Bought/Thought XXX - 2-22-12

[JewishHobbit]

Don't get pervy. I through the X's in there because of the 6 Marvel books I bought this week 5 were X-titles and Beast's in the other so it has connections. It was a very X-Centric week.

I decided to pass on Venom since I've just not been enjoying it at all and next week is such a small week. I'm debating on dropping the book due to over shippings accros the board and my needing to cut things and until I decide to do it or not I don't want to waste money on more issues. I'm still debating but we'll see.

Uncanny X-Force 22 - I don't know if the art's getting better or if I'm just getting used to it but it wasn't as distracting this issue. The issue also read better so maybe there's a connection there. I'm still pretty bored of this plot though and am ready for it to end. I did really enjoy the Wolverine/Deadpool conversation about Narcissim though. The Skinless man isn't really that interesting in my opinion. He was basically a bad Mr. Fantastic who was made more powerful and then had his skin cut off (and learned to make his muscles do what his skin did). The last page might have had more oomf if not for that first issue of Detective Comics. Still, Skinless man cut Fantomex's face off. Not that he ever used it that we saw, you know, but a guy can get attatched to that type of thing.

Magneto: Not A Villain 4 - A decent ending to an overall mediocre mini. Joseph remains a villain and Magneto defeats him (with some villainous tendencies himself) and turns him over to the Avengers (or plans to anyhow). This mini was a fun read for fans of the 90's era X-Men and played an interesting character focus on the mentality of Magneto himself. Nothing amazing but I'm glad I bought it. I'm more curious what could come from it though and what will happen with Joseph next (if anything at all). My curiosity is peaked though in that this mini is being included in the Road to AvsX trade (or whatever it's called). That makes me wonder if Joseph will play or part or if this leads to something to do with Magneto making a play of some sort.

Wolverine & the X-Men 6 - And the fun continues. Wolverine and Kid Omega are in space ripping off galactic casinos to make money for the school while the other X-Men are inside of Kitty Pryde fighting off a Brood infection. This is going on while some other Brood are attacking the school, facing off against Kakoa, Broo, and Kitty herself. This has just been a fun read since issue 1 and I think it's potentially my favorite comic coming out right now. Marvel's hit gold with this book. The sales are great and deserving, the art is good, the writing is good, the characters are fun, just a perfect 10 every issue.

If only Husk would have a bigger role though

X-Men 25 - This was actually a pretty good issue. I know not everyone are digging the Jubilee/vampire plot but I like it. Raizo and his people (aka... the Cullens of the Marvel Universe) have taken in Jubilee and are trying to teach her to control her cravings without having to rely on Wolverine's blood. The other X-Men (Storm, Psylocke, Warpath, Domino, and Colossus) don't trust them and it breaks into a fight until Jubilee stops it. Then we learn that there's a bounty on Raizo's head and see that several mercenaries are there to collect (leading into quite possibly an awesome next issue). The mercenaries include Deadpool, Lady Bullseye, Scorpion, and Bruiser (I think his name was from a recent Daredevil issue)... among others.

Fun issue. This book is one I try to drop but I do tend to enjoy the issues I read. I'm sticking with this arc and we'll see about the next one with the Skrulls.

X-Men Legacy 262 - This was a fun issue. I was iffy on Gage's first two issues but this one was good. Wolverine and the Legacy crew are trying to fix up a mess they made by stopping Exodus from killing Cyclops. It's a fun fight issue (though Gage messed up with Wolverine's healing... making it too powerful like it used to be). Rogue sent off to warn Cyclops' team while Wolverine wanted to fix it themselves. His fear was Cyclops putting the utopia kids in danger against Exodus. Turns out it was Hope who got the message and the Utopia kids show up to save Wolverine and crew from Exodus... oops.

It was a fun issue and I liked the confrontation between Frenzy and Exodus. I almost wish Magneto DID respond as we've never seen him go up against his former ally, Exodus. It could be interesting. I think this book is a middle of the road X-Book but it's entertaining enough. I like seeing Rogue's character growing into a leader and parent-figure of the children. It was a good direction for her when Carey started it and I'm glad Gage has continued with it.

Secret Avengers 23 - I liked this issue much better than Remender's previous two installments. I like the simple way Flash is brought in and the banter between Pym and Beast (Hank and Hank). Ant Man is the star though and it ends how I expected and predicted months ago... at least seemingly. I'm not sure if he's actually dead or if he'll be saved or converted to a machine... who knows. Still, it was a fun issue and I think this could be leading to a great run.

Between this and Wolverine & the X-Men, Beast is really getting some good portrayals. It's about time. Hardman's art rocks also.

Justice League Dark 6 - This artist makes me crush on Zatanna... just saying. She's totally my type! Okay, nerdgasm aside, this issue was decent. It was a bit of a bridge between the first arc and the crossover with I, Vampire. It also seems to be building toward a future plot, which I'm curious about since Milligan is leaving the book and Lemiure is coming on board. I hate dangling plot points and I hope Lemiure fallows up on it.

Decent issue though.

Batman: The Dark Knight 6 - Eh, mediocre issue. It's fun to read dumb comics but since I like Bane I was hoping for more from this issue. Finch's art was also a bit odd in places, like he was rushed or something. I'm having fun with this comic but I'm starting to ponder dropping it until the new writer comes on. I probably won't but we'll see.


Best and Worst of the Week

Best: Secret Avengers 23 - Surprisingly, this is the first week that W&tXM wasn't best of the week since it launched. It was close, along with X-Men, but I just think this issue of Secret Avengers was that good. The depiction of Beast just made me fall in love, the banter with Pym, Eric O'Grady's inner turmoil leading to his potential death. It was all just a great comic with great arc and great characters. I loved ever moment of it.

Worst: Batman: the Dark Knight 6 - It was just kinda drab really. No real substance. It was to be expected but I got my hopes up. I may or may not finish out this plot.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Secret Avengers #23: Awesome. Remender's only 3 issues in and he's already handling the team way better than Brubaker ever did. The Descendents threat is perfectly fitting for any team of Avengers, and their secretive nature makes them doubly perfect for this covert team of Avengers. Beast putting his foot down on Clint's dickish behavior as leader was great too. I'm glad to see the Avengers actually helping Flash out as well, what with the new bionic legs, rather than just continuing the US Army's approach of basically using him whenever they wanted and ignoring him the rest of the time. Finally, there's Ant-Man. I actually kind of liked him in this issue. His narration was good, especially the part about his sacrificing his life for a kid without a second thought. It'd be very poetic for him to die in that fashion, having finally learned how to be truly selfless. But I'm not gonna lie, I still hate the bastard's guts and I certainly won't miss him. Good riddance to terrible characters, I say.

The Mighty Thor #11: This issue is definitely one of the better ones of Fraction's run. There's no preamble or decompression here; Fraction gets straight into the action and picks up where all of the dangling plot threads from last time left off. Thor fights his way through the Demogorge, Loki and the Silver Surfer try to get to the bottom of the mystery that Karnilla's magic has made of Thor, Karnilla herself beats the everloving s*** out of Kelda (yay!) and whoever the matron of this particular Weird Sisters incarnation was supposed to be, Tanarus stands revealed to Heimdall and the two of them throw down, and finally Asgardia rises from the ruins of Asgard. It's great to see the city of the gods floating again, even if it is a bit insulting that Fraction shoehorned his pet character Iron Man into its resurrection. The idea of the gods living in a city powered by pissant human technology is troubling to me, but whatever; gotta get it closer to the movie version somehow, I guess. Other than that one irritant, however, the rest of the issue is solid. I'm really looking forward to the trolls going to war with Asgardia and Thor returning to smash Ulik's face in.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #6: This series is great. I'm really enjoying the mix of personalities Bedard has put together here. Saint Walker and Arkillo's odd, budding friendship is too weirdly awesome for words, Glomulus is quickly becoming as entertaining as Larfleeze himself, and it's great to see Kyle hopelessly in over his head again. That was part of what made his Green Lantern series appealing--he wasn't the greatest GL who ever lived, he was just the one the universe was stuck with and he made the best of it. That's basically the core of this series, it seems. Kyle gets tossed out of the comfortable life he'd grown accustomed to, finally getting to live the good life as a highly respected member of the resurrected, full-fledged GLC, and finds himself alone again, an outcast even among these other outcasts because they all believed he was somehow responsible for stealing the rings that mysteriously sought him out. So now he's flying by the seat of his pants and trying to bring all of these disparate ring-wielders with their wildly conflicting personalities in line so he can figure out what the hell's going on, put a stop to it, and get back to the comfortable life he'd grown accustomed to. But the harder he tries, the more crazy s*** gets until he's basically drowning in one chaotic mess after another. Which is pretty much the environment Kyle thrives in. Top marks to Bedard for recognizing that and finding a way to make that model work even in a universe as overpopulated by Lanterns of all colors as DC's current one.

Venom #13.3: I was a little disappointed in this issue. Rulk's on the cover, so I was expecting something of a Rulk-centric issue. I mean, the ones with Ghost Rider and X-23 focused a bit more on each of them, didn't they? But no, instead we get a whole bunch of fantasy scenarios that Mephisto plays out for each of the Newer-Than-New FF, some monologing from Mephisto, and an offer from Mephisto that seems too bad to even think about. Yet I'm sure all four of these idiots will inevitably take the deal, even though every single one of them should know better because every single one of them has made thinly veiled metaphorical deals with the devil before, and not one of them actually turned out better for it. Bleh. I'm really looking forward to this stupid crossover to be done already so we can get back to Venom on the run and Eddie's return and all that good stuff. This feels like such a hugely unnecessary detour from pretty much anything worth reading in Venom.

Avengers Academy #26: This wound up being something of an antithesis to Bendis' Revengers story, oddly enough. Hawkeye even mentions something about Jocasta drinking Wonder Man's kool-aid at one point. Essentially, Jocasta and that obnoxious rich kid everyone hates make the argument that Avengers Academy is a terrible idea that paints targets on the backs of all the students and they should all come work for Obnoxious Rich Kid because he's rich and he'll pay them and they could totally be way more comfortable and less fearful for their lives as private citizens working for his soulless, obviously evil corporation. Then Hank Pym lays out why the Avengers make literally everyone better, inspire the whole world, and improve lives the world over. I have to say, from a logical, objective perspective, Hank's argument probably isn't quite as strong as Obnoxious Rich Kid's. Hank's talking about good on a relatively small scale for people directly associated with the Avengers; the only thing anyone else gets from the Avengers is the chance to continue living because the Avengers punch whatever wants to kill them in the face. Obnoxious Rich Kid, meanwhile, is working on cures for cancer and the ability to regrow limbs and stuff. Much broader applications for good than the ol' superhero fisticuffs of the Avengers. But still, he's an obnoxious rich kid and no one likes him, so it feels like Hank pretty much b****-slapped him into oblivion with his impassioned endorsement of all things Avengers. And that's good enough for me. Oh, and we also learn that the evil future versions of the Academy kids are being led by an evil future version of Hank. Which somehow makes me even less interested in that subplot.

 

[WolfCypher]

So anyway, this week sucked for me. Only three issues.

Secret Avengers 23 I only bought for Venom, DUH. Seriously, if you know me even a little, you'd foreseen this rationality. I'm not interested in any spin-off Avengers (save Young Avengers which will never get an ongoing, I see). I only want a "core" Avengers book. Don't try to sway me, I'm stubborn. Obviously I don't know what has been going on in this book, so I just bought it to see where the hell the whole Venom-as-an-Avenger schtick is going. Too early to tell.

Venom 13.whatever, GOD I want this to be over with was more disappointment. I don't like this arc. I just don't. This arc needs to end. I can't imagine what I would do if this five (six?) parter went on for five-six months; I seriously would have dropped this series. I don't think I'm gonna buy the remainder issues of this arc.

Flash 6, sadly, was my highlight this week. This is only the 3rd Flash book I read. I said I would only get back into Flash when one of the Rouges returned, and I think I like this "new" Captain Cold. The art is still great.

Not really reviews, but these are my "thoughts".

 

[kguillou]

Does anybody know if Avengers: Children's Crusade #9 actually came out today? It's listed on marvel's solicits for today, but I didnt see it in my store and i dont see any reviews for it online???

 

[runawayboulder]

I don't think it came out. It was previously pushed back twice now. They have 2 more months until AvX, since the conclusion of Children's Crusade has some heavy implications on that event, I can see them waiting a bit.

 

[runawayboulder]

Oh and JH, I agree with you that the art for Uncanny X-Force has improved a bit. It's now only slightly bearable. The story itself has been great, but the art....? A nasty detractor from that.

 

[CConn]

Uncanny X-Force: Greg Tocchini is awful. I usually don't let bad or mediocre art ruin stories for me, but Tocchini's nearly done it on every book I've read from it. Outside of that, it's nice to see the arc rounding out. As Jewish said, it is about time to finish this arc and move on: the plot isn't all that engaging, but the character exchanges from pretty much all of the main characters make it a worthwhile issue.

Ultimate Spoder-Man: I really like this book. As someone who's never been a big fan of the geeky everyman archetype that was Peter Parker, Miles has been a very welcome change; he still exhibits the core attributes that make Spider-Man who he is, but he does it without some of the more obnoxious and whiny ways that Peter used to. The pacing of the series - the major flaw of the first arc - is improving, although I doubt it'll ever be as compressed as it should be.

Wolverine and the X-Men: They need to get those things out of Kitty, I'm not even a woman and it's freaking me out.

Also, I'm soooo glad now that I skipped all of the .1 issues of Venom. I'm actually looking forward to #14 now.

EDIT:

Fantastic Four: I bought this late, thinking I'd regret spending my 3 dollars on it as soon as I read it, but...it was actually pretty awesome. I've long been critical of Hickman's run being like the last half hour of Return of the King; constant false endings that never really leave any story's conclusion satisfying. But Hickman actually seems like he's finally concluding the story he started five years ago now. Witnessing Galactus fight Celestials was simply awesome, the crossing over with FF was evident but not confusing (I don't read FF), and the final page with Franklin and Val showing up actually makes me excited about picking up the next issue.

 

[chamber-music]

Magneto: Not A Villain - Is Mags showing he hasn't gone soft and is no ones b*****. Nice when writers remember how powerful Magneto is.

Justice League Dark 6 - I kind of wish they would swap Shade The Changing Man for The Shade. Nice art not super into the story so far may drop this.

Ultimate Spider-Man - I like Miles even though his rather naive and for a character who is supposed to be rather intelligent he comes across a bit simple minded at times although I put these characteristics down to him being younger then Peter was.

X-Men Legacy 262 - Always liked Exodus and I dig his crusader zealotism to his mutant cause. Wasn't a fan of Logans whining about Cyclops and the children won't somebody please think of the children routine.

Uncanny X-Force 22 - Not sure I get X-Force beef with the Braddocks justice system seeing as they are a mutant death squad. Reeks of hypocrisy.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Justice League Dark 6 - I kind of wish they would swap Shade The Changing Man for The Shade. Nice art not super into the story so far may drop this.

Milligan's leaving the book after this I, Vampire crossover and Jeff Lemiure's coming on so the storytelling might improve. He's doing a good job over on Animal Man I hear (the first 3 issues I read were great). So it might pay off to stay on the book to try that out.

And yeah, Shade the Changing Man is the only character that I just don't care for on this title. Zatanna and Deadman are the stars for me, but even moreso than then... the artist, Janin or whatever his name is. This dude's pencils are amazing.

Green Lantern: New Guardians #6: This series is great. I'm really enjoying the mix of personalities Bedard has put together here. Saint Walker and Arkillo's odd, budding friendship is too weirdly awesome for words, Glomulus is quickly becoming as entertaining as Larfleeze himself, and it's great to see Kyle hopelessly in over his head again. That was part of what made his Green Lantern series appealing--he wasn't the greatest GL who ever lived, he was just the one the universe was stuck with and he made the best of it. That's basically the core of this series, it seems. Kyle gets tossed out of the comfortable life he'd grown accustomed to, finally getting to live the good life as a highly respected member of the resurrected, full-fledged GLC, and finds himself alone again, an outcast even among these other outcasts because they all believed he was somehow responsible for stealing the rings that mysteriously sought him out. So now he's flying by the seat of his pants and trying to bring all of these disparate ring-wielders with their wildly conflicting personalities in line so he can figure out what the hell's going on, put a stop to it, and get back to the comfortable life he'd grown accustomed to. But the harder he tries, the more crazy s*** gets until he's basically drowning in one chaotic mess after another. Which is pretty much the environment Kyle thrives in. Top marks to Bedard for recognizing that and finding a way to make that model work even in a universe as overpopulated by Lanterns of all colors as DC's current one.

I hate that this is apparently good. I dropped it after 2 issues because I was bored and needed to drop things. I sold them and wrote it off. But every issue I skim look good but I need a new title like a hole in the head. And then here my local Half Priced Books have issues 2-5 tempting me even more.

I need a cheaper hobby... like smoking.

Does anybody know if Avengers: Children's Crusade #9 actually came out today? It's listed on marvel's solicits for today, but I didnt see it in my store and i dont see any reviews for it online???

It didn't come out. It wasn't listed on the Diamond list either. Haven't you learned that Children's Crusade is the title that never ends?

Oh and JH, I agree with you that the art for Uncanny X-Force has improved a bit. It's now only slightly bearable. The story itself has been great, but the art....? A nasty detractor from that.

Uncanny X-Force: Greg Tocchini is awful. I usually don't let bad or mediocre art ruin stories for me, but Tocchini's nearly done it on every book I've read from it. Outside of that, it's nice to see the arc rounding out. As Jewish said, it is about time to finish this arc and move on: the plot isn't all that engaging, but the character exchanges from pretty much all of the main characters make it a worthwhile issue.

I'm reading these issues but I'm not enjoying them to the extent that I go into each new issue blind, not remember what even happened in the arc before it. I think I'm going to reread the arc when it's finished in one sitting while trying to look past the art. I have faith that Remender's telling a good story, it's just hidden.

Thanksfully, Tocchini's pencils stop with this arc if I'm not mistaken.

 

[runawayboulder]

I'll admit, this hasn't been the easiest UXF arc for me to follow. The art has hurt it and I'm not well versed in the Captain Britain Corps. I'm hanging tough however, a compliment to Remender's ability.

I've enjoyed AoA Kurt so far, especially this issue with his interaction with Logan and convincing him to help the people that can't fight for themselves.

 

[CConn]

Yeah, not-Kurt has been a pretty awesome addition.

 

[runawayboulder]

I was a little worried at first, the way he got in Kitty's face and all saying I'm not your friend. I kinda want to see that revisited at some point, maybe from Aaron's end with how Kitty felt about that. It's gotta be rough seeing someone that looks like one of your best friends basically telling you to *iss off.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I think the character moments in the recent issue is what made it better for me. Between Kurt and Logan, Deadpool and Logan, and Fantomex and Psylocke moments... it all worked out well.

I loved AoA Kurt back during the original AoA. He's more of a jerk now but things got worse for him since those days so that's understandable. He's an interesting addition but he does make me miss the real Kurt more.

 

[Dread]

Six comics, solid week overall. Brace for impact against spoilers at ten o'clock.

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 2/23/12 - Part One

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #7: IDW's exceptional relaunch of the TMNT comic book series by franchise co-creator Kevin Eastman, co-writer Tom Waltz, regular artist Dan Duncan, and colorist Ronda Pattison continues to produce exceptional issues for fans new and old. This has become one of IDW's best sellers, and deservedly so as it is not a series which merely seeks to re-tell and re-introduce old characters from the 1980's - it seeks to innovate in that re-creation as well as utilize the opportunity to tell new stories and set up new character dynamics even while building a familiar foundation. The previous issue took the opportunity to re-make the Mousers for the 21st century, and this issue focuses on a villain that fans of the original Mirage Studios comics sometimes groan at, but fans of the original animated series (circa 1987-1996) would know very well - the intergalactic warlord Krang.

Krang is a character who has always found himself in a unique position in Turtle "fandom". In the original Mirage Studios comics in the mid 1980's, the origin of the ooze that mutated the Turtles (and Splinter) ultimately was connected to aliens called Utroms. They were aliens whose bodies consisted of brains with small digits, who got around in mechanical humanoid bodies they piloted from the stomach. The Utroms would ultimately prove to be peaceful creatures despite looking scary and even became allies of the Turtles. When the comic was adapted into a cartoon series in 1986-1987, the Utroms were used as the inspiration of the villain Krang - who was an alien who resembled the Utroms and even had a mechanical body similar to them, but hailed from Dimension X (where he had an army of rock men) and who often led the Shredder around. Krang had originally had an alternate form (a reptilian one) before being "transformed" into a brain-thing once being exiled to earth. Krang served as the reason why Shredder had access to fantastic technology, including the iconic orb shaped mobile base, the Technodrome. Co-creator Peter Laird was never happy with the "compromises", if not blatantly different changes, the original cartoon series did to the franchise. When he attempted to relaunch the franchise in 2001 with a new comic series and especially a new animated series (which ran from 2002-2009 across two networks), Krang as well as other characters from the original show - such as Bebop and Rocksteady - were absent at the sake of being faithful to the original comics from the 1980's. This naturally launched another merchandise empire and that secondary cartoon series was popular (and excellent for the first five seasons), although there were a subsection of mainstream fans who missed the old TV characters such as Krang. While Laird is (or became) a purist with his creations, Kevin Eastman appears to be far more flexible and willing to embrace new characters into the universe, as well as willing to alter the origin to suit those new ideas.

"General Krang", ruler of a mysterious banana republic and the bankroller of Baxtor Stockman's genetic experiments, has been a figure referenced and peaked at since the start of this series. This issue reveals in no uncertain terms that Krang is an alien from "Planet Neutrino" (a reference from the original TV series as well) who leads an army of stone-men (one of whom fans will delight is named Tragg). He has hired Stockman on earth to create genetic innovations which he utilizes in his war against the Neutrinos, and has conquered the island of Burnow as a front for his dealings on earth. He already has a robotic body, which is skillfully redesigned by Waltz to not look as goofy as it did originally. Krang is hardly pleased that Stockman has suffered set-backs at his lab, which resulted in the creation of the Turtles as well as the loss of vital experiments - Splinter in particular. To this end, the mutant cat gang leader Old Hob has led an army of robot Mousers to attack the Turtles in their sewer lair. Meanwhile on the surface, Mikey and Raph meet with Mikey's pizza connection (explaining how Turtles with little cash get pizza and food so often), while April O'Niel and Casey Jones continue to bond over training and tutoring. The revelation from issue five - that Splinter and his Turtle sons are reincarnations of a tragic family from Feudal Japan destined to battle the reincarnation of their enemies from that era - continues to be a weighty issue between Donatello and Leonardo. This makes for some interesting discussions and character development. While it was easy to be skeptical of the massive changes to the origin that this series has had, it has provided a great opportunity for character interaction and conflict. Don being a Turtle of science would hardly be expected to swallow the concept of reincarnation sight unseen, while Leo has always been a traditionalist.

If there is one awkward bit, it is that readers of the series are expected to accept aliens from another planet with no build up to it. On the other hand, the TMNT franchise has always been a franchise which had a foot (pun intended) in both mystical and Eastern philosophical matters as well as in far out comic book science fiction. Denying one without the other leaves the Turtle franchise less than it could be, and limits the potential for stories. The Foot Clan and Krang's forces seem to be rivals in this series, which is not only an interesting development, but a method of having this conflict between sci-fi and Japanese mysticism act itself out on panel. The artwork by Waltz and Pattison continues to please and entertain between gritty action sequences and subtle character moments. Eastman's layouts and influence seem apparent when comparing this against the original series via reprints. This arc pays homage to the fact that the Mousers came in very early in the Turtle saga, but have laid in the groundwork for many more with every revelation and issue. IDW has caught on to a winning strategy here; it isn't merely enough to provide new comics about old franchises, but those new comics have to be innovative and good in their own right to capture the fans' full imaginations. Movement on a new TMNT film has started to lurch forward once more, and if that film is only half as good as this series, movie-goers will be in for a treat.

AVENGERS ACADEMY #26: Much like many comics this month and in 2012, Avengers Academy double-ships this month, in Marvel's grand philosophy that one can never have too much of a good thing. The previous issue provided the climax in Christos Gage and artist Tom Grummett's arc, with a lot of action against Hybrid and the resolution of the "Reptil being taken over by his future self" subplot; this issue provides a lot of conversations, lectures, and changes to the status quo. The villain from AVENGERS ACADEMY #14.1, the corrupt, murderous and manipulative teenage tycoon Jeromy Briggs, has established himself as an alternative to the Academy in offering the superhuman youths positions in his company in which they can do good without fighting. The entire issue becomes a debate between Brigg's point of view and the Avengers, with the young characters in the middle choosing where they stand practically one by one. Thus, this is the definition of a "talking heads" issue, which some fans become bored with. The biggest problem with Briggs' argument is that because Marvel Comics insists that their universe be "the world outside your window" instead of allowing their super-genius heroes to actually solve problems like autism or global warming, it is not the Avengers' fault as characters why they neglect such things for battling villains. It is akin to a professional wrestler lecturing his brothers about watching their backs during a match when a wrestler being blind-sided by a rival is part and parcel of the entire narrative flow of the "sport". Hank Pym is the one who offers the pro-Avengers argument, in that the team inspires the world as well as it's members to be better people in addition to responding to villains and disasters no single figure can stop alone. In the end this is an exercise to limit the cast in future stories, and get some B and C list characters to have a line or two. Grummett's artwork is great, although a lack of action gives him less to do, and the color work by Chris Sotomayor is very good as usual. The "future" subplot remains to a degree with quite a cliffhanger, and subsequent issues will see guest appearances by the Runaways and Generation Hope kids. This title, as sales continue to dwindle, runs the risk of becoming a dumping ground for other young characters whose titles were axed before this book is itself canceled, but it is good for Marvel to make some attempt to focus on new blood. The founding cast remain the primary focus of this book, even if this issue causes many of them to be lost for pages on end. This is hardly a bad issue, but it seems to be a slow one as it exists to re-arrange the deck chairs on this franchise's ship, which is a shame as this may be one of the last full arcs before the next Marvel crossover. Briggs continues to be a worthy antagonist for the series, a young Lex Luthor type who can never be proven to be a murderer or a crook, but goes about schemes for his own ends just the same; he may seem awkward for those who skipped last year's .1 issue.

While this is still an exceptional series, Gage will have a challenge to avoid the perception of spinning his wheels a bit before the crossovers start. More action is to be had in the letter column, where Gage bravely publishes and responds to a critical letter of issue #23, which was where Striker came out. The cover, however, is misleading, as the mystery of "who killed Jocasta" was answered last issue.

FANTASTIC FOUR #603: At this point Jonathan Hickman is reaping the harvest of the seeds he has sown in FANTASTIC FOUR via over two years of stories. Thus, this issue has the Fantastic Four, plus a revived Johnny Storm as Negative Zone warlord (or, the traditional Four plus Spider-Man) caught in the middle of a galactic battle between rampaging Celestials from another reality and Galactus. Thus causes the warring Inhumans and Kree to immediately split as the giant Jack Kirby gods throw down. Galactus ends up getting his planet-hungry butt kicked, and this brings us to a fundamental problem Marvel has with some of their menaces. The problem with touting a menace or figure as big and unstoppable is that if they are stopped too often, they lose their mystique and allure. The Wrecking Crew have been beaten so often by every single Marvel character known to man from the Runaways to Punisher to Alpha Flight that absolutely nobody takes them seriously anymore, or should. You could say the same of Rhino or the Juggernaut, and the latter case proved to be so severe that the Juggernaut as most people know him is destroyed and gone, merged with Colossus to distract readers from the neglect THAT character has had as a motive for 25 years. My point is that Marvel cannot have characters maintain the rep of being dangerous if all they do in every single appearance is lose, and lose easily. When everyone from Dr. Strange to Rulk to Thor can beat Galactus, and easily, then he no longer is the menace he was in the 1960's and starts to become this annoying giant man in a strange hat. In fairness, Galactus is outnumbered four to one by the Celestials, and manages to kill one of them. Reed, his kids, and his future father dust off some Deus Ex Machina to blast at the Celestials, and Johnny Storm unleashes his new Finishing Move, but neither are enough. Invisible Woman once again gets a very cool power moment - she blocks a blast from the Celestials and even uses a barrier to smash open one's arm - remember this the next time a writer has her almost pass out from blocking a single blow from the Hulk, as will happen again inevitably. The issue ends with more time travel characters popping in.

I imagine FF is a sister book to this and certain aspects make more sense when brought together, but I don't read that or SHIELD, so I just go by this. In the end this is a fine action issue. Once again Barry Kitson is on art, and I adore his work here. He seems far more of a fit for the title than Steve Epting was, and I liked Epting's work overall as well. As usual, every issue of Hickman's Four works as a cog to his long, never ending storyline, which is fine for long time readers but makes it almost impossible to jump aboard - which may explain why sales always dwindle after every stunt. I still wonder if attempting to make Johnny "cool and important" by making him a resurrected alien warlord was an awkward overcompensation, when all Hickman had to do was merely make him efficient, mature, and competent via 50 years of existence as a superhero. At any rate, FANTASTIC FOUR has ramped up in action and drama for the last three issues, which entertains me quite a lot.

SECRET AVENGERS #23: New creative team Rick Remender (VENOM) and artist Gabriel Hardman (HULK, AGENTS OF ATLAS), alongside colorist Bettie Breitweiser (CAPTAIN AMERICA, WINTER SOLDIER) continue on their strange but entertaining opening arc for this new series run. Captain America has relinquished leadership of the team to Hawkeye, although he does seem to be micro-managing it a bit by recruiting the newest Venom, Flash Thompson, for the squad without Clint's permission. This element works quite simply enough - Thompson has saved Las Vegas along with Beast and Hank Pym coming up with a deus ex machina for him regaining control of the alien symbiote - although it essentially ruins the climax to "Circle Of Four" from VENOM several weeks early. The real meat of the story is on Eric O'Grady, the newest and shadiest Ant-Man. Created by Robert Kirkman, O'Grady was a low level SHIELD agent who literally stole his suit and maimed a man to do it, and often utilized his powers for personal gain. Now he seeks a path of redemption, but it is difficult for him. A Pakistani metahuman and her son were kidnapped by a set of new villains, who were revealed as strange evolutionary offshoots of the Super-Adaptoid, which was an artificial intelligence created by A.I.M. decades ago. There seems to be an entire secret city of these mechanical beings, dubbed "homo synthezoidus" by their leader, the mysterious man simply called Father. They believe themselves to be a new generation of evolved life on earth and seek to destroy humanity (and the Avengers in particular) out of fear of being ostracized, attacked, and destroyed as they see the mutant race was. This point of view is actually very fascinating given the direction the X-Men franchise has gone in since 2005, and how little the Avengers or other mainstream heroes seemed to care about mutants when giant robots slaughtered them in broad daylight. Granted, this could also be part of the old Adaptoid programming, which was set to imitate powers and skills from the Avengers and destroy them. Cyborgs appear to be accepted by Father and the Adaptoids, as Lady Deathstrike and her few surviving Reavers allies (such as Skullbuster) are part of the scheme. The last page offers quite a cliffhanger for O'Grady, although the fact that the character is set to appear in future issues of DEFENDERS probably ruins any chance of his ultimate demise.

Hardman's artwork is exceptional as usual, and while the strange story is itself worthy of attention, the dialogue between characters by Remender really shines here - the Beast in particular seems to excel here as a character of wit and intelligence, as well as vast team experience on the X-Men as well as X-Factor, the Avengers and Defenders. O'Grady goes through quite a harrowing ordeal, which kicks up a lot of suspense and is very well paced and executed. Some of the other characters risk being lost in the shuffle, such as Valkyrie and Black Widow, but hopefully future issues attend to that. So far, a far better start to an opening arc than Ed Brubaker wrote when he launched the title two years ago, and far more lively than the Nick Spencer run that followed.

 

[Dread]

Part Two of Two:

VENOM #13.3: Very few stories are full and worthy enough in comic books to be six entire issues, even issues that are 20 pages each instead of 22. Often there will always be at least one or two issues which could have been edited out and the story not been effected. To a degree, that is what I see in this issue; it isn't terrible, but the point could have been made in half the pages in another era - which one could say of this entire team up plot. I am enjoying it overall as a lark, but I do think it is overlong and will stretch the patience of many VENOM fans who aren't freaks like me. This issue is written by Jeff Parker (HULK) and drawn by Julian Tedesco, with colors by Dommo Sanchez Amara. Naturally, the issues by Rob Williams focused on his new Ghost Rider, so you'd expect this issue to focus on Red Hulk...which it doesn't. Instead it reads very much like the middle chapter of a six part arc and Parker's voice is mostly lost. In the previous issue, all of the "Circle Of Four" were killed by Blackheart and his demonic doubles of them. In this issue, they all seem to stumble across an idyllic resolution, although the narration by page 3 makes it obvious the heroes are being set up, so then it becomes waiting until the issue gets where it's going. Venom/Flash Thompson, Rulk, X-23 and Alejandra/Ghost Rider all wind up being given a glimpse at their own "happy ending" before it all becomes a nightmare, via Mephisto. He offers them a typical Faustian bargain - agree to unite to perform an errand for Mephisto at some point in the future and get a second chance at life and beating Blackheart in particular, or suffer in Hell forever. Naturally, they all choose the obvious. Part of me was reminded of video games that sometimes expose a character to some mystical resurrection scene after they are killed and want to "continue" - CONKER'S BAD FUR DAY was actually a spoof of a scene like this. The artwork is pretty good, overall.

Naturally, the most interesting beats are seeing what everyone's idealized "happy ending" would have been. Thompson naturally would desire to beat the symbiote's desires, walk again permanently, and become the next Spider-Man with Betty as a Lois Lane like reporter girlfriend. Red Hulk just wants to pummel MODOK and AIM with all the other Hulks - which seemed odd to me because I thought Ross not only hated the Hulk in general in the past, but Banner in particular. Or would he like a Banner who obeyed him in lock step? Alejandra imagines ridding herself of her sin and reuniting with her mother, and X-23 envisions teaming with Wolverine against Weapon X. Both ladies imagine Blackheart being their "real" enemy of their lives and killing him led to peace. Naturally, a deal with Mephisto never ends well, but the four really don't have a choice here; the alternative is eternal torment in Hell forever, which isn't really a better option.

To a degree, SECRET AVENGERS this week ruined the outcome of this story a little. We KNOW Venom saves Vegas, and gets enough of a rep for it that Captain America is backing him and isn't seeking to court martial him. It is amazing that Marvel sought to rush this story by shipping an issue per week for 5-7 weeks, and it STILL couldn't avoid being ruined by another comic. Sure, we knew VENOM wouldn't die, but his post-Circle status quo was always up in the air. Besides, it doesn't help knowing that Punisher, Ghost Rider and Wolverine beat Blackheart TWICE in the 90's by basically hitting him a lot. I still like the dynamic between Rulk and Flash; the new Ghost Rider isn't catching on for me, and while X-23 may have a soul, she'll apparently never have a personality. Still, I imagine this story could be settled by the next issue, but there are still two more. There is a bit of pathetic irony about a story called "THE CIRCLE OF FOUR" being six parts long; akin to DC's THE GREAT TEN being canceled after issue nine.

X-MEN LEGACY #262: AVENGERS ACADEMY writer Christos Gage and artist David Baldeon of YOUNG ALLIES and NOMAD continue on the second chapter of their opening run on this series – or third if one counts issue #260.1 last month. The previous issue set up the plot, and this issue focuses on the actual brawl between Rogue and her team of X-Men versus Exodus, formerly one of Magneto’s most staunch Acolytes. Exodus, an incredibly powerful psychic mutant, has decided that it is time for what is left of their species (all 300 of them, roughly) to unite as a whole against humanity. His catch is always if any refuse, he is willing to either outright mind control them or even kill them – in short, he’s a fanatic. In the previous issue, Exodus saw Wolverine’s new Jean Grey School as dividing mutants, so he sought to eliminate it; now he sees Cyclops’ Utopia island as the problem, so now Rogue and her team have to intercept him before he blows it up. Therefore, the majority of this issue focuses on Rogue, Wolverine, Beast, Iceman, Frenzy, Cannonball, Iceman, Gambit, and Rachel Grey attempting to gang up on Exodus. The dilemma is that to a degree this is similar to virtually every “team of heroes battle one impossibly powerful villain” battle that one has seen in comics. Said villain throws the heroes left and right yet doesn’t actually kill any of them, while all the team of heroes do is stall or force a draw until the cliffhanger or next chapter begins. However, there are quite a few highlights; Frenzy and Exodus both being former Acolytes comes up, and Iceman utilizes a nearby river for dramatic effect. For people who like insane feats of regeneration, Wolverine recovers from being blasted to skeleton and scraps of meat within a mere page and a half – once upon a time, only Lobo could regenerate that fast. Thus, Baldeon alongside inker Jordi Tarragona and colorist Sonia Oback get a chance to showcase their talents here with extended battle sequences, and they all do a solid job.

This issue does seem to make Rogue’s position more clear in the post-SCHISM status quo. SCHISM was the dramatic conflict between Wolverine and Cyclops; the former decided to re-open an X-Men school for youngsters to protect them from battle, while the latter remains on his island preparing for war and responding to threats. Rogue’s position is carried over from the extended run on this title by Mike Carey, that she has been tending to young mutant students for a longer period of time than Wolverine has, and she refuses to cater to his stubbornness. When Wolverine refuses to warn Utopia about the incoming threat out of fear of Cyclops gaining a point in a debate (a tactically foolish and biased position Beast the scientist amazingly agrees with), Rogue simply goes around Logan’s claws and sends a warning anyway. The climax is easily a brief argument between Rogue and Logan where the former says, “I didn’t wake up one morning between ninja fights and decide I wanted to be a teacher! I’ve been doing it all along!” You go, girl.

Contrasting this against Gage’s other team comic book this week, AVENGERS ACADEMY #26, is also an interesting exercise. That issue split that book’s cast down the middle between two philosophical camps, and while various characters made their choices, a consensus was reached to at least cooperate and interact when it was logical and essential. The X-Men, after SCHISM, apparently, are far more eager to divide into different camps each headed by one of two stubborn generals who would rather see a disaster than allow the other a talking point. Seeing that, does Exodus have a point? At any rate, painting Rogue as a rational mind between extreme forces within her team is a bit of an easy trick towards making her sympathetic to the audience, but then again, Rogue has always been a unique character to the X-Men. She has been an enemy and an ally, a long term member and even a leader of her own squads. With her new mastery over her powers allowing Rogue to essentially be a power-swapping powerhouse, exploring her motivations is the best route to go. Frenzy and even Gambit have a few decent moments here.

Overall, however, Gage’s opening issues on this series have been okay; nothing exceptional nor terrible. This action issue had cool moments, but also had a sense of hollowness I couldn’t shake when I read it. I enjoy Gage enough as a writer to give this a complete arc, but I could grow weary of it without more of a clear focus and agenda of its own.

A personal peeve of mine are writers who feel the need to illustrate a character's accent literally in text. "Dis accent be annoyin' ya, chere, ah guar-UN-tee!" "I am ze vindow viper, I am here to vipe ze vindows!" And so on. It becomes more comedic to me than it should and sometimes takes me right out of a scene. But, that's a minor quibble, and Gage is hardly the first or last writer to do that with Rogue, or the X-Men.

 

[chamber-music]

Milligan's leaving the book after this I, Vampire crossover and Jeff Lemiure's coming on so the storytelling might improve. He's doing a good job over on Animal Man I hear (the first 3 issues I read were great). So it might pay off to stay on the book to try that out.

I'm loving Animal Man so if Jeff Lemiure is going to be doing this I'm definetly sticking around.

 

[Themanofbat]

Animal Man is great an all, but I feel like I've read this rendition of Buddy Baker towards the end of his original run back in 1994...

 

[Sockie]

The last page offers quite a cliffhanger for O'Grady, although the fact that the character is set to appear in future issues of DEFENDERS probably ruins any chance of his ultimate demise.

Actually, that Ant-Man hasn't been confirmed anywhere to be O'Grady. In fact, I think Fraction mentioned at a convention that it wasn't O'Grady, but now he's saying "it might be, it might not be."

 

[CConn]

I don't recall that happening to Buddy in 1994.

 

[runawayboulder]

O'Grady's OK but I'd rather see Scott Lang fill the role again. It looks like he's sticking around post Children's Crusade.

 

[Themanofbat]

I don't recall that happening to Buddy in 1994.

No... but when Jamie Delano took over the writing with issue #51, he created the "Red" and turned Buddy into an "animal avatar", which is pretty much what were seeing now... instead it's Maxine who's the avatar.

The tone of the current book is the same (TO ME) as is was back then, so it doesn't feel "new" to me...

 

[CConn]

No... but when Jamie Delano took over the writing with issue #51, he created the "Red" and turned Buddy into an "animal avatar", which is pretty much what were seeing now... instead it's Maxine who's the avatar.

The tone of the current book is the same (TO ME) as is was back then, so it doesn't feel "new" to me...

I was just looking for an excuse to post a picture of Buddy all puffed up with evil snot.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

O'Grady's OK but I'd rather see Scott Lang fill the role again. It looks like he's sticking around post Children's Crusade.

I've kind of been appreciating O'Grady more for having an alternative perspective to the superhero game lately. (The fact that most writers haven't been writing him as quite so extreme a *****ebag as he started out as helps.) But Scott returning would be pretty epic. Scott and Hank working together on the Secret Avengers would also be pretty sweet. Maybe Cassie could join Avengers Academy while they're at it. One big size-changing family.

 

[runawayboulder]

I've kind of been appreciating O'Grady more for having an alternative perspective to the superhero game lately. (The fact that most writers haven't been writing him as quite so extreme a *****ebag as he started out as helps.) But Scott returning would be pretty epic. Scott and Hank working together on the Secret Avengers would also be pretty sweet. Maybe Cassie could join Avengers Academy while they're at it. One big size-changing family.

Too bad it seems like Cassie was the trade off for Scott coming back.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Oh yeah. Oh well, no big loss. Scott's way better anyway.