Bought/Thought March 25th *SPOILERS*

[iloveclones]

Yeah, Quicksilver's had a hard couple of decades.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He was doing okay in the '90s. He was a *****e but he did well on X-Factor and got his own comic for a while. His problems of late have been because he was a particularly crappy villain. Now that he's trying to redeem himself, I see a bright future.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Part IV: X-Men, Cosmic, and Cosmic X-Men

X-Force/Cable: Messiah War #1

The prologue for the upcoming crossover between X-Force and Cable that picks up on the primary thread of Messiah Complex; the baby (now called Hope) will either be the saviour of mutantkind or a doomsday bomb (though this seems mainly to be an angle to try and justify Bishop’s involvement, and the story never really considers this possibility beyond that). The whole Cable series has basically been killing time since MC, waiting for Hope to grow old enough to take a real part in the story; that story is finally here, as Cyclops dispatches X-Force into the distant future to bring the baby back. Continuing Kyle & Yost’s love of bringing back and rehabilitating late-80s/90s bad guys (they’re like Geoff Johns advanced by about a decade), Stryfe returns, now allied with Bishop in his quest. Certainly, they’ve demonstrated that there are a lot of great concepts to be found in that era, though the execution suffered. Also, Deadpool shows up for no particular reason, to the great annoyance of X-Force (Wolverine resignedly attempts to kill him, but even with claws stuck through his head he’s just making stupid jokes). I bought this partly because I love Mike Choi & Sonia Oback’s art, and to see whether I’ll be following this crossover or not (the biggest drag is the potential of Ariel Olivetti drawing the Cable segments; he sucks, and looks nothing like the other artists), since I’ve not been reading Cable. This is good enough that I’ll probably give it another issue, at least. If Kyle & Yost were writing the whole thing, and someone other than Olivetti did the Cable stuff, I’d probably be a lot more enthusiastic.

Guardians of the Galaxy #12

Well, Moondragon makes history by beating Lesbian Death Syndrome and returning to the realm of the living; as I suspected, this seems to have been, as much as anything, an elaborate exercising in purging from her the influence of the Dragon of the Moon (and transferring it to someone else). This someone being Phyla, who here returns to the original Quasar the Quantum Bands, though keeping her sword, which was the main thing she used it for; and she’s now got a new deal with the devil (or Oblivion) to serve as an avatar/champion, which will doubtless be a problem in the future. The massive revamp of Marvel’s cosmic line that began with Annihilation I was notable for the extent to which it tried to get away from the Starlin-style cosmic universe, which was heavy on irresolvable conflicts between abstract concepts like Oblivion, Eternity, etc. Ever since, the various series have been more Star Wars/Trek in influence, but through the run of this title the old Starlin stuff has been slowly seeping back in. With this issue, it seems poised to take the centre stage again, either during War of Kings, or after it. This two-parter is probably the weakest part of the series so far, though it’s reasonably good. Wesley Craig’s art is pretty suited to the subject-matter. DnA’s dialogue for some characters (Maelstrom, mainly) seems a bit off. Anyway, on to War of Kings.

X-Men: Kingbreaker #4

Speaking of which, a combination of the X-Men and War of Kings. The Kingbreaker miniseries wraps up, a couple of weeks after the main series debuted; it was speculated that this spoiled a lot of turns here, but it turns out that expectations are subverted: Raza isn't dead, he's just in enemy hands. Elsewhere, what I wasn't sure was a plot point or else an art choice on Paul Pelletier's part turns out to indeed be a plot point: Rachel loses her blue Phoenix raptor this issue, and reverts to looking like she did when she was the Hound (Korvus' sword also loses its energy, though it still mashes stuff real good). Overall, I don't think this series worked quite as well as Yost's previous one, but it's reasonably enjoyable. There are multiple points here where you can see how Yost could end this whole saga himself, and comes close, in order to let Havok and co. get some dramatic satisfaction, but, ultimately, Vulcan's final defeat can't come here. This has been a great story for fans of Havok, particularly in terms of power feats; his recharging himself to cosmic levels using the sun-eater thing was excellent. Lilandra comes close to finally being done with her evil sister. And they've even more clearly set up Gladiator's personal questions about Vulcan as emperor; I'll be curious to see if Xenith is brought up in the main event (given how powerful she is, one would expect it). Nice writing; the art team was clearly in a constant hurry to get this out, but it generally looks nice (sometimes heads seem a bit too small for bodies).

 

[kguillou]

So did anyone read Ms Marvel 37? Did Carol really die or was marvel messing with us?

 

[CaptainCanada]

She exploded in a vague way; seems like a pretty clear setup for her to recompose whenever the villain protagonist thing runs its course.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

She blew up and the last couple pages are Norman Osborn telling Karla that she's the only Ms. Marvel now.

War Machine predictably sucked. Hey, remember all those Marvel Handbook entries you've read on any of Marvel's gods about how they're immune to all diseases? Yeah, well, apparently Ares (and Pak) never got the memo. He's infected with the Ultimo virus by the end of the issue. So, in effect, Rhodey's still wildly out of character, the series' core concept is still mindless violence informed by the slightest hint of moral pretension that they'll probably never follow through on, and now Ares isn't even fun anymore. Say it with me, kids, 'cause you know what's coming: dropped.

Avengers: The Initiative Special or Annual or whatever: Pretty solid. Basically, it read like a primer on the Initiative vs. true heroism, presumably to allow new readers an easy jump-on point and to prime current readers for the changes in the book that should be coming soon. We learn that basically all of the Initiative members in this issue have heavy emotional baggage and we learn a bit about Reptil's own emotional baggage. The whole dinosaur plot felt pretty thin to me, but I suppose it was nice to see some of the inner workings of the Initiative between engagements with an enemy rather than just seeing the Initiative sic teams of obscure or new characters at things. So, basically, a solid read but a teensy bit pointless to me.

X-Infernus did not end the way I expected it to, which left me ambivalent: On one hand, I applaud them for doing something unexpected and presumably leaving some plot for the upcoming New Mutants revamp to follow up on. On the other hand, the way the X-Infernus ended makes me think Illyana's gonna be insufferably angsty in that New Mutants series. Still, judging it solely on its own merits as a mini, X-Infernus was pretty good. I was apparently late to the bandwagon on the original New Mutants, since I only read a few scattered issues here and there before it became X-Force and, thus, I never really formed a huge attachment to any of the characters (except Warlock and Birdbrain, both of whom I loved instantly). So Illyana sort of means nothing to me personally, but the story presented deserves kudos for making me care about her vicariously through the other X-Men's feelings about her, particularly Nightcrawler and Colossus'. Anyone with a sibling can empathize with Piotr's pain, and Nightcrawler, who is in so many ways the best of the X-Men, essentially comes out of this as the big hero who saves the day. His speech to Illyana on the nature of the soul was downright touching, too. I sort of wish Kurt would mentor the New Mutants in their new series, although obviously they're old and experienced enough that they don't need a mentor at all anymore. So X-Infernus was a good series, enjoyable even to those who aren't huge New Mutants or X-Men fans, such as myself.

 

[Galact-Gal]

In the Initiative Special, was anybody else bothered by the fact that Tigra's bikini bottom was practically non-existent?

(This is a board full of guys; why am I even asking? *smacks head*)

 

[Mr. Green]

Lol!

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Books I picked up this week. No reviews yet though.

ASM # 589
Thunderbolts # 130
Skaar Son of Hulk # 9
New Avengers # 51
Captain America #48
Mighty Avengers # 23
War Machine # 4
Fantastic Four # 565
Daredevil # 117

 

[Colossal Spoons]

Rassumfrassum, my shop didn't have Kingbreaker #4.

Same here. Or Thunderbolts 130


....rage

 

[Dread]

Normally I review my week's comics in alphabetical order, at least within the same company (I read fewer DC/Image/Dark Horse than Marvel so they usually are done first), but for the sake of structure I'll fudge that a bit to keep this week's "space books" together in another post, maybe.

Reviews Part III: Martial Artists, Myths, and Mighty Avengers!

IMMORTAL IRON FIST #24: Part Two of my "Tale of Two Annuals", I was curious why an issue of Iron Fist was coming out barely two weeks after the last issue. I cynically suspected that it would run late and perhaps skip April. Instead I see that this issue is merely an "annual" type story that perhaps if the book was selling better than, oh, 23,300 copies a month, they might have sold this as a one-shot and asked for an extra dollar for it. AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE FEATURING REPTIL #1 was basically an "annual/special" type of story, one that Bill Jemas once upon a time determined sold less even with an increased cost covering the difference and usually resolved to just publish an extra title of the ongoing instead. This was an effective strategy, but once he left, Joe Quesada dismissed it; Logic is his Kryptonite, you see (much as honest advertising would be his Magic Vulnerability, I suppose). IMMORTAL IRON FIST, though, is using that old Jemas logic; instead of losing money on an annual/special/feature one shot, they are simply selling another issue of the ongoing title. I wonder if this is because of time convenience, or because they are aware of the title having, sadly, bled readers since the departure of the launch team, and thus don't want to cause that audience to wane further. Maybe they hope two comics within a month for the series will help keep sales steady. Right now in a "down" selling month, IIF is within the Top 80 (it might have been in the Top 85-90 two months ago), but 23k sales is a danger zone type number if it doesn't remain stable.

The benefit, and downside, of the new restructured Iron Fist history is that it allows writers to have a near infinite number of filler stories telling the tales of prior Iron Fist's from the past (or at least until they work through all 33 prior ones, which doesn't include all of Orson Randall's potential retcon, Logan style adventures). This is a boon because a legacy is only as good as the holders of it, so there is a good reason for these stories to exist. The downside is that a one-shot story about a past Fist is only as good as that story or character happens to be. Swierczynski tried to think outside the box with the tale of a "Future" Fist in his last filler one shot story, and it didn't work. It was an ambitious misfire, but a misfire nevertheless. This time, as a break to the 8th City story, we have the tale of Li Park, circa 730 A.D. The art is by Kano, who has been a semi-regular artist on flashback sequences on the title, much as Foreman was (Foreman is now the regular artist, taking over for the departed Aja).

Much as David Patterson is New York's "accidental mayor" and Gerald Ford was America's "accidental President", Li Park is K'un L'un's "accidental Iron Fist". More of an artist and daydreamer than a fighter, Li is bored with the rigorous training of the ancient city and only attends the training to look after his brother and please his father. He does have martial arts talent, but is bored by conflict. When a deadly plague randomly comes along and either sickens or kills every worthy warrior that the Thunderer has to face Shou-Lou the Undying. Not willing to sacrifice ALL chance of not having an Iron Fist, Li Park is reluctantly chosen to face the dragon himself; better a putz Iron Fist than none, they reason. Pummeled by the dragon, Park manages to trick it into believing he is dead with some leftover lunch, and manages to defeat it based purely on surprise and a little luck. The elders see little potential in Li Park as an Iron Fist, but still send him out into the Earthly plane to defend a city in China from barbarians. Using much of his chi for illusions from his imagination rather than combat, he manages to distract the warriors and even cause some of them to fight each other, giving many in the village time to flee. By the time Park realizes his error and starts to actually fight the raiders, half the town is slaughtered. The death toll is high, but would have been higher without his aid, as he leads the survivors into the city of K'un L'un to continue their lives.

Kano's art is solid as ever, and Swiercynski weaves a solid tale around an Iron Fist who is more of an artist than a fighter, who has more guile than glowing fists, even if some of it is treated as Park's own pacifism. The message that not every threat can be negociated with or placated is one that I honestly wish more of our leaders in Washington and the European Union could learn when dealing with some despots. On the other hand, it was interesting to see K'un L'un create an Iron Fist it never imagined who still managed to be creative and competent. Chi-Based Illusions are also a distinctive ability, and it might be fun if Rand learned it. It is a bit of an awkward break in the action for the ongoing story, and one day I would like some of these "random past Fist" stories to flow better with the main narrative, such as maybe being about a Fist who invented an attack that Rand is about to use in the main story, or something. But beyond that long term structural problem (which was a niggle even with Fraction & Brubaker aboard), it was a solid one shot story. I do see the annual as not economically viable in today's day and age and kind of agree with Jemas's old logic. But to each their own.

INCREDIBLE HERCULES #127: It definitely was a Herc week with this and MIGHTY AVENGERS coming out the same week and sharing some close continuity via footnotes, which are helpful to those not in the know. Sadly, INCREDIBLE HERCULES (or, "iHerc" if you want to be trendy, and who is trendier than editors in their mid 40's) is one of those titles that may be paying the sales price for a lot of bigger, 100k sellers being $4 now, forcing retailers to cut back around the middle. Sales for the book have slipped to about 31k and while that is fine for now, if the sales don't get stable again, then "iHerc" may be selling around where IMMORTAL IRON FIST is in about 2-4 issues, or even where CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 sold in Feb. (that book actually gained about 9-10% sales, but 20k a month is still unhealthy for an ongoing more than a year in). While Greg Pak on WAR MACHINE may be reminding people that the same writer behind PLANET HULK was also behind MARVEL NEMESIS: THE IMPERFECTS and PHOENIX: WARSONG, on "iHerc" (I hate using that term, but it's shorter than the main title) alongside Van Lente, there seems to be no wrong. Dietrich Smith comes in on interior art and while it isn't up to Clayton Henry standards (especially when Delphine shows up later), it is colored well by Cory Hamscher and the art is still distinctive, exciting, and effective, which is solid for the title. Khoi Pham's art on the start of the book when it changed titles was good, but honestly every artist has been better for me.

Still, sales dilemmas aside, would Marvel have gotten a Hercules & Cho title to last over a year within the Top 75 sellers if it had not taken over INCREDIBLE HULK? Doubtful. I'll take what I can get, for as long as I can get it, with this book and many other "brilliant-but-struggling" titles.

This book brings back into circulation Trey Rollins, a.k.a. Aegis. Created by Jay Fearber (who would later do NOBLE CAUSES and DYNAMO 5 for Image) and Steve Scott in the 1999 second volume of the New Warriors ongoing (that tanked after a year), Aegis is empowered by a magical breastplate of Athena's and was chosen to be her mortal champion. He and the Warriors proved their worth to Herc and Athena, but beyond having a cameo somewhere in CIVIL WAR, Trey hasn't done a whole lot. Considering Athena is a regular supporting character on iHerc, it honestly does make a lot of sense for Trey to pop up and part of me almost wonders why it didn't come sooner, and that Trey would work very well as part of the regular cast, and if Pak & Van Lente are going there, great. Decent new characters are rare; decent non-white characters are even rarer. Sure, he has some stereotypes, fighting urban gang crime in Brooklyn, but the Greek mythical powers help. I liked how in one page Pak & Van Lente sum up Aegis properly, as a hero of the underdog, downtrodden neighborhoods who feels that the "big boys", whether police or official superheroes, often neglect and ignore them to apathy and decay. After thrashing some hoods in a local park, Aegis is ambushed by the Huntsman, a mystical Greek Hunter able to inspire fear in even Hercules. The conflict does not end well.

After another hilarious recap page (this book seriously has the funniest ones outside of X-MEN FIRST CLASS or AGENTS OF ATLAS), it seems that not only is this a DARK REIGN tie in, but Hera and her Olympian allies are moving in on their grand scheme for revenge on Hercules, Athena, and Cho, Athena's newest "mortal champion". While Athena was impressed by Trey's courage, it is Cho's mind that she seems to be into this time. Hercules, the boy's protector, of course is wary of his sister "having eyes on a mortal", even though those eyes helped in his own creation (and perhaps tragedies). Having lunch at Silly's Greek Diner, a nice modern refuge for Olympic beings, Herc and the gang are interrupted by Hera and her ally, Typhon. It seems the cafe is neutral ground that is defended by "Furies" lest anyone break the rules. Hera is angry with Anthena for going over her head during the Skrull War assembling a team of gods, as well as her constant overstepping what Hera sees as her authority, especially with Zeus dead. Athena, however, sees her actions as being pragmatic, rather than being vengeful. Hinting at her actions against Aegis, the nefarious duo depart, only to face more mortal challenges.

Norman Osborn, now head of HAMMER and unofficial unelected Vice President is paying the Olympus Group a building, basically to be included in the loop of their massive plans as well as to throw his weight around with what he sees as irrational superhumans who think they are gods. Osborn doesn't believe they are THE Greek pantheon, much as he doesn't believe Loki is really THE Loki. On the one hand, in the post-ULTIMATES landscape, I wouldn't be surprised if some writers started playing with the idea of not everyone in the Marvel world buying that these "gods" are the real gods, even if it is about 30 years too late for that. On the other hand, well, Osborn is of course not the best baseline person to make this assumption with. Not long ago, he thought it was perfectly reasonable to cackle on a jet powered glider and hurl Halloween themed explosives from a lavender man-purse to solve his problems. It's like the Joker turning to someone and going, "I think they might be mad." He still is clearly insane, and thus is not the best judge of Marvel society assumptions. Pak and Van Lente try to capture some of Osborn's dynamic flair for leadership that Fraction usually captures well in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, and succeed. Hera refuses to be impressed by Osborn's mortal forces, while Osborn refuses to compromise with anyone who doesn't knuckle under. He vows a reckoning, which encourages Hera to get off the pot on killing Hercules before HAMMER makes war with her.

As such, Trey Collins' seemingly dead body is laid out for Athena, Hercules, and Cho to find at an abandoned EXCELLO SOAP building, which Cho learns is owned by Hela's Olympus Group (the plot thickens). As a climax, the three of them square off against Hera and her allies Huntsman, Typhon, Pluto (god of death) and Delphine, new Queen of the Amazons. Athena makes a good point about wanting the Olympian patheon to seem like more than petty and vengeful sociopaths as Hera and her group usally appear as, which only sparks Hera's temper. But right as things are about to get interesting, they get even MORE interesting when Norman "Iron Patriot" Osborn and his Dark Avengers burst into the building, declare everyone there a part of "Greek organized crime" and orders everyone get arrested. This is due to be quite a royal rumble. It also will be interesting to see what side Ares takes; Osborn's or Hera's. Granted, he could easily appease both by limiting his attention to Hercules, who defeated him at the start of the title's run.

CIVIL WAR and INITIATIVE books did this sort of thing all the time; had a token appearance by Iron Man and his Mighty Avengers and planted them as standard antagonists. With DARK REIGN, while being able to buy the circumstances of Osborn's rise to power is rather absurd, it has allowed writers to essentially do the same thing, only Iron Patriot and his band of sociopath/psychopath Dark Avengers make for far better foils for practically any titular hero. Osborn makes for a better "Evil Iron Man" than Stark did. I could imagine Hera wanting to team with the Dark Avengers to kill Hercules, but I doubt Osborn would be that pragamatic, sparking a free-for-all. Hercules and Athena against the Dark Avengers alone would have been quite a struggle, but throw in Hera and her merry band and the odds seem steep against our heroes, regardless of power levels; THAT'S how you create suspense and exciting cliffhangers even with a 100 ton class hero. Excuses for being unable to challenge potent characters from other writers are just that; excuses.

The art is great and normally I would be peeved at the sacrifice of Aegis, but as the next solicted issues involve a journey into Pluto's Underworld, assuming it is permanent right now isn't a sure bet. It has been a while since Pluto was a big villain in a plot, and I am curious how Pak and Van Lente will handle it. Some of Osborn's insults towards Hebe were a bit vulgar, but I can buy it more from him than, say, Dr. Doom calling a superheoine a "fat cow", like he is Simon Cowell. Between this book and MIGHTY AVENGERS, I am glad that Hercules & Cho are getting some play around the Marvel Universe and being a factor in it again. They're good characters, and Pak & Van Lente have managed to take a Greek Marvel hero I never especially cared for, beyond some stints in the 90's HEROES FOR HIRE, and really make him shine as more than a punchline. Plus, Cho running into Delphine so soon just spells awkwardness.

A trip to the Underworld usually implies dying, so I wonder if Herc, Cho, and Athena all end up "dead" at the end of the fight next issue. Still, I do hope they give Iron Patriot and his merry brood at least as many lumps as Thor gave in THOR #600. I can't imagine Hercules, a guy who nearly destroyed "Clor" for shaming Thor's image, being thrilled to see Bullseye dressing as Hawkeye, or perhaps even Osborn dressing as a hodge-podge of Iron Man and Captain America. Looks to be very entertaining, and as a sucker for a good fight, my anticipation of issue #128 couldn't be higher, which is as it should be. Comics that inspire genuine longing for each issue are rarer than they should be, and should always be embraced.

 

[Dread]

That didn't work out well. The 20,000 SHH post limit is the bane of my existence on big weeks, I tell ya.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #23: The first arc of Dan Slott's run on the title comes to a close after about 3.5 issues, and some readers are divided on preference. Those who like the decompression, narrative arrogance and middling superhero incompetence (or just love the thrill of it's "importance") of NEW AVENGERS naturally feel that MA is too retro. On the other hand, those who felt that NEW AVENGERS was an overall mediocre effort boosted by editorial support ("do anything to anyone!"), corporate hype, and Spider-Man & Wolverine's allure alongside perhaps the most overrated comic book writer of the 21st century, MIGHTY AVENGERS is a trip back to memory lane when B and C list characters represented growth, not a cheap death, where history and continuity, past and present is seen as a boon and not an inconvenience, and where adventures for the Avengers threatened the world, rather than a hotel room full of ninja, or people watching TV for 55 pages.

Still, looking back at the last three issues, some bits of Slott's debut here were a little shakey, even if some of my criticisms are Catch-22's. While the threat of the Elder God Chthon ties into the past of the Maximoff family as well as Avengers history, and is a more than worthy threat to the Avengers, he isn't the most charismatic or "important" villain out there. Plus, in the age of decompression, most modern audiences need about 4 issues of obligatory destruction and slaughter to "buy" a threat; knowing that this is temporary and leaving it to an odd page or panel seems compressed to some, although many comics did that in the old days, back when the notion of a story beyond 3 chapters was considered absurd and greedy by the industry. And while with the HUGE plot twist reveal in the final page makes the involvement of Hulk and Iron Man make complete sense in the tapestry of the story, within the story as a whole they took a lot of page time away from the "true" team roster such as Stature, Vision II, and especially U.S.Agent, who all act like guest stars rather than soon-to-be regulars. While Iron Man was a part of the last run and naturally he and Hulk would get the attention of newcomers, it might have been better to focus more on the other characters. Beyond Hank Pym, Cho, and to some degrees Hercules and Jocasta, they did not do a whole lot. Still, at the end of the issue the series does accomplish what Slott set out to do; have a very "Avengers-y" cast and tone. Which is fine if you missed the tone of the Busiek/Perez era, but not if you think that sort of thing is best left to 1998. I will say that the Busiek/Perez run has aged better in about 11 years than Millar's pop-culture reference laden ULTIMATES has in about five.

The final showdown against Chthon has begun, with the hastily assembled squad of characters being Earth's only defense against a world at the mercy of a demon, who is possessing the body of Quicksilver (leaving Pietro's soul in the Darkhold tome). Iron Man arrives and immediately calls rank and dismisses Hank Pym as an unstable underachiever, taking command of the situation and ordering Herc and U.S. Agent to aid him in trashing Wundagore to weaken the demon. The two comply, seeing no choice and believing Hank's leadership so far has been spotty. Stature feels overwhelmed by the decision and Iron Man's dismissal of it (acknowledging, maybe rightly, how many such threats he and the Avengers have overcome), Hank is frustrated about proving inferior to Stark, and Banner just wants a shirt. Cho determines that Wundagore is full of uranium, and that destroying it will lead to a greater disaster. Thus, Hank leads his dismissed C-Listers into a confrontation with Chthon.

Dan Slott dismisses DISASSEMBLED's ludicrious and contradictory theory that "chaos magic didn't exist" as being a lie to try to weaken Chthon's influence on mortals. As far as "explanations by other, better writers to explain away some mistake that Bendis wrote into the mythos", it is a far better one than Greg Pak's "Hulk math" to explain away Bendis wanting to turn 616 Hulk into Ultimate Hulk (within 2 pages in an ILLUMINATI special, no less). At first proving little more than a distraction to Chthon, Scarlet Witch appears and unleashes the Hulk's rage on the demon, buying some time. Learning that the world's fear of Chthon is eclipsed only in it's collective lack of faith in Hank Pym, he comes up with a brilliant plan to save the day, which manages to work out rather well, especially after Chthon nukes Iron Man and his squad. A quick tinkering with Cho's version of his own "Ant-Man helmet" causes Chthon to lose his spellcasting ability, and a quick idea from Cho to Vision II gets Pietro back out of the Darkhold and Chthon back inside it. A little mind swap from Pym's toolkit lab and everything is as good as new. Iron Man flies off and warns Pym not to screw up, and as always Hulk wants no part in the team, and is dropped back into Arizona. Quicksilver also wants no part in the team, but when Wanda appears to teleport them away, he may get second thoughts (since she is missing and presumed still insane, something Pietro blames on her chaos magic).

Stature and Vision II see their friends freed from being statues, and whoever did the colors for that page (Kieth or Milla) managed to get Patriot's costume outfit wrong on two panels, which is odd. They are wary of telling Billy & Teddy that they know that their possible mother is back, which to me seems highly hypocritical and a bit callous from two people claiming to be their friends. If someone failed to tell Stature if Scott Lang had popped up alive again, she'd probably grow to 100 feet tall and throw a B****-fit. Granted, in the time after Heinberg's YA wrapped, out of the whole team, Cassie has probably proven to be the most hypocritical and sometimes holier-than-thou (which is amazing considering her father was a thief; that's like Gambit's son having a pompus attitude to other kids) member of the team, who doesn't get along with anyone but Vision or Iron Lad. And it says something considering Vision II literally apologizes to her for deleting her precious song-list to save the mind of a superhero inside him. The only one of her team that she really bonds with is the robot with the brain patterns of her dead boyfriend. Hey, Wanda may be insane, but at least she had friends other than the original Vision. OH! While I can understand the hesitance to cause some drama, not telling your "friends" you spotted the woman that Billy especially has been eager to find for "months" is not very appealing. I defended Stature to some who don't care for her in this book, but right here I wouldn't mind trading her for Komodo.

The world hails Pym's success until Osborn insists that his "Avengers" are not his official band, which Jarvis of course is pleased with. John Walker splits Omega Flight to return to the U.S. full time and all seems well, until that final page. Thor and the rest of New Asgard had been trapped in another realm by Chthon (as well as the entire state of Oklahoma) and Loki had been "frustrated" with that development, having spent many years trapped in various states of limbo at various times in his life (even if sometimes it was his/her own comuppance). Well, that last page may be one of the coolest and most unexpected twists since Citizen V unmasked as Baron Zemo in THUNDERBOLTS. That's right, kids, Scarlet Witch was Loki the whole time, organizing a band of "heroes" to beat Chthon and free New Asgard from that realm. However, being a goddess of mischief who always resented having led to the founding of the original Avengers, this time Loki plans to play a larger role in the team's fate, likely manipulating tham to other ends. While it may be possible that Loki is posessing Wanda's body (much as he is technically inside Sif's twisted form), it probably is more likely that Wanda is just an illusion. It depends on where Slott wants to go with it. It also would promise at more Thor involvement later on, and as his title is actually outselling Iron Man's right now, that would make sense.

The other side of the twist is that while Loki is enjoying manipulating the mortal heroes, technically he/she hasn't really done anything "wrong" yet. Conning a band of heroes to organize and beat Chthon and save the world, con or not, isn't that bad. Lord knows Nick Fury has done worse. Slott, like Fraction, may have a better handle on the Loki situation than JMS, which is ironic since JMS created it. JMS has had Loki do absolutely nothing worthwhile or beneficial for anyone yet had Balder accept his advice as scripture. Fraction writes Thor as hardly a gullible, sympathetic fool with Loki (which, at least in GOD-SIZED, would have backfired had he not trusted Loki along for the mission), and Slott may be going for a "moral grey" angle with Loki. Sure, it's a measure of poetic revenge being able to manipulate and con the Mighty Avengers to target threats of his choosing, but if said threats are genuine menaces to Earth or someone else, is it really 100% wrong? I see a lot of potential here. The only downside is that much like Pym and to a degree Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch really needs to be redeemed herself. Still, this twist could still lead to that; if Loki is possessing her body, Wanda can be freed. If he is merely using her guise as an illusion, Wanda can still be found by a team now more eager to find the genuine article. It's a win-win.

The next issue promises a fight with the Fantastic Four, which may hint at Loki being more of a menace with his team after all, but it depends on the situation (Mr. Fantastic built 42, after all, and aided with Clor, and has a "BLAST MY SON INTO A COMA IF HIS POWERS ACT UP" Death Ray in the basement somewhere). Without Iron Man and Hulk, hopefully the regular cast will get to interact more with each other. I believe Slott has a handle on all of the characters, especially Pym, Cho, Walker (in his brief bits) and Hercules, and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE shows an ability to juggle a large cast better than some. Still, consider me aboard and eager for Slott's run on this mighty title, and eager for more to come. It would benefit from a more charismatic villain. Why not Count Nefaria? It's not like Slott is against superpowered mobsters, he made Mr. Negative in ASM. It would be a neat idea.

This run may not have all fans behind it, but for me it is about time the real Avengers assembled again.

Pham's artwork isn't bad, but I honestly will be looking forward to what the next artist brings to the table next issue. And I still like that new costume for Quicksilver; at least he looks like a superhero, not a stage performer.

 

[CaptainCanada]

who doesn't get along with anyone but Vision or Iron Lad.

She and Kate are allegedly best friends, though they haven't had a scene together in years.

And it says something considering Vision II literally apologizes to her for deleting her precious song-list to save the mind of a superhero inside him.

I think you're reading a bit much into a joke.

On the issue of scope, well, you can't rewind the clock past The Authority and The Ultimates, anymore than World War II movies can go back before Saving Private Ryan. If this is meant to be a big world-saving actioner, then the action needs to match those standards. Once comics started delivering action that's actually visceral, anything that doesn't is going to suffer.

Also, I'm serving you with intent over the theft of my format for giving review parts titles.

 

[Dread]

She and Kate are allegedly best friends, though they haven't had a scene together in years.

See, that is a problem.

I think you're reading a bit much into a joke.

On the issue of scope, well, you can't rewind the clock past The Authority and The Ultimates, anymore than World War II movies can go back before Saving Private Ryan. If this is meant to be a big world-saving actioner, then the action needs to match those standards.

I agree to some degree. In some ways it reminded me a little of Dan Slott's 3 part arc on JLA CLASSIFIED, which had basically three versions of a reality altering super villain I think called Red King for each issue. The world was threatened in each chapter and the JLA went about saving it, but it did have some problems with scope. It seemed too compressed to really make me feel it.

Still, it is hard to show it without some more decompression than the story had. It might have helped if Iron Man and Hulk not needed to eat up so many panels, basically. I was able to get the fact that Chthon threatened the world. And yes, we knew it wouldn't last, but did the death of half the universe last in INFINITY GAUNTLET? Some of the pacing could have been better, but overall I liked it.

I know it can't compare to a page of Bendis making urine jokes, though, or his epic chapters of superheroes sitting on a couch reinacting Bud commercials.

Even Slott's lessor efforts for me still read about the same as many other writers at their best with a straight-forward adventure.

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Hmm, I didn't pick up Ms. Marvel #37 this week. Maybe next week though.

 

[Manic]

Looks like this has been a pretty active week for the B/T thread. Anyway, here's my contribution, which is also mirrored at a website.


FANTASTIC 4 #565
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Bryan Hitch
Publisher: Marvel

Ah, Scotland. A country known for its rolling green hills and crisp air. The Fantastic 4 just took a family vacation to Scotland, and now Valeria Richards is about to be eaten by a ferocious tentacled beastie.

This issue opens up with the family frantically searching for Val. This sequence gives quite a bit of highlight to Johnny, who immediately turns into the most serious character in the issue, and is the one to find and rescue Val. Upon rescuing Val from her underwater captor, the monstrous Korgo surfaces and attacks the town. Korgo is then defeated through an unparalleled level of family teamwork: Reed wraps around it to constrict its movements, Johnny torches it constantly, Franklin and Val use themselves as bait to lure it away from the townspeople, and Susan drops the town's big stone church on it. Ben also swings a bus at it, but it was already knocked out at that point. The Four then find out that the townspeople had been willingly feeding Korgo their own children for centuries, and that Reed's cousin Hamish only invited them out there to feed either Val or Franklin. With Korgo gone, the townspeople all depart and find new homes. Rhona, the woman whose child has been given to Korgo years prior, thanks the Richards and makes a new life for herself.

Had these two issues come out as a single double-sized special in December as originally intended, this would've been an amazing Christmas special. With delays pushing it back to early Spring, however, some of the spirit is lost, and this becomes merely a decent distraction until the big Dr. Doom storyline is picked back up. Still, there was nothing actually wrong with this issue. If you're looking for the Fantastic 4 family having a quick adventure and the idea of Sue hurling town monuments sounds appealing, go for it.


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


THE IMMORTAL IRON FIST #24
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Penciler: Kano
Publisher: Marvel

In this issue, we're treated to a quick interlude, and told another tale from the long legacy of the Iron Fist. This story is about Li Park, the Reluctant Weapon.

In 730 AD, there is a boy named Li Park who is a bad kung-fu student. Not because of a lack of skill, but because of a lack of focus. He's a pacifist who loves art more than fighting. However, when a disease sweeps K'un-Lun, Li Park is the only kung-fu student left to take on the immortal dragon Shou-Lao. Li Park succeeds and becomes the Iron Fist, and must now depart K'un-Lun to save a defenseless village in China that is being attacked by a seemingly unstoppable army. Li Park first combines his chi with his imagination to create grand illusions of the soldiers' greatest desires, hoping it will deter them from fighting. When this doesn't work, Li Park discovers that some conflicts can only be solved by fighting, and easily defeats the army. He then gathers all of the surviving villagers, and leads them on a journey to K'un-Lun. However, because K'un-Lun only appears on Earth once every ten years, the villagers follow Li Park for a very long time before being led to the promised city of Heaven, where they repopulate the mystical city.

It's always nice to read one of these tales of the Iron Fist, but they're usually poorly timed. This would've been a welcome addition to the series had it been done between storylines. Instead, I just can't help but wonder what happened to the story of the capital city of Hell. This uneasy feeling is diminished, however, thanks to the fact that this is the second issue to come out this month, and it won't throw off the timing of next month's issue by much at all.


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


THE INCREDIBLE HERCULES #127
Writers: Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak
Penciler: Dietrict Smith
Publisher: Marvel

This issue starts out with Aegis from the old New Warriors taking out a few street thugs before promptly getting attacked by an assassin sent by Hera. Cut to Silly's Greek Diner, where Herc, Athena, and Amadeus are resting a spell. Hera and a Titan named Typhon then walk in, and Hera & Athena then discuss why Athena's controlling shares in the Olympus Group have been reduced, and Hera how Hera plans to get revenge on Athena for... basically being so much damn better than her. She also taunts Athena by telling her that she's disposed of Aegis.

Later at the Olympus Group office building, Hera invites Norman Osborn over to be a part of her special "Continuum" plan. Osborn, of course, doesn't believe that Hera really is the Hera of Greek myth, rejects Continuum, and storms out of the building.

At an old abandoned factory, Athena and her team find Aegis' corpse, and are soon ambushed Hera's own team of gods. Hera's team also includes Delphyne, Amadeus' old flame. This confrontation doesn't last long, however, when the Dark Avengers crash the party to attack everyone on both sides.

This is shaping up to be one action packed story, and one fun adventure. There's a lot of internal conflict in the family of Olympic gods, and it should be interesting just to see what happens next month when Iron Patriot sics Ares on his own mother. I'm also looking forward to seeing how Amadeus and Delphyne handle being on opposite sides. And really, that's where a lot of the strength in this book lies: in the characters and how they interact.


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


THE MIGHTY AVENGERS #23
Writer: Dan Slott
Penciler: Khoi Pham
Publisher: Marvel

With Modred knocked out, Iron Man immediately decides to wrest control of the team away from Hank Pym simply on the basis that he has no respect for Hank Pym. They restrain Modred and discover that Quicksilver's mind is stuck inside the Darkhold book. Meanwhile, the chaos god Chthon is going on a rampage inside of Quicksilver's body and summoning a giant Lovecraftian monster. Because Mt. Wundergore is the source of Chthon's power, Iron Man gathers Hercules and USAgent with the intention of destroying the mountain. Hank at first decides to back Iron Man's decision, but Amadeus and Bruce Banner tell him about how Iron Man almost hurled Manhattan into the Negative Zone during World War Hulk. Hank then launches his own plan: because Chthon needs to speak to cast his spells, Hank rewires his old Ant Man helmet to scramble the language center of Chthon's brain, preventing him from saying the words he means. Stature and Hulk then physically beat the junk out of him. When Modred sets himself free, Amadeus convinces Vision to read the Darkhold at high speeds, thus reading about Quicksilver's essence from a spellbook, which basically frees Quicksilver from the book and drives Chthon out of his body. With that, Modred also becomes trapped in the book, and the world is instantly restored to order.

This has been an overall decent opening storyline, with Slott taking an unconventional approach in choosing his characters, but also creating a more old school vibe than the Avengers comics have had in a long time. Slott also sets up the possibility of Thor joining the team later, with Loki possibly being the next villain.


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


WONDER WOMAN #30
Writer: Gail Simone
Penciler: Aaron Lopresti
Publisher: DC

The good news is that Steve Trevor has taken over the Department of Metahuman Affairs, which means Diana Prince can finally stop hunting down Wonder Woman. The bad news is that Steve's wife, Etta Candy-Trevor, has been captured by Genocide. Luckily, Etta is a badass broad, and is talking trash to a creature strong enough to take Wonder Woman in a fight. Meanwhile, Diana is at her wit's end, and is on the verge of torturing Cheetah to find out where Genocide has taken Etta. Cheetah spills just short of having her tail cut off.

On Thalarion, the home of the new Male Amazons, Zeus has given flesh to fire, and given life to a new champion of the gods named Achilles. This happens while the original female Amazons all come home to Themyscira, to rejoin their queen in retirement.

Later, Wonder Woman rips open the doors of the Secret Society headquarters, and wastes no time in plowing through everything thrown in her say so she can save her friend. She finds Genocide's creator, Dr. Morrow, who apologizes and begs Diana for the chance to help her stop it. Genocide has already left the building, but she left behind Etta, who is close to death and unresponsive.

The first half of Simone's 8-part story was pretty hit or miss, and there a still a few things from those first four issues that I'm uncomfortable with. However, if things continue to get better like this issue, then this might turn out to be one good overall tale. Still, this is feeling like two entirely different stories happening at the same time, and Simone's insistence on cramming them into a single storyline might be hurting her pacing.


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


X-INFERNUS #4 OF 4
Writer: C.B. Cebulski
Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli
Publisher: Marvel

Witchfire has taken another piece of Pixie's soul, Magik is being held captive, Rockslide and Mercury have been incapacitated, Wolverine and Colossus are under mind control, and Nightcrawler stands alone. Time to grab both soul blades and kick some ass.

Nightcrawler uses the blades to disspell the control Witchfire has over his teammates, then promptly chops off Witchfire's hand. Witchfire then knocks Nightcrawler back, regrows her hand, and begins summoning her gods into Limbo. When the gods start to slowly flood in, the X-Men attack. Magik and Mercury badly wound Witchfire, then Magik and Pixie use their weapons to break the seal that keeps the gods present. Witchfire and the gods are then sucked into a void, but Witchfire smiles as she takes a piece of Pixie's soul with her. With another piece of her soul gone, Pixie flies off into the distance. The team then convenes around Magik, and beg her to come back to the X-Men. Magik teleports the team back to San Francisco, where the rest of the X-family begs her to stay. Magik holds her brother Colossus' hand and agrees to stay.

X-Infernus was three things: It was the sequel to a storyarc in New X-Men, the sequel to Inferno, and the prelude to the upcoming New Mutants series. For those things, it has served its purpose. Illyana Rasputin is back, though Pixie is a bit more angsty (and by the end of this issue, missing) because of that. Other than that, however, this miniseries resolved very little. It was only mildly entertaining, and I probably could've missed it, as I expect there will be some quick exposition in the first issue of New Mutants.

 

[Mr. Green]

I just read FF and MA. FF was freakin' awesome. It was part two of a 2-parter and it was really, really good.

MA was pretty good too but I'm still not feelin' this art.

 

[Dread]

Space Marvel

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #12: I believe the second issue within the month, which is some fast pace considering the same writers and artist, Wes Criag, did both of the last issue. I can only presume that Criag had a few months of lead-in time from some of the 42 installments with Quill. Unlike X-MEN KINGBREAKER, where the release schedule totally botched the effect of the storyline's pacing, GOTG has been moving along at a swimming pace, matching up well with NOVA #23, which also shipped. At any rate, more GOTG is a good thing. While Phyla and Drax don't quite have the appeal of Peter Quill or Rocket, they do manage to have a pretty good adventure here, with the second part being superior to the first.

Having been led on a lead that Phyla's murdered lover Moondragon could be revived by oracles, Phyla and Drax ventured to Titan for guidance, only to be "killed" by Mentor. They wound up in the plane of Oblivion, being menaced by his agent, Maelstrom, who showed them the slumbering Dragon of the Moon demon that was festering inside Moondragon and on the verge of manifesting when Ultron slew her in ANNIHILATION CONQUEST. Claiming control of Phyla's quantum bands (which Maelstrom had once used when he stole them from Quasar during the 90's), he prepared to feed both of them to the Dragon.

If I have one problem with the story, it is because the role of Oblivion has been muddled and mixed up. He is a counterpart to Death, much as Infinity is a counterpart to Eternity. However, by now the role of Oblivion has become so like that of Death that it almost isn't worth having two cosmic beings who prepresent the same thing. Originally, Oblivion existed as the being that claimed the souls of beings who weren't literally killed, but had been erased from existance by some cosmic or magical means (or via the Ultimate Nullifier). Then it changed to claiming the souls of those who wished to die, basically suicide cases. Even those considering suicide strong enough, or of utmost importance, might get a visit from Oblivion's minion, Deathurge. This left Death handling, well, the death of anything else. In later years, and helped by the great GLA, though, Oblivion's role has become more like Death, with Deathurge claiming the souls of dead beings (even if they didn't take their own lives). Now, it may be possible that Oblivion still claims those who have been erased from existance and has decided to also try claiming the odd "naturally dead/murdered" soul in addition to suicide cases because, well, not enough things in the universe seek death or are negated from existence to sustain Oblivion for long, but this would imply a struggle with Death for souls that are hers/it's. But to be fair, it only is confusing if you actually looked up stuff about Marvel cosmics; if you don't, everything is peachy.

Maelstrom has never really appealed to me, but Abnett & Lanning have found a nice voice for him as an incredibly deranged cosmic villain, a former menace of the universe who has become clearly unhinged. Basically not unlike Loki, only if Loki was outright insane (which he/she isn't). Feeding Phyla to the Dragon first, Maelstrom prepares to the same to Drax, before being interupted by Wendall Vaughan, the original Quasar. Fresh from his stuff in NOVA, which coincides with it, Wendell "felt" the death of Phyla via the bands and despite being pure quantum energy now, angrilly engages his old enemy. I thought that was cool; in the 90's, Marvel space was basically Quasar, Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock/Infinity Watch, and Maelstrom was often Quasar's arch enemy (before he was tricked into killing himself by Mr. Immortal, something the villain appears not to want to mention). Just when Maelstrom starts to prevail using the bands, Drax slices his arms off to deprive him of them, and they return to Wendell once more. At this time, however, Phyla has freed herself from the Dragon, claiming Moondragon's soul in the process and still able to summon her "Quantum Sword" despite no longer having the bands. Dressed in a goth costume and claiming to "still have powers of her own", she apparently made a secret deal to free Moondragon, and all three leave the realm; Drax, Moondragon, and Phyla back to Titan, and Vaughan to NOVA #23. Interconnected books can be fun when both parts ship the same week.

Drax and Mentor are grateful to have Moondragon back, who notes it was not her first resurrection. While plenty of people called the fact that Moondragon would be revived at some point, I honestly didn't miss her. I felt it was about time Ultron managed to kill at least one Avenger, considering how bloody many Avengers there are. I have an unofficial rule that if you are a villain that fights a team of heroes, and if said team of heroes have had at least 20 members on their team either at once or combined, one has to actually manage to kill one of them to be considered a major threat as opposed to a generic threat. Majorly maiming one of them (or mortal wounding) also counts to a deree for me. Magneto once nearly killed Kitty Pryde, and his removing Wolverine's adamantium nearly killed him and weakened Logan for six years real time; he counts. Ultron's had about 50 Avengers to choose from and never managed to really kill or impact any of them for long, and he needed that Moondragon death for me. Even Baron Zemo had the "UNDER SIEGE" arc. Still, Ultron was still great in ANNIHILATION CONQUEST, I just never cared for Moondragon and saw her as perfect fodder. But to each their own. Considering Ultron can never really die "himself", it may be fitting that he can't kill any of the Avengers, either.

At first angry with Mentor for virtually killing them to get them into Oblivion's realm, the greater issue is the cost of Phyla's bargain. Maelstrom and Oblivion claim that Phyla has now become "the avatar of Death". The question is what that means. If that means that she has become Oblivion's minion or agent, that she should be bumping elbows with Doorman at some point. The larger issue could be that Death somehow "lost" her avatar when she finally embraced Thanos and that it needed a new one to replace her. At the very least, GOTG is managing to line up some big time threats that are supposed to impact WAR OF KINGS at some point. First implying the rebirth of Warlock's evil counterpart, Magus, and now Phyla as Death (or Oblivion's agent). Plus the Badoon and whatever breakdown of space/time that Starhawk is afraid of (that resulted in Major Victory being on the squad). Criag's art was pretty good, although I thought some of his facial expressions for Drax were too extreme. Still, Phyla's "death suit" looks pretty good on her; the Quantum Sword is better looking now, and since she wasn't quite cutting it as Quasar, she might work out better as "Death", since being emo isn't a downside to that role. On the surface WAR OF KINGS looks to merely be a match between the Inhumans/Kree and Shi'ar, but looking at the build up along the two ongoings that Abnett & Lanning are writing, as well as other tie-in's, it may really be something epic, with Vulcan being a red herring villain.

A better issue than the last, although the other two space books this week were probably a hair more satisfying.

NOVA #23: Is Richard Rider the new "protector of the universe"? What does the cover tell you? For once, an accurate cover in comics.

While part of WAR OF KINGS, this issue could have gotten away with a DARK REIGN tagger on the top as well, and I wonder if it would have helped. At one time stable at 28k per issue (or better) for 12 straight months, NOVA has now fallen to 25k. It is worrisome to see a book that was stable for a year start to slip, which I attribute to shops trimming fat to be able to afford 100,000 copies of NEW AVENGERS at double the wholesale price, or something. Still, NOVA has held steady at 25k for two months. GOTG and XM: KINGBREAKER outsell it in the space department.

Regular artist Andrea DiVito doesn't have a lot of diverse moments here but shines with what he is given, as always, and is a solid artist for the book. Glad to see DiVito return to "Marvel Space" after drawing the original ANNIHILATION. But in some ways more than the great art, the issue succeeds partly because Abnett & Lanning not only live up to the hype about the issue, but understand the character of Richard Rider, as he is and became in ANNIHILATION under their pens as well as that of Keith Giffen, that allow the issue to really shine.

Unlike a lot of other so-called heroes I thought I knew, like Spider-Man, Richard doesn't compromise on the things that count, not even with 48 hours to live before his molecules break apart. Sitting in his little brother's pad, Richard almost regrets how much Robbie seemed to "worship" him and his superhero career. Quasar is eager to save him, but Richard doesn't see a way and then Quasar vanishes, to fight Maelstrom in GOTG #12. The Earth is being plagued by major storms, however. At first being quelled by Worldmind, the close proximity of Ego to Earth is effecting the elements, especially as the planet soon begins procedures to leave orbit and shoot into space. Worldmind has become aware of the hostilities between the Shi'ar and Kree, and is responding to major Kree distress signals. As feared by Rider, the novice Nova Corps are being thrust into the front lines of a war despite none of them even having their powers more than day (even Richard chewed his teeth on supervillains before fighting some space wars). The Shi'ar Malik Tarcel is the new Nova Prime, and while Robbie is eager to be the friend and mentor to some of the other Centurions, he becomes frustrated when Worldmind selects him for support tactics rather than front lines action. Robbie clearly wants to do what his "big brother" did, and it may very likely get him killed.

Richard heads out to project PEGASUS in Upstate NY to check on Dr. Necker and any progress on a cure, and sees that the base has been taken over by Osborn's HAMMER and being disassembled. Almost arrested, Necker improvises him as a "boyfriend" as she drives off with what is left of her research. Necker explains that with Stark and SHIELD out, PEGASUS has been scrapped and she and everyone else have been fired. She ultimately drives Richard to a "secret lab" she has access to from some of her occasional clients, who turn out to be AIM. Unwilling to accept aid from terrorists, Richard refuses to accept being helped in that lab, and becomes more suspicious of Necker's intentions. Now, I LIKE that Richard sticks to his morals. He isn't into using villains or aid from villains, period. He didn't like it when Stark allowed the Thunderbolts to proceed, consisting of villains like Venom. He didn't like Worldmind lobotomizing cosmic menace Ego to use as New Xanadar. And so he equally doesn't like Necker being paid by or using AIM technology, even if it is to save his life. Now THOSE are convictions, and what heroes usually are about. Understanding his point of view, Necker respects his decision and gives him the Quantum Flask, lest it fall into the hands of AIM. After sharing a kiss with her in the rain, Richard smashes it to prevent it falling into the wrong hands after he dies, and Wendell emerges, fresh from Oblivion's realm with a fresh set of Quantum Bands prime for the picking. Trusting Wendell, Richard becomes the new Quasar, protector of the universe.

Richard stuck to his convictions, and got rewarded by not only not dying, but getting super-powers again? Is this REALLY the Marvel Universe? Because nearly everyone else writes heroes as having to compromise when things get tough, to literally make deals with devils when they see no clear, easy option. Maybe not Brubaker, Gage, or Slott, but many others. I must say I like the universe that Abnett & Lanning are mastering and presenting in their books. While not perfect, I am getting the feeling that Abnett & Lanning have learned from CONQUEST and may have more control of it, handling most of the mini's and tie-in's themselves, as well as two ongoing titles. NOVA is still the better of the two in my eyes. While we all know that Richard will become the Nova Prime again, the devil is in the execution, and in that Abnett & Lanning are delivering for him.

Worldmind is power-mad and sending the Corps in for a fight that seemed destined for mass slaughter, just as Richard feared. Even worse, he doesn't think Robbie has the arrogance to be the kind of hero he was, and very likely may be killed. Now Richard has a new lease on life and enough power to do something about the situation. If the next few issues were standalones, that would be awesome and suspenseful enough, but as part of the greater WAR OF KINGS epic, the anticipation is is a fever pitch. Still one of Marvel's best titles and one of the ones I eagerly look forward to every four weeks, superhero comics and space comics, or comics period from the Big Two, hardly come better than NOVA.

WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK #2: The second part of the 2 part mini inserting Darkhawk into WAR OF KINGS, Abnett & Lanning come aboard to help Cebulski with the writing, and while Tolibao pencils most of the issue, about 9 pages are drawn by Paolo Pantalena, whose art I actually liked better in a way. There is a bit of an error; in one panel, Darkhawk's speech balloon is clearly full of a line intended for "Talon", the other "darkhawk" that has appeared. It's not an issue breaker but it does seem like a careless, rushed mistake.

I honestly wonder about how well Darkhawk will fit into things, whether it will feel organic or forced, like Wraith in CONQUEST. There has been a bit of effort to get Darkhawk off Earth and to tie up enough of his ties there to launch him into space. WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK #1 sold about 25.5k copies, or basically 500 more copies than the NOVA #22. Considering these are $3.99 each that technically makes it among the best sellers of the space line aside for KINGBREAKER. The only other problem is that Darkhawk's origin was covered in 50 issues of his 90's ongoing title; complicated but covered. An alien criminal (Dargin Bokk, who also became "Evilhawk") as well as a band of other scientists, one of them human, worked in Null space aboard a ship to make powerful living mechanical bodies to transfer their minds to as weapons. The scientists rebelled and one amulet wound up on Earth, which Richard found. Darkhawk traveled to space, had another body made for him, and eventually became the only Darkhawk left. I grow concerned every time the power is explained as "armor" and not "swapping bodies", which is what it was. It is NOT the same. That is akin to claiming that Captain Marvel didn't trade places with Rick Jones, he was literally transforming Jones' body from within. That is a big difference.

Darkhawk and the other "raptor", dubbed Talon, defeat a horrible mechanical being out to kill both of them, that blew up the Powell home. The creature is defeated, but Chris' mother is in a coma, and Chris dismisses Talon as the cause. Distressed in the hospital, Chris and Micky discuss his anger issues as well as his "addiction" to the amulet and his Darkhawk powers. In some ways I wonder if Cebulski is so attached to his the "Loners" concept of the young retired heroes seeing their powers as addictions and whatever that he is stifling some growth. At the end of the series, the Loners appeared to accept themselves as heroes and understand that sometimes they would need their powers to make a difference. Yet now they're acting like that sort of thing is wrong again. Or at least Mickey is. And while she has a point about Chris' anger, in his defense, in that situation he had every reason to be angry. His house got blown up, his mother was in a coma, his brothers were nearly killed and his life is falling apart again. Due to his amulet or not, that's a good reason to be a bit pissy towards someone trying to give you therapy lectures as you are watching your half dead mother. To Mickey's credit, though, she did try to get Chris to at least consider Talon's aid, rather than fighting him.

When Talon shows up at the hospital, Darkhawk picks a fight with him, but soon settles down when Talon insists that they are the last "raptors" in the universe and claims to reveal more about themselves. Apparently the Raptors were part of an intergalactic society out to defend the cultures of the universe, which are now under threat from another intergalactic war between the Shi'ar and Kree. The only problem with this is that it makes the "Raptors" seem not far removed from the Nova Corps, basically space cops with super-powers. The "space weapons cultivated by an alien criminal" origin was complicated, but at least it wasn't as cliche. Of course it could be possible that the research organized by Bokk and his assembled scientists merely copied or reactivated Raptor technology, rather than simply inventing it from scratch, which would also add to Talon's theory as to why Chris' human body didn't adjust, thus causing his anger issues.

On the upside, Chris bids the Loners farewell before he flies off into space, and while Johnny Gallo seemed to have bones to pick with him last issue, this time he was more compassionate, putting that aside to ask how Chris' mother was doing, which was good. It might make a fun AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE plot for Prodigy to try to make contact with Gallo for some reason, even though the two were hardly friends (even if old Slingers teammates). Darkhawk and Talon then fly into space, or into the next mini, ASCENSION.

Darkhawk from the start always seemed to be the most shoehorned into WAR OF KINGS, and after two issues that remains. The Inhumans were orginally created by the Kree, so them returning to rule the Kree out of desperation with their plight on Earth makes a degree of sense. The Vulcan/Starjammers plot has been cycling through the X-titles for about 2-3 years now. And Nova and the GOTG are space heroes from past events, whether ANNIHILATION or others. But Darkhawk is pretty much out of left field. Part of me thinks that Abnett & Lanning are a bit "interested" in him, and may be looking for any way to involve him. My biggest concerns are that they acknowledge his past origin as well as his powers. Towards the end of the DARKHAWK series in the 90's, Powell and Darkhawk were physically seperated and could act independently, but were "remerged" at the end of the series, so maybe his constitution is different now. I just want it all to make sense. Right now he seems the least "organic" character involved in WAR OF KINGS. I am also curious why Cebulski handled the writing last issue, but this time Abnett & Lanning are also credited (they will also be doing the ASCENSION series). At least Richard Rider will have another ally up there if they run into each other.

I want to be excited about this, as excited as I am about other angles of WAR OF KINGS, but I still am a little puzzled about the revelations and how they fit into the character's history, and whether shoehorning him in will feel too awkward. I will get ASCENSION as well, but right now the DH section is my "least favorite" bit of WAR OF KINGS. Retconning the "Raptors" into space-cops seems too generic, and it might be a neat twist if Talon is lying, just to get Darkhawk to aid him.

 

[Dread]

Last, but not truly least, a comic my shop actually got...

X-MEN: KINGBREAKER #4: I don't know what Marvel's problem is with releasing this. It came out a week later than Diamond originally noted, but not because of any production delay, as last week review sites like NEWSARAMA got issues to review online. Furthermore, they chose to release this almost 3 weeks after WAR OF KINGS #1, which is the series that it is a prelude to. That's like releasing book 3 of a 10 book series before book 2. It risks making the prelude seem moot and, for some, a waste of time and money. Which is a damn shame because that has nothing to do with the creative team, Yost and Weaver.

In some ways, this series only had to go over some storyline contrivances. In the last STARJAMMERS series, half of the team were captured by Vulcan, as well as their ship. In order to involve them in WAR OF KINGS, the Starjammers had to be reunited and needed to fly off into space again to meet the Kree/Inhumans. Fair enough. In the old days this might have been covered in a 1-4 page flashback; in more recent times maybe a 2-3 issue mini to stretch it. Four seems a bit much, and I do wonder if some of it couldn't have been scaled back, or this been released in, say, three 30 page issues (since it was $3.99 anyway). Looked at from a distance, it seems to be embellishing and decompressing something that didn't need a whole lot of explanation. "The Starjammers escape into space; Vulcan chases them".

That said, the execution of this is pretty good. Weaver's artwork is quite good, solid for the alien designs and the action sequences, of which there are several. One could claim without the action, a major draw of the mini would be lost. Yost finds a voice for most of the characters, although the alien criminals that Vulcan releases on the Starjammers are mostly fodder, and nearly all of them are killed by the end of this issue. One of the heroes, Raza, is also seemingly sacrificed to give the series meaning; I noticed he was missing in WAR OF KINGS #1 weeks ago, and all but called him somehow dying or being captured here. Instead he is left behind and presumed dead, after being merged with a ravenous symbiote. Oh, well.

If there is anything that saves this final issue, it is Havok's cajones. While Racheal Summers was fighting a Hodinn, a sort of "living star" type alien in space for half the issue, Havok is stuck without his powers and with the rest of the 'jammers trying to survive the attack of Vulcan, his released inmates, and the Imperial Guard. Fortunately for Alex, Gladiator is distacted by Xenith, the other woman of his species who has been released, and wants him dead. If Gladiator is a riff on Superman, than Xenith is easily Supergirl; she is his cousin, all she lives to do is fight people, and she is completely insane. Gladiator has to be convinced that Vulcan actually released her and that she is under his will by Deathbird. The Hodinn knocks Rachael into the underwater prison, forcing Polaris to magnetically keep the place from flooding. Fortunately for Havok, the Hodinn is pretty much radiating his power source, so Alex absorbs all of the rogue's power into himself and proceeds to fight Vulcan. No, fight is too subtle a word; beats the living **** out of Vulcan. It's downright embarassing for the Shi'ar Majestor. Unsatisfied with flooring Vulcan with a power blast, Havok proceeds to, I guess, "plasma punch" Vulcan for most of the rest of the issue. Vulcan offers no resistance; he's no match for Havok's whup-ass technique of punching at the head, and then repeating. Considering what an annoying villain Vulcan is, it was good to see him get thrashed a little. It is a shame that it's all moot, but it was rather satisfying.

There is a minor subplot around the idea that in Havok's vendetta against Vulcan, he is on the verge of repeating some of the mistakes of his brother. Vulcan justifies his actions as avenging himself upon D'Ken and the Shi'ar after all his years of torture. Havok feels that Vulcan crossed the line when he killed Corsair, which is justifiable. The prison is collapsing and Lilandra, after crippling her sister, forces them all to teleport to safety before Havok can finish Vulcan off.

Lilandra crippling Deathbird gives Vulcan more of a reason to specifically go after her in WAR OF KINGS #1 (which he did) beyond the good old fashioned reason of eliminating the only real threat to his rule to smite any in his empire or others still loyal to her. To her credit, she wants to stop Vulcan without sacrificing any of the X-Men or Starjammers to do so if it can be avoided, a lesson that Havok is a bit slow to learn.

In another subplot, also explaining why the forces assembled at Crystal's wedding offered little fight when the Imperial Guard attacked, the Phoenix Force leaves both Rachael and Korvac's Cloud Strife sword, depowering both greatly. Rach is reduced to being a mid-level telepath and telekenetic, and Korvac is basically a standard Shi'ar soldier with a sword bigger than he is. He managed to kill one of their enemies to defend Rachael, cleaving him in two (that weird cybernetic tentacle guy always rambling about being paid, as if we would forget his one character hook if he wasn't always mentioning it. Oh, wait, we might). How or why this happened is unknown. Havok is on a GOTG cover at some point, so maybe they employ their help to find the force.

Again, on the technical side, nothing about this series is really bad. The dialogue is fine, it has a lot of action with many characters, Havok really steps up against Vulcan, and Weaver's art is great, handling the characters and the action well. If not for the poor timing of it's release, it might have had more impact. I certainly don't hope that this beat-down that Havok gives Vulcan is to placate his fans because he is being cheated in WAR OF KINGS; Vulcan is Havok's enemy, and the emotional impact will only come if he finishes the tyrant off and avenges his father. Lilandra and Lorna may have a point about not taking vengeance too far, but there is a bit of a difference between being a little battle zealous and slaughtering entire planets after committing regicide and patricide.

Still, a series for completists; it may read better in trade. I don't regret it, just think it was perhaps a little too decompressed, and wonder if scaled back to three oversized issues (they were $4 after all) would have helped.

 

[Red]

Yeah, Nova was awesome this week

 

[Dread]

Yeah, Nova was awesome this week

To be fair, NOVA is usually awesome every month. Just some months are more awesome than others.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Consistent art from DiVito is giving it a couple extra notches on the awesome curve.

 

[Dread]

Indeed. DiVito is a great choice to be regular artist on NOVA, and it is great seeing him return to Marvel space after toiling on MARVEL ADVENTURES for a while.

I still kind of feel bad about some of the harsh criticism DiVito got on his two fill-in issues on YOUNG AVENGERS when Cheung needed a break. Least his two issues were on time.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I stand by the criticism I gave DiVito in those issues, actually. I love his art but he's definitely not suited to drawing teenagers. His figures are generally elongated as it is, but he packs enough muscle onto the frames with adults that it works. With kids, he basically leaves them the same height but subtracts about 40% of their muscle mass, so they end up looking like they're two skipped meals away from becoming stick figures. Plus, I think he might've been rushed for those issues, since the backgrounds were much more sparse and uninteresting than he usually draws.

 

[Dread]

My criticism at the time was basically, "he's not Cheung, so he is inferior", kind of like when Ron Garney filled in for Kubert in ULTIMATE X-MEN early on. Granted, I think Garney got better after his time in DC than he was then, but whatever.

It was years ago, DiVito likely improved. And to be fair, many artists struggle with teenagers.