Short but good week. As always, full spoilers. Reviews also up at Examiner.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 10/21/09:
INVINCIBLE #67: And as quickly as it began, the 2 issue art run by series co-creator Cory Walker is at an end. Considering Ryan Ottley used the time to co-draw a few issues of HAUNT in the meanwhile, the break likely came in handy. This issue and last don't have Invincible in them, but stuff is so good he hasn't been missed. Robert Kirkman catches up with Nolan and Allen in space, stocking up for their war against the Viltrumites. While there are "less than 50 pure blood Viltrumites" left in the universe, CONQUEST showed us how tough just one of them could be to us Earthlings. Nolan and Allen have sought out the gun of Space Racer, only the Racer isn't exactly dead, or in a pleasant mood after being buried in a space rock for a century. Fortunately, he decides to join the alliance and the new dynamic duo continue to assemble weapons, from a strange toxin to fighting invulnerable monsters and whatnot. In the meantime, Nolan crashes on Allen's couch, to the chagrin of his gal pal. In the end, the alliance leader Thadeus (also a Viltrumite like Nolan) reveals that the source of the plague that so thinned their species ranks was him, and he won't hesitate to try a second, deadlier strain if need be, even if it means their end.
After 58 issues of Ottley's art, it was jarring to see Walker again for many and some INVINCIBLE fans even complained. To them I say that Walker's art has more than improved since his first seven issues of INVINCIBLE. He's also the co-creator of the franchise, the Steve Ditko of INVINCIBLE if you will, and is welcome in my eyes to draw however many issues or covers he wants. Besides, to date he's fully drawn about nine issues of INVINCIBLE, and Ottley will be back, so no fretting, he's still the INVINCIBLE king.
The beauty of the issue is the sheer amount of subplots that Kirkman picks up that had been dangling for, let's face it, maybe over three years. Space Racer was mentioned way back in the second HC and that was about issue #13 or before, I think. Kirkman also mentions his first canceled Image series, TECH JACKET, and gets that character's universe intertwined into INVINCIBLE after one mere cameo several years ago. Considering it was about a teenager stumbling onto some alien battle armor, I say it is about time it got intertwined with INVINCIBLE, which is often all about aliens. The final bits of Nolan's origin and history of the Viltrumites is padded out as well. It has taken a while to drop these hints, but I felt this issue was satisfying enough, and promises a lot more for the next year or so of the series. It also lightened the mood considerably from the end of CONQUEST, which is probably the point of it. Change the venue, bring back some humor with the adventures, have Walker give Ottley a rest, and then come back refreshed. The cover to the next issue has Invincible fighting a new enemy, and that's what he needs, some decent new villains who last a while.
I've enjoyed these two issues. Nolan and Allen are cool characters, and get along well together. Earth needed some time to rebuild and this was a good way to wrap things up as well as move things along for the big Viltrumite War that Kirkman has been hinting about for years. In the letters page, Kirkman comments on the recent news that ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN will be ending with issue #25, which is six months from now (if all issues remain on time; issue #19 quietly skipped a month despite Kirkman's "on time in '09" vow) due to creative decisions rather than sales. More on that with AW-M #20. But it does make one wonder if Kirkman has an ending for INVINCIBLE in sight. And if so, how big a bang it would go out on. Hopefully it's not for a good long while.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #30: After a little break last issue, Dan Slott is back co-writing this run alongside Christos Gage for one of the most exciting chapters yet of his run, now 10 issues old (or about 11 if you count the REQUIEM one-shot, which was mostly reprints with about 8 pages of new material). The Unspoken menace is now at the fore with the Loki subplot backing off for the moment, and Avengers new and old must unite to stop it. This beacons back to the Busiek era of AVENGERS, when the series had a sense of flair and grandeur beyond the earth's mightest heroes fighting ninja or symbiotes while talking to TV sets. Sean Chen takes over for art from Khoi Pham, last seen in DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR and the first 7-8 issues of NOVA. He does a splendid job with all the various heroes, with Unspoken himself and with the scenery. If he has any flaws, it is in drawing those effected by Unspoken's gas who have become Alpha-Primitives. Pham made them look like Neanderthal monsters; there is no difference in Chen's figures and only the "growling" dialogue sets them apart. It takes some of the drama away from some panels, especially as the Barnes New Cap locks up against the Alpha-Primitive Walker. Considering, for some reason, everyone's complaints about Pham's art, I felt here was one major area he did better than Chen. I also feel Pham's artwork is fine (and, again, he was the artist before Slott got aboard; he drew a few of Bendis' SECRET INVASION issues), even though I also like Chen.
Slott and Gage go to some familiar territory, as Stature assembles various Avengers into one massive squad. Her allies the Young Avengers, as well as about half of the New Avengers (with Clint acting like an ideal leader, which he is, having led the West Coast roster as well as the Thunderbolts for periods of time; why he would relinquish that to Luke Cage of all people just smacks of Bendis' favoritism), and finally many of the "Avengers Resistance" from AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE (aside for Gauntlet, all of the members who actually were Avengers, namely Justice, Rage, and Tigra). They all finally make it into China to help Quicksilver out, but the Xenogen mists of Unspoken prove too strong for many of them. Hercules and Amadeus Cho launch their own "Hail Mary" style attack, only to find it'll hardly be easier.
The issue is all but stolen by the Hank Pym segment. Having "grown" into the Macroverse (the reverse of the Microverse, which works in comic book logic), he's now standing face to face with Eternity, who usually meets Dr. Strange. Much like nearly everyone at Marvel, Eternity has dismissed Brother Voodoo as the new Sorcerer Supreme and still acts as if Stephan is, much as Thor does, or the Avengers, or anyone who counts, really. Here Slott & Gage make their biggest pitch for Pym being "cool" and there are moments where it feels heavy handed, but as it is Eternity speaking, it makes some sense. The gist is he "chooses" Pym as "the Scientist Supreme" and overcomes Pym's own objections by claiming that Reed is "the explorer" and Stark is "the engineer" (when he isn't lobotomizing himself in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN), but Pym is apparently "the mage" of science, bringing it closer to magic than the others. I suppose that means that while Reed might be smarter, and Stark better at building things, Pym is the one with the artistic imagination (and as many artists are, has some emotional "quirks" to himself; I mean look at Van Gough). Considering many comic book scientists overlap and do whatever the plot desires, I thought this was a good way to single Pym out as distinct without stepping on the toes of the other two. It also ties into past issues of the run, especially the first few when Pym feels lowly compared to Iron Man as well as uses his science against the magic of Chthon.
I can't see the "middling" tone that others criticize the book for. If it has any problem, it is that it is divorced from the sought of hyperventilating angst and inter-comic DARK REIGN story that defines NEW AVENGERS and DARK AVENGERS. It doesn't have Marvel stroking the book like the company does for Bendis even if he devotes 55 pages to superheroes shouting at a TV report and calls it an adventure. I care about this a lot more than I cared about everyone flying in to punch Dr. Doom in the head when Bendis wrote this title. Not every book has to break it's back bending backwards to be "kewl". Unspoken is a perfectly viable threat to the Avengers; if he has any flaw, it is that modern audiences, and sometimes writers and editors, have no tolerance or patience for new creations, often wanting them dead or gone immediately, forgetting that the "classics" only got that way through sheer use and tenacity. If Marvel amped him as much as they amped, say, Purple Man when Bendis tapped him, or Hood, there'd be more buzz. I don't care about buzz so long as the adventure is solid, which it is for me. This is what I want to see in a book that calls itself AVENGERS, not Mockingbird narrating like a ghetto thug and everyone talking to a wall.
There is always time for some comedic interludes, such as the "attempt" to recruit the Dark Avengers (and Osborn's reply), and almost every line that Cho has. These characters just seem more lively and real right now, quips and all, than when Bendis writes them with dripping angst that repeats the last four words of the line prior. The line prior? The line prior. Every time? Every time. And so on. Slott & Gage don't do that. They actually WRITE.
There just seems to be something so right about new and old Avengers coming together for some big adventure, with Spider-Man and Wolverine not among them, and things getting done. The last panel seems to promise Pym being the hero of the tale, and I can't wait for the climax. Still won't call him "Wasp", though. The Scientist Supreme doesn't need a woman's name!
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #19: The moral of this 12 issue tale is you two can prevail over the most powerful man in America by having efficient lady friends and giving yourself brain damage, then allowing yourself to be beaten to a pulp on live TV.
This is the final part of WORLD'S MOST WANTED, and while the last few issues were solid, in hind-sight the tale could have probably cropped down an issue or two, or maybe even four, and probably been little worse for ware. This issue is an extra buck in price, but also delivers an extra ten story pages, so you get your money's worth. The story comes to a head while setting up the next arc, just as a serial series should.
Potts rescues Hill and Widow and manages to accomplish the task of shorting out the Stark Tech that Osborn & HAMMER stole, making it useless or at least spotty (aside for the Iron Patriot armor itself). Stark, meanwhile, has destroyed his stock-pile of labs and given himself enough brain damage that any secrets that Osborn wanted from him are effectively gone. While Stark gets his tin cased rear kicked in something nasty by Osborn, he's won the war, at least for now. The airing of the beating on TV has Osborn nearly caught in a Rodney King style PR coup, and he naturally recovers whatever sanity he has and takes Stark alive. Fraction naturally is rather good at writing Osborn, having him shift from cunning to sadistic. The only blemish is that if the public has accepted a convicted multi murderer and terrorist, as well as organized crime boss, as an unelected president simply because he shot an alien in the face, and completely turned against "true" heroes who have been honest since day one, why would anyone fret if he executed Stark? It's like making Ted Bundy a general and then gasping if he kicked a puppy on camera. On the other hand, of course, the public loves an underdog, and I guess Stark has some good name left.
Potts and the ladies really prove themselves here; in a way this comic has become the opposite of many others. The ladies are not damsels in distress while the male hero is the one who gets pummeled and needs to be rescued. The issue ends with Dr. Donald Blake, Thor, responsible for Stark in the hospital after his coma, which sets up the next arc. It should be interesting. While I would say that a character known for his genius giving himself a lobotomy is perhaps a step way in the wrong direction, perhaps it is penance for all of his "sins" in CIVIL WAR and THE INITIATIVE. Fraction perhaps imagines himself akin to Brubaker in CAPTAIN AMERICA, who can tell a 12 chapter story and have it all be taut, and while he comes close, he isn't there yet.
Still, 19 issues without a delay from the same creative team on art, Larroca and D'armata is very impressive. It's not the best book I read, but still a damn good one.
I want to read!
Funny stuff. 
