Leftovers 8-13-14

Hey all my buddies, we've reached the end of another long week and I've reached the end of another string of longer reviews. You know what that means: focusing up to whip out this review dump in under an hour (tricky business, that, considering how many I left for myself. Did you guys realize I hadn't actually reviewed AMAZING SPIDER-MAN or SPIDER-MAN 2099 yet? Because I sure didn't). LET'S HIT IT.

Amazing Spider-Man 5
Slott (w) and Ramos (p) and Olazaba (i) and Delgado (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

Spider-Man and Silk make out for a while until she reveals that she knows he's Peter Parker, which jolts him back into his regular state of mind. Disturbed by both of their actions, he brings her home to try to figure out what should happen next, but they quickly end up making out again until Anna Maria comes home. She tells him that Sajani hasn't appeared to any press events as scheduled and he must do it himself, so he goes on J. Jonah Jameson's new talking heads show and begins to talk about his desire to capture and cure Electro and other villains only to be interrupted by Black Cat and Electro busting on to the set to hold Peter hostage. Silk emerges and fights the pair while Peter changes but Electro manages a hit on Peter that renders him immobile while Cat prepares to unmask him on live television. I still really don't like this Black Cat-Electro team-up and I really hate the crazed Black Cat that's emerged from it. Also, her luck powers seem to be working overtime, as do her luck-based mantras and BOY that never gets annoying. Total Score: 2/5


Avengers Undercover 8
Hopeless (w) and T. Walker (a) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

It's been three months since the kids joined up with the villains and some are ready to join up officially while the others are on the cusp of being in deep enough to turn the tables on their "allies." When the now-together Hazmat and Anachronism decide they've gained enough trust, they escape momentarily to contact Hank Pym and tell him what's been happening. He's not thrilled but he agrees to help them when the moment comes. Unfortunately, Zemo seems wise to their game and brings down each one of the kids not already under his sway (Death Locket seems pretty entrenched already and Cullen is being controlled by Daimon Hellstrom). It's a really nice bit of sleight of hand by Hopeless as he keeps the reader focused on the changes that have occurred over the last three months and on which of the kids will follow through on their original plan before revealing that Zemo already has the drop on them because, you know, in retrospect, of course he does, he's Zemo and this plan isn't foolproof, let alone Zemo-proof. Good issue. Total Score: 5/5


Avengers World 11
Spencer (w) and Ienco (a) and Mossa (c) and Caramagna (l)

The Avengers kids are on hand and they prove themselves by taking down a flock of SHIELD agents before Maria agrees to their help. They go to AIM Island and, with the help of Manifold, take down plenty of AIM agents and use a device to gather the intelligence AIM has gathered and block its transmission. They manage to stick it to one of the bio-networked AIM agents and then distract Forson long enough to escape while the present Avengers head to the White House to defend it from AIM, who have more or less declared war on America after Iron Man's "attack" on Forson on live TV. Mostly interesting stuff here though the re-emergence of the Next Avengers mostly just serves to confuse me as to why they're back and, you know, timeline stuff and the like. Whatever, still doing alright. Total Score: 4/5


Deadpool 33
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

Deadpool fights off wave after wave of Ultimatum soldiers before their boss Flag-Smasher appears and Deadpool gets incapacitated enough for Flag-Smasher to throw Ellie out the window. Deadpool struggles to his feet and begins his attacks anew, furious and sad, until Genesis shows up to help his ol' pal Deadpool with own pal Quentin Quire in tow. Evan caught Ellie going out the window and the girl is unharmed, which doesn't keep Deadpool from annihilating Flag-Smasher, ensuring he stays alive so no one else picks up the mantle and comes after him and threatening him with horrible consequences should he ever come near Deadpool or Ellie again. Deadpool convinces Preston to take Ellie in and he himself buys a house across the street from Preston to be in constant view of his daughter. Meanwhile, Adsit reveals to Preston that Deadpool killed his own family. Pretty good issue, plenty of fun and interesting stuff here. I don't love Lucas' art, which makes anyone unmasked look fairly grotesque and kind of distracts from the situation at hand. Not bad otherwise though. Total Score: 4/5


Fantastic Four 8
J. Robinson (w) and L. Kirk (p) and Hanna (i) and Aburtov (c) and Cowles (l)

Thing is accused of murder, Sue attacked the Avengers after losing her kids, and Johnny's been booted from his live tour in favor of Robinson's ALL-NEW INVADERS creation Radiance. Thing is moved to a high-power prison facility and Sue and Reed are brought to Eden, a community hovering above Lake Michigan led by a man named John Eden because creativity isn't worth anything, I suppose. This is a book I legitimately finished, planning to read a few more comics upon its completion, and I found I couldn't continue because sometimes books are just too bad. It seems telling that the blurb they took from a Newsarama article for the cover simply says "Marvel's premier dysfunctional family" and not anything lauding this actual series. It seems like something is pulling the strings here on the F4 and you can almost be assured that's true because Robinson basically has Reed say it a couple times without actually saying it because Reed apparently hasn't figured it out yet but is taking liberty to simply dance around it. Maybe they didn't have any space to say it outright because they had already used up all of their real estate on exposition. I really don't like this book. Total Score: 1/5


Hulk 5
Duggan (w) and Bagley (p) and Hennessy (i) and Keith (c) and Petit (l)

Hulk has been injected with Extremis and it's made him incredibly smart, though it made him also shave his hair into a mohawk and start calling himself "Doc Green" so maybe we're meant to question exactly how smart he really is. He's smart enough, though, to have formulated a way to cure gamma-enhanced beings, though the serum won't work on himself. He's realized that gamma-enhancements are too dangerous to have around and he's made enough of the serum and fashioned enough adamantium nanites for delivery to the other gamma-enhanced beings, starting with Rick Jones, who isn't so crazy about the idea. Very interesting new direction for the series as Gerry Duggan takes over the book (a little sad that it's not Mark Waid because I was going to talk about how I met Mark Waid last week and he was delightful and very kind but now I have no idea when I'll be able to mention it). I'm distracted, still, by the mohawk and the name Doc Green but I like a lot of the other stuff. Total Score: 4/5


Inhuman 3
Soule (w) and Madureira (a) and Gracia (c) and Cowles (l)

Lash has taken a few more Inhumans to Orollan, though no one really knows what to make of his cultish ways. Meanwhile, Lineage has sought council with Medusa to tell him what he knows about Black Bolt's plan, gleaned from the information he's received from the voices in his body. Allegedly, something worse is coming for the Inhumans and Black Bolt unleashed the Terrigen Mists because they'd need all the help they can get. Medusa brings a handful of combatants to Orollan to tell Lash about the threats and to warn him off killing any more Inhumans, which he very reluctantly agrees to. Lots of good stuff here and a lot of interesting new places to go but you do have to get through a lot of exposition in this issue to get to the meat of the series. Total Score: 4/5






GUYS, maybe there will be more later but I am burned out and APPARENTLY I really left a ton for myself for today/tomorrow so I'm takin' a break. Love you all, spoilers for the future post: THUNDERBOLTS and X-FORCE are both worth reading. Can't say much else.

Captain America 23, Captain Marvel 6

Captain America 23
Remender (w) and Pacheco (p) and Taibo (i) and White (c) and Caramagna (l)

The mysterious armored figure who emerged from Dimension Z sets out for Avengers Mansion and quickly makes his way in, hacking and evading security before managing to dodge Iron Man, Thor, and Hulk on his way to the elderly Cap, who manages to pin the figure despite his sudden age. Of course, the figure removes his helmet to reveal that he is, in fact, Steve's adopted son Ian, returned from the dead (he fell into the same biomass in which he was created so, you know, no harm done) and a couple decades older and wiser. Steve is beyond happy to see him and embraces his son while Ian tells the Avengers how dire the situation is already getting. Meanwhile, Falcon and Jet attempt to break into the main tower of Dimension Z while the Avengers provide a distraction, though it seems bound to fail as Zola already seems aware of their presence. However, not all is lost as Falcon and Jet happen to stumble upon an older and long-imprisoned Sharon Carter.

There's a ton happening here as we march towards the upcoming event AXIS and the emergence of a new Captain America. Dimension Z has put down roots and both Ian and Sharon have re-appeared alive, to the chagrin, undoubtedly, of all those people shouting that Remender had fridged a character who has been around for more decades than most of those readers have been alive (LOOK, I am still a bit peeved about ANXM, even a day later). Even despite the sheer amount of ground Remender has to cover, the issue moves pretty well and manages to keep the pace and the tension up, crucial to the developing storyline. Also, it's really nice to see, after twenty-two extremely tough issues for him, Steve having a nice day. Sure one of his arch-nemeses is invading the Earth looking to unleash his consciousness on the people, but Steve's son is alive and soon he'll likely find out his girlfriend is too. Nice to see him so happy.

Total Score: 5/5


Captain Marvel 6
DeConnick (w) and D. Lopez (a) and Loughridge (c) and Caramagna (l)

Refusing to leave the peaceful Torfans to their almost assured death at the hands of the brutal J-Son, Captain Marvel becomes a one-woman army to defend the refugees, taking down ships one-by-one while not allowing any to reach the planet. Meanwhile, the Torfans enact a peaceful protest, seating themselves and refusing to move at the hands of the attacking Spartoi. The leader of the Torfans sends Jackie and Gil to take Carol's place holding off the ships and sends Carol to destroy the vibranium mines, which she does with ease. J-Son is furious and promises revenge but, as seems to be his defining characteristic of late, he swears revenge on a peaceful people he admits to having poisoned all on a live broadcast to plenty of people, courtesy of Tic aboard a Haffensye ship. J-Son has no recourse but to leave, which he does swearing revenge and just swearing while Captain Marvel intimidates and Jackie and Gil taunt. With her ship repaired and the gratitude of the Torfans, Carol sets off again for a new adventure.

I like this issue and I like a lot of single moments in it, but overall it's hard for the issue not to feel a little preachy and a little like it's trying too hard to find those single moments. CAPTAIN MARVEL, both this new volume and the last, has defined itself by big and wonderful speeches and lines (like the oft-quoted/printed/tattooed/whatever else'd "We will be the stars we were always meant to be") and it's hard not to see a couple times in this issue where dramatic lines not dissimilar to the tone and weight of that keep coming up. That's probably just the cynic in me. It's also hard to point specifically to the peaceful protest as "a little preachy" because I tend to agree with peaceful protests and it's hard PARTICULARLY RIGHT NOW to wonder about the efficiency of them or chastise them or whatever it was I hoped to accomplish when I started this paragraph (WHO KNOWS). Look, let's not get into it here. It just occasionally felt that way to me and it might be equal parts because I was reading too much into it and because I don't super love the supporting cast of this arc. WHATEVER. It's still a good issue, as evidenced by the following strong score and ALSO I'm sorry if I just made it sound like it's not a very good issue because, you guys, it still really is. OH, final point, I don't like J-Son as a villain, I find him very boring.

Total Score: 4/5

All-New X-Men 30, Amazing X-Men 10, X-Men 18

All-New X-Men 30
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Gracia (c) and Petit (l)

X-23 and Angel escaped all the drama to go on a date and spend the night in one of Warren's rich person apartments and Laura admits to not remembering much of the last night and does NO ONE find this a really, really creepy story? It can't just be me, right? I don't pick up on things all that easily and so feeling really creeped out by this scene must make it pretty obvious, right? Okay, anyway, Emma wants to train Jean but there's prolonged bad blood between them because they both keep failing the Bechdel test and I think they're trying to figure out who fails it harder? That's the takeaway, I think. Anyway, they end up bonding? Is there a person who cares about this?

Okay, look, I'll be the first to admit I'm in a bad mood today but I read this comic last night, when I was in a mildly better mood (until after I read the comic). I tried working out all the "benefit of a doubt" ways to talk about this issue but the bad mood has ensured those have all gone out the window. I'll still start it the same way: I know that I tend to badmouth Brian Michael Bendis on this blog a lot because I don't really care for his style and I think his characters, save a couple, are fairly weak. I have no real desire to badmouth him. I do believe there are reviewers and critics out there who legitimately enjoy the mean part of the job or the controversy of attacking well-liked writers/directors/actors/whatever. I am most definitely not one of those people so I hate coming off attacky at anyone, but especially Bendis who is clearly well-liked and well-regarded (he's gone from a couple of prime AVENGERS titles to a couple of prime X-MEN titles, not to mention all his other past books). THAT SAID, I absolutely hate this series and I really, really hate this issue. I talked a lot above about the strange and terrible women in this issue but that didn't even talk about Kitty's weird relationship or scratch the surface of how poorly written and out of character I think Laura was or REALLY about how uncomfortable the idea that Laura couldn't really remember the night before and woke up in one of Warren's homes with him shirtless and had to have Warren describe the night for her. I'm REALLY uncomfortable about that. Let's not forget, too, that this is the second issue since Laura's joined up with the team (not that long ago) where a cover has featured her making out on a dude, which seems both wrong and odd. And I get that Emma and Jean have this built-in sexist rivalry between them in their history but wouldn't it be a thousand times more interesting if they had some other thing to talk about? Other than ol' just-right porridge Scott Summers? They're two of the most powerful telepaths ever (despite Emma's current situation) and they go to train and they're like "HEY, LET'S CONTINUE COMPETING OVER SCOTT" and then they spend some time locked in each other's minds and just stand up laughing together because, as one of the Stepfords puts it, they've bonded. I want to complain about how incredibly lazy it is to just have two psychics stare at each other for a panel and then come out going "we're pals now!" but I'd have actually accepted a completely silent issue with Pichelli art because I think it'd be far stronger than this.

Total Score: 1/5


Amazing X-Men 10
Kyle and Yost (w) and Barberi and Coello (p) and Wong and Coello (i) and Rosenberg (c) and Caramagna (l)

Wolverine (and much of Canada) has been transformed into a Wendigo and the X-Men are having some trouble dealing with these problems. They keep whacking Wolverendigo away while they plot and Alpha Flight shows up and everybody jokes around a bit while the Avengers watch the border (plus side, the curse doesn't extend beyond Canadian borders) and they need to bring the injured Talisman to a very specific place that leads to the spirit realm but when they take her there they find it's also full o' Wendigos. Maybe this isn't the time for jokes, Bobby?

There is something of a strange tonal shift in this issue as the plight of the Wendigo suddenly becomes a little less serious with all these pals coming together and having a good time. I'll be honest, I think if this is the tone you set up in the first issue or two of this arc then it totally works. But where the first issue or two of this arc had a really serious tone, this one doesn't quite stick the landing. Some of the dialogue and jokes aren't bad and, if it were maybe a little more sparse, I think there's a way this could hit a little better. Instead, it feels out of place and oddly unsympathetic. Seriously Rockslide, pull yourself together. This is why no one brings you to any of the fights or uses you in any of these books.

Total Score: 3/5


X-Men 18
Guggenheim (w) and Tolibao (p) and Tadeo and Yeung (i) and Mounts (c) and Caramagna (l)

The X-Men are fighting an airborne AIM virus by burning it out of the air when Abigail Brand calls them to request their presence. A not-dead/not-paralyzed but certainly comatose Deathbird has suddenly turned up in orbit and Brand isn't sure why and wants a team of 3/5 psychics, particularly ones with experience with Deathbird (who happens to be Rachel Grey's aunt by marriage) and the Kree, to check the situation out. She's also called in Cecilia Reyes to examine Deathbird. The whole thing, though, is interrupted when Sidrian Hunters attack the Peak, coming for Deathbird or, as Cecilia reveals, Deathbird's unborn child.

There are some interesting moments here and Guggenheim has a pretty good feel for the humor he wants to bring to the team. Sometimes, though, it overloads a little and the dialogue ends up slowing a bit more than you'd like, taking something away from the action and the story itself. Good dialogue, particularly good funny dialogue, should never really feel like a slog and while Guggenheim certainly  isn't writing poorly, parts of the issue start to drag. Still not a bad issue and it left me interested where the story would go.

Original Sin 7

Original Sin 7
Aaron (w) and Deodato (a) and F. Martin (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

The Avengers have brought the fight to Nick Fury, who has just revealed to his pseudo-team that he had taken countless lives protecting Earth and gaining tech to protect Earth and hasn't exactly denied killing the Watcher. Fury, in his powerful suit, fights off the Avengers, using his knowledge and the secrets he learned from the Watcher to pick them apart, including overriding Iron Man's armor to send it back to Earth and telling Thor a secret that suddenly makes him unable to wield Mjolnir. Finally, he manages to extricate himself from the fight holding the two eyeballs and returns to the moon to bear witness to Watcher's last secret while a slew of other Watchers arrive.

As readers of this blog have probably realized, I tend to be wary of big events. I've certainly mentioned that fact enough, though I've also mentioned that I really liked CIVIL WAR and I think it still holds up pretty well. So while I'm wary, I do still root for the event to succeed because, in general, I like good stories and, in specifics, I run a blog wherein I review every major Marvel comic release and boy is it terrible when I have to review a book I don't like, particularly one that allegedly has major implications on the Universe and carries on for too many issues. Do you guys see where I'm going with this? It's not that this event has become unreadable or anything like that to me (sorry BATTLE OF THE ATOM and AGE OF ULTRON, you don't have company in that category), it's just...I don't know, kind of boring? It's also been, from the get-go, a sort of way to kickstart the universe. I very carefully am not saying "restart" or "reboot" or "reset" because it's very carefully not doing that. Instead, it's deus ex machinating (I had written machina-ing and autocorrect suggested machinating and I actually liked that better, thus providing me the one time autocorrect improved something) a way to drop a bunch of stories into a universe already overwrought with continuity. I'm not even REALLY begrudging it that because I can't imagine how hard it is to break through that continuity sometimes. I'm just begrudging that it's still kind of boring and it's carried on probably four issues too long.

Total Score: 2/5

Comics this week

Who releases 22 comics in a week??


Captain America 23
The countdown is on for a number of things happening, including Steve seeing Ian again and Falcon becoming Captain America.

Captain Marvel 6
Space war!

Original Sin 7
Is this thing really still going? I'm going quick here today (but really YESTERDAY, thanks to the magic of the internet) but I saw a poll on CBR asking which OS revelation has been the most interesting and literally NONE OF THEM WERE. The series isn't falling as flat as some others in the recent past (FEAR ITSELF comes to mind, as does AVX) but it's certainly not hitting me in any meaningful way. A NOTE: Cap finding out about the Illuminati was on the list and that one's interesting but I'm going to say I think that all happens with or WITHOUT OS so NO DICE.

Thunderbolts 29
I just like this book, okay? Edges out AVENGERS UNDERCOVER and AVENGERS WORLD in that respect. Also, ending soon, sad face.

X-Force 8
This book is great, expect some big plot movement this time out and GET ON BOARD THIS BOOK.

Leftovers 8-6-14

Hey guys, not that you're not used to a more sporadic schedule of late but I'd like to note I very nearly have an excuse for not posting yesterday (ignoring totally not posting Friday when I was just tired). I was at Boston Comic-Con, a con that started just nine years ago and has really exploded into something huge. It's not so big as some of your more established cons (your SDCC, your NYCC, your Chicago one whose name currently escapes me), but even the difference between this year and when Amanda and I went two years ago is CRAZY. It was at a bigger venue and the lines wrapped around the building all day long. Tons of cosplayers, tons of retailers, several cool celebrity guests (like John Barrowman, Sean Astin, and Jewel Staite, listing the people I was pretty pumped to be near), and, most importantly great artists like Neal Adams, Joe Quinones, Ming Doyle, Maris Wicks, Norman Lee, Jorge Molina, Greg Capullo, Kate Leth, Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb, and oodles more (first half of that list is people from whom I bought stuff, +Neal Adams, the second half is just people I like but I didn't even get around to really seeing), and writers like Mark Waid and Scott Snyder. Lots of great people, lots of great art, pretty solid experience. LOOK, HAVE I SUCCESSFULLY DISTRACTED YOU FROM NOTICING THERE WAS NO POST YESTERDAY? Great, mission accomplished. I'll probably post pictures of the stuff I bought at some point. You know, low quality images of images. Don't let that dissuade you, though, everyone from whom I bought was awesome and all the stuff I bought was equally awesome. Okay, now that THAT'S through, let's get to the eight or so books we need to cover today. Yipes.

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 4
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

Kate's upset that Miles is Spider-Man, revealing it IMMEDIATELY to her sister, who says they have to break up because their parents will kill him and possibly Kate for her involvement with him (INTRIGUE, RIGHT?) but Miles has his own problems as he fights the ultra-powerful and somehow resurrected Green Goblin in front of Peter Parker's old home only to have Peter Parker, decked in full Spider-Man gear again, intercede and team up with Miles to drive Goblin away. The highly publicized fight is seen by everyone in their little worlds and suddenly Peter Parker's alive again. The book, when it gets to the fight, moves pretty well. The Kate stuff is a bit slow and I still feel the relationship is a little sudden and tortured. The fight is good but this seems like one of those stories that can only be judged when we have all the information. REGARDLESS, here I am judging it: Total Score: 4/5



Miracleman 9
A. Moore (w) and Veitch w/R. Bryant (a) and Oliff (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miracleman returns just in time to find Liz having very sudden contractions. Not wanting to give birth on Gargunza's facility, MM straps Liz into a truck, telling her to blast the heat in the cold air, and flies her to a nicer place. Meanwhile, a couple of spooks visit young Johnny Bates, still comatose, in the hospital. They go into his mind and can't find traces of Kid Miracleman there, so they leave, allowing him to come out from hiding and question their appearance. Back with Liz, an incredibly graphic birth scene happens and a baby is born, to the delight of Miracleman and Liz, replaced by surprise when the baby says "ma-ma." Plenty happening here, nice bit of Miracleman pondering life and death and birth and so on as we see full-on graphic birth. Sorry, limited vocabulary here, I have nothing to say but "graphic." Pretty weird, guys. I'd have bought it if you just showed me the baby born, probably just would have assume there was a graphic scene off-panel. Total Score: 3/5


New Warriors 8
Yost (w) and To (a) and Redmond (c) and Caramagna (l)

Haechi and Sun Girl are trapped in the presence of Lash and two of his ambassadors, one who controls the "puppets" (read: humans) outside to hold off the New Warriors and one who is pretty much made of knives. Lash offers Haechi a place with them and he considers it, remembering the humans who beat him when he first gained his new powers, but rejects it, remembering the man who saved him from the punks that day. Outside, Water Snake and Scarlet Spider get annoyed with Justice as he's unwilling to use much force against the mind-controlled humans attacking them. Fortunately, Hummingbird is able to eject the Inhuman Nocculus from their minds so they can pass. Facing the might of the New Warriors, Lash and the two other Inhumans leave, swearing to meet Haechi again. Meanwhile, Nova arrives at Mount Wundagore to learn from Jake Waffles that the team has already completed a couple of their missions without him and, according to Speedball, he sucks. Tons of fun spread throughout the issue but well-balanced by seriousness and action. Chris Yost has written some of the most enjoyable Marvel stuff over the last four or five years, from my much-mentioned and much-beloved Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes to AVENGING SPIDER-MAN/SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP to SCARLET SPIDER to this. Such a great energy in this book and some real, genuine laugh lines to boot. Total Score: 5/5


Original Sin 3.4 - Hulk vs. Iron Man
Waid and Gillen (s) and Gillen (w) and L. Ross (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)

Iron Man escapes below Troy to find a new suit and turns up in a Hulkbuster to bust Hulk, who, in fact, busts him, knocking him out and drugging him before taking him, trapped in his own ruined suit,  out to the gamma testing site where Hulk was born. While Hulk derides Tony, ready to punish him further, Tony shows him one last piece of information, including Banner's original plans for the bombs and Tony's updates. As it happens, Tony was hired to power-up the bomb behind Banner's back but he actually discovered when he examined it closer that Banner's excessive shielding would have ended up doing far more harm than good, likely killing Banner and tons of innocents in surrounding cities as a result of Banner's "safety precautions." The updates Tony made, though still potentially responsible for the Hulk (never quite cleared up), saved lives, including Banner's. Banner apologizes, going on to thank Tony, but Tony keeps some information to himself, including an email he sent to Banner after looking at the bomb (which Banner deleted) that may have set Banner on the track of adjusting the bomb himself to keep it from Hulkifying him and also would have paved the way for plenty of Earth-friendly technologies Banner could have discovered, sparing Banner from knowledge that may legitimately have caused him to commit suicide (or try, you know that Hulk guy). Pretty strong stuff and a nice little ending for the science bros but I can't help but be a little disappointed that Tony is apparently arguably a bigger hero than he was going in and not just a little bit of a villain. I know you don't want necessarily to taint your cash cow but I liked knowing that his hubris had such a huge ramification on the Marvel Universe (not the first time, certainly, that would have been true, but still a pretty poignant one). Total Score: 3/5


Original Sin 5.3 - Thor and Loki
Aaron and Ewing (s) and Ewing (w) and Garbett and Bianchi (a) and Woodard, Dall'Alpi, and Peruzzi (c) and Sabino (l)

Thor and Angela fight with Angela gaining the upper hand thanks to her speed and brutality while Loki learns about some Heaven history from the queen, who reveals that she once had a deal with Odin that had her and her angels watching over Midgard to protect it from jerk Asgardians. When she betrayed Odin and joined up with the Frost Giants and other enemies to Asgard, war was declared and the battle that "killed" Odin's daughter started. Loki, though, is just as much an outsider to Asgardians and a villain to these honor-bound people as the money-craving angels are, she points out. Back outside, Angela is stopped from killing Thor as the queen and new "Mistress of Strategies" decide that he's more useful alive than dead. That Mistress of Strategies? A transformed woman Loki, of course. This is probably the first issue of this tie-in that starts to give a little more new information and contextualizing, though it does drag a bit when that happens. Still, it seems like a classic Thor/Loki story as Loki has gone ahead and seemingly betrayed his brother and his people for whatever quick gain or long con he could be playing at. Strong enough to pass, slow enough to overstay. Total Score: 3/5


She-Hulk 7
Soule (w) and Pulido (a) and Vicente (c) and Cowles (l)

She-Hulk and Hellcat have been hired by a scientist/inventor duo to work out the terms of a contract that would sell their new revolutionary shrink ray, the Shrinko (more affordable than Pym Particles), to an outside buyer. One member of the team, Rufus (the marketer), wants to sell while the other, Reza (the brains behind the Shrinko tech), wants to keep it out of the buyer's hands. Their partnership is 50/50 so Rufus would need Reza's approval to sell but Reza, in a fit of anger over the way the proceedings are going, has shrunk himself down and disappeared. She-Hulk calls in resident shrinking expert Dr. Pym for a hand and she, Pym, and Hellcat shrink themselves with Pym Particles to find Reza. Pym isn't optimistic and actually knows Reza's work, saying that Shrinko tech isn't ready for human testing and that people tend to explode with some great force when using the tech on themselves. After a couple scares and some in-fighting between She-Hulk and Hellcat, they find Reza and rescue him from some cats nearby. It turns out that the buyer interested in the Shrinko patent is Pym himself (Pymself), wanting to help them perfect their tech in exchange for a small percentage of the profits. Reza doesn't believe his exploding claims but quickly learns that he might have a point when his own severed finger, left behind in a coke can in which he hid himself from the cats, explodes, safely out of range thanks to a She-Hulk toss. Reza and Rufus agree to sell to Pym but She-Hulk already has a new case waiting with an elderly Captain America waiting in the lobby. Another fun issue and we've already seen this neat little formula, wherein a story runs kind of underneath but really quietly while individual episodes involving the superhero community in legal battles takes the spotlight, work really well and this one is no exception. Plenty of fun, a good deal of heart, and some fun art ideas. Total Score: 5/5


Superior Foes of Spider-Man 14
Spencer (w) and Lieber w/R. Ellis (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Very slight break in the action as the team regroups at Boomerang's secret safe-house. We learn why Overdrive joined this gang (trying to fight Spider-Man so he can eventually be recognized by the hero and, in turn, become a hero himself, like your Hawkeyes or Black Widows or so forth) and stole that bus that time (a very brief affair with Beetle after evading Mr. Negative's henchmen trying to collect debts from Overdrive exhausted him and they escaped their car on-foot, needing to power up the bus in a pinch when they needed new wheels). We also learn that Speed Demon's beloved corgi was actually a missing dog he adopted and he was missing for most of this while he did the right thing and returned the dog to its owners. After the stories and repartee pass, Boomerang mocks Shocker one too many times and he emerges from the bathroom and blasts them all. As I mentioned with ROCKET RACCOON this week, this book continues to be just a lot of fun and great humorous moments, grounded a little (as far as Marvel grounds anything) by its perpendicularity to the rest of the universe. Spencer's got something really fun here and he's doing just what he needs to with it. Total Score: 5/5


Superior Spider-Man 32
Slott and Gage (s) and Gage (w) and Camuncoli (p) and Dell (i) and Fabela (c) and Eliopoulos (l)
Spider-Sanction: Gage (w) and Kubert (a) and Beredo (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN returns as, during the events of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 19 (the exploding temporal portal, or temportal, that brought Spidey 2099 to the present and set of Spider-Man's exit from Horizon Labs), Superior Spidey is sent to 2099 in Miguel's place (universe course-correction). He manages to swipe some tech from Alchemax and create a computer for himself based on Anna Maria (little weird) and starts to jump in time and into other universes accidentally. However, each universe he hits on his way home has dead Spider-Men in it, hunted by the same adversary. Eventually he realizes how dangerous this adversary is and begins to assemble a team of Spider-Men from the universes he visits, eventually hoping to amass an army (he already has six including himself by issue's end). SPIDER-VERSE is coming and this is our prelude to it. It's an interesting story and one that allows the story to take place and commence, thanks to time jumping, with Superior Spider-Man getting his hands dirty too. Follow-up story SPIDER-SANCTION gives us a tease of one of our new Spiders, a colder, more withdrawn, and more brutal Peter Parker who has been driven to kill by the events in his life and who joins Doc Ock's army only when assured they'll be looking to kill the assassin. Some pretty cool stuff as the Spider-Man event of the year bears down on us (funny that this is the event in the year when Peter Parker came back from the dead). Total Score: 4/5

Rocket Raccoon 2, Legendary Star-Lord 2

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

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

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

Total Score: 5/5


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

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

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

Total Score: 3/5