Avengers: Endless Wartime HC

This is perfectly fine for what it is. This is a somber Warren Ellis super-hero comic. With a serious tone, an introspective feel, and a very close to the movie sense of continuity. And it is perfectly fine. I liked the Arctic Harriers as odd mixes between Earth science and Asgardian magic. I especially like the way Ellis pulled the reveal of the strange creatures in the very opening of the book.

I was less enamored with his take on the Avengers. Part of that is due to his tendency to go with movie personalities for some of the main characters. But then, Hawkeye is reduced to a bumbling oaf for the entire book, so the MCU’s take isn’t necessarily the definitive one throughout the book. (Plus, Captain Marvel and Wolverine both appear here while neither has been in the Marvel movies yet.)

This is a one-shot story, but the pacing makes it clear that it shouldn’t be more. Many pages are used with the team in transit from one location to another rather than actually doing things. And while Ellis really tries to imbue the Arctic Harriers with some semblance of a personality, the lack of a true thinking, feeling antagonist keeps my interest lowered too. In my comics, I like to really look forward to the villains getting what they deserve, but I never felt very emotionally involved in the outcome of this conflict.

Mike McKone’s art is beautiful, as always. I love his use of the black and gold Iron Man armor (an armor that I’m already missing in the newer comics). I also like the cool confidence that Carol Danvers exhibits in every panel. She feels like almost an equal to Captain America, which is saying something for a team that loves Cap as much as the Avengers do.

This is a FAIR Avengers story. It wouldn’t be the first I’d recommend for folks who want a great taste of what the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes can offer, but it is a fine supplemental tale told for the movie-watching “civilian” audience.

Green Lantern: New Guardians v3: Love and Death TPB

Whoof. This thing was an absolute bear to get through. It doesn’t help that it seems to have three entirely separate storylines combined into one collection. Let’s handle them individually.

First, we follow Kyle Rayner as the attempts to master all the colors of the DCU as he becomes a White Lantern. This had some interesting artwork from Aaron Kuder, and I liked that Tony Bedard used Atrocitus and Star Sapphire’s as such strong mentors for Kyle. I don’t know how that fits in with old 52 timelines. But this seems to be a pretty newly-minted Kyle appearing in this book.

The second phase of the collection is the weakest. It’s the First Lantern tempting the New Guardians with alternate timelines and lives they could have led. The art is wildly inconsistent through this section, with Carol Ferris’ sections being so tonally different that I found myself skipping some pages. Part of the problem is that the big threat from the Third Army must have been resolved somewhere else. Instead of seeing how the ever-increasing mass of zombies got stopped, the story just sort of hops to a totally different conclusion.

The final third of the collection feels like another chapter in Geoff Johns’ long-time GL opus. It gives each corps a moment or two, and most importantly establishes Hal Jordan as the best Green Lantern ever. Johns has made his feelings on that score very clear, so at least the consistency is nice. The First Lantern is so powerful that the frenetic final battle is essentially a bunch of surprise reveals that he dispatches shortly after arrival. The strongest moments in this storyline don’t come from the First Lantern or any other recurring villain. Instead, it is the fallen Sinestro who captures the best two moments during the closing moments. First, when Sinestro states his feelings on Hal Jordan, it is a nice connection between longstanding rivals and foes. The second, I won’t give away, but maybe Geoff Johns does have a bit of a heart after all.

Aaron Kuder and Doug Mahnke provide the strongest art throughout the book, with Mahnke’s looking more polished and ready for prime time. I’ve seen Kuder’s recent stuff, and he’s much better now than in these earlier works.

This is a FAIR comic that could have been much better if it was more focused and only collected the necessary chapters of the GL storyline. Who said trade paperbacks had to include every issue?

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #102

In our 12^th Day of X-Mas, we are looking at the “Revolution” era of X-Force. Revolution was a neat idea. Warren Ellis and a writer sharing his sensibilities took over some of the lower-selling X-Books like X-Force and X-Man. In this case, Ian Edgington is along to do the scripting.

Ellis goes back to his creation Pete Wisdom to bring some direction and snark to the title. No longer a generally mutant-interest book, Wisdom’s new focus is cleaning up the world’s “secret histories, alternative truths, and crimes against humanity.” A discerning reader could probably find some early version of Planetary, Global Frequency, and other Ellis works in this version of X-Force.

The team includes a bomber-jacket wearing Cannonball (who looks a lot beefier than I remember), a dark-clad Warpath, and a midriff-baring Meltdown (who I believe is dating Wisdom? There is chemistry there, at least). The only member who looks like an actual super-hero is Bedlam, sporting a red shirt with a distinctive X on it.

Whilce Portacio is a well-respected artist whose style meshes well with this high concept. With such a science-fiction/horror feel for the X-book, Portacio is able to show off his strength with moody scenes and concepts. X-Force doesn’t look so much like super-heroes, but they look like post-modern television stars, which was probably the point.

I don’t like this as an X-Force comic. I like my Marvel heroes bright and spandexed. Ellis’ penchant to make his characters dangerously cool with bad attitudes has gotten a bit old now, but it was still pretty “revolutionary” when this came out. And I like the core concept behind the book. More than anything else, giving the team a clear goal and reason for existing makes this a GOOD comic and one worth checking out.

I hope you enjoyed the 12 Days of X-Mas! X-Force really had a wild time over the years, with some absolutely fantastic artwork. There is one era I’m purposely avoiding, but that’s because I plan to cover it when I look at a different series during a different holiday. 

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #82

In the continuing saga of great artists, this issue of X-Force features future superstar Jimmy Cheung. This is a pretty neat glimpse at his early work because unlike some of the other artists we’ve seen so far, Cheung already has his style pretty well established. He’s not perfect, things can look a bit too cartoony, but man, he’s already quite good.

John Francis Moore has the team setting up shop in San Francisco with a pretty reduced lineup. Dani Moonstar, Siryn, Warpath, Meltdown (formerly Boom Boom), and Sunspot make up the team at the start of the issue. I had totally forgotten that Sunspot and Boomer were dating. The pairing is no odder than the one with Cannonball, although dating two best friends is always an interesting choice for new drama.

Another forgotten (to me) character makes his debut in this issue. Jesse Aaronson (later known as Bedlam) shows up asking the team to help out their former mentor Domino. (Both Bedlam and Domino will end up filling out this era’s roster by the close of the issue.) This all sets up with a new villain called the Gryphon along with a strange new Marvel science-villain organization. Thanks to some sharp character design from Cheung, even the low-level guards and flunkies are pretty interesting and unique looking. I’m not sure I buy the threat-level they pose to the team, but the look pretty good in their slimmed down, Mandroid-ish armor. (In a great twist, there is no psyche-shielding on the power suits, so Moonstar just drops each of them with one hit.)

I’m not a huge fan of the “team uniform” look, because it takes away so much of the visual flair of super-hero comics. Sunspot can make out just fine in a uniform, but Warpath and Siryn lose so much of their unique palette and contrast on each page.

This is another FAIR issue of X-Force. This is something of a trend at this point. Moore does a nice job giving each character a voice (and making Siryn an effective leader) but there is nothing ground-breaking here. That will have to wait for tomorrow’s issue. 

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #70

Check out the nice turnaround from the last issue I reviewed. About thirty issues ago, the team was rededicated to its mission and bidding farewell to founding member Cannonball. Now, with John Francis Moore writing, it is time for another split. Fortunately, Adam Pollina is still around on pencils, although I think he’s getting quite a bit of help from his inkers at this point.

With Zero Tolerance wrapping up, Cable has decided it is time for the team to go underground to continue their mission. The only problem is? He never cleared that idea with the team. So instead of the young mutants taking on new identities and sticking with Cable, instead they strike out on their own. I enjoyed seeing Cable take the news so well; he realizes that the adult soldiers he raised can make their own decisions.

So Cable’s out. But so are some other regulars. Domino is dealing with some pretty brutal treatment from the Zero Tolerance camp, so she needs some time on her own. Worst of all, Ozymandius shows up claiming Caliban for Apocalypse. Cable would have stood up for his teammate, but I guess Ozymandius is sporting some powerful telepathy himself. After slipping Cable a mental mickey, no one even knows Caliban in in trouble. Warpath is trapped in a weird cartoony world with the Vanisher. I can’t really remember what the heck is going on with that weirdness.

Pollina really shows off his skills with the Warpath and Vanisher stuff. The sudden alterations between cartoon-like dogs and savage creatures is jarring, but due to Pollina’s excellent stage-setting, it looks continuous too. Some of the pages look like Pollina spent a good amount of time making folks look great. But other moments… I can’t even recognize Pollina’s art. Siryn is a great example of this; she looks spot-on and charming for most of the issue, but suddenly she loses detail towards the end of the issue. Very strange.

I like where this book is taking the team, and the characters are all developing nicely. But the lack of a clear conflict (including the odd non-confrontation with Cable) keeps this from becoming a really strong comic. FAIR it is.

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #44

With issue 44, we’re in the Jeph Loeb and Adam Pollina era of the team. As I will continue to say as I do these reviews, I’m absolutely floored at the level of artistic talent that transitioned through this book. Any editor would dream of a bullpen of artists coming through.

Adam Pollina’s superstar status isn’t quite earned in this debut issue. The characters are all a bit on the cartoony side, and there are times when the anatomy shifts a tad. But the seeds are here. The top-notch facial expressions. The unique takes on costumes and civilian clothes. He also uses geometric shapes to fill in panel backgrounds, which Liefeld did for a short while back in issue #1. It’s a neat effect, one I’d like to see used more today. Pollina doesn’t shy away from making his male characters just as attractive as his women. (I just read on Wikipedia that Pollina worked for an adult comics publisher before Marvel, so I guess I see how that happened!)

I also love his big, dopey Caliban. This is my favorite take on the character for sure.

Jeph Loeb’s story picks up with the team hanging out at the X-Mansion as Cable and Cyclops debate what to do with the team. I like the respect the team holds for Cyclops. These days, Scott Summers is so close to a villain that I find myself remembering his old status fondly. Loeb has the characters all doubting themselves quite a bit. They are definitely in the “student” aspect of their personalities, totally going along with Cable and Domino’s leadership.

It is pretty fun, considering how established the X-Force roster is after 44 issues. There has been a fair amount of turnover, but the core of the New Mutants team is still here. Cable, Domino, Warpath, Sunspot, Rictor, Shatterstar, and Boom Boom are all still hanging around. Sabretooth is in his mindless animal state, kept safely locked away in the Danger Room. So basically, the issue is all talking, with the team debating what Cable is going to do with them. In the end, it is pretty much status quo with one big change; Cannonball is off to join the X-Men. The cover gives it away a little bit, but that’s OK. I remember thinking it was a big deal when Sam Guthrie made the grade to full X-status. Now that he’s an Avenger, it is crazy seeing how far the character has come.

I’m pretty intrigued to see what was going on in the next issues, though! The issue ends with Siryn (mouth clamped, of course) being taken into a mental institution. I don’t remember what happens there at all!

This is a pretty GOOD comic, covering an interesting era in X-history. The best part? Pollina’s fantastic Sunspot! 

12 Days of X-Mas: X-Force #32

Happy New Year!

The Younghunt. Oof. Fabian Nicieza has written some fantastic comics over the years, but there are some mighty iffy concepts out there too. It doesn’t help that the villains teaming up to partake in the hunt are a pretty weak mix. Sienna Blaze, Shinobi Shaw, Trevor Fitzroy, and Graydon Creed are not grade-A villains. Mostly (now) forgotten second-generation villains that didn’t end up having much staying power, it is hard to take them seriously. The only other hunters in the issue are rocking absolutely awful 90’s looks. Fenris, the neat brother/sister villain team, are clearly the coolest villains in the issue. But they look bad.

For the first part of a crossover with the New Warriors, there isn’t a whole lot of Warrior goodness happening. Justice is hanging out with Shinobi Shaw and making overtures towards joining the Hellfire Club, but it is all a cover. Dwayne Taylor shows up too, but I don’t think any character ever refers to him as his Night Thrasher identity. It took me a moment to remember who he was!

Its too bad, the idea of hunting down former members of the New Mutants and Hellions is a strong one. I had almost forgotten that Firestar was a former Hellion. I’m tempted to read more of the crossover to see if she has any nice moments with Warpath or any of the other mutant-focused characters.

Again, as the first part of a crossover, why oh why would we have to spend so much time on the boring Guthrie farm? There has never been a good reason to spend a lot of time with Cannonball’s generic family. Even seeing early-days Husk doesn’t help if she’s acting this silly and doe-eyed. I was amused to see Cannonball and Boom Boom frolicking around at the ol’ swimmin’ hole, though. Their relationship is something else that I had totally forgotten about.

I’m also curious to see what is happening in the next X-Force issue I read. With most of the team really starting to mature, I am not sure Cable is really a necessary part of the team. His obscure future talk and fatherly advice are unnecessary at this point. I want more Rictor. I want more Shatterstar. I want more Siryn. I don’t need to hear Cable talking about responsibility and his lost son from the future!

How lucky was this book artist-wise? From Rob Liefeld to Greg Capullo to Tony Daniel? Daniel’s art isn’t my cup of tea, but there is no doubt he’s got dynamic pencils. Every gal looks super hot and every guy has the same face and long hair, but the directing in the action sequences is fun. I do wish I had read one of his issues that didn’t spend so much time talking on a farm.

This one is only FAIR. I can’t give a comic that spends most of its time whining on a farm a top rating.