Marvel Thoughts:
Captain America #31: Brubaker is God! That statement used to be for Slott; but, one person has been delivering one of the most complex, detailed stories since 2004, and that's Brubaker; and, the story is the first 31 perfect issues of Captain America. Since issue 1, where we witness the supposed death of the Red Skull, to today, with the death of Captain America, this story keeps adding layer upon layer, even in the face of Marvel's big events, like Civil War. (In fact, you can easily argue that Brubaker trumped anything we say in Civil War by making the real defining moment of that entire series Captain America #25.) This is not a book for the casual reader. Try to imagine reading this issue without knowledge of the first 30...it would be extremely confusing. The first 30 are "must buys;" so much so, those of us who have been with it since issue #1 have quite a nice little investment. All those first group of issues from 1-25 are quite pricey if you were to try and buy them on the online comic shops. Those readers are also knowing they are taking part in history...the definitive moment in Captain America's vast history. This title has never been better. Each of Marvel's main titles have the definitive years, like Daredevil with Frank Miller. This is Cap's. And, there have been numerous Red Skull vs. Captain America comics in the past....can you imagine what it's finally going to be like when Cap finally faces off with the Skull at the end of this enormous arc? It's going to be classic! And, yes, I know there isn't a real review of this particular issue...that's because to really enjoy the comic, you need to have the entirety of the series; this issue is more importantly part of a whole. 10/10
Captain America-The Chosen #3: This issue explains the visions of Captain America that Corporal James Newman has been seeing are part of a military experiment, where if Cap's physical body became useless, the power of his brain could be used to enter the minds of other people. Very well written, it combines Captain America to events that readers would see in the Middle East today. Books like this and Brubaker's Cap just shows a reader that a comic character who has become stagnant and uninteresting only needs a good writer to bring him to life. 9/10
Avengers Classic #5: I'm really trying to understand why of all the comics to reprint, why Marvel has chosen the earliest issues of Avengers. The issues themselves are almost comical now, and very dated. I don't see readers clamoring for these comics. At least the 8 page follow-up stories are decent. I've always prefered large, 100-page reprints, like the mid-90's comics, Spider-Man Megazine. In that, you'd not only get the earliest comics, but also some stuff from more recent issues. Anyway, in this issue you get the Avengers versus the Lava Men. Yep, even the early villians were rather lame. 5/10
Mighty Avengers #5: Yep, it's thought bubble time again. This issue, to me, seems a bit more Cho than Bendis, as they are co-"storytellers" of this comic. Less talk and more action...and, thankfully, less thought bubbles. (These bubbles don't help the story at all, and are even laughable. For example, why would Pym think, "There's a mythological God of War...in my face," acting shocked, when he's dealt with mythological gods quite a bit?) Not a great issue, especially when you compare it to better Marvel comics...but, it's much, much better than Bendis' New Avengers. There are just aspects of the book that rub me the wrong way...the way everyone stands around and talks while one person attacks; the thought bubbles; seeing Ares ride the Thor armor with one hand on his hip. By the time I always get to the last page, I'm always a little less than impressed. 7/10
Marvel Adventures Avengers #17: This issue gives us the Marvel Adventure's origin of Vision; and, while I'm giving it the same rating at Mighty Avengers, it's a more pleasing reading experience, mainly due to the fact you expect more from a main title, like Mighty Avengers, than you do from a Marvel Adventures title. In fact, this is one of the better M.A. Avengers issues, due to the fact that the writer doesn't throw a lot of sappy writing and bad jokes into the story. Each of the Avengers are paired up doing various leasure type activities at the beginning, only to have a large bolt of lightning hit Avenger's Tower. This causes a glitch in the system, leading to the creation of Vision. The problem is this creation has a program designed to eliminate all members of the Avengers. 7/10
Wolverine Origins #18: This is a hard issue to review, simply because I was bored throughout the entire thing. I found my mind wandering quite a bit, which is being the rule more than the exception with both Wolverine titles. They are simply crap that Marvel should be ashamed to be putting out. There are so many glaring holes in Marvel's revealing Logan's past, like why the hell all of these Marvel heroes wouldn't have told him about meeting him in the past and why someone of Xavier's ability couldn't find out information on someone who made himself so well known. (And, don't let the cover of this issue fool you; it shows Cap, Bucky, and Logan all fighting vast members of Hydra...yet, there isn't a single battle with them in this issue.) Marvel Adventures looks better all the time. 2/10
Terror, Inc. #3: The big reveal on the last page isn't unexpected, as the clues to who stole Terror's arm and wants his body wiped out are laced throughout this issue. Still, this is finally a Max title that's just as good as Max's Punisher series. (The last mini featuring Baracuda was beyond terrible, to the point of being racially offensive with its blatant stereotyping.) Terror's quest to save his life and retrieve his arm is mixed with awesome, brutal action and great dialogue. And, while not being as richly rewarding as a title, like Captain America, this comic is just fun. 9/10
Marvel Zombies #1: Those wacky, wild Marvel Zombies are back! And, at this point, that's pretty much what this franchise has turned into. The main group of Cosmic Zombies have been relegated to jokes. It's apparent with the interaction between Thanos and Hulk the trend will continue. At least the main action featuring Wakanda and the Acolytes bring things somewhat back to how readers first remember when we saw the Zombies appear in Ultimate Fantastic Four a couple years ago. This issue is much better than the recent Black Panther appearances; though, does pale compared to the original mini. It doesn't help that readers are being waaaay over-zombied by many different comics and Marvel appearances. In the end, the Cosmic parts of this issue would rate a 3/10 while the Wakanda portion would get a generous 8/0. For that fact, I rate this issue 6/10
Penance - Relentless #2: It must suck to be a Speedball fan. Luckily, I always hated that character; and, while the idea of Penance is rather ludicrous, I like it better than the bouncing baffoon he was before. In this issue, Penance's reason for escaping Osborn's facility becomes more obvious as he hunts down The Robot Master, Tony Stark makes him upmteenth appearance in a Marvel comic, and Norman Osborn looks more and more like Tommy Lee Jones. 7/10
Spider-Man Family #5: The first "lost tale" from Spidey's past features Dr. Strange and Morbius, The Living Vampire. I'm not sure where this story fits into the rest of Peter's previous appearances...but, it's at least before Aunt May knew Spider-Man's identity. It appears that in Morbius' attempt to cure his condition, he has stolen the abilities of Dr. Strange. Included is the classic Spidey wit and humor, along with a good use of "though balloons." (Maybe Bendis should be taking notes.) In the end, this story has a mild tie-in with current events in Spider-man's One More Day.
The second story is also from Spidey's past, featuring Kraven, two spoiled socialites, and Man-Wolf. Nice little story with a nice bit of humor from the two gals. After that, the third story is a reprint of Amazing Spider-Man #179, and the fourth a reprint, also featurning Dr. Strange, from Marvel Team-Up #21 (both better reprints than Avengers #5 from Avengers Classic). Finally, we have the usual ending story featuring Spider-Man J, this time with a new take on Elektra. I really can't stand Spider-Man J, and wish they'd just give another classic reprint than give us that garbage. (It's also kind of nice they didn't reprint an issue of Spider-Man 2099 again. It's not like those issues aren't rather easy to find.) Good issue, only brought down by that last story. 8/10
Well, that's 17 issues read today...only 12 more Marvel and DC issues to go, I believe: Birds of Prey, Checkmate, Justice League of America, Death of the New Gods, Brave and the Bold, M.A. Fantastic Four, Marvel Comics Presents, X-Men: Emperor Vulcan, New Excalibur, Treasure Island, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimate Fantastic Four.
