Six-Month-Old Comics: The January 11 Edition - Part 2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Mary Jane & Black Cat #2:  Now that this series doesn't have anything to do with Dark Web, it's much better.

Belasco explains to Felicia and Mary Jane that, when Madelyne connected Limbo to Earth, she created "arcane vibrations" that rendered the spell phasing the Screaming Tower outside reality vulnerable.  Belsaco destroyed the spell, and he wants Felicia and Mary Jane to beat out all the other thieves trying to swipe his Soulsword from the Tower so he can rule Limbo.  I'm not entirely sure why he chose this pair but, given the nonsense we've seen in Spidey books lately, I'm good with the ambiguity.

We also get a hint that Mary Jane and Peter were gone longer than the six months everyone on Earth thought they were gone, but I've given up hope we'll ever fully understand that story.

Star Wars:  Darth Vader #30:  I've said it a lot, and I'll say it again:  I still don't understand this arc.  

Soule reveals that Rabé infiltrated the Executor at the same time as Dormé.  While Dormé distracted Vader, Rabé hacked into the Executor's systems and discovered Sabé was on Brentaal IV.  When Vader takes Dormé with him en route to Fentalle, for reasons Soule doesn't make clear, the Handmaidens attack.  They threaten to blow up the Executor with a code Eirtaé wrote based on information Dormé and Rabé pulled from its system.  But it's an easy bluff for Vader to call.

Meanwhile, it turns out Sabé only wounded Jul Tambor, since she knew that Vader would've killed all his allies if he insisted on destroying the Imperial garrison on Skako Minor.  Tambor reveals that he's been buying up droids that Vader killed to analyze his movements (using their last memories).  As the Handmaidens struggle with Vader calling their bluff, Tambor contacts Vader to tell him that he has Sabé.  The Handmaidens agree to accompany Vader to retrieve her.

To a certain extent, I get all the Handmaidens' motives.  Sabé is using her influence to save as many people as she can, and the remaining Handmaidens are just trying to save Sabé.  But I still don't understand why Vader is entertaining this nonsense.  Is it really worth his time to toy with them?  Soule has gone to great lengths to show that Anakin is gone, so I don't think we're supposed to believe that he's in love with them.

[Sigh.]  I hope one day this story ends.

Wild C.A.Ts #3:  Rosenberg makes it clear here that these series isn't going to win any awards for narrative complexity, and I'm OK with that.  

Grifter immediately gets into a fight with Pike, one of the Seven Soldiers of Victory who worked with him on Team 6, when Grifter was known as Deadeye.  Marlowe suspends Cole for the fracas, but he's unsuspended when Deathblow, Fairchild, and Zealot need help saving Damon Walsh, the son of Dante Walsh,"the Ambassador."  Apparently some group kidnapped Damon to prevent the United States from getting involved in their country's internal affairs, but Voodoo reveals to the team that Damon's death would end the world.  Voodoo seems to direct the team's missions based on her visions.

At the time the team call him for help, Cole was visiting a rich guy named Jason Halliday because Cole somehow found out Halliday was a member of the Court of Owls.  (Halliday was shirtless when Cole awakened him in bed, but he's wearing a shirt when Cole is hanging him out a window, and I like to think Cole made him put on the shirt just to do that.)  I still don't get why Cole is so obsessed with the Court, but Rosenberg is a good writer so I assume we'll get there.

X-Men #18:  This issue is a mess.  The art is rushed, with everyone looking more like sketches than characters.  Moreover, Laura, Sr. confronts Laura, Jr. as if it's her fault that they're both alive.  Duggan also weirdly ties this issue to the "X-Terminators" series, meaning the Lauras have this conversation while fighting vampires.  Also Beast apparently thinks that Laura's discovery is overly convenient, which Jean dismisses since she and Synch both verified her identity. It's supposedly showing how dark Beast's heart has gotten, but we all know that he's going to turn out being correct.  Also, Jean and Scott save some Orchis workers from an exploding space station?  As I said, it's a mess.

Also Read:  Moon Knight #19

Five-Month-Old Comics: The December 14 and 21 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #15 (December 14):  This issue is weirdly jokey given the fact that Peter discovers Ben is still alive and Eddie Brock has reverted to his more brainless (and dangerous) iteration.  (Peter responds to both developments essentially with a shrug.)  As he goes to save Norman, he comments how Norman helped him when he lost Mary Jane, a situation he described as "a pickle."  It's bizarre.

Also, Ben can apparently cast spells now, which he uses to do...something to Ms. Marvel, whose appearance here feels completely unnecessary.  

In terms of continuity, this issue clearly happens after "Dark Web:  X-Men" #1 (despite the checklist saying it comes before it), since Peter refers to leaving the X-Men at Rockefeller Center, which happens in that issue (see below).  To make matters more complicated, Madelyne and Hallows' Eve collect Eddie here for their "secret mission," but they already had him in "Dark Web" #1.

In other words, it isn't the most promising star to this event.

Dark Web:  X-Men #1 (December 14):  This issue is worth the price of admission only for nostalgic 80s children (like me) who'll appreciate Spidey's team-up with Firestar and Iceman. 

Like "Amazing Spider-Man" #15, though, it suffers from an inappropriately jokey tone.  For example, as they're imprisoned in Limbo, Alex desperately tries to get Scott to engage with his pain, which he claims is similar to Madelyne's (a stretch, but consistent with Duggan's portrayal of Alex as a whiny brat).  Scott completely rebuffs him.  To be fair, Scott is trying to get Alex to help him escape their cell, but still.  

Beyond the issues mentioned in the above review, this issue's chronological sequencing is also odd.  Madelyne is in Limbo torturing the Summer brothers but also in New York going on her "secret mission" with Hallows' Eve.  Also I thought she told Ben in "Amazing Spider-Man" #14 that she wouldn't go to New York to maintain some plausible deniability with the X-Men?  

It's a mess.

Mary Jane & Black Cat (December 21):  For fuck's sake, Wells has got to tell us what happened six months ago.  

I say that because Mary Jane didn't just collect a husband and two children in the ensuing period, she also gained superpowers.  Said powers involve her spinning a slot-machine wheel and manifesting a power based on whatever she gets spin-wise.  It isn't just ridiculous (which it is).  It's also repetitive.  We've already had two extremely confusing iterations of the Jackpot hero, though neither one possessed these powers.  [Sigh.]  

If you're asking what Mary Jane's powers have to do with "Dark Web," Black Cat sees her manifest them to protect Paul and the kids from demons.  Of course, before we can address that, Belasco kidnaps Black Cat and Mary Jane because he wants a favor.  [Sigh, again.]

Star Wars:  Bounty Hunters #29 (December 14):  This issue is fun when it's Bossk and Tasu fighting off Imps or IG-88 taking out the Son-tuul Pride syndicate basically on his own.  

But I still have the problem I've had for a while, which is that this series has so many main and supporting characters that it's really hard to keep them all straight.  When and why did Crimson Dawn destroy Ankala and her compatriots' villages?  How and why did the Pride help Crimson Dawn and thus earn an Imperial bounty?  

It's a small complaint, but it does occasionally slow down my ability to follow the action, which is fast and furious here.

WildC.A.Ts #2 (December 14):  This issue moves fast.

The beginning is a good time as Cole expresses frustration while he and Zealot find themselves battling the H.I.V.E troops and the Court of Owls' Talons.  Cole gets injured, forcing Zealot to fight off their attackers alone while getting a still unconscious Fairchild and him to a place where Void can teleport them.

Cole isn't a "sitting in bed" type of guy, though, so he leaves the hospital early to attend the Halo directors meeting.  (In the hospital, he relays another multiverse story, though I don't recognize this one.)  At the meeting, we see various familiar faces at the table, including Dr. Anthony Ivo, Norah Fries (who I though the WildC.A.Ts killed per a comment last issue but is clearly alive here), and a resurrected (female) Michael Cray.  For reasons Rosenberg doesn't make clear, Cole encourages Marlowe to let them go after the Court, but Void disapproves.  

That doesn't stop Cole from getting Voodoo to go over the crime scene with him later that night.  She doesn't find anything, though their search clearly pisses off the Court, which sends an assassin after Marlowe at a party later that evening.  Marlowe decides that it's time to take the WildC.A.Ts public, though he unveils a team called the Seven Soldiers of Victory, most of whom I don't recognize.  I'm sure (I hope) Rosenberg has something up his sleeve.

Also Read:  Night Club #1 (December 14); X-Men Annual #1 (December 21)

Five-Month-Old Comics: The November 9 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

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