The April Fool's on us, as this was a hefty week from Marvel, least for me. Thankfully, the feast-or-famine schedule slips back to famine for next week. Don't fear the spoilers!
As always, reviews are up at Examiner first, because they pay me.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 4/6/11 - Part One:
BATMAN BEYOND #4: My lone DC comic of the week, which is half my DC pull list. This naturally puts me in the awkward camp of fans who don't hate the ground that Adam Beechen walks on; this is the first thing I have read that he wrote, and I like it. This issue has fill in art from Eduardo Pansica and inks and colors from Eber Ferreira and David Baron, respectively. In fact, the fill in art is so strong that I hope to see more of them. As this is a "trade break" issue - a one shot tale after an arc - it makes sense to have a fill in artist here. This issue focuses on Terry's friend, and thus Batman's information partner, Maxine "Max" Gibson. As she narrates, she has the task of being Terry's best friend. While that doesn't mean she dons a costume and punches muggers, it does mean she helps Terry with investigations on occasion, and tries to cover for him at school and with Dana (which doesn't always go well). Today, Terry is busy trying to cover up secret identity issues. A journalist has unearthed the fact that Dick Grayson was rumored to be Nightwing, and that could tie into Bruce Wayne being the original Batman. Wayne insists that Terry provide some "reasonable doubt" via impersonating the middle aged Nightwing, although Grayson tops them all by "revealing" that he was an employee of Batman, Inc. Guess that modern DCU really is being shoved into this future of 2040, huh?
The real story is about Max. She's been hacked by Undercloud, which is a legendary hacker responsible for a lot of technology stunts in Gotham. They've stolen her data, which means it is only a matter of time before they figure out Terry is Batman. For the moment, Undercloud's only objective is recruiting Max - whether she wants it or not. While she keeps Terry's secrets for him, this is one secret she'll keep to herself. Batman will have to save her, of course, but a subplot's a subplot.
Given that Beechen is throwing in oodles of DC lore into his run here, whether it fits into Beyond or not, I was worried that Max would get lost in the shuffle. Kid's WB encouraged more use of her than Old Man Wayne in the later seasons of the TV show, although for me it felt natural that as Terry got more experienced, he stuck closer to his own allies than Wayne for day to day info. Given that this is DC Comics, where their average reader is enrolled in AARP, I was concerned that the opposite would happen - Wayne and his extended cast would show up all the time, with Max getting brief 1-3 panel cameos now and then. This certainly happened in the six issue mini that launched this. This issue, at the very least, promises more Max later. Maxine is basically Terry's version of Oracle, and it will be good if Beechen can weave her in more often. Decent one shot issue, which will likely be more important in later issues.
ANNIHILATORS #2: Marvel sci-fi masters Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (who collectively call themselves "DnA", akin to a music band) continue on their latest space epic series, which presents two comics series in one installment. This four issue series offers 42 pages of story for $4.99, which is actually a very good value for two comics worth of material. The oddity is that the back-up strip, ROCKET & GROOT, is two pages longer than the ANNIHILATORS lead in story. This is likely because these two mini series were intended to be sold as two series, but it was decided that it would be more economical to package them under one issue per month. The ANNIHILATORS story is drawn by Tan Eng Huat (GHOST RIDER) while the ROCKET & GROOT segment is drawn by Timothy Green II (ANNIHILATION CONQUEST: STAR-LORD). The stories not only showcase what "DnA" bring to space stories and characters, but their ability to adjust in tone to provide two stories with two distinct tones. ANNIHILATORS is a more serious epic adventure, while ROCKET & GROOT is more comedic. Neither are too humorless or too goofy, respectively, to be appreciated.
The last issue was hardly a debut issue, but an issue that plainly took place after THANOS IMPERATIVE: DEVASTATION, and seeing the star characters spanked by incoming character Ikon took some luster from them. In this issue, however, the A-League of space heroes (Quasar, Gladiator, Silver Surfer, Ronan, and Beta Ray Bill) all showcase exactly why they are on an elite pantheon of cosmic warriors. DnA are dusting off some left-over Spaceknight characters and plots from ROM, a 1980's classic, for their latest story. Dr. Dredd, (not to be confused with rapper Dr. Dre) a forgotten 1980's ROM villain, has sought to repower ancient Skrull demons called the Wraiths, which the cybernetic Spaceknights have been sworn to defeat and defend against - the order that Ikon hails from. Rom himself cannot be used, since he is owned by a toy company that refuses to allow Marvel to license him again, but his wife Brandy Clark takes over for him. Most of this story is an action sequence as the Annihilators defend the stronghold of Galador from the Wraiths as well as Dredd himself, who is capable of slicing though anything - even space itself, and Silver Surfer's skin! DnA are more at home with this sort of sequence, and it works just like the best popcorn action flicks do - a lot of explosions and some amusing one-liners between the cast. While they're not friends, they smash bad guys well together, which is what counts. Huat's pencils are backed up by Victor Olabaza's inks and June Chung's colors, and while Quasar's quantum energy constructs look a bit weird, the rest of the story looks great. Huat seems able to handle inhuman characters better than others, and scenes with aliens and monsters play to that strength. Quasar narrates for this series, taking the place of Nova as the Earthling lead, and while his lack of confidence is a tad annoying, he still serves as an efficient point of view character.
The ROCKET & GROOT segment, on the other hand, has enough slapstick that fans of Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente, or even Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, should be pleased. There is a lot about ROCKET & GROOT that shouldn't work, but it does. The titular hero is an anthropomorphic raccoon with fire arm skills and attitude, while Groot is a sentient tree-man who can only speak the same three words (much like a Pokemon or Rover the Sentinel). Making up for Groot's lack of speech is, believe it or not, a robotic shipping and processing device that talks - akin to a scanner that offers commentary and exposition (literally). Imagine a series in which a humanoid animal engages in banter with a talking photocopier and a walking tree, and that is about as close as one can get to this without reading it. It is surprisingly good and amazingly funny. There is also a lot of imagination in the far-out space humor. Groot's Planet X is a planet in which sentient trees rule all - thus, there is a rebellious "underclass" of sentient mushrooms, fungi, and small mammals which feel oppressed and seek to aid our heroes. Rocket and Groot do battle against cybernetic seagulls and psycho space-clowns, and revisit Rocket's own home world, which was a cosmic insane asylum. It really shouldn't work, and yet not only does it offer great comedy and action set-pieces, but it also explores the histories of both of these bizarre characters. Created in the 1980's, the era of fluffy hanger-on characters like Snarf, Rocket Raccoon has been able to move past that into being more of a fleshed out character. Timothy Green II's artwork, flanked by Nathan Fairbairn's colors, is incredible and is perhaps the best of Green II's career.
Last month, the ANNIHILATORS story was inferior to the ROCKET & GROOT tale, and that kept it out of the top perch; it was also a week that AVENGERS ACADEMY shipped. This week, both tales are about equal in exceptional quality, and DnA retake position as the best of Marvel's output this week, in a week that offered notable competition as well as well hyped events taking place. Abnett & Lanning have written a library of space comics since taking over for Keith Giffen, and all of it is worth the time of the quality seeking comic fan. This series is simply the latest chapter of that great run.
AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #5: Or, YOUNG AVENGERS volume two in all but name. Under the bi-monthly schedule of writer Allen Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung, this should have shipped in March; but even that was too hectic, so we got an Alan Davis drawn one-shot last month instead. The "crusade" of the children has been to find the lost Wanda Maximoff, who is the "spiritual", but not physical, mother of Young Avengers Wiccan and Speed. She has been found, but in the clutches of Dr. Doom, who sought her hand in marriage (because that's how he rolls). The kids teamed up with Magneto to do so, and have fled from the Avengers, and a rogue Wolverine, to find her. Now, time traveling member Iron Lad - who grows up to become Kang - has returned to help the kids along and advance the plot. After promising not to screw up with time and mess things up, Iron Lad seems to do precisely that. While Wiccan doesn't hog this issue, as he has most of the series, Iron Lad more than makes up for him. There are chaotic battle panels that showcase Cheung's art (as well as Justin Ponsor's colors and three inkers' work), but there is no easy way to report this - this issue read more like fan-fiction than previous issues. It could be said that Heinberg's entire premise for YOUNG AVENGERS was fan-fiction; create characters who immediately embed themselves into established lore and are important. However, there seemed to be more nuance and charm to his last volume - or at the very least, expectations for 2005-2006 were not the same as they are now. Stature/Cassie Lang had a crush on Iron Lad, and currently dates the modern Vision - who is composed of a combination of Iron Lad and the original Vision's brain patterns housed inside a living armor. Now that Iron Lad has returned, Vision is yesterday's news - does this mean Stature thought of him as a walking vibrator? Doesn't anyone care how shallow this makes Cassie seem? Given her previous crush on Kristoff Vernard (Dr. Doom's adopted son), someone seriously needs to sit Cassie down and discuss her armor fetish. At the very least, Stature gets some focus here, although the characters of the lot who need it the most - Speed especially - remain background fodder.
This series has great artwork, and a lot of notable moments and one-liners, but as a whole it has been a mess, and this issue is no exception. Will it end with Wanda undoing M-Day and repowering all the mutants? Or the entire cast beating each other up on "JERRY SPRINGER"? Allen Heinberg has been given ultimate authority on this franchise he helped create, because Marvel loves television writers - forgetting that many are hacks (the typical episode of most crime procedurals could be written by a computer program). Thinking upon all the other writers who were hired to write filler material for this franchise - Chris Yost, Zeb Wells, Ed Brubaker - and seeing who Marvel has allowed to tell their most important story in years is often jarring. It has been a long time since that 2006 Harvey Award.
HERC #1: With the world paying attention to Marvel's Norse god Thor, the spotlight has shifted away from Hercules, the so-called "God of Heroes" from the Greek pantheon. However, after wrapping up CHAOS WAR at the end of January the same week that Johnny Storm bit it, writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente unite to pen another installment in their long Hercules saga. When last we checked on the lion of Olympus, he and his allies had saved all of reality from the Chaos King, although at a heavy price - the loss of Hercules' godhood. He has been stricken mortal before (such as during the 90's), but this time he lacks any sort of super-human strength and fortitude. What Hercules does have, which this issue makes sure to inform, is ancient warrior skills, enchanted Greek weapons, and an Olympic physique - while bullets hurt him like anyone else, he does seem to hold up a 400-plus pound steel i-beam. Herc has settled into Brooklyn, unable to simply retire - he still sets out to fight bad guys, whether monsters or human. The issue opens with him saving a girl from a vicious street gang in the subway - a gang that appears to have been inspired by his brother and ancient foe, Ares. The angle of a literal god of war motivating a street gang (dubbed the Warhawks) isn't a bad one, and it seems Hercules is being manipulated by the voice of someone praying to him - but who is unknown. Despite not being a demigod, Hercules still is able to quickly utilize his strength and macho charms to secure quick lodgings as well as a woman for the night - who ends up being connected to the Warhawks. The ending offers an effective cliffhanger in which Hercules must do battle against a very modern monster - the newest Hobgoblin, straight from the BIG TIME run of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (which Fred Van Lente has written for). Given how much trouble Hobby has given the web-slinger lately, how can a very human Hercules hope to compete? The absence of Hercules' long time partner Amadeus Cho is notable, since the two often used to share banter. However, given that Cho is a mega-genius and head of the very wealthy Olympus Group, it stands to reason that Pak and Van Lente wanted to focus on Hercules operating without too many of his old advantages - which included relying on Cho's "hyper-mind". Easily assumed to be a clumsy brawler with his old power-set, now Hercules' warrior skills come to the test; after all, it has long been forgotten that Hercules, even in the actual myths, used arrows as well as his great strength. While he may not be fighting towering giants (yet), he still has enough moxie and mystical weapons to take on similar threats as before. While it is unlikely that Hercules will be power-less forever, it is a more original element to play up with him. CHAOS WAR was about him becoming larger than life, and this is the opposite end of that spectrum. The artwork by Neil Edwards is exceptional, alongside Scott Hanna's inks and Jesus Aburtov's colors.
Having Hercules fight a Spider-Man villain almost immediately into his new series is the return of a common practice in the 90's in which many new launches would involve Spidey rogues almost immediately - DARKHAWK fought Hobgoblin and Tombstone quickly into his run as well. The biggest stumbling block is Marvel's insistence at selling the debut issue of an ongoing series at $3.99 for little reason than cynical greed - the first issue is often the best selling. Marvel claimed last year that 2011 would be the year they abandoned that practice for #1 issues, and as of April, that is a promise that remains unkept.
There is a HERCULES SAGA that summarizes his Marvel history that seeks to justify the extra dollar, but can't Marvel learn from Image Comics and sell some issues at $3.50 instead? INCREDIBLE HERCULES was doing modestly well until Marvel decided to make the cover price $3.99, albeit with a back-up strip, and sales promptly slid, causing Marvel to have to continue the story as a series of mini-series. Marvel's stubborn refusal to learn is as rigid as some of the ancient gods they publish. At any rate, this is one of Marvel's best new relaunches of 2011; even better than VENOM #1 or FF #1 were. This is a fine chance for new Hercules fans to jump aboard, and for long time INCREDIBLE HERCULES fans, it is more of the same epic quality.
HEROES FOR HIRE #5: This series proves that writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning ("DnA") are not merely "space writers", but can apply their quality narrative to other areas of the Marvel Universe as well. This wraps up their opening arc for the latest relaunch of Marvel's "street heroes" franchise. Artist Robert Atkins continues to fill in for regular artist Brad Walker, with Rebecca Buchman on inks and Jay David Ramos on colors. After showing up on the cover of the debut issue last year, the Punisher finally arrives on the scene - unfortunately for Misty Knight and the rest of our heroes, he is being controlled by the Puppet Master, who stands revealed as the real motive behind this incarnation of the business. He has been controlling Misty Knight since the start of the series, utilizing her connections to mop up the streets as well as gain control over several other heroes (such as Moon Knight, Black Widow, and Falcon) via technological means. It is strange to see the Puppet Master not relying on his actual clay puppets this time, but it is good to see him up his game and apply newer tactics. Iron Fist and Paladin arrive to save Misty, but things naturally don't go to plan.
The issue introduces a romantic angle between Misty and Paladin which is a little out of left field, but perhaps that is why it is being deployed - the pair did team up for a bit in SHADOWLAND: BLOOD ON THE STREETS, but that has often been the extent of their relationship. Paladin is a womanizer, but the implication is that this could be deeper for him. Considering that Iron Fist has managed to rebound after breaking it off with Knight, it is fair that she be allowed to due likewise. The artwork is quite good, although Walker is still a better presence on the series. Sales for this series have not been strong, and with SPIDER-GIRL being canceled with issue eight, it will remain to be seen how much longer Abnett and Lanning will have to play around with their urban heroes. At any rate, it is terrific work that isn't to be ignored.
The art was lovely and the Avengers bits with Thor were good, though.
