Dungeons & Dragons #7: This issue is a little confusing, mostly because I'm still not entirely sure what happens in the first scene. Varis turns against his eladrin cohorts and defends Adric and company, but I'm not sure why. Was he doing it to protect Juliana, who Adric was (technically) holding hostage? Or, did he just decide he couldn't take the overbearing eladrin paladin Juliana was supposed to keep in check? It's unclear to me and, truthfully, it's kind of an important detail, since it winds up being the event that results in Varis throwing in his lot with Adric. The art doesn't help matters, since it's hard to tell the difference at times between the various eladrin and humans. The rest of the issue is fine, though, with the usual combination of action and humor. On a plus side, it's a little darker than previous issues, with Rogers giving us insight into the difficult choices Adric has to make as a leader, which often involve him sacrificing someone (in this issue, two people) to make his insane plans to save the rest of the party work. The ending is a bit of a surprise, since we get a hint that we'll see Philomena and Justin again (I had assumed they were just temporary characters for this arc). All in all, the confusion from the first scene meant it wasn't as good of an issue as I've come to expect from this series, but it did the job it meant to do, showing us how Fell's Four came to be. Plus, a not-so-great issue from Rogers is still a better-than-usual issue for most writers, so I can't really complain.
Secret Avengers #13: This issue has moments, but, mostly, I found it to be a little hard to believe that, in the middle of a huge battle raging outside the Capitol Building, Hank would indulge his friend, the secret-mutant Congressman. It was particularly odd when, after clearly animating the Lincoln Memorial, George Washington, etc., the secret-mutant Congressman denied being a mutant. I see what Spencer was trying to do here, but, for me, it didn't work. The action sequences with Ant-Man and War Machine were a lot more interesting, and I would've preferred more attention spent on their efforts -- outgunned and outmachined -- to defend DC. We'll see how it goes next issue, since I think we're stuck with "Fear Itself" for a while.
Venom #1-#3: I enjoyed the appearance of Venom in "Amazing Spider-Man" and I was eagerly awaiting this new series. I'm not disappointed, because this arc was interesting and fun, but I do feel like Remender is going to be careful not to let EVERY mission end with the possibility of the military pulling the plug on Flash. We've learned that the military would only give Flash 48 hours in the suit before pulling the plug, but General Dodge actually allows him to stay in the suit longer when the mission in the Savage Land goes pear-shaped thanks to the unexpected appearance of Kraven. As such, it's unclear how hard and fast these "rules" for Flash are exactly. We end the issue with the "will the General kill Flash" cliffhanger, despite the answer obviously being no. If every issue ends this way, this series is going to get old quick. I'm also not entirely sure how Flash is going to explain destroying the clandestine mine but losing the Antarctic vibranium. This book still has potential, but I'm worried Remender is going to too often take the easy narrative route and not give us something as interesting as the concept promises. (Also, in great examples of pet peeve #2, the opening narration of issues #2 and #3 reveal plot points that either seem inaccurate -- that Jack O'Lantern was in Eastern Europe to test out weapons rather than get the arms innovator -- or that we don't actually know -- that Crime-Master was called Crime-Master and that he dispatched Jack O'Lantern to get Betty and Peter.)
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