Dread
TMNT 1984-2009
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Bit of a slow week. My comic shop didn't have the THOR/HERCULES HANDBOOK, which will be something else to tack down. That means only three books, and no big "events" Marvel wise. I hear DC is doing something with rings.
Those WOLVERINE: GOT MILK ads in Marvel's comics are now unintentionally hilarious given that the film has been long out of theaters and underperformed domestically for FOX. It made a nice profit, but I am sure they expected it at least to challenge TRANSFORMERS 2 a little in terms of box.
As always, all rants and spoilers are at maximum velocity. Onward!
Dread's Bought/Thought for 7/15/09:
AGENTS OF ATLAS #8: Another issue, another Lenil Yu cover, another 22 pages of pulp hero goodness, and my, aren't we getting these issues at a quick pace? Is there much else to say?
It is worth noting, in an era where comics that run late become more common and more criticized, that we honor those books that go above and beyond. It is worth reminding that this title launched in Feb. 2009. By all accounts we should be getting issue five by now, and that would be on schedule, no complaints. Instead we are on the 8th issue. We've had two months where issues came bi-weekly. I guess that means shipping a comic on time or even ahead of schedule is possible if you have a steady creative team like this book has. Hardman and Pagulayan have usually shared the art on this book but this title hasn't shied away from a fill-in artist or two to maintain schedule, and they all have complimenting styles. Not only is AGENTS OF ATLAS a solidly written and drawn title, it is also one that has overachieved in terms of professionalism, in an era where titles that underachieve are given excuses ("oh, Finch has a cold, you see"). Eight issues in five months is worth taking a step back to honor and go, "well done, sirs".
There is a part of me that wonders if one reason is because the editorial staff wants to either pump out as many issues as possible to keep sales stable (or to slow their natural decline), and/or to get out as many issues as possible before sales reach 20k a month, which is more or less cancellation time. The strategy of "more issues to stem the decline from the first issue and get sales stable" may have worked. May saw two issues, and both were stable at 25k. Keep in mind this book debuted at 34k, so massive drops would doom it like CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13. While a Wolverine variant cover boosted issue #3's sales, after a 22% drop for issue two, this book seems to have held steady. Hopefully it will hover at this mark like NOVA has for years, at least. It is a shame when genuinely good books have to struggle to stay upstream while, say, HULK does not, but that's the direct market for you.
Fresh from a two-parter exploring Atlantis with Namor, the only member of Osborn's Cabal that the Agents had any possible contact to, Jimmy Woo has decided that his focus on Osborn has distracted from his overall goal to rehabilitate the Atlas Foundation from being a massive terrorist criminal enterprise to doing real good for the world by exclusively trying to dethrone Osborn. To that end he was decided to return the $2 billion in gold he stole from the federal reserve. This gets on Osborn's nerves because he's been "dipping" into the federal reserve to fund HAMMER and Atlas' action now put too much attention on it for him to continue doing so. What, OsCorp wasn't rich enough? While Jimmy and M-11 venture into the Dragon's Triangle to try to track down his old love Suwan, the rest of the Agents welcome Khanata, ex-SHIELD agent to the fold from their last mini. In this story he likely serves to fill in for Jimmy Woo a bit, but I like him on the team. He usually was the most down to earth of the collection of oddballs, yet didn't sweat the weird stuff either. Besides, he hails from Wakanda so like Namora, he has a connection to another facet of Marvel lore, too.
When one of Atlas' unknown side-laboratories decides to choose Bruce Banner as their latest random hitch-hiker to experiment on, they quickly find the Hulk tearing up their operation and call on the Agents to help. The Agents are horrified about the monsters and seek to shut down the operation anyway, but that means surviving a rampage from the Hulk, who has been rendered even more mindless by being pumped full of toxins as Banner. While I suppose detractors by now are getting tired of Venus being able to eventually settle most fights with her song, is it REALLY that much worse than, say, Hulk winning any fight by screaming and charging forward, or Batman drawing Just-The-Perfect-Gadget from his belt? It was a bit sad and sweet that he envisioned all of his dead/once dead lovers, Betty, Jarella, and Caeira. And here Peter Parker whines about only ONE dead lover.
As usual with AGENTS OF ATLAS, it usually wins on execution, not exactly being cutting edge, and therefore it doesn't have to be. The dialogue between the Agents as they try to battle the lab's monsters as well as the Hulk is very amusing, with Gorilla-Man as usual getting some of the best lines. Pagulayan's art is terrific as usual.
Meanwhile, Woo and M-11 meet up with the modern Suwan, who is now calling herself the Jade Claw. Que cliffhanger until next issue. It is a shame that only 25,000 readers are on this book, because it really is one of the better team books out there. Plenty of quirky pulp style heroes, exciting adventures, crisp dialogue, and next to INCREDIBLE HERCULES, the funniest recap pages in Marvel Comics. Always a pleasure especially when we get so many issues per month!
CAPTAIN AMERCIA #601: I have to admit, when I saw that tagger on the cover, "A VERY SPECIAL ISSUE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA", I thought back to the many "very special" episodes of TV shows and wondered if Cap would be teaching us not to drink and drive, or do drugs (especially steroids) or so on. Oh, but be still my cynical TV clogged heart, it is special because legendary artist Gene Colan does the cover and interiors for the story.
Now, some have criticized this issue for being "filler", and I won't lie; it is. It's yet another WWII flashback story with Cap and Bucky, and I swear there have been 50,000 of those done in Marvel comics within the last forty years. Plus, with REBORN essentially serving as the latest CAPTAIN AMERICA arc for a larger stage than, oh, 65k who read CA, and with the title going on haitus until REBORN is finished as of this month, surely it wasn't likely that anything major would happen here. That said, I can understand some people being miffed at paying $4 for a filler issue; I will say that it has 40 pages of story, all by Gene Colan. All of Marvel's 3 digit numbered books are $3.99 these days anyway, and at least this one has a fair page count for that price. It is akin to a one shot ASM story drawn entirely by John Romita Sr., 30-40 pages long. I won't say this issue rocked my socks like most do, but it wasn't offensive in any way. It's a done in one solid little tale which is fine for a read but skippable if it so offends.
Set during the CIVIL WAR, although to be honest it matters little, Nick Fury is going over video feeds of the hero infighting and asks Bucky if he's ever seen anything like it. He says he has, and one story that comes up is the time near the end of the war when he and Cap, both battle weary, were in a town that was suddenly suffering from a vampire epidemic. Nearly anyone who dies is liable to become a vampire, and when some of the allied soldiers are transformed, paranoia sweeps the area. There is one touching scene where Cap basically comforts a soldier as he dies that it pretty good. With usual suspect Baron Blood out as a suspect, Cap and Bucky eventually trace the source to a vampire actress for a military show, and ultimately are forced to kill a little kid who has also become a vampire. Not long after, that Baron Zemo mission would end the war for both.
Colan's art seems retro by today's standards but it does work well to carry mood for a supernatural themed story. Some of his page layouts and effects would be utilized by many other artists, especially in the 80's and 90's for mood. It certainly was cool to see some of it that wasn't a reprint or an ESSENTIAL, and the last page summarizing Colan's career was good for those who didn't know, or may not have been born during his heyday.
A quiet issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, and not essential, but I found it readable enough. Nothing wrong with it. We usually complain when Marvel puts out a random one-shot for a story that easily could be part of the regular title, right? Here you go.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #27: While he isn't credited on the cover, Dan Slott reunites with his AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE co-writer Christos Gage on this title with this issue; Slott is credited with "plot" and Gage with "script". They have worked well together before and to be honest, Slott's issues of this title so far were cool but sometimes a little all over the place and if Gage can bring in some more cohesion, all the battle. In a Newsarama interview, Slott sites an increased ASM workload as also contributing to adding Gage on writing credits, as well as an upcoming Mighty Avengers mini both are doing. Which means that it may be possible that stuff in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE may intertwine with this title at some point, such as "The Avengers Resistance" (what the New Warriors call themselves now, having ditched Counter-Force; they change names more often than Prince).
Khoi Pham is back on interior art and it's fine. He usually is as good as his inker and Martinez is fine on inks. I don't have a problem with Pham's art like some people do, although I admit that his pencils are not as good if his inker isn't up to par, or if he inks himself (as he seemed to in SECRET INVASION? REQUIEM). I liked his stuff back on INCREDIBLE HERCULES and have no complaints about art here.
I do have a complaint about an outright error that either Slott or Gage made. That is, Karnak claiming his abilities come from the Terragenesis process; they don't. Karnak was never exposed to the Mists. His abilities are all apparently the result of exceptional training combined with the natural Inhuman physical superiority to humans. Hell, Shang Chi is human and he can kick robots in half, too. This story is set in the past when the new Royals were young, likely when Black Bolt was 19 and fresh out of his sound proof isolation chamber where he grew up, so getting a detail like that wrong, especially when Karnak boldly proclaims it in one balloon, is worth noting. I mean, I wouldn't let Bendis or JMS go with that. To be fair, they're not the first writers to get this confused, but it was a nitpick. This could be part of the retcon, but I don't see why it is needed and it contradicts more stories than the presence of the Unspoken himself.
The newest bad guy coming up is The Unspoken. Via retcon, he is a deposed king of the Inhumans from back before Black Bolt was made king. Now, the backstory of the Inhumans goes that they were once ruled by an elected Genetic Counsel who would rule in tandum with a King. Bolt's parents were among this class, and he was exposed to the mists in the womb, which was why he was so powerful, even to a fault. He spent the first 19 years of his life in a sound proof isolation chamber, and he was released around when Gorgon, Triton, and Medusa were exposed to the mists and came to form. His brother Maximus immediately tried to muck things up by selling the Inhumans out to the Kree, and the resulting battle forced Bolt to unleash his sonic scream, accidentally crushing the Counsel and the king, forcing him to take over. The Unspoken is now claimed to be another of Bolt's cousins who took to the throne before he did. As no mention of a Counsel is made, it may be possible that the Unspoken ruled after that Kree incident but before Bolt took the throne (since he was older and seemingly more powerful), and that would work well enough. Bolt and his allies confront Unspoken about hiding the Slave Engine, and when he refuses to return it to all Inhumans, a battle ensues. Unspoken tears through the bunch of them but Bolt is able to take him down; he then is banished, and his name never spoken again. His name is blacked out in dialogue boxes which at first is awkward but by the time I was irritated by it, the flashback was over so that is alright. He certainly has a Kirby-esque design.
Now, Unspoken is the threat that Ban-Luck has organized with Avengers U.S. Agent and Quicksilver to confront in China. As Quicksilver is their best contact into Inhuman lore, he immediately recognizes the threat imposed by Unspoken, who basically is able to morph himself into nearly anything he wants, "Terragenesis Itself". He quickly is confronted by The People's Defense Force (formerly known as China Force), and in John Walker's words, "Alpha Flight's them". Considering that Walker served on Alpha flight's replacement squad in Canada for months alongside Sasquatch (the only survivor), it could be seen as insensitive, but that works for Walker. Ban-Luck at least is a playful character with a sense of humor who adds some fun to the melodrama.
Thankfully, Slott & Gage also start to get around to revealing what Salvation Two was about, and why it was worth fighting the Fantastic Four. S-2 and Jocasta have merged to form the "Infinite Avengers Mansion" that offers almost a million floors of space and Pym-Pocket doors to nearly any plot centric location. It certainly looks better than the old lab did. The rest of the Avengers are naturally impressed, while Vision Jr. is seemingly creeped out at Jocasta being able to now access alternate "forms" to guide them. Stature, though, sees that "Scarlet Witch" has returned, and clearly is itching for a fight. While this doesn't automatically explain why Mr. Fantastic relented on Pym last issue, it does start to answer those questions. Pham drew the massive structure's interior well. It does seem like a massively large headquarters for a team that barely has eight members, but with Gage aboard who knows who may be coming or going? The Young Avengers have popped up fairly often so far, after all.
The Karnak issue aside, I thought this was a stronger issue than the last. I could have done without the fight against the Fantastic Four being contrived, but that's done now and I am ready to move forward. The Unspoken's retcon works a little better than I expected and he could shape up to be a potent villain depending on the execution. Gage and Slott work well together and I expect more good things. And even with Slott sometimes having a hiccup or two, I still think he's been a stronger writer on this series than Bendis, which is what counts.
Slott gives an interview here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090715-mighty-slott.html
I found this exchange a little telling, since Slott's handling of Pym has been a bit "unique":
That certainly is different. I have caught onto the vibe that Slott was trying to write both facets of Pym, the brilliant genius mixed with the emotional basket-case/weirdo, rather than one or the other. That can't be an easy tightrope to write but I do commend the effort. I'm looking forward to the ride to come.
Those WOLVERINE: GOT MILK ads in Marvel's comics are now unintentionally hilarious given that the film has been long out of theaters and underperformed domestically for FOX. It made a nice profit, but I am sure they expected it at least to challenge TRANSFORMERS 2 a little in terms of box.
As always, all rants and spoilers are at maximum velocity. Onward!
Dread's Bought/Thought for 7/15/09:
AGENTS OF ATLAS #8: Another issue, another Lenil Yu cover, another 22 pages of pulp hero goodness, and my, aren't we getting these issues at a quick pace? Is there much else to say?
It is worth noting, in an era where comics that run late become more common and more criticized, that we honor those books that go above and beyond. It is worth reminding that this title launched in Feb. 2009. By all accounts we should be getting issue five by now, and that would be on schedule, no complaints. Instead we are on the 8th issue. We've had two months where issues came bi-weekly. I guess that means shipping a comic on time or even ahead of schedule is possible if you have a steady creative team like this book has. Hardman and Pagulayan have usually shared the art on this book but this title hasn't shied away from a fill-in artist or two to maintain schedule, and they all have complimenting styles. Not only is AGENTS OF ATLAS a solidly written and drawn title, it is also one that has overachieved in terms of professionalism, in an era where titles that underachieve are given excuses ("oh, Finch has a cold, you see"). Eight issues in five months is worth taking a step back to honor and go, "well done, sirs".
There is a part of me that wonders if one reason is because the editorial staff wants to either pump out as many issues as possible to keep sales stable (or to slow their natural decline), and/or to get out as many issues as possible before sales reach 20k a month, which is more or less cancellation time. The strategy of "more issues to stem the decline from the first issue and get sales stable" may have worked. May saw two issues, and both were stable at 25k. Keep in mind this book debuted at 34k, so massive drops would doom it like CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13. While a Wolverine variant cover boosted issue #3's sales, after a 22% drop for issue two, this book seems to have held steady. Hopefully it will hover at this mark like NOVA has for years, at least. It is a shame when genuinely good books have to struggle to stay upstream while, say, HULK does not, but that's the direct market for you.
Fresh from a two-parter exploring Atlantis with Namor, the only member of Osborn's Cabal that the Agents had any possible contact to, Jimmy Woo has decided that his focus on Osborn has distracted from his overall goal to rehabilitate the Atlas Foundation from being a massive terrorist criminal enterprise to doing real good for the world by exclusively trying to dethrone Osborn. To that end he was decided to return the $2 billion in gold he stole from the federal reserve. This gets on Osborn's nerves because he's been "dipping" into the federal reserve to fund HAMMER and Atlas' action now put too much attention on it for him to continue doing so. What, OsCorp wasn't rich enough? While Jimmy and M-11 venture into the Dragon's Triangle to try to track down his old love Suwan, the rest of the Agents welcome Khanata, ex-SHIELD agent to the fold from their last mini. In this story he likely serves to fill in for Jimmy Woo a bit, but I like him on the team. He usually was the most down to earth of the collection of oddballs, yet didn't sweat the weird stuff either. Besides, he hails from Wakanda so like Namora, he has a connection to another facet of Marvel lore, too.
When one of Atlas' unknown side-laboratories decides to choose Bruce Banner as their latest random hitch-hiker to experiment on, they quickly find the Hulk tearing up their operation and call on the Agents to help. The Agents are horrified about the monsters and seek to shut down the operation anyway, but that means surviving a rampage from the Hulk, who has been rendered even more mindless by being pumped full of toxins as Banner. While I suppose detractors by now are getting tired of Venus being able to eventually settle most fights with her song, is it REALLY that much worse than, say, Hulk winning any fight by screaming and charging forward, or Batman drawing Just-The-Perfect-Gadget from his belt? It was a bit sad and sweet that he envisioned all of his dead/once dead lovers, Betty, Jarella, and Caeira. And here Peter Parker whines about only ONE dead lover.
As usual with AGENTS OF ATLAS, it usually wins on execution, not exactly being cutting edge, and therefore it doesn't have to be. The dialogue between the Agents as they try to battle the lab's monsters as well as the Hulk is very amusing, with Gorilla-Man as usual getting some of the best lines. Pagulayan's art is terrific as usual.
Meanwhile, Woo and M-11 meet up with the modern Suwan, who is now calling herself the Jade Claw. Que cliffhanger until next issue. It is a shame that only 25,000 readers are on this book, because it really is one of the better team books out there. Plenty of quirky pulp style heroes, exciting adventures, crisp dialogue, and next to INCREDIBLE HERCULES, the funniest recap pages in Marvel Comics. Always a pleasure especially when we get so many issues per month!
CAPTAIN AMERCIA #601: I have to admit, when I saw that tagger on the cover, "A VERY SPECIAL ISSUE OF CAPTAIN AMERICA", I thought back to the many "very special" episodes of TV shows and wondered if Cap would be teaching us not to drink and drive, or do drugs (especially steroids) or so on. Oh, but be still my cynical TV clogged heart, it is special because legendary artist Gene Colan does the cover and interiors for the story.
Now, some have criticized this issue for being "filler", and I won't lie; it is. It's yet another WWII flashback story with Cap and Bucky, and I swear there have been 50,000 of those done in Marvel comics within the last forty years. Plus, with REBORN essentially serving as the latest CAPTAIN AMERICA arc for a larger stage than, oh, 65k who read CA, and with the title going on haitus until REBORN is finished as of this month, surely it wasn't likely that anything major would happen here. That said, I can understand some people being miffed at paying $4 for a filler issue; I will say that it has 40 pages of story, all by Gene Colan. All of Marvel's 3 digit numbered books are $3.99 these days anyway, and at least this one has a fair page count for that price. It is akin to a one shot ASM story drawn entirely by John Romita Sr., 30-40 pages long. I won't say this issue rocked my socks like most do, but it wasn't offensive in any way. It's a done in one solid little tale which is fine for a read but skippable if it so offends.
Set during the CIVIL WAR, although to be honest it matters little, Nick Fury is going over video feeds of the hero infighting and asks Bucky if he's ever seen anything like it. He says he has, and one story that comes up is the time near the end of the war when he and Cap, both battle weary, were in a town that was suddenly suffering from a vampire epidemic. Nearly anyone who dies is liable to become a vampire, and when some of the allied soldiers are transformed, paranoia sweeps the area. There is one touching scene where Cap basically comforts a soldier as he dies that it pretty good. With usual suspect Baron Blood out as a suspect, Cap and Bucky eventually trace the source to a vampire actress for a military show, and ultimately are forced to kill a little kid who has also become a vampire. Not long after, that Baron Zemo mission would end the war for both.
Colan's art seems retro by today's standards but it does work well to carry mood for a supernatural themed story. Some of his page layouts and effects would be utilized by many other artists, especially in the 80's and 90's for mood. It certainly was cool to see some of it that wasn't a reprint or an ESSENTIAL, and the last page summarizing Colan's career was good for those who didn't know, or may not have been born during his heyday.
A quiet issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA, and not essential, but I found it readable enough. Nothing wrong with it. We usually complain when Marvel puts out a random one-shot for a story that easily could be part of the regular title, right? Here you go.
MIGHTY AVENGERS #27: While he isn't credited on the cover, Dan Slott reunites with his AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE co-writer Christos Gage on this title with this issue; Slott is credited with "plot" and Gage with "script". They have worked well together before and to be honest, Slott's issues of this title so far were cool but sometimes a little all over the place and if Gage can bring in some more cohesion, all the battle. In a Newsarama interview, Slott sites an increased ASM workload as also contributing to adding Gage on writing credits, as well as an upcoming Mighty Avengers mini both are doing. Which means that it may be possible that stuff in AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE may intertwine with this title at some point, such as "The Avengers Resistance" (what the New Warriors call themselves now, having ditched Counter-Force; they change names more often than Prince).
Khoi Pham is back on interior art and it's fine. He usually is as good as his inker and Martinez is fine on inks. I don't have a problem with Pham's art like some people do, although I admit that his pencils are not as good if his inker isn't up to par, or if he inks himself (as he seemed to in SECRET INVASION? REQUIEM). I liked his stuff back on INCREDIBLE HERCULES and have no complaints about art here.
I do have a complaint about an outright error that either Slott or Gage made. That is, Karnak claiming his abilities come from the Terragenesis process; they don't. Karnak was never exposed to the Mists. His abilities are all apparently the result of exceptional training combined with the natural Inhuman physical superiority to humans. Hell, Shang Chi is human and he can kick robots in half, too. This story is set in the past when the new Royals were young, likely when Black Bolt was 19 and fresh out of his sound proof isolation chamber where he grew up, so getting a detail like that wrong, especially when Karnak boldly proclaims it in one balloon, is worth noting. I mean, I wouldn't let Bendis or JMS go with that. To be fair, they're not the first writers to get this confused, but it was a nitpick. This could be part of the retcon, but I don't see why it is needed and it contradicts more stories than the presence of the Unspoken himself.
The newest bad guy coming up is The Unspoken. Via retcon, he is a deposed king of the Inhumans from back before Black Bolt was made king. Now, the backstory of the Inhumans goes that they were once ruled by an elected Genetic Counsel who would rule in tandum with a King. Bolt's parents were among this class, and he was exposed to the mists in the womb, which was why he was so powerful, even to a fault. He spent the first 19 years of his life in a sound proof isolation chamber, and he was released around when Gorgon, Triton, and Medusa were exposed to the mists and came to form. His brother Maximus immediately tried to muck things up by selling the Inhumans out to the Kree, and the resulting battle forced Bolt to unleash his sonic scream, accidentally crushing the Counsel and the king, forcing him to take over. The Unspoken is now claimed to be another of Bolt's cousins who took to the throne before he did. As no mention of a Counsel is made, it may be possible that the Unspoken ruled after that Kree incident but before Bolt took the throne (since he was older and seemingly more powerful), and that would work well enough. Bolt and his allies confront Unspoken about hiding the Slave Engine, and when he refuses to return it to all Inhumans, a battle ensues. Unspoken tears through the bunch of them but Bolt is able to take him down; he then is banished, and his name never spoken again. His name is blacked out in dialogue boxes which at first is awkward but by the time I was irritated by it, the flashback was over so that is alright. He certainly has a Kirby-esque design.
Now, Unspoken is the threat that Ban-Luck has organized with Avengers U.S. Agent and Quicksilver to confront in China. As Quicksilver is their best contact into Inhuman lore, he immediately recognizes the threat imposed by Unspoken, who basically is able to morph himself into nearly anything he wants, "Terragenesis Itself". He quickly is confronted by The People's Defense Force (formerly known as China Force), and in John Walker's words, "Alpha Flight's them". Considering that Walker served on Alpha flight's replacement squad in Canada for months alongside Sasquatch (the only survivor), it could be seen as insensitive, but that works for Walker. Ban-Luck at least is a playful character with a sense of humor who adds some fun to the melodrama.
Thankfully, Slott & Gage also start to get around to revealing what Salvation Two was about, and why it was worth fighting the Fantastic Four. S-2 and Jocasta have merged to form the "Infinite Avengers Mansion" that offers almost a million floors of space and Pym-Pocket doors to nearly any plot centric location. It certainly looks better than the old lab did. The rest of the Avengers are naturally impressed, while Vision Jr. is seemingly creeped out at Jocasta being able to now access alternate "forms" to guide them. Stature, though, sees that "Scarlet Witch" has returned, and clearly is itching for a fight. While this doesn't automatically explain why Mr. Fantastic relented on Pym last issue, it does start to answer those questions. Pham drew the massive structure's interior well. It does seem like a massively large headquarters for a team that barely has eight members, but with Gage aboard who knows who may be coming or going? The Young Avengers have popped up fairly often so far, after all.
The Karnak issue aside, I thought this was a stronger issue than the last. I could have done without the fight against the Fantastic Four being contrived, but that's done now and I am ready to move forward. The Unspoken's retcon works a little better than I expected and he could shape up to be a potent villain depending on the execution. Gage and Slott work well together and I expect more good things. And even with Slott sometimes having a hiccup or two, I still think he's been a stronger writer on this series than Bendis, which is what counts.
Slott gives an interview here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/090715-mighty-slott.html
I found this exchange a little telling, since Slott's handling of Pym has been a bit "unique":
Newsarama said:
That certainly is different. I have caught onto the vibe that Slott was trying to write both facets of Pym, the brilliant genius mixed with the emotional basket-case/weirdo, rather than one or the other. That can't be an easy tightrope to write but I do commend the effort. I'm looking forward to the ride to come.
v However, the fact that he so obviously digs the Buffyverse raises my regard of him quite a bit. Hey, what can I say? I is what I is. Though, I will happily admit that just because someone likes of the Whedon doesn't mean that they ain't a *****ebag. I of course speak from personal experience.
