Bought/Thought: April 11, 2012

[JewishHobbit]

This was a pretty decent week in comics. I'll start with the DC...

Grifter 8 - I'm loving this book. I find Grifter to be a very interesting character and this was a pretty touching issue where he has to face his fears regarding his daemonite-possessed brother. The ending seems to lead toward an interesting direction for the character and the art is just gorgeous. I know the creative teamis changing soon and I'm saddened by that with how much I've liked what this team has done but I'm still on board. Sadly, I'm not expecting this book to last too long anyhow.

I will say this though, it seems like they're building to something with all this daemonite stuff. Helspont is taking on Superman in his title, Stormwatch had some ties apparently, and Voodoo is apparently fighting them or will fight them soon in her own title. It makes me wonder if Grifter is on a path to become a more important book down the road. It could definately help sales if some crossover or event involving daemonites happened with Grifter in the center of it.

Batman & Robin 8 - for a title with such a blah beginning this title has really taken off. Last issue was the conclusion to the action of the first arc and this issue is the emotional aftermath that wraps up the story. It's strange seeing Bruce in a true fatherly position and Tomasi is hitting homeruns with it. Everything from his desire to kill the person hurting his son to wishing he could take Damian's place regarding a dangerous path the boy chose are all very fatherly thoughts that I totally connect with as a parent (see that Spider-Man team... progression and connection to readers... learn from it).

While Batman has been a great book, I honestly think this title has been my favorite Bat-book since the relaunch. The first half wasn't quite as good but the overall feel of the first real plot has connected with me a great deal and I find I look forward to this title more than the main Batman book monthly. Great read.

Batwoman 8 - I'm starting to fear that I enjoy Williams' art on this book more than the character or story. I LOVED this book during Rucka's Detective run and the first arc of this story but as soon as Williams took a break and someone else came on I find myself bored. Two or so issues without Williams and suddenly it's dropped from one of my top books to near-dropping territory. I'm sticking with it for now but I'm going to read through the title from issue 1 on in one sitting and see what I think overall. I'm hoping maybe this is just a miss arc for me.

Avengers Assemble 2 - For some reason I just want this book to fail. I don't know why, maybe because it's movie related or that I'm tired of Marvel oversaturating their market with overpriced copy books... and yet here I am enjoying the title. The first issue I thought was decent but I assumed it was the art, as I like Bagley. This issue I got into the plot itself a great deal. I like the Hulk being involved and feel that his being in the title was organically done and the idea of the Zodiac doing the work of whoever's empowering them to collect artifacts given to humans that they had no business having and that could stunt their growth. I mean, the Ultimate Nulifier? What else are they going after?

I guess I'll just have to suck it up and enjoy yet another copy book of a successful franchise. This is definately better than Bendis' core Avengers book, though I enjoy New Avengers more in general. If THIS were the core Avengers I think I'd like it a lot more as it shows Bendis actually CAN write the big Avengers when he needs to. And I don't even much care for the main Avengers. That's why I like the New Avengers so much to begin with.

Secret Avengers 25 - So Venom gets involved, which is cool, and as I predicted, Ant-Man's returned as a member of the robo-goons spying on the Avengers. Jim Hammond was a good spotlight for this issue until his near-death in the end. Father's story was interesting and this promises for some good stories I'm sure. It's wierd though... for some reason I just feel like I'm going to get really bored of this plot. I like Venom, Beast, and Captain Britain and others as well, but I'm just not excited about this book. I feel like I should be LOVING it but it's just another book for me. I'm sticking with it for the AvsX tie-ins and for my faith in Remender putting a good story together with a cast that I like but I just don't have my hopes up for it.

I feel like in the long run I'm going to finish it, say "that was pretty good," and then forget about it and eventually sell it all on ebay or something. It's reminding me of how I felt about Secret Warriors. I enjoyed every issue and then sold the whole series as soon as it wrapped up because I didn't actually enjoy it enough to take up space in my house. Hopefully I'm wrong but we'll see.

Uncanny X-Men 10 - Great read! I've been curious about Unit since he debuted in the SWORD mini a few years back. I was stoked when he showed up last issue and this issue really fulfilled my hopes that a good story would come out of him. I feel that he is such a very interesting character and I hope he becomes a big player down the road. He's nothing like any other character that I can think of in the way that Gillen writes him and there seems to be promise that more is to come. My only worry is the rumor that Bendis might be coming to the X-Men and that he might be taking over this book, leaving the plot without wings to flourish. We'll see though.

I was so cautious on Gillen's Uncanny run for a while but I honestly feel that he's picking up a lot of steam and is getting a great feel for the title. I hope he stays on and just keeps getting better and better.

Also... I love this cover! I love Kubert's art and got excited when I saw it. I wish he'd come back for a longterm run of interiors in one of my X-Men books. He's definately one of my favorites in the business and haven't read him regularly since, what, the 90's? Something like that.

New Avengers 24 - While this book is mostly a retelling, of what we already saw in AvsX 1 it's framed from Luke's point of view as he's dealing with Jessica's leaving the team and putting the baby first, pressuring Luke to pick her and the baby or the Avengers (for the baby's safety). It's an understandable ultimatum in their line of work and makes for a very interesting plot during AvsX. Bendis is leaving the title after AvsX and I could see this as his swan song, taking the couple that he's stamped as a core of his Avengers (Luke and Jessica) out of the team and on their own. I could easily see him helming a Luke Cage/Jessica Jones book after the Avengers and I'd totallly buy it up. I've been itching for a Luke/Jessica/Danny title and I'd love to see it branch from AvsX. Here's hoping.

All in all though, unless you read New Avengers, this was a skippable tie-in. Nothing important happens in it that wasn't already covered in AvsX 1.


Best and Worst of the Month

Best: Batman & Robin 8 - It was a throw up between this and Uncanny X-Men but ultimately in the end I think this one wins. The emotional connection I felt to this book, the great writing, the art, it was just a perfectly done issue. I nearly dropped this book around issue 3 or 4 and I'm glad I stuck with it. I'd have been robbing myself of one of my favorite monthly titles.

Worst: Batwoman 8 - I finished this issue and feel nothing toward it, and I'm pretty sure I felt the same last issue. It's not that it was bad, as there was nothing wrong with it in particular, I just don't care about anything I've read. I might just not be into Reeder's art or the story might not be grabbing me as much... I don't know. I'm just not feeling it. Here's hoping the next arc is better once it comes around.

 

[THANOSRULES]

so is ants dead or what?

 

[JewishHobbit]

All we know is that he's back but mentally talking with Father in the end in a suspicious way. So they've got some hold on him, or someone's taken his image and place in the book. We don't know for sure yet.

 

[runawayboulder]

Secret Avengers needs to work on developing the inter-personal relationships between the characters. It's one of Remender's strengths on Uncanny X-Force. So far all we have is something with Venom and Valkyrie.

 

[THANOSRULES]

which is tough with the floating roster format they seem set on

 

[runawayboulder]

so is ants dead or what?

I think it's safe to say that O'Grady was indeed killed and then quickly replaced by the bad guys. It depends on how Remender wants to play it, if he wants to leave the door open or not for O'Grady's return in the future.

 

[runawayboulder]

which is tough with the floating roster format they seem set on

Does Remender plan on doing a rotation? I can't remember from the interviews he's done. The roster in the next few issues is just going to be an effect of AvX.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Well, we know Nick Fury and War Machine will be around (I think it was War Machine) and I want to say someone else that I'm not thinking of.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Does Remender plan on doing a rotation? I can't remember from the interviews he's done. The roster in the next few issues is just going to be an effect of AvX.

I got the impression from the solicits it was still gonna flux, maybe I'm wrong.

Sucks about O'Grady...he's a solid character and I hope he doesn't turn into a robot or something silly like that.

 

[runawayboulder]

I liked Eric too. But who knows? Remender does things in 20-25 issue bunches so O'Grady might come back before RR leaves Secret Avengers. Look at what he did with Warren in UXF.

 

[JewishHobbit]

True. Remender plans small arcs and plots that build to one overall story so he might have some major plans in store for O'Grady... or maybe editorial told him, "We have too many Ant-Men... do something to get rid of the spare one in Secret Avengers."

I guess we'll find out eventually.

 

[runawayboulder]

Yeah, I'll live with it for now. Like I said before, the thing I want to see Remender work on more is how the teammates connect on a personal level.

 

[JewishHobbit]

And you know, I think that might be what takes me out of the story. I WANT to like it more and I like the characters but them just being there isn't doing me any favors.

I like buddy books better than intelligent books. Personal relationships is what really sells it for me.

 

[chamber-music]

So is O'Grady dead and an adaptiod taked his place?

I'm a little confused.

America's Got Powers

Jonathan Ross and Bryan Hitch America's Got Powers was pretty good. Jonathan Ross is a surprisingly solid comic writer even though his ideas are not the most original he executes them well.

Ross packs alot of of story into one issue without overloading the reader. The premise of a Superpowered Hunger Games/Battle Royale reality tv show tournament seems like something Ross and Hitch pal Mark Millar would do but only alot more crass and juvenile in his interpretation.

Hitch drew charaters that look like David Tennant, Sarah Palin and Aaron Eckhart. Atleast thats who they looked like to me.

 

[JewishHobbit]

So is O'Grady dead and an adaptiod taked his place?

I'm a little confused.

We don't know. Eric came back during the battle and helped the Avengers, then later while alone we're shown him mentally talking with the Father. That's all we know.

 

[THANOSRULES]

in issue 24 one of the adaptoids said something like "we shouldnt have killed Ant man" or some such...he got his butt beat up and if he's dead..it happened off panel

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think it's safe to say that O'Grady was indeed killed and then quickly replaced by the bad guys. It depends on how Remender wants to play it, if he wants to leave the door open or not for O'Grady's return in the future.

That's how I read it. O'Grady's dead, damn it. Don't ruin this for me.

 

[Dread]

An average sized week, and actually a good week overall; all of the books I got to a degree were good, just to varying degrees. Onto the spoilers!

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 4/11/12:

SAGA #2: Image Comics' newest creator owned launch by former "LOST" and Wildstorm star Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples got off to a great debut last month in terms of quality and sales. SAGA #1 was a double sized comic for no extra cost which sold in the Top 40 in March, which meant it outsold WOLVERINE, THOR, and the debut of Mark Millar's latest project, SUPERCROOKS. The premise is this is a space opera crossed with "ROMEO AND JULIET" starring two members of two warring species who have defected from their planets and sired a child together. This issue is normal length, although 22 pages of story with zero ads for $2.99 has become a luxury these days for monthly comics. The tale picks up with our heroes Marko and Alana, and their three day old daughter Hazel as they attempt to navigate and survive through a dark forest following a mythical map and attempting to avoid being assassinated by mercenaries. One of them, "The Stalk" is introduced and her design is both interesting and justifies the PG-13 rating (for full frontal nudity). The issue goes a good job of continuing to built the details and structure of Vaughn's world without burying the reader in intolerable exposition. Staples' artwork is very much a highlight and is stunning to behold; the space opera format gives her a lot of leeway to cut loose with designs and background layouts. The differences between Marko and Alana continue to be showcased without them being a bickering couple, which has become an over used story trope. The hallmark of this series is that it is a space opera for adults, without an eye for selling toys and puppets to children across a vast media empire. Thus, the writing is more high-brow, the designs are edgier, and the content is deeper. Image fans weary of Robert Kirkman projects would be wise to give it a go.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #6: AVENGING SPIDER-MAN has entered an interesting phase in its brief existence as part of Marvel's solicitation schedule. Launched at the end of 2011, it was intended to capitalize on Spider-Man's presence in the Avengers as well as the steady Top 25 sales for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN since 2008. It essentially is a return to MARVEL TEAM-UP (or SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP) in which the gimmick is that Spider-Man teams up with another superhero for every adventure. The dilemma with that format is that it has had a rough time selling in a market in which only "important" books get high sales and attention, and that Spider-Man teams up with plenty of other heroes in two Avengers books as well as his own ASM title (not including other guest appearances per month). Atop of this, the original high profile launch team of Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira has left after issue three, and the creative team seems to change every issue (give or take). Thus, it has become obvious that this book exists because an accountant desires another Spider-Man title, not because it has a general purpose to exist; ASTONISHING X-MEN, X-MEN, and CAPTAIN AMERICA AND [fill in blank per arc] exist in a similar state. For this issue, AVENGING SPIDER-MAN exists to provide the opening issue in a brief three issue crossover story between this series, PUNISHER, and DAREDEVIL written by the writers of the latter two - Greg Rucka and Mark Waid (respectively).

The cover states "The Omega Effect Begins Here", noting the title of the crossover story itself; in practice this is only half right. Last week's DAREDEVIL #10.1 acted very much as a prelude chapter to this story, to the point that it may be included in the inevitable trade paperback collection of it. The story itself is also a subplot which has been rumbling through Waid's DAREDEVIL series since issue five, and this is a continuation of it. In fairness, this issue summarizes that material through dialogue and narration enough that having read those prior works isn't required. The gist is that Daredevil has a drive of data - the Omega Drive - which was created from a piece of one of the "unstable molecule costumes" of one of the Fantastic Four that has deeply incriminating information about five of the top organizations of "mega-crime". They include Black Spectre, who have battled Daredevil before, as well as HYDRA, A.I.M., Agence Byzantine and the Secret Empire. All of these organizations are thus after Daredevil (whose alter ego of blind lawyer Matt Murdock is an "open secret" which the public is aware of but can't be legally proven) but they must go after him in a way that doesn't leave them exposed to each other. In the "point one" issue, Daredevil upped the ante by using data from the drive to lead to most of Black Spectre's organization being arrested in federal raids (since he tired of their slow approach to stalking him). In this issue, Murdock's crisis gains the attention of not only another criminal group in the Hand (his old ninja enemies currently run by his arch nemesis Kingpin), but of his ally Spider-Man and his anti-heroic peer Punisher.

Spider-Man is seeking to aid his friend, fight the bad guys as well as convince Murdock to surrender the drive to Mr. Fantastic, since it is his technology anyway. The Punisher and his new partner (ex-cop Rachael Cole-Alves) seek the drive so they can use it to kill criminals better. Naturally, "mega-crime" seeks the drive to cover their own assets and to gain vengeance on the hero(es). Murdock seeks to maintain the upper hand in the situation without surrendering the disc too soon nor allowing Punisher a means to slaughter. All three come from different perspectives and employ different tactics, yet all have to unite to survive an attack by a ninja army as well as the general threat of a gang-war plaguing the streets over this. Both Rucka and Waid write the script and this flows seamlessly from the pages of both of their titles and merges into a whole of quality. The art is by Marco Checchetto with colors by Matt Hollingsworth is stunning and up to the high quality standard in DAREDEVIL. The issue is told mostly from Spider-Man's perspective (since it is his title), but the voices of the other characters quickly share equal space. The issue even manages to establish that Punisher's gained a new partner who shares his perspective with simple and effective pacing. Plus, this is a rare tale in which three heroes run into each other who don't all agree and none of them decide to fight each other - a shame more stories couldn't treat their characters as logically.

While they spark sales in the short term (usually), crossovers often get a bad rap from comic book fans as being complicated, expensive, editorially mandated and poorly written. Often the more writers involved, the more obvious it is that it is a committee project - AVENGERS VS. X-MEN is credited to five writers for example. However, "The Omega Drive" story reveals that crossovers don't have to suffer such a fate so long as the duration is kept short and the quality of the narrative is kept high. The fact that the characters remain distinct without being reduced to simple cogs to a story or combatants for fight sequences is a major reason why. I never read any of the Greg Rucka issues of PUNISHER before, but this single issue strongly tempts me to catch up on it - that is how good it is. The bottom line is to not let a logical distrust of crossovers keep you away from what looks to be a great superhero team-up thriller.

FANTASTIC FOUR #605: After over two years writing the Fantastic Four franchise, Jonathan Hickman is winding down his extended run this year on both this and the FF side series. To this end we see a return of the smaller and more personal stories in each issue as opposed to sweeping space epics – at least this month. Ron Garney is the guest artist, with Jason Keith providing the color work, providing effective panels of a very low key story involving time travel. In the previous arc, readers learned that what made the “traditional Marvel Universe” Reed Richards different from his counterparts in the cross-dimensional “Council of Reeds” was that he chose to focus on his family ahead of the universe – which proved pivotal as his son Franklin is going to become a figure of cosmic importance once he matures and masters his reality warping powers. In this issue, Reed and his time traveling father Nathanial build a new time machine to take a peek at the future now that they’ve drastically effected it in the present.
It is difficult to review this issue without revealing the entire story itself – that is how simple it is. At any rate, Reed and Nathan bond as only two comic book super-scientists can; a trip 1,000 to 3,000 years into the future to see what will come for the world at large and their family’s legacy in general. Reed learns that not only will his son have major importance upon the world of the far future, but so will his best pal Ben Grimm – the ever lovin’ blue eyed Thing. Inspired and touched by witnessing the triumphs and sorrows of the future of his best friend, Reed settles into focusing on the present. The story gives Garney a chance to spotlight his talents with futuristic landscapes as well as aged redesigns of long standing characters like Thing and Franklin.

The cover, which dramatically claims Reed and Sue die this year, is a total sham. Absolutely nothing like that happens within the issue. It naturally proves that covers are drawn in advance, and that they have the task of making a story seem more dramatic than it sometimes is. In the era of “events” and over the top solicitation summaries, it is hard to make “a touching time travel story with the Richards boys” seem like something which is worth racing to a shop to buy. If the issue has any flaw, it is that Hickman chooses Reed as his focus for the first “emotional focus” story, and Reed has arguably been the character Hickman has spent 75% of his run on this franchise focusing on – to the point that some issues could have been sold as MR. FANTASTIC AND THE OTHER THREE. This issue does have some fun and tender moments with the Thing of the future, but it would be good to see Hickman spread the focus a bit better than he does. However, much like Mark Waid, perhaps Reed focus was deliberate and changing that will be left to the next writer.

Overall, a low key but effective and visually stunning one shot Fantastic Four story.

SCARLET SPIDER-MAN #4: Much like AVENGING SPIDER-MAN (and VENOM), this is another spin-off to AMAZING SPIDER-MAN justified by ASM's solid sales as well as a desire to maintain a trademark. Unlike AVENGING SPIDER-MAN, writer Chris Yost and regular artist Ryan Stegman (alongside colorist Edgar Delgado and two inkers) have created a unique superhero title in Marvel's stable which has more reason to exist than those aforementioned justifications. Spider-clone and former killer Kaine has been cured of both his mental and physical deterioration and decided to forge his own path away from New York and the web-slinger. However, his intended flight to Mexico hit a detour in Houston, Texas as Kaine stumbled into acting as Houston's local superhero to save a hospital as well as a mysterious child. Kaine had hoped to redeem himself for his former crimes (as well as find a better way to focus his violent streak), and has quickly developed his own supporting cast of characters - Dr. Donald Meland, his husband officer Wally Layton, hotel bartender Annabelle and Aracely the mysterious teenager. Unfortunately, when Dr. Meland is targeted for death by someone from his recent path, Kaine runs into the Assassin's Guild, who are enemies from his own dark past. Having sought to exploit his skills as part of their clan years ago in the south where their territory is, the Guild now seek Kaine's head. This issue focuses mostly on Kaine's battle in the streets against four of the Guild's top assassins, but finds time to showcase Meland and Layton investigating the source of the hit as well as Annabelle learning more about Aracely. The action is very well paced - Kaine is no Peter Parker and does not fear getting nasty - and the supporting cast of characters are flourishing steadily. While a relaunched SCARLET SPIDER comic seems an odd fit in 2012, sales appear to be getting stable as of March's figures, and it is another success to the portfolio of not only Yost, but Spider-Man editor Stephen Wacker. Fans who dismissed this as another 90's rehash are missing out on some great superhero stuff in a different setting, which doesn't cater to Texan stereotypes of race cars and cowboys. Marvel's first new launch of 2012 remains a resounding success.

SECRET AVENGERS #24: New series writer Rick Remender ends his first arc before a major AVENGERS VS. X-MEN crossover with great gusto, as this seems to be the best run on this title's brief history. Artist Gabe Hardman and colorist Bettie Breitweiser conclude their tale of the black ops squad of Avengers investigating a superhuman woman in Pakistan and having stumbled upon a reclusive society of artificial life forms and cyborgs who have pledged to destroy them. In this issue, new member Venom (Flash Thompon from Remender's other ongoing title) joins the fray and continues his flirtations with Valkyrie while the rest of the team battle a giant replica of Master Mold and seek to save the child of the woman they were investigating. The origins of this society are revealed as a Cold War outgrowth of the program that created the original Human Torch in the 1940's which has led to a new species of mankind. There is a lot of action here and while the Avengers seem to succeed, the mysterious Father of that strange land has planted a sleeper within their midst. The angle of Venom and Valkyrie dating may seem strange at first, but only if one forgets the lame romantic interests Valkyrie had during her DEFENDERS days such as Dollar Bill and Jack Norriss. The entire cast get moments to shine in the adventure (a dramatic shift from earlier runs) and Remender's imagination for playing with the Marvel Universe is on full display. While the $3.99 price is prohibitive, it is easily one of the best Avengers titles on the market right now, and worth hopping aboard.

The fate of Eric O'Grady is somewhat unknown. He could have been killed and replaced by an adaptoid, especially since their schtick seems to be making duplicates of Avengers or other figures. He could have been made into an obedient cyborg, especially as Father seemed to do that with corpses. It would be a shame as I did like the character, although one could also argue Marvel have a glut of Ant-People these days. It is a little annoying that they seem to ice the more recent or younger ones in favor of, say, resurrecting Scott Lang. Usually if I want new characters extinguished in favor of characters created before I was even born, I go to DC (whose motto seems to be "Holding The Line At 1969"). Regardless, this is still the best run on SA I have yet read (and I read 2 out of the last 3).

WINTER SOLDIER #4: If this issue's cover were to be truly accurate to the contents within, it wouldn't have featured a stock pose of Bucky doing his "cool guys don't look at explosions" jog - it would have had the tag line "TWO DOOMS FOR THE PRICE OF ONE!" That is precisely how this month's issue of Ed Brubaker, Butch Guice, and Bettie Breitweiser's black ops superhero caper series rolls. Former Latverian regent Lucia Von Bardas has united with the Red Ghost in a scheme to stage attacks against both that nation and the U.S. To this end she has obtained a "Doombot" and programmed it to do their bidding - such as stage a terrorist attack at the U.N. Seeking to avoid an international debacle as well as stop some long term fugitives, Bucky and Black Widow have sought to warn Dr. Doom himself of the plot to implicate him in a terrorist attack. Doom agrees to aid them in stopping it with his usual arrogance and gusto, and as usual for his own motivations. So, Bucky and Doom stop a bombing at the U.N. and take out one of Red Ghost's recently uncovered Commie era super soldiers who were trained by Barnes way back when. But are they still a step behind Bardas and Red Ghost in the end? Of course; this is an Ed Brubaker caper. Captain America - TWO of them - were always a step behind the Red Skull for about 4 years until CAPTAIN AMERICA REBORN killed him off, and Brubaker likely would have continued with Sin had FEAR ITSELF not taken her from him. At any rate, it is good to see the Red Ghost utilized in a serious manner, when he and his super-apes have usually been played for laughs. Created by Bendis in SECRET WAR, Von Bardas is a relatively new villain who has amazingly appeared in two animated series since ("FANTASTIC FOUR: WGH" and "AVENGERS: EMH") and is ripe for some more stories in actual comics. The artwork is up to the usual high standard set by previous issues and while Brubaker always has his tics, there seems to be more heart and energy in this series than for CAPTAIN AMERICA right now.

 

[chamber-music]

We don't know. Eric came back during the battle and helped the Avengers, then later while alone we're shown him mentally talking with the Father. That's all we know.

Cool. I read the issue.

If Eric O'Grady is dead he went out in a good way I think.

 

[Themanofbat]

I think I'm really going to mourn his loss, because unlike many Marvel people that come back from the grave, I think Marvel is systematically wiping out all Kirkman creations... so while I love the character, this time, he might be dead for real...

 

[Harlekin]

Maybe he'll stay a robot, they'll just take out Father's influence. That could actually be pretty cool.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I think I'm really going to mourn his loss, because unlike many Marvel people that come back from the grave, I think Marvel is systematically wiping out all Kirkman creations... so while I love the character, this time, he might be dead for real...

Why would they be doing that?

 

[Themanofbat]

Because Kirkman became a big advocate about creator owned characters, and with the financial success of Walking Dead in his pockets, who's to say he might go after Marvel for "his" creations... so nip it in the bud and kill them off... first it was Freedom Choice or Freedom Ring... now O'Grady...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm pretty sure everyone at Marvel signs something saying their creations for Marvel are Marvel's property, especially in light of how the dodgier contracts from the old days are starting to come back and bite both them and DC in the ass. I don't think they'd have to worry about that.

 

[THANOSRULES]

What else did he really create in terms of heroes/villians?

I guess the league of losers and the generic villain there...