Wednesday, May 30, 2012

New Comics! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Secret Avengers #27:  OK, I'm not a Captain Marvel expert.  In fact, I think the only issue that I've ever read in which he actually appeared alive is "Death of Captain Marvel" (which I own somewhere but haven't been able to find).  As such, I'm not really steeped in knowledge on all things Captain Marvel.  But, I'm pretty sure that Remender could've done a better job making the guy that we see here behave like Captain Marvel if he actually wanted us to believe that he is Captain Marvel.  First, it seems rather bizarre to see him kissing Ms. Marvel upon arrival.  I had to go read her Wikipedia entry to discover that her original appearance in the Marvel Universe involved Captain Marvel, so I guess that makes sense?  Maybe?  It doesn't seem like they previously had a romantic relationship, so Remender seems to be creating that new aspect.  (In fact, if I'm reading the Wikipedia entry correctly, it seems like Carol shares some genetic traits with Marvel, which explains why she felt the connection to Hala that confused me last issue.  But, then, isn't he at least genetically a relative?  Isn't that a little creepy?)  Second, Marvel seems awfully arrogant in his fight against Thor.  I mean, sure, he has his "seventeen thousand dimensional perception streams."  But, Thor is a GOD.  Did Remender forget that?  I assume that Thor has some similar ability to perceive Marvel's attacks in a different way from an ordinary human.  All in all, Remender just really gives us a Marvel who's unlikable, which makes you wonder if he's setting the stage for the revelation that it isn't the real Marvel.

Once I got past my confusion over the portrayal of Captain Marvel, I got to then be confused about the plot.  The intro page tells us that the Kree redirected Phoenix to Hala to help their race evolve.  Really?  Who are these people who think that the Phoenix helps races evolve?  I just don't understand why Marvel is pushing this position, since nothing we've ever seen even remotely supports this assertion.  Phoenix destroys; it doesn't create.  It was one thing when Scott seemed to believe it, because I could just blame it on him being an egotistical asshole who probably thinks that, if he wants something bad enough (like the Phoenix re-creating the mutant race), he can get it.  But, the Kree?  Why would they think that?  If Marvel really, really wants us to believe the Phoenix as something that leaves creation, and not just destruction, in its wake, we need some sort of back story tout de suite to show it.  (Is that maybe what "New Avengers" is eventually going to do?  A little too late, I think.)  I also, by the way, don't understand how the Kree managed to attract the Phoenix.  We saw it bee-line for Hala last issue, but was it going just because of the resurrection of Marvel?  Again, since Marvel was never Phoenix, I don't understand this connection to the Phoenix Force that Remender wants us to believe that he has.

Looking beyond Captain Marvel and the Phoenix Force, I'm also confused by Carol's behavior.  As I expected, more or less, we get a note here telling us that this issue happens before the events of "Avengers" #26-#27.  As such, I'm going to guess that I was right in my review of "Avengers" #26 and the events of this issue and the next one happen off-panel.  It means, then, that something happens to Marvel next issue (probably the revelation that the Kree didn't actually resurrect Marvel, but some sort of Phoenix construct) and that Carol was brainwashed.  She appears back to her normal self in "Avengers" #26 and no one seems particularly angry at her, something you'd imagine that they'd be given that, in this issue, she's trying to help execute Captain Britain, Valkyrie, and War Machine.  As such, if the events of this arc don't have any impact on the main story, then why are we bothering with it?  As I've mentioned elsewhere, we seem to have so many other stories to tell that I'm confused why Marvel would decide to dedicate one of the main tie-in titles to this space opera, particularly when it has no bearing on the main event and the other main tie-in title telling the Space Team's story, "Avengers," seems to be ignoring it.  Of all the tie-in titles, this one is the only one leaving me feeling like I'm reading "Fear Itself" all over again, with its dubious connections to the main event and its surprise events that seem destined to be immediately ret-conned.

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