Avengers #2: First things first, I have to go on record as opposing the apparent reversion of Loki to his eviler incarnation. Kieron Gillen (in "Young Avengers") and Al Ewing (in "Loki: Agent of Asgard") did such amazing work on his character, evolving him from the God of Lies to the God of Stories, that I can't accept any story that undoes that. Aaron had been seemingly undermining that story in "The Mighty Thor" with Loki stabbing Freya, but the revelation that he did it to save her life helped keep hope alive. But, Aaron almost rules out that possibility entirely here, as Loki is revealed to be conspiring with the Final Host, seemingly to "cure" humanity of its heroes. Loki implies heroes were created through a mistake the Celestials made a million year ago, presumably during their battle with the prehistoric Avengers. I get the homage to Loki originally bringing together the Avengers, but I draw the line at any conclusion to this story that doesn't reveal a more nuanced approach to Loki than we're seeing now. That being said, I'm still enjoying the story. The banter between Cap, Carol, Thor, and Tony is great, though Aaron leans a little too heavily on exposition when it comes to the new Ghost Rider. But, hopefully Aaron's conveyed everything he needed to convey with this monologuing and Robbie will join the banterers' ranks soon.
Batman #47: So. Goddamn. Awful.
Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #18: I haven't been too thrilled with this series lately, but this issue is solid. Mysterio's daughter Misty plots to make Cassandra's casino disappear so she can get her hands on an artifact she believes is located below it, an artifact that her father Mysterio doesn't think actually exists. Dusk has been tailing Misty (as we've previously seen), so when Ben becomes suspicious about Misty's intentions she and Ben join forces. (Cassandra's henchman, Slate, is also concerned, but Cassandra insists it's just like David Copperfield making the Statue of Liberty disappear.) Ben and Dusk watch the festivities from the outside while Ben has Kaine stashed on the inside watching Cassandra and Slate. Cassandra is surprised when the casino actually disappears and they suddenly face an alien landscape filled with Mindless Ones. Meanwhile, Ben and Dusk hightail it after Misty and Mysterio, and suddenly this series is a lot more interesting.
Captain America #702: I want to be as gentle here as I can be, because I know this series means a lot to Mark Waid. But, I just don't know what I'm supposed to do with this story. Jack successfully flees to a safehouse that this reality's historians maintain; it conveniently isn't on the government's radar. The safehouse also conveniently has house rules that nothing discussed within its walls can be discussed outside them. Jack tells his story to a colleague, but she thinks this Kree "conspiracy theory" is insane. An oldster named "Old Vic" (I'm guessing the Vision, given his reference to wearing many faces) conveniently (notice a theme?) uses a special monocle to show Jack that Cap and the Red Skull have been locked in battle inside the Cosmic Cube below Washington for decades. The government raids the safehouse (likely because they followed Jack there). Despite no real physical training, Jack manages to make his way through the ruins of Washington because the monocle conveniently (OK, I'll stop now) shows him exactly where the Cube is located. Jack discovers Cap's shield conven...lying nearby, so he smashes the Cube with the shield, but only the Skull emerges. Uh-oh? I guess? Clearly, the string of coincidences is too strong here to feel like we're reading a naturally evolving story. Instead, Waid is doing the same thing he did last arc, manipulating events to show exactly the impression of Captain America he wants us to have. But, the coincidences starts to lead you to believe Steve Rogers isn't really all that brave: he's just been lucky. I don't think that's the conclusion Waid wants us to draw, but I'm not sure what else I'm supposed to conclude here.
Daredevil #602: The story continues to move along smoothly, as Matt declares a state of emergency to shut down the buses, schools, and subways in an attempt to keep New Yorkers off the streets. He also brings in Foggy as his chief of staff so he can go hero. Foggy notes the city needs him more as the Mayor than as a hero, as plenty of other heroes -- Luke Cage, Spider-Man, Misty Knight, etc. -- are on the case. Matt wavers briefly, but when he learns One Police Plaza is under assault he and Blindspot hit the bricks. Soule and Henderson do a great job with the action sequences here. First, the guys have to rescue two cops who were late to the building so didn't get trapped inside it when the Hand swarmed it. Then, they have to make their way through a kill zone the Hand established outside the building, forcing them to ignore the wounded officers on the ground begging for help. (Blindspot gets hit when he's distracted by one officer's appeal.) But, when they finally claw their way into the building, the Hand has somehow removed everyone -- by removing the center of the building. Henderson is really on fire here. Matt is all square jaws and determined glares; it's a good look for him. Meanwhile, Soule really conveys the exhaustion everyone is starting to feel, particularly as they just dealt with the Kingpin imprisoning all the heroes. I was wavering a bit on this series, but Soule focusing a little bit more and Henderson injecting a strong sense of energy into the story has helped establish a more stable equilibrium.
The Wild Storm #13: This issue isn't bad, per se, but it isn't great given the unnecessary exposition Lynch and John employ to explain situations that we, the readers, already understand. I wouldn't call it a miss, but it's probably the weakest installment of this outstanding series so far.
- Lynch tracks down Colonel Marc Slayton, the first volunteer for IO's experiment to embed into human beings the "viable, active genetic material" they found on alien beings in ancient burial sites around the world. The Wild C.A.T.s' invasion of IO tripped the alarms Lynch set on the Thunderbook files, and he's there to warn Slayton someone may be coming after them. (I'm pretty sure it was the Wild C.A.T.s who accessed these files, but Lynch thinks it's IO itself.) However, Slayton has gone a little crazy after years of coexisting with an alien. (We later learn he's been sacrificing people to send "many souls" to his alien's planet.) Slayton claims he deserved to have been the only alien-human hybrid, and he's mad that Lynch made more. Slatyon tells Lynch the aliens sense something different about him and then attacks, though Lynch manages to escape (as he always does, Slayton later laments to his alien reflection in the mirror).
- Miles orders King to task three C.A.T.s to destroy Skywatch's Ground Division in New York in retribution for Mitch's murder. Similarly, Bendix orders his right-hand woman (whose name I always forget) to develop plans to destroy some of IO's research facilities (a scaled-back version of the Science City Zero attack) or kill a lot of its people. (He'll decide later.) In the end, she complains Bendix and Craven are both too afraid of the big fight, which would expose them to humanity. She proposes they engage in actions that "will radically destabilize life on Earth, break IO's control over the planet and make it impossible for any global order to replicate it." Go big or go home, as she says.
- John records himself stripping off his human body and revealing his alien body, something he does once a year on the day he picked as his "birthday." He sends the video to Jacob to taunt him, even speaking the name of their planet - Khera - despite Jacob banning its muttering. John exposits he was just a solider, but Jacob ruining the Expedition and stranding them on Earth was the best thing that could've happened to him.
- Meanwhile, Jenny and the Doctor track down the Mayor (I think) and an alien appears to Voodoo while she sleeps and tells her to "dream of the world as it truly is."
In other words, we still have a lot brewing, over halfway through this series. Even if this issue was a little slow, it's pretty clear this series is going to be pretty spectacular once this fight breaks into the open.
X-Men: Red #4: Taylor does a great job peeling back the onion slowly over the course of this issue. Jean and the team eventually incapacitate Storm, and T'Challa scans her brain, revealing a nanite on her amygdala. Jean uses Trinary's powers and T'Challa's knowledge of the brain to extract the nanite with her telekinesis, and Trinary's study of the still-active nanite reveals it's a sentinite. Cassandra Nova (though they don't know it's her) is using them to turn everyone into a Sentinel, as the sentinites activate once they come in contact with a mutant. Eventually, we learn Nova achieved this feat through bringing Forge under her control. She then infects world leaders with the sentinites, ensuring the destruction of mutantkind. However, Jean and her team have fled Wakanda for the more remote Atlantis, where a devilishly handsome Namor has provided them sanctuary. Trinary and the Wakandans have whipped up some suits that can serve as a firewall for the sentinites, which cause mutants (as we see with Storm here) to attempt to commit suicide when they infect them. (It unfortunately also means, in Gabby's words, Namor has to cover up "Abs-lantis.") This story is brilliant mostly because it's ripped from the headlines: it literally weaponizes the Russian misinformation campaign, as Trinary herself mentions here. It's proving to be one of the smarter series on the shelves, and, with the excellent art team, is really starting to find its stride.
Also Read: Bloodshot Salvation #9; Eternity #1-#4; Infinity Countdown: Daredevil #1; Mighty Thor: Gates of Valhalla #1
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