoping to bring out another like him. Meanwhile, the many ex-girlfriends of Rocket, who set up his new date in the first place, continue their own quest to stop the wiliest Guardian.

Skottie Young, who in recent days has been known for his Marvel babies variant covers (which are all fantastic), returns to Marvel for a full ongoing, one that he both writes and draws. This first issue, I'd say, is a phenomenal success for him, hitting its mark exactly where it wanted to hit. It's an incredibly fun and frantic book with plenty of genuine humor and action to match Young's art. It's very clearly a book that knows what it is right out of the gate and is more than happy to embrace that, even going so far as to include fun sound effects (like Rocket's dropping his gun when surrendering himself to the authorities with the apropos "mmmmmmmm DROP") and plenty of censored swearing. There are books where, as readers of this blog know, I'd be hesitant to accept things like that (or those oft-maligned and dreaded "funny introduction captions") but that's always because they don't work with the book they appear in. Here, Young very clearly establishes a fun/funny book that isn't trying to toe a line or keep its foot in the door for a dark or gritty series. The only falter of the book in my opinion is that the plot gets a little muddied in the first issue with tons of different settings and perhaps a little too much exposition to kick things off. Regardless, don't let that dissuade you from at least picking this book up and feeling out whether it's for you or not. I think you'll know in the first five pages or so if it's your kind of book. Also kind of nice, as much as I do love those baby variants, to see Young get to spread his wings again and draw people and aliens of all size and shape and age, not to mention backgrounds and settings.

Total Score: 5/5


Legendary Star-Lord 1
Humphries (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Curiel (c) and Caramagna (l)

Star-Lord finds himself face-to-face with the Badoon as he and the aliens both try to steal the Mandalay gem, an incredibly powerful artifact, from the walls of the orphanage in which it's been hidden. The woman in charge of the orphanage had previously though Star-Lord was there to help protect them from the Badoon but begins to realize he's maybe only there for the gem himself, putting him at odds with everyone in the room. The Badoon knock him out and take the gem themselves, but Quill has a few tricks up his sleeve, or rather in his boots. He calls home briefly to flirt with Kitty Pryde (seems to be no other reason for the call) and then uses his rocket boots to break his way out of his cell, recovering his element gun (tuned only to his DNA so only he and those related to him can use it), and breaking his way out of the ship with the gem. He returns to the orphanage with a bag of cash, telling the woman in charge that he fenced the gem, worried that it would continue to draw unwanted attention to the orphanage and giving the profits to her. He leaves, revealing that he actually just gave over his own savings and kept the gem. Unfortunately, he immediately runs into more trouble as a member of the royal Spartax guard shows up with a gaggle of other guards and claiming that she, as the daughter to J-Son, must apprehend him on behalf of the former emperor. Star-Lord is shocked to find he has a sister.

I KNOW, my summaries always seem to run long. However, in this one, there's kind of a reason for that. This issue kicks off with a bit too much exposition for my tastes (and maybe a bit too many exclamation points, truth told) as Humphries really wants to get the audience caught up with just about everything that's been happening with Star-Lord. There is a sense of the sort of movie-ization of Star-Lord here as he begins to take on a very distinct persona and look, one that seems to match Chris Pratt in the trailers for the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy. It's one of those times where comic fans are reminded that this beloved entertainment is, in fact, a business and businesses set out to make money. Tying to a major motion picture release certainly is a key way to do that, especially in the wake of so many previous successes for Marvel going that route. I'll give Humphries credit for not going too overboard or getting too cynical in the attempt to tie to the movie and perhaps tying to the movie will work wonders for this book and for the GUARDIANS brand as a whole (bit early to tell) but right now it's a little too hard to tell. Still, the book didn't really blow me away and I couldn't help but be a little colored by the similarities (even insofar as Quill stealing a powerful artifact, losing said artifact to an enemy, and blasting his way with his boots and gun to freedom from said enemy) to just the trailers of the upcoming film. Okay, so maybe it was a little cynical.

Total Score: 3/5

Comics this week

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


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

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

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

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

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

Marvel cancels AVENGERS AI, readies launch of ROCKET RACCOON

Couple of big news pieces this week, as, it seems, is true any week with new month solicits. First up:

Avengers AI cancelled after issue 12

Sam Humphries has made it known on his Tumblr that AVENGERS AI will be ending with issue 12. Along with the picture at left, he promised that the last three issues will be the wildest yet and thanked Marvel for giving him such a long leash, series artist André Araújo for his work on the series, and the fans for their support and love. Can't say I'm particularly surprised by this, as I've kind of been expecting this in many of my AVENGERS AI reviews, but it is nonetheless a little sad that the series wasn't able to really find its niche or its footing until it was too late (if it has or indeed will at all). This isn't a favorite series of mine by any stretch but there are bits and pieces here that made the story worth telling. Humphries fans shouldn't cry just yet though, even after the cancellation of UNCANNY X-FORCE and AVENGERS AI, as Humphries also promised that he had lots more coming from Marvel this year.

Marvel announces new Rocket Raccoon ongoing written and drawn by Skottie Young

Readers of this blog will probably know that I rather adore Skottie Young. I think his art is incredible, I think his sense of humor is strong, and his writing is solid (mostly his art is incredible, that's the biggest and best known aspect of Skottie). So, while I'm surprised and maybe a little skeptical about an ongoing series starring the always-strange Rocket Raccoon, I think that Marvel couldn't have picked a better creative lead for it. Just look at that art at left. Skottie Young is an immense talent and this sort of book could be the sort of book that is exactly up his alley. What's really intriguing, though, is the idea that maybe he'll get to draw a baby variant for his own book. That'd be real cool. Anyway, more Skottie Young art in the world is never a bad thing and it's Young's first shot at an ongoing in the greater Marvel Universe (he previously had been the artist behind Marvel's OZ books, but those don't really play in as much as you might think). ROCKET RACCOON is set to launch in July.

X-Men 1, Uncanny X-Force 5

X-Men 1
Wood (w) and Coipel and Morales (a) and L. Martin (c)

John Sublime, powerful enemy of the X-Men, has returned to the mutant corner of the Marvel Universe but seemingly only to ask for help. Also returning to the X-Men is former-mutant-turned-vampire (this is comics, this is how things work out here) Jubilee, now with a baby in tow. It's not her baby and these events aren't unconnected. Sublime followed Jubilee in Europe and in the New York train station while she made contact with the X-Men. He then pushes ahead to the Jean Grey School, where Rachel Grey and Psylocke accept his surrender and begin interrogating him. They learn that he had a sister strain of bacteria who he had more or less pushed away and forced to evolve on her own. She has returned to Earth after millennia in space, feeding off alien technology before riding meteors back to Earth, and seems destined both to do the jobs Sublime couldn't and to kill Sublime, who has come to the X-Men for protection and aid. He reveals to them that Jubilee is connected to this whole situation through the orphan baby she's adopted. That baby seems to be carrying the strain, which Sublime reveals can take over machines the way he takes over people, and the strain causes the train Jubilee and her escort force of Kitty Pryde, Storm, and Rogue are on to switch tracks. The X-Men save the people on the train (if not the train itself) and manage to make it to Westchester. When there, the baby makes contact with a phone that Jubilee has been given and the strain transports itself to Beast's lab, where it takes on a new form and reveals itself as Arkea Prime.

The series starts off with a bang, considering how much information and story we're given to process. It's nearly impossible to make judgment calls on the first issue as there is too much that needs to get done in that time so it's tricky to make definitive statements about a series as a whole and I wouldn't want anyone doing it, let alone myself. So I won't do that. However, I will say that I'm looking forward to seeing all these characters interact. I was looking forward to it before the series started and I'm looking forward to it even more now. I appreciate the way that it was handled this issue and I'm hoping that more time grants more opportunity for that. Though she's already been somewhat quieter than the rest, I love the way Storm is being developed so far. She's quiet and thoughtful and seems to always have something processing. It's a bit early to get a read on everyone at this stage, but hopefully little characterizations come up like that more. For now, though, enjoy this Skottie Young variant cover for X-Men 1.

Uncanny X-Force 5
Humphries (w) and Alphona and Soy (a) and Strain and Curiel (c)

Storm and Psylocke have entered Bishop's fractured mind to try to understand what's going on with the crazed mutant while Puck watches over them and Spiral, their captive. Inside Bishop's mind, Storm and Psylocke move through the memories of their old friend and learn a bit about what the time traveler has been up to since he was exiled in the future by the X-Men for trying relentlessly to kill Hope. They have some sympathy for him, especially when he spares the life of a possessed girl and cures her, despite what his new leaders tell him and when he tells that girl that he now can see how much he tortured Hope and how unconscionable it was. They also manage to see who it was that possessed him, finding the White Owl and the Bear that Psylocke fought and trying to stop him from ever being possessed. As Storm and Psylocke are at work in Bishop's mind, their bodies are taking a bit of a toll, both nose-bleeding as tough mind-reading is wont to cause. Puck doesn't really notice (nor can he really do anything) as Spiral offered him alcohol and now he's telling stories and doing flips and the like. She uses this moment to try to escape but finds Puck isn't quite so incapacitated as she thought and he puts her back down but, at that point, notices that something's wrong: Betsy's body is missing. Cut to Cluster, the Lady Fantomex, driving away with Betsy and swearing that she's safe now.

The way that Bishop's mind is presented and illustrated is pretty stunning, as Storm and Psylocke trek through the ruins trying to figure out what went wrong and what they can do to save it. It does carry on for quite a bit to give us a sense of the person Bishop is now and to create questions for the reader (how was Bishop brought back from the dead? Who is the mysterious Order that Bishop joined up with? What is the White Owl and how are they going to find/stop it? Why did Bishop save the possessed little girl against orders? Where did the White Owl end up? When will we find all of this out?) but there's enough to keep the reader interested. However, it's hard not to feel, still, like the best story is going on in the shadows. Granted, I'm a huge Fantomex fan and it was the Fantomexes that really drove my curiosity about this book, but we're getting their story very slowly or quietly, if at all. I can't say I blame Humphries for this and perhaps the payoff of waiting so long for this story (yes five issues is SO LONG) is going to be enhanced by the way its being divulged, but it's a little hard to get to the end of the issue and go "THAT'S THE STORY I WANTED TO READ, THE ONE WITH THE THREE FANTOMEXES FIGHTING." Still, paves the way for a solid Fantomex issue next time, right? Right?

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.