The Amazing Spider-Man 558

by Bob Gale and Barry Kitson

One of the more difficult things to figure out in a comic is pacing. With the three-times-a-week schedule and multiple cooks in the kitchen, there is a ton of added difficulty. Case is point, every issue we are treated to basically the same fake news blurb that serves to remind us that there is a spider-tracer killer out there, and the police want Spidey not just for questioning, but also for not registering his powers. With all of the different writers, this Spider-Tracer killer plot has been left dangling so much that many people have forgotten about it, and the editor doesn’t even care enough to change the wording on the “DB” page to give us an update. It is simply a marker to remind us that they will get back to it whenever they find the time. It’s a poor way to tell a story.

The second problem is that with so many writers, they have set up too many sub-plots. They have to devote a couple pages to the plot of Parker moving out of his aunt’s house, a couple on Freak, a couple on JJJ and his wife, a couple on the political race sub-plot, and some screen time to Menace. Phew! By the time we’re done with all that, Spidey has eight pages left to take care of Freak, this new “evolves-until he-can’t be-beat” villain. So of course, Spidey takes him out in eight convenient pages.

Barry Kitson takes care of the art, so we have a continuation of a great rotating cycle of excellent artists getting practice in on drawing Spider-Man, but the stories themselves are forgettable. Say what you want to about Straczynski’s stories, because you love them or hate them, sometimes both at once. But whether it was the magical aspect of his powers, the Other, the Gwen Stacy thing, getting Pete back together with MJ… you could at least remember them.

Avengers/Invaders 1

by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger, and Steve Sadowski

The first issue of a twelve-issue limited series, this is one title that could be a casualty of a heavy “event” season in comic book land. There are some very minor problems in here, one of which is the excellent cover bears no relation to what actually happens inside the pages. The first issue is mostly introduction and setup, and everyone involved seems to be able to recognize the Invaders. If they were playing things closer to reality, they might think “Cap is back!” and confuse the modern-day Namor and the Human Torch from the Fantastic Four, but all of that is completely skipped, and the stage is set for everyone to automatically think it is the Invaders.

Those nitpicks aside, we’re going to have some awesome art by Alex Ross as usual, Krueger tends to tell good stories, and there are all sorts of dramatic possibilities between a living Steve Rogers, and all of it playing out during an invasion by the Skrulls. That said, we already have one fake Cap over in Secret Invasion, and who knows how many more times that card will be played before we get tired of it.

Invincible Iron Man 1

by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca

We have a solid creative team and a hit movie, so that is why it is mildly surprising to see such a “mature” issue number one to hit the stands. The recent movie was very family friendly, and you might think that Marvel would go the family-friendly route that they are doing on Spider-Man right now. Instead, we have a dark opening with people getting killed in a terrorist attack, followed by an introduction to Tony Stark showing him about to climb on a lady in lingerie. Not exactly the thing that pops into your head when you think about trying to capitalize on a major motion picture.

The plot is very black and white, as the immediate suspected enemy is the Advanced Genocide Mechanics, as if the bad guys ever chose to give themselves such an obviously evil group name. Tony’s Extremis powers and how everything works together is glossed over in as few words as humanly possible, so returning readers might be a little confused about what has happened to Iron Man over the years. Also, instead of a self-contained story, we are treated to the opening salvo of what looks like a three- or six-part story arc. The art and colors are great, and Matt Fraction tends to hit more often than he misses, but this reads just like another normal Iron Man story, not any great new beginning or fresh start. Oh, and it is completely divorced from any mention of Skrulls.

Nova 13

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Wellington Alves

With the major threat from the Phalanx over, Nova has gone back to his “normal routine” of being the police officer of the galaxy. His next corner beat, though, is a planet being devoured by Galactus. As if that’s not enough, there’s also a psychic killer on the loose. The art continues to engage just as much as the story. One of the neat things about this title: you can pick up almost any issue and be up to speed very fast. This is a great comic to just hand out any random issue to someone and say, “Here. Try this.”

Secret Invasion 2

by Brian Bendis and Leinil Yu

Bendis is trying hard to be clever. As if things cannot be potentially confusing enough, every 80s character that pops out of the crashed spaceship is pretending to be who they are, but some of them might just be human after all. In the meantime, Tony can suddenly talk, it’s only his armor that is out of commission now, unlike what appeared to happen in the first issue. They also spend an entire page having a Skrull take Sentry out of the picture, only to draw the same two guys duking it out still on the very next page. As usual, the creative team is so busy trying to be clever, they mess up on the simplest of things, like fight choreography. For a good lesson in how to draw massive super-human battles, see George Perez, or an old issue of the Legion of Super Heroes.

Next we are supposed to believe that a dinosaur can scare Thor and Phoenix out of the way, and successfully scatter all the rest of the super fighters. Following Tony, he figures he has been hit by a virus, and says he will have to build from scratch. Nice, let’s just ignore that Extremis is part of him and tied directly into his nervous system. All he needs is a new tin suit for his outside, and he’ll be peachy keen next issue!

Meanwhile, a Skrull Captain Marvel has invaded Thunderbolts headquarters. Is it the Skrull Captain Marvel we read about in the recent mini-series? We don’t know, because it isn’t mentioned in this entire issue! Nothing like introducing concepts and then forgetting them for a twenty-page meaningless battle. Secret Invasion was supposed to be a shocking, mind-shattering epic that challenged our perceptions and made things exciting. Instead we’ve been given meaningless, poorly-choreographed fight scenes, delayed plot points, and “reveals” of characters who are Skrulls that mean nothing so far.

This is the most over-hyped series in recent history. I wanted to like it, but it’s only the second issue, and we’ve moved nowhere besides one super-fight. Between the lame way Hawkeye “died” and was brought back, and Wanda’s “no more mutants” meaning 198 mutants, it’s hard to see what the excitement is all about. There is nothing so far that makes me want to recommend this to anyone.

Thunderbolts: Reason in Madness 1

by Christos N. Gage and Ben Oliver.

The Thunderbolt one-shots have been a good idea, allowing the major storylines to advance in the main title, while feeding us a little extra character development on the side. This story focuses on Gargan/Venom and Norman Osborn. It may not be the best comic out this week, but it’s good and solid, and at least as memorable as most of the other titles reviewed this week.

X-Factor: The Quick and the Dead 1

by Peter David and Pablo Raimondi

Quicksilver has gotten a little lost in the shuffle lately, and this one-shot gets us up to speed on what happened. Pietro has always had a screw loose, and he sort of went further downhill after House of M. In some strange way, all of the changes that were wrought on him by the Terrigen mists have resolved so that he appears to have his original powers back. While another example of Marvel resetting their characters without much in the way of explanation, this story feels unresolved. We are left at the end not knowing too much about what his mental state is. Maybe that’s the point.

When next we see Quicksilver, will it be as hero or villain? And where and when will he appear? And how long until someone accuses him of being a Skrull?

Young X-Men 2

by Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette

As if the first issue wasn’t bad enough. Long-time readers will remember the teenagers Dani and Amara, but they enlisted Terry Dodson for the cover art, to give us exceedingly endowed women. Way to avoid the stereotypical sexism of portraying females as one-dimensional sex objects, guys. It’s basically false advertising anyway, because the inside looks nothing like the cover.

The writing is atrocious. The story picks up with the team tackling the original New Mutants and getting their butts kicked. Then it is revealed that they have been through three weeks (!) of “intensive” training. No offense, but if Cyclops spent three weeks with a team and they were still performing this badly, he’d call up the sentinels himself to take out the trash.

Then, it turns out that Santo has taken all of the three weeks to actually question Cyclops about how the New Mutants went bad, and Cyke gives them a non-answer… that everyone meekly accepts. A couple of pages later, Cyclops is dividing the team, and he calls one team consisting of Santo, Rockslide, Dust, and Wolfcub. An editor worth his two cents, or for that matter any random passerby might have pointed out that Santo IS Rockslide!!!! It’s like they are sleep-writing, sleep-drawing, and sleep-editing this title.

Later, Blindfold switches from speaking in first-person to speaking in third-person for no discernible reason. The fight choreography is the worst ever: Dani Moonstar goes from a hand-to-hand combat exchange in one panel to managing to pull an entire rifle from the wall in the next. And then she fires at point-blank range. And SHE MISSES!!!! When we get back to their fight, Dani has gotten behind Blindfold and is somehow able to hold the rifle at arm’s length to Blindfold’s head, and still get her other arm around Blindfold’s neck. The art is disgusting, and it’s fairly easy to tell that nobody here has any real experience with firearms. Oh, did I mention that Dani was drawn with a bow and arrow on the cover too?

Here’s to hoping this title dies a fast, inglorious death.
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

Daredevil: Blood of the Tarantula

by Ed Brubaker, Ande Parks and Chris Samnee

Spinning out of the regular series is this one-shot, with the focus on Tarantula. Daredevil is mostly a cameo, but it plays out well. A one-shot was a great idea for this story, and hopefully Marvel will do more of them. These are great little reads for the average person, who may not want to come in for a four-part mini-series.

The art depicts the grim and gritty street life, with sparse backgrounds so you can focus on the character Brubaker and company flesh out more of Tarantula’s character, and raise some interesting questions about how similar his methods are to Daredevil’s. The plot itself is fairly standard, but it’s a good read overall.

The Immortal Iron Fist 7

by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Tonci Zonjic, Clay Mann, and Kano

It’s the grand finale, with the flashback tale of Wendell Rand and Orson Randall coming to a conclusion, and the major storyline wraps up most things as well. The Wendell/Orson story is almost a diversion, but it’s hard to say that it would have been better if presented as one entire flashback issue. If there’s one complaint I have about the entire story, it’s that we do not get to see enough of the Immortal Weapons. I think these guys could stand to have their own series, with the right artist and writer.

Rather than go through each plot line, let me just say that there are satisfying endings for Xao, Davos, Yu-Ti, the Thunderer, and all of the rest of this large cast. At the same time, there is a ton of potential to see how each one of them develops in the future. This creative team is leaving after issue 16, so cross your fingers and hope that they keep the momentum going on this title. While not among my favorites, I find this title worthwhile to pick up every time it comes out.

Thor: Ages of Thunder

by Matt Fraction, Patrick Zircher, and Khari Evans

It’s a good idea to have Marko Djurdjevic on duty for the cover, he is consistently excellent (even if Jelena Djurdjevic is following him around on color duty all the time now). The art for the entire story is excellent, evoking a sense of majesty and war. The art style for the second part, by Khari Evans, has a more fairy-tale look to it that fits well with the mythology roots of Thor and Asgard.

The story contains all of the elements that Marvel and mythology fans love: deception from Loki, arrogance of the dieties, cinematic action, and all sorts of participation by Heimdall, Enchantress, and the rest of the Norse cast of characters. These two-tales-in-one also add some detail to one of the roots of the beginning of Thor in the Marvel universe, his punishment from Odin. We have been told many times that Thor was punished for being arrogant, but the picture they paint for us here shows how Thor started down that path, and even why it might have been understandable for him to hold those attitudes.

Although this is billed as a one-shot, the next part of the tale comes out in Thor: Reign of Blood. Is this Marvel’s new way of doing a mini-series, by issuing a series of related one-shots? Not a bad idea, really. A reader can pick up one and have a self-contained story, but if you are intrigued, you can look up the next chapter in the saga.

X-Men: Legacy 210

by Mike Carey, Greg Land, and Scot Eaton

Talk about your heavy hitters. Scot Eaton does the “regular” and “mindscape” art, while Greg Land does the flashback sequences. We travel through a history of Xavier’s past, littered with death and destruction, but it doesn’t have much impact on him, because Charles has lost most of his memories in the first place. Although the art is impressive, the story itself only works if you are a long-time reader. If not, most of the flashbacks will hold little meaning for you.

However, if you are a long-time fan, then get ready for some real fun. Mike Carey seems to have found his real stride as a writer on this title, and the stage is set for the return of several characters. I won’t spoil it for you, but the last few pages are a setup for things to come, and they are intriguing enough to make my mind start spinning in “what if” circles about what may be coming up in this title.

I would probably recommend this title for the art alone (which is a rarity in and of itself), but this may actually turn out to be one of the best places to jump on this title if you’ve been away for a while. Just like Xavier himself, this has the feel of a fresh start.
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

The Amazing Spider-Man 557

by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo

Although Chris Bachalo has been my least favorite artist since the brand new day stuff started, I must admit he does draw Mayan death deities fairly well. The fight scene is also well-choreographed, with some out-of-the-box style of thinking on how to portray it, literally and figuratively.

The Mayan deity’s defeat is rather lame, though, as rescue comes in the form of homeless people, and the fact that the bums have beards is what sets the “god” to quivering and backing off. Since the title comes out three times a month, perhaps the readers will not be too irritated that the Freak storyline got put on hold for so many issues. Barry Kitson is the next artist, yay!

Ms. Marvel 26

by Brian Reed, Adriana Melo, and Ron Frenz

What plans are in store for Agent Sum? The introduction of this issue gives us a clue to his background, but it feels contrived, because the only reason it is shown is so the reader can know what Ms. Marvel is talking about later. Divorced from all other parts of the ongoing story, starting off the issue this way is very awkward.

The rest is actually good, as Secret Invasion kicks into high gear. As high alert as everyone is on, it is highly amusing to see how easily a Skrull joins a S.H.I.E.L.D. detachment. We also find out William Wagner is not dead, but that was pretty much a given. The writer has been dangling some sort of secret for the past few months associated with him, it wouldn’t make much sense to kill him and not let us know what it was.

I will say this, though: the new Skrulls suck at using their powers. Each one has a ton of the X-Men’s powers, but they only seem to use one or two at a time. If they had bothered to practice at all, they might have a better chance in fights. So much for military training. It would be great, I one of these Secret Invasion tie-ins, to see at least one veteran Skrull warrior who knows what to do with his powers.

New Exiles 5

by Chris Claremont and Tom Grummett

Leave it to Claremont, who used to take great pains to develop unique characters with unique voices, to butcher Morph’s character. Morph is used the entire issue to throw out pious, “we will overcome” sayings that have been trite backdrops for Claremont stories for decades. What happened to the class clown? What happened to ye olde editor, who should be scratching his head wondering why Storm and Morph and Rogue all sound like the same person.

Later, a mishap has Kitty in strange clothing that she can’t phase out of, although every other aspect of her power works fine, so explain that one. In the meantime the plot revolves around a prince who appears to have fallen in love with a dragon, all within a fairy-tale setting. I’m hoping against hope that the dragon can at least turn into a person of some sort, in order to keep this close to a family-friendly book. The story ends with a monologue from Morph, expounding upon how they may never be rescued, but the have to make things better where they are. How noble. How cliché. How long until we get a new writer?

Thor 8

by J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel

Straczynski expands on hidden lore from Asgard’s past, as Odin reveals how he came to adopt Loki, adding a slight twist that successfully adds to the history of Thor without contradicting anything else. It is also interesting enough to have made the effort worthwhile, something that Straczynski also did with Spider-Man; it shows that he puts serious thought into whatever topic he is writing. It is nice to see such respect to the character, in light of other things going on with most of the rest of the Marvel universe.

It is also worth noting that the issue is mostly talking heads, but the topics are gripping, and constantly engage the reader. Look carefully at the art, and the way certain people are depicted, to show how the wool is pulled over Don Blake’s eyes at the hospital. I don’t want to spoil it, but they choreographed the art very carefully to give the reader clues, but subtly enough that you might not catch every meaning until the big reveal is made. This is becoming one of my top Marvel titles.

Uncanny X Men 497

by Ed Brubaker and Salvador Larroca

One thing I appreciate from Brubaker more than almost any other writer is his cinematic feel for purposeful fights. As many decades as many of us have spent reading comics, there are a lot of opening scenes that are throw-aways, meaning the writer wanted to open with some action, either to get it out of the way, or to create some sort of action feel. It has been done countless thousands of times, and does nothing to advance the plot.

Brubaker consistently handles the X-Men better. The opening fight scene happens for a very specific reason; Wolverine’s comment about meeting the guys outside shows his utter faith in them with four simple words; Logan’s leap after an unconscious Nightcrawler displays his loyalty and willingness to self-sacrifice. All of this in just a few pages while still giving us rip-roaring action… and all in service of advancing the plot instead of a throw-away. Nice!

The rest of the issue centers around Scott and Emma, setting up for revealing the source of Hippie-land next issue. If only the title can stay this solid at #500 and onward.

Wolverine: First Class 2

by Fred Van Lente and Andrea Di Vito

It’s the second time around for Wolverine hanging out with Kitty, and they did well again. Van Lente has paid attention to continuity, and even remembers Kitty Pryde’s awkwardness around Nightcrawler, leading to an amusing story beat.

This type of setting actually fills a big void in the current Wolverine titles: his mentoring of younger women. Some of the best stories that involve Logan also tend to involve him being in a bad situation, but having to look out for someone young enough to be reasonably treated as an innocent bystander, but usually with powers enough that he can call on her to pull some weight. It’s a great relationship that has been repeated with Jubilee, a little with Armor, and even once with Katie Power from the Power Pack (see Uncanny X-Men #205).

The way Kitty gets back at Logan at the end is priceless. Oh, and a good mini-marvels comic strip at the very end. So far, this title is just as worth getting as X-Men: First Class, and maybe even slightly better.

X-Force 3

by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, and Clayton Crain

I will refrain from commenting on the major plot concerning the bad guys, just because I would like to see more of it before I jump to conclusions. I will say, however, that turning Reverend Craig from a religious zealot into someone closer to a cold-blooded killer is a shallow caricature of what was a more-complex character, and it makes him something of a meaningless shadow of what he used to be.

Gripe #2: the computer-generated art shots of the team creeping along with only their glowing red eyes and red belts is getting really old really quick, and we’re only on issue 3. The narration is all by Warpath, but the pictures all focus on Wolverine. Five pages of our heroes doing nothing more than stumbling across Rahne, followed by two more pages later of getting back to Colorado with her. That’s all we get of our new undercover team in a 22-page book.

Then, to top it all off, Logan tells Angel to go get Elixir for healing. Now, regular readers know that Angel has a ‘secondary mutation” that gives his blood healing properties (because Wolverine’s healing factor, the old Morlock healer, Elixir’s abilities, and Rogue’s copying of those abilities just wasn’t enough to help out previous X-writers), with the limitation that the victim has to have the same blood type as Warren. Does Rahne have the same blood type? Let’s assume not, because otherwise Angel could have healed her right then. But not explaining something so major when you have so much room to do so is inexcusable. It means either the writer forgot Angel’s powers, or the editor, or both. It’s not like the art was so precious they couldn’t spare a word balloon or two to explain why a very relevant power would not work. Instead, they leave it all unsaid, and we have to just sort it out on our own, because the plotters-that-be can’t be bothered. I hope the majority of comic readers aren’t bothered to pick up the title.

Next issue: More glowy red eyes and belts! How original! Ooh, I can’t wait! (/end sarcasm)

X-Men: First Class 11

by Jeff Parker, Nick Dragotta, and Colleen Coover

Short and sweet, this title can be a hit-or-miss, and it was mostly miss for me this time, although they tried to do a continuity-type spoof. The art is even more kiddy-simplified than usual, and we get no Cyclops or Angel this time around. I’m hoping for better next time.
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

Annihilation: Conquest 6

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, Tom Raney, and Wellington Ives

There is a lot going on with a multitude of characters in this final issue, but somehow everything seems to fit right in, and comfortably so. Granted, the wrap-up issue seems to conclude a lot of things in a very convenient fashion, but it’s hard to write a six-issue mini-series without doing exactly that. Even so, they still leave us with a teaser, by having Adam Warlock talk about an even greater threat to come than both the Phalanx and Annihilus. It is becoming a common cliché to speak of greater trials to come at the end of a story, but we know it leads into the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy series, so it’s easy to forgive them. Who knows what extras might come out in the trade paperback of this series? This was a great ride.

Captain Marvel 5

by Brian Reed and Lee Weeks

Another mini-series has its conclusion, and to be honest, by the end of issue 4, it’s hard to figure out if there is any way they could have ended this story that would have satisfied me. I predicted this would be the real Mar-Vell, because it shows him popping through space-time to appear before the Sentry in Civil War: the Return. Sentry’s Cloc verifies it’s Mar-Vell, and Sentry brings in Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic, arguably the two smartest humans in existence in the Marvel Universe. They put him in charge of the entire freaking prison facility!

It turns out, he’s a sort-of clone, a Skrull with memory implants. Falsies, if you will. And if you’re a somewhat regular guy like me, you don’t like falsies. If you end up with a woman who has storeboughts, it feels like false advertising, which is what this entire series feels like now. Although this is more interesting than the idea of time-yanking, it immediately brings to mind the Spidey-clone story, and we are left with the bad taste in our mouth of having bought an entire mini-series based on the premise that one of our favorite heroes had come back… and it’s not him. Ben Reilly, anyone?

It’s almost a rerun clone story. Mar-Vell’s first child, Genis, came from genetic engineering, and grown to adulthood ultra-fast. So maybe not exactly a clone, but a kissing cousin to it. Elysius getting her hands on some Captain Marvel genetic material I can understand, but how the heck did the Skrulls get some? He was captured by the Skrulls once, but that was before he had cancer. Is there anybody that can’t get genetic material these days? They gloss over how they got his material, gloss over how they duplicated cancer, gloss over how they made a copy of Nega-bands(!)…The Nega Bands were created by the Supremor based off of quantum bands that Quasar wore. But hey, for the sake of wrapping up a story… the Skrulls made a pair too! Oh, and they somehow are able to implant all of the original’s memories into this Skrull too, even though I’m pretty sure the Skrulls never witnessed all of Captain Marvel’s life, so go figure that one out.

The story is very incomplete, and leaves you with the question of how dumb Tony and Reed are for not being able to tell this guy was a Skrull. Either they ran a battery of tests to prove he was the real deal, or the panels in The Return tell the full story, and they automatically accepted it was him. Either way, they got taken. And we were all told that we were reading Captain Marvel, and we were reading a malfunctioning Skrull sleeper agent.

Here’s the worst part: we still have to put up with all of it. It would have been interesting if he was a clone or sleeper agent, and died at the end, or reverted to type, or arrested, or anything other than what happens. Instead, we have the memory of a true hero being tarnished by a Skrull who has delusions of being a hero, and who isn’t going away anytime soon. As bad as the series was, it feels somehow worse to know that this pale copy of a great character is wandering around. I wonder if Hulkling will ever find out that his heart-to-heart with his father wasn’t really with his father?

The Invincible Iron Man 28

by Daniel & Charles Knauf, and Roberto de la Torre

I get confused because Marvel has announced a new Invincible series soon, as they try to capitalize on the upcoming Iron Man movie. The problem is, their current series, Iron Man Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., is still referred to as The Invincible Iron Man in the indicia! Will they change the indicia of this title when the new one debuts? Who knows.

The storyline has dramatically improved in the last couple of issues, and we get a special treat of seeing another of his more popular armors highlighted, although it seems like the Mandarin breaks his arm in one panel, and in the next and for the rest of the issue, Tony’s fine. The way Iron Man wins is too easy; he gets his Extremis abilities back and can access and reroute every missile. Gee, that was tough. That sarcasm aside, it turned out to be an okay read.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom 1

by David Micheline, Bob Layton, and Ron Lim

If you are a fan of Iron Man and have never been exposed to the Micheline/Layton team, get ready for a treat! The big boys are back, with some nice art by Ron Lim, improved with some classy inking by Bob Layton himself. The way Tony Stark finds out about this “hidden mission” he went on is clever, and Iron Man is actually acting like a hero for a change, rather than a douche-bag! Will miracles never cease? This one will be worth your dough, I am recommending it. You don’t have it yet? Run out and get it now! (Unless it’s midnight and the comic store’s already closed. Then you can wait a little bit.)

X-Factor 30

by Peter David and Valentine de Landro

This story is almost a standalone story, but with a cliffhanger. Arcade is on the loose, and most of the issue is the team fighting. It’s not a hash, though, and it feels refreshing to have a comic book where you have some good fight scenes for a change, what with all of the decompressed storytelling Marvel is putting out, and with all of the other just-plain-depressed heroes brooding everywhere. It’s a good read.
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

The Amazing Spider-Man 556

by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo

This part of the fill-in story doesn’t seem as bad, because they actually address a few threads that have been running through the reboot. JJJ tries to sneak out of the hospital, and Aunt May is at least mentioned for a change. Most of the issue is people talking and Spidey trudging through the snow, with his web shooters on the fritz because his new mix gets frozen by the snow, something that I don’t think has happened in the past forty years of Spider-Man stories.

The new villain makes Spidey look like a novice and nearly kills him. There’s a twist at the end that is fairly predictable, and they continue with the love-fest of a letters page, with nothing but glowing praise for gutting their continuity and making the character “interesting” again. I’m not sure why they are so captivated, considering Bachalo spends most of his time drawing sparse panels containing the whiteness to represent snow. It’s like they were behind schedule, so they inserted something easy for the artist, putting New York under a pile of snow that is reflected nowhere else in any of the other Marvel books. I’m still basically just waiting, hoping next issue is the end of this particular story.

Fantastic Four 556

by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch

CAP is on the loose, but it’s the Conserve and Protect robot (heh, heh, that pesky Marvel; they can’t wait to kill a character and then bring back tons of references to him in every comic book there is. He’s like the Elvis of the Marvel universe, seeming to have a heavier presence when he’s dead than when he was alive). Alyssa built him to be extremely powerful, and the only problem I have is the fact that he takes out about 40 heroes, but those same 40 heroes are awake and trying again in six pages. Wolverine I can understand recovering that fast, but in their attempt to convey an epic scene, they rush things a little too much.

The rest of the pacing of the story is relatively good, with a good amount of time spent on Johnny’s recent escapades, while still giving enough screen time to the others. Reed gets less screen time, but in the context of the story, it’s just right; Millar’s sense of pacing is good. Hitch’s art continues to be excellent. Even though we’re in the middle of a storyline, this is almost good enough to recommend to a new reader at the same time.

Nova 12

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Paul Pelletier

Seriously, Pelletier’s pencils have never looked so good before. If he can remain this good on other projects, we might have a new star in the making. The entire team remains top-notch, with a logical progression to the story. Pacing is good here as well, plus a sense of sacrifice with Warlock. One of the best traits of this title over most others is that you never really know who is going to survive, and who is going to die.

This title’s got it all, folks. Action, adventure, drama and conflict! Nova has some buddies in his war finally, and it all ties into Annihilation: Conquest #6. This is not one of those tired old crossovers done purely for bucks. This is an epic space saga so big that one title cannot contain everything. The smooth fluidity of Nova and the Annihilation: Conquest storyline is a great example to all comic companies of how to pace a crossover event. Between the somewhat lackluster events the two major companies have done recently, it is very satisfying to see an event like this firing on all cylinders.

Wolverine 64

by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney

Guh. This is only part three of a very drawn-out Wolverine-hunts-Mystique story, and the decompression is killing me. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby would have finished this in one issue, and done it better, and given us five new villains by now. Granted, I sort of like the way Logan gets into the embassy, but Mystique holds him off with a chair (!) and slips past him again (!!), so this title is eerily parallel to his Origins title, where they are wasting time and space with a Deadpool-hunts-Wolverine four-parter, that is so bad I quit collecting the title. Scanning Origins in the store, the next issue looked similar to the issue I dropped.

If they’re going to do this with the character, why not just admit there’s a dry spell of good ideas, cancel the title for a renovation, go away for a couple months, and restart it with a new #1? I don’t like it when they reboot, but it’s better then the dren we’re getting now. Part of it is probably due to Ron Garney’s sparse art style; there is very little detail, whereas another artist might fill in more of a story-telling aspect with his ability. Instead, the bulk of conveying information is left up to Jason Aaron, and it’s not enough.
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

The Amazing Spider-Man 555

by Zeb Wells and Chris Bachalo

Marvel continues to have problems with the Spider-Man title, but it’s not reflected in the sales. Sales are as strong as ever, partially because it comes out three times a month. Doctor Strange shows up here even though Doc has already left the New Avengers, but at least this time they acknowledge it on the letters page. If this was intended as a fill-in story, though, it is providing another break from the previous storylines, which means no Aunt May, no JJJ, no continuance of the Freak story, and so on. Spidey is side-tracked by Doctor Strange having a mystical prediction come over him and then fainting. The Doc, that is, not Spidey.

Chris Bachalo’s art has stagnated somewhat, and he tends to have skinnier stick-drawings for Spider-Man compared to the last three artists, so it doesn’t seem to be a good fit, but the story and dialogue is passably good, for filler.

New Exiles 4

by Chris Claremont and Tom Grummett

Regular readers of these reviews may be familiar with my theme regarding the New Exiles, lately. Mainly, there seems to be no point for their adventure. The latest issue reads well, with excellent art, and there are only a couple of quibbles, but the main one goes to the heart of the motivation of the team’s mission, which, it turns out, was just to get a new member.

Let’s discuss one of the smaller quibbles first. The villains leave behind a nuke that is described as near-megaton yield. Setting aside that this universe’s Black Panther can magically teleport any amount of people and materials to any location without noticeably using any communications equipment, it turns out that Pstyocke manages to take the brunt of the explosion, backed by Invisible Woman’s force field. That’s right, folks, Betsy can do more than just shatter mountains with her tk, she can also withstand a megaton of nuclear yield! All it does is make her pass out a little. Although this is pressing things a little, she then has to strain against an energy barrier that is being enveloped over the entire planet. Is this because a measly energy barrier is just as tough as a nuclear blast, or because she was still tired from shielding everyone from the nuke? I have no clue how she deflected not just the sheer, raw force of a nuclear explosion, but also all of the ionizing radiation and heat. If this is her real power level, she should be able to take Thor on in her sleep!

Back to the main problem. We were never really told what the team’s mission was in this world, and it does not feel like they have accomplished much when they leave it. As a matter of fact, the Exiles team jumped in blind and ditches everyone just when it seems like Earth’s troubles are just beginning. But forget about their mission to help, because Sabretooth turns into “I got my own problems” today and announces they’re leaving. Plus, they’re taking a person with them. That’s right, folks, Gambit has joined the New Exiles.

The tallus has been conveniently blocked all along, and only after the mission is over do we find out that their entire mission… was to go get a new member. Lame. The tallus was always supposed to help fix a universe, and there was always the bug creatures that kept the members of the team stable, but now the computer systems in the Crystal Palace are doing that for them? I hope this does not open up a storyline that mirrors Claremont’s old story when the X-Men lived in Australia with a semi-sentient HQ. The last thing we need is yet another never-finished recycled plot. Although most of this issue wasn’t half bad, if Claremont starts in again with his standard “mysteriously sentient computer” cliché, I’m gonna scream.

Secret Invasion 1

by Brian Bendis and Leinil Yu

Let me get some standard stuff out of the way before I digress: Great cover, great art, and the story is a good for the first issue. I’m on board for the ride, and hope it’s a good one.

We now return to the normal review, where my brain actually works, and I wonder how in the world this all came to happen. Don’t read any farther if you just want to enjoy the popcorn and candy that is comics, because this comic has plot problems on so many levels:

1. Civil War. It was a big crossover, and half of us thought it ended with a nonsensical whimper. This story has been longer in the planning, but we’ve already hit road bumps along the way (remember the nightmare publishing schedule of Secret Wars?), and Reed Richards already knows Elektra is a Skrull from the Illuminati series. Reed walked away from Tony then, so why is he with Tony now, acting like this is the first time they are talking about this? We’ve got continuity problems, and we’re only on page 5, people! I am left with just hoping that the ending doesn’t fall as flat as their last big crossover. And that they don’t reset everything (cough-Spidey-cough) a couple months after they’re done.

2. This story is a big fat rerun for most comic readers who have been around a long time. In 1988, DC published an eight-issue mini-series called Millennium. It was a major crossover, with a DC-mandated policy that at least one cast member of every DC title reveal someone who was secretly an agent of the Manhunters. The wool was pulled over everyone’s eyes, and it took the Guardians to pull down the curtain and organize the super heroes to the threat. Hmm, big plot? Check. Long time in the making? Check. Can’t tell who is really someone you can trust or not? Check. Eight issues? Check. Lots of betrayals? Check. Rerun!

3. Duplication within a short time frame. Okay, let’s guess that there are a bunch of new readers, that tons of older readers weren’t into DC around 1988, and so forth. The Skrulls are running around all saying, “he loves you.” What have I been reading for the past six months or so? Countdown to Adventure, where all of Lady Styx’s followers have been chanting non-stop, “Believe in her.” The religious connotations are old hat to me, and it’s already making me feel like I’m reading a me-too story, and this is still only the first issue.

4. Will they answer the questions? See, we have revelations for a lot of Skrulls here: WARNING: SPOILERS START HERE

Sue Richards, Dum Dum Dugan, Jarvis, Henry Pym. How long have they been in place? Is it like in Ms. Marvel, where you have the real one, and an extra imitator running around? Or has Jarvis been in place for decades? Is this the Spider-clone saga all over again, and what you thought was Hank Pym having a nervous breakdown was really part of a Skrull plot somehow? Have our favorite characters been stand-ins for five years’ worth of stories? Because everyone knows how much an audience loves that. Before this is all over, the readers need a solid explanation for which character was a Skrull, when it started, and for how long. For man-off-the-street turning into Sue, we can safely guess that was not a long-time thing. But what about the others? Bendis has a habit of not explaining things sometimes, and it will hurt the story if he doesn’t give some additional detail with this.

5. Poor explanations and plot holes galore. An entire orbital station blows up because of one guy? A Skrull turns into Sue in the Baxter Building lobby, and no alarms go off? It’s one thing to say you can’t detect one when they’re already in a form, but no video cameras caught it in mid-switch? The Skrull impersonator, who came in from the street as a man, automatically knows all the override codes to open the Negative Zone? How?!?!?!? Are you telling me Reed neglected to put safeguards on it?

6. Blown opportunities. Seventeen heroes emerge from a crashed ship, all in character with the 1980s. It would be one thing to cause confusion if these were all the characters from the Kree-Skrull War, but some of them aren’t. As much as I want the White Queen to return to normal (because Grant Morrison gave her an unexplained third mutation diamond form power only because Colossus was unavailably “dead” at the time for Morrison’s run, and the genius editors at Marvel let him actually do it; now everyone who follows has to deal with Diamond Girl… but I digress), she’s a Skrull or a clone or whatever, and there’s really no suspense to this. I would love to turn back the clock and get the Beast back to looking like he’s supposed to, rather than a refugee from the Beauty and the Beast television show, but I don’t want to witness another deal with Mephisto to make it happen. The writer could have made the mix of characters a little more “believable” to create suspicion with the new arrivals, and it just ends up flat.

We’re stuck with what we’ve got, though, so enjoy the ride if you can. I try to read each issue the first time with my brain off, so I can enjoy it a little, and then go back and ask normal questions that tend to make my brain explode. Based on past experience, the details won’t matter, and comic fans will gobble this up like nothing else, despite the problems in the way the story is being written.

Young X-Men 1

by Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette

This new series begins with an homage to the way Professor X traveled the globe to gather his international X-Men team, with Cyclops playing the part of Charlie, sans wheelchair. Most readers will start to wonder if Cyclops is a Skrull, because he busts a mutant out of jail in California without even a shrug. I guess we’ve gone from a guy who was raised right, tries not to kill, and obeys the law as best as the law lets him …to a guy that does pretty much anything he feels like, with no moral compass.

X-Force wasn’t enough for ol’ Cyke, he has to put together a second team of mutants, and this doesn’t count the third team he’s building over in the Uncanny title. Wasn’t there only supposed to be 198 of them left anyway? His rationale is supposedly geared towards the modern threats to mutants, as if to say that Nightcrawler, Beast and company can’t do it already. Cyclops has to turn to teenagers when he has battle-tested adults? The whole series is poorly conceived, and the “new threat” is the original New Mutant team. Please tell me Cyclops is a Skrull. Please?
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

Daredevil 106

by Ed Brubaker and Paul Azaceta

How many times have you or your friend hit rock bottom, and everyone wants to help, but nobody can? Matt Murdock is in that place, and wallowing in rage and helplessness. While Azaceta’s art is not to my personal taste, he and Brubaker do a good job of conveying the feeling that everything is going down the drain. That said, let’s hope they don’t spend more than one issue with Matt having a pity party. For a nice bonus, watch as Ben Urich realizes he’s turning into J. Jonah Jameson. Priceless.

Ms. Marvel 25

by Brian Reed, Adriana Melo, and Ron Frenz

Brian Reed chooses this month to have Carol start using her brain. She plans to tackle three personal items after a quick surveillance on an A.I.M. hideout, so of course her plans are going to be derailed by bad guys stupid enough to go set up shop in the exact same place they got busted a few weeks back. Wasn’t A.I.M. supposed to be composed of brilliant scientists? Who doesn’t know that law enforcement keeps tabs on all old bad guy haunts as a standard practice? Law enforcement types are just as lazy as the next guy; when someone commits a crime, they start at all the same old haunts the perp used to be, and work from there. The writer had another chance to have the villains be slightly more clever, but he missed it. A.I.M. sends a package out to save it from Ms. Marvel, but instead of launching two or three or more of their trucks, they send out only one.

Meanwhile, the issue is interspersed with scenes from her first appearance, which dealt with Skrulls, as a setup for the current opening of the Secret Invasion crossover. William is still trying to keep his secret under wraps, Tony Stark has video of a second Carol Danvers walking around, which makes him suspect a Skrull is up to no good, and Carol thinks about her liplock with Simon, all the while referring to him as a brother! Man, I hope my sister never kisses me like that! Yuck!

As much as Carol tried to use her brain this issue, things were, shall do we say, overtaken by events. The issue ends with… tying not to spoil, but a classic misunderstanding that would be funny in a Three’s Company kind of way for the reader, if not for Ms. Marvel. I hope she gets a chance to get back to self-improvement after the major crossover, but Reed has finally made a good start on focusing on her goals. Sometimes life throws obstacles in your path, though, y’know?

Wolverine: First Class 1

by Fred Van Lente and Andrea Di Vito

Is the market strong enough to hold a second First Class title? It will if they are all written as well as this one. Professor X teams Kitty up with Logan in a tale you can believe. One of the hardest things to struggle with for long-time readers is how to sandwich all of these old stories so they mesh with our classic memories of how things went. The creative team paid close attention to the era in which Kitty first joined the X-Men, and the setting and costumes and attitudes of every player are spot-on. This tale could be what first set Logan up to having a girl sidekick, explained in a way that shows how a loner could stomach having a tag-along, in what has become a time-honored tradition, continued through Jubilee to Armor over in the Astonishing title.

X-Men: First Class 10

by Jeff Parker and Craig Rousseau

It’s a solo Cyclops tale this month, with a strange, disfigured mutant who can also conveniently block Professor X’s telepathy. The story doesn’t really work, as everything is all-too convenient. Near the end, it seems like the deranged mutant may actually want to try to do some good, but Cyclops blasts him anyway, resulting in his seeming death. Scott acts almost as if nothing’s wrong. It’s just a really weak story to set up a tragic death to put on Scott’s conscience, but it does not mesh well with what we know of Scott at that age.

X-Men: Legacy 209

by Mike Carey, Billy Tan, and Scot Eaton

I’m not sure how readers will react to this Legacy run, because the normal team of X-Men is not present. This issue focuses on Magnus, now a de-powered human, and his attempts to help rebuild Charles Xavier’s mind and body. Make no mistake, it’s a good issue, with great art and a fun romp through the decades-long debate between Xavier and Magneto, with a good punch-line at the end, interspersed with tension from Exodus and the other Acolytes.

The only problem is, there used to be an entire X-team in this book, and there is no sign of them now. The change in direction for the title was fairly abrupt. I hope everyone gives it a chance, because Mike Carey is improving as a writer, setting a good foundation for the philosophical differences between all of the groups. The art is constantly good. I do get the sense that Marvel needs to give us a bigger dose of their current mutants, though. The First Class stories are fun but fluffy. The final issue of Astonishing is astonishingly late, New Exiles is poorly written and doesn’t count for much in the main universe, and the Uncanny mutants are low-key themselves right now. That leaves a lot of characters getting no screen time while the focus is on just Xavier and the bad guys.

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

The Amazing Spider-Man 554

by Bob Gale and Phil Jimenez

I think if enough time goes by, most of us will let the One More Day stuff die away, and thankfully, all of the artists selected for the different creative teams have been excellent. The story is finally becoming not-so-lame, although his Spider-sense still seems to only kick in when the writer bothers to remember it.

Everybody is bad with math, too, because Peter just supposedly spent a lot of money to replenish his web fluid, and still owes others money, but give him $2000, and suddenly he’s thinking he can move out. Suddenly it’s like Mephisto wiped all of the maturity Peter built up over the past twenty years as well as his memories. It reads almost like a 60s comic, but in a bad way, because we know Peter is good at math, and we know he frets about money, and we know he should be thinking about paying off his debts still. And a starving photographer KNOWS that he can’t always count on making the same big money time after time, and tries to average out his money so the big payoffs will get him through the lean months. Despite all the money and editors and attention Marvel throws at Spidey, they still get details like this wrong.

I could spend a few paragraphs ripping into them for suggesting a bundle of stem cells can create an ever-super-speed-evolving bad guy, but frankly, it’s just a simple plot device, and everybody shrugged and said, “heck, it’s just a comic book,” so I’ll do the same thing. You want to wave your magic wand and claim everything “evolves” until it can’t be defeated? Guess what, Chris Claremont has recycled that particular gimmick so many times in his career, he should get a trademark on it. So we have yet another guy who can’t be beat, because every defeat is temporary, and he comes back impervious to the last thing that took him out. All this effort to reboot Spider-Man, and they’re running one of the most clichéd villain types in comic history? Ptheh!

Okay, I said I wouldn’t tease them too much about the magic of evolution, but then Connors claims that the cold will slow his transformation. If this thing evolves as fast as we’ve seen, why wouldn’t it just sense the slowing, and evolve to a state where the cold affected it as little as fire will? Plus, his whole solution is to put it in stasis with quicklime. Guess what? He’s already in stasis! Connors said it was! So to stop him from coming out of stasis… you’re going to put him in stasis? I take it back, this title is still lame. The current writer should go and not come back.

Oh, and for a bonus, they have a letters column so they can defend (still!) One More Day. They have a couple of glowing letters using the most flattering words to describe how wonderful the book is now thanks to something that rivals the Clone Saga, and one small letter that mentions a guy is canceling. I still can’t recommend this book unless you like mediocrity with a side of good art.

Captain Marvel 4

by Brian Reed and Lee Weeks

This issue is a stepping-stone issue. By that I mean, nothing big happens other than trying to generate suspense, just so they can do a conclusion next issue. The problem is, the question that is being asked is this: Is this the real Captain Marvel, or a Skrull? Let me spoil this right now, for people who have not been reading comics for thirty years: It’s the real Captain Marvel. Why? Because it would be more interesting if he was a Skrull, and that’s precisely why Marvel has decided it will really be him. My guess is that they will end this with him back in the time where he needs to be, so he can have his nice little orderly death of cancer. It has been a predictable, mediocre read, but it had the potential to be some much more, which is why I took a chance on it, but I’m leaning towards the recommendation that you pass on the trade unless you’re a completist, and want everything to do with the Marvel-wide Skrull storyline.

The Immortal Iron Fist 13

by Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Tonci Zonjic, and David Aja

Things are slowly coming to a head as Xao completes his portal and opens the way from Earth to the Heart of Heaven. This is Round 6, but there is no battle between the living weapons of the cities. This issue is mostly concerned with putting all of the players into their proper positions for a showdown, so it may be all over in an issue or two. Without the practice of flashbacks, though, they needed a pretty heavy introductory page of text to explain how we got to this point. Not a good jumping-on place for a new reader! (Just so you know)

Iron Man 27

by Daniel & Charles Knauf, and Carlo Pagulayan

Good art and good story, but Marvel is running into trouble with continuity. It’s not even a problem with past continuity, but rather just maintaining consistency among its titles. In almost every other title in Marvel, Tony Stark is the (censored), and in his own title, all of S.H.I.E.L.D. is almost persona non grata in the United States, with all of them on trial. All this while everywhere else, he’s in charge of ferreting out the Skrulls and protecting humanity? If they’re going to do this to us, they should put together a running timeline on their website so we can see where all the stories fall.

Thor 7

by J. Michael Straczynski and Marko Djurdjevic

Even if you don’t normally buy Thor, you should buy this issue this month.

It is quite possibly the best single issue out of anything else in the past month.

Despite the lack of action, Straczynski is taking this title in a very interesting direction. Thor has brought back everyone but Odin, so Thor can finally chart the destiny of Asgard. Are we so sure Thor should have gotten mad at Iron Man the way he did, considering what he just did to his own family? There are some interesting developments with Don Blake, and with Thor in his Thor-sleep, plus a revelation from Odin that is a really good read. It stands alone as a great tale, and you can ignore whatever comes after it if you want. But it also blends in well as a normal part of the ongoing storyline.

As my only complaint, did anyone else notice that Laura Martin is gone from the colorist slot, and in her place is… Jelena Kevic Djurdjevic? Really? Maybe Laura Martin had to move on to another assignment, but Marvel is going to be filling in replacements with nepotism? That’s how you’re going to run the business these days? Because there’s no way you’re going to convince me she would have gotten the job without Marko Djurdjevic on pencils. Ah well, if that’s the way they want to play it, I guess it’s their call. I can only imagine what somebody else might be feeling right now who wanted a shot at coloring the title.

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

Plain Jane Book One

by Mazen Hasan

If you’re like me, you love to read. With a limited budget and limited time, you have to try your best to pick and choose as wisely as you can. Every once in a while, I wander away from the capes and tights and try to see what more independent creators are doing. This one fell right into my lap, as a request came through to do a review of this specific book about Plain Jane. There are many things to recommend about this book, but it is definitely intended for an adult audience, as it deals heavily with topics like rape, violence, and drugs. The review will probably be one of the most comprehensive that I have ever done, and I pull no punches. Read on to see if this title is suitable to your interests.

Let’s start with the design of the book and other elements that have gone into the production of the book first, since that is the first thing a reader will see. The cover consists of a white background, with a dark solid line going down the left, and a heavy black dot filing the center, with four smaller black dots above it. Artistic? Yes. It could be the eye for a face, but if you open the book, you will find it is one of a pair of dice with the number one facing you, and the smaller dots are smatterings of blood. If the cover does not catch your eye, though, what are the odds that you would pick it up off the rack? The full picture of a hand with blood dripping down it, reaching for the die, might have been a better choice for the cover. As it is, unless you already know what is inside, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess what the cover is trying to communicate, which is a definite no-no when trying to attract a new reader.

Where are the credits? Copyright in the front, but the writer/illustrator and editor and so on are not listed until the back inside cover page. This is a matter of choice, but the traditionally accepted thing is to put it near the front, so someone leafing through the first couple pages can at least get a sense of the talent behind what he is holding. Not a big deal, but is having the credits at the very back the way to do things for an independent? This is not the movies, and even they list the big stuff up front.

The story opens on Jane herself, breaking the fourth wall and speaking directly to the audience. Or is she? It becomes clear quickly enough that she is somewhat disturbed, and is perhaps only addressing her own mind. The ambiguity leaves the reader wondering if this is a form of a bedtime story to the audience, or if we are just gaining an inside glimpse into the psyche of the disturbed lady.

The art is stark, black and white with shades of grey, and within a few pages we are treated to the shocking site of Jane injecting herself with a drug cocktail mix that is very dangerous. Throughout, there is an inventive use of lettering that Mazen Hasan uses, with a creativity that I haven’t seen since Dave Sim’s Cerebus. It is a highlight of the book, and I am tempted to recommend it to the current crop of letterers in the comic business to show them what more can be done with their field as it relates to the art of the comic book.

The writing can test a reader, as metaphors get mixed and mangled with alarming frequency. This is a good time to point out some minor problems with the construction of the plot and minor elements displayed in the story. First, Jane is a survivor of a violent sexual assault. If you had no advance notice of this, or you did not turn over and read the quick description on the back cover, there is no other introductory information to clue you in on this fact. A few more straight-forward descriptive mentions and a little less metaphor would have been better to firmly introduce the reader into the main subject which is the source of her current… attitude.

The Press Kit sent along with the book claims that Jane as evolved into a “super anti-hero” bent on revenge, which raises a problem where there did not need to be one, but forces me to lump this title into the superhero category along with the legions of other stories I read that are considered to be part of that genre. This is a real risk, for multiple reasons. One, the idea of a serial killer who goes after serial killers is getting a lot of play right now due to the TV series Dexter. While I am positive this has no relation with this book, if someone watches TV and stumbles onto the book, that’s the first place her mind is going to go. The second problem is the Batman-esque reflection of the revenge motive that now has to be compared. If only the mention of any aspect of a “superhero” was removed from Jane’s description, then people would be less likely to go there. Instead, by including the “super” part of things in the description, it begs the comparison, and risks making readers decide to just go pick up a good issue of Batman instead, without all of the emphasis on an uncomfortable topic like rape.

This leads into the third major problem with putting a “super" label in the mix: women being raped and otherwise abused in comics is a somewhat tired affair already. There are entire websites that mention women being stuffed in refrigerators (thank you Gail Simone, with special mention for Ron Marz). The last few years have seen characters with no need for such abuse revealed retroactively as rape survivors, such as Black Cat, Huntress, Sue Dibny…It is becoming one of the worst clichés in recent history, with increasing leakage over to the male side. Lumping Jane in with them only adds one more character to the tiresome drudge that has become a male writer’s attempt to portray drama and intensity in a comic format. The writer would have found much more advantage to let his work stand alone, separate from any relation to the capes other than the format of his book.

Okay, now for the more minor quibbles, which retentive people like me have to get out of the system, and then I’ll speak to the things that were done right:

1. Jane cries out from the pain of her drug injection, but the curse word is obscured in the classic comic format (not too subtle, though) when you want the audience to know it’s a cuss word, but you don’t want to print the word itself. It happens a couple of times, but then later on a rapist starts cussing with as foul a mouth as you’ve ever heard, so why bother with the cutesy captions up front, if the consistency goes away later? There is no meaning to the mild attempt at censoring bad words early on if you’re just going to throw it out later. The rest of the book is so blunt and brutal, the classic captions are too out of place.

2. When we get to talking about the actual victim of her intentions tonight, we are told he has raped six girls in two months, but the flashbacks of her cab rides go back six weeks and two months, which can confuse the reader. Was she tracking this rapist after his first attack, before it became clear he was a serial attacker? Or were we given a glimpse of her routine as she has hunted down previous perpetrators in the past? (I think his prose is making me lapse into alliteration as I go!)

3. The mangled metaphors start to contradict as, among Jane’s mental musings, she views what she does as getting rid of rats and other vermin. However, all of the setup for her story has her living among the rats, and peacefully co-existing with them. True, they may not be friends exactly, but she actually does NOT go after the rats, implying that the prey she hunts should be lower than even them. It is small things like this that a more careful writer would avoid.

4. The grammar is not 100% perfect, as a reference misplaces a couple apostrophes. The “victim’s of Hotch” should be “victims,” and “Its possible” should be “It’s possible.” (I told you this review would be comprehensive.) Most comics try very hard to get the spelling and grammar 100%. There are mess-ups every month, but for an independent, it is even more important to make every aspect as close to perfection as possible. The mangled metaphors make things difficult enough, but when avid readers are confronted with mistakes like these, the brain stops and jars out of the story, as it figures out how the words should really be.

5. Another small difficulty is following the flow of the panels on a particular page or two. As someone who has read every comic imaginable, from the surrealistic drawings of Steranko and Bill Sienkiewicz, to independent titles with unconventional transitions like Cerebus, to Alan Moore’s final issue of Prometheus, which can be disassembled and re-assembled in more than one way to compose a different reading experience, I know how to read a comic, and good artists tend to give the reader additional help when they go experimental on you, so your eye can track which panel you’re supposed to go to next. Although the lettering is clever, there are a few places where you start to read, then have to backtrack and follow to a different panel to maintain the proper flow of the story. Sometimes being too artsy can backfire, as I know several people who read trades, but are not heavily into comics, and a difficulty in following the transitions can put off potential readers.

The story seems to meander suddenly as the scene shifts to other characters, and we are introduced to a sick and twisted photographer. Jane’s psyche is twisted enough as it is, now we have to try to relate to even more darkness? No sooner are we exposed to that dose of repugnancy than the scene ends up changing to the viewpoint of the disembodied presence of Jane’s latest victim. This jumping around might fit in better with a serialized comic book, but here it starts to wear down a reader. There is no real transition to help the reader move to the next viewpoint, so you’re on your own.

Aspects of the art throughout the story are eye-catching. For example, the detail Hasan presents to show the lengths Jane goes to in order to become presentable are impressive. Every aspect of camouflage and dressiness is used to transform Plain Jane into something of a looker. Visually, it is very striking. The description of her encounter with her current prey, a rapist, is descriptive and brutal and violent; most people would tend to find the description itself repugnant, which is probably a good reaction for a normal person to have.

The verdict? The story content is not for me, personally. My nephew is 18 years old, just barely into the age that someone could handle this content, and he was turned off in the first few pages, readily recognizing that it was not appealing to his interests. The writing is not half bad, although the critique I put forth above does point out the room for improvement. The real standout of this book is the artistic lettering and placement of the text, incorporating it almost as an entire character unto itself into the story. It would be interesting to see what the creator could do with other subjects. As repulsive as some of the images and content are, I had the sense that the writer was not trying to just do whatever he could to shock the reader, but that this was a genuine attempt to explore the darkness, and the impact of such an event on a person.

If you are capable of stomaching brutally frank descriptions of violence and gore, and are willing to explore the dark, unfriendly topics that are depicted in the depressed, emotionally crippled life of Jane, this is worth a look. Hasan puts the graphic in the graphic novel, there’s no doubt about that. I would be tempted to make it required reading for creative teams for the lettering alone. The topics dwell in the abyss of human experience, exposing the reader to the feelings associated with them: disgust, revulsion, pity, depression, and so on. It is a sign of how good the book is that it is able to summon those emotions to the reader; at the same time, for many people those feelings are uncomfortable and might make them put the book down and find something cheerier.

You know when you watch a movie and the villain makes you recoil? That’s good acting. When you realize it, your level of respect for the actor playing the villain goes up a notch, because he managed to make you feel a genuine emotion. The emotions in this book are mostly exploring negative terrain, so only pick it up if you are willing to face those dark places in life.

There you have it. The critique went to very nit-picky items at times, because independent books have to have a thorough “scrubbing.” In the graphic novel format, the vast majority of popular reading is still monopolized by the super hero genre, and to compete, you can’t be just as good as the average cape book out there. You have to compete among the best. So everything gets torn apart and examined. There are a lot of things that show potential and some nice talent in different aspects of the book. If the people involved do a little better job with the packaging, and the creator works on a few of the improvements mentioned above, we could see some knockout products from him in the future. For my personal taste, I just hope they are not all as dark!
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

The Amazing Spider-Man 553

by Bob Gale and Phil Jimenez

Awesome cover, weak story. Considering how many writers are involved in charting the course of Spider-Man, you would think it might lend itself to some stronger story-telling. Alas, just like Hollywood, when you have too many cooks in the kitchen, what comes out is mush. You wouldn’t mind it, or even necessarily notice it if you were eight years old, but when you’re an older reader (as most of us are) it is painful to the intelligence some times.

Spidey is hanging on a wall, and unlike the past FORTY YEARS OF HIS COMIC LIFE, he does not leap into the thick of things. He stays on the wall, and lets a disoriented creature get shot in the head by scared police. Sorry for yelling, but since when did Peter give up his courage? He’s dressing up in a colorful costume and running out precisely to jump into things. Even Spidey can’t believe it. We are treated to a thought balloon of him going, “Why did I wait?” The entire reading audience is asking the same thing. Meanwhile, Jimenez’s art is good, but the layouts and style make it look like he’s cribbing George Perez’s style too much.

Next, the editor of the DB tells Peter that he is against a certain political candidate, and to go downtown to take some unflattering pictures of him. So much for the objective press, eh? Peter takes the assignment, even though the subject of animosity is his friend’s dad. Since when did Peter give up his principles because he needed money? The Peter that Ben and May raised was used to being broke, but he at least had some principles. Hmm, looks like Mephisto also took away Parker’s bravery, his integrity… what HASN’T Spider-Man lost in this reboot “do-over”” of his life?

Elsewhere, getting shot in the head did nothing to the new Freak other than make him enter a brand new cocoon. This is their idea of good storytelling? Hey, he evolved to be bullet-proof when he came out, isn’t that convenient? But hey, at least we got one panel (one!) with Aunt May in it this issue. You know, the entire reason we’re in this state of sad repair? The object of his ultimate sacrifice with Mary Jane. She gets one panel.

Hey, they finally have him refilling his web shooters! Only one issue too late, because he somehow went from empty to 100% in the last two issues. The new webbing is thick, and the brilliant scientist that Parker is, who has created this webbing that nobody else has been able to duplicate… forgets the first principle of the scientific method and installs it without any testing. And then it promptly jams on him. All to artificially set up a cliff-hanger ending to mirror the last one, where Spidey had no webbing and a politician died. A politician that nobody cares about, because no one took the time to develop the character for us to care.

One cute thing is that the writer took time to make one politician give a speech that is torn straight from the Democrats, with him promising voters everything under the moon, and the other guy gives a pro-business speech you might expect from a Republican. Except in this turn of events the newspaper is supporting the pro-business guy and opposing the “everything for the children” guy, but we are not given a reason. Much like the reset, or the rest of this storyline. We are never given a reason.

Annihilation: Conquest 5

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Tom Raney

The exact opposite of the Spider-Man title, the writers of this story understand that they have to give the reader an explanation of how Ultron went from Mighty Avengers to the leader of the Phalanx. They not only do this, but they do it in the middle of the High Evolutionary turning traitor on the heroes, and giving a good premise for the relationship between Ultron and the Phalanx, and why Ultron wants to blend organics and technology, dovetailing quite nicely from his recent experience with Tony Stark over in Mighty Avengers. Knockout cover by Aleski Briclot, by the way.

The rest of the gang rescues Starlord while Ronan launches the Sentry fleet he recovered from last issue. Can they really wrap all this up in only one more issue? The entire read is very tight, with fast action and great art. It has surprised me enough to become one of my favorite titles, along with Nova.

Fantastic Four 555

by Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch

This second issue of the Millar-Hitch team is still mostly set-up, but what a set-up it is! The world faces environmental destruction in less than ten years, and the brightest minds and wealthiest people have teamed up to create a whole new planet Earth for the population! It’s an ambitious story, and well-served by Hitch’s cinematic style. He draws impressive backgrounds to help give the reader a sense of scale befitting the goal.

There are a couple of questions with the story. Ben brings up Sue’s new charity project as a possible opening for Alyssa to go after Reed, but did news of Sue’s charity travel that fast, that Alyssa could find out about it before the story started? Of bigger concern, how in the world did this disaster creep up without the heroes noticing? Tony Stark has 30-odd plans for improving the world, Reed has 101, but for all of their monitoring, sensor sweeps, high-tech bugging, and futuristic vision that we have been treated to for the past several years, neither of them has a clue about this impending disaster? Either the disaster itself is fake, or they are wrong. By next issue, we should have Reed confirm or deny the threat. Either way, this is already a good read.

New Exiles 3

by Chris Claremont and Tom Grummett

The creative team on this title is impressive, and visually it comes across well. Between Grummett and Hanna, plus Orzechowski on the lettering, there is a lot to be said for it. The writing is weird. The Invisible Woman whips up an invisible jet, and Rogue picks it up to fly an entire group for a distance, but then Sue envelops Rogue in the field. This somehow translates into the invisible projection making everyone inside it invisible as well?!? Her powers have never worked this way. Did we switch over to the DC universe and get on board Wonder Woman’s plane without me realizing it?

The rest of the story is filler. Bad guys show up, fight ensues, and this universe’s version of the Black Panther shows up. It’s a woman, but she is black, if that matters to anyone. The intimation is that the other villains all follow her orders. Maybe we’ll find out some real information next issue, and the story will actually move forward. Right now, it’s all just a little clueless.

Nova 11

by Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning, and Paul Pelletier

Pelletier’s pencils look better than ever, but I think a lot of the credit has to go to Rick Magyar as the inker. If you want to compare, go back and look at Pelletier’s work on Fantastic Four and compare it with this, and you will see what a difference a good inker makes. The story is still related to the ongoing Annihilation: Conquest storyline, even though it is not officially given a credit as a tie-in, per se. It features the return of an old hero, too. Pick it up, I’m not going to spoil it for you!

Thunderbolts 119

by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato, Jr.

Here’s a fun thing to do with this month’s Thunderbolts cover: put it down on the table in front of you. Now rotate it ninety degrees. Still a good cover? Rotate it ninety degrees again. And again. It looks great from every angle! Which one is your favorite? I’m taking a poll…

I am still waiting to find out how D-list villains like Blue Streak gained psychic powers, but aside from that, this is a killer episode. The four “prisoners” are manipulating the thoughts and feelings of the Thunderbolts crew for an as-yet unrevealed agenda. The battle scenes are well-orchestrated, and have more meaning than do the meaningless slug-fests in a title like New Exiles. Just wait until you see neat treats like Doc Samson’s mental prowess, and what happens when Swordsman goes up against Venom!

Wolverine 63

by Jason Aaron and Ron Garney

The story is part 2 of Wolvie hunting Mystique, while flashing back to the first time (in a ret-con kind of way) they first met. It’s a little better in seeing the way Mystique keeps ahead of Wolverine, but only because he shows a little restraint for appearance’s sake. Given his marching orders by Cyclops, though, he might be better suited to just go berserker and get it over with. But then this would only be a one-issue story instead of a four-part saga!

The problem with this is that it feels like a needless diversion. All of the momentum that had been building since way back during the House of M days has been lost. Logan had recovered many of his memories, and was on the trail of the new mastermind who was behind almost all of his difficulties. With the Messiah Complex stuff out of the way, he should be getting back to that. Instead, he’s playing cat-and-mouse with someone he should have gone “Snickt!” on a long time ago. The entire issue feels like a holding pattern while we wait for something better.

X-Factor 29

by Peter David and Valentine de Landro

Is there a reason Rahne up and left X-Factor to go join X-Force? I can’t figure out what it is, and maybe Peter David can’t either, because Rictor burns Rahne’s note, ensuring that we don’t find out that way. He had to address it somehow, but Mr. David has always been in the poor man’s position of setting up some interesting storylines, and then have them all blown to pieces by big crossovers and editorial decisions on what to do with some of the characters he’s writing.

The team is falling apart, more than usual, and Arcade enters the picture. Anyone familiar with Arcade’s style would have picked up on it halfway through; although, it is possible some of the illusions are not his doing. Time will tell. This is not a good time to jump onto the title, though, as most of the plot developments proceed fairly naturally, but they have all been previously established. If you’re not on board yet, you might want to wait for the trade at this stage.
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

The Amazing Spider-Man 552

by Bob Gale and Phil Jimenez

I feel bad for Marvel and for all the different creative teams on this title. I also think the editors are doing them a major disservice, because their attention to detail stinks to high heaven. The major reason an innocent woman died last issue is that Peter had run out of money to buy web fluid. Even though the final panel of last issue has him hanging upside-down from his webbing, I let it slide, didn’t even mention it, because maybe it was artistic license, and not supposed to be a final shot of him in his “actual” state.

So this issue, the new creative team takes over, and Spidey has PLENTY of web fluid! There is no mention of his previous lack, he spins it like it grows on trees. He was thinking about using money from his latest photo shoot to pay back people, not buying replacement web fluid. No matter what else happens this issue, they have ruined the previous story. This is not years-long continuity we’re talking about people, and I am not an addict for continuity porn (well, maybe that can be debated, but that’s a story for another day). These teams are not even maintaining consistency for one issue! Whatever the editors are being paid, it’s too much.

The rest of the story is poor anyway. A major plot element is that Spidey tears the seat of his pants on some fencing. Way to go, Spider-Sense! All the while, he proves amazingly incompetent to catch one lone thief. Between this and his failure to save the councilwoman last issue, I think Mephisto did something more than just reset his life. It’s like we are watching a clumsy Parker kid just moments after he learned he had powers in the first place.

Wait, it gets worse. The thief is able to slip out of the massive amounts of webbing after Spidey finally caught him, and drops into Curt Connors’ lab. The lab where people leave open briefcases of biohazard material just lying around. Yup, after all those years of handling potentially life-threatening biological materials, ol’ Connors just up and leaves it sitting out in the open where anyone can grab a handful. The CDC would have his license in a heartbeat. This is clumsy storytelling, pure and simple. It is easily the worst issue of this Brand New Crap We’ll Be Dishing Out For Twenty Years that they’re selling us.

The big mistake is that there’s not one or two other Spidey titles for us to go to, in the hopes that they will be better. Pass on this one, guys, even Jimenez’s cool art can’t save this stinker. We will be stuck with one lousy Spider-Man title, poorly written, though usually well-drawn, for the foreseeable future. If we can’t sack the major powers-that-be for getting us into this lousy situation in the first place, can we at least ask that the story have a little consistency from one issue to the next? Gah!!!!!!

Cable 1

by Duane Swierczynski and Ariel Olivetti

The character of Cable has gone through so many permutations over the years, it’s easy for Marvel to wipe his slate clean and revamp him. It makes for lousy character development and growth, because you have to forget the vast majority of what has come before in order to accept whatever new treatment they give him.

This new title has him as self-appointed protector for yet another new mutant baby, on whom the fate of all mutantkind and/or humanity rests. It’s a role that used to belong to Cable, until Marvel lost site of what to do with him. The story starts in 2043 A.D., and Cable is immediately bushwhacked in New Jersey by armed bandits. No sign of any other life at all, just three goons with guns, ready to shake down Cable. Gee, way to develop a story, folks!

After a diaper change (for the baby, although maybe Cable had to change his shorts too, for all we know), he finds a bar(!) with people (!!) where he sits down for a beer (!!!) until Bishop shows up shooting. It is such a shame to see Bishop brought down so low. His character was one of the best additions to the X-Men in years, and now he’s a bloodthirsty lunatic with a cyborg arm. Great. Olivetti’s CG-animated style of art wears thin after you’ve seen it for a couple years, because there is no change or growth in it. With a lack of story and so-so art, this title most likely will not last long. I’ll have to think long and hard before I plop down money to see if anything better happens next issue. Actually, no I won’t. I’m canceling this, it’s a waste of time. I don’t need to watch the car wreck of how they pummel Cable and Bishop into shallow caricatures of what they used to be.

Penance: Relentless 5

by Paul Jenkins and Paul Gulacy

The end is here, the final showdown between Nitro and Penance. Baldwin’s spouting of numbers one after the other really doesn’t make much sense, although maybe it’s supposed to for him? I end up more confused than anything else, because Baldwin wraps Nitro up in the Penance suit, and Baldwin declares that (somehow) the pain that Nitro feels will be fed into Baldwin himself. Then it kicks in, and I realize that Baldwin is actually explaining how the suit works for him when he’s wearing it, and that Nitro will feel the same pain being shot back into him as the suit is on him now. The wording could have been better for the reader to avoid confusion.

That’s all the critique, because the art was great, and the story itself resolves fairly well. I will avoid giving all the details here, because a ton of people will be going for the whole trade, as opposed to buying the mini-series one month at a time. Let me just say it is worth the read, and ends about as well as any mini-series can. It remains to be seen if there will be any consequences for Robbie in the main Thunderbolts title, relating back to his actions here. Hey, maybe they’ll put Nitro on the team!

Uncanny X Men 496

by Ed Brubaker and Mike Choi

WARNING!!!! DO NOT READ THIS ISSUE UNTIL YOU READ THE END OF ASTONISHING X-MEN!!!!

Marvel spoils the mention of the X-Man who dies at the end of Whedon’s run on Astonishing. Way to go, Marvel douche-bags. Well, at least they didn’t run a press conference on it like they did when Cap got shot.

The story is getting weird, as some powerful woman is causing a flashback to the 60s at the precise location where all of the X-Men were supposed to rendezvous. The White Queen is able to shield herself and Cyclops from its effects, and we’ll find out more next issue. That’s right, not a lot of action still. They also include a sighting of Tiamut, the dreaming Celestial, as a reference to the recent Eternals mini-series, but nobody bothers to include an editorial reference, so Marvel blows yet another chance to act on the potential for a reader’s interest to get piqued, so they might consult the reference and go check out that storyline, buying more of Marvel’s books. Way not to go, editors!

The main attraction for this issue is a focus on Colossus as he travels back to his native Russia with Wolverine and Nightcrawler in tow. Brubaker has studied up on his history, as Peter pays respects to the gravesite of his family, and later in a bar, Logan makes a crack about Peter looking for Juggernaut, a reference to the last historical time we saw these three chilling over brewskies. The bar scene is resplendent, with Mike Choi showing us vodka glasses and Russians playing chess (the chessboards are built into all of the bar tables) while the fireplace roars, a lovely domestic scene that almost rings true to life.

The interaction between the three long-time friends is very genuine, and the scene is worth more than fifty fight scenes, although they do manage to scum up a barfight later as well. This is probably one of the best titles out this week, if you skip over that THEY RUINED THE END OF ASTONISHING X-MEN! Not that I’m bitter or anything…

X-Force 2

by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, and Clayton Crain

Kyle and Yost play around with the lame flashback routine, as if they can generate some sense of mystery or suspense by having S.H.I.E.L.D. stumble around trying to figure things out. Risman’s big bullet shot last issue did not result in Rahne’s death, as hinted, but rather, he shot her in the… knee. Yes, that is the big payoff from last issue. Did you get chills, folks? Because this is Marvel’s new way of giving us chills. They have Spidey magically get tons of new web fluid, they ruin the endings of their comics, they butcher character development, and they have a cliffhanger ending that ends on someone who has only been shot in the knee, it turns out. It’s like they don’t even want us to enjoy comics anymore.

Wait (and sing along if this sounds familiar), it gets worse. Laura had the warehouse rigged to blow with explosives the whole time. Cyclops confirms her mission was to eliminate Risman. So let’s leave off the major gaping plot hole from last issue where Rahne joins Wolverine’s team, then is not shown as part of the undercover force approaching Risman’s place, and how surprised Logan was that his team member was already a hostage, and skip right up to the new main question on this lousy story: why didn’t she just blow the whole place and eliminate Risman in the first place? She didn’t know Rahne was a prisoner! With the press of one button, mission accomplished. It’s not like she showed herself reluctant to do it.

Back at the X-Ranch, Cyclops is still acting like a homicidal paranoid with delusions of grandeur, as he tries to stop the others from telling Angel that Rahne is a prisoner. We never find out why Cyclops wants to keep all this hush-hush. We’re supposed to believe these “dark” missions give them some kind of plausible deniability if the other mutants don’t find out the dirty details. This is the same guy who sent his entire team in against the Marauders on the storyline leading to the formation of X-Force in the first place, but now he wants to keep numbers to a minimum? Spidey was bad enough this month, but these guys aren’t even maintaining story consistency in the same issue, let alone from one issue to another.

The final disgusting part is a matter of personal taste. Nimrod was a cool sentinel from the future, but as happens with villains all too often as time goes by, new writers don’t know how to handle them very well. Nimrod was torn apart, and brought back as Bastion, a really, really lame villain. Instead of bringing Nimrod back, the writers have resurrected Bastion, and their master plan is to go bring back yet another re-run villain, the Magus. So X-Force, which used to be the New Mutants, who faced off against Magus, has now been reformed. And the new team has to deal with… all of the villains the last X-Force already defeated? How long until they bring back Stryfe? So much for Cyclops’ big speech about how X-Force is need to combat NEW threats…
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Tpull is Travis Pullen. He started reading comics at 5 years old, and he can't seem to stop.

By J. Michael Straczynski, Olivier Coipel, Mark Morales and Laura Martin

Thor is classic Straczynski, at least as I know him, and that’s this title’s greatest asset. As with many of his works, this book fully integrates its heroes into the world we live in today, establishes a plausible situation where humanity must coexist with otherworldly beings. And this issue truly typifies this narrative approach to comic book writing.

More often than not, superheroes typically setup shop in big cities, be them fictional or not. They reside under the guise of alter egos, fully assimilating into public life, existing in their off-time as average Joes (or Janes) without any genuine fear of detection. This title finds the heroes smack-dab in a small town, not as their assumed identities (or in this case, their human hosts), but as full-fledged gods, mixing with man. And for the first half of this month’s installment, three separate tales of gods mingling with the community are brought front and center. We’re given a glimpse of how both sides are coming to grips with living in and amongst each other through humor and characterization. Each stands on their own strengths and merits but my favorite is the yarn between Bill and Kelda. It illustrates how similar both groups are, how they mutually wonder what it must be like to live in the other’s world.

The second half of the story focuses on Thor and his concern with those he’s brought back and yet to bring back, namely Odin. A converstation between him and his human host tells of the desire of creating a new future that would be free of the old ways and rules. If Odin were to be brought back, he would try to take them down the same road again, lives not of free-will, but of fate. For me, I’d almost have preferred that this issue solely revolve around the various interactions between the gods and the men as it was so rich and telling. When held up side-by-side, this portion that is, without question, a very solid setup for what is obviously to come pales in comparison to the first. Which is unfortunate since it too is well written but would have been better served in a following issue.

For my money, this book is still well worth its salt. 8/10
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Dana Severson is one of your resident reviewers of all things
Marvel. He is often found red-eyed and filled with caffeine.

Daredevil 105

by Ed Brubaker, Michael Lark, Paul Azaceta, and Stefano Gaudiano

This story starts with a stretch, because Daredevil is somehow able to fine-tune his radar sense and heightened hearing to drown out everything but the sound of one man’s voice. It’s a quick fix for the corner Brubaker painted himself into, with his main character coming up dry on all of his other attempts to locate the villain. I’m not a big fan of suddenly super-charging someone’s power when we have already established their limits, but let’s say it’s the equivalent of the woman who can lift a car to save her child and leave it at that.

The face-off between the Hood and Mr. Fear is relatively well done by comparison, as the street-thug personality of the Hood comes through, as well as his pragmatic way of reacting to things. What follows when Daredevil catches up turns everything on its ear. Technically, DD wins and Mr. Fear is arrested. Unfortunately, everything that counts has actually gone against Murdock.

This title has been roped off from the rest of the Marvel universe lately, and Brubaker has been allowed to do pretty much whatever he wanted. The artistic team continues to suit the mood of the story very well, but it seems like Daredevil’s life was a teensy bit happier when he interacted with other crime fighters. On his own like this, he has been out-maneuvered at every turn. If there was ever a moment to have a main character contemplate suicide, this would be the logical place to do it. Bet they won’t.

Thor 6

by J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel

Another issue with not much in the way of action, and it makes for a fast read. The dynamics of how the new Asgard will get along with the local community is amusing, and the stories of the locals are somewhat engaging. The next big step is the issue of Odin, though. Thor has reservations about bringing Odin back, because of the fear that everything will be locked down into fate again with ole one-eye at the helm. Whatever his reservations, he stops stalling and dramatically restores all of whomever is left that we haven’t seen yet (which allegedly includes Odin).

The one minor problem with the story is the sense from Thor that this effort might kill him. Thor is tough enough that there is never any impact carried across to the reader. We all know he will be in the next issue, so we can’t really summon up any angst or concern. He’s Thor! He’ll get back up. The art is passable enough, but the story is still missing that greater element that makes us care. There is still not enough suitable tension or drama to command attention. If Straczynski doesn’t pick up his pace quickly, he may risk having bored readers go elsewhere.

Thunderbolts: International Incident One-Shot

by Christos N. Gage and Ben Oliver

The Thunderbolt one-shots are a great idea for this title, with self-contained stories that still make an effort to tie into the larger development of the characters. The art is not the greatest, but Radioactive Man is rendered particularly well. Without spoiling too much, because this is definitely a story you should read for yourself, the plot involves the loyalties of Radioactive Man to his country, and the Swordsman’s loyalties, as the other foreign member of the team.

One of the core elements of the Thunderbolts team has always been the historical criminality of the members, and the concept of the flimsiness of the trust factor in the group. That “trust issue” is a main focus of the story, and fits in well with the main theme that has always bene an undercurrent in this title. Very good read.

X-Men: First Class 9

by Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz

Another light-hearted read that shows S.H.I.E.L.D.’s interest in the Scarlet Witch, seeing if she would make a good agent, or maybe go back to the bad guy side of the house. Hydra is used for the goon buffoons, and there is no real sense of danger, which does hurt the story a tiny bit, but there is only so much you can do with a story that takes place in the past, when the reader knows how everything turns out years later.

Oh, and if you haven’t been checking this title out, there are some great cartoons in the back that generate a good chuckle. This title continues to be a good introduction for younger kids, and a break from the heavy continuity required for a lot of the current titles, as well as a fun break from all of the grim and gritty realism from creators trying hard to push the envelope.

X-Men: Legacy 208

by Mike Carey, John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson, Scot Eaton and John Dell

David Finch does another cover, but he wasn’t the right artist for the job. The cover features the original team in their original costumes, when they were gawky teenagers. Finch draws them as modern body-building supermodels. They look great, but it’s a little too muscular and well-defined for the time frame it is supposed to represent. Either Finch should keep this in mind for the setting of his art, or the editor should have picked an artist with a different style for the cover.

The word “Legacy” has been added to the title, for reasons that only the weird heads of Marvel can decipher, because it gives long-time collectors and comic store owners a headache. Most of the issue is spent taking a trip through the shattered psyche of Professor Xavier, which means there is no lingering doubt or mystery for the reader at the conclusion of the last issue. There was a good chance to go in the direction of suspense, and have a hunt for the professor, or at least his body. Instead, they chose to open up directly with him, minimizing even further any dramatic impact of his being shot and disappearing from the previous story.

The art inside is a bit of a treat, as Romita Jr. and Janson get to do the “mindscape art,” and Eaton and Dell take over for the “reality art.” Is it just me, or are the credit-giving people becoming more and more specific in what they decide to label the credits? The story falls short a little, in that the only reason Exodus gives for trying to save Xavier is that he is an asset. Why not leave him with his X-Men then? For all of the new title, we only get to see the X-Men in flashbacks, and nothing of the status of the current team, which means you would need to buy the other titles to get a sense of what is happening with all of the other actual X-Men right now.

Despite all of the little quibbles I have, this was a good read, and some good art. The surprise appearance of someo