A short week, but overall a very good one for me. Spoilers ahoy.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 2/16/11 - The Marvel Books
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654.1: That number is not a typo; this is part of the "Marvel .1" initiative. In theory, it is supposed to offer a proper jumping on issue for newer readers who are not already reading a particular series. In practice, it is looking very much like another way of saying "annual", which often was considered a filler story. This issue does serve as a promotional issue, but not for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. It may as well be VENOM #0, intended to promote the ongoing series about to launch from Rick Remender and Tony Moore. While Peter Parker technically appears in a minor subplot, and there is a two page splash that properly teases about the next few arcs of ASM, this is very much about the newest Venom, Eugene "Flash" Thompson. Even the cover is misleading, as it shows the Mac Gargan Venom alongside Spider-Man; the former doesn't appear and the latter never teams with Venom this issue. Digressions aside, for a Venom promotional piece, it does the job done and Dan Slott tells an effective prelude story for the upcoming series. Humberto Ramos, one of the trio of rotating regular artists on ASM, provides the pencils for the tale, alongside Carlos Cuevas on inks and Edgar Delgado on colors. The premise is that the military have stripped the symbiotic alien costume from Gargan and plan to deploy it on the field to military operatives to perform missions for the U.S. government. Fearing turning the men into insane menaces, the costume is removed every 48 hours to prevent it bonding to the host, and each operative has a limit of twenty missions before they are discharged. Flash, former football player, soldier, and Iraq war veteran (who lost both legs at about the knee) has been chosen as the first successful Venom operative.
This issue covers Flash's first two missions as Venom, as well as offers a slice into his personal life. While he is seeing Betty Brant, he doesn't hesitate to flirt with nearly any female he encounters, which includes his support partner Kate, who "watches" the symbiote to make sure it doesn't fully possess Flash. If one doesn't suspect that things aren't all peachy and the alien won't ever become a threat, one probably hasn't been reading comics or fiction long. The irony is that Flash worships Spider-Man, yet doesn't know he is Peter Parker; he also dislikes Parker employing secrets around ones he loves, while doing the same with Betty. The action is effective and Ramos is naturally effective at drawing Venom. Considering VENOM #1 will be $3.99, this is a cheaper way of sampling the premise of the series, and on that it passes with flying colors. A longtime supporting character, Flash is an effective lead hero when properly utilized, as he is here. It remains to be seen how well Rick Remender will pick up the ball Dan Slott has passed him. At the very least, the twenty mission window offers a finite story if the title is canceled before or by the twelfth issue.
The two page "preview" of the next 12 months worth of ASM stories, drawn by an uncredited Stefano Caselli, is interesting stuff. The things that interest me in particular are the Hobgoblin subplot and an angle in which MJ has somehow gained at least wall-crawling abilities and blaming Peter. And, of course, his "neighbor" at Horizon Labs. Looks to be a solid year for Mr. Slott. Can't wait for it. I finally bit on ASM with BIG TIME and haven't regretted more than a page or two yet - that is more than I can say for other $3.99 titles.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #9: Another month, another awesome issue of the best Avengers comic fans can buy for $3 an issue. iFanboy may consider it "the best new book of 2010", but it continues to be one of the best new books for 2011 as well. Writer Christos Gage and artist Mike McKone reunite for the final time on this series, as McKone is going on to other projects (namely, a FEAR ITSELF: SPIDER-MAN mini series). He has drawn seven of the first nine issues and the covers for all of them (and will handle the covers up to issue twelve as well), and has co-created the young characters alongside Gage that are featured here. Rebecca Buchman and Jeromy Cox handle the inks and colors, respectively. As the cover shows, this issue Finesse takes on the Taskmaster, long time Avengers villain as well as the man who could possibly be her biological father. She shares his ability to copy any action she sees as long as it isn't superhuman, which is termed "photographic reflexes". Of course, Echo from DAREDEVIL and NEW AVENGERS shares that ability and is apparently not related to Taskmaster either, but this story makes what could have simply been fan speculation into an entertaining and even somewhat tragic confrontation.
This issue also deals effectively with the cliffhanger from the last. After three of the cadets go off the grid to track down the villain who attacked Tigra (the Hood) and posted it online as a "warning", Tigra chose to expel the trio for their actions. However, this act doesn't sit well with the other instructors of the academy, and she meets with them to discuss the matter and put it to a democratic vote. How democratic? Even Jocasta the administrative robot gets a say. Quicksilver appears for the first time in several issues and acts as if he hasn't missed a panel, stealing virtually every scene he is in and line he has. Speedball, on the other hand, has to make the most of his two or three panels of time. He and Justice continue to be the two Avengers instructors who get the least panel time. The latter is awkward because it was a major subplot for Veil that she had a student/mentor crush on Justice, which was recently dashed when she learned he was dating Ultra-Girl (another ex-New Warrior and Initiative member). This is a problem because the reader has been endlessly told that Veil has this improper crush - via narration from the debut issue, and through other character dialogue and narration - but very little of it has been seen. In fact one panel this month is the most the reader has seen of it in some time. Beyond that, however, Tigra's arc from the last issue is brought to a proper conclusion as she reaches an understanding with her fellow Avengers as well as her wayward students. Tigra remains a character Gage is very passionate about and supports with effective writing. Other writers may consider her mere "fetish fuel", but he doesn't, to his benefit.
The main thrust of the issue, however, is on the confrontation between Finesse and Taskmaster. Finesse is a bit of an awkward character - one who is only capable of appreciating things if they are pure data or technique so that she can learn and master them, but is unable to properly read or understand emotions. As such, she often acts like a "female dog" without deliberately intending to. Stuck in a world where she can relate to no one, she has sought after someone who may or may not be a biological link to that mystery. Aside for Tigra, Taskmaster was another character that Gage focused a lot of his tenure on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE fleshing out. Rather than feel challenged by the revelations about the character revealed in the terrific and underrated TASKMASTER mini series that wrapped last year, written by Fred Van Lente, Gage uses it as a springboard to this story. McKone draws an excellent rendition of the character, and their duel and subsequent dialogue is a wonder to behold. It is a prime example of the excellent task that Van Lente accomplished with his series, in that it added a deeper and even tragic layer to a villain who usually was Captain Copy Cat.
On the whole, this continues to be one of Marvel's best titles. It offers great artwork and consistently good story telling that utilizes both old, new, and original characters in a way that few other books can imitate. Despite a sales rebound in December, the book fell to about 24,000 copies last month; its lowest sales yet. While issue twelve is assured and issues 13 and 14 have been solicited for May, this is one series that cannot afford to be "trade waited" on. Buy it monthly, and enjoy it monthly.
SPIDER-GIRL #4: Two issues this month, perhaps to make up for the title skipping January. The series debuted with over 23k in November and slipped to above 21k in December - less than a 10% drop between issues 1 and 2. Given that 20% drops between debut issues and second issues are not uncommon, this isn't too bad on a small scale. Given that the series has a gimmick of also having a Twitter account that ties into the story (as that is how the titular heroine narrates), it would be a bit embarrassing if even dipping a toe into current social media did nothing to help this series last past a 10th issue. The problem with many Marvel launches, or relaunches, is that they suffer the double calamity of having an underwhelming debut and then sales tumble with every issue with no end in sight. YOUNG ALLIES, DOCTOR VOODOO, ATLAS, and SWORD are all casualties of this. Now, a 7th issue of SPIDER-GIRL has been solicited; but a 7th issue of YOUNG ALLIES was solicited too, and we know how that turned out (it was scrapped and McKeever basically had to edit it into a plot involving Onslaught and/or the Secret Avengers). May's solicitations show a lot of support for younger heroes, either via extra one-shots or an appearance in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, which is actually one of Marvel's more stable titles - sales haven't fluctuated on it nearly as much on Bendis Avengers comics, which at least for now outsell it. Another bad sign is an inability to keep a consistent regular artist on the book this soon into its life. The only issue that Clayton Henry was able to completely draw by himself was the first. To be fair, he also had to draw an 8 page back up in ASM about a week or two before it was released, which likely bit into his schedule. At least 1-2 other artists had to pitch in pages to fill out the last two issues, and now Henry is gone altogether, with a new artist coming in. Henry will return, assuming the series isn't abruptly canceled, of course. Anyone who paid attention to the second volume of NEW WARRIORS from the late 90's/early 2000's, that took about 7-8 issues of an 11-12 issue run to find a regular artist, can perhaps understand the chaos that lacking a clear regular artist can imply in a young title. Hopefully, this title, and others, can hang on via RUNAWAYS or the space books for so long; a small but stable and consistent audience.
Two artists (Matthew Southworth & Paul Azaceta) are credited with the art, along with two colorists (Chris Sotomayor & Andres Mossa). Now, sometimes inkers are co-credited with general art, and sometimes they aren't. Two colorists often implies a rush to meet deadline, but I didn't notice any clashing colors, so it works. Paul Tobin is writing a perfectly fine solo teen heroine title that manages to avoid being mired in as many stereotypes as one would imagine. Despite her father being murdered (and her mother being long dead), Anya is not a grim loner. She also isn't drawn or depicted as a nomadic tramp as many heroines are. She's a heroine who mourns her tragedies but doesn't become absorbed within them to become a cynical, pessimistic person. While she is still not as experienced as heroes such as Spider-Man or Ms. Marvel, she is no slouch when it comes to tactics or brains. After finding out that her father's death involved more than the Red Hulk, but yet another evil organization called Raven, Anya has sought out others to help her live and recover without her dad. She has support from Invisible Woman, but is also having her classmate Rocky move in with her; she is warding off advances from moving boys, and Rocky introduces her to someone new. This is Sophia Sanduval, or "Chat". This is interesting as this is a character from Paul Tobin's run on MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN; and there, she was a mutant who could "talk" to animals. It remains to be seen if the 616 version of this character will be similar, but it does open the door to some possibilities, doesn't it?
In the meantime, the resurrected Kraven is training his surviving daughter, Ana, to be his proper heir. While he feels she's in no way ready to take on Spider-Man, he continues to see all the spider-related people as a "family" (yet they rarely interact or organize; the fact that Spider-Man and Spider-Woman are on AVENGERS together is pure coincidence and they barely talk to each other). Thus, he sics her after Spider-Girl. Cue the plot for the arc, as Ana tracks Spider-Girl around her usual places and they eventually fight. Spider-Girl also has a rematch with another Spidey castoff, Screwball (an online thief and parkour fanatic). Now, Screwball makes perfect sense to be a Spider-Girl foil; she is too physically weak to really challenge Spider-Man, but against a powerless Anya she is a fair challenge. I two have two criticisms of this run so far. Firstly, I wonder if simply handing Anya some spare Spider-Man villains is going to help her stand on her own. There's Raven, but all they are is a symbol and a name and some exposition. And then there is her creepy neighbor, which leads into criticism two. It makes absolutely zero sense that Spider-Girl is THAT creeped out by her neighbor and she hasn't once attempted to investigate him. As a NOMAD back up strip reminded us, she DID have SHIELD training when she was Ms. Marvel's partner (a relationship that was apparently removed along with her powers). But in this very issue, it details that Spider-Girl is willing to peek into windows at random, and it aids in her crime-fighting as she scoped out a burglar in the act. If she is willing to do that, why not at least take a similar peak into the apartment of a guy who is weirding her out more so than muggers? Because the plot isn't ready for it yet? That's no excuse. Anya's not stupid and she clearly has enough moxie to be able to sniff out muggers, burglars, and Ana Kravenoff; surely she could understand a "creepy neighbor" could be a pedo or a serial killer (especially since Rikki recently stumbled upon one) and that would justify at least a modest looking into. All it would take is some panel or two of time where Anya maybe peeks through a window as Spider-Girl and finds nothing unusual or suspicious and that would be enough for a 4th issue. Instead all she does is narrate or react to it and do nothing despite it being a fairly obvious danger. Can't Anya be a friendly optimist as well as someone who reacts to obvious signals of threats?
Overall, though, still a solid series, even if it has some awkward bits. It wants to seem like a spin-off of Spider-Man, yet it has also connected her to the Fantastic Four. It wants to show Anya as not a veteran heroine yet not a dummy, yet she is making a mistake that even a stoned out late night horror movie flick audience couldn't miss. Her borrowing villains from Spider-Man works at times but also makes her seem like she is clearly his spin-off when she should be branching out. Tobin succeeds in writing his title character and her interactions with others, and that is the main thing. Hopefully it gains some consistent art before cancellation, and even better if it avoids that altogether.
THUNDERBOLTS #153: The cover depicts the Juggernaut, Hyperion, Ghost, and Moonstone jumping at what looks to be a T-Rex with horns. If that doesn’t get you to at least flip through a comic book, nothing will. Writer Jeff Parker continues his yeoman effort on this book about convicted super-villains performing missions to shorten their sentences, “MOD SQUAD” style, and regular artist Kev Walker continues to draw all of the wild and wacky things that this series requires (alongside inker Jason Gorder and colorist Frank Martin). From heroes to armor to troll girls to monsters, Walker draws it all and makes it all flow together.
As of the last issue, the Thunderbolts have sought to replace the psycho Crossbones with Hyperion, only he turns out to be a psycho, too. What makes it even worse is that he is very close to an atomic version of Superman, capable of destroying the entire team if he wishes. His ploy is to exploit the team’s mission to protect Japan from giant monsters (seriously, Ultraman and Godzilla were busy) has so far gone well, as half the team has either been swallowed by the monsters or seemingly drowned. Thus, the crux of this issue is that the team have to rebound and not only survive the monster attack, but get past Hyperion as well. The subtle bit is that the official non-criminal leaders, such as Luke Cage, Songbird, and Mach-IV, don’t know that Hyperion turned traitor in the middle of the mission.
The highlight of is the issue is Juggernaut’s stand against Hyperion and seeing the rest of the cons come together as an actual team, loyal to each other. This is something that hasn’t really occurred very often during this tenure of the team before, but was effectively handled in this issue. The final panels make good use of having a monster such as the Man-Thing as a part of the team as well – he will be the focal point of the next issue. The subplot of Gunna, who is an Asgardian girl raised by trolls who is too dangerous to release, also continues in proper pace.
Lowlights? Some of Walker’s panels of the fight between Juggernaut and Hyperion have some awkward positioning. Most of all, despite the fact that “X-MEN 3” debuted back in 2006, Marvel has decided now is the time to have Juggernaut’s helmet imitate the one Vinnie Jones wore in Fox’s feature film – the one that looked like Jones had just mugged Ram Man from “HE-MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE”. While “X-MEN: FIRST CLASS” is debuting in June, Juggernaut has nothing to do with that. Having the costume of a long time comic book character reflect one his motion picture counterpart is old hat, but waiting nearly five years to follow suit is beyond daft. Are the men who run Marvel so old that it takes about five years for pop culture to cycle down? If so, someone should inform them that MySpace is past its prime and nobody under fifty uses a walkman anymore. Then again, this is the same company that needed an extra decade to realize roller skates were no longer fashionable.
Overall, THUNDERBOLTS remains a solid team title from Jeff Parker and Marvel. While it is not one of their greatest sellers, it is one of few Marvel titles that can still brag about selling better now than it did four or five years ago. If one likes Marvel series that offer far out sci fi action as well as reforming super villains and B and C list heroes, this is for you.
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), but it's been good. Better than I expected from Aguirre-Sacasa, based on his other work.
