Part Two:
MIGHTY AVENGERS #25: After skipping May, Dan Slott's Avengers title continues, and if the preview page is to be believed, issue #26 is only two weeks away. If true, that'd make up for being late. Khoi Pham does another cover and we are on our third interior artist in five issues, Stephan Segovia. I don't recall seeing him on other books and his style is a little different from the last two artists. He is similar to Lenil Yu's work, at least from the 90's or when Yu isn't rushing. There's nothing wrong with it aside for an odd vein or two, and some rather awkward T & A panels with Jocasta or the other female character of the issue, Ban-Luck from GRAMPA. Jocasta seems to be competing with Lilandra from WAR OF KINGS of trying for poses where her breasts and ass are both revealed. Ironically, both are robots as characters, only the former has a better excuse for acting like a robot, since she IS one.
The arc is "Mighty/Fantastic", which promises a brawl between the Mighty Avengers and the Fantastic Four. While Slott of course has a lot of experience with the Four, what with SPIDEY/TORCH and THE THING in his background, I was a bit wary at a hero in-fighting story so soon after reorganizing the team. The MIGHTY AVENGERS just stopped punching other heroes back when Iron Man was leading things. We already have the Dark Avengers for that. I was always curious, at best, of the rationale for it. Since, let's be honest, most superhero vs. superhero battles usually stem from overreactions to disagreements. If two normal people in real life accidentally bump into each other, an, "Oops, sorry, excuse me" is usually sufficient. If two spandex covered superheroes do that, though, they have to fight for a few pages and a few city blocks. Everyone mocks Razorback, but I always loved his notion of an obligatory hero brawl as being the same as a handshake in East Coast superhero society.
At any rate, to escape HAMMER last issue, Jocasta had to sever Pym's laboratory from their link to the "real world", which risked stranding the lab in that "Pym Pocket" forever if something isn't done within two days. Pym takes this news somewhat harshly, frustrated that his lab and work may be lost and unable to come up with a quick solution. He shouts at Jocasta, who is defended by Jarvis, while Hercules essentially reminds Pym to man up. That is something, Hercules trying to soothe someone else's temper for a change. Barely a few hours after aligning with the international agency GRAMPA to investigate paranormal threats overseas, U.S. Agent and Quicksilver are requested for a mission from said agency to Lhasa, Tibet. Walker is as eager to get started as expected from a soldier, while Pietro is frustrated that Wanda hasn't reappeared. Is it because Loki doubts her ability to fool Wanda's brother? With all due respect to Pietro, Loki was able to perfectly convince Thor to let his guard down at every juncture despite having tried to kill him about five dozen times within the last decade. Fooling Pietro would seem like a walk in the park, if Loki can have his mortal nemesis who should know him best get outwitted like a chump. The pair get dropped off in China at the closest "Pym portal", and end up meeting (and quickly fighting) GRAMPA agent Ban-Luck, who seems to be a fan of superheroes and Power Girl's fashion sense. The mission involves an alliance between the Inhumans and Chinise commies; Pietro is considered an expert on Inhuman affairs, and was requested personally. I like that this ties into his past with the Inhumans (being Crystal's ex-husband and all), but it gells poorly with WAR OF KINGS, which has had the Inhumans off world for quite some time now. Slott rarely makes so blatant a continuity blunder, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt; it could be a few straggler Inhumans left behind, or faulty intelligence (knowledge of Inhuman comings and goings is usually hardly perfect for outsiders). At any rate, a mission with Walker and Pietro together seems like conflict gold with both competing for top jerk.
Speaking of top jerk, probably the biggest controversy of the week comes in with Pym haveing a chat with Mr. Fantastic. Realizing he needs a device that he and Bill Foster built "a couple of years ago" (back when he was using his Yellowjacket guise again, at least), a dimensional wave inducer. Apparently the device was willed to Foster's pal Ben Grimm after he died, but now Pym's alive and wants it back; need it, basically, to solve his Pym Pocket problem. Reed, in perhaps blunt terms, claims that Pym's too irrational to handle the device, having just returned from being a Skrull captive and literally facing the deaths of the three people closest to him; Janet Van Dyne, Steve Rogers, and Bill Foster and with his history of unstability and brash actions under such circumstances. Pym proceeds to refute those claims by...cursing Reed out and planning to take out the Fantastic Four with Dr. Doom like zeal. Well.
It is a bit to take in. On the one hand, Reed does have a point in terms of cold, emotionless logic. Despite Pym having invented the thing, he has a long history of meltdowns with emotional stress, and he's obviously under a lot. It was obvious at Jan's funeral, after all; even Thor, too oblivious to figure out that Loki would betray him, saw that. And now Pym's altered his genetics further and has taken his wife's code-name, something that more than one character under Slott's pen has considered a bit wonky. If the machine is dangerous, handing it to him no matter what the crisis is a risk. On the other hand, which Pym snaps from his perspective, Reed has made quite a few "reckless" decisions and acts himself, and more recently than the 70's era of comics (retcons aside). The world may have forgotten that Reed helped build Clor, who slew Goliath, but Pym hasn't. The crisis with losing the lab is frustrating him and logic aside, Reed has as little authority to horde something Pym invented as Cho would have deeming Reed too unstable to, say, use his Negative Zone portal or unstable molecules (Reed was a fellow who had no idea that sending the Hulk into deep space could backfire, whose personal grudge with a college roommate birthed the worst villains of his generation, who literally SAVED THE LIFE OF GALACTUS ensuring countless billions across the universe would die at his hands). One conclusion could be that Reed and Pym both have ***hat moments. Reed never hit Sue, but he's had a long past of ignoring her at best and occasionally dishing out sexist verbal abuse at worst. Namor always has half a point every time he claims Reed doesn't appreciate her properly, and Namor is the personafication of reckless heroes. And I have to admit, Pym's "challenge" retort to Reed and everyone's reactions to it was hilarious.
On the other hand, it does smack of Pym basically proving Reed right. He needed help and surely there was some other way to get Reed's aid without the device, if he swallowed some pride (which, to be fair, neither scientist wanted to do). He wants to prove Reed wrong about being a danger by, basically, endangering the Four. It's like Batman thinking he could disprove the JLA's distrust of him by perfectly planning devices to kill them all and then bragging about it when Ra's uses it on them. "I did this to you, Kal! Bwahahaha!" It is hard for Pym to prove he's no longer an unstable jerk when he acts like an unstable jerk. It doesn't help that Pym is building a scary looking death machine in the basement and calling it "Salvation Two", as in the sequel to the robot he once sicced on the Avengers. It's like becoming a superhero and expecting to not be mistaken with a name like "Green Goblin" (yes, Phil Urich, you're an idiot). At least name the thing something different, man.
Handling Hank Pym is always a can of worms, to be honest. You go too overboard and he simply is a sack of walking faults, which was how Bendis usually wrote him. Where there is nothing but low esteem and wife-beating and you'd have no idea he did anything else. But there is a notion of going too overboard in the other direction, as some people have claimed. "Just write him as a competent hero" is one charge. The problem with that is that it ignores some currently relevant material and it would make Pym boring. The problem is that without a lot of his psychological issues, he is very, very, very boring. Without his foibles, Hank Pym is just a garden variety uber scientist, a dime a dozen in comics, only his thing is growing, shrinking, and bugs. Basically, the Atom. And I should note that the last time the Atom had a personality, he needed an inferiority complex and an insane wife. While I sometimes mock Reed Richard's foibles, such as his past of coldness and borderline sexism, without them, he's usually fairly stock in the hands of anyone but Mark Waid, above any human faults because he's so bloody brilliant. In fact, this comic was the first in a good, long while where Reed acted like a jerk for a good, human reason. Millar writes him with a mild smugness streak, but that's usually assured confidence. And to be fair, even if Slott wanted to make Pym a competent hero as a goal, simply ignoring having Pym pop back into the world after being "frozen" for about a year and finding three of his best friends dead, a world that thinks he's worthless, and coupled with a robot that has his dead ex wife's brain patterns as programming is itself inaccurate. He would have some reaction to Jan, Rogers, and Foster being all dead. Having unfinished business with Jan to be sure. Cap was the epitome of Avengers leadership, and Pym can never ask his advice or say farewell. Foster was one of few people who actually considered Pym's research as useful in a non-supervillain way, and he's dead; killed by a creation "know it all" Richards was just as reponsible for as Hank was for Ultron (and Reed nags him about Ultron, by the way). I can understand Pym losing his temper there. Perhaps Pym has been on an "overcoming personal demons" ride before, but that was the hand Slott was dealt by Bendis and SECRET INVASION; I just see him as trying to play out to logical conclusions. Pym WOULD be a bit unstable after all that. He would vent in some not so nice ways. Still, he is managing to run a team, and did save the world from Chthon.
I do think, though, that then planning the perfect "break and enter" raid of the Baxtor Building is a bit far, even if the situation is drastic. Can't superheroes talk things out? Slott may be trying to pit Pym against Reed to showcase that Pym is a worthy brain, but that's RULK logic; prove the Hulk can beat anyone by having him literally punch out God for flimsy reasons. Still, there is a chance that cooler heads could prevail and talk the eggheads down. And to be fair, the clock's ticking at less than 48 hours, so options may be few.
There is also a nice subtle scene with Cho getting ready for another battle using the Ant-Man helmet, and asking for permission from Stature, whose father used it. Stature is conflicted not only because she wants to return to her friends, but because her father was also a member of the Four, and she was part of the family for years. Cho seems to be flirting with her, which means he's getting over Delphyne fast. Teenagers are like that, though, or so I here. I think Stature's place on the team is to be the "normal Munster" of the team. Despite her history, she's not a former mental breakdown artist, or a former terrorist, or a robot, or a jerkwad super-soldier. Even Jarvis is one of those weird fellows who would serve tea while being eaten alive by zombies. While it can be irritating to fans, it is a common role for someone in a wonky team. Sue's made a career out of being "the more normal one" compared to Reed, Ben, or Johnny after all.
To be honest, the premise of pitting the Mighty Avengers against the Four isn't perfect, as many hero vs. hero brawls tend to be. Slott is at the verge of making Pym look worse than he intends. I do get the feeling that Slott does want to do another "overcoming personal demons" stories with Pym, and while this has been done before, the hand that Slott was dealt with Pym pointed in that direction. What else was there? Having Pym give one 2 page speech about "avenging all my fallen friends by being the hero they know I can be!" and being perfect in all things? That may be entertaining, but it's not Hank Pym nor is it very unique. It's a retrend for Pym, but that's like saying every Batman story where he fights a costumed lunatic and wonders if he is close to being said lunatic is a retrend. Many heroes go through set storylines, the difference is in the execution. We're about five issues in and I'll probably need another one or two to better gauge where this is going. I think Slott knows where he is going overall, even if some of the bumps getting there sometimes can seem a little over the top. I haven't really been disappointed in Slott since JLA CLASSIFIED (and that story was merely slightly above average), and I don't think I will be here. His Pym's a jerk, but at least he's a jerk who saves the world sometimes. He has his good qualities, too.
I'm still enjoying this series; it's not perfect but it's better than Bendis' Avengers book was. If we really do get the next issue in two weeks, that'd be grand.
