Astonishing X-Men #12: I like Charles Soule, but, man, this story was a mess. We learn the Shadow King has been pulling the strings all along, using Proteus to seed the world with reality gardens that Farouk could then use to control the world. (I still don't understand what these "reality gardens" are at this point, but whatever.) Then, it turns out X was pulling the strings. Surprise! He teaches Betsy how to ask -- not demand, as they did last time -- every psychic in the world join their Psychic Friends Network, and Betsy somehow uses this energy to dismiss Farouk. (It's not entirely clear the mechanics of that, but, again, whatever.) Wrapping up loose ends, X finishes giving the X-Men his "gifts," wiping all memory of his existence from their minds...except for Betsy's. Despite his claim to be free of Farouk's influence, he allows Betsy to retain her memory of him, just in case he isn't. Um, OK, way to reassure us, X. I don't really know what Soule wants us to feel here. Xavier...I mean, X...could've easily just set up the Network the first time they tried it. Why wait until now? In other words, Soule doesn't explain why Xavier suddenly realizes permission is the key to harnessing the Network's power fully. Moreover, X doesn't remotely feel like Xavier. To be fair, he insists he's not Xavier, but then who is he? He feels more like the latest iteration of Xorn, a convoluted plot device that future authors are likely to use and abuse for their own purposes. It's just a mess, from start to finish.
Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra’s al Ghul #1: This issue is great. Seeley draws such a good bead on the characters that every development flows logically from the previous one, as characters respond the way you think they would. But, it doesn’t mean they don't surprise us with moments of growth either. The issue starts slow, with Selena taking Damian to be sized for his wedding outfit and Damian rehashing his troubled origin for her as a way of saying he doesn’t need her. Damian pops into the arcade to try to best his previous score on Cheese Viking, but he finds himself confronting Aion, who claims to be Bruce and Selena’s son from the future. The conflict shifts to the future, where Damian from "Batman" #666 seemingly awakens from hallucinating the arcade sequence only to face Aion in his present. But, the miniature Nightwing on his shoulder lecturing him about not killing Aion is his clue this moment, too, is a hallucination. He then finds himself in the arcade once again, realizing his grandfather is his enemy. He knows the drugs al Ghul used on him brought out his subconscious fear that Bruce will replace him with a "real" son. For his part, al Ghul is here to kill Damian for allowing Catwoman to replace him. Damian doesn’t win the fight so much as he persists. Later, as Selina returns from her bachelorette party, he asks if she and Bruce are going to have children. She resists answering the question as she doesn't see it as part of his business, but Damian puts his anxiety on display for her, a surprising sign of how deeply concerned he is. But, Selina also surprises as Seeley allows her to be the adult we rarely see her be. She tells Damian she can’t imagine raising a child, because s/he would have to carry not only her/his own baggage but also hers (and, implicitly, Bruce's). Bringing a tear to everyone's eye, she then says she could never have a child who could overcome that baggage, because they'd never be as strong as Damian Wayne. Damian is surprised and touched by this confession. Selina tells him they need to stick together, as the only people in the house who aren’t goody-goodies. She promises to have his back if he’ll have hers, and he agrees, with a smile that lights up his face. It’s a lovely moment, and it feels hard-won. Damian may be the bastard child Aion said he was, not raised from birth by Batman as Aion allegedly was. But, Seeley makes it clear here he’s all the son Bruce and Selina need. (That said, I’d be totally down with DC bringing back Aion!) For all the cynicism I feel about this perceived money-grab series, this one is really worth the money.
Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra’s al Ghul #1: This issue is great. Seeley draws such a good bead on the characters that every development flows logically from the previous one, as characters respond the way you think they would. But, it doesn’t mean they don't surprise us with moments of growth either. The issue starts slow, with Selena taking Damian to be sized for his wedding outfit and Damian rehashing his troubled origin for her as a way of saying he doesn’t need her. Damian pops into the arcade to try to best his previous score on Cheese Viking, but he finds himself confronting Aion, who claims to be Bruce and Selena’s son from the future. The conflict shifts to the future, where Damian from "Batman" #666 seemingly awakens from hallucinating the arcade sequence only to face Aion in his present. But, the miniature Nightwing on his shoulder lecturing him about not killing Aion is his clue this moment, too, is a hallucination. He then finds himself in the arcade once again, realizing his grandfather is his enemy. He knows the drugs al Ghul used on him brought out his subconscious fear that Bruce will replace him with a "real" son. For his part, al Ghul is here to kill Damian for allowing Catwoman to replace him. Damian doesn’t win the fight so much as he persists. Later, as Selina returns from her bachelorette party, he asks if she and Bruce are going to have children. She resists answering the question as she doesn't see it as part of his business, but Damian puts his anxiety on display for her, a surprising sign of how deeply concerned he is. But, Selina also surprises as Seeley allows her to be the adult we rarely see her be. She tells Damian she can’t imagine raising a child, because s/he would have to carry not only her/his own baggage but also hers (and, implicitly, Bruce's). Bringing a tear to everyone's eye, she then says she could never have a child who could overcome that baggage, because they'd never be as strong as Damian Wayne. Damian is surprised and touched by this confession. Selina tells him they need to stick together, as the only people in the house who aren’t goody-goodies. She promises to have his back if he’ll have hers, and he agrees, with a smile that lights up his face. It’s a lovely moment, and it feels hard-won. Damian may be the bastard child Aion said he was, not raised from birth by Batman as Aion allegedly was. But, Seeley makes it clear here he’s all the son Bruce and Selina need. (That said, I’d be totally down with DC bringing back Aion!) For all the cynicism I feel about this perceived money-grab series, this one is really worth the money.
Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Nightwing vs. Hush #1: This one is, too! Man, who knew a tie-in series could be so good? Seeley again nails characterization here. Clark and Dick are taking Bruce to a pocket universe to go fishing for his bachelor party (after dinner at Batburger), but Hush unexpectedly attacks. He and Dick tumble through the portal and find themselves in the Betwixt, a place where people without strong senses of self go to disappear. The ghosts of these people attack Dick and Tommy, and their (convenient) guide to the Betwixt tells them to flee to Wayne Manor, since it’s where their identity is the strongest. Seeley’s greatest twist here is to have Hush realize something he (and, frankly, we) should’ve realized long ago: he wanted to be Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne’s best friend, not Bruce himself. He reveals he’s changed his face to look like Dick, but the ghosts arrive and ultimately absorb him as he has no personality of his own. Bruce and Clark rescue Dick, and, as he recovers, Dick overhears Bruce telling a departing Clark not to forget the ring. Dick then asks Bruce if he made Clark his best man and Bruce awkwardly confirms he did. When Bruce starts apologizing, Dick tells him not to do so: Clark is always there for him, but Dick isn’t, because he left for Blüdhaven to find his own path. Just as Selina is the unexpected adult in Robin’s version of this series, Dick is so here. In other tales like this one, Dick could never accept this outcome. But, here, he owns his decision to leave Bruce's side. After the wedding, he makes Bruce promise they’ll spend time together, much to Bruce’s glee. Like the Robin issue, this issue isn’t perfect. Just as Damian’s recitation of his origin story was a drag, Hush’s insistence on becoming Bruce’s friend is so cartoonishly juvenile it's annoying. But, it’s still a solid character study that reveals not really Hush’s fear, but Dick’s: he, too, is afraid he’s being replaced. But, like Damian, he realizes he needn't worry. Meanwhile, Hush confirms it’s the Joker telling all of Batman’s villains about the wedding. Oddly, we also learn Bruce and Selina themselves aren’t actually getting married, lest it raise too many questions about their secret identities. After all, a billionaire marrying a criminal is a bit of a stretch. (I still don’t understand how they’re going to keep that under wraps.) Finally, can I make a pitch for Wilson drawing “Nightwing?” Dick Grayson is often handsome, but he’s never been more handsome than he is here. All in all, it's just a great issue.
Captain America #703: I'm honestly just enduring this arc until we get to Coates. Looking over the nine issues Waid has penned on this title, I'm still not sure what point he is trying to make. First, I'm not sure it was a great idea to spend so much time so early in this run on two alternate-reality stories, particularly as one of them didn't feature Steve at all. But, even if you put that aside, it also doesn't help that Steve's descendant Jack is a bumbling idiot. He survives here only because his enemies -- first General Pursur and then the Red Skull -- very conveniently get so busy they ignore him. Continuing with overly convenient plot devices, Jack gets out word that Pursur is using humanity as sleeper agents for the Kree via the Skull's apparently supernatural ability to manipulate technology to broadcast Jack's discovery to everyone. Um, OK. At this stage, we're also supposed to believe that Jack's son Steve is the key to somehow fending off the Kree, whose armada Pursur has dispatched to destroy Earth lest it successfully rebel. We're supposed to believe Jack is a master strategist because he was "chosen" as a historian, but it's hard to believe he is if he didn't see Pursur taking this step, which he apparently didn't. Unless we learn Jack's son Steve is the Phoenix, it's hard to believe he's going to single-handedly fight off the armada. But, even if he does, I still don't get what this story tells us about Cap. To repeat myself, it's a mess, from start to finish.
Dazzler: X-Song #1: I (heart) Dazzler. I have every issue of her 1980s series. Hell, I even read her cross-over appearances in "Secret Wars II." Unfortunately, I'm sad to say she deserved better than she got here. I'm not saying this issue is awful. In fact, the premise is great: Dazzler has to grapple with the fact anti-Inhuman mutants start appearing at her solidarity shows to make it clear that Inhumans aren't welcome. However, Visaggio stumbles as every conversation in this issue dissolves into activist speak. Although it makes sense, to an extent, that anti-Inhuman activists speak in talking points,Visaggio overdoes it. Alison repeats her lines like a robot, particularly when it comes to rebuffing Piotr's oddly persistent attempts to get her to join the X-Men again. If it were just a filler issue it would be OK, but it isn't OK when this issue was supposedly issue #43 of that 1980s series. It's a disappointing color-by-numbers enterprise.
Infinity Countdown #4: This issue is weirdly anticlimactic. Surfer convinces Galactus to become the Destroyer once again, taking out Ultron's planet before he can spread his virus throughout the Universe. (In exchange, Surfer becomes Galactus' herald again.) Surfer's intervention helps Warlock get back the Soul Gem, though Ultron manages to escape. After the Guardians squabble amongst themselves and with the Nova Corps over the Power Gem, Drax takes the Power Gem as Nova departs -- against Gamora's wishes -- to find his brother. We also have a weird interlude where the Collector and Gamemaster present Peter with an Infinity Gem from another Universe. That Universe's Phyla-Vell and Moondragon appear to collect the Gem, and we learn they're also looking for the identity of someone called Requiem, who seems to be the menacing figure in the intro pages these last few issues. The weirdest part is how easily the Gems change hands throughout the issue; at one point, Adam Warlock literally just lops off Ultron's hand to grab the Soul Gem. We'll see where we go from here. Although the Gems have changed hands a few times, I'm not sure this mini-series is really bringing us to a different place than where we started.
Nightwing #45: This issue is clever because it's so obvious. Stories about AI and VR going haywire are rife at this point; Remender's "Tokyo Ghost" covered that ground well. But, Percy goes one further here, as Wyrm -- the entity behind the Phantasm devices -- makes his play for Dick. He comments how most people's information is useless, but some people's information is really important. Figuring the former ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne is privy to a lot of secrets, Wyrm has uploaded a virus into Dick to steal them. Meanwhile, Mirage -- the company behind Phantasm -- is rebuilding the train line destroyed as part of the "crypto-attack" we saw last issue (I think). It's a project the mayor of Blüdhaven is (ominously) calling "Blüdhaven: the City of Tomorrow." It's clear we've got more going on here than just Wyrm making a play for cash, and Percy does a good job of building the suspense even as we learn more.
Also Read: Batman #48; Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #19; X-Men: Gold #29; X-Men: Red #5
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