Nova #36

Damn, I'm going to miss this title. Clearly the book is being cancelled because we get the fake optimistic "Never the end!" closing (but no next issue box). I wonder if Marvel cosmic is being reduced to a series of mini-series? I can handle that as long as they are constant. I'm just surprised the cosmic corner would get reduced from two ongoings and three mini's into just one mini. Maybe sales were worse than I thought...

But DnA are taking us out in style. The book combines a ton of the best elements they've established for Nova. We see the new Worldmind, the updated Nova Corps, Project Pegasus, Namorita, Darkhawk, and Quasar. Seriously, the legacy these guys have create for Marvel is downright inspiring (at least to a nerd like me). Nova is back in town to help deal with the Fault, the rift in space time that is spilling over into the Marvel U. I don't want to spoil the great set up, but the eventual combat of Nova and Darkhawk taking on a horrific Lovecraftian monster is just awesome. I do wonder if there will be repercussions to Darkhawk's injury though, you don't face down a Lovecraftian Old One and walk away unaffected. Hell, any comic that has a monster crawling through a "Horrorscope" from another dimension? That's my kind of comic!

Andrea DiVito's art is great, and I'm going to miss his take on the Nova centurion armor. He draws a cool, clean-cut Quasar too. For such a clean style he really does a good job with the creepy crawlies too. Evil Quasar's face horns are gross, the creature in the portal is scary, and the little mind-controlling creatures are quite creepy.

Excellent

Guardians of the Galaxy #25

Hoo boy, Thanos is back and he's pissed.

DnA have a fair amount of weirdness this issue as we meet the odd Guardians of All Galaxies. This is the group that sent the variant Starhawks back in time at the start of the issue to find the problem with spacetime. After many false alarms (that have coincidentally gone along with Marvel cosmic crossovers) it now looks like Thanos is the anomaly the group must stop. Not sure what exactly that means, but it doesn't get resolved here.

What does get resolved is a great fight with the Guardians taking on Thanos. Thanos is raging unintelligibly and just tearing crap up. He supposedly has already killed Phyla, but I have my doubts. Star Lord and the rest of the team arrive just in time to save their comrades from a Titan-ian beat down from the purple powerhouse. Moondragon tries and fails to take him on, leading to an awesome scene where Major Victory actually deflects a double punch from Thanos that leaves Cap's shield smoking. Groot and Drax do a nice job trying to take him out, but it is up to Star Lord to use one of Marvel's best plot devices to take down the mad Titan. I love how DnA make it work in the story, giving the Guardians a legit way to take on this A-list villain.

I will say I'm tremendously bummed that this seems to be the last issue of Guardians. The next issue space promises this will be continued in The Thanos Imperative, but I'm going to miss this book.

Brad Walker is back and he rocks it. That double punch on Cap's shield looks tremendous, I'd love to buy that page. His facial expressions are perfect and I love how he makes Rocket Raccoon look soft but still tough. Jack Flagg's helmet is still one of the coolest hats in comics too.

Excellent

Realm of Kings: Inhumans #5

Hoo boy, Medusa is in danger of becoming a full-time villain. Meanwhile, Ronan the Accuser has mellowed out to the point that I'd say you can't call him a villain anymore. All it took was the affections of Crystal and the guy becomes a pussycat! DnA explain that all the troubles up to this issue have been the result of Medusa and Maximus' meddling as they attempt to endear the Inhumans to their Kree subjects. Medusa has a plan to put her people at the top of the food chain that is downright evil, and when Gorgon gets too big for his britches, she puts him in his place by beating the crap out of him. There are a lot of fun character developments here, but since the story sort of swoops in to the conclusion of the Imperial Guard mini, this probably wasn't entirely necessary. If you're a fan of the Inhumans, I'd recommend this just for the spotlight that Triton and Gorgon get, they usually are more background characters. I do need to see Ronan smash someone with his hammer soon.

The art has a hilariously jarring change halfway through the issue. Pablo Ramiondi picks up for a few pages here and there, and the art is clear and understated, as he always tends to be. Tim Seely provides a few pages with the added consequence of an increase in chest circumference for every female in the book. Crystal swelled so alarmingly I had to jump to the credits to see what happened.

Fair

Nova #35

DnA can't resist bringing back old faves. This was an entertaining little arc, and to be honest, we really needed to see souped-up Nova face down the Sphinx. But c'mon, don't you think a big part of this was to bring back a certain love interest for the human rocket?

One of my favorite parts about this issue was how quickly the "evil" team just joined up with Nova and the "good" team to battle the mega-powered Sphinx. I love 70's bad Basilisk, so seeing him (even briefly) was awesome. I mean, the guy's real name is Basil Elks. What else was he gonna do? Moonstone and Bloodstone got to stick around a bit longer, and I really liked how realistic Bloodstone was about his chances to impact the battle with his "modified shotgun shells." Heh. Nova got a nice moment to shine too, not only did he stand up to a god, but he took the Sphinx down hard, too. He's got to be pretty pleased with himself at this point. Plus, he rescued one of his best pals too. Is it too much to hope for that Nova and this lady will meet up with the Agents of Atlas soon?

Mahmud Asrar's art is just plain fun. Moonstone and Namorita looked cute and heroic, Man-Wolf looked awesome (but how can he not?) and of course, Nova now looks like a prototype hero. I really dug the perspective shots when tiny Nova was taking on gigantic Sphinx. I'm partial to giant-fights, so this was kind of a shoe-in for me.

Good

Guardians of the Galaxy #24

This issue is a bit of filler, I'd say its main purpose is the big return on the final page. There are some nice reintroduction pages for the "dead" members of the Guardians, but for long time readers I'm not sure we're getting a whole lot new. There is a great bit with one of the Guardians taking his place on the galactic council, it makes a lot of sense while maintaining the silliness I love in Guardians.

The Church of Universal Truth is still a darn neat villain group, just because of the nature of their faith-based powers. As long as they believe, they can win. It's a great concept and it always leads to great comeuppance when they face down our heroes.

Of course, the big story is the reveal on the last page. I knew this character was coming back. I knew he was important to Realm of Kings. And yet I was still suprised to see him return this way. Well played, DnA.

Wes Craig isn't bad, he just isn't anywhere near as tight as Brad Walker. His storytelling is clear enough, I just wish everyone didn't look like they were screaming.

Fair

Imperial Guard #5

I'm not sure this was absolutely essential, but it sure was fun. DnA really run with the concept that the Imperial Guard is made up of multiple people occupying the same roles. I think four guardsmen get killed or taken out this issue. I think Mentor goes out the worst, he doesn't actually die, but he gets taken off the board in a way that actually strengthens the enemies of the Shi'ar. It's quite clever, and it adds nicely to the mythology of the Shi'ar that DnA have established. Gladiator's rescue mission is pretty exciting, but I like that the two remaining Starjammers get to wrap up the current threat. (Although I have to say, combining a ship-sized telepath with a venom-symbiote doesn't seem like a long-term good idea.)

The closing page was powerful, even though the team members who fell are already replaced. The huge mausoleum of fallen guardsmen is a scary promise for each new member that joins up with Gladiator to defend the Imperium. I'm just hoping Quasar gets to help out! (I don't want him to join the guard though.)

Kev Walker's pencils looks a bit sketchy at times, I wonder if he was having a hard time meeting his deadlines. The most important panels look fine, but background characters look a bit blobby. I do like his designs for the new Raptors, they maintain the overall look while remaining unique.

Good

Guardians of the Galaxy #23

It's official. DnA finally explain exactly how half the team survived their deaths at the hands of the Magus a few issues ago. It seems that the Magus was faking his own death and needed a couple of Guardians to die to help make it look good. Of course, none of them died, this was all a setup. Magus just took the captured Guardians and set them up in the torture chamber of his Church of Universal Truth. Now he's got his best torturer's working to convert Cosmo, Major Victory, Gamorra, and Mantis, and Phyla to his evil ways. Magus picked the wrong heroes though, since Mantis, Phyla, and Cosmo all have telepathic powers and together they are able to get Moondragon at least aware of the situation. Magus ties things into the rest of Realm of Kings with the rest of his plan, to get in touch with the dark gods on the other end of the fault.

Wes Craig is ok, but he's a bit of a letdown after Brad Walker's art. Craig's art is a lot more cartoony and the drama of some scenes is lessened a bit by it. The torture scenes are clear, but I'm not sure the emotional impact of having your memories lashed out of you is as dramatic as it could be. That said, he has a great take on both Blastaar and Bug during the diplomacy sequences.

Good

Realm of Kings: Imperial Guard #4

What a cool cover. It's pretty cool that we get such a striking cover starring a couple of nobodies from the Shi'ar Imperial Guard.

This book has really picked up since the first issue, amazing what stranding your expendable cast in a dangerous situation can do. Last issue's great cliffhanger appearance of Quasar doesn't get a huge payoff. Wisconsin's best hero spends the whole issue trying to warn the Shi'ar about the threat from the Fault. The rest of the expedition is becalmed in the Fault. There's some sabotage going on to add to the pressure of gigantic flesh ships and evil versions of the X-Men. The only casualty so far is Firebolt, and since he's sentient flame, I'd bet he'll be back at some point. I do like the way DnA are tying the mysterious saboteur into the ongoing cosmic storyline too. I'm concerned Mentor will take him up on his offer...

Kev Walker's art is looking mighty blobby, almost Guy Davis-y. It works for this horror-themed book quite nicely too. With so many of the Guard looking sort of inhuman, the style works great.

Good

Nova #34

This is still the least-interesting of the Realm of Kings tie-ins, but it is still fun. I'm a sucker for the whole team of champions face-off one by one thing, so I naturally dug this issue. The matchups are interesting too, with Nova vs. Moonstone being a closer match than I figured. Mr. Fantastic should have mopped the floor with Bloodstone, but I actually think Man-Wolf should have held up better against Namorita. The battle of the Darkhawks was fun, and I do like how Chris Powell still sounds so whiny even though he's gotten so powerful. Basilisk was really powerful back in those old Marvel Team-Ups, so I can see him beating Black Bolt, just not that easily. There is going to be some sort of payoff to BB seeing his own grave, I'm sure of it.

I suppose it is too much to hope for that DnA keep Namorita around after this story. Her place in the Marvel U has been usurped pretty handily by Namora, and at this point I'm not sure Namorita is really necessary. I'm still bummed though. She's fun and she interacts well with her old teammates in this short appearance.

Mahmud Asrar has a clean style that works well for this title. His art looks very close to Andrea DeVito's so there is no drastic change in storytelling, and his art is so bright that all these 70's characters looks awesome.

Good

Guardians of the Galaxy #21

Is there a better team book on the stands right now? I don't think so. DnA's cosmic corner is so well fleshed out that the background super-team The Luminals are now an effective rival group for the Guardians. They get a lot of panel time in this issue, and man are they enraging. It's so much fun rooting for "our" team against the more politically connected Xandarian team.

Moondragon is really the star of the issue. She voluntarily... accepts the parasitic creature that is loose in the Guardians HQ in order to protect the Luminals and the other residents of the space station. This whole plotline is super-gross. Moondragon looks pregnant, with gross bumps on her stomach moving around as the creature inside her gets comfortable. She is supposedly keeping it under control with her telepathy, but how long do you think that can last? I also appreciate that the Church of Harmony is totally in love with this entity. Sure, it's demonic and murderous, but it makes the worshippers get the same feeling as when they're praying, so it must be their god, right? Awesome, awesome idea. Factor in the first inklings of the evil universe waiting on the far side of the rift (a universe where "life won") and its clear this book juggles plots better than any other. I'm sure a universe where "life won" might have need of Martyr as the avatar of death too, or dare I hope? Thanos?

Brad Walker handles the varied elements in this perfectly. He draws courtroom scenes, exploding heads, and dramatic alien pregnancies all with a perfect style. He's a great fit for this book.

Excellent

Nova #38

This is only tangentially a Realm of Kings tie-in, since Darkhawk and Nova were blasted out of the Rift last issue. It seems they were rescued by old Nova villain the Sphinx, who is assembling and eclectic crew on an odd-shaped planet. He's out to do something; I'm just unclear on what. I liked Reed Richards and Nova discussing Sphinx with names like Kang and Immortus, it certainly makes the Sphinx seem like a more intimidating baddie. There's not a lot of violence this issue, the combat is mainly Darkhawk and Nova vs. some fairly generic sand beings. After the high-octane horror of some of the other Realm books, this one seems positively subdued.

DnA have pulled characters from different points in history, so we get a younger Reed Richards, a still-living Black Bolt, and at the end, the cliffhanger!!! I'd love to see this gal brought back in a permanent way, and I think there might be a chance here. DnA seem to respect secondary characters, so I'd say at least she's got a chance.

Andrea DeVito's pencils look great, as usual, but the colors are so bright they seem a bit out of place in a gritty space book. Maybe I'm just not used to seeing Nova operating in daylight, but the colors were really popping off the page.

Good

Guardians of the Galaxy #20

So it looks like DnA aren't taking back all those deaths. The bulk of this issue shows how the team is dealing with the raw losses suffered last issue. I really dug how even Rocket Raccoon was missing Cosmo, that was a great little scene, especially after seeing the more "normal" grieving from Moondragon. Starlord's throwing himself into his work is sad too, the poor guy's guilt about his failures is going to overwhelm him. In another bit of character genius, I love Jack Flagg as the new second in command when Starlord isn't around.

The closing creature was disgusting! When that Luminal's head popped open, revealing a crazy monster, man o man. DnA's decision to turn their cosmic books towards horror is a genius move. This will be new ground for a lot of these characters.

Brad Walker does a great job and I'm thrilled he's back. He draws the saddest Rocket I've ever seen. I really like the way he handles the standard Guardian uniform too, he even makes it work on Moondragon.

Good

Realm of Kings #1

DnA can do no wrong with me. Their little corner of the Marvel U has become my favorite thing in comics, and it is not hard to see why. There is an initial meeting of the main movers involving Quasar, Nova, the Guardians, and Project Pegasus. These are the coolest parts of the Marvel U and they're all involved in the same story! The entire group is concerned with the Fault, the rip in space/time created during the War of Kings.

Quasar is confident that his energy form should keep him safe, so he volunteers to do a deep dive into the Fault and see what is on the other side. His energy form lasts for just a few seconds, as he pops out the other side of the Fault on a horrific alternate Earth. This world is populated by an evil version of the Avengers that seem to be powered and possessed by demonic entities. To be specific, the whole universe that spawned that alternate Earth is a mass of evil, shapeless beings. Lovecraftian horror at its finest (I think the Avengers even mention Ftagh, which is a Lovecraft quote, I believe). I honestly had no inkling that DnA would use this Fault story to introduce the outer beings that would fit in nicely in a Hellboy comic. So the best cosmic books around are about to get an injection of non-Euclidian horror. Awesome. There are a ton of neat bits thrown in about possessed heroes, scientific beings resisting the supernatural, and the reduced cast of the Guardians. There is so much going on, this really is an important launch point for a whole section of Marvel's cosmology.

Mahmud Asrar handles the Marvel U portions of the issue, while Leonardo Manco draws the horrific alternate universe. The thematic shift in pencils works perfectly. Manco's pencils in particular sell the horror wonderfully. His take on a universe filled with a gigantic, shapeless, and malevolent being is horrific.

Good

Guardians of the Galaxy #19

Wow. If the deaths in this issue actually stick, this will be one hell of a bummer. DnA get right down to business, sending in Kang to correct the ages of Starlord's timelost team (leading to a nice comedic bit with Mantis, Cosmo, and Bug). Kang warns the team that should the Magus control the Fault (a tear in space-time) that the universe could end. Kang comes off fairly straight here, with a legion of Starhawks hanging around to back him up. Starlord and his crew rightfully don't trust him, but they accept a cosmic cube from him and jump back in time to stop Warlock's transformation into the Magus.

Things get nasty after that. Starlord's team jumps in right as Phyla attacks Warlock, so it seems like the deaths from the last few issues were undone. Then there's a vicious fight where more Guardians drop. I'm not sure who died and who survived, but it seems Phyla and Major Victory die for certain. I'm not sure about Mantis and Cosmo. They didn't look good. This cast is enormous, but man, I'd hate to see those great characters get whacked.

Wes Craig is ok, but his style isn't as dynamic as Brad Walker's. He actually does a nice job on the comedic stuff, but his action doesn't carry the same drama as Walker.

Good

Nova #29

DnA are still populating Marvel space with a ton of new characters along with re-imagined cast-offs, making for a fascinating read. This issue has Nova and a team of his Nova Corps trainees heading out to a derelict Nova Corps spacecraft. The ship drifted in from the Rift, the tear in space time created at the end of War of Kings. After setting the scene nicely with some good space horror elements, DnA turn things around by having a good guy jump Nova. The original centurion posted on the ship is still up and running and bringing down bad guys. After being banished to another universe 35 years ago, he's just been doing his job ever since. I had figured the guy would be a villain in Nova-gear, but it seems that the other guest-star, Monark Starstalker, actually knows this centurion to be a stick in the mud policeman. I love the idea that Richard Ryder is no longer the senior centurion in the corps. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this new character's arrival will affect the delicate relationships within the reforming Nova Corps.

And of course the big last page reveal of the Black Hole Suns just made me smile. You have to be a big nerd to get the reference, but having a group of "ultra-tough space miners turned villains" end up being Mindless Ones? That's just the joy of comics in action. Once again, highly recommended.

Kevin Sharpe is turning out to be a great fill-in artist for this book. I love Andrea De Vito's pencils on a normal basis, but Sharpe keeps things looking so consistent I'm fine with him too. This is a top-tier comic.

Good

Guardians of the Galaxy #18

As a Wonder Man fan, the minute I spotted "Hollywood" on the cover of Guardians, I knew I was in for a treat. Sure enough, DnA handle the character like the experts they are. Wondy is important to the plot, still kind of a bad-ass in his old age, and actually turns into a mentor type character to some alternate universe Guardians.

Starlord and his timelost crew get shunted to what is essentially the Earth of Killraven, an Orson Wells-inspired Earth where Martians have enslaved the human race. There's some weird aging going on, with everyone getting older or younger (except for Jack Flagg, who has some important destiny, it seems). The aging is played to good comedic effect, especially with the playful Cosmo the telekinetic dog. The bulk of the issue has the merged Guardian teams working against the Martians until the core cast is blinked out to another alternate Earth. I'm not sure if the Magus-ruled world at the end is the "main" timeline, but it certainly doesn't bode well for Starlord's crew.

This book is so much fun. This issue has it all, great guest-stars, classic villains, comedic interaction, and a strong cliffhanger. I've said it before, check out this comic.

Wes Craig's art is decent, but not quite as strong as the hyper-detail of Brad Walker. Craig does a good job too; I just prefer the regular penciller's take on these characters.

Excellent