I'm back! It's been a hectic few weeks, so sorry for the delay. I've got a few reviews in the can, so hopefully I'll be current soon!
Secret Empire #6: I know some people aren't reading this event because they object to Captain Nazi, and I understand that, but, OMG, it's so good and I feel bad for them. This issue starts off fairly staid but Spencer just keeps building and building the tension until I realized I was holding my breath. The issue begins with the Champions arguing with Nadia because she refuses to be part of Natasha's new Red Room. (Natasha is training them for their assault on HYDRA.) Miles later encourages Natasha to be more forthcoming with the team to address Nadia's concerns. I thought the rest of the issue would be filled with similar sorts of character vignettes, serving as a stock-taking of the characters' emotional states before the push to the finale. But, um, no. First, Spencer reveals Mockingbird wasn't communicating with Cap; she's in cahoots with Maria Hill. (Hurrah! Spidey is going to get some!) Hill has several plans she wants to put into action, but Mockingbird convinced her to delay while they waited to see if Hawkeye could pull off the win. It turns out Scott betrayed the team because HYDRA got to Cassie. Spencer does an outstanding job in this sequence, perfectly capturing Quicksilver's outrage at Mockingbird's accusation he was the spy as well as Scott's devastation over once again falling short of being a hero. On HYDRA's ship, Bruce is speaking in lower-case lettering, making me wonder if he's not the Ultimate Universe version of Bruce Banner. He refuses Cap's offer to get vengeance on the people Cap claims hated him for never submitting to their will, so Cap activates the Hulk instead. Cap leads an attack on the Mount, and Giant-Man helps turn the tide when he reveals he's replicated Egghead's robot Avengers. It gives the team enough time to evacuate the refugees after Thor turns a blind eye. But, it's the last few pages of this issue that take the cake. In possibly his most real moment ever, Tony admits to Steve he keeps trying to be him, but he keeps failing because he's not made of the same stuff. He was trying to save him this time because he wanted to be to Steve what Steve has always been to him: his hero. But, he acknowledges he failed, and he activates a nuclear bomb. However, Elisa sacrifices her life to save Steve, teleporting him from the blast zone. Devastated upon hearing the news, Natasha assumes everyone is dead and tells the Champions it's time to kill Steve. It's a gripping ride, from start to finish. It's one of the best comics I've ever read, and it's probably the best issue of any event ever. I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Secret Empire #6: I know some people aren't reading this event because they object to Captain Nazi, and I understand that, but, OMG, it's so good and I feel bad for them. This issue starts off fairly staid but Spencer just keeps building and building the tension until I realized I was holding my breath. The issue begins with the Champions arguing with Nadia because she refuses to be part of Natasha's new Red Room. (Natasha is training them for their assault on HYDRA.) Miles later encourages Natasha to be more forthcoming with the team to address Nadia's concerns. I thought the rest of the issue would be filled with similar sorts of character vignettes, serving as a stock-taking of the characters' emotional states before the push to the finale. But, um, no. First, Spencer reveals Mockingbird wasn't communicating with Cap; she's in cahoots with Maria Hill. (Hurrah! Spidey is going to get some!) Hill has several plans she wants to put into action, but Mockingbird convinced her to delay while they waited to see if Hawkeye could pull off the win. It turns out Scott betrayed the team because HYDRA got to Cassie. Spencer does an outstanding job in this sequence, perfectly capturing Quicksilver's outrage at Mockingbird's accusation he was the spy as well as Scott's devastation over once again falling short of being a hero. On HYDRA's ship, Bruce is speaking in lower-case lettering, making me wonder if he's not the Ultimate Universe version of Bruce Banner. He refuses Cap's offer to get vengeance on the people Cap claims hated him for never submitting to their will, so Cap activates the Hulk instead. Cap leads an attack on the Mount, and Giant-Man helps turn the tide when he reveals he's replicated Egghead's robot Avengers. It gives the team enough time to evacuate the refugees after Thor turns a blind eye. But, it's the last few pages of this issue that take the cake. In possibly his most real moment ever, Tony admits to Steve he keeps trying to be him, but he keeps failing because he's not made of the same stuff. He was trying to save him this time because he wanted to be to Steve what Steve has always been to him: his hero. But, he acknowledges he failed, and he activates a nuclear bomb. However, Elisa sacrifices her life to save Steve, teleporting him from the blast zone. Devastated upon hearing the news, Natasha assumes everyone is dead and tells the Champions it's time to kill Steve. It's a gripping ride, from start to finish. It's one of the best comics I've ever read, and it's probably the best issue of any event ever. I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Astonishing X-Men #1: Marvel has marketed this series as an ambitious one, in the mode of Whedon's run on this title. So far Soule and Cheung don't disappoint. They really summon the energy of the 1990s X-Men as they assemble an all-star 1990s lineup: Archangel, Beast, Bishop, Fantomex, Gambit, Psylocke, Rogue, and Wolverine. The premise is also pretty solid: the Shadow King is scheming, seemingly killing lesser psychics in his attempt to enter our world. He then tries to possess Psylocke since she's stronger, but she manages to call for help, hence the all-star lineup. Archangel and Bishop agree to stay with Psylocke to protect her while she sends the rest of the team onto the Astral Plane to take on the Shadow King. I'm perfectly content with this start, though I did have some questions about the status quo of several of the characters. For example, I initially thought Angel and Archangel were still two separate entities, but I was reminded after reading the Marvel Database of the events of "Apocalypse Wars," where they were united. However, I thought this new Angel still wasn't the same person as the old Angel; he didn't have old Angel's memories or personality. Soule necessarily deny that, but he does depict enough chemistry between Betsy and Warren that you have to wonder. I also hadn't realized Bishop had returned from the desolate Earth where Cable stranded him at the end of "Homecoming." But, again, the Internet tells me otherwise. This confusion means it probably is time some of these characters returned to the mainstream, so I already feel like Soule has achieved what he intended here. ResurrXion indeed.
Mighty Thor #21: Aaron seems to imply both War Thor's hammer and Jane Foster's hammer are scheming against them, pushing Volstagg to kill when he doesn't want to do so and encouraging Thor to sacrifice her health by appealing to her decency. I'm intrigued to see where he goes with this idea.
Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #2: I can't say Zdarsky hits a home run here. Some aspects of the plot are completely ridiculous. For example, I still don't buy Peter going on a date as Spider-Man. He may have tried to do that as a 16-year-old, but he's a grown-ass man now. It's irresponsible, as his date herself notes when she observes it's more dangerous for her to be on a date with Spider-Man than it would be his alter ego. (Peter argued he stayed in costume because people who know his identity get hurt.) Also, Riri apparently can't trace the phone Peter gave her but she can trace the "environmentals." She "scanned" every component of the phone and the "lowest layer of particulates" tells her the phone came from somewhere in a specific square block in Lower East Manhattan. Tha fuck? Can she also bend space and time? I mean, seriously. Why not just have her find a way to trace the supposedly untraceable phone? As the writer, you don't have to create such a fakakta method for her tracking down the Kingpin (the owner of the phone). But, all that said, Zdarsky does a marvelous job of getting down Peter's voice. He's a little too adolescent at times, but, for the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm actually reading about Peter Parker and not whoever that guy in "Amazing Spider-Man" is. We get a focus on him as a person, from his friendship with Johnny to his relationship with his "sister." It's comforting and something we've been missing for a long time. Moreover, Kubert makes it all look great. If Zdarsky could tone down the sophomoric behavior a bit, I think this title could easily become the Spider-Man title for me.
Spider-Man 2099 #25: Only Peter David could wrap up the loose ends of this series (and the preceding ones) so well. As expected, Miguel survives his foretold "death" because Strange teleports him from the moment he dies to the "present" -- brilliantly, New Year's Eve 2100 -- removing any possibility of a time paradox. But, how we get there is equally brilliant. Miguel learns he dies saving Tempest in 2017, and Gabri and he (though, notably, not Tempest) agree he has to return to the past to make sure it happens exactly that way. He does, and we learn Tempest kills him: Tyler programmed a post-hypnotic suggestion for her to kill him the minute he kisses her. She also immediately forgets it was her, and Miguel fades to his death hiding that from her. But, before he saved Tempest, he had sent Roberta to 2099 after confirming it had returned to the way it was. Gabri apparently traveled to the future to tell Roberta about Miguel's fate, and she had Strange pull him to 2099 the minute he "died." (I'm not sure how Gabri knew who Roberta was, but I'll ignore that part.) All's well that ends well! Including the initial 12-issue run of this series and "Secret Wars" 2099, this issue brings to a close a 42-issue series that introduced Miguel to a new group of fans. I sincerely hope Marvel pulls the trigger on "Defenders 2100" so we can see what David didn't show us, namely, what the 2099 (now 2100) world looks like. David also didn't wrap up all the loose ends. Although we know Tempest and Gabri traveled to 2019 to prevent Tyler Stone from destroying New York (and creating the timeline Miguel was trying to prevent from coming into reality), we don't know why they became time travelers in the first place. After all, in 2019, Gabri would be no more than two years old. When's their "real" time? It may explain why Gabri knew about Roberta, but we don't know for sure. I'm also not entirely sure why Miguel's presence in the past opened the door to Tyler trying to destroy 2019, something he allegedly wouldn't have done if Miguel hadn't traveled to the past. But, I'm willing just to concede it did somehow. David lays the foundation for future shenanigans as well, as Miguel ends the series doubting his ability not to contact Tempest and Gabri. Fingers crossed Marvel lets him.
X-Men: Blue #7-#8: First, who the fuck is Briar Raleigh? Also, when the fuck did she start paying for the Mansion? I don't recall seeing her at all in "X-Men Gold," and you'd figure Kitty would be dancing a jig over someone paying for the Mansion. Also, when the fuck did Havok become Magneto? I mean, he's not physically Magneto. But, you could replace him with 1980s Magneto here and his dialogue would perfectly match. In addition to these mysteries weighing down the issue, Bunn falls into the unfortunate pitfall of most event tie-ins, not having time to explain why everyone chose the side she or he chose. Firestar is suddenly part of the New Tian strike force? Has she ever really associated with the mutants? For that matter, Marrow is totally OK with New Tian? Shouldn't she view it as one more example of mutants failing other mutants by allowing humans to live there? As a result, all the fights feel random. I like the sexual tension between Jean and Jimmy, but everything else just feels poorly aligned.
Also Read: Ms. Marvel #20; U.S.Avengers #8
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