This was a short, but not sweet, week. In all honesty for my list, it had one stand-out and three comics that were underwhelming in various ways. Spoilers ahead, let's get it over with.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT for 6/22/11:
CAPTAIN AMERICA #619: This comic actually offers an end of an era as well as a story that has been cut off at the knees by the annual crossover, FEAR ITSELF. Given that series writer Ed Brubaker, who has been on CAPTAIN AMERICA for over six years and counting and has driven the series to sales it hadn't seen in decades, it is an odd way for Marvel to repay him. For those not in the know, June kicked off with James "Bucky" Barnes being the sacrificial lamb for FEAR ITSELF #3 in a desperate attempt to make that lackluster story more "important". Thus, this conclusion to "GULAG" seems moot because the title character is already dead. July also sees this title relaunch with a fresh #1 and with Steve Rogers back behind the mantle for the first time in almost four years. This issue offers a 30 page story with the side installments featuring Black Widow and Rogers drawn by Chris Samnee, with the main sections drawn by Butch Guice, Stefano Gaudiano and Mitch Breitweiser - all of it is colored by Bettie Breitweiser, which gives it a consistent tone. While James Barnes had been revived from the dead and become the new Captain America, he had also once been the Soviet assassin the Winter Soldier, and one of his old KGB spooks had set up his entire Russian incarceration to get data on other sleeper agents out of his head. While Rogers and Nick Fury expose evidence of this being a set-up, but little else, Black Widow is willing to go rogue to rescue Barnes, who has become her lover. Forced to fight in some prison pit fights, Barnes exploits a battle with the original Unicorn to escape the joint.
The biggest problem with this story is that it doesn't seem like a proper conclusion. It feels like a story that has simply stopped, and is meant to bridge the gap to the next arc that isn't coming, because Barnes somehow got to Washington, D.C. and back in his Cap suit in FEAR ITSELF #3 so he could fill the role of "designated corpse". Barnes is a character who Brubaker seems to relate to and who has been key to his entire run on CAPTAIN AMERICA; he revived him as the Winter Soldier at the start of his run, and has evolved him into being the star of the book. Through sheer quality storytelling, Brubaker took a character killed off in a flashback by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the 60's who was considered one of the "only ones who stays dead" and turned him into a great character with endless potential. This arc seems to end with several panels that scream about it. While Brubaker will continue to write Barnes in another title - CAPTAIN AMERICA & BUCKY - it will be a flashback series set in the past. While Rogers becoming Capt. America again was always inevitable once he was revived from his own death scene, the Marvel Universe was still a place where Barnes still had a lot of new stories in him, either by Brubaker or someone else. This issue seems to symbolize what Marvel has been willing to extinguish for the sake of the lowest selling crossover event in half a decade which offers a pedestrian story to boot.
MYSTERY MEN #2: While it has become common for many of Marvel's many ongoing titles to "double ship" at times during one month (especially a month like June that technically has five Wednesdays), it is often rare for mini series that have nothing to do with Marvel's crossover du jour or some specific promotion. While the film "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER" is a period superhero piece set in WWII, this series seeks to delve into Marvel's era prior to that in 1932 - often considered a "lost period" for Marvel characters between the dozens of masked cowboys of the 19th century and the explosion of costumed vigilantes and heroes in the late 30's to early 40's. The first issue of this shipped on June 8th, and before the actual review of the issue came a very lengthy explanation about Marvel tempting a copyright lawsuit with this series. Much like June 8th, this is another "small week" for Marvel titles; however, this series by David Liss (BLACK PANTHER: MAN WITHOUT FEAR), artist Patrick Zircher and colorist Andy Troy is worthy of merit and mention regardless of that.
In last issue's review, it was noted how the lack of a female presence could be a hurdle for this pulp era team, but that such a thing could be avoided by the Sarah Starr character. It appears Liss has realized this and she turns out to be our third "Mystery Man", or at least masked vigilante, who has appeared within this series. Liss also reveals that every issue will be narrated by a different character, rather than have one offer the P.O.V. for the entire story. While Dennis Piper, the Operative, had a set up that spanned many pages in the debut, Sarah only gets one before the story hurries along to accomplish what it is set out to do in this installment. The second hero, the magician Revenant, also gets some exposition about him revealed - although much like a movie serial, his name (Ezekiel Wright) and mask-less face are shown in the recap page rather than in the story proper. All three have become embroiled in solving the mystery of "who killed actress Alice Starr", who was the sister of Sarah, the stage peer of Wright, and the fiancé of Piper. However, Piper is in no rush to have a "team up" with another hero - although whether this is because of his own preference for working alone or due to the fact that Wright is African American during the heart of the Jim Crow era is kept a bit ambiguous. Dismissed for the action due to being a woman, Sarah turns out to be a daredevil pilot as well as a scientist, and makes her first stride at surprising the masked men in the final page. All of the ties lead to "the General", the enforcer of a series of international bankers and tycoons called "the board", who are exploiting the Depression as well as future warfare for profits - who not only has demonic influences, but turns out to be closer to Piper than previously revealed. With the General basically having "bought" every cop in the city, the heroes have their work cut out for them.
Meanwhile, the General's quest for a mystical amulet which will better sustain his life has been absconded by his hired archeologist, professor Lewis Green. He gets scared off when one of the General's overzealous goons seeks to drive him back into town personally, and he's more occupied with seeing his girlfriend - who has moved on in the time he's been gone. According to solicits and the cover of the last issue, at least five vigilantes are set to be introduced here, and it is likely Lewis will be one of them - probably empowered by the amulet. Another upcoming character seems to be named "The Surgeon". Liss has been given the task of creating the first masked crimefighters of Marvel's 20th century, and he has been wise to keep them simple and deeply entrenched in the quirks of pulp novels - instead of gaudy and flashy characters (such as Paul Jenkins' Sentry or Kevin Grevioux's Blue Marvel).
Zircher's artwork is as great as always - he has often toiled on books that don't get too much recognition, such as his long run on THUNDERBOLTS. Troy's colors give the work a moody tone that works well for the Depression era caper, which is quite different from the bright super-heroics that Zircher has often drawn. The page layouts shift enough that some pages have four panels while others will have seven, often when a situation it meant to be tense (such as a fight or an interrogation sequence).
In conclusion, this was the cheapest book in the pull list for me, and it was also the best. It also is one of the rare books by Marvel or DC that, gasp, still offers 22 pages of story for $2.99 (how amazing the market has become when what was standard a year ago has already become a novelty). The shame of it is that this is perhaps the definition of a series that will get lost in the shuffle. It features a creative team that may be good at what they do, but don't have much recognition with mainstream readers. It is a period piece which introduces new characters, and launched in the middle of Marvel's FEAR ITSELF push (as well as DC's FLASHPOINT push). While the trade collection should be a handsome story, there is no reason why comic fans who like something smaller yet better from Marvel than crossover material or standard superhero fare shouldn't lap this up. MYSTERY MEN continues to be a pleasant surprise - which is rarer in terms of comics or general surprises than one would believe.
SECRET AVENGERS #14: Once upon a time, this title had a clear reason to exist. It essentially replaced MIGHTY AVENGERS as the 3rd Avengers title which featured a roster of established adult heroes. Perhaps it’s biggest reason to exist was that it was launched and written by Ed Brubaker, who has become one of Marvel’s top tier writers with his work on CAPTAIN AMERICA these past six-plus years (as well as a stint on UNCANNY X-MEN, and CRIMINAL over at the Icon imprint). Having a space franchise title solely to give a “hot” creative team something to play with makes sense. The dilemma has come now that Brubaker decided to call it a run after twelve issues (in which he left his series’ central subplot open ended). In many ways, the dilemma of SECRET AVENGERS mirrors that of ASTONISHING X-MEN. After Grant Morrison left (NEW) X-MEN and Marvel set about removing his stories from relevance root and stem, they needed another equally hot creative team to launch their own X-Book. Thus, they got Joss Whedon and John Cassaday to handle ASTONISHING X-MEN. Issues soon took ages to ship, and the stories were all over-long, but they sold very well. However, after 25 issues (across four years), Whedon and Cassaday called it a run. Marvel could have merely ended the comic, since it’s reason to exist was over…but when has Marvel let artistic integrity, and not sales, cloud their judgment? Thus, ASTONISHING X-MEN began to exist as a book apart from both continuity and more “important” X-Men books being written by whatever writer fancied wanting to play alone with toys in a sandbox – Warren Ellis being one, and Daniel Way another. And while the series sells well enough to be profitable, it exists only for completists who can’t get enough X-Men action that they need a spare title that offers fun adventures with little context or connection as to what UNCANNY X-MEN or the other X-Books are doing. Such a fate has befallen SECRET AVENGERS since the end of the Brubaker era.
Nick Spencer, fresh off acclaim on Image’s MORNING GLORIES, has been tasked to do a thankless drive-by of a run. He has been tasked to write the three issues that cross over into the FEAR ITSELF event – apparently because no other writer, such as the incoming Warren Ellis, could be bothered – as well as the .1 issue, which is an annual under a new gimmick. With only four issues, Spencer cannot do anything major to any character; he can’t change the roster or explore anything vital or important. Furthermore, the problem with crossover tie-in issues is that nothing really “important” can happen there, because the “important” story beats occur in the core mini series (or the tie-in’s written by the same writer as the event mini series). Thus, SECRET AVENGERS has to fill three months worth of comics in which absolutely nothing important or lasting can be accomplished. When one factors in that even Warren Ellis, the next writer coming in, has only committed to a six issue run, one easily gets the feeling that Marvel have no clue what to do with this book or what purpose it serves without Brubaker, save to charge their audience $3.99 for another Avengers book they probably don’t need.
The .1 issue had Spencer offer an interesting Marvel version of the WikiLeaks scandal, which remains the peak of his “run” thus far. SECRET AVENGERS #13 offered some cool visuals, but devolved into preachy nonsense with Beast finding an old friend in Congress who was never seen before or since. This issue, as the cover suggests, is a Valkyrie story. In her, Spencer has a character who does not appear in other books nor is very high up the popularity totem pole – as in, a character he could play with if this wasn’t his penultimate issue. Given that James “Bucky/New Cap” Barnes died in FEAR ITSELF #3, and Valkyrie’s task is bringing the honored dead to Valhalla, I imagined a story which dealt with that. Sadly, the issue I imagined was far better than the issue that I have paid for, that Spencer and artist Scott Eaton (alongside colorist Frank D’Armata and two inkers) have crafted. Valkyrie is the lead character in the story by virtue of appearing in 15 out of 22 pages – even if many of those page appearances are only one or two panels, mostly silent. The story focuses on two soldiers, Stevens and Hayes, who are a “battle couple” despite army regulations against that sort of thing (even for heterosexual couples like them). They, along with their entire squad, are tasked with fighting Sin’s giant Neo-Nazi mecha to defend Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia with Valkyrie as their Avenger back-up. When Stevens sacrifices his life so Hayes can live, Valkyrie has a flashback to her own past when something similar happened, and is forced to help Hayes stand tall.
This issue offers an origin for Valkyrie that is like no origin she has previously received. In fact it runs so counter to her original beginning that the only amusement it offers is imagining how the poor writers of the Marvel Handbook will figure a way to reconcile it into a Biography update. Will they blame it on Thor reviving her (and the other Asgardians) from their deaths from the last Ragnarok and thus origins changed? Will it be blamed on unseen mental influence by “the Serpent”? Will Valkyrie merely be “confused”? Or will it be omitted entirely as a gaffe? About all it gets right is Odin chooses Brunnhilde to lead his Valkyrie and that’s about it. That’s akin to rewroting Batman’s origin as Bruce Wayne’s parents being killed by a stray bullet from a cop’s gun while leaving a circus and believing it was the same because his parents still died in front of him.
Thus, this issue offers a story that doesn’t matter, in a run that doesn’t matter, and an origin that barely matters. For $3.99.
If ever a comic screamed at the fans to not buy it, it’s SECRET AVENGERS lately. Spencer’s run wraps up next issue, which is advertised as “Black Widow mourns”. This ideally should mean for Barnes, since they were lovers. But given how utterly pointless these last two issues were, I would not be surprised if Spencer wrote in some aimless retcon about Natasha having a pet gerbil in Russia back when she was twelve and it is for that she is mourning, not for anything noteworthy or important. That’s how little I trust this title. Those who wish to give Ellis’ run a try should think twice. SECRET AVENGERS is a title without a cause, which a bad thing to be for $4 an issue. There are better Avengers titles out there. The horrid irony is that even when Brubaker was on this title, it was hardly the best thing on the stands. The worst issue of AVENGERS ACADEMY is miles ahead of the best issue of this series.
If one wants a better Valkyrie story from recent times, steer clear of this issue and try to find that “Women Of Marvel” VALKYRIE one shot from last year. SECRET AVENGERS #14 is a dud, and the entire run thus far has ranged from disappointing to mediocre. Run while you still can!
THUNDERBOLTS #159: For some reason known only to editor Tom Brennan, this issue offers 40 pages of story by different creative teams, packaged for $4.99. One would have thought this sort of thing would be saved for an annual, or another high round numbered issue (such as next month's 160th issue). Perhaps to exploit it's tie-in to FEAR ITSELF, which may not boost sales for any crossover title much at all? At any rate, this is an anthology issue that offers several side stories that all take place under the same general time - the T-Bolts' attempt to salvage what is left of the Raft prison after it was destroyed by the Juggernaut. The lead story is written by regular writer Jeff Parker and drawn by frequent fill-in artist Declan Shalvey (and colored by Frank Martin). It is a twelve issue story, which suggests this was done because the lead artists were behind, so rather than skip a month, they got other creators involved. The lead story is called "Underbolts" and focuses on the "beta" squad of Thunderbolts who have been recruited prior to the Raft tragedy - Centurius, Shocker, Mr. Hyde, and Boomerang. With squad leaders Songbird and Fixer/Techno occupied, and Moonstone, Ghost, and Troll being more loyal members, the "beta" team seek to complete their mission of rescue and contain until they reach the main lab, where a decision has to be made about whether to find a way to undo the nanobots in their blood to escape, and how to do so. Joe Caramagna and Valentine De Landro helm a Moonstone story, "Group Therapy", which sees her run into the full women's ward, where the lady villains seem to have their own plans than returning to their cells. Jen Van Meter and Eric Canete handle "The Ghost & Mr. Walker" in which Ghost runs into the current warden and former U.S. Agent, John Walker, on a quest to save the lives of inmates and personel trapped in one section of the Raft which showcases that Walker is both hardcore as well as passionate about the theory of rehabilitation. The final tale is by Frank Tieri and Matthew Southworth essentially details how Crossbones escaped the Raft to later appear in FEAR ITSELF: YOUTH IN REVOLT #2. While the lead story is interesting, the secondary stories achieve the middle ground of neither being exceptional nor bad. Unlike MYSTERY MEN, it was a surprise to get an extra sized (and priced) issue, while the result was not as pleasant.
) I could've done without most of the major Asgardians suiting up in overly ornate armor, but that's a very minor quibble next to the promise of the gods waging all-out war on Galactus and the Surfer next issue. Volstagg crying about war with Broxton was more silly than funny, but it helped balance the tone of the much more serious conflict with Galactus. Loki sneaking into Sif and Thor's room for a lock of the former's hair and getting caught was pretty funny, though. And of course Coipel's art is stellar all the way through. Overall, it was both fun and exciting, as any story featuring the gods and Galactus should be. Can't wait for the next issue.
