CaptainCanada said:
Dread needs to drop New Avengers and buy this instead.
I actually used to pick up copies of that book for a friend, but would only scim them myself. I am neither interested in Herc or Cho as characters, and so was never drawn to it.
And to be fair, there are a lot of books I should buy instead of NEW AVENGERS. But I like staying current with the hype, and sometimes you need something to contrast good comics with. Like I always say, people like reading negative reviews more. No one ever reads or cares about stuff I like. The conversation is a non-starter: "I love Invincible!" "Gee, me too!" BORING! But stuff I hate, well, that is always good conversation fodder.
This turned out to be an average sized week, but a good one. I didn't get to read everything, so this'll be in at least two parts.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 3/19/08 Part I:
INVINCIBLE #49: Running so terribly behind that Image doesn't even attach months to their promos for the 50th issue anymore, because they have no clue if any deadline can be kept. Yes, if this was a Marvel book, solicted as a monthly but often on the verge of bi-monthly, I'd be *****ing up a storm. But I don't here because Image is a smaller company and this is my favorite book. We all play favorites, and anyone who claims not to is a fraud.
We continue from last month's cliffhanger, where Doc Seismic has captured pretty much every superhero in the "Image/Kirkmaniverse", including the title hero, in his scheme for revenge and relevance. This forces Mark & Eve to, uh, "get close" to each other for a page and naturally, as many predicted, this leads Cecil to have to employ his "Shadow Initiative" -esque squad. While the Reanimen was obvious, I DIDN'T expect Darkwing of all people to be leading the charge. No, not the duck, but the former sidekick of the hero Omni-Man murdered, last seen back in the second HC or so, after Mark was sent to investigate a series of murders in Darkwing's hometown, on Cecil's behest, and found out that Darkie'd been going about killing people. It was cool seeing him again and a good start to this twist in the status quo that Kirkman is building. Cecil buried the truth about Darkwing II to the media, so the rest of the heroes disapprove when Mark suddenly starts to fight Darkwing. Considering how his father "turned" and how some people are still wary of Invincible because of that (see the 42nd issue), I wonder if this act will get some of Mark's allies to not be so friendly in the future. Mark naturally confronts Cecil, finds D.A. Sinclair in his employ, and naturally does not agree with using criminals as paid help, not when there are more noble heroes about. The issue ends with Mark walking into a trap, and the stage is set for issue #50. Considering her own origins from the 2-parter, Eve would have every reason to believe Mark and side with him on this, and I hope she does. She's literally a product of shady government types. This is Mark's first encounter with that dark side, but Eve faced it down in her tween days. But that's in the future. Ottley once again rocks on art and gets in some great splash panels.
The book is really review proof. Those who read it usually love it, and those that don't, well, don't read it. If you like superhero comics, few on the market manage to combine everything quite like INVINCIBLE has for nearly 5 years now. There are plenty of other books I enjoy but this has been my rock ever since the HC's. And unlike some other titles, who sometimes are on the verge of cancellation, or get canceled, INVINCIBLE looks like it will be around for a good long time.
CAPTAIN AMERICA #36: Perkins returns and teams up with Guice to write another installment of one of Marvel's best series right now, the rare title that is selling like it deserves, and to HELL with why. It is written and drawn like a Top 10-20 book and sells there. The new and old pencilers on this volume picked a great issue to team up, as half the comic is all out action as New Cap takes on the Serpent Squad.
I really can't describe the action scenes in text. I've seen better and I have seen worse, but they're paced well and drawn even better. I am a sucker for a good action sequence and Brubaker & his artists, whether they be Epting, Guice, or Perkins, always seem to deliver. New Cap takes on Eel, Sin, King Cobra and Viper and manages to take them all down, before having his 3rd brawl with Crossbones within 12 issues. I actually was curious as to how it would be handled and the creators managed to keep it fresh, and not only because this time it was New Cap, not Winter Soldier. And I like how he fights. No, he isn't Steve, who could take down enemies without needing to shoot or stab them when he got desperate, but James isn't a super soldier and in a way that keeps his black ops feel. Even still, without a "dumb luck" assist from Black Widow, James was FUBAR'd. The way Brubaker handles New Cap, Widow, Stark, and Falcon (even if he wasn't in this issue) almost makes me hate that he is wasting himself on an X-Team book when he could be writing, like, the best Avengers in years. But, maybe in a way that is what this cast is, unofficially, and that is fine.
There is more to it than a fight. Red Skull is bemused as to "New Cap", knowing exactly who it is, SHIELD's rep in the U.S. has taken a hit (I wonder when other books will acknowledge this; if this was NEW AVENGERS it would have been a line wide acceptance by now), and Sharon Carter tries to escape and finds a...interesting body in one of Zola's tanks. Is it THE Steve Rogers, or a clone? Brubaker's claimed he wouldn't dare bring Steve back before "at least issue #50", but it wouldn't be the first time a writer outright lied to protect a storyline. Still, part of me doubts that, because it seems TOO obvious (and I can imagine the Newsarama title:
CA #36: Cap is Still Dead?), so I believe that is some Zola creation. Besides, if the Real Cap returned, Bucky would be back to a supporting player and I doubt Brubaker is ready to do that quite yet. His heart is too close to his sleeve on this one.
As usual, it is one of those books, like a good half dozen or so I buy from Marvel, that I can't wait for every month. I came in late, but better late then never. A pleasure every month, and hardly anyone mixes superhero/espionage/political thriller like Brubaker does here. This'll be the run that people talk about for over a generation after it is over.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #4: The storyline has some misdirection and quite a bit seems to happen in the last half of the issue, almost as if Reed realized he only had one issue left to wrap up. Still, while not as good as CA, it still continues the tidbit that any 616 book with CAPTAIN in the title is good right now.
The misdirection (and the SI tagline justification) is that Skrulls tried to capture Capt. Marvel, either by posing as the Kree or, presumably, dead villains. Under interrogation last issue, the Skrull claimed that Mar-Vell, or at least THIS one, is himself a Skrull, in such deep cover that he doesn't realize that he is one, and only needs a code-word to be activated. Mar-Vell naturally can't believe it and pummels the Skrull in retribution before flying away from Stark's handlers to go off on his own.
Where that leads him is to the church of Hala, where even cynical reporter Nathan realizes they are doing genuine good in the world, regardless of who they are worshipping or why. It was an odd twist, and I was expecting something nefarious even after Julia Starr is killed in a terrorist bombing before Mar-Vell's eyes. Of course, Stark can't have any superhero doing things that are reckless, such as screaming to the media that they'd "better end war before I end it for you!", so he sends his favorite hench-wench, Ms. Marvel, to send him back to the Negative Zone. And she does her usual routine; act out token remourse while following the orders to the letter. Skrull or not, she's been a lapdog since CW. At least Spider-Man threw off the gimp mask at some point and rebelled.
Still, Reed & Weeks have taken Jenkins' botched one-shot and really made a good story out of it. True, the SI connection seems obligatory, but the Skrulls are sworn enemies of the Kree and of course they would try to do in the Kree's greatest hero, whether through trickery or impersonation. Mar-Vell's quest to make a deep impact with the time he has left is noble and understandable. Although considering his past and the circumstances of his time-travel, him realizing that the key was in the Negative Zone was a bit of a "no, duh!" kind of moment. Still, I've enjoyed this series a lot more than I imagined and am interested in seeing where the finale goes. I genuinely can't guess for sure how it will end, and that is cool with a creative team you trust.
Bought, but haven't read: GHOST RIDER #21, IMMORTAL IRON FIST #13, THE ORDER #9, & THOR #7.
Ah, well, with all the new stuff coming out in the summer, I guess I needed to make space somewhere. Anyway, Rucka, Trautmann, and Bennett's final arc on the book is in its second issue, and it packs more developments into one than you'll see in two of many others (three or four if it's an issue of JMS' Thor). Superman's not even a castmember here, but he gets some of his coolest moments I've seen in any DC book for a while (I especially like the Kobra troops calling him a "false god"); on a related note, the cover has Wonder Woman on it, which leads one to believe we'll see Greg Rucka writing Wonder Woman again, but she just appears as part of a mob of other heroes; nuts. The focal character here is Valentina, more than anyone else, as she manages the response to Kobra's (really creepy) terror plot. I'll be really sad to see this book go.
