A.X.E.: Judgment Day - Omega #1: This issue is almost exclusively focused on the Eternals, so if you're not particularly interested in how they're handling the Judgment Day fall-out you can safely skip it.
That said, although I don't really follow the Eternals, I was still plenty interested in what Gillen does here. Zuras declares that Ajak's followers - Ikaris, Kingo, Makkari, Phastos, Sprite, and Thena - are heretics for supporting her reinterpretation of the principles, which puts the Eternals in humanity's service. He warns that he will Exclude them if their actions go against the principles, so things should get interesting in that corner of the House of Ideas. Also, the Machine's narration ends with an emoticon, a sign that its personality might still be there, so that's nice.
Again, I felt this event was one of the better ones in recent memory, and this epilogue doesn't do anything to change that.
Amazing Spider-Man #13: Oof, this series is just not going well.
As excited as I was about the Hobgoblin arc when it first started, it ends in a total mess. It turns out the Goblin Queen was the one using the "Winkler device" on Ned and Roderick in order to manipulate Norman into "becoming his true self again." She certainly gets him on that road when a still hospital-bound Norman is forced to use an Iron Man-like suit to save Peter. (He's been watching on the laptop his assistant provided last issue.)
My problem with this issue is that no one seems particularly concerned with the consequences of these events (other than Norman's potential first step on the road back to Goblinhood).
First things first, Peter is unmasked in front of Ned and Roderick. I assume that the Winkler device's impact on their memories means that they don't remember that Peter is Spider-Man. But Peter doesn't know that Goblin Queen mindwipes them after every excursion, so shouldn't he be worried about the fact they both saw him without his mask?
To that point, Wells never explains why Goblin Queen mindwipes them. Sure, it explains why Roderick was confused in issue #11 when Norman said that he was present when Hobgoblin attacked them. But why wouldn't the Goblin Queen want him to remember his time as Hogbolin? Why risk exposing herself to Norman by getting directly involved and not just manipulating Roderick from the shadows? Along those lines, Norman learns that his assistant didn't bring the laptop to him. We're clearly supposed to believe that it was Goblin Queen but, again, it was pretty easy for Norman to learn that his staff didn't bring it to him so why risk it?
Also, even if Roderick is mindwiped, Ned isn't. He's in jail, so it isn't like Goblin Queen can get him into the device. Shouldn't Peter at least worry that Ned now knows? Again, we're left to assume that the Winkler device affects his memory enough that he wouldn't remember but stilll.
[Sigh.] Once again, I'm finding myself on the "obligation," and not "enjoyment," end of the reading "Amazing Spider-Man" spectrum.
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #6: Honestly, I'm Team Bucky on this one.
Bucky makes a pretty compelling case that entities like the Outer Circle are only defeated by people on the inside, which is why he needs to take the Revolution's place. But, as always, Steve decides that he knows what's best and they come to blows.
Of course, part of Steve's objection comes from his disapproval that Bucky killed someone (i.e., the Revolution). Lanzing and Kelly use Steve's tantrum to underscore his blindspot when it comes to what Bucky is trying to tell him, that he's always been the one to do the dirty work so he understands the Circle better than Steve does.
Hopefully Sharon will take some sense into Steve next issue.
WildC.A.Ts #1: I'm pretty stoked about the WildC.A.Ts' relaunch even if it isn't part of Ellis' amazing "The Wild Storm" series from a few years ago.
Rosenberg throws us right into the action as Grifter, Deathblow (i.e., Michael Cray), and Zealot invade a H.I.V.E. lab to try to recruit a scientist named Tremont for Marlowe. (We don't really establish why Marlowe can't just, like, ask him to send a resume.) We begin in media res as (a chattier and more charming than usual) Grifter explains the Dhaemonite-Kherubim war to a security guard. He's trying to convince the guard that he's unknowingly working for the Dhemonites, but Zealot just kills the guard instead, telling Grifter that his stories are "getting stranger" (thus implying that, in this iteration, the Dhaemonite-Kherubim war didn't happen).
But Grifter fucks up the mission when he shoots Tremont because he (Tremont) killed a chimpanzee that he's using as a lab animal just to prove how useful he can be. Shortly before Nightwing and Cassandra Cain arrive, the team departs the lab for the still under construction Halo Building in Star City. Marlowe informs Cray and Zealot that he's adding Fairchild to the team due to their recent failures. When they balk, he brings them to Adrianna who confirms that she wants Fairchild on the roster. Based on this exchange and another one later in the issue, it appears Adrianna is more in charge than Marlowe.
At a bar, Grifter tells a fellow patron about how the Anti-Life Equation took over his Earth and he and his companions fled through the Multiverse to this Earth. (Did that happen?) It turns out the patron is a scientist at Althea Labs, and Grifter swipes his badge before two heavies try to kill him for his role in killing Mrs. Freeze and Toyman. (Really? Did that happen?) Grifter spends a night in jail, and Marlowe springs him the next morning with his hulking blond bodyguard Jack Colt, who some Googling made me realize is Spartan.
Of course, the mission at Althea also goes badly, and we learn Cray's death is his third one this month. Also, all the scientists are dead for reasons that aren't clear, as we begin this segment in media res as well. Maxine - the team's coordinator - has Grifter use Fairchild to escape, though they eventually find themselves in a sub-basement surrounded by the Court of Owls. That'll go well.
Beyond just the joy of seeing the WildC.A.Ts in action, Rosenberg underlines how integrated the team now is in the DC Universe. I'm not sure how I feel of that, to be honest. I don't know if I really want Grifter fighting Green Arrow, as he does here, but I could be persuaded otherwise. We'll see.
Also Read: Minor Threats #3; Moon Knight #17
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