Daredevil 7, Elektra 5

Daredevil 7
Waid (w) and J. Rodriguez (p and c) and A. Lopez (i) and Caramagna (l)

Daredevil hitches a ride with SHIELD to Wakanda, which SHIELD isn't willing to fly over because they're not entirely stupid. DD drops down into the most technologically advanced nation on Earth and is quickly captured, which, of course, turns out to be part of his plan. Instead of hoping to fight his way through Queen Shuri and the rest of Wakanda, he aims to lawyer the nuns out of jail, which he does by revealing that he's brought the corrupt army general to Wakanda and made his disappearance known, which will certainly get people looking and checking into his background and likely lead them to Wakanda. Shuri's only option is to release the nuns and separate herself from the general before things start to look ugly for them, which she does. On the way home, Maggie explains to her son that she had severe postpartum depression and it caused her to attack her husband and, nearly, her infant son, which led her to leaving the house and the family and taking up with God to protect her loved ones. With Jack proven innocent and a relationship with Maggie rekindled, Daredevil gets to return home happy.

I'm fairly pleased that this didn't end up being a "I have daddy issues" sort of revelation. Instead, it's far more nuanced and a bit more interesting as we learn a good deal about the rarely seen Maggie and get to see Daredevil spend some meaningful time with his family, who were misunderstood and not abusive after all. This one, as opposed to, say, ORIGINAL SIN: HULK VS IRON MAN, paints someone as a villain then reveals them to be a hero...but I found it interesting as opposed to somewhat predictable and boring. Javier Rodriguez does pretty phenomenal work here. I'll certainly miss his contributions on the book, though I look forward to colorist extraordinaire Matt Wilson's take on Samnee's art starting next issue.

Total Score: 4/5


Elektra 5
W.H. Blackman (w) and Del Mundo (a) and Del Mundo w/D'Alfonso (c) and Cowles (l)

Cape Crow fights with Elektra and reveals that he was able to beat all of his previous attackers because he has extremely limited pre-cognition. It's maybe only half a second, but it's enough for him to use his instincts and win each fight. Elektra, armed with this knowledge, manages to clear her head and fight on pure instinct, defeating him in a close fight. With Cape Crow down and his helmet removed, she learns that he is, in fact, her dead father. But not really, that's just some psychic image put there by Kento, who has some amount of psychic power. She's super mad but agrees to continue to help them assuming Kento never does that again and that they still pay her. Bad news, though, Bloody Lips has arrived, still desperate to eat Elektra. Having a pretty tough day already, Elektra cuts herself and drips blood onto Bloody Lips' lips, giving him a full range of her memories and experiences, which breaks him and he stumbles off a cliff. So long, Bloody Lips! Anyway, Lady Bullseye is back and vows revenge on Elektra.

Lots of really great stuff here, including Elektra's bio-signature-based sai (nice try using them against her, Cape Crow), a great taste of her fighting prowess and strategies, the demise of Bloody Lips after a really impressive and very cool if mildly horrific double page spread detailing Elektra's memories, the promise of more assassin fights, and the promise of more Matchmaker, who, if I haven't said it enough, is the best. I really like this book and I think Blackman has plenty of ideas for this book and Del Mundo is an unbelievable artist who really brings this book alive. Just really fun stuff with lots of upside.

Total Score: 5/5

Amazing Spider-Man 4, Daredevil 6

Amazing Spider-Man 4
Slott (w) and Ramos (p) and Olazaba (i) and Delgado (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

Parker Industries is trying to work out ways to safely capture Electro, including an electric proof net (which is such a cartoon idea. In fact, it's so cartoon that it's something Team Rocket constantly uses),  but again Peter is quick to disappear when an Avengers call comes in, to the concern of Anna Maria and to the frustration of Sajani. She storms off and is taken by the onlooking Black Cat, who has stolen some of the plans for the Electro capture tech and needs someone to help her understand them. Meanwhile, Peter arrives at the ORIGINAL SIN storyline, thrilled to be hanging out with his Avengers pals again, as the truth bomb reveals to him that there was another person bitten by the spider that bit him. Ezekiel Sims, totem of the spider and convinced that Peter is too, found young Cindy Moon and had her locked away while she trained and explored her powers, claiming to do it to stop Morlun from finding and killing her. Peter races to go save his totem sister and lets her out of the room she's in, telling her Morlun is dead. As Cindy, codename Silk, excitedly joins Peter out in the world, he admits that Morlun has a way of coming back from the dead and she flips out on him, proving that her skills are maybe even a little more advanced than his. Indeed, though, Morlun does wake from some sort of slumber, awakened by "the spider-bride." And then Peter and Cindy make out. PRETTY AGGRESSIVELY, YOU GUYS.

We're four issues back with Peter and it remains very clear that Dan Slott loves writing the true Peter Parker. He should, too, he's pretty good at it. There's always a sense of fun and, dare I say, whimsy to the character under Slott's direction. The other thing Slott always manages to do really well with Peter, even if it doesn't always look like it's heading that way, is construct a story that feels rather like it's closing in on our hero at all times. There are always wheelings, dealing, stealings, healings, and feelings that Peter isn't privy to but that the audience sees from issue to issue and that tend to culminate all at once. That's happening pretty blatantly here and it's entirely possible, maybe even likely, that it will wind its way towards an excellent conclusion. However, it's also possible that it will remain as skeptical-eyebrow-raising and frustrating as it is now. There are still moments to enjoy in this issue but the Black Cat/Electro storyline makes very little sense to me (with Black Cat on some sort of crazed revenge fantasy and Electro just crazed, seemingly to correlate with the worst parts of the last Spider-Man movie) and it's clearly making its way into the spotlight. On top of that, I've never been a big supporter of the Spider Mythology sort of storyline that the series occasionally heads back to. I like Peter Parker and I think his longevity and his appeal, part of it anyway, comes from the fact that he's just an average guy who gained these powers and, after a brief hiccup of being a jerk, realizes he has a responsibility to use his powers to help, not for self-profit. The totem stuff makes it feel that he's not an everyman, he's a very specific man and he was chosen to be Spider-Man, not that he himself chose to be Spider-Man. I think it weakens his story and plays more to the idea of fate rather than choice, which rather feels like the opposite of Spider-Man's story. LOOK, what I'm trying to say is that it's kind of weird that the Spider would have these two make out.

Total Score: 2/5


Daredevil 6
Waid (w) and J. Rodriguez (p) and A. Lopez (i) and J. Rodriguez (c) and Caramagna (l)

Daredevil's been ORIGINAL SIN'd and he's learned, perhaps, that there was more than meets the eye to his father, or, in the very least, that he'd repressed some seriously bad memories of the man who has stood so tall over Matt's life. Memories rush back to him of a beaten and bruised mother with Battlin' Jack standing over her and he has to know the truth. He tries to track his mother, a nun, only to learn that she and two other nuns have been arrested and await extradition to Wakanda for trial after trespassing and graffiti-ing on private Wakandan property. Matt can't believe the story and moreover can't believe the extreme punishment for what amounts to a tiny infraction. He attempts to investigate but is shut down in every direction, eventually leading him to stay silent in a closet in the Wakandan embassy for hours in the hopes of hearing some hint of the proceedings. Eventually he does, learning that there's a coverup from the American military involved as well. He confronts the Wakandan and an army general only find himself stopped dead in his tracks by a waiting sonic. The Wakandan informs him that Wakanda has purchased the land onto which his mother trespassed, making it officially Wakandan soil and therefore any crimes committed are to be treated as crimes against Wakanda, dealt with however they want. With perhaps more than a hint of WATCHMEN, the Wakandan tells Matt that he's only giving out this information because there's nothing the hero can do about it as the nuns were sent on a plane an hour ago.

Let me say this first: I think the Wakandan storyline, while a bit farfetched because of my biases towards Wakandan and the idea that Black Panther wouldn't check his cellphone once in a while from someone who he's been so close to in the past as Daredevil, is a fairly interesting one. I think pitting Matt against such a powerful nation on behalf of his rarely-seen mother is an intriguing storyline. I think that the abusive father storyline, while not necessarily unexpected out of a down-and-out boxer, is perhaps a bit overdone in the Marvel Universe as a whole. Not to say it's not pertinent or meaningful for the character, particularly one like Matt who rather sees his father through rose-colored glasses (because ALL OF HIS GLASSES ARE ROSE-COLORED, though I suppose he doesn't really see through them so never mind, my bit is ruined). Still, I couldn't help saying "aww, nooo" when the reveal was made. Again, it's not necessarily unexpected and it's not exactly farfetched (it may not even be the first time this has been seen from Battlin' Jack, I'm not sure) but it did kind of make me go "aw, can't we just have one character without daddy issues?" I'm not saying this to minimize the horror and wrongness of abuse (particularly in the light of Ravens running back Ray Rice's minuscule two-game suspension for pretty clear and public spousal abuse and the terrible comments from the terrible people on the ESPN comment sections on any articles referring to it) but rather to shine it as something of an overused trope in fiction (important to remember they could just as easily have not made Jack hit Maggie as these aren't real people with real histories) which makes the actual act seem less flagrant by its overwhelmingly abundant usage. LOOK, maybe when I make a real statement of some sort, I shouldn't conflate it by adding two long parenthetical statements in the middle. LOOK, maybe we're all just learning that now?

Total Score: 3/5

Avengers 21, New Avengers 11

Avengers 21
Hickman (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Gho (c)

The Avengers and the resistance have landed a couple blows in a row against the Builders but ultimately, it could still all mean nothing. Though it inspired some of the conquered worlds as well as reigniting the resistance, at the end of the day they're still horribly outnumbered and outgunned. That fact is made more obvious by the defeats those fighting for the rebellion have suffered. There have been little victories from battle to battle but they're still losing the war a little too quickly. On the brink of what seems to be absolute defeat, Ex Nihilo and Abyss direct Captain America to Captain Universe, saying that the universe's dying has caused this war, not vice versa. Captain Universe, once made well again, can help them defeat the Builders. The Ex Nihili manage, as a unit, to save Captain Universe, who promptly finds the Builders. They don't believe in her any more and tell her that the universe is dying and they want to destroy the axis that seems most ill to try to save the whole. She recognizes their ends but won't allow their means and defeats them handily when they engage her. The last surviving Builder, scurrying to another universe, leaves his universe-spread alephs behind to "destroy everything."

There's still a ton happening here as we inch towards the end of Infinity. The next books in this event (aside from this week's New Avengers, reviewed below if I've done my job, and the tie-in books that don't actually advance the plot) are Infinity 5, followed by Avengers 22 and 23, then Infinity 6, followed by New Avengers 12. We're right on the brink of finishing this event off and there's still plenty happening to see it to the end. Captain Universe hints at her own impending doom (possibly as a result of the universe dying, possibly to erase such a powerful being out of existence, like so much Sentry) before wiping the floor with the Builders. It's an important hint and it's an important action as it very much turns the tides, now pitting the resistance against the alephs (which are numerous but perhaps easier to defeat) and a dying universe (which they were already facing but only in the background of a more immediate threat). Also worth noting that the resistance, in their most desperate moment, called on the Annihilation Wave to help them, worrying that it would win out and turn on them, only to watch as the Builders easily turned them inwards on themselves, potentially destroying the Annihilation Wave. It serves as a final blow to the resistance here but, in the grand scheme of the universe, it could mean more. Guys, the Annihilation Wave imploded and it's a backdrop in this event. That's how much is happening. Good stuff. Now let's see what's happening with Thanos.

New Avengers 11
Hickman (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c)

The Illuminati (minus Black Bolt) have arrived at another incursion point in the middle of the Earth's war against Thanos. When they arrive at the point and just as they realize they have to use the horrible antimatter weapon they've created, an Aleph falls from the other world into theirs and beckons them to meet its master. They go, with the promise of a way to destroy worlds. The Aleph's master, of course, is a Builder, though a Builder from the universe that had contained the now incurring world. These Builders side with the Builders of the 616 who have decided that destroying Earth(s) could save the universes as a whole and know that the 616 has defeated its Builders, as the Builder who escaped to another universe in Avengers (above) escaped to the world that's now incurring. Complicated, though the Builder waves away any thought of coincidence by saying that a wounded swimmer swims to the nearest island and this incurring world is certainly the nearest universe. The Builders explain to the Illuminati that the Earths need to be destroyed and release them back to their own world before using their world-killer to destroy the incurring world. They ask why the Illuminati, possessing a power that can destroy worlds, has not destroyed its own to save the universe. Meanwhile, Thanos' army is devastating Wakanda. As a backdrop.

Guys, this event has just so much going on. In typical New Avengers fashion, this issue is certainly very complicated and forces you to realize a few extra things about Builders if you didn't already know. For example, every universe seems to have them and they're all pretty attuned to what the others are thinking, though some may have different ideas. Once you kind of get that, the rest of the issue falls pretty neatly into place. As if that weren't enough, though, for the first time in its long history (barring immense and sudden Phoenix-powered tidal waves), Wakanda's walls have been breached and Thanos' army, led strategically by Corvus Glaive and physically by Proxima Midnight, is in the Golden City. Shuri is forced to pull her troops back to regroup, allowing Thanos, Corvus, and Proxima to the Necropolis, where they don't find the gem they're looking for but manage to find the world-destroying weapon (which Thanos describes as "delightfully unexpected") and the imprisoned Terrax and Black Swan. He does not free them but he certainly takes note. You guys. There's so much going on. The next New Avengers, as I pointed out above, won't come out until after the Infinity main event has finished. Very curious to see how that plays out.

This week's picks

Solid week for comics this past week. There were 15 new issues out for review and nearly every one of them was interesting or worth reading for some aspect or another. Can't complain when that's the case. Still, I'm only to pick three of those issues for this, the most elite pull list recommendation I can muster.

Hawkeye Annual 1

One of the stand-outs about Hawkeye throughout its current run is just the impressiveness with which it's been constructed. Every issue jumps around in time a little bit or jumps around in time with the rest of the series. It's never so excessive that you can't follow what's happening but it's enough to keep you on your toes and to break up a regular narrative. More than that, it's great to let us in further to how the characters are feeling. The time will often jump around to indicate how a person is feeling or to go to a memory that spawned the current situation or mirrors an emotion the character may be feeling now. Hawkeye Annual does that a lot with Kate (double size issue means it can happen twice as often) and it works really well. We get a look into who Kate is and why she does what she does, which has been left out a lot of most books Kate has appeared in. On top of that, it's a really good story with really good characterization and a very nice theme for everyone's favorite Hawkeye. Javier Pulido gives us outstanding and different art from the rest of the series (minus the two issues he was the artist on) and it works really well for the change of pace Annual. Solid book all the way around.

New Avengers 8

I'll be honest, this book was the closest it's probably ever come to not making this list. It was a bit of a slower issue than we've seen (which is saying something, as there's a major war breaking out and an alien invasion in its pages) and there was a lot of steady competition. Ultimate X-Men, Captain America, Uncanny Avengers, Superior Spider-Man, and Scarlet Spider all had a shot at this spot but I think my love for Black Panther and Namor fended off the rest of the entries. One of the things that's always fascinated me about Black Panther, Namor, and Black Bolt was that they were mostly heroes to the world but, while that's a role that they play, it's not the role that they play. They're kings and they owe first to their people. Black Panther cares about the world at large and about the Avengers and so forth, but his decisions are made for the people of Wakanda first. He's the best example because he's the one with the least resentment towards humanity. Here we see some of the weight of being king as he understands what the best path would be for the people but he must cede to the will of his sister, the actual queen of Wakanda (T'Challa is the King of the Necropolis right now, officially). The weight of power is something that every member of the New Avengers feels and it shines through here best with Panther and Namor.

Young Avengers 8

This book continues to be one of the best Marvel has. From its nicely defined character relationships (that still have more defining to go) to its intricate plots and intriguing villains to its cheeky writing loaded with equal parts fun and weight to its absolutely amazing art every single issue, Young Avengers has everything you could want out of a comic book. This issue saw multiple universes, which was all very fun before delivering three could-be book endings. Any one of the last three to four scenes could have been used as an ending to the issue but it just kept pushing forth. It wasn't an ending that pushed on too long, either, like in the best example for that, The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, wherein the movie ends about eight times before it plods on to the chagrin of the watcher. Here, each ending just ups the stakes for the characters before they move on. No one could say that this book continues past its welcome as every issue, and this one is no different, feels like it ends far too soon. I've read this series issue to issue, obviously, but I imagine this is a great one to read in trade form. So if you're not buying this book on a regular basis (mistake), pick up the trades when they become available. It has the feel of a series that reads well continuously. And that reads well in general. Just a good series, you guys.


Character of the Week

New segment for me because I had a whole load of best-panels/best-pages but they were all spoilery from, well, pretty much from Young Avengers, which also had the best cover and guys, I didn't want to oversaturate all of you. I still am going to, given who I'm picking for character of the week, but whatever. Character of the week is just, to me, the character who had the most impact on a given week. In this case, it was almost Captain America, who had a huge week in his own book, obviously, but also a bit of a revealing one in Uncanny Avengers. That's the gist of it. However, the real winner is, of course, Kate Bishop who had a fantastic starring role in Hawkeye Annual and a solid narrator/co-starring role in Young Avengers. I'd love to see more from her in Young Avengers but being the leve-headed one in such an eccentric group probably means she needs to talk more in authority situations than in the typical situations the YA find themselves in. Still, she has solid heart in this book as she breaks down for the audience the way that the team has been dealing with the horrors they've seen and there's a nice moment between her and Noh-Varr about who Oubliette the Exterminatrix is when they run afoul of yet another Earth a different Noh-Varr had conquered. Solid performance out of Kate this week and it's nice to see her strong re-emergence in the Marvel Universe after a couple years off (well, not including Children's Crusade, I guess, which merely felt like it took nine years to come out).

This week's picks

Lot of good comics in another week where a slew of great Marvel NOW Avengers books came out. Let's try to keep this one short and sweet, as much as I'm capable of doing that.

Indestructible Hulk 9

Team-ups with Hulk hardly work this well and I never would have expected this one to yield such immediate results. I guess, thinking about it, that I had figured Daredevil would run into Hulk and, in the typical fashion, would debate helping the monster over trying to bring him in. Instead, the two already have a great working relationship borne out of Banner's genuine preparedness and drive to help out. As a result, we get a solid team-up between the two entirely different superheroes and a couple of really great moments that help develop both characters and help develop this arc, particularly a nice page where Daredevil walks into an underground dive, gets guns pointed at him immediately, and is shortly followed by the Hulk bursting calmly through the wall behind him. Solid issue and a very exciting team-up.

New Avengers 7

We pull away from the ongoing story about the incursions to get a somewhat better grip on our group of heroes and the precarious position they each find themselves in. There's plenty to dissect here but the weight of the issue comes from Black Panther needing to choose whether to take the logical approach of trying to talk Shuri out of war with Atlantis or taking the probably more satisfying route of openly throwing his support behind a war. The Marvel Universe is a complicated place with many alliances constantly fluxing and, among all the nations of the 616, none is more complex than Wakanda. I'm definitely biased in stories about Wakanda as I find the nation and its hero immensely interesting as is, but this brings out a lot of the complications this country provides. Another great issue with spot-on writing and wonderful situations.


X-Men Legacy 12

I mostly go into books without trying to predict what's going to happen next. There are times where it's painfully obvious and I have no option but to subconsciously guess. There are some stories that are so good I can't help but speculate about the way they'll turn out. This one, I knew, couldn't end with David's powers taken away but I kept myself from guessing how exactly he would get out of it because I wanted to be surprised by the twists Spurrier created. On top of that, Spurrier is somewhat dedicated to going against convention, which he proves here again. Not only is David not trying to give up his powers, he's actively attempting to do what he had originally set out to do: end threats to mutants. On top of that, he's doing it by utilizing things he's discovered since taking on this role. The turn is pulled off so masterfully that I'm still shocked even when all the pieces fall beautifully into place and it begins to feel like there was no other way for this to play out. It all comes to a head when David notes that, whatever it is he's meant to cause, he'll solve with his powers because his mantra, "I rule me," still stands.