Checkmate #25
Farewell Greg Rucka, Eric Trautmann, and Joe Bennett; you made this series awesome by 25 issues (well, not Bennett, his stint is shorter than that, but all the same). Now the Anti-Life, Bruce Jones, is on, and Im not sticking around for that sure-to-be-cluster****. In a way, its nice to take something off my pull list just in time for summer event season, but, still, this was perhaps DCs finest book. Anyway, Rucka and Trautmann wrap up the three-part "Castling" story arc by unveiling the Rooks, a four-person strike force consisting of Sebastian Faust, Gravedigger, Cinnamon, and GI Robot; yes, you read that right; and they all kick as, too. In a lot of respects, its a strange finale; theres really nothing in the way of character arc finality here, just the plot, and the focus isnt even on the people who have been the centre of the series for its 25 issues. Still, its great. Appropriately, the final scene has Sasha (second only to Renee Montoya in the pantheon of Ruckas pet characters) talking with Batman, in whose book she first appeared during Ruckas run at the turn of the century. And maybe it says something disturbing about this book where the big twist is that they didnt kill the babies.
Fables #72
The little two-parter featuring Cinderella, Master Assassin, concludes with a bang, also bringing in two characters we havent heard from in many, many issues. Cindy outwits Hansel and his men, executing the goons but not Hansel (since hes technically a diplomat, and she probably couldnt kill a popular Fable like Hansel anyway), then hightailing back to New York with Pinocchio, where the wooden soldiers turned flesh Rodney and June attempt to intercept them. Theres a ton of action here, and the idea of just how dangerous Cinderella is is conveyed very well (with, at the same time, a certain disdain for action movie cliches). Rodney and June were a dangling plot thread from way back, and, in typical Willingham fashion, they are reintroduced and then dealt with in very quick fashion. "The Good Prince" dragged a lot, but now things are really picking up; I cant wait for the war with the Adversary.
Hulk vs. Hercules: When Titans Collide #1
Essentially an Incredible Herc Annual, complete with a reprint of Hulk and Hercules first meeting back in the Silver Age (which ended in a draw), this takes the form of an Untold Hulk story set back circa #300 of his series, when Doctor Strange sent him on the path of many worlds to find happiness. He ends up on Olympus, necessitating Herc being called back from beating up other heroes in a wrestling match (he pwns the Thing with ease; you really get a sense here of his proficiency in actual fighting technique, rather than just being a drunken brawler). Midway through the fight (another draw), a bunch of the Titans, including Cronos, break free, and do battle with the Olympians; Herc defeats (and possibly kills?) Cronos, in the process killing the two giants that the Hulk had earlier befriended, stunning him and sending him away dispirited. A recurring feature of Greg Paks takes on both Hulk and Hercules is that theyre both monstrous and good, often at the same time, and this is emphasized again. In this case, its Athena narrating the story to Cho while they crisscross the nation on their way to San Francisco. There are several artists here (including Khoi Pham on the framing segments; nice to see him get one more round on the title), but most of it is by Reilly Brown, and the art is quite good.
Justice League of America #20
I dropped this after McDuffies first arc, because of the obvious editorial meddling in this series preventing any real independent stories from being told. I came back here because it promised to feature Wonder Woman heavily, be unrelated to anything else going on, and be drawn by Ethan Van Sciver. And it was quite good. Its essentially an issue of The Brave and Bold, albeit relating to duties in the JLA, that pits Wally and Diana against Queen Bee and H.I.V.E. The central conflict is kind of abrupt, but its an effective done-in-one, and McDuffie captures both characters well (he even mentions the notion that Diana is a diplomat; oh, Wally, if only that were still true). Van Scivers art is gorgeous (and since it took 2.5 months to draw, it should be; I can hardly understand how refining ones art style to be so inefficient can be good for making a living), although Diana appears a bit thin on occasion. If nothing else, this issue proves McDuffie could probably write a good Flash solo comic.
Mighty Avengers #12
When suddenly, unexpectedly, and without warning, the books cast is jettisoned in favour of "Secret Invasion" tie-ins focussed on Nick Fury! As is often the case with Bendis, moving to a solo character format on a street level (albeit with cosmic significance) makes for a much-improved story (although I think he can write a pretty decent Mighty Avengers story under normal circumstances too). Nick is obviously going to be a major player, and Bendis has kept him underground for about half a decade in anticipation of this story, so now we get some sense of where hes been. We get confirmation here that the Contessa has been replaced, not just imitated, and Nick deals with the Skrull replacing her in a swift, brutal manner. Elsewhere, he recruits Spider-Woman to his cause (actually mentioning Skrulls in the conversation, which appears to take place before the New Avengers were even formed), and has a peculiar conversation with Maria Hill. Maleevs art is quite good, and this is Bendis at his best as a writer; there arent even any overly-cutesy dialogues. The issue concludes with something sure to trigger forums worth of random and often crazy speculation: a big wall of heroes photos, including some some circled in red (Wolverine, Sentry, Doctor Strange, Hulkling) and others in blue (Daredevil, Namor, Spider-Man, Lockjaw (?!), and Stature).
Ms. Marvel #26
Reeds "Secret Invasion" prelude (a prelude that takes place after the actual event has begun publication, but whatever) arc takes an unexpected turn here, as Ms. Marvel herself acknowledges in text: she doesnt go on the run from her own people, have to prove her innocence, etc. Instead, she turns herself in (along with her Skrull doppelganger) and unravels the whole situation from within. Its a fun subversion of what youd expect to happen. This book does a really good job of integrating crossovers into its ongoing stories; indeed, its often at its most interesting. Melos art is really good, a lot better, I thought, than it was last issue; but, man, that is a horrible Greg Horn cover (although not nearly so much so as Julys); cant this book get a good cover artist? And the revelation about what Machine Man does with the Photon LMD is hysterical.
Northlanders #5
Brian Wood rewinds the book to give us Svens origin story: how he went from an Orkney Viking to a prominent citizen in Byzantium. We get some more insight into his relationship with the woman whose head was hacked off last issue (Zoe; is that a period-appropriate name?), and a sense of where Svens atheist/disbelieving attitude towards his traditional culture came from. Its another solid chapter in Svens story, although we have gone in the more conventional route of redeeming/sympathizing with Sven as a hero of sorts. As a minor nit, Im not really sure how, under the circumstances of Svens departure from his home, people from Orkney were ever able to find him in #1.
Thor #8
JMS and guest-artist Marko Djurdjevic complete their two-parter (the latter here to give Olivier Coipel more time to get ahead, not that I think it will amount to much; he seems to need about two months for a single issue, and these two issues have given him only two months off; indeed, theres already a skip month in June) focussing on Thor going in search of Odin, while Donald Blake (whose existence continues to annoy/baffle me; he was never a real person) goes to New York to see Jane Foster and try to find out whats going on with the still-absent Sif. The reconnection between Donald and Jane is very well-written, although, again, the idea of Blake as a separate person is hard to understand. And it turns out the She-Loki has transferred Sif out of Jane and into an elderly lady in the hospital who is going to die soon (killing Sif as well); devious! Meanwhile, Odin is now in a sort of Norse heaven, fighting and killing Surtur every day for all of eternity, and he and Thor make peace, proving that Thor is A Good Son. Its an effective two-part story, and theres a real feeling that something might actually happen next issue, though it took eight issues to get here.
Uncanny X-Men #497
Cyclops and Emma continue their investigations in San Francisco, in the snares of a confused brown-haired mutant with telepathic powers (and seemingly at the behest of an aging hippie who wants to feel young again), while the trio in Russia are abducted by the Red Room. The San Francisco stuff feels tonally weird, though its all rather fun; this is maybe the lightest Ed Brubaker storyline Ive ever read, and Mike Chois illustration is utterly beautiful. Long-term, it sets up the X-Men relocating to the west coast. The Russia plot picks up on the idea that M-Day has depowered most mutants, and those the remain are predominantly either American, or based in America; coincidentally, I was reading my New Mutants Classic volume 1 trade last night, where Gyrich talks about the manifestation of foreign mutants as a national security issue, which I suppose it would be. From the Russian perspective, and especially in light of the SHRA, the US has a seemingly insurmountable lead in the superhuman arms race.
X-Force #3
Things seem to be picking up here, as Bastions plan for defeating the X-Men involves resurrecting (or, in some cases, just hijacking) basically every anti-mutant bigot the X-Men have ever faced, as, at issues end, we have: Graydon Creed, Steven Lang, William Stryker, Cameron Hodge, and Bolivar Trask, joined by Donald Pierce and the Leper Queen (all with little counts of the number of mutants theyve killed: Trask wins, with 16.5 million kills; Lang has a paltry 29). All this on top of Bastion himself, the other Purifiers, and the malleable spawn of Magus. This seems, er, more than a bit out of the league of X-Force, but whatever. Meanwhile, it seems like were getting a hint that maybe Reverend Craig isnt all bad, which is a bit of a surprise. This issue is really all about the villains in terms of development, but the writers continue to do a good job with the main characters voices; Warpath gets the narration this issue. Crains art is slick, although I sometimes find it a bit too unclear.
Young Avengers Presents #4: Vision
I went into this as a big fan of Vision, Cassie, Vision/Cassie, and Paul Cornell, so my expectations were a bit; for the most part, I think they were met. This is the most successful issue of the series yet, in my opinion. It tells a satisfying story in 22 pages, where something actually happens that feels like the characters' saga has genuinely advanced. Cassie's status has been the biggest issue any YA project has to deal with these days; strictly speaking, I'm not entirely clear on the approach Cornell is taking here, because while her position in the first half is to a point clearly meant as an overreaction to deal with a complicated situation, he seems to still write is as though she has some genuine ideological commitment to the pro-Registration side, which is out of step with her reasons for joining (I really did enjoy her commentary on what she expects Vision will say to her). Otherwise, though, she's well-written. On to the star of the issue (which, really, is much more of a co-starring issue than even the formally Wiccan/Speed #3 was), Cornell hits a home run with the Vision (although I'm not sure "Jonas" is as cool a name as Vision proclaims it to be; then again, there's really only one cool male name beginning with V, and there's already a teenaged robot Victor). The discussions of his personality/identity issues are somewhat rote; the same sorts of things were done with Lt. Commander Data 20 years ago; but it is appropriate, and well-handled. His description of his journey since the CW is nice, especially the "valuable nothing" comment concerning Wanda. Mark Brooks' art is good too; for an issue that has a lot of dialogue, his faces communicate a broad range of emotions. Cornell is rapidly rising in my esteem, and I cant wait to see what he does with the Excalibur relaunch and the Fantastic Four.
betcha he blames it on Maleev.
