Dread's Bought/Thought, Part II:
FANTASTIC FOUR #573: The end of Johnathan Hickman's first arc on the proper FF title wraps up, and while it tells a familiar story (Reed Richards choosing family over overly ambitious super-science), it is probably a well timed one. If you count DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR, this is actually the 8th issue of Hickman's writing on the Four. This wraps up his subplot about "The Bridge", in which Reed sought to make up for his failures the last few events by locking himself in a room and exploring the multi-verse. He stumbles across a Council of Cross-Time Reeds (essentially) and does all sorts of heady science stuff like fixing suns, breeding farm planets, and lobotomizing alternate Dr. Dooms. The best line of the issue is on the cover, though.
Despite previews to the contrary, some alternate Celestials attack the Council, and damn near wipe it out until they are forced to retreat. After this, Reed learns that, "the cost of fixing everything is everything", that every one of his alternates sacrificed their families and friends to be there, and even when it goes wrong, doesn't regret it. The 616 Reed, naturally, seems to take heed to the messages from his father Nathanial about being a better man through that stuff, and returns to Sue in the end.
Reed is like Cyclops; ignored until some hot writer made him "kewl" again and then overwritten by the next several. Grant Morrison made Cyclops a character people wanted to write about again, and Mark Waid did that for Reed (around the same time, too, 2002-2005). However, various events seemed to have Reed appear but do questionable things, like in CIVIL WAR, or miss the bean on others, like WORLD WAR HULK or SECRET INVASION. While I wasn't in the mood for another Reed story, or at least issue 8 of one, but I see this as Hickman trying to "cleanse the sins" of the character from the last few years. In that way it is similar to what Matt Fraction has done with the last year or so of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, only thankfully without the self-inflicted brain damage. This gets Reed back to basics for the run, which is not a bad thing to do.
Some complain that the Four never change, and they're right. Until Franklin is allowed to hit puberty and join the team proper, they never will. The Four haven't lead the Marvel line since about the 1980's, and aside for some failed ongoings for Thing, they don't support spin-off's well. As such they're the Rolling Stones of Marvel, forever doing "best of" tours. The dilemma is to change them dramatically would prevent them from being the Four, and the trick is to do all sorts of super-science while getting the characters right. That said, the concept of "Nu-World" is a decent one that Hickman can make hay of in the next arc, if he is up to it. Created by Millar in the last run, the crux of it is that it's a parallel earth, only non-polluted, without some form of government, and filled with 8 billion people from a dying alternate reality. There is a lot of potential here; who decides who is with the elite and who gets to roll in mud in Nu Somalia, for instance? Are they democratic, communist, or what? A story with Ben & Johnny visiting, with Frank & Val tagging along unknowingly, could be quite grand. It could be the 21st century version of Counter-Earth, which was ore for many a FF story back in the day.
Eaglesham's art is great, and will be missed for his brief break on the title next month. I don't mind the return of "rugged Reed" and everyone looks fine. The challenge of Hickman is to handle the characters well while doing some good "science/exploration" stories, since Marvel doesn't really rely on the Four anymore, instead hitching stuff to the wagons of the Avengers, or the X-Men, or even Hulk. The franchise turns 48 next month and it still sells in the Top 50, which is better than some DC titles I could mention. Hopefully Hickman continues his attempt to match or top Waid's run. Now if only Frank would hit puberty; I mean even soap operas know to "inject young blood" into most families every 40 years or so, or realize no one cares about age differences if you "speed grow" a kid. Hickman handles the characters well, I'm just curious how well he will do when Reed isn't the exclusive star.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #19: Made this the BOOK OF THE WEEK over at Examiner. Not everyone likes Craig's artwork, but I don't mind it and think it has a manic energy to it, as well as making it distinctive to most space book art. The color work likely helps, though. This issue, though, feels like the finale of a crossover event in one issue. A lot happens, characters die, and a massive threat is overcome. While GOTG, like NOVA, has been tied in with WAR OF KINGS, it also has cultivated it's own story, and this issue is the well deserved finale of it. In order to mend "The Fault" and save the universe from it, as warned by the squad of Guardians trapped in the 31st century, Adam Warlock had to become the Magus, his old evil self. In this issue, Peter Quill and the rest of his squad manage to return to the present to try to prevent the rule of Magus from becoming the only future.
They accomplish this with help from Kang the Conqueror, and while he has a short cameo, it is an important one. The entire team is ravaged by being thrown across time, with Peter being aged, Bug being a teen, Mantis & Cosmo being infants, and Flag fading from reality. Kang fixes that in an instant and leads an army of Starhawks to save them from Magus' hordes. Abnett & Lanning have quite a few "techno-babble info-dump" panels, but they manage to rattle it off and return to their trademark witty banter and lines that this series is known for. Craig & LaPointe actually manage to use some good colors, angles, and shadow work to make Kang's borderline ridiculous costume actually look noteworthy. Yes, I know, it's a Kirby classic, but I always thought Kang looked like a cross between a baseball umpire and a kabuki dancer, and that wouldn't scare a two year old, and thus needs a tweak. Even Dr. Doom occasionally gets a design tweak now and then, and he's even older. This is also noteworthy because it's Kang's first appearance in any mainstream comic that is set in "modern" time in three years. That kind of gap put some oomph into the cameo, and makes me curious if Kang could show up in GOTG again. Some of the exchanges between he and Mantis, who he used to stalk during her "Celestial Madonna" era, were amusing.
The highlight is the climax, when the entire baker's dozen of them take on Magus. It helps that Abnett & Lanning have given Magus an actual personality, and he's making amusing lines that even Joss Whedon would laugh at. Despite the odds and Peter's morals about slaying Warlock, the Magus is eventually overcome, but not without a heavy price.
I won't miss Major Victory too much, and I doubt Gamora is dead, considering she once regenerated from being MELTED BY A SUN at the start of the series. Groot, similarly, has been "destroyed" before. Phyla, Mantis, and especially Cosmo, though, will be missed. Assuming their deaths are permanent. Lord knows anything in which a cosmic cube is involved with gets weird, and things end up not being dead. Moondragon came back after Ultron tore out her heart, albeit in a year. Still, this reminds me of the era when books didn't need a hundred crossovers to be events unto themselves, and that is what this issue provides.
Fantastic issue, great cameo for Kang, and it beacons a new beginning for the title, and REALM OF KINGS to come. Often considered a secondary series to NOVA, GOTG has ended up being essential space reading.
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #137: The Amadeus Cho side story hasn't been as hilarious as Hercules' tale, but this issue things really get cracking to wrap up Cho's origin as well as lead the series into it's next arc, the hyped "RAID ON NEW OYMPUS" story, that will be getting an extra one-shot and a slew of big name guest appearances. Considering Greg Pak created Cho back in AMAZING FANTASY #15 in 2006, I am curious if he does more of the writing on the Cho segments, while Van Lente had more to do with the Hercules story. I'm sure both contribute, but co-writing teams don't always split every story evenly in terms of labor and input.
In this issue, we find out that not only did Athena have her eye on Cho since before he fell in with Hercules, but that she even provided the one event that prevented his death from Pythagoras Dupree. Cho also figures out that she sees him as a replacement hero to Hercules, a mortal champion of the mind since brute strength supposedly isn't as required; tell that to the Hulk. At any rate, Cho has his showdown with Dupree and for a series known for laughs, it also has it's share of effective melodrama and gut wrenching moments, such as when Cho decides revenge is childish, but still weeps for his dead parents at the end. The artwork by Buchemi is also quite good, as usual. Peter Parker shows up at the end (Van Lente, no surprise, has written quite a few ASM arcs), and while the appearance of Spider-Man still seems totally obligatory, that hardly is a deal breaker for me right now. I mean, the path of obligatory guest appearances for Spider-Man was well worn twenty years ago. Considering how often that Osborn, Iron Man and Deadpool have spread like crabs at a bordello, I don't mind the return of the original guest ****e of Marvel.
Can't wait for RAID ON NEW OLYMPUS. Event-style team-up's, the return of AGENTS OF ATLAS, it'll be good stuff, and a nice alternative to whatever schlock is going on with Bendis and SIEGE.
NOVA #30: The end of one arc and the beginning of the next, Abnett & Lanning prove masters at reworking old characters, like Starstalker and some Mindless Ones (who aren't so mindless), but in adding effective supporting characters to their now blossoming cast. Philo adds the sort of "grizzled drill instructor" that Nova lacked for the new Centurions, and that Richard himself really isn't. Philo is about three decades removed from them, but some strategies never get old. He's the one who probably demotes everyone but Rich to one star Centurions according to previews for next issue. Kevin Sharpe continues his fill in for Andrea DiVito, and while his art is solid, he's not DiVito.
The revelation about Starstalker and his seeming change of heart (before leaving) is a bit abrupt for my taste, but the rest of the issue is gold. Philo earns his medals, while Richard proves he's hardly the dumbest of the Rider family, perfectly solving two problems with one stone. That is, how to avoid getting torn apart by the Black Hole Son while "Nu-Xanadar" comes apart at the seams with Ego reviving faster than expected. Thus the Nova Corps return to setting up shop in an old Xanadarian space ship while Ego is dispatched with, for now. It proves that effective superheroes are more than just energy blasts and punching, even if Nova does that stuff well, too.
Not quite as climatic as GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY this week, but still damn good. Next issue promises a conflict with Darkhawk, who's now the Lee Harvey Oswald of the Shi'ar empire (even if Havok swears he heard another shot coming from the grassy knoll - kidding
), which should be interesting since NOVA is where Darkhawk got re-inserted into doing cool stuff beyond LONERS (which, as a franchise, is essentially DOA, sadly). Nothing more to say besides good stuff, and Philo sure has a unique design for a Centurion. Lindy gets a few lines this issue, but so far she's hardly original by comparison.
Ko-Rel, though, is hilarious as Worldmind, and one wonders exactly how long Abnett & Lanning had that brilliant turn planned.
