X-Termination 1, X-Factor 253

X-Termination 1
Lapham, Liu, and Pak (s) and Lapham (w) and D. Lopez, A. Lopez, and Martinez (a) and Mossa (c)

The X-Termation event officially starts after a bit of prologue work in Astonishing X-Men and X-Treme X-Men over the last few weeks. AoA Nightcrawler has recruited AoA (or Dark) Beast to get them back into their universe from the 616. Dark Beast decides that the only way would be to go inside the Dreaming Celestial in San Francisco, as the Celestial is a sort of access point to all universes. It's a dangerous prospect and has never really been considered before but, with the aid of some helmets Beast whipped up to guard their psyches, Nightcrawler successfully teleports the pair inside. Meanwhile, Wolverine and his astonishing X-Men team are still tracking Nightcrawler. Wolverine has been betrayed by the elf and intends to make sure it doesn't happen again. If there's a weakness in this premise, I think it's here. I understand that Wolverine's mad and this comic does what it can to illustrate why Wolverine's so mad (he was betrayed by Nightcrawler who Wolverine trusted, despite being told not to, but that betrayal led to Wolverine having to kill his own son) but it still feels a little forced. To the issue's credit, I think they know that. I think they go out of their way to establish why Wolverine's mad and focus on it a little more instead of shying away. I do believe that Wolverine would consider Nightcrawler an enemy now, but in the way he doesn't go hunting down Creed or Mystique 24/7, I imagine Wolverine wouldn't send an X-Men team out after Nightcrawler. There is, the comic points out, a more personal element to this too; not only was Wolverine betrayed by someone he thought of as an ally, he was betrayed by someone who is another universe's equivalent of his dead best friend. It's not so far-fetched that it's lingering over my head all the time, but it's enough that I'm a little dismayed when Wolverine and team travel through the portal into the Age of Apocalypse Universe with Beast and Nightcrawler because it seems excessive. When they get to the AoA, things escalate, as Nightcrawler learns he's missed the war, all his friends from this universe are dead except for Creed and Jean, and Weapon Omega has been stopped. Dark Beast is captured by Jean and friends and told he'll stand trial for his crimes after he fixes the portal, which is still open and tearing things apart a bit. Wolverine and his team come through the portal and get into an argument with Jean over what's happening and who gets to hang out with Nightcrawler. Dazzler and her X-Treme X-Men team burst through the portal warning of the horrible things on the other side, which then proceed to come out. Three extremely powerful entities emerge and one kills Charles Xavier (the one that's just a head) and seems to grow. Now, as we move on to part two in the next Astonishing X-Men, three X-Men teams are facing down the possible end of the multiverse.
It's an interesting story to tie these three teams together and it'll be fun going forward because we have three different teams from three totally different backgrounds (including the X-Treme X-Men team whose members come from all sorts of different backgrounds as it is) forced to work together and to work alongside people they'd rather not work alongside (i.e. anyone and Dark Beast, Wolverine's team and Nightcrawler, Wolverine's team and most of Jean's team who are villains in the 616, etc.). One of the interesting things about this issue was that it centered itself around Nightcrawler, even putting Nightcrawler's thoughts on display as the captions. This takes some of the ambiguity out of his character, showing us that he regrets betraying the team and understands why Wolverine hates him. It also shows him as still mourning the loss of his wife and now re-appearing in the AoA as a man without a home. The aftermath of Weapon Omega has left him feeling just as much an outsider here as in the 616. Knowing what we know of him through his thoughts, we know he's still a pretty good guy at heart, someone who may wish for his own death but will still fight beside whoever he's with for the right cause. I think it's a really smart decision to take that ambiguity away for the audience's sake. Let Wolverine be mad at him, let us know that Wolverine won't forgive him, but let us know that he's on our side. The issue escalates quickly as all three teams meet up. Should be fun moving forward.

X-Factor 253
David (w) and Kirk and Leisten (a) and Milla (c)

I think I've put my finger on why I'm not a huge fan of this "hell on Earth" arc of X-Factor, a book I routinely love. I've already touched on this before but I had decided that it was rooted in my own anti-Rahne biases. I think that plays a role but the real key is in the captions. As I said above with X-Termination, it's an interesting decision for a writer to have to make to choose whose thoughts are shown in the caption. With the disappearance of thought bubbles in comics (as brought to my attention, in fact, by Peter David's Writing For Comics and Graphic Novels), captions play a similar role but usually only give us one character's thoughts, where thought bubbles could potentially drift to a couple characters in any given issue. Single-character books, like Winter Soldier or Captain Marvel, will typically focus the captions on the titular character, while team books will often use captions either as a narrator, like Avengers or Uncanny Avengers, or will select one character per issue or arc to focus on, like X-Factor or X-Termination. Throughout this arc, the captions have been with the thoughts of Tier, Rahne's son. My problem with that is kind of two-fold but both severely affect my enjoyment of this arc. For one, Tier doesn't have much to say. He's a kid in the middle of this weird situation so he mostly just remarks on how weird this situation is. When he's an interesting character, it's because he's gone berserker which means he's not thinking and has no real memory of the event, so his captions don't bring us for that ride, just the before and after, again leaving Tier with little of value to say. The other problem with Tier's captions, for me at least, is that I tend to view X-Factor as the ultimate family-driven book. They're not a family but they act like one. They're a closer team than just about any other team in the Marvel Universe and, for me, that's what drives this book. When you take the focus off of the team, I lose some interest in the title itself. If there's going to be a center to the book in the captions, I want it to be in the form of someone on X-Factor.

Jamie, as a horrible goat-headed demon, is guarding Jezebel for Mephisto when Strong Guy shows up and knocks Jamie out to rescue her. Strong Guy reveals that he's playing an angle that suits him but won't say what that angle is, making his character more compelling again. Meanwhile, X-Factor debates using Tier as a weapon against the Hell lords, as he's already taken down one of them himself. He takes down Satana in this issue, so that plan seems like a go. Monet, who has been weakened by Pluto and fainted earlier in the issue, gets the news of internal bleeding from Layla, who knows that she'll die from this. Monet confirms this with Layla and tells Layla to tell no one before flying off. These are the moments in an X-Factor book that intrigue me. They're the character moments that only need a page, despite the huge implications, because they're precisely what David has set up with his run. It's a strong team element driven by people and little interactions. Hopefully next issue will see a return of Madrox as Madrox and not as goat-headed Madrox. Also, according to the title page of the comic, Peter David is recovering well from his December stroke and has been released from the hospital and is writing again. Hooray! Still continue to learn what to do to help if you're so inclined.

Savage Wolverine 3, Wolverine MAX 5

Savage Wolverine 3
Cho (w and a) and Keith (c)

Much of the same out of Savage Wolverine, which feels like it's been going on forever but has really only been three issues. This issue, apparently trying to see how quickly it can get on my nerves, opens with Amadeus Cho being offered "the finest maidens" in the village, all of whom are in loin bikinis and unhealthily well-endowed. This series seems to take every step it can to convince people it's never going to change from its initial promise of brawls and babes. Amadeus pushes them away to hear about what's been happening on this island. He's told that the Star Giant, a giant robot that seemed to come from space, fought the Dark Walker, a Cthulu, but couldn't kill the Walker, so instead he shoved him into the mountain, from where he occasionally calls out to a hero that could possibly save him. The natives of this land have been tasked by the Star Giant to keep the Dark Walker from being revived. They now think Cho is a god and follow him when he learns that Wolverine and Shanna are on the island as well. Wolverine and Shanna have gotten into a brawl with a group of natives which ends with Shanna taking a spear to the heart while Wolverine gets tackled by a big cat off a cliff. Cho gets there just in time to demand his squad of natives use whatever magicks they have to to heal Shanna. Wolverine swears revenge on the natives.

Still not feeling anything to particularly love about this book. The story is starting to come together but it's overshadowed by the teen boyness of it all. That's not a stereotype I'd like to keep hanging over comics for as long as possible so I'd have a hard time recommending this book even if it was the best story ever conceived, which this isn't. If you want to know what I think of this book overall, feel free to find my reviews for Savage Wolverine 1 and 2 because this is more of the same.

Wolverine MAX 5
Starr (w) and Boschi and Ruiz (a) and Brown w/ Loughridge (c)

One of the things that makes Logan interesting as a character is his near-constant loss of memory. When you have a guy who's been alive about 150 years, it's important to occasionally make him forget chunks of his past. How else would he stumble into the same situations time and time again? Wolverine MAX is exploring the idea of a Wolverine, a ruthless and savage killer with a noble streak, without a memory of what he's done and what he'd do. It's a little-Memento like, with Victor Creed playing a possible Joe Pantoliano to our Wolverine's Guy Pearce. Creed at least swears to Wolverine that he's on Logan's side and that he's the only one who's stuck with Logan this whole time. It doesn't stop Wolverine from piecing together some clues and shredding Creed up by Mariko's grave, where Sabretooth is later arrested as the Yakuza's number two. Wolverine, having found Mariko's father's sword, tosses it back into the ocean in chains. He begins to write down his memories like so much Leonard Shelby.

Like I said, Logan's memory loss is a key part to his character. He has the power and responsibility aspects of a Spider-Man but his powers are decidedly more brutal and his memory makes him question which side of that responsibility he's landed on in the past. It means he can either trust no one or trust everyone and there are huge problems with both tactics. Can he trust Creed when Creed says he's the only one to stand by Logan? Can he trust Creed's account of how Logan killed Mariko? Can he trust his memories of Mariko with no recollection of how things ended? These are all the kinds of questions that Wolverine fans are probably somewhat familiar with (he's been used as a weapon enough in his time that we all know what to expect, to some degree, when he's questioning himself) but they tend to lead to good Wolverine stories. Now, as Wolverine heads to LA, we'll have to see the shape his memory is in as he lands in the city he was heading to when he lost his memory in the first place.

Superior Spider-Man 6, Ultimate Spider-Man 21

Superior Spider-Man 6
Slott (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado (c)

As the Avengers discuss how to handle Spider-Man's recent attitude change and his even more recent murder of Massacre, Spider-Man himself is hired by J. Jonah Jameson to track down and teach a lesson to prankster villains Screwball and Jester. The two are tech-based and have an internet following for their prank videos that feature the pair tormenting normal people. Their biggest target was Jameson and, being the sensible guy he is, he immediately dispatches new friend Spider-Man on them. Peter, hunting around in Doc's memories, is suddenly dragged to a memory of Ock being bullied as a child, giving us Doc's motivation for the rest of the issue. While at a meeting with his new professor (as he tries to get Peter a doctorate) and his new love interest (Anna Maria Marconi), his spidey-bots track the pranksters down and Spidey makes his move. Meanwhile, the Avengers meet to consider revoking Spider-Man's Avenger status. They agree, on Wolverine's demand, to give Spidey a little more time while they watch his actions. Right on cue, Spider-Man is put live on Screwball and Jester's website absolutely destroying the pair while screaming about the cost of bullying. Next issue we'll see the Avengers approach Spidey and possibly kick him out.

This is more the inciting incident that should lead to the climax of our story than it is the climax of our story. Yes there are important things happening plot-wise (Peter is still looking for a way to regain control of his body, Doc is getting more and more brutal, a pair of internet villains have been introduced and also shut down, etc.), but this really was a stepping stone to get us into this new arc as the Avengers approach Spidey and have to start asking questions of this new behavior. The Avengers are no stranger to villains taking over a hero's body (I've mentioned it before, but Red Skull once switched bodies with Cap thanks to the Cosmic Cube and used the whole situation to walk around as Cap, signing autographs but also being kind of a jerk to people. THAT'S a supervillain, am I right?) and they must have something in place where they can recognize this change. If I was an Avenger in the 616, I'd have seen Spider-Man do one thing that was slightly off-kilter and I'd be asking myself who he really was. Skrull? Supervillain? Possessed? All kinds of answers. The Avengers have got to have those questions or else I'm losing some credulity.

Ultimate Spider-Man 21
Bendis (w) and Pichelli (a) and Ponsor (c)

Venom is still on the warpath in Ultimate Spider-Man as he tears a new path through the sewers to the hospital where Jefferson Morales is being treated. Meanwhile, Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson have taken it upon themselves to teach Miles about Venom and symbiotes and lots of other things that people who have read Spider-Man or Ultimate Spider-Man before Miles took over already knew about. I sometimes forget that there are readers like that and this issue was maybe more for them. I'm still not sure it takes a full issue of two teenage girls cutting each other off left and right to teach the reader about the newest threat. I'm sure the reader could learn about it as we go. Or maybe could get a couple quick lines about what a symbiote is and be pretty well caught up. Then Maria Hill shows up because this is a Brian Michael Bendis book and she seems to know that Miles is Spider-Man because Gwen and MJ warned him about talking in the street in front of police about vaguely worded Spider-Man kind of things but didn't seem to think it would be suspicious when two people intimately connected with the original Spider-Man show up to this kid's house. And that's it. That's what happens.

I've mentioned before that I'm sick of unnecessarily long ideas taking up full issues of comics and loading the beginning and ending of arcs with action and letting the middle issues stew. This is another in that line of comics. I think some important things happened but I think that, by and large, they were things that could have happened over maybe three to five pages. I'm not sure you need to reintroduce MJ and Gwen to Miles' universe. So what you end up needing, depending on where the series is going, is for Maria Hill to deduce that Miles is Spidey, for Venom to attack Jefferson again, for a short explanation of symbiotes and Venom, and for Miles to struggle a bit with what just happened. Five to ten pages, instead of the twenty this issue took. That means you're loading up half the issue with filler and stuff that doesn't matter. It's a great formula for upsetting the fans who paid for this issue. Or, in the very least, for upsetting me, which seems to be a constant.

Indestructible Hulk 5, Nova 2

Indestructible Hulk 5
Waid (w) and Yu and Alanguilan (a) and Gho (c)

Even though it's something I write about every time I write a review for an issue of Indestructible Hulk, I find myself surprised by the focus of this series with every new release. Like I talked about yesterday with Captain America's Steve Rogers-centric book, Waid is writing a Bruce Banner-centric Hulk book and it's working. Frankly, no one writes a successful Steve Rogers or Bruce Banner book because we're not reading these comics to hear about morally unambiguous people and genius scientists. We're typically here for super-soldiers and unstoppable monsters. However, when we're given books about Steve Rogers and about Bruce Banner by good writers with good artists, I'm one hundred percent sold. Bruce Banner, for possibly the first time in my experience with the character, is an interesting person. Sure you still can't really help but wait until Hulk shows up to punch whatever he's aimed at, but it never feels like wading through (WAIDING through, more like, haaaaaaa) interminable grounds to get there. I've felt genuinely interested in what Banner has been up to this whole series and that's a place I'm not sure I ever expected to end up but it's a place I'm glad to be. As I've said time and time again, I'm a guy who likes character. Sure I like plenty of the stories but, at the end of the day, a good character can compel me to read a bad story in a way a good story can't compel me care about a bad character.

Waid is making Banner a good character. I'm not just rooting for Hulk to punch something in this book or for Hulk to go sulk somewhere about how he's never left alone; I'm rooting for Banner to make something good come out of his relationship with Hulk. I'm rooting for Hulk to work alongside Banner. There's also something going on in the background. Banner has forced this team up with the Hulk so that he can get SHIELD support with his scientific aspirations. He has recruited several suspicious characters to assist him in his lab. He came away from this issue with a Lemurian scroll that contains the formula Attuma's magicians used to create a universal solvent, a liquid that can eat anything. Banner's up to something and the pieces seem to still be a ways off from fitting into place. Next issue sees a team-up of Waid and Walt Simonson for a Hulk and Thor arc. Bound to be exciting.

Nova 2
Loeb (w) and McGuinness and Vines (a) and Gracia (c)

Okay, so maybe a little more boilerplate than I would have hoped but I suppose I'd be complaining if Nova 2 had done anything different too so we appear to be at a stalemate here. Sam, last issue, awoke in a hospital bed faced with Gamora, Rocket Raccoon and the idea that maybe all of his father's stories were true. At the start of this issue, they present him with the Nova helmet before he freaks out and provokes Rocket to attack and Sam runs out of the room to get help and when they go back to the room, Gamora and Rocket are gone. Sam eventually puts the Nova helmet on and gets the full armor and flies a bit after hearing a short message from his father. The message is of the "if you're hearing this message..." variety. Sam panics again and goes home, but eventually puts the armor on again and flies to the moon, where he runs into the Watcher as the issue ends.

Like I said, I probably would have been annoyed if this book hadn't gone through the whole "you are the Chosen One, meet your destiny" kind of steps. They feel worn and tired but they're there because they work. In theory, it's what everyone would go through upon learning that they were the one meant for this life, that the armor was coded to their specific DNA and no one else could use it. You can't typically skip that part because you have to see our reluctant hero realize that he's in this position and begin to embrace this fate. Likely he'll push it away again at some point, citing that he never asked for it, but we'll get to that when we get to it. So yes, you know this story already. Hopefully whatever comes next is a bit more of a surprise.

Daredevil 24, Deadpool 6

Daredevil 24
Waid (w) and Samnee (a) and Rodriguez (c)

I like Foggy Nelson a lot. I think he's one of the better supporting-cast characters in comics. He's a great friend and he's perfect for someone like Matt and there's never a fear of him turning into a supervillain or a superhero because he's simply not in shape for it. He has cancer right now, Ewing's Sarcoma, and I really hope he lives through it, but I have to say that I think it's a pretty good time in the book's run to give it to him. Where Daredevil has only just started to regain his bearings after snapping in Shadowland, he's now faced with a problem that he can't acrobat around. He's faced with a problem that all of his lawyering and all of his investigating and all of his senses and all of his punching can't help. On top of that, he's come up against a meticulously planned attack from some unknown assailant that has involved uprooting as much of Matt's life as he can. Will Matt walk down the Shadowland path again and snap when he figures out who is behind all of this at such a delicate time? Will he stay above it for Foggy and his own sake? Next issue, if the closing panels are to be believed, will bring Matt to the mastermind behind everything that's been going on, from Klaw to the Spot to Matt's dad's boxing gloves to Milla appearing in his room to the recent outbreak of prisoners and dogs who have been given Matt's enhanced senses.

I like some of the other touches that Waid has put on this series as well. One thing that I wouldn't have expected to enjoy so much but clearly am enjoying is the budding friendship between Hank Pym and Daredevil. Hank is useful in this stage of the game as a biological expert, what with the chemical attack on Matt and with Foggy's cancer, but he's also become something of a shoulder for Matt, who hasn't really had one except Foggy in the past. Obviously Matt isn't going to Hank for everything, but he's in contact with him enough and Hank knows enough about Matt's life that he's able to understand some of what Matt is going through. I don't know if it will spring into a full-fledged friendship or if the extent of their relationship will be like any other two superheroes, but it's a nice touch that I didn't expect and certainly didn't expect to like. For as long as Daredevil's been around, he has very few inroads in the superhero community. Only since Fear Itself has he been an Avenger (and only popped up in New Avengers whenever Bendis seemed to remember him) and he's not really a team-up kind of guy. He's closer to the street level heroes, like Spider-Man and Iron Fist and Luke Cage, who also don't have a ton of sway in the superhero community. It's nice to see him building into a relationship with a long-time Avenger like Pym and maybe even a nicer touch that it's someone who, for as long as he's been an Avenger, has always been kind of on the outside. It's just another example of Waid having a real feel for this character and for the people with whom he connects.

Deadpool 6
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Moore (a) and Staples (c)

The dead presidents opening arc of this new Deadpool series ends with Deadpool killing George Washington in front of the Lincoln Memorial. Then he doesn't get paid and SHIELD is mad at him and Agent Preston, who died last issue, is sharing his mind with him because Michael the necromancer brought her back and put her in Deadpool. Deadpool seems happy about it as he feels, and tells us repeatedly this issue, that Agent Preston was the only person who believed in him. I never once got that sense. There were times, in the last issue, that she said it but I never felt like she actually believed in him. Deadpool was brought on because it was an ugly operation and needed to be kept quiet and brutal and he fit the bill. Maybe she did legitimately believe he could do it, but there never seemed to be a real friendship between the two until it was shoved at us last issue so she could die and he could be upset about it. Other than that, I feel like Preston has watched Deadpool do what Deadpool does, all the while going "oh brother" as he makes some quip or other. I'm not sure if they were going for a Lethal Weapon style buddy cop team-up with those two but it never read that way until Deadpool, this issue, tried to tell us that it read that way. Who knows, maybe that will come back as the twist; Deadpool considers them friends and she doesn't. Even that feels weak because I don't believe in the Deadpool that this easily sees friendships.

Beyond that, I don't have a lot to say. I think my feelings on this book are pretty evident and nothing about this issue or the conclusion of this arc made me change my mind on it. Five presidents were killed outside of Deadpool's watch, three by a bus and two by an LA gang. That kind of made it feel like Deadpool's not that elite after all. He had trouble with these guys who can be killed without even really trying, let alone one of the world's foremost mercenaries trying. It feels like their deaths were just shoehorned in, at that point. Washington wasn't a real threat for Deadpool, even after taking on the powers of two other presidents, but rather was a typical villain espousing lines about how Deadpool's no hero and he's actually dead like them and no one likes him and so forth. It didn't feel tongue-in-cheek, it felt like the things he was saying were supposed to be some new revelation about Deadpool. I suppose if you jumped on board this new Deadpool book without any background knowledge that might come as something of a surprise to you, but I feel like the last five issues would have given enough of that anyway. So that's that. One arc down. Let's see where the next one goes, with hijinks no doubt set to ensue.

Captain America 5, Captain Marvel 11

Captain America 5
Remender (w) and Romita Jr., Palmer and Hanna (a) and White and Loughridge (c)

One of the things I've really enjoyed about this series is how much it's shown Cap's childhood, a hitherto unseen portion of Steve Rogers' life. It's tied just about every step of this book to childhood and to raising a child and family, from Sharon wanting Steve to marry her in the first issue of this series to Steve learning to be a good man from his dying mother to Steve watching a good man turned bad in his father to Steve raising a son of his own in Ian. It's starting to all come full circle now, as Ian is discovered by his real father Zola and his sister Jet. Cap and Ian, being the great guys they are, elect to turn back from their chance to return to Earth when they see that the Phrox's home is being attacked. The two jump into the battle against Zola's mutates only for Zola to release his Zolandian Captain squad (all cloned from Cap's blood) and for Jet and Zola himself to enter the fight. Cap spares Jet's life when Ian knocks her down, leading her to spare his when Zola knocks him down. Zola blasts Cap away, claiming the resistant Ian for his own. Steve cuts the Zola in his chest out and vows to save his son.

For all the plot that's happened in this book, the thing I've been most impressed with is character-building Remender's done. He's created his story around Steve Rogers, not Captain America, which is a gutsy thing to do for a new Cap writer. Between the importance of Steve's childhood and the removal of the character from America, Remender has taken Captain America all but out of the book. He's still wearing the flag and Zola still hates him for who he is, but by and large this is Steve Rogers fighting for his son in Dimension Z. To tie that together, we're not seeing moments in Captain America's history where he fights alongside people younger than him, we're seeing moments from Steve Rogers' history that define him as a person. Steve even says in this issue that he's fighting harder for Ian than he ever could have for Bucky or Nomad. There's something stronger attached to this book than any connection Captain America might have; it's a connection that Steve Rogers has. Not only is that a pretty revolutionary idea for a Captain America book, it's a heck of a feat for a new Cap writer to pull off. I'd love to know the thoughts of former Cap writers on this idea, to know whether they would have ever considered or if they feel like they could do it. The truth is Steve has always been Captain America; the two have forever been the same character with and without a mask. Steve doesn't make different decisions when he's not wearing the flag (usually). He's a great guy in any situation. But to tilt the book and remove that Captain America onus from him and focus on a different aspect of Steve is a brilliant idea and Remender is making it work beautifully. Fantastic book.

Captain Marvel 11
DeConnick and Sebela (w) and Andrade (a) and Bellaire (c)

Above, I said that I liked that every step of the new Captain America series has pushed us towards character and towards plot. Captain Marvel has been equally firm on that, introducing a solid cast of supporting characters for Carol in every issue to bring her down to Earth. Instead of the Avengers powerhouse living in Avengers mansion with all her Avengers pals, Captain Marvel lives in an apartment building around normal people she cares about and has a daily routine that puts her in contact with more normal people she cares about. It's really a great social element that most mainstream comics push to the side, but it can work extremely effectively. In every little meeting she's had with someone, we've learned something new about Carol and the way she interacts with the world. Altogether, they combine to give us several lessons about the character. She's among the most human of the Avengers, though her powers raise her above many of them skill-wise. She takes her human life very seriously, not wanting to get so swept up in superheroing that she doesn't have time to enjoy what she's fighting for. And, like so much Peter Parker, she would do whatever it took to protect the people that give her that normal human life.

Though these ideas were largely introduced last issue, DeConnick has sprinkled the characters in so subtly and so wonderfully that you care about Carol's supporting cast about as much as you care about her, at this point. You care about them more because Carol cares about them. When Deathbird attacked Carol last issue and forced Carol to fly to move Deathbird away from her home, we saw an awful lot about how Carol operates. All those little interactions from every issue are woven together to build a tapestry of normalcy for Carol. She's not frightened by Deathbird attacking her or by any villain putting her in harm's way, she's frightened when they make a move on Carol's friends. She'll fight to defend that normalcy. Frightened is almost definitely the wrong word. She is worried about it, for sure, and she clearly cares about all the people in her life. But Carol doesn't have fear. She has anger. It's that anger that prompts her to seek out this new Deathbird (it's revealed this issue that the old Deathbird is definitely not the one who's attacking Captain Marvel) and bring the fight to her, even without being able to fly. There's also another major player on the board here, someone pulling the new Deathbird's strings and who has some amount of contact with Carol's life, up to sitting and feeding pigeons with Rose, Captain Marvel's elderly lady friend. Next issue will reveal who's driving the villains right now and likely an extended fight between Newbird (as Carol calls her) and Captain Marvel. Can't wait. Phenomenal book. Everyone should be reading this book.

Avengers 8, New Avengers 4, Dark Avengers 188

Avengers 8
Hickman (w) and Weaver (a) and Ponsor (c)

As I said in my pre-game this week, this is the new Avengers' series first two-issue+ story since the first arc. We've taken every issue between to fill us in about some newly created character or other. It's fitting that this is the longest arc since the first one as it's apparently tying into the first arc more than just featuring Nightmask, who was created in that first arc. Nightmask who, along with Captain Universe, seems to be the only one who comprehends what's happening right now brings the Avengers to the new Starbrand, a being who has the power to defend a planet while it rises to a new level. Starbrand is a student named Kevin Connor and he has just discovered that his enormous amount of power has leveled his school and killed over three thousand people. He panics over the news and the Avengers start to make a path for the outside the blast radius except Hulk, who charges the new superhuman. Defensively, Starbrand shoots Hulk into space. The Avengers, a little less comforting and a little more wary now, approach Kevin to try to take him in for tests and questions, which alarms Kevin and provokes another attack. He's hit by Mjolnir but dusts it off before blasting Thor and Hyperion away. Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Hulk share a moment as she flies to retrieve him and flings him back at Starbrand, at least knocking him down for a minute. Nightmask and Captain Universe stop the battle so Nightmask can take Starbrand and show him what's happening. Nightmask shows what he can of the conflicted system. Nightmask explains the system is conflicted because the builders had other, older systems that weren't meant to be used in tandem with this newer system. He then brings Starbrand "home" with him to Mars and Ex Nihilo and Abyss.

There's plenty to work with going forward and certainly a story worthy of the Avengers. I've made this argument before, but an Avengers story is hard because it has to be fairly self-contained but also present a big enough problem so as to actually require the Avengers, and not just Captain America or Iron Man or Thor. This story is doing an excellent job balancing that. It's a story that keeps to itself quietly enough (spare the three thousand dead civilians at the school) but has possibly catastrophic consequences and the characters involved are enough to take down any single or two Avengers. I am really enjoying this new series and I think it's headed in a great direction. Hickman and his artists have brought back a feeling of an epic scale that I think has been rather missing from Avengers books recently. Marvel is doing a fantastic job in Marvel NOW! of making the many Avengers titles feel bigger and more serious than they have over the last several years, if ever. Avengers, New Avengers, and Uncanny Avengers are all better books than I would have hoped for in my wildest dreams. They, as a unit, are the single best thing I can point to in Marvel NOW! to explain why I think Marvel's at the top of its game right now (not to mention all the other great books that have spawned from this new lineup).

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Hickman (w) and Epting and Magyar (a) and D'Armata (c)

The next incursion event has happened a little sooner than the New Avengers were hoping. Black Panther and Reed Richards have come up with an idea, a bomb of sorts, to be prepared to destroy any incurring worlds. Tony Stark, meanwhile, has begun construction on a sphere that will weaponize the sun. Both plans require more time when the newest Earth appears over 616's. Doctor Strange has turned to dark arts to find a way to stop any incursion. He's found a spell that could work but will cost his life. When the incursion begins, a new Earth appearing over Ellis Island, Beast suggests they enter that world and search for that Universe's infinity gems. They agree to attempt it before using other and more fatal means, though they realize it would mean someone needing to stay behind to operate the gems from their native universe. Doc Strange mentions that his plan requires much of the same sacrifice, so the New Avengers all travel into the incurring Earth, which has a statue of Magneto welcoming them as opposed to the Statue of Liberty. As they begin to argue about where to start searching, Black Bolt directs their attention to Galactus, who has set up shop in the new Earth and is creating his conversion machine. It turns out Galactus is aware of the incursions and also requires it to stop, lest it destroy the universe of which he is a constant. Terrax, Galactus' herald, explains this to the New Avengers, who are now torn between allowing Galactus to continue, ridding them of their problem, or taking the time to try to defeat him when they should be looking for the infinity gems.

It should be no secret to readers that I think this book is the best Marvel book coming out right now. That's not said lightly. Even if you read the review above this one, you should know how not lightly it's said. It's in competition with a ton of other books (Avengers, Captains America and Marvel, Hawkeye, Uncanny Avengers, to name a few) but I'm constantly blown away by it. I love the moral dilemmas, I love the struggle this team is facing, I love that it's a problem seemingly only worthy of the Illuminati, and I love the characters in the book. I talked above (and I've talked before) about finding problems big enough that the Avengers have to solve them without requiring a Universe-spanning event. In a way, I think it's harder for this New Avengers book to find problems like that because they also have to be intensely challenging moral questions on top of finding big enough and contained enough problems. This story falls very much into that range, asking its team to make the hardest possible choices while also being unable to involve anyone besides themselves. Phenomenal book and another phenomenal issue (I also can't say enough how great this art team is, with Epting pencils, Magyar inks, and D'Armata colors. Each issue is gorgeous on top of the great stories).

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Parker (w) and Edwards and Pallot (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Skaar says his goodbye to the apparently dead Moonstar after a devastating attack from one of Grimm's creatures. He doesn't have much time to mourn, though, as he and Reed Richards uncover a pair of AIM spies who appear to have time-warped in. One escapes but Skaar stops the other from phasing away and Richards infuriates Grimm enough to leave the spy behind for Skaar to question. Meanwhile, the majority of the team is stuck trying to cross Hell's Kitchen to get to Strange. After questioning from a bunch of street heroes (Misty Knight, Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Daredevil, and Colleen Wing among them), the team is released from their webs by Spider-Man ("befriended" by Al Apaic) and they continue towards Strange, who promptly kills Spider-Man, the street team's strongest hero. Finally, we see into Pym's lab, where he's supposed to be making a neutron bomb for Tony before Namor and Sue Storm attack the city. He has, instead, been working to revive Ragnarok, who finally wakes up as the issue ends, able to see some form of Moonstone, who gestures to him to be quiet.

A lot happened in this issue that sets up even more to happen in the next one. I don't want to sound like this issue is spinning its wheels and not going anywhere, because there were some big developments, but it does seem like the last couple have been pushing us towards a climax that has yet to be seen. It seems impossible, though, that we won't get some answers next time, what with most of the team being confronted by Strange, one member working on what seems to be the core of the problem in this world (the AIM spies, who Richards believes might have put this all in motion), and a couple members in the basement of Stark's territory. It's all coming to a head and it feels like everyone is in a place to make something happen. It's still interesting to me to see where everyone has ended up in this strange and broken world. Daredevil, wearing a version of his yellow costume, has given up hope for heroes while his allies seem a little more optimistic. There's something up with Tony, who apparently refuses to reveal his face. Grimm is incredibly angry and bitter over something that's happened to Alicia Masters. It's all very interesting and I think whatever the reveal is about AIM will either enlighten us to how everything could have turned so ugly or disappoint us about it. Time will tell.