ANT-MAN & WASP #3: This three issue mini-series completes Tim Seeley's (hack/slash) first major work for Marvel Comics, as he both wrote and drew it. Every issue of this series has warranted a review, but for this final issue, it got to stand alone at the top of the heap. Isn't that what most stories should strive to be - excellent all the way through, but even best at the finale? Sales wise, this series has been ignored; selling under 15k back in November, perhaps because the titular heroes aren't enough of a draw, especially for $3.99 an issue. That is a shame because for a first major work at Marvel, Seeley displays the skills that some Marvel veterans haven't displayed in years.
The gist of the series is that the new Ant-Man, Eric O'Grady, is forced to have a team-up adventure with the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym (who went by Wasp to honor his dead ex-wife for roughly a year before switching back to Giant-Man in the pages of AVENGERS ACADEMY). Neither of them are alike and neither of them get along for more than a panel, at best. As summarized last issue, the two are paired in a quest to battle the nefarious A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics - a group of evil scientist criminals), as well as their newest cohort, Anesthesia (who is of the same race as SLEEPWALKER, a relic from the 90's). In this issue, A.I.M.'s leader, Monica Rappaccini, has dropped a bomb-shell. Her entire vendetta against Pym, which involved stealing his latest invention, was basically a way to get him to come over for a job offer with the evil organization. Given that Pym has had mental breakdowns with his fellow Avengers, Monica pitches that his true place is with them, fellow kooky scientists, and not the Avengers. Meanwhile, the "irredeemable" O'Grady has been poisoned and must use all his womanizing tricks to get past Anesthesia (or"Ana" to her friends).
The result are just meat-and-potatoes good comics. The artwork is terrific, aided by terrific colors by Val Staples with inks by Victor Olazaba. It has both action as well as interesting conversations, some interesting moral challenges for it's title heroes as well as some amusing one-liners. All sorts of weird A.I.M. creations show up, as well as other characters. Seeley even displays knowledge for the little known alternate universes of Marvel; one of which hasn't shown up in nearly 18 years. The cover price is perhaps the largest obstacle; that, and the "comedy" covers which some writers and editors claim convince readers that a book isn't "serious", which leads to it being ignored. That would be a shame, as for roughly $11.97 I've read far worse stories. In fact, the first two issues were so good, they were given honorable mentions in my "Top 10 Comics of 2010" article from last week. Given the sheer amount of comics Marvel published in a typical month in December (over 100 comics a month at times), that alone is an incredible accomplishment.
This story has had terrific artwork, was fun and funny without being a comedy, and truly lived up to it's premise, potential, and cover price. In essence, it succeeded on the fundamentals and then impressed with top notch execution. If Seeley can keep it up, he can join other reliable writers such as Jeff Parker, Fred Van Lente and Christos Gage. It was my book of the week over at Examiner, and for good reason; it was a great surprise. There are many spare mini's overpriced at $3.99 that aren't worth the extra investment, but this isn't one of them.
BATMAN BEYOND #1: Based on the strength of last year's six issue mini series, writer Adam Beechen and artist Ryan Benjamin were given a chance to tell further stories about Kid's WB's hit franchise from the dawn of the 21st century via an ongoing series. This launch is part of DC's new initiative to "Hold The Line At $2.99" in terms of cover prices and encourage readers new and old to give DC a try. Part of that initiative are stark white covers that only bare the title hero and their emblem; the title of the comic itself is actually in small font, and no credits are on it. This is a tangent, but it is interesting that over at Marvel, the majority of their comics are priced at $3.99 - a cover price that is listed in font so tiny that it is easy to miss. Marvel hopes that occurs until one gets the comic to the clerk's register. DC, on the other hand, has been in the forefront to cut prices back to 2008 levels, and that $2.99 cover price on the cover is half the size of DC's logo itself. Marvel may be shameless about their $3.99 price, but they aren't eager to flaunt it on a cover. In terms of the comic within, it continues where Beechen left off with his mini series. Mention of Hush from the last arc is stated, but that story isn't referenced beyond that and anyone who was at least modestly familiar with the "BATMAN BEYOND" show could dive right in and be entertained. In fact, this issue was better than a slew of the prior mini's issues.
Beechen sets up a "day in the life" of Terry McGinnis and his attempt to better balance a girlfriend, family, and taking over the mantle from the elderly (and cranky) Bruce Wayne in the year 2040. A new villain arises from the background of the time period's incarnation of the Justice League, who are called Justice League Unlimited (even if there are only five of them). The villain's motive is established quick and things come together quickly; this opening arc will only be three issues. Overall, while DC probably should have waited a decade to try to capitalize on this cartoon for comic sales, they otherwise have taken solid steps to make it an appealing buy, with distinctive covers and that $2.99 cover price. Even the mini series was $2.99 - over at Marvel, one likely can't even get a candy bar from the visitor's vending machine for less than $3.99. Plus, DC often allows most ongoing series to last far longer than Marvel do, even if sales fall to 12k within, say six months. As a mini series, BATMAN BEYOND's sales made it a modest hit at DC; will it do even better as an ongoing series? If subsequent issues are every bit as good as this debut, it would be a shame if it doesn't.
THANOS IMPERATIVE DEVASTATION #1: Running a few weeks later than originally solicited, Marvel's "space event" for 2010 limps into 2011 with this epilogue one shot. Is the fact that writers Danny Abnett and Andy Lanning are working on other projects for earth-based Marvel, such as HEROES FOR HIRE and an IRON MAN/THOR mini, taking a toll on the schedule of the space books? The shocking ending of THANOS IMPERATIVE is behind us now and the cast of space based characters left as survivors have to cope with yet another intergalactic status quo. It turns out that Blastaar, Negative Zone warlord who had made an uneasy alliance with what was left of the Kree and Shi'ar empires to battle against the latest mutual threat, is still an old Fantastic Four villain at heart - set on conquest. Without Nova or the Guardians of the Galaxy, who can possibly oppose him from taking out the Inhumans and ruling the Kree? The Annihilators - coming soon to a subsequent mini-series! This one shot serves as a partial epilogue to THANOS IMPERATIVE as well as a prologue to Abnett and Lanning's next space work, ANNIHILATORS.
As the cover implies, another team of space heroes come together to stop the cosmic bad guys; only this time, they're the high powered A-team of Marvel Space. Silver Surfer, Gladiator, and Beta Ray Bill are just the tip of the iceberg. Miguel Sepulveda, the artist from THANOS IMPERATIVE, returns to handle pencils for this one-shot, with Rain Beredo handling colors (which rock in this issue). If the issue has any flaws, it is that the finale teases a subplot that could be similar to that of the start of GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, which would be repetitive if the writers are not careful. The upcoming ANNIHILATORS mini-series will be quite a package; priced at $4.99, but containing 44 pages of material - two issues worth every month. Marvel decided to lump what would have been a separate ROCKET RACCOON AND GROOT mini-series in with ANNIHILATORS and sell both at a price that amounts to $2.50 each. While Marvel is cutting back on their space comics (canceling both ongoing titles last year and setting them up to exist as a series of mini-series), the audience has remained too loyal to abandon completely. It's been a branch of Marvel that has consistently delivered on epic sci-fi quality adventure for over four years now. Despite shifting Abnett and Lanning to the larger Marvel sandbox, it is outstanding that they're still allowed to continue their space opus. Fans who like great Marvel comics are the true winners.
The only demerits? Gamora is on the cover, but doesn't appear anywhere within; even Thanos shows up in the back of one panel. I did want some more development in the "what happened to Nova & Quill" department, but that may be for another mini. There are many other GOTG characters who have simply vanished; Jack Flag among them. I actually liked Jack Flag, and I think he was gone by IGNITION.
Still, I like the concept; the space-line's A-Listers in terms of sheer power. I did like that Beta Ray Bill at least got some lines and two pages of focus this time, as in THANOS IMPERATIVE he was just there. He feels like the most obligatory addition; there because he has his fans, but not a character Abnett & Lanning wrote in any way or sought to carefully insert into subplots. It's like SHADOWLAND #4 when all of a sudden, the street heroes are joined by Wolverine and he acts like he was there since the start. Still, an effective epilogue & prologue issue, and can't wait for ANNIHILATORS.
AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #4: While not as big seller now as it was back in the heyday of 2005, what is essentially YOUNG AVENGERS SEASON TWO chugs along at it's bi-monthly pace. To give credit to the creative team of Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung, while it took nearly five years to get this project published, at least they've maintained their bi-monthly schedule (a feat that the ASTONISHING books cannot claim). While things are better than the second issue (which was the series' low point thus far), this remains a frustrating series. There are many things to like about it. The artwork by Cheung, alongside Mark Morales' inks and Justin Ponsor's great colors, is very strong (so long as you don't mind everyone having the same face, a la' Mark Bagley). Cheung seems to take extra relish with battles and drawing Dr. Doom himself. Allen Heinberg's issues always have memorable moments and some amusing or interesting conversations, or lines. The dilemma is that for every memorable moment, there is another moment that is awkward or mediocre. For every character who is handled well (Wiccan), there are those written jaw-droppingly terrible (Wolverine). Virtually every adult in this story is portrayed as some sort of fanatic or otherwise barely reasonable figure aside for the teenage heroes, who are being shuffled amongst the plot, and sympathetic villains like Magneto and Doom. The angle, for those who don't mind spoilers, is that after HOUSE OF M, Wanda (formerly the Scarlet Witch) lost her memories along with her powers when she de-powered over 90% of the world's mutant population. Dr. Doom found her and apparently fell in genuine love of her, setting out to woo and attempt to wed her, while planting a robotic duplicate in Transia to fool anyone looking for her (such as Hawkeye). Wiccan and Speed of the Young Avengers are seemingly the lost spirits of her dead twins, somehow reborn into new bodies (akin to reincarnation). They are seeking her out, while the Avengers still consider her a reality warping threat who should be put down - Wolverine especially. The ol' Canucklehead comes off about as simplistic as Darth Maul within this issue, only without any of the charisma. He's out to not only kill Wanda in revenge for M-Day, but he relishes doing so. He says things like, "If I was as big a threat as you, I'd expect you to do the same thing to me" - has ANY superhero gotten as many innocent women or men killed as Wolverine? How many people across the past 100-150 years have murdered so many people as Wolverine, sometimes for no better reason than a temper? He helped create some maniacs, like Nuke, in the past. Yet if a task force showed up with a mountain of evidence on why Wolverine needs to be put down (least of all because he is frequently brainwashed or possessed by Satan and turns on his allies), Wolverine would fight them to the death and probably only argue if an ally stole a kill from him. Rather than blame maniacs like Stryker or Selene or Bastion, he blames Wanda. Like just about everything the Avengers do, it degenerates into a mindless brawl, with a character familiar to Young Avengers fans popping up in the cliffhanger. I thought Iron Lad killed Kang and then went back to time so he could eventually become Kang and the time-line would remain intact (even if Kang's time-line is such a mess he can literally meet and fight three versions of himself).
Despite being part of the famed "family", and despite being the Young Avenger most in need of focus, Speed is falling by the wayside along with the rest of his team in service to the plot. Not only is Wiccan the star, he overshadows everyone; if one is a fan of his, terrific. Eli Bradly/Patriot gets in an obligatory two lines of whining, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye gets in her obligatory lines of "proving she is a more assertive leader than Eli is", and Quicksilver still doesn't trust Magneto. I don't know if Vision or Stature have said anything since issue two. After making a big deal of heading off to find Wanda alone last issue, Wonder Man quickly aligns with the rest of the (New) Avengers (circa 2006) and shifts into the background, just ahead of Luke Cage. The story attempts to sell the reader on the idea that Dr. Doom in no way is seeking to exploit Wanda for her power one day, and has genuinely fallen in love with her. "Even I find it difficult to believe," Doom says at one point; if not even HE can buy it, what hope is there for the rest of us? Dr. Doom hasn't loved or cared for anyone genuinely since his mother went to Hell. Reed Richards was his best friend, and he's literally used the man's daughter as a magical familiar. Heinberg is going to have to do better to convince me that Doom has fallen in love with Wanda and make it feel any more genuine than sub par fan fiction (where characters are paired up for no reason or explanation all the time).
Wanda Maximoff, since 2004, has become a very damaged character. Despite being an Avenger and long time heroine longer than she was anything else, she was chosen to suddenly go crazy over a trauma she got over in the 1990's and provide the spark for the first line-wide event of Joe Quesada's tenure as editor in chief - DISASSEMBLED. She proved to be a walking, ranting plot device to break up the Avengers (so they could be reassembled into a new roster) and eliminate what Joe Quesada felt were too many mutant characters (which he had no problem with from 2001-2004 when Grant Morrison wrote X-MEN and was landing Top 10 sales on it). Amnesia is a common method for having a damaged, formerly fanatical character return and seem pure and innocent, and ripe for redemption. It is almost as if a prime TV writer were utilizing every over done cliché possible - didn't Heinberg write "GREY'S ANATOMY"? Just like any cheap soap, nothing sparks a dangerous new storyline for a female character quite like a wedding. What next; will Dr. Doom's father return from a car accident? Will the camera show some extreme close ups for an awkward period of time? At any rate, AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE remains neither brilliant nor horrific, a frustrating sort of "just about average". At best, as the second half is told this year, things pick up.
When Wiccan summarizes the story where Wanda lost the twins, he either wasn't aware of the full reasoning, or Heinberg wasn't. Master Pandemonium didn't simply absorb the twins' souls to rebuild Mephisto. He said they were fragments of Mephisto's soul that Wanda had unconsciously transformed into babies via her chaos magic because she wanted to have Vision's kids, and not even synthesoids have sperm. That they were NEVER "real". That's a bit different from what Wiccan said. Apparently they were "real" and were reincarnated into new lives somehow.
This series has shown me nothing in the writing department that justifies Marvel waiting five years for this. Which is a shame, because the art is out of the park. A few exciting parts of an otherwise average parade aren't an effective story.
