A heavier week than last, especially on the wallet. Part of that is due to another OFFICIAL HANDBOOK coming out, which is another $4 purchase, although it is always worth it. This issue has some surprising stand-outs, some stunning duds, and a few regular excellent bits. As always, spoilers and rants ahoy. Reviews are always up at my Examiner column first.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 8/18/10 - Part One:
BATMAN BEYOND #3: This mini series reaches it's mid-point and it is easy to see it as a modest success for DC. While it does seem odd that DC is now trying to capitalize on a GENUINE fan favorite show that ended about 9-10 years ago, the fact is that it is some corner of the Bat-Universe that hasn't been strip mined to oblivion by DC yet. It actually is one of rare mini series that is still $3 an issue, and that likely also helps. It debuted to over 35k sales in June and issue two sold at over 31k in July - not terribly high, but doing better than a slew of DC ongoing titles, such as BATGIRL or ZATANNA or SECRET SIX. If this is a test of whether BATMAN BEYOND could handle an ongoing series, it hasn't exactly flunked. And given that DC is once again a multiverse, there are far worse alternate dimensions than the alternate future of 2040. The only major problem is that it was the future of 2040 as envisioned for the cartoon universe constructed by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and others in Batman and Superman cartoons of the 90's (and JLU later). There are major differences between that and the normal DCU (Wayne having dated Barb is merely one). Still, one could argue it is no different than the usual Earth Z12 that pops up in DC. Adam Beechen is writing this and while he has thrown in a lot of elements from Wayne's past into this, he also seems to have some flair for capturing the spirit of the show. The artwork by Ryan Benjamin and John Stanisci (with David Baron on colors) is rock solid, too.
Hush has apparently returned to Gotham and is still obsessed with Batman, and the fact that the elderly Wayne long ago retired and teenager Terry McGinnis is behind the mask is irrelevant. He's become a serial killer of any former Batman villains who are still alive, and has been willing to shift his M.O. to target rogues from Terry's gallery (such as Armory) as well as ones from Wayne's, such as Calendar Man. Wayne describes a seeming final confrontation, but it is unknown whether this is the old Hush, an impostor, or some sort of clone. Amanda Waller and Camdus seem to know more than anyone else about it, but have remained mum. In JLU, it was revealed that Amanda Waller "created" Terry by using a DNA sample collected from Wayne and injecting it into the McGinnis couple, only her assassin balked upon imitating Wayne's origin by murdering them when Terry was eight (the fact that Terry's father would be murdered by criminals later in Terry's life and him stumbling onto replacing Wayne anyway was pure coincidence). It was a retcon that I still don't like, and part of me is a tad annoyed that Beechen is playing more with the hint of it.
At any rate, days of working as Batman with little to no sleep as well as the frustrating nature of Hush's murder spree has caused Terry and Wayne to reach the breaking point. Wayne is on the verge of replacing Terry with Bat-robots, KINGDOM COME style, because Terry seems to not "sacrifice" enough to be Batman. After all, he still has a family (mother and brother) and a girlfriend who he actually laments about not seeing more. It is worth mentioning that at this point Terry has still not told anyone he is Batman and his supporting cast assumes he works as Bruce Wayne's assistant, which leads to an interesting confrontation with Dana later on. Terry, meanwhile, has seemed to have enough of Wayne's orders and claims to want to quit the moment Hush is apprehended, but we're not sure if he really means it. Part of what I actually liked about BEYOND was that it didn't always try to paint Wayne as being immaculate and flawless, which is probably why I didn't mind the Barbara romance subplot. I think the viewer is SUPPOSED to go, "ew" and whatnot. Batman is an archetype, but flawless ones are boring. So while old man Wayne can still be a mentor and an excellent detective on his own (often serving as the brains to Terry's brawn), there are plenty of moments where he also can appear to be a crank, or bitterly jealous of the fact that he wound up all alone despite once having an extended family of peers and lovers, mostly due to his own nature. Maybe I am weird, but a Wayne who isn't perfect actually makes him more interesting and layered to me, a lesson Geoff Johns never got with Hal Jordan. I digress.
There is also a new Catwoman who has been running into Terry, and this angle I am less thrilled about. BEYOND, at least the TV show, tried very hard to not have outright "new" versions of old villains. Such as, SPIDER-MAN 2099 often had straight up villains like Vulture 2099 or Venom 2099, but while BEYOND may have had villains fill roles in Terry's gallery that were similar to, say, Two-Face (Big Time), Riddler (Spellbinder), Clayface (Inque) or Catwoman (Ten), they didn't assume the same name and had differences. Simply slapping up a Catwoman 2040 seems a bit lazy to me. Aside for these quibbles, though, I think the dialogue captures the spirit of the show quite well. The end of the issue actually has a neat element for BEYOND fans; after referencing RETURN OF THE JOKER with a visit to Tim Drake, Terry actually flies over to Bludhaven for a visit with Dick Grayson, who never appeared in BEYOND (but was mentioned many times). Their chat in the next issue should be interesting.
In a way, perhaps this is a script for a DTV that never was, and that it could merely be an average story wrapped around a box of nostalgia for an old show. But that's enough for me, especially at $3 an issue.
AGE OF HEROES #4: It can be argued this anthology saved it's worst issue for the end. I suppose if you are a Black Panther fan, the story that is basically a teaser for the upcoming KLAWS OF THE PANTHER relaunch may be for you. It was my first introduction to the new Black Panther, Princess Shuri. The angle is that she's seen as the Paris Hilton of Wakanda and she's been tasked with replacing their sacred mantle at a time when Wakanda is at it's weakest, since T'Challa chose to destroy all of their Vibranium rather than let Dr. Doom have it (which honestly sounds just a wee bit shy of fanatic). As such, Wakanda is weak domestically and internationally, and Shuri is seen as an improper Panther, so she has to spend time defending her right to that mask about five minutes after defeating a squad of AIM grunts. To be honest, that tale, "Honor", by Jonathan Maberry with art by Shawn Moll (with inks by Walden Wong and colors by Edgar Delgado) isn't bad at all, and is fine. If I was interested in Black Panther I may have loved it. But there is a part of me wondering what Marvel is thinking here. BLACK PANTHER has been selling at the bottom of the Top 100 for years now, even when Hudlin was writing it. It would only peak up during crossovers, which it relied upon heavily. It often did worse than MS. MARVEL in that regard. Therefore, I don't think replacing T'Challa with a new character is going to jazz up the fanbase, and in fact so far it hasn't. In general I have no problem with the idea; the Black Panther has always been a legacy mantle, so it was inevitable that T'Challa would leave or retire or whatnot and someone new would take it up. It simply is a fact that new characters are rarely embraced.
Even the angle of marrying T'Challa to Storm didn't help; all it accomplished was barely spiking BLACK PANTHER's sales for one wedding issue, shoving in a lot of retcons about the relationship (at the same time Joe Q was breathing holy fire at the Parker Marriage for being a "shameless stunt", while he was merrily employing soap opera designers for T'Challa's retconned romance), while removing Storm from the X-Men universe for years of time, diminishing her popularity and recognition. Some even saw it as a "pair up the black folks" exercise because of the execution. It simply hasn't been a healthy market for B or C list heroes; all the years in NEW AVENGERS haven't kept a LUKE CAGE mini from selling in the dumps.
The second story is in theory a Capt. America story, but it really is a bit of a quirky tale playing with his continuity. Elliott Kalan and Brendan McCarthy bring us "Man Of God", which is a tale that basically plays up the 60's plot point of Capt. America being found in a block of ice by Eskimo in Alaska and being worshiped as a god. The tale centers on an old man who still sees Rogers as god (especially after his televised return from the dead, which only Jesus and Superman are usually capable of), while his son sees the old man as a crank who worships a superhero. It's actually a clever idea, I am simply not sure it works for a story, although this is the shortest way to have told it. It even includes a cameo from Namor at the time, which is hilarious. I suppose it works as a tale of how Rogers could inspire at least one man despite being frozen, and a look at how some "little people" viewed some of the antics of the 60's era. Still, it read like a neat idea that was difficult to flesh out without some bits seeming obligatory.
There is a Joe Casey "Welcome Back Zodiak" strip that seems more bizarre and random than anything to me. I'd argue the strip I liked the most was the Slott/Templeton Cloud 9 strip. It brings things to a conclusion while being simple and to the point. Rogers asks Cloud 9 to see him and wants her to be an instructor over at Avengers Academy. However, when he reminds her that the SHRA is repealed and she basically has her rights again, Cloud 9 decides she can do whatever she wants, and flies off to be happy. Cloud 9 was always a character who ideally would have been one of those chipper NEW WARRIORS hangers on, but with the SHRA was forced into a military camp and ordered to become a sniper/soldier and get exposed to corruption, horror, and death. To me it makes perfect sense that she'd ditch it the moment she was told she legally could. One could argue it is hard to try to get Cloud 9 back to being an upbeat character again after years of having her kill terrorists, Skrulls, or coldly perform endless military exercises. On the other hand, there were plenty of happy, upbeat people who were drafted and came back and didn't become bitter, vengeful maniacs (and learned to laugh again). Tigra in A:TI mentioned that Cloud 9 was only burying her sense of guilt about all of her actions, and eventually it would hit her - step one to recovering was leaving the program, which she does here.
Still, a $4 anthology in which my favorite strip was only a page long isn't what I would call a total success. I do like the format overall, though, and apparently so does Marvel, as next month this will basically return as I AM AN AVENGER. After all, AGE OF HEROES so far has outsold HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD, BLACK WIDOW, and YOUNG ALLIES.
ATLAS #4 This was another solid issue, although it involves one massive infodump about the new origins of 3-D Man's abilities and some of it does some off a little confusing. Aside for this, it is the penultimate issue, which is a shame. On the plus side, both the regular artist (Gabe Hardman) and the back up artist (Ramon Rosanas) team up to make the lead story a full 30 pages, which is a good way to maximize on the page count that Parker has to resolve all this. As usual, Jeff Parker makes it all flow with some quirky bits atop of solid dialogue with good characters.
The body-swapping invaders have infiltrated the Atlas compound, and this get nasty when one of them possesses Namora. They manage to survive it, but it nearly kills Uranian and causes him to revert full to his "alien form". It is jarring, but intentionally so. The dragon Mr. Lao seemingly solves the problem by slaughtering all of the possessed men, which appalls Jimmy Woo. It is revealed that there are apparently two universes that connect to the earth that the triangle symbol signifies, and that 3-D Man's role as a conduit of power on all three worlds. It actually is a lot of heavy lifting to fill out the backstory of a legacy character of a D-List hero, but I like it and it is actually a shame we won't see more of Delroy on the team with the series ending (besides cameos). Half of the team decide to visit the invader's world, but get cut off when Delroy has to save them from another attack. Thus, Bob, Ken, and Jimmy end up in some parallel earth where they never disbanded in the 1950's and basically founded the Avengers. It's all peaches and cream until that world's 3-D Man recognizes them as invaders.
The characters of ATLAS tend to work better for me than the plots of ATLAS, at least within the past year or so. While that's enough for me, I can understand some readers losing interest and that this comic is probably too quirky for it's own good for the sort of people who flock to see NEW CYBORG WOLVERINE AVENGERS WAR. At the very least, Marvel has given this franchise more of a try than quite a few they've tried to launch, so I am not too bitter this time. At least we got a GORILLA-MAN mini out of it before the end.
AVENGERS ACADEMY: This week it was up against Brubaker's Avengers title, and in no uncertain terms this was the better one, which is quite an accomplishment considering about a quarter of it's cast are new characters. It ties into THUNDERBOLTS this week (and for next issue), and both issues compliment each other in a way. Christos Gage continues his streak of excellence while Mike McKone (alongside Hennessy and Cox) delivers on some great visuals.
Hazmat is the P.O.V. character for the issue, and thematically she is between Veil and Finesse. The start of her origin seems cribbed a bit from Rogue, right down to the "boyfriend in a coma from a kiss" aspect, but after that, it picks up. She is the first of the students who clearly isn't a mutant; she was chemically mutated by Roxxon chemicals when she was small, and whatever "abilities" she gained from it just took years to manifest (not an uncommon origin for many Marvel characters). She was exploited by Norman Osborn and has basically become akin, or worse, than China's Radioactive Man, unable to touch anyone for fear of killing them (whether slowly or instantly). As someone who had her life ripped from her, it often makes sense for her to be harsh and obnoxious, but unlike Finesse, it isn't her nature, just a reaction to her state. Fortunately, Gage is a good enough writer to be able to steadily flesh out his other characters without just focusing on the star of an issue, a task I wish more comic and TV writers had (WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN would have been helped greatly by a writer capable of that). The subplot between Finesse and Reptil comes to a conclusion here. Mettle also gets a bit to do here, and he's growing into my favorite of the bunch (even over Reptil, who I also like). He's just as messed up as most of the kids, in some ways more so, but he's not angry or bitter about it. He's the nicest one of the bunch aside for Reptil, and he's the one who looks like the love child of Red Skull and Ultron. On the other hand, you know what they say about the "nice ones" - they're always the ones to watch.
As the title of the arc implies, the Avengers teachers have decided to have their students visit the Thunderbolts program at the Raft to see where they could end up. Striker sees it as "scared straight", which are often utilized to teach at-risk youths like them. I did like that Hazmat apologizes to Mettle before she devises a plan to capitalize on that visit to get at Norman Osborn once and for all. It wasn't even manipulation; she only asked Veil to help her, and didn't intend for Mettle to become involved in it. The fact that he agrees anyway is more of an accident, and his own wishes. I also like that since Iron Fist is a member of the Avengers, he can be on hand for sparring and training sessions instead of Steve Rogers being responsible for teaching every schlub how to punch. Naturally, seeing him overcome Finesse in a page was pretty cool, especially since I can't stand Finesse so every time she stumbles, part of me feels better. Considering that Iron Fist really is a master of martial arts and a superhero, it was odd that before now, the only other team that ever used him for training was the Fantastic Four (he apparently taught Sue some moves).
Valkyrie and Juggernaut both have some entertaining moments. I love that kids are asking Juggernaut to say his catch phrases. Marko's a violent felon, but then again, so are most rappers. The trip through the Thunderbolts facility goes as expected; the crooks are creepy, Moonstone and Ghost are hopelessly insane, and of course despite all the security, something goes wrong. The climax to this issue is spoiled in THUNDERBOLTS #147, but c'mon, did ANYONE really think these kids would get to actually kill Norman Osborn? Especially when he just had a mini series solicited for November? The last time an old villain was allowed to die in a new kid team book was Kang in YOUNG AVENGERS, and he was basically killed by a young version of himself (and as a time traveler, death is usually optional). The only bit I didn't care for was the bit where Speedball is shown to still be cutting himself with his old Penance mask in private. I guess it is to show that Baldwin can't just flip a switch and turn off his mental issues, but I thought his short fuse displays that properly without Speedball still needing to be a "cutter", which is one of the major stereotypes of "emo". I suppose Gage wants to treat Baldwin's recovery as a slow and steady thing with setbacks and whatnot, but I always saw it as terrible writing for an extended period, and no one minds when that stuff is washed away fast. Part of me doesn't understand why Moonstone was brought in at all; she's clearly an evil psychiatrist, and displays her evilness at every turn. How can her opinion be trusted? You'd be better off asking a hobo on the street, so long as he was an honest one.
The ending has been ruined a bit, but it wasn't an ending that couldn't be easily figured out (of course the kids won't be cured, and of course they won't kill Osborn), but it will be the execution next issue that'll be worth it. Sales for this debuted strongly, but have fallen to about 38k as of issue two; which is about where AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #35 sold. Still, we should get a year or more out of this, which is good. Gage, as usual, is onto great stuff and makes a must-read book, especially now without having to cater to the whole Initiative/Dark Reign thing (even if he had a ball with both).
Clones is right, though, they should've been clearer about how this issue fits together with Avengers Academy. I started reading this one first but thankfully changed my mind and decided to go for AA first instead. There was no indication that T-bolts would have the whole crossover in this one issue while AA would end on a cliffhanger, though, so it was just dumb luck on my part.
