Iron Man 6, Iron Man 3 Prelude 2

Iron Man 6
Gillen (w) and Land (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Tony Stark has flown to deep space to explore and be inspired to do more great things. It's a good premise Kieron Gillen has come up with for Iron Man, driving him to places he really should be going. Iron Man is certainly a protector of Earth, but he's left it in good hands. I've said before that the sense of time in Marvel isn't something I ever want to explore, but it does beg some questions. Iron Man will pop up in half of the Avengers books while also journeying to the farthest reaches to space? When does he have time? LOOK, it's not that big a deal. It's one of those things where you have to say "it's not worth me thinking about, I want to read a good story and if this book and the other ones he appears in are all good stories, I can't be upset about how their timeline works out." I think that's a fair sacrifice. It could also end in a situation where, you know, it turns out he was only gone for twenty minutes because science. I almost prefer the first option.

Anyway, he's in space and he's helping because that's what he does. On top of helping being what he does, what he also does is inventing, so he spends a lot of time marveling in this issue at all of the advancements of this ancient alien race he's protecting. On top of helping and inventing, Tony Stark also does sex so, when not helping or marveling, he spends much of the issue flirting. I think it's safe to say Gillen knows this character. In a fun little twist, the alien woman who wants Tony as much as he wants her ends up vomiting after he takes of his helmet and reveals facial hair. Dejected, Tony leaves and is set upon by space cops! Space cops! Sorry, I need to have an exclamation point after "space cops!" They're not much of a challenge to take down but Tony doesn't realize they're space cops! until after he dispatches them. He's wanted for deicide (not "decide," don't read it that way or else you'll be confused, TRUST ME), which he doesn't understand. He turns himself in and makes his way to the pseudo-courtroom. He denies killing any gods but eventually comes to realize that the god of the people he's so recently saved is the Phoenix, which he had as big a part as anyone in destroying way back in AvX.

This issue is more a set-up of things to come but it still works. Like I said, Gillen seems keyed in on Stark's character and I think sending him to space is a good idea. First, it takes him out of the comfort zone of Earth, where he has a reliable supporting cast and he's kind of a big deal. Now he's in the unknown and has the chance to either get himself into huge trouble or, as he and the F4 are both trying to do right now, learn something new. On top of all the little pieces that make sense for Stark's character, the drive to go out and find something new and exciting is a defining choice. Everything else (helping, inventing, sex) represents a piece of the Tony Stark puzzle but it should be treated exactly as that. It's a piece. Sending him to space because he needs inspiration and needs to be bigger and better is the picture as a whole, what the completed puzzle looks like. Now's a pretty good time to jump on this book if you're trying to delve into the story of one of Marvel's most popular heroes.

Iron Man 3 Prelude 2
Gage (w) and Kurth (a) and Sotocolor (c)

There's not a ton left to say about this mini after everything I said here. It does a lot of what the first one did, shows off Rhodey's armor and his intelligence while also showing a bit of the enemy set to appear in Iron Man 3. There's another nod to The Avengers with a quick scene of their battle and a kind of predictable shot of the team eating shawarma JUST LIKE IN THE MOVIE. I can't really hold any kind of cutesy nod like that against this book because that's entirely what this book is supposed to be. It's for the Cinematic Universe, it's hyping up that world, OF COURSE it's going to make reference to established things from that world.

In truth, what I said last time about this book remains the case. It's still a bit better than average for a movie tie-in kind of book. I do have to believe that we're seeing more pertinent things about Iron Man 3 than I would have guessed before reading the book, i.e. the attempt at stealing Iron Man's tech, the use of easier-to-obtain Hammer Tech, the willingness to do harm to civilians, Tony's response to this whole situation, and so forth. If you're not terribly into comics yet but you're interested because of the movies, this isn't a bad place to start. You'll get useful shout-outs to the movies and to characters you know from the movies like Pepper and Coulson and it's only two books. Can't ask much more from a tie-in than that.

New Avengers 3, Secret Avengers 37

New Avengers 3
Hickman (w) and Epting (a) and D'Armata (c)

I'm going to just start every review of this book by just saying "Wow." I feel pretty confident about that after this third issue. I think that my love for this book is not, at this point, understated. I've very much underlined it, in fact. The stakes are all raised and everything is happening. The first incursion of another world upon ours has now happened (minus the time the Black Swan destroyed another world) and the plan of the Illuminati worked. They formed the Infinity Gauntlet and Captain America used it to push the other world away. However, the strain of it shattered the gems (all except the time gem, which disappeared) and we're back to square one. Namor jumps at Cap, screaming about how he's doomed everyone. They retire to Necropolis to talk about possible avenues going forward. Hank McCoy has joined the team in the stead of Professor X. Despite the success then immediate failure of their first plan, Steve remains adamant about not building a weapon to destroy worlds, thereby sacrificing their heroism. He tries to rally everyone around him to think of another way, but one by one they reject his optimism. Dr. Strange equates it to simply hoping, the three kings (Black Panther, Black Bolt, and Namor) will do whatever it takes to keep their people alive, as will Reed for his family, and even Hank, the most morally righteous of the remaining group candidly asks Cap "are you seriously asking a mutant what he's prepared to do to stave off extinction?" The issue ends when Cap invokes Tony and their history of "lesser of two evils." Tony directs Dr. Strange to wipe Cap's memory of the Illuminati and everything they've done.


There's just not enough I can say about this book. Hickman toes a line PERFECTLY as Cap goes around the room asking for support. Even after most everyone has turned him down and he's still pleading and AFTER the audience is starting to side with the Illuminati, asking themselves what they would do, given the options, Hickman uses Captain America exactly the way he's supposed to be used. It's not naive optimism and hope preventing him from siding with them, it's fear. Cap's afraid of what happens after this because he's seen it so many times. It's the slippery slope kind of argument but with much more realism to it. There are people in that room who, without a doubt, would make a world-destroying weapon and eventually be coaxed into using it for a "greater good." There are people like Namor who would use it to dominate, people like Panther who would use it to protect, and people like Tony who would use it to win. It's a scary thing and it's a real scary thing. It's not about, as Reed tries to color Cap, trying to ignore a difficult decision because it's difficult, or about, as Namor tries to spin it, the simple preservation of Cap's soul. It's about what this decision leads to and where it will inevitably go. If you're not subscribed to this book, you are missing the best book that Marvel is putting out. I don't say that lightly, and I certainly don't say it definitively (we're still only three issues in), but this book has everything you could ask of it. It's great writing with fascinating characters and questions, amazing art and perfect colors. As someone who very notably loves a lot of books Marvel's putting out, this is the best I've read in a while. Get caught up with it.

Secret Avengers 37
Remender (w) and Scalera (a) and Wilson (c)

I was figuring, when I decided to break today's posts into two Avengers related posts, that they would break down by books that had Avengers in the title (Avengers 5 and Avengers Assemble Annual 1) and books that I was dying to read. Not to belittle Avengers or Avengers Assemble, but I'd say my track record shows me firmly in the camp of New Avengers and Secret Avengers, as far as the major Avengers titles go (guys, there are like five different Avengers titles just in ongoing titles. That's a little crazy). I didn't suspect this post would also be the post where I examined huge questions of morality and extinction. Them's the breaks.

Rick Remender ends his run on Secret Avengers by tying up his Descendants storyline. The story is presented within a frame; Captain America is debriefing the Secret Avengers about what happened in the course of everything. With a nano-mist infecting humans with Descendant technology to convert them into Descendants, the Secret Avengers were split up fighting in New York and in the capital city of the Descendants, the Core. Venom recounts to Cap how he fought Black Ant, unable to bring himself to kill him despite his treachery. Valkyrie had no such problem and stabbed him through the chest. They can't confirm if he's dead or not (jury says "not") but it definitely slowed things in the Core. Meanwhile, the less-contained story is the one in New York. Captain Britain fights with the Torch (Jim Hammond) about why humanity shouldn't be overrun by the Descendants while Hawkeye and Spider-Man try to get their hands on the Orb of Necromancy again to shut down the whole process and eliminate all the Descendants.

This is where the depth of the story comes in. As interesting as it is to see Flash struggle with Black Ant over whether he's alive or not and whether he's related to the Eric that saved Parvez or saved Flash or if he's just played them, it's a very self-contained story. It affects only the two of them (tangentially more, but whatever). That's not a bad thing, necessarily, but we are in a book where the rest of the issue is going to involve the fate of mankind so it's a little small relatively. Captain Britain and Torch have an interesting conversation about why Captain Britain would even want to stop the spread of the Descendants. We've discovered through all this that the Descendants still have some level of humanity to them, they've just removed their flaws and the need to die. Captain Britain argues that Torch has spent his whole life trying to be more human because humanity is important and nothing is more human than dying, or at least than living before you die. It's a little corny, maybe, but it's a.) better worded than that, and b.) not untrue. It's a compelling enough argument to make Torch reconsider what's happening and fly off. Captain Britain then joins Hawkeye trying to stop the Master Mold from killing them to prevent them from stopping this evolution. Hawkeye battles against the virus infecting him, allowing us to see why the Descendants have lasted as long as they have. Even though he's conscious of what he has to do, Clint has trouble releasing his arrow because it's clear that he is better off as a Descendant. His body heals quickly from injury, he can understand more and process more, things make more sense to him, etc. However, it is still an invading force and it is still tainting their humanity and destroying mankind as its known. By the same token, destroying the Orb would kill of the Descendants entirely, forcing extinction. Hawkeye struggles with all of this over the course of just a few short pages. It's really compelling stuff. Eventually Torch flies down and destroys the Orb, having given his whole race and the possibility of a world he might finally fit into for the sake of humanity. It's original and it's moving. It's a fitting end to a solid series.

Avengers 5, Avengers Assemble Annual 1

Avengers 5
Hickman (w) and Kubert (a) and Martin (c)

As I had speculated last week, Hickman didn't stay with the arc he'd established (the idea of the organic bombs that AIM was tracking down) but did stay with the examination of a new character. After last week's time with Hyperion, this week we see Smasher, Isabel Dare, as he becomes Smasher and as she fights for the Shi'ar who gave her power. The Shi'ar, we learn, has an extensive guard unit comprised of all sorts of different types of soldiers, one of which is Smasher-type. The easiest comparison I can make is to Nova of the Nova Corps. When a Shi'ar planet fell, one Smasher present on that planet was sent to Earth to warn them, but did not survive the full journey. However, his "synthetic tri-plated spectra-form" (his sweet glasses) is an organic construct. They land on Earth, where Izzy finds them and eventually puts them on, transforming her into a Smasher, with flight, stronger exo-skeleton, and laser eyes, not to mention a database in her head, not totally unlike Iron Man's armor or, as I said, Nova's helmet.

The story then moves back and forth in Izzy's life, going from her home life on an Iowa farm, where she helps her widowed father and dying grandfather, to the Shi'ar homeworld Chandilar. It's all interesting and builds Izzy's character pretty fast. She was an astronomer (or something of the like) in Colorado when her mother died and she decided to move back to Iowa to help out. JUST FROM THAT (which is presented in maybe one panel of dialogue) we know tons about her character. Smart, caring, responsible, space-lover, etc. Pretty neat-o writing, especially since it doesn't just come out of nowhere. It's organic in the text and there are little hints about much of it dropped before that dialogue that make more sense after that dialogue. Natural. ANYWAY, she puts on the spectra-form and becomes Smasher and flies into space. Izzy Dare is also daring. Nailed it. She finds Chandilar, learns about her Shi'ar responsibilities and comes home a month later to find her grandfather officially on his death bed. He reveals to her that he was a hero pal of Captain America and advises her to go meet with him. After looking it up briefly, I found Dan Dare is an old-school British sci-fi hero (hopefully that's the same Dan Dare we're dealing with here; couldn't figure out much by way of who owned him and licensing and what not, could be a different Dan Dare with a different background we just don't know) in the sort of Buck Rogers line. Neat.

Interspersed with all this is a story taking place on the Shi'ar galactic rim. The guard is being overrun by sentient drones and an attacking alien force and waiting for reinforcements from the superguardians (the highest branch of the imperial guard; Smasher is a member of the subguardians, like most soldiers in the guard). Smasher leads the Avengers there (with the help of Manifold) and they help turn the tide. The Shi'ar superguardian Gladiator finally shows up and congratulates and thanks the Avengers before deeming Smasher a superguardian. Exciting times for her. Why were the aliens attacking the massive Shi'ar empire in the first place? We find out at the end that they weren't attacking; they were running from something. BUM BUM BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM. Good story, good character, fascinating book so far.

Avengers Assemble Annual 1
Gage (w) and Coker w/ Mayhew, Deodato, Ross, and De Landro (a) and Freedman (c)

I believe this is the second Avengers-related annual issue in a couple years to feature the Vision and, particularly, the Vision's readjustment to the world and to a world with Wanda in it. Last time we saw a lot of anger and he attacked Magneto, which was interesting. This time there's more sadness to Vision, which I like. Vision has always been a pretty tragic character. Created by Ultron to harm the Avengers, he ends up joining them and being a pretty integral part and finding family. However, he's still an android. He's more human than other robots but it's still possible to disassemble and reassemble him. That comes up a lot in this issue, the pain he felt at his "family" abandoning him. There's a nice bit between Captain Marvel and Vision where she tries to get to the route of the problem but he's not terribly forthcoming. Finally he reveals to Giant Man and Iron Man that he's hurt by how long it took to reassemble him after the events of House of M. It's all interesting, especially given the scope of the Universe as a whole. We had seen, in passing, Tony or someone else working on the Vision from time to time before he was officially reassembled. We also, as an audience, know exactly how busy everyone's been since House of M and we've been told in dialogue between Tony and others how difficult it is to reassemble Vision without potentially losing his personality.

There's a school of thought that would have seen all this happen, then had Vision come back and say "Boy, I sure am happy to be back! Let's get to work!" and thought nothing more of it. The Avengers worked tirelessly to restore Vision and he recognizes that and they all live happily with the results. I don't care for that school of thought because it feels too simple. Even while I say that, though, I know that if it had happened that way, I would have said "gee, that feels a little anticlimactic" and moved on, happy to have Vision back. Now that I have this situation to compare it to, I know that's an awful solution. This is the more real one, the more nuanced one. Marvel prides itself on characters, and on real characters at that. So no, Vision, the synthetic man, is not a real character, but you can feel what he feels and understand what he understands because of issues like this. That's absolutely what books should be striving for, a deeper understanding of their characters and a way to make them real and pertinent. Vision examines his life as a whole, separate from that of his Avengers life, and discovers he doesn't really have one. It also makes him reach out to his "sons," Tommy and Billy of the Young Avengers (the original run, not this new one only because Tommy hasn't been introduced to that team yet, if he's going to be), who Wanda created out of madness. If you're not a Vision fan, you can miss this annual. If you have any interest in the Vision or the Young Avengers or the Roxxon Corporation, pick this one up. It's worth reading.




That's the end of post one for today. With so many books, I'm going to flirt this week with releasing two posts a day with reviews, so I don't have four reviews of four-five books a day. Especially today, Avengers day, where I REALLY want to dedicate time to these two books (as you can see above, boy I wrote a lot) and New Avengers and Secret Avengers. That post should come around soon-ish.

Comics this week!

Sorry about missing my first daily post yesterday. Mondays are kind of a free day for me, typically. I start my reviews on Wednesday and I'm done by Sunday (typically) and Tuesday is pre-game so Monday is the free write kind of day I've allowed. It's neat because I can write about whatever I want and I have plenty I typically want to say about comics. However, it does have the double allure of "day off," so I'm sure those will be interspersed with free writes occasionally. I had planned to write about colorists and how the extremely talented Jordie Bellaire has brought them a bit into the light (as far as colorists have gone, anyway) and why it's silly they're not already there. I had planned to talk about her talent, along with the talent of Bettie Breitweiser and Matt Hollingsworth, among others. BUT INSTEAD, the 49ers lost the Super Bowl in just heartbreaking fashion and I had some real motivation issues today so it was a day off. Hopefully I still write that post eventually because it deserves to be said, even if I'm unqualified to say it. ANYWAY, on to this week's pre-game picks!

I'm going to start by saying that, after last week's relatively short week and pretty clear (to me, anyway) picks to look forward to, this week has a ton of choices. Too many, really. I went down the distribution list and just KEPT picking new ones. But I've got to boil it down to three for my own chosen-at-random rules.

New Avengers 3
I don't think I need to even say this is on my pull list because I think I've said that quite enough already so far (after linking all those, turns out I switch between three and five pull books each week. Poor form, Tim, poor form). I will anyway. It's on my pull list for the art, the colors, the writing, the story, the characters, etc. Just everything. No reason not to want to buy this book, in my mind. The story was already moving forward after issue one, but issue two explained what needed explaining and started delving into character. With many things set up, three is primed for success.

Winter Solider 15
This is a big one for me. Jason Latour is taking over as writer on Winter Soldier. I don't know really anything by him (I've liked the art of his I've seen), aside from the story in A+X 4. Adding to the intrigue, this is the first time someone has really written Winter Soldier besides Brubaker. Yes he was in the Avengers but only acted sparingly there. Brubaker created him, built him, established him, whatever else you want to say. I've said before that one of the fascinating things to me about comics is the fact that we, as an audience of an ever evolving form with an always continuing narrative, get to see different writers' perspective on a character. This is going to be the first different perspective we'll really see of the popular Winter Soldier.

Secret Avengers 37
After two shoo-ins for my picks, this one was a little tougher. There's another Superior Spider-Man, another Avengers, an X-Factor, an Iron Man, a Daredevil: End of Days, a Hulk, a Red She-Hulk, and the debut of Cullen Bunn's Fearless Defenders. Any of these books might have been worthy any other week. But Secret Avengers is ending with this issue (before it restarts with the next one) and it'll officially pull Rick Remender out of the "secret" part of the Marvel Universe he's been hanging out in. He withdrew from Venom first, then X-Force ended, and now Secret Avengers is ending. On top of that, it's been a really good book. I'm sad to see it go, though I am excited about the new incarnation premiering later this month.


So that's it. It's a thrilling week (in comics terms) with about 17 new books (by my rather overwhelmed count). Busy, busy week. I'd be hyperventilating more if I wasn't just so excited by the books coming.



EDIT: I counted a second printing of Hulk 2 as a book to review this week. SILLY ME, but I'm down to 16.

This week's picks

Like I said at the onset of this week, I was surprised by how few books came out. Nine books reviewed means one-third of those are going to be recommended, as opposed to the one-fifth or so I've been recommending. It FEELS like the stakes are both higher and lower because there are fewer choices. Or maybe it doesn't. Actually, it doesn't. I know which ones are my picks.

Hawkeye 7

On top of the fact that purchasing this book grants money to a good cause, this is a good book. In truth, just because the profits go to charity I'd be recommending this book. But this is a great book. It tells a cohesive story that fits within the parameters of the character. It also continues the fascinating trend this book has had of Hawkeye not being in costume and not using his arrows. There have been several times where he has used arrows and at least one full issue based around his arrows, but by and large, considering the one thing you think of when you think of Hawkeye is typically "bow and arrow," they have been absent. This issue, he doesn't fight anything he can use his arrows on anyway. So he uses his "pretty good guy" powers instead. It's a pretty moving tale with a lot of fun dialogue and still some good action. Solid entry, great series.

X-Men Legacy 5

Like I said in my review, this is a fine book. There's plenty of action, plenty of self-examination, plenty of actual interior examination, everything. The story is incredibly compelling, as are the characters (I'll say it again, Blindfold is interesting in this book. BLINDFOLD), and it shows no sign of stopping. The art style and the colors fit the tone really well, something super important to its success. For example, I adore Jamie McKelvie and think his art is just incredible, but I couldn't see it in this book. It shouldn't be as clean and as meticulous. It needs to be stretching the borders and fighting against the characters. That's not me trying to slight it and say it's not well-drawn because it totally is. It's just me saying it's a particular style that really works for the context. You're missing out if you're not reading this book.

Dark Avengers 186

I cannot say definitively that this book will appeal to everyone. TECHNICALLY, I can't say that definitively about any book but I do anyway. But I understand a bit of mistrust on this one. Alternate universes, alternate and questionably-moralled Avengers teams, alternate versions of heroes acting non-heroically, plenty of warning signs to people who hate things that are alternate. And I can't blame you, I'm often the same way. However, this book has lured me right in. I'm interested to see what the Dark Avengers do, how they handle themselves in their first solo arc post-Thunderbolts (this title switched over from Thunderbolts pretty recently). I'm also, despite myself, REALLY interested in how this world turns out, with 616 friends viewing each other as enemies and all-out super-powered war on the horizon. Pretty exciting stuff.




ANYWAY, SUPER BOWL TODAY SO MY REAL PICK OF THE WEEK IS GO 49ERS.

Punisher: Nightmare 5, Punisher War Zone 4

Punisher: Nightmare 5
Gimple (w) and Texeira (a) and D'Armata (c)

Punisher: Nightmare, the five issue weekly mini-series, comes to an end with this issue. As you may have seen from past reviews, I've gone a little back and forth on this book. It spawned from a distaste of Punisher as a character and turned a little because the story was at least enough to keep me entertained. As the series went on, I found it, at different points, frustratingly written and really well-written. It went from showing Punisher as the guy who has to find and kill bad guys to Punisher quietly questioning himself and showing pain and an overwhelming sadness that plays into his typically quiet demeanor. Overall, it was a solid series with the big bang kind of ending that most comics strive for. What I would say is most interesting about the finale is that it could of gone a couple different ways. In a way, I think some of the bigger questions that surround Frank Castle in this book were pushed aside a bit as he faced a greater and greater enemy. Still, Gimple did his work to make sure there was a resolution, an affirmation of what it is Punisher does. Instead of falling back into the moral question that always will surround Frank Castle (is it right or necessary to kill killers?), Gimple allows Castle to remember why he does everything he does.

I'm not trying to make it sound like Gimple is putting forward a big statement. It never comes across that way. Gimple is simply writing what Punisher is doing. Punisher thinks it's necessary for people to pay for their crimes, we all know that. That's why he's Punisher. Does he shoulder the weight because he think he's already going to hell so he might as well alleviate those kinds of worries others might have? Or is he just a psychopath who is still trying to avenge his murdered wife and kids? Or, as Thor suggested in the last Punisher War Zone, is he just a soldier who has forgotten his war? Punisher can't answer that and Gimple doesn't try because it's not his business. What Gimple does so well is show that Punisher himself doesn't have a real answer. He has an answer insofar as to what he's going to do (keep killing) but the why is probably a mix of everything and Punisher likely feels that. We don't need him to come out and explicitly ask himself why he's doing it. He's just going to do it.

As a minor side-note, I'm a little nostalgic writing this review. My blog has only been going for a little over a month and it HAPPENED to coincide with this mini-series. I've reviewed every one (as linked above, or all over the right side if you're patient) and fallen right into Punisher's corner of the Universe as a result. At this point, it's possible I've reviewed Punisher more than any other Marvel character on this blog, a distinction I absolutely would not have assumed I'd be making at this point. It's a little sad to see this arc go, but it's also kind of exciting to know I won't have to decide if the tags for this post should have colons or not.

Punisher War Zone 4
Rucka (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

Both Punishers this week strayed a bit away from the questions of their last few weeks and towards the action the Punisher is better known for. It's not a bad thing, necessarily. We're working in a medium that requires thought and action for a full story, typically, and we're particularly working with a character who has been known to be more heavy on the action side. So where the first three issues of this series have focused on Punisher evading the Avengers in their quest to find him, this issue focuses on the Punisher finding the Avengers in their quest to evade him. By that confusing plot reveal, we know already that there's likely to be more action abound in this issue (though last issue's Thor attack was pretty awe-inspiring).

Punisher's sidekick of sorts, Sergeant Rachel Cole-Alves, has been found guilty (in the background of this series which serves as the foreground of this issue) for killing police officers. Everyone from the Avengers to her defense attorney Matt Murdock believe that the punishment the DA is seeking (death penalty) is overly severe and that the DA is trying Cole-Alves as if she were Punisher because they can't get their hands on him. She's still guilty but the punishment doesn't fit the crime (it wasn't just straight-up killing two officers in cold blood, it was more nuanced). This series has focused on the Avengers trying to bring Punisher in so he can a.) stop being Punisher and b.) get Cole-Alves' sentence reduced. Last issue was a big deal, as Punisher and Thor hashed out a ton of Castle's past and dug into his psyche a bit. By this issue, he's returned to America from hiding from the Avengers overseas (while breaking up drug and slavery rings there for a bit) and begins to plan his rescue of Cole-Alves. The Avengers attempt to plan for this with a big ruse, having Black Widow dress as Cole-Alves as Captain America transports her with Thor overhead to her holding facility. They indeed get attacked on the road but they find out too late that it wasn't Punisher attacking them, just two criminals Punisher let live to aid him in this (which was a little weird, I admit). Meanwhile, Punisher has gotten the jump on Tony Stark and stolen the Iron Man armor, in which he proceeds to attack Spider-Man and rescue Cole-Alves from the courthouse.

So yes, plenty of action, plenty of Avengers, plenty of Punisher. I think we're going to see some more questions on top of good action in the next issue, as a few threads have been left unpulled. Wolverine remains kind of a wild card (in the first issue, he told Punisher that the Avengers were coming for him. In this issue, Cap benches him from the mission because they don't know where his loyalties lie in this), Tony's out of action but we don't see how so there's always the chance we'll see dueling Iron Men. Cap, Thor, and Black Widow are somewhere else right now but always have the possibility of getting back to the courthouse (particularly Thor). Spider-Man, though attacked by Punisher's Iron Man, is still the one with the biggest axe to grind with Punisher and is the only one in the courtroom with him (and it's still Peter Parker Spidey, so he won't just leave going "WELL THIS IS TERRIBLE, I'M LEAVING"). More importantly, we haven't heard from Cole-Alves in any of this and it's entirely possible, even likely perhaps, that she will refuse Punisher's assistance and force him to look inwards. Plenty of possibilities. This book is good for most Marvel fans. Punisher is interesting in it (and it's pretty rare we have a protagonist who is as quiet as Castle, so that's a neat kind of change) and the Avengers, for what limited amounts we see of them, are portrayed well and competent, though still beaten by Punisher at every turn. It's a really interesting dynamic. I still believe that, given enough time and energy, the Avengers would bring Punisher in. But they don't have as much time as that, so there's a good chance Punisher leaves here unpunished (HA). It leaves the stakes feeling high, which is how you want each book to leave things. Exciting times.

X-Men Legacy 5, X-Treme X-Men 9

X-Men Legacy 5
Spurrier (w) and Molina (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Boy, this book sure is a fun one. On the one hand, I don't think I'm ever going to get sick of the idea of David fighting his many powers inside his own brain to contain and control them. It's rife with action, interesting new abilities, character building, more or less everything I'm looking for. Meanwhile, David himself has become a pretty compelling character in his own right. He spends the beginning of this issue calling his mother, with whom he hasn't dealt in a while and hasn't really been a part of his life. It's an interesting look at David, who has recently lost the father who brings forth many conflicted feelings. He eventually hangs up before actually speaking to his mother and continues the issue. Stationed outside of the Jean Grey School, David uses some of his "200 omega-level split personalities" to find and transport a pack of dire wraiths to the school to distract the faculty and students as he mentally looks for Blindfold, who had previously told him that she thinks she's supposed to be his nemesis. That's right, everyone, Blindfold has an interesting story.

We learn in this story that her background, which, to my knowledge, hadn't really been revealed prior, is extremely dark. This by itself isn't a huge differentiator from many other mutants, as plenty dealt with hate and fear in their childhood. However, Ruth did watch her anti-mutant brother kill her mother for protecting her before nearly killing her. Then, in an unforeseen twist, we find out that the two children Legion protected last issue are working against him. The little boy Sojobo has been possessed by Ruth's powered-up brother (he ended up accidentally stealing some of her powers) and Sojobo's sister Karasu has been sent to distract Legion to ensure he doesn't stop Sojobo/Luca from finally killing Ruth. Legion, who is trying to turn his life around and affect the world positively while trying to wrestle down his own 200 inner demons, has been played and delivered everything to right where it was needed to kill Ruth, with whom he bonded last issue.

Like I said in the first paragraph, I'd've been thrilled with a book that was just Legion fighting down his split-personalities. Maybe, as with what happened last issue, occasionally whipping a recently contained one out to defend himself or someone else. I'd've been thrilled. But instead, there's all that PLUS actual meaningful plots with actual weight to them and real threats. It's very exciting to see where the story goes and how David reacts. How he reacts to this newest turn will be a pretty defining thing for this book. David's personality is clearly established and it's very clear that Spurrier knows where he wants to go with it, but I get the feeling that this kind of a twist is the sort of thing that will really illustrate what we can expect of David as we move forward.

X-Treme X-Men 9
Pak (w) and Diaz (a) and Kholinne, Noor, and Sotocolor (c)

I'll start this off by saying this isn't a book I typically look forward to. I'm not a big Dazzler fan (because I'm like most of the world) and I already care a ton about a lot of characters in the 616, I don't need NEW universe characters to care about. Also, the premise of the book is pretty neat, but always feels a little 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo to me (or a more relevant reference, whatever, I work with what I know and I know that REALLY well). I also have, even still, some trouble believing Dazzler would automatically ascend to team leader on a team that has not only a Wolverine, but a Wolverine that is USED to leading. In one of the more recent books Dazzler appeared in, she was grilling Pixie on her accent and dialectic words. Those kinds of moments are big in Dazzler's recent history. I'm not saying it's unlikely she'd ever become a leader, I'm saying it seems like a really fast transformation for our benefit, as the audience who knows her and not the rest of the team.

Still, this book moves pretty quickly. I was surprised to find that I was already done when it ended and that's usually a pretty good sign. I do like the idea that there are plenty of Xaviers out there who weren't so prone to good because it's interesting to see the world without his positive influence. There also has always been a real sense with Charles that he has some villainous qualities to him. I do think our Charles always believed whole-heartedly in his dream (though you have to imagine somedays he had to remind himself of that) but he was often stern and withholding to his students and, though he shaped up eventually, did occasionally read their thoughts to accomplish something or other. Not stellar qualities (though hard to curtail, I'd imagine, as a telepath), no, but he still fought for the right side. These are the Charleses that didn't or that didn't need to or something.

All and all, I recommend this book, though a little cautiously. It's typically a pretty quick read and the characters are endearing enough. If you're not a huge X fan, some of the alternate reality appearances and the weight of evil Xaviers might be lost on you and that might undermine your enjoyment. Such things happen, and I could understand it happening here. Even if you're not a big X fan, though, you should be able to follow the basic gist of the books solidly enough. Now might not be a bad time to jump on if you were considering it, as there seem to be a couple of permanent additions to the team just making their way in pretty recently and we might have some interesting and traitorous developments on their way. Also, totally respectable by me if my calling it similar to 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo gets you onboard. Totally respectable.