New-ish Comics: The June 13 Marvel "A-M" Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Darth Vader #17:  When Darth Vader tells you you’re an asshole, you’re really an asshole.  Barr reveals to Lee-char and Vader that he knew billions on Mon Cala would die, but he needed to set the stage for the Mon Calamari’s involvement in the Rebellion and thus the events we’re currently seeing develop in the main series.  (I assume it means Trios and Vader fail in their attempt to destroy the Mon Calamari fleet, but we’ll see.)  Lee-char is appalled (particularly after Barr admits to killing the Imperial ambassador, setting off the armed conflict), but his surrender doesn’t convince Tarkin to stop the bombardment.  It’s a tactical error on Tarkin’s part, as Raddus is left with no choice but to order the fleet to flee the planet, with three ships successfully breaking through the blockade.  In so doing, Barr succeeds, as the Mon Calamari who escape are clearly allied with the Rebellion from this point forward.  But, Soule makes Barr’s treachery clear; as he himself admits, Barr might not have been Sith, but he sure as hell wasn’t a Jedi.  An interesting loose end here is that Verla, Barr’s remaining apprentice, survives.  I wonder how she’s going to play in later issues.  At this point, though, all hope is loss; as Vader says to Lee-char, Mon Cala no longer exists; only the Empire does.

Infinity Countdown:  Darkhawk #2:  This issue is admittedly hard to follow, mainly because it once again descends so far into the constantly changing Darkhawk mythos that you feel like you’re reading a Wikipedia entry at times.  We learn the Fraternity of Raptors was created as synthetic versions of Ratha’kon, the Starhawk, allegedly the Phoenix’s predator (whatever that means).  The Fraternity has long been seeking the full power of the “celestial raptor” (i.e., Ratha'kon, I'm assuming), but it wasn't able to perform the necessary ritual, because it required a willing as well as forced sacrifice.  Enter Talonar and Darkhawk.  Robbie is perfectly happy to watch Gyre, the lead Raptor, seemingly kill Chris in cold blood by ripping the amulet from the Razor armor.  You have to wonder how Rich is going to respond (per “Infinity Countdown” #4) when he learns his brother is this far gone.  By taking the amulet from the Razor armor and giving it to Talonar, the ritual is complete and Dark Starhawk is born.  This part is fine, though I question why Gyre allows the host to be a human, given humans’ alleged incompatibility with the armor.  According to this issue, we learned in “Darkhawk” #51 that the Datasong was so overwhelming to Chris at times that his mind created false memories — “I saw things, remembered people and places that weren’t there.”  It was all presumably to ease the burden of the Datasong, though I’m not sure how it accomplished that.  I also don’t remember this part from that issue, but, as Sims and Bowers specifically mention it here, it’s presumably relevant.  If you’re willing to accept the Raptors' origin story and Chris' memory issues on faith at this point, it’s otherwise a solid issue.  I’m hoping Sim and Bowers put aside the exposition for now and give us the space opera Darkhawk always should’ve been but rarely seemed to be.  They infuse this issue with some rare humor for the franchise, and it makes it a much stronger read as a result.  They could really do a lot with Chris so long as they don’t repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.

Marvel 2-in-One Annual #1:  I’m not particularly a fan of Doom or Reed, so I’ll admit this issue was wasted on me a bit.  It was billed as containing the secrets of “Secret Wars,” and I was attracted to that, since “Secret Wars” never really explained how we wound up where we did.  But, the “secret” is really that Reed made Doom think he and Susan were dead so he could have a fresh start.  Robbed of his intense rivalry with Reed, would he become a better man?  The answer is...muddled.  At some point, Doom rants against Reed's imperiousness as he disapproves of Doom killing one of his alternate selves in combat.  In his rant, Doom focuses on Reed’s decision to let Ben and Johnny think him (and Sue and the kids) dead, a crime against the family he so allegedly prizes.  It’s a reminder to me that I probably won’t be collecting the new “Fantastic Four” series, because I still find Reed insufferable, in any iteration of him.

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