This week's picks

Let's assume that you do not have exorbitant wealth and thus don't want to but every comic that came out this past week. Let's also assume that you waited until Sunday to choose which books you wanted (BETTER HOPE THEY'RE NOT SOLD OUT). You've counted your pennies and now you're wondering which three books you should buy. DON'T WORRY, I'VE GOT THIS.

New Avengers 1

Honestly, buy this book. I'm hoping that the series maintains this pace and beauty and these characters (okay look, this issue was way more about Black Panther than the rest of the Illuminati and that would be OKAY BY ME, but I also like much of the Illuminati), but even if it peters off a little bit, it should still be a good series. That's how neat this first book was. I'm expecting it to stay good but this issue is very much a reason to spend your hard-earned money on COMIC BOOKS.






Daredevil: End of Days 4
This is going to depend on your feelings about Daredevil and on the rest of this series and on possible alternate futures so we're kind of banking on a lot here. But the art, by itself, is worth checking in on this book. The mystery is good, if a little dulled by now, and Ben Urich is a likable protagonist, as he's always been. We'll see how it moves, though I expect it'll be a reasonably good series that kind of drags on a bit as we see what's become of Daredevil's corner of the Marvel Universe before getting a jam-packed final issue or two.





Red She-Hulk 61

I know, I didn't think I was going to recommend this either. I was leaning towards Iron Man but Iron Man was the wrapping up of a good arc and the intro to what will probably be another good arc but it left this issue a little slowed down the middle. It's not bad and if you're an Iron Man fan it's probably more worth checking out than Red She-Hulk (and you probably will have already decided that), but Red She-Hulk surprises me with how much it has going on. I like the two separate Hulk personalities mixed with Betty's personality, I like the Tesla-as-guide-through-scientific-way-to-see-the-future (which I didn't really mention in this review as it happened a couple issues ago primarily but it's still all linked) and I like the SHIELD tie-in. I think big things are afoot, dear reader, and we'll see where they land us.



Overall kind of felt like a soft week. The stand-outs were pretty good but drop off a little after New Avengers. I have liked the Iron Man series so far, but this issue was a kind of in-between issue so I didn't necessarily find it as engaging as the ones I picked here. Still, comics are worth reading. Check these out if you're looking for somewhere to start.

Red She-Hulk 61, Punisher: Nightmare 1, Iron Man 3 Prelude 1

Red She-Hulk 61
Parker (w) and Pagulayan and Alves (a)

I admit when I was bemoaning the lack of female-driven titles while praising Captain Marvel (there IS still a lack and I DO still praise Captain Marvel) I had completely forgotten Red She-Hulk was a book. I give myself some leeway since it only switched over to focus on her a few books ago and Wikipedia tells me she only became Red She-Hulk in 2009, but the blame is still on me. It's largely still on me because I do like what I've read of this book. There's a nice bit of soft science tying together a plot with Betty being tracked by Machine Man as he tries to apprehend her for the Avengers before ultimately joining up with her. Before this, I'd seen her crop up in Fear Itself and The Defenders, which I quite liked. I like the idea of a Hulk becoming a Hulk late into a world where Hulks are so present. There's not so much of the "WHAT AM I? WHAT HAVE I BECOME?" and more of the "boy, I'm really strong and really powerful and I'd like to go punch things that are bigger than me." She admits as much in this issue, telling Machine Man that her inhibitions seem to disappear when she's red, a feeling she seems to appreciate. In those times, she explores and seeks out thrills, unlike many of the Hulks before her. It's a fun and more loose way of looking at a Hulk and it's definitely appreciated.

At the end of last issue, she changed from her still-humanlike Red Hulk form into a far more Hulk-like form after being set upon by enhanced super-soldiers of the "Echelon Project," designed solely to make more superhumans but apparently actually working (unlike so many other projects like this). When she looked like she would lose the fight, Machine Man notes, she turns more Hulk and thus loses more of herself. The Echelon Project leader contains her before Machine Man frees her and whisks her away to give her a chance to power down. She goes full human and explains to Machine Man what exactly is going on with her. There's a great sense, to build on the inhibitions idea in various Hulk forms, that very different things matter to her as Betty Ross and as Red She-Hulk. As Red She-Hulk, she's very upset at an ancient, hidden pyramid that stole her "BIG-%#& SWORD." When she follows leads about what could have happened in the pyramid, now as Betty Ross, she's more intrigued by the mystery and less attached to the sword.

It's a great idea, one that's both inherent to the Hulk mythology and a bit warped for her purposes. She is certainly a different Hulk than the others, though she shares the same powers. For regular Hulk, there's no middle ground stage. He's either Banner or he's Hulk. There's still a sense of Banner within Hulk, to varying degrees depending on the writer or the time or whatever magics they apply to him, but it's never as pronounced as with Red She-Hulk, or even regular type She-Hulk, for that matter. That's always been a weird sticking point for me about the Hulks; She-Hulk far prefers the Hulk side of her and doesn't shy away. Certainly she's lost control in the past and will do it again in the future, no doubt, but there's never been the sort of feeling of a totally changed person. Meanwhile, Hulk is typically very much one or the other. This issue of Red She-Hulk helps explain away a good amount of that, with different degrees of Hulking. It's a very good idea put to good use here. Machine Man is a solid character dug up from depths of Marvel for it. The art in the book is very strong in its action and settings, which are varied and they're beginning to delve into the recently storied history of SHIELD. Overall, solid book on what has so far been a solid title. Worth reading.

Punisher: Nightmare 1
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a)

I'm not really a Punisher guy. I never have been. I've always kind of thought he's been a one-trick pony and I hate that. It's also why I hate when people who don't know Captain America try to portray Captain America. In video games, he's always like "These colors don't run!" and "I've been fighting since before you were born!" We get it, video game developers, he's got a flag on his chest. That's kind of the first thing we saw. But to people who know Cap, there's more there than just crazy patriotism. In fact, crazy patriotism isn't really there (despite the flag bit). With Punisher, it's always been "these guys are bad, I'm bad too, but a different kind, so I'll kill them."

Here's the inherent hypocrisy of that, in case you didn't catch it. I like Cap because I read deeper than his costume. I don't like Punisher because I don't. I've read maybe 15 books total that really have to do with Punisher, and half of those are from the perspective of other characters (his Civil War appearances, when he jumps into Daredevil, etc.). I don't know how much goes on between the costume. I will say, in my defense, that just about every one of those books did follow the same formula. I will also say, against my defense, that I was compelled enough to read on then denounced Punisher as a weak character EACH TIME. As this blog continues, I hope to stay on top of just about every Marvel book. That will include a heavy dose of Punisher. I've read some of this most recent series, Greg Rucka's take, and I've been at least willing to keep going in many cases. So we'll see if any of this changes.

On to Punisher: Nightmare 1. We get a lot of Punisher backstory here (which, despite my distaste for the character, I do know already) and so it kind of drags a bit to readers who know. Still, it works well enough as it's interspersed with fragments of his non-origin story past and with the way the origin story scene plays in his head on a constant loop. It's also important to have it there in terms of building this story, introducing a new character who is going through almost exactly what Castle went through when he became Punisher. Another war vet, wife and kid, finally home from the war and his family gets murdered in the crossfire of a gang assassination. This one had some issues in the war differentiating between the good guy he was and the murderer he could be on the battlefield. I'm not sure if that parallels Castle's war days (where I know he was a good soldier and he must have learned a whole bunch, but I'm not sure if he was as kill-happy as Johnny) but it certainly parallels his once-days and his now-days. Gimple and Texeira paint a good picture of Castle-now as the Johnny persona, the murderer person of John Niman. Castle-then was likely more like John's J persona, the diplomat, the intelligent family man. There are two extremes with Frank, before Punisher and Punisher. Johnny is both in one. It's an interesting concept and I'll keep with the book because personality interests me. Even if I've written Punisher off as having a one-track personality, it's still a personality of a sort and examining it from all sides is something that intrigues me.


Iron Man 3 Prelude 1
Gage (w) and Kurth (a)

This book is meant as a movie-tie in for Iron Man 3, which is interesting to me because it's only a two book limited series and I don't think that will bring us to movie release date, but I might have that release date wrong? Oh well, just seems early is all. Anyway, it's standard stuff, establishing characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe like Tony, Pepper, Coulson, and Rhodes. This story, actually, focuses on Rhodes. Tony designs a new War Machine suit for him, with his own weapons instead of Hammer weapons and Rhodey takes it to war, only to find out that he's up against the Ten Rings, the same organization Tony escaped from in the original Iron Man. It's a smart premise and keen-eyed fans will have already noticed by now that Iron Man 3's antagonist is set to be the Mandarin, he of the ten rings (GET IT, TEN RINGS?). So the Ten Rings of the first movie was just a cell of the entire organization which is no doubt run by Mandarin. Anyway, they don't know all this (they know about the cells, not about the Mandarin) in this issue and Rhodey is trying to find any information he can on the organization as a whole, which is supplying heavy weapons to them.

One of the more interesting bits to me is that there's an Avengers tie-in sequence in here too. Though it's certainly a nod to the blockbuster and ground-shattering movie, it's used more as an explanation to Rhodes' whereabouts during the event. It's a question that didn't ever come up to me until I saw it in this issue, but where WAS Rhodey? You'd think that another Iron Man suit would be invaluable in that attack on New York and the army would certainly send him. This issue explains that he's just cleared up a hostage situation in Asia and, even at supersonic speeds, it would take him hours to get to New York and then he gets attacked by what appear to be more Mandarin forces ANYWAY.

Take this issue for what it is. It's providing some sort of backstory for the Marvel Cinematic Universe and doesn't really tie in to the Marvel 616. Still, Gage is a good writer and makes the story interesting and answers some questions about that Universe. It's somewhat fun because, though the characters resemble their 616 counterparts, there are clear differences and this kind of book allows the writer and the artist to render their own interpretation of that character. Not a bad book. If you're looking to get into comics and your way in is the movie, this would be a great way to jump in. Something with characters you're familiar with and where you don't feel like you need the decades of history to understand the comic. This just requires knowing about a couple movies you probably already know about. It's not so bad for a full-on comic fan too; good writing, good art, intriguing story. Better than a lot of movie tie-in books, for sure.

Ultimate Spider-Man 19, Venom 29

Ultimate Spider-Man 19
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a)

I admit I was skeptical when Miles Morales was introduced, the multicultural new Spider-Man. I've no qualms with multicultural characters, but I worried that he'd be multicultural simply to BE multicultural. I was afraid that Marvel was trying to create a character of two races because they had so few main characters in either race. While I'd still maintain that this is partly true (it's definitely true that they don't have many main characters of either race, but I'm saying I'd still maintain that it's partly true that he was mixed race just to be mixed race), I'm doubling back on my words a little bit because the fact that Miles Morales is of two races has hardly mattered, which is exactly how it should be. You want a strong character of another race? Just write a strong character, make him that other race. Sure people are treated differently based on their races or different problems could come up, but the key is to make them a good character first and dependent on their race second. That's what Bendis has done with Miles and why I think he's just about at his strongest these days on Ultimate Spider-Man.

After the events of the last few issues, tied into the Divided We Fall storyline, and the last point one issue, which revolved around Betty Brant uncovering the identity of the new Spider-Man (though she guessed it was Miles' father, not Miles) and being killed by Venom shortly after though seemingly before she could get the news out, we find ourselves in the midst of Miles still adjusting to being Spider-Man (geez dude, you've had almost 20 issues and you're like, 13, you should really have this down by now). He runs out of web fluid while swinging about town and is subsequently caught on camera by plenty of cellphones. Ganke brings the topic up with him and begins making new web fluid for him. That is a sort of problem that I have with this new world of Spider-Man; the kids all go to a special advanced school and that's how we know they're smart. They don't necessarily seem smarter than anyone else (nerdy, sure, not particularly smart) but we're told they are so they are. It's not a huge deal, at least they broached the subject at all with the smart-kid-school but it does feel a little "I'd rather not tell" to me.

Anyway, Venom's playing around in a warehouse and he's Venom, so that's important. It'll be Miles' first run-in with a real Spidey villain. Miles goes home to his family and eats dinner and finds out that his dad fought HYDRA in the Divided We Fall story, though he doesn't like talking about it. Reporters come and interrupt dinner, he leaves to chase them and give them crap and Venom appears behind them in broad daylight in New York. I guess no one else saw him. LOOK, we're past that now, let's not think on it too much. Bendis also introduced a new lady-friend for Miles Morales (introduced as in we saw her looking at him) and homicide detective Maria Hill because I can't get through a universe without seeing her. I actually had just told my girlfriend that Bendis seems to love two types of female characters; punk rock kind of girls and Maria Hill kind of girls. The new love interest is the punk rock type and Maria Hill is the Maria Hill type. I'M NOT WRONG. Anyway, despite its few flaws, I was fine with this issue. I like much of Miles' home life and think there's more to be done there. I've always like the J. Jonah Jameson character in this series, a nice departure from the 616 Jameson. The best parts of 616 Jameson always came at the Bugle, whenever he was dedicated to news and not screaming about Spider-Man (okay, largely I liked him as a role in Daredevil with Ben Urich). It's nice that this universe's Jameson is largely the parts of Jameson I've liked over there. This is the first issue of the Venom arc, so there's definitely room for this to expand. Should be fun.


Venom 29
Bunn (w) and Silas (a)

I want to say, first and foremost, I'm glad this issue started by addressing Flash's need to reference football all the time. He was a soldier longer than he was a high school football player, I'd expect him to be more in the vein of Red Hulk or Cap, planning like a soldier. Sometimes he does. I like the explanation of his football as escapism, like Spider-Man's quipping. It works and it means I can put up with the constant barrage of "HAIL MARY, THOMPSON" and "FUMBLED ON THAT ONE, BUT IT WAS A MISTAKE THAT BORDERS BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH AND NOT LIKE LOSING THE GRIP ON A FOOTBALL." It helps, anyway.

Anyway, this issue continues with Venom fighting the U-Foes and tracking them down as they interrogate and experiment on Venom's pal Katy Kiernan. Though he barely survived the attack from the U-Foes the first time, he drops in on them again, this time getting back-up from his "girlfriend" or "friend with benefits" Valkyrie. There was a nice moment as Secret Avengers set-up relationships come into play here and allow Bunn to work with Valkyrie before starting his Fearless Defenders book. I like when Marvel works together. Anyway, I mostly like the art in this and Silas has a pretty good eye for Venom but there is definitely the exploitative (maybe...SEXploitative??) feel of EVERY panel with Valkyrie. Despite her typically bare legs and arms, Valkyrie tends to be one of the less sexualized heroes in the Universe (putting aside her recent relationship with Flash). In this, though, we're treated to multiple crotch-shots and plenty of the weird "my body doesn't contort like normal body" poses of somehow showing butt and boobs at the same time. Honestly, I tend not to notice this kind of thing, but I noticed it here so it feels like that's something worth noting.

Despite this, I liked the issue well enough. I've liked Venom's book because he's often outmatched. He'd probably be less outmatched if he went full-Venom but he'd rather not open that can (symbiote can) of worms (symbiote worms). It's a nice internal struggle to watch and the fact he often can't unleash means that he's often equal or at a disadvantage with high powered enemies. It's not like the Thor thing or the Iron Man thing, where you have to find an enemy that matches Thor's enormous power and Iron Man's enormous intellect. It's Venom's own thing, where any villain could come up and would likely be somewhere on the same level as Venom. It often makes for more compelling story-telling because anyone can come up and be a threat. With Thor, the U-Foes would probably turn up and be absolutely killed. Not because they're bad villains, just because they're not Thor villains. It would be worth reading this book if just for his own internal struggles. Fortunately, we have even more going on than that.


Sorry about the late update today, couldn't get the comics until later than I'd hoped. Tomorrow we'll be looking at Red She-Hulk and Punisher Nightmare.

Morbius 1, All-New X-Men 5, Iron Man 5

Morbius: The Living Vampire 1
Keatinge (w) and Elson (a)

Michael Morbius is a longtime Spider-Man villain, back from the day Spider-Man had six arms (it was seriously a day). He's one of those somewhat popular line of villains who are villains because of what they are, not who they are. For a while, Spider-Man's own Lizard, Dr. Curt Connors, was the same way. They actually both appeared in that six-armed issue. Morbius is a vampire, but he's not a bad guy. He therefore tends to suffer from the sort of Hulk mentality writers have, where they like to show him off by having him turn up, have everyone get scared, he proves himself a sulking hero, everyone sees what he did, and he leaves. Even though those character conceits tend to be good, that mentality wears on me a bit.

The positive to Morbius 1 is that they haven't done that. He doesn't save anyone (except one bad guy at one point), he doesn't do anything particularly heroic, and he's just broken out of jail. There's no conception to anyone around him that he's a hero. Also like the Hulk, it's not easy to hide his appearance, nor does he make a particular effort. Unlike the Hulk, he could be seen as strange looking or as a junkie and people will accept that. Hulk can't really say he's just having an off day and have people go "oh yeah, sure, our bad." Morbius broke out of prison in Amazing Spider-Man 699.1 (all the way back in 2012) and promptly moves into Brownsville, New York to avoid superheroes lurking about. He attempts to keep to himself but, of course, gets embroiled in the affairs of some bad guys and we start the comic as he runs from them, a fresh wound in his chest. The comic explains some pros and cons about his particular brand of vampirism and he gets shot through the chest before we go back and tell the beginning of the story. Finally we end back with Morbius with a hole in his chest, explaining that this is how he became "a dead vampire."

If I don't sound too enthused, there's a reason for that. There's reason for hope in some of the quirky storytelling techniques and Elson's art is solid, but overall the plot is kind of familiar and, so far, we haven't gotten into anything particularly deep about the character. Anyone coming in probably knows he's a vampire so there's not too much gained by the "advantages/disadvantages of being vampire-ish" lists Keatinge lays out. Also, I didn't feel particularly driven by his plot, something they'll no doubt build on. Still, compare it to something like Hawkeye 1 last year (comparing any comic to any other comic is probably a bad idea, especially one starring an established star Avenger like Hawkeye and a relatively little known Spider-Man villain like Morbius, but we're doing this anyway) and you'll find that, though neither had sounds of an overarching or especially menacing plot, Hawkeye was gripping and charming and entertaining. Morbius didn't feel quite so blessed. We'll have to see, moving forward.

All-New X-Men 5
Bendis (w) and Immonen (a)

The first arc of this series ends in grand fashion as young Jean Grey has developed telepathic powers a year early because of...shock? That's how it's kind of explained. Whatever, we'll move on. Young Beast finds a problem with old Beast's equations and heals him because of...double checking math? Okay, let's keep going. Logan asks students and faculty to vote on if he should kill young Cyclops to prevent Charles Xavier's death because of...I don't know, hormones maybe? Maybe Jean's making him crazy? Because I've never felt like Wolverine would showboat like that and the entire reason he made the school was so kids wouldn't be thrown into decisions like those. That's why he made X-Force and kept it explicitly away from the kids. But let's move on from that. The five young X-Men vote to stay in the future to help undo what they've seen because...someone at Marvel thought that was a good idea?

Look, if you can't tell, I'm not sold on this series. I like seeing the first class of X-Men again well enough, and I think the idea that they'd all be shocked to see what they've become or what's become of them is a fair one and probably an interesting one. There are just some things, not unlike the things I mentioned above, that nag at me while reading this series, and we're only five issues in. I also am probably more invested/interested in timeline splitting than a lot of casual readers. I'm not sure that excuses some of the issues going on. Yes, I think probably the series will be explained away eventually by saying that they eventually went back in time and Prof. X wiped their memories and THAT'S why these things never came up in the old books and maybe Xavier will, in the process, even learn that he's supposed to die at Scott's hands. Maybe they'll stay in the present long enough to help but not long enough to age noticeably. Maybe all the new skills they pick up here will be forgotten in the mind-wipe. It just seems like a lot of questions and loose ends for little payoff. We already have an Iceman, Angel, Beast, and Cyclops in this world. Sure Angel is...different now, and Cyclops is Brotherhood now, but they're all here. I'm not sure the ends will justify the means. Also, Kitty volunteers to help them do what they want, which is okay, except that Kitty has recently seem more opposed to students doing exactly what these student-age future-pro-X-Men are planning to do. I hate characters feeling out of place.

Immonen's art is, expectedly, solid. There's a scene where Jean sees her entire history (presumably through Beast's eyes because she's in his head, but that's not really talked about) and it's pretty gorgeous. Beast appears to have a new mutation (or maybe just a new haircut) that makes him look more gorilla-like than feline. I've nothing against any of that. We'll have to see where this series goes in the long-run. Cyclops setting up his own school and their trouble with their powers are all, as it stands, a bit more interesting than the other plots. Like some of Bendis' other work, I kind of can't believe it's been five issues already because it feels like a lot of this could have been done in two, maybe three. That was probably my biggest problem with his Avengers book so I also tend to be a little more on edge around it now, which could be my fault. Still, I'll keep up with the book and with his new X-Men book to see where they lead.

Iron Man 5
Gillen (w) and Land (a)

Marvel NOW! is a great idea. I had some issues with it at first and sure, the renumbering always seems like a new way to make money. At its core, though, it's a lot of what attracts me to comics. The characters aren't new; in almost all cases, they're decades old, half a century old. So how do you keep them adapting? With new perspectives. There are certain facts about every character, a certain feel to their personality and powers. Captain America is moral and righteous, confident and loyal. Black Panther is smart and reserved, a king first and a hero second. Iron Man is brilliant and headstrong with certain impulse control issues. Beyond the key facts, though, there is always room for new challenges and new quirks. One writer can have one perception of a character and another can have a totally different but equally valid perception. This constant evolution and the constant need for change is something that really works to the advantage of comic books.

Kieron Gillen's Iron Man still has the headstrong, "I can do this MYSELF" mentality that Iron Man is so known for. However, like Fraction's Fantastic Four, he's going back to his roots. The F4 is doing it because Reed needs to explore for a cure, but the idea is the same. It's a return to F4 number one, the astronauts going back into space to explore new worlds. Iron Man is an inventor, a creator. The first five issues have been all about something in Tony's past. Maya Hansen's Extremis is loose in the world, with the highest bidders taking it (or the best thieves stealing it) and warping it in some way that Tony fears can threaten everything. He's vowed to shut it down in her memory. It rings all too true to Tony, who has seen his inventions used against the principles he stands for as much as anyone. It's this final issue, though, that shows where it leads. After shutting down the final Extremis project, a space station with humans enhanced to withstand space in their natural state run by an old friend, Tony realizes he hasn't made enough of an impact. Despite, Pepper argues, his many contributions to the world, Tony knows that he could go bigger if he set his mind to it. Because Tony is brilliant and headstrong with certain impulse control issues.

It's a new look to Tony Stark but it's certainly based on the blueprint of every other Tony Stark that's come before Kieron Gillen's. Tony sets off in a new suit, the one that will be featured in the new "Godkiller" arc that's being advertised, and with a new P.E.P.P.E.R. AI (no, I don't know what it stands for, probably nothing, it's just Pepper, okay?) to keep him balanced and takes off into space. I'll be interested to see where Gillen's Stark goes, and also if Gillen is as intent as Fraction was (during his most recent Iron Man run) on keeping the rest of the Iron Man cast in focus, even if Tony's not around them. This is a good issue, definitely worth a look. Greg Land's art is clean and focused. Background characters who you know will never appear again seem to have a personality, not just filler. It's a nice touch, especially considering Tony's Sherlockish attention to detail. It'll be interesting to see where the book takes Tony, both in the very physical realm of space and the mental realm of Tony's mind. He's already worried about not being anchored to Earth and free-floating, I'm sure we'll see more of that. Will Tony be able to survive without anyone to be smarter than?

New Avengers 1 and Daredevil: End of Days 4

New Avengers 1
Hickman (w) and Epting (a)

Wow. Yes. That's the way I'm starting this review. Because I'm a professional. I've been looking forward to this book since they teased it as the Illuminati's return. I have been pretty vocal on here already as to my distaste for Bendis' run on Avengers and New Avengers. Still, he did some things well and the guy's smart and clearly can be a good writer. One of the things I liked from his run, perhaps the thing I liked most, was the Illuminati. I like it because it's exactly what those characters would do; each one of them would consider himself worthy of making decisions for the world's behalf. Some might even be right in that assumption, not that they necessarily should do it. Black Panther walking out on the team upon his invitation was ALSO within character. It doesn't hurt that I'm particularly fond of Black Panther, and I like the rest of the team very much (Reed Richards not withstanding). So when Marvel showed that New Avengers would focus, at least to start, on the Illuminati returning, I was very excited. Excited enough that this could have been a big disappointment to me.

It's not. I mentioned the book in my top ten anticipated series list for 2013. One thing I didn't mention because I kept forgetting and I get a new wave of delight every time I remember is that Steve Epting is drawing the series. His run on Captain America was incredible and I have nothing but compliments to give. He does not disappoint here. Frank D'Armata does a great job as colorist, great enough that I noticed it instantly. There are only a handful of colorists that I really notice (I'm sorry, I'm usually focused on writing more than art and that makes me a bad fan for plenty of artists), like Bettie Breitweiser and Jordie Bellaire. So it really speaks to how gorgeous it is when I mention it here.

Now the story. I love seeing Wakanda. I love being a part of Wakanda. We get a good taste of a sort of ritual in Wakanda to lead the story, along with a view of T'Challa's new role as King of the Necropolis of Wakanda (instituted in Hickman's run on Fantastic Four), including a mention of feeling the pride of a former Wakandan king whose spirit he carries. More of that is bound to appear in this comic, hints at Wakanda's past and at its line of royalty. I'm onboard. Anyway, the story progresses and a portal opens in front of Panther and three young Wakandans from what appears to be an alternate reality or dimension. When they enter the portal, they find themselves facing a group of people, soldiers of a sort, and a lead woman. There is a version of Manifold, the former Secret Warrior who Hickman has re-introduced in his Avengers book, that is clearly not the 616's version (tip-off, he's white) with the head villain. She makes some ominous threats, her people kill the three Wakandans (who were shown as the strongest of the future generation of Wakanda after the short ritual to start the book) and she kills her Manifold before using a device he delivered to her to set the world floating above them on fire. Panther stops her a moment too late. He returns to his Wakanda, his earth, asking who answers the call of desperate men.

After a very movie-like two page spread, all black (spare a dark gray symbol), with white lettering that reads "New Avengers: Illuminati," the comic continues. We see Panther's feelings about each member of the Illuminati. Righteous men (Tony Stark), thinkers (Reed Richards), summoners (Dr. Strange), midnight kings (Black Bolt), and the devil himself (Namor). The comic ends with his plea for the goddess to save him "from what we are about to do." Surprise team-shot, Captain America leads the procession. I don't expect him to stay on this team, eventually he'll likely be replaced by Beast (who appears silhouetted on Jock's cover), but he became a part of it in Bendis' Avengers run.

It's an intriguing story with plenty of places to go and lots to say going forward. Because I'm dumb, I honestly hadn't even connected the fact that Namor would be coming to Wakanda, his first appearance there since the Phoenix-possessed Sub-Mariner destroyed the nation. Boy did that "and the devil himself" bit change that. The first entry in this series is majestic and huge. It's foreboding, it's a bit confusing (it is a Hickman book, after all), but in a good way. It makes you want to understand more and to read more. I really want to read more. And frankly, I want to see more. I cannot overstate how great the art was. Definitely worth buying and, even though it's been one issue, subscribing.


Daredevil: End of Days 4
Bendis and Mack (w) and Janson and Sienkiewicz with one page by Maleev (a)

I had a chat with the guy at the comic store about this series as I bought it. We talked about Marvel's attempts at doing these kinds of series every once in a while, these "the end" or "a character dies in the future that might could possibly happen" kind of things. They usually fall flat. We also talked about Bendis, agreeing that he's a good writer, but that his team books recently had started to sound the same. He said "I just don't see the Sentry quipping like Spider-Man, but there it was." It's entirely how I feel about Bendis. This review is not going in that direction.

This book has been startlingly good. I'm a Daredevil fan and I'm really a David Mack fan. His stories in Daredevil were some of my favorite, I adore Echo, and his art is unbelievable. That's not me trying to take away from Bendis to give this book a good review. I like Bendis. I often want to like Bendis more, but I agree with my comic book retailer's perception; with free reign and a team, he tends to quip more than write. Daredevil was a good book for him when he was the writer on it and his run there is the one I cite most frequently when arguing in his defense. I think he understands the darkness in Daredevil and I think he's better with a small cast. Avengers books tend now to feature a huge roster to bring as many fans in as possible. Smaller books don't have to do that. They can, but they don't have to. Daredevil is a prime example. Daredevil: End of Days is a sort of examination of that smaller cast. We see everyone. Well, we haven't seen Foggy, but we must at some point. We've seen Echo, Elektra, Typhoid Mary, Milla, and few others from Daredevil's past, as led by Ben Urich. This issue shows us Bullseye and Punisher, with a quick glance at one-time comic relief/low-level hood Turk. That probably makes the book sound more fun than it really is, but there is that level of fun to it. There's something going on just under the conspiracy of Daredevil's murder at the hands of the now suicidal Bullseye that's worth waiting around for. People are losing their grips. The word "Mapone" is floating around and making people extraordinarily tight-lipped. Every female from Matt's past has a red-headed child. To make matters more interesting/confusing, someone in a Daredevil suit is following Urich's investigation, just out of sight, and still catching criminals. There are things afoot.

Klaus Janson and Bill Sienkiewicz are doing a fine job in illustrating the book. It honestly feels like a mix of Daredevil's past just within the styles. There are hints of Frank Miller in the facial expressions, the broody shadows and rain of Alex Maleev, the sometimes painted look of Mack, and the occasional big and hectic scene shots inherent to the book overall. Maleev has one page in this book, a full page look at Bullseye tossing aces at the camera and looking crazy. It's kind of amazing.

If I had a complaint, it was that things are moving a little slowly. I like seeing this many people and I like the time they're given, but this is book four of eight. I'm not sure what the final payoff will be here, as excited about it as I am, but at current I'm having trouble justifying the eight issues. That could change as the series goes on and as more is revealed. However, right now it feels like we built up to the things we needed to build up to a couple issues ago and now we're kind of simmering, adding more to it, sure, but nothing we couldn't have guessed. Still, the art is worth checking out and the story is at a good point, it's just been there for a little bit now. I don't know if this will strike home with a lot of non-Daredevil fans, but why would you be reading about Daredevil's death if you didn't care about Daredevil anyway? Very fun, though, for a Daredevil fan.




Come back tomorrow for Morbius 1, All New X-Men 5, and Iron Man 5

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story

Sean Howe's Marvel Comics: The Untold Story is just about the most empathetic non-fiction book I can imagine. It's weird thinking that, as biographies and autobiographies all search for (and typically find, for good ones at least) a perfect line between whatever the subject's mighty feats are and the inherent humanity in the subject. The humanity and flaws of the subject are often painful (and thus often more compelling) to read, as we naturally are inclined towards sympathy for the lows of a person's life. Marvel Comics is all that and more.

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story covers the more than 70 years of Marvel comics, in its various forms, names, locations, people, etc. Howe does a phenomenal job of making the story accessible for non-comics fans, explaining away Marvel characters in a sentence without feeling the need to delve into their long and convoluted backstories unless it serves to highlight a writer/artist/editor's struggles (it's not so easy to explain away characters that quickly when you care about them, as Howe does). However, he doesn't shy away from comic fans either, the ones more likely to actually buy the book. He builds to a reveal of a character or a person in Marvel's history that fans reading the book will likely be familiar with and giggle upon seeing. There was one point where Howe was talking about the creation of a new X-Men character, a time traveler, and had trouble choosing one name, especially when the editors got involved. One of the names floated was "Cable" and, as a comic fan, I couldn't help but shout at the book "IT'S GOING TO BE THAT ONE." It's fun, it's delightful, it's inside, it's outside, and it cares about the people. It's a detailed and fantastic look into the history of one of the big two comic companies.

The more important thing to me about the book, though, is the mood. As I touched upon at the beginning of this post, there is a real sort of empathy throughout the book. At Marvel's highest times, the most creative, the most free, the most fun, you read at a furious clip and feel lifted up and inspired by the writers and artists and creators. There were times when I would stop reading during those parts and need to go write, to go create, because it felt wonderful to do so. But with the good comes the bad. Whenever Howe goes into the harder times of Marvel (of which there are plenty), the pace slows painfully and you trudge through the name-calling and the lawsuits and the layoffs. It's not a damning of Howe to say the pace slows painfully; it's the opposite. It's the exact way you're supposed to feel reading those sections, creatively empty, hurt, frustrated, uncertain. It's hard to get through, but it's worth it, and the idea that another upswing (as Marvel is is now, thanks to freer range in comics and their movies) is on the way is motivation enough.

The book is great. It comes from a clear place of love, a love of the characters and of the people who created them. It's a painful testament to the skill and hard work of Jack Kirby and often it paints a clear picture of both sides of the creator-owned vs. company-owned debate still raging in comics today. Howe doesn't pick a side (wouldn't be much of a biography if he had) but he explains both in detail and lets the reader choose. He shows where most creators landed on the decision and who is still fighting for or against it today. Comic fans will find the history fascinating and this fight in particular, one that defines the comic industry better than any other, interesting and relevant, in the wake of the recent Before Watchmen series. There's plenty here for fans and non-fans alike (though I'd probably weigh it more heavily on the "fans" side). I'm not much of a non-fiction/biography reader in that I don't tend to mind them but I certainly don't go out of my way to read them. Still, I'd heartily endorse reading this. It flies by and you really do put it down and start thinking about it and keep thinking about it until you pick it up again.



I'll be back on later today, depending on when I get to the comic store, for new reviews. Otherwise, my review week starts tomorrow.

My ten most anticipated books of 2013

RING IN THE NEW YEAR. I hope everyone is having a good 2013 so far, now that we're a solid 10 hours in. I'll be the first to say it: I'm proud of us. I'm proud of you, I'm proud of me, look how far we've come in such a short 10 hours. Why, just 11 hours ago, we were in that year when everyone thought we were going to die and look at us now! So advanced!

Right, here are ten of the reasons I was thrilled that 2012 wasn't the end of humanity.

Avengers

Also charts. I'm a sucker for charts.

I'm glad that, alphabetically speaking, Avengers is first on this list because, as you will soon see, it's a bit of a running theme of things I'm interested in for 2013. With Marvel NOW! comes a wave of new writers to books (not new writers, just new to this respective book, sorry for the vagueness, won't happen again until it does) and boy do I think this part of the Universe needs it. I have varied feelings for Brian Michael Bendis. I think he's done a great deal of good in the Marvel Universe. I am also almost entirely averse to his last few years on Avengers and New Avengers. New blood is good blood in this case and, after a strong first two issues, I'm excited to see where Avengers goes from here.


Captain America

Haha, no Cap. No good. But we appreciate your spirit

I said yesterday that Cap is my favorite character in the Marvel Universe. I also said that Brubaker's run did phenomenal things for him so I was terribly sad to see him go. However, even more hawkeyed readers will recognize that I had something of a love affair with Rick Remender's X-Force book, recently ended. So now he takes over Cap, sends him to what appears to be an alternate reality and/or planet and, by issue two, has stranded him there for a year. He also had longtime on-and-off girlfriend Sharon Carter propose to him off-panel and currently has Cap raising a pseudo-son in a Cable-Hope parallel. Well. We'll see, anyway, after issue three comes out, if I have to redact that. Look, I'm thrilled for this series to continue, is what I'm saying.


Hawkeye
Hawkeyed readers will note that I said the word "hawkeyed" in the last entry as well and spell-check is insisting that it's not a word. I also said "Hawkeye" in my favorite books of 2012 and, as such, it's the only book that will make both lists despite not changing appearances in Marvel NOW! Whatever, it's still a young book, I'm fully warranted in picking it for both favorite of 2012 and anticipated of 2013. LOOK, I'm really enjoying it. If you're not reading it, you should be. It's aiming bigger and better still, but layers have been added to Clint that we haven't seen before, layers that can't really come out when he's splitting time with a team in a book. Definitely worth reading the 2012 chronicles and definitely worth checking out the 2013 entries.

Indestructible Hulk

After Jason Aaron's memorable run on Hulk in the wake of Fear Itself, not to mention his appearance in The Avengers and his character in Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, I'm pretty firmly on the Hulk bandwagon. Every time he appeared outside of his own book, it seemed to always follow the same formula: "Oh no, it's the Hulk! He has to be stopped! Wait, he seems to be helping! Maybe he's misunderstood! Goodbye Hulk, perhaps friend, perhaps enemy!" Marvel has wisely steered away from that in recent years, preferring to dissect why people react this way and play on it. I like the new turn and I'll trust Mark Waid after Daredevil made yesterday's list. Leinil Yu is also always to be trusted.

Journey into Mystery
I bemoaned the lack of female-driven books in Marvel yesterday while similarly moaning about how great Captain Marvel has been. Captain Marvel, like Hawkeye, has my interest in the coming year, though I still like Hawkeye a tad more. HOWEVER, Journey into Mystery is switching away from Kieron Gillen's kid Loki and into Kathryn Immonen's Lady Sif. We're three issues and several bodies in already and this promises to have all the action inherent to a book about warriors and all the character traits I associate with my admittedly limited knowledge of Sif. She's Heimdall's sister, she's a badass, she's got a great helmet, and she very much would like to be rightfully seen as the best warrior in Asgard. Pick it up before we dive too far into the plot and you get left behind.

New Avengers

SNAP, I also always forget Epting is drawing it.
THIS BOOK WILL BE RAD.

Like I said earlier, I wasn't thrilled by New Avengers over the last couple years. This upset me because I really adored most of the team. I'm not a big Luke Cage or Jessica Jones fan (which, sadly for me, happened to be the majority of the book) but I am big on Iron Fist, Doc Strange, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ms./Captain Marvel, and Daredevil. My not feeling a particular affinity for the book was one of my bigger disappointments over the last year. You know who else I'm a big fan of, though? The Illuminati (stay out of this, REED). They'll highlight at least the start of this book and all of my affections for Black Panther, Namor, Black Bolt, Beast (he's in there now, okay, just deal with it), and Iron Man will likely come just gushing out of me. Guys. I really love Black Panther.

Secret Avengers

I really hope this book is good. This is the book, of all of these that I'm excited about in the coming year, that I can't help giggling about when I think of it. The team seems like it will have Hawkeye, Black Widow, Mockingbird, Taskmaster, a new Iron Patriot, Hulk, and occasionally Winter Soldier. I saved those two for last INTENTIONALLY (good writing, guys) because all I want to read, every day, is Hulk interacting with Bucky. LOOK, except for the new Iron Patriot (who I know nothing about but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Rhodey with a tie-in to the new Iron Man movie), I know and love everyone I just mentioned. The downside I see is that the team seems to be run by or at least involve Maria Hill and I hate Maria Hill. Sorry dudes. Also, it has to do with memory implant technology and we'll see how that goes. Whatever, I'm pumped, you should be too.

Superior Spider-Man

I think I proved that I was rather touched by Dan Slott's Amazing Spider-Man 700 in my first post in this blog. I'm a long-time Spider-Man/Peter Parker fan (as I think most Marvel fans can claim). I'm still a little shell-shocked by the events of that issue, but I am intrigued about what happens next. I don't know what to expect out of Superior Spider-Man. I don't know the challenges he'll face, the way he'll handle the challenges, the way others will react to them, the way he'll react to others reacting to him. I don't know anything about this book. This is uncharted waters, at least in my eyes, and I'm looking forward to seeing where we end up.




Thor: God of Thunder

I like grand, epic, sprawling stories, particularly if they're done right. I also like stories tied to religion. For necessary reasons (such as Asgard appearing on Earth), Marvel has strayed away from the "gods" association to Thor and the Asgardians for a while. I don't think that's a bad idea, per se, because you don't want to drive it into the ground and they're cast as not-really-but-sort-of gods anyway. Confusing, that. The first arc, however, of Thor: God of Thunder, has dealt with a story spanning hundreds or thousands of years, a story of a god-killer hunting down and eliminating gods. We know nothing about its motives or its background, only what we've seen as its pertained to Thor. We've seen three Thors; young and arrogant Thor, modern-day and heroic Thor, and Odin-esque and last-god-standing Thor. This story is something to watch. Also, Esad Ribic's art is, as always, phenomenal and surreal.

Uncanny Avengers

This book makes the cut for a couple reasons, edging out the surprise start to Avengers Arena, both upcoming X-Force books, and the Kieron Gillen-Jamie McKelvie led Young Avengers book. The first and most basic, as some readers will no doubt predict, is Rick Remender. I inherently trust him after X-Force. I also like when one writer has a chance to write two characters regularly in two different environments (it doesn't hurt if that writer is writing Captain America, no, but I also liked when Remender handled Venom in Venom and Secret Avengers, for example). I also find the base team that we already know to exist as pretty encouraging. I love Cap and Thor (and their relationship) and Wolverine, I like Havok and Scarlet Witch, and Rogue grows on me pretty regularly. Remender has also hinted that we'll soon see them come up against Red Skull, Kang, and Apocalypse, all at once. If that doesn't make you want to read this book, I don't know what will.


That's it for me today. We're quickly approaching a new Wednesday. My first full week of reviews is imminent. I'm sorry in advance.