Batman: Curse of the White Knight #4: Ehn. I don't know if I'm going to keep reading this one. I loved the first series, but Murphy is just wallowing in maudlinness now. We open the issue with a devastated Barbara watching doctors unsuccessfully try to save her father. Dick tries to comfort her later but she refuses his help. In fact, she tells him that he was right when he said that they weren't a family. Of course, he now says that he was wrong, and she asserts that they all know that Bruce ruined their lives. After Dick leaves, Bullock joins Barbara in going to go kill Azrael. Meanwhile, Bruce visits Leslie Thompkins, who's taking care of a recovering Harley and the twins. She informs Bruce that she, too, knew about the journal. Years ago, she and Alfred met a mysterious figure claiming to be a member of the Order of St. Dumas. He gave the journal to Alfred after he allegedly took it from the Joker. (Alfred brings a sword to this meeting, which is just fucking ridiculous.) Dick warns Bruce about Barbara going rogue, correctly assuming that Bruce has installed trackers on their vehicles despite claiming that he didn't. They arrive in time to stop Barbara from killing Azrael but not to stop Azrael from breaking her back. [Sigh.] Then, Bruce confronts Azrael, shouting that the Waynes are the rightful protectors of Gotham. Weirdly enough, Azrael agrees. I don't know. It's all just melodrama at this point.
Detective Comics #1,014: I like where Tomasi is going here, resurrecting Nora Fries. It's like Brubaker bringing back Bucky, transforming Mr. Freeze from a sad-sack character into an entirely new one. My only complaint is that Tomasi doesn't explain how Nora suddenly becomes OK with Victor's life of crime. She seems confused when they encounter Bruce Wayne at the WayneTech Cryogenics Lab where Victor used to work. She says that she has no ill will towards him, making it clear that she isn't on the same vendetta crusade that Victor is. (He's there to recover samples he purposefully mislabeled when he worked there to replace the samples that he lost when Batman broke into his HQ and that he needs to complete Nora's transformation.) But, in the next sequence, she's dancing in a theater full of people whom Victor has frozen and then in the next sequence she's dressed to kill -- literally -- just like he is. I'm assuming that her somewhat flawed resurrection has left her addled, but Tomasi doesn't draw that line for us or show how she goes from outraged that Victor defied her wishes and froze her to serving as his somewhat mindless accomplice. I'm guessing that we'll see those dots connected in a subsequent issue, because Tomasi clearly seems to be building to something. But, we better get there soon.
The Last God #1: Man, this issue is intense right from the gate.
The series begins with the phrase: "Every culture in Cain Anuun has its story of how the world began." We learn that each of those stories has a common element: the Black Stair in the land called Fellspyre that reaches, allegedly, beyond the end of creation and into the Void itself. We learn that a zombie-esque Apocalypse called the Plague of Shadows occurred 30 years earlier, when thorn-looking creatures converted the living into "vine, rot, ash, and defiled flesh." Johnson then takes us on a tour of Cain Anuun's lands, as each one falls to the Plague: Olvargolad, the land of humans; the Aelvan Nations, the land of elves; the Pinnacle of the Guild Eldritch, the realm of wizards; the "frozen strongholds of the mighty Rivermen," Cain Anuun's barbarians; and the Dwarrows, the land of dwarves. A team called the Godslayers, representing each land -- Veikko al Man of the Aelvan, Skol of the Guild Eldritch, Jorunn of the Dwarrows, Hakkon of the Rivermen, and Tyr and Cyanthe of the humans -- climbed the Stairs to end the Plague, resulting in Tyr slaying the Last God.
We're given this information through a gladiatorial "play" occurring at a festival celebrating that day. Olvargolad has been renamed Tyrgolad, as Tyr is now king and overlord of all the lands. Through the "play," we learn that Hakkon came under the sway of the Last God, turning on the group until Tyr defeated him. King Tyr and Queen Cyanthe are watching the play on a dais with a group of dignitaries. One of them asks Queen Cyanthe where Tyr was really so fearsome. Cyanthe instantly recalls a memory of Tyr attacking an infant with a knife, with two women trying to restrain him. Later, Cyanthe is furious that Jorunn, Skol, and Veikko al Man all ignored Tyr's summons, sending representatives in their place. Tyr interrupts this discussion, asking about the gladiator playing him in the "play." He is Eyvindr, a product of the "slave cradles." We're told that he doesn't murder his opponents and if he wins today, his 60th win, custom dictates that Tyr should free him. When he does win, he's presented to Tyr and removes his helmet, prompting Tyr to mutter, "No..." and stumble from the dais. As Tyr stumbles to a monument erected in honor of the heroes, we see a flashback to Tyr's conversation with the Last God. The Last God informs Tyr that a false crown of gold will hide the "true crown" until Tyr sees his sins made flesh. At the monument, Tyr mutters, "Not yet," as his eyes turn black.
It's pretty clear from both his and her flashbacks that Eyvindr is Tyr and Cyanthe's son. That idea is further cemented when Cyanthe sees Eyvindr's nicked ear -- possibly from Tyr's attack that night -- and refuses to free him. (Of note, she had just told Veikko al Man's representative that she would slaughter a thousand Aelvan slaves after he failed to recite the same pledge of fealty that everyone else had, instead calling Tyrgolad a "nation of thieves" and referring to the Aelvan as the true stewards of the land. Cyanthe isn't scared of a little bloodshed, in other words.) Recalling the same words Tyr did about "sins made flesh," Cyanthe returns Eyvindr to the slave pits.
Later that night, we see people singing a disturbing nursery rhyme about the Plague when a familiar tree-looking creature attacks them. Meanwhile, Eyvindr and his friend Kono are selected by a noblewoman, because, as we learn later, they're both gladiators and sex slaves. Kono is appalled that the Queen refused to free Eyvindr, but Eyvindr is mostly unperturbed, showing high levels of respect for the King and Queen. Kono goes on a rant about how the Godslayer story is bullshit meant to keep them in line, and Eyvindr threatens to kill him (despite telling him that he loves him) if he doesn't stop disrespecting the King and Queen. Kono agrees to stop, but says that he plans on fleeing since he won't fight for someone who doesn't respect the agreement and tells Eyvindr that he should do the same. They're then offered -- in a truly disturbing scene -- a disease-ridden puppy from a homeless woman as the puppy's also disease-ridden mother eats the other puppies.
A great fire suddenly distracts them from the scene, and they rush to discover the palace ablaze. The guards offer money to anyone who can help, and everyone assumes that it's an Aelvan attack. But, the scale of the massacre in the palace makes it clear that it isn't the Aelvan, who are more ninjas than barbarians. On cue, Veikko al Man arrives, saying that he's here to protect Cyanthe since he clearly knows what Tyr has become. The thorn monsters arrive and kill Kono, and Eyvindr follows Veikko al Man, who tells him not only that Tyr isn't a hero but also that the Last God isn't dead. They come upon a sword-wielding Cyanthe facing an enormous tree-ized Tyr as Veikko al Man declares they have to return to the Black Stair. Dun-dun-DUN! Man, I am on board for this story!
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The October 16 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Captain America #15: Coates really isn't making it easy for Steve. After the Watchdogs raid last issue, Steve and the Daughters of Liberty are reviewing what they know, and Steve recognizes Alexa Lukin as one of the Power Elite members. Steve asks who the Daughters have tracking Alexa, and the Daughters respond that they have their best agent on it...but they won't tell Steve who it is. Steve then takes Sharon to a separate room, and he's furious at her for keeping secrets. But, she rightly throws that argument right back at him, noting that he's always kept secrets and she's always the one waiting. Steve leaves in a huff to go meet Bernie after she contacts him about a cop who asked for Steve's help before someone killed him. As Steve leaves to take the case, Bernie warns him that New York isn't the same place that it used to be. She isn't just talking about the Kingpin as mayor, but about New York as part of the larger "something ugly" happening in the entire country. When he goes to the address that the dead cop provided to Bernie, Steve discovers that Misty and Spider-Woman already there, fighting Watchdogs. After helping them win the fight, he comments that their friends in the police department would love to get a shot at the Watchdogs, and Misty responds that she doesn't have many friends left in the Department. Steve takes her point later as they review the video that the dead cop left, of a bunch cops entering a warehouse and Scourge killing all of them. Scourge working with the Watchdogs who themselves are working for the Power Elite: Coates is definitely telling a story here. My only complaint is that it's starting to feel like we've taken a lot of turns down alleys and I'm not quite sure how we find the boulevard again. I'm not saying that it's impossible, but we may want to head back that way soon.
Guardians of the Galaxy #10: Cates explains how Kid Magus exists in this reality, and he does a pretty solid job of keeping it entertaining. Kid Magus explains that he was originally entrusted to Gamora but he needed someone to deal with his "darker impulses" better. So, Gamora went to take care of Rocket as he "lay dying in [his] hovel," and the Order of the Healing Truth, a bunch of ex-Universal Church of Truth followers seeking to right the Church's wrongs, took in Magus. Of course, they came to see him as one of those wrong and intended to kill him, resulting in him killing all of them and becoming the monster that they feared that he'd become. He eventually became friends with a group of sandworm-esque monsters who lived near the Order's HQ. (They hilariously act like dogs, with Groot rubbing one's belly as Kid Magus tells his story.) Rocket recruits Magus to freak out the Church long enough for him, Groot, and Moondragon to rescue their friends, and Magus agrees because he's "bored." Although this issue mostly just sets up the slugfest to come, what a slugfest it seems like it's going to be!
Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Allegiance #2: I enjoyed this issue because Leia is forced to confront a lot of uncomfortable truths. First, the team's raid on Mon Cala in the main "Star Wars" series was one of the highlights of that run. But, Sacks reminds us here of the price that the Mon Calan residents paid for their mutiny, as many of the king's advisors loathe Leia for the pain and torture that their families suffered in the mutiny's wake. Moreover, one of the Mon Calans points out that Leia's father (i.e., Darth Vader) is the one who engaged in said torture, something you definitely don't see mentioned often. At some point, you start to side with the angry Mon Calans: Leia really does have some nerve asking for more help from them. But, I'm guessing that Leia will remind them that none of them really has much of a choice if they don't want to live under the First Order's thumb. The Finn and Poe story is a fun distraction, though I'll admit that I find the Rey and Rose story tedious. Sacks portrays Rey as little more than a female Luke Skywalker from the first film, whining about how bored she is, and his Rose is so nervous that I wonder if they don't have anti-anxiety medicine in space.
The Realm #15: This issue is great. It's a wordless romp as Shirtless Bear Fighter -- I mean, Ben -- escapes from the goblins' clutches and tries to escape Johnny's cathedral of evil. He makes it to the exit, even past Johnny (thanks to some well timed grenades), only to utter "Fuck me" -- the issue's only words -- when he realizes that he has to go through the dragon stables. Ha! I'm totally bummed that the guys haven't published another issue in almost six months, but I guess that I'm current at least? Still, we've got a lot of pieces on the board at this point...
X-Men #1: This issue is more Hickmanesque than we've seen so far, but I'm still OK with it.
He begins with Magneto, Polaris, Scott, and Storm striking at Orchis' last outpost on Earth and in so doing freeing a group of mutant children who Orchis was holding in stasis. Scott and Storm's conversation as they make their way through the base is particularly Hickmanesque as he also entirely forgoes any attempt to make it sound conversational. For example, Scott says to Storm: "For years we've endured small wins. We've called incremental change 'progress' when what we've really needed was a giant leap forward. Well, this is it." It's particularly striking that he takes the time to mansplain recent mutant history to her as they fight their way through the base.
At any rate, the team is surprised when they come upon a posthuman girl from the future in one of the stasis tubes. She looks like a photograph negative, with stark black skin and stark white hair. She initially commands Storm not to see her, which fails. She seems to have some sort of powers, but they're not working the way that they presumably would because she emerged before she was "fully cooked." But, she says that "wild gods" are loose in the world, so she says that she had no choice. She disappears, and the team returns with the rescued mutants to Krakoa.
While Dr. Reyes examines the new arrivals, throngs of children greet Magneto, eager to hear his stories. Polaris and Scott share a moment over it, with Scott reminding her how long they've all waited for him to find this sort of redemption. Scott then talks about how scared he was when he had Nathan because he knew that he'd suffer for his heritage. Scott was right, but he says that he's so happy that he held in there because he now has his family. He isn't just speaking idly, either. The resurrection team has brought back Vulcan, and the extended Summers clan -- Scott, Alex, Vulcan, Nathan, Rachel -- as well as Jean and Logan now live on the Moon, since Scott wanted a view. (Heh.) We're treated to these family dynamics because Corsair has come for a visit. Hickman essentially reinvents Vulcan here, as we've only ever seen him as a totally unhinged experiment gone insane. Hickman's Vulcan is all self-conscious teenager, as he has no idea how he's supposed to act in social situations. But, we see flashes of humor from him, like when he's barbecuing steaks with Logan, and I'm excited in particular to watch him develop. We also have Nate calling Jean "Mom" as he asks if he can trade guns with Raza when he learns that Raza's guns have antimatter rounds, and Alex and Scott giving Corsair a Krakoan gate so he can always visit. As Scott said to Polaris, they've all waited a long time for this moment.
But, the main conversation is the one that Scott has with Corsair. Scott is bouncing on his toes throughout this issue, so happy to be in the place that he is. Corsair expresses his concern that this whole endeavor puts a target on them, but Scott convincingly (to me, anyway) argues that history proves that they've always had a target on their backs, so he's decided to focus on what makes him want to live with said target. It's a nice moment. I mean, it's obviously not going to last, but if I'm glad for anything about Hickman's reboot it's getting a happy Scott for, like, the first time ever.
The other main story here is that we're introduced to a new Orchis leader, Director Devo. We learn that he was in transit to the Forge when the X-Men destroyed Mother Mold. He's surprised that Dr. Gregor didn't attend her husband's funeral, but she explains that his legacy is in her work. Plus, she reveals that her work has led her to the point where she believes that she can resurrect him. Dun-dun-DUN! If humans have the same resurrection technology as the mutants, it obviously changes the game significantly, particularly in terms of the mutants' "no killing humans because they can't be resurrected" policy.
Hickman plants some other seeds of future storylines here. One theme throughout the issue is how tired Storm is, though Hickman initially portrays it as exhaustion from working so hard. But, it's possible that something else is afoot. Magneto allegedly took out the Orchis scientists (who turned themselves into apes to fight the X-Men) by asserting his dominance so they turned on each other, but I'm not sure if we're supposed to believe that he didn't kill them. Finally, I feel like Vulcan's return highlights how liberally we're taking the amnesty. After all, I imagine he killed thousands of people when he was the mad Shi'ar Emperor. Won't someone object to his and other mutants' crimes at some point, especially once the kumbaya feelings start to fade?
All in all, it's a solid start to the story that Hickman is actually telling. We'll see how the other series build on this one, but I was glad to see Hickman leaning on the structure that he built in "House of X" and "Powers of X" but also not dwelling on it too much. I think that this reboot has the best chance of sticking if it becomes less about the world-building and more about the stories that Hickman and the other authors want to tell in this world. This issue shows that Hickman believes that, too, so I think that we're in a good place.
Guardians of the Galaxy #10: Cates explains how Kid Magus exists in this reality, and he does a pretty solid job of keeping it entertaining. Kid Magus explains that he was originally entrusted to Gamora but he needed someone to deal with his "darker impulses" better. So, Gamora went to take care of Rocket as he "lay dying in [his] hovel," and the Order of the Healing Truth, a bunch of ex-Universal Church of Truth followers seeking to right the Church's wrongs, took in Magus. Of course, they came to see him as one of those wrong and intended to kill him, resulting in him killing all of them and becoming the monster that they feared that he'd become. He eventually became friends with a group of sandworm-esque monsters who lived near the Order's HQ. (They hilariously act like dogs, with Groot rubbing one's belly as Kid Magus tells his story.) Rocket recruits Magus to freak out the Church long enough for him, Groot, and Moondragon to rescue their friends, and Magus agrees because he's "bored." Although this issue mostly just sets up the slugfest to come, what a slugfest it seems like it's going to be!
Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Allegiance #2: I enjoyed this issue because Leia is forced to confront a lot of uncomfortable truths. First, the team's raid on Mon Cala in the main "Star Wars" series was one of the highlights of that run. But, Sacks reminds us here of the price that the Mon Calan residents paid for their mutiny, as many of the king's advisors loathe Leia for the pain and torture that their families suffered in the mutiny's wake. Moreover, one of the Mon Calans points out that Leia's father (i.e., Darth Vader) is the one who engaged in said torture, something you definitely don't see mentioned often. At some point, you start to side with the angry Mon Calans: Leia really does have some nerve asking for more help from them. But, I'm guessing that Leia will remind them that none of them really has much of a choice if they don't want to live under the First Order's thumb. The Finn and Poe story is a fun distraction, though I'll admit that I find the Rey and Rose story tedious. Sacks portrays Rey as little more than a female Luke Skywalker from the first film, whining about how bored she is, and his Rose is so nervous that I wonder if they don't have anti-anxiety medicine in space.
The Realm #15: This issue is great. It's a wordless romp as Shirtless Bear Fighter -- I mean, Ben -- escapes from the goblins' clutches and tries to escape Johnny's cathedral of evil. He makes it to the exit, even past Johnny (thanks to some well timed grenades), only to utter "Fuck me" -- the issue's only words -- when he realizes that he has to go through the dragon stables. Ha! I'm totally bummed that the guys haven't published another issue in almost six months, but I guess that I'm current at least? Still, we've got a lot of pieces on the board at this point...
X-Men #1: This issue is more Hickmanesque than we've seen so far, but I'm still OK with it.
He begins with Magneto, Polaris, Scott, and Storm striking at Orchis' last outpost on Earth and in so doing freeing a group of mutant children who Orchis was holding in stasis. Scott and Storm's conversation as they make their way through the base is particularly Hickmanesque as he also entirely forgoes any attempt to make it sound conversational. For example, Scott says to Storm: "For years we've endured small wins. We've called incremental change 'progress' when what we've really needed was a giant leap forward. Well, this is it." It's particularly striking that he takes the time to mansplain recent mutant history to her as they fight their way through the base.
At any rate, the team is surprised when they come upon a posthuman girl from the future in one of the stasis tubes. She looks like a photograph negative, with stark black skin and stark white hair. She initially commands Storm not to see her, which fails. She seems to have some sort of powers, but they're not working the way that they presumably would because she emerged before she was "fully cooked." But, she says that "wild gods" are loose in the world, so she says that she had no choice. She disappears, and the team returns with the rescued mutants to Krakoa.
While Dr. Reyes examines the new arrivals, throngs of children greet Magneto, eager to hear his stories. Polaris and Scott share a moment over it, with Scott reminding her how long they've all waited for him to find this sort of redemption. Scott then talks about how scared he was when he had Nathan because he knew that he'd suffer for his heritage. Scott was right, but he says that he's so happy that he held in there because he now has his family. He isn't just speaking idly, either. The resurrection team has brought back Vulcan, and the extended Summers clan -- Scott, Alex, Vulcan, Nathan, Rachel -- as well as Jean and Logan now live on the Moon, since Scott wanted a view. (Heh.) We're treated to these family dynamics because Corsair has come for a visit. Hickman essentially reinvents Vulcan here, as we've only ever seen him as a totally unhinged experiment gone insane. Hickman's Vulcan is all self-conscious teenager, as he has no idea how he's supposed to act in social situations. But, we see flashes of humor from him, like when he's barbecuing steaks with Logan, and I'm excited in particular to watch him develop. We also have Nate calling Jean "Mom" as he asks if he can trade guns with Raza when he learns that Raza's guns have antimatter rounds, and Alex and Scott giving Corsair a Krakoan gate so he can always visit. As Scott said to Polaris, they've all waited a long time for this moment.
But, the main conversation is the one that Scott has with Corsair. Scott is bouncing on his toes throughout this issue, so happy to be in the place that he is. Corsair expresses his concern that this whole endeavor puts a target on them, but Scott convincingly (to me, anyway) argues that history proves that they've always had a target on their backs, so he's decided to focus on what makes him want to live with said target. It's a nice moment. I mean, it's obviously not going to last, but if I'm glad for anything about Hickman's reboot it's getting a happy Scott for, like, the first time ever.
The other main story here is that we're introduced to a new Orchis leader, Director Devo. We learn that he was in transit to the Forge when the X-Men destroyed Mother Mold. He's surprised that Dr. Gregor didn't attend her husband's funeral, but she explains that his legacy is in her work. Plus, she reveals that her work has led her to the point where she believes that she can resurrect him. Dun-dun-DUN! If humans have the same resurrection technology as the mutants, it obviously changes the game significantly, particularly in terms of the mutants' "no killing humans because they can't be resurrected" policy.
Hickman plants some other seeds of future storylines here. One theme throughout the issue is how tired Storm is, though Hickman initially portrays it as exhaustion from working so hard. But, it's possible that something else is afoot. Magneto allegedly took out the Orchis scientists (who turned themselves into apes to fight the X-Men) by asserting his dominance so they turned on each other, but I'm not sure if we're supposed to believe that he didn't kill them. Finally, I feel like Vulcan's return highlights how liberally we're taking the amnesty. After all, I imagine he killed thousands of people when he was the mad Shi'ar Emperor. Won't someone object to his and other mutants' crimes at some point, especially once the kumbaya feelings start to fade?
All in all, it's a solid start to the story that Hickman is actually telling. We'll see how the other series build on this one, but I was glad to see Hickman leaning on the structure that he built in "House of X" and "Powers of X" but also not dwelling on it too much. I think that this reboot has the best chance of sticking if it becomes less about the world-building and more about the stories that Hickman and the other authors want to tell in this world. This issue shows that Hickman believes that, too, so I think that we're in a good place.
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The October 9 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Amazing Spider-Man #31: So...much...talking. This issue is just like last one, with Kindred rambling on endlessly at Norman's cell about how much he hates Norman and Peter. Spencer uses said diatribe to review Norman and Peter's relationship, with Kindred wondering why Norman was so obsessed with Peter. He congratulates Norman for bringing down Peter in ways that no one else has accomplished but then threatens to destroy Norman once he remembers who he is. In other words, Spencer is obviously setting the stage for a three-way confrontation at the end of the Kindred story. But, it's starting to feel like Spencer is dragging out this story way too much. I hope he isn't vamping to get to issue #50 or something. Also, this issue doesn't help, as it's a confusing jumble of moments. Spencer uses two flashback sequences -- Kindred speaking to Norman before he becomes Carnage and a variety of scenes depicting Harry's struggles with drugs -- while also juggling the present-day sequence of Carnage trying to get at Dylan and Normie. It's difficult to follow, to say the least. In the end, the only significant development in this two-issue arc is that Kindred injects one of his bugs into Norman's brain, which will eventually cure him of his delusion that he's Cletus Kasady. Although Spencer uses the tie-in requirement as an opportunity to further the story that he's already telling in this title, I could've definitely done without it. I'm excited to move onto 2099 next issue.
The Batman's Grave #1: I love Ellis and Hitch, so I'm excited about this series. That said, it isn't the strongest debut as I'm not entirely sure where we're going here. Batman doesn't really do anything more complicated than solve a murder in this issue. Moreover, the murder itself isn't particularly complicated. The only item of note in this entire issue is Bruce creating a holographic copy of the crime scene that allows him to examine clues from the Batcave. It's cool, but introducing new gadgets clearly isn't the point of this series. The title refers to the fact the Waynes had Bruce's grave (including headstone) created at the same time as they had their graves created. The issue opens with Alfred tending to the graves, knowing that he will live to see Bruce's filled. Bruce returns home to find Alfred drinking, and Alfred confesses that he sometimes thinks that it would be easier for Bruce to buy Gotham than simply to beat on poor people driven to crime to survive. Bruce is unsympathetic to this argument; he comments that they had choices, though he doesn't seem to grasp that, you know, maybe they didn't. Teaching Bruce a lesson to make him examine his lack of compassion seems to be where Ellis is going here, but I guess we'll see.
Detective Comics #1,013: Tomasi is telling a great story here. First, he shows Freeze as a serious match for Batman. After shaking down Freeze's goons to find out his location, Batman arrives in a fancy new suit of armor that includes a fire-spewing gun. But, Freeze is ready for him. He awakens his previous experiments as frozen zombies who quickly overwhelm Bruce, allowing Freeze to escape with Nora. When Bruce battles his way through the zombie horde and makes his way onto Freeze's fancy vehicle, Freeze electrocutes him, sending him spiraling into the frozen lake. Going one better, he launches a depth charge that freezes Bruce in the lake, allowing Freeze (and Nora) to escape. You don't often see Bruce so outmatched by someone else's gadgets, which makes this issue all the more exciting. In the end, Bruce is able to rescue the women who Freeze kidnapped, but Freeze has what he needs: he resurrects Nora. That said, the last page is chilling (heh) as she awakens, screaming, "No, Victor, don't!"
Powers of X #6: This issue is fine, though it feels like Hickman is vamping a little. He repeats the full seven pages of Moira meeting Charles from issue #1 and two full pages of the celebration from House of X #6. In a 38-page issue, it means that we've already seen almost 25 percent of this issue.
The reason Hickman does so is that Moira has allegedly learned her final lesson in X3. As the Man-Machine Supremacy prepares to ascend and become part of the Phalanx, the Librarian visits the Preserve. We learn that Logan and Moira have been living in the Preserve with other mutants for millennia, waiting to find out what the Supremacy was planning. Hickman is particularly Hickmanesque here, as I don't really understand how he connects the following dots. As best as I can tell, the Librarian is sending Logan and Moira off-world so that they don't die, because if they die before the Phalanx makes it to the nearest black hole with the uploaded Supremacy, according to the Librarian, "then all that I know will not become part of the Dominion." I think he means that, if Moira dies, she will reincarnate and try to stop this timeline from happening. As such, the Librarian wouldn't achieve his goal of merging with the Dominion. If he doesn't mean that, I have no idea what he means.
However, Logan asks why the Librarian is giving them this information, and it sounds like the answer is that he's worried that life as part of the Phalanx will be a fake existence. As such, he wants Moira to tell him how he could avoid losing his post-humanity in surrendering to the machines. Again, I'm not sure what the Librarian means here. Does he want Moira to return in a different life and, at that moment, inform him if he's making the right decision? As part of this discussion, he allegedly reveals the final clue: mutantkind always loses, because humanity always ascends to post-humanity through genetic engineering. As the Librarian says, what good is one mutant if humanity can build supermen? The Librarian calls post-humans Homo novissima, and I admit that I love that name. Magneto was always touting mutantkind as homo superior. I never saw coming that a different form of humanity would trump that.
We learn through Moira's journals that the change she makes in her relationship with Charles in her current (tenth) life is that she breaks him of his belief in the people's goodness. I think this revelation finally forces a reckoning over whether Moira is creating new timelines (i.e., the multiverse theory, which DC tends to favor) or replacing the existing one with each new life. After all, if she isn't changing the timeline, Charles in this timeline did believe in people's goodness. Are we supposed to believe that Charles pretended to believe, to fool the X-Men into following him? If so, why bother? Why not just agree with Magneto that humans are untrustworthy assholes? Do they all have specific information that it has to unfold this way, with Charles and Magneto in some form of opposition? If we're to believe that everything that we've seen happen in X-Men comics over the years has happened (i.e., Moira isn't changing the timeline and all of X-Men history has been part of Charles, Erik, and Moira's "long game"), then it's the only possible explanation.
In other words, Hickman has to explain at some point the fits and starts that led Charles, Erik, and Moira to this point. We need to know if Charles and Erik fighting over the years was simply them playing the parts that Moira needed them to play to get to this moment. Or, were they fighting as a result of legitimate disagreements about how best to achieve victory on their way to this point? Did Charles really fake his belief in humanity because he felt that it was the best way to develop a group of mutants like the X-Men? Or, were they simply moving pieces across the board? In her journals, Moira provides a clue, noting that she implanted the idea of an island Utopia in Erik's mind through her experiences. As such, did Erik create Asteroid M and Genosha thinking that he had achieved Moira's vision, with or without her or Charles? In other words, Hickman has so far done a good job of avoiding the implications of Moira functionally time traveling, but I feel like this issue is where that becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
At any rate, Charles and Magneto meet with Moira the night before the first Quiet Council meeting and she's troubled to learn that they convinced Mystique to join the Council on the promise of resurrecting Destiny. Moira insists that they can't do so because Destiny has ways of seeing Moira (as we've seen). She's afraid that her resurrection means that she'll see the truth: that they always lose. She worries that Destiny will then tell everyone, and Charles and Erik say that they'll delay the moment, but also that one day mutantkind deserves to know the truth. To them, it's that they always used to lose, but this time is different, something that Moira clearly doesn't believe. They then exit into the celebrations of "House of X" #6.
I guess that I get why Moira would be concerned if mutantkind knew that they always lose. But, if we're talking about millennia as the time scale, is it really that upsetting? Like, sure, if Orchis Forge brought Nimrod online next year (in the case where the X-Men didn't act on Moira's knowledge), I could see Moira's concern. But, if we're talking about mutantkind ceasing to exist because machines run Earth at some point 1,000 years from now in X3, is that so bad? Like, the Universe is eventually going to die, but I can still find a reason to wake up every morning. I'm pretty sure that Hickman has more up his sleeve here. That said, I'm hoping the new titles take a step back a bit and focus on the characters. We have so much possibility for good ol' X-Men drama given how many people we've resurrected here, I'd love to just marinate in that for a while. I also want to make it clear that the disappointment that I felt in this issue didn't in anyway dim how I feel about this reboot. I am so excited to see where we go, and I just really tip my cap to the amazing accomplishment that Hickman has delivered here. Thank you, Jonathan! Onwards and upwards!
Also Read: Invaders #10; Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Allegiance #1; Star Wars: Target Vader #4
The Batman's Grave #1: I love Ellis and Hitch, so I'm excited about this series. That said, it isn't the strongest debut as I'm not entirely sure where we're going here. Batman doesn't really do anything more complicated than solve a murder in this issue. Moreover, the murder itself isn't particularly complicated. The only item of note in this entire issue is Bruce creating a holographic copy of the crime scene that allows him to examine clues from the Batcave. It's cool, but introducing new gadgets clearly isn't the point of this series. The title refers to the fact the Waynes had Bruce's grave (including headstone) created at the same time as they had their graves created. The issue opens with Alfred tending to the graves, knowing that he will live to see Bruce's filled. Bruce returns home to find Alfred drinking, and Alfred confesses that he sometimes thinks that it would be easier for Bruce to buy Gotham than simply to beat on poor people driven to crime to survive. Bruce is unsympathetic to this argument; he comments that they had choices, though he doesn't seem to grasp that, you know, maybe they didn't. Teaching Bruce a lesson to make him examine his lack of compassion seems to be where Ellis is going here, but I guess we'll see.
Detective Comics #1,013: Tomasi is telling a great story here. First, he shows Freeze as a serious match for Batman. After shaking down Freeze's goons to find out his location, Batman arrives in a fancy new suit of armor that includes a fire-spewing gun. But, Freeze is ready for him. He awakens his previous experiments as frozen zombies who quickly overwhelm Bruce, allowing Freeze to escape with Nora. When Bruce battles his way through the zombie horde and makes his way onto Freeze's fancy vehicle, Freeze electrocutes him, sending him spiraling into the frozen lake. Going one better, he launches a depth charge that freezes Bruce in the lake, allowing Freeze (and Nora) to escape. You don't often see Bruce so outmatched by someone else's gadgets, which makes this issue all the more exciting. In the end, Bruce is able to rescue the women who Freeze kidnapped, but Freeze has what he needs: he resurrects Nora. That said, the last page is chilling (heh) as she awakens, screaming, "No, Victor, don't!"
Powers of X #6: This issue is fine, though it feels like Hickman is vamping a little. He repeats the full seven pages of Moira meeting Charles from issue #1 and two full pages of the celebration from House of X #6. In a 38-page issue, it means that we've already seen almost 25 percent of this issue.
The reason Hickman does so is that Moira has allegedly learned her final lesson in X3. As the Man-Machine Supremacy prepares to ascend and become part of the Phalanx, the Librarian visits the Preserve. We learn that Logan and Moira have been living in the Preserve with other mutants for millennia, waiting to find out what the Supremacy was planning. Hickman is particularly Hickmanesque here, as I don't really understand how he connects the following dots. As best as I can tell, the Librarian is sending Logan and Moira off-world so that they don't die, because if they die before the Phalanx makes it to the nearest black hole with the uploaded Supremacy, according to the Librarian, "then all that I know will not become part of the Dominion." I think he means that, if Moira dies, she will reincarnate and try to stop this timeline from happening. As such, the Librarian wouldn't achieve his goal of merging with the Dominion. If he doesn't mean that, I have no idea what he means.
However, Logan asks why the Librarian is giving them this information, and it sounds like the answer is that he's worried that life as part of the Phalanx will be a fake existence. As such, he wants Moira to tell him how he could avoid losing his post-humanity in surrendering to the machines. Again, I'm not sure what the Librarian means here. Does he want Moira to return in a different life and, at that moment, inform him if he's making the right decision? As part of this discussion, he allegedly reveals the final clue: mutantkind always loses, because humanity always ascends to post-humanity through genetic engineering. As the Librarian says, what good is one mutant if humanity can build supermen? The Librarian calls post-humans Homo novissima, and I admit that I love that name. Magneto was always touting mutantkind as homo superior. I never saw coming that a different form of humanity would trump that.
We learn through Moira's journals that the change she makes in her relationship with Charles in her current (tenth) life is that she breaks him of his belief in the people's goodness. I think this revelation finally forces a reckoning over whether Moira is creating new timelines (i.e., the multiverse theory, which DC tends to favor) or replacing the existing one with each new life. After all, if she isn't changing the timeline, Charles in this timeline did believe in people's goodness. Are we supposed to believe that Charles pretended to believe, to fool the X-Men into following him? If so, why bother? Why not just agree with Magneto that humans are untrustworthy assholes? Do they all have specific information that it has to unfold this way, with Charles and Magneto in some form of opposition? If we're to believe that everything that we've seen happen in X-Men comics over the years has happened (i.e., Moira isn't changing the timeline and all of X-Men history has been part of Charles, Erik, and Moira's "long game"), then it's the only possible explanation.
In other words, Hickman has to explain at some point the fits and starts that led Charles, Erik, and Moira to this point. We need to know if Charles and Erik fighting over the years was simply them playing the parts that Moira needed them to play to get to this moment. Or, were they fighting as a result of legitimate disagreements about how best to achieve victory on their way to this point? Did Charles really fake his belief in humanity because he felt that it was the best way to develop a group of mutants like the X-Men? Or, were they simply moving pieces across the board? In her journals, Moira provides a clue, noting that she implanted the idea of an island Utopia in Erik's mind through her experiences. As such, did Erik create Asteroid M and Genosha thinking that he had achieved Moira's vision, with or without her or Charles? In other words, Hickman has so far done a good job of avoiding the implications of Moira functionally time traveling, but I feel like this issue is where that becomes increasingly difficult to ignore.
At any rate, Charles and Magneto meet with Moira the night before the first Quiet Council meeting and she's troubled to learn that they convinced Mystique to join the Council on the promise of resurrecting Destiny. Moira insists that they can't do so because Destiny has ways of seeing Moira (as we've seen). She's afraid that her resurrection means that she'll see the truth: that they always lose. She worries that Destiny will then tell everyone, and Charles and Erik say that they'll delay the moment, but also that one day mutantkind deserves to know the truth. To them, it's that they always used to lose, but this time is different, something that Moira clearly doesn't believe. They then exit into the celebrations of "House of X" #6.
I guess that I get why Moira would be concerned if mutantkind knew that they always lose. But, if we're talking about millennia as the time scale, is it really that upsetting? Like, sure, if Orchis Forge brought Nimrod online next year (in the case where the X-Men didn't act on Moira's knowledge), I could see Moira's concern. But, if we're talking about mutantkind ceasing to exist because machines run Earth at some point 1,000 years from now in X3, is that so bad? Like, the Universe is eventually going to die, but I can still find a reason to wake up every morning. I'm pretty sure that Hickman has more up his sleeve here. That said, I'm hoping the new titles take a step back a bit and focus on the characters. We have so much possibility for good ol' X-Men drama given how many people we've resurrected here, I'd love to just marinate in that for a while. I also want to make it clear that the disappointment that I felt in this issue didn't in anyway dim how I feel about this reboot. I am so excited to see where we go, and I just really tip my cap to the amazing accomplishment that Hickman has delivered here. Thank you, Jonathan! Onwards and upwards!
Also Read: Invaders #10; Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Allegiance #1; Star Wars: Target Vader #4
Monday, April 27, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The October 2 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Die #8: The problem with such a dense issue is that it's easy to get lost in one particular narrative and lose track -- or, at least, your emotional connection -- to the other ones.
Do you follow the story of Ash and her struggle with Sol? She's trying to get Sol to explain what the Eternal Prussians are building in Glass Town in the hope that the Angrians will in turn help him find Chuck and Isabelle. To do so, Ash almost immediately ditched her vow not to use the Voice on Sol, revealing yet again that Ash is a lot less principled than she hoped that she is. For obvious reasons, Angria apparently keeps Dictators on a short leash, so they distrust Ash; she's assigned a minder. But, Sol is obstinate as ever, forcing Angela to sneak into Glass Town to get the information. Matt exposits for us that they've learned that Sol escaped the Grandmaster five years ago and rallied an alliance that overthrew him two years ago, but then he turned on his allies. But, Ash still can't get Sol to answer the most important question: how did he create Die?
Or do you follow the story of Ash and her son, Augustus? We know from last issue that Isabelle had an unconsummated love affair with Zamorna, and we now learn Zamorna is the father of Ash's child, explaining all the implications of tension between Ash and Isabelle. We learn that Isabelle transferred the child to the Mourner to carry Augustus to term before they left Die last time. As the son of a paragon and vampire with a god as a surrogate mother, Augustus is some form of a demi-god, and the Ruling Party of Angria sees him as a threat, particularly since they exiled his father. (You can't really blame them, I'd have to say.)
Instead, do you follow the story of Matt? Ash has been trying to convince the Knightly Orders to help discover what's happening in Glass Town, but they've so far refused. But, a group of Joy Knights gets a message to Matt to meet them in the Eightfold Temple. We learn that original eight knights "stood beside the genie-touched ones" and founded Angria. We also learn that Matt initially came close to choosing anger instead of grief, and we watch him reconsider his choice here, enraging his sword. Earlier Matt told the sword that he was happy for 20 years, and the sword tells him that grief is the price of joy. He explains that Matt is grieving his family because he knows that he can never return to the way that it was with them. Matt has enough and makes quick work of the Joy Knights, since grief is something that you'd give anything to lose (giving Matt an edge) whereas joy is something that you're frightened to lose (making the Knights hold back a little). (That makes a weird amount of sense.) Matt later admits that he always feels cleansed after a fight.
In the end, the stories converge as Angela returns from Glass Town and reveals that the Prussians are building a Forge that asks the question, in binary, "What am I for?" Ash asks the Angrian Queen to help find Chuck and Isabelle, but she demurs. It doesn't matter, though, because Isabelle arrives, saying that they all destroyed Glass Town and should all be punished for it. OK, then!
House of X #6: This issue spends most of its time covering ground that we've already covered, but in more detail.
We now see the entirety of Xavier's speech about mutant emancipation that he projected to the world, about how humans killed his dream of peaceful coexistence so he's killing their dream that they would forever control the world.
We then move into the first meeting of the Quiet Council as it considers Krakoa's first laws. Professor X, Magneto, and Apocalypse form Autumn; Mister Sinister, Exodus, and Mystique form Winter; Sebastian Shaw (Black King), Emma Frost (White Queen), and an absent chair (Red King) form Spring; Storm, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler form Summer; and Cypher represents Krakoa. We also learn the four "great [war] captains" are Cyclops, Gorgon, Bishop, and Magik.
This section is tedious in the way that governing is. Exodus threatens Sinister when he speaks to him, and Sinister jokingly suggests that killing a mutant should be against the law. But, Apocalypse notes that it isn't a challenge to kill someone who isn't unkillable, and Jean sort of agrees; she argues that it should be against the law to kill a human since they can't return. Everyone else agrees, even Apocalypse since, as he notes, it's a point that means nothing to him, like humanity. (So, he's going to break that one soon, right?). Shaw then wants to discuss basics about the economy, and Cypher warns them on the property-rights issue, reminding them that Krakoa is a living being. Exodus agrees, nothing that the land is sacrosanct. Mystique thinks that she's getting to Nightcrawler when she asks what his God's wisdom is, but he then quotes "And God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth, and then subdue it..." as justification for creating more mutants. As such, this conversation yields the three initial laws: 1) make more mutants; 2) murder no man; and 3) respect this sacred land.
With the laws formed, they turn to judging Sabretooth for defying Magneto's orders not to kill human security guards in a previous issue. They all find him guilty, since Magneto specifically ordered him not to kill. This next part is chilling: since they won't submit a mutant to human authorities and, for some reason, they "tolerate no prisons" on Krakoa, he's put into conscious stasis deep inside Krakoa. Larraz is spectacular here, watching even Sabretooth panic as he realizes what they're doing to him. It's brutal.
That said, the issue ends on a happy note. Larraz does a great job showing the independence celebrations as Xavier and the Council leave their meeting and join them. Xavier notes that they carry a heavy burden now, like a parent with a child; they will lose sleep so their children can sleep. But, the most spectacular sequence happens as Logan hands Cyclops a six pack. Logan takes a beer to Gorgon, and Scott hands two beers to Jean, who sits down next to Emma. Jean passes one wordlessly over her shoulder to Emma, who accepts it, equally without looking at her. It's two small panels, but it's a spectacular moment that made me grin ear to ear. We then watch Havoc hug Scott, and you realize exactly what Hickman has done here. It's like he took the best parts of every other storyline -- Revolution, Utopia, Necrosha, Second Coming -- and perfected it. It's in these last wordless moments that you realize the magnitude of this accomplishment, how perfectly he's weaved this story to tweak what needed tweaking and ret-con what needed ret-conning. It didn't require a deal with the Devil, like in Spider-Man. Hickman did the hard work of identifying the problems and fixing them. You can imagine him standing next to Charles and Magneto in the last panel as they look upon Dazzler's Siryn-amplified fireworks display and nodding to Magneto's words: "Just look at what we have made."
Star Wars #72: Han's suspicions about Dar are proven correct here, though not necessarily for the right reasons. Dar has Boss Carpo's thugs grab Han as he leads Leia from the dance floor, explaining his plan to convince Carpo to use his floating military fortress (or "panop") to attack the Empire. Since Han will conveniently be on said panop, he kills two birds with one stone, quite literally: getting rid of Boss Carpo and his rival for Leia's affections. Meanwhile, the most meaningful sequence in the issue is when Threepio manages to inform Chewie that Vader is on K43. Chewie contemplates sacrificing the planet to take out Vader, but a young rock creature approaches him quizzically. Chewie pats him on the head and disables the detonators. Awww, Chewie. Vader then decides to use Chewie as his own trap for Luke, turning the tables on the Rebels. Oh, Darth. Always with the traps.
Do you follow the story of Ash and her struggle with Sol? She's trying to get Sol to explain what the Eternal Prussians are building in Glass Town in the hope that the Angrians will in turn help him find Chuck and Isabelle. To do so, Ash almost immediately ditched her vow not to use the Voice on Sol, revealing yet again that Ash is a lot less principled than she hoped that she is. For obvious reasons, Angria apparently keeps Dictators on a short leash, so they distrust Ash; she's assigned a minder. But, Sol is obstinate as ever, forcing Angela to sneak into Glass Town to get the information. Matt exposits for us that they've learned that Sol escaped the Grandmaster five years ago and rallied an alliance that overthrew him two years ago, but then he turned on his allies. But, Ash still can't get Sol to answer the most important question: how did he create Die?
Or do you follow the story of Ash and her son, Augustus? We know from last issue that Isabelle had an unconsummated love affair with Zamorna, and we now learn Zamorna is the father of Ash's child, explaining all the implications of tension between Ash and Isabelle. We learn that Isabelle transferred the child to the Mourner to carry Augustus to term before they left Die last time. As the son of a paragon and vampire with a god as a surrogate mother, Augustus is some form of a demi-god, and the Ruling Party of Angria sees him as a threat, particularly since they exiled his father. (You can't really blame them, I'd have to say.)
Instead, do you follow the story of Matt? Ash has been trying to convince the Knightly Orders to help discover what's happening in Glass Town, but they've so far refused. But, a group of Joy Knights gets a message to Matt to meet them in the Eightfold Temple. We learn that original eight knights "stood beside the genie-touched ones" and founded Angria. We also learn that Matt initially came close to choosing anger instead of grief, and we watch him reconsider his choice here, enraging his sword. Earlier Matt told the sword that he was happy for 20 years, and the sword tells him that grief is the price of joy. He explains that Matt is grieving his family because he knows that he can never return to the way that it was with them. Matt has enough and makes quick work of the Joy Knights, since grief is something that you'd give anything to lose (giving Matt an edge) whereas joy is something that you're frightened to lose (making the Knights hold back a little). (That makes a weird amount of sense.) Matt later admits that he always feels cleansed after a fight.
In the end, the stories converge as Angela returns from Glass Town and reveals that the Prussians are building a Forge that asks the question, in binary, "What am I for?" Ash asks the Angrian Queen to help find Chuck and Isabelle, but she demurs. It doesn't matter, though, because Isabelle arrives, saying that they all destroyed Glass Town and should all be punished for it. OK, then!
House of X #6: This issue spends most of its time covering ground that we've already covered, but in more detail.
We now see the entirety of Xavier's speech about mutant emancipation that he projected to the world, about how humans killed his dream of peaceful coexistence so he's killing their dream that they would forever control the world.
We then move into the first meeting of the Quiet Council as it considers Krakoa's first laws. Professor X, Magneto, and Apocalypse form Autumn; Mister Sinister, Exodus, and Mystique form Winter; Sebastian Shaw (Black King), Emma Frost (White Queen), and an absent chair (Red King) form Spring; Storm, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler form Summer; and Cypher represents Krakoa. We also learn the four "great [war] captains" are Cyclops, Gorgon, Bishop, and Magik.
This section is tedious in the way that governing is. Exodus threatens Sinister when he speaks to him, and Sinister jokingly suggests that killing a mutant should be against the law. But, Apocalypse notes that it isn't a challenge to kill someone who isn't unkillable, and Jean sort of agrees; she argues that it should be against the law to kill a human since they can't return. Everyone else agrees, even Apocalypse since, as he notes, it's a point that means nothing to him, like humanity. (So, he's going to break that one soon, right?). Shaw then wants to discuss basics about the economy, and Cypher warns them on the property-rights issue, reminding them that Krakoa is a living being. Exodus agrees, nothing that the land is sacrosanct. Mystique thinks that she's getting to Nightcrawler when she asks what his God's wisdom is, but he then quotes "And God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth, and then subdue it..." as justification for creating more mutants. As such, this conversation yields the three initial laws: 1) make more mutants; 2) murder no man; and 3) respect this sacred land.
With the laws formed, they turn to judging Sabretooth for defying Magneto's orders not to kill human security guards in a previous issue. They all find him guilty, since Magneto specifically ordered him not to kill. This next part is chilling: since they won't submit a mutant to human authorities and, for some reason, they "tolerate no prisons" on Krakoa, he's put into conscious stasis deep inside Krakoa. Larraz is spectacular here, watching even Sabretooth panic as he realizes what they're doing to him. It's brutal.
That said, the issue ends on a happy note. Larraz does a great job showing the independence celebrations as Xavier and the Council leave their meeting and join them. Xavier notes that they carry a heavy burden now, like a parent with a child; they will lose sleep so their children can sleep. But, the most spectacular sequence happens as Logan hands Cyclops a six pack. Logan takes a beer to Gorgon, and Scott hands two beers to Jean, who sits down next to Emma. Jean passes one wordlessly over her shoulder to Emma, who accepts it, equally without looking at her. It's two small panels, but it's a spectacular moment that made me grin ear to ear. We then watch Havoc hug Scott, and you realize exactly what Hickman has done here. It's like he took the best parts of every other storyline -- Revolution, Utopia, Necrosha, Second Coming -- and perfected it. It's in these last wordless moments that you realize the magnitude of this accomplishment, how perfectly he's weaved this story to tweak what needed tweaking and ret-con what needed ret-conning. It didn't require a deal with the Devil, like in Spider-Man. Hickman did the hard work of identifying the problems and fixing them. You can imagine him standing next to Charles and Magneto in the last panel as they look upon Dazzler's Siryn-amplified fireworks display and nodding to Magneto's words: "Just look at what we have made."
Star Wars #72: Han's suspicions about Dar are proven correct here, though not necessarily for the right reasons. Dar has Boss Carpo's thugs grab Han as he leads Leia from the dance floor, explaining his plan to convince Carpo to use his floating military fortress (or "panop") to attack the Empire. Since Han will conveniently be on said panop, he kills two birds with one stone, quite literally: getting rid of Boss Carpo and his rival for Leia's affections. Meanwhile, the most meaningful sequence in the issue is when Threepio manages to inform Chewie that Vader is on K43. Chewie contemplates sacrificing the planet to take out Vader, but a young rock creature approaches him quizzically. Chewie pats him on the head and disables the detonators. Awww, Chewie. Vader then decides to use Chewie as his own trap for Luke, turning the tables on the Rebels. Oh, Darth. Always with the traps.
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The September 25 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Amazing Spider-Man #30: One consequence of finding myself a year behind in comics is that I'm not as zealous in jumping into events as I once was. When I saw "Amazing Spider-Man" only had two tie-in issues for "Absolute Carnage," I took a pass on getting the main series. This issue didn't really make me regret that decision.
Cletus Kassady is once again back trying to kill all the previous symbiote hosts, allegedly to take the "codex" left inside each host to resurrect his god, Knull. Sure, whatever. Also, Norman Osborn for some reason thinks that he's Cletus and he's trying to get to Normie and Eddie Brock's son, Dylan. Only Spider-Man stands in his way.
At various points in the issue, we're treated to a weird flashback sequence of Peter throwing a welcome-home-from-the-asylum party for Harry where he has tension with a just-returned-from-the-war Flash. I don't quite get where Spencer was going with that. I think that it has something to do with the issues's framing device, itself a flashback, where Kindred is speaking to a catatonic Norman while he's still imprisoned in Ravencroft. I'm guessing that this conversation happens right after Kindred allegedly killed Mysterio and presumably before Norman became Red Goblin again. Kindred tells Norman that he already won when it came to ruining Pete's innocence and that Norman used to make him feel powerless, again implying that he's Harry Osborn.
Spencer's trying to do what he can here to keep us connected to the story that he was telling before he was event-ed, so I'm happy to just roll with these two issues and return to what we were doing after that. But, I'll also say that I really, really hope that his plan isn't to drag out the Kindred storyline until issue #50, because I increasingly find myself not caring all that much.
Batman: Curse of the White Knight #3: I have to say that I'm not really digging this series. Visually, it's as stunning as the first one, but the plot is starting to feel thin. Each issue of the first series produced a major revelation that took on Batman's sacred cows. Here, we're three issues into this series and we already have a "shocking death," the sort of clichéd development that's usually the sign of a desperate author without any other ideas. Moreover, the Joker's promise that he'll reveal his great secret in due course feels like a stalling tactic, like Murphy himself doesn't know how the story ends.
Cletus Kassady is once again back trying to kill all the previous symbiote hosts, allegedly to take the "codex" left inside each host to resurrect his god, Knull. Sure, whatever. Also, Norman Osborn for some reason thinks that he's Cletus and he's trying to get to Normie and Eddie Brock's son, Dylan. Only Spider-Man stands in his way.
At various points in the issue, we're treated to a weird flashback sequence of Peter throwing a welcome-home-from-the-asylum party for Harry where he has tension with a just-returned-from-the-war Flash. I don't quite get where Spencer was going with that. I think that it has something to do with the issues's framing device, itself a flashback, where Kindred is speaking to a catatonic Norman while he's still imprisoned in Ravencroft. I'm guessing that this conversation happens right after Kindred allegedly killed Mysterio and presumably before Norman became Red Goblin again. Kindred tells Norman that he already won when it came to ruining Pete's innocence and that Norman used to make him feel powerless, again implying that he's Harry Osborn.
Spencer's trying to do what he can here to keep us connected to the story that he was telling before he was event-ed, so I'm happy to just roll with these two issues and return to what we were doing after that. But, I'll also say that I really, really hope that his plan isn't to drag out the Kindred storyline until issue #50, because I increasingly find myself not caring all that much.
Batman: Curse of the White Knight #3: I have to say that I'm not really digging this series. Visually, it's as stunning as the first one, but the plot is starting to feel thin. Each issue of the first series produced a major revelation that took on Batman's sacred cows. Here, we're three issues into this series and we already have a "shocking death," the sort of clichéd development that's usually the sign of a desperate author without any other ideas. Moreover, the Joker's promise that he'll reveal his great secret in due course feels like a stalling tactic, like Murphy himself doesn't know how the story ends.
It isn't just the overall plot that has problems. We have some specific moments here that make little sense. For example, I don't understand why Barbara and Dick had to pull in the GTO to rescue Bruce from the bay after Azrael blew up Wayne Manor, thereby revealing his secret identity to the rest of the GTO. Dick claims that they had no choice, because they needed to use a helicopter to rescue him. But,I don't get why they did. Barbara and Dick manage to pull him from the water in a small police boat; they couldn't have gotten to shore in that?
At any rate, other than Bullock's snarky comments, everyone pays close attention as Bruce tells them about the Joker and Azrael back at GTO HQ. He explains that Ruth and the elites are trying to replace Bruce with Azrael to keep the Batman Devastation Fund going. He also explains Azrael's connection to the Order of St. Dumas. Bruce notes that Edmund Wayne was supposed to share half the land with Bakkar (the man who rescued him in London), and they all guess that the Joker has, at the very least, convinced Azrael that he's Bakkar's descendant.
At any rate, other than Bullock's snarky comments, everyone pays close attention as Bruce tells them about the Joker and Azrael back at GTO HQ. He explains that Ruth and the elites are trying to replace Bruce with Azrael to keep the Batman Devastation Fund going. He also explains Azrael's connection to the Order of St. Dumas. Bruce notes that Edmund Wayne was supposed to share half the land with Bakkar (the man who rescued him in London), and they all guess that the Joker has, at the very least, convinced Azrael that he's Bakkar's descendant.
Batman then visits Harley, revealing his identity to her to build her trust as he asks her to try to draw out Napier. They arrive to interrogate the Joker, who thinks, as usual, that he's holding all the cards. But, Batman reveals that he knows that the Joker stole Laffy Arkham's schtick, infuriating the Joker. The Joker settles down a bit and explains that Laffy told the Joker in their first "meeting" the greatest joke in all of Gotham, about the Wayne family, and that he's saving it for his "grand finale" when he shares it with the entire city. (I get why Murphy is stalling, but I don't get why the Joker is. Is it to torture Bruce with slow reveals? It mostly seems like it's just to give Bruce time to stop him.) Batman's attempt to use a pregnant Harley to draw out Napier fails, though we learn that she's carrying twins. The Joker says that he's got to kill Napier's (viewing the other child as his), something that Bruce probably should've seen coming before involving her.
The city evacuates Arkham now that they realize the elites control it, and Batman takes Harley to the Joker's original cell. He's surprised to learn that the Joker didn't tell her his identity (he assumed that she knew, part of the reason he revealed it to her in the first place) just like he's also surprised that he never mentioned Laffy or the Joker's grand finale. (Is Harley lying and she's pulling the strings here?) In the cell, Harley wonders if Edmund killed Bakkar, and Batman is startled when they discover another skeleton buried beneath the floor. Harley then melodramatically goes into labor.
The city evacuates Arkham now that they realize the elites control it, and Batman takes Harley to the Joker's original cell. He's surprised to learn that the Joker didn't tell her his identity (he assumed that she knew, part of the reason he revealed it to her in the first place) just like he's also surprised that he never mentioned Laffy or the Joker's grand finale. (Is Harley lying and she's pulling the strings here?) In the cell, Harley wonders if Edmund killed Bakkar, and Batman is startled when they discover another skeleton buried beneath the floor. Harley then melodramatically goes into labor.
Meanwhile, at a bar, Gordon announces to his colleagues that he's resigning and suggested Montoya take over the department. She's worried that it's tokenism, but they all voice an emotional round of support for her. Gordon leaves and encounters Batman in the alley. He apologizes for losing her temper, telling him that he knows full well that Barbara is going to do whatever she wants to do and that he probably tried to convince her not to do it. Gordon offers his hand asking for no more secrets, and it turns out it's Azrael. He absconds with Gordon and the rest of the GCPD come running after Gordon fires off a few shots. He tells them to tell Barbra that he loves her and that he couldn't be more proud as Azrael's associates open fire on them. Bullock is hit as Azrael stabs Jim with his sword and throws his body off a rooftop.
I guess I'm still interested to see where we go here. Gordon's conversation with "Batman" was the sort of insightful moment that I expected of this series, and if Murphy can reorient to focus more on those sorts of moments I think this ship can still be righted.
New Mutants: War Children #1: I love me some "New Mutants," and I was obviously excited to see Claremont and Sienkiewicz return. I can't say I was disappointed exactly; I was mostly just confused. The exact nature of the transmode virus has changed over the years to suit individual authors' purposes, and this issue is no different. Warlock apparently decides to absorb all the New Mutants so that he doesn't have to kill them in his battle with Magus, a plot development I don't really totally understand. I think Claremont is arguing that Warlock is worried that, if Warlock defeats Magus, he'll become Magus and will therefore kill the New Mutants because they're human, but I'm not entirely sure. I also didn't follow Darkchilde somehow taking over Warlock and creating a demonic iteration of the virus (to the extent that I understand what happened there). In the end Doug willingly merges with Warlock and they use their combined powers to absorb the transmode virus from the other New Mutants, something I don't remember anyone ever doing before. Whatever. At least the art was pretty.
Powers of X #5: Hickman very quickly moves us through the mechanics of the nation that Charles and Magneto have created.
First, in X0, he convinces a willing Forge to create Cerebro 7.0, using a "cloaked antimatter engine of [Shi'ar] design currently in Earth's orbit" to power it and Shi'ar logic diamonds to house five copies of every mutant mind. We learn that Charles creates latest-version copies of every mind once a week and a hard-backup version every year. The latter one is a fresh copy of a whole mind, and it takes him three days, during which time he cannot be disturbed (opening up a future storyline, no doubt). Moreover, we learn that Charles has twice booted his mind to a previous version (something essentially only he has the talent to do) and that only specially adapted mutants could overcome their mind being placed in a different husk. I think this revelation was the last piece of the puzzle of how Charles put together his resurrection protocols, another example of how carefully Hickman has created this story.
In X1, we see Charles and Xavier offering Emma and her Hellfire Corporation a fifty-year exclusive contract to distribute the Krakoa products. (As she says, she's going to be Krakoa's East India trading company.) They also offer her two seats on the Quiet Council, the 12-person Council that governs Krakoa. Why two? They also want her to bring in Sebastian Shaw. Whereas Emma will serve as the White Queen, representing Krakoa to the nations that recognize it, Shaw will serve as the Black King, smuggling the drugs into, and evacuating the mutants from, the countries that reject Krakoa's sovereignty.
Finally, Hickman returns to the X3 timeline, where the Phalanx have accepted Earth's offer to join them. But, to do so, they need energy. As such, the next day, the Phalanx will absorb Earth's' collective intelligence. It'll maintaining this intelligence forever, but the cost will be the consumption of the entire planet.
Nimrod explains that Earth-bound machines and the Phalanx are both self-improving and self-replicating intelligences. However, the Phalanx go beyond just simply generational advancement. Their creators were constructed using the fundamental components of the Universe. They are the super-massive machine brains that the Titan theory holds became so dense that they collapse space-time, turning themselves into the singularities at the center of each black hole. However, Hickman's story goes beyond just explaining what black holes are. As the interstitial page explains, five connected Titans form Strongholds warring with other Strongholds whereas Dominions are ten or more Titans controlling a sector of space and epochs of time: they're "one giant societal intelligence" that resembles our concept of God. Apparently 112 Titans form the Dominion that controls our sector, and they're only afraid of Galactus and the Phoenix.
I don't have much else to say here as Hickman does a solid job of delivering all these plot developments without sounding too exposition-y. I still don't entirely understand the relevance of X3 to the other three timelines, but I'm sure that Hickman has a plan.
Also Read: Captain America #14; Detective Comics #1,012; Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Kylo Ren #1; Star Wars: Target Vader #3
I guess I'm still interested to see where we go here. Gordon's conversation with "Batman" was the sort of insightful moment that I expected of this series, and if Murphy can reorient to focus more on those sorts of moments I think this ship can still be righted.
New Mutants: War Children #1: I love me some "New Mutants," and I was obviously excited to see Claremont and Sienkiewicz return. I can't say I was disappointed exactly; I was mostly just confused. The exact nature of the transmode virus has changed over the years to suit individual authors' purposes, and this issue is no different. Warlock apparently decides to absorb all the New Mutants so that he doesn't have to kill them in his battle with Magus, a plot development I don't really totally understand. I think Claremont is arguing that Warlock is worried that, if Warlock defeats Magus, he'll become Magus and will therefore kill the New Mutants because they're human, but I'm not entirely sure. I also didn't follow Darkchilde somehow taking over Warlock and creating a demonic iteration of the virus (to the extent that I understand what happened there). In the end Doug willingly merges with Warlock and they use their combined powers to absorb the transmode virus from the other New Mutants, something I don't remember anyone ever doing before. Whatever. At least the art was pretty.
Powers of X #5: Hickman very quickly moves us through the mechanics of the nation that Charles and Magneto have created.
First, in X0, he convinces a willing Forge to create Cerebro 7.0, using a "cloaked antimatter engine of [Shi'ar] design currently in Earth's orbit" to power it and Shi'ar logic diamonds to house five copies of every mutant mind. We learn that Charles creates latest-version copies of every mind once a week and a hard-backup version every year. The latter one is a fresh copy of a whole mind, and it takes him three days, during which time he cannot be disturbed (opening up a future storyline, no doubt). Moreover, we learn that Charles has twice booted his mind to a previous version (something essentially only he has the talent to do) and that only specially adapted mutants could overcome their mind being placed in a different husk. I think this revelation was the last piece of the puzzle of how Charles put together his resurrection protocols, another example of how carefully Hickman has created this story.
In X1, we see Charles and Xavier offering Emma and her Hellfire Corporation a fifty-year exclusive contract to distribute the Krakoa products. (As she says, she's going to be Krakoa's East India trading company.) They also offer her two seats on the Quiet Council, the 12-person Council that governs Krakoa. Why two? They also want her to bring in Sebastian Shaw. Whereas Emma will serve as the White Queen, representing Krakoa to the nations that recognize it, Shaw will serve as the Black King, smuggling the drugs into, and evacuating the mutants from, the countries that reject Krakoa's sovereignty.
Finally, Hickman returns to the X3 timeline, where the Phalanx have accepted Earth's offer to join them. But, to do so, they need energy. As such, the next day, the Phalanx will absorb Earth's' collective intelligence. It'll maintaining this intelligence forever, but the cost will be the consumption of the entire planet.
Nimrod explains that Earth-bound machines and the Phalanx are both self-improving and self-replicating intelligences. However, the Phalanx go beyond just simply generational advancement. Their creators were constructed using the fundamental components of the Universe. They are the super-massive machine brains that the Titan theory holds became so dense that they collapse space-time, turning themselves into the singularities at the center of each black hole. However, Hickman's story goes beyond just explaining what black holes are. As the interstitial page explains, five connected Titans form Strongholds warring with other Strongholds whereas Dominions are ten or more Titans controlling a sector of space and epochs of time: they're "one giant societal intelligence" that resembles our concept of God. Apparently 112 Titans form the Dominion that controls our sector, and they're only afraid of Galactus and the Phoenix.
I don't have much else to say here as Hickman does a solid job of delivering all these plot developments without sounding too exposition-y. I still don't entirely understand the relevance of X3 to the other three timelines, but I'm sure that Hickman has a plan.
Also Read: Captain America #14; Detective Comics #1,012; Star Wars: Age of Resistance - Kylo Ren #1; Star Wars: Target Vader #3
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The September 18 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
House of X #5: Hickman gets right to the point here: resurrection.
The mutant with fire in his eyes that we saw in issue #1 was Scott, not Vulcan, as the mutants who sacrificed their lives at the Forge are now resurrected. How? Man, Hickman really sells you on the how. Happily, he uses characters that Bendis created as the answer, something I love when authors do. I was worried Hickman's reboot would gloss over some of the X-Men's recent past. It often happens with reboots: we focus on the old days and not the recent ones. Instead, Hickman really leans into Bendis' run, and I loved it.
First, Goldballs "seemingly benign and pointless power" is key to the whole process: they're not balls, but eggs. Then, we learn that Proteus has been freed to help: with his intervention, the eggs become viable. (I do hope Hickman at some point explains how Proteus become manageable because, man, I'd call that revelation a pretty significant change in the status quo.) Then, the DNA of a mutant is injected and Elixir uses his powers to kickstart cellular replication. Eva Bell then uses her powers to advance time to age the mutant to the correct age. Hope oversees the entire process, enabling everyone to operate at their peak and in unison. The end result? Resurrection. Charles then uses Cerebro to take a copy of their mind -- "the essence, the anima" -- and transfer it to the body. In one of the interstitial pages, we learn that Charles backs up the minds of every mutant mind. (The DNA comes from Sinister's files, natch.) Interestingly, it means all their wounds should be healed; in doing so, Hickman resolves the eye that Cyclops lost under Rosenberg's run, for example.
But. Hickman doesn't stop there. Magneto starts the issue by noting that humans created society when they moved form hunting-gathering to agriculture, deciding that they had ownership over fertile land. Here, Hickman expands on that premise as Storm serves as a high priestess of sorts at a ceremony before the assembled mutants of Krakoa. After the resurrected mutant answers a question that Storm asked him, Storm announces to the mutants that she knows him. Hickman is making it clear that the mutants are creating their own society, complete with a resurrection-based religion.
That said, he doesn't make it too easy, what the Five are doing. For example, Proteus burns out his host body at some point, meaning that they have to create a husk from Charles' genetic base each time that he needs a new one. At current levels, it will take 300 years to bring back everyone who died, notably the 16 million people who died on Genosha. It's possible that the Five might become more efficient, but Charles would also need to teach other telepaths to use Cerebro properly to match their pace.
Hickman also sets the stage for future stories -- and underlines the troubling ethical questions of what they're doing -- by noting that they haven't seen what happens when a mind is implanted in a different husk and that Charles will need to set up a team to ensure that mutants who suffer suspicious deaths are actually dead. I mean, how Charles is this entire endeavor? He used Sinister to steal everyone's DNA and he himself has been stealing their minds? I could see a scenario where a mutant is resurrected against his will, eventually leading a revolt against Charles.
The issue wraps up no less spectacularly than it starts. In fact, this issue is where Hickman really puts all his cards on the table. Emma uses her powers to convince the Russian ambassador to support recognizing Krakoa as a nation. Charles tells Emma that domination has a consequence for both sides of that equation. Just when you're ready to chortle with the irony of him lecturing anyone about domination, Charles thanks Emma for her service and seems ready to make her Secretary of State. Several nations refuse to acknowledge Krakoa, and we learn that Charles and Magneto deem them enemies of the state. Speaking of enemies, Charles and Magneto call all the X-Men's enemies "home," including Apocalypse, who accepts their offer by acknowledging their dominion. Sure, that's going to last.
All in all, it's now pretty clear where Hickman is going. Charles and Magneto have their relatively secure mutant state with an enviable amount of resources. I wonder how it'll all go wrong.
The Weatherman, Vol. 2 #4: Holy shit. Man, LeHeup really kicks it up a notch here.
First, he foreshadows Ian Black's return when Cross has Nathan practice firing a gun. After Nathan misses numerous times, he "freeballs" it, firing dramatically and randomly. It looks like he accidentally hit the target once, but when the Marshall takes a look at it later it turns out Nathan hit it in the same place all five times. Ruh-roh.
The team then makes its way to Syngen Station in the Arctic, where Nathan accidentally releases an experiment, separating him from Cross and Dr. Argus as they all flee the rampaging monster. When she and Dr. Argus arrive at Dr. Nyseth's office, Cross is surprised that Kestrel and her goons are there. (We later learn that they dug up Nyseth's corpse to gain access. Heh.) Nathan flees Kestrel's troops, stumbling across his memory drive. As the goons arrive, he disappears into the air vent and the goons take anything that looks important -- including Ian's memory drive -- with them. The ships depart with everyone but Nathan. Suddenly Ian Black emerges, noting that it's the first time that Nathan's been alone. At his urging, Nathan leaves behind his gun and walks towards the biophagus horde approaching him to give it "justice."
We then move to Skyborough, which we learn is where Kestrel and the survivors live. It's an invisible floating station above New York City originally created as a prison but then as public housing, "a floating favela of the poor and the powerless." Now it's all that remains of the American people. Cross tells Kestrel that they're just searching for Black's memory to prevent what happened to them from happening to Mars. But Kestrel points out the enormous furnaces the "Solar Council" has been dropping on Earth to elevate its temperature to the point where the virus will die -- they'll kill the survivors, but Earth can be recolonized. (I guess that's what the lobbyist meant in issue #1.) Cross begs for Kestrel to help her save billions of innocent people, and Kestrel pulls a knife on her, telling her that she'd slaughter them all with her bare hands if it saved just one of her people. Understandably, she says that they've suffered enough. Kestrel then informs Cross that she'll be on the surface transport the next day.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on Skyborough, someone recruits the kid from issue #1 whose father too his place for the Sword of God to help "end the tyranny of human life." Then, a shuttle from Syngen Station arrives, but it isn't cleared to land. It does so anyway, and the troops go to meet it. A trooper like them emerges -- and then detonates himself. It turns out he's a biophagus...and it's Nathan. Dun-dun-DUN!
Also Read: Guardians of the Galaxy #9
The mutant with fire in his eyes that we saw in issue #1 was Scott, not Vulcan, as the mutants who sacrificed their lives at the Forge are now resurrected. How? Man, Hickman really sells you on the how. Happily, he uses characters that Bendis created as the answer, something I love when authors do. I was worried Hickman's reboot would gloss over some of the X-Men's recent past. It often happens with reboots: we focus on the old days and not the recent ones. Instead, Hickman really leans into Bendis' run, and I loved it.
First, Goldballs "seemingly benign and pointless power" is key to the whole process: they're not balls, but eggs. Then, we learn that Proteus has been freed to help: with his intervention, the eggs become viable. (I do hope Hickman at some point explains how Proteus become manageable because, man, I'd call that revelation a pretty significant change in the status quo.) Then, the DNA of a mutant is injected and Elixir uses his powers to kickstart cellular replication. Eva Bell then uses her powers to advance time to age the mutant to the correct age. Hope oversees the entire process, enabling everyone to operate at their peak and in unison. The end result? Resurrection. Charles then uses Cerebro to take a copy of their mind -- "the essence, the anima" -- and transfer it to the body. In one of the interstitial pages, we learn that Charles backs up the minds of every mutant mind. (The DNA comes from Sinister's files, natch.) Interestingly, it means all their wounds should be healed; in doing so, Hickman resolves the eye that Cyclops lost under Rosenberg's run, for example.
But. Hickman doesn't stop there. Magneto starts the issue by noting that humans created society when they moved form hunting-gathering to agriculture, deciding that they had ownership over fertile land. Here, Hickman expands on that premise as Storm serves as a high priestess of sorts at a ceremony before the assembled mutants of Krakoa. After the resurrected mutant answers a question that Storm asked him, Storm announces to the mutants that she knows him. Hickman is making it clear that the mutants are creating their own society, complete with a resurrection-based religion.
That said, he doesn't make it too easy, what the Five are doing. For example, Proteus burns out his host body at some point, meaning that they have to create a husk from Charles' genetic base each time that he needs a new one. At current levels, it will take 300 years to bring back everyone who died, notably the 16 million people who died on Genosha. It's possible that the Five might become more efficient, but Charles would also need to teach other telepaths to use Cerebro properly to match their pace.
Hickman also sets the stage for future stories -- and underlines the troubling ethical questions of what they're doing -- by noting that they haven't seen what happens when a mind is implanted in a different husk and that Charles will need to set up a team to ensure that mutants who suffer suspicious deaths are actually dead. I mean, how Charles is this entire endeavor? He used Sinister to steal everyone's DNA and he himself has been stealing their minds? I could see a scenario where a mutant is resurrected against his will, eventually leading a revolt against Charles.
The issue wraps up no less spectacularly than it starts. In fact, this issue is where Hickman really puts all his cards on the table. Emma uses her powers to convince the Russian ambassador to support recognizing Krakoa as a nation. Charles tells Emma that domination has a consequence for both sides of that equation. Just when you're ready to chortle with the irony of him lecturing anyone about domination, Charles thanks Emma for her service and seems ready to make her Secretary of State. Several nations refuse to acknowledge Krakoa, and we learn that Charles and Magneto deem them enemies of the state. Speaking of enemies, Charles and Magneto call all the X-Men's enemies "home," including Apocalypse, who accepts their offer by acknowledging their dominion. Sure, that's going to last.
All in all, it's now pretty clear where Hickman is going. Charles and Magneto have their relatively secure mutant state with an enviable amount of resources. I wonder how it'll all go wrong.
The Weatherman, Vol. 2 #4: Holy shit. Man, LeHeup really kicks it up a notch here.
First, he foreshadows Ian Black's return when Cross has Nathan practice firing a gun. After Nathan misses numerous times, he "freeballs" it, firing dramatically and randomly. It looks like he accidentally hit the target once, but when the Marshall takes a look at it later it turns out Nathan hit it in the same place all five times. Ruh-roh.
The team then makes its way to Syngen Station in the Arctic, where Nathan accidentally releases an experiment, separating him from Cross and Dr. Argus as they all flee the rampaging monster. When she and Dr. Argus arrive at Dr. Nyseth's office, Cross is surprised that Kestrel and her goons are there. (We later learn that they dug up Nyseth's corpse to gain access. Heh.) Nathan flees Kestrel's troops, stumbling across his memory drive. As the goons arrive, he disappears into the air vent and the goons take anything that looks important -- including Ian's memory drive -- with them. The ships depart with everyone but Nathan. Suddenly Ian Black emerges, noting that it's the first time that Nathan's been alone. At his urging, Nathan leaves behind his gun and walks towards the biophagus horde approaching him to give it "justice."
We then move to Skyborough, which we learn is where Kestrel and the survivors live. It's an invisible floating station above New York City originally created as a prison but then as public housing, "a floating favela of the poor and the powerless." Now it's all that remains of the American people. Cross tells Kestrel that they're just searching for Black's memory to prevent what happened to them from happening to Mars. But Kestrel points out the enormous furnaces the "Solar Council" has been dropping on Earth to elevate its temperature to the point where the virus will die -- they'll kill the survivors, but Earth can be recolonized. (I guess that's what the lobbyist meant in issue #1.) Cross begs for Kestrel to help her save billions of innocent people, and Kestrel pulls a knife on her, telling her that she'd slaughter them all with her bare hands if it saved just one of her people. Understandably, she says that they've suffered enough. Kestrel then informs Cross that she'll be on the surface transport the next day.
Meanwhile, elsewhere on Skyborough, someone recruits the kid from issue #1 whose father too his place for the Sword of God to help "end the tyranny of human life." Then, a shuttle from Syngen Station arrives, but it isn't cleared to land. It does so anyway, and the troops go to meet it. A trooper like them emerges -- and then detonates himself. It turns out he's a biophagus...and it's Nathan. Dun-dun-DUN!
Also Read: Guardians of the Galaxy #9
Friday, April 24, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The September 11 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Amazing Spider-Man #29: This issue is the perfect Spider-Man story, which sucks for Peter, because it means he wins but also loses.
Mary Jane is leaving for Los Angeles for two months to film a movie that the author wrote specifically for her. (Uh-oh...) Peter promises to meet her at the airport after he helps Aunt May paint the newly rebuilt F.E.A.S.T. Center. (Long-time readers can see several problems for Peter in that sentence.) But, Teresa arrives to recruit him to help her save a former S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague (and lover) who radioed for help. (Of course he did.) It turns out the Chameleon is trying to root around the colleague's brain for information that he can sell to other groups as well as information on the whereabouts of an unnamed person. They arrive too late to save Teresa's colleague, and Peter is also too late to meet Mary Jane. She tells him that she understands and that she knows when he's late that he's saving some innocent person's life.
But, earlier at the F.E.A.S.T. Center, Aunt May gave Peter a pep talk after he told her that he was afraid of losing Mary Jane again. She reminded him that they always find each other and that he knows what he has to do to make his feelings for Mary Jane clear. Later, after FaceTimeing with Mary Jane, he sits on his twin bed in his crappy apartment and stares at the engagement ring that he was going to use to propose. His narrative throughout the issue was that he felt like he was stuck in old patterns, that his life always turns out the same way no matter what he does. (Given the fact that Spencer has returned us to a mid-200s version of Peter, it's a remarkably meta comment.)
Aunt May tried to show him the positive side of that pattern: that he always gets back together with Mary Jane. But, sitting on his bed, Peter sees only the other side: always losing her in the first place. Spencer and Ottley do great jobs here showing Peter's broken heart as he stares at the ring and says, "Maybe some other day." The clear implication, per Peter's narrative, is that he doesn't believe that's true: he believes that he'll always lose her. It's devastating and perhaps the best issue of this run so far, moving Spencer beyond the "my roommate is a super-villain!" jokiness of most issues. I can't wait to see more of it.
Powers of X #4: This issue is the most Hickmanesque one, as I understood little of what happened. Or, put more directly, I understood what happened, but I didn't understand what it meant. It isn't necessarily a bad thing at this point, but it does raise the stakes for later issues.
The opening sequence is the most easily understood and fun. Hickman should write Sinister all the time. Magneto and Professor X visit Bar Sinister in the X0 time period, and Sinister is at his campiest and most insane self. His obsession and jealousy over Magneto's cape alone is worth the price of admission. But, we're not here just to watch Sinister chew scenery. (Though, it would be totally OK if we were, just to be clear.) Magneto and Xavier are there to convince Essex to change his focus from cataloguing the world's DNA to cataloguing mutantkind's DNA. Sinister -- or, at least, the throne-sitting version of him whom we first meet -- declines. He notes that he tried introducing that "aberrant gene" into his "superior genetic structure" but he didn't like the results. However, he's then shot in the head by said Sinister with the mutant gene, creepy cape and all. (See, Essex. You get a cape!) This Sinister agrees to Charles' plan, and Xavier then puts him to work...and wipes his mind of the conversation until the day that Xavier wishes to tell him to remember it. This entire sequence obviously has significant repercussions for the X-Men. It sets Sinister on his path of torturing the Summers family, showing that Hickman isn't rebooting Xavier as a less troubling figure than his most recent portrayals have shown him to be.
At this point, it all gets murkier. Hickman uses two of his interstitial pages to give us a Bar Sinister newsletter called the Red Diamond. It's hilarious but...vague. In the more direct category, we learn that mutant Sinister has Thunderbird's DNA. The rest of the entries are blind items dealing with a range of characters. Some I can guess: Madeleine Pryor left behind a whole lot more than secrets, Logan is allegedly having an affair with a married woman with a kid whose equally unfaithful husband knows what's happening, other Summers siblings may exist, Apocalypse longs for his original Horsemen, and another Sinister may have replaced the brainwashed Sinister and knows exactly what he's doing (presumably setting up the Betrayal). Others are less clear. Who's the trendsetting mutant cut down in his prime who's going to return? Vulcan? Who's the progerian mutant with secret ties whose plan wasn't foiled? Which non-couple couple is going to become a couple? Jean and Scott? I guess we'll see.
The next sequence makes more sense, as Charles brings Cypher to Krakoa in the X1 time period to decipher his language, setting the stage for the marvels that we later see. We also learn more about Krakoa. He was once an island called Okkara until the "twilight sword of the enemy" tore him apart, creating Arakko and Krakoa. In the chasm between them, the enemy poured into the world. But, Apocalypse stopped them and used his powers to send Arrako and, I'm assuming, the four original Horseman through the chasm to "sentinel that land." (I'm guessing they're returning soon, per the Red Diamond.) However, Krakoa is still grief-stricken over the loss of Arakko. In the present, Doug builds the interface that becomes the basis of the mutants' interaction with Krakoa, and we learn that four mutants manage it: Sage (transit), Black Tom Cassidy (defense), Trinary (external systems), and Beast (data analysis). We also learn that Forge may or may not be building biological machines to manage mutant expansion on the island, though I'm not quite sure what that means.
X3 continues to be the most complicated time frame to follow. If I understand correctly, the Elder downloaded a copy of his consciousness into a host machine and used that to "ascend" with the Phalanx. If it works, it seems like it saves Earth, because they'll be satisfied, since the Phalanx doesn't work with biological entities. At least, I think that's what happened?
Though Hickmanesque, I wasn't disappointed with this issue. Hickman has made it clear that no loose end will go unresolved, given the attention that he's clearly paying to the details. It makes it a lot easier to accept my confusion as a temporary state. That said, I usually get into trouble with Hickman when he expands that confusion to an unacceptable degree. It's important that we get answers to some of the questions that he raised here in a relatively short timeframe, so it doesn't just become a confusing mess of questions. We shall see. For now, I'm still a very happy camper.
Also Read: Detective Comics #1,011; Invaders #9; King Thor #1
Mary Jane is leaving for Los Angeles for two months to film a movie that the author wrote specifically for her. (Uh-oh...) Peter promises to meet her at the airport after he helps Aunt May paint the newly rebuilt F.E.A.S.T. Center. (Long-time readers can see several problems for Peter in that sentence.) But, Teresa arrives to recruit him to help her save a former S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague (and lover) who radioed for help. (Of course he did.) It turns out the Chameleon is trying to root around the colleague's brain for information that he can sell to other groups as well as information on the whereabouts of an unnamed person. They arrive too late to save Teresa's colleague, and Peter is also too late to meet Mary Jane. She tells him that she understands and that she knows when he's late that he's saving some innocent person's life.
But, earlier at the F.E.A.S.T. Center, Aunt May gave Peter a pep talk after he told her that he was afraid of losing Mary Jane again. She reminded him that they always find each other and that he knows what he has to do to make his feelings for Mary Jane clear. Later, after FaceTimeing with Mary Jane, he sits on his twin bed in his crappy apartment and stares at the engagement ring that he was going to use to propose. His narrative throughout the issue was that he felt like he was stuck in old patterns, that his life always turns out the same way no matter what he does. (Given the fact that Spencer has returned us to a mid-200s version of Peter, it's a remarkably meta comment.)
Aunt May tried to show him the positive side of that pattern: that he always gets back together with Mary Jane. But, sitting on his bed, Peter sees only the other side: always losing her in the first place. Spencer and Ottley do great jobs here showing Peter's broken heart as he stares at the ring and says, "Maybe some other day." The clear implication, per Peter's narrative, is that he doesn't believe that's true: he believes that he'll always lose her. It's devastating and perhaps the best issue of this run so far, moving Spencer beyond the "my roommate is a super-villain!" jokiness of most issues. I can't wait to see more of it.
Powers of X #4: This issue is the most Hickmanesque one, as I understood little of what happened. Or, put more directly, I understood what happened, but I didn't understand what it meant. It isn't necessarily a bad thing at this point, but it does raise the stakes for later issues.
The opening sequence is the most easily understood and fun. Hickman should write Sinister all the time. Magneto and Professor X visit Bar Sinister in the X0 time period, and Sinister is at his campiest and most insane self. His obsession and jealousy over Magneto's cape alone is worth the price of admission. But, we're not here just to watch Sinister chew scenery. (Though, it would be totally OK if we were, just to be clear.) Magneto and Xavier are there to convince Essex to change his focus from cataloguing the world's DNA to cataloguing mutantkind's DNA. Sinister -- or, at least, the throne-sitting version of him whom we first meet -- declines. He notes that he tried introducing that "aberrant gene" into his "superior genetic structure" but he didn't like the results. However, he's then shot in the head by said Sinister with the mutant gene, creepy cape and all. (See, Essex. You get a cape!) This Sinister agrees to Charles' plan, and Xavier then puts him to work...and wipes his mind of the conversation until the day that Xavier wishes to tell him to remember it. This entire sequence obviously has significant repercussions for the X-Men. It sets Sinister on his path of torturing the Summers family, showing that Hickman isn't rebooting Xavier as a less troubling figure than his most recent portrayals have shown him to be.
At this point, it all gets murkier. Hickman uses two of his interstitial pages to give us a Bar Sinister newsletter called the Red Diamond. It's hilarious but...vague. In the more direct category, we learn that mutant Sinister has Thunderbird's DNA. The rest of the entries are blind items dealing with a range of characters. Some I can guess: Madeleine Pryor left behind a whole lot more than secrets, Logan is allegedly having an affair with a married woman with a kid whose equally unfaithful husband knows what's happening, other Summers siblings may exist, Apocalypse longs for his original Horsemen, and another Sinister may have replaced the brainwashed Sinister and knows exactly what he's doing (presumably setting up the Betrayal). Others are less clear. Who's the trendsetting mutant cut down in his prime who's going to return? Vulcan? Who's the progerian mutant with secret ties whose plan wasn't foiled? Which non-couple couple is going to become a couple? Jean and Scott? I guess we'll see.
The next sequence makes more sense, as Charles brings Cypher to Krakoa in the X1 time period to decipher his language, setting the stage for the marvels that we later see. We also learn more about Krakoa. He was once an island called Okkara until the "twilight sword of the enemy" tore him apart, creating Arakko and Krakoa. In the chasm between them, the enemy poured into the world. But, Apocalypse stopped them and used his powers to send Arrako and, I'm assuming, the four original Horseman through the chasm to "sentinel that land." (I'm guessing they're returning soon, per the Red Diamond.) However, Krakoa is still grief-stricken over the loss of Arakko. In the present, Doug builds the interface that becomes the basis of the mutants' interaction with Krakoa, and we learn that four mutants manage it: Sage (transit), Black Tom Cassidy (defense), Trinary (external systems), and Beast (data analysis). We also learn that Forge may or may not be building biological machines to manage mutant expansion on the island, though I'm not quite sure what that means.
X3 continues to be the most complicated time frame to follow. If I understand correctly, the Elder downloaded a copy of his consciousness into a host machine and used that to "ascend" with the Phalanx. If it works, it seems like it saves Earth, because they'll be satisfied, since the Phalanx doesn't work with biological entities. At least, I think that's what happened?
Though Hickmanesque, I wasn't disappointed with this issue. Hickman has made it clear that no loose end will go unresolved, given the attention that he's clearly paying to the details. It makes it a lot easier to accept my confusion as a temporary state. That said, I usually get into trouble with Hickman when he expands that confusion to an unacceptable degree. It's important that we get answers to some of the questions that he raised here in a relatively short timeframe, so it doesn't just become a confusing mess of questions. We shall see. For now, I'm still a very happy camper.
Also Read: Detective Comics #1,011; Invaders #9; King Thor #1
Thursday, April 23, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The September 4 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Die #7: This issue is a return to form after last issue, as Gillen throws a lot at us without getting lost in the details.
Izzy writes in a journal as she wallows in guilt over the situation in which she, Chuck, and the Glass Town refugees find themselves. Apparently, when she asked the Skywatcher to "get us out of here?" in issue #5, it deposited them on the opposite side of Die, in a desert called the Expense in the Realm of Three. (Gods are always so literal, she complains.) Chuck arrives in her tent and throws her journal in piss-soaked sand, telling her that she should be a professional and only write for money. Enraged, she asks Mistress Woe to teach him a lesson: after all, she already owes all the gods so much for giving her the gifts that she needs to keep the Glass Town refugees alive in the middle of a desert, she might as well enjoy the debt. Chuck later drinks with some dwarves and mistakes his hangover the next day as his lesson. As they all march through the desert, he spies an oasis where he leads the refugees. Izzy worries that it's a trap and asks Mistress Woe as much. She denies making the place as one of the dwarves comments that it looks like a mighty impact broke the ground, bringing forth the water. (Uh oh.)
As the refugees enjoy the water, the Chamberlain pulls the "paragons" aside and basically threatens to expose their manipulation of him. However, Izzy observes that the enraged refugees would likely kill him, too. Izzy tells him and Chuck that she's approached a possible patron about providing assistance just as a large group of strangers arrives. Tellingly, the Chamberlain asks if it's her patron, and Izzy responds, "Dusk? It's too early." As they wait, Izzy informs Chuck that her patron is Zamorna of Angria. The False Friend (I assume one of the gods) has briefed her that Zamorna was deposed when Sol became Grandmaster and he's hiding in Gondol now. Meanwhile, the large group arrives. It's a group of elves led by the actual Elf Queen (not the Fallen One whom they previously encountered). She informs Chuck and Izzy that they're there for water, because they've been driven from their homeland, the Dreaming Lands. As everyone camps for the night, a Titan appears. It turns out Mistress Woe at least indirectly created the oasis; she sent the Titan to break the land to teach Chuck a lesson. Chuck successfully kills it and everyone parties.
During the party, Izzy apologizes to Chuck, and he blows off the apology. When she's mad at him for doing so, he reminds her that he has to joke with her, because if he lets anything touch him then his luck goes and they'd be fucked. He literally has to look on the bright side to keep them alive. He later sleeps with the Elf Queen (fulfilling his original goal) and tells her about his ex-wives, how he kept trading up each time he got more successful. The Elf Queen tells him that he's lonely and wonders if he talks to her because she's wise. He says that it's because she isn't real. After she leaves, Mistress Woe asks him about whether he really thinks that she isn't real, and he responds with a comment about implants: they're real, but are they real real? He notes that he doesn't even know what "real" means at this point. He tells her about a great party in London that he attended one night, "a sort of real human connection evening." Later, he found out everyone left after he left; they were only there for him because he was famous. This moment is perhaps Gillen's most insightful in an already heavily insightful issue. He gets to the heart of human relationships here: it all starts going downhill once you feel like you can't have a "real" relationship, as we see with Chuck. He then pees blood, and Mistress Woe wonders if he learns his lesson there. (I'm not sure what that means exactly. Does Chuck have an STD? Maybe?) At any rate, Zamorna arrives. He looks exactly like Kit Harrington, and we learn that he and Izzy were in an unconsummated love affair. We also learn that he's a vampire, which Chuck and Izzy already know. The issue ends with him commenting, "After all, we're all monsters here."
Along the way, Gillen is as witty as ever. At one point, Chuck explains that his second wife left him when he accidentally tweeted and not DMed a girl; the dwarves ask what Twitter is, and Chuck explains that it's a "place devoid of any sentient life, entirely hostile to humanity." In other words, "A lot like here, really." Moreover, Chuck and others frequently break the Fourth Wall throughout the issue. When the dwarves tell Sol that they fled to Glass Town for similar reasons, he comments, "You two have a backstory? I thought you were kind of one-note characters." When Chuck talks about his ex-wives and the Elf Queen, he mentions their charisma scores. When Izzy uses old-timey language with Zamorna, he comments, "You don't need to treat me like one of those characters. I'm better written than that."
In other words, it's an incredibly dense and rewarding issue. If last issue felt like Gillen skimmed on top of a story that could've been more meaningful if approached in a different way, he dives deep into Chuck and Izzy's psyches here, pulling you into the story in a way that makes you forget the world around you. As he alludes to Ash trying to make an alliance with "his boy" in Angria, Zamorna also reminds us how they're all scrambling to be adults in an adolescent world, just like we all are.
House of X #4: It's clear from the death of Archangel (and, to a lesser extent, Husk) that Hickman isn't going to let his death stand. By the end of the issue, as he's killed off Monet, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey, it's clear that they'll all return. I know that Professor X somehow uses Krakoa to resurrect them since, after all, I'm reading this issue seven months late. But, Hickman somehow still manages to infuse this issue with emotion and heart. Whereas I often read an issue with a "shocking" death (I'm looking at you, Alfred) with little more than an eye roll at this point, Hickman makes it clear from the start that these deaths are going to move us to the next phase of the story. They're not "shocking" for shocking's safe. It more feels like we've ended the first act.
In terms of the plot itself, the team succeeds in its mission. Despite the loss of Archangel and Husk, the team hits the ground running, with Logan and Nightcrawler unlocking two of Mother Mold's collars almost immediately. Omega rouses Dr. Gregor by stressing that she can't just wail on the floor if she wants her husband's death to mean something while the station's acting security chief sends a team to board the ship, where Monet is amplifying Jean's powers so she can communicate with Krakoa. Monet shoves Jean into an escape pod and, when Jean notes that she needs Monet's power to reach Earth, Monet hilariously quips, "I dunno what to say, Marvel Girl. Try harder." Oh, Jean, you always were a whiner. Meanwhile, Scott shuts down his collar, but before Mystique can shut down her collar Dr. Gregor opens a door that sucks her into space.
In perhaps the best sequence so far in this series, Scott broken-heartedly authorizes Nightcrawler to teleport Logan onto the support beam itself where Logan can manually cut the collar. Laraz and Garcia have been amazing so far throughout this series, but they're spectacular here. You feel like you're on the beam with Logan, basking in the heat of the brilliant sun behind you. Kurt dissipates immediately but Logan manages to cut the beam, as he and Mother Mold ride into the Sun. (It's a fitting end for Logan, honestly, in its Dr. Strangelove way.) Moreover, the scene before their sacrifice is also great, as Logan asks about the afterlife and Nightcrawler assures Logan that he'll see him there, in the good place. Again, it's this entire sequence that makes you really believe what Hickman's selling here, that the X-Men believe that they're sacrificing themselves even if we know that they're not.
Devastated and exhausted, Scott makes his way to Jean, with a plan to jump into the escape pod via an EVA suit and use his powers to push them into an escape vector. But, Omega and Dr. Gregor intercept him on the way, killing him. But, we learn that Scott's mission was doomed anyway as the drones that Dr. Gregor recalled from Mercury arrive, killing a terrified Jean who's still reeling from the deaths of her friends. On Earth, a devastated Professor X pledges, "No more." In other words, away we go.
Star Wars #71: I always love a good Threepio-based story, and this one didn't disappoint. The Kakrans recognizing Threepio as metal and thus calling him "Cousin Ore!" was remarkably clever. But, Pak goes one step further by making one of the Elders root around Threepio's memories to show him iconic moments from the movies and the comics where "the flesh" abandoned him or Artoo, which the Elders insist the flesh will always do. I could totally hear in my head Threepio saying, "Well now, that seems like a bit of a broad brush--." When the Kakrans impressed Threepio into service as a translator and Darth Vader entered the room, I was surprised and thrilled. Threepio versus Vader! The Han and Leia story also didn't disappoint. First, you have Leia sneak-attacking Dar and yelling, "Don't just stand there, Han!," as Han, well, just stands there. But, Pak doesn't just make Dar a turncoat. Dar's right that bringing the Empire to Lanz Carpo will hurt a lot of people, since the Empire will likely set up shop there to keep it under control. So, Dar quite reasonably argues that Han and Leia should instead trick Boss Carpo into attacking the Empire (instead of tricking the Empire into thinking he's supporting the Rebellion). This ploy somehow results in Han and Leia slow dancing at a ball. I mean, how much better can you get?
Also Read: Alpha Flight: True North #1; Conan The Barbarian #9
Izzy writes in a journal as she wallows in guilt over the situation in which she, Chuck, and the Glass Town refugees find themselves. Apparently, when she asked the Skywatcher to "get us out of here?" in issue #5, it deposited them on the opposite side of Die, in a desert called the Expense in the Realm of Three. (Gods are always so literal, she complains.) Chuck arrives in her tent and throws her journal in piss-soaked sand, telling her that she should be a professional and only write for money. Enraged, she asks Mistress Woe to teach him a lesson: after all, she already owes all the gods so much for giving her the gifts that she needs to keep the Glass Town refugees alive in the middle of a desert, she might as well enjoy the debt. Chuck later drinks with some dwarves and mistakes his hangover the next day as his lesson. As they all march through the desert, he spies an oasis where he leads the refugees. Izzy worries that it's a trap and asks Mistress Woe as much. She denies making the place as one of the dwarves comments that it looks like a mighty impact broke the ground, bringing forth the water. (Uh oh.)
As the refugees enjoy the water, the Chamberlain pulls the "paragons" aside and basically threatens to expose their manipulation of him. However, Izzy observes that the enraged refugees would likely kill him, too. Izzy tells him and Chuck that she's approached a possible patron about providing assistance just as a large group of strangers arrives. Tellingly, the Chamberlain asks if it's her patron, and Izzy responds, "Dusk? It's too early." As they wait, Izzy informs Chuck that her patron is Zamorna of Angria. The False Friend (I assume one of the gods) has briefed her that Zamorna was deposed when Sol became Grandmaster and he's hiding in Gondol now. Meanwhile, the large group arrives. It's a group of elves led by the actual Elf Queen (not the Fallen One whom they previously encountered). She informs Chuck and Izzy that they're there for water, because they've been driven from their homeland, the Dreaming Lands. As everyone camps for the night, a Titan appears. It turns out Mistress Woe at least indirectly created the oasis; she sent the Titan to break the land to teach Chuck a lesson. Chuck successfully kills it and everyone parties.
During the party, Izzy apologizes to Chuck, and he blows off the apology. When she's mad at him for doing so, he reminds her that he has to joke with her, because if he lets anything touch him then his luck goes and they'd be fucked. He literally has to look on the bright side to keep them alive. He later sleeps with the Elf Queen (fulfilling his original goal) and tells her about his ex-wives, how he kept trading up each time he got more successful. The Elf Queen tells him that he's lonely and wonders if he talks to her because she's wise. He says that it's because she isn't real. After she leaves, Mistress Woe asks him about whether he really thinks that she isn't real, and he responds with a comment about implants: they're real, but are they real real? He notes that he doesn't even know what "real" means at this point. He tells her about a great party in London that he attended one night, "a sort of real human connection evening." Later, he found out everyone left after he left; they were only there for him because he was famous. This moment is perhaps Gillen's most insightful in an already heavily insightful issue. He gets to the heart of human relationships here: it all starts going downhill once you feel like you can't have a "real" relationship, as we see with Chuck. He then pees blood, and Mistress Woe wonders if he learns his lesson there. (I'm not sure what that means exactly. Does Chuck have an STD? Maybe?) At any rate, Zamorna arrives. He looks exactly like Kit Harrington, and we learn that he and Izzy were in an unconsummated love affair. We also learn that he's a vampire, which Chuck and Izzy already know. The issue ends with him commenting, "After all, we're all monsters here."
Along the way, Gillen is as witty as ever. At one point, Chuck explains that his second wife left him when he accidentally tweeted and not DMed a girl; the dwarves ask what Twitter is, and Chuck explains that it's a "place devoid of any sentient life, entirely hostile to humanity." In other words, "A lot like here, really." Moreover, Chuck and others frequently break the Fourth Wall throughout the issue. When the dwarves tell Sol that they fled to Glass Town for similar reasons, he comments, "You two have a backstory? I thought you were kind of one-note characters." When Chuck talks about his ex-wives and the Elf Queen, he mentions their charisma scores. When Izzy uses old-timey language with Zamorna, he comments, "You don't need to treat me like one of those characters. I'm better written than that."
In other words, it's an incredibly dense and rewarding issue. If last issue felt like Gillen skimmed on top of a story that could've been more meaningful if approached in a different way, he dives deep into Chuck and Izzy's psyches here, pulling you into the story in a way that makes you forget the world around you. As he alludes to Ash trying to make an alliance with "his boy" in Angria, Zamorna also reminds us how they're all scrambling to be adults in an adolescent world, just like we all are.
House of X #4: It's clear from the death of Archangel (and, to a lesser extent, Husk) that Hickman isn't going to let his death stand. By the end of the issue, as he's killed off Monet, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey, it's clear that they'll all return. I know that Professor X somehow uses Krakoa to resurrect them since, after all, I'm reading this issue seven months late. But, Hickman somehow still manages to infuse this issue with emotion and heart. Whereas I often read an issue with a "shocking" death (I'm looking at you, Alfred) with little more than an eye roll at this point, Hickman makes it clear from the start that these deaths are going to move us to the next phase of the story. They're not "shocking" for shocking's safe. It more feels like we've ended the first act.
In terms of the plot itself, the team succeeds in its mission. Despite the loss of Archangel and Husk, the team hits the ground running, with Logan and Nightcrawler unlocking two of Mother Mold's collars almost immediately. Omega rouses Dr. Gregor by stressing that she can't just wail on the floor if she wants her husband's death to mean something while the station's acting security chief sends a team to board the ship, where Monet is amplifying Jean's powers so she can communicate with Krakoa. Monet shoves Jean into an escape pod and, when Jean notes that she needs Monet's power to reach Earth, Monet hilariously quips, "I dunno what to say, Marvel Girl. Try harder." Oh, Jean, you always were a whiner. Meanwhile, Scott shuts down his collar, but before Mystique can shut down her collar Dr. Gregor opens a door that sucks her into space.
In perhaps the best sequence so far in this series, Scott broken-heartedly authorizes Nightcrawler to teleport Logan onto the support beam itself where Logan can manually cut the collar. Laraz and Garcia have been amazing so far throughout this series, but they're spectacular here. You feel like you're on the beam with Logan, basking in the heat of the brilliant sun behind you. Kurt dissipates immediately but Logan manages to cut the beam, as he and Mother Mold ride into the Sun. (It's a fitting end for Logan, honestly, in its Dr. Strangelove way.) Moreover, the scene before their sacrifice is also great, as Logan asks about the afterlife and Nightcrawler assures Logan that he'll see him there, in the good place. Again, it's this entire sequence that makes you really believe what Hickman's selling here, that the X-Men believe that they're sacrificing themselves even if we know that they're not.
Devastated and exhausted, Scott makes his way to Jean, with a plan to jump into the escape pod via an EVA suit and use his powers to push them into an escape vector. But, Omega and Dr. Gregor intercept him on the way, killing him. But, we learn that Scott's mission was doomed anyway as the drones that Dr. Gregor recalled from Mercury arrive, killing a terrified Jean who's still reeling from the deaths of her friends. On Earth, a devastated Professor X pledges, "No more." In other words, away we go.
Star Wars #71: I always love a good Threepio-based story, and this one didn't disappoint. The Kakrans recognizing Threepio as metal and thus calling him "Cousin Ore!" was remarkably clever. But, Pak goes one step further by making one of the Elders root around Threepio's memories to show him iconic moments from the movies and the comics where "the flesh" abandoned him or Artoo, which the Elders insist the flesh will always do. I could totally hear in my head Threepio saying, "Well now, that seems like a bit of a broad brush--." When the Kakrans impressed Threepio into service as a translator and Darth Vader entered the room, I was surprised and thrilled. Threepio versus Vader! The Han and Leia story also didn't disappoint. First, you have Leia sneak-attacking Dar and yelling, "Don't just stand there, Han!," as Han, well, just stands there. But, Pak doesn't just make Dar a turncoat. Dar's right that bringing the Empire to Lanz Carpo will hurt a lot of people, since the Empire will likely set up shop there to keep it under control. So, Dar quite reasonably argues that Han and Leia should instead trick Boss Carpo into attacking the Empire (instead of tricking the Empire into thinking he's supporting the Rebellion). This ploy somehow results in Han and Leia slow dancing at a ball. I mean, how much better can you get?
Also Read: Alpha Flight: True North #1; Conan The Barbarian #9
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Doomsday Clock #11-#12 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Doomsday Clock #11: We don't really learn much here, as Johns is mostly just setting the stage for Dr. Manhattan's final confrontation with Superman.
The biggest revelation coms when Lex tells Lois that he became aware of Jon's presence in this Universe because Jon is unconsciously dropping a photograph of him and a girl from 1938 in places where he intervenes in the timeline. Lex initially found the photograph when he was chasing chronal anomalies and stumbled upon the Flash remembering Wally from "Rebirth" #1. Lex observed that Jon's suit in the photo is from the 1950s, making him realize that he was dealing with a time traveler. (Who knew Lex knew so much about sartorial history?)
Meanwhile, the world's cities erupt in chaos as Black Adam leads the supervillains of the world in an assault on the White House and the Amazonians remove Diana from the board for her own safety. Superman awakens and confronts the villains while Ozymandias exposits the events of the last few issues to Saturn Girl. He explains (I think for the first time) that Dr. Manhattan saved Marionette and the Mime's life because he realized that Nite Owl and Silk Spectre were going to adopt their son, making Silk Spectre happy. Adrian informs us that he realized that Jon would never abandon this world to save their world because he was among his own people (i.e., metahumans) on this one. So, he decided to save both worlds by setting Dr. Manhattan and Superman against each other, though Johns hasn't revealed why Adrian thinks this confrontation will result in that outcome. Saturn Girl then disappears as Adrian notes that Superman didn't recognize her because she was no longer part of this timeline.
I have no idea how Johns is going to wrap up all the loose ends still out there, but I guess we'll see.
Doomsday Clock #12: It turns out that Johns wrapped up those loose ends pretty neatly, all things considering.
In the present, Markovia and Russia's metahuman teams arrive in Washington to bring Superman to justice for the Moscow massacre. Black Adam tries to recruit them to his side, but they refuse. (He is a villain after all.) Superman asks an observing Dr. Manhattan for help as more and more metahuman teams converge on Washington and the situation spirals into chaos. Jon refuses, noting that he didn't save even his own world.
In the fateful moment that leads to the outcome that Jon predicted, Superman stops someone from attacking Jon. He's confused why Superman would do so, and Superman tells Jon that he has a third choice (beyond Superman destroying him or him destroying the metaverse): maybe he sees the darkness because he gives everything that he has to save his world. Superman notes that Jon's leaving copies of the photograph that Lex found last issue with every step he takes, and Jon looks at it: it's of him and Janey. It reminds him of his humanity, and he sets about fixing the situation that he created. Jon moves back the lantern so that Alan can become the Green Lantern and, in so doing, resurrects the Justice Society of America. Clark then decides to become Superboy because the Society inspires him to do so; in so doing, he not only saves his parents from the car crash that killed them and but resurrects the Legion of Superheroes.
The moment of brilliance that we were hoping to see now finally arrives. Johns explains that the frequent ret-cons of the DCU happen so that Superman always exists, because hope is the North Star of the metaverse. Johns walks us through all the various future crises and makes the following enduring observation: "The rocket arrives. A child is loved. Superman is made." Eventually his timeline will converge with the Legion's and humankind will finally embrace his ideals.
As the events in Washington occur, Batman recruits Rorschach to help him, and they discover in Nite Owl's ship the information that they need to exonerate Superman. Bruce gives it to Lois, who uses it with the information that she got from Lex to get out the true story. Dr. Manhattan then does three things before dying. First, he indirectly encourages Carver Coleman to come out, saving his life by telling him not to be afraid of what he feels. We learn that Carver dies with his partner of 40 years at his side as one of the gay right's movements original activists, with this mantra becoming its slogan. Dr. Manhattan then destroys all his world's nuclear weapons, completely changing the balance of power. Finally, he realizes that he can't see how Marionette and the Mime's child comes to stay with Laurie and Dan because he himself raises him. Deciding his home planet needs a protector who is loved like Earth has Superman, he raises the child and embues him with the last of his powers before giving him to Laurie and Dan, having named him Clark. (I still think that it's a stretch that Adrian say this outcome, setting up Dr. Manhattan's fight with Superman, but I'm willing to just go with this part.)
I've pretty much left DC at this point, but this series isn't a terrible way to go. On the confusing end, Johns implies that the DCnU still continues out there somewhere, and I'm still not really sure how or whether Rebirth changed the DCnU back into the DCU. But, Johns at least gives us a story set in the more mainstream understanding of the DCU, and I can't say that's a terrible thing. But, I also think that it's a little too late. The world of hope that Johns depicts here seems very far from the DC books that I've been reading, where Scott Snyder and Tom King have given us a lonely broken Batman and Scott Lobdell and Dan Jurgens have turned Nigthwing into the amnesiac rebellious Ric. If the DC Universe were to become anything like the one Johns portrayed here, I might be willing to dive back into the fray. For now, I've reduced my reading to "Detective Comics" and the various Batman mini-series. If "Doomsday Clock" points us in a new direction, I'm happy to follow. In the meantime, it was at least an interesting trip through Johns' imagination.
The biggest revelation coms when Lex tells Lois that he became aware of Jon's presence in this Universe because Jon is unconsciously dropping a photograph of him and a girl from 1938 in places where he intervenes in the timeline. Lex initially found the photograph when he was chasing chronal anomalies and stumbled upon the Flash remembering Wally from "Rebirth" #1. Lex observed that Jon's suit in the photo is from the 1950s, making him realize that he was dealing with a time traveler. (Who knew Lex knew so much about sartorial history?)
Meanwhile, the world's cities erupt in chaos as Black Adam leads the supervillains of the world in an assault on the White House and the Amazonians remove Diana from the board for her own safety. Superman awakens and confronts the villains while Ozymandias exposits the events of the last few issues to Saturn Girl. He explains (I think for the first time) that Dr. Manhattan saved Marionette and the Mime's life because he realized that Nite Owl and Silk Spectre were going to adopt their son, making Silk Spectre happy. Adrian informs us that he realized that Jon would never abandon this world to save their world because he was among his own people (i.e., metahumans) on this one. So, he decided to save both worlds by setting Dr. Manhattan and Superman against each other, though Johns hasn't revealed why Adrian thinks this confrontation will result in that outcome. Saturn Girl then disappears as Adrian notes that Superman didn't recognize her because she was no longer part of this timeline.
I have no idea how Johns is going to wrap up all the loose ends still out there, but I guess we'll see.
Doomsday Clock #12: It turns out that Johns wrapped up those loose ends pretty neatly, all things considering.
In the present, Markovia and Russia's metahuman teams arrive in Washington to bring Superman to justice for the Moscow massacre. Black Adam tries to recruit them to his side, but they refuse. (He is a villain after all.) Superman asks an observing Dr. Manhattan for help as more and more metahuman teams converge on Washington and the situation spirals into chaos. Jon refuses, noting that he didn't save even his own world.
In the fateful moment that leads to the outcome that Jon predicted, Superman stops someone from attacking Jon. He's confused why Superman would do so, and Superman tells Jon that he has a third choice (beyond Superman destroying him or him destroying the metaverse): maybe he sees the darkness because he gives everything that he has to save his world. Superman notes that Jon's leaving copies of the photograph that Lex found last issue with every step he takes, and Jon looks at it: it's of him and Janey. It reminds him of his humanity, and he sets about fixing the situation that he created. Jon moves back the lantern so that Alan can become the Green Lantern and, in so doing, resurrects the Justice Society of America. Clark then decides to become Superboy because the Society inspires him to do so; in so doing, he not only saves his parents from the car crash that killed them and but resurrects the Legion of Superheroes.
The moment of brilliance that we were hoping to see now finally arrives. Johns explains that the frequent ret-cons of the DCU happen so that Superman always exists, because hope is the North Star of the metaverse. Johns walks us through all the various future crises and makes the following enduring observation: "The rocket arrives. A child is loved. Superman is made." Eventually his timeline will converge with the Legion's and humankind will finally embrace his ideals.
As the events in Washington occur, Batman recruits Rorschach to help him, and they discover in Nite Owl's ship the information that they need to exonerate Superman. Bruce gives it to Lois, who uses it with the information that she got from Lex to get out the true story. Dr. Manhattan then does three things before dying. First, he indirectly encourages Carver Coleman to come out, saving his life by telling him not to be afraid of what he feels. We learn that Carver dies with his partner of 40 years at his side as one of the gay right's movements original activists, with this mantra becoming its slogan. Dr. Manhattan then destroys all his world's nuclear weapons, completely changing the balance of power. Finally, he realizes that he can't see how Marionette and the Mime's child comes to stay with Laurie and Dan because he himself raises him. Deciding his home planet needs a protector who is loved like Earth has Superman, he raises the child and embues him with the last of his powers before giving him to Laurie and Dan, having named him Clark. (I still think that it's a stretch that Adrian say this outcome, setting up Dr. Manhattan's fight with Superman, but I'm willing to just go with this part.)
I've pretty much left DC at this point, but this series isn't a terrible way to go. On the confusing end, Johns implies that the DCnU still continues out there somewhere, and I'm still not really sure how or whether Rebirth changed the DCnU back into the DCU. But, Johns at least gives us a story set in the more mainstream understanding of the DCU, and I can't say that's a terrible thing. But, I also think that it's a little too late. The world of hope that Johns depicts here seems very far from the DC books that I've been reading, where Scott Snyder and Tom King have given us a lonely broken Batman and Scott Lobdell and Dan Jurgens have turned Nigthwing into the amnesiac rebellious Ric. If the DC Universe were to become anything like the one Johns portrayed here, I might be willing to dive back into the fray. For now, I've reduced my reading to "Detective Comics" and the various Batman mini-series. If "Doomsday Clock" points us in a new direction, I'm happy to follow. In the meantime, it was at least an interesting trip through Johns' imagination.
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
Not-Even-Remotely-New Comics: The August 28 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Amazing Spider-Man #28: I 100% laughed out loud when Randy called Janice a psychopath and she looked into space considering it: "Huh? No, there's a clear profit motive here. I could never get that plea--." The rest of this issue is a bit slow, with Spencer now starting to belabor the mystery of what information Boomerang has that the Kingpin wants. But, so long as Spencer includes moments like the one described here, I'm happy to hang in there.
Batman: Curse of the White Knight #2: This issue was a miss for me as Murphy leans too much on an overly convenient event to propel forward the series' narrative.
It isn't that the issue didn't have plenty of believable developments. Ruth reveals to Bruce that she knows that he's Batman and that she created the Batman Destruction Fund for Gotham's elites. She warns/threatens him that he'll destroy Gotham and everyone he loves if he reveals his identity to the public. After that conversation, however, she realizes that the Joker is right that he doesn't seem to care. As such, she throws in her lot with Azrael and company, telling him that he needs to become their Batman. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon announces that he's running for mayor to take down the elites, but the Joker crashes the party, publicly revealing that Barbara is Batgirl. Gordon not only pushes Bruce to reveal himself, but blames the Joker and the elites exposing Barbara's secret on Bruce's failure to do so, saying that he ruined his little girl's life. All that make sense to me.
I'm also fine with the mythology here. We learn that the Order of St. Dumas rescued Edmund Wayne in London where he was a thief. It's unclear how he survived the plague that apparently wiped out the rest of the Waynes, but I assume that Murphy will get there. The Order chose Edmund as its agent because they needed someone with a legitimate claim to win back Gotham Valley from crazy Laffy Arkham, though we're still not told how the Waynes have a claim in the New World in the first place. Again, though, I assume that we'll get there so I'm fine with this part.
But, I am not on board with how easily Azrael and company hack into the Batcave. Murphy really made his name with the first series by grounding his stories in some semblance of how they would happen in the real world, and this part is just totally unbelievable to me. I think that it's the Mad Hatter helping Azrael to hack into the Cave, but really? Are they paying him? And, if he could hack into the Batcave so easily, why didn't he do it himself? Why give someone else all the glory? Moreover, Azrael and company aren't only able to destroy the Batcave remotely but they also waltz into Wayne Manor and plant enough explosives to destroy it. It's a pretty overly convenient reach in my book. The problem is that this development is clearly going to be the fulcrum on which this series balances, so it's going to get harder and harder to believe the subsequent events if we don't believe this one. I guess we'll see where we go from here.
Captain America #13: Coates follows in Spencer's footsteps here as the Daughters of Liberty decide to have Steve seek redemption from the people by taking on the Watchdogs and their harassment of illegal immigrants crossing the border. Steve is initially uncomfortable with the idea of helping people break the law, even after White Tiger notes that he's wanted for murder. But, he becomes more comfortable with the idea when he realizes that the Watchdogs aren't doing anything legal by rounding up the immigrants; he's essentially meeting them in the same gray zone. He also leans into the fact that he certainly embraces the immigrants' ethos a lot more than he does the Watchdogs'. Coates really excels in giving us this insight into Steve's thinking, particularly because most heroes act from places of total confidence in their actions. It's fascinating to watch Steve work out his feelings on the issue in real time. I know some people are going to take issue with Coates trodding the same controversial ground that Spencer did, but I don't see how you avoid it. As we see here, Cap himself is grappling with how radically different America is from the one that he thought he knew, and I think Coates does a great job of showing how uncomfortable he is with this new America. He's forced to chose a side if he's going to find redemption, but it doesn't mean that he's happy about it or that it's easy to identify just one side. Meanwhile, the Dryad lures Nick Fury and his team to her base to present her case to them. Coates is holding his cards close to his chest on this front so we'll see how Fury reacts.
House of X #3: I have a relatively minor quibble with this issue. Hickman reminds us that Moira learned in her seventh life that she couldn't stop the rise of the Sentinels because humanity was bound to discover artificial intelligence. But, Hickman asserts that Moira believes that she can prevent the creation of Nimrod because his creators created him with a specific intent and in a specific set of circumstances. But, that intent and those circumstances are pretty universal, aren't they? Humanity was bound to improve upon Sentinels to create Master Molds and then Mother Molds and then Nimrod, no? I don't understand how the Sentinels are any different than Nimrod. I guess that Hickman is arguing that Nimrod is a very specific subset of the Sentinels, but it seems a reach to me to argue that no one other than the Orchis Protocols would create him, just like Moira discovered someone other than the Trasks would eventually create the Sentinels.
At any rate, the rest of this issue is great. At the Forge, I realized that I was wrong that the head at the center of the station was a Celestial: it's a Mother Mold. Dr. Gregor explains to Omega that Mother Mold isn't operational yet because they haven't confirmed that she's past the "Heller-Faust line," which, based on Omega's comment, seems to be the point at which they can be sure that she isn't a sociopath. (Ha!) It's a relevant point, because Omega had just pointed out a space station full on Master Molds will likely at some point identify humanity as a threat, since mutants come from humans. Dr. Gregor informs Omega that they have release collars attached to the Mother Mold just in case she does go sociopath; once activated, they'd drop her into the sun. The data file that Apocalypse and company swiped in the X2 timeline in "Powers of X" #3 apparently has the schematics to the Forge, explaining how Charles and Magneto knew about the Orchis Protocol in "Powers of X" #2. (I observed in "House of X" #1 that Xavier seemed unaware of the Orchis Protocols, but Hickman confirms last issue that he and Magneto knew via Moira.)
Using their Shi'ar spaceship, the X-Men head straight for the corridor on the Forge that gives them access to all four release collars. The Forge's security team expected them to land in the hangar (since ships generally land in hangars), and Erasmus is impressed when it turns out they can cut their own entrance into the station. He then sacrifices himself to explode the entry point, detonating the X-Men's ship as well. It's definitely a moment. One of my main complaints about Hickman previously was how robotic his characters are, but it isn't the case here. Erasmus' last words to Dr. Gregor are that he wasn't ever joking when he frequently said that he wished that they had children and that he wishes her luck in saving their species. Dr. Gregor is devastated as she realize what he's going to do, and you can see how she'll be even more motivated now to take out the X-Men!
This issue is the first one where all the various strands come together, so it's clear that the parts of this enterprise that will functionally reboot the X-Men are imminent. I honestly can't wait.
Thor #16: Toothgnasher! Honestly, Aaron had to do one thing for me here, and it was bring back Toothgnasher, so I'm a very happy camper. As Aaron himself says in the letter at the end of the issue, it's not really good-bye until "King Thor" #4, so I'll save my sappiness for them, since he says that he will, too. But, this issue is a wonderful coda to what he's done with present-day Thor. Thor decides not to attend his coronation ceremony, performing good works throughout the Ten Realms instead. (My heart was particularly warmed by his appearance in Svartalfheim, bringing the coronation buffet -- much to Volstagg's fury -- to the starving dark elves praying for help in a post-Malekith reality.) Odin is initially furious at Thor's absence, but Freyja understands: Thor wants to earn his position as king not have Odin hand it to him. Odin laments that he doesn't get to deliver the beautiful speech that he planned, where he thanks Thor for saving all of them, himself included. It truly is a beautiful speech. He also planned to thank Thor for his greatest feat of all, reuniting Odin with Freyja. I found tears in my eyes as Freyja told Odin that it wasn't Thor who reunited them (meaning that Odin and his change of heart did). Freyja and Odin happily depart Asgard as Jane, now Valkyrie, raises a glass for all Asgardians in Thor's honor, saying a storm doesn't wait for a coronation before it decides to go become a storm. Long may he thunder, indeed. Perhaps the most touching moment among an issue full of them comes after that, as King Thor and young Thor depart the celebrations to return to their timelines. King Thor encourages young Thor to take his time and not drink away all the bad because he might learn something. As they depart, he guesses that young Thor will head straight for Mjolnir to see if he's worthy. He does...and then decides that he has time to have life before he grows old. Enjoy, young Thor. Enjoy!
Also Read: Detective Comics #1,010
Batman: Curse of the White Knight #2: This issue was a miss for me as Murphy leans too much on an overly convenient event to propel forward the series' narrative.
It isn't that the issue didn't have plenty of believable developments. Ruth reveals to Bruce that she knows that he's Batman and that she created the Batman Destruction Fund for Gotham's elites. She warns/threatens him that he'll destroy Gotham and everyone he loves if he reveals his identity to the public. After that conversation, however, she realizes that the Joker is right that he doesn't seem to care. As such, she throws in her lot with Azrael and company, telling him that he needs to become their Batman. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon announces that he's running for mayor to take down the elites, but the Joker crashes the party, publicly revealing that Barbara is Batgirl. Gordon not only pushes Bruce to reveal himself, but blames the Joker and the elites exposing Barbara's secret on Bruce's failure to do so, saying that he ruined his little girl's life. All that make sense to me.
I'm also fine with the mythology here. We learn that the Order of St. Dumas rescued Edmund Wayne in London where he was a thief. It's unclear how he survived the plague that apparently wiped out the rest of the Waynes, but I assume that Murphy will get there. The Order chose Edmund as its agent because they needed someone with a legitimate claim to win back Gotham Valley from crazy Laffy Arkham, though we're still not told how the Waynes have a claim in the New World in the first place. Again, though, I assume that we'll get there so I'm fine with this part.
But, I am not on board with how easily Azrael and company hack into the Batcave. Murphy really made his name with the first series by grounding his stories in some semblance of how they would happen in the real world, and this part is just totally unbelievable to me. I think that it's the Mad Hatter helping Azrael to hack into the Cave, but really? Are they paying him? And, if he could hack into the Batcave so easily, why didn't he do it himself? Why give someone else all the glory? Moreover, Azrael and company aren't only able to destroy the Batcave remotely but they also waltz into Wayne Manor and plant enough explosives to destroy it. It's a pretty overly convenient reach in my book. The problem is that this development is clearly going to be the fulcrum on which this series balances, so it's going to get harder and harder to believe the subsequent events if we don't believe this one. I guess we'll see where we go from here.
Captain America #13: Coates follows in Spencer's footsteps here as the Daughters of Liberty decide to have Steve seek redemption from the people by taking on the Watchdogs and their harassment of illegal immigrants crossing the border. Steve is initially uncomfortable with the idea of helping people break the law, even after White Tiger notes that he's wanted for murder. But, he becomes more comfortable with the idea when he realizes that the Watchdogs aren't doing anything legal by rounding up the immigrants; he's essentially meeting them in the same gray zone. He also leans into the fact that he certainly embraces the immigrants' ethos a lot more than he does the Watchdogs'. Coates really excels in giving us this insight into Steve's thinking, particularly because most heroes act from places of total confidence in their actions. It's fascinating to watch Steve work out his feelings on the issue in real time. I know some people are going to take issue with Coates trodding the same controversial ground that Spencer did, but I don't see how you avoid it. As we see here, Cap himself is grappling with how radically different America is from the one that he thought he knew, and I think Coates does a great job of showing how uncomfortable he is with this new America. He's forced to chose a side if he's going to find redemption, but it doesn't mean that he's happy about it or that it's easy to identify just one side. Meanwhile, the Dryad lures Nick Fury and his team to her base to present her case to them. Coates is holding his cards close to his chest on this front so we'll see how Fury reacts.
House of X #3: I have a relatively minor quibble with this issue. Hickman reminds us that Moira learned in her seventh life that she couldn't stop the rise of the Sentinels because humanity was bound to discover artificial intelligence. But, Hickman asserts that Moira believes that she can prevent the creation of Nimrod because his creators created him with a specific intent and in a specific set of circumstances. But, that intent and those circumstances are pretty universal, aren't they? Humanity was bound to improve upon Sentinels to create Master Molds and then Mother Molds and then Nimrod, no? I don't understand how the Sentinels are any different than Nimrod. I guess that Hickman is arguing that Nimrod is a very specific subset of the Sentinels, but it seems a reach to me to argue that no one other than the Orchis Protocols would create him, just like Moira discovered someone other than the Trasks would eventually create the Sentinels.
At any rate, the rest of this issue is great. At the Forge, I realized that I was wrong that the head at the center of the station was a Celestial: it's a Mother Mold. Dr. Gregor explains to Omega that Mother Mold isn't operational yet because they haven't confirmed that she's past the "Heller-Faust line," which, based on Omega's comment, seems to be the point at which they can be sure that she isn't a sociopath. (Ha!) It's a relevant point, because Omega had just pointed out a space station full on Master Molds will likely at some point identify humanity as a threat, since mutants come from humans. Dr. Gregor informs Omega that they have release collars attached to the Mother Mold just in case she does go sociopath; once activated, they'd drop her into the sun. The data file that Apocalypse and company swiped in the X2 timeline in "Powers of X" #3 apparently has the schematics to the Forge, explaining how Charles and Magneto knew about the Orchis Protocol in "Powers of X" #2. (I observed in "House of X" #1 that Xavier seemed unaware of the Orchis Protocols, but Hickman confirms last issue that he and Magneto knew via Moira.)
Using their Shi'ar spaceship, the X-Men head straight for the corridor on the Forge that gives them access to all four release collars. The Forge's security team expected them to land in the hangar (since ships generally land in hangars), and Erasmus is impressed when it turns out they can cut their own entrance into the station. He then sacrifices himself to explode the entry point, detonating the X-Men's ship as well. It's definitely a moment. One of my main complaints about Hickman previously was how robotic his characters are, but it isn't the case here. Erasmus' last words to Dr. Gregor are that he wasn't ever joking when he frequently said that he wished that they had children and that he wishes her luck in saving their species. Dr. Gregor is devastated as she realize what he's going to do, and you can see how she'll be even more motivated now to take out the X-Men!
This issue is the first one where all the various strands come together, so it's clear that the parts of this enterprise that will functionally reboot the X-Men are imminent. I honestly can't wait.
Thor #16: Toothgnasher! Honestly, Aaron had to do one thing for me here, and it was bring back Toothgnasher, so I'm a very happy camper. As Aaron himself says in the letter at the end of the issue, it's not really good-bye until "King Thor" #4, so I'll save my sappiness for them, since he says that he will, too. But, this issue is a wonderful coda to what he's done with present-day Thor. Thor decides not to attend his coronation ceremony, performing good works throughout the Ten Realms instead. (My heart was particularly warmed by his appearance in Svartalfheim, bringing the coronation buffet -- much to Volstagg's fury -- to the starving dark elves praying for help in a post-Malekith reality.) Odin is initially furious at Thor's absence, but Freyja understands: Thor wants to earn his position as king not have Odin hand it to him. Odin laments that he doesn't get to deliver the beautiful speech that he planned, where he thanks Thor for saving all of them, himself included. It truly is a beautiful speech. He also planned to thank Thor for his greatest feat of all, reuniting Odin with Freyja. I found tears in my eyes as Freyja told Odin that it wasn't Thor who reunited them (meaning that Odin and his change of heart did). Freyja and Odin happily depart Asgard as Jane, now Valkyrie, raises a glass for all Asgardians in Thor's honor, saying a storm doesn't wait for a coronation before it decides to go become a storm. Long may he thunder, indeed. Perhaps the most touching moment among an issue full of them comes after that, as King Thor and young Thor depart the celebrations to return to their timelines. King Thor encourages young Thor to take his time and not drink away all the bad because he might learn something. As they depart, he guesses that young Thor will head straight for Mjolnir to see if he's worthy. He does...and then decides that he has time to have life before he grows old. Enjoy, young Thor. Enjoy!
Also Read: Detective Comics #1,010
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