Short week, but a pretty good one overall. The comic reviews won't be in alphabetical order this time, hopefully that isn't a major concern.
As always, spoilers are unleaded.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 4/29/09:
ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #15: Robert Kirkman's latest ongoing series at Image is apparently selling quite well by Image's standards; sales have reportedly increased for the last few months, although it reportedly doesn't sell as well as WALKING DEAD or INVINCIBLE (which sold a little over 15.5k sales in March 2009, less than 2k below CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13) and Kirkman seems assured that the title will last at least until issue #25, which is good. Hopefully it will last longer. It works as a nice counter-series to INVINCIBLE, involved in the same universe but offering a story that is darker and more involved with the supernatural, as opposed to the science & aliens of INVINCIBLE. The issue also ties into "The Invincible War" in INVINCIBLE #60, but it isn't for more than a few obligatory pages. Nothing major if you're one of those unique people reading this and not INVINCIBLE.
Gary, a.k.a. Wolf-Man, is still in Stronghold prison, having been wrongly convicted of murdering his wife (who was slain by the vampire Zechariah). Having formed a deal with "The Face", the little boss who runs the prison who is somehow akin to nearly every single "real boss of a prison" you have ever seen in terms of personality, Gary had his inhibitor collar removed, only for him to become Wolf-Man out of his control. He tears through some guards and some of the Face's muscle. The Face himself is actually this deformed guy who has two faces merged into one, with three eyes; the third in the middle fires a powerful energy blast. Wolf-Man is eventually overcome by security and it is revealed that since Gary "missed" several full moon transformations, the "rage" had built up and had to be unleashed immediately. The Face actually accepts Gary's story and is willing to give him a third chance to help free him from prison, perhaps showing desperation. Naturally, then the Invincible War happens and the "Mohawk Invincible" from some other reality tears through the prison. Wolf-Man sacrifices an easy escape to make sure Thrill-Kill doesn't flee, although he is TKO'd by Powerplex (Invincible's newest enemy). It turns out that Gary has been serving as a "mole" for Cecil Stedman, willing to warn him about the Face's plans for a chance at a favor. Cecil is still convinced of Gary's innocence and gives him a fake collar to keep appearances. Cecil, though, has always worked in a shade of gray, willing to employ the murderous Darkwing and the Reanimen technology, after all. The issue ends with Zech seeming to grant Chloe's wish from last issue, storming the prison with his vampirized team of heroes to try to get at Gary. A showdown in issue #16 seems forthcoming.
This was a pretty good build-up issue to #16, and it didn't feel like filler at all. While I don't expect Wolf-Man to be in prison forever, Kirkman has managed to make it work well as a story element for the last two issues, even if he plays up to some cliches that will be obvious to anyone who has seen a prison movie or five minutes of OZ. Kirkman's appeal is often in his execution rather than his originality, and on that Wolf-Man continues to please.
Jason Howard's art seemed really on in this issue. He has always been great on this series, but this issue just seemed stronger. Even Mohawk Invincible looked excellent. The colors are as dynamic as ever. Just a solid put together issue, as usual. The Gary vs. Zech battle should be intense.
NOVA #24: One issue away from reaching the 25 issue threshold of the late 70's, which was the longest solo run Nova ever had on an ongoing title that wasn't a team book. This volume is sure to surpass that mark greatly and deservably so. For me, this and CAPTAIN AMERICA usually are tied in a deadlock for my favorite Marvel comic (with CB&MI-13 and probably iHerc tied for second). It is a WAR OF KINGS crossover issue but honestly it follows the main story more than the event and unlike last issue, which may have been a tad awkward without two GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY issues, this one stands alone well. Much as the cover suggests, Gladiator and the Imperial Guard take on the fledgling Nova Corps, and it doesn't end well.
In terms of sales, NOVA sold over 26k in March 2009, which is actually up from where it was selling from Dec. 2008 to Feb. 2009. WAR OF KINGS is likely boosting it in the short term (as WAR OF KINGS #1 sold quite well, nearly 60k), which is a positive sign. NOVA has proven to be a steady book; it sold no fewer than 28k for about 12 months and while it slipped to 25k, stayed there for about three months before this latest uptick. It has a small but steady audience for this run, akin to RUNAWAYS during Vaughan's tenure in it's second volume. At this point I expect the book to last up to issue #35 at least, unless either something goes horribly wrong or Abnett & Lanning leave. Even at this issue, NOVA will last past two years without a relaunch, which has suddenly become an amazing feat. Neither ROGUE or GAMBIT or even NIGHTCRAWLER could support books that lasted past two years about 3-4 years back.
Despite the jaw dropping cliffhanger of issue #23, with Wendell Vaughan handing Richard Rider his Quantom Bands, thus turning him into Quasar to save his life from cellular brakedown (as his body was too used to having Nova Force powering it) is only the subplot of the issue. The crux of the issue focuses on the Nova Corp's first large scale battle of WAR OF KINGS, trying to repell the Shi'ar Empire from a Kree planet, Nil-Rast, rich in natural resources. The Nova Corps have determined that Vulcan violated galactis non-aggression treaties via invasions and slaughtering diplomats, and unlike the Guardians of the Galaxy, are firmly anti-Vulcan here. Much of the issue is from the POV of one of the new Nova's, Suki Yumiko, who I believe was introduced on Andrea DiVito's first or second issue on art as a receptionist in Japan. Much as with most of the new Corps, she was "drafted" along with dozens of other Earthlings en masse by Worldmind and shoved into this war. Robbie Rider, meanwhile, is frustrated about being stuck in a "technician" role alongside Qubit and Irani. There still is some sibling rivalry here, he was happiest and more aggressive when he was on missions with the other five Centurions, but now that he is tasked with a "Nova Tech Support" position, that rivalry is coming back. To contrast Robbie and Suki is another minor Centurion, Josh Atwater, who sees the battle as akin to a video game and doesn't take it entirely seriously until it is much too late.
As the battle continues, though, Robbie experiences how scared and inexperienced Suki (and through her, others) in this conflict, and no amount of downloaded data-files or endorphine releases will change that. Robbie himself had more combat experience than many of the Centurions currently out in the field, brief as it was. While Qubit theorizes that Robbie has a crush on Suki, Robbie explains that they're basically holding the hands of inexperienced soldiers thrown into a war that isn't their's. Suki reacts as a Centurian from Norway is obliterated in front of her and backs up Tarcel, the Shi'ar Nova Prime. He clearly is a loyalist of Lilandra, not Vulcan, and wants to return her to the throne. Suki watches Tarcel's flank and kills a soldier on instinct, but just when it seems the battle is over, it naturally becomes much worse. The Shi'ar troops fall back and give space for the Imperial Guard, and they mop the floor with the Centurions.
Everyone sort of poo-poo'd the idea of the Inhumans losing to the Imperial Guard in WAR OF KINGS #1, perhaps because they had been "nerfed" by the X-Men several times in the past, but they are supposed to be akin to a team powerful enough to rival DC's Legion of Superheroes. It may have taken four of them to defeat Ronan the Accuser, but they still defeated him. Gladiator may have needed an assist to flatten Black Bolt, but flatten he did. Here, Gladiator can literally fly THROUGH a standard Nova Centurion and obliterate him like nothing. Tarcel takes him on and Gladiator practically beats him with one punch and a choke-hold. The Nova Cohorts are literally forced to surrender to the Shi'ar, and Tarcel is led away as a POW. Suki and her squad are left at the mercy of Strontian (Kallark's "cousin" from KINGBREAKER, basically the Supergirl to his riff of Superman, only crazier), and she has none. Robbie practically hears her last words. It was pretty powerful.
Suki isn't quite Ko-Rel in terms of development; Ko-Rel had two issues before being axed off, but she was intended to serve her purpose as being an "average" person thrown into the situation and not being able to cope well, and being at the mercy of the situation (which proved to be merciless). Surprise surprise, Richard's fear that just empowering a bunch of Centurions and throwing them at a conflict would lead to mass slaughter proved correct, and Richard only had to experience such a thing TWICE in his tenure to come to that conclusion. Later solicts claim that Robbie goes missing, and it may be that either he gets lost amidst the conflict to come between Richard and "Worldmind", or he flies off to aid the Centurions somewhere.
Richard, or rather Quasar III, is having to adjust to the quantum energy as well as owing Wendell for his life. With Wendell replacing Worldmind as "the helpful voice in his head", albeit with more anxiety, Richard approaches Ego in Kree space, doing another mass recruit job (likely to replace the Earthling Centurions that were just slaughtered). Using the bands to create energy duplicates of himself, Richard seems to have more imagination with them than Phyla Vell did so far. Much as with last issue, the final page is a cliffhanger, and an even bigger one. Apparently Ego wasn't lobotomized by Worldmind; Ego has BECOME Worldmind, and sets about trying to end Richard's life with the cosmic being's attack of choice, an energy beam.
This does complicate things. Worldmind claimed that it has started recruiting Centurions one at a time for months in Richard's sleep several issues ago; it tapped Ego presumably in that same time-span, with him docking with Earth after the Skrull Invasion. This seems to imply that Ego has been running the show at least for the last several issues now. While it may not have chosen to become Nu Xanadar, Ego seems intent on running the show, and naturally the lives of Centurions are mere pawns to the Living Planet. I also liked that Richard acknowledged that Wendell had battled Ego before. Ego has rarely been a lightweight, being capable of challenging the Fantastic Four, Thor, and the Silver Surfer, so the next issue ahead should have quite a conflict.
Yes, the issue rips off the Green Lanterns a bit with Richard's glowing Quasar emblem, but really now, that is a moot point. The Quantum Bands are themselves a variant on DC's Green Lantern rings, and the Nova Corps themselves came a near decade after the Green Lantern Corps were established; therefore, it really shouldn't be a surprise. Marvel and DC have copied from each other for ages now. I always say, at least do it right, and that is what Marvel does. Heck, in some ways, their version of space stuff is a bit less static; the Nova Corps are not universally accepted, they started as the personal army of a single planet that grew to embrace universe peacekeeping, kind of like space NATO (or, even, the U.S. military, which often has gone into peace-keeping roles in other nations despite being a distinct U.S. entity, for good or ill). The quantum bands and the "protector of the universe" title was something else entirely. Then you even throw in the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, made up of various alien warriors who still serve the Shi'ar even if they occassionally made aid another planet. It's a bit more dynamic than a council of know-it-all blue midgets telling the universe who to respect, and most of the universe complies. So some overlap is natural.
DiVito's art is rock solid on this, as expected. DiVito drew the original ANNIHILATION after all, and rocked hard on that, too. Bruno Hang's color work is also quite well, matching the pencils well.
What more is there to say? Another great issue that leaves you anticipating another great issue to come in a month. Richard "Nova/Quasar" Rider continues to be one of Marvel's greatest characters right now, and Abnett & Lanning continue to master their execution of writing the Marvel Space Saga while almost making it look easy, which is a show of skill. While revealing Ego the Living Planet as the seeming mastermind takes some "blame" from Worldmind itself, it should lead to quite a riveting conclusion issue. Que Stan Bush's "YOU GOT THE TOUCH" because it looks like Richard Rider will be stepping up again against one of the universe's perennial trouble-makers.
Up Next: DARK REIGN: THE CABAL #1 (of one)
Bendis actually did a good job playing up Sentry's threat level. And here I thought he hated Bob like he hates Strange.
heart: Connor)
