Boughtvengers/Thoughtnitiative for May 9th, 2012 - SPOILERS

[TheCorpulent1]

Avengers Assemble #3: Hmm. This isn't bad. A bit of the usual Bendis-speak and all, but Hawkeye still has more personality in one panel here than he did in the entire Avengers movie, which is nice. Thor and the Hulk get to kick some ass, too. Not really sure why they haven't brought Marcus L. Fury over, but I suppose--oh hai Thanos! That sort of came out of nowhere. Although, in retrospect, I guess this is really what they meant about making this series tie into the movie while still being in continuity--just taking all of the characters from the movie and using them somehow. I'm wondering if Bendis will actually give us any backstory about how Thanos went from being contained in the Cancerverse to back and apparently not as rage-fueled; but, knowing Bendis, I'm also not really holding my breath for that.

I'd actually be kind of content if Bendis just restored Thanos to his Death-loving, ass-stomping classic status quo, to be honest. All of the stuff since he was previously rocking that status quo didn't interest me too much, to the extent that when my friends asked who he was at the end of the movie, I immediately said, "He's a ridiculously powerful alien dude who's obsessed/in love with Death." That really is the core of the character. Everything else has kind of just been a dilution of that essential formula.

Wolverine & the X-Men #10: Decent issue. Scott and Logan spend most of the issue b****ing at each other, and Scott once again comes off as this incredibly psychotic religious fundamentalist. He even tells Logan that Hope will lead them to mutant paradise and there will be a reckoning for those who didn't stand with her. It's like he's channeling all the dead religious nutjobs from throughout history for this conversation. Logan, meanwhile, attempts to justify his attempt to murder a teenager.

The real meat of the issue for me was the rest of the staff's opinions. I understand Rachel's pretty well; as she says, she herself controlled the Phoenix Force for a while, so it makes sense that she'd be a bit less doomsdayish about the Phoenix's return. Bobby, on the other hand, I have some trouble understanding. He apparently just has 100% blind devotion to Scott. That's the extent of his argument. "Scott's my buddy, so I'm with him." Angel's on the side of mutants because he now acknowledges that he is one, so that's another weird justification. Wolverine just takes all of their... "betrayals" sounds a bit too black-and-white, so... dissenting viewpoints?... in stride, though. There's not much indication of what'll drive him to betray the Avengers and switch over to Scott's side--if that is indeed what happens. I could see him just going off on his own all determined to kill Hope no matter what because that's the kind of dick Wolverine is.

Batman #9: Fun issue. Batman f***s up some owls and gets to cut loose a bit. My favorite part was when he ran one of them over with the Batmobile and Alfred's all horrified, but Bruce goes, "They heal fast. Let him heal." Not really much to say about this. "Night of the Owls" continues, although the initial coolness of the Court of Owls has sort of died down at this point. They're essentially just cannon fodder in period-piece costumes now, not really different from Hand ninja or Kobra terrorists or any other nameless, faceless bodies thrown at the heroes as momentary distractions. I kind of wish the "army" of Talons were more of a squadron of well developed Talons, but attempting to develop any number of villains would've probably just ruined the pacing of the story.

The backup this issue was weird. Apparently, Alfred's dad felt responsible for some bad stuff that happened to the Waynes, and he was being chased by a Talon. That's about all I got from this part of the backup, although there are still two more to go. I hope this story's revelations are fairly tame. Anytime we have a flashback and learn that this or that character's ancestor secretly faced exactly the same thing that the characters themselves are now facing, I feel like the writer is winking at me so hard they're gonna pull a muscle. It comes off really hokey and stupid. That was my main problem with Marvel's SHIELD series, in fact; the entire goddamn story was one giant wink at the reader. "You thought you knew Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton and Nathaniel Richards, didn't you? Well, guess what! " It gets tiresome real quick. But now I'm ranting.

 

[Themanofbat]

I live in the same city as Nick Bradshaw (artist for Wolvie & the X-Men)...

Really nice guy... I talk to him a few times... BIG Hulk fan... it's his dream gig... green Hulk...

 

[TheCorpulent1]

His style would suit a Hulk book pretty well. Or maybe a She-Hulk book. He does comedy really well.

This week's WatXM issue was drawn by Bachalo, though.

 

[runawayboulder]

Anything would be better than Portacio. A monkey throwing s**t at an easel would be better.

 

[THANOSRULES]

Avengers Assemble #3: Hmm. This isn't bad. A bit of the usual Bendis-speak and all, but Hawkeye still has more personality in one panel here than he did in the entire Avengers movie, which is nice. Thor and the Hulk get to kick some ass, too. Not really sure why they haven't brought Marcus L. Fury over, but I suppose--oh hai Thanos! That sort of came out of nowhere. Although, in retrospect, I guess this is really what they meant about making this series tie into the movie while still being in continuity--just taking all of the characters from the movie and using them somehow. I'm wondering if Bendis will actually give us any backstory about how Thanos went from being contained in the Cancerverse to back and apparently not as rage-fueled; but, knowing Bendis, I'm also not really holding my breath for that.

I'd actually be kind of content if Bendis just restored Thanos to his Death-loving, ass-stomping classic status quo, to be honest. All of the stuff since he was previously rocking that status quo didn't interest me too much, to the extent that when my friends asked who he was at the end of the movie, I immediately said, "He's a ridiculously powerful alien dude who's obsessed/in love with Death." That really is the core of the character. Everything else has kind of just been a dilution of that essential formula.

Wolverine & the X-Men #10: Decent issue. Scott and Logan spend most of the issue b****ing at each other, and Scott once again comes off as this incredibly psychotic religious fundamentalist. He even tells Logan that Hope will lead them to mutant paradise and there will be a reckoning for those who didn't stand with her. It's like he's channeling all the dead religious nutjobs from throughout history for this conversation. Logan, meanwhile, attempts to justify his attempt to murder a teenager.

The real meat of the issue for me was the rest of the staff's opinions. I understand Rachel's pretty well; as she says, she herself controlled the Phoenix Force for a while, so it makes sense that she'd be a bit less doomsdayish about the Phoenix's return. Bobby, on the other hand, I have some trouble understanding. He apparently just has 100% blind devotion to Scott. That's the extent of his argument. "Scott's my buddy, so I'm with him." Angel's on the side of mutants because he now acknowledges that he is one, so that's another weird justification. Wolverine just takes all of their... "betrayals" sounds a bit too black-and-white, so... dissenting viewpoints?... in stride, though. There's not much indication of what'll drive him to betray the Avengers and switch over to Scott's side--if that is indeed what happens. I could see him just going off on his own all determined to kill Hope no matter what because that's the kind of dick Wolverine is.

Batman #9: Fun issue. Batman f***s up some owls and gets to cut loose a bit. My favorite part was when he ran one of them over with the Batmobile and Alfred's all horrified, but Bruce goes, "They heal fast. Let him heal." Not really much to say about this. "Night of the Owls" continues, although the initial coolness of the Court of Owls has sort of died down at this point. They're essentially just cannon fodder in period-piece costumes now, not really different from Hand ninja or Kobra terrorists or any other nameless, faceless bodies thrown at the heroes as momentary distractions. I kind of wish the "army" of Talons were more of a squadron of well developed Talons, but attempting to develop any number of villains would've probably just ruined the pacing of the story.

The backup this issue was weird. Apparently, Alfred's dad felt responsible for some bad stuff that happened to the Waynes, and he was being chased by a Talon. That's about all I got from this part of the backup, although there are still two more to go. I hope this story's revelations are fairly tame. Anytime we have a flashback and learn that this or that character's ancestor secretly faced exactly the same thing that the characters themselves are now facing, I feel like the writer is winking at me so hard they're gonna pull a muscle. It comes off really hokey and stupid. That was my main problem with Marvel's SHIELD series, in fact; the entire goddamn story was one giant wink at the reader. "You thought you knew Leonardo Da Vinci and Isaac Newton and Nathaniel Richards, didn't you? Well, guess what! " It gets tiresome real quick. But now I'm ranting.

Bendis better F-ing explain the whole deal with Thanos, and it better deal with Nova/Starlord too....

I see your point about Thanos, but I don't actually agree. The complicated nature of Thanos is what makes him good, and a superior version of his "mirror" darkseid...I like all of it, which doesnt rule out having him manic and unpredictable.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm not saying he should be a one-note cardboard cutout or anything. But I feel like anytime they divorce him from or downplay his obsession with Death, they're diluting an essential element of the character.

Anything would be better than Portacio. A monkey throwing s**t at an easel would be better.

Hey, at least he's not drawing Journey into Mystery anymore. What a terrible couple of issues those were. You could at least argue that the Hulk sort of suits his style--big, ugly monster drawn to look like a big, ugly monster. Not so much a series about magic, myth, teen angst, and comedy.

 

[CrimsonMist]

Largest week for me in a while. 7 Books.

Batman #9 was pretty awesome, though for the most part, it was nothing but a huge fight sequence carrying on from last issue. As Corp said, the Owls are getting a little wearisome. They're nothing but canon fodder, as I believe even Batman himself points out. They don't seem to be very much of a threat than just a bunch of nameless villains for Batman to punch around. And that's been a problem for the past two issues. Suddenly, the villains have lost their personality. The book seems to be dragging and with two issues left, I wonder how the story is gonna be wrapped up. Will it flow logically or will it feel forced and wrapped up with a nice little bow? I hope it's the former. As it is, after this arc I hope Snyder keeps his story arcs a little shorter. Between this and Swamp Thing(which ALSO had it's previous two issues be one continuous fight scene with plot points that seemed to be major beforehand being wrapped up as if they weren't a big deal at all), Snyder needs to pick up the pace and begin moving. It's good stuff, but come on.

FuryMAX #1: My shop didn't get this in last week so I'm a little late. I read in last week's Bought/Thought thread that some people didn't like it because it was nothing but people talking. I'd argue that you missed the point. I found Ennis' dialogue to be really good. It's typical Ennis, War knowledge and all. I've always liked Ennis' Nick Fury anyway but he's a little subdued here. So if Ennis' Fury: Peacemaker book is canon here, what we're seeing a slightly more bitter, toughened Fury than when we saw him in WW2. But I really liked it. The characters are interesting enough to keep me coming back and I'm curious to see if Ennis makes mention of any of Jason Aaron's work with the Punisher. Good stuff.

Punisher #11. Filler issue. Nothing more. Cops interrogate Walter Bolt about a zombie invasion of sorts in Times Square that he and The Punisher(mostly the Punisher) handled. Bolt also confesses that he isn't a hero cop because the Punisher was responsible for the Cloisters shooting we were told about earlier in the run that Bolt took credit for and that he was tipping off Frank about The Exchange. The higher-ups decide to use this to their advantage and further present Bolt as a hero cop. After the events of The Omega Effect crossover(which ended the same way it began for Daredevil and really progressed the Punisher/Cole-Alves story), this comes as a disappointment. The story almost seems to stop dead. I didn't really like the artwork either. Mirko Colak was the artist for this issue. His work is really stiff. Next issue, I guess we'll get the goods. It's taken 12 issues to get this far though...I feel that's kind of a problem. But whatever. It's good stuff normally and it isnt' growing tiresome. And for the love of god, can they please remove Bryan Hitch from doing cover duties? They're really generic and boring.

Frankenstein, Alive, Alive! #1: Truth be told, I really only bought it for Bernie Wrightson's art, which I imagine is something that maybe IDW was banking on. I'm not really a big Steve Niles fan. His first bunch of 30 Days of Night books were good, but I don't like Criminal Macabre at all. I think the writing is pretty piss-poor. The idea of Cal MacDonald is a cool one, which I like but I don't like Niles' writing style very much. However, I was very surprised when reading this book. Steve Niles seems to be much more at home writing this kind of gothic, atmospheric horror story than his hardboiled stuff. He's much more refined here and it made for a fantastic read. And he really understands the character behind the Frankenstein Monster. He's very human, very tragic. Needless to say, I'm hooked. The back-up features are cool, too. I have no idea how long this series is supposed to go on for, but there's a cool interview of Niles talking to Wrightson about Frankenstein came into his life. They're also reprinting chapters of the novel which seems silly if the book is, say, 4 issues long. No way they're going to get the whole book in. But whatever. This is some good stuff. If you like horror comics, pick this one up.

Fatale #5. Speaking of horror comics, Book 1 of Ed Brubaker and Sean Philips' Fatale comes to a close in intense, violent Lovecraftian fashion. The book is a few pages longer because, according to Brubaker, he needed them to finish the story properly. Not complaining. As much as I love the little write-ups that Jess Nevins does, I love Brubaker's storytelling more. The story is far from over, but we get more insight into who Josephine and Walt Booker are and who the hell this evil cult is and what their goals are. Some pretty horrifying stuff. I don't want to reveal too much. It's just too good to spoil. Just go buy it.

Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand #5. I felt kind of let down by this book. It was fun, but it wasn't anything spectacular like I thought the book was building towards. We do get cannibals with guns, which was cool. But overall, it wasn't very satisfying. I think the book shot it's load last issue. However, I still love Lobster Johnson dearly and will gladly buy anything with his name on it. He's probably one of the least developed characters in the Hellboy universe. The problem with this book is that, like the last Lobster Johnson mini, The Iron Prometheus, it raised way too many questions and doesn't really answer any of them. I guess we'll get some more info the next time around, which according to the letters column this issue, isn't too far away.

Alabaster: Wolves #2: Like last issue, Alabaster was the last in my stack of books to read. There's something initially boring and uninteresting about this book, but when you jump inside and read it, you're jumping into a pretty thickly atmospheric, horrifying little world. Dancy Flammarion is an intriguing character. She's a teenager, but this is no Young Adult book. This is adult, straight up. There's language, violence and some grotesque horror going on here. This is some serious stuff. It's fun, kind of like Hellboy, but it's kind of heavy too. And I finish the book feeling very satisfied. This is some good stuff. This story involves Dancy in some backwoods swamp town infested by werewolves with motives as of yet unknown. But something fishy is going on. Good stuff.

 

[Drz]

Batman #9: Unnecessary supporting character dies an unnecessary death, both Batman and the readers are suppose to care about this? Eh, Eh! I really love Capullo's story telling, it really shines and makes up for the writing alot, all i want is a proper conclusion, but i think the Night of the Owls has blown abit out of proportion, i've liked the Batwing, Detective Comics issues admittedly, but still i think Snyder's later half of this story has left me less impressed, not to mention again we have this very stab-wounded Batman shrugging off the pain, guy must have gotten some kryptonian dna on his cells.

Batman & Robin #9: I didn't like this at all, despite the comedy value of Damian with the army guys, it's just piss poor inconsistency within this Bat-event, you have an comic where a single armor piercing bullet can kill an Talon, but here you got 3 soldiers giving a heavy lead rain on a single Talon, but somehow the zombie isn't torn to shred but continues to kill and maim his way? Lame!

Uncanny X-Force #25: Rick Remender's Deadpool. <3 This issue packs alot of story with it's hefty price, but you get the starting chapter of a new story, introducing new concepts of the darker side of Marvel Universe and with an added bonus 2 stories regarding Wolverine and Deadpool. Fatpool FTW!

Demon Knights #9: Probably the most underrated and underappreciated team comic out there, why aren't the hardcore feminists whiners raving this book? Not only is the team mostly compromised of females, this latest issue had a Lesbian Queen and that didn't receive any big deal, because Medieval DC doesn't care about that, it was a normal thing for them. I know alot of people got worned out by the character-driven 1st arc, but the pacing has gotten "normal" and all the characters are now known by the reader, it's all really cool heavy fantasy story.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I'll post my reviews later but Uncanny X-Force ticked me off this week. We get the new story plus 2 seldom seen stories, meaning they're essentially just reprints from other titles less read (I assume). And being that I don't care about stuff like that I just freakin' payed $5 for 20 pages of story. Waste of freakin' money.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I'll try to make these quick...

Uncanny X-Force 25 - As I stated above, waste of money. I don't give a crap for extra content that has nothing to do with the story so this was a complete jip of an issue. 20 pages for $5 is stupid. This could have been the best issue I've ever read in my 21 years of reading and it still would have been a rip off. The story doesn't matter to me anymore, I'm that frustrated. Worst of the week right here.

Avengers Assemble 3 - I was debating on this one until skimming it revealed Thanos in the end. That's cool but I'm debating on how it's going to go from here on out. My main thing though was that Bendis could have told the story so far in 1, maybe 1 1/2 issues. The art is fantastic as always and I am enjoying this book more than Avengers or Secret Avengers so there's that at least.

New Avengers 26 - Another good issue. Initially I was wondering what the heck this old story of the red head Iron Fist has to do with anything. Then I saw the comparison scans on the AvsX thread with this issue and AvsX 0. Now I'm starting to wonder if Hope is that Iron Fist reborn. While I would be frustrated if nothing comes of Jean in AvsX I can't say that this revelation would break any sort of pre-stated plans or anything. Every hint has been about the Phoenix, not Jean. People just link the two and take it that direction.

Oh well, good issue. We'll see where it goes. This is officially the only AvsX title (including the main one) where I'm looking forward to the next issue.

X-Men Legacy 256 - This issue annoyed me for similar reasons as Avengers Academy (same writer, go figure). The Avengers show up at a school and give rules and crap on mutants that aren't the ones causing a threat and act crappy with them, forcing rules, etc. I hope Rogue beats the ever loving crap out of Iron Man and the rest next issue.

What I did like, though, was Glob Herman going human torch again... in reference to one of his first appearances in Riot At Xavier's. Good scene

Wolverine & the X-Men 10 - Didn't like it. Bachalo's art is too sloppy here (and PALES in comparison to Bradshaw's) and everything having to do with Scott, Emma, and Logan just grated on my nerves. In fact,the only things I DID like in this issue was 1) Scott wondering where Wolverine got a Krakoa, 2) Everything with Angel and Kid Apocalypse. And that's about it. AvsX is seriously turning into a bane on all my comics. Every save New Avengers has suffered horribly (save maybe Uncanny X-Men which wasn't bad). I've never been so eager for an event to be over... save that I'm afraid of the aftermath.

Batman and Robin 9 - After praising last issue so much, making it my book of the week (and probably book of the month) this issue came along and crapped all over that. I just didn't give a flyin' fig about it. Gone are any parental plot that Tomasi had been building and it's just another Night of the Owls tie-in, which is proving to be boring and useless. Hero versus nameless Talon. This is about as entertaining as, say every Avvengers title focuses on a person fighting a member of the Hand. Boring. Nothing great here at all.

Batman 9 - A little better but I got bored very quickly. I'm hoping this is just a rut of an issue because this title has been stellar so far. I really don't have much to say about it, it left that little of an impression.

Grifter 9 - Liefeld comes on board as story teller and Tieri writes the dialogue and it was alright. Grifter's voice seems to have changed some but not necessarilly horribly... just different. The plot was fun though and this was sadly only one of two books I actually mediocrely enjoyed.

Green Lantern 9 - A week so bad I had to go get caught up on a title I've previously dropped just to get a good read out of it. This issue reveals some interesting things and we're digging into the Indigo Tribe now. Good issue and good plot.


So with 9 issues this week only 3 get a passing grade toward enjoyable. Everything else just sucked. That's two weeks in a row I didn't care for my buys. I hope this passes quick because this is just frustrating.

 

[Dread]

A small week, but a good week for me overall. Spoilers ahoy!

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR MAY 9TH, 2012:

INVINCIBLE #91: This long running creator owned superhero series by Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ottley continues to take things in strange and surprising ways. The story thus far is that Mark Grayson, the titular hero Invincible, was accidently poisoned and nearly killed by his friend Allen and brother Oliver in their zeal to rid the universe of the Viltrumites - the warrior alien species from which Grayson is descended from. Grayson was laid up and his medical care was tended to by his former nemesis Thragg, who is regent of what is left of the Viltrumite Empire, which now numbers under a few dozen members. Grayson has also alienated his friends by becoming allies with the ecological terrorist Dinosaurus in an attempt to repair environmental damage to Earth in a grand scale. However, Thragg has found out that Grayson is apparently descended from Viltrumite royalty and rather than step down as regent, he's decided to axe Mark off once and for all. Dinosaurus saves Mark and escapes back to Earth, but is rendered comatose. Meanwhile, Zandale Randolph, who was formerly the hero known as Bulletproof of the "Guardians Of The Globe", has taken over as Invincible for both the public benefit and to help Atom Eve run her "hero for hire" business. This issue sees all these sides come to a head as everyone is reunited with each other, a fight naturally ensues, and Mark learns that simply surviving the virus he was poisoned with was merely the first stage of his recovery. Grayson himself had reached a near absurd level of power and this could be seen as an exercise to de-power him. At the very least, it makes the point of Zandale taking over the mantle seem like it might last a while. As always, Ottley's artwork is terrific and new colorist John Raunch continues to impress in terms of making the pencils look as vibrant as ever. This book has changed drastically from where it began, becoming gradually darker and more violent as it goes along; this issue continues the trend of relying on a bit of gore for a cliffhanger page. The title once had simple morality and now most of the characters have shades of gray; Mark especially. This also means the title goes through phases, with some subtitles sitting on a shelf for years until they are addressed. At this point it seems Kirkman has refused to play safe and is willing to take this title in surprising places - sometimes for it's own sake. Still, it remains one of the best and most daring superhero series one can buy.

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #7: This series is essentially SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP in all but name, in which the creative team appears to change for every issue. As Marvel Comics' editorial team shifts into an era in which they "double down" on "safe" franchises rather than try anything new, this means extra books of established franchises. The X-Men and even Captain America now have "team-up books", and the obviously titled DEADPOOL TEAM-UP ended last year after a respectable run. Spider-Man has historically been the character who has maintained a "team-up" book for the longest time as the star of the long running MARVEL TEAM-UP series. The dilemma for such series these days is that since roughly 2004, Marvel (and DC) have stressed that "important" books are the books that are best to pay attention to; these are books in which major things happen. The entire premise of a "team-up book" was to provide a brief story about two characters teaming up to battle a simple threat, often within one issue. Robert Kirkman's two year run on MARVEL TEAM-UP did have a more serial structure and introduced quite a few new characters, but this has become the exception instead of the norm. With so many crossovers and virtually every Marvel character being a past, former, or current Avenger, "team-up" books may struggle to find their niche these days. Despite that, sales for AVENGING SPIDER-MAN have remained decent, and the series may last at least twelve issues.

At any rate, while this is actually the second issue of AVENGING SPIDER-MAN in a row to be incredibly impressive in terms of quality, they both feature different creative teams. The previous issue kicked off the OMEGA DRIVE crossover between Spidey, Punisher, and Daredevil. This issue offers a more traditional "done-in-one" team up story between Spidey and She-Hulk by the creative team of Kathryn and Stuart Immonen (with inks by Wade Von Grawbadger and colors by Matt Hollingsworth). Stuart Immonen has become a top tier Marvel artist in recent years - he drew the FEAR ITSELF event last year - and he has sporadically been paired with stories written by his wife Kathryn over the years. Their most well known collaboration was a HELLCAT story which ran across the first few issues of Marvel's last revival of MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS from 2007-2008. Felines continue to be a theme in Kathryn's story here, which maintains the humor and manic energy of some of her other works. The gist is that after taking down some random sewer monster to save municipal workers, She-Hulk attends a shindig at a museum and Spider-Man tags along out of both attraction and boredom. The story balances She-Hulk's status as a heroine as well as a lawyer quite well, with Spidey as an essential (if uninvited) guest. The party takes a turn when some cultists attack, and the ancient Egyptian goddess Bast subsequently chooses She-Hulk as her champion, which provokes some unwanted abilities.

Stuart Immonen's artwork matches the tone of the story well, and it is a pleasure to see him work on this after the ghastly FEAR ITSELF. Commenting on this story is difficult is because it is very much like a ride at an amusement park. It isn't anything terrible ground breaking or life altering, but while one experiences it in the moment, it is very entertaining provides a lot of laughs. Considering that the tone of the story is humorous and it focuses on mythical gods, it would be especially appreciated by people who have missed INCREDIBLE HERCULES. Kathryn Immonent's dialogue is crisp and naturally hilarious. Her scripts are often a bit off the wall, and this story is no exception, but it doesn't reach the levels of dense absurdity that HELLCAT often did, and thus flows better.

Conclusion? Decent She-Hulk stories have become rare in recent years, and it is difficult to have as much fun for four dollars in other ways legally. If this week is a light comic week for you, give it a go.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #11: Ed Brubaker continues his franchise defining run on this title, although these days he divides his time and focus equally on WINTER SOLDIER, which focuses on the long revived Bucky Barnes. This title seems to have entered a phase in which the artist changes with every arc, and Brubaker seems to shift his scripts accordingly. With Steve McNiven and Alan Davis the first two artists on this volume of CAPTAIN AMERICA, Brubaker focused on some more straight forward superhero antics with "flashier" elements and characters such as Ameridroid, dream dimensions, and Machinesmith. This arc starts a run by artist Patrick Zircher, who is more at home with the suspenseful espionage and lower key stories that Brubaker often chose as his centerpieces for this series (while still utilizing comic book elements). As the new story unfolds, Capt. America finds himself trying to hunt down a new incarnation of the killer vigilante Scourge, who is hunting down and killing ex-cons who have gone into witness protection in exchange for giving up their peers in court. Thus, while utilizing comic elements such as a former A.I.M. grunt and some super-villains being the targets, it gives the story a tone which better fits Brubaker's strengths as a writer. Diamondback, Capt. America's former lover and an ex-con herself, makes her first appearance in this title despite being recruited by Cap to help him run federal agencies back in 2010 (re: AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #35). This allows another female character to be involved in the story besides Sharon Carter, which mixes the dynamic up a bit. While it is easy to suspect that Diamondback is only here to appeal to the theme of ex-villains being murdered, she acts as if she is a natural cog of the series and as a former long time supporting character for Steve Rogers, she should be. As usual, Zircher's artwork is very good and suits the darker tones of the story well, matched by great color art by Paul Mounts. While Brubaker's CAPTAIN AMERICA has always maintained a certain benchmark of quality, some recent arcs had seemed to be less impressive than earlier ones. However, this arc takes an interesting suspense premise and mingles it well with superhero details, which is how Brubaker made his bread and butter on this series. If every issue of this particular storyline matches this level of quality, it could be the best story of this volume so far.

SCARLET SPIDER #5: Chris Yost continues his well received run on this relaunch of an ASM spin off, and this issue features a done-in-one story drawn by guest artist Neil Edwards. Khoi Pham has been announced as the next upcoming regular artist, although as with many comics these days, it will be stunning if he draws more than four issues before a break. I happen to find it interesting that some of the same artists who used to circulate on INCREDIBLE HERCULES/HERC material have now been featured here. At any rate, this series continues to see Kaine operate as the local superhero of Houston, Texas despite his best efforts while wearing one of Spider-Man's spare hi-tech costumes. The plot of the month is a "find the bomb" plot, which is common for many crime procedure shows as well as some films; this time the bomb is a nuke, and the culprits are the Watchdogs. They're one of the many extreme right wing fanatic hate groups which seemed to be all over CAPTAIN AMERICA books during the Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations, only this time Yost abandons the dorky costumes and simply treats them as a domestic terror cell - the best way to play it. Kaine is already irritated about being discovered by the news media and dubbed "Scarlet Spider", and now must team up with officer Wally Layton to find the nuke before it destroys Houston. As with most "buddy cop" tales, there's a good cop and a bad one, and the strength of the issue is seeing Kaine and Layton interact during a case. Yost ties this into his recently ended BATTLE SCARS series with a cameo by Nick Fury Jr. and Agent Coulson as Iron Man is dispatched to Houston as a last resort. Kaine has often fretted about being discovered by other superheroes and federal agencies for his past crimes, and this naturally furthers that subplot along as it gets SHIELD "this close" to finding Kaine. Edwards' art is often seen as a poor man's version of Bryan Hitch, and it is a bit grittier than Ryan Stegman's. Kaine's new powers such as having bone-spikes and controlling spiders - powers Peter Parker himself had after "THE OTHER" story which Kaine has seemed to gain after being "cured" by Eddie Brock's anti-venom - are showcased and become essential. I usually am not a fan of Edwards' art, but it seemed fine enough. The next issue has Ana Kravenoff show up, and while it makes sense it also seems to repeat SPIDER-GIRL a bit too much, so hopefully Yost finds his own angle for it.

X-MEN LEGACY #266: It seems Christos Gage's lot at Marvel is to work on lower tier franchise titles to handle both new and obscure characters as well as ride the waves of crossovers to success. This was his trademark on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE and he continued that on AVENGERS ACADEMY. This issue begins the crossover with AVENGERS VS. X-MEN, which allows Gage a change to focus on his characters emotionally as well as have some guest Avengers show up. Rogue remains the centerpiece of the issue (as she always does, being the star), and it makes sense since she made her debut in Marvel battling the Avengers and permanently stole Ms. Marvel's powers for roughly half her existence. I do wonder how this issue fits in continuity with AVENGERS ACADEMY, but that is a question for another time. The gist is that the cast of the Jean Grey School have learned that the war between the X-Men and the Avengers over Hope has begun. The thing I found most fascinating is despite this being a "Team Wolverine" book, virtually all of the characters in the story either side with Cyclops or seek to remain on the fence for the sake of their students. Rachel Summers, who in fairness hosted the Phoenix Force for years without going postal, isn't as quick to assume disaster as the Avengers are, while Iceman seems to side with Cyclops on this one as a founder. This leaves the rest of the staff - Rogue, Gambit, Canonball, Frenzy, Husk, Chamber, and Kitty Pryde to seek to stay out of the fight and keep their kids out of it. The only one who seems to be firmly on Wolverine and the Avengers side of it is Kitty, for obvious reasons. This is naturally amusing as in the latest AVX issue, Wolverine was on the outs with the Avengers because Capt. America disliked how zealously Logan sought to murder Hope (as opposed to containing her). Unfortunately, this attempt at fence-sitting and keeping their students cool fails when some spare Avengers - Moon Knight, She-Hulk and Falcon - are dispatched to keep an eye on them. Considering how many past, present, and former Avengers there are, the fact that these three were considered best to watch a school of X-Men seems to be a case of poor strategy. As in some prior AVX installments, the Avengers' line is "we're not arresting anyone and we don't want a fight, but if any of you leave the area, you'll get a pounding", which isn't terribly far from being hostage takers. I don't blame Gage for this because this is the premise AVX has ran with from Bendis and Aaron; he's merely working with it.

Mimic being on the team seems to be a good way to rehabilitate the long mishandled character, and the fact that he was the first new X-Man after the founders is interesting. The bit where Mimic isn't actually a mutant doesn't come up too much, although his similar powers to Rogue is a theme. All of the characters get some moment to shine, and naturally a fight between factions doesn't take long to break out. There are naturally a lot of interesting lines, including the idea that Moon Knight could be mistaken for a Klansman depending on distance and audience. If I have one quibble with this book, it is that Gage seems to depict the Avengers as too eager to start a fight. Moon Knight appears to snap after some simple goading from Frenzy, as if he's never been goaded before, and She-Hulk appears to overreact to a student jumping at her. That said, you could naturally argue that Frenzy was one of a few X-Men eager for a fight themselves, although in the eyes of the law, verbal taunts do not justify a physical assault. The artwork is by Rafa Sandoval, who has worked with Gage before on A:TI, and is matched well with Jordi Tarragona on inker and Rachelle Rosenberg on colors.

AVX is deeply flawed as a story, as most "major crossover events" are, and this crossover inherits some of that by osmosis. That said, I have often thought that this run needed a little kick in the pants and I found this issue more engaging than quite a few I have read from this run. It isn't high concept stuff, but it beats the Weapon Omega plot from last issue. Still, if one wants a better (albeit less "important") She-Hulk story, read AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #7.

 

[CConn]

Captain America #11: Eh, I'm still very much of two minds about Brubaker's lastest Cap volume. On what hand, seeing him bend and adapt his writing style to suit his revolving artists has been fun, and has made for a few Cap stories that seem a bit more classic and comic book-y than his Volume 4 Cap stories ever did. But on the other hand, every one of these 11 issues have seemed pretty highly decompressed, and pretty obviously lacking the effort and love that he put into his old Cap stories, or even Winter Soldier. I dunno, I probably would be happier with it if I weren't paying 4 dollars a pop for it. Oh, and it goes without saying, Zircher was awesome.

Hulk #51: I wanna review this because I bought it, but at the same time, since I just jumped on last issue, I don't really feel like I know enough to give it a fair shake. Compared to last issue at least, I was far more puzzled by the characters and references made in the issue than I was for #50. And it seemed to have a very arupt begenning that didn't really jell with how the last issue ended either. Don't get me wrong though, I'm still sticking around. The art was great, Ross/Red Hulk is proving to be a pretty awesome character, and I'm genuinely intrigued about what Parker has in store for him.

Scarlet Spider #5: Scarlet Spider is a good book. As I commented when I read the first four issues in one sitting, it's a classic sidekick spinoff book that more reminds me of DC's days of Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl books in the late 90s than anything either publisher is putting out today. And I quite enjoyed Edwards' art over the more cartoony Stegman. That said, I'm still not so patiently waiting for this book to really capture a greater level of depth in terms of character progression and subplotting to really keep me around. Everything currently seems quite throwaway, and doesn't really have the seemingly built-in history and intrigue that other "new" books like Avengers Academy or Venom had when they were starting out. Still, here's hoping Yost can layer those aspects in as he continues his run.

Ultimate Comics Ultimates #10: And Jonathan Hickman puts away another incredibly awesome issue of The Ultimates. Personally, I thought this was probably the most intriguing - and most plot-progressing - of any issue yet. Hickman's doing what the Ultimate U has always supposed to be about; taking classic characters, writing definitive stories, but turning everything on it's head, blowing **** up, and doing what you could never do in a main comic universe, and this issue was a perfect representation of that. Art-wise, Luke Ross is acceptable. I'll miss Opena's style and color palate, a lot, but Ross looks like he'll be a fitting substitute - and I do enjoy how he's adapted his style from his Captain America days.

Uncanny X-Force #25: Okay, yes, it was pointlessly overpriced, and the two backup stories meant absolutely nothing to the main story. However, price aside, it was still a pretty damn good issue of X-Force, and with McKone on art duties, the art is finally on par again with the strong plotting and characterization. I liked the new storyline, I like the new direction they're going in with all of the characters, and the issue really seemed to lay a lot of seeds that will keep my reading the book for a godo while longer. Oh, and the Deadpool backup was awesome.

Wolverine and the X-Men #10: Y'know, after the incredibly awesome WatXM #9, I really thought this book was going to be safe from recieving the prototypical and unbelievably trite "tie in" issue. Sadly, that's exactly what #10 was. The same old story of Logan and Scott arguing pointlessly for 22 pages, with - as usual - almost nothing to show for it by the end of the conversation. I dearly hope this was the first, and last, of Aaron's wastes of paper in the name of AvX.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

The backup on Batman left me scratching my head. I agree with everything Corpy said, but Alfred's dad? Where did he come from? I thought Alfred was there since before Bruce was even born. When did Alfred inherit the Waynes from his father? What gives?

 

[CConn]

I don't know if there's a definitive time when Alfred took over for his father.

It's just always been that Alfred was called away from the British military after his father fell ill, and it was Alfred's responsibility to take his place. Even though that doesn't make any sense at all.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The time frame seems awkward to me. Bruce seems close to the age where his parents died, yet he's never even met Alfred. It seems to dilute their relationship somehow if Alfred only shows up after his parents go to that big white folks' country club in the sky.

 

[WOLVERINE25TH]

Thus presents the dangers of retcons.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

Ok, good. Its not just me. Not a fan of this backup tale. Very much liking the main story. It was cool to see Bruce cut loose in his Mark I armor ;-) but I do hope the conclusion is satisfying. I'm not reading any other Bat Titles so I'm not burned out on the Talons yet, but I hope the climax is good. Can't wait.

New Avengers was so so. I couldn't care less about Iron Fist so these last 2 issues have done nothing for me. It not bad, I'm just not into it. I didn't read Immortal Weapons or whatever, so I don't know these characters are, and then they go to Leonardo Da Vinci for help. Sure, why not. But the Iron Fist is a match for the Phoenix Force? I would think the Phoenix would decimate Iron Fist but we'll see I guess.

Avenging Spider-Man was cool. It was nothing earth shattering, but it was a fun read. I love when Spidey and Shulkie team up. Its always fun and usually silly and this was no exception. Immomen's art was great as usual. Fun issue, glad I picked it up.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Batman #9

I'm enjoying this Bat-event very much. Some of my favorite moments from Batman history were the events that would run through his various books (like Knightfall and the earthquake one). While the Owls just remind me of ninjas from Daredevil, at least this book doesn't give me the yucky feeling of New 52. The tie-ins might not be as good; but, the main title is definitely worth following.

5 of 5

Batman And Robin #9

I loved that this was a Damien solo adventure, something I'd love to see more of; but, there were some real idiotic moments in this title. I just don't see Bat-characters, even Damien, saving the life of one man, while letting soldier after soldier die. (Heck, I don't even see the soldier that Damien is trying to save allowing that to happen!) Really, why was that guy any more important than the people who were killed by the one owl? Just because he owned property the Owl's wanted??

Mixed review. Loved part of it, hated the other part.

2 out of 5

Batgirl #9

I hate this version of Barbara. She seems weaker than ever, like another version of Stephanie trying to learn her powers. All of Batman's Robins seem more sure of themselves, and it comes across as all the stuff she's ever done as Oracle has been swept under the rug. It is nice to see a female Owl; but, of course, DC has her fighting their female Bat-character. (Kind of sexist.)

2.5 out of 5

Green Lantern #9

This book is such a quick read, I think it took about 5 minutes to get through it. What's worse, I hate how Johns is rewriting Green Lantern history with Abin Sur creating the Indiglo Lanterns. (Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the various colors ... besides Green and Yellow ... get created by Johns? Then, how come if Abin Sur died so long ago has nobody ever seen an Indiglo Lantern until recently???)

2.5 of 5

Fairest #3

I don't read Fables; but, decided to pick up all of Vertigo's newest titles regardless. Nice to see that Fables isn't necessary to read in order to enjoy this book. And, while I'm not putting this book at the top of my "must read" stack of comics to read each month, it hasn't let me down. It has the perfect pace, has a nice amalgam of Snow White and Aladdin, and Willingham tells a good tale.

4 out of 5

Frankenstein Alive, Alive #1

Good first issue, only made better by Wrightson's fantastic art. (I'm glad they went with Black And White. It's goes better with this type of tale.) I'm interested to see where the story goes from here.

4 out of 5

Wolverine and the X-Men #10

This issue wasn't as enjoyable as Aaron's usual style, probably because he had to tie it in with A Vs. X. It really doesn't add anything to this book or Marvel's big event; thus, I was rather ho-hum about it all.

2.5 of 5

New Avengers #26

I'm enjoying this tie-in much more than any of the others. In fact, I'm probably enjoying this twice as much as A Vs. X! It's nice to see the Immortal Weapons getting another untold tale, and it makes me wish we'd get more of this. I devoured this issue, and cannot wait for issue #27!

5 out of 5

Captain America #11

This first issue of the new storyline was pretty good. I'm hoping that continues, as this book has not impressed me much so far. It was great to see Diamondback return to Cap's pages. She was one of my favorite characters back when she was dating Cap in the 90's. Plus, I cannot wait to see who the new Scourge is! (Please don't disappoint me, Brubaker.)

4 out of 5

 

[Phaedrus45]

BTW, is anyone here like me? I have reaccuring dreams where I come across a great comic shop, and they have deal after deal. I'm scooping up so many great comics that I've wanted for some time .... Then, I wake up disappointed that it was all just a dream.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Um... no, I don't think I've had that dream.

Avenging Spider-Man #7: Great issue. She-Hulk seemed a little surlier than usual for no real reason, but it wasn't too bad. Plus, in her defense, Spider-Man was being totally annoying at the beginning, inviting himself along to her work engagement. But the real joy of this issue was the banter between Spider-Man and She-Hulk, especially after she develops the tail. More comics need to be as lighthearted and pure fun as this. This series is quickly becoming a worthy successor to Incredible Hercules and Slott's She-Hulk in the "pure comedy fun" niche, along with Journey into Mystery.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Grifter #9

One of my complaints with DC's New 52 is the storylines that just never seem to end. While an ongoing storyline that runs 12 or more issues can be enjoyable at times, it seems to be going overboard with DC. (And, really, so many of these storylines involve numerous books.) For that matter, Grifter's Daemonite storyline is putting me fast to sleep. Like with Batman's Owls, we get Daemonite after Daemonite. Grifter kills one, another takes its place. Now, with issue #9, Liefeld takes over, and it feels a bit more like an Image comic of old. The one thing I liked is seeing Deathblow appear at the end; but, this wasn't a surprise, since last issue gave it away in their Next Issue solicitation on the last page.

2 out of 5

Suicide Squad #9

Of course, I've talked about DC making readers buy numerous books by having each storyline tie into another comic (or two). Luckily, I get many of these comics; but, I feel bad for the comic buyer on a budget. This issue ties in with Resurrection Man; but, I'm not complaining too much, because I've been enjoying both titles. (Of note, these tie-ins have little significance on what's happening. As soon as a character shows up, they leave just as quickly. It never seems to have much of an impact on the main storyline.)

I like this book, and I especially love that we get separate missions, rather than a never-ending storyline, like with Grifter.

4 of 5

Resurrection Man #9

A good title; but, I'm hoping that things progress a bit faster. It's going to get old to see Resurrection Man running from so many people trying to kill or control him. Come on, DC. Let's get these storylines ending a bit quicker. Even my love for Batman is just another case of a storyline that's been ongoing for 9 issues now. It wouldn't be something I'd focus on; but, it's just happening in too many of their comics.

3 out of 5