Bought/Thought - February 25th, 2009 - Spoilers!

[Upset Spideyfan]

Mighty Avengers #22

This book is already starting to kick some serious ass.

Upon being summoned the team immediately begins to disintegrate, most notably the Hulk going completely berserk. He takes off once the fighting dies down and the Scarlet Witch puts him on a collision course with Iron Man.

Slott really pleased the IM fan in me, with Tony not only pulling off a victory over the Hulk but also managing to save the team's ass at the last moment.

I'm hoping US Agent sticks around and not just for the notion of having a "Cap" on each of the Avengers teams. Walker has a really good moment with Pym as they're entering the cave that shows off what a lovable ******* he could become under Slott's pen.

The book's full of wonderful character moments and I hope this is the start of a long run to come.

New Avengers #50

The NA don't even fight the Dark Avengers so the much hyped battle was once again Marvel pulling the wool over the eyes of its loyal fans. Instead its another New Avengers vs. the Hood battle, in which once again despite all of his talk and bravado the Hood does not really come off as anything more than just the latest bad guy with big aspirations but doesn't have a plan other than "Let's all attack them at the same time!"

Well at least we got a little Ms. Marvel/Mockingbird tease.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Well at least we got a little Ms. Marvel/Mockingbird tease.

....sexually?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Mighty Avengers #22
Right. Why should US Agent stay on the Mighty Avengers? One word: balls. Two more, just for kicks: of brass. Not only does he have some great chemistry with Pym, having worked with Pym for a long time and having seen him at his best and worst, but upon arriving in Transia and chaos breaking out among Wanda's non-Avengers, Walker decides the best use of his time is to bum-rush the god of strength. Walker provides the lovably hateable government guy in many of the same ways Gyrich did in classic Avengers comics--he tries to arrest Cho and Herc, really, because it's the only thing he can wrap his mind around at the moment, and later he commandeers a local pub to serve as the Avengers' temporary HQ and subtly calls Pym a ***** for bringing a stun gun along. I really don't get why people hate him so much because he's used extremely well here.

The rest of the issue is solid Avengers action. Wanda's finally starting to feel more like a character and less like a floating plot device, especially when she sets the Hulk on his collision course with Iron Man and then wonders if maybe that was a bit rash when she sees the Hulk's state. Iron Man himself does pretty well in this issue, somehow managing a win against the Hulk and Modred. Pym's reaction to Tony's repulsor was good, although I hope it's not going to be everyone hating on Iron Man for the next few issues. That was lame when Skrull Pym was on the receiving end of it in Bendis' Mighty Avengers, and I'd hate a repeat performance with the roles reversed.

Curious about whatever that is inside Jocasta's chest. Oh, and in spite of her relationship with Pym, I'd really like Cassie to not be on the team permanently. She's just irritating. I didn't notice it as much in the first part of the arc because everyone was getting their introductions and it was all setup, but this issue we start seeing the characters' personalities at work and Cassie's is as angsty and boring here as it was in Young Avengers. Yeah, the Scarlet Witch f***ed up your life. Get over it.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

That was lame when Skrull Pym was on the receiving end of it in Bendis' Mighty Avengers, and I'd hate a repeat performance with the roles reversed.

I doubt that Tony will even stay on the team past the next issue, he'll probably leaving citing that he's got too much on his own plate right now to be a team member (which he sort of does, running from Osborn for the next year).

....sexually?

. I saw it. I saw it all.


No. I'm just kidding. The artist drew Carol bent over staring at the television and Mockingbird's behind her. A little too close behind her. Meanwhile, Cap stares on watching approvingly.

Oh this just in, Bendis sucks at writing Bucky.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I doubt that Tony will even stay on the team past the next issue, he'll probably leaving citing that he's got too much on his own plate right now to be a team member (which he sort of does, running from Osborn for the next year).

All the more reason he could use the backup of a bona fide Avengers team. But I think you're right, Tony's gonna go off and do his own thing.

Incredible Hercules #126
So, this was... shorter than I expected. Yeah, it's a double-sized issue, which is great, and there's a lot of good story in there, but I was sort of hoping we'd see more of Herc's mortal life, or at least more detail on his death and apotheosis. Still, what we got was pretty great and Van Lente continues to marry violent savagery and noble heroism together in Herc in a perfectly seamless and compelling way. Reading through this modern take on Herc's early days, he actually seems a lot like Thor from Fraction's one-shots, only without ever getting the lesson in humility. Which, if you think about it, makes sense. Both were told and shown for a long time that they were the most powerful and best of everyone around them, which is bound to go to their heads.

The death of Amphitryon was done really well in the issue, too. Van Lente's really good at keeping the overall feeling of a story light and funny while still injecting a lot of genuine emotion into it. I almost got a little misty over Herc's promise to Amphitryon. Great stuff.

Cho's story was considerably less interesting. I'm not really sure what the point of it was, either. Kirby found a new family, so he didn't want Cho anymore? Kirby was upset by the danger that Cho brought to his doorstep? Sort of unclear to me. Either way, I guess this is the last we'll see of Kirby. It's a shame, but I can't say I'll particularly miss him. Cho and Herc are more than enough to carry the book without a little coyote buddy.

The prose bridge section was very informative. I had no idea that Herc stayed on Olympus for all those centuries between his mortal death and modernity.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Part I: Mythic Heroes

Incredible Hercules #126

The origin of Hercules is here! Well, an origin; this is a story that's been told a lot over time, but it's nice to see a succinct take on things that incorporates a bit of information relevant to the main plot. Van Lente (who handles the origin part solo) actually toys with all the different versions of this a bit by having various enemy soldiers talk about all the crazy stuff they heard (such as the purported origin of the Milky Way). Herc, like Superman after him, is raised by adoptive parents without knowing about his true nature, and we see the moment where he learns of it; actually, this is a lot like some versions of Superman's origin, such as dad dying and Herc vowing to become the hero his father always wanted. The real revelation here is Rodney Buchemi's art, which rivals Sandoval's for my favourite stuff we've seen on the title (also, Athena being so incredibly hot when she's sworn off all sexuality seems like a huge waste). I was interested to read this because I found Cho an insufferable character when Pak alone was writing him, so I was interested to see if my growing tolerance was because of VL or because of a real evolution in the character. There's a bit of the old Cho here, but, again, he's confronted with reality by a wiser character (which was a huge step in making him likeable, at last).

Wonder Woman #29

Well, now that's more like it. Last issue ended with Genocide employing another of her vague powers by flattening the DMA building with an atomic blast; and that's basically all we see of her this issue, which, given that Genocide's the least interest part of this story, is good. Even better is the ramping up of the plot with the increasingly misguided Zeus, and a confrontation between Diana and Cheetah, a villain with actual personality and powers that make for an interesting fight. While the premature end of Greg Rucka's run short-circuited some fantastic potential stories with the gods, the stuff Simone is doing right now is very compelling; you can see why Zeus thinks all this is a good idea (and certainly there's been plenty of "ends justify the means" superhero stories over the years). Also, Kane is also being a bit disingenuous when he says that the belief of mortals isn't something the gods can traffick in; it sounds high-minded, but given that Diana's pledge to him was basically a swap for assistance, rather than a conversion, it really doesn't seem out-of-bounds for him to release her from it. Also, we get the return of Perez-style Steve Trevor; hooray. Lopresti's art on the Diana/Barbara fight is far superior to anything he did with Genocide.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

All the more reason he could use the backup of a bona fide Avengers team. But I think you're right, Tony's gonna go off and do his own thing.

If Fraction uses the Mighty Avengers in Invincible Iron Man to save Tony just when everything looks grim I'll have a nerdgasm.

 

[MightyAvenge]

The Initiative was awesome, Ramos's art is a great replacement for Caselli. He makes every character look good, which is something he isnt known for, he's getting better. Characters Galore, Justice, Night Thrasher, Rage, Slapstick, Scarlet Spider, Debri, Ultra Girl, Cloud 9, Gauntlet, Sting Ray, Tigra, Hellcat, Gargoyle, Prodigy, Annex, Geiger, Red 9, Batwing, Bengal, Komodo, Contristor, Taskmaster, Typhoid Mary, Hardball, Scorpion, Doc Samson, Blitzschlag, Thor Girl, Trauma, and dont forget Ragnorak. Tigra looks to be doubting whether she wants to be a hero anymore, somebody dies, and we might be seeing the real Thor make an appearance in the next issue. One of the best books Marvel has going.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If Fraction uses the Mighty Avengers in Invincible Iron Man to save Tony just when everything looks grim I'll have a nerdgasm.

I doubt we'll see that, but it'd be cool.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I just read GL. This whole War of Light arc is leaving me a little on the meh side of the fence. Its fun enough to see other Lanterns but its not nearly as dramatic or exciting as the Sinestro War was. Hopefully, Blackest Night will pay off because I fear we're headed down the road of diminishing returns.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

New Avengers #50 - It sucks we got gypted on the NA/DA fight. I was disappointed to see the Hood's gang vs the NA round, what? 4? 5? Glad they got a win though. I thought the different artists spotlighting certain NA team memebers was done really well, though.

I will say that I love seeing Carol on this team. I wish she would've joined back in the issue Frank Cho drew early on, but better late than never. Too bad it ain't gonna last long. Hopefully, She Hulk can join when Carol "departs". Also Logan's reaction to his kid was great too. I like Spider Woman offering herself as bait, but I feel bad for her. I hope she can turn her life around soon, maybe when she joins SWORD. That whole scene with her in the tower and Osborn not buying what she's selling, and Venom and Bullseye wanting to kill and eat her was cool too.

Good issue, not great, especially for an anniversary issue, but that's Bendis I guess. Sounds like I shoulda picked up Mighty Avengers instead, but it'll be shipped to me next week.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

If I'm not mistaken Cho did draw Ms. Marvel in NA.

 

[AgentEnforcer]

Loved how each artist handles the spotlight pages of each New Avenger, just Iron fist was drawn in the wrong costume... but I guess that is because the guy who does the Iron Fist drew it and he wears that in his own book... if I am not mistaken.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

If I'm not mistaken Cho did draw Ms. Marvel in NA.

Didn't he draw her in Mighty Avengers?

 

[CaptainCanada]

Part II: Avengers

Captain America #47

Part Two/Five of the current Three/Six part story dealing with Bucky's past in China, this has the feel of a bit of a transitional issue; lots of action (Brubaker can do a good fight scene, but I always find that when the fighting really starts it's usually not as interesting as when people are talking to each other, etc.), as Bucky and Namor execute their plan to find the Human Torch's body, and Natasha toils behind, calling Bucky's plan stupid. Professor Pandemic's plan for the Torch's remains is actually rather inventive; I was expecting one of the standard "army of a million robots!" schemes, but instead Brubaker is going with the idea that the Torch is literally an artificial human and has Pandemic develop a virus based on the Torch's flame power. Brubaker continues to write a good Namor; he's only got a couple of lines, but it's him *****ing about how all this spy stuff is totally beneath him. Natasha's few pages are probably the best parts of the story, as she tries to make sense of what he's doing. Epting's flown the coop for the next little while, so Butch Guice returns, and, well, the art on this book is as seamless as ever.

Mighty Avengers #22

Hmm...feeling a bit middling toward this so far. We're told the goal of this is to go back to a really "Avenger-y" feel, with the team dealing with world-threatening villains and the like. The ideas being thrown around here: an Elder God finally escapes his prison and envelopes the world in chaos, fits the bill. But the presentation is lacking; in the post-Authority world we live in, widescreen is key to scope, and while I often think Ellis and Millar, the two pioneers, tend to throw in a few too many two-page spreads these days, this book is the opposite. It's cramped, and the Elder God threat is rather downplayed visually by putting him the form of Quicksilver. To me, "Elder God of Chaos" should be a little more Lovecraft, a little less Pietro with a different colour scheme. Kvetching about style aside, there's a lot to like here. What Slott's doing with Pym is transparently obvious here; this is his take on where Hank's inferiority complex began, and how to solve it. In the first issue, we learned that it was when he found out that Tony Stark was Iron Man, and at issue's end he was convinced to be a hero and form a new team of Avengers; now, the whole team goes to hell, and Tony shows up and pretty much saves the day, and takes charge; next issue, it'll come down to Hank doing something key where even Tony can't. So long as this doesn't turn into another "bash Tony to score fan points" story (so far, he's done him pretty well, I admit), that's a perfectly serviceable idea.

 

[WolfCypher]

I bought (yes, bought) NA50...I was disappointed with the false promise, but still I enjoyed the book. Especially the banter between the team(s). I can't seem to remember why people don't like Bendis...

Without a scanner, I had to acquired this scan. Favorite thing in the entire book is how Spider-Man disses Mac Gargan-Venom. I'm posting this scan everywhere.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

If I'm not mistaken Cho did draw Ms. Marvel in NA.

He did. issue 12 or 13, about how 'Jessica Drew' got her powers back.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

I bought (yes, bought) I can't seem to remember why people don't like Bendis...

Bad characterization, bad plotting and bad dialogue.

In my humble opinion of course.

 

[kguillou]

He gets a bit carried away in his dialogue sometimes i will admit, but when he's on his A game, he crafts some excellent banter, he was definitely rolling in NA 50. I usually dont like his characterization of 616 spidey but spidey had some hilarious lines in this issue.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Quick Reviews...

New Avengers 50 - :

Mighty Avengers 22 - :

Avengers: the Initiative 22 -

Thunderbolts 129 -

Umbrella Academy: Dallas 4-

Green Lantern 38 -

Marvels: Eye of the Camera 4 - :

Nova 22 -

Skaar: Son of Hulk 8 -

X-Force 12 -

Mighty was okay but I'm just not feeling it. I find that I don't really care about the grouping of characters and for every one that I kinda like (Stature, Vision, Quicksilver) there's more I either don't like or am indifferant toward (the rest). One more issue and if I'm not impressed then I'm dropping.

New was an okay issue but not for that price. And Bendis' dialogue seemed worse here than usual. I think people play up his bad dialogue at times but this time it really deserves it.

This new Marvels series is okay but nothing that makes me cheer. It's very forgettable and I find myself just waiting for it to be finished so I don't have to buy any more issues of it.

Does anyone else thing X-Force and this whole Messiah thing is heading toward some big Apocalypse storyline? They brought back Archangel and Caliban. Leper Queen's mentioned her time with Apocalypse. Stryfe is showing up in Messiah War. There's all the mentions of the dark and bright futures. I'm just wondering if they're slowly building to Apocalypse's big return.

 

[hippie_hunter]

New Avengers #50 was downright horrible. Far too much dialogue. And Bendis just flat out sucks at writing Bucky and Hawkeye. Also WTF on no Dark Avengers/New Avengers fight, but instead we get freaking the Hood's gang....again.

Although, Spidey dissing the new Venom was pretty funny.

 

[Ahura Mazda]

How does Iron man defeat the Hulk exactly? I am going to get the issue eventually in the mail but given Marvel's subscription service probably bnot for a couple more weeks.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

How does Iron man defeat the Hulk exactly? I am going to get the issue eventually in the mail but given Marvel's subscription service probably bnot for a couple more weeks.

To be fair Tony gets his ass kicked pretty badly until the Hulk picks up a massive booster rocket and Tony ignites it (Iron Man threw his own shields up).

 

[bryanss3]

Justice Society of America #24
If you JSA pick it up If you don't care about Captain Marvel, Black Adam, and Isis skip it. 9/10

Superman #685
If you've been enjoying Superman lately you'll enjoy this. if you're upset about Mon El and the Guardian taking over this title next month don't worry just read World Of New Krypton next week. this issue is a simple good story where Superman says his goodbyes and Mon El gets his new identity and sets up his life in metropolis. 9/10

Green Lantern #38
This was a good issue. I just feel like the Agent Orange arc is going to be even better. 8/10

Skaar Son of Hulk #8
I'm a little new to Skaar just started on this arc I was enjoying it till the end reveal:[BLACKOUT]The Hulk attacking Skaar[/BLACKOUT] which I am confused by if I'm the only one confused someone explain it to me. 8/10

Avengers the Initiative #22
the Disassembled story line continues to be awesome. Great reveal at the end. can't wait for the Next issue. pick it up. 9/10

Mighty Avengers #22
this is my favorite Avengers title right now. I like whats going on in this book and I can't wait for Pym to tell Stark that he is leading this Avengers team not him. ps. how come Hulk has more character in 2 issues of Slott's Avengers than any of Loeb's HULK... oh thats cause its awful.
9/10

Ms. Marvel #36
This was a really disappointing issue for me. it was recently announced Ms. Marvel is going to die in issue 37 and be replaced in this title by Moonstone as Ms. Marvel from the Dark Avengers. first off I had no idea that I was reading an arc called the death of Ms. Marvel in fact I didn't know I was in part 2 of it I went back to the last issue guess what the title to that issue isn't the Death of Ms Marvel part 1 so how am I in part 2? this is a frustrating issue to read. it feels jumpy and after 13 pages pages in you'll be thinking ok when is "Carol gonna get killed?". this just feels like they decided to fit it into Dark Reign cause they wanted to unlike Deadpool which was a very natural progression since the title launched. I really don't want Carol Danvers to die I like this character. and the way this issue ends it looks like she isn't going to have a very memorable death.
5/10

Nova #22
This was a very interesting Issue. I wasn't sure where it was gonna be going in the first couple of pages but it turned out to be a great issue. I was mad at the end. Marvel if you let Richard Rider die I'm breaking up with you.
10/10

Thunderbolt#129
This was a good issue a lot of the stuff that happened you could see coming. the whole time Doc Samson was "hulking out" I was thinking "just become RULK and screw Jeff Loeb's HULK book up" well more than he's screwed it up. If Doc Samson became RULK in this issue I think it would be a cool reveal that shows we're always in the same universe not just when the writers want to do crossovers, team ups, and events. Not that I want Samson to be RULK BTW. this issue ends prepping up for their big MAGNUS OPUS crossover with the jerk with a mouth Deadpool.
8/10



New Avengers #50
I have a bunch of problems with this books

1st off I just noticed it was 4.99 which makes me feel even more ripped off than when its 3.99 instead of 2.99 which this book really should be.

2nd the fact that we were tricked into thinking thinking the New Avengers and the Dark Avengers were actually gonna fight in this issue

3rdit kinda bothered me that Bendis used a scene from Dark Avengers #2 and added stuff when we saw the entire scene in DA and that didn't happen. they could have put that in Dark Avengers #2 and said check out NEW AVENGERS #50 considering they already tricked us into thinking they were going to fight .

4th does Venom really have to mention eating people every time he's on a panel is that a new rule is it the 90's again?

5th why does Captain America come off like he knows nothing about anything, On his individual page his thoughts were in his character but it didn't feel like him. and Clint just comes off as arrogant especially in the ending of this issue.

6th when I read the last panel and got to be continued I thought "oh its over?" this issue ended quick and awkward for me. this was a 37 page book with 2 splash pages and the last 2 pages of the book contained 10 panels of Clint standing there on a news broadcast talking. I'm trying to figure out why this book cost 4.99.

I know it sounds like I hate New Avengers I don't the art was great in this issue. this issue was just not what I was expecting. since it was issue 50 I thought it was gonna be something more than New Avengers vs the Hood. Each character getting their own page in the fight was pretty sweet though. the art was awesome. I just have one big problem with the ending about the writing. It's not a Bendis thing that I'm going to rip apart its a thing a lot of writers do. Its when characters are incredibly vague when trying to inform people of facts. this issue ends with Clint on the news talking about how he knows Norman Osborn is working with the Hood. he brings up how the NA were attacked but doesn't ever say "We told Norman Osborn to meet us at a location. only him and my avengers knew the location and some how the Hood and his gang attacked us in this secret location." instead he says "We were attacked by criminal known as the hood. Norman Osborn is working with him and other criminals" ect. He's so damn vague and just says it with no supporting facts behind it. that just bothered me.
7/10

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Mighty Avengers #22

Hmm...feeling a bit middling toward this so far. We're told the goal of this is to go back to a really "Avenger-y" feel, with the team dealing with world-threatening villains and the like. The ideas being thrown around here: an Elder God finally escapes his prison and envelopes the world in chaos, fits the bill. But the presentation is lacking; in the post-Authority world we live in, widescreen is key to scope, and while I often think Ellis and Millar, the two pioneers, tend to throw in a few too many two-page spreads these days, this book is the opposite. It's cramped, and the Elder God threat is rather downplayed visually by putting him the form of Quicksilver. To me, "Elder God of Chaos" should be a little more Lovecraft, a little less Pietro with a different colour scheme. Kvetching about style aside, there's a lot to like here. What Slott's doing with Pym is transparently obvious here; this is his take on where Hank's inferiority complex began, and how to solve it. In the first issue, we learned that it was when he found out that Tony Stark was Iron Man, and at issue's end he was convinced to be a hero and form a new team of Avengers; now, the whole team goes to hell, and Tony shows up and pretty much saves the day, and takes charge; next issue, it'll come down to Hank doing something key where even Tony can't. So long as this doesn't turn into another "bash Tony to score fan points" story (so far, he's done him pretty well, I admit), that's a perfectly serviceable idea.

That's a really good point. This is very classic in its presentation as well as its content, which means smaller panels and lots of information per issue. On one hand, it's good because it allows the story to move along more briskly (a "widescreen" comic probably wouldn't have even introduced Chthon until the end of this issue), but it doesn't really get in your face and scream "this is important s***!" too well. Much as I hate to admit it, this series could really use a few more splash pages. It'd be awesome if we could get someone like Steve McNiven on this for an arc, but seeing as it's the Avengers book for us "old" fans, I'm sure Joe Q would never deign to waste his talents on it.