Black Panther #10: Not unexpectedly, Coates gets even more philosophical in the last moments of peace before Tetu and his zombie-like forces arrive in the Golden City. T'Challa asks forgiveness from Changamire for his sins, particularly his pride in thinking he was better than his ancestors for not resorting to torture and then considering doing exactly that when his back was against the wall. But, T'Challa isn't the only one here who needs to repent. Although Changamire refuses to acknowledge he clings to a fantasy of how governments work, he is forced to acknowledge T'Challa doesn't want to dominate his people as king and, conversely, Tetu probably does. Similarly, Shuri gets the Dora Milaje to admit what they already know, that Tetu will turn on them once the Golden City falls. With these reluctant allies secured, T'Challa and Shuri show why they're the best there is at what they do.
Captain America: Steve Rogers #10: After "Mighty Captain Marvel" #1, I assumed Maria Hill was found innocent, since Carol discusses building the Shield. But, Spencer throws us a curveball here: Maria finally gets her comeuppance. (A lot of comeuppance happening this week, apparently.) She's found guilty and flees the Helicarrier to deliver the Shield plans to Carol. Needless to say, the Skull is furious: we learn his plan is to have the Chitauri invade Earth so he can come to power in the wake of the destruction they will inevitably cause. We still don't know exactly why Steve wanted to see Sharon put in charge instead of Maria, though. Does he think Maria more competent than Sharon? Is he worried she would suss out his plans more easily? Did he know Sharon would give the job to him? It also seems weird he'd want S.H.I.E.L.D. to be more powerful if the plan is for Earth to fall to the Chitauri. But, more powerful it will be, thanks to Sharon pulling out all the stops to get the S.H.I.E.L.D. Act passed, allowing it to become America's first line of defense in case of a Doomsday scenario or terrorist attack (or alien invasion). Sharon tells Steve he needs to be Director, since the person leading the organization with all that power has to be beyond reproach. If I had to guess, Steve plans on leading S.H.I.E.L.D. to failure in the Chitauri invasion so he can show even at its most powerful it's less effective than HYDRA. The only good news Steve gets in this issue is the revelation that Free Spirit pulled the plug on Jack Flag before he has to administer a drug to kill him. At least he's wrapped up one loose end.
Thunderbolts #9: I can't say I'm thrilled Marvel's sucked me into reading this series, but I have to admit I find myself charmed. The team is fun, and it's great to see Bucky again. That said, it's hard to see why "Captain America: Steve Rogers" #10 directed its readers to this issue. Other than the mere presence of Bucky, this issue is nowhere near as connected to Spencer's story as issues #7-#8 were. As far as I can tell, the only possible connection is if the alien race the Thunderbolts capture here are somehow connected to the Chitauri, meaning the beacon they activated will draw the Chitauri to Earth. But, no one even remotely mentions that here, so it's just a guess. I guess we'll see.
IvX #3 and All-New X-Men #17: Lemire does a pretty convincing job here of portraying the NuHumans as a threat the X-Men underestimated. Inferno gets the drop on Logan because he was overconfident, though Forge somewhat unconvincingly blunders into telling Iso exactly how to disable the machine he's building to eliminate the remaining Terrigen Cloud. It's still unclear how the Royal Family is going to escape Magik's prison to then break into X-Haven, but I have to admit it's a solid plan. But, it's Hopeless that grounds this event in actual emotions. If tactical conversations are par for the course in the main title, Hopeless makes young Hank sound ridiculous as he lays out the plan for Bobby, who just cares about finally kissing Romeo. The good news is he does, when he follows the X-Men into New Attilan simply to find him. Is it responsible? No, it's not. After all, if the X-Men don't win, Bobby's going to be dead in two weeks. Does it matter though? Nope. After all, Bobby essentially argues they wouldn't be at this point if people had the motivation to solve the impasse that he and Romeo have. He's not wrong. In fact, for the one taken the least seriously of all the X-Men, he's probably the only one thinking straight (heh) at this point.
Prowler #4: Hobie has always been a little arrogant, but Ryan makes him a downright asshole in this series. First, he continues lamenting he has to do everything on his own...even after Julia saves his life, getting him to New U and his pills in time. But, he also complains about her condescension when she refuses to see the Jackal as an agent of good. But, of course, Julia is right, so it's hard to argue she was just being condescending in refusing to believe him. Hobie doesn't even really try to argue his case: he just wants her to believe him because he believes it. I like Hobie, and I wanted to like this series. But, Ryan has him wallow in so much text-box misery that it's not the series for me, unfortunately.
Also Read: Avengers #1.MU; Extraordinary X-Men #18; Star Wars #27-#28
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