Amazing Spider-Man #798: OMG, this issue is soooo effing good. Honestly, I’ve been disappointed with Dan Slott for a long time, but I love that he’s going out this way. Seriously, I can’t imagine a better issue.
Norman is a completely over-the-top threat here -- as he should be -- and Slott hits the right notes at every point to make sure we understand that. When he threatens the lives of the "Daily Bugle" staff, it’s not an idle threat, as he actually has a bomb connected to the tritium. (Of course he does.) When the "Daily Bugle" veterans — Joe, Betty, and Ben — play a game of verbal hot potato to keep him distracted, he sees right through it. (He seems almost offended.) But, it’s when he pretends to be impaled (once again) to lull Peter into a false sense of security that Slott and the art team really hit the gas. Norman Osborn has been with us for 53.75 years (according to Wikipedia), but he enters a whole new phase the minute he laughs that red laugh. Red Goblin is terrifying in his first interaction with Spider-Man, and you can feel Peter’s blind panic, as he himself calls it, as he struggles to clear his mind and think of a way just to land a punch, let alone defeat him. (Peter’s initial response to Norman becoming Red Goblin -- a censored “Fuck me” -- felt totally organic. I felt the same way, Pete.)
Of course, it's all made worse by the fact Norman now knows Peter’s identity. Slott doesn't sleep on this part, as he shows JJJ, Jr. desperate to free himself from his bonds to save Peter. In fact, JJJ, Jr. is so desperate I wonder if he isn’t long for this world. Through JJJ, Jr.'s desperation, Slott shows how deeply JJJ, Jr. cares about Peter and how much he wants to prevent him from suffering the losses he himself has suffered. But, it's so convincing I'm now worried, and I hope they don’t kill off JJJ, Jr. just as we see him in this new light.
That said, Slott is so convincing you actually sort of wonder whether Peter is going to survive. In possibly the greatest development of the year, Norman unveils Carnage bombs, extensions of the symbiote that verbally harangue Peter as they fly at him. One grabs Peter’s leg and explodes, and I wondered if Slott wasn’t going to have Peter lose said leg. Instead, Slott does one better. Norman demands Peter stop being Spider-Man or he’ll kill everyone he loves. Peter agrees, attaching his jersey to a flag pole, and Norman laughs in triumph. But, Peter vows to take out Norman as Peter Parker. Slott seems to be building to a moment where Peter redeems himself, at least in his own eyes, as Peter and I can’t think of a better way for Slott to end his run.
But, Slott also has other irons in the fire, as “Emma” incapacitates Harry, Liz, and Mark with tranquilizer darts and grabs the children. It's still not entirely clear who her employer is, though we're led to believe it's Norman. Moreover, Slott has shown Normie as extremely jealous of Stanley, and I have to wonder if he'll bond with Stanley through the kidnapping or if Normie will ally himself with “Pop-pop” to disastrous results. Man, it’s a good time to be alive.
Norman is a completely over-the-top threat here -- as he should be -- and Slott hits the right notes at every point to make sure we understand that. When he threatens the lives of the "Daily Bugle" staff, it’s not an idle threat, as he actually has a bomb connected to the tritium. (Of course he does.) When the "Daily Bugle" veterans — Joe, Betty, and Ben — play a game of verbal hot potato to keep him distracted, he sees right through it. (He seems almost offended.) But, it’s when he pretends to be impaled (once again) to lull Peter into a false sense of security that Slott and the art team really hit the gas. Norman Osborn has been with us for 53.75 years (according to Wikipedia), but he enters a whole new phase the minute he laughs that red laugh. Red Goblin is terrifying in his first interaction with Spider-Man, and you can feel Peter’s blind panic, as he himself calls it, as he struggles to clear his mind and think of a way just to land a punch, let alone defeat him. (Peter’s initial response to Norman becoming Red Goblin -- a censored “Fuck me” -- felt totally organic. I felt the same way, Pete.)
Of course, it's all made worse by the fact Norman now knows Peter’s identity. Slott doesn't sleep on this part, as he shows JJJ, Jr. desperate to free himself from his bonds to save Peter. In fact, JJJ, Jr. is so desperate I wonder if he isn’t long for this world. Through JJJ, Jr.'s desperation, Slott shows how deeply JJJ, Jr. cares about Peter and how much he wants to prevent him from suffering the losses he himself has suffered. But, it's so convincing I'm now worried, and I hope they don’t kill off JJJ, Jr. just as we see him in this new light.
That said, Slott is so convincing you actually sort of wonder whether Peter is going to survive. In possibly the greatest development of the year, Norman unveils Carnage bombs, extensions of the symbiote that verbally harangue Peter as they fly at him. One grabs Peter’s leg and explodes, and I wondered if Slott wasn’t going to have Peter lose said leg. Instead, Slott does one better. Norman demands Peter stop being Spider-Man or he’ll kill everyone he loves. Peter agrees, attaching his jersey to a flag pole, and Norman laughs in triumph. But, Peter vows to take out Norman as Peter Parker. Slott seems to be building to a moment where Peter redeems himself, at least in his own eyes, as Peter and I can’t think of a better way for Slott to end his run.
But, Slott also has other irons in the fire, as “Emma” incapacitates Harry, Liz, and Mark with tranquilizer darts and grabs the children. It's still not entirely clear who her employer is, though we're led to believe it's Norman. Moreover, Slott has shown Normie as extremely jealous of Stanley, and I have to wonder if he'll bond with Stanley through the kidnapping or if Normie will ally himself with “Pop-pop” to disastrous results. Man, it’s a good time to be alive.
Avengers #687: “We are all exiles from the divine.” Jarvis, everybody. Can the guy give a rallying speech or what? I totally cried, along with Bruce Banner. As the rest of the Avengers scramble to try to save Vision and figure out a way to handle Voyager, Jarvis finds a despondent Bruce Banner sitting by himself in a ruined courtyard. We learn Nadia brought Jarvis to the Mansion because she thought it would help his recuperation, and Jarvis remarks -- mostly to himself -- that she apparently thought they would serve him. He's clearly not having it (evidenced by his tuxedo and forehead bandage), and his response to a broken Bruce Banner is to serve him tea. Bruce tells Jarvis he can't face the Avengers, particularly Hawkeye, after what he's done to them, and Jarvis quotes “Paradise Lost,” reminding him the mind can turn heaven into hell and vice versa. He then succinctly boils down the essence of Avenging in a way no one has: they are avenging their own crimes and faults. They all know they aren’t heroes, but they try to be. Jarvis encourages Bruce to keep trying to be, because it’s the only thing that matters; it’s not the evil he’s capable of doing -- the only thing he sees -- but the good he does (and most importantly, to Jarvis' mind, wants to do). Man, Jarvis, I really needed to hear that right now.
It’s not just Bruce who gets a pep talk, though. Lightning is despondent he couldn’t stop the Hulk and save Vision, and Simon’s pacifism here works well. Lightning is particularly disappointed he wasn’t powerful enough to fight off the Hulk, and Wonder Man reminds him they would’ve kicked out Hawkeye on the first day if it was all about power. The best part, though, is Simon is poised to dive into the inspirational part of his speech when Quicksilver tells him to be quiet so he can focus. It’s the perfect snarky Quicksilver moment; in the 70s, he would've made some sort of arch remark about Simon's inane prattling. But, it's all the better because he’s not wrong: he’s trying to find something whizzing around them. (It turns out being the “mite” that’s keeping everyone in stasis.) Emily enters the room at the fuss, and Pietro can’t face her. But, she tells him he did what he thought was best and she got hurt; it’s the price of heroing. (I hope at some point we get a deeper dive into Synapse, because she really deserves it.) At any rate, it's a good thing the Avengers had a minute to regroup, because the Challenger has decided to take out his fury over the Gamemaster's cheating (and likely disappearance, not death) by destroying the board, i.e. Earth!
It’s not just Bruce who gets a pep talk, though. Lightning is despondent he couldn’t stop the Hulk and save Vision, and Simon’s pacifism here works well. Lightning is particularly disappointed he wasn’t powerful enough to fight off the Hulk, and Wonder Man reminds him they would’ve kicked out Hawkeye on the first day if it was all about power. The best part, though, is Simon is poised to dive into the inspirational part of his speech when Quicksilver tells him to be quiet so he can focus. It’s the perfect snarky Quicksilver moment; in the 70s, he would've made some sort of arch remark about Simon's inane prattling. But, it's all the better because he’s not wrong: he’s trying to find something whizzing around them. (It turns out being the “mite” that’s keeping everyone in stasis.) Emily enters the room at the fuss, and Pietro can’t face her. But, she tells him he did what he thought was best and she got hurt; it’s the price of heroing. (I hope at some point we get a deeper dive into Synapse, because she really deserves it.) At any rate, it's a good thing the Avengers had a minute to regroup, because the Challenger has decided to take out his fury over the Gamemaster's cheating (and likely disappearance, not death) by destroying the board, i.e. Earth!
Batman #44: I'm not sure how he did it, but King somehow makes Catwoman looking for a wedding dress -- by breaking into a bridal boutique at 3:00 am -- into a perfect character study.
Batman: White Night #7: This issue is remarkably solid, as everyone is called on their bullshit in some way. Jack is forced to admit the drugs are starting to lose their effect, making his confrontation with Neo-Joker all the more precarious as it's unclear if she'll face Jack or the Joker. Jack holds it together through the confrontation (barely), but she demands he bring back the Joker, dismissing Jack as the "sane man" she was always worried would take the Joker from her. Jack laments to Harley that he played by the rules to try to prove Gotham didn't need law-breaking vigilantes to save it, but he's still faced with a law-breaking criminal holding it hostage. Harley brilliantly calls bullshit, reminding him he didn't play by the rules at all: he used the Mad Hatter's technology to hijack criminals' minds to scare the city into giving him power. Harley then does what Bruce knew she would do all along: she sends Jack to Batman. Bruce agrees to work with him only if he provides a full confession: he attacked the financial district, destroyed his own library, and created the Neo-Joker (if inadvertently, in the latter case). Jack agrees, but only if Harley goes free.
Jumping into the Batmobile, Bruce ups the ante: he asks for the Joker's confession about Robin, but Jack admits he's been fighting the Joker to get that information. Under pressure from Bruce, he concentrates harder. (Honestly, this part was the only flaw in the issue. Jack claims he's been trying to figure out Jason's fate, but he literally just scrunches up his eyes harder here to get it. It's a minor complaint, but I mention it because Murphy had other options here, like Jack simply confessing. I'm not sure why he went this way.) He eventually breaks through the Joker's walls and reveals the Joker tortured Jason to get Bruce's identity, something Jason surrenders at the final moment, saying he wish he'd never heard the name Bruce Wayne. But, we also learn the Joker let Jason go free, because it was much more damaging to know Bruce would mourn his loss and then eventually learn Jason hated Bruce so much he'd let him think he was dead. (Jack also tells Bruce he knew he was Batman after discovering Wayne Enterprises funded the Batman Devastation Fund, not taxpayers.)
The pair finally arrive at their destination: Mr. Freeze reveals the existence of Thomas Wayne's tunnels under Gotham, which the Army used to help Baron von Fries build the weapon. They return to GCPD, where Bruce provides the GTO with Batmobiles. Jack struggles to control the Joker as Bruce shows Barbara and Dick a note Alfred wrote for him when he had Freeze save Bruce instead of him. He tells them he can't read Alfred's last words to him yet, and he confesses the note he'd write the kids would tell them how he was no longer motivated by avenging his parents' deaths, but making Gotham a safer place so they could take off their masks. They hug him, and, honestly, it's the moment for me. It's one of the few explanations of his motivations at this point in his career that have ever made sense to me. I hope someone adopts it into mainstream comics. As everyone heads to war, Gordon tries to apologize to Bruce for arresting him, but Bruce won't have it: he not only tells him he was right to do so -- that it all had gone too far -- but that he planned on revealing his identity once the caper is done. (I assume that means he's going to die before that happens.) He and Jack then head into the tunnels to find Harley as Jack, riding with Bruce, loses control for the final time.
Marvel 2-in-One #5: Making it clear this title is leading to a reboot of the "Fantastic Four," Zdarsky does a great job using the alternate versions of them to make us hungry for the real thing. Ben and Johnny learn Doom saving Earth as Galactus so broke this Universe's Reed Richards that he's done nothing to find a way to stop him, focusing instead of improving people's lives during the time they have left. However, he comes to his senses when Ben and Johnny join this Earth's heroes in fighting Doom's legion of Doombot heralds. The return of at least half of the Fantastic Four rallies the heroes, and Johnny saves Reed from one of the heralds. However, Johnny's power misfires right then, and Reed saves him as he plummets to Earth. Reed now realizes he has to do something. Surprising no one, Doom from our Universe appears, having hitchhiked with Ben, Johnny, and Rachna. Reed is momentarily distracted when learning of Ben and Johnny's plight, discussing his theory all metahuman powers come from a universal power source but admitting he never thought about an interpersonal one. He starts to offer to help, but our Doom, offering his assistance, wisely keeps him focused on the task. Ben and Johnny are sent to a farm where the Silver Surfer -- now human -- lives with Emma Frost. We've heard a number of whispers about the terrible fate of this Universe's Johnny Storm, and Emma and Norrin's shocked reaction at seeing him shows how terrible it must have been. At this stage, all we know come from Emma, who comments on how much Johnny and Norrin suffered. That doesn't sound good.
The New Mutants: Dead Souls #2: Rosenberg does a solid job teasing out the team dynamics here, as Julio takes Boomer and Tabitha to brunch (with Shatterstar!) to ask them if they trust Magik. Of course, she appears with Strong Guy right behind him as he admits he doesn't trust her and whisks them all (minus Shatterstar) to October Revolution Island off the coast of Russia. They quickly find themselves in battle with a frost giant, and Julio takes charge in getting the team to flee to safety after Magik refuses to acknowledge they're overpowered. They make their way into tunnels beneath the surface and discover researchers were digging for an old Norse battle whose participants were frozen in time. The team finds one of the researchers alive, and we learn someone named Tran was interested in his research on the battle. Dun-dun-DUN! After that, he remembers nothing else, including the fact his excavation released the aforementioned frost giant. Magik teleports Boomer into the giant's belly to destroy him, but it doesn't really resolve the situation. Rahne tries to talk some sense into her about her erratic leadership, but it goes to a point Rictor previously made at brunch, when he wondered aloud why Magik (and not Dani) is running the team and why Shan hired them in the first place. (In fact, other than the obvious Tran connection, I'm not sure what the ruse was to get the team to come to October Revolution Island in the first place. Did Shan pretend her company owned something here? I'm not sure if Rosenberg ever established that.) The issue ends continuing the B story from last issue, with some kids in Connecticut daring an alleged mutant their age to prove he's not a mutant by approaching the Alone Man's house. It turns out the Alone Man is...Warlock!
Spider-Man #239: It's hard to believe we're where Bendis wants us to be for his finale on this title, but it is what it is. If you put aside the pressure of next issue, it's actually pretty solid. Aaron comes very close to successfully delivering the helicarrier to Lucia van Bardas, but he underestimates Miles. Bendis shows us Miles learning about a safe Aaron kept in his closet a decade ago, and he breaks into said safe in the present, looking for clues. He finds Aaron's burner phone and, searching through its history, finds out where he's going. Miles arrives with the Champions, and a pretty great battle ensues. However, von Bardas acts like an actual villain, ordering her men to open fire on Aaron and Miles as they fight. Miles told his uncle he was trying to save him, because he believes he's better than a thief. The front cover of this issue implies next issue Aaron will die, but I'm not so sure. Also, Ganke's girlfriend gives him some sort of note, but we don't know what it says. I have no idea how Bendis is going to wrap up all these threads, but we'll see. (All that said, Miles comparing himself to Batman was great.)
Star Wars #46: Man, this issue is awesome. The plot is tight, as the team successfully executes its plan to swipe the Moff and use his bio-signature, with the codes Trios stole for them, to enter the prison where they're keeping Lee-Char. But, it's all the little moments of characterization that make it a thrilling issue, from Han not passing up a chance to profit (even when posing as a bathroom attendant) to Threepio's anxiety (and titillation) when Leia leaves him in charge of making sure the shape-shifter stays in character as the Moff. The Moff's shock the Rebels were able to get their hands on such sensitive codes furthers the sense the Empire is going to quickly realize Trios is the weak link. Dissecting it further would be a disservice, so I really just recommend giving it a read.
X-Men: Gold #25: Guggenheim's storytelling can feel random at times, and this issue is a great example of that problem. "Iceman" #11 promised Bobby a shot at leading a team of X-Men, and this arc was supposed to fulfill that promise, as Kitty and her team were trapped in prison. But, it doesn't happen that way. As Scythian attacks Paris, Bobby and his team head over there, while Kitty's team laments their imprisonment. That part makes sense. But, then, Storm breaks from her confinement, because apparently the mutant-canceling technology isn't all that good if you're really, really mad. She threatens the warden into releasing them, as if the warden actually had the power to decide that. They arrive in Paris thanks to Magik, and Kitty just simply takes over giving orders; we don't even see Bobby for several panels, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't get in a word edgewise after Kitty's arrival. Also, Storm's distress in imprisonment summons Stormcaster, an Asgardian weapon I vaguely remember her using in the day. However, everyone stresses how even an amped-up Storm can't put a dent in Scythian, so the plan is merely to distract him until Magik can send him to Limbo. But, then Kitty slams the Blackbird into him and that apparently does the trick? Yeah, I don't know. It's Guggenheim, so what can you do? Also, the X-Men's actions in Paris not only mean that the NYPD apparently just forgives them for assaulting its cops but the Senate majority leaders says the deportation act is stalled. Hurrah! Cigars for everyone! Honestly, I could've dealt with a little less Stormcaster, a little more sense here.
Also Read: Astonishing X-Men #10; Nightwing #42
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