Bought/Thought for 6/17/09: Part Two
CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 #14: A dead book walking; July's issue fifteen calls it a series for Cornell & Kirk's U.K. hero opus. It wasn't the first time the British superhero team book had been relaunched in the last five years, but it has been the best (and the only one without Chris Claremont). At the very least, it is going out with a bang, pitting the team against their greatest threat ever, Dracula.
As some predicted, last issue's seeming on panel deaths were all a bit of a ruse; apparently much as Pete Wisdom was willing to unleash a horde of demons (including Lilith, who is now working with Dracula) to defeat the Skrulls at the start of the series, he is willing to offer Plokta freedom in exchange for entrapping Dracula in one of his "dream rooms". After two days, Dracula catches on and frees himself, but by now MI-13 has gained additional time to engage their counter-attack. Even the immortal vampire lord himself is dismayed and disoriented from the trick. In addition to that, Spitfire has been there as a deep mole, faking being controlled enough to fool Dracula, although to the point where she had to kill an innocent person, a fact she regrets. Slightly less effective is a cameo by Killpower, of the 90's MARVEL U.K. series MOTORMOUTH. He's also seemingly turned into a vampire by Dracula, but as he was created with a mixture of magic and science by Mys-Tech I believe, he also is immune to total enslavement. I barely even knew who Killpower was, and he just seemed a bit superficial.
At the snap of a code-word from Captain Britain, the attack on Dracula's flying pirate ship begins. While Brian is unable to beat Lilith, Black Knight manages to quickly beat Captain Fate in a duel of the cursed swords, a duel I was eager to see and satisfied with. Spitfire rips up Dracula a bit, but Dr. Hussein (Faiza's dad) ends up getting separated from Killpower, and they are unable to save him as planned. He, too, is a vampire. Irritated and convinced that this is Britain's last gasp, Dracula prepares an immediate assault when suddenly, Dr. Doom delivers his trump card; Meggan.
I liked the bit how Dracula was hardly thrilled with Doom's "gift" of a "hostage", knowing full well that Doom only acts to shore up his own interests, and any gift from him "is a sword without a hilt". Yeah, this isn't the slobbering sod being smacked around by Marquis of Death or Manicure of Leather or whatever his name is in FF. It is clear that the annual was perfectly positioned between issues #13 and #14, as an "extra" issue of the series. Having been an empathic metamorph, her time in hell has made her assured of who she is. Is she capable of beating Dracula now? Or is she there to give Brian the extra motive he needs to tear Dracula apart? His powers are based on will, after all.
Kirk and Syaf share art chores, and they have two inkers, which at least hints at some rush to meet deadline. At any rate, the art is as consistant as it usually has been for the series. The tease at the end of issue #13 works well and should work better in a collective read through. It is ironic that issue #15 is apparently titled, "Hope and Glory", since this book really has none. At the very least, 16 issues of material is more than some canceled titles that I always mention. AGENTS OF ATLAS doesn't even have 16 issues worth of stories yet. That said, this has been a smart and clever team book that worked well with it's alternate setting, and it is a shame it didn't catch on. At least it seems set to end on a bang.
DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #4: Serving as prelude to Johnathon Hickman's upcoming run on the FF title proper, this series has struggled under a bit of middling. The last issue and a half in essence felt very tacked on, with the bits where Ben, Sue, and Johnny spiral across alternate realities screaming page-filler. Thankfully, that ends in this issue, and the last part will actually deliver on the premise, of the FF vs. a "Dark Reign" threat, rather than the last 3-4 issues of "Reed doing an experiment that goes haywire, time is wasted". Stan & Jack might have done this in two chapters, max. The Pasqual Ferry cover is good and Chen is as reliable as ever on the artwork.
Probably the thing I have enjoyed the most out of Hickman's issues is the way he writes the two kids, Val and Franklin. Most writers, or at least Millar and sometimes Slott, play whole hog with the idea of Val being a young uber genius and Franklin being a "normal", almost borderline dumb kid (Millar). Which, considering his secret powers and adventures, seems underwhelming. Hickman has his own twist on it. While Val is the one with the brains, Franklin often brings on the spunk. He is defensive of his little sister, and is daring enough to take on Norman Osborn with a Spidey mask and dart-guns. In fact it seems the entire ruse to distract Osborn and irritate him is Franklin's. This works better than him simply being Val's Ron Stoppable.
Reed Richards deactivates The Bridge, his device that he was using to analyze all realities in the multiverse to try to figure out why his family's life has become so haywire, with CIVIL WAR and then the Skrulls. His conclusion is that he was to passive and too willing to maintain a status quo versus being more assertive in solving the world's problems. And here I would have blamed it on him being a jerk and the Skrull's massive infiltration of Earth by the time Civil War started, thus making sure it went down worse than it had to be, but what do I know? At any rate, the malfunction that caused the rest of the Four to be flung across time thus ends, and they converge to deal with the threat of Osborn and Venom threatening the kids. Cue double page splash cliffhanger.
I've said it before, and I will say it again; out of all the Dark Avengers to bring along with him for this, Venom was the poorest choice. Human Torch controls one of his weaknesses, and Reed likely has no end of sonic weapons, having battled Venom and symbiotes before. There is no way Venom should last more than a few pages. Ares would have been a safer choice. Bad call, Man-Purse. On the upside, I did like how Chen's artwork had Gargan shift from a black costume Spider-Man to Venom in a second. And you have to admire what an obvious maniac Osborn is, gleefully shooting at kids with a revolver from barely two yards away. How is anyone fooled that this guy is a hero? Marvel citizens are friggin' ******s. He makes Snidely Whiplash look nuanced.
Having finally gotten to the point, my major feeling of the mini remains the same. It is a fine little arc, but was at least 1-2 issues too long. That said, I do like how Hickman handles some of the characters, and as a "sketch" of his upcoming FF run, one has reason to be optimistic. I am curious how Reed gets around the technicality of Osborn deciding on a whim the Four are no longer registered. They willing to go underground?
DARK REIGN: YOUNG AVENGERS #2: The actual Young Avengers get something to do here, but the stars of the book are clearly the "Young Masters" characters that Cornell & Brooks have created, and I still question if that is wise. The YA themselves are not in any way over-exposed. In fact they RELY on a token 5-6 issue mini a year to get ANY sort of development, large or small. Stature has an in with MIGHTY AVENGERS, and occasionally Patriot has a Brubaker Cap comic, but beyond that, nada. I don't think now is the time when they can play second fiddle in their own series.
This also smells a little of decompression, but Cornell manages to work in some quirky dialogue and bits so it still comes off as entertaining. Apparently the REAL Young Avengers have caught wind of impostors using their name, and, mindful of the irony, arrange to meet with them to make sure things are on the level. A quick and obligatory fight ensues, with some of the Masters, namely Big Zero, more than eager to fight anything. It was cute that Egghead was literally being turned on by Vision; the schlub's a walking vibrator, really. Enchantress, with her "lisp", is a powerful enough mage to disturb Wiccan and calls and end to the battle. Speed, in his first subplot EVER of his own, appears to have met Coat of Arms in juvie.
At first assuming that Osborn is officially running this new group, Coat of Arms admits she is merely "inspired" by Osborn into running the team as a big "art" experience. She sees Green Goblin as a bit of a homocidal artist, which reminds me of BATMAN, circa 1989, with Burton's vision of the Joker. Way to be current, Cornell. I guess in comics, twenty year old references are newer than some. At first gushing over meeting Osborn in person, he snaps at her when she shows him some Green inspired artwork, which she saw as "him putting on his Goblin act for me" and inspiring her to collect her merry band of freaks. Big Zero is a hopeless aggressive bigot, with Egghead her robotic pawn. Melter seems the most genuine, but he is easily controlled by Enchantress. And it turns out that Executioner is apparently the son of Princess Python, who apparently has recovered the HELL up since she was blind and washed up in PUNISHER: WAR ZONE last year. But, wait, does that mean the Gibbon is Executioner's step-father? No wonder the guy's disturbed and violent. What an obscure set of parents! Still, it works I guess.
Some of the Young Avengers, meanwhile, feel hypocritical since they didn't like when the adult Avengers pushed them around way back when, as well. While Speed has the subplot, the rest of them are just there, though. Tommy may end up getting the most to do here out of them (which isn't much), and he likely needs it.
Brooks' art is solid as usual. A little too familiar with faces, but so is Mark Bagley. He's vibrant with young characters and the colors pop. Still, I can't shake the feeling that this book is trying too hard to be quirky, it reaks of an effort to not be seen as mundane or generic. While I am not saying it is bad, what I am saying is one can tell when someone/something is trying too hard. Cornell seems more comfortable with CAPTAIN BRITAIN than he is with YOUNG AVENGERS. Granted, once this is over he will have written six issues of material; hardly an extensive run.
It's obvious that the Masters will be corrupted and become antagonists regardless of solicits. I suppose telling the story from their POV is a little gutsy, but the Young Avengers need some focus, too. It's not a bad mini, but $4 an issue seems a bit much for this one. But, may as well buy it this way; the trade will only cost an extra nickel collectively.
DESTROYER #3: Kirkman & Walker continue on their mega-violent MAX imprint exploits of the original Destroyer going on his last run. His daughter having been kidnapped by his arch nemesis Scar, his son in law "Turret" dons his own costume and the duo are reunited. Destroyer wears his mask for most of this issue so you forget the intentional or not fact that Walker sure makes him look like John McCain. Accidentally or not, the first (almost) positive depiction of a Republican figure in a big two comic, EVER! Who says they're biased!?
Told with subplot rather than flashbacks, Scar is the villain who "took" the arm of Destroyer's wife, at one point copping to "eating" it. Eventually Destroyer and Turret are led to the villain's lair, where they are in a rush against time to stop him and his hired minion villains before Felecia bleeds to death. As an interesting touch, one of the grunts, Bruiser, was actually on the straight and narrow, but Destroyer had gotten him SO spooked by slaughtering his old enemies, the lug saw no option but to return to the life. He's ultimately blown up for his trouble.
The story is very violent; outside of what I hear of WALKING DEAD, this is the most violent thing I have seen Kirkman do. INVINCIBLE and WOLF-MAN can get gorey, but not THIS much within three issues. Destroyer is literally bathed in blood by the end of the battle, having gotten poetic justice against Scar once and for all. His weak heart manages to keep ticking, though, which means the "mission" to eliminate as many as his enemies as possible continues. Or does it? This is a five issue mini, with no hope of a sequel. Whatever Kirkman wants to say, he may as well say now about the character.
While virtually no backstory is given of the character's origins, I suppose one could argue there are enough ciphers and enough of Kirkman's own spin for the Destroyer that you could read this series fine as is, and appreciate it as a very gorey "old hero's last ride" epic. Scar looked creepier on the cover, though, and it is hard to feel suspense for many of the bad guys considering how quickly they go. Scar was the series villain, and he's done by the midway point. Scar, along with "Bruiser", is one of those generic names that makes me wonder if the well was a little dry for this.
Keene Marlow, for a guy who is in his eighties, is probably the angriest hero around. He's like Hartigan from SIN CITY, only with class 50 strength. Still, mauling the guy who amputated your wife until he's red paste is likely very cathartic. I am getting the feeling that his own zeal to eliminate as many of his enemies as he can before dying may end up putting his family in more danger than if he hadn't have bothered.
It's no opus, but I'm enjoying it because I like Kirkman's take on heroes, and I'm a sucker for gore action sometimes. And at least it allows his final work for Marvel to be something more his speed and much better than his stuff on ULTIMATE X-MEN (ironically, his best selling work).
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #14: That's right, WORLD'S MOST WANTED is really 7 parts and counting. I hadn't noticed it, and while DARK REIGN has helped the pace of the book, Fraction's no Brubaker, yet at least. In this issue, we learn that Stark is still friends with Crimson Dynamo, Larroca still draws him a little like Kurt Russell, and Pott's superhero name is "Rescue". Well, I guess it's more original than "Iron Woman" or "Iron Lass" or, even, "Iron Girl". Or even "Lady Iron Man".
That isn't to say the issue isn't bad. I haven't minded some of the subplots, like Maria Hill running into Controller or some of Stark's battles with Osborn's manipulated flunkies like Namor, War Machine, and Shockwave. This particular installment just seems like a middling one, a build-up issue that is a little decompressed. After a brief fight in his older armor, Dmitri and Tony work together, with Vanko fixing a suit of Crimson Dynamo armor for Stark to wear back to the states. He also refuses to cooperate with Osborn. Potts manages to find Stark in the snow, but ends up in Madame Masque's cross-hairs. Hill, meanwhile, uses graffitti to lure Black Widow out, in her quest to find Captain America.
Not a whole lot else to say. Larroca's art is what it is, I like it for the series and to be fair he has drawn every issue and managed to keep up a schedule. Not many artists manage 13-14 issue consistent runs without horrid delays anymore. Even if D'Armata's colors help a great deal.
The other big subplot is that in deleting the SHIELD knowledge of superhero identities from his brain, Stark is all but giving himself brain damage, making himself less intelligent and slower with armor reaction time. While I can understand some desire to pull Stark a back from being an Extremis superhuman, part of me wonders if Fraction is at risk of taking things too far in the other direction. Maybe this is penance for his sins as head of the SHRA? Literally paying in digits of IQ?
On the other hand, Fraction clearly has a ball with insane boss villains, and Osborn takes the cake. Again, it is absolutely absurd that Osborn could fool anyone, akin to Vince MacMahon claiming to be a stage actor, but the results are often rather bemusing. He's crazier than a sack of cats.
Solid and readable, but Fraction would do better to kick up the pace a bit. Sometimes it is a shame that THE ORDER had to die to give this life, when it was still a better book.
