New Avengers #1-3

This one was off to a slow start, but Al Ewing has made up for a slow premiere issue with a couple nice follow-ups.

First of all, I appreciate how quickly the team dispatched their first adversary, the Ultimate Universe's Maker. I'm not a fan of the core concept (Evil Reed) so I don't usually enjoy his appearances. Calling him Maker and giving him the silly helmet only help a bit.

The second round of antagonists seem a bit more fun. A cult of mixed-heritage Kree and Skrulls are either new friends or new enemies for our heroes, it is too early to tell which. Either way, I was surprised at how much my daughters enjoyed the silliness surrounding Hulkling's role as the group's savior. Ewing is doing a nice job getting my kiddos to appreciate the former Young Avenger. They also liked Power Man poking holes in Wiccan's code name. It doesn't take a lot, just a little hook to get them interested in new characters.

The sell was a lot easier on the rest of the cast. My gals loved Mighty Avengers over the past few years, so Power Man and White Tiger are already solidly in the "cool" column for them. Squirrel Girl? Well, they are obsessed with her, so she's a huge win. Songbird has a place in their hearts from the old Ultimate Alliance 2 video game. They (like their Dad) prefer the "real" Hawkeye over his current movie counterpart though. They also don't seem very drawn to Sunspot. Hopefully Roberto can use some powers soon? Most of my affection for Sunspot goes back to the Cannonball days where they loved Magnum PI, so it would be great to see Roberto do a little more in the field (his powers are so wonderfully visual).

And I will point out that I love the idea of a Cthullu-esque villain from a former iteration of the universe as the first ongoing foil for the team. Maybe Ewing could throw in a magic-based guest star or two in upcoming issues.

Gerardo Sandoval's art rubbed us the wrong way at first, specifically with how crazy his Squirrel Girl looks. But by issue 2? The whole fam had bought in to the kinetic, frenetically paced artwork. Sandoval's art is a tad too cartoony for me, but my daughters love it.

Good

A-Force #1

Boy, I really wanted to love this comic. I truly did. But I’m more than a little lost.

I see that a lot of the heroes featured in this comic are sporting their classic costumes. Does that mean these are versions of the characters plucked from different points in time? I have a lot of questions. A lot.

Did this disco Dazzler join SHIELD? Why is Loki a woman? How exactly did Loki raise Miss America and Nico? Is this a brand new continuity for the She-Hulk-led Arcadia? Why is Dr. Doom in charge of everything? How did Sam Wilson become a mix of Captain America and Thor? Has She-Hulk met this Sheriff Dr. Strange before? Do they have their Avengers history? Why do none of the X-Men besides Dazzler have speaking parts? How does Dazzler fly? If the name of their country is Arcadia, where did Miss America get her name?

That is a LOT of confusion for a first issue.

After reading G. Willow Wilson’s eloquent and powerful blog post about this book, I wanted to love it. But instead of being able to buy in, I must confess to some confusion myself. I’m a long-time comic reader. I’m well versed in comics continuity. Heck, I’m caught up on my Marvel books.

I will admit to avoiding Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers and Secret War books, though. And it sure looks to me like that willful dodging of Marvel’s summer tent pole means I’m not the targeted audience for this book. I assume that’s the case. It is pretty frustrating that the comics I’ve tried the hardest to avoid for the past few years are now dictating the direction of the entire Marvel Universe.

Wilson and her co-writer Marguerite Bennett do a wonderful job giving characterization and voice to many Marvel heroines. Jorge Molina’s art is delightful too. The megalodon antagonist is sufficiently horrific and I love the classic uniforms I mentioned above. The female leads are attractive and heroic while not being exploited. Most of all, I’m delighted to see She-Hulk leading a team of competent, powerful super-heroes. That’s what I was looking for when I picked up this book!

But instead, I’ve got a whole bunch of odd stuff about barons, Dr. Doom as a god, and the Nightwatch protecting the world from the white walkers. Oh! I mean the Shield protecting the world from zombies. I know Marvel wanted to get in on the Game of Thrones action, but this is ridiculous!

With all the press, the fantastic cover, and the concept of an all-lady Avengers team, I had really hoped that this would be a book I’d read with my daughters (who are also well-established Marvel fans.) I actually wonder if their lack of continuity knowledge might help them enjoy this book? Maybe I’ll get my 10-year-old to write a review too.

I truly hope this book and this creative team get more of a chance to show their stuff after Secret Wars ends. There is a ton of potential here, in both creative energy and in the concepts. But my absolute confusion about the very premise of the Arcadia world means this book is AVERAGE. 

Thor #8

This is almost the perfect comic. Jason Aaron’s story delivers a fantastic, logical reveal, and prefaces it with some wonderful high-octane action. Russell Dauterman has somehow become one of my favorite artists, and his portrayal of the ladies of the Marvel U taking on the Destroyer is absolutely gorgeous. I read this comic sitting in my work’s parking lot, something I haven’t done in 10 years or so, but that is how excited I was to find out the new Thor’s secret identity. And thanks to the well-choreographed action that opened the issue, I had a smile on my face the whole time.

I’m not going to give it away here, but Aaron swerved me with the obvious choice over the last few months. I read this book with my daughters (we all love it) and while my 7-year-old was with me with the obvious suspect, my 10-year-old didn’t buy it. She told me that “they wouldn’t just give it away that easily.” I will say that they were both happy about the reveal, although my younger daughter especially was immediately overcome with concern for this character. It was pretty great to get to tell her “this is a comic book, buddy, I’m sure the writer has a plan in mind.” Jason Aaron has repeatedly proven himself to be one of the best writers in comics and this is just another piece of evidence building that case.

But Russell Dauterman. I didn’t know this guy at all, and he has impressed the hell out of me. The character work on all these guest-stars is stunning. Karnilla the Norn Queen became one of my favorite characters in the span of two pages! (I thought she resembled the singer St. Vincent, anyone else get that vibe?) In any case, my younger daughter immediately declared that she wants to try to get an artist to draw Karnilla at the next comicon she attends. (It’s good to have a plan, right?)

Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, Captain Marvel, Lady Sif, Freyja, Angela, Karnilla, Valkyrie, and the new-to-me Hildegard. What a fantastic lineup of suspected Thors and guest stars. And throughout all of this, Aaron and Dauterman keep “regular Thor” as an integral part of the story. This has become a team-up book featuring the two Thors and I love it.

I said this was almost the perfect comic. And I meant it. It is EXCELLENT. This is Marvel Comics done right, folks.

(FYI: The perfect comic book will never exist because it would be a team-up of all my favorite b-tier Justice Leaguers and Avengers.)

Avengers: Age of Ultron Movie Review

Well, I remain very impressed by Marvel Studios’ output. Even with a majority of positive reviews, I was a tad concerned about Avengers: Age of Ultron. There were a fair amount of reviewers who said it was overstuffed, full of too many characters and too much action. Worst of all, according to some critics, Age of Ultron ignored the new post-heroic status quo of Tony Stark. Remember at the end of the abysmal Iron Man 3 how Tony blew up his Iron Legion and decided to hook up rather than step up? Heaven forbid that character-destroying moment be ignored! More like “Thank Goodness!”

So with that out of the way, how is the actual movie? It’s good. It is everything we loved about Joss Whedon’s first Avengers film. It is fun and full of character. There are action moments for every single hero and villain. And most importantly, James Spader, like Tom Hiddleston before him, steals the show as the film’s villain.

I’m not a huge James Spader fan. It isn’t that I don’t like him, just that our paths have never really crossed in my extensive media consumption. But man, I’m a fan now. With his voice alone, Spade establishes the playful and malevolent outlook of the MCU’s Ultron. When he’s not on screen, I found myself anticipating the next ridiculous, great line of dialogue Ultron would have for me. A strong antagonist is SO important to a good narrative. And Joss Whedon knows it; he’s had the best two villains in the entire Marvel movie library.

The entire ensemble is excellent, as you’d expect. But Captain America is my favorite, and Chris Evans does a fantastic job in the role once again. Cap is a straight arrow, but man, he backs up his morals with actions. From the opening exchange with Iron Man all the way to Cap’s moral declaration at the close of the movie, Cap is the friggin’ man. One of my favorite things about Marvel movie Cap is the power boost he’s received. Giving him a touch of super-strength really makes his action scenes pop, especially when he takes on Ultron one on one.

I expect the top-notch moments from Thor and Iron Man, so the badass moments from Hawkeye and Black Widow are always a treat. Hawkeye gets a lot of back-story and a good rivalry with the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, while Black Widow continues to do a TON of the heavy lifting in the Marvel U. How is it that I like the Widow so much more in the movies than in the comics? Scarlett Johansson’s Widow has been an integral character in Marvel’s Phase II movies; I can’t wait to see her continue to shape the Marvel U.

All this rambling, and I’m short-changing the Hulk, the Vision, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill, who all get their moments to shine. Surprisingly enough, the Vision was my 7-year-old’s favorite character!

Did you come for the Easter eggs? Again, Marvel knows the score. We get hints of Amadeus Cho, Klaw, and Black Panther. We see Thanos again. There is even the equivalent of the “Cap’s Kooky Quartet” era of Avengers. (For those who don’t know, a bunch of the founders left the team early on in the comic run, leaving Cap, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye to man the fort.)

So at the end of this one, we’re set up for the next big moments in Marvel movies. We’ve got teases of the upcoming split between Cap and Iron Man for Captain America 3: Civil War. The “Infinity Stones” are out there, with Thanos hot on the trail to create his Infinity Gauntlet. And we’ve got some nice seeds planted for the Black Panther. Plus, a fertile Marvel U ready for more Netflix TV shows.

All in all, I don’t see how Marvel fans can be anything but thrilled. We live in an era where comic panels come to life on the big screen, and look fantastic doing so. There is a moment in the film where Thor, Iron Man, and the Vision are all blasting Ultron with their different energy blasts. All I could think was “my goodness, as a kid I dreamed of getting something like this, and here it is. And there is more to come.”

Avengers: Age of Ultron is an EXCELLENT film. (It ranks right after Guardians and Winter Soldier.)

Uncanny Avengers #1

I love the High Evolutionary. He’s so over the top ridiculous, such a perfect “comic book” villain his appearance almost guarantees that I will enjoy a comic. It certainly seems that Rick Remender imprinted on a lot of the same comics I did, so maybe we’ll get the Evolutionary War villain doing some neat stuff in this opening arc. (That said, my real hope is that the villain for this one is the Man-Beast, a tremendous and ridiculous older Thor and Spider-Man villain.)

Remender has used the Axis crossover as an excuse to totally reshuffle the Uncanny Avengers roster. Rogue (still using Wonder Man’s powers) and Scarlet Witch carryover from the previous series, the rest of the cast is new. Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Sabretooth, the Vision, Brother Voodoo, and Quicksilver round out this new lineup. That is sort of an odd line-up, and the team is lacking a true powerhouse, but the potential for drama is high. Divorced heroes, brothers and sisters, and replacements make up the team. There is real potential for sparks between these folks.

The other interesting thing is that unlike the last volume of Uncanny Avengers, this team hasn’t been brought together to serve a specific mandate. Rogue is worried about the missing Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and she gathers the other heroes to make an attempt to track down her old teammate. I like this approach. It certainly seems like Rogue is overcompensating for how horrible she was to Scarlet Witch in the last volume, but frankly, that personality correction is more in line with the Rogue I know and love from years of X-books.

So the team ends up teleporting to Counter Earth, the world that orbits the sun directly opposite the Earth. This Counter Earth is populated by High Evolutionary’s ani-men, who show more personality in the opening few pages than they have since Quicksilver’s late 90’s series. This is going to be fun.

Daniel Acuna is in my top five for artists these days (and maybe top two). His character work is excellent. The costumes look fantastic. And the sensibility of the combat and panel layouts reminds me of Jack Kirby. Quicksilver’s new suit isn’t quite dynamic for me yet, but Acuna makes it work. And Rogue looks fantastic, as does the new Cap. Marvel really did a nice job with that new Cap suit, didn’t they? It almost always looks swell.

It isn’t surprising, considering how much I’ve loved Remender’s work for the last few years, but I’m in for as long as this volume of Uncanny Avengers lasts! 

Ant-Man #1

It is amazing the way comics require characters to go through radical changes, usually totally ignoring previous continuity and characterizations, in order to meet the criteria of a new series or requirement.

Nick Spencer doesn’t have an easy job here. He’s writing the new adventures of Scott Lang; Ant-Man, but Spencer has to set some new ground rules. Scott Lang is now a bit of a screw-up. He’s always been an ex-con, but he’s struggling a lot more here than he was in his last appearances in FF. Lang has still done all of the things we remember, but he’s much more of a sad sack; a perennial loser who sleeps in a run-down apartment on a bare mattress.

His daughter Cassie? Instead of being the confident 2^nd-generation hero Stature, she’s a normal high school student. She’s very comfortable with her Dad’s powers, but her mother isn’t. Lang’s ex-wife has the biggest role I’ve seen in any comic so far as she tries to keep Cassie clear from her loser of a Dad.

So these are some pretty big changes! That said, this is a really good comic. Every reader is going to start rooting for Scott Lang to succeed from page one forward. Cassie is a cool gal and a great friend to her Dad. Ant-Man’s powers are neat, useful, and handy. It may have taken a slew of changes to make it work, but the high concept for Ant-Man’s new series sure seems like a winner to me.

Spencer fills out the first issue with some established Marvel characters to make sure we see Ant-Man from a few different perspectives. Victor Mancha (from Runaways), Prodigy (from Young Avengers), and best of all, the new Beetle (from Superior Foes of Spider-Man) are all competing with Lang to be Iron Man’s new head of security. The different personalities and outlooks are a great glimpse into the many levels of the Marvel U. The interaction between these characters really gives me hope that Spencer might be picking up the same tone as he established in Superior Foes.

And as a Hank Pym fan, I’m pleased that Lang seems to be nothing but kind towards his mentor and benefactor. I don’t want to see Pym thrown under the bus in any more new stories!

Marvel has been a bit risky with the art on some of their new launches recently. Fortunately, Ant-Man’s art is top notch from the start. Ramon Rosanas has a style that reminds me of Chris Samnee’s fantastic work on Daredevil. The new Ant-Man suit is a modern-update on the original, classic look. Rather than skewing too heavily towards a “realistic” or Marvel cinematic look, Lang’s costume looks wonderfully “comic book” based. Rosanas’ style is wonderfully modern while still giving all the characters a classic Marvel flair.

The Pym references along with the recap of Lang’s history as Ant-Man gives me high hopes that Spencer knows this character’s place in Marvel history. I think we’re in for a treat. This is a GOOD new series. 

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.

Avengers: Adapt or Die TPB

In my ongoing confusion about Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers opus, a little clarity is appreciated. So we are finally getting the sort-of-origins of the Mapmakers. I even appreciate that the beings are sort of tied to some existing villains in the Marvel U (the now-headliners in AIM). But man, why did this origin story have to involve YET ANOTHER ALTERNATE EARTH. 

Seriously, folks, This is getting ridiculous, right? All of Hickman’s Avengers. Superman/Batman. Earth-2. Multiversity. Half the DCU. Are we really so out of normal story ideas that one Earth is not enough? And we can’t even just have 2? I mean, this zeitgeist confuses the hell out of me. I like What If’s as much as anyone else, but seeing the Evil Avengers running around as the spotlight characters just seems pointless when it is so hard to get quality time with the real Avengers. 

And now we are adding in time travel too. I know this is going to be a major plot point coming up, but man. Why can’t we just get normal Avengers stories? Why are there two or three or four versions of characters running around?

I hope folks aren’t coming to this book hoping for action starring the Avengers. Because when the real Avengers are lucky enough to be on-panel, they very often are just talking. Animatedly talking, sometimes, but discussing things. The action and quality fisticuffs I enjoy in my comics are almost always reserved for alternate versions of our leads.

Maybe it is just me, and I read comics totally differently than other folks. But for me, the types of conflict happening in Uncanny Avengers and Mighty Avengers are much more what I’m looking for from Marvel’s premiere super-team.

Again, Marvel is putting top notch artists on this title; you can’t say Hickman has had to suffer with sub-par artists. Salvador LaRocca and Esad Ribic are some of the biggest guns in Marvel’s arsenal. I just wish they were working on a title more my speed. The art is the undisputed highlight of this run for me.

This EVIL comic is another huge miss for me. 

New Avengers: Other Worlds TPB

Oof. Jonathan Hickman’s eternal story of the colliding Earths continues, and now he’s added a new wrinkle that is affecting my opinion of the story. After years of turning Reed Richards, Black Panther, Iron Man and the rest into almost villains, the contrast to real heroes seems even more obvious. About halfway through this trade, Hickman introduces us to another world that has battled incursions and the Justice League-like team that protects it.

BUT. 

I am 100% cheering for the fake Justice League. I can only assume such a turnabout is Hickman’s point, to show that he’s essentially turned us against our normal lead characters. I don’t think that is a good thing.

As we tour different realities in each issue of this collection, we meet different versions of the Illuminati. Some face incursions, some face the Black Priests. Some face Mapmakers. (I’m still having a hard time telling everyone apart.) But in almost every case, I find myself more interested in the one-and-done protagonists than in the cast we’ve been following since this book started.

The glacial pacing has a great excuse here; we are touring a bunch of different worlds, so of course our main story isn’t continuing yet. It feels like we are treading water. Stalling only works when the detour is so interesting you don’t realize that nothing is happening. That isn’t the case here. I actually have to go back each month and remind myself what is going on with the book (thank goodness Marvel Unlimited makes that easy.)

Mike Deodato, Leinil Francis Yu, and Simone Bianchi are top notch artists. I’m glad to see the Avengers getting such top tier talent. I wish I was seeing their art in books I love reading.

I know some folks love this EVIL book. Me? My Avengers are over starring in the Mighty Avengers series.

Avengers & X-Men: Axis #4

So I’m a tad surprised by this one… I had understood that Rick Remender’s (through Red Skull) “inversion” of Marvel’s main characters would be a twist on their personalities, not a total alignment shift. It’s interesting. Some folks, like Iron Man, seem to definitely be off, but the core of the character seems unchanged.

The X-Men, as another example, seem to be shoring up as an army. Storm has bought in with Cyclops (who hasn’t changed that I’ve seen) and the newly powered-up Apocalypse (formerly known as Genesis). I am thrilled to see the X-Men back under one roof as a big, powerful team again; too bad it probably can’t last.

Then we’ve got the Avengers. I have no idea what is up with them. Captain America, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, they all just seem to be bad guys (some worse than others). Luke Cage seems to be greedier than evil, while Thor is cowardly AND evil. I’m just having a hard time.

Don’t even get me started on how Kluh works, exactly. The sadder Kluh gets the stronger he gets, and he seems irredeemably evil. Just full on bad guy. So that means that Hulk is normally… good? Carnage is a hero too. He’s not killing, he’s cracking jokes, and he’s rescuing hostages. So the opposite of Carnage is… Spider-Man? I’m not totally sure.

Since Jarvis, Spider-Man, Daredevil, and the SHIELD agents seem to be their normal selves, it seems only those characters actually present in Genosha have been inverted. At least, that makes sense to me and explains why the whole world hasn’t turned upside down.

I’m enjoying the overall feel of the event book so far, it does seem like a huge shake-up. That said, I hope later chapters give us some sort of explanation of what exactly happened here. Right now, it still seems a bit random.

Leinil Francis Yu’s art is always a treat. He gives the heroes and villains godlike bodies that really show off how they tower above normal humans. The difference in personality manifests nicely in the posture of some of the heroes too, especially Iron Man, Thor, and Medusa.

So I’m giving this a cautious GOOD. I like the concept, the art is great, and the stakes are high. This is much more my cup of tea than Original Sin. But I do hope Remender explains exactly how this inversion works soon. 

Avengers World: A.I.M.pire HC

I should have read these in TPB (I read them monthly on Marvel Unlimited). As each issue came out, I was certain that I’d missed some intervening chapter. In an effort to spread the focus around to a lot of the near 40-member squad of Avengers, the plot literally jumps from issue to issue. Each opening page introduces a new team, each last page leaves them in a cliffhanger. From month to month, that makes it extremely difficult to remember what was happening back in that first cliffhanger when the story finally comes back around.

I am curious how much of this is Jonathan Hickman and how much is Nick Spencer.

The first plot is on A.I.M. Island with Smasher, Cannonball, and Sunspot investigating the new Scientist Supreme. I adore the new Smasher, she’s a fantastic addition to the Marvel U. With her WWII-era super-hero grandfather and her status as a Shi’ar Superguardian, she’s got possible plot points all over. Plus her dynamic costume and hard-headed personality make her a perfect Timbotron favorite. (The other Avengers spend their time locked up, not doing much.)

The second trouble spot is Madripoor, which is now located on the head of a gigantic dragon. (Comics!) Shang-Chi. Like in the first chapter, the supporting Avengers Falcon, Black Widow, and Wolverine really don’t do very much. This is almost a full-issue throwdown between Shang and the Gorgon, the top-level baddie from Mark Millar’s Wolverine arc. It’s a pretty great fight, with kung-fu proving to be almost the equal of the big bad’s powers. I really enjoyed the way Shang channeled the memories of ancient fighters to assist in battle. (Although isn’t this similar to how Black Panther’s Necropolis powers work now?) This was probably my favorite of the one-shots in the opening collection.

The third trouble spot is the city of the dead, where the boring Starbrand has to deal with his mass-murdering origins. I don’t care about Starbrand at all, and his companion Nightmask isn’t much more interesting. So this was a bit of struggle for me to get through, especially when I found myself pining for a different issue that gave me more pages dedicated to Hawkeye and Spider-Woman.

Manifold takes center stage in the last issue in this trade, as he starts to lead a squad of veteran Avengers in rescue mission to the trouble spots, As I said, I had a hard time remember exactly where all those stories left off without a re-write. The added callbacks to Infinity made it even harder for me to remember where we’d left off with Manifold. I like the character; he’s got a good look, powerset, and seems like a heroic guy. But it is hard to make teleportation more than a support power. Porters are necessary for plot, but they don’t always have a ton to do during fights, which limits their appeal to me.

The art is uniformly strong, with Stefano Caselli continuing to impress me. I’ve always loved his work, due to the heroic figurework, strong facial expressions, and his ability to direct nice, kinetic action sequences. He does a fine job making all these newbies look like they belong alongside the more experienced Avengers. It seems silly, but the weight and texture that Caselli gives the costumes makes the rookies seem like they fit in; that they are truly top-tier heroes deserving their spots. (I’m weird, I know.)

This is a FAIR book. I appreciate the focus on the lesser-used members of the Avengers, but man, the approach to pacing really confuses me. I had to re-read the entire run before I read issue 5 because I couldn’t remember what was going on with each group of Avengers. 

Avengers & X-Men: Axis #1

I’m sort of conflicted on this one. There are a lot of good things about Rick Remender’s massive crossover, but there are some fairly glaring problems too.

First of all, this really feels like an epic Marvel crossover. This story clearly picks up after months of Uncanny Avengers issues, but I’d hope that the context is enough to catch everyone up on what is happening. (I read this with my 9-year old and she picked it up OK.) There are numerous great moments scattered through the book; from the use of Plantman (looking way more plant-y than I remember) all the way the surprise ending. Along the way, Remender has a great moment between the Summers brothers and a wonderful, timely arrival from the X-Men. Actually, that X-Men moment really struck me at how perfect that Uncanny line-up has always been. With Colossus, Storm, and especially Nightcrawler, man, that team just looks like it belongs front and center in the Marvel U.

I appreciate the use of Scarlet Witch and Rogue as such central characters, but man, having both them fail to fight off Red Onslaught’s power does make them seem a bit weak. Scarlet Witch in particular came off as too big of a threat to be walking around. After House of M and “No More Mutants,” maybe she shouldn’t just be walking around with her powers any more after all. Rogue comes off a tad better, especially after the talking up she gets from Professor X. I understand why Remender held off from explaining her current Wonder Man situation too; there were enough status quo changes in the book already!

Now for main problem. The smart-ass quipping. Remender does a great job with Iron Man. Iron Man is supposed to be clever, overconfident, and somewhat jokey. The character sounds like he could have Robert Downey Jr. inside that armor. And Hawkeye has always had that sarcastic tone too. But Vision? Odinson/Thor? The new Captain America? Every single one of them sounds the same, smarting off and being smart asses. It is hard to hear different voices for the Avengers when they are all this…sit-comy.

That said, I LOVED Red Onslaught’s dialogue. He used “scum” and “trash” enough to really have me hankering for a beat down. I can’t wait for him to get what he deserves! Remender also does a wonderful job with Magneto. Magneto calls someone a “cur,” instantly proving Mags’ superiority on the battlefield. Ahab gets some great smack talk in too. Remender is pretty great at getting the reader anxious to see the villains get served.

Adam Kubert has a big order here. There are a TON of heroes involved, and they all look pretty great. I mentioned how dynamic the X-Men looked, but the Avengers are just as nicely done. I’m a bit confused on a few things (doesn’t Thor have one arm?) but they are minor. I LOVE the look and feel of Red Onslaught. He dominates every page he appears on, as an event-central villain should. The design on the surprise foes at the close of the issue seem to have a nice, sleek look too. It’s too bad Kubert can’t do a book regularly any more.

This is a GOOD event that feels like the high-octane battles I remember from my youth. Remender has always channeled the 80’s in a good way, and he’s still doing so here. 

Uncanny Avengers #25

No sooner are we done with Jason Aaron’s Original Sin than we find ourselves on the March to Axis with Rick Remender. The focus has been pretty tight in these last few issues as Axis approaches. Havok (complete with scarred face), Rogue (complete with Wonder Man power-set) and Scarlet Witch team up with Magneto to take on the Red Skull and his S-Men in a mutant concentration camp. Ahab, a holdover from the big Kang arc sticks around too; relishing the chance to enslave mutants all over again (Ahab hails from a future where he has tortured and enslaved mutantkind.)

Man, the Red Skull is such an awful person; it is so easy to hate him. This issue is mostly from Scarlet Witch’s point of view, as she tries to work through her complicated feelings towards her father, Magneto. I get that Remender is putting us in her head, but some of the tension of the action sequences gets bogged down by all the narration boxes. I would have liked a tad more of Wonder Man in these issues too. If he’s going to live on only in Rogue’s head, maybe he could get a bit more dialogue? Rogue is truly best with this power set; the super strength and durability just work so well for her. Watching her slap around the S-Men then recover after the Skull’s final attack is just plain exciting.

I’m sorry, Remender, but I’m just not feeling Havok these days. The guy is just too generic of a hero for me to buy into this hero’s journey too much. The scarred face, the forced romance with Wasp, it just isn’t making enough of a difference. Havok works best as part of a big team, and setting him on this mission with such a small team is not gonna do it for me. I think Alex Summers works best when dealing with overbearing alpha males, so without Cyclops or Captain America to rage against, Havok seems sort of lost.

Magneto plays a tremendously important part here. I loved the scene where he turns things around on the Skull, and he has some fantastic monologues and quotes while taking down the S-Men. It also seems like Magneto might be responsible for creating the new Red Onslaught (the Red Skull/Onslaught hybrid starring in Axis). I’m not sure I understand how that transformation happened; hopefully Axis 1 will explain it.

Daniel Acuna is one of my top 5 artists, perhaps top 3. I love seeing him draw Rogue busting heads and Magneto tossing around metallic projectiles. When Magneto delivers his fists-only beating to the Skull, Acuna does a great job showing the destruction of the skull mask. I do wonder if the art or coloring was changed on that big splash in the Skull’s camp. I think mutants were hooked up to something, but I’m not sure what. Maybe some art changes were necessary to keep this appropriate for teens?

So Axis is coming next week. This “March” has me interested, but not tremendously excited. Red Onslaught doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, and the Skull is going to need to explain his sudden boost in power if he’s anchoring a mega-crossover on his own. The lead-in is GOOD, but I’m worried about 8 more issues Red Skull-based conflict. 

Secret Avengers v3: To Maim a Mockingbird TPB

So… this was basically nonsense, right? Nick Spencer comes back to try and put a bow on his volume of Secret Avengers, but I leave this title a very confused man.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to believe that Mockingbird/Bobbi Morse was actually a sleeper agent for AIM or not. So she was, and she turned good? Or she was always a SHIELD agent and AIM tried to trick her? I’m just not getting it. What was Mockingbird hoping to accomplish when she ditched her teammates?

More questions. What exactly happened to Taskmaster? I guess Mockingbird shot him in the head in a way that he would be able to survive? Isn’t that a bit preposterous? Why did Mentallo turn into a pile of worms from Slither and then swim into the ocean? Who in the world thought that was a good idea?

Even more questions: What was the purpose of putting all those villains in charge of AIM’s high council? Most of them never did anything! Why were there so many pages spent setting up MODOK’s eventual betrayal of the team if we don’t see the outcome?

I believe the answer to a lot of these questions is: Buy the next incarnation of Secret Avengers. I can promise one thing, I will not be buying the next incarnation of Secret Avengers. This book was horribly confusing, out of sequence, and full of poor choices about the Marvel Universe in general. The use of the killer team of Avengers muddies the heroic waters for characters like Hawkeye and Spider-Woman, and I fear there may be lasting damage done to characters like Mockingbird, Taskmaster, and Mentallo.

Butch Guice and Luke Ross are both solid artists. I’ve enjoyed their work for years, so it isn’t a surprise that the art is one of the strongest parts of the title. I wish the artistic identity could have been a bit more clearly defined. Sometimes this felt like a spy book, sometimes a super-hero title, and it never really decided what it wanted to be. The artists do such great work in low-powered titles; I think that might have been the way to go (especially Guice in street-level titles).

This POOR book is a mess. This is the type of book where the best thing we can do is just pretend it never happened. Let’s move along, shall we?

Original Sin #1-8

So I’m having a bit of a hard time determining exactly what the point of Original Sin was, exactly.

SPOILERS AHOY!

So the big reveal is that Nick Fury has kept on aging since WWII, and that we’ve seen dozens of his LMDs over the years, rather than the actual dude himself. That’s a pretty big reveal, I suppose. We also found out that he’s been “the man on the wall” shooting big monsters and aliens if they get too close to our precious blue marble. As is usually the case with these huge reveals, it brings up a lot of questions better left unanswered. I assume Nick Fury vs. SHIELD never happened. Nick Fury’s blood donation of the Infinity Formula that saved Mockingbird? I guess she actually got a bag of robot blood? Works for me.

If I understand correctly, he selected a crew of possible replacements (that’s the Black Panther, Ant Man, White Queen, Gamorra, Moon Knight, Dr. Strange, Punisher, Winter Soldier team). As anyone who has read the solicits for next month’s comics knows, Winter Soldier is the lucky winner, getting a new series with the high concept that he will be shooting mysterious aliens and monsters in the head before they see him. I’m not sure how that will fill 20 pages a month, but I’m sure Marvel has a plan. Some of the pairings worked better than others, honestly. White Queen, Black Panther, Ant Man, and Dr. Strange made a surprisingly likable team. Moon Knight and Winter Soldier fit in nicely too. Gamorra, Punisher, and Rocket Raccoon never quite fit in as well, though.

As is often the case with these types of books, it is hard to nail down the stars. Black Panther’s team is the closest thing we’ve got, but most of the conclusion in issue #8 features the Avengers. It is disappointing we didn’t see more of them, because Jason Aaron does a really nice job with their voices, especially Captain America. Nick Fury’s interaction with Cap has to carry a lot of history and emotion, and Aaron manages to deliver exactly what is necessary. Again, my guess is that the main reason the Avengers featured so prominently is so that Thor could drop his hammer once he proved himself unworthy.

Aaron’s pet characters make out pretty well. Dr. Midas is seemingly killed, but his hand lives on, complete with the alchemical gold power that gave him his name. His daughter Oubillete can either become the new Dr. Midas, or just take on his empire. It’s a good new status quo for a villainess with potential. The Orb makes out a bit better. He’s still got an eyeball head, but now he has one of the Watcher’s eyes embedded in his chest. Maybe that will give Orb a few new powers too.

The central mystery, “Who shot the Watcher?” has two answers. The Orb shot out one eye. Nick Fury killed Uatu and took the other. I don’t exactly understand why. I guess Uatu was tired of watching? He says “I’ve seen too much” and basically commits suicide by cop with Nick Fury, but… the why eludes me a bit. Then there is the ending. There is a weird, one-eyed dude wandering around in some purple crystal gear, and I assume it is supposed to be Nick Fury. Or is it some other weird guy who was chained up in the Watcher’s home? Does it matter? Honestly, I’m not sure!

Mike Deodato’s art is pretty solid. His character work is very strong throughout. His Moon Knight and Black Panther are particularly cool. I would have liked a bit less bling on Dr. Strange and a few other guys that don’t need all those weird little chin straps and shoulder pads. I also thought some of the action scenes looked odd. Heroes and villains looked oddly shrunken, like colorforms placed on a background. Is that just me?

So this was 8 issues with mostly at $3.99, some at $4.99. It makes for an expensive read that was decent, but not great. Frankly, I wish Jason Aaron would have stayed on Wolverine & the X-Men a few more issues rather than this FAIR comic. 

Uncanny Avengers #22

On first read, I really didn’t care for this comic. This has been many, many years coming. In some ways, Rick Remender planted the seeds for this story back in his Uncanny X-Force run years ago. After finishing the book for the first time, I was very disappointed that there was too much happening in one issue.

First, the introduction of Immortus’ Infinity Watch is so rushed that we barely get time to do more than see them. The characters are not well defined, and their impact on the overall story is quite limited due to their page count. I think I can recognize that they just add to the “feel” of the book through their appearance; this must be important if a whole other team shows up to help, right?

My second disappointment was the ease with which Sunfire and Havok took out the Apocalypse Twins. After reigning over the book as the top villains for over a year, they are dispatched in half a page because the story was coming to a close. It wasn’t very dramatic and even if Sunfire’s powers were amped up, it shouldn’t have been so easy to take out two supposed A-level villains.

I also feel that while Remender made every effort to get the reader to buy into the classic love affair between Havok and Wasp, I just never felt it. Their time together was in an alternate future that has since been erased. A future that some team members remember while others forget. It is too confusing to buy in to the emotions too strongly. I will say that Havok’s dialogue about his lost daughter Katie does ring true and does make the final battle with Kang seem a bit more personal. I’m still not sure how Havok punching Kang took out the A-level villain, but it did look cool and Kang had some fantastic smack talk.

I think Remender does a better job with the fallout of the long campaign than the execution. Multiple characters are left in an interesting place going forward.

SPOILERS AHOY!

The Sentry is resurrected and now thinks of himself as the guardian of humanity. You know he will pop up again, but will it be to help or cause trouble?

Rogue still has her energy absorption powers, I think, but more importantly, she seems to have bonded with Wonder Man. Only she can hear his voice, not a good thing for someone with her history with Ms. Marvel. I wonder if this is a way to re-set Rogue back to her best power set of strength, flight, and invulnerability.

Havok is sporting a melted face; at the least he’s going to need a new mask!

Sunfire died and returned in the same issue! Only now he’s a faceless mass of cosmic fire in human form, a true atomic knight. I hope that he gets back in his costume; I still say it is one of the best in all of comics.

The other Horsemen of Death, Daken and Grim Reaper, are returned to life too. Did Banshee make it? I can only hope. Remender put just about all the toys back where he found them at the close of this arc.

I haven’t mentioned the art yet, because while I may have had reservations about some of the story choices, the art is simply gorgeous. Daniel Acuna is one of my top favorites, and he lives up to that ranking in this issue. The battles are tremendous. The costumes and redesigns are top notch; classic and modern at the same time. Acuna actually makes the new Cap suit look good! And the emotion! The series of panels as Havok steels himself to take on Kang is a classic of comic-book acting. In this issue, Acuna proves he is a top talent.

So overall, this wasn’t quite worth the multiple year build up, but it still ranks as a GOOD comic. 

New Warriors v1: The Kids are Alright TPB

What a delightful first story arc. Don’t get me wrong, I’m certain the book is not long for this world. But for now, I’m going to read this with my daughters and love every minute.

The opening arc starts off right, with the High Evolutionary teaming up with Craig Kyle’s evolution-minded cavemen from his X-Men arc a few years ago. I’m a sucker for classic opponents like Herbert Wyndham, so seeing him rationalize his plan to wipe out all non-baseline humans? Right in line for the confused character.

But man, bringing in the Darkhold? The evil Cthullu-based book that anchored some great Avengers and Midnight Sons stories? (And yes, there were some great Midnight Sons stories, people!) Now I’m on board. And Yost cranks up the nostalgia even more by confusing the identity of his creation Water Snake. She says she’s a Lemurian sent to the surface to find heroes, but Justice and Speedball are absolutely convinced that she’s their old teammate Namorita. It’s hilarious reading Speedball dialogue as he needles her. He’s convinced she’ll come around, but he doesn’t seem too eager to force the issue. It is great seeing the two characters just accept the oddness of comic book amnesia.

And then the guest stars. Yost does a wonderful job with the guest-starring Avengers. Thor is a mix of imposing and fun. Cap is the just, but fair leader. Cap’s understanding response that Speedball and Justice are of course welcome to use the tower, but they have to give up the New Warriors name is reasonable, justified, and enraging. Yost does a great job playing the Avengers as the annoying authority figures.

The art by Marcus To and Nick Roche is consistent too. I’ve always like Roche’s Transformers work, but he impressed me with his great job with costumed superheroes. I can’t imagine he will need to wait to get more work from Marvel. To’s characters always skew a bit young for me, but there is no denying their flashy, dynamic appearances. My daughters both adore the look of the team in their costumes.

This is a GOOD comic, a pretty kid-friendly one. I had to skim over some Penance hints, but other than that? Fun for the whole family! 

Dark Avengers: Masters of Evil TPB

I’m not quite sure how this book got an extra lease on life, but I’ll take what I can get. Especially since Jeff Parker spends this last Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers trade frantically setting up the team to be used in other Marvel books going forward.

The core concept is pretty good; the Tbolts are trapped in an alternate reality created by AIM. This world’s twist? Earth’s greatest heroes have all turned to the wrong side. Iron Man has an army of iron slaves. Dr. Strange is a bloodthirsty horn dog shacked up with Clea and Tigra. The Thing has left his humanity behind and is the new Mole Man. Only Reed Richards (and to a lesser extent, Hank Pym) have retained their old moral compasses. In this stew of good guys turned bad, the Thunderbolts are ALMOST heroes.

The real problem is that I don’t really care for most of the team. Until this trade, Parker was spending equal time with his quirkier leads, Moonstone, Mr. Hyde, Boomerang, and the rest. Those guys are gone now, except for Moonstone. Instead, the leads are Skaar, Toxic Doxie, Trickshot, and the rest of the “Dark Avengers.” The only member of the team I truly like (other than Moonstone) is John Walker, US Agent. US Agent is the high point of the trade; Parker has addressed his missing limbs and put him in a place where he can easily be used in the future. No need to even mention the complicated way Walker “recovered.”

Moonstone and Toxic Doxie have the best voices in the collection. They are witty, courageous, and totally overconfident. It is hard not to like the ladies who are so certain that they can turn every situation to their advantage. Skaar still bores me. Trickshot has a few moments, but he’s no Hawkeye.

The art is a very pleasant surprise. I’m certain I’ve seen Neil Edwards’ art before, but it never looked this good. The character designs are strong, the action is clear, and the facial expressions are very well drawn. There are moments in here where I thought it was Georges Jeanty’s well-drawn faces and not Edwards’!

In summary, let’s see some more of US Agent and Moonstone! They shouldn’t go into limbo after this GOOD comic!

Avengers Arena: Boss Level TPB

This hurts me to admit, but I was wrong about this one. I refused to purchase the title because of the exploitative nature of the premise, but as I’ve caught up with it on Marvel Unlimited, I can recognize what a good job Dennis Hopeless did turning lemons into lemonade.

MINOR SPOILERS

In the end, Hopeless did most of his damage in the first issue when he killed Mettle. Sure, a few other character did die, but they were mostly characters that Hopeless created, or they were built up and Hopeless “earned” the right to kill them through strong characterization. Most importantly, my old favorite Darkhawk ends up alive and kicking. (Hopeless has stated in interviews why he handled Chris Powell the way he did. The interviews make me even happier with the end product.)

The series was full of nice surprises. I never expected Cammi and the Runaways to be so important to the resolution. Or frankly, so effective as heroes. Arcade successfully made his jump from C-lister to very possibly A-list villain. X-23, probably the biggest name in the series, spends much of the final trade in a chemically-induced rage and so can do very little to affect the outcome of the story.

Even the new characters have made an impact. I want to see more of Anachronism and Cullen Bloodstone. I want to know if Deathlocket is ever going to have a moment of control. I want to know if we’ve really seen the last of the series’ surprise villain.

Most of all, I find myself very interested in what happens next. Even after the great closure in seeing Hank Pym and the other teachers reunited with their students, I want to know how these damaged kids are going to survive. Back in the world after Arcade tells everyone what happened, can they handle being heroes? Hopeless leaves us hanging on quite a few characters; how badly is Darkhawk hurt? Is Reptil still alive? What will Arcade do next? I’m ready for the follow-up.

Not to overstate, but much of the impact of this book is due to the stellar artwork of Kev Walker. The passion and emotion of the faces of the cast have to do a lot of lifting in this series, and Walker’s art carries the load every time. The action is dynamic and exciting. The cliffhangers are perfect (although that is Hopeless’ script).

And Arcade… man, do I want to see him get his. We only got a tease, but that last page… somebody get him!

This comic is unexpectedly quite GOOD!

Secret Avengers: Illiad TPB

To put it simply, this is one of the most disorganized, confusing comics I have ever read. 

I’m reading it on Marvel Unlimited, so perhaps my confusion is due to the digital format and waiting for the next issue, but I don’t’ think so. Instead of me actually missing issues and somehow skipping them, it seems the plot is actually just shifting every few issues, with little to no connection between the plot threads. Every 2 or 3 issues, the focus shifts radically, whether the previous story was concluded or not.

Issue 6&7 are relatively straight forward, continuing Nick Spencer’s tale of a covert Avengers team invading AIM island. Spencer is still wasting the potential in his top-notch team of villains, but at least I understand what is happening. And for the most part, everyone is acting in character.

Issue 8 starts the weirdness. Mockingbird is in the body of a man. Nic Klein’s artwork is solid, and we actually get some time with Mentallo, Graviton, Black Widow II, and other villains. Things are coming together, and while I find the Mockingbird story very, very odd, I’m certainly interested to find out what happens next. This is the most interested I’ve been in the series so far!

Unfortunately, the next issues have literally nothing to do with the series so far. Issue 9 is a flashback to the personality conflicts between Daisy Johnson and Maria Hill. While I am not really interested in this, it feels like an old-school fill-in issue. Switching to a different artists makes this feel like even more of a disconnect. Something that needed to be dumped out of the editor’s drawer. I’m losing interest, but still hopeful.

Then things go further off the rails. Issues 10& 11 put the focus on Nick Fury Jr., Agent Coulson, and a new Inhuman character as they fight off the Infinity crossover. New writer. New artist. Old storyline totally dropped and abandoned. What the heck is going on here? It isn’t that this is BAD. While not the most interesting thing in the world, it isn’t necessarily bad. But I am now totally confused as to the purpose of this comic and the story it is trying to tell. It honestly feels like a book where Marvel is simply inserting approved stories in a cover and publishing it. What the heck is happening here?

Maybe things will go back to normal next month? I’ll keep reading (as part of my Marvel Unlimited subscription) but it is no secret how this title died. I’m not sure how you can start a story then just take a 3 month break to do other random things and expect people to sit around and wait. Simply put, this is a mess.

I stopped buying this EVIL series after issue 2, and it is looking like that was a good choice.