Iron Fist v1: Rage TPB

Oh man, I tried. I really tried. Kaare Andrews’ art is pretty, make no mistake. But the grim dark tone. The insane violence. And the portrayal of Danny Rand as being a superficial bozo. It’s all too much.

When I got to the cliffhanger where K’un L’un was burned to the ground with bodies and blood everywhere? Yeah, that’s enough for me.

This book is EVIL. I’ll wait for Iron Fist’s next appearance. 

Iron Age #1-3

Issue 1 features the Hank Pym team-up, written by Christos Gage with art from Lee Weeks. I’m a huge Weeks fan, so this is an easy sell for me. This storyline focuses on modern-Tony trying to get his Avengers buddies to help, so it’s a can’t miss. This is another look at that 80’s Avengers roster that I love so much, so the team is Captain Marvel, Hawkeye, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Wasp, Cap, Thor, and Starfox. That’s a great team! And they fight Ultron! Gage has always had a knack for Marvel History, so this really lets him show off his skills. I loved this one.

The second part of the issue focuses on Captain Britain. Rob Williams and Ben Oliver are riffing on an old Alan Moore Captain Britain storyline, at least as far as I remember. In any case, Britain is in a police state, mutants are being rounded up, and Captain Britain is fighting them off alone. When Iron Man shows up with his future agenda, Cap B can’t help but be disappointed. This is a good little done-in-one. Captain Britain is a character I never really cared for as a kid, but I seem to be getting some affection for the big lug now. Entertaining.

Issue 2 part 1 is another can’t miss. I love Power Man. Luke Cage in the yellow shirt is just plain awesome, so watching he and Iron Fist team up with Iron Man is a treat. Jen Van Meter and Nick Dragotta do a wonderful job making this feel like an old 70’s issue with an added factor (modern Tony). Dagotta gets to lay out a lot of great Marvel blasts from the past, including the the Heroes for Hire, Scorpion, Tinkerer, and Daughters of the Dragon.

Part 2 by Elliott Kalan and Ron Frenz feels like a lost issue of Marvel Team-Up. Iron Man and the Human Torch infiltrate the Latverian embassy to take on Doc Doom for the next piece of equipment. If for no other reason, this issue is fun since it features red-suited Torch and nose-armor Iron Man. These forgotten looks are very much of their time, but it’s neat seeing them again. The Torch is one of only a few characters that modern Tony lays out the truth for. It’s neat seeing Johnny Storm roll with the punches, he’s not put off at all by his time-hopping team-up.

Issue 3 part 1 features Dazzler in her fantastic 70’s getup. Louise Simonson writes both her and Tony well, with the rookie Dazzler coming off as earnest and hopeful. I like that the character hasn’t changed all that much in the intervening years, just gotten more powerful. Not every hero needs to have travelled down a dark path, a point this story drives home. Plus, it features the Hellfire Club, so it ties in nicely to X-history. Todd Nauck’s art is always fun, but this is the… bustiest I’ve ever seen him draw. Dazzler is falling out of her top through most of the issue; doesn’t that silver suit come with a zipper? And man, she has a disco ball necklace. Wonderful.

Part 2 is a flashback to the Uncanny X-Men’s attack on the Hellfire Club. Rob Williams and Roberto De La Torre do a great job making this feel like it fit between the pages of the original story. I’m also intrigued that Williams makes Nightcrawler the smart one on the team; it’s nice seeing Kurt Wagner again. Now the X-Men really have been through the ringer over the years, so Tony’s melancholy at seeing them is a great touch. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, and Colossus. That line-up was a pretty great team, wasn’t it?

If you like classic Marvel, you can’t go wrong with this series. Available for cheap on Comixology, I recommend this to anyone who loves older eras of current Marvel favorites. A product of 2011, it’s already a tad dated (with some sadness about the then-dead Human Torch) but it’s darn entertaining.

Good

Iron Age: Alpha and Omega

I never know how to review these oddball storylines. This series launched with an Alpha, ended with Omega, and had three issues in the middle. Rob Williams and Rebekah Isaacs handled the one-shots, while a variety of creative teams tackled the mini in the middle. I almost picked this up off the stands, but the mini was priced at $4.99. After reading the books, that seems to be because each issue basically has two full-length stories, but I didn’t know it at the time.

The concept is pretty easy: Tony Stark is kidnapped from a function and taken to the undersea base of Dr. Birch, a nobody villain who has obsessed over Tony for years. He’s got some knock-off Iron Man tech, but more importantly, he’s got a copy of Dr. Doom’s time platform. The first issue ends with Birch pulling a fighting-mad Dark Phoenix from the past and bothering her until she blows up the Earth. Stark manages to make it to the platform before the world ends, but now he’s on the run through time, teaming up with older versions of Marvel U mainstays to try and save the world.

Pretty decent high-concept, huh? Especially once you factor in that modern-Tony is now running around in the era that he spent wallowing in alcohol. It’s pretty easy for Stark to show up in public when the older version of him is passed out at home.

Stark has to travel through time, putting together a team of heroes and re-assembling the time-platform. There is some pre-destination involved, Birch knew that these folks would be around, but I’m fuzzy on exactly how that part worked. The team consists of Hank Pym, Captain Britain, Dazzler, Cyclops, Human Torch, Power Man, and Iron Fist. That’s a pretty great, eclectic line-up, I think; especially the way Williams picks and chooses which versions to put on display.

Isaacs does a nice job with the art. I loved the design of the undersea base. Her Iron Man is solid too, with an almost Keron Grant-vibe to some of the armor and robots. Dark Phoenix steals the show in the one-shots. Man, we do need Jean Grey back in the Marvel U.

Good

Comics on the Bubble: New Avengers #9-16

I passed on these when they first shipped because I was tired of Bendis’ style. I’m also not a huge Mike Deodato fan; he’s good, but not my favorite. Then my store had a dollar sale, and I figured why not catch up.


Bendis falls into all of his old traps (you would not believe how many scenes take place with the New Avengers sitting around their kitchen table). Bendis also gives all his characters that one Bendis-voice that he always does. I do appreciate his use of Superia as the main villain, though, and I love that Cage and some of the other Avengers constantly make mention of how hot she is. And of course, Bendis is still writing Hawkeye like he’s a blood thirsty fool; Hawkeye repeatedly threatens to kill people.

I’m also amazed that Squirrel Girl gets as much panel time as she does. She’s a fun character, and while I don’t like the tone her dialogue seems to carry, I do like seeing her give Wolverine a run for his money.

Daredevil joins up in the last issue of this run, and he does fit in nicely. Spider-Man spends so much time complaining, DD won’t even be the biggest downer on the team! It does annoy me that every single hero in NY is an Avenger, though. DD was sort of the last hold out.

I was not a fan of the flashback arc with Howard Chaykin’s ‘50’s Avengers. It seems like an unnecessary retcon and I think it weakens the original Agents of Atlas origin. I am pleased that Mockingbird got some powers out of this arc!

Issues 9-13 – Mockingbird’s shooting, team slowly takes on Superia – Keep
I
sues 14-16 – Fear Itself. Fantastic covers, Squirrel Girl feature, DD joins. Keep

Fear Itself HC

Well, now I understand the complaints about this series.

I was really looking forward to this based on the creative team, but I have rarely read a crossover with so much missing. Entire plot elements are simply dropped out of the book and not mentioned again. What happened in Paris? I don’t know. Did Absorbing Man get a hammer? Clearly he did, because we see him with one, but it is skipped. After dominating the early goings, the hammer wielders just disappear from the pages. I mean, we see the Thing’s return, but we’re talking about Hulk and Juggernaut! Heck, I even want to see the others (like Attuma) get taken down too!

Part of the lack of focus here is that there are barely lead characters for this. Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man are mostly featured, but they fade away for most of an issue before showing up for a dramatic moment or two. I think Thor makes out the best, he gets some great fights with Odin, Hulk, and Thing. But this wasn’t marketed as a Thor story, and even his story feels incomplete. This huge battle with the Serpent, the one that got built up with prophecies and all that dialogue? A few panels long. Then just done.

Winter Soldier’s death? Pointless. And NO ONE should be able to break Cap’s “indestructible” shield. I understand the need to quickly (and artificially) give the Serpent some street-cred, but editorial should have nixed this idea. Now the shield is breakable. It’s that simple. It’s been done.

And Spider-Man QUITS? Seriously? The poster boy for responsibility goes home when he thinks the heroes are going to lose? Oh my. Can’t take that one back either.

How the heck were the super-powered good guys determined? Black Widow, Iron Fist, and Dr. Strange barely appeared in the series, yet they all get special Asgardian weapons and Tron redesigns. Why? I don’t know. Is that in a tie-in? I’m sure I’ll find out from the library eventually.

It’s also pretty funny that Hermod basically stands in for Balder through the whole story. He even looks the same.

Once aspect that lived up to the hype is Stuart Immonen’s art. I’m really impressed with his Asgardians. Odin is regal and more powerful than I’ve ever seen him. Sif looked great, if others could make her look this regal, I’d join the fans clamoring for her to join the Avengers. Cap should not be slinging guns and wearing helmets, but Immonen turns those mistakes into triumphs, with Cap’s sweet parachute-drop into downtown NYC.

I shelled out for the hardcover, but clearly, that wasn’t enough. If I want this whole story, I’ve got to buy a lot of tie-ins.

Story – Average
Art - Excellent

Shadowland TPB

Wow, I’d heard that this was a below-average story, but this was brutal. I’m glad I waited for the big discount, but this probably should have been a library rental.

Daredevil is the ostensible villain here, but he’s never believable. I usually like Andy Diggle’s writing, but this had a ton of posturing and debate that never made it believable that DD would turn evil. This book tries to have the street-level heroes face down against the DD-controlled Hand, but it just doesn’t work.

I was actually interested while the story focused on DD dealing with Bullseye once and for all, but that was only for an issue. After that, we are supposed to accept the hordes of Hand ninjas as a legitimate threat to the street-Avengers who show up. But let me remind everyone of the ninja rule (also works as a robot or zombie rule): The more there are, the weaker they look. With a ton of ninjas bouncing around off light poles, I never worried for a moment that Luke Cage or Iron Fist would be hurt. Heck, the heroes agree to team-up with the Punisher! I don’t buy that either!

And it is not like there weren’t bad guys around! Kingpin and Lady Bullseye spent the whole series chatting! How about they bust some heads; this is the climax, right?

As a longtime DD reader, I was anxious to see the resolution to the Black Tarantula and White Tiger mind-control story arc, but that’s not here either. Maybe it is resolved in the DD trade?

I’m not a huge Billy Tan fan. His art is clear, but the Marc Silvestri influence just doesn’t do it for me. I did like the expanding horns on DD’s head as he loses control, but at that point I was so disappointed in Shadowland’s true villain (who appears out of nowhere) that I couldn’t make myself care.

Average

New Avengers #6

Well, I suppose that Doctor Voodoo has been an Avenger, so I can't make my normal complaint that the team couldn't clean up their own mess. Now, they still need a lot of help from guest-stars Dr. Strange and Daimon Hellstrom, but at least Strange has ties to the team. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure who is even on the team. It feels like there are so many heroes hanging around that there just isn't enough screen time for everyone. Folks like Wolverine and Spidey get enough panel time, but Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, and Iron Fist are lost in the background.

It comes down the same problems that Avengers 1-6 had, and that's focus. There were 6 issues dealing with this foe, who only really showed up last issue. We spent too long dealing with generic ghosts and energy falling from the sky.

I appreciate Bendis bringing Killraven to the modern Marvel U, but where does a character like that fit in? I preferred him as a potential "future Avenger."

Stuart Immonen's art is still the high point of this book, but I don't think I can justify the $3.99 anymore. I'm afraid New Avengers is switching to trades.

Fair

New Avengers #5

In an issue filled with talking about sorcery, my big problem concerns Hawkeye. First of all, Hawk has normal human strength, so have a car on top of him would really hurt, I'm not sure he could just flip it off as he does when he first appears here. My bigger problem is what he does to the team right after joining them; he leaves! He says he's needed on the other Avengers team, and that he only hung around for four issues to be with his wife. What? And yet Spider-Man and Wolverine calmly state that they won't leave, even though they are on the other team too. Is there some popularity limit where heroes can handle being in multiple books? I can appreciate Bendis wanting to define the cast of New Avengers, but there is no excuse for making Hawkeye out to be a selfish and non-dedicated Avenger.

The bulk of the issue deals with the New Avengers trying to figure out who is after the Eye of Agamatto. I'm a bit confused on just who is sending the light monsters, or how they're doing it. The motivations for the big bad have been twisted up so many times that I'm a bit confused at this point. Perhaps I'm reading too many comics, but I'm fuzzy on just who the bad guy is now. It's actually Agamatto, right?

Bendis excels where he usually does, in the dialogue. The Thing is great as he clarifies his stance on bad guys as "the guys he hits," and Spidey always sounds great when Bendis uses him. Luke Cage has faded into the background a tad, but that's ok, Iron Fist is doing well in the spotlight. The magic sub-team works well together, Daimon Hellstrom and Strange are old faves, but I'm pleased at how well Doctor Voodoo works as the Sorcerer Supreme.

This book is just too slow, though. While Stuart Immonen's art is beautiful, there are too many dialogue-less pages and unnecessary splash pages. This is just not worth 3.99. I'm bailing on the series in floppy format after next issue and switching to trades.

Fair (pushed up for the gorgeous art)

New Avengers #4

How about that metallic foil cover? That would have cost us 50 cents extra a couple years ago. (Although I suppose the silver on the Zero Hour covers was free, right?)

Bendis brings a lot of action this issue, but a lot of it is still against those fairly generic, magic ghosts. There is a fun sequence with Iron Fist rocking a new uniform where he lectures Dr. Strange, but overall not a ton changes here.

I'm enjoying all the pages Bendis spends on the prime magic-users of the Marvel U. Dr. Strange, Dr. Voodoo, and Daimon Hellstrom don't get along, but they are entertaining.

Stuart Immonen's art is wonderful. I love the new Iron Fist suit. I also love seeing Immonen drawing the Thing again. He looks perfectly bulky, giving him a nice role on this team as the strong guy.

Fair

Immortal Iron Fist v4: The Mortal Iron Fist TPB

Duane Swierczynski's take on Iron Fist reads a lot better in trade. I lost interest pretty quickly when Matt Fraction left this title, but I'm happy I gave this run another shot, I actually do like seeing Danny Rand put through his paces.

Each of the Iron Fists throughout history have died at the age of 33 (and guess who just had a birthday). Now a weird, creepy dragon man is on the prowl, hunting down the current Iron Fist. I love the flashbacks with fantastic art by Russ Heath. The flashbacks show how one of the previous Iron Fists died fighting this dragon-dude, and how an Iron Fist's death means a dragon from the Eigth City gets to try and eat the dragon of K'un L'un. The stakes are high, and the villain actually feels like he has the upper hand for this whole trade. He can anticipate all Rand's moves, and while Rand does even the odds a bit by bringing in Cage, the Daughters of the Dragon, and the Immortal Weapons, I'm not quite sure that the bad guy would lose this one. Iron Fist finds a way to win by channeling his inner rage and fighting as he would have BEFORE he became Iron Fist. It seems like a bit of a stretch, thinking that this style would be beyond the dragon-guy's ability to counter. I really dug the dragon guy's whole attitude. After killing Iron Fists for so long, he never really considers that he could lose, and it takes most of the trade before he even acknowledges that Iron Fist is a competent opponent.

Travel Foreman's art is ok, but it looks a bit like sloppy work by Leinil Francis Yu. Some panels pop nicely, but other times the characters' face are oddly veined or elongated.

The one-shot featuring Orson Randall is quite fun. It's got some cracking dialogue about pistacchio nuts that made me grin. Randall works well as a gumshoe type, so the story is a nice fit. And I always enjoy Guiseppe Camuncoli's square-jawed art.

Fair

Avengers Academy #3

Man, this book is trucking along wonderfully. Christos Gage has a cast that already feels like mainstays of the Marvel U, at least to me. By having all these guest instructors interact with the students, they really feel integrated into the Marvel U only three issues in.

This issue focuses on Hazmat, one of the more villainous-leaning students at the Avengers Academy. (I'm still thinking Veil and Reptil are good, Finesse, Stryker, and Hazmat are bad, and Mettle is in the middle.) Hazmat seems fairly spoiled; she's actually not very likable, regardless of how rough her origin was. She's actually similar to Rogue in a lot of ways, but I don't see the inherent goodness there.

While on a Scared Straight visit to the Raft (with Cage wearing a weird uniform), there are some great moments. I love the villains who get a few moments to shine. Ghost, Moonstone, and especially Juggernaut are awesome. I'm surprised to see Crossbones given a Bullseye-level of respect, he always worked best for me as an unstoppable thug more than anything else. There should be some great moments during this Thunderbolts crossover as the kids interact with more big names.

Gage isn't neglecting the experienced heroes either. Speedball is still struggling with his past. Iron Fist is still "trying to be Asian." And Valkyrie has a lot to teach the young ladies! Talk about good timing, if Tigra arrives one panel later, things would have veered into MAX territory!

Mike McKone is tremendous. I love his Juggernaut design. The Cage costume looks a little weird, but I'm pretty sure that's a carry over from the Thunderbolts title.

Excellent

New Avengers #3

I have to say I'm sort of impressed at how Bendis is giving the characters in New Avengers a chance to shine. Iron Fist, an afterthought in the first two issues, actually has some plot-importance that makes him seem like a tough guy. I appreciated how quickly he got the lay of the land and started acting heroic (after cracking wise, of course). I also think the banter between Spidey, Thing, and Ms. Marvel was inspired. The bit about Ms. Marvel having missed Ghostbusters was great, but I really dug how Spidey was insulted that the Thing wasn't going to say "Clobbering time." That's such a Spidey concern, he doesn't want to miss out on the big-time benefits of being an Avenger!

The actual conflict is still relatively weak, even after the revelation of the surprise villain. The ghost-ish monsters are generic and unimportant to the narrative; it's no better than opening a series with ninjas or robots. The ghosts just exist to give the rest of the team someone to fight. Now, they look wonderful, of course, since Stuart Immonen is drawing them, but they are awfully generic.

With a team this large, someone has be relegated to the background. Hawkeye and Mockingbird have barely been members of this team. In fact, if Jewel is going to suit up again, I wonder if the happy couple might be better off getting transferred to the Avengers title full-time.

So, while the plot is not that interesting, Bendis is doing a nice job with character moments and Immonen is rocking the art. Good enough for "Fair."

Fair

New Avengers #2

It's surprising to see the "street-level" team continuing Bendis' magic-based stories. I would have figured that was more appropriate for the Avengers Tower crew. That said, guest-stars Dr. Strange and Daimon Hellstrom immediately turn any title into a supernatural comic.

So the mysterious being who possessed the magicians last month adds Cage to his list, and the three of them go up against the Avengers. There's an amusing sequence where the team is trying to get the Eye of Agamatto out of Avengers Mansion, away from the possessed characters. They eventually succeed when Ms. Marvel snatches it and swoops away. You'd think she'd stay away, but she comes back a few moments later and poof, after a bit of musical bodies (I think the being ends up only in Iron Fist) he gets the eye and can disappear. It's funny this team is so large, half the team had almost no impact on the fight. Hawkeye, Spidey, Jewel, and even the Thing contributed almost nothing. I think the team should spend less time eating meals together and more time practicing.

Clearly this villain has history with the Earth, he repeatedly mocks the heroes and their emotional attachments to each other. I especially enjoyed when he's pretending that Cage is breaking free from possession. Dormammu is probably too obvious, and Nightmare doesn't seem like a Bendis type villain. Baron Mordo is from Earth, so I'm don't have any good guesses right now.

I still love Stuart Immonen's artwork. Giant Cage made me laugh. He does a nice Wolverine, I have to admit, I don't even think twice about him fitting in with the Avengers. I do wish that Mockingbird had her old style costume, I think Immonen would do a great job on it.

Story - Average
Art- Excellent
Overall - Fair

News from Comicon and the Past Week!

Here's the stuff that's caught my eye so far. I'm including some thoughts on the solicits of the past week too.


DC Announcements (many announements were pre-Comicon this week)

Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason are the new creative team on Batman & Robin. This is a great move by DC, I'll keep the title on my pull list for sure.

Paul Cornell is writing a Knight & Squire limited for DC. Sounds totally excellent, I can't wait. In anticipation of many re-reads, I'm going to wait for the trade.

David Finch is getting a new Batman book. I'll wait for the library, thanks.

Marc Guggenheim is taking over JSA after James Robinson finishes his current story. I really dug Bill Willingham's take, so I think I'll bow out after the crossover.

DC is putting out a new THUNDER Agents book. I have no exposure to these guys, so I have no idea if this will be any good. I'm not sure what to think of the creative team either!

Static is back in his own ongoing series! Yay! It's not written by Dwayne McDuffie! Boo. So much for that idea. I'll sit this one out.

Tyler Kirkham is the new penciller on Green Lantern Corps. I expect it to be Silvestri-iffic!
Christos Gage is back in the DCU with a Ragman 1-shot. Sold!

Tiny Titans is crossing over with Archie. My daughters are sold on the Titans these days, I wonder if they'll cross over?

Marvel Announcements (limited details so far)

• Joss Whedon confirmed himself as the director of the Avengers movie. I predict a bigger part for Wasp!
• Fred Van Lente is following up his Shadowland: Power Man series with a Power Man & Iron Fist limited. Mark me down for the trades!
• Mark Waid is coming back to Cap with a new limited, Captain America: Man Out of Time! Sold! Any chance Ron Garney can do the art?
  
• Jonathan Hickman and Carlos Pacheco launch Ultimate Thor in October. I look forward to picking this up from the library! If anything could pull me back into the Ultimate U for real, this might have been it.
• Holy cow! Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are launching Thor/Iron Man this fall! That should be awesome!
• Rocket Raccoon and Groot have a limited series from DnA too. Are you kidding? I mean, I'm buying it, but wow!

New Avengers #1

I don't know how he's done it, but Bendis has been on the Avengers long enough that this, just like the "classic" Avengers title, feels like a happy return. The whole New Avengers "hanging around" format has been going on so long that this is now a legitimate type of Avengers story.

This first issue is really Luke Cage's show. Steve Rogers gives him permission to form his own team, and Stark sells Cage Avengers mansion for a buck (that Cage needs to borrow from Iron Fist). From there, it's the most casual membership drive ever, as the main meetings seem to be on a patio and in the dining room. As near as I can tell, the team is Cage, Thing, Spidey, Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, and Iron Fist.

The first threat looks fun too, some possessing creature is targeting the magicians of the Marvel U. Any bets on Dormammu? And there is no way they're switching back to Dr. Strange for Sorcerer Supreme, right?

Stuart Immonen keeps everything looking stunning, as expected. His Cage and Iron Fist are particularly impressive, with their different postures and body types. The new shirtless Daimon Hellstrom actually looks cool here too.

I'll say it; Marvel is on a roll with the Heroic Age.

Good

Best of 2000's: #9: Immortal Iron Fist

#9: Immortal Iron Fist #1-14 by Matt Fraction and David Aja

Suddenly Iron Fist was a kung-fu genius like those I'd seen in the movies rather than a cool-looking super hero with an Eastern flair. When Matt Fraction started naming Iron Fist's moves with creative names, I fell in love with this title. Not only did Fraction make Danny Rand cool(er), he added wonderful depth to the overall mythos. Suddenly we had a lineage of Iron Fists, with the surly Orson Randall living past his prime and drinking his way around the world. Randall and Rand's adventures led to the revelation of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven, where readers lucky enough to meet Fat Cobra. Fat Cobra needs to appear in at least one comic a month, this guy is just tremendous. He's almost too much like Hercules, but how can you not like this guy who needs his "victory wenches" after combat?

This series was so well-received that it basically launched Fraction's Marvel career and landed Iron Fist a spot on the Avengers. Not bad for a low-selling title about a 2nd string character.

David Aja's kung-fu is strong. The martial arts always looked tremendous, but the subway battle with Hydra took the cake. With two Iron Fists flying around on wires cutting everybody to shreds, it was just about the perfect comic book battle.

Excellent

Merry Christmas!

It looks like Deathlok got you a Wolverine!

My present to you all is a preview of Marvel's March solicits on ComicsPlusBlog!

I may be a bit slow over the next week or so, but then again, maybe not. I'll still be reading a ton of comics, the question is, will I have time to review them?

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that you all get a few of those trade paperbacks you've been asking for!

Thunderbolts #137

Rick Remender doesn't capture the voices of the Tbolts exactly right in this fill-in. Ant-Man is a little stupider than he is normally, Paladin is a little more evil, and the Ghost isn't as hard to pin down; they're all pretty much bad guys. That said, I like the idea for the story here. Osborn is so mad at Luke Cage for betraying him that he has captured Iron Fist and has successfully brainwashed him into joining the Thunderbolts. After sending the team after Cage, there's a nice little sequence where Iron Fist has to cast off his programming to side with his best friend once again. Remender does a great job with the banter during the battles, his jargon-spouting Scourge was very enjoyable. I liked Ant-Man's predicament too. We don't see villains stuck in a heroes gut for most of an issue very often. I really dug how powerful Remender's Heroes for Hire were. Iron Fist kicked the crap out of just about everyone and Cage was unstoppable. They really came across as pillars of the Marvel U, which was fun to see.

The gore factor is pretty high here. When Osborn snatches Iron Fist, he kills a bunch of Rand employees and orders the death of even more. I understand the plot reasons these folks needed to be taken out, but man, I do question the need for such a high body count. I think the point could have come across without so much death. I think Remender and I have very different views on how much collateral damage is necessary to get a dramatic point across.

Mahmud Asrar did a good job keeping things looking consistent with the normal art in Thunderbolts. Ghost, Headsman, Scourge, and the Heroes for Hire looked exactly on model. Paladin's modern suit looked a bit off, but that seems to be difficult for a lot of artists.

Good

Immortal Weapons #1

Holy cow this was a lot of fun. Having a big doofus like Fat Cobra to build a story around lets Jason Aaron cut loose with the ideas. Fat Cobra has commissioned a man to write about his life, from birth to the present. Due to huge amounts of alcohol, Fat Cobra can't remember his own history.

As you can guess, Fat Cobra has lived a very interesting life. In fact, Aaron has so many ideas that he has to cram each great idea into only one panel. These are concepts that frankly could support whole series or limiteds. C'mon, who doesn't want to read about Nick Fury and Fat Cobra battling Russian werewolf-cosmonauts on the Moon or Union Jack and Fat Cobra vs. Nazi Vampire Ninjas? The whole issue is like that, with ideas coming a mile a minute that just make Fat Cobra cooler and more fun. Aaron tried to go for the heart when we find out that Cobra's kids all teamed up to kill their irresponsible Dad, but instead he killed them. By the time the story gets there, Cobra is clearly a man with no boundaries. Trying to tie him down with that sadness just didn't feel right. But Aaron took care of that too, having Cobra drown the memories of the book in wine as he burned the manuscript. Cobra will be just as we like him in his next appearance.

A few different artists tackle the different parts of Cobra's life, and they all do nice work. The ball is in your court, Marvel, how about a Fat Cobra ongoing? Legends of Fat Cobra? Fat Cobra Classified? I can only hope the next Immortal Weapon book is this good.

Excellent

Immortal Iron Fist #26

I'm kind of torn on the conclusion to the 8th City storyline. Duane Swircynski has done a decent job in the last year on this title, but at this point, I'm certainly not loving the book that I'm going to be upset if this really is cancelled. I know there are plans for a limited series with the Immortal Weapons, but that really seems like enough for this incarnation of the character. Iron Fist is a great character, but he may be one of those guys that works better in ensemble stories.

This storyline has had some neat moments, and it is a good thing to have a book so unlike everything else coming out from Marvel. Perhaps the story just went on a bit too long, but I found myself a bit disengaged from the story here. I had really liked it when we first explored the 8th City, but at this point I'm more anxious to see Danny back in his normal life. I think this story has been split up by some fill-ins too, so I think this may just be a case where the story feels like it has gone on too long. There are some nice bits Fat Cobra where he has some fantastic boasts, but there is not a lot for the rest of the Weapons. Davos shows up at the end with a rifle, but after his build up over the last few months, he gives up kind of easily and Iron Fist basically just talks everyone into peacefully resolving their conflict. I don't know if I like having someone named the Steel Serpent using a gun... I would have preferred some kung-fu. The banished convicts of the 8th City seem to be re-integrating into K'un L'un, which sets up a neat new status quo, but it just took a long time to get there.

Travel Foreman's art is muddier than usual. People's bodies were oddly distorted in some of the panels, and at times the energy surrounding Iron Fist seemed blurry and made it hard to discern where he ended and his power begain.

Average