The Actionest Bought/Thought since 1938 *spoilers*

[Tron Bonne]

Okay, let's get this out of the way real quick. Generally speaking, the anniversary issues of late have been pretty mixed. Some have been good, but there have been some decidedly sour ones that, while not flat out sucking the big suck, definitely faltered in their execution. Mainly I'm looking at Wonder Woman 600 and Captain American 600. The pinnacle, without a doubt in my mind, was The Amazing Spider-Man 600 of few years back. A solid main feature along with several decent stories made for a great package, but all of that totaling roughly 100 pages without ads made it the true complete package that all others afterward simply did not live up to. So, does Action Comics 900, an astounding anniversary number featuring the greatest superhero of all time live up to the standard? In a word, yes.

It's a close match between the two, but I think what puts AC's issue over the top is that everything about it is good. There's some stories that aren't quite to the level of others, as you would expect from pretty much any anthology, but all of them are at least good. Nothing here really feels completely worthless or tacked on purely for the sake of being here; it was all good. The ASM 600 was all pretty good, too, but there was definitely a piece or two that I would've chucked without much remorse. Though, the big thing here, is that there's no ads. Unfortunately, DC did see the need to bump this up an extra dollar, but the quality of the stories help make up for it. The only one in AC that I didn't care much for was the Donner story, but only because they simply story boarded it with the script beside. They should have either cut that or gone the extra mile and fully illustrated it.

The main strike that AC 900 has against it is that the story really isn't a standalone. ASM 600's story was a done-in-one Doc Ock story. The main feature in AC is actually the accumulation of two stories: The Black Ring story that's been running through the title, and this Reign of Doomsday stuff that's been happening. Granted, you don't need to have followed this stuff per say. All you need to know is that Luthor has been able to access God like powers via the Phantom Zone, and Doomsday has been causing a fuss with the replacement Supermen of times passed, but it always help to have knowledge of the full story. That being said, I think Cornell just aced this story well enough that it overcomes that particular problem. And I love his utilization of Superman. The line 'Don't worry, Lois, I'm here now. And I'll win' rung so strongly of the character it made me wiggle and giggle. There's not as much over-the-top action as one probably assumes that Cornell would pull, and in fact, there's actually a lot of quiet moments between Lex and Supes. I don't want to spoil anything really, but I just really liked the entire conclusion and all the little nods to the other parts of Luthor's quest. I do foresee some people having an issue particularly with what Superman does in regards to his view of the 'American Way' (as I've already seen in the CBR forums, it seems to have caused some heat, and won't be surprised at all to see Fox News pick up on it as a way of American values diminishing or whatever), but it made sense to me, honestly.

So, concluding, I think AC 900 is probably the best anniversary issue of any comic in recent years. It really is a good, must have for Superman fans, and I think Cornell's got a strong handle on the character (which he'll hopefully continue to prove as he takes the reigns of the character), and we're shot into the next storyline. This the first time since All Star Superman that I've enjoyed a Superman story in such a full and strong way. We might be on to something here. Kudos, Cornell, and God Speed

 

[kguillou]

Hmmm...i've been hearing mixed things about AC 900, still torn on whether to pick it up. But from the sounds of it, we at least get our money's worth of content. Oh and just putting it out there...I think Thor 600 was the best anniversary issue we've had thus far. I mean it was just a perfect comic book imo (and im not even that big on Thor).

 

[hippie_hunter]

Action Comics #900 is by far my favorite comic this week.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Hmmm...i've been hearing mixed things about AC 900, still torn on whether to pick it up. But from the sounds of it, we at least get our money's worth of content. Oh and just putting it out there...I think Thor 600 was the best anniversary issue we've had thus far. I mean it was just a perfect comic book imo (and im not even that big on Thor).

Action Comics #900 beats out Thor #600 by far.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well, I'm here to unmix those things. But seriously, what mixed things have you been hearing, by chance? Thor's was pretty good, too, though. Probably the second (now third) to ASM's anniversary.

 

[hippie_hunter]

I'd have to top Amazing Spider-Man #600 over Thor #600 as well. While Thor's main story was better than the Amazing Spider-Man's, the extra content within Amazing Spider-Man #600 was better than the extra content within Thor #600's.

 

[kguillou]

I've heard that the main story isn't that strong and unsatisfying, but also that the extra content makes up for it. I mean i'll prolly still give it a shot because hell, it ACTION COMICS 900, but but for that huge an anniversary I was hoping for an epic main story.

And i agree ASM 600 was very good but...the Doc Ock story felt a little anticlimactic to me whereas in Thor 600 we got a full epic story that still opened the door to future stories. But thats just me. lol

 

[hippie_hunter]

The main story in Action Comics #900 was fantastic.

 

[Tron Bonne]

Well...okay, I could maybe see how some people may say that in the sense that there is somewhat a lack of fists ablazing kind of action (though it was still there), but I would still call this pretty epic. I mean, it's Superman fighting Lex Luthor with the power of God, essentially. It's pretty awesome. And it jets us straight into another arc, like Thor 600 did, as well. I felt it was pretty satisfactory. Of course, this is the accumulation of a near-year long story for me, too, so that could be a factor.

 

[Phaedrus45]

71 comics! 13 Variants!! Over 200 bucks, even with my discount!!! (If I paid full price and got my two trades, I would have spent over 300 dollars. But, I saved the trades for next week, and my discount easily saved me about 50 bucks.) It didn't help that I bought all three covers to Action Comics at 5.99 a pop...and, two Brightest Days at 4.99.

Action Comics #900

Yep, this is a mixed bag. And, while it does have a somewhat satisfactory conclusion to the Lex Luthor storyline, Doomsday's portion sucked eggs. (And, don't let the advertisement fool you. It still goes on...and on...and on.)

The main story actually combines Doomsday with Lex's; and, out of nowhere, we learn that Lex is behind Doomsday coming back. (There might have been some hints along the way, supposedly dating back to the New Krypton storyline...but, I don't remember it.) Combining that storyline with this just made Lex's seem worse, though.

Hmmm. You know how a comic gets better when you think about it more? Well, this one is having the opposite effect on me. The more I think about certain things, the more peeved I get at it all. Let me count down the reasons:

1) Doomsday (to me) was hyped as being a complete storyline, if you buy all the Reign Of Doomsday appearances, namely the six crossover books. It all comes to a roaring conclusion in Action Comics #900. WRONG! In the last scene of this comic, it sets up the next storyarc, "Reign Of The Doomsdays." (Yes, I did a HUGE groan when I read that. I felt like a primo-sucker!)

2) DC comics is ALL about trying to recapture old glory. Namely, they borrow from past storylines to get readers excited about another sequel to an old event. All it does is water down their product. "Do you remember Death Of Superman and Doomsday with fondness? Well, you won't anymore, because we're bringing him back...yep, again...yeah, we did that already, but we're not done yet milking the (hopeful) cash cow."

"Oh, hey again! Do you guys remember Cyborg Superman? Yeah, I know you can't forget him, because it seems like he comes back every year or two. Guess what, he's back again!!!"

"Hey. Yep, back again! Do you remember how much you LOVED Reign Of The Supermen, where we introduced various new characters and boosted interest in some old ones? Well, we're gonna tarnish that Reign title by using with Reign Of Doomsday. OH, but don't stop there! After that, we're gonna have Reign Of The DoomsdayS!!!! (See how brilliant we are? We combined Reign of Superman with Doomsday!)"

"Hey. One more thing! Remember how much you've been enjoying Paul Cornell in Action Comics, and the story has been free of Superman? (Heck, Jimmy Olsen was also fabulous..and also free of Superman.) Guess what. We're gonna take that great story, drag it out for a good year, and then combine it with an this awful Doomsday storyline...like it appeared right out of our assssss...errr, butts."

3) Ok...one of my big pet peeves. A storyline that ends with another character turning GIGANTIC! Hated the two large creatures at the end of Project Superpowers, I hated Extra-Large Red Skull in Captain America: Rebirth, and as I think about it, I am mildly disappointed in Super-Size Lex Luthor. (Granted, at least he appeared that way to show his god-ness.)

4) Going back to what I briefly mentioned before. This Lex Luthor storyline started out so much better than it ended; and, some of those middle chapters weren't exactly that good. I enjoyed that Lex was on a quest to find the lantern rings. In the end, that quest disappeared kind of...and the whole Phantom Zone ending has me scratching my head a bit.


So...this does end up being one of my longest reviews in ages. Amazing how a rant can do that. Some of the other stories that complete this comic are kind of nice and sweet; but, my favorite by Johns was only four pages. At least we didn't get a reprint. (This made me think how DC never does that little trick Marvel does. But...you know....I wouldn't mind a classic reprint. Some of DC's little stories are like others I've read before; and, many times they aren't very original. And, there are many classic DC stories I've never read.)

Big rant over. I still give this issue a ; but, I'm not going ga-ga over it..and, that smiley face keeps getting less and less as I think about what I didn't like about the issue. Thankfully, the price didn't concern me. We got a good chunk of pages for $5.99. It's a bargain, if you consider we're paying three bucks for 20 pages normally. (This price is worth 40 pages...and, we easily have double that.)

Brightest Day #24

The return of Swamp Thing! Not that exciting. Remember my pet peeve about giant monsters? Well, we get a battle in the middle of this book with a humongous Swamp Thing...and, an Anti-Swamp Thing. (The battle is over pretty quickly, and we get quite a few one and two page spreads to make us think it's more epic than it actually is.) In the end, four people who supposedly died (Hawkman, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman) return to life. (Hawkgirl doesn't, and Hawkman goes a bit nuts.) Swamp Thing restores the balance of the Earth; and, his new quest is to make those who don't Think Green suffer. (Kind of reminds me of Al Gore as Ghost Rider.)

What does this all accomplish after 24 issues? I'm guessing Vertigo is now invading the DCU. Last page, we see John Constantine saying, "Suppose it was only a matter of time. Swamp Thing returns? Bullocks." (Oddly enough, I've never read Hellblazer; but, from my brief knowledge, I'm pretty sure this is him, right? I mean, he doesn't look that much like Keanu Reeves, though.)

So...in review...I'm glad it's over. I'm glad it doesn't end like Action Comics, making readers feel that they must continue the story elsewhere. Do I want to read a "Keep the Earth green" kind of storyline from a future Swamp Thing comic? No. Do I like Vertigo invading DC? Yeah..I kind of do. (I LOVED Death's re-appearance in Action Comics this week. It was the highlight of the book.) The story, though, was too long. Some things were obvious. (I would think we all knew Boston Brand would die again and have to become Deadman in the end.) Plus, unlike Action Comics, I do feel this final issue was a buck too much.

A mild .

Green Arrow #11

Brightest Day is over; so, hopefully Green Arrow can get better and get Ollie out of the forest. These were a painful 11 issues to read, and it's one of DC's worst titles. I guess you're suppose to read this one before Brightest Day #11; but, it didn't add anything to that story...and, I really can't see how it was important to Brightest Day at all. (Sadly, I don't think it's over. But, I guess we'll find out next issue. I just might drop this title, though. There is only so much complaining I can do in a week.)

Thor: Asgard's Avenger One-Shot

It's a handbook, devoted to all things Thor. I love these things; but, some might be disappointed that they only get a Thor Update (one quick page), and main character aren't included or updated. (Loki is a primo example.) Still, lots of interesting stuff to read. Updates that I liked were the New Thunderstrike, Asgard (all how it's divided up), and Tyr.

 

[Tron Bonne]

71 comics! 13 Variants!! Over 200 bucks, even with my discount!!! (If I paid full price and got my two trades, I would have spent over 300 dollars. But, I saved the trades for next week, and my discount easily saved me about 50 bucks.) It didn't help that I bought all three covers to Action Comics at 5.99 a pop...and, two Brightest Days at 4.99.

God...why? I know you get all the Marvel variants, because you collect them I think, but you don't do that for DC, do you? You barely even like them. Why'd you buy all the variants to those, especially at those prices

Brightest Day #24

The return of Swamp Thing! Not that exciting. Remember my pet peeve about giant monsters? Well, we get a battle in the middle of this book with a humongous Swamp Thing...and, an Anti-Swamp Thing. (The battle is over pretty quickly, and we get quite a few one and two page spreads to make us think it's more epic than it actually is.) In the end, four people who supposedly died (Hawkman, Firestorm, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman) return to life. (Hawkgirl doesn't, and Hawkman goes a bit nuts.) Swamp Thing restores the balance of the Earth; and, his new quest is to make those who don't Think Green suffer. (Kind of reminds me of Al Gore as Ghost Rider.)

What does this all accomplish after 24 issues? I'm guessing Vertigo is now invading the DCU. Last page, we see John Constantine saying, "Suppose it was only a matter of time. Swamp Thing returns? Bullocks." (Oddly enough, I've never read Hellblazer; but, from my brief knowledge, I'm pretty sure this is him, right? I mean, he doesn't look that much like Keanu Reeves, though.)

So...in review...I'm glad it's over. I'm glad it doesn't end like Action Comics, making readers feel that they must continue the story elsewhere. Do I want to read a "Keep the Earth green" kind of storyline from a future Swamp Thing comic? No. Do I like Vertigo invading DC? Yeah..I kind of do. (I LOVED Death's re-appearance in Action Comics this week. It was the highlight of the book.) The story, though, was too long. Some things were obvious. (I would think we all knew Boston Brand would die again and have to become Deadman in the end.) Plus, unlike Action Comics, I do feel this final issue was a buck too much.

A mild .

Yeah, it's Constantine. Well, kinda. It's Constantine as in the way he was last seen in the DCU Swamp Thing series. The one in Hellblazer is like another version now (Think Punisher-PunisherMAX).

Though, I am kind of confused what you mean with Action Comics? How do you feel it ended thinking you had to continue the story elsewhere? I'm pretty sure it explicitly said the story would be continued in the next issue of Action Comics (and we know that based on the solicitations, for sure)

 

[El Bastardo]

As long as Vertigo converging with the DCU doesn't harm or interfere with my lovely The Unwritten, I can't seem to care.

 

[Phaedrus45]

God...why? I know you get all the Marvel variants, because you collect them I think, but you don't do that for DC, do you? You barely even like them. Why'd you buy all the variants to those, especially at those prices

I probably wouldn't get those variants by DC as much as I do; but, 1) my shop doesn't charge me more than the cover price (plus my 20% discount), 2) they're actually a real bargain, as both of those extra covers are a 1-in-5 variant (on an inexpensive site online, one is going for $7.00 and the other $10.50 today), and 3) the shop doesn't usually bother me with 50-50 covers. Now, I'd also probably only buy a variant; but, one reason I get so many is because I promise the shop owner I'd buy both copies, and that way I'll support him more than someone who's just looking for the best version. I consider it a win-win.

Yeah, it's Constantine. Well, kinda. It's Constantine as in the way he was last seen in the DCU Swamp Thing series. The one in Hellblazer is like another version now (Think Punisher-PunisherMAX).

Thanks. I have quite a few Swamp Thing comics; but, since I've gotten them very cheap or when I bought someone's collection of comics, I've never read them. I never knew there were two versions of Constantine.

Though, I am kind of confused what you mean with Action Comics? How do you feel it ended thinking you had to continue the story elsewhere? I'm pretty sure it explicitly said the story would be continued in the next issue of Action Comics (and we know that based on the solicitations, for sure)

I don't usually read the solicitations; because, I generally like to be surprised about what happens next in a comic. So, I was clueless this continued on after Reign Of Doomsday. What I meant by "continuing the story elsewhere" was that the ads for Reign Of Doomsday made it appear the story would appear in the selected titles...and, it didn't give any hint that a person would have to be committed beyond those various crossovers. (I feel like I was duped.)

 

[CrimsonMist]

I don't usually read the solicitations; because, I generally like to be surprised about what happens next in a comic. So, I was clueless this continued on after Reign Of Doomsday. What I meant by "continuing the story elsewhere" was that the ads for Reign Of Doomsday made it appear the story would appear in the selected titles...and, it didn't give any hint that a person would have to be committed beyond those various crossovers. (I feel like I was duped.)

I feel you. I also thought the Doomsday story was going to end in Action Comics #900. But apparently it's going to be explored further in Action Comics.

That said, the Doomsday stuff was probably the weakest in the main story of Action Comics 900, which was, I thought, an otherwise great book. I felt it interrupted the flow and emotional weight of the Lex Luthor stuff. As I said in the Superman Comics thread though, I really felt that, minus the Doomsday stuff, the rest of that story really could have stood on it's own, away from the rest of the Black Ring arc, to be a great story about how great a hero Superman truly is. Cornell did a fantastic job, considering this was the first Superman title i've picked up in a long, long time. I intend to stick with it. The back-up stories were fantastic, I thought. I really loved the "Only Human" story by Richard Donner, done in script format, with storyboards. It was a fun read. Life Support was also great. A downer of a story, but an interesting look at Krypton as it faces it's final days. The David Goyer story was cool, too. It didn't pack a punch like I felt the other stories had, be it in a fun way or emotional way, but it was still very good. The Geof Johns/Gary Frank short was pretty nice, too. But was easily the most forgettable story in the entire book. Otherwise, I'd say that this was easily worth the 6 bucks, and was significantly better than the awful Batman #700. I kind of hope DC can maintain this level of quality when Detective Comics hits #900.

Speaking of Detective Comics, #876 was a great set-up issue for the new arc, Hungry City. We get an awesome splash page of a dead orca whale inside of a bank which was awesome. Sonia Zucco, daughter of Tony Zucco, the man who killed Dick Grayson's parents, is introduced in this arc. Someone's making threats against her, and they've already killed a close friend of hers...by feeding her alive to the orca(her body falls out of the whale's stomach during an autopsy, in a wonderfully shocking moment). I love the way Snyder writes Dick as his own man under the cowl. Jock's art only compliments that. Dick's life as an acrobat really allows Jock to show off his skills as an artist. That's one thing I've really enjoyed about this team. The fight scenes are so incredibly poetic. You feel each movement, and really feel the impact of everything. However, while I felt the conclusion to Snyder's first arc was a bit of a let-down(mainly due to the fact that he lost 2 pages for that third issue), I hope he's properly adjusted the story to work this time. I think Detective Comics is easily the best of the Batman books being published, and is the one book I eagerly anticipate each month. I hope Snyder can maintain this level of greatness.

Godzilla: Kingdom of Monsters #2. When I finished reading this, I finally understood where Eric Powell and Tracy Marsh are taking us. This was perhaps the most hopeless comic book I've read in some time. It's full of destruction and death and questions that, painfully, can't be answered. Politicians are helpless. The people are helpless. There is no single ounce of hope to be found anywhere. And things get worse as Rodan and Anguirus appear and wreak more havoc. I loved this book, and if this is the direction Powell and Marsh continue in for the next few issues, I expect the emotional weight of the devastation to be exactly that: devastating. Powell nearly brought me to tears with The Goon: Chinatown, and I like to imagine that he'll bring that level of writing to this title. He's said that this series is about the people and the world that they have to live in. I expect good things.

American Vampire #14: A little out of the loop, as I haven't gotten around to re-reading my error-free copy of #13 yet, but the atmosphere is oppressive as we finally arrive on an island in the Pacific inhabited by a species of vampires that no one knew existed. The color palette uses lots of reds, yellows and oranges. The heat is up, and you as a reader, feels it. It makes you more paranoid, more on edge. And when those vamps attack, it hits you. While I prefer Scott Snyder's work on Detective Comics(which is strange, considering you'd think his strengths would be more focused on stuff of his creation rather than someone else's), this book is still one that I anticipate each month. I love war comics. I love horror comics. So Snyder's giving me a vampire WW2 comic. I cannot complain.

FF#2: LOVE this book. I just love it. Hickman's writing is seriously what makes this book so much fun. I love the tone, especially. It's not too serious, but it's got enough to be fun. The interactions between characters are great. The bit between Doom and Valeria in The Room was hilarious. Spidey popping up outta nowhere was funny, too. I wanna see how Hickman rolls with Doom being a part of the FF now. Can't wait for next month.

Amazing Spider-Man #659. It was a definite step-up from last issue, which I didn't really like. And while I found some of the content of this issue to be hit or miss, I liked it much better than last issue. Apparently Fred Van Lente wrote all the dialogue for the main story, and therein lies some of my problem. Maybe it's just after reading this issue after FF#2, but I much prefer the way Hickman writes Spidey over how Van Lente wrote him in this issue. Spidey here was, atleast to me, way too bouncy, like a hyper-active 5 year old. I like Spider-Man becomes of his quips and such, because he feels like a real human being. He doesn't take himself too seriously, but he's likable. In this issue, I just wanted to punch him in the face and tell him to shut up. However, my favorite part was when that islander was introducing the team to the villagers: "The Human Torch!" / "Yes. Yes, that's EXACTLY who I am." That had me rolling. I thought the story was engaging enough though, and I liked how it tied into Fantastic Four #5(one of my favorite comics ever). It was a fun story that would have been even better if I didn't feel like wanting to beat up Spider-Man. The Spider-Island short has me intrigued enough to stick around. It looks cool. And I skipped the Spider-Man/Ghost Rider back-up. I couldn't get into the first part from last issue.

Overall, a very satisfying week.

 

[Spider-Jay420]

I probably wouldn't get those variants by DC as much as I do; but, 1) my shop doesn't charge me more than the cover price (plus my 20% discount), 2) they're actually a real bargain, as both of those extra covers are a 1-in-5 variant (on an inexpensive site online, one is going for $7.00 and the other $10.50 today), and 3) the shop doesn't usually bother me with 50-50 covers. Now, I'd also probably only buy a variant; but, one reason I get so many is because I promise the shop owner I'd buy both copies, and that way I'll support him more than someone who's just looking for the best version. I consider it a win-win.

Do you buy all the variants with an intent to resell them, or do you buy them all to collect them all?

You're spending a ton of loot on comics, bro. Holy crap! Is $200 a week an average for you, or is that high? Just curious. My wife would kill me if I spent THAT much. Good for you.

 

[The Morningstar]

Wow, someone has more money than sense!

I only bought Venom 2 this week. Remender is, IMO, Marvels best writer at the moment. I've never liked Venom... ever. But this concept, with Flash as Venom, is very interesting. He's more interesting after 2 issues than Venom, Carnage or any of those other lame symbiotes have been in their entire histories.

 

[Phaedrus45]

Do you buy all the variants with an intent to resell them, or do you buy them all to collect them all?

You're spending a ton of loot on comics, bro. Holy crap! Is $200 a week an average for you, or is that high? Just curious. My wife would kill me if I spent THAT much. Good for you.

Nope, I'm just a collector...or, more to the point, addict. This was an unusually high week for me. (And, we had quite a few comics that were $5.99 and $4.99.) Thankfully, the $2.99 pile has gotten taller than the $3.99 pile. (Before I buy my comics, I make it easy on my shop by separating them in cost piles; so, I always get a good indication of price point each week.)

I've actually dropped quite a few comics, though, as my list expands and comics get higher. Recently, I stopped getting all the Green Hornet books, and I'll probably drop Green Arrow after the next issue.

 

[runawayboulder]

What does this all accomplish after 24 issues? I'm guessing Vertigo is now invading the DCU. Last page, we see John Constantine saying, "Suppose it was only a matter of time. Swamp Thing returns? Bullocks." (Oddly enough, I've never read Hellblazer; but, from my brief knowledge, I'm pretty sure this is him, right? I mean, he doesn't look that much like Keanu Reeves, though.)

John was originally designed after the musician Sting. The Keanu movie was a friggin abomination.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

The Mighty Thor's first issue was actually pretty good. I don't quite know what to make of that. Fraction's got a lot of interesting ingredients here, especially Thor and Sif basically acting as buddy cops (who also have actual sex instead of just loads of undertones). Li'l Loki shows that he's lost whatever enmity the previous Loki nursed for so long toward Thor in a cool set of scenes, too. Coipel's art is gorgeous, as always. It's just a shame that he's so slow and doesn't stick with comics for too long; I'm already dreading his inevitable departure in another 4 or 5 issues at most.

Thunderstrike's ending was as great as the rest of the mini-series. I have no idea what the sales were like on the series, but I'm not really expecting to see another. This struck me as one of those little side-projects that Marvel could conveniently stick old, venerable, but sales-challenged creators on and squeeze a little more promotion for their movie of the moment out of rather than a serious attempt to rejuvenate the Thunderstrike franchise. But hopefully other creators will pick Kevin up and use him for stuff. Like in the second class at Avengers Academy, perhaps? Maybe? Please?

Thor: Asgard's Avenger lacked a profile on Tarene and falsely claimed that all of Thor's weather control comes from Mjolnir. Other than those flubs, though, it was pretty cool.

I also got the free Thor Saga thing, which was a nice refresher on what's been going on with Thor for the past several years. It even covered the fact that "The Reigning" actually happened but was erased by future-Thor's time travel. I thought they'd just gloss over that period and move right into the final Ragnarok, so kudos on that front.

 

[hippie_hunter]

The Mighty Thor's first issue was actually pretty good. I don't quite know what to make of that. Fraction's got a lot of interesting ingredients here, especially Thor and Sif basically acting as buddy cops (who also have actual sex instead of just loads of undertones). Li'l Loki shows that he's lost whatever enmity the previous Loki nursed for so long toward Thor in a cool set of scenes, too. Coipel's art is gorgeous, as always. It's just a shame that he's so slow and doesn't stick with comics for too long; I'm already dreading his inevitable departure in another 4 or 5 issues at most.

It's been confirmed that Pasqual Ferry is doing the next arc when this book was announced. I think I remember reading that the art will alternate between Copiel and Ferry.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That's not too bad then. Coipel's adapted Ferry's redesigns to suit his style rather than imposing ye olde medieval look of his previous run on Thor's series, so the overall look should be pretty consistent.

I find myself pretty bored of Asgard being in ruins now, though. Especially with Odin back. A wave of his hand could easily restore it, and I'd love to see Ferry and Coipel redesign it together.

 

[hippie_hunter]

That's not too bad then. Coipel's adapted Ferry's redesigns to suit his style rather than imposing ye olde medieval look of his previous run on Thor's series, so the overall look should be pretty consistent.

I find myself pretty bored of Asgard being in ruins now, though. Especially with Odin back. A wave of his hand could easily restore it, and I'd love to see Ferry and Coipel redesign it together.

I think we're going to have to wait until after Fraction's Fear Itself for that.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I never knew there were two versions of Constantine.

Well, there weren't really until now

The Vertigo Constantine was meant to be that Constantine, even had some loose crossover with Zatanna, but now, that's kind of the stance they're taking to have him in this story without deriding that series and all the stuff it set up (especially his age, which was in pseudo-real time).

 

[Dread]

In the feast-or-famine world of comic shipments (especially Marvel), this is "feast". After two weeks in which I got a combined 5 comics from Marvel, this week I get 11, including the THOR: ASGARD'S AVENGER Handbook. Yikes...11 comics. We're gonna need a bigger boat!

Spoilers ahoy.

DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 4/27/11 - Part 1:

HAUNT #15: This title is suddenly a series in limbo; this week it was announced that longtime regular artist Greg Capullo would be jumping ship from both Image and Todd McFarlane after over 15 years after HAUNT #18 and set sail for DC, so he can draw Batman. Given that he's been drawing SPAWN since McFarlane decided not to (roughly), he certainly has a lot of experience with caped heroes fighting urban crime in grimy alleys. This has sparked a rumor that Robert Kirkman may bolt as well. Keep in mind that Capullo is here to replace Ryan Ottley on art, who drew HAUNT #1-5 (although he did help McFarlane out on inks during some of those issues). This has always been a production by committee; created by Kirkman and McFarlane, the former technically writes the issues while the latter merely handles inks (and often not alone anymore). However, Todd usually answers the letter column and according to Kirkman's early statements, acts as an unofficial editor on the series. FCO Plascencia remains the stable colorist. Given that HAUNT remains one of Image's Top 5-10 best sellers (behind WALKING DEAD, SPAWN, and INVINCIBLE at least), it will remain to be seen how it rebounds from losing its second artist in a year and a half.

At any rate, this story continues the "Apparition" arc. A large, red and black demonic entity has been chasing the ghost of Kurt Kilgore, who naturally merges with his live brother Daniel to form the super powered warrior Haunt (who acts as a secret agent/commando these days for one of Kirkman's standard typical secret organization thingies). Lacking any knowledge of the occult, Daniel has tracked down the strange voodoo lady from the first two issues who seemed to be the only one who knew what "they" were - she was the one who named "Haunt", after all. She provides the exposition, as she did before, that Haunt is unnatural and the Apparition is there to set things right by yanking Kurt's ghost to oblivion. While originally wanting nothing to do with Kurt (alive OR dead), Daniel has come to depend on his brother for insight and power, and isn't about to surrender him. Other side characters like Mirage and Amanda come back into the story, and the mobster Hurg proves difficult to keep behind bars.

The layouts for the pages are pretty good, although this does read a bit like a comic from McFarlane's heyday in the 90's - right down to a woman's rear end being aimed at the camera for pages on end. Much as some have claimed Haunt was born from some leftover Spider-Man/Venom sketches that McFarlane had laying around, the voodoo woman is very much based on Calypso, a character McFarlane started to make a name drawing during his Spidey run. She seems to have little point to exist besides to be hot and deliver exposition, so hopefully Kirkman can try to add some meat to the bones of her character - assuming he stays longer than the next 3 issues.

If Kirkman were to leave, my desire to continue on the title would definitely wane. I only tried the book due to Kirkman, and unless the writer replacing him were one that I was interested in seeing, I might see his loss as a jumping off point. HAUNT is a perfectly readable comic, but not one that I usually count down the weeks before it arrives. At the very least, replacing Capullo alone will be a hefty task.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #659: While the cover insists this is part of the "road to SPIDER-ISLAND", the upcoming major arc on the title, very little within the issue leads to that. As the cover implies, it is really the second part of a story in which Spider-Man has a very fantastic adventure with his new team mates from the Future Foundation. Stefano Caselli once again joins with series writer Dan Slott, who once again relies on Fred Van Lente as a co-writer. The main story is only twenty pages long, but is flanked by two back up strips. The first a two page teaser for "Infested: the road to SPIDER-ISLAND" by Slott and drawn by the ever reliable Barry Kitson. The second is an eight page strip that continues last issue's team up between Spidey and Ghost Rider, written by the Rider's next ongoing writer, Rob Williams (and drawn by Lee Garbett). The main adventure continues from a fortnight ago, in which Spider-Man is seemingly living his dream of being one of the Fantastic Four by engaging on one of their usual far out adventures. After last issue's jaunt through time and space (literally), the heroes wind up on a familiar island. Slott and Van Lente show their skill for history by weaving in an unresolved plot point from WAY back in FANTASTIC FOUR #5, circa 1961, for this week's adventure. It involves not just pirates, and not just zombies, but ZOMBIE PIRATES. Or does it? The children of the Future Foundation, led by Reed's super genius daughter Val, show up at the right time to expose the twist of the issue, which sets up the next (and continues Hickman's detail of them being the smartest kids ever, smarter than even Reed). Meanwhile, Peter's latest suffering girlfriend Carlie Cooper decides that Peter's stories aren't adding up, and goes on her own crusade. Barry Kitson's two page strip featured the return of the Jackal, a villain best known for the infamous Clone Saga of the 90's who hasn't been seen since. Kitson makes the Jackal appear a bit mundane, but so did Mark Bagley back in the 90's.

Caselli's artwork, alongside Marte Garcia's colors, is great, although a long term problem is how Cooper seems to look different depending on who is drawing and/or coloring the issue in a given week. In little way does Caselli's Carlie look the same as Javier Pulido's Carlie looked last issue, nor do either of their versions of Carlie look similar to how Marcos Martin drew her in the issues before that. The only constants are her skin color (usually) and the fact that she has glasses - Pulido made sure to add freckles when no artist has done so before. Given that Peter, May, MJ, J.J., Robbie Robertson, and various other heroes and characters all have defined, uniform looks, it is a bit distressing that a heroine who is expected to make older fans get past the abolished marriage seems to change her look/hair dye every other issue. In a way, it is a dilemma that Beast has faced since the start of the decade when Frank Quietly chose to make him resemble a feline (in his case, a lion); now no two artists draw Beast alike. Carlie's actions in this issue will naturally cause problems later to come. The "drunken tattoo" is a bit of a cliche, albeit one usually played for male characters. Will she regret getting it, or blame it on Peter for his secrets? Still, between this and her design shifting with every artist change, it will be an uphill battle to get her to be an enduring character (especially in a world where we KNOW Peter can never marry). She had to be quite wasted to agree to get a Goblin tattoo just because Peter hates Osborn, and her friends aren't too bright in the long term. It is akin to the girlfriend of a soldier being drunk and irritated with him, so she gets a tattoo of Osama Bin Ladin on her stomach, and her pals cheer her on. In the end, she's the one with the ink, who'll have to pay the consequences for it - it makes her look petty, which is somewhat of a clash with the CSI/roller derby angle to make her seem self sufficient. Of course, if this is a universe with even death is optional, hopefully Reed patented a laser tattoo remover by the 80's.

Despite this, Caselli's art is more appealing for this type of issue, and while "more important" stories are to come for ASM, this issue is at least a fun romp. The Ghost Rider back up strip isn't bad, although it doesn't quite inspire me to try his next ongoing series yet.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #617: Writer Ed Brubaker takes over all 30 pages of story this month; no back up strips or anniversary side material by other writers here. The main story, which is a continuation of “GULAG”, is drawn by Butch Guice, while a BLACK WIDOW side story is drawn by Mike Deodato Jr. and a final Steve Rogers strip is drawn by critical darling Chris Samnee. Given that Brubaker helms it all, all three strips weave together and tell different angles of the same over reaching plot.

As a summary, James “Bucky” Barnes’ tenure as Captain America is effectively over. Baron Zemo revealed to the media that he was once the Communist assassin Winter Soldier, who was guilty of, among many crimes, a domestic terror act on U.S. soil. Red Skull’s daughter Sin also played a hand in this scheme, helping push it along and even goading Barnes to escape federal custody to save his friends from her trap. Barnes went to trial to prove his innocence via being hopelessly brainwashed, and while his legal troubles were eventually solved in America, Russia immediate demanded he answer for crimes he was convicted of there. Thus, Barnes is now serving time with all sorts of nasty Russian criminals, ex-KGB stooges and others in a literal Gulag. Back home, Steve and Black Widow are trying to see if there is a legal or diplomatic solution to get Barnes home, although he may quickly lose hope and take matters into his own hands. While Barnes is supposed to be treated well, he has many enemies in the Russian prison, one of whom unofficially controls the facility and has Barnes engage in prison fights against fellow “enhanced” convicts – such as mutant Ursa Major, who can transform into a ten foot tall talking bear, or Boris Bullski – the original Titanium Man whose body was boosted to superhuman levels just to survive wearing the armor. There is another enemy of Barnes who disturbs him even more so than these two.

In the meantime, Black Widow and Sharon Carter go digging through some old Commie files for info on the “victims” of the attack the Russians convicted Barnes for, as most of his “hits” as Winter Soldier were officially authorized by the then-U.S.S.R. Steve Rogers discovers that government laison Henry Gyrich, long an antagonist of super heroes, helped arrange for Barnes to be deported. However, at least one fanatic wants to keep Gyrich from talking.

Guice and Deodato’s pages flow very well together in terms of artistic style; although it helps that colorist Bettie Breitweiser colors the entire issue. Samnee has more of a cartoonist’s style and thus his segment is different, visually, from the prior two. However, it still looks very impressive. This issue continues to give hints to the now forgone conclusion that after some 3-4 years, Steve Rogers will become Captain America again in July. It is good to see Jarvis the butler interact with solo Avengers who aren’t Tony Stark on occasion.

It is a shame that the era of Barnes as Cap is coming to an end. Brubaker had stumbled upon something really special here in his attempt to fill time during Rogers’ presumed death. There had been a successful transfer of a mantle as well as a lead character within a major superhero title, and sales sparked due to it for years. Even with Rogers back from the dead, the angle of him filling the position that Nick Fury and Tony Stark once held, as head of SHIELD, has been an interesting one that hasn’t seemed to have played out as long as it could have. Sales for CAPTAIN AMERICA have hit lows, and with a film on the way, Marvel saw this as the time to return to status quo. At the very least, the roading getting to this foregone conclusion remains an interesting one to read. This is a middle chapter, but a chapter that offered battles with giant bears and armored men, so it passes the interest test.

 

[Dread]

Part 2:

FF #2: Technically the second issue of FF, it merely continues Jonathan Hickman's extending run on FANTASTIC FOUR proper, as it nears it's second year. Including DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR (which has been a key cog to his longer run), Hickman has now been writing the Four for over two years now; a longer period of time, if memory serves, than its last two writers (Mark Millar and the late Dwayne McDuffie). He has a slow weaving but ambitious plan that continues to unfold here. Every time I take a step back and look at his run as a whole, I believe it is a solid run, full of great ideas and some bold moments and movements. The dilemma is when I examine some of the cogs close up, and they either unravel or have elements that irritate me. Thus, this issue within 22 pages has a few narrative hits and some misses, all layers with the terrific artwork of Steve Epting, with brilliant colors by Paul Mounts.

The key cliffhanger of last issue was that Val Richards, Reed's nearly insufferable super-genius toddler (she's supposed to be about 2-3 years old, even if most artists draw her as about 4-6 at this stage) has allied with Nathanial Richards (Reed's time traveling dead beat dad) to allow Dr. Doom onto the new Future Foundation's roster. The fear I had was that the feelings of certain characters would be omitted or downplayed, and thankfully I was wrong. Ben Grimm in NO WAY appreciates this move, and wants to crush Doom on the spot. Sue, while not giving into temper, also disagrees with the move, and the two of them leave the building to sort out their opinions and thoughts at a bar (which seems to hardly care about Thing and Dragon Man having drinks there). In the meantime, Reed, Nathanial, Val, and Spider-Man (!) visit Latveria and have it's new regent Kristoff Vernard download his intellect into Doom's mind to undo the damage the Intelligencia did to him and get him back up to genius levels again.

The strongest bits are the moments between Ben and Sue, alongside the new Dragon Man. The latter is a character who has been a one-note monster for ages but who has been redesigned to almost serve as the Beast of the team. It all works quite well. The moment where Reed hesitates before deciding to restore Doom's mind (versus purging it) was very human and strong.

After that, the issue has serious flaws in my mind. The biggest is the one most have overlooked, but it remains an editorial glitch. While Kristoff Vernard's return in FANTASTIC FOUR #588 was "more important", the character made his first return in years in Christos Gage's SPIDER-MAN AND THE FANTASTIC FOUR mini series. It wasn't even 8 months ago that that series wrapped. In it, Kristoff sought to depose and destroy Dr. Doom so much that he attacked the Fantastic Four because he believed they'd shirked their duty to do so (as well as personally abandoned him). In this issue, Kristoff is Dr. Doom's ever eager lackey without a hint of willpower on his own. He is ever willing to relinquish the throne to Doom and provide his mind as a "back up", which it always was. It is literally akin to a writer forgetting about Magneto being an official X-Men and having him reform the Brotherhood Of Mutants and bomb a military base in a random issue of BLACK PANTHER: MAN WITHOUT FEAR. The reality is, of course, Hickman is a more important writer than Gage; he is on a bigger title, outsells him, and most of all has worked alongside Brian Bendis, the Godfather of current Marvel writers. But in practice Marvel pretends they are one big cohesive universe where events all occur in sequence and take place in the same world. This shift in Kristoff's character in two appearances less than a year apart is so vast that I await being amused reading a Handbook Bio update attempt to smooth it over (usually with phrases like, "via unexplained means" or "unrevealed reasons").

This brings me into other things that irked me about this. Namely, the very idea of Reed not only trusting Doom, but repowering him. It is even worse than the level of nostalgic masochism that compels Thor to constantly revive and entrust Loki; at least Thor had a genuinely happy childhood with Loki once 15,000 years ago. Victor was an a-hole in college and has been a despot and a tyrant ever since. He has literally killed Reed's best friend and sent his eldest son to Hell for his schemes. The hesitation moment was sound, but I have a harder time buying Reed being so gung ho about this. Reed has embraced and automatically trusted his own father Nathanial, despite just about every prior story in existence paining Nathanial Richards as a "frenemy" at best, whose schemes are just a hair shy of being sinister in its effects on Reed and his team. While love for a father and wanting to see the best of him is common, Reed is supposed to be smarter than this. Val continues her quest to become the most obnoxious brat in mainstream comics; Layla Miller in HOUSE OF M wasn't anywhere near this bad.

Finally, I am amazed that we are told how many times Spider-Man is an "everyman" super hero, that when the time comes when "uber brains" are doing something mad and the time for an "everyman" opinion is needed, he's silent. This occurred back when the Four, the Avengers, and Dr. Strange succeeded in defeating Galactus, and then Reed decided to save his life and ensure that other planets would be eaten and past lives would go unavenged. Of course, later stories would prove Reed right, as the cosmic powers-that-be ruled Galactus a key component of the universe - but the heroes at the time did not know that. Then was the time when Spider-Man should have swung down and go, "Waitaminute. My life's crusade has been shaped and altered forever by the death of two people closest to me, and you're wanting to revive a guy who's killed billions of them? Who wants to end life on earth every few years? Has your brain been stretched too far?" Instead, he eats popcorn with Daredevil and acts like a child. In a way a see a similar situation here. Spider-Man was the first hero besides the Four that Doom ever fought, and he was a teenager at the time. Spidey is well aware of how dangerous Doom is. Shouldn't he for a moment go, "I don't know what the deal is, but repowering one of the most dangerous super villains on earth is going to backfire harder than the Blob after TACO BELL". Instead he just rattles off his own techno babble to impress the super-brats. I won't even mention Franklin's absence in the story, and if Hickman remembers he was sent to hell, he should seriously have issues with Val.

Now, I can guess how this story will play out. Technically, Val is merely following the instructions given to her by Future Franklin. A war with the "Council Of Cross-Time Reeds" is coming and Doom is likely key to helping fight them. But she never relayed this data to Reed, so for the moment it merely seems like she's siding with Doom for no reason than smugness, and her often scheming grandfather has agreed. Reed should be disturbed. Instead he seems to react like he's merely watching a bad commercial. There is a part of me that wonders if Val will really want to "fight" the Cross Time Reed's, since she felt it was "selfish" for her own father to abandon them. I've seen more emotion from the Vision, who was built from scraps by ANOTHER robot. That's like having less emotion than a toaster built by a microwave. "Even a toaster can...CRY!" and all that. The fact that she is always right reads like SPY KIDS, played straight.

Oh, and there's a two page sequence showing an exchange between Val and Doom that reeks of Bendis-style page filling. I know it can be a bear to come up with 22 pages of script a month, but let's try harder, shall we? Despite that, Doom's "intelligence loss" subplot is resolved quickly - he's hooked up to a machine with Kristoff, people plug in wires and hit buttons, and ZAP, done. In a way, I almost feel sorry for Sue - married to a guy who needs a diagram to figure out how to act around people, and her only viable substitute for a mate is Namor, who is even MORE unstable. That's like being caught between Steve Jobs and Charlie Sheen.

In conclusion, Hickman's FF run is in a way a lot like Reed himself. Full of great grand scale ideas, but missing vital details in the planning phase.

POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #4: This is the penultimate chapter of this mini series by Fred Van Lente and Wellington Alves, with Bruno Hang on colors and Nelson Pereira on inks. Normally this series has been a blast from cover to cover, but this issue seemed a bit more mundane than others. Perhaps because it had to set up the conclusion, so it seemed functional. Maybe because there is some angst dropped in the middle chapter. Maybe because while the true mastermind of the murder mystery is revealed, this issue seems to, again, only exist to set up the next. Perhaps having to occasionally co-write ASM with Dan Slott is biting into Lente's script time. At any rate, it still was a better comic than many others on the stands.

Things come to a head at the underwater Twilight Idol Casino. Iron Fist faces off against Noir, while Power Man (Victor Alvarez) dispatches with Pokerface in a hilarious bit. We learn that the Commedia Dell'Morte are empowered by their masks, which house the souls of the original Victorian era actors/assassins due to crossing Baron Mordo. Thus, whoever wears the masks is possessed by one of them, as I believe I guessed in prior weeks. Columbina has taken over Joy Meachum's body, which complicates things as Pokerface implicated her in the murder of Crime-Buster. Rand and Alvarez have another shouting match, until Victor seems to once again do what pisses Danny off so much - waltz into a trap.

It is good to see Luke Cage make a cameo in this title, since it bares the name of his original 70's team up series with Rand. He has a nice little scene with Victor as well, while Danny decides to get information the Rorshache way (pummeling random creeps in a bar). So, who was behind Crime-Buster's murder? More than likely the butler, or the character in the series closest to one.

I am unsure of whether Tiowa Bryant is really Noir as Victor and the narrative imply. While Van Lente is hardly Agatha Christie, it seems a but too convenient and simple. Could it be Jennie Royce herself, taking on a shadow form from prison for brief intervals? Who knows. Part of me wonders about Rand seeming to trust that Joy would be beyond murdering someone so quickly, given that she is only the daughter of the man who whacked his father. Rebounds can be a bear, even for masters of K'un L'un. Perhaps one problem is a bit of a Catch-22 sort of thing; writers are often criticized for not creating new villains, yet here Van Lente is trying, yet I am not as jazzed for them as I would be if Power Man & Iron Fist were fighting someone more higher profile.

An amusing stop-gap issue with some decent moments, but not up to Van Lente's usual snuff overall. I expect better of the finale.

SECRET AVENGERS #12: The first of two issues of this, in proper market flooding strategy. This is Ed Brubaker's final regular issue on this title that he launched. Will Conrad continues to fill in for Mike Deodato Jr. on art. While it is a Top 20 seller, it is clearly behind NEW AVENGERS and SECRET AVENGERS and I am curious how sales will respond to 3 issues of Nick Spencer and 6 of Warren Ellis; an inability to find and keep a steady writer after the launch team left sunk RUNAWAYS, after all. This issue concludes "The Trouble with John Steele", and the trouble with this issue is it doesn't feel like a conclusion.

John Steele is a genuine 1940's war hero with super-strength, reflexes, and fortitude from unknown means, a veteran of both World Wars and likely earlier than that. Dusted from obscurity in THE MARVEL'S PROJECT, he has found himself aligned with the Shadow Council, and Rogers wants to figure out why. Thus, he's using an experimental device from Beast to share old war time memories for answers. Steele briefly tries to escape, but it is halted very quickly. Rogers learns that the Council was active back in the 1940's, and even farther back, and that they got their hooks into Steele during that time. It is implied that Steele's powers come from supernatural means, that he serves "dark masters" like the 19th century Thorndrake does. He agrees to help Rogers fight the Council and that's it.

Now what? Is Nick Spencer going to resolve this, or Ellis? Why should they be saddled with a subplot Brubaker has left hanging? Will he just carry on this story in future CAPTAIN AMERICA issues and thus Spencer and Ellis will just drop it like a sack of wheat? Given that Brubaker tied STEVE ROGERS: SUPER SOLDIER into his Council plot, I am inclined to believe the latter. At any rate, this doesn't feel like a proper conclusion, more like a story cutting off. In proper Brubaker fashion, only Rogers and one other team member (Beast) appear in this issue. Brubaker's exit feels abrupt from this story, but given that I was growing weary with it, I guess I won't shed too many tears. For $3.99 this just hasn't knocked my socks off like it could, so hopefully Spencer and Ellis bring more to the table. I've given this title more rope than I did Fraction's THOR, after all.

SECRET AVENGERS #12.1: This is actually the second issue of SECRET AVENGERS to ship this week; SECRET AVENGERS #12 proper came out as well. Having two issues ship at once is either an attempt to satisfy an eager fan base, or continue to flood the market with extra material for the already strained "hardcore fan" to buy. The 12th issue was the last for Ed Brubaker, who launched this title last year. With his departure, the title will undergo a bit of an upheaval. Starting in this issue, and for issues #13-15 after, Nick Spencer (MORNING GLORIES) will take over - just in time for the FEAR ITSELF tie in. After that, however, Warren Ellis (a more "important" writer) takes over - at least for six issues. While SECRET AVENGERS still sells very well for Marvel in the Top 25, it has fallen well behind AVENGERS and NEW AVENGERS as the C-Title, and that was with Brubaker at the helm; it remains to be seen how sales will hold up for Spencer or Ellis. In theory, the .1 Initiative was to offer readers a "jumping on" point - in practice, it often sells and tells "done in one" stories that are very much like annuals. In this case, however, it gives readers a taste to what Spencer will bring to the title for his guest stint, for a cheaper cover price than the next regular issue. Scot Eaton handles the art, whileJaime Mendoza the inks and Frank D'Armata on colors.
One thing that Spencer has over Brubaker is the ability to include appearances by the entire team of characters within 22 pages; Brubaker's issues tended to function as extensions of STEVE ROGERS: SUPER SOLDIER with guest heroes on occasion. While Rogers is still the central figure of the story, the rest of the team - Beast, Moon Knight, Black Widow, Ant-Man, War Machine, and Valkyrie - all get a few lines and a page or two's worth of spotlight. This issue features a "ripped from the headlines" story akin to a typical episode of "LAW & ORDER" - in this case, telling a story that is a direct commentary of the WikiLeaks scandal that has rocked diplomatic affairs for the U.S. and abroad. Given that the Secret Avengers are supposed to function as a black ops strike team, this serves as an effective back drop for them trying to save the life of at least one operative that the "leaks" have exposed in the field. The finale comes with a speech from Rogers that does sound a bit like it needs to be on a soap box, but Spencer is hardly the first or last writer to utilizes Rogers in such a way - like Superman, it usually is what the character does best. Finally, it is a plot that in no way involves the Shadow Council, who Brubaker has often made the sole adversary to the Secret Avengers to the point of irritation. Utilized too many times in sequence, and any "secret organization" can become cartoonish - to the point that one almost expects them to throw a wand and "make their monster grow" at the third act. While this issue inserts a long term "evil secret organization" that every Marvel fan knows, it is at least the first time the Secret Avengers as a unit have encountered them.

Much like Kieron Gillen on THOR, Spencer has a thankless task here; keep the title warm during an obligatory crossover until the next "hot shot" writer comes aboard who can do anything of real consequence. However, so long as his stories in the meantime are decent, this still provides the opportunity for good comics. Spencer understands the "team" element better than Brubaker did, and while this may be a mere diversion of a run for him, it is a run that promises to be fulfilling. Those who were starting to tire of Brubaker on the title might consider giving Spencer's brief run an issue or two.