Bought/Thought July 6th, 2010 *spoilers*

[CaptainCanada]

Because Canada can celebrate its founding without delaying comics.

Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1 - "Young Avengers #13 in everything but name" arrives, finally, after a good five years. Longer than I would have waited, but whatever - while the team has fallen out of the zeitgeist a bit, the return of the Scarlet Witch is at least an important story point to attract attention. The expected art flaws aside (incorrect costumes, which they'll apparently explain at some point), things pick up fairly well (though I was struck by the moment where the kids get told the details of House of M; I'd forgotten they didn't know). The appearance of Magneto at issue's end is promising; I've been hoping to see some interaction between the twins and the various X-Men characters for a while.

Shadowland #1 - The Daredevil-centric event kicks off, the culmination of what is by now almost two years of stories by first Ed Brubaker and then Andy Diggle (Wonder Woman would kill for the level of writer continuity that Daredevil has consistently enjoyed). DD's title has been pretty insulated from the rest of the Marvel Universe since the Smith relaunch (and particularly since Bendis), which has worked fine, but it is a nice change of pace for him to take centre-stage for a bit. The focus of this issue is mainly Bullseye, who, after escaping (in a way that actually makes a bit of sense; the dumb guards look marginally less stupid) from jail, unwisely pays a call to taunt Daredevil. The look on his face when he realizes that Daredevil isn't playing by the old rules anymore is worth the comic; there are some villains who should die with dignity, but Bullseye isn't one of them.

Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1 - Now that Stevie's back in town, but having vacated his solo title and taking up residence in a team-book (albeit one centred on him), Ed Brubaker takes the opportunity to give Steve a bit of real solo time. In fact, this is probably the most solo Steve story I've ever seen Brubaker write, even pre-CW: even in those stories, Sharon or Sam pretty much always tagged along, and they're nowhere to be found, nor is there a Joey, Jackie, Tony, etc. The only other name character in the issue is a small cameo from Pete Wisdom. Brubaker writes Steve well (belying the claim made by some that he only uses him as a prop in other peoples' stories), and he manages to include a twist I didn't see coming. I've always found the insistence that the super soldier serum is, like, the holy grail of superhuman warfare a bit dubious, but whatever (and I like Steve's anger at people using it in light of the fact that he's the only one who's never had a horrible side-effect). Dale Eaglesham's art is nice stuff.

Thor and the Warriors Four #4 -

Comics have reached their apotheosis as an art form.

As an aside, I was a bit surprised that they actually went with the "magic fix for Grandma" route, but whatever, they're kids, give 'em a happy ending.

X-Force #28 - the penultimate issue of "Second Coming", which has been a very good crossover, and for all intents and purposes this has resolved one of the two main plots. By issue's end, the villains are defeated decisively, and Hope has manifested her Phoenix-esque powers. Now comes the moment of decision, where she's going to have to do whatever it is the writers are going to have her do to fix M-Day, the story chokehold on the X-books for the last few years. It's been a good story so far, but if this part falls down, nothing can salvage it. But from the promos, it looks like things will indeed work out. Beautiful art by Choi and Oback, as usual. There are some interesting little character bits here, such as Emma's reaction to Hope's powers; a neat insight into her fears. The writers have done a good job of selling Hope as a character, too.

 

[CaptainCanada]

House of Mystery v.4 - the main plot is finally starting to really pick up here, and the short stories do a good job of reflecting on the issues' main themes. The best volume of the series so far.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Wow. Kind of a barren thread so far.

X-Men #1

Good first issue of this series, and while the art didn't impress me so much in the free preview from last week, I liked it much better after those first initial pages. Last week started off the whole Mutants vs. Vampires storyline...but, this is the real start to it. The vamps are unleashing a virus upon the human population, and Jubilee gets caught in the blast. (Think suicide bomber, but in vampire form.) It's probably the most interesting thing to happen to Jubilee since Generation X was around. The bad part of the comic is another writer trying to shove Pixie down our throat. That's small potatoes, though.

The comic ends with a preview of upcoming x-titles in the next couple months. Very nice issue, and I'm already hooked on "Curse Of The Mutants."

X-Force #28

One thing you have to give this X-event credit for; they didn't just off some insignificant mutants. In this issue, we get one that just might rival Nightcrawler.

Spoiler

Cable is killed off in a very dramatic way, and it's done very effectively. It makes Hope's wrath that much more believable, and you can finally see why Bishop and others have been trying to kill her. This is not the sweet, young girl that we've been reading about for a couple years now. Of course, if Bishop and others weren't trying to kill her, she wouldn't be so deadly now.

I liked this event quite a bit. I got a bit bogged down in the middle; but, this ending really delivered. (Of course, it's not completely done just yet. We still have the Epilogue and one last Revelation issue.) The only problem isn't from this issue, but the previous one I just read. After all the death and destruction we just read, it's kind of crazy to read it not even mentioned in X-Men #1. t:

Steve Rogers, Super Soldier #1

Even though this issue didn't have such a big villian, like with Zemo in Captain America, I probably enjoyed it more. Part of me got into this issue thinking Brubaker might be biting off more than he can chew with another Cap book and an Avengers title...but, this one had a nice subtlety to it. Good set up, and nice ending which made me immediately want to buy the next issue. The only complaint would be that the story has been done enough times before. Someone is trying to duplicate the Super Soldier Serum that turned Steve into Captain America. It's the same feeling I get when I read another Armor Wars story in Iron Man comics.

Brigade #1

Call me a sucker! Sure, I knew this was probably going to be awful before I bought it...and, while I'm dropping a few titles from my pull list each month, I sure didn't need to spend my money on this...still, for nostalgia's sake, I had to check it out. Don't bother! It's the same bad, early-Image stuff that you would expect from Liefeld. He tried to bring back Youngblood last year (or, that might have been 2 years ago), and I guess with Image United coming out late last year, he thought there might be some demand for this old teambook.

The plot is very simple. The old gang must get back together, because an alien invasion is eminent. You get absolutely zero characterization, just a bunch of action scenes between various characters. (Definitely early-Image there.) Brigade isn't even united in this issue...they are saving that for issue #2, I guess.

Walking Dead #74

Things are finally starting to come to a boil, as the leader of this new society might be finally showing some misgivings for bringing in Rick and his crew into the fold. I love how Kirkman isn't rushing this storyline along too fast. He's building the distrust between both sides, and this issue a new threat emerges. It's pretty common in horror stories, though. Stephen King has used religious fanatics who incite fear into others often in his books. And, it's not really unexpected, as this preacher has been pretty creepy from the moment we first met him.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1

I knew I was in for a treat when I saw the cover to this comic. It's very reminiscent of Spider-Man and the X-Men for a few years back, where we revisit a moment in Spidey and the X-Men's past each issue, all building up to the final issue. Naturally, this issue is much of the same, taking place while Peter Parker was still in college and Reed and Sue were just recently engaged. This is basically a stand-alone story, except for the ending that is suppose to tie the various issues together into one big adventure. It has equal parts humor and action, some of the best coming from the dynamic between The Torch and Spidey. Throw in Doom and Namor, this was just a joy to read.

Shadowland #1

Color me less than impressed. I hope things get better as the story progresses, because I'm still not buying Diggle's take on Daredevil. I'm sure revelations will be discovered as this storyline reaches it's conclusion; but, the "shocking ending" didn't even surprise or blow me away. It felt like a tool for creating a reaction in the reader, and didn't come off as genuine. We've seen some great starts to some events in the past. I didn't feel this came close to justifying the $3.99 price tag.

The Boys #44

This book is getting better and better as it's only about 2 years to coming to a close. Everything has been leading up to the last page of this book,

Spoiler

as Hughie finally learns that his girlfriend is a superhero.

We have to wait until next month to see his reaction; but, mixing in religion with the supes makes for an interesting first issue of this newest storyline.

Chimichanga #3

Eric Powell's newest series has been pretty entertaining. (Not sure if it goes beyond this issue, though.) Lula is a young bearded-girl who belongs to a traveling circus of very unimpressive attractions, when she makes a deal with an extremely gassy witch. For a lock of her facial hair, the witch gives her a large egg and a wagon. (The egg never belonged to the witch to begin with, but was thrown-up by a foul looking bird.) Hatching from the egg was Chimichanga, a .... ummm ... well, who knows what the heck Chimichanga is. It's just some hairy, gross looking monster.

In this issue, Lula has been captured by a large pharmacutical company who claims ownership of her through legal mumbo-gumbo, and the circus must break Chimichanga out of the pound, in order to free her. The book has some good humor, and a bit of a message, too, about how many evils are overlooked because these companies can line politicians pockets with vasts amounts of money.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Thor and the Warriors Four had a decent ending. It wasn't quite as funny as some other issues, but there were some chuckle-worthy moments. Not a huge fan of Alex Power being able to lift Thor's hammer as the climax, but it's out of continuity, so whatevs. The ending surprised me as well; I thought the kids would have to deal with the death of their grandmother and take solace in the fact that they at least tried to save her. But happy endings trump life lessons in all-ages books, which I suppose is fine. All in all, a damned fine mini-series from Zalben, whom I formerly knew solely as "that guy who keeps the other two jackasses on-topic in Comic Book Club." Gurihiru's art usually isn't my thing and his full-grown Thor is pretty awful, but he did a fantastic job on the babies and kids, who were by far the most important parts of this series. I'd read it again.

Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier was pretty solid. I wasn't sure who the woman Steve remembered was, but I guess that will be explained later on for people like me who aren't up on their old-school Cap lore (unless it's a retcon). The plot is interesting and I liked seeing Pete Wisdom. Eaglesham's art was mostly good, although his anatomy on Cap went a bit haywire in some panels--Cap's a big dude, but he's not the Hulk (or, judging from the tiny legs in a couple panels, Savage Dragon). I'm still not really into seeing Steve with a gun, even if it is just a tranq gun, especially since he has that energy shield. It's so not his usual style that it looks jarring to me. Then again, he's on the cover with a tommy gun, which I know is accurate to the old war comics but looks incredibly wrong to me, since I grew up with the shield-only Cap of the '60s on. Either way, it's just a nitpick since, again, it is just a tranq gun.

Red Robin was surprisingly good. I say surprisingly because, even though I figured from interviews and the tone of his first issue that Niceiza would restore Tim Drake to the character I used to love, I didn't expect him to nail it so perfectly so quickly. It's the second issue and already this series feels like Tim at his absolute best, before all of the angst from Identity Crisis on. He's clever, wry, and most of all fun, which is a welcome change from his recent journey into Grimdark Central. The relationships between all the characters are spot-on, too; Dick is doing his best as the father-figure one minute, but as soon as he sends Damian off, he slips right back into the old big brother/little brother relationship he and Tim shared for many years. A few minor nitpicks--like everyone in the press referring to Tim as "Mr. Wayne," even though Niceiza has (thankfully) ignored that stupid name-change and referred to Tim as "Tim Drake" everywhere else--are the only things holding this issue back from being the best issue I've read so far this week. Even Damian's presence doesn't bother me, and the latter half of the issue is pretty much built around his particularly obnoxious brand of self-righteous whining. If you're at all a fan of DC's Batman line from before Infinite Crisis, you should definitely give this a try. Niceiza's brought that very cohesive, sensible feeling back where you feel like you know the characters because they act in logical ways rather than tripping over themselves to reveal the latest retcon or shocking reveal or random behavioral change. Also, Marcus To's art is smooth as butter. Some of the layouts remind me of Bagley on Amazing Spider-Man in the '90s a bit.

Speaking of retcons, Brightest Day drops a big one. So, okay, I think this has happened enough now that we can call retconning major misdirections into characters' pasts Geoff Johns' "thing." He made Lex Luthor and Superman Superboy's "parents," he gave Wally pause to re-evaluate his mentor and personal hero Barry Allen because of his unethical treatment of various supervillains, he made Barry Allen a bit edgier because of his parents' brutal murder, and now it's apparently Aquaman's turn. So, rather than meeting Arthur and joining him in the "main" DC universe because she loved him, it turns out Mera was actually on a secret mission from the people of her dimension to kill Arthur. FUN! It's a stupid, unnecessary addition to a rather broken relationship that already has more than enough strife to mine for conflict, but Mera hasn't exactly been a major presence in Aquaman's comics for decades now anyway, so it's not too big a deal. A minor irritation at worst, and I suppose it's worth it if it restores Aquaman to his status as a usable character instead of the sales repellant or outright joke he's been for a long time now. Oh yeah, some other stuff happened in this issue too, but it mostly featured Hawkman and Hawkgirl (meaning I didn't read it) or Hawk (meaning I wish I hadn't read it), so it's not worth mentioning.

 

[BizarroAids]

Avengers-The Childrens Crusade: GOD!! I've missed the Young Avengers!! This book was a must for me, and I wasn't disappointed at all. Wiccan truly wants to believe that Wanda wasn't responsible, and he wants to prove that to everyone, along with proving himself to the Avengers. Steve and the Crew are worried about how powerful he really is, so they want to do some tests on him.
I think that after he semi-left with the Hulkling and the rest of the YA, that he wants to go back and let them do the tests. Cap was very understanding in what he was trying to get across to Wiccan. And I believe, Wiccan could see he just wanted to help, which is why he agreed to go in the first place. I'm hoping come next issue he tells the "YA" that maybe he should do the responsible thing and just let the Avengers run their tests, just to put their minds at ease.
Also, the arrival of Magneto really made me grin with glee. He's such a good munipulator when it comes to gettting what he wants. I"m anxious to see what he has to say.


Steve Rogers: Super Solder- Caps always been one of my faves. So naturally I had to get this. I have never had any problems with Ed's run on Caps books, and i think that this little series is what we need. Sure he's in alot of other titles, but this is when we see Steve behind closed doors. When he's going after the smaller jobs that don't require a whole team. I hope we get more spy-like-missions, and what how he goes about planning things for the other Avenger teams.
The book itself is what I expected. Although I don't think I was expecting the Serum angle again.(Like it was mentioned above) I would've like something different, but this has my interest fully. If the good Dr. didn't know that his goons were taking it, I want to see who is involved in this. And find out who the lady is that resemble his girl from back in 41.

If there's a new Captain America fan out there reading this. If you pick up any book this week, make sure this is on your list. Solid book for a great hero.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I didn't have a problem with the use of the Super-Soldier Serum again. It may be used a lot, but the story made sense. I like the angle that someone actually figured out how to recreate it. It's been about 70 years already; with the pace of technology and super-science in the Marvel universe, I'm quite surprised no one's figured out how to piece together the rest of the serum's formula effectively before now.

 

[BizarroAids]

I didn't have a problem with the use of the Super-Soldier Serum again. It may be used a lot, but the story made sense. I like the angle that someone actually figured out how to recreate it. It's been about 70 years already; with the pace of technology and super-science in the Marvel universe, I'm quite surprised no one's figured out how to piece together the rest of the serum's formula effectively before now.

That's true. I guess you could say it was eventually going to come up. If you want to think that the "Crazy Cap" storyline that Ed was doing kinda tried to get it in motion... He was cloned back then. How come they couldn't get the serum figured out? Right?

Wait, that may have made more sense in my head.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Who was cloned? The crazy Cap from Brubaker's run was a guy who became so obsessed with Cap that he had plastic surgery to make himself look like Steve Rogers. He got an imperfect version of the Super-Soldier Serum that gave him superhuman strength rather than the perfect peak-human attributes of the original serum.

 

[BizarroAids]

Who was cloned? The crazy Cap from Brubaker's run was a guy who became so obsessed with Cap that he had plastic surgery to make himself look like Steve Rogers. He got an imperfect version of the Super-Soldier Serum that gave him superhuman strength rather than the perfect peak-human attributes of the original serum.

Oh that's right. Sorry, I only skimmed that plot. I guess I misread it what they revealed about him. I hadn't caught up on that one just yet. I jumped right into Zemo and have that put aside to read later....don't hate me please.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

S'cool.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Actually just to clarify, 50s Cap discovered notes on the serum and was able to recreate it, but didn't know he needed to use the Vita Rays to stabilize it. So the pure serum drove both him and Bucky (future Nomad) insane.

 

[Brainiac 8]

Does the first X-Men issue indicate at all if Second Coming reversed the effects of M day?

 

[kguillou]

Shadowland #1: Pretty much what everybody expected. Opinions on this book are going to be extremely varied. I myself am very conflicted on the direction they're taking daredevil. Bendis and Brubaker have done such phenominal jobs of taking Matt Murdock to a dark place. Brubaker then made DD leader of the Hand which had such amazing story potential. Up until this point Andy Diggle has been doing a fantastic job of exploring this new angle of DD's leadership of a league of assasins and portraying his moral conflictions. However, we've reached the breaking point where Matt finally crosses that line, a move that could potentially break the character forever.

BUT, is it really what it seems? Marvel's been telegraphing this twist for months now so blatantly that you cant help but feel like there's more to it. I mean THEY FREAKIN SHOWED US THE LAST PAGE OF THIS BOOK IN A TEASER. I certainly hope this isn't really the end of bullseye because i always hoped DD and bullseye's final confrontation would be more dramatic and more tension-filled than what we got here. Bullseye calls out DD for no reason, DD and ninjas show up, DD stabs him with no hesitation, to be continued...thats it? Whats worse is, we dont get to hear what DD's thinking, so we have no insight as to why he did what he did. SOme internal monologue would have been very helpful. I hope Diggle knows what he's doing.

 

[CaptainCanada]

I wasn't sure who the woman Steve remembered was, but I guess that will be explained later on for people like me who aren't up on their old-school Cap lore (unless it's a retcon).

This is a new character, I believe.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Okay, that makes sense. I was thinking Peggy Carter at first, but I thought Peggy was blonde and, like, French.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Brightest Day: The Atom Special should have been renamed "Don't Buy This Because It's a Total Waste of Money Unless You Plan to Buy Adventure Comics for the Foreseeable Future." There is no story here. Ray feels weird about the events of his day, gives us a really long flashback at his origin story, realizes that maybe his uncle is involved with said events, and then finds his dad dead in his apartment. The end. Only it's not the end, it's the first part of a story that will continue in backups in Adventure Comics, which I have absolutely no intention of reading. It just bugs me that they couldn't be bothered to feature a complete story in this "special." Leave a couple plot threads dangling to pick up on in Adventure, sure, but don't just treat a one-shot like issue #1 of an ongoing story. It's irritating.

Irredeemable, on the other hand, was awesome. It reminded me of Planetary a bit because, out of everyone who was actually in harm's way fighting the most powerful man on Earth in this issue, it still winds up being the black guy who gets killed--by a little kid, no less! Anyway, Qubit kind of puzzles me. I can't tell if he and Kaidan are the most idealistic of the bunch and weren't willing to kill Tony because of that, or if Qubit simply didn't trust Orian and felt he needed to keep Tony around as insurance against Orian's race. It seemed to be a little of both, but the fact that he kept the Kryptonite (I don't remember what the Plutonian's version is called; sue me) bullet would seem to imply it's solely the latter. Unless he just wanted to have the bullet in his possession so he wouldn't have to risk the less scrupulous Paradigmers trying a scheme like that again. I don't know. I expect Waid will make it clearer eventually. Either way, this was a solid ending to the first real conflict of the series. It was really satisfying; the status quo is irreversibly changed now because Tony knows he doesn't have the Paradigm on the run anymore, the Paradigm know that Survivor can hold his own against Tony, and we know that Modeus' machinations are definitely leading up to something important (I admit, I was wondering if Modeus was simply f***ing with Tony's head and staying close to him so he wouldn't try to eventually find and kill Modeus). I'm really enjoying this series. I hope Waid has an endgame in place for it, though; the concept really can only stretch so far before Tony ceases to be a novel threat and becomes little more than another standard villain in the Paradigm's rogues gallery that they will have frequent, minor skirmishes with forever and ever.

Finally got around to reading last week's issue of Northlanders today. It feels good to be reading the series again. Wood still does a wonderful job of capturing the grit and grime of ye olde viking days, as opposed to a lot of the other Norse-centric fiction that focuses on the gods or portrays the whole world as more of a fantasy setting. These are stories of people, first and foremost--people who happened to live in a different time and have different concerns from us, but no less relatable in their essential humanity. This issue was a nice little done-in-one story about one of the (probably many) viking sailors who stumbled onto America long, long before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. It's as bloody and visceral as Northlanders has become known for, and it's got a bit of a cynical streak; the sailor, Dag, starts as an idealist, becomes a pessimist, goes crazy, and finally dies the moment his greatest dream is fulfilled. It's a very simple story, but much like the earlier done-in-one about the art of viking combat, it's really satisfying in its simplicity. It's a story you can instantly wrap your head around and understand the messages of but is so well written that it's not lacking for any depth. Really solid work. I can't believe I ever dropped this series. Fiona Staples' art is really excellent as well, although she sometimes has people's eyes look really bugged out for no apparent reason.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Okay, that makes sense. I was thinking Peggy Carter at first, but I thought Peggy was blonde and, like, French.

Peggy was blonde, but she wasn't French; she was a Virginia gal who somehow ended up in the French Resistance.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Bah. Cap's past is too confusing.

Hawkeye & Mockingbird was solid. As weird as it was to think of Lincoln Slade's descendant taking up the Phantom Rider name and gunning for Bobbi, it's just downright uncomfortable to know that Lincoln himself is back--hitching a ride in his female descendant's skin, no less--and seeking revenge on Bobbi because... he... raped her...? The whole thing is just icky in ways only superhero comics' outlandish situations can create. Delving into Bobbi's family life was fun, though, even if it did kind of telegraph the ending of the issue. Sucks that her mom got shot right when she came back into Bobbi's life; where's Mephisto when you really need him?

 

[Drz]

Batman & Robin #13
I really liked it! I love how the internet is suspecting what the first 3 pages mean. Personally i think thats how evil Thomas Wayne WANTED things to happen, but he had to setback and is now finally back in Gotham to reclaim his rightful kingdom, Gotham city! Also notice how the party scene at the start has the symbolic Black and Red theme going on.

Now the issue itself was just pure Horror! Frazen Irving's beatiful art gives us the most creepiest Joker i've seen in a very good while, not to mention i love the dialogue in this issue. Gordon comforting Dick Grayson and telling the cops prefer him, and Joker possibly finding a reason to become the Joker again, once he realizes that Damian just might be Bruce's own blood. It's also worth to notice that Dick does tell Hurt "you're finished" so i hope Dick actually does have a plan, because Dick is s smart guy, and perhaps the greatest team leader in Earth, only after Superman himself.

Oh and i love this picture:

Also something i've noticed barely anyone is talking about. Look at the page where Hurt shoots Dick and check the painting. The painting has Thomas Wayne with some blond woman, or well not Martha atleast. Who could she be?[/spoiler]

Batman: Odyssey #1
I loved the first issue. Dialogue was good enough for me, but nothing special. Loved all the art, characters and pacing. The other Man-Bat was a brand new character, right? Still very cool stuff happening! Next issue will have AQUAMAN!

It's refreshing to see a harsher more violent Batman too, whos not too overly kind to people such as Man-Bat, and i did like Adams' take on Batman's first night.

He was amateurish BUT lucky, just like in Year One.

Red Hood: Lost Days #2
Sadly another issue that has nothing really happening, but the inner monologue gets all the praise. Beatifully written Jason Todd and Talia al Ghul is all i need really. I loved these two. Thank you Winnick!

Red Robin #14
Fabien Nicieza keeps writing great stuff on Tim! This issue was pretty much showing that Tim needs to stop being an emotionless Bruce-like brute, and realize that Damian is just a teenager who wants to be accepted. I really do see this arc being what makes Tim & Damian into good friends.

Shadowland #1

Good start for the event. Very Bullseye-centric. The art could be tiny bit better, but it does the job right. Can't wait to see more, but yeah #1's last page was rather predictable when you realized one of the teasers was shown in the preview for #1, so it wasn't a big surprise what the last page was gonna be about.

 

[Dread]

A day late for us Yanks due to patriotic reasons, and damn if it isn't a wallet buster! Eight books, many of then about $4, quite a heavy week for me. Maybe that'll encourage me to keep this brief, although I doubt it. As always, spoilers ahead, and full reviews are ALWAYS at my Examiner link in the sig first (at least until Hype pays me). Hey now, I've literally used some of my Examiner earnings to help pay rent for a month. We all got to eat somehow!

As an aside, as a freebie at the shop, those covers for X-MEN #1 are in a poster and one features Jubilee as a vampire. To me that is the silliest thing ever. The character has now seemed to jump from embodying the cliches of one generation and has bounced into another. While Jubilee was one of few Asian characters who didn't start as a martial artist empowered by some sort of kung fu dragon, she was a mishmash of what white men in their forties imagined teenagers were like at the end of the 80's into the early 90's - mall-rat, skateboarder, bubble gum popping, vapid, and in a trench coat and shades. Now, in the era of TWILIGHT in the 2000's, Jubilee is now a pale vampire. Notice how solicitations show Gambit as a vampire, too; imagine Edward as an unshaven Cajun. "Ah be bitin' ya, chere', ah guar-UN-tee!" If Marvel doesn't realize that this whole "curse" story seems to be both desperate zeitgiest pandering atop of providing a page filler plot, then they are so out of touch with the reality of their medium that heads need to roll.

Dread's BOUGHT/THOUGHT for July 8th, 2010:

AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE #1: May as well get this out of the way first. The short end of it is that as a comic this isn't so bad, but as an idea it has become a symbol of everything that is wrong with comics in general and the Joe Quesada, sans Jemas, era of Marvel in particular. You have shameless pandering to a disinterested, arrogant Hollywood talent. You have the fans who are stupidly loyal being ripped off and suckered at every turn. You have a once hot franchise that has now become a footnote due to editorial mismanagement that has lasted a full Presidential term's worth of time. And above all, you have a comic that is late that is being treated as if one should be happy it was even released at all. No, it isn't quite as bad as the Lindeloff ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK debacle, but then again, that comic didn't hold up two franchises. This did.

On the first page it becomes apparent - the editor is apologizing that artist Jimmy Cheung's costumes for Iron Man and Steve Rogers don't match up. It seems art on this started a long time ago (they say "many months" but I'd guess about 2007), and as late as this is, expecting Cheung to redraw many pages or panels to get it timely would make this thing even later, possibly into the next decade. So the fan is expected to shrug it off. Now, in truth it is a minor thing, and at least it is acknowledged. But there is no apology. There is no, "We are sorry we have dragged this out so long, and we are sorry we are asking for $36 over 18 months for a story that is four years late, but we're greedy, and we see you as ignorant suckers with wallets, and retailers as inconvenient pawns," sort of statement. No, the fan is simply expected to accept something that has been less than professionally produced at the highest price standard. If nothing else, this series shows that Marvel editorial see their fans as the dumbest creatures on the face of the earth, who deserve to be fleeced for all they are worth.

And maybe we are, because I bought this, at least.

To recap: Allen Heinberg and Jim Cheung from 2005-2006 produced a 12 issue run of this series, and an annual. Andrea DiVito filled in art for two issues, and the annual also had art by others. But that is modest; even many of those 12 issues were late, especially the last few issues. After that, fans were promised a "season two" from this team, and Marvel kept promising it was coming. Editorial decided that the Young Avengers as a franchise should go into a lockbox until Heinberg was able to write another arc or two for them again. The problem was this allowed the franchise, which had actually become a modest, B-List hit selling 65k at issue at WORST, to grow stale, ignored, and irrelevant. In the four years since, the YA have existed as one semi-annual mini series after the next. These mini's tended to be obligatory, random, "fleece the suckers" sort of crossover tie ins that matter in no way to the crossover itself. As such, we got one for CIVIL WAR, one for SECRET INVASION, and one for DARK REIGN. We even got a one-shot for SIEGE. Two of them also featured the Runaways, a team that Marvel decided was not as important to keep in a box apart from it's launch creative team of Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona, and thus other writers and artists were allowed to write them (for better or worse) in important ways. Sure, RUNAWAYS volume 3 got canceled, but they're still a cult hit, and are getting a movie. The Young Avengers are DONE; Marvel just doesn't realize it yet. They may when this debut barely cracks the Top 50 list. And if Marvel is happy that a franchise that was a B-List hit in 2006 is now a D-List bottom feeder with fewer reliable fans than AGENTS OF ATLAS seem to muster, though, then it is still a success. The horrible irony is that while tasked with thankless, irrelevant stories to tell with the YA, some of the writers proved they easily could have taken the franchise over if tasked to, such as Zeb Wells or even Chris Yost (his mini wasn't so bad). Christos Gage could probably have killed on it. But, instead, into the lockbox it went. The only characters that got some sort of emotional development were Stature and Vision II, mostly by being rescued by Dan Slott for a year and change for MIGHTY AVENGERS. Not even an Ed Brubaker issue of YOUNG AVENGERS PRESENTS broke 35k sales once; that should be a disturbing sign.

This issue, ironically, makes it seem very clear how new and raw these characters are. They are at least 5 years old, and many of them are still stuck in stock cipher mode. Some of the dialog feels interchangeable or stereotypical (Speed, who is Pietro Lite, is there for every snide one liner). I'd argue Maria Hill and Agent Brand have grown more in three years than this lot have in a half decade. Some have criticized this franchise because while the title implies that these are supposed to be the next generation of Avengers, in practice they are, arguably, side-kicks that no heroes want. Stature and Vision II served as Avengers and appeared in many titles, so one can see "Jonas" taking over for "Victor Shade" or even Cassie Lang trying to fill the shoes of her dad or even Giant-Man on occasion. But the rest? Kate Bishop being called Hawkeye despite Barton retaking the name seems sillier than ever. DC once had two Green Arrow's, but we all knew which one was the "real" one, and which was just some dumb kid too stubborn to take a unique name. Hulkling has a retconned legacy (the son of Mar-Vell and Skrull royalty), but his name is misleading in that regard. Besides, Noh-Varr has taken over that role as the next Captain Marvel (as Protector), even if it makes no sense to. If Patriot wants to be the latest Captain America sidekick to be ignored by the genuine article, then he has to join the line behind Jack Flag and Free Spirit, and ahead of Rikki Barnes.

The story focuses on the Young Avengers taking on some Sons of the Serpent terrorists, and things get heated when Hulkling provokes one of the bigots by being both an alien, and a homosexual. Wiccan lets loose with a burst of his power, saving everyone from a dirty bomb but rendering all of the terrorists comatose. This concerns the adult Avengers on scene (Iron Man, Rogers, and Ms. Marvel), who don't want Wiccan to become the next Scarlet Witch. A summary of HOUSE OF M is given, which is good because that was five years ago. Wiccan believes that he and his brother Tommy are in fact the lost children of Wanda in spirit, if not biologically. The adults claim that Wanda is missing and can't be found, which is actually a bit of a lie; Clint Barton found her, and ****ed her, but didn't get any answers out of her. Dr. Strange was told this, but apparently he and Clint kept that bit secret. The adults want to "test" Wiccan and keep an eye on him. Ultimately, the Young Avengers stand together and decide to set out to find Wanda and settle things, once and for all. Wiccan wants to see if Wanda can be redeemed by this knowledge to undo M-Day; Stature wants to see if Wanda will resurrect her father like she did to Barton; Hulkling loves Wiccan and will see anything he does to the end; Speed things Wiccan is daft but wants to help in his own way, and the rest of the team is just there to be loyal and friendly. It is worth noting that Dan Slott wrote Stature as being genuinely vengeful towards Wanda, and likely would have fought her if they met, which to me seemed more natural. What, just because Wanda is pretty, she can murder a heroine's father and be shown endless compassion?

The issue with the costumes actually isn't a big deal. The problem is some of Cap's dialog at times makes me wonder if he is supposed to be Rogers or Barnes; I assume Rogers, but then why is Rogers wanting to make a flight competition with Wiccan? Wiccan and Hulkling seem to be the focus of this story, and while I thought their interaction with each other was great, I do wonder what their personalities are beyond "being gay". Teddy is more aggressive, although Wiccan can be more so when provoked. Their relationship is treated with a bit of maturity, and isn't full of vulgar stuff or cliches, but I do wonder if Heinberg seriously believes that it alone counts as character details in 2010. Wiccan is hesitant about things, but when he settles on things, he is determined. Teddy I suppose is the supportive type, as despite his Kree strength he isn't overly aggressive like his name would imply. And it is hard for it to be a major plot point that Billy and Tommy MUST be twins because they look alike, when Cheung usually makes a lot of faces similar (it is like a story where there are twins in a Mark Bagley comic). Aside for that the art is good, with some great inkwork and colors that make it pop.

In many ways the cover alone has some quirks. It is worth mentioning that Marvel no longer has faith in the YOUNG AVENGERS title, even for their own stories. Thus, AVENGERS is front and center. That alone is telling, an admission of their mishandling. Whether retailers will be fooled, or just order this like yet another YA mini, is unknown. Wolverine and Spider-Man are also in the cover and they have absolutely nothing to do with the story (while Ms. Marvel, who does, is absent from the cover). Spider-Man's only technical appearance is during Iron Man's holographic recap of House of M; Wolverine's just there as a draw.

In truth this actually isn't so bad at all. The dialog isn't bad and there's a lot of action at the start. Some of the interactions flow and feel natural. I actually do like how the relationship between Billy and Teddy is handled overall. That said, I don't think this is worth $4 an issue, and if I may be so blunt, I don't think Allen Heinberg was the only writer in the known universe who could have written an issue under the premise of, "and now the kids go find Wanda" that came out at least like this. If this is where this was all going, then Marvel could have credited Heinberg as a co-plotter/creator and had another writer handle it at least two years ago. In truth not only have the YA been in limbo, but perhaps the X-Men as well. Wanda is needed to end the M-Day storyline, which for five years has skipped from one over-hyped anti-climax to the next and stifled the franchise. If M-Day has to last for at least another 18 months, that means it would be late 2011 by the time the X-Men can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel, and six years is a very long time to invest in a failure of a status quo. Not even Brubaker's run on CAPTAIN AMERICA has yet lasted six entire years (that anniversary comes in November). If Marvel seriously believes that X-Men fans will be happy that the end of a 3 year series of crossovers ends in an anti-climax before a pointless vampire brawl, then they don't deserve them. Those fans should seriously start reading INVINCIBLE or something.

I digress. In execution, this comic isn't so bad. I do like the ploy to try to find and redeem Wanda. The last page has Magneto show up, and I am curious how this will tie into things. The art is good and it did feel like those YA comics of old that got some people jazzed up. I just think that the magic that Heinberg does with the script isn't as unique as Marvel believes, and this may be too little, too late, at too high a price, coming out at too slow a rate. The question for YA fans is, it is worth paying $36 across 18 months until 2011 to resolve a story that was promised in 2006, and was at best overdue by 2008. It is possible I could be wrong, this becomes an EISNER winner and sells as well as SECRET AVENGERS #1 did. But the yoke of all of the problems of this franchise - the lateness, the five year abandonment of it's creator, the years of futile promises, the price tag, the schedule - is there to bring it down a peg. Still not bad, though.

FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #32: Because so many regular issues of comics are $4, that means annuals have to be $5. Because 2010 is apparently an age of wonder, where every company is flush in billions from being bought out and everyone is being promoted.

This is a 60+ page annual, so in theory the $5 price tag is justified. In many ways it doesn't feel like an FF issue under the current Hickman run, but one during the Millar run. This is not only due to the art by Bryan Hitch, but with Joe Ahearne writing. The crux of the matter is one of the countless random women Johnny has wooed has wound up pregnant, and comes calling on the Baxtor Building in general and Johnny in particular. There actually is something to this premise; the idea of Johnny becoming a father or facing something where he has to man up. It has been about universally forgotten that during the time when Lyra the Skrull was pretending to be Alicia Masters, not only was Johnny a loyal boyfriend, he married her and was a loyal and capable husband to her, too. While she did turn out to be a Skrull, that should have at least shown that Johnny was humanly capable of being romantically faithful and loyal. That has been ignored wholesale since, with the impression now that Johnny couldn't go an hour without cheating on seven women at once. He's actually less mature now as a man in his twenties than he was in the 1960's as a teenager. Got to love devolution in comics!

The idea that this isn't some super villain plot and Johnny really does have to man up and face his responsibilities is played with and overall done well. Naturally, Reed and Sue have two children. Ben apparently always wanted kids. Yet on the other hand, kids are dangerous - even Amy Brys (the girlfriend) was aware that Sue left the Four for a while after she had Franklin. While Johnny was trying to figure out how this happened and Reed was skeptical as well, the idea was played with in an entertaining fashion.

It all becomes a bit mundane when it turns out to be some far fetched plot of the Psycho-Woman (the girlfriend of Psycho-Man). The story gives Hitch a lot of leeway for far out science panels, with battles inside of veins and giant robot monsters attacking. The drama of most of the Four being inside Johnny and at risk of being incinerated if he flames on is interesting. But my problem is in the end this became typical of too many annuals - providing a story that in the end will be forgotten before it's over. It does try to create some sort of a cliffhanger ending with Brys jumping through a time-portal to either undo being impregnated artificially by Psycho-Woman, or even just zapping to some other time to raise the kid elsewhere in private. I simply doubt anything will come of this, and if it had, I think having it not have been yet another villain plot would have worked out better. Johnny has grown the least out of the Four lately, and this could have helped.

It's not bad at all. It has a lot of fun dialog (especially from Thing), and for those who have felt some of Hickman's issues are slow, this one had plenty of action and some genuine suspense. There's even some reference to Sue's Malice side (or past emotional tampering done to her by Psycho-Man) that is good. If you just want a done in one FF adventure, I'd say pick it up. It doesn't clash with Hickman's run too much, if only because Val and Franklin are barely in it (but when they are, it really matters). While I do think this story could have had more potential, it does depict the Four well. Despite often seeming shallow and vapid, Johnny does step up when he has to, and shows a genuine willingness to accept being a father or protecting Amy is he has to. Ben Grimm is ever the pug. And while she's no Wonder Woman, Sue shows once again that you can be a wife, mother, and super-heroine without seeming like you are weak or sacrificing anything. Reed is of course full of bizarre science stuff as well. I enjoyed it a little more than I expected, but it still held back enough that I wouldn't exactly call it great.

 

[Dread]

Part II:

IRON MAN: LEGACY #4: If it seems soon since the last issue, it is; the last issue came out two weeks ago. My only major gripe is the cover. Iron Man has been in more generic covers than I think any superhero on the face of the earth the last three years, but this is one of the most mundane. Out of all Bill Jemas ideas to finally reject (that every cover can be sold as a poster, so it should be as flat and generic as possible), this surely is one of them. It seems no thought goes into Iron Man covers anymore. Just show him in armor, flying, with gauntlets/eyes glowing. A parrot with a mouse and a file of screen shots could do no worse. "Caw, Iron Man flying, CAW, IRON MAN FLYING!" There must be enough generic Iron Man covers to, if lined up, create a paper bridge to the planet Jupiter by now.

Beyond that, Fred Van Lente has created a far faster paced book than Fraction has with the core title; a shame this is a secondary title, and set in the past. In this issue alone, Iron Man does battle or faces off against four super-villains. Four. Dr. Doom, Radioactive Man, Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man. And Doombots. And this was after a fight with Dreadknight last issue. The next issue will conclude the story, which means in five issues, Van Lente may accomplish more than Fraction does in ten. The art is by Steve Kurth, with solid inks and colors in tow as well. This story, which seeks to revisit the Serbian war years of the 90's, only involving the Marvel countries of Transia and Latveria, manages to mix in some politics into the story without choking the life of it, like some writers do (Mark Millar, I am looking at you). Iron Man's mission to rid Transia of his technology being used illegally results in a battle (and lecture) from Radioactive Man, which gets interrupted by Dynamo and Titanium Man. While the idea that many of Iron Man's enemies hail from other countries as their stereotypical warriors hinders some writers, but not Van Lente, who plays with the political saber rattling ideas of it. Plus, any comic in which Iron Man says, "Welcome to my Benefit Ass-Whooping, gentlemen," as he beats down villains in front of the cameras to get international attention on a war zone has to be worth something. I suppose one criticism is the story does resemble "IRON MAN 2" a little bit with Dynamo and an army of Iron Man Doombots, but it's Dr. Doom, not some Russian guy!

The artwork is good and it has a lot of action, with next issue promising more. Only issue two so far has been a bit slow. It continues Fred Van Lente's streak of providing good material in comics, and is worth a chance.

SHADOWLAND #1: Marvel denies this is an event, and no, it isn't a line wide one. It does all add up to a 30 issue story told with two ongoing titles crossing over across 5 months - only slightly less volume than HOUSE OF M was. In effect it has more $4 mini's as part of it than crossover tie ins with regular issues; only DAREDEVIL and THUNDERBOLTS. It still is an event, though, and I don't appreciate Marvel brass taking us for fools. Especially since a preview is being offered in every Marvel comic this week.

This is written by Andy Diggle, who is also writing DARDEVIL and who took over after Ed Brubaker, with artwork by Billy Tan and inker Batt, fresh off a run on THOR together. Christina Strain does the colors and the cover is by John Cassaday, and isn't half bad. The only quibble is it has Spider-Man front and center, and he only makes a spit-and-cough one panel appearance in the issue within (same as Moon Knight, Punisher, and Wilson Fisk). This is spawning from issues of DAREDEVIL I've not read (I haven't read DD since about the middle of Bendis' run), but the recap page summarizes the vitals well enough. Apparently, the Hand ninja cult have come to Matt Murdock to lead them, and Matt decided to use the ninja to take better care of Hell's Kitchen. Using an evil organization for good is naturally the premise of AGENTS OF ATLAS, and it works out well for them. Unfortunately for Murdock, he's apparently become corrupted by the power, and is now wearing a black and red outfit that is akin to his 90's armor without the pads, and his dialogue makes him sound like he's had the Shredder as an acting coach. Considering how much bad crap Murdock has seen, I suppose it makes sense that he could be corrupted to a degree. Plus, he wouldn't be the first or last masked vigilante who blurred the lines to take care of bad guys.

Bullseye was arrested and being transported to prison, but he naturally escapes in five minutes, kills some more guards and hits the streets. Apparently not only was he just off a tour of duty as a Dark Avenger, but he found time to blow up a city block of the Kitchen and kill over 100 people. Murdock's Hand have build a giant ninja dojo in that spot and that is their base of operations. It is both a symbol and a target. It as well as the Hand seeming to "secure" the neighborhood one block at a time (and mark it) attracts the attention of many urban figures. It also attracts the Avengers' attention. While Spider-Man is also one and one would have expected him to be more involved, instead their urban point-men are Luke Cage and Iron Fist, which is fair enough. Rand, perhaps due to his training, doesn't see it as as big a deal as Cage does, but all are concerned and the Heroes for Hire head over to Murdock's house to see what's up. They walk into a scene out of a Frank Miller comic - Daredevil and a horde of ninja taking on Bullseye.

After allowing Bullseye to slaughter at least a dozen ninjas, Daredevil enters the fray and makes things pretty quick in a four page duel. The conclusion may be a surprise if one hasn't seen the animated preview Marvel stuck on YouTube. It also homages something from the Frank Miller era involving a sai. Cage and Rand are concerned and want to "shut this down now", but one has to be curious about some of their hypocritical morality. Both Cage and Rand care nothing for the lives of minions. They've killed (or allowed the deaths of) Hand and Hydra grunts in many comics in recent years. But if DD wants to murder Bullseye, who's killed hundreds of people including a fresh set of prison guards? Oh, that's a step too far. So why are the lives of canon fodder worth less than the life of one mass killer? Yes, I know, because Bullseye is an important franchise villain who was in a movie and sold action figures, but I meant in a fictional perspective. Do they fear it would merely be the first of Murdock's victims, and he'd become the Punisher? And if so...then why have none of the heroes tried to stop Punisher all these years? The Avengers could have swept him up in an hour. Spider-Man used to get into physical brawls with Wolverine because he killed people; now they have beers together in Avengers mansion. I suppose I see the crux of the series as a question of morality, but the morality of more heroes than DD have become gray in recent years. What, we're supposed to forget that? At least Moon Knight acknowledges that he went off the deep end and tries to do better now, what are the others' excuses?

Besides that, this isn't too bad. I don't look forward to the wave of $4 mini's, since I likely will get 2/3rds of them. And THUNDERBOLTS I am already on. I guess this is an attempt to better connect DAREDEVIL's world to other street books, since he's been fairly isolated in the last 2-3 years. The idea of all the street heroes having a large urban brawl isn't too bad. The villain so far seems to be Daredevil himself, but the cover for the second issue promises that Kingpin will enter the fray. I do hope that Iron Fist will get a chance to stand out more from the shadow of Luke Cage; ironically, while Cage may be considered more popular from being on Avengers titles longer, Rand was the one who was able to support his own series for more than two years; Cage hasn't in a long time. This could be an examination of morals and urban decay, or it could degenerate into Marvel street heroes acting out some stages of FINAL FIGHT. Either could be good. This was probably a better debut than some of Bendis' debuts for events, and I'll stick around. Anything that gives a lot of B-Listers an excuse for comics is something worthwhile.

SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR #1: This is a sequel mini series by Christos Gage and Mario Alberti to SPIDER-MAN AND THE X-MEN. The premise is showing four team-ups between Spider-Man and a titular superhero team across four separate eras in continuity in three flashback stories before the 4th is set in the present and connects into a cohesive whole. While that mini was hardly the best thing Gage ever wrote (some of his best material remains on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, although AVENGERS ACADEMY is off to a good start), it still was usually as entertaining as X-MEN: FIRST CLASS material by Jeff Parker for me. This time, the premise will have Spidey interact more with the Four. This makes more sense, as Spidey has interacted more with the Four than the X-Men, or any other superhero team for that matter, ever since ASM #1. The only downside is that by no deliberate action, this series now seems to be unconsciously compared in my mind to SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH: I'M WITH STUPID by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton - a modern classic that I don't think still gets the recognition it is worth, nor would be easy to match by anyone, not even Slott's constant co-writer.

That said, this is still a load of fun. The first issue is set in the 1970's, shortly after Dr. Doom's hands were mangled by the Thing, and while Peter was still a fresh face on ESU. Doom is holding some sort of diplomatic meeting with some Eastern European countries at the campus, and has requested an unusual demand; the Fantastic Four act as his security force. As a diplomat from Latveria and with the U.S. eager for a peace treaty that Doom, in theory, could sign, Thunderbolt Ross agrees to the request, and ultimately so do the Four. It is a scheme which seems assembled simply so Doom can have the Four act as his genuine pawns and have to obey his every whim, as petty as ever. The Thing and Torch can barely restrain themselves. This isn't helped when Johnny and Peter Parker get into a verbal spat on campus, which surprises a lot of Parker's friends who see Johnny as a celebrity hero (and Parker at times as an arrogant scholarship pony). When Gwen decides to try to get to Peter a little by asking for Johnny's autograph, Peter storms off to become Spider-Man and confront him directly. Not only is Doom's presence spilled to Spidey, but Namor arrives to avenge himself on Doom, and Doom even does the ol' body-swap routine with Johnny as well! Like many Silver Age comics, there is a lot going on, but it all works out by the end. There is a lot of action and a lot of laughs.

The artwork (pencils, colors, and inks) by Alberti is often worth the price on the cover alone, and he delivers once again here. His Human Torch takes getting used to, but he draws a great Thing. Christos Gage continues to be a master of weaving past continuity into his tales, such as a hint at Reed and Susan's wedding (which Doom also interrupts in another act of pettiness). The ending gives a hint of what will connect the stories, and it works out rather well. Part of the allure of this format was seeing all the costume changes, and while in this story the Four are in their standard 1960's blue uniforms, the next issue promises Venom, so they could be in their darker John Bryne costumes. Another issue promises the "new" Fantastic Four from the early 1990's - Spider-Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider and Wolverine. While it is rare for a sequel to surpass the original, this is off to a good start on at least matching it.

STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER #1: This was my book of the week over at Examiner, and part of the reason why I am so harsh on Marvel's editorial decisions because I know there are times when they can handle a franchise with such skill that they make it look easy. The CAPTAIN AMERICA franchise is just that. A lot of it came in trusting the right writer, Ed Brubaker, who had the right vision at the right time, and supporting him when he needed it (those CIVIL WAR tie in's helped spike sales until the Death issue) and then knowing when to back off and trust him. As a result, CAPTAIN AMERICA is one of few books where sales are still up 20-35% from where they were 4-5 years ago, even despite the boost in price. Brubaker and Marvel have managed to not only get a film produced, but have replaced the star of CA while reviving Steve Rogers and keeping him in action. Sure, a lot of REBORN was a mess; but aside for that, nearly every criticism I've had of this franchise has been proven wrong eventually. I doubted both Steve and Barnes could sell their own books, but they're about to. Barnes gets to stay in the mask and keep CA's sales up. Rogers gets to live and avoid stepping on Barnes' shield while still kicking ass in SECRET AVENGERS (which saw an over 100k launch) and here, his own mini series which may as well be an extra arc of CAPTAIN AMERICA. And the direction of Rogers post-SIEGE is actually good. He's basically Steve Rogers, agent of SHIELD. While he can make decisions behind a desk when he has to, he spends most of his time running black ops missions, whether with a squad of Avengers or alone. And while this is another $4 book, at least a color reprint of the 1941 original issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 is included. It isn't much extra, but it is something.

Brubaker knows when to weave continuity into his work as well. The meeting between Steve and Pete Wisdom of MI-13 from AGE OF HEROES #1 is utilized well here, as Wisdom meets Rogers in a coffee shop to give him some "off the record" intel. I'd like to take a moment to note that Pete Wisdom has become so much more successful as a character since he left the X-Men universe entirely, and he was hardly the most popular character back during his issues of X-FORCE or EXCALIBUR back in the 90's. It stands as a lesson in what could happen with other characters (Colossus? Please?) if editorial would allow them to leave the ghetto and move on. At any rate, it seems a corporate whistle-blower got himself blown up, but not before telling Wisdom that Dr. Erskine's grandson has become a scientist of his own and has apparently duplicated the super-soldier serum process and is about to sell it to the highest bidder. That is naturally Steve Rogers' worst nightmare - he has seen all sorts of horrors in attempting to duplicate the process that created him. Many of the patients die, or go insane, or are generally bad characters. It's also a chance to visit Rogers' past a little as well as have him venture about in the present.

If the issue has any flaws, it is that Brubaker does show hints of repeating himself a bit. Not including the 1941 reprint, this is the third time within the past year in which Brubaker has seen fit to write in Rogers' origin sequence in a story. It is at risk of becoming as over saturated as the origin of Batman or Superman. The other is that while most of the issue is very good, the cliffhanger ending may remind some of Brubaker's ending from CAPTAIN AMERICA #1 circa 2004. It could be intentional, but that will have to be determined later. Still, having to repeat yourself once or twice every six years is peanuts compared to some writers. Another repeated bit is Brubaker's 4,167th scene in which a hero fights nameless fodder. The major caveat is that Brubaker manages to make every one of his canon fodder fights generally exciting and entertaining. Yes, he is paired with good artists, but his pacing and storyboard sense seems to shine through so much that I imagine his script has some directions regarding them.

This time that fight is also different because Rogers is facing off against super-soldiers like himself, who seem to have all the muscle but little of his brains or experience. One of them has an aneurism in the middle of the fight. Highlights also include Rogers infiltrating a party James Bond style, and hints and nods to stuff from Secret Avengers and other things. The artwork by Dale Eaglesham alongside Andy Troy's colors is a treat to behold. Eaglesham's a little ropey with drawing scrawny characters, but that is brief and his Rogers is nice and large without being ridiculously so. Erskine's wife seems to look exactly like a woman Rogers knew in the 1940's, and Rogers doesn't know what is going on (but knows enough to know that anything is possible in this life).

Purists need not fear; despite the cover, the only gun Steve Rogers uses is a grappling hook to infiltrate a building in Madripoor.

I still prefer James Barnes as Captain America - he's flawed and thus seeing him try to live up to the mantle and shadow of Rogers as well as the legacy itself makes for great drama. The fact that Rogers is annoyingly perfect is likely why Brubaker seems to rely on using his past to add drama to many of his stories that star Rogers. But that isn't a problem for this story really; Steve Rogers having no flaw as a man really doesn't matter here. It works much as a James Bond adventure works, for a mystery and the spectacle, and figuring out who the villain is and how the hero unravels it all. In recent weeks we have heard all manner of bluster from JMS at DC about how terribly difficult it is to wrote iconic heroes because they're not shaking hands with everyday Joe, but Brubaker at least never seems to have that dilemma with Rogers. He's perfect but he's SUPPOSED to be, it's what is expected of him. Who, despite not being a high powered hero, is about as iconic a hero as Marvel has. This is a franchise where fans have to be pleased that they can have their cake and eat it, too. So if Marvel can make it all work here, why do they act like clueless fops with so many other franchises?

 

[Dread]

Part III of III:

VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT #10: This is the last issue of this series. The character and writer return in SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT, but at best the character is likely due for another #1 issue, if his comics haven't added up to an anniversary triple digit number yet. Gregg Hurwitz's choices for the home stretch for this character have been a little peculiar. For the SHADOWLAND mini, he will apparently have Khonshu pick a new avatar, since Marc Specter/Jake Lockley has spurned his impulses for almost a year now. That sounds like a perfect plot for Moon Knight's own series, not a crossover tie in mini. And how does Hurwitz spend the last four issues of Moon Knight's actual series? Writing random team up issues with Deadpool, Spider-Man, and now a bonus issue of Secret Avengers. It makes the title look desperate for sales, which is a bit of an undignified way to end a volume (since I highly doubt Marvel in a few months time if Moon Knight gets another try will solicit VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT #11 instead of something like JAKE LOCKLEY: MOON KNIGHT #1). On the other hand, Marvel are giving Moon Knight the best boost he's had in a very long time - appearing in SECRET AVENGERS as well as an appearance in SHADOWLAND. Plus, he's been given more chances with an ongoing series lately than Iron Fist or some other characters. Is it because they appreciate his potential, or because they are banking on the cliche that he is "Marvel's Batman"? One imagines Disney could see him that way for feature film purposes, and he hasn't been licensed out to any other studio.

At any rate, while Moon Knight is the star, this is a bonus SECRET AVENGERS issue. Curiously, it has every member except for Nova. While he would have been out of place (although no more so than Valkyrie), it does raise the idea that he may be a temporary fixture on the team book proper. It's a tale of the Secret Avengers taking on the recent scourge of international pirates, which have hit the news recently and likely will provide an excuse for reviving more of Marvel's old pirate villains (even if most of their old time pirates were white or Asian, and modern day pirates tend to be African or South American). Thus the villain of the piece is Captain Barracuda, an old time creation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who usually dealt with Namor or the Fantastic Four (or the Hulk once). It's been almost exactly 30 years since his last appearance, but Hurwitz found a way to keep him fresh, while still relying on some old time gimmicks for him (such as him usually finding a way to steal Namor's Proteus Horn, so he can summon sea monsters). This isn't the first time Hurwitz dusted off a villain who hadn't been seen in years here; the Slug also showed up in issue two.

It's a simple tale, really. Capt. Barracuda and his Black Mast crew have been sacking ships, and the Secret Avengers are briefed and tasked to capture them before they can kill more hostages. Moon Knight hasn't been on a team in a very long time, and isn't sure he fits. His other team mates don't quite know what to make of him, and he doesn't get along with Eric O'Grady/Ant-Man III. But the mission arrives and Moon Knight gets to become lost in the task, which he usually excels in. There are no surprises. The Avengers thrash the pirates, Barracuda gets his rear end kicked and goes down with the ship, the hostages are saved and everyone wins. If anything, this could actually be set sometime before SECRET AVENGERS #1, as the team is really already assembled by then.

The artwork by Juan J. Ryp and colors by Andres Mossa is quite good, although it can take some time getting used to how Ryp draws some of the characters, such as Black Widow. Ironically, while Moon Knight himself is naturally avoiding killing anyone, many pirates end up being mowed down by Barracuda's latest weapon and virtually all of them seem to die when the ship sinks. Moon Knight naturally figures out a way for the team and the hostages to survive, which allows him to still save the day without personally defeating the villain. It's an entertaining little superhero adventure story, and considering how well SECRET AVENGERS #1 solid, it could allow this book to end with a spike in sales - unlikely, but possible. It is a shame that after the first arc Hurwitz didn't do much with the actual character beyond stick him in some crime fighter adventure stories, but he at least executes those well. This isn't a story I'll remember in a week, but for $3, it was fine for now. The time's right for Moon Knight to be in a team again, so I'm glad Marvel is doing so.

YOUNG ALLIES #2: Sean McKeever continues with his newest teen team run, and I'd say his problems on TEEN TITANS that I heard about were a fluke, as I am quite enjoying this. I was concerned about the sales for the first issue, since it came out the same week as AVENGERS ACADEMY #1, a similar premise with a bigger title draw. The debut issue has seen a reprint, which meant that retailers were conservative with orders but that it had higher demand than they expected. The odds of this book actually lasting a full year probably improved slightly. The HOUSE TO ASTONISH Podcast reviewed this title and cited it was very close to a NEW WARRIORS for the 21st century, and it does have a similar allure. This issue has more interaction among the characters, although they are not all exchanging decoder rings yet. David Baldeon, N. Bowling and Chris Sotomayor handle the art, inks, and colors and it bares mention that at this clip they are working on at least 30 pages of interiors a month (with a 38-40 page delivery a month back) without a hiccup so far, since they also draw the NOMAD strip. Either they've had a lot of lead in time or they're simply machines, and I'm applauding them for handling it so far.

After the Bastard Of Evil known as Warhead detonated at Ground Zero in Manhattan, the city and the heroes need a night to recover. Mr. Fantastic has seemed to contain the radiation, but Warhead is still dead and the scars of NYC from 9/11 have reopened anew. Gravity is also consumed with more guilt over the loss of life. McKeever displays a use of continuity as well, as having Greg talk with Mr. Fantastic and the latter mentions his "saving the cosmos" act during the Dwayne McDuffie run of FF. After that, it seems the Young Allies operate in cliques. Gravity and Firestar end up spending their time trying to track down the rest of the Bastards Of Evil, specifically by trying to call out Electro, who is supposedly the father of the team's leader, Aftershock. Elsewhere, Rikki, Arana, and Toro have united to try to find the team as well, using all the powers of...the Internet!

Toro is someone Rikki also knew from her home dimension, but in this one doesn't know her and seems irritated by her, while seeming to have an obvious crush on Arana. Since Toro knows little English, he mostly talks in Spanish with her. Part of me rolled my eyes when Rikki seemed eager to automatically assume that Toro would know her or have a friendship with her in this universe simply because she knew him in hers; did she NOT learn ANYTHING from her ordeal with the 616 version of her brother? She emotionally confused him, which led to him joining a cult, and then he got shot. One would think that would make her less eager to track down people she used to know from the old dimension. Teenagers do do stupid things like that, but I thought it made Rikki look like a slow learner, at best. Naturally, this is done for storyline purposes - Rikki keeps calling Toro by his real name (Benny/Benito), which only his long lost, possibly dead sister in the native country called him. Eventually this will draw Toro out more, and it's fairly well telegraphed, but that's no bad thing.

The Bastards Of Evil apparently have a secret pad of their own as well as a boss who tells Aftershock what to do, but quite who he is wasn't ringing any bells with me. Part of me wondered if he was Mesmero, but he was apparently depowered. In the last story he appeared in, he managed to win the love of a prostitute, who he promised to give the world to, despite not having any powers (but still having green skin). But it would be any green skinned villain, really.

Electro does show up, and I have to say, the idea of painting the starfish mark on his face instead of wearing a mask actually makes him look SILLIER, because he is trying so hard not to. This is also the first fight I have seen him in outside of a Spider-book in years where Electro wasn't presented as a useless disposable villain. At the very least, he shows that McKeever actually does have a firm grasp of Marvel Time. Meanwhile, the other three track down Ember. The artwork's good and I like the decently quick pace of this. The only oddity was that it felt a bit strange that Gravity and Firestar were chatting like they were old friends, when to the best of my knowledge they'd never met before. True, both are ESU students in real life, and to be fair both have had superhero incidents there (Firestar is seen leaving from there if something happens while she is there, and Gravity prevented Black Death from destroying the campus once). It wouldn't take a major deduction for either to assume the other attends ESU. They are also close in age, a year or two older than the other three. It is also possible that I am used to superheroes punching each other if they haven't met outright, and these two don't. It's assumed they've heard of each other from the news and the prior fight, and are talking to each other like people. Which is probably jarring from how rare it is. I don't mind it to be honest. If Justice can rebound with Ultra-Girl, I don't mind Firestar being friendly with Gravity. She also provides some experienced perspective to his viewpoints, which are becoming more cynical and jaded.

A nice bit of detail in the art is you can see the sewn tear on Rikki's shirt from her last back up strip from CAPTAIN AMERICA. I still don't like Arana's new costume. She still looks like Arachne Junior. Mindless legacy chasing over individuality is a losing game for a new character, one DC should have made apparent by now.

I'm really enjoying this series. I only wish McKeever could have added one last new abandoned hero, Machine Teen, to the roster. A teenage robot should be fertile ground. But at any rate, this has been good stuff that I have looked forward to more and more with each issue. Keep it up, McKeever, and welcome back to Marvel!

 

[JewishHobbit]

Finally got around to getting my comics this week and overall it was decent to mediocre. Quite a few new issues along with two that I've missed over the weeks (Batgirl 11 and Hulk 23) both of which I liked. But since they're old I won't talk about them. On to the new stuff....

Shadowland 1 - The issue I was most looking forward to this week, or this month really, and I have to say I wasn't blown away by it. I've really liked Daredevil since Bendis's run and I like Diggle's approach... but I think this issue pushed the Daredevil further than he should have too quickly. Not that I don't think he should have gone as far as to kill Bullseye, but just that it was too quick to get to this point and in this issue he showed no hesitation. I feel like there should have been at least some leading up to the deed. Also, I just don't like the way Bullseye was written. He was just too eager and pointlessly driven and suddenly was crying when he realized Daredevil was willing to kill him? He's been such an awesome strong character over the past year but he was just a bit of a stooge here. And honestly, how many freaking renditions of the Elektra death scene do we really need? Before I even turned the last page I was like "He's gonna be speared through the chest or stomach and held up in the air" and low and behold! Also, didn't like Tan's art in this issue. He's kinda hit and miss for me and I think this was definately a miss.

I will say though that I love the new costume and I love that Iron Fist and Luke Cage are key figures. I'm eager for Moon Knight to show up as well.

The issue wasn't bad, just less than I expected and far too predictable. Marvel spoiled the entire issue with their previews and teasers. That also took away most of the enjoyment of the issue for me.

Vengeance of Moon Knight 10 - Okay, I've always been interested in the character but I've never collected his book. Being that this issue has the Secret Avengers in it and I saw that it was a stand alone story I thought "What the heck" and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The black look was cool and I liked the story overall. One thing that I don't think Brubaker's done much of thus far in the main book is explore the various personalities in regards to the team. They were just a team and go! This issue gets into Moon Knight's mind but also shows a few others's reactions to him being on the team, which was good. I liked this issue very much. I may consider continuing with it if it's still going.

X-Force 28 - Second Coming Chapter 13 of 14. Only one more issue to go and the majority of plot points are tied up here. The X-Force team from the future are back and Bastion and co. are defeated.While I wanted to really like this chapter, and it was good, there were several things that really bugged me about it. First off, I was really wanting to see a "This is for Kurt!" moment, and we got it, but it sucked. Logan yells it as he's clawing Bastion, but it was a blow that didn't matter and you couldn't even see exactly what Logan was doing due to the horrible panel layout. I typically love Choi's art but that was a major failure. Also, there's no explanation that I can see of why Cable's T.O. virus in the time deal can help X-Force get back. It just kinda happens. I think those are the main two things that bugged me in this issue.

On the plus side though I thought Cable's death was great and unexpected. I've said since the first few issues of Cable that he was going to die protecting her, but instead of died in front of her while saving X-Force... being a hero. I do think it's cool when Hope's powers manifest. I guess some have been saying they're Phoenix powers but I didn't get that. She was copying everyone's powers around her like a pro. Now, this may be an extension of the Phoenix power but it's one we've not seen before. I'll say my favorite seen was when Cyclops and Emma see the Jean-ishness of her and Cyke says there's nothing Emma can do as he runs forward and she says she knows. I still hate that woman and them as a couple and I'd love to see her get ran over by a Mack truck, so seeing her recognizing her place there made me happy.

One more issue and this story is finished and we can move forward from this Messiah storyline. I'm excited. All in all it was a good story, but those flaws just bug the crap out of me, mostly the "Kurt" moment.

X-Men 1 - I debated on holding off on this in case it ruins the ending of Second Coming. The good thing is that it does not, the bad thing is that it does not. I can't stand when you have such major events like Second Coming and then it's ignored right afterwards, which this issue does. There's not a single thing mentioned about it. All that we know from this issue is that they're back in San Fransisco as expected. And though she's on the cover, Emma doesn't show up once so I guess I can still hold up hope that she dies or leaves after Second Coming. It's not going to happen but a man can dream.

As for the story itself, bleh. I couldn't care less about Vampires and while the Death of Dracula oneshot was decent, I don't really care to mix them with the X-Men for this story. This issue did nothing for that plot for me. The biggest thing for me is ignoring continuity. Jubilee was depowered and this issue talks about how she is still dealing with it and such. However we had almost two full years of her as Wondra in New Warriors with powers and amazing character growth... all of which was ignored completely. And to be honest, she was allowed to keep her tech after that series so she should still have powers come this issue with those... but no, poor depowered Jubilee. This also tells me that M Day isn't completely undone in Second Coming, which sucks. Also, they refer to Jubilee as a teenager in this issue, which just doesn't feel right. I can't help but to feel that she should be at least 20 by now... but this is Marvel and they're like God... one day is equal to a thousand years. No one freaking ages and it's stupid.

I'm also a bit bitter that they felt it necessary to start a brand spanking new X-Men title while letting their other newest X-Men book, Astonishing, go down in embaressing flames of tardiness and boringdom. I mean, they barely even mention the book anymore (other than Whedon's run) and nothing going on there effects or reflects anything else. Do we have that to expect for this title?

Avengers: The Children's Crusade 1 - This was a good issue. It's good to see Cheung back on a Young Avengers title and it's good to see the Young Avengers doing something important again. If not for a quick mention of them being involved in Civil War, Secret Invasion, and Siege this could Chronologically be Young Avengers 13 without pause. And I love Magneto showing up in the end, though Marvel in all their "LETMETELLYOUWHATHAPPENS!" glory, alreay ruined. I've been looking forward to this for years and so far it looks like it may pay off.

Brightest Day 5 - I'm so close to dropping this book. It's just too slow but I get the craziest feeling that it'll pay off in the end. I still dont' care about the Hawkman story, though this issue did get a little better in that regard. Aquaman I'm kinda neutral about. I'm still into Deadman's story though, so I liked that aspect. I like Firestorm and Martian Manhunter's as well, but neither of them showed up here so it doesn't matter. I figure I'll probably let it get to issue 10 to fully claim my attention, if it doesn't by then I'll probably just let the title go.

Batman & Robin 13 - This was a wierd issue. First off, I'm not the biggest fan of Frazer Irving's art. It's an aquired taste and I haven't gotten used to it just yet. I thought Damien and Joker were great in this issue but pretty much anything else lost me. I don't know anything about this villain or his connection to Thomas Wayne and Morrison does nothing to fill in those of us who came in with Final Crisis. I'm assuming it has something to do with the Black Glove that was going on prior to Final Crisis, but I dunno. I am excited to see the Pig guy coming back. I thought he was an interested character.


Aaaaaaaaand that's it.

Best and Worst of the Week

Best: Avengers: The Children's Crusade #1 - This was an easy pick. It was really the only book that came out this week that I really enjoyed with no hesitation. Yes, there's continuity issues with it but for a change Marvel admits this on the first page and explains why. I am totally cool with it for that reason. Plus, I just love the Young Avengers so seeing them again is a great thing. I'm really excited for the rest of this book.

Worst: X-Men #1 - The biggest thing here for me was that it's seldom that a minor character gets some good character growth. I understand that sometimes you lose that growth if it happens over an issue or two, but 20 issues of growth in New Warriors are ignored for the sake of plot here and that I can't excuse. The story was boring, Jubilee was butchered, and I don't give a crap about vampires. Easily the worst of the week with no compitition.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I also would like to point out that I was on the verge of buying Amazing Spider-Man, but yet again was disgusted. After realizing that the death of Kaine last issue was a flashback I was willing to give it a shot for the Kraven stuff and for the art. I loved Kraven's Last Hunt and other stories that came of it so I was curious about this. But then I saw the $4 price tag on all the issues and skimmed the newest issue and saw that it really was Kaine who died in the present, so I just shook my head and put it back on the shelf. I think I'm destined to despise one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, for all time. I swear it's annoying the crap out of me.

It's sad that I have to depend on Bendis to write the more enjoyable Spider-Man, and he sucks at it.