Bought/Thought January 21, 2009 - SPOILERS

[GNR]

GL has been consistently great,I'd drop everything else just to see Johns stay on this for a couple more years.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Thunderbolts #128 was pretty awesome. How great that they introduced Obama right after the inaguration, and have him questioning the previous administration's idea of giving Norman so much power. The new team (or, what we've been introduced to it, so far) really breathes a new spark into this book, and Norman comes across very, very bad-ass. I was starting to get a bit bored with T-bolts; but, this issue put it at the top of my reading list. My only complaint is a couple pages in my issue had crease marks. GOD, it seems like more and more comics are being shipped with slight defects, and it pisses me off.

War Machine #2, however, was a pretty big disappointment. Of course, I expected that after reading issue 1. Is it just me, or does reading military adventures of Iron Man/War Machine bore everyone else to death? One issue reads just like another; and, now they have Rhodey looking like Cyborg from Teen Titans. This did have an appearance by Norman...but, that just makes me afraid that all these titles are going to burn me out on Norman, just like before when I got tired of seeing Tony Stark appear in almost every comic Marvel put out.

Dark Avengers #1 was usual Bendis, with a bunch of talking and very little action...but, it set up this new Avengers team nicely. (Now, hopefully it won't be delayed, like when Mighty Avengers first started.) You can't say Bendis doesn't come up with a good premise; it's in the execution that he sometimes fails. Of course, my complaint is that this is very similiar to Thunderbolts, except these bad guys are dressing up like already established heroes. (Kind of reminds me of when Vince McMahon thought he could do the same thing with Razor Ramon and Diesel, and had two jobbers dress up as them when Kevin Nash and Scott Hall were playing themselves over at WCW.)

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The espionage-y adventures of Iron Man in Director of SHIELD were awesome, as far as I'm concerned. War Machine has been pretty terrible so far. So bad, in fact, that I considered revising my decision to give it through the end of its first arc before dropping it. But Ares is in it from this issue to the end of the arc and I like the creators, so I figured I might as well give it its fair shot to impress me.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Why hasn't Reed Richards invented a cure for any of those? Because Marvel's higher-ups are obsessed with reality for some reason. Can't make the Marvel universe the utopia that it would be if these guys quit chasing small-time villains around and actually put their heads together to better the world because then it wouldn't be relatable.

Which it would (in particular, it would foul up parts of the shared universe that really depend on the world being like ours; Fantastic Four wouldn't have a problem with Reed Richards' inventions turning the world into a Utopia, but Daredevil would).

 

[Blader5489]

All I gotta say is WTF on X-Factor

Yeah. I think that issue actually made me a little sick.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Yeah. I think that issue actually made me a little sick.

I was more along the lines of ?Holy ****ING ****!!!!" Didn't see that happening one bit. That had to be one of the most unexpected things I have ever read in a comic. I was just expecting a simple mutant birth and everyone lives happily ever after.

 

[Dread]

A short week, but overall a good week. Bit to cover so let's quit the jibber-jabber and get onto some spoiler-full rants!

Dread's Thought/Flipped Through for 1/21/09:

DARK AVENGERS #1: I was surprised some woman wasn't barefoot for the Deodato cover; he seemed to have a fetish for that for a while, at least with She-Hulk. Anyway, I didn't buy or even fully read it, just flipped through the pages and scimmed because I wanted to know who some of the roster was. To give credit, Bendis at least gathered the entire cast within the first issue, which for him is a feat. I mean, it was a good half year or longer before everyone from the cover of NEW AVENGERS #1 was in a room together, right?

Iron Patiot is none other than Norman Osborn himself, which was the obvious choice. The idea of hiring the Ghost to steal one of Stark's armors to make the suit for Osborn wasn't a bad idea. Ares I buy siding with Osborn; Sentry seems a bit weird, but he's pretty much an insane heel/fop anyway, so he shouldn't missed, especially now that Thor is back and Hercules is making the rounds. Ms. Marvel, who never showed any backbone when Iron Man was doing questionable things with the Mighty Avengers, finally finds one with Osborn, so her old costume gets dumped to Moonstone. Gargan is given some random formula by Osborn to make his form more stable, and Bullseye & Daken also trade costumes as Hawkeye and Wolverine, respectively. Oh, and Marvel Boy is freed from The Cube or where ever he was and recruited.

Frankly, this stuff should be confusing. There will now be two versions of Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, and Wolverine running around. While Wolverine always had a fuzzy past, Spider-Man has been operating in the red and blues for a while now, and Ms. Marvel still has her own book in her modern suit. I'm not sure if Osborn is blaming things on Skrulls or Stark, and I didn't care enough to read better. I imagine I skipped over some cynical and repetitive dialogue. And the public has never seen Marvel Boy do anything noble, so why are they trusting him now?

The same problem remains, though; it makes no sense that there would be such blind trust in Norman Osborn within both the government and the media/public if his criminal record is still valid. He was just trying to assassinate diplomats less than three years ago in real time. He'd been tried, convicted, and jailed for all number of crimes as recently as MKSM. Certainly other superheroes who the media still adores, like the Fantastic Four, who once helped Spidey battle Osborn's "Sinister Twelve" and so forth, could vouch for how much of a whack job he is. It makes little sense that if Obama is the new president, he would allow a convicted murderer and terrorist pretty much run the show with HAMMER. All this seems to me is a half thought idea of a bygone age, when the President and everyone he appointed was evil and corrupt. An idea that a scroundrel manipulated a national attack to become a hero despite his many past sins might have been contemporary in 2003 or even 2006, but in 2009 just seems out of place and past it's prime. I doubt only comedians will be stifled by an Obama white house and a Democratically controlled Congress. DARK REIGN is proof of that. Unable to dare risk criticizing Democrats, who in the eyes of most fictional writers are biologically incapable of mistake or corruption, Marvel is stuck with an event idea whose social context is now over. Atop that, without Mephisto having retconned Osborn's history, even with some feat of heroics, it really makes little since that in less than a year, Marvel time, Osborn can go from being a well known menace who was being forced into power via an overzealous Stark and nanobot treatments to being more trusted and beloved than any Marvel superhero who has ever lived. I understand the idea of uniting heroes against a confederation of connected baddies, with one major one at the top. It is the execution of it that has been haphazard and botched.

Still, at least the Dark Avengers will allow the Thunderbolts some time off as "the team everyone wants to see pummeled in guest appearances". Deodato's art is fine, and at least the team is all assembled and ready to make life miserable. I just think the idea of the government and media/public being THIS gullible and short sighted is cartoonishly unrealistic, unless you buy into the "all Marvel humans were given the biological disposition to blindly embrace anyone evil or corrupt and become paranoid/hateful of anyone even remotely heroic or good by the Celestials during one of their Hosts" theory.

Dread's bought/thought for 1/21/09:

HULK VS. Yes, the animated DTV that Marvel & Lion's Gate is due to release on the 27th. A local DVD/CD shop sold me the two disc edition over a week early. This naturally has two 37-40 minute features on it, HULK VS. WOLVERINE and HULK VS. THOR. Both are good and are different stories in their own way; the Wolvie feature is basically a series of extended fight scenes (all good ones), while the Thor feature has more atmosphere and plot. The Wolvie one I liked better, but both are different stories. These are also the first features to not offer us Ultimate or watered down recreations of villains and heroes; these are faithful depictions of the figures we knew and loved from the comics. I have avoided posting a full review in the Marvel Movies topic because I want people to still be surprised to some degree. It is easily the best of the Marvel/Lion's Gate stuff, capitalizing on WB's overhyped GOTHAM KNIGHTS from the summer. When it comes to your area, rent or buy it.

GHOST RIDER #31: Sometimes when I review this book, I wonder if I am unfairly tough on it. I have typed at times that among the ongoing titles I still am buying, it is not among the best of my pull list. But, that hardly means it is bad at all. The sales for it are not great, but this incarnation of the Rider will survive at least to see issue #36, a considerable accomplishment considering how many books die before two years, much less reaching three. Furthermore, Jason Aaron cannot get enough credit for saving this title, hands down. He has taken the "Ghost Rider is empowered by Heaven, not Hell" retcon that Way dumped onto the franchise and has made an enjoyable arc of it, pitting Blaze against an evil angel on a warpath against God, Zadkiel, who has a legion of followers around the planet and America in particular. Having battled pawns of Zadkiel for some time, Blaze and his new allies are staring down a final showdown between his hordes and his newest champion, the misled Dan Ketch.

This issue sets up that final battle and has Roland Boschi return to do some interiors, fleshing out the development of Kowalski, a minor cop from several arcs back who lost his hand to a crazed killer and found himself on the wrong end of the Penance Stare. He now is tormented by nightmares and has declared vengeance against Ghost Rider, blaming him (instead of his own sins) for his downfall. Zadkiel's agents have allowed Kowalski to gain access to Johnny Blaze's own hellfire shotgun, which the ex-cop can fire. Perhaps setting him up as a Plan B should Ketch fail, Zadkiel's agents lead Kowalski to a mysterious desert field, where his revenge is supposed to come to pass.

The rest of the issue is drawn by series regular Tan Eng Huat, whose style isn't bad and I have gotten used to, but I don't prefer over some other artists of prior issues (a few of whom moved to MOON KNIGHT). Sara (the new Caretaker), Blaze, and two other Ghost Riders (Molek and Bai Gu Jing) meet up with two others in the City of Skulls in Congo, Africa. They are centered around voodoo, which makes sense considering the Baron Samedi was always supposed to be skull-faced-like. The African Riders are Baron Skullfire, which is a frigging awesome name, and his wife, Marinette Bwa Chech. There once were about a dozen or more Ghost Riders across the planet that Blaze was unaware of, but now these five are the last; the rest having been killed and drained of their essence by Ketch. They prepare to make a final stand, but Blaze is still feeling the effects of Ketch's Penance Stare (considering Ketch was the one who had mastered the attack first, it made sense that he was able to withstand it's effects and use it better than Blaze), and is now suicidal and has lost his will to fight. Alas, Aaron uses a tired cliche, innocent children, to goad Blaze into fighting spirits again. It was handled well, it just seemed a bit typical.

Sara, meanwhile, is still getting used to knowing her powers and role as Caretaker, and discusses the various faiths with Molek (who is Muslim), and it is pretty interesting. While Molek is hardly as cool as Orson Randall was in IMMORTAL IRON FIST, this is another franchise where bringing forth the legacy aspect has worked wonders for it, and really helped flesh things out. Or at least make it more interesting, raising the stakes a little.

With Zadkiel's forces at the gates of Heaven, Ketch leads his own horde of dark angel warriors to finish off the Riders and derive the last bit of power from Heaven that can stop Zadkiel's mission to finish what Lucifer failed to do; overthrow God. While this is all comic book theology stuff, almost like a more serious DOGMA, it also works for the franchise and has been used before; while removing Mephisto from the origin complicated things, Aaron has taken the complicated ball he was given and decided to just execute things well rather than try another whitewash, and it is working out very well. This was a solid issue and Ghost Rider in general has never been better. My only complaint is that I would like to see Ghost Rider fight some other threats and even criminals at some point again, like he occasionally used to in the 70's to the 90's. Hell, if Pak & Van Lente wanted to borrow Blaze for an arc of INCREDIBLE HERCULES for another Champions reference, that would be cool, too. I am genuinely jazzed up for a climatic showdown between the forces, and especially between Blaze and Ketch, which means the arc and Aaron has done it's job.

While I wouldn't recommend this for those who never had interest in Ghost Rider, for those who have, the Aaron run has been pretty good. It is proof that a terrible retcon doesn't have to be the death-knell of a franchise when the writers change hands. It is possible to grow some flowers from charred earth. The first showdown between Ketch and Blaze was actually rather exciting a few issues ago, and I do hope Aaron and Haut can top themselves in that regard. While I don't know how many more issues will be left, but it looks like Aaron has some breathing room, and I do look forward to what he has in store for the book.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #9: As cool as GHOST RIDER #31 was, it can't compare to the awesome of the next few books I got, including Abnett & Lanning's space saga here. Heating up as WAR OF KINGS comes together, the only downside was that Brad Walker was unable to draw the entire issue, and Magno had to join in. While not a bad artist, Magno struggles with some of the designs, making the characters seem a little bit cartoonier than other artists on the title. It isn't bad but something feels off compared to artists like Raney, Pelletier, or Walker in terms of the characters. Still, he gets the job done.

The book still has the main cast divided, but they are starting to converge again. Blastaar has set his sights on invading Earth from the Negative Zone, using the 42 "Fantasy Island" prison created during CW by Mark Millar as the path to that. The revelation of that last issue was quite a cliffhanger and the action doesn't slow down here. In fact, Abnett & Lanning continue to impress with their incredible knowledge of continuity and some downright obscure characters. These sections are drawn by Walker and he captures the action as well as the strange characters very well.

Jack Flag, having been crippled by Bullseye back in THUNDERBOLTS some time ago, leads the prisoners of 42 against the invading hordes after the warden and the guards all fled for their lives and basically left them to die; while many in 42 are outright criminals, others are bonafide heroes who just didn't want to submit to federal oversight like Flag and certainly didn't deserve to be abandoned like rats on a sinking ship. Despite being in a wheelchair, Flag still has super-strength and personally helps repell some hordes with the ol' "boiling oil" trick, a favorite of the middle ages. Blastaar sends Quill, and not much else (like his clothes) to negociate with Flag, or at least stir things up from six days of stalemate combat. Quill, however, has no intention of doing Blastaar's bidding and wants to summon his team to help save the Earth.

Unfortunately, most of the other figures who "rose to the top" of the new prison democracy are not as noble as Flag. They include Gorilla Man of the Headmen, old Defenders villains. As if that wasn't obscure enough, there also was Nova's old enemy the Condor, as well as one adventure wonders Skeleton Ki (showed up in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS, fought Iron Fist, lost) and Bison, who had a one-and-done adventure in THUNDERSTRIKE during the 90's. Aside for Gorilla-Man (who popped up in HEROES FOR HIRE a few years back, I believe), the other three villains probably hadn't been seen in 13-15 years; Skeleton Ki and Bison are now having a second appearance; that is how obscure they were. Bison, of course, isn't to be confused with Man-Bull. When all three of these rogues want to allow Blastaar access to the Earth to get revenge on their cruel jailmasters, Flag zaps all of them with a blaster, but not before Ki allows the hordes access. Some fists and access to Carrion, one of Spider-Man's many enemies, gets the psychic message out to Mantis.

The bits with the other characters are drawn by Magno. Drax and Phyla consult Mentor on Titan about Moondragon, and he suspects she may not actually be dead, but transforming into a more deadly version of the Dragon of the Moon, and seemingly kills them to avoid the two as links for Moondragon. I would be shocked but I doubt that both are dead; Abnett & Lanning pulled the "omigod, they're dead!" bit during the Skrull arc and I don't buy it right now. Major Victory is obsessed with the female Starhawk, hoping she can jog his memories without tricking him. When Mantis recieves Peter's distress signal (after a search on Hala by Rocket and "Overdone Catch Phrase" Groot turned up squat), Cosmo teleports them into the thick of Blastaar's minions. I especially liked Bug reading some robot pornography; I am curious as to what that looks like, and what the editor would think of Jocasta over in MIGHTY AVENGERS.

One could argue this is a set up issue for a conflict with Blastaar next arc, and they would be correct. However, "DnA" almost always have enough happen in every issue that one never feels cheated, especially with so many characters to cover. Only Adam Warlock was neglected this month, and he has little to do with this story, anyway. I would assume that by the time Peter Quill is rescued from the Negative Zone and the Guardians decide to check up on Ronan for basically trying to kill him, they would discover that Black Bolt and the Inhumans run the Kree now, and that may make things interesting. With the Badoon being hyped up here, I imagine that may be how the GOTG enter the war, but I could be wrong. Various covers show the Badoon as allies to Vulcan and his Shi'ar forces. The Badoon of course were the aliens who took over the universe in the original GOTG series, so it makes sense, and again, shows a sense of history, to include them into the newest incarnation of the book. Abnett & Lanning are masters of their craft and their various characters, and between mini's and ongoing's will soon be writing four books among them. WAR OF KINGS will be almost entirely their baby, and I look forward to seeing how they have improved on their craft since ANNIHILATION CONQUEST. That was good, but their stuff on NOVA and this title since have clearly been better.

Like all good books, it feels too short and has me anxiously awaiting the next installment. In terms of sales, GOTG has been usually outselling the very-stable NOVA, so I am not too worried about it right now. WAR OF KINGS should boost it along with NOVA as well. Can't wait to see how everything comes to a head in issue ten.

 

[Dread]

MIGHTY AVENGERS #21: After months of anticipation, sneak peak sketches and hints, including a reprint prelude in SECRET INVASION: REQUIEM, the Dan Slott era on Mighty Avengers begins. Considering many, including Marvel, see the "classic" Avengers era as having ended with Disassembled, it has been some 4-5 years since a classic incarnation, with that sort of feel for bold, sun-drenched heroics and close interrelationships. As well as a sense of history and embracing it, without trying to apologize for it and offering ninjas as replacement threats. Anyone who knows Slott's writing knows that he is a guy who is a master of Marvel knowledge both obscure and relevant, and knows how to be homage to that and elaborate while still telling bold new stories. It is with that in mind that we begin his era on perhaps the second best Marvel ongoing series they have. Anticipation for this sort of writing hasn't been around for the Avengers since Busiek and Perez announced their run in 1997-1998, about 10-11 years ago. That run also came after a period of trying to make the Avengers "hip" and "modern" for several years, including the "REBORN" era.

If this issue feels like it got a lot accomplished, it did. It also was "double sized"; 36 pages of story, as well as that 5 page preview of BLACK PANTHER. For $3.99, that is actually a good price for almost two issues of action. Khoi Pham does the art with the reliable Miki on inks, and his art looks stronger here than it did for the REQUIEM pages.

Things start off fast and furious; no having to spend 4 pages on useless and trivial banter. Vision II (or Jonas, as he now wants to be called as of YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS #4) and Cassie "Stature" Lang visit the old Avengers Mansion grounds at the request of Wiccan, only to find their allies turned to stone. They quickly find that such bizarre disasters are occuring all over the world, and at every site, Scarlet Witch is there, seemingly plucking various heroes from the scene for some enigmic purpose. U.S. Agent is saved from a flesh-eating bug attack in Canada, and the Hulk from a blizzard in the middle of the desert by Wanda, who even exchanges a few words with the behemoth. Iron Man, left defending one of his few business sites not destroyed by Stane in a weakened condition from a sudden volcano, finds that no one answers his emergency Avengers signal and decides to confront the source of the threat himself.

Most of the issue, however, revolves around the two figures on the cover as well as the other members of the new roster. Faithful servant Jarvis was on the way to Oklahoma to meet with Thor to address the crisis in his jalopy, only to find the entire state having been erased from existance. Along the way, Hercules and Amadeus Cho arrive to pick him up. With Cho having already titled the event "The Chaos Cascade" and deducing that Jarvis is the missing link of any Avengers roster, they had out to the only man they feel could lead the team, with Iron Man hardly being Cho's favorite, Thor gone and Steve Rogers being dead. That man is of course Henry Pym. Tracking him down to a secret base in a shopping mall, he is basically utilizing his "Pym Partical" technology to create a base that is seperate from space and time, as well as shrink down hundreds of tools in his gear. This if course is akin to his "Doctor Pym" power level during the WCA era, which was one of the best for Pym. After some posters doubted the idea that Hercules would have some joke about Pym now calling himself "The Wasp", both Herc and Cho compare it to cross-dressing. Given that some of the characters are concerned about the move convinces me at least there is a plan there, that Slott more than expects some of the reactions to Pym taking on Janet's name and costume (partly). Pym, however, sees himself as a flawed hero, protecting himself with an aura of arrogance, not wanting to lead the team himself. Rather than be cast out, Cho in fact almost steals the show from Hercules here, confronting Hank about his issues.

Slott does introduce a bit of a retcon; by sheer chance, Pym managed to find out that Iron Man was in fact Tony Stark years before his teammates did. This fueled his decades long insecurity complex that led to bouts of insanity, inepititude, and of course infamously hitting Jan. The idea behind it being that even alongside the founders, Pym at least was secure with being "the smartest guy in the room", but with Iron Man being the much-smarter Stark, Pym saw his role on the team as useless in comparison, as a lessor genius. This fueled his motives to try to top himself and so forth. While it means that Pym had to "play along" in all of those stories in the 70's and so on where Stark's identity was still a mystery, I think the retcon does no major harm. Even better, I liked how Cho was hardly sympathetic about it and all but lists Stark's most recent mistakes to try to prove to Hank that Iron Man is hardly the be-all of genius. The impression, as Slott has said in some interviews, is to start the idea that the world has gotten worse while Pym was a captive of the Skrulls, and he needs to start "manning up" (as Hercules puts it). I also liked how Pym utilizes his experience, rather than omitting it as many heroes do; he knows how the Hulk is, so predicting how he reacted to being sent off-world came quick. All Cho has to do is mention "Eastern Europe" as the source of the magic, and Pym instantly targets Transia.

There is history there, of course. In an old Avengers story, Modred, the 6th century servant of the demon Chthon, tricked Scarlet Witch to her birthplace at Mount Wundagore in Transia and used her link to that place to resurrect Chthon in her body. The Avengers saved her and banished Chthon once more, so it seems natural that Pym would recognize the area and motiff. As it is, this time Modred is copying Chthon's tome of evil spells, the Darkhold, onto his own body while reviving his dark master in the other Maximoff, Quicksilver.

There is also more history, although I wonder if it is as deliberate. To start the Busiek/Perez run in 1998, Morgan LeFey was using the Scarlet Witch as a magical conduit and that was what sparked the return of the classic Avengers for that run, as well as a guest appearence by virtually every member they ever had. Once again, as Slott starts his run, Wanda is again the catalyst for action, and the team reassembles because of her. The bit where Wanda won't conjure her assembled heroes until Hank screams "AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" was a little corny, but it's old school, and that works for it.

The relationship between Jocasta and Pym is a bit creepy, with Pym all but exploiting the fact that she is programmed with Jan's brain patterns. They compel Jocasta to see Pym through this period, but one wonders if Pym sees the robot as a way to still cling to his dead wife, and I do wonder if he actually does make good on some of his quips to "reprogram" her at a whim. One could accuse Slott of perhaps trying too hard to make Pym seem cool, right down to literally mentioning "DOCTOR WHO" (who no one outside of the U.K. watches who isn't a hardcore sci-fi geek, which I'm not), but honestly, Hank Pym needs that level of devotion to rise from the pack from the mire he has been part of. He's a genius with a gimmick who usually has always settled into B-List and one always has to take bold steps to move up the rung. I see it as Slott siezing an opportunity.

Less defensible is seemingly killing off various figures like the New Avengers considering all of this will likely be magically undone in the end. But, I didn't see it as a huge deal. Stories did things like this all the time, and one sort of has to in order to sell the threat as so large that a third team of Avengers needs to assemble. Pham's art is pretty good, and of course the double page assemble splash was also a highlight. Besides, considering Wolverine is about to have , like, 25 comic appearances a month with his movie coming, I don't mind seeing him die temporarily in one comic.

This is the over the top superhero team book that Avengers used to be and there was never anything wrong with that, and Slott gets that. He embraces the history and this run is off to a great start. Four weeks can't get here fast enough.

As for sales, MA usually averaged about 85k under Bendis without events, and it was usually about 10-15k removed from NEW AVENGERS. While there is a bit of hype behind this run, it will be curious if sales increase, hold steady, or drop a little. As a positive sign, the prelude to this run, SI: REQUIEM, which was basically about 8 pages of story alongside two recolored reprints at $5, sold about 64k in December, which is better than the typical issue of AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE sells. I see that as a positive sign. Expecting the Slott/Pham run to outsell the best selling ongoing Marvel has is expecting too much, but it will be good if sales hold steady for the book. As it is, it's hardly time to worry about a Top 10 staple franchise yet. I see nothing in the future of this book that isn't positive right now.

X-MEN: KINGBREAKER #2: Yost and Weaver continue this Starjammers centric lead up to War of Kings. Weaver's artwork continues to impress me on this title.

Vulcan frees a few figures from the Shi'ar prison including a symbiote and an Uncreated, as well as some female version of Gladiator's race. You just know she has to be a dom. They end up blowing up the Clench World where Lilandra, Korvus with his Cloud Strife Sword, and Marvel Girl were. I liked the rogue's gallery for the fight, which was impressive.

More important, though, was Havok bursting free from his cell, managing to kill two Shi'ar with his bare hands considering they call can lift at least a ton (that means that, basically, Havok easily overwhelmed two aliens who are tougher than Captain America), and freeing Polaris, Raza, and Ch'ord. The action was well paced and it did look pretty cool.

Vulcan incinerates some diplomats from the alien councel (a Rigellian, a Kree and some Ovoids) and even Deathbird is stunned at his savagery. Vulcan may not be much of a character, but he is a fine space antagonist. He has nothing but ambition and a ridiculous power level going for him, but that's perfectly fine to be the foil in WAR OF KINGS. My only major question is if Havok will be the one to take him out, or someone else? Abnett & Lanning seem to be amping Darkhawk for some purpose, for instance. Havok certainly has the most reason to battle Vulcan, of course.

The only odd bit is the Brandon Peterson cover, as Korvus looks a bit weird. I know the Shi'ar are often poor excuses for Klingons, but sheesh.

Lilandra manipulates her connection to Gladiator to get Marvel Girl close enough to read his mind, and they did seem a bit intimate. Gladiator, though, is a bit of a tool, and says it best himself when he literally says, "I don't think." No, he doesn't. He is loyal to the throne of the Shi'ar empire, but only the throne itself, not who is in it. Doesn't matter if you are Lilandra or D'Ken or Vulcan, he will serve it no matter what. It helps keep him as a reliable heel for others to battle. Havok, meanwhile, wants to lure Vulcan to his underwater prison to finish him, a plan that can't end well right now. We have a whole event to finish!

Having space events without the empire that always butts around the others, the Shi'ar, always felt off, and it is great to include them here. Bringing some X-Fans into the space genre surely shouldn't hurt sales.

 

[Red]

The one time Hank Pym created a robot, it tried to murder him, then the world, then the universe.

Anyway, I just read X-Factor #39. Weird. I don't really know why I go into these superhero births not expecting totally f***ed up s*** to go down anymore.

I don't read X-Factor...What exactly is this big ****ed up moment?

 

[Manic]

I don't read X-Factor...What exactly is this big ****ed up moment?

In a manner of speaking, [blackout]Multiple Man may have just killed his own newborn son.[/blackout]

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

No, he didn't kill his son. And I'm not spoiler taggin' 'cause this thread is assumed to be spoiler filled.

Remember way back when he and a dupe screwed around with Sy and M, but he couldn't remember who was with who? Well turns out the dupe got Sy an' got her knocked up, an' apparently the offspring of a dupe is nothin' more than another dupe which got absorbed into MM as soon as he held him.

Proof, kids, nuttin' good ever comes from drinkin'.

 

[Blader5489]

Don't be an *******, tag that.

 

[Galact-Gal]

As somebody pointed out in another thread, the dupe that Jamie left free (the minister) had a son. Jamie pretended to be him (John Maddox was his name I think) for a short time, and during that time touched his son without absorbing him. And, obviously, Maddox hadn't absorbed his son--or if he did, he figured out a way to get him back. Since a cover for an upcoming issue has Jamie confronting Maddox, maybe he tries to find out how come Maddox's son is still alive and free. I hope we get Sean back (although somehow I doubt it will happen ).


And on another note, the Emma Annual has a pretty big continuity glitch. Emma tells Namor that after she fought Phoenix and was put into a coma, she gradually put her mind back together. And during that process she regained the memories that Selene had suppressed. But the fight that ended with Emma in a coma was in the story that introduced the Hellfire Club and led into the Dark Phoenix story. Selene didn't leave Nova Roma and join the Hellfire Club until several years (real-time) after the DP story. So Selene shouldn't have been in that annual.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I didn't really like the Annual in general. All it boiled down to was Emma and Namor flirting in two different time periods. Which, also, ew.

 

[Galact-Gal]

Not just flirting.t:

 

[Harlekin]

Actually, what sends Emma into a coma is years, years later, long after Jean Grey has returned from the Phoenix ordeal and she's on the Gold team.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

This is the bought/thought thread, this thread ALWAYS has spoilers. I am NOT blocking out spoilers in a spoiler-laden thread! If someone reads without their understanding that's their tough luck.

 

[Manic]

Some of us are spoiler-tagging the latest issue of X-Factor because Peter David actually asked us not to post spoilers on the internet in the actual comic. He wants us to "speak in broad strokes" and only rouse the curiosity of others enough to buy the issue, while still allowing them to be surprised. He even asks us not to use spoiler warnings.

We're meeting him half-way.

 

[Harlekin]

Resulting in my now being spoiled.

 

[Dread]

I don't read X-FACTOR, so for once some miscue on the B/T thread isn't my fault.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

*Shrug* Oh wells. I didn't see any such plea, and it's probably already on Wikipedia by now.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

does anyone else like how many books have Namor in them right now?

Captain America and Iron Man are up next where else will he pop up

Black Panther, i think.

 

[Gilpesh]

X-Factor- Oh. Oh, wow. I go through cycles with this book. Every SINGLE time I start getting bored with it, PAD throws me a gigantic twist I totally didn't see coming, reaffirming my love for the book. That was insanely unexpected. Damn... that was Kirkman Walking Dead cold. 9/10

Actually:

Spoiler

To be Walking Dead cold.... that twist had to be that Madrox was actually the 'X-Factor' Madrox who suddenly just snaps the baby's neck and then drop kicks it out the window... then for laughs runs over and smacks the shocked look off of Siryn's face.... and rapes her.

That would be Kirkman Walking Dead cold.

 

[Mr. Green]

DARK AVENGERS #1: I was surprised some woman wasn't barefoot for the Deodato cover; he seemed to have a fetish for that for a while, at least with She-Hulk. Anyway, I didn't buy or even fully read it, just flipped through the pages and scimmed because I wanted to know who some of the roster was. To give credit, Bendis at least gathered the entire cast within the first issue, which for him is a feat. I mean, it was a good half year or longer before everyone from the cover of NEW AVENGERS #1 was in a room together, right?

Iron Patiot is none other than Norman Osborn himself, which was the obvious choice. The idea of hiring the Ghost to steal one of Stark's armors to make the suit for Osborn wasn't a bad idea. Ares I buy siding with Osborn; Sentry seems a bit weird, but he's pretty much an insane heel/fop anyway, so he shouldn't missed, especially now that Thor is back and Hercules is making the rounds. Ms. Marvel, who never showed any backbone when Iron Man was doing questionable things with the Mighty Avengers, finally finds one with Osborn, so her old costume gets dumped to Moonstone. Gargan is given some random formula by Osborn to make his form more stable, and Bullseye & Daken also trade costumes as Hawkeye and Wolverine, respectively. Oh, and Marvel Boy is freed from The Cube or where ever he was and recruited.

Frankly, this stuff should be confusing. There will now be two versions of Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, and Wolverine running around. While Wolverine always had a fuzzy past, Spider-Man has been operating in the red and blues for a while now, and Ms. Marvel still has her own book in her modern suit. I'm not sure if Osborn is blaming things on Skrulls or Stark, and I didn't care enough to read better. I imagine I skipped over some cynical and repetitive dialogue. And the public has never seen Marvel Boy do anything noble, so why are they trusting him now?

The same problem remains, though; it makes no sense that there would be such blind trust in Norman Osborn within both the government and the media/public if his criminal record is still valid. He was just trying to assassinate diplomats less than three years ago in real time. He'd been tried, convicted, and jailed for all number of crimes as recently as MKSM. Certainly other superheroes who the media still adores, like the Fantastic Four, who once helped Spidey battle Osborn's "Sinister Twelve" and so forth, could vouch for how much of a whack job he is. It makes little sense that if Obama is the new president, he would allow a convicted murderer and terrorist pretty much run the show with HAMMER. All this seems to me is a half thought idea of a bygone age, when the President and everyone he appointed was evil and corrupt. An idea that a scroundrel manipulated a national attack to become a hero despite his many past sins might have been contemporary in 2003 or even 2006, but in 2009 just seems out of place and past it's prime. I doubt only comedians will be stifled by an Obama white house and a Democratically controlled Congress. DARK REIGN is proof of that. Unable to dare risk criticizing Democrats, who in the eyes of most fictional writers are biologically incapable of mistake or corruption, Marvel is stuck with an event idea whose social context is now over. Atop that, without Mephisto having retconned Osborn's history, even with some feat of heroics, it really makes little since that in less than a year, Marvel time, Osborn can go from being a well known menace who was being forced into power via an overzealous Stark and nanobot treatments to being more trusted and beloved than any Marvel superhero who has ever lived. I understand the idea of uniting heroes against a confederation of connected baddies, with one major one at the top. It is the execution of it that has been haphazard and botched.

Still, at least the Dark Avengers will allow the Thunderbolts some time off as "the team everyone wants to see pummeled in guest appearances". Deodato's art is fine, and at least the team is all assembled and ready to make life miserable. I just think the idea of the government and media/public being THIS gullible and short sighted is cartoonishly unrealistic, unless you buy into the "all Marvel humans were given the biological disposition to blindly embrace anyone evil or corrupt and become paranoid/hateful of anyone even remotely heroic or good by the Celestials during one of their Hosts" theory.

How the hell do your write this much about a comic that you haven't even read???

 

[Keyser Soze]

This is the bought/thought thread, this thread ALWAYS has spoilers. I am NOT blocking out spoilers in a spoiler-laden thread! If someone reads without their understanding that's their tough luck.

I just HATE this scummy attitude. Few things on message board piss me off more than a mindset as lazy and utterly selfish as this. I don't even care about the X-Factor spoilers - I don't read it - but people like yourself have spoiled plenty of others things for me in the past. For all the time it takes to do this: [BLACKOUT]about two seconds[/BLACKOUT], you think you'd at least be considerate of other posters.

Rant over. Sorry folks.