Tpull's Weekly Marvel Comics Review – Part One

Captain America 600

by various

It’s a massive anniversary issue, packed with goodies. They lead off with a quick Alex Ross-painted intro that has been published before, then launch into “One Year Later,” as Ed Brubaker visits all of the cast to see what state they are in one year after Steve Rogers was assassinated. The story segments break up into parts illustrated by Butch Guice, Howard Chaykin, Rafael Albuquerque, David Aja, and Mitch Breitweiser. So yeah, we’ve got a modern star-studded artist’s squadron at work here.

Sharon Carter’s memories are still splotchy, but she is remembering little bits more, and she uses these flashes to track down the actual gun she used to shoot Cap. It’s not a regular gun. Chaykin’s part covers the slightly-deranged Cap from the ‘50s, from the perspective of a guy who was also woken up out of a deep-freeze and never learned to accept that times have changed. Bucky from the alternate Earth (remember Heroes reborn?) tracks down Patriot from the Young Avengers and gets introduced to his team, and David Aja shows us Crossbones in prison, and what happens when he finds out that Sin is being held in the same facility. Watch out!

The new Cap wants to show up in full colors to pay tribute to Steve Rogers’ memorial, but Black Widow talks sense into him, to prevent Osborn and the Dark Avengers from endangering civilians there, and turning the memorial into a bloody farce. They show up in civilian clothes instead, and watch helplessly as Osborn twists things to make it look like he supported the living legend. Glimpses at the Red Skull and Sharon Carter, though, suggest that something else really happened to Steve, and maybe he can be “saved.” Everyone pretty much figured it would happen sooner or later, so stay tuned to see if this will be a red herring, or the twist that will bring Rogers back.

Roger Stern writes “In Memoriam” with Kalman Andrasofszky, bringing us up to speed on a couple of Steve Roger’s old supporting civilian cast from back in the day. Bernie and Josh are good characters, and it’s nice to see them, even though a lot of the stories related are the two of them catching up on stories that have taken place within the series affecting them and other close supporting cast members of that period in the comic. It reads well, but the art is a little disappointing, and would have been better with a different inker, other than the artist.

Mark Waid writes “The Persistence of Memorabilia” with Dale Eaglesham on the art, and this is one of my favorite stories in the entire comic. The reporter, true to life, gets everything wrong up front, and we get an inside look at the people buying some “Cap stuff” at an auction, things that are of particular importance to each of them. Eaglesham is great at letting the picture tell the story so you can get a good feeling just from one look at what an item might mean to the bidder.

Joe Simon writes a great article on the origins of his Bulletin Board. It’s only a couple of pages, but he writes so well and so concise, you can almost feel Jack Kirby’s frustration at his memory lapses. At the end, there’s a reprint of Captain America Comics #16, from back in 1942. It’s by Stan Lee and Al Avison, and this one story has a ton of elements that the modern reader might recognize today. Remember when the Red Skull dressed up in Cap’s uniform over in Wolverine: Old Man Logan? He does it here, but for a more definite purpose. The Red Skull also discovers Cap’s secret identity in this same issue, and reminiscent of Civil War, the papers brand Cap a traitor thanks to the Red Skull’s impersonation. Back then, these were just a couple plot points in a big story. You can have fun seeing the difference in the way modern comic teams use the same elements, but slow them down and do big pin-ups of them. Can anyone say decompression?

After all the stories, there’s a multi-page pin-up of covers for Captain America, all 600 of them. For $4.99, that’s a lot of material! I can’t remember the last time I got that much good stuff for a good price. The reprint was something hardly anybody has read, and it felt like an extra bonus besides, so I set aside my normal ranting against including relatively recent reprints in the newer overpriced books.

Captain Britain and MI:13 14

by Paul Cornell and Leonard Kirk

Last month, I was irritated by the nonsensical moves that allowed Dracula to defeat the super-team so quickly. Turns out, it was all a dream! The imprisoned Plokta earns his freedom by trying to trick Dracula, and even though he breaks free, Pete Wisdom still lets Plokta go. This makes last issue slightly less stupid, although comic fans like the 'it was a dream’ excuse slightly less than soap opera fans.

The Black Knight does nothing more than moon over Faiza. The two forces battle, but Lilith forces Captain Britain back. Leonard Kirk’s art is still good, but the splotches of blood on all the vampires looks fake, and many of the details seem rushed. As a result of the recent annual, Doctor Dooms sends Meggan towards Dracula, calling herself Gloriana now. Next issue may be more interesting, depending on how they execute it, but having Meggan on the opposite side of the heroes is a good idea to invoke tension. Overall, this is still just an average book, there isn’t much that’s begging for you to pay it attention.

Invincible Iron Man 14 `

by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca

Tony is still losing his marbles, and downgrading to older suits that are easier for him to manage. It’s a little weird, because most of the newer suits should have easier user interfaces, but I better not think about a comic book too much these days, right? Dmitri is in the Crimson Dynamo suit again somehow, and he decides to help out once he realizes it’s Tony crossing into Russia.

Pepper gets a scene, mostly to settle on her new super-hero name… which is Rescue. No joke. What a waste.

Tony’s repulsor generators are hidden around the world, because what kind of a hero millionaire would you be if you didn’t have a mind-numbingly complex method to lobotomize yourself? It’s like Tony’s journey has become a big Rube Goldberg contraption, and we just have to follow it along Pepper ends up following Tony into Russia, where he is using the Dynamo armor to move undetected.

I’m ready for this storyline to end. It is hopelessly convoluted, and needlessly so. It’s like the writer can’t think of anything better to do with the character, or maybe there’s an editorial edict that says to keep Tony out of the way until Dark Reign is over. Whatever the case, this series is boring right now, despite the good art.

The Mighty Avengers 26

by Brian Dan Slott and Stephen Segovia

Part two of the invasion of the Baxter Building! One interesting thing that Slott is doing most assuredly on purpose: Jarvis walks in on Hank kissing Jocasta! Ewww! Later, continuity-minded Jarvis points out that Hank created Ultron, and Ultron created her, so she’s making out with her grandpa. Jocasta responds that Hank is the father of artificial intelligence, so it’s more like she’s kissing God. Is it just me, or should we all still be going, “Ewww!!”

Ants with modified tech fool Reed for a few minutes into thinking the Skrulls are attacking, and the image inducers used by the rest of the team help to fool the others, but Stature can’t go against the FF, and she confesses everything to Sue. Reed lays a trap for Hank, and Hank calls up Amadeus to help him figure a way out of it, and at the end of the day, Hank manages to show Reed what he needs the device for, so Reed actually lets Hank walk away with it. Oh, and Amadeus gets owned by two-year-old Valeria. Does his ranking go down?

Jocasta becomes the final part of Salvation Two, which would be ominous for most longtime fans who remember that Salvation One nearly took out Thor, Iron Man, and Cap. This time, the feeling is that Hank is not having a breakdown, but that he has a plan. Despite him taking the name Wasp and making out with his robots, he does actually seem to have it all together regarding everything else. The art has a slight Kirby feel to it in places, and visually, it’s one of the more distinct books out there.

So aside from the “ewww” factor, it’s a pretty good read.

War Machine 7

by Greg Pak, Allan Jefferson, Mahmud Asrar, and RB Silva

Pak uses flashbacks yet again to show us how Rhodey’s body got chopped up, leading to his current configuration. The problem is, Pak has used this formula in too many of his books, and I’m a little flashbacked-out by now. We’re still fighting the threat of Ultimo, but without much guiding intelligence behind it.

American Eagle lends a hand, and they break into the Ultimo head, and finds out its CPU is in three places. The end shows us War Machine is heading for Tony Stark. ?? Marvel is getting lousy at letting us know when things take place. This is smack dab in the middle of Osborn’s Dark Reign, which should mean Tony has lost everything and is becoming a vegetable. Is this an LMD, or did they just throw their meta-story consistency to the wind again? Add in three artists and two inkers, and you have an inconsistent comic in art and story, and they are wasting what was a great re-launch into a third-tier, soon-to-be-cancelled mistake.

Wolverine: Origins 37

by Daniel Way and Doug Braithwaite

Scot Eaton is present for some really good art sequences. The story itself is simple and moves fast: wolverine is tracking down Romulus through his assistant, but Logan is being played, and walks right into a trap. The carbonadium synthesizer is at the final destination, and so is Omega Red. Victor Hudson walks on, and next issue the two bitter foes will fight. Will poor Logan ever get to see Romulus? Maybe he should go ask somebody for help after all, he’s not having much luck on his own…

X-Men: Legacy 225

by Mike Carey and Phil Briones

Daniel Acuna gives us a family portrait of sorts for the cover, and I think he’s improving his art! Inside, Xavier is going back to the Acolytes, having come to a conclusion about exodus’ movement. Exodus is the one who brought him back and started the repairs, so to speak. Carey and Briones manage to paint a fantastic story that is thick with history, feeling, and action. They showcase a telepath at his most fearsome, using Xavier in a competent way that most people haven’t, reminding us why he is considered the most powerful telepath on the planet.

Actually, considering how lousy Xavier has been used in the past, I’m tempted to think he suffered some brain damage after the whole Brood clone saga years back. With his memories gone and being forced to essentially rebuild himself, we have returned Xavier to his roots, and the end product is somebody who makes me nervous! That’s good writing.

Just when we think Xavier has gotten through to Exodus, and looks to be convincing him to join up with Cyclops’ group in California, Osborn shows up asking for Xavier’s time. Oh boy, what now? You can bet I’ll be there to find out, this is some of Mike Carey’s best work.

Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

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