A decently large week to kick off November, but next week will be a REAL wallet buster, so I'll appreciate things while I can. Had a lot of big books this week, too.
As always, FULL spoilers. I hide nothing in the B/T. NO-THING!
Dread's Bought/Thought for 11/7/07:
ANNIHILATION CONQUEST: STARLORD #4: The best AC mini of the new launches comes to a finish, only Starlord himself doesn't save the day. Well, he helps, but the hero at the end is Gabe, the new Captain Universe. But that really doesn't matter, because the plot of the piece isn't as much fun as the characters themselves and reading their interplay with each other; stuff that Giffen has more than mastered. True, they escape from the Phalanx, Gabe sends the Uni-Force to literally infect one of the Phalanx scientists and learn the "cure" for their transmode virus from them, before using it to bust some tail. There's another showdown with some stuck-up Kree (are there any other kinds of Kree) and the rag-tag team manages to complete their mission (and only one of 'em, Deathbird, actually died), Gabe loses the Uni-Force (but gains some new cybernetic legs), and the team is freshly assembled for their next mission....when/if Giffen gets another few issues. NOVA was already an ongoing before AC started, and is the strongest selling of the bunch. But STARLORD was the best out of the mini's that were launched, and out of all of them has the best shot at being a great ongoing. That mixture of comradery and bickering is something Giffen works so well without having it get annoying or obnoxious. The art by Green II isn't bad, although he seems to work best with non-human figures than humans, oddly. The crew also manages to give the Kree a cure for the Transmode Virus that the Phalanx are using, so that should be key to surviving ANNIHILATION CONQUEST, right? One would think so, but they're not in the first issue, for some reason. Here's hoping.
Which leads us to...
ANNIHILATION CONQUEST #1: Abnett & Lanning start off on their core mini, taking the reigns from industry vet Keith Giffen. The question is whether or not they can pull off a sequel event that is as good as the original. Their one hurdle is there are clear expectations and standards now, as with any sequal. Another stumbling block is they have largely selected a new cast of characters in some regards; no Nova, for instance, or Drax or Silver Surfer. Starlord and his crew don't appear or are even mentioned in this first issue; granted, first issues are usually set-up, and this one does that, but also drops us in the thick of the action. Raney is on art with the same inking/coloring team that usually shadows Finch's work, and it spells some lovely visuals for the book; in some ways it looks grimier than DiVito, but still shiny enough in the right places that it makes the space feel of the past stuff (if that makes sense). Blastaar finds himself at the wrong end of the Phalanx and Phylla & Moondragon give a Cliff's Notes version of the event for Adam Warlock, as well as to any readers who forgot some stuff. Warlock is sans his Soul Gem, thanks to NA: THE ILLUMINATI #2, and the only hints of what occurred are from his ramblings about going insane with feeling the souls of the billions of dead from the Annihilation Wave. He sought to heal himself, but he was awakened too soon and isn't fully himself, despite Moondragon's psychic prods. Ronan, Super-Skrull, Wraith, and the Kree rebels they picked up in WRAITH head towards Ravenous' territory in the name of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend", and get blasted for their trouble; it was interesting seeing someone else draw Wraith. I immediately thought Adam Warlock stole Mary Marvel's new costume (only traded the skirt for long-johns), but in a NEWSARAMA interview, Abnett & Lanning (or DnA as they collectively go by; odd) claim that it was an homage to one of his past costumes, as well as the costume of his evil counterpart, the Magus, and that holds water, too. Naturally, the reveal of ULTRON as the big bad was given away about a week ago, but the reveal that wasn't was that Adam Warlock is apparently seeking the aid of the High Evolutionary, and the two have had history together. HE has been both sides of the fence; sometimes good, sometimes bad, but he is often one of those figures whose actions may seem "evil", but usually has some sort of metahuman goal to it, like enhancing evolution or whatnot, like a god figure (hence why even Thor has matched wits with him on occasion). Raney makes him look great, and that NEWSARAMA interview revealed that this takes place AFTER his turn in MIGHTY AVENGERS, although with multiple bodies or programming signals, Ultron could be in two places at once (or more). While some would have preferred Kang, it makes sense for Ultron to be leading a techno-organic race to remove organic essence as well as conquer, especially the Kree area that the Avengers have defended on occasion. Plus, it gets to stick it to Bendis a little, who turned Ultron into a sissy Nekkid Wasp with proclaims Love for Humanity and acts more like a PMS God than an andriod slayer. You're nobody until you try to take over the universe (or try to steal power from Beyonder, whichever comes first), and this helps elevate Ultron from merely an Earth supervillain into a major league bad-arse. And he needed it to erase the bucket of estrogen that Bendis gave him. Kang needs it too, but he's already big league, messing with time and the universe a few times. Way to go, Abnett & Lanning. I wished that Starlord'd made an appearence, and hopefully he and his crew end up with a big role, because Quasar II, Moondragon, and Wraith just aren't as cool as Nova, Drax, or Surfer were/are. It is good to see some different characters get a chance for some "Holy ****" moments, I just hope that a B-List cast won't effect the oomph of the story. But those are doubts for another time, and I was plenty thrilled with the art and story of this one. Adam Warlock's in a position for a clean slate into being a bad-arse, and Starlord's literally got the cure to the Phalanx about him. It is great seeing Raney on a book like this, with bonafide heroes and villains and a plot I can really get behind, instead of controversial ASM stories from JMS (or Magician issues of ULTIMATE X-MEN *shudder*). At this point, even if AC isn't as awesome as the original, I doubt it is going to suck and it will likely beat out a slew of terran based "events".
It would be awesome, though, if Ultron was undone by Rocket Raccoon. He'd never see it coming. Just like Dr. Doom and Squirrel-Girl.
ASTONISHING X-MEN #23 After almost three-and-a-half-years (AXM #1 shipped May 2004), Whedon & Cassaday's "two year story" is nearing it's conclusion. At first this launch was treated as the new X-flagship, as Morrison's X-Men had been. But due to perennial lateness, decompression and the general unwillingness of Whedon to do more than homage the 80's after the first few issues, this has become it's own separate entity. The only major things it has brought to the rest of the X-Line were new costumes for Cyclops, Wolverine, & Co., and a revived Colossus (and to another extent, Lockheed). However, only until recently have other books that ship more often been allowed to have this line-up. The lateness of the book isn't Whedon's fault, I am convinced; Cassaday has always been prone to delay, but it doesn't help when he not only does side-art for Top Cow, MAD Magazine, and LONE RANGER, but Marvel's editorial board yanks him to do some Avengers related one-shot as soon as the Avengers become "hot ****". But the decompression of the book IS Whedon's fault, and for the last 2-3 arcs, his pacing has been slow to the point that all are at least an issue too long, if not two. 2004 was the age of "6 issues or bust for any and every story", and Whedon's pace has quickened greatly in his RUNAWAYS issues, so he apparently has learned his lesson, albeit not enough to have sped up some of these issues once he wrote 'em. Whedon is a writer who tries to mingle everything into his scripts; adventure, soap opera stuff, and quite a bit of comedy. When it works, it works, and when it doesn't, it doesn't. This issue, though, works. It isn't perfect, but there is pretty much a 2-3 page sequence where Cyclops gets his cajones back, or at least demonstrates that he still has some without Emma Frost or some other damned psychic wench stroking his ego. The art is lovely and so is the pacing; it is pretty much Scott's "I AM MADE OF RAGE" moment. THIS is how to do a bad-ass Cyclops moment. It isn't having him ditch his blue condom suit for his equally ridiculous Morrison yellow jacket left over from the Jubilee collection. It isn't by having him refuse to shave or overcome mental illusions with a handgun, which would be the stupidest thing Whedon wrote in AXM had he not had Logan overcome brainwashing via a beer-can. Seriously, if you buy that baloney senerio, then you have to believe that no psychic illusionist could EVER fool The Punisher. No, having Cyke be a bad-ass is by having him survive torture until the perfect moment and then blasting Powerlord Kruun in the face with a blast that not only toasts him, but demolishes his HQ and, for giggles, frees Wolverine from his withstraints. The question, of course, is whether or not it was worth the build-up of about 3-4 issues, stretched out over about a year, of Cyclops doing nothing. For now I'll say it is. Whedon also does a flashback to issue #22, which if you don't recall it, was about 2 months back, claiming that whole dialogue sequence was a lie to fool Kruun, while the cast has psychic conversations. Now, I can't understand how a bunch of people can verbally have one conversation and psychically have a completely different one. I've heard of multi-tasking, but not even Superman could pull that off, yet it is fairly common in X-Lore. Of course, I never understood how Banshee and Siryn could use their sonic scream to fly or smash stuff WHILE talking without two throats/voiceboxes, either. Whedon didn't invent it with the X-Men, so I won't fault him. I DO get tired of pages devoted to the Breakworlders, because they are the flattest, most generic band of aliens since the Z'Nox. They're token warmongers with a token rebel movement, and it makes no sense that a commanding society that mauls or executes people for the smallest errors could have mastered extensive science techniques like reviving humans from death or traveling across the cosmos, because science by NATURE requires a lot of trial-and-error and all those scientists who made initial mistakes would have been killed by Kruun or his forefathers ages before. Not even Klingons were this bad. Now, I can sit back and not take these aliens so seriously, but it gets hard when they eat up so many pages. But, really, this issue works not only for a kick ass sequence, but because things are moving. Beast & Brand have figured out how Colossus is supposed to destroy the planet, the X-Men and their allies are moving into climax positions, and Scott has revealed his powers. Of course, SOMETHING has to happen in #24 to remove his control, because no other books have paid heed of Cyclops being able to control his blasts. But that doesn't matter to this isolated story. I liked this issue. But delays have killed a lot of this book's impact and it is a sheer travesty that it may stagger into 2008 due to that. If Ellis has any hope on this title, he had better understand the characters like Whedon does, and be willing to write a story that doesn't suck up to the Claremont years. I'd argue the X-Line really doesn't need this book past the Whedon/Cassaday run, but since when has Marvel put rationality before sales?
FANTASTIC FOUR #551: McDuffie's run has been fun and harmless so far, but lacked a bit of "oomph" so far, and this storyline is trying to add some. Unfortunately, it is a time travel story and it makes my brain hurt, especially since the way Marvel works, most time travelers are really reality-travelers, and the very act of going back in time creates some alternate reality. Anyway, the hook here is that Dr. Doom, Black Panther, and Namor from the year 2082 have traveled 75 years back in time to the present to prevent Mr. Fantastic from going through with one of his plans, which will lead to the end of the world as we know it. The Four, meanwhile, are on a high with their upteenth reunion, and are startled by the newcomers, especially Doom, whose mannerisms never instill confidence (especially in Invisible Woman). This also leads us to McDuffie's retcon contribution (it seems every writer has to retcon SOMETHING during his/her run on a book), which was this room that Reed has magically always had in the Baxtor Building for the past 13 (40+) years and has survived endless attacks, movings, removings, and curious teammates. It houses all his theories scribbled on walls and it was where he'd figured out that NOT aiding the SHRA forces would have mathmatically lead to chaos, which is a bit daffy, but makes more sense than some of what JMS was spouting. Reed's always surrounded himself with what I call "comic baloney science", so this fits in that. Apparently, his "plan #101" leads to him saving the world, but Sue leaving him and then Reed becomes distant and iron-fisted in his rule. This is hardly a new idea; WHAT IF? #1 literally had a similar plot, only the catalyst was Spider-Man joining the team circa ASM #1, and I am sure it has been done elsewhere. Anyway, Reed professes to "solve the problem"...by killing Future Namor. Um, no, Reed, that doesn't. Future Namor already HAD the affair with Sue. If you wanted to solve things by killing someone, you'd have to kill PRESENT Namor. Really, this is basic time travel logic. If Future Bob shows up and says, "yeah, you destroy the world because in like 50 years I steal your wife", then you kill Present Bob so Future Bob is altered or erased. Duh. Granted, that isn't the BEST way to handle things, and with Reed's behavior here, as well as in ILLUMINATI #5, I am wondering if he's either a Skrull, or The Brute with new stretchy powers (the Brute was Reed's evil alternate reality counter-part). Of course, considering how often Namor's hit on his wife, Reed's probably wanted to blast SOME version of him for a very long time. As usual, Pelletier's art is solid and I am interested enough to continue giving this a go. I also like Future Doom's design; tunics are for D&D players.
IMMORTAL IRON FIST #10: This is a set up issue, but it is one of those issues, that Brubaker has become proficient in, where the title character doesn't appear, but you hardly notice because the story is so riveting and the supporting characters are able to carry things; of course, Matt Fraction has a hand in this, too. The cover is great and naturally, Aja's the perfect fit for the present day scenes. As Rand is busy in IIF ANNUAL #1 fighting off Hydra agents, Dog Brother #1 battles Bride-of-9-Spiders, and gets his rear kicked off panel. In an interview, Brubaker explained the rules of the tournament better so now I understand it; the tourney goes along until there is one unbeaten fighter, and all of the fighters who have been beaten engage in a "royal rumble" as it were, until the winner of THAT melee battles the champ. Naturally it looks set up so Rand will win that brawl and then fight Davos, and hopefully that DOES happen because stretching out their rivalry past issue #12 or #13 will get irksome, but the trick is the ride getting there. K'un L'un sents out warriors to go fetch Rand, while Hydra gets closer to drilling into the mystical city and starts wasting villagers. And between all that, more flashbacks with Davos and Rand's father, reframing their rivalry for fans not as well versed in it (as well as elaborating on stuff that was exposition back in the 70's-80's. Orson's daughter and Lei-Kung the Thunderer also get some good scenes. And Prince-of-Orphans remains all mysterious. I can't picture the book without Aja and Brubaker/Fraction have this sort of collective genius on this book where their best talents combine on it, and I can't recall a better run for Iron Fist. It doesn't sell terribly well, BUT it's sales have remained steady and level for the past 3-4 issues, with even the annual pulling nearly as many readers as the core issues, which is a good sign (especially since the annual was literally like an issue #9.5). 35k isn't the highest number to have, but what kills books are sales that can't hold steady, and IIF has, which means it has some sort of devoted fanbase. That is good, because this is one of Marvel's best books and runs on a character who has needed it for about a generation, and I don't want it ending anytime soon. And it is proven by an issue that can be suspenseful without a single appearence from the main character.
MYSTIC ARCANA: SISTER GRIMM #1: The Mystic Arcana thing, in terms of sales, has been a misfire, all but vanishing from the Top 100. The story seems broken up into one-shots yet connected, and people who only buy the theme they want, instead of all, are a little lost. It offers a solo Nico from RUNAWAYS story by Cebulski, former editor of RUNAWAYS vol. 1, with art by Noto. It isn't a break-out tale but it is entertaining for a one-shot thing, noting down the hooks of Nico's character (aside for her ability to kiss everyone) and has her battle yet another shadow from her parents' past. She doesn't exactly win, but he survives and walks off to rejoin her new family, which is appropriate for the tale. It also shows that Cebulski, with more of the cast and a capable artist, could probably pen RUNAWAYS himself, although he won't get the chance for the near future. It is bemusing to me that the book is titled by Nico's codename, which she hasn't used personally for over two years in real time. The overarching story is kid mage Ian McNee, who seems to look like a cross between Harry Potter and John Lennon, collecting these magical artifacts, and ends up nearly unleashing the great demon Chthon. I understood some of the bits thanks to my knowledge and Handbooks, but I found myself not really caring too much. Unlike ANNIHILATION, which actually made me jazzed for space heroes, MA hasn't done much to try to get me to be a magic lover. BKV's THE OATH did more.
