Avengers Academy #8

This is one of two Marvel comics I'm still reading in floppy (the other is Black Panther). Even though I want to switch over to trades for all my Marvel comics, I can't break free from Christos Gage's riveting Avengers saga. He's showcasing 2nd and 3rd tier characters, but treating them like stars. This issue he spotlights Tigra, once again giving her some closure and empowerment after Bendis almost ruined the character a few years ago. The Hood may have beaten and humiliated Tigra, but she's proving that she is strong enough to handle the aftermath. I LOVE that Gage has her take her pain public. She even sets up a new charity for victims of abuse. It's a tad over the top when Hank Pym says that her actions are the bravest he's ever seen, but they sure are up there.

And lest you think it is melodrama, there is plenty of action. Striker, Finesse, and Hazmat deliver a well-deserved beat down on the Hood, and there are some great shots of Tigra taking on the Slug. That's right, the Slug! I remember him from an old Web of Spider-Man annual; he's like the Kingpin of porn, so he's perfect for this story.

I believe this is Mike McKone's last issue on this title. I'm bummed, he's done a wonderful job creating looks for the recruits even as he has redefined some classic uniforms. Hank Pym and Speedball have especially benefited from costume re-designs from McKone. I'm sure he's moving onto a high-profile project; it just bums me out that this book isn't more high-profile.

Good

New Avengers: The Finale #1

Wow. Congratulations to Bendis for bringing home the first volume of New Avengers. He does a great job with this, delivering not only a strong story but actually answering a lot of critics' complaints.

Luke Cage has had enough. Regardless of how the Siege of Asgard ended, he wants the Hood to go down tonight! When the New Avengers start questioning the Hood's goons, they are quick to turn on him. I guess Hood never realized the value in having loyal flunkies. The New Avengers head off to Cali to take out Hood and Madame Masque while they shelter with her father, Count Nefaria. Nefaria is a classic Avengers villain, so it was great seeing him show up to give a great Avengers action-conclusion to this series. Bendis has a great take on the character, he comes across as egotistical, confident, and a somewhat caring father all at the same time. Best of all, though, the New Avengers actually beat Nefaria themselves. Ms. Marvel and Wolverine do most of the work, but the other folks get their licks in and get to do stuff too. So the New Avengers not only fought an Avengers foe, but actually defeated him themselves! Great!

The final monologue from Cage was surprisingly effective too. Bendis puts the speech over double splash pages from all the big New Avengers artists and it really does establish a nice historical context. And dang you if that last page doesn't make you smile. Seeing the team just walk happily through a park was a wonderfully victorious moment.

Bryan Hitch's art is pretty nice. Count Nefaria looks a little too thin, he's supposed to be bulkier, but I liked Hitch's take on the Avengers and other costumed goons. The final pin-up shots established history so nicely, I can almost convince myself that I liked New Avengers as a whole. In fact, it had both good and bad stories, but I have to admit I'm excited to see what Bendis will do with the team next.

Good

New Avengers #61

I'm pleasantly surprised at how well Bendis handles every character who shows up in this issue. Winter Cap is heroic and hard-core, like he should be. The Real Cap is quick, efficient, and inspirational, plus he picks up his old Waid-era photonic shield! Spider-Man and Spider-Woman have a series of amusing conversations on a roof-top, and dang if Bendis doesn't write a great Spider-Man. He's so quirky and clever that Spider-Woman actually seems uncomfortable with him, which is a fun dynamic. And best of all Bendis gets his villains right too. The Living Laser uses his powers the same way we've always seen them, as does the Corruptor. They face down the two Caps and lose, of course, but neither seems to be killed. Mandrill is as creepy and shocking as we expect and I loved seeing him take command of Spider-Woman. (It is interesting that there are two mind-controllers in this issue with Corruptor and Mandrill). I will say I didn't think the Griffin was this inteligent anymore, I thought he was a crazy animal, but I suppose I can go along with him as a hard-working crook who just wants to get paid; I think that is what he was in his first appearances in Marvel Team-Up.

The art by Stuart Immonen is as wondeful as always, he handles most of the Cap sequences. Daniel Acuna draws the spidery portions of the issue, and he's a fantastic fit for the Avengers. His style looks almost photo-realistic except that he's a master of capturing the madness of comic book design. His Mandrill looks like a perfect blend of super-villain and actual monkey.

Good

New Avengers #60

Damn Stuart Immonen is awesome. I usually don't start off with the art in these reviews, but Immonen is so good, I can't help it. He gets to draw a ton of heroes in this issue, and they are just perfect. His Hank Pym looks cool and heroic, but he even nails the little stuff. Hellcat's poses as she's lounging around, Daredevil and Iron Fist looking like they could spring into action, even the Hood's grimacing attempts to seem relevant; everything looks awesome.

Bendis delivers another true win for the New Avengers. They actually beat off HAMMER last issue, then out-smart Norman Osborn again, making him pay for his attack on Luke Cage in a neat way. Osborn doesn't have a heart, so hitting him in the wallet is probably better. I'm not sure I like Cage being the sweetheart of the Marvel U like this, but what do I know? I still prefer him as Power Man!

I'm fascinated by the two different villain armies running around in the Marvel U right now. Taskmaster has a crew of bozos in the Initiative, and the Hood's army has just about everyone else. I do like that Bendis has essentially created a new Masters of Evil with this group of villains. They've been after the New Avengers for so long now, they will all have some nice history in their next appearance. (I do think Mandrill and Griffin have been shown on both teams though!) I'm not too broken up about Jonas Harrow's fate. Bendis has actually written him for awhile now, so he's killing a character he's worked on; plus I don't know what he's from anyway.

Good

Avengers: The Initiative #31

I never would have guessed we'd be blessed with a Taskmaster series. (I'm not counting that weird series from the early 2000's with the bad art.) But here we are, and Christos Gage is doing a great job. Taskmaster is a hard working villain who is finally getting his shot at the big time, and he really doesn't belong there. Gage takes Taskmaster's tiny part in the recent Siege one-shot and turns it into a fantastic character piece. Taskmaster anguishes and debates his decision to join Norman Osborn's cabal, and he eventually gives in and joins, figuring he won't get another chance at top billing. Of course, we know that as soon as he joins, he's taken out at his very first cabal meeting. Dr. Doom blasts him with a mix of sorcery and tech, and while Tasky's suit blocks the normal energy, he can't handle the magic. Taskmaster wants out, wants to go back to the pond where he's a big fish, but you don't cross Norman Osborn. Osborn gets all cold and threatening, and its a great scene. Taskmaster has made a big mistake.

Since this book is your one-stop shopping for the C-level characters of the Marvel U, we get nice little bits with Diamondback, Constrictor, Justice, Ultra Girl, Tigra, and more. Night Thrasher seems to have found some warning signs about Siege too. I'm excited to see how this book fits in. Taskmaster and his Initiative army of super-villains are going to be drafted into fighting Asgardians. I don't think that will go well for them.

Rafa Sandoval does his usual solid work. He has a habit of making Taskmaster's eyeballs seem a little too round and silly looking, but overall the work is strong. I do like his take on Tigra. His Scorcher is pretty funny too, sporting huge gauntlets and a giant helmet.

Good

Avengers: The Initiative #30

Well that Nightmare story sure wrapped up in a hurry. It's weird, but in this Dark Reign era, an old-school villain like Nightmare feels more like a distraction than a main event. Pretty much all the time Christos Gage spends on Nightmare was difficult to get through, since I wanted to see the Avengers Resistance take on the Initiative. Wisely, Gage wraps up the Nightmare story very quickly, giving closure to both Trauma and Speedball while still pimping Nightmare's appearance in the Doctor Voodoo series. Even with Nightmare muddling up the ongoing narrative, there are some nice character moments here. We find out who the Avengers' mole in the Initiative is (makes total sense, too). There are tons of personal nightmares for most of the regular cast, but Slapstick's hits closest to home; his nightmare is working in an office!

The best happening in this issue is that it seems like Gage has put Speedball's fractured psyche in a state where he might actually be a viable character again. The whole Penance idea was such an awful fit. I can't wait for that chapter to pass by, although it will be difficult making Speedball quite as much fun as he used to be. This is a step in the right direction though. I'll also make a prediction that the buzzing Night Thrasher II feels in his skull is not a good sign...

Jorge Molina fills in on art here, and he does a decent job keeping things consistent with regular artist Rafa Sandoval. Some panels look fantastic, with really expressive faces while other look a bit more rushed. He also tends to put his characters in odd poses (check out two panels in a row with Tigra pointing off at things).

Good

Punisher #10

Obviously, I read this and the Dark Reign special in the wrong order. This issue wraps up the Hood-themed arc from the last few months. Punisher succeeds in killing off a couple more Hood-resurrected villains (I think Cyclone is one of them, I'm not sure about the other). I do like that Rick Remender has actually brought back a few of these villains to stay. At least Basilisk, Death Adder, and a few others seem to be back for good now. I won't complain about more costumed villains.

I will say I really don't like what Frank does this issue. The Hood uses his resurrecting trick on Frank's family. This is a great way to neutralize the Punisher, with his family back, what is there to be angry about? I was honestly shocked at Frank's reaction though. When he sees his family rise, he immediately has them set on fire and kills them again. How, how, how can he do this? Either he didn't want them used against him or he's ashamed of what he's become, I just can't rationalize that a man as pained as he is would dispatch his family so quickly. Even if Frank believed their return was tainted by the Hood and that their personalities were different, I can't believe anyone could do this so fast. The resurrected villains seemed to be themselves, so why would the Castles be any different? How are we supposed to view Frank after this? He's damaged beyond repair for me. I don't like what this story says about Frank, but it is pretty dramatic.

Tan Eng Huat has a fun style, but I'm not sure he's a great fit for the more "classic" elements of the story. His takes on Basilisk and Death Adder are just ugly. But the Hood and the supernatural stuff does look nice and spooky.

Fair

New Avengers #58

I'm certain that Bendis has something up his sleeve with Ares. As the Dark Avengers descend on the New Avengers, Ares is the only member of DA to express any concern for the injured Luke Cage. Later, when he assaults the NA down in the sewers under the Night Nurse's clinic, he actually asks what the outlaws hope to accomplish. This guy is by far the most reasonable member of Osborn's strike team. Bendis has a couple nice bits sprinkled in; I really enjoyed Mockingbird being unable to resist giving Daken a quick kick to the head. In fact, the combat all issue was well done, for the first time I actually felt like these New Avengers were a competent team. I think they could have mopped the floor with the Dark Avengers.

I'm not sure I understand why we needed 3 or 4 pages taken up with Jessica Jones talking to her mother, I would have preferred to see more fighting. I did appreciate hearing Bendis lay out that people who watch Fox News were more likely to side against the New Avengers. The blatant politics of Dark Reign does amuse me.

The only reason I'm buying this expensive comic again is Stuart Immonen's art. I can't resist his awesome pencils. His close-up of Ms. Marvel as she smugly dismisses Osborn after blasting him in the face was fantastic. He can handle action and emotion with equal skill. This is a beautiful comic.

Good

Avengers: The Initiative #29

Christos Gage doesn't move things along too drastically here, instead most of the issue is spent catching up all over the Initiative. In fact, there are so many things happening that once again I have to bullet out the many happenings:

• Tigra continues her campaign of vengeance taking out Razorfist, Cutthroat, and the remaining Brother Grimm.
• Komodo links up with Tigra and joins the Avengers resistance, even without her powers.
• Night Thrasher II is still intrigued at the thought of resurrecting his brother.
• Constrictor starts hooking up with Diamondback!
• Penance gets a cat, that he names Niels. I'm really hoping Gage has permission to change Robbie Baldwin back into Speedball.
• The Avengers resistance attacks Camp Hammer, intent on freeing Night Thrasher II.
• Nightmare possesses his son, Trauma, setting up mass confusion and action next issue!

I really love the format for this book. Gage spends a lot of time jumping around, but even with only a few pages for each character, he establishes personalities. I'm amazed at the number of characters having their individual plotlines advanced here. This book is truly for fans of the Marvel Universe.

Jorge Molina fills in this month, and he's got a similar enough style that he fits right in. The lines are kind of soft, almost like Stuart Immonen. He does have a habit of making his faces too severe and overdramatic, but his storytelling is clear.

Good

Dark Reign: Mister Negative #3

This was a pretty unnecessary limited series. The series opened with Norman Osborn declaring war on Mr. Negative for daring to resist joining his super-army, and it closes with Mr. Negative essentially setting himself up as the Hood's peer, so he just joins the super-army after all. The entire exercise didn't really deliver anything dramatic about Dark Reign. Spider-Man and Betty Brant didn't really need to be in this story either, I think the strongest parts were the gang war elements, not the silly evil Spidey chasing around his old friend.

As an origin for Mr. Negative, it holds up a bit better. Fred Van Lente gives us a pretty clear origin for Spidey's new foe, complete with a nice tie to classic Marvel characters. It seems that Martin Li/Mr. Negative is actually a human trafficker, a brutal man who left his ship behind and attempted to escape into New York. Silvermane collected and dropped him off on Ellis island to receive experimental drugs and be tested upon. Sound familiar? It should. That's Cloak & Dagger's origin. It seems this trafficker escaped right after Cloak and Dagger and later took on Martin Li's life as his own, doing good deeds as Martin Li while committing evil as Mr. Negative. So Li/Negative is a perfect yin-yang of the balance of good and evil. It's a neat concept, but I'm not entirely sure I understand it. Is the Li part of the character actually a good guy?

The art by Gianlucca Gugliotta is pretty difficult to follow. I couldn't tell who the trafficker was clearly enough to get any dramatic impact from the scene where Mr. Negative saves Li's wife. Everyone had lumpy faces making it difficult to tell people apart. In a story where race was so important, I'm not sure using a post-racial art style was the right choice.

Average

New Avengers #55

Sometimes Bendis does his thing very well. Having Bucky-Cap infuriated by the New Avengers messing up his home is genius. That's the type of idea that Bendis does so well. Not surprisingly, that's the best part of the issue. I like thinking that the dirty house is all Bucky can think about all issue long.

That said, I HATE that Bendis had Hawkeye talk about trying to kill Norman Osborn. Hawkeye was always the Avenger against killing, from Solo Avengers to West Coast Avengers to Busiek's time on the title. Bendis made this heroic character into a one-note foil for Spidey. Spidey came off great here, wanting to rise above the evil ways of Osborn, wanting everyone to just try harder to be more heroic. The problem is that Hawkeye should be acting that same way. The argument just doesn't work coming from Hawkeye. There is just no way Spidey should be poking fun at Hawkeye for being crazy and unreasonable. Let's all remember that Hawkeye split up the West Coast Avengers when Mockingbird let her attempted rapist fall off a cliff. This is a guy who's against killing! I'm a bit disappointed in Tom Brevoort for letting Hawk get dragged through the mud just to make Spidey look better.

The main thrust of this storyline seems to be that the Hood's flunkies, on their own initiative, have created a power dampener to use on the New Avengers. I like the idea since it is a relatively classic conflict that doesn't overly rely on the Dark Reign status quo. This could be any villainous gang taking on the Avengers and robbing them of their powers. Now why a power dampener would make Hawkeye projectile vomit? That I can't answer, but I'm sure it will be dealt with (suuure it will).

Stuart Immonen comes aboard as regular penciller this issue, so of course everything looks great. He raises the grade just with his art.

I realize I'm just another fanboy lost in the past and whining about how things used to be in old comics. I realize that. I'm just disappointed when I read some comics that embrace their history so effectively (like Thunderbolts or Nova) and then I see one of my favorite characters totally morphed into something silly here in New Avengers.

Average

Avengers: The Initiative #26

Christos Gage delivers what he promised online; some new 50 State Initiative teams. We get to see the most from North Caronlia's U-Foes, but we get introduced to Oregon's Force of Nature, Delaware's Women Warriors, and Maryland's new team, Psionex! I'd say Maryland came out the loser in this group, with North Carolina getting the coolest protectors. I love the high concept that the public of the Marvel U would abandon a team of Avengers and heroes this quickly to cheer for known criminals. That's ok though, because it makes for a neat concept. The Avengers: Resistance team has a neat dynamic in that they are still mostly made up of the bickering different generations of New Warriors, but Gauntlet and Tigra have clear seniority and almost serve as mentors or leaders for the team. Gage is taking Tigra down a dark path in the closing pages of the issue as she seems out for revenge one villain at a time when she attacks one of the Brothers Grimm in a hotel room (and videotapes it, just like the Hood did to her).

Camp Hammond is renamed Camp Hammer and relocated to an old Hulkbuster base in New Mexico, showing off Gage's encyclopedic knowledge of the Marvel U once again. The current "class" of villains seems to be the Brothers Grimm, Razorfist, and Scorcher. Taskmaster is back to being a full-on villain. He's a neat contrast against the Constrictor, who doesn't seem to happy as he's welcomed back into the villain community with open arms. It seems Penance can't even remember his name or background at this point, so he's nothing more than a gun to point at a problem, but surely Gage is setting up Robbie Baldwin for a triumphant return as Speedball. Gage loves his Marvel history too much to keep this Penance thing going too long.

I really enjoyed the pencils from new artist Rafa Sandoval. Sandoval's faces all look similar, but that's a common problem in comics. He handles the plethora of costumes well though, and in a Where's Waldo book like this, just making dozens of heroes look good is a full time job.

Good

Punisher #7

Rick Remender is doing an excellent job re-introducing the victims of the Bar With No Name back into the Marvel U. This issue features a bunch of the resurrected villains, but my favorites are the last two we get to see. The Wraith is an internal-monologuing egoist convinced he knows the city and her ways better than anyone. This has got to be a joke pointed at the forced narration from the recent Spirit film. The Wraith was the brother of Jean DeWolfe, although she's only referred to as "his fallen sister" in a nice nod to classic Spidey stories. Of course, the Punisher nails this pompous doofball and quickly returns him to the land of the dead, but it is fun while it lasts. My other favorite villain here is the Human Fly, re-imagined into a cannibalistic murderer. The Fly is totaly nuts here, and his powers seem to be ramped up to make him a real threat to the Marvel U. There are some nice bits with Basilisk and Death Eater too, where they are threatening GW Bridge and his family. I hope these two villains get to stick around for awhile, but I'm afraid that all the dead villains will be gone again by the end of the story. These retro-characters still make for awesome villains though, I'm thrilled Rick Remender seems to find them entertaining too. I'll be picking up this trade for sure.

Tan Eng Huat's art is a bit more stylized than Jerome Opena's was, so the pencils do take some getting used to. The art isn't bad, just a bit less mainstream that we had been getting.

Good

Invincible Iron Man #15

Matt Fraction keeps with the slow burn in the World's Most Wanted story arc. Things are happening, but nothing is really changing, if that makes sense. That said, what we do get here is pretty cool. Tony is losing his smarts by the minute, in one sad scene, he even asks "Who's Happy?" after he forgets his chuaffer and one of his best friends. I was a little surprised at Pepper and Tony hopping in the sack together, for some reason I thought they were in the "unrequited" classification like in the movie, but maybe I'm forgetting something obvious that happened.

Madame Masque seems a lot more like the character I remember from old Iron Man comics. In the Hood and New Avengers books, she comes across as more of a generic mobster moll, which takes away some of her coolness. I'm glad Fraction is using her and Tony's history as a pretty huge plot point. The rest of the issue had Maria Hill and the Black Widow rooftop racing around NYC avoiding HAMMER agents. It seems Black Widow is going to break down and bring Hill to Winter Cap, so maybe we'll see what Tony had hidden in the Controller's base. Having Hill suffer from brain damage after breaking free from the Controller is a neat idea, it makes her brave escape a little harder to duplicate when that villain is used again.

Salvador La Rocca's photo-realistic art works surprisingly well on Madame Masque, she looks like quite the femme fatale throughout the issue. I also dug his HAMMER agents using SHIELD-style glider-chutes.

Good

Dark Reign: Mister Negative #1

I haven't seen too much of Mr. Negative in the Amazing Spider-Man trades I'm working my way through, but the whole split of a philanthropist and crime boss in the same guy is a neat idea. Mr. Negative's look is striking too, although I don't totally understand what it has to do with his powers. In this first issue, Fred Van Lente shows us how Negative is refusing to back down from the Hood and his gang of thugs. The Hood dispatches the White Dragon (who I don't recognize) to negotiate Li's surrender, and Dragon is obviously relishing the chance to put down someone of a lower class. It's easy to gloat with Mr. Negative when he uses his powers to override White Dragon's personality and send him back to attack the Hood. The villains take out the mind-controlled Dragon, but now the Hood has to get more involved. In a neat abuse of power, Norman Osborn has HAMMER shut down Chinatown as an "exercise" to free it up for an attack from the Hood. The Hood dispatches White Rabbit, Razorfist, Light Master, The Spot, Scorcher, and more to attack Mr. Negative's mansion, which is defended by Hammerhead and some mask-wearing flunkies. Spidey doesn't really get involved until the end when he heads to Chinatown and is quickly dominated by Mr. Negative. Now the Hood's strike team is going up against a possessed Spidey.

While this issue has some neat ideas and includes some fun villains, I'm not interested enough in Mr. Negative to be thrilled about the next issue.

I really don't care for Gianluca Gugliotta's take on Lightmaster. This isn't what I remember the character looking like, so it actually brought me out of the story seeing this alien looking thing when I remember a glowing 70s looking guy. The other character's look ok, but I'm a little fuzzy on the age of Negative's alter ego of Martin Li. Is he in his 50s or older?

Average

Avengers: The Initiative #25

Avengers Resistance Assemble! It is no secret that Christos Gage is one of my favorite writers, consistently spending time and energy on characters and properties that number among my favorites. As the Disassembled arc of Initiative wraps up, I'm really excited to see where he's going with the new status quo in this title. Having Tigra, Gauntlet, and the New Warriors set themselves up to take on the Hood's gang of evil Avengers is genius. It looks like we may get more screen time from some 2nd stringers like Diamondback, Prodigy, and Trauma, who deserve the panel time (Diamondback especially). Not to mention the fact that this looks like the place to check up on the best kind of Marvel villains; the ones that made all those bronze age Marvel books so much fun. Razorfist, Scorcher, Griffin, Living Laser, and of course the Taskmaster are wonderful characters and I can't wait to see how they interact with both allies and enemies. I love this level of the Marvel U and I hope this book keeps going for a long time.

Gage does a tremendous job making me HATE Norman Osborn here. Osborn's overwhelming sense of superiority is clear in his cold interactions with Tigra and Gauntlet. In both cases, he acts like he's giving them their heart's desire with only a small, reasonable compromise to give him what he wants. (And how great is it that Norman thinks Tigra would be honored to be on the Dark Avengers?) I was a little surprised that Ares would be ok with maiming a professional soldier like the Gauntlet, but I suppose Ares loves following orders over all else. Tigra's "escape" from Moonstone was wonderful too, as Tigra just slashed open Moonstone's top. Tigra took her out by exploiting Moonie's vanity, making it a much shorter fight (and probably the only way Tigra could win). The Hood's dialogue was another high point. He tries to act like it was just business when he beat down Tigra, but he can't help throwing in an additional threat to her to keep looking tough. He practically forced Tigra out the door.

Humberto Ramos does a decent job on art, but there is a lot more talking than action this issue. I don't really like his super-skinny take on Tigra either, but he did do a nice job on the Hood's flunkies. With a top tier artist, this would have been an "Excellent" comic, but as is it is a strong "Good."

Good