Batman #707: OK, to be honest, I'm still not entirely sure what happened in this arc. So, Peacock had to save her brother, Loki, from Sensei, who kidnapped him in order to find the location of the Beholder, despite the fact that Peacock actually wanted Sensei to find the Beholder so she could destroy him and it. As such, why didn't Loki just tell Sensei where the Beholder was? Maybe him being kidnapped wasn't part of her plan? Maybe he didn't know of her plan? To make matters worse, she was introduced to us when she tried to buy from Bruce Wayne the strip of buildings that included (presumably) the archives where the Beholder was located. Why was it necessary for her to buy the buildings if she was just going to let the Sensei find the mask anyway? I'm also still not sure where I. Ching falls in the story. She mentioned him hiring her in issue #705, but, based on the denouement of the story, she was the one most directly involved with the Beholder, not him. Did he not know her connection to the Beholder and really just thought he was hiring someone to protect the mask? Doubtful. Plus, why didn't he just defeat Sensei before he threw Batman, Loki, Lucius, and Tam in the water? Why hide in the shadows? (I've decided to give a pass on Sensei just not killing the four of them in cold blood because I'd never read a Batman book again if I held the ridiculous, convoluted death traps against them.) Also, how the hell did the Riddler and Enigma fit into this story? Why does the female Two-Face care about the Jade whatever Society? I was looking forward to this issue, because the first three were at least fun and I was figuring that all the loose plot points would get resolved. But, I wound up just more confused than I was after the first issue. It shouldn't be left to us, the reader, to infer the answers to as many of the questions as I lay out above. Daniel needs to tighten up his plots, particularly given his weak dialogue, if he wants me to keep reading.
Chaos War #5: OK, the whole "Chaos War" series, frankly, has been a hot mess. I mean, I'm more or less used to these sorts of cross-overs being hot messes, but this series really took the cake. (I'm not sure what the "hot mess" equivalent of "took the cake" is, so forgive the mixed metaphor.) For example, I read "Blackest Night" without reading any of the tie-ins and I never really felt like I didn't know what was happening. With "Chaos War," on the other hand, I read the main book and every tie-in and STILL had no idea what was happening. (OK, I had an idea, but you get the point.) I think part of the problem was the ordering of the releases. The first three issues of the prime series were released in quick succession, but then you had one issue released in the middle of 14 (!) tie-in issues. By the time you got to issue #5, you more or less forgot where you had left the characters in the prime series. Of the tie-ins, the "Chaos War: Dead Avengers" series was far and away the best. I hope Yellowjacket stays resurrected, since she was the character I was most excited to see return and stay returned. "Chaos War: X-Men" had potential, but probably needed another issue to develop it. I was really intrigued by the first issue of the Thor tie-in, but felt like the second issue squandered some of the potential. Finally, given that Alpha Flight seems to be the only ones definitely resurrected as a result of the Chaos War, I'm surprised they only merited a one-shot. Anyway, it's another Marvel cross-over that I find myself happier to see over than happy I read.
New Mutants #21: Wow. I've loved Zeb Wells' contributions to "Brand New Day" as I make my way through 100+ issues of "Amazing Spider-Man," and he really delivers here. The New Mutants are near and dear to my heart; they're one of the touchstone comics of my youth. Although I was overjoyed when I heard they were (finally) getting their own series again, I was worried about how they'd be handled. I was worried the writers would ignore what happened in the first series, since it happened 20 years ago, and present the characters as stripped-down versions of their old young selves. This six-issue arc ("Fall of the New Mutants" and "Rise of the New Mutants") proves that I was very, very wrong. Almost every conversation and scene and event that occurs in this arc draws from the past 30 years or so of the New Mutants' history. In doing so, Wells makes the New Mutants maybe the most real characters in the Marvel Universe. As opposed to the X-Men and the Avengers -- who've been invented and re-invented so many times I've lost count and who have to stay somewhat caricaturized to keep a broad appeal to old and new readers -- the New Mutants carry with them the real scars and guilt of previous battles and losses. It's a dark but emotional book and this arc clearly established a new status quo for the gang. Sam has seemingly killed a lot of people, Illyana has put her teammates in danger just for revenge, Doug continues to be creepy. I have no idea where we're going, but I'm excited to see what happens.
Uncanny X-Men #532: "Uncanny" continues to be the best of the three core X-Men books. I actually like Scott in this book. I've pretty much never liked Scott, so I applaud Matt Fraction for that feat. Fraction continues to juggle the three storylines running through the "Quarantine" arc without dropping a ball; I feel like any number of writers out there could learn a thing or two from him. I'm a little bored of the Emma storyline, but the "New X-Men" one has serious potential and the Collective Man battle was good fun. It's also great to see Dazzler in the mix. She's always been one of my favorite X-Men; I hope we get to see some more of her, and not just as aging hipster comic relief.
X-Men #7: OK, so, the whole "Curse of the Mutants" arc was interesting, but, God, it seemed to drag on and on forever. (It didn't help that I pretty much wanted to smack Scott 90 percent of the time.) This issue? MUCH better. It was clever and funny. Plus, anything that adds Chris Bachalo AND Spider-Man to the mix makes me a happy camper. I also almost liked Emma in this issue. (Almost.) If we could find a way to introduce Iceman, I'd have to take back almost all the bad things I've said about the X-books lately. (Almost.)
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