Insert reviews, expect spoilers. Happy St. Getting Drunk Day!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 3/16/11:
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #656: Another month, another costume change for Spider-Man. Remember when these things used to be rare details shifts? Within the past seven months, Spider-Man has now changed his costume at least twice, and it will reach a third time once FF #1 ships next week. At the very least, video game designers will be pleased with these last two quarters for alternate costumes. To be fair, this week's costume change is to display Peter Parker's adjustment to his current power level and take on being a superhero. After losing his Spider-Sense as well as the recent death of one of his long time supporting characters, Spider-Man has to take on a new villain created by writer Dan Slott and current artist Marcos Martin, named Massacre. More of a quirky sociopath than a costumed super-villain (who wouldn't be out of place in, say, HACK/SLASH), Massacre's schtick is having a traumatic back story, a lot of explosives and prep-time, and the inability to feel pain or remorse. Normally, taking him down might be simple, but Spider-Man has to get used to being a super hero again without his primary sensory advantage, as well as recovering mentally from the aforementioned death. The new costume designed by Martin is, admittedly, overly detailed and may not be seen much again, as future artists may struggle to handle it properly. It also resembles Spider-Man himself less than his "Iron Spider" costume of 2006.
It is part of Parker completing his grieving arc and renewing his dedication to his craft, and continuing the angle of his intelligence being just as vital a power as anything else. Thus, now is actually a perfect time for him to join the Fantastic Four, who are led by a hero who functions in a similar way (Reed Richards' elastic body is almost secondary). Slott and Martin pace a perfectly riveting suspense thriller out of this issue with another extra sized, 30 page story. Martin's artwork, as mentioned before, is akin to a modern synthesis of Steve Ditko's art as well as with modern influences, and works quite well with ASM. The issue also finds a new way for mayor J. Jonah Jameson to dislike Spider-Man again, and at the very least, his reason for following along his typical character demeanor isn't the same as it used to be. The first few issues of the BIG TIME run of ASM has seen multiple reprints, and this issue continues that level of quality. This has been an effective two issue recovery issue after the end of the latest arc.
AVENGERS ACADEMY #11: One's eyes do not deceive you; this is indeed the second issue of AVENGERS ACADEMY to ship this month. With the departure of launch artist Mike McKone (who still handles cover art), the interior pencil work seems to be shared between Tom Raney, who drew this issue, and Sean Chen, who drew the last. While the book did fall behind schedule a couple of weeks under McKone's tenure, this will be one of two months in which two issues of, hands down, the best Avengers title Marvel publishes ship - the next should be May. Writer Christos Gage continues to steer the helm of this mighty ship of a title, and up ahead is the most powerful adversary both the new and old Avengers have ever battled - Korvac.
Picking up from the cliffhanger from last issue, Veil has activated something in Dr. Pym's laboratory that she shouldn't have. Unfortunately, rather than revive a dead Avenger, she has brought someone else to the Academy's doorstep - and that has led to Korvac returning to earth. THE KORVAC SAGA, which ran from 1977-1978 across THOR ANNUAL #6 and AVENGERS #159 - 177, was written by Jim Shooter and David Michelinie, and drawn by George Perez and David Wenzel. In it, the Avengers as well as the Guardians of the Galaxy united to stop Michael Korvac, an enemy from the 31st century who had attained the power of a god (and beyond). It was such a powerful saga that a trade paper back collection of it was available even in 1991, when trades were hardly the common place item they are now. Back then, only "classic" stories were deemed worth the expense of a collected reprint edition, and THE KORVAC SAGA was one such story. Unfortunately, it is a story that many fans who were born after the 70's may not be terribly aware of, and for a villain as large as Korvac, Marvel did little to promote this story. The company put out more promotion when Hank Pym was coincidentally changing his costume to better suit his cartoon counterpart on DISNEY XD than this. Digressions aside, as the title nears its one year mark, it has set up the biggest possible threat for their young cadets to handle; a villain who is perfectly capable of slaughtering multiple teams of Avengers, even rosters that sport the likes of Thor, Iron Man, and Wonder Man. Thus, he goes through modern rosters with Wolverine, Luke Cage and Spider-Woman on them fairly quickly. While the cadets have faced the likes of Absorbing Man, Whirlwind, and Mentallo with varying degrees of success, this time they are up against a universe spanning threat the likes of which the Avengers have rarely outright defeated.
Gage does an excellent job of delivering lengthy exposition about that late 70's story and modern appearances by Korvac, as well as getting to his planned character beats. Speedball, the star of the last issue, gets a notable moment here. Most of the focus is on Veil, as she is forced to confront not only Korvac, but her own fear and doubts about her condition. Raney's artwork, alongside Scott Hanna's inks and Jeromy Cox's colors, looks as great as it did back in issue seven, which Raney also handled. The story tasks him with drawing dozens of characters, as well as multiple forms of certain characters, and the art team handles it all, as well as jaw dropping, energy blasting action sequences, with utmost quality. In fact, if the issue has any downsides, it is the use of what has become a familiar story trope for young superhero teams - having them either meet or become or get a glimpse of their "future selves". This angle popped up in TEEN TITANS years ago when Geoff Johns was still writing it, but goes back even farther. Due to bad timing of the schedule, this week's AVENGERS : THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE: YOUNG AVENGERS #1 also utilizes this particular trope as well. While the intention is to have these young characters, and/or the audience, literally meet their potential, it brings two negatives. It often becomes a GPS that character paths sternly, and predictably, follow without surprise to the reader, or it offers teases of potential that is never realized due to the slowly moving time lines of mainstream superhero universes. Marvel is a universe in which Franklin Richards could be born in 1969 and in 2011, is barely even twelve. It is a universe in which by Marvel's own math, Spider-Man should be 29 years old, yet no editor at Marvel would dare suggest the web-slinger was that "old". Therefore, getting a hint of, say, Veil at 30 seems like a tease because fans will be fortunate if they see her live to age 18. There were "see the future versions of" the NEW MUTANTS stories in the 80's, for pity's sake, that bare nothing on where those characters are now (mostly dead, forgotten, or strictly the C-List mutant team that does nothing of any importance). On the positive side, Marvel has made motions to commit to AVENGERS ACADEMY up until a 20th issue, regardless of sales. Within the story itself, the characters appear to be savvy to the conventions of their own genre; it is noted which of the cadets appears in a cartoon, and how it is rarely the "big" characters like Thor or Iron Man who stay dead. Given that Gage has turned what could have been a generic title into the best Avengers book on the stands, hopefully he will take as well worn a route as "show the future selves of teenage heroes" and channel it into better, properly executed stories.
At any rate, this is another exceptional issue of this series. Unlike many comics, that brag about being "events", this issue truly reads like one without the aid of a crossover with fifteen additional titles. The issue will reach its 12th issue with a bang, and the path to the future for the cast of new characters begins anew. As stated every time an issue of this series is reviewed, not a series to miss.
AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE: YOUNG AVENGERS #1: This is a place holder of a one shot, with a title that just rolls off your tongue in that awkward manner, like ULTIMATE NEW ULTIMATES. Due to the bi-monthly schedule of AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE, the next issue of the mini was supposed to ship in March. But, despite that schedule, and despite using artwork from FIVE YEARS AGO to try to spare Jim Cheung the Herculean task of re-drawing additional pages, the title is running behind. Thus, Allen Heinberg has come up with this additional story, and Alan Davis, who has drawn the Young Avengers before, puts in another stunning 22 pages. The story is a bit of fluff.
As with AVENGERS ACADEMY #11, this is a story that teases us with "future versions" of young characters who we will never see, ever. In fact the only one of them who has a chance is Teddy becoming the new Captain Marvel, but why would Marvel do THAT, when they have the awesome ham fisted blandness that is Protector? Billy will never be the Sorcerer Supreme, Kate will never be Hawkeye so long as Clint is alive, and so on. It's fun for a lark, and MC2 fans will probably like adult Cassie having her "Stinger" helmet, but those sorts of sequences always seem like time filler. Iron Lad has gone into the time stream to try to kill Kang, only Kang claims all his actions will create him anyway. The adult YA apparently fight with Kang in the time stream as well, which is a bit weird. I do find one quirk about Heinberg's writing; while he does his damnedest to flesh out his homosexual characters and make them go against stereotypes, he makes no such effort for his African American characters - of course future Eli and his entire family have guns, sucka! Half the issue tells the tale of the founding Young Avengers trying to stop Electro just before the events of NEW AVENGERS #1 and YOUNG AVENGERS #1, back in 2004-2005. It has a lot of amusing moments, but the whole seems to fall flat. And I think that explains my feelings about the YOUNG AVENGERS.
I see Gage do better every month with AVENGERS ACADEMY, and that magnifies Heinberg's faults with YA even more so. This may be a bridge between the last issue of A:TCC and the next one, and at the very least it was there to fill the place of a late issue. This issue also continues the trend of Kang being a shell of himself as a villain. If you want to see Kang at his best, you're better off watching the "AVENGERS: EARTH'S MIGHTIEST HEROES" cartoon on Disney XD to be honest.
THUNDERBOLTS #155: This is the second issue to ship in March, written by Jeff Parker and drawn by regular artist Kev Walker. It follows up after the last issue’s focus on Man-Thing, but not in such a rigid way that it was required reading for casual buyers. The gist of the series is that the current Thunderbolts are a motley crew of super villain convicts of the Raft who are sent out on missions to knock off time from their sentences – or, in the case of former members like Crossbones, put their skills to use. At this point, the initial crew run by Luke Cage has been whittled down to Juggernaut, Moonstone, Ghost, and Man-Thing; “veteran” members Techno and Songbird have also remain involved as handlers. Feeling that the team lacks a proper “magical” member, this issue focuses on Cage and his fellow NEW AVENGERS team mate Dr. Strange apprehending a mystical fugitive to fit that criteria – Satana the She-Witch. She is another strange 1970’s horror character like Man-Thing, and the sister of Hellstorm, former B-List Defenders member.
In execution, this story is handled in what has become a typical fashion for a Jeff Parker story; his characters have amusing interaction as they fight oddness. Over the past few years of AGENTS OF ATLAS and THUNDERBOLTS, it is clear that Parker is a writer who does not rely heavily on a proper, major antagonist; he focuses on the banter and interactions of his cast and/or guest characters. His pattern is that virtually every story he writes is his cast handling a monthly adventure of bizarre oddity, and as they go along the character subplots keeps you coming. While the lack of major antagonists is a hurdle, if a writer handles his cast properly, they can battle a blank page and still be entertaining. This issue is much the same here.
The bigger subplot is that warden John Walker (formerly the superhero U.S. Agent) wants to create a new Thunderbolts team to eventually replace the original one, and has selected an initial secondary crew of practically a dozen characters to whittle down. They include new character Gunna the Troll Girl, as well as long time villains such as Dark Beast, Mandrill, the surviving Blood Brother, and even a Skrull! Roster shake ups are always fodder for team comics, and having a competing team within a team should be interesting. Given that the Juggernaut may be due to return to villainy in the wake of FEAR ITSELF, or at least during the next run on UNCANNY X-MEN, this could be a move that is out of necessity just as much as it is a decent subplot.
At any rate, while not as good as the issue from two weeks ago, but still a perfectly entertaining and readable installment of what has been a great franchise run.
THUNDERSTRIKE #4: Tom DeFalco, Ron Frenz, and Sal Buscema (as well as colorists Bruno Hang and Chris Sotomayor) continue on their relaunch, and revamp, of Thor's 1990's spin off franchise. The son of the original Thunderstrike, Kevin Masterson, has claimed the enchanted mace of his father, but lacks the proper heart and skill to carry on in his father's stead. He is resentful of superheroes in general after his father's death, and up until this point has ranged from a bully to a general brat. This is the issue, however, where Kevin truly realizes his potential and that things are bigger than him, and begins to step up. Mangog, who is actually a creation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in the late 60's (one can tell by his design), emerges as the proper threat of the mini that puts all of NYC in peril. Perhaps the downside of this series thus far has been that it follows many standard tropes of the path of a young hero; from him refusing the call to action to needing a mentor towards him seeming wanting to quit at every turn, it has followed the Campbellian hero path to the letter. What counts is the execution, and this mini series has covered that very well. All involved are old masters at Marvel comics, and they display that quality in story and artwork here. The final two page splash offers quite a tease for the final issue, which looks to end in a bang. That's good; too few stories seem to hit a peak too soon, rather than at the finale when many stories should. Several pages by the end seem to be inked with less vigor than others, perhaps as a sign of the deadline. This has been a terrific little spin off mini featuring a young character from many years ago finally stepping into the role of a legacy hero, and when it is over, the new Thunderstrike is the sort of character who would ideally fit in with the cast of AVENGERS ACADEMY (or even the YOUNG ALLIES). Sadly, sales on it are low, likely due to the $3.99 cover price and the fact that a metric ton of additional THOR material is on the stands right now. Fans of Thor as well as of newer, younger characters should definitely give it a try, at least in trade.
FEAR ITSELF PROLOGUE: BOOK OF THE SKULL #1: This is Marvel's prologue to FEAR ITSELF, their latest line wide crossover after last year's SIEGE. It is not good enough to be reviewed in alphabetical order, nor is it bad enough to be strictly an "obligatory review" because it is "important". Ed Brubaker (who is not writing FEAR ITSELF, but has frequently collaborated with Matt Fraction, who is) writes an issue in which he sets up the villain, or one of the villains, for FEAR ITSELF as well as write a scene he only seems to handle about three or four times a year - a flashback to World War II. At the very least, readers are spared a flashback to Steve Rogers origin, although Brubaker has written no end of 1940's war time flashback sequences; his second-to-last issue of SECRET AVENGERS will also be in similar flashback. The crux of the issue is that Sin, the daughter of the Red Skull who has taken over the family business of megalomania, has teamed with Baron Zemo to unearth one of her dad's long lost Maguffin items that has been inserted via retroactive continuity. It offers a lengthy flashback to an Invaders adventure in WWII and ends with Sin succeeding in her gambit - an outcome that is foregone, otherwise FEAR ITSELF #1 couldn't come next month. It features solid artwork by Scot Eaton, inker Mark Morales and colorist Sunny Gho, and is a perfectly efficient comic. It doesn't go anywhere too surprising, but it sets up FEAR ITSELF in a proper, good looking manner. Brubaker is a good enough storyteller that a prelude tale that offers a standard action flashback and a predetermined conclusion perfectly readable. The angle of Sin taking over as the new Red Skull is a good one, and supporting her with a line wide event is actually a proper way to amp up her importance - she is at least as good as the Hood, the last "new" villain who Marvel was interested in promoting. It isn't as good a prelude issue as something Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning used to produce for their line of space books, but it is better than the one SIEGE got in late 2009.
The fact that it seems a lot like the initial plot of HELLBOY, only without the humor, doesn't help.
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