Avengers: No Road Home #1: I really enjoyed "Avengers: No Surrender," so I was perfectly happy to return for this sequel. The authors do a really solid job of setting the stage for the event here. In fact, they might've done too good of a job. In the first series, the mystery of Valerie Vector kept us guessing for the first several issues. Here, we know right off the bat that Nyx has murdered the gods of Olympus and stolen all light in the Universe. Even if her motives aren't yet clear, I'm surprised by how quickly the authors revealed she's the culprit (at least, as far we know). Maybe it's a sign of just how much ground they plan on covering. (Rocket does seem to be plotting something...) Plus, Paco Medina takes on the art duties, giving it the true feel of event-dom. It wasn't quite the debut "Avengers: No Surrender" #1 was, but it was a solid start nonetheless. An Avengers story featuring the Olympic gods (dead though they may now be)? I'm definitely there.
Winter Soldier #3: Higgins does a great job here. Although I'm still not quite sure how exactly Bucky's souped-up arm helped him defeat The Spot, the requisite super-villain fight really takes a back seat to the psychological struggles both Bucky and RJ are having. Bucky throws himself full tilt into helping RJ start healing from his time under Hydra's care, and Higgins does a good job throughout the issue of foreshadowing how desperate Bucky is to believe RJ can be healed. When RJ reveals he's read Bucky's diary and knows he himself questions whether he himself can be healed, Higgins shows just how much he understands Bucky. Bucky admits to RJ that he's struggling with the idea that he can be redeemed, and this moment of authenticity breaks down some of RJ's walls as he tearfully admits to Bucky he doesn't want to be a killer anymore. As happy as I am with the script, the art just really doesn't fit for me. Reis' artistic use of watercolors certainly allows for whole new depths when it comes to depicting bruises, but it doesn't translate well for emotions. Given this issue is all about emotions, Reis' style spoiled certain moments, where I wound up more focused on the odd art choices than the emotions I was supposed to be feeling. (For example, the characters often have random white spots on their faces that aren't tears. For a while I thought they were laser pointers Reis forgot to color red.) At any rate, Higgins is at least doing a bang-up job and I can't wait to see where we go from here.
Also Read: Thor #10
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