Bought/Thought March 11th, 2009 - SPOILERS

[CaptainCanada]

Best of the Week:

Captain Britain and MI13 #11

Captain Britain and MI13’s new arc, which seems likely to be a make-or-break moment for the series (even if, as seems clearly, Marvel is strongly behind the series, this is the heaviest advertising the series has gotten so far. “Vampire State” is the longest arc the series has attempted so far, in addition to being the culmination of all but one of the plots Cornell has laid out so far (Meggan’s being the exception; from the few hints we’ve gotten of potential future stories, that seems to be the next thing on the line). Dracula, one of the archetypal villains of western culture, is on the move, and Cornell has actually managed a fairly unique take on a character who has been played and written literally hundreds of times over the last 100 years. The takes on Dracula that I’ve seen in the past, dating back really to Stoker’s book, almost always emphasize him as a solo operative, perhaps with one or two pawns and servants to help out; he’s a monster-movie villain. Cornell’s greatly broadened the scope, emphasizing Dracula’s past history as a king and commander of men; Dracula as the general of an army of vampires, waging a guerrilla war against the United Kingdom, complete even with a declaration of war. Another interesting aspect of this is watching Cornell try to mix Millar’s Ultimates “superhero as government agents” style with a more classic style; we’ve got the supers fully integrated into government’s response to the declaration, and shadier types like Wisdom, but at the same time the more ‘wholesome’ ideal represented by Captain Britain. Spitfire’s vampirism has been a peripheral detail of earlier arcs; it looks to be taking centre-stage now, and the Faiza/Dane flirtation that’s been going on from the start seems to be hitting its first real wall (Faiza also gets a fairly cool power-feat here). Faiza gets a codename, too, though it’s one of those ones that doesn’t really seem that workable to me, given its number of other uses (‘Excalibur’ her steward outfit, though, is a great design.

 

[Themanofbat]

So... is this not the same Dracula that's been around the Marvel Universe since the early 70's and then went on to plague the X-Men in the very early 80's?

 

[CaptainCanada]

It's the same guy. Cornell in interviews talked a lot about how much he enjoyed Tomb of Dracula.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Invincible Iron Man #11

We've got three stories going on. Pepper makes a brief appeareance interacting with her suit's A.I. named JARVIS. I'm not crazy about pulling from the movie anymore than we already have but what's done is done and its not like regular old Jarvis is gone or anything.

Hill heads over to Futurepharm on Tony's orders. I'm wondering if they're just dropping the name in a nod to continuity or if Extremis will somehow be involved in her mission there. Oh and the freaking Controller shows up. Awesome.

Meanwhile, Tony meets with Henry Hellrung and later tangles with War Machine, with the pair trying to convince Tony that he's only making things worse by running.

I was wondering how they would pull off Tony vs Rhodes. I had actually thought that it might be the clone Rhodey we saw back at the end of War Machine #1, in the thrall of Osborn, but what they went with here made perfect sense and was believable.

Tony escapes under the sea to which Osborn asks Namor to take him down.

Fraction's just knocking this out of the park, month-in-month-out. As far as Dark Reign as an event is concerned this book feels the most important, its where Osborn is making his power play, where there are real stakes to be won or lost; ironically moreso than either of Bendis' Avengers books.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I ended up buying Battle For The Cowl. I actually wasn't originally as I've found myself caring less and less about the situation in the BatBooks, but I'm actually glad I did.

Spoilers and stuff

A lot of stuff happens, Black Mask returns and he is pretty badass. He essentially kidnaps a crew of other supervillians and forces them to join him through chemical implants he had secretly installed in their head while they were locked up. He then has Arkham blown up and continues on his merry way with intents of taking out Penguin and Two-Face (who apparently are the big two factions warring in Gotham at this point.)

Robin and Squire sex it up on all the minor gangs that are trying to get a foothold in this time of chaos, and find someone else is cracking skulls and leaving notes proclaiming 'I Am Batman'. Nightwing and Oracle establish 'The Network' which helps to bring in other masked crusaders as the gang problems continue and most of the police force is failing at an alarming pace.

Through all this Nightwing is bummed and everybody is like, 'Hey, be Batman' and he's like, 'Nah'

Damien goes on a joyride in the Batmobile and Oracle is not pleased. She takes control over the vehicle only to have it ambushed by Killer Croc and a mostly nude Poison Ivy. No worries as Dick flies in and saves Damien (Unfortunately) right before Croc eats him whole (and he would have, too, he actually ate a guard earlier in the issue). It doesn't last all too long as Dick and Damien get shot down by some thugs hoping to cash in on a reward Black Mask has on masked vigilantes. No fears though, right as the thugs are about the cap them, a figure emerges in a somewhat armored looking Batsuit with a pair of guns a' blazing. End issue

Anyway, I liked this. My only problem is that it makes out as if the gang wars and riots have been going on forever since Batman 'died'. I understand that happening at first, but we now have a huge network of vigilantes roaming the streets (Nightwing, Robin, Club Of Heroes, Black Canary, Huntress, Wildcat, etc.). I get the whole 'Batman is a symbol' thing, but I just find it hard to believe that the smaller gangs would still be on this power trip after they get beaten down a lot.

Minor problem, though

 

[Spider-Jay420]

I only picked up Iron Man #11 and agree with eveything Upset Spideyfan said. Although, Who is this Henry Hellrung dude? And the Controller is being powered by people, Matrix-style? Cool and weird.

Sounds like Battle of the Cowl is starting out strong. I'll be getting my copy next week and am looking forward to it, but more looking for the return of Bruce Wayne. I hope this mini sets that up. I'm not interested in Nightwing and Damien.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Although, Who is this Henry Hellrung dude?

Fraction introduced him in the Order (the California state team). He was retconned as being an old buddy of Stark.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Anyway, I liked this. My only problem is that it makes out as if the gang wars and riots have been going on forever since Batman 'died'. I understand that happening at first, but we now have a huge network of vigilantes roaming the streets (Nightwing, Robin, Club Of Heroes, Black Canary, Huntress, Wildcat, etc.). I get the whole 'Batman is a symbol' thing, but I just find it hard to believe that the smaller gangs would still be on this power trip after they get beaten down a lot.

Minor problem, though

I haven't read it, but haven't the gang wars pretty much been going on forever since Batman died in the pages of Robin?

Also the Network just isn't enough since they had to call in the Club of Heroes, Black Canary, Wildcat, and the Birds of Prey. The GCPD is practically useless. A group that consists of Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, Batwoman, and Man-Bat isn't enough to calm down the violence.

Granted that adding Batman to the mix isn't enough either as seen in War Games, but Batman was a symbol of authority in Gotham. And that symbol is gone now. Smaller gangs are obviously going to try and take over, even if they get pummeled by the Network and their allies. Sorta like the insurgency was in Iraq. They kept on getting pummeled by the US Army, but they just kept on coming and coming regardless because of various reasons and it became obvious that the amount of forces in Iraq wasn't enough.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I haven't read it, but haven't the gang wars pretty much been going on forever since Batman died in the pages of Robin?

I wouldn't know, I hadn't been reading Robin

Also the Network just isn't enough since they had to call in the Club of Heroes, Black Canary, Wildcat, and the Birds of Prey. The GCPD is practically useless. A group that consists of Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Catwoman, Batwoman, and Man-Bat isn't enough to calm down the violence.

I thought all of those were part of The Network. I must've misread

Granted that adding Batman to the mix isn't enough either as seen in War Games, but Batman was a symbol of authority in Gotham. And that symbol is gone now. Smaller gangs are obviously going to try and take over, even if they get pummeled by the Network and their allies. Sorta like the insurgency was in Iraq. They kept on getting pummeled by the US Army, but they just kept on coming and coming regardless because of various reasons and it became obvious that the amount of forces in Iraq wasn't enough.

That's exactly what I'm saying. I do, in fact, get the whole symbol ideal they're putting across, I get it, but Gotham wasn't like this during Morrison's or Dini's runs on the main titles as far as I could tell. Now, that Batman is dead it seems like it's never ending chaos.

Like I said, I do get it, but I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense especially for the smaller factions. With Batman gone I can understand, but now we have a huge amount of reinforcements in Gotham and now we have twice as many masks. Like I said, I get the 'Batman as a symbol' thing, but honestly I don't think it would be continued chaos after chaos when everyone else is out there

 

[hippie_hunter]

I thought all of those were part of The Network. I must've misread

Why would non Gotham based heroes like Black Canary, the Club of Heroes, and Wildcat be a part of the Network? They even specifically mentioned that they had to call for backup with Knight and Squire. And they all have their own duties and responsibilities to be a full time member as well like Knight and Squire protecting England, Black Canary in Star City, and Wildcat in the Justice Society.

Maybe the Birds of Prey have become integrated into the Network now that they moved out of Platinum Flats and Oracle decided to go back to Gotham, but they really haven't gone into full detail on that one. Although judging by solicitations, it seems like they might.

Right now though the definitive members of the Network are Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman, Man-Bat, Oracle, and Bastard Child. And judging by the solicits and how the story is going it would seem that Ragman, Huntress, Manhunter, Spoiler, and Lady Blackhawk will be a part of it as well. And frankly, I would like to see Onyx be a part of it, but there has been no sight of her anywhere.

That's exactly what I'm saying. I do, in fact, get the whole symbol ideal they're putting across, I get it, but Gotham wasn't like this during Morrison's or Dini's runs on the main titles as far as I could tell. Now, that Batman is dead it seems like it's never ending chaos.

But Morrison's run on Batman had him alive during the entire thing and the small part of Dini's run that took part after Batman's death involved Hush travelling the world outside of Gotham City.

The never ending chaos started after RIP/Final Crisis.

Like I said, I do get it, but I don't think it makes a whole lot of sense especially for the smaller factions. With Batman gone I can understand, but now we have a huge amount of reinforcements in Gotham and now we have twice as many masks. Like I said, I get the 'Batman as a symbol' thing, but honestly I don't think it would be continued chaos after chaos when everyone else is out there

But they don't have a large amount of reinforcements. So far the Network only has eight members with back up from only a few heroes (Black Canary, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, Wildcat, Knight, and Squire). With the GCPD completely useless due to corruption, fear, and incompetence that clearly isn't enough to deal with the chaos.

And Nightwing or Robin don't have the symbolism to suddenly stop the violence like Batman did.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Why would non Gotham based heroes like Black Canary, the Club of Heroes, and Wildcat be a part of the Network? They even specifically mentioned that they had to call for backup with Knight and Squire. And they all have their own duties and responsibilities to be a full time member as well like Knight and Squire protecting England, Black Canary in Star City, and Wildcat in the Justice Society.

Maybe the Birds of Prey have become integrated into the Network now that they moved out of Platinum Flats and Oracle decided to go back to Gotham, but they really haven't gone into full detail on that one. Although judging by solicitations, it seems like they might.

Right now though the definitive members of the Network are Nightwing, Robin, Batgirl, Batwoman, Man-Bat, Oracle, and Bastard Child. And judging by the solicits and how the story is going it would seem that Ragman, Huntress, Manhunter, Spoiler, and Lady Blackhawk will be a part of it as well. And frankly, I would like to see Onyx be a part of it, but there has been no sight of her anywhere.

Hence why I said, I must've misread.

But Morrison's run on Batman had him alive during the entire thing and the small part of Dini's run that took part after Batman's death involved Hush travelling the world outside of Gotham City.

The never ending chaos started after RIP/Final Crisis.

That's exactly what I said Now I don't even know what the hell I was talking about either

But they don't have a large amount of reinforcements. So far the Network only has eight members with back up from only a few heroes (Black Canary, Huntress, Lady Blackhawk, Wildcat, Knight, and Squire). With the GCPD completely useless due to corruption, fear, and incompetence that clearly isn't enough to deal with the chaos.

And Nightwing or Robin don't have the symbolism to suddenly stop the violence like Batman did.

But still, those are multiple heroes as opposed to just one is a lot in comparison. And I said multiple times, I get the whole symbolism thing, I get it.

I just don't buy that all this has been going on only because Batman isn't there, when all these other heroes beating them down continuously and then him showing up and slinging his cape proclaiming, 'Halt' and it all returns to normal so to speak. If it were a day or two, ok, but the book makes it seems like this is huge spanning thing. I know it's comic books and it's all symbolism, I get that, I was just commenting on it

I'm sorry, ok, I'm sorry

 

[BrianWilly]

Green Lantern Corps #34
Holy Buffy, they actually printed that. In full color. The...what happens. No coy angles, no panning away, no convenient foliage or furniture to block our view of the...spectacle. What am I talking about, you ask? The Mongul fight. Just...the Mongul fight.

I pretty much stop disliking TightSqueeze Yat after this issue -- well, at least so long as Tomasi continues writing him, which hopefully will be for a while yet -- because Tomasi ****ing nails that scene between him and his mother. ****ing nails it like a wanton ****e.

"It's like Walt Disney threw up." Guy. Never change.

Next issue: excrement meets propeller. Which is par for the course for this series of course, and I love it for that.

(8.5 out of 10)


After the resounding success of Blue Beetle, let's try a new approach.
Captain Britain and MI13 #11
Hey you! This book sucks. All those millions of you reading this book should clearly never read it! The characters are completely flat and the dialogue is like horrible dialogue and there are not bucketloads of amazing cool scenes whatsoever at all packed within every issue. You are obviously not at all a complete idiot if you don't read this book, and if you are in fact reading it like a totally dumb person would do, drop it now. Drop it like it's hot!

(-9999 out of 10! Look I'm giving a comic a bad score! Don't get it!)


Action Comics #875
Ah, rapid-aging kids. A comics staple.

Well I for one am certainly not disappointed with the revelation at all in any way shape or form.

...


...

...

It is your fault, you know. All your faults. If you brofos hadn't crammed the notion that it could be Linda into my heads, I wouldn't have been begging for it so hard in my heart and pants.

In seriousness, I never really, intellectually believed that it would be either Conner or Linda (I just hoped ), because the timing is all off from Legion of Three Worlds, and Giffen's Reign in Hell sucked major Sodam near the end and Linda is, once again, Limboed or worse. But mostly it would have just been too obvious and made too much sense to be true.

So whatever. That'd learn me to ever hope for anything again. In your face and suck it, Hope Walrus!

But y'know...I liked Chris Kent. And I thought him getting put on the bus a while back was yet another example of DC's sucky aversion to any and all progress to the status quo. And yet now he's back and his story continues here, and I support that.

And, y'know, Greg Rucka. Marginally less godlike to me after the (ironic?) FC: Revelations anticlimax, but still very godly and has failed to ever disappoint me in the grand scheme. I made the mistake of skipping Gotham Central before, and now I will cheerfully try whatever he wants me to. There's really nothing incredibly inticing about the story so far but, on the plus, there's nothing really wrong either and I don't expect there to be.

On a down note though, I kind of hate Barrows after his run on Teen Titans where he made everyone so freaking 'roid angry all the time, and I'm not particularly loving what he's doing here.

(7.7 out of 10)


Booster Gold #18
Hey look I'm still getting this comic. I kind of fell out of the habit a couple of issues ago, but then I got back on the wagon a few issues back after I realized that the number of DC heroes that I actually still like has lessened considerably as of late. Gotta get my kicks where I can still find them. It has to be said that this comic is a bit more...hmm, "average" now under Jurgens, without a lot of the steam and energy that it had even a year ago. But, hey, it's still good, with the same genuinely clever time-travelly cleverness that made it interesting in the first place.

(7.6 out of 10)


Guardians of the Galaxy #11
A bit of a...quiet...issue, after all the stuff we've gotten recently from Marvel Space what with kings warring with each other and all that. But the dialogue is hilolrious ("You used 'liminal' in a sentence!") and we get great story mileage out of Dax and Phyla.

The art is...kind of off for this series, though frankly a whole lot of the script merely calls for "Two people walking in a dusty dark plain, mostly seen from a distance" so it's not a big deal. I did kind of

when Phyla was like, "I never realized it was so hideous" about the Dragon of the Moon except that the art we got of it was actually pretty gorgeous and looked hella cool. Phyla dear, you were ready to **** that thing about a year ago.

(8 out of 10)

 

[Red]

Wow, Fraction really has no grasp of Iron Man at all

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Action Comics #875
I managed to make it through one page after the reveal of Nightwing's identity before my hands and brain were crippled by the don'tgiveas***s. Dropped.

Captain Britain and MI-13 #11
This book is like candy to my soul. S*** happens and this issue features everyone dealing with it. Obviously, the best page in the issue for me was Dane and Faiza--sorry, the Black Knight and Excalibur D )--charging at the vamps in full armor. I so hope they get to keep those costumes. But the rest of the issue was awesome as well. Dracula's personal challenge to Blade should prove interesting, especially with Jac now in his thrall, and Joey Chapman's appearance was fun. I hope we get to see Union Jack help out over the rest of this arc. He does have a fair bit of experience with vamps. Pete Wisdom is surprisingly awesome (surprisingly because I don't really like him at all) doing the high-power government agent thing. Shame about Faiza's dad, but I suppose it's all right for her to be completely blinded with murderous rage at the vampires and not violate the tacit rule that she shouldn't use Excalibur to kill since they're soulless devil-things rather than actual people. The issue is mostly setup for the real confrontation between Drac and MI-13 in later issues, but it's still eventful and action-packed in its own right. Leonard Kirk's art is amazing throughout the issue. The other dude's art is decent, but it definitely lacks Kirk's pizazz. Still a great read, though.

 

[Upset Spideyfan]

Wow, Fraction really has no grasp of Iron Man at all

 

[Manic]

The thread seems to be moving a little slowly this week.


Here's my contribution. As always, my reviews are mirrored at my website.



ACTION COMICS #875
Writer: Greg Rucka
Penciler: Eddy Barrows
Publisher: DC

I've been finding it very difficult to read many of DC's titles since the Infinite Crisis crossover, and most stories containing Superman have been off my radar almost completely. Still, there are a few things I'm vaguely aware of that prevented me from being completely confused by this issue. I know that the city of Kandor has been restored, placing a society of Kryptonians on Earth. I know that those Kryptonians left Earth due to hostilities, and have formed a new planet within the Solar System named New Krypton. I also know that General Zod has been reintroduced into post-Crisis continuity again, and that he has a son (with Ursa) that Superman and Lois temporarily adopted and renamed Chris Kent.

This issue introduces a new Kryptonian superhero duo named Nightwing and Flamebird, with the two Titans who typically use those names currently M.I.A. Dick Grayson is in the midst of a battle for the Batman title, and Bette Kane has been a non-issue for years. The new Nightwing and Flamebird are supposed to be an all new team, whose identities have been kept secret until now. In case you missed my seemingly out-of-nowhere mention of General Zod's son Chris Kent a paragraph ago, I'd like to point out that the new Nightwing is... Chris Kent. The new Flamebird is a woman named Thara Ak-Var, who used to be the chief of security for Kandor-- a job General Zod now occupies.

This is the first part of a story titled "The Sleeper." Apparently, General Zod has secretly seeded several Kryptonian criminals into human society to act as his sleeper agents. Chris (who I should note was named Lor-Zod before Lois and Clark took him in) knew about Zod's plan, and has recruited Thara to help him hunt the sleepers down. This issue begins when Chris and Thara (as Nightwing and Flamebird) tracking down a sleeper named Tor-An, who they defeat and imprison. This sequence of events captures the attention of the news media, particularly Lois Lane. Because Kryptonians are no longer allowed on Earth, Chris and Thara wear costumes that give the illusion that they're two normal humans who get their powers from their suits.

Meanwhile, Alura (Supergirl's mother and current leader of New Krypton) informs Zod of Thara's recent disappearance, and asks him to find her. Alura seems to be unaware of Zod's sleepers. Zod assumes (correctly) that Thara is with Chris/Lor, and orders his lieutenant Ursa to track them down before they can wreck his plans. At the end of the issue... well, Ursa finds them. Also, Chris appears to be going through painful sudden growth spurts, which certainly explains why he appears to be a few years older than he should.

Given the circumstances, I'd say this issue was relatively accessible. Rucka assumes that new readers have already read the Superman: New Krypton story, which I haven't. Even then, this isn't the type of story one would even think to buy unless they were already vaguely familiar with New Krypton. Beyond that, this issue was very clear and easy to read. Barrows provides some good artwork, and gives Nightwing and Flamebird two very cool costumes. I may stick around to see if I like (and can follow) where this story is going.


------------------------------


BOOSTER GOLD #18
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Penciler: Dan Jurgens
Publisher: DC

Booster Gold is a comic I enjoy, but find impossible to summarize due to the confusing nature of time travel stories. So I won't try.

The thing I find amazing about the way Jurgens, who created Booster Gold, writes this series is that he portrays Booster as such a serious character. For years on end, even when Booster was at his most serious, so many of his actions made him a joke within the metahuman community. With Rip Hunter gone, Booster has had to step up as the responsible one, and is finally acting like the serious superhero he's always insisted he is. In many ways, I'm happy to see that. Some other part of me, however, misses the bumbling humor.


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CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 #11
Writer: Paul Cornell
Pencilers: Leonard Kirk and Mike Collins
Publisher: Marvel

Dracula has launched his initial attack upon the United Kingdom, and the results aren't pretty. He drops a series of vampiric drones onto the members of MI-13, which takes them all by surprise. Pete and Captain Britain's night is cut short when Pete's date becomes traumatized as her friend is ripped apart in front of her. Black Knight and Faiza's plane is blown up, forcing Faiza to find a unique and dangerous way to use her powers to save them from the fall. Faiza returns to the UK to find her mother in the hospital and her father missing. Blade's residence has a message written in blood on his mirror, which turns out to be Dracula's declaration of war. Meanwhile, Lady Jacqueline has been lured underground by her vampiric son.

Faiza had a few shining moments in this issue, starting with her finding a way to survive a deadly fall by healing herself on immediate impact, a split second before her brain completely splatters. She also discovers that vampires are afraid of her sword Excalibur, which gave Pete the idea to give Faiza the title Excalibur as an official codename. Faiza was also the only MI-13 member whose family was hit, making her only slightly less pissed off than Pete Wisdom.

If there's one thing I love Paul Cornell for, it's when he writes those scenes of Pete Wisdom taking charge. Pete is a rascal, but when it's time to lead his team into battle, something inside him suddenly switches on, and he becomes a no-nonsense badass who quite frankly doesn't give a damn how badly MI-5 and MI-6 want to be put in charge of his operations. That makes Pete a great main character for this title, but it then becomes apparent that something is off. That something? What the hell is Captain Britain doing?! He's the title character, but it's pretty clear that he's not any kind of leader or decision maker, so much as he's the team's figurehead. He's the powerhouse needed in a tough fight, but beyond that he's just the Union Jack the team flies when they go into the field.

Of course, this title has quite a few characters to focus on, so maybe I'm being a little unfair to Captain Britain's four pages of face time in this issue.


------------------------------


GREEN ARROW AND BLACK CANARY #18
Writer: Andrew Kreisberg
Penciler: Mike Norton
Publisher: DC

This may be the only time I'll ever say this about a battered wife, real or fictional, but Cupid clearly needs a man to keep her in check with a good belt to the jaw.

Before I get angry emails hurled at me, I'd like to note that Cupid is a supervillain, dangerous, psychotic, and completely psychopathic. A while back, she was apparently in a physically abusive relationship. It ended when Green Arrow was passing by her apartment window as her boyfriend/husband was hitting her, shot him, and moved on. She became so grateful to Green Arrow, she became completely obsessed. She dubbed herself "Cupid," carved a scar on her chest in the shape of a heart, and has been methodically killing off members of Green Arrow's rogues gallery to show her love. She's had evil archer Merlyn tied up and drugged in a dark room, and knocked out Brick with a well placed wrecking ball. Basically, Cupid is the worst kind of fan.

That said, Kreisberg is crafting Cupid as a new villain I just can't help but be interested in. It's not very often that superheros get full-on villains who are just obsessed fans, and I want to see how Kreisberg handles the conclusion. I also want to see what his future plans are, now that at least four of Green Arrow's villains are dead. With Birds of Prey cancelled, I wouldn't mind him dipping into Black Canary's gallery. If there's one problem this title has had, especially back when Judd Winick launched it, it's that more focus is placed on Green Arrow, with Black Canary merely being his supporting character.


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THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #23
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Pencilers: Travel Foreman, Tonci Zonjic, and Timothy Green II
Publisher: Marvel

Danny and the Immortal Weapons are stuck in the 8th City, which it turns out is the capital city of Hell. Outside of the city gates, Davos waits to see if anyone exits the city, as the message he delivered from his father the Thunderer in the last issue was false, and Davos in a way tricked the Immortal Weapons into being trapped in the city.

Inside of the city, the Weapons fight in a never-ending battle against a myriad of opponents in a packed arena. Their prison seems inescapable, and they're given almost no time to rest. There is hope, however. Danny gets the idea to use the remains of his opponents to place Morse Code messages on the ground. The other Immortal Weapons see the messages when they each enter the arena, and use the same method to send communiques back and forth. When Changming realizes they're plotting an escape, he decides to punish them by forcing Danny to fight the man in the cell next to his own. Who is the man in the next cell? Quan Yaozu, the original Iron Fist.

The one thing is issue certainly wasn't short on was action. Also pain. The origin of the original Iron Fist is also told in this issue, which reveals that the immortal dragon Shou-Lao was actually summoned by Changming in his attack on K'un-Lun.

It's probably unfair to still compare Swierczynski to Brubaker and Fraction after so many issues, but I like that Swierczynski is continuing the trend of fleshing out the histories of the Iron Fist and the city of K'un-Lun. It's what keeps this title from turning into a typical superhero comic with a slight martial arts twist, and allows it to be this mystic tale of a legacy of kung-fu masters.


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THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ #4 OF 8
Writer: Eric Shanower
Penciler: Skottie Young
Publisher: Marvel

The retelling of L. Frank Baum's classic continues as our heroes find their way back onto the yellow brick road, and enter the Emerald City. The city is rendered radiant from the outside, but the inside is so bright that Dorothy and her friends must wear dimming goggles to to protect their eyes. Just like the original tale, the Wizard appears before each of them separately, as in a different form each time. They are each ordered to kill the Wicked Witch of the West, but none are sure how to accomplish such a thing.

Skottie Young's art, combined with Beaulieu's colors, give the meetings with the Wizard an eerie feeling, and makes him appear to be a powerful creature that is both great and terrible. I'm normally not a fan of Young's art, but something about combining it with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz just clicks.


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X-MEN MANIFEST DESTINY: NIGHTCRAWLER
Writer: James Asmus
Pencilers: Jorge Molina and Ardian Syaf
Publisher: Marvel

After months of build-up from the previous Manifest Destiny miniseries, a few pages of Uncanny X-Men, and the first issue of X-Infernus, Nightcrawler is prepared to quit the X-Men due to his mourning of Shadowcat, and his feelings of inadequacy now that fellow X-man Pixie can teleport.

I'll save you $4. He quits, goes to Germany, meets a fangirl, meets Mephisto, and comes back to the X-Men at the end of the issue because it's where he truly belongs. Then end. The little adventure he had during his one day as a former X-man wasn't even worth it. It wasn't entertaining, and I seriously doubt anything that happened here will be of any importance in the future. The lesson he learns at the end of the issue wasn't anything he didn't already know. This was just a hollow waste of time and money.

 

[Dread]

A short week for some, but not for me. After a delay in posting my thousand word review due to food poisoning, let's get upward and onward!

I still am bemused that the total shortage in ad revenue has both Marvel and DC comics advertising the new WONDER WOMAN animated DTV. What next, DC having ads for WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN? It'd only be fair. Even if I would rather see ads for SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN, which is a better show all around.

As always, full spoilers ahoy.

Dread's Bought/Thought for 3/11/09:

BOOSTER GOLD #18: Before I get onto the issue, I wanted to comment on a bit of DC news about the title. DC apparently is going on Marvel's idea to boost the prices of some of their ongoings to $3.99, but unlike Marvel they are seeking to add some content to it. In effect they are going with an old idea, having characters who can't support an ongoing title themselves appear in back-up strips. This was a very old practice; Huntress and Aquaman used to appear in comics quite often via "sharing" a title with a better selling character. In BOOSTER GOLD's case, back-up strips of BLUE BEETLE will soon be appearing in his issues. While $4 comics usually suck, I actually kind of like this idea. BOOSTER GOLD not only is a title starring the best friend of Jaime Reyes' inspiration, Ted Kord, but it is a title that has also built up the inevitable threat of the Black Beetle, soon to be Reyes' deadliest enemy. DC's continuity has had some hiccups after OYL, but the Black Beetle has been built up well, with Sturges setting it up at the end of the ongoing run. I wonder if Sturges will continue on the back-up strips.

Some critics dismissed BLUE BEETLE as simply being an "above average superhero book" and some even thought that inserting Reyes into the Beetle mythos was a flaw as his powers had little to do with it, but I disagree. It was a great DC book, which these days is a rare thing. Having any chance at continued adventures of BLUE BEETLE for me is good news, especially attaching it to a book I am already buying and enjoying.

Writer/artist/Booster Creator Dan Jurgens is continuing on his return arc for the book, with aid from Rapmund on inks. The quest for the time travelling Egyptian knives continues as Booster Gold is forced to team up with a past version of himself from earlier in the book's run as his sister and Skeets are in the clutches of the weird pink time-travel guy. Yeah, I'm sorry, but I can't take a pink villain seriously; the fact that he looks like Marvel's Empathazoid doesn't help. It turns out that he is Rex Hunter, former failed time-master who has been reduced to chronal energy from Rip Hunter's torture devices. He's claimed three versions of the knife from past eras and is using them to enter a base at the center of time, where he can access any time period. He considers Rip Hunter (and through him, Michelle and Booster, who are acting under his graces) time travel hypocrites because Rex was kicked out of the club for trying to kill Lex Luthor as a child, yet Rip chose Michelle to save from a "destined" death. Michelle apparently had no idea about her death and the information devestates her. Rex, meanwhile, is off to ancient Egypt where the Chronal Knife was originally empowered, in an attempt to destroy the Blue Beetle scarab from it's start to prevent the infamous Black Beetle from being created. Apparently Black Beetle is so nasty that he supposedly is worse than having none of the Blue Beetle's exist at all. While "Booster from 10 minutes ago" battles Rex at the center of time, current Booster sets out to save the scarab in the past (and is mistaken for a god).

The problem for Rex is that according to Rip, certain instances in time are "solid time" that can't be undone no matter what or how, such as Joker crippling Barbara Gordon, and others are more flexible, such as saving Booster's sister from the future who died in what was her and his past. The issue there is that it is up to DC editorial and/or the whims of the writer what is solid time and what isn't. While Rex may have a point about Rip being a bit of a hypocrite, we also know that other issues are at play with these decisions. Anyway, Booster stabs Captain Pink Energy and saves the universe again, but not before having to deal with Michelle's revelation. It should be interesting how this is dealt with.

Some people haven't been thrilled with Jurgens' return arc; while he's no Geoff Johns in writing, the title just wasn't the same without Jurgens' art, and I have no qualms with the character's creator returning to write his creation, which in Big Two comics almost never happens unless your name is Bendis. I enjoy BOOSTER GOLD for providing interesting time travel adventures that mix in drama with a touch of humor and Jurgens' run has provided it. For me, BOOSTER GOLD is better with him involved in writing and/or art, and the longer that remains, the better. Some of those fill in issues without either him or Johns were awkward. While "pink energy Rex Hunter" was a little odd, having Michelle confront her "destined" death and how Rip averted that should prove for some interesting drama between the siblings.

The last DC comic I am buying continues to be worth it for me, and with the upcoming addition of BLUE BEETLE strips, will hopefully get even better.

ADAM: LEGEND OF THE BLUE MARVEL #5: A mini that fell off the radar, barely selling more than about 10k copies as of issue #4, which is abysmal for a mainstream Marvel mini; only BIG HERO 6 sold worse for a non MAX/ADVENTURES mini. Granted, it isn't hard to see why; the series was not promoted much, and the talent involved is not well known or hyped. Grevioux was recently known for NEW WARRIORS, which was recently cancelled and critically panned (although I didn't mind it, nor will I miss it). Frankly, ADAM has been a stronger work from Grevioux than NEW WARRIORS usually was, as the story was more concise and had a stronger theme. In this mini, Grevioux has created a character who some could say is similar to the Sentry, but in my opinion is better than the Sentry. His origin makes more sense and he isn't nearly as big a "Mary Sue" as Jenkins' Sentry was. Sure, Adam Brashear got to be the retconned friend of Namor and the Watcher, but Sentry was literally the best friend of EVERYONE (Spider-Man, Hulk, X-Men, Fantastic Four). Plus, I think there is potential for Adam if he were to appear in a team book in the future that doesn't simply rely on him being a walking psychosis, as Sentry has become under Bendis' pen.

What may have hurt the series, besides underpromotion and the lack of "big name" talent, was that it was relatively unconnected to what the rest of Marvel was doing. The continuity of this series takes place before SECRET INVASION, for instance. That means scenes with Dugan and Yellowjacket seem hollow because we know that these guys were revealed to have been replaced by Skrulls for a while.

There may be some who may blame race as a reason why the series didn't sell well; there aren't too many Big Two comics that star minority heroes and those that have usually have tanked after a while; BLUE BEETLE being one example. But I don't think this is the case. It is hard to gather interest in any new character for either of the Big Two, and this has been true for ages now.

In this issue, a lot of fighting happens. Anti-Man, Adam's deranged former friend who is powered by negative energy, is seeking to "punish" the world for it's bigotry by basically blowing up large sections of it. After being sucker-punched by Anti-Man at the end of the last issue, Adam returns to Iron Man and his Mighty Avengers to accept Stark's assistance with battling Anti-Man. The only problem is that when the plan that he suggests, according to Reed Richards, is stated to be very dangerous unto itself, the Avengers quickly get into a fight with Brashear. In a way this fight seemed a bit forced; out of all people, Mr. Fantastic should be aware that sometimes trying a risky plan to stop a definite menace is required, and he has performed many of them himself. Granted, he was relying on one of his plot-contrived gun contraptions. Still, a bunch of white heroes being overly eager to get into a scruffle with Adam while the world remains in peril seems a bit heavy handed to me. I did, however, enjoy the showdown between Sentry and Adam, since they are similar characters in a mild way. Adam, suffice it to say, manages to overpower Sentry at some junctions. The Avengers manage to capture Adam for a time, but when Anti-Man proves resistant, and after Adam's wife appears beside him, the Avengers finally accept Adam's strategy and guidance.

The defeat of Anti-Man, however, comes at a heavy price; Adam's wife Candice is killed in the assault. I also found this bit kind of pointless; there seemed no reason to kill off Candice because I felt Adam would have been stronger with her beside him, especially after learning what he had about her through the course of the series; that she was a federal agent sent to keep an eye on Adam, but ended up genuinely falling in love with him anyway. I don't see the point of making Adam a widower aside to fulfill some of those "women in refridgerators" or stereotypes or to showcase that Anti-Man was "dangerous" to Blue Marvel.

Adam Brashear is a character whose story is seeped in issues of racism and to some that seems preachy; there were a few moments in the series that came off as preachy or heavy handed. But frankly these issues do come up; I can buy that a Class 100 tanker superhero who was black would have been asked by the President to hang up the cape during the dawn of the civil rights movement more than I can buy someone gaining "the power of a thousand exploding suns" from some generic serum. The moral of the story of course was that declaring eye for an eye vengeance over racism isn't the way to fix anything, as that was what Anti-Man represented. At this point in his life, Adam is naturally frustrated with some of the compromises he made in his life for "the good of the country" and it is unlikely he would make them again; however, he isn't an "angry black man" stereotype as, say, Rage usually is. Grevioux provided a good foundation for the character, and I think if Blue Marvel were to be plucked up by another solid writer on a team book somewhere, he could really come alive and provide another interesting Marvel character to the mythos. Again, I think he's a stronger character than the Sentry in many ways, and Sentry's been all over the place lately. Sadly, because of the low press and sales of this series, it is now just as likely that Adam would wind up in limbo, which is a shame.

While I won't say this is hidden Eisner material, I will say that this mini was much better than I was expecting. It had it's flaws but in the end it provided a new character that I found myself enjoying, and that is the main thing. Part of me still thinks that if it had been promoted better, especially with a historic election going on in the midst of the series (the first issue literally came out the week Obama won the election), it would have sold a few extra thousand copies or so. Hopefully we see more of Adam in the future, and whoever writes him next doesn't twist him into being "angry", because that's kind of boring and cliche. Decent new characters are rare, after all.

I mean, hell, Blue Marvel even has a better costume than Sentry.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 #11: Despite high critical praise and editorial assurances to the contrary, this is one of those unfortunate books that is excellently written and drawn that is selling amazingly bad. As of Jan. 2009, it was selling about 18k a month. Other ongoing titles, like SHE-HULK and NEW EXILES have been either cancelled or relaunched by the time they sold at that level. YOUNG X-MEN was canned before it hit that level. And ETERNALS doesn't look long for this world at that level, either. While the rumor of Marvel cancelling the title, spread by one of their own reps over the internet, has proven false for now, the reality of the situation is that unless the first trade sold SUPER well, or unless U.K. sales are truly phenominal, this is not a series that Marvel will afford to keep going at it's current rate for long. At the very least, a relaunch with a new #1 issue seems inevitable. Sales have fallen for it about 52% over the last six months and is still dropping by over 10% a month on average, even some months where the per-issue drop is "mild" are at rates of 4-5% a month, which is high for a book that is nearly a year old. At this rate the book may be selling about where ADAM: LEGEND OF THE BLUE MARVEL was by the time this arc is finished, and Marvel rarely allows ongoings to dwindle that low. Some shake-up hopefully is down the line; Marvel editorial appears to like Cornell, and this book in a way is a continuation of his WISDOM series from a few years ago that tanked.

Frankly, I think bad timing is to blame for this; this is basically the third "Excalibur" type series Marvel has spat out over the last 4-5 years or so, and retailers may not have been willing to bite for a third time. The fact that it is better in every way has seemed irrelevant. Plus, it was a series that was riding on the coattails of an event, much as THE ORDER once did, and books that do that rarely last once the event is over.

This issue continues Cornell's most ambitious storyline of this book's run, at least since the SECRET INVASION launch. The lord of the vampires, Count Dracula, is declaring war against England for his secret "nation" of vampires that he is apparently leading now, and has struck out with terrorist attacks against Britain's leading superheroes. This is a bit of a new take for Dracula, who usually is more self motivated in many of his stories. This incarnation sees him as a worthy ally to Dr. Doom in a way, and a more grand scale "supervillain" in a way. While once upon a time Dracula was a worthy enemy to Dr. Strange, those times had long passed until now. Of course, there are personal connections to Dracula on this roster; Blade is part of the team, and Spitfire is a psuedo-vampire herself.

The team survives Dracula's attacks against them, albeit not for lack of trying; a pair of vampires with suicide-spells attached to them tries to blow up Wisdom & Brian, but only succeeds in wasting one of their dates. Faiza manages to concentrate all of her powers on allowing her and Dane to survive falling from a few thousand feet up after their plane was smashed by some "vampires as missles" projectiles. There's a one page splash that goes on about a thousand words explaining how she goes through the feat which is a bit clunky, but it works in it's own way. Faiza now has a codename, "Exaclibur" after her sword and Dane at least is keeping the armor for now, and hey, it looks a lot better than a leather jacket, doesn't it? The two have a very interesting dynamic together and one bit where they start to slaughter the vampires post-crash is very cool. Unfortunately, Dracula has personally mauled Faiza's mother and kidnapped her father, as well as issuing an "official" declaration of war against both Britain and Blade, who he is saving for last; which makes sense considering how long Blade has been after him.

A meeting of various cabinet members as well as other British superheroes, such as Joey "Union Jack" Chapman is held to address the threat of Dracula. It was good seeing Union Jack again as well as him naturally wanting to find Spitfire, who is missing, while also being willing to allow her to "date who she wants" in Blade. Wisdom builds Dracula as a leading strategist of their time with ages of experience, being immortal and all, who also wishes legitimate recognition of his "vampire nation", as well as a hopeless racist. It certainly is a very interesting way to paint Marvel's most infamous vampire.

Kenneth, Spitfire's vampire son, leads his mother out into some catacombs and essentially reveals that he is working with Dracula to provide his "people" a nation of their own. Spitfire refuses to willingly obey the figure who has plagued her family for so long, until the final page cliffhanger of Dracula appearing and using his power to make her kneel before him (like Zod). Naturally having Spitfire on his side, even against her will, adds to Dracula's influence and power, and I wonder if Cornell may truck out other infamous vampire figures. Deacon Frost, the vampire who created Blade, I believe is still alive; the cover to the next issue has one vampire whose mask looks a lot like Dr. Strange's vampire brother, although it could be Baron Blood for all we know, who would also make sense.

Kirk's art is reliable as always; Collin's art doesn't quite have the same flair but I found it effective. It is good seeing Faiza come into her own as a hero, while still having some of those novice reactions to some genre conventions; she is among one of the better heroines in recent years, especially among new ones. All of the other characters are well defined with a good mix of powers, and they are coming together to address perhaps the gravest threat of the series' run so far. The Immonen cover is also pretty good.

CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 is simply a team comic written and drawn especially well. It is simply a shame that isn't enough to ensure good sales anymore. Still, at any rate, this title will survive past issue #12, and if Marvel editorial is behind Cornell, then he'll get a relaunch, and that may not be so bad. Maybe with better promotion, it'll do even better.

 

[Dread]

GHOST RIDER #33: Another series with dwindling sales, although not as bad as CAPTAIN BRITAIN, Jason Aaron continues his run on the series with a low key issue following the big climax of the last.

The big twist of the last issue was that, basically, Zadkiel the evil angel had won in his war against God thanks to Dan Ketch releasing the power of the Ghost Riders for him to smash through Heaven's gates. So basically the world is left without a God ruling Heaven. In some ways the only downside is that you would think something as huge as this would matter in another book outside GHOST RIDER; I mean it could be an interesting sort of event. The reason why everything is bleak at Marvel, and has been for a while, is because all the evil gods are in control now. Mephisto made some power moves; Hera is getting her stuff together on the Greek side, Loki is making power plays, and now God is overthrown. No wonder Norman Osborn is beloved now.

The issue deals with Sara, former warrior nun turned "Caretaker", having a conflict of faith now that their big battle is lost and God is overthrown. She retreats to her old monastary, and all of her fellow sisters have been slaughtered by Deacon, maniac from a few arcs ago. With nothing left to fight for, Sara's faith is rocked to the core...before being revived by the most complicated thing possible. She is randomly visited by two cyborg Ghost Riders from the future, who basically tell her not to give up. Yes, two cybernetic Ghost Riders FROM THE FUTURE. Stupidest. Thing. EVAR. I mean does any idea scream "1993" more than cybernetic, time travelling Ghost Riders!? I'm surprised they weren't ninjas, too.

Interspliced throughout the narrative are pages showing many of the past era's Ghost Riders from ancient times through the early 20th century and even modern ones like Ketch and Blaze. Tony Moore does the art, and to say it is the best art the book has had in months would be an understatement; I never cared for Haut's stuff overall.

The general story wasn't too shabby until the future Riders show up, although I do like that one tried to warn her of the Skrull Invasion weeks after it already ended. Great timing, guy. I also like the last page where Deacon has teamed up with Blackout to try to sic more of Ghost Rider's old enemies on Ketch and Blaze, now that they are at their weakest. Sara, meanwhile, sets off to reunite with Blaze and Ketch to try to sort through their mess.

The book sells at 22k per month, and probably would be lower without small spikes now and again from varient covers. Still, it's a volume of Ghost Rider after the 90's that will last at least three years, and perhaps more. That is an accomplishment. Stupid time travel gimmicks aside, Jason Aaron has really run with the awkward retcon that Way introduced and has made something worthwhile out of it. I didn't expect to see God and Heaven actually lose last issue, and hopefully he will be allowed enough time on the title to sort through the rest of his storyline. I am curious how Blaze and Ketch would be able to regain any of their powers considering Ketch had absorbed it all last issue and then unleashed it against Heaven for Zadkiel.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #11: With a cast as large as that in the GOTG, sometimes it takes an issue or two for every subplot to come into focus. After taking a backseat to Star-Lord the last few issues, Phyla and Drax's subplot comes into focus for this issue. Basically, after both were killed by Mentor the Eternal on Titan while trying to research any possibility of reviving Moondragon, the two find themselves on another plane of existance. Standard fare for space heroes after being killed, I suppose. They find themselves in the realm of Oblivion, and being haunted by former menace of the universe, the half Inhuman, half Eternal freak, Maelstrom.

Quite why they are in the realm of Oblivion is unknown, but thanks to GLA, that realm has beenm stretched out a bit. Originally, both he and his servent Demiurge sought out the souls of those who wished their own death; basically suicidal types, or those considering suicide. In GLA, though, D'urge became more of a general "angel of death", bringing the souls of the dead into Oblivion's realm. Now, Maelstrom being there makes sense; he was tricked by Mr. Immortal into killing himself, after all. It turns out that he was the one who kept feeding rumors of Moondragon's possible resurrection towards Phyla & Drax's direction, to hopefully get them into Oblivion's realm. Once they are there, Phyla loses her quantom bands before having to battle off past dead Captain Marvel's alongside Drax. Soon they are led to the slumbering Dragon of the Moon, which had been weeks from manifesting fully inside Moondragon when Ultron killed her. Oblivion wants the dragon reawakened early, as apparently the forces of life are starting to overwhelm those of death, which Maelstrom claims isn't good for the balance of the universe.

Phyla was unfortunately back to the "screaming girl" version she was for most of ANNIHILATION CONQUEST, which isn't as interesting, although at least Drax called her on it. The art is provided by Wes Craig, whose art is alright, although the realm of Oblivion looks a bit drab, which may be intentional. It is interesting seeing the return of Maelstrom considering he was the menace of the universe during the 90's. He seems to go out of his way to not mention that he is there because he was outwitted by perennial loser Mr. Immortal, though. Abnett & Lanning find a good voice for Maelstrom, making him delightfully insane. I also liked Drax's cool confidence no matter what realm or target he is battling.

Still, this issue wasn't as strong as the last few, which is probably because Phyla Mar-Vell is not strong enough to support many of her own stories; she works better in an ensemble cast than as star, even alongside Drax. She doesn't have the sheer charisma of a lot of the rest of the cast of GOTG. Still, it was inevitable that this subplot would be developed, and I am curious how it will wrap up, especially after seeing the cover to the next issue or so.

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #23: "Escape from the 8th City" continues, and as usual between different artists for flashbacks or other sequences, the credits on the cover are almost as long as the credits to a typical motion picture. Sales on this title have slipped ever since Fraction & Brubaker left, which is a shame as Swiercynski has managed to capture the spirit of their run and has continued on this book very well.

Surprise, Davos was lying to Danny Rand last issue and anticipates having to kill him at some juncture. No one saw that coming, right? A longtime arch enemy being less than honest? What's the world coming to? Still trapped in the horrific 8th City of Heaven, Rand is stuck in his cell communicating via morse code with Quan, who is apparently the very first Iron Fist, stuck here for untold years. Being trucked out to fight more hopeless battles, Rand angers Changming by sneaking coded messages to the other immortal weapons via morse code left at the arena via blood or dirt, which I thought was rather clever. Through this communication, they learn that their cells seem impossible to break from, and that it also may be impossible to separate the menaces of this realm from the innocent political prisoners they are supposed to free.

Changming doesn't take kindly to Rand's attempted messages, and tortures him, injuring his arms and seemingly searing away his Shou-Luo symbol on his chest with a brand. Just as Quan starts to reveal more of the origins of Changming and this realm, including where Shou-Lou originally came from, he is ordered to fight Rand to the death, and reveals that he isn't nearly as weak as he seemed.

With all the torture angles, this is almost like IMMORTAL IRON FIST crossed with SAW, but this book has always had some bits of darkness to it, so it fits in. It helps set up the 8th city as something not far removed from Hell. Foreman's art is strong as ever, and the other sequences are drawn well, as well. It is a bit of a set up issue between acts, but it is effective at what it does.

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #11: An issue in which THE ORDER's star hero Henry "Anthem" Hellrung returns from Fraction's pen, and one of the IRON MAN's movie contrivances, JARVIS as the AI for the armor, makes it's unwelcome and forced addition to continuity. To be fair, it could be worse; it essentially is made to help Potts get used to her own suit of armor that Stark left for her as a parting gift.

The issue reveals that Stark, during better times, set up a dummy email account that he and his allies could access coded messages to each other via public internet access sites in case things ever went bad. Of course, now things have gone bad. Stark contacts his former AA sponsor Hellrung, who feels that Stark's fugitive status has gone too far and that he needs to turn himself in before things get any worse. To that end, Henry asks War Machine to bring Iron Man in. This results in an armored battle between the two, one in which Rhodes has the clear advantage via more advanced armor (since Stark is using his old HEROES RETURN-esque armor, circa 1998). While Rhodes doesn't want to actually hurt Stark, Iron Man is aware that Osborn is watching them, and wants to use the fight to buy him some cover. That basically means taking a dive, all but literally.

Meanwhile, Maria Hill is investigating Futurepharm and winds up stumbling upon the Controller, and Norman Osborn asks Namor to take out Iron Man, now that he's fallen into the ocean. It does seem odd that Namor is taking marching orders from Osborn of all people, although at this rate he's had quite a score to settle with Stark anyway, so it doesn't much matter where he gets the leads from.

Larroca's art is about what you would expect these days, which means that half of it has to be saved by the inker and colorist. I must say the frown on Iron Woman's helmet looks borderline ridiculous. It seemed the crux of this issue was setting up a fight against War Machina, perhaps to gain a little crossover effect with WAR MACHINE's book, which hasn't been selling very well. It kind of takes me a little out of it seeing Osborn look like a young Val Kilmer, though. The fight between War Machine and Iron Man isn't too bad, though, even if obviously forced. At least it was written as a fight between people who were actually friends, rather than some of the hero infighting from, say, CIVIL WAR that gave the impression that some characters always secretly hated each other, which makes things too simple.

Still, I would hope that WORLD'S MOST WANTED has more to it's middle chapters besides Stark fighting the Osborn goon of the month.

 

[Sebastos]

Immortal Iron Fist #23: This has to be Duane's and Foreman's best issue as a creative team so far. The writing was great and Foreman's art as definitely improved. His art was the bes i've ever seen it. It was a set up issue, but still awesome. Rand's morse code scene with Quan was great, Quan being the first Iron Fist was an excellent reveal. Rand and Quan having to fight eachother was interesting to see happen. I also love the covers for the series, really cool. Overall, can't wait for the next issue and see how the story plays out.

 

[RockSP]

Bought

Captain Britian & MI 13 #11
Green Lantern Corps #34
Blackbird: Growing Pains #2
Ex Machina special #4
El Diablo #6
Iron Fist #23
Iron Man #11
Top 10 #4
Batman:Cacophony #3
Guardians of the Galaxy #11
Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #5
R.E.B.E.L.S. #2
Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1
Bango Tango #1, #2

Thought

Blue Marvel - Pretty underwhelming when you get down to it. Grevioux explained on Hudlin's board why Brashear and his wife haven't aged over the decades but it would have made sense to have that info in the actual mini. Like I said in an earlier bought/thought it's good to finally have a powerful male black hero at Marvel...now they just need to make him interesting.

R.E.B.E.L.S. - Heh heh. Dox is an @#&hole. Lol at his dismissal of Supergirl. The art continues to be great.

 

[fifthfiend]

Immortal Iron Fist #23: This has to be Duane's and Foreman's best issue as a creative team so far. The writing was great and Foreman's art as definitely improved. His art was the bes i've ever seen it. It was a set up issue, but still awesome. Rand's morse code scene with Quan was great, Quan being the first Iron Fist was an excellent reveal. Rand and Quan having to fight eachother was interesting to see happen. I also love the covers for the series, really cool. Overall, can't wait for the next issue and see how the story plays out.

It seems like Quan's got a couple or three more ideas on how to use that Iron Fist power than Danny's got, or at least so 'instant de-aging kung-fu transformation' would seem to indicate, so yeah I'm really interested to see how #24 goes.