Bought/Thought: The Wednesday After Last

[JewishHobbit]

Heafty load for me today. Besides the expected comics I also picked up one I forgot I needed and another that wasn't planned at all.

Starting with the DC's since they're on top of the stack.

Superman 7 - Yeah, this was the one I wasn't planning on buying. In fact, I don't think I've EVER bought a new issue of Superman in my life. The reason I did buy this was the covor. I had recently bought some Wildcats comics (issues 1-6) from their 90's launch and I recognized their villain, Helspont on the cover of this issue while at the shop. I saw the new writing team on the cover and checked to see if this was their first issue, it was, and so I thought, what the heck. I've been so disenchanted with Marvel of late that I'm looking for jumping off points but I'm always looking for ways to help DC out. I thought, what the heck?

So I bought it and read it. It made me wish I didn't drop Grifter and since last week is so small (2 issues) I might get caught up on that title as well. As for this one it was decent. I've never been a huge Superman fan on his own (though I like him in teams and events) and I'm not sure if this sold me enough to continue with it but I'll likely pick up next issue at least to finish up the Helspont plot. It was decent, though a little wordy.

Justice League Dark 7 & I, Vampire 7 - I, Vampire was the one I forgot I needed since I forgot about the crossover. I almost passed on both of these since I've been debating on dropping JLD but figured I'd go ahead and give them a try. While I thought the JLD issue was decent the I, Vampire one kinda bored me and I didn't care for the art (or how hard it was to tell certain characters apart). It was kinda Jae Lee, who is hit or miss for me.

The plot itself is more of an I, Vampire story with the JLD crew mixed in, as well as Batman and Batgirl. It was just okay but it's only 2 extra issues tie-in so that's not so bad. I figure I'll stick with JLD until the new writer comes on and see what I think then. I liked the first arc so hopefully the book will continue being good and keep from getting too dark and demented. We'll see though.

New Avengers 23 - For those who thought it was strange that Skaar joined the Dark Avengers, we saw him turn last issue and learned that he was undercover for Steve the whole time. Works for me. The Dark Avengers are taken down and we know from the last issue of Avengers that Norman pretty much did himself in so this Norman arc is finished, thankfully. This title was MUCH better than Avengers but it still wasn't great. I wish Bendis was sticking around longer if only to see what could happen with Skaar staying on the team (which it wasn't clearly shown if he was). We know that he'll be on the Dark Avengers team in their title though so I guess I could follow him there but I don't know.

The last two pages with Luke coming home to an empty office and looking at a picture of him, Danny, and Jessica in their old costumes makes me think that Bendis is leading toward the three of them leaving the Avengers to start a new Heroes for Hire or something. I would totally be cool with that! Bendis writes a fantastic Luke and Jessica and he gets better with Danny every issue. We'll see what happens post AvsX.

Avengers 24.1 - I liked this issue. Maybe it's just in comparison to the horrendous arc that just finished but I liked the Vision's solo issue as he confronts She-Hulk and later Magneto about his death at the hands of Wanda. I thought it was just a good issue to get into Vision's head since his resurrection. I was expecting an issue that hinted at Vision somehow being a badguy leading toward the Ultron story Bendis and Hitch has cooking but this wasn't that at all. I'm glad. I like where Vision is at at the moment.

Avengers Vs. X-Men 0 - This was kinda boring, just a set up so people know what's going on with Wanda and Hope. I hate Frank Cho's art so that was a downer for me but he's only on this one issue so thankfully I could swallow it. In the first part we see Wanda needing help from Spider-Woman and Ms. Marvel in taking down Modok and she comes with them back to the Avengers. There she finds the angry Vision who tells her she is not welcomed. It was a good follow up to Avengers 24.1 and I'm curious where this part is going.

The second story with Hope just shows the same type of stuff that we've been seeing for a year or two. Hope and Cyclops argues and Hope shows teenage angst. She takes down the Serpant Society and Scott & Emma show up to help. Hope reveals that she knows about the Phoenix coming for her and that she's ready to embrace it... and this scares the crap out of Scott.

The Wanda story was decent though the Hope story could have been skipped. I still think that they need to play Wanda right and try to give her a title post-AvsX. Right now we have no female solos and we'll soon have Captain Marvel (featuring Carol Danvers) but I think Wanda's in an interesting place right now with enough connections for great character interactions. I'd try it out but I just don't see it happening.

Uncanny X-Force 23 - I'm glad this arc is over but these last two issues were decent. This one goes a little too far with Fantomex's face and neck being cut off and his just slapping it back on to fight another day (though in his defense Betsy was turning off his pain receptors). Besides that though I thought Jamie being the unknowing bad guy was good and I liked how Brian finally saw the reasoning in why X-Force kills. He chooses not to do what was necessary, forcing Betsy to kill her brother Jamie before he even goes nuts and destroys the omniverse, and in doing so is left stunned as Betsy leaves the 'bad guy' of the family. The interesting twist was that Betsy had to take over Brian's mind in order to have him break Jamie's neck... making Brian's hands be the ones to kill him, though not his mind, keeping himself clean.

In the end it was an interesting story but the art just killed it. I'm glad it's done and I'm eager for next issue with a different artist and the return of AoA Iceman. Bring it on!

Astonishing X-Men 48 - Liu's run starts on the title and doesn't disappoint. I loved her on X-23 and I'm glad to see she brings a little of that over here. In X-23 Gambit was a co-star and toward the end was forming an antagonizing friendship with Cecelia Reyes. That friendship continues here as both get pulled into an adventure along with Northstar, Iceman, Wolverine, and Kid Gladiator's body guard, Warbird. The Marauders attack the team and we see that someone else is snatching Northstar's boyfriend Kyle (introduced in Fraction's Uncanny run I believe). Karma is also supposed to be joining the team but she's not in this issue.

I'm excited for this run souly for Liu. She dose a great job with continuity and character interaction and there's a lot of history with this group of characters and Northstar is a perfect center for them. He once crushed on Iceman. Wolverine killed him. Karma and him have the homosexuality thing in common. Gambit and Cecelia don't connect with him but they have great chemistry together. Warbird is an untouched character with a lot of potential.

This could be good so I'm eager to see where Liu takes it.

X-Men Legacy 264 -I liked this issue better than the previous three but it still wasn't quite up to the standards of most other X-Men books (Astonishing now included). Gage did do a good job with the characters though and I'm hoping more comes of Mimic after this. I've always liked him but he's always been delegated to minor roles and long terms of nothingness. This was a good follow up to the Dark X-Men story though so I'm glad to see it.

But the one thing in this issue that made me happier than any other this week was the fact that Chamber FINALLY showed up in a comic!!!! He was teaching a class that I found interesting about the changing physical body of mutants (with students in it like Rockslide, Glob Herman, and Anole) and that makes sense. I just hope that he gets a bigger role sometime in the future. A new member is supposed to join this team soon and I'm hoping it's him after helping stop the threat or something. If not him then Mimic but I'm rooting for Chamber to find a solid home.


Best and Worst of the Week

Best: Avengers 24.1 - Really, nothing blew me away this week but I thought this issue was the best of the bunch. I really liked what I saw and it's got me interested in what's coming with the Vision for the first time ever. I thought New Avengers was also good but this one beat it by just a hair.

Worst: Avengers vs. X-Men 0 - This was only a zero issue that catches people up on Wanda and Hope, which I didn't need, so it bored me. I'm expecting the rest of the event to be a lot better but this issue did little for me. Cho's art only made it worse.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Wait, my list shows that Secret Avengers 24 was supposed to come out this week. Did I miss it?

 

[Splat]

I love Cho's art, weird.

 

[Roose Bolton]

New Avengers 23 So comes the end of the new Dark Avengers saga, and surprisingly it didn't suck. This issue was mostly two main action scenes between Dark and New Avengers, and the reveal that Skaar has been working for Steve Rogers from the beginning. Oh and apparently Jessica Jones has left Luke Cage?
Bends is in his prime writing these Darker characters and surprisingly seems to have a great handle on Skaar, odd considering he has know clue how to write Bruce Banner.
Deodato as usual knocks it out of the park. His detailed and fluid work makes the battle scenes a joy to read.
So yeah a pretty good issue.
Ultimates 8
Now, I'm usually pretty dismissive of the ultimate imprint these last few years, but Hickman's work on this series may be among the best material that Marvel is putting out, a consistently well written book that is teaming with grand ideas and beautiful imagery. The story, Reed Richards now in a highly evolved state has gone rogue and declared war on the world, on his side are "The Children of Tomorrow" a race of beings created in Reeds own image. The Ultimates struggle to prevent the advance of these super beings, and have now turned to "The Celestials" a race of highly evolved mutants that live in a peaceful zen like state of supreme being. Various betrayals and shock twists are ripe was Hickman builds to the inevitable war between these two races of Godlike beings.
The Art by Esad Ribic is beautifully rendered, and oddly enough has shades of Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira.
Enough of my ramblings, BUY THIS BOOK!

 

[Harlekin]

Wait, my list shows that Secret Avengers 24 was supposed to come out this week. Did I miss it?

You did. It was the best of the Avengers titles too. (which doesn't necessarily say much, IMO)

 

[JewishHobbit]

Oh well. It's not one of my top books yet and I'm only getting two comics next week so a third will justify the 20 minute trip a little better.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I love Cho's art, weird.

I loved how he drew Wanda and the Vision, didn't like his take on the X-Men.

 

[Splat]

I loved how he drew Wanda and the Vision, didn't like his take on the X-Men.

Yeah some of those came off a bit odd.

 

[runawayboulder]

So I read through Avengers #24.1 and it was the giant turd I expected it to be. At least it was a badly done filler issue leading into AvX instead of a dissection of the Vision as a character and what makes him tick. Bendis clearly doesn't get the Vision, isn't that why he had him ripped to shreds back in Disassembled and never used him since?

I might as well get this out of the way first - the art sucked, but I've seen Brandon Peterson's art dating back to the Gold Team era Uncanny X-Men so I knew what to expect. It actually started out decent and progressively got worse.

Vision has always been a logical being, smarter that any average human when it came to emotions. He would assess things and reason and make a choice on that. He wouldn't aggressive confront Magneto knowing that A. Magneto could easily destroy him and B. kicking down the door to Utopia, the X-Men's home would cause more problems for the Avengers than anything else. I have no issue with somebody wanting to explore his feelings of anger and revenge resulting in closure but the Vision has and should be smarter than that.

These protests outside of Avengers Mansion have been done a billion times before but has Bendis even explained what the issue is this time? Or is it just something for the artist to draw in the background because bushes and trees aren't interesting to draw? Shouldn't the Avengers be wondering about this instead of making out in the back yard like teenagers? Why is there a mutants go home sign out there? There's only 200 of them left on the Earth and possibly only one (Beast) inside. Why is Cap in fighting pose waiting for the Vision to return? Is this Ultimate Cap waiting for Hank Pym to return after beating up Jan again? Why is he totally clueless about Hawkeye and Spider-Woman banging when he's the leader/eyes and ears of the team? Why is he ready to beat down a teammate instead of being the leader he's supposed to be?

What was the whole point of this issue?

What's the whole point of the Avengers these days?

I did like the She-Hulk scenes with Vision, her regret and sadness was genuinely heartfelt. The Avengers are totally disconnected from themselves compared to stories I've read in the past? What stories? What runs? ALL OF THEM.

When are they announcing Bendis' successor to the Avengers again? I'd take Rob Liefeld and Jeph Loeb again at this point....

 

[THANOSRULES]

only 200 yet everyone is repowered...

 

[runawayboulder]

Only the important ones...

 

[THANOSRULES]

Avalanche is repowered

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Avengers #24.1: I liked this issue. Maybe I'm just starved for anything Vision at this point, but I thought Bendis did a decent job of showing the Vision's quest to make sense of his death. The She-Hulk scene was very earnest and a good reminder that the Avengers are more of a family than their main counterpart, the JLA. The Magneto scene was a pretty boneheaded move on the Vision's part, but it's not like we haven't seen the Vision lose his s*** before. He makes stupid mistakes occasionally, especially when he's emotional. Magneto's dismissal was kind of nice, too. Telling the Vision he was letting him go on the off chance that he might still be one of the few things that could make Wanda happy is probably as close to a healthy father-in-law/son-in-law relationship as those two are ever going to get. Cap looking like he was ready to fight the Vision on the lawn was kind of stupid, but Cap backs down when he realizes what's really going on with Vizh and the scene turned out well enough. The Hawkeye/Spider-Woman thing was just weird and felt like a random addition that served absolutely no purpose besides giving Bendis another chance to showcase one of his pet characters (Spider-Woman, not Hawkeye). But, hey, it wouldn't be a Bendis comic if he didn't give me at least one thing to b**** about, right?

Avengers vs. X-Men #0: Decent start, I guess. I'll say upfront that I might as well not have even read the Hope story. Didn't give a s*** about her before, don't give a s*** about her now, barely even remember what happened. Cyclops was a dick, she flies off and fights the Serpent Society, and then Cyclops shows up and blathers on about something (I kind of just ignore whatever Cyclops is saying at this point because he's spiraled down to such a pale shadow of his former self), and then... that's it. I don't remember anything else. So, not much of interest there.

The Scarlet Witch's story was okay but felt a bit awkward at various points. Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman being not only cool with Wanda's return but actually friendly toward her just struck me as odd. Did that whole thing with the Avengers trying to kill her right alongside the X-Men in Children's Crusade just get swept under the rug? I didn't look too harshly on that, though, 'cause it sure as hell beats the alternative of the Avengers being all psycho-killer to Wanda again. The scene where Wanda meets the Vision at Avengers Mansion was just heartbreaking. Kudos to Bendis on that one because it was really well done--and I mean that unironically and everything. If the rest of AvX is gonna have as strong an emotional core as this story, it might actually be more interesting than the typical punch-up after all. Poor, starcrossed Wanda and Vision.

Thor #12: So, this arc was kind of good. This issue gives us a serviceable, relatively unexciting ending, but I think that's mainly due to the awkward art setup (breakdowns by Giuseppe Camuncoli, finishes by Klaus Janson, who's usually an inker). The art overall is just not really that exciting or interesting. It gets the job done--I didn't linger on any panels wondering what was happening--but it's just not up to the standard the big finale of an arc deserves.

Still, the vast majority of the issue was indeed good. Thor returns with some interesting new space gods in tow and proceeds to beat the crap out of Tanarus. That was so obvious that it sort of took a backseat, though--which the art seemed to reflect because Thor outright kills Ulik in a panel that does absolutely nothing to really sell the moment. Way more awesome to me was the fact that Frigga (misspelled constantly for this whole goddamn arc as "Freyja," which she's never been called in Marvel's comics before, to my knowledge) hops down and straight-up owns Karnilla. It was a nice symbolic tussle--queen vs. queen--that I definitely did not see coming, given the very hands-off appearances of the Allmother so far. The speech about Asgardia welcoming all really sells the idea that this is an intriguingly new chapter in Asgard's history, which I'm pretty interested to see. Bill and Kelda even get some closure, finally (which means Kelda can go away for good now, which I'm very happy about because I still can't stand her). Loki telling the story of the battle to all the normal Asgardian kids who didn't get to participate was a nice framing device, too. All in all, a pleasant end to a solid arc. Fraction's really improved. I'm kind of wondering if he'll be around long enough to actually become good on this series.

Aquaman #7: Another month, another underwhelming issue of Aquaman. There's nothing wrong with this issue, really. Just like there's nothing wrong with any of Johns' other issues. I just keep reading the comics and feeling like this isn't Aquaman, though. Not my Aquaman, anyway. Not the Aquaman whose adventures I enjoyed under David, Veitch, Arcudi, Pfeiffer, et al. I don't care about this Shin guy or his obsession with Atlantis or his problems with Aquaman. I don't care about whoever "the Others" are. I don't even care about Mera, who's so obnoxiously rage-fueled all the time that she irritates me. The only undiluted enjoyment I got out of this issue was Black Manta's introduction, and I think that might be because he seems to be completely unchanged since the relaunch. Aquaman sort of appears unchanged, but there are lots of little things that add up to a different character. It leaves me feeling vaguely uneasy whenever I read these new comics, even though, as I said, there's really nothing overtly wrong with them. I just can't seem to get into them. I'm considering dropping the series altogether, but I'll probably give it at least a few more months.

I, Vampire #7: Good stuff. I'm really interested in learning more about this connection between Andrew and Cain. That sort of came out of nowhere. Mary actually helping Batman, Tig, and John was a highlight, as were the brief appearances by other Bat-family characters. Looking forward to the next issue.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #7: This is now the only Green Lantern comic I'm reading, thanks to Tomasi taking GLC's characters in directions that render them totally unlikable to me... and I kind of don't mind. This series is pretty damn good, after all. I was a bit skeptical about Invictus when he first appeared, but his backstory's turned me around. Ideological extremism is always a good well to tap for truly frightening villains, and Bedard taps that well's ass hard for Invictus. This is a dude who realizes he's been corrupted but believes his cause is so just that it doesn't even matter. There's no reasoning with a person like that (although Kyle gives it a try anyway). The fact that Invictus hates Saint Walker more than anyone else for 'masquerading' as a truly righteous man is a nice touch, too. I was pretty skeptical about how the hell this team could ever possibly work when this series was announced, but I now find myself pretty damn glued to each issue to find out. It's an interesting journey so far. Hope Bedard can keep it up.

 

[runawayboulder]

Thor #12: So, this arc was kind of good. This issue gives us a serviceable, relatively unexciting ending, but I think that's mainly due to the awkward art setup (breakdowns by Giuseppe Camuncoli, finishes by Klaus Janson, who's usually an inker). The art overall is just not really that exciting or interesting. It gets the job done--I didn't linger on any panels wondering what was happening--but it's just not up to the standard the big finale of an arc deserves.

Silly question - What is breakdowns and finishing anyway? I always thought it was another term for artist and inker. Or is it that the inker is pulling more of the weight by penciling too?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Breakdowns refer to unfinished pencil art that translates what's in the script onto the page. It can mean anything from just the bare skeletons of characters and a few lines to indicate they're standing in a room with a table in the corner, for example, to much more complete pencil art. Usually, a penciler will do breakdowns, then do his own finishes on top of the breakdowns, resulting in completed pencil art that the inker then goes over. Depending on the inker, they may change a few things or they may literally just trace the pencil artist's work.

In this case, Camuncoli appears to have done the bare bones and left the majority of the finishes to Janson, resulting in finished art that has some of Camuncoli's body language and layout styles, but none of the personality or energy of his finished art. Kind of a shame, since Camuncoli is a great artist. I'd guess they were on a time crunch, only I thought Marvel doesn't have time crunches for comics headed by their big names like Fraction. Maybe they're trying to adhere to schedules better now, though.

 

[THANOSRULES]

I thought Breakdowns refer to any Avengers Story Bendis has ever written

 

[runawayboulder]

Camuncoli is a pretty busy guy. He's still the regular penciler for Hellblazer, part of the ASM art rotation team and does dozens of covers including all of the Daken covers for the solo series even though he left that title a year ago.

 

[THANOSRULES]

I liked Avengers 24.1 also, a solid vision story, i didn't really find that much out of character, except how the artist drew Cap when he confronted Vision on his trip to Utopia.

It's good to see vision back, and I really don't think it was a bad portrayal.

Secret Avengers 24- was excellent, Remender is hitting a bit of a stride here, and I am really getting into this arc. Nice Art Adams cover and i find this villian combo extremely interesting:

Spoiler

The SA continue their infiltration of the Robot community, who appear to be a mix of various Marvel android types including doombots, visions, adaptoids, machinemen, and LMDs. The SA fight the citizens while searching for Ants. Captain britain fights them off while Torch comes and bails him out, the things show a reverence for hammond, calling him "grandfather". During the search for Ant-man, Beast gets shot and so he and hawkeye get captured. They fight "cyborg" versions of Miss America and Janet Van Dyne aka the wasp (dethlok versions no less). There is some possibility that these are the real versions of both women. Flash in there a meeting between the super powers behind this android city, who are supreme versions consisting of a doombot, Fury LMD, Vision , and some old guy is the real power here, saying they have to kill the Avengers. No reveal or guess as to who it is, my guess is clearly... Ultron, but thats not confirmed. Venom has a small role of being stuck back at base, looks like he will come in and bail out the SA, thus proving his mettle. Last scene is the return of Ant-man, who turns out not to be dead.

All in all, this arc is shaping up to everything the SA was supposed to be, and it appears Remender's done it again , after a somewhat slow start. My only gripe is the fit of the pencils in an Avengers book, Hardman is talented, but not a great fit for the current arc which should be a bit of a more colorful style. Adam's cover is brilliant.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Camuncoli is a pretty busy guy. He's still the regular penciler for Hellblazer, part of the ASM art rotation team and does dozens of covers including all of the Daken covers for the solo series even though he left that title a year ago.

One wonders why they tapped him to fill in on this Thor issue, then. There must've been some artist with free time that could've done his own finishes. Clearly, stylistic coherence wasn't an issue since Camuncoli's art looks nothing like Ferry's or Larraz's.

 

[THANOSRULES]

On Remender..

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=37825

Spoiler

I guess this chief villian was revealed as "the father" who has been in X-force according to this, I wouldnt know.

That Remender article about how he went back and re-read Starlin Mar-vell made me wet, he is an "anti-Bendis" folks.

 

[runawayboulder]

One wonders why they tapped him to fill in on this Thor issue, then. There must've been some artist with free time that could've done his own finishes. Clearly, stylistic coherence wasn't an issue since Camuncoli's art looks nothing like Ferry's or Larraz's.

Because he's the shiz-nit and I hope he becomes one of Marvel's top talents.

That Remender article about how he went back and re-read Starlin Mar-vell made me wet, he is an "anti-Bendis" folks.

Yeah, it's something I've loved about Remender for a long time. He researches old school Marvel stuff an uses it to the fullest. He's actually been with Marvel a very long time. I remember seeing his name in older comics getting inking credits.

 

[Dread]

Between a hectic work week and a signing event for Lord Blackbolt's comic DREAM REAVERS, it's a small miracle I had the energy for all the reviews. I guess it's good that I'm a long text fanatic. Onward with the spoilers!

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 3/28/12:

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #8: It continues to be interesting when an issue of IDW's new TMNT ongoing series ships on the same week as an issue of Marvel's DAREDEVIL, since the original 1984 series mingled the Ninja Turtles' origin with that of Daredevil (and was a satire of the Frank Miller run of the time on it). It also may be worth noting in the age of virtually every regular artist needing a "fill in" issue to rest after a short period of time that this is the 8th consecutive issue of a major franchise title handled by the same creative team that launched issue one; ask Marvel or DC how rare that has become these days. At any rate, writers Kevin Eastman (TMNT co-creator) and Tom Waltz, alongside artist Dan Duncan and colorist Ronda Pattison continue their epic recreation of the iconic TMNT franchise. The mixture of new characters like Old Hob, original Mirage Studios characters like the Turtles themselves, Splinter, April O'Neil and Casey Jones with characters created from the 1987 cartoon series like Krang continues to be handled with care without seeming like a fanboy's exercise or a shameless marketing stunt. At a time when word about the next Ninja Turtles film seems to inspire the horror that is Michael Bay's influence on anything, it is truly wonderful to still have quality Turtle entertainment for both new and old fans such as this. This issue picks up from the last with the Turtles being besieged by the robotic Mousers in their lair, who seek to claim Splinter for the nefarious scientist Baxtor Stockman, who in this world was involved in their creation during his work for General Krang. While Krang is actually an alien warlord seeking to gain biological weapons from earth to use in his galactic conquests, he pretends to be the general of a banana republic while on earth to commission research from Stockman. Fans of the original comic series will note that this mirrors the original Mouser story from that series as well - the conclusion is traumatic for the Turtles and leads to their next adventure. Meanwhile, Casey and April continue to grow closer over their trade of self defense lessons for tutoring lessons, and the topic of Turtles and ninjas come up. Casey decides it is time to bring April in to meet his strange little friends, who she's actually met in their un-mutated forms as a lab technician. This issue provides a lot of action as well as furthers along the various subplots of not only this regular series, but from the micro-series as well. The Mousers are treated as a relentless collective army to battle, although their eventual defeat is clever. Duncan's artwork continues to suit this series perfectly, matching the tone of the original 80's series only without as much dense detail. IDW has seen great success with quality licensed comics, and TMNT is among their best sellers for a reason - it is just that good.

AVENGERS VS. X-MEN #0: On the covers of all of Marvel's comics in March, they proclaim that 2012's annual event is still "a month away". Yet in practice, it kicks off now with this zero issue; number it whatever one likes, it is the first issue of the AVX mini series. One could argue this story initially kicked off in December, when the prelude series AVENGERS X-SANCTION started. That series ended last week, and now AVX immediately kicks off. This opening issue is written by "Marvel Architects" Brian M. Bendis and Jason Aaron, with art by Frank Cho and colors by Jason Keith. The issue is broken up into two tales, each focusing on the heroines on the cover who seem to be at the center of this event; a Scarlet Witch story written by Bendis, and a Hope Summers story by Aaron. Both feature the heroines acting on their own to battle super villains and running into members of the superhero team they're most associated with; the Avengers for Wanda, and the X-Men (Cyclops' crew on Utopia isle) for Hope. This is Scarlet Witch's first outing since the end of AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE, and while she finds Ms. Marvel and Spider-Woman (of all heroines) eager to have her back, the rest of the male Avengers aren't so welcome - her revived husband Vision in particular. Meanwhile, Hope is venturing off Utopia against Cyclops' wishes to fight crime and super-villains, and winds up in the middle of a robbery by the Serpent Society (who seem to be becoming the go-to thugs for beatings in the same way the Wrecking Crew used to be). The end notes that the Phoenix Force is coming for Hope, which has been a subplot across the X-books for several years. This issue is neither memorable nor horrible; the artwork is nice and there are two major action sequences, but all it does it introduce the heroines' status quo and then stop. The fact that one could easily rattle off less memorable debuts to major Marvel mini's such as CHILDREN'S CRUSADE or FEAR ITSELF is a demerit on what Marvel considers worthy of publication and breathless promotion, not a boon unto itself. The simplicity is its strength and weakness, which may come to bare with AVX #1 due next week. Last week's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #682 had a far better kickoff to a major storyline.

DAREDEVIL #10: There are many jokes one could make about two blind men getting into a fight, but this two issue arc on this seminal franchise run by writer Mark Waid, artists Paolo & Joe Rivera and colorist Javier Rodriguez pitting Daredevil against the Mole Man comes to satisfying climax. This is a series which just ended a brief crossover with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and is set to have a second crossover with PUNISHER and AVENGING SPIDER-MAN next month; yet these issues not only lead to that via continued subplots, but provided a story all its own. As noted last month, the Mole Man and his underground army the Moloids had stolen the buried remains of an entire cemetary, including that of Matt Murdock's murdered father. Thus, Daredevil had a very personal stake in getting to the bottom of this epic grave-robbery, and wound up tossed into the maw of one of Mole Man's endless supply of monsters. The "man without fear" managed to escape that trap and wound up in a duel against Mole Man himself.

The Mole Man is a classic Fantastic Four villain (debuting in their first issue in 1961 in fact), but often his threat to the team involves his army of monsters or his schemes with the earth itself. While he does have a powerful staff and apparently combat skills, that alone isn't enough to challenge the Four or many heroes. Against Daredevil, however, it becomes a duel of two well trained blind men who both utilize blunt weaponry. Murdock ultimately finds out why Mole Man has stolen all those graves, and it turns out to satisfy a morbid attraction from his past. He also has to confront his father's death one more time - the original cause of his masked crusade against criminals - and come to a solution which seems to please neither party. The issue also continues the subplot of the Omega Drive, a massive information disc of "Megacrime" - massive criminal organizations such as Black Spectre, HYDRA, A.I.M. and the Secret Empire - along with Black Cat, hired by Black Spectre to steal it back for them from Murdock. In this way, this series continues to please both long term "trade waiters" and monthly readers who want a satisfying chunk of story within each issue. Perhaps editor Stephen Walker and others within Marvel have learned that the world won't collapse if a trade collection has more than one story in it.

The artwork by Paolo and Joe Rivera is, as always, fantastic. The underground caverns of Mole Man's territory provides the Riveras more opportunities to showcase their ability to depict both exceptional background and figures in combat. As usual, the depiction of Daredevil's radar sense is a treat unto itself, and a hallmark of this run to a degree. The battle between Mole Man and Daredevil is especially thrilling.

April will bring forth not only DAREDEVIL #10.1, but the OMEGA EFFECT crossover with Waid is joined by Greg Rucka to run a tale from AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #6 to PUNISHER #10 to DARDEVIL #11. Brief crossovers can work to increase sales for a month, as the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN crossover led to a slight bump in sales for DAREDEVIL #8; the Punisher's latest reboot by Rucka is fading fast and likely could use the boost. While the six part "CIRCLE OF FOUR" story told across six weeks in VENOM was an exhausting marathon, hopefully this crossover manages to maintain the high standard of quality which has quickly defined Waid's run on DAREDEVIL. With Rucka being an exceptional writer in his own right, there are high expectations that it will. Wouldn't it be nice to read a (brief) crossover that still told a compelling story?

SECRET AVENGERS #24: With a major crossover in the near future, new series writer Rick Remender alongside new regular artist Gabriel Hardman and colorist Bettie Breitweiser manage to make their opening arc into quite a unique and exciting one. The high concept here is that there is an entire secret society of new generations of established sentient robots, such as Doombots, Vision-style synthesoids and Adaptoids, alongside cyborgs such as the Reavers who see themselves as the next stage of life on earth with the Avengers as enemies. The Secret Avengers have stumbled onto this society seeking to investigate one of these new Adaptoids (who didn't know what she was) who has given birth and whose child has been kidnapped. With Eric O'Grady/Ant-Man seemingly killed, the Secret Avengers quickly find themselves strangers in not only a strange land, but a hostile one. Every member of the team gets a notable moment in this issue, from Capt. Britain and Human Torch (who as an android himself, has an interesting place here) to Black Widow and Valkyrie; gone are the days when this title was STEVE ROGERS AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS by Ed Brubaker. Hardman is a professional storyboard artist for feature films by trade and it is easy to see that as hit talent for dynamic action and panel angles is on full display here. While the society of ravenous robots make for good villains, it does become easy to see their point when Valkyrie says something like, "I have no misgiving about killing a machine," which plays on the notion that superheroes consider certain robots as equal persons like Torch in this story or the various Visions, and others as enemies who are to be destroyed. Thus, Remender has created a culture of fanatics who at least have a fair point, which is an improvement over generic secret organizations this series has seen such as the vague Shadow Council. It is questionable how Wasp's corpse was obtained to make into a cybernetic form, but it may also not be her. It is refreshing to see that Remender's "pet character" - the Flash Thompson incarnation of Venom - isn't hogging this series thus far. Despite existing for roughly two years, SECRET AVENGERS has often been a book which existed more to sell another Avengers book than to have a clear goal; while the question of purpose is still valid, this is easily the best run on the series in it's existence. If Remender is merely half as good on this as he usually is on VENOM, readers will continue to be in on some great (and imaginative) adventure tales.

THE TWELVE #11: Take a deep breath, we're almost finished with this maxi series, which was launched back in 2008, when George W. Bush was President. While there is one issue left, the climax to the central murder mystery plot comes to a head here. In the previous issue, Phantom Reporter revealed the killer of Blue Blade as well as a bar full of gay men was the robot Electro, who was operating under the delusional and near fascist mind of Dynamic Man. Phantom Reporter actually had very little evidence beyond forming a wonky theory after bonding with Electro, but fortunately Dynamic Man is a lunatic who goes nuts when accused loudly enough. Thus the rest of The Twelve - or is it now The Ten without Blade or Electro, or even The Nine since one of them is a villain now - unite against DM in a battle within their government sponsored mansion which quickly spills outside to the lab where the android DM was built. Rockman seemingly sacrifices himself to save the team, although his end as well as his origin - is he a deluded miner or a member of an underground kingdom - remains ambiguous. Fiery Mask is killed in the struggle, although he transfers his power to Phantom Reporter before he passes, and Captain Wonder suffers a Two-Face style facial disfigurement. Mister E, being given a second chance to be with his son and not hide his Jewish heritage in a time of bigotry, quits to pursue those family ties. Thus the final issue will likely deal with the aftermath and who is left. This has really been Phantom Reporter's story, with Black Widow (the original) now acting like a near typical girlfriend character, only good for a kiss scene. Weston's art is great and the story itself is fine, but the long delay won't help it. I imagine the collected trade will read fine. Ironically, this may come close to the best thing JMS has ended in years. A universe won't have to be rebooted, and he hasn't left a longtime franchise in shambles.

X-MEN LEGACY #264: New series writer Christos Gage (AVENGERS ACADEMY, AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE) begins his second arc on this long running X-Men series. Incidentally, this is also one of few Marvel titles which has retained its original numbering since the early 90’s and has yet to be relaunched; only the title was changed. Regular artist David Baldeon needed a break, so the fill-in penciler here is Rafa Sandoval, who worked alongside Gage on quite a few issues of AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE a couple of years back. Sandoval also brings along a new inker in Jordi Tarragona and colorist in Rachelle Rosenberg. While this team is set in the new JEAN GREY SCHOOL FOR GIFTED YOUNGSTERS founded by Wolverine (of all people), the previous story established that their leader Rogue has her own method of doing things independent of the berserker midget. This story actually bares quite a resemblance to the last; the tranquility of the school is threatened by the sudden and random appearance of an impossibly powerful mutant who needs the entire team to dog-pile atop of to contain. In this issue’s case, it is Michael Pointer, a.k.a. Weapon Omega and previously “The Collective”. His angle is that he was an energy absorbing mutant (who didn’t properly manifest at puberty) who received all of the “mutant energy” stripped from the world’s homo superior population by Scarlet Witch on M-Day. This made him incredibly powerful as well as mentally unstable. He’s been a rampaging menace, a member of ALPHA FLIGHT, and a pawn of Norman Osborn’s DARK X-MEN. Pointer is joined by his pal from the Dark X-Men, Calvin Rankin/Mimic, a metahuman who has long been able to duplicate mutant powers and been a long time nuisance/”frenemy” of the X-Men since the 1960’s. While their entrance sparks a crisis which even new instructor Chamber – one of the few survivors of GENERATION X besides Jubilee – has to interfere with, they aren’t after a fight, but a cure. Pointer is addicted to “mutant energy”, but when he feeds too much, he becomes unstable and incredibly dangerous; Mimic sought to sate him with his own energy, but this made Pointer ill. Unfortunately, Mimic has brought Pointer to a buffet of mutants.

Sandoval gets to draw a lot of explosions and action panels, but the story quickly focuses around themes central to Rogue – duplication and redemption. She sees a kinship in Mimic, since both of them have the ability to “borrow” the powers of others; which can make one feel hollow about oneself. Rogue also relates to Pointer as a former manipulated pawn of Mystique and her Brotherhood Of Evil Mutants. This issue, more than several others, does a fine job of giving every member of Gage’s team something to say or do. Even Iceman, the perennially neglected member, is given an interesting position of having known Mimic the longest and being against helping them at all. The Beast naturally feels he can help out, and Rogue is willing to risk her life to do this – which sparks a scene with Gambit – but in the end, have all they done is make it worse? Yes; typical X-Men procedure.

Sandoval’s artwork is great, and the colors work out too. It may not dazzle people but it has clean lines and is very good at work it does. It certainly seems as if Gage is running with a theme of picking up after dangling X-Men plot threads and using those to flesh out his cast (namely Rogue), which hints of an editorial mandate as NEW MUTANTS also does such things. On the other hand, Gage has long been a master of utilizing continuity to explore his characters and make new stories seamlessly. He’s become a pro at taking piles of baggage and making it into an orderly and impressive luggage cart.

The cameo by Chamber was nice, and this is a good way to kick off Gage’s second arc on this book – and his last before he has to buckle under AVENGERS VS. X-MEN mania. It is inoffensive and utilizes its cast, especially Rogue, well. Still, one can’t shake the feeling that something is missing from this book to shift it from good to great. Maybe it is too busy, or relies too much on immediate brawls with powerful mutants. There’s a comfort to the simplicity, but also a limitation to it.

 

[runawayboulder]

I can't believe that DD is already at issue 10. I do hope that Rucka's Punisher does get a boost form the Omega Drive story. It's been the focus of DD since issue 1 so hopefully those that read DD and not Punisher give Frank a chance for the month but then again, I'm sure both fan followings go hand in hand.

 

[Dread]

I can't believe that DD is already at issue 10. I do hope that Rucka's Punisher does get a boost form the Omega Drive story. It's been the focus of DD since issue 1 so hopefully those that read DD and not Punisher give Frank a chance for the month but then again, I'm sure both fan followings go hand in hand.

I'll be grabbing the books for the OMEGA DRIVE story but likely not after. I'm behind on PUNISHER and can't easily catch up if I like it.

DD probably double shipped at least once like most books have, so it may not exactly have been 10 entire months in April. I could be wrong, though. AVENGERS ACADEMY is nearing issue 30, and that book has double-shipped several times. VENOM hit issue #12 without existing a full year due to that too. On the other hand, NOVA never double-shipped and moved 36 issues - 3 full years - honestly before being canned a few years back.

 

[hippie_hunter]

the rest of the male Avengers aren't so welcome - her revived husband Vision in particular.

To be fair, look at who the male Avengers were in that scene: Vision, Thor, Wolverine, Beast, and Iron Man. Thor appeared sympathetic to Wanda and Iron Man flat out said that he thought that the Vision was too hard on Wanda.

And then you have Wolverine and Beast who are also X-Men, and remember that the X-Men wanted to kill Wanda back in Avengers: The Children's Crusade. Wolverine in particular. And of course, Vision was killed by Wanda's problems.