Dread
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Between "Iron Man 3" and FCBD, this will be a large week to kick off May on. But in terms of my weekly slate, it was about average. Onward with spoilers/rants!
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 5/1/13:
SUPER DINOSAUR #19: This has become the oft forgotten Image Comic written by superstar Robert Kirkman and drawn by Jason Howard. It sells near the bottom of the "top 300" and while this is creator owned, one has to wonder when it will become counter-productive for even Kirkman to produce unless the trade paperback sell well enough to offset it. At any case, the duo of super genius kid Derek Dynamo and his best friend, the titular Super-Dinosaur (SD), lose a bit of their innocence in this issue. Faced with a new threat - the clone of their enemy Max Maximus who has now transformed into the ravenous Tyrannosaurus X - the two do battle against him with their usual banter and bluster. This time, however, Tyrannosaurus X is far too powerful for them, and nearly beats SD to death. They only survive by a fluke, leaving behind an enemy greater than any they've faced with a plan to unite others against them. Howard's artwork as always is terrific, with some great action showcases within this issue. With the book reaching a two year mark, now is as good a time as any to inject some fear into their leads, which is often fascinating.
AGE OF ULTRON #7: With "Superior Spider-Man" stealing the thunder this week, Brian Bendis' latest annual event continues to lurch forward towards an inevitable and irrelevant conclusion. How bad was it? Marvel had to announce the debut of a "Spawn" character from the early 1990's nobody cares about in order to even attempt to maintain buzz for this series. Flanked by artists Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco (who each have their own inkers and colorists), this issue reveals the world which Wolverine and Invisible Woman have created by murdering Hank Pym in the past to prevent Ultron's birth due to their own present being ruled by him. They return to a world in which their fellow heroes bare the scars of a war against Skrulls and in which everything is still ruled by a technological maniac - only it is Iron Man instead of Ultron. This is hardly the first alternate reality run by an evil Stark to appear in Marvel - after all, the final arc of "Dark Avengers" has run with such a premise - and shows that time paradoxes are not to be trifled with. If there is any justice Wolverine will be taken to task for being an immortal hypocritical meddler of the time-stream, but that is unlikely. This issue sees some solid art and superheroes fighting each other, which only happens in every crossover event which seems to be published lately. At any rate, Marvel seems to be quickly moving past this overdue series for the latest thing, and it will be curious if readers do too and how this may effect "Infinity" later on.
INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #7: Writer Mark Waid has united with legendary "Thor" artist Walter Simonson (alongside colorist Andres Mossa) continue along their arc which sees the "SHIELD" authorized Bruce Banner/Hulk travel into Asgard in the name of developing more gadgets for the agency. This time, an experiment on the unique metal uru causes Banner and his squad to not only travel to Asgard in general, but into its past. Thus they run afoul of a Thor who has never met many "mortals" and probably didn't lose the hammer to a decade of humility to Odin. Thus, Thor is arrogant and overconfident, and the Hulk and his team have stumbled upon a tribe of Frost Giants with ambitions of grandeur. Simonson's artwork is "retro" in a good way, offering a lot of splash to the action and pacing Waid's script very well. Readers also learn a secret about one of Banner's fellow researchers, in that she's suicidal and wants the Hulk to kill her akin to a "suicide by cop" moment. While this series by Waid often is second fiddle alongside his "Daredevil", his run on Hulk has also been quite an enjoyably fun ride.
IRON MAN #9: On the eve in which Marvel Studios' "Iron Man 3" hits theaters, the latest comic book version of the armor clad Avenger finds itself at the top of the pile. Kieron Gillen ("Thor", "Journey Into Mystery", "Uncanny X-Men") continues on his long term arc which involves Tony Stark exploring space in a new suit of armor after having a mid-life crisis after thwarting a scheme from A.I.M. back home. The major change which elevates this issue from good to greatness is the change in artist. Gone, aside for the cover, is professional Photoshopper Greg Land and in his place (at least for an arc) is iconic "JSA" and "Fantastic Four" artist Dale Eaglesham, alongside colorist Guru eFX (which is presumably a pen name). Called "The Origin of Tony Stark", this arc will see Gillen invent some revelations in regards to Tony's father Howard which will connect his current space jaunt to his own personal history. Along the way, he has a team up with former "Marvel U.K." darling, the giant robot mercenary, Death's Head.
In the previous arc, Iron Man got mixed up with the Voldi, an ancient race who inspired the Kree and the Shi'ar, who soon held him accountable for seemingly killing their deity the Phoenix in "Avengers vs. X-Men" last year. He escaped through the aid of a recorder robot named 451, who wound up having his own agenda which led to the annihilation of the Voldi. Having originally been pitted against Death's Head by the Voldi during their "trial by combat", now Stark hires the bounty hunter to help him find 451. Despite how smart Tony seems to be, 451 appears to be a step ahead all the step of the way, although the final pages which reveal a lost film of Tony's father reveal that 451 has been involved with the Stark family for generations. While Gillen's story is fascinating as always on this title, it is Eaglesham's artwork which blows this issue out of the water. After eight issues of Land's usual computer copied "art" from wrestling magazines, porn, and the associated press, it is refreshing to see genuine pencils and lively art, as well as characters who can emote - even the mechanical Death's Head. While the previous arc seemed a bit wasted with the Voldi existing to die, this one kicks things off by offering more meat.
Death's Head is a creation of the "Marvel U.K." imprint which began in 1972 to reprint Marvel comics within the United Kingdom, but began producing its own original content from 1976-1995. He first appeared in "Transformers U.K. #113" written by Simon Furman and drawn by Geoff Senior; Furman made sure to separate the character from the "Transformers" franchise before Marvel lost the license to it. While the original incarnation of the character has done little for the past twenty years, Gillen utilized the character in his short lived "SWORD" series in 2010, and continues to do so here. Considering how much mileage DC Comics still gets out of Lobo, it is past time that this character was re-visioned and refined. One can expect this character to return in this series again.
Bottom line? This series has always been good in terms of Gillen's writing, but Land's artwork has always held it back into "pretty good" territory as a package. Joined with any other artist - especially one as talented as Eaglesham - this title easily goes into greatness.
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #9: This is arguably the most notable issue of any comic for this week, and is certainly the most "shocking" or noteworthy issue of the main Spider-Man comic since December 2012. Back in the so-called "final" issue of "Amazing Spider-Man", Dr. Octopus successfully swapped minds with his nemesis and allowed Peter Parker to seemingly die in his abandoned withered from - after threatening all of his friends. Due to a last ditch effort to save himself, Ock was injected with Peter's memories and thus vowed to become a "superior" hero. In practice, "Spidey-Ock" has proved to be a more violent hero, willing to execute criminals (Massacre) as well as illegally spy upon the city with his "spider-bots" as well as make leery eyes at MJ or any female in his presence. Peter's "will" or "spirit" has remained alongside Ock, attempting to regain control of his body. In this issue, drawn by primary regular artist Ryan Stegman, Ock and Peter meet once more on the psychic plane for yet another "final battle".
Stegman draws some of the best pages and panels of his career, and writer Dan Slott dips into his vast well of comic book knowledge for no end of references from Peter's personal squad of allies to even mention of a famous typo from the early 1960's regarding his last name. The action is suspenseful and the finale certainly leaves the reader emotionally effected. The area where things become questionable are in the execution and the plot mechanics. Overall the execution is very dramatic and fast paced, in which the battle between Ock and Peter revolves around a debate over who is more responsible as Spider-Man. And, if one is honest when looking at Marvel's promotions online, it was obvious that something had to happen to prolong this status quo. The dilemma is what was a fascinating arc may get stretched too thin to become an ongoing series premise which invites many uneasy consequences - essentially telling the story of a murderous megalomaniac who won but partially redeems himself due to arrogance into becoming a mere anti-hero while the noble if flawed hero he successfully murdered is lectured down to and eliminated. Yet even that is acceptable, but the one thing this issue sees is Peter Parker crumble due to a false moral equivalence argument that Ock makes, and that component is a major demerit to an otherwise well executed extension of this story line.
To clarify (as a SHH exclusive), the psychic battle comes down to Ock claiming that Peter failed his own example of "responsibility" by attempting to interfere with Ock when he was trying to save a girl's life in the last issue because he knew that once he claimed his gadget from Cardiac, he'd be able to discover and remove Peter from his own body once and for all. This was deemed as being just as wrong as Ock's immediate reaction to finding out Peter was still lingering in the body that Ock had stolen from him - which was to destroy him. With all due respect to Dan Slott and with full acknowledgement that SOMETHING had to happen to prolong this status quo out for various promotional reasons, that's baloney. That disregards Ock's own actions as "superior" Spider-Man during that story. When he found out that Cardiac was trying to steal one of his old gadgets, he flat out sought to murder him - which Peter had to prevent by literally staying his hand. If Ock had succeeded, that girl would have died anyway. Ock then proceeded to burst into Cardiac's underground hospital and endangered all of the patients and workers within in to not only sheer damage, but being discovered by authorities (since this hospital for the downtrodden wasn't exactly legal). The fact that nobody was killed or injured during that rampage and Cardiac was able to convince "Spidey-Ock" to chill out so he could save a kid was less Ock being a hero and more circumstances working out for him.
This also disregards all of Ock's actions as Spider-Man, and that's not simply in brutalizing criminals, whether because they usurp the Sinister Six name or, gasp, stomp on Ock's goggles. This includes him using his spider-bots to illegally spy on everyone in NYC and threaten Massacre's blackmailed accomplice, or on the bullies he cripples and nearly kills simply because they insulted his tutor. This also ignores that fact that Ock wasn't out to be a better Spider-Man at the end of ASM - he was out to save his own skin and murder his own rival and mite out revenge upon his life. Ock was trying to kill all of Peter's supporting cast and the ONLY reason he has any responsibility is because Peter zapped him with his own memories. While Peter Parker may not have the will of Batman or Captain America or even a Green Lantern, previous stories have shown he's got incredible fortitude when he needs it. From "If This Be My Destiny" to talking Death herself out of claiming him so he could save someone, Spidey's acts of will are often ignored. And it also disregards all the people Ock has murdered in his schemes - including Captain Stacy, who appears in the psychic battle. So while it is in character for Ock to essentially remain a violent arrogant bully even as an anti-hero and to make a moral equivalence argument, I thought Peter buying it to the point that he gives up his psychic struggle for his own life that he caves to his enemy to be nearly as much of a character misinterpretation as Peter agreeing to a deal with the devil to save his aunt even after said aunt told him to be happy with his wife and let her go. My issue with this issue isn't the end result per say, but the method of getting there despite the mostly good execution until the climax.
For a franchise whose entire woes were once blamed on a marriage a mere six years ago, it remains amazing how it seems to continue to rely on one drastic stunt after the next to remain relevant. Slott has steered this ship well since taking over the helm exclusively (or near exclusively) since late 2010, often finding new spins on many old villains and tales. This "mind swap" story has quickly become the most notable one in some time, finding new suspense in an old trope. Yet this issue may be seen as the one in which things began to be stretched too far, and such a thing would be a shame. The cover, by Marcos Martin, however, is without flaw.
DREAD'S BOUGHT/THOUGHT FOR 5/1/13:
SUPER DINOSAUR #19: This has become the oft forgotten Image Comic written by superstar Robert Kirkman and drawn by Jason Howard. It sells near the bottom of the "top 300" and while this is creator owned, one has to wonder when it will become counter-productive for even Kirkman to produce unless the trade paperback sell well enough to offset it. At any case, the duo of super genius kid Derek Dynamo and his best friend, the titular Super-Dinosaur (SD), lose a bit of their innocence in this issue. Faced with a new threat - the clone of their enemy Max Maximus who has now transformed into the ravenous Tyrannosaurus X - the two do battle against him with their usual banter and bluster. This time, however, Tyrannosaurus X is far too powerful for them, and nearly beats SD to death. They only survive by a fluke, leaving behind an enemy greater than any they've faced with a plan to unite others against them. Howard's artwork as always is terrific, with some great action showcases within this issue. With the book reaching a two year mark, now is as good a time as any to inject some fear into their leads, which is often fascinating.
AGE OF ULTRON #7: With "Superior Spider-Man" stealing the thunder this week, Brian Bendis' latest annual event continues to lurch forward towards an inevitable and irrelevant conclusion. How bad was it? Marvel had to announce the debut of a "Spawn" character from the early 1990's nobody cares about in order to even attempt to maintain buzz for this series. Flanked by artists Brandon Peterson and Carlos Pacheco (who each have their own inkers and colorists), this issue reveals the world which Wolverine and Invisible Woman have created by murdering Hank Pym in the past to prevent Ultron's birth due to their own present being ruled by him. They return to a world in which their fellow heroes bare the scars of a war against Skrulls and in which everything is still ruled by a technological maniac - only it is Iron Man instead of Ultron. This is hardly the first alternate reality run by an evil Stark to appear in Marvel - after all, the final arc of "Dark Avengers" has run with such a premise - and shows that time paradoxes are not to be trifled with. If there is any justice Wolverine will be taken to task for being an immortal hypocritical meddler of the time-stream, but that is unlikely. This issue sees some solid art and superheroes fighting each other, which only happens in every crossover event which seems to be published lately. At any rate, Marvel seems to be quickly moving past this overdue series for the latest thing, and it will be curious if readers do too and how this may effect "Infinity" later on.
INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK #7: Writer Mark Waid has united with legendary "Thor" artist Walter Simonson (alongside colorist Andres Mossa) continue along their arc which sees the "SHIELD" authorized Bruce Banner/Hulk travel into Asgard in the name of developing more gadgets for the agency. This time, an experiment on the unique metal uru causes Banner and his squad to not only travel to Asgard in general, but into its past. Thus they run afoul of a Thor who has never met many "mortals" and probably didn't lose the hammer to a decade of humility to Odin. Thus, Thor is arrogant and overconfident, and the Hulk and his team have stumbled upon a tribe of Frost Giants with ambitions of grandeur. Simonson's artwork is "retro" in a good way, offering a lot of splash to the action and pacing Waid's script very well. Readers also learn a secret about one of Banner's fellow researchers, in that she's suicidal and wants the Hulk to kill her akin to a "suicide by cop" moment. While this series by Waid often is second fiddle alongside his "Daredevil", his run on Hulk has also been quite an enjoyably fun ride.
IRON MAN #9: On the eve in which Marvel Studios' "Iron Man 3" hits theaters, the latest comic book version of the armor clad Avenger finds itself at the top of the pile. Kieron Gillen ("Thor", "Journey Into Mystery", "Uncanny X-Men") continues on his long term arc which involves Tony Stark exploring space in a new suit of armor after having a mid-life crisis after thwarting a scheme from A.I.M. back home. The major change which elevates this issue from good to greatness is the change in artist. Gone, aside for the cover, is professional Photoshopper Greg Land and in his place (at least for an arc) is iconic "JSA" and "Fantastic Four" artist Dale Eaglesham, alongside colorist Guru eFX (which is presumably a pen name). Called "The Origin of Tony Stark", this arc will see Gillen invent some revelations in regards to Tony's father Howard which will connect his current space jaunt to his own personal history. Along the way, he has a team up with former "Marvel U.K." darling, the giant robot mercenary, Death's Head.
In the previous arc, Iron Man got mixed up with the Voldi, an ancient race who inspired the Kree and the Shi'ar, who soon held him accountable for seemingly killing their deity the Phoenix in "Avengers vs. X-Men" last year. He escaped through the aid of a recorder robot named 451, who wound up having his own agenda which led to the annihilation of the Voldi. Having originally been pitted against Death's Head by the Voldi during their "trial by combat", now Stark hires the bounty hunter to help him find 451. Despite how smart Tony seems to be, 451 appears to be a step ahead all the step of the way, although the final pages which reveal a lost film of Tony's father reveal that 451 has been involved with the Stark family for generations. While Gillen's story is fascinating as always on this title, it is Eaglesham's artwork which blows this issue out of the water. After eight issues of Land's usual computer copied "art" from wrestling magazines, porn, and the associated press, it is refreshing to see genuine pencils and lively art, as well as characters who can emote - even the mechanical Death's Head. While the previous arc seemed a bit wasted with the Voldi existing to die, this one kicks things off by offering more meat.
Death's Head is a creation of the "Marvel U.K." imprint which began in 1972 to reprint Marvel comics within the United Kingdom, but began producing its own original content from 1976-1995. He first appeared in "Transformers U.K. #113" written by Simon Furman and drawn by Geoff Senior; Furman made sure to separate the character from the "Transformers" franchise before Marvel lost the license to it. While the original incarnation of the character has done little for the past twenty years, Gillen utilized the character in his short lived "SWORD" series in 2010, and continues to do so here. Considering how much mileage DC Comics still gets out of Lobo, it is past time that this character was re-visioned and refined. One can expect this character to return in this series again.
Bottom line? This series has always been good in terms of Gillen's writing, but Land's artwork has always held it back into "pretty good" territory as a package. Joined with any other artist - especially one as talented as Eaglesham - this title easily goes into greatness.
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #9: This is arguably the most notable issue of any comic for this week, and is certainly the most "shocking" or noteworthy issue of the main Spider-Man comic since December 2012. Back in the so-called "final" issue of "Amazing Spider-Man", Dr. Octopus successfully swapped minds with his nemesis and allowed Peter Parker to seemingly die in his abandoned withered from - after threatening all of his friends. Due to a last ditch effort to save himself, Ock was injected with Peter's memories and thus vowed to become a "superior" hero. In practice, "Spidey-Ock" has proved to be a more violent hero, willing to execute criminals (Massacre) as well as illegally spy upon the city with his "spider-bots" as well as make leery eyes at MJ or any female in his presence. Peter's "will" or "spirit" has remained alongside Ock, attempting to regain control of his body. In this issue, drawn by primary regular artist Ryan Stegman, Ock and Peter meet once more on the psychic plane for yet another "final battle".
Stegman draws some of the best pages and panels of his career, and writer Dan Slott dips into his vast well of comic book knowledge for no end of references from Peter's personal squad of allies to even mention of a famous typo from the early 1960's regarding his last name. The action is suspenseful and the finale certainly leaves the reader emotionally effected. The area where things become questionable are in the execution and the plot mechanics. Overall the execution is very dramatic and fast paced, in which the battle between Ock and Peter revolves around a debate over who is more responsible as Spider-Man. And, if one is honest when looking at Marvel's promotions online, it was obvious that something had to happen to prolong this status quo. The dilemma is what was a fascinating arc may get stretched too thin to become an ongoing series premise which invites many uneasy consequences - essentially telling the story of a murderous megalomaniac who won but partially redeems himself due to arrogance into becoming a mere anti-hero while the noble if flawed hero he successfully murdered is lectured down to and eliminated. Yet even that is acceptable, but the one thing this issue sees is Peter Parker crumble due to a false moral equivalence argument that Ock makes, and that component is a major demerit to an otherwise well executed extension of this story line.
To clarify (as a SHH exclusive), the psychic battle comes down to Ock claiming that Peter failed his own example of "responsibility" by attempting to interfere with Ock when he was trying to save a girl's life in the last issue because he knew that once he claimed his gadget from Cardiac, he'd be able to discover and remove Peter from his own body once and for all. This was deemed as being just as wrong as Ock's immediate reaction to finding out Peter was still lingering in the body that Ock had stolen from him - which was to destroy him. With all due respect to Dan Slott and with full acknowledgement that SOMETHING had to happen to prolong this status quo out for various promotional reasons, that's baloney. That disregards Ock's own actions as "superior" Spider-Man during that story. When he found out that Cardiac was trying to steal one of his old gadgets, he flat out sought to murder him - which Peter had to prevent by literally staying his hand. If Ock had succeeded, that girl would have died anyway. Ock then proceeded to burst into Cardiac's underground hospital and endangered all of the patients and workers within in to not only sheer damage, but being discovered by authorities (since this hospital for the downtrodden wasn't exactly legal). The fact that nobody was killed or injured during that rampage and Cardiac was able to convince "Spidey-Ock" to chill out so he could save a kid was less Ock being a hero and more circumstances working out for him.
This also disregards all of Ock's actions as Spider-Man, and that's not simply in brutalizing criminals, whether because they usurp the Sinister Six name or, gasp, stomp on Ock's goggles. This includes him using his spider-bots to illegally spy on everyone in NYC and threaten Massacre's blackmailed accomplice, or on the bullies he cripples and nearly kills simply because they insulted his tutor. This also ignores that fact that Ock wasn't out to be a better Spider-Man at the end of ASM - he was out to save his own skin and murder his own rival and mite out revenge upon his life. Ock was trying to kill all of Peter's supporting cast and the ONLY reason he has any responsibility is because Peter zapped him with his own memories. While Peter Parker may not have the will of Batman or Captain America or even a Green Lantern, previous stories have shown he's got incredible fortitude when he needs it. From "If This Be My Destiny" to talking Death herself out of claiming him so he could save someone, Spidey's acts of will are often ignored. And it also disregards all the people Ock has murdered in his schemes - including Captain Stacy, who appears in the psychic battle. So while it is in character for Ock to essentially remain a violent arrogant bully even as an anti-hero and to make a moral equivalence argument, I thought Peter buying it to the point that he gives up his psychic struggle for his own life that he caves to his enemy to be nearly as much of a character misinterpretation as Peter agreeing to a deal with the devil to save his aunt even after said aunt told him to be happy with his wife and let her go. My issue with this issue isn't the end result per say, but the method of getting there despite the mostly good execution until the climax.
For a franchise whose entire woes were once blamed on a marriage a mere six years ago, it remains amazing how it seems to continue to rely on one drastic stunt after the next to remain relevant. Slott has steered this ship well since taking over the helm exclusively (or near exclusively) since late 2010, often finding new spins on many old villains and tales. This "mind swap" story has quickly become the most notable one in some time, finding new suspense in an old trope. Yet this issue may be seen as the one in which things began to be stretched too far, and such a thing would be a shame. The cover, by Marcos Martin, however, is without flaw.
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t: I lol'd at that one!
