Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #7: Lanzing and Kelly show that Bucky knew what he was doing when he sent Sharon to Steve as she gets him going again (in more ways than one).
In fact, this issue is all about Steve remembering who his friends are, which is great, because they don't necessarily tell him what he wants to hear. For example, the issue begins with Namor finding Steve to return his shield (which he lost during his fall from the Outer Circle's headquarters). When Steve tells Namor about Bucky, Namor tells him what he still refuses to believe, that Bucky works in the shadows so Steve doesn't have to enter them. Namor gives Steve solid advice in telling him to find people comfortable in the shadows if he's going to save Bucky. Enter Sharon.
Sharon then puts together a group of Steve's friends to help, and I couldn't be happier with this team: Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nick Fury, Peggy Carter, and Roger Aubrey. (When Steve previously mentioned Roger during his conversation with Namor, Namor was thrilled to find out Roger was still alive. He told Steve to send Roger his regards, which Steve does. An overjoyed Roger tells Steve to put it on his tombstone. Roger is very much a breath of fresh air here.)
Steve passes on information that Roger found to the team, namely that A.I.M. technology is unavailable on the black market right now. Natasha says that fits with three of her A.I.M. contacts going missing, and the team assumes A.I.M. is cleaning house before something big.
The team then considers the piece of neganite that Bucky and Steve collected from the Destroyer and that Bucky left as a clue for Steve in his emptied-out apartment. Nick notes that it's usually used only in zero gravity, and the team concludes that Arnim Zola is the likely the person who put it in play (which we know, given the Circle last issue identified him as a Starpoint).
Hawkeye tells the team that the Thunderbolts are currently cleaning out a Zola facility. The team prepares to set a trap for the Circle, assuming they'll make a move on the facility. The problem is that Steve wakes up four days later in Kansas with no idea how he got there and A.I.M. seems to have sealed off New York City. D'oh!
Lanzing and Kelly do a great job of making all these developments flow from one moment to the next. Despite a lot of exposition in the team's conversation, it felt like an organic dialogue between the characters, a rarity in comics.
Moreover, the authors stay focused on the pain that Steve feels over what he sees as Bucky's betrayal. I could find fault with this series over Steve's refusal to believe Bucky is doing the right thing, but Lanzing and Kelly make it clear that they're intentionally making Steve feel this way. They're feelings, not logic. They're totally right that Steve would feel depressed both by confronting a situation where he isn't in charge and where he's trying not to face the sacrifices Bucky makes for him. Moreover, Lanzing and Kelly make it clear that Steve's friends are aware of this blindspot, again a rarity in comics.
As I've previously said, Lanzing and Kelly are seriously overcoming my doubts about this story and delivering what I think is going to become a classic Captain America tale. It's great stuff.
Dark Web #1: OK, "Dark Web." Here we go.
As a Spider-Man and X-Men fan, I'm more excited about the Spider-Man side of this event than the X-Men one.
On the Spider-Man side, I totally get Ben's motivations. In order to regain his memories (and sanity), Ben needs Peter's memories. It isn't that complicated. Madelyne gives him a means to that end.
I still don't get Madelyne's part, though. Magik turned over Limbo to her in "New Mutants" in recognition of her desire to belong somewhere. As we saw in "Amazing Spider-Man" #14, Madelyne has doubts that Magik had her best interests at heart. I get that. But I feel like Madelyne had many more options than diving into "Inferno Part Deux" just because a hot blond dude appeared on her doorstep. (She does like her hot blond dudes, though...)
At any rate, shenanigans will ensure. Madelyne and Hallow's Eve (the Summers Eve jokes really make themselves, so I won't belabor the point) are on some sort of mission with Venom (whose son Madelyne has kidnapped and who Madelyne magically lobotomized) while Ben takes the fight to Norman, the guy who engineered his (first) death. We'll see where we go from here.
Star Wars: Hidden Empire #2: This issue is refreshingly direct. The Archivist and the woman helping her, Kho Phon Farrus, manage to turn on the Fermata Cage. But it attracts Darth Sidious' and Darth Vader's attention, and Sidioius dispatches Vader to get the Cage. While Qi'ra regroups at a hidden safehouse, she dispatches Chanath Cha and her team to help the Archivist. But I'm pretty sure Vader is just going to kill them all, so I'm not really sure what Soule is going to do with the last three issues.
X-Men Red #9: Roberto's ongoing role as Sol's underestimated kingmaker kicks up a notch here as Brand is surprised when it turns out he, and not Xandra, sat on the Diplomatic Zone's throne when Vulcan tried to assassinate Xandra. Poor Abby.
Meanwhile, Ewing shows us how Brand manipulated Xavier into resurrecting Gabriel. She convinced him that Magneto's death left an Omega-level hole in the mutants' defenses, and Charles ego did the rest: he decides that he can "cure" Vulcan before he hatches. As expected, it didn't work, and Vulcan tears through the Galactic Council before trying to assassinate Xandra here.
But the revelation that Roberto was using a Shi'ar image inducer to act as Xandra sends off Vulcan to find her. For some reason he decides that she's in the Autumn Palace, Magneto's former residence, which I don't totally understand. But he does find Storm, so I'm not complaining because I'm here for that fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment