Not-Very-New Comics: The October 10 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #7:  This issue is great when it focuses on Fred and Peter trying to fight their way through the mob at the Bar with No Name.  It gets even better when we're privy to their conversation in the adjoining alley.  (The fact they're sitting on garbage cans as they talk is an excellent metaphor for their lives.)  Fred's confession that he bought LMDs of the Superior Foes from the Tinkerer for companionship is weirdly heart-warming (and -breaking).  It also fuels Peter's decision to give Fred the same second chance Aunt May and Mary Jane gave him.  But, the story goes off the rails later in the issue when an unidentified new villain forces the Kingpin to swear fealty to him.  We're told they have a long history together and the Kingpin apparently tried, and failed, to get him to resurrect Vanessa years ago.  But, Spencer overplays his hand (just like Fred!) by making this guy seem all-powerful.  He's like the Green Goblin crossed with Dr. Octopus and Mephisto.  It's just...odd, and Spencer needs to reveal some cards here before it gets boring as well, as stories involving omnipotent and omniscient characters often do.  (If it is Mephisto, I wonder if Spencer is building toward undoing "One More Day"...)

Avengers #9:  Aaron certainly makes it clear Namor is playing for keeps here as Namor murders Stingray after he declines to embrace the oceans "or die."  The issue's stakes started much lower:  Tiger Shark tries to rob a cruise ship, and it just so happened Stingray, his brother-in-law, was a passenger on it.  Stingray encourages Tiger Shark to get help, telling him his sister misses him.  Then, Namor appears, and it all goes downhill from there.  This entire sequence is gripping, though I'll admit I felt like I missed a few issues.  We learn Namor's rage was initially stoked when the crew on a Roxxon ship murdered some Atlanteans, which I vaguely remember, possibly from the new "Thor."  The Avengers begged him to release the crew after he threatened to execute them and Namor relented to Captain America who, as usual, was able to appeal to his better angels.  But, the Avengers offer little more than words when they discover the devastation the Final Host wrought on Atlantis.  When a group of starving Atlantean children "drown" on the surface after believing the Avengers would feed them, Namor snaps.  He creates his Defenders of the Deep and swears vengeance.  Despite the disorientation over how angry Namor suddenly is, I can't say I disliked the issue.  After all, Aaron has Stingray joke about "Atlantis Attacks" as a way to make clear it's a different ballgame this time.  If that event was inspired by Namor's arrogance, this war comes from a fight for Atlantis' very survival.  Namor isn't wrong here, and I'm intrigued to see how the Avengers handle that.

Captain America #4:  I'm very happy to give Coates a long glide path on this series, though I'm already pretty happy with the direction he's going.  Here, Cap storms an abandoned military base in Algeria after learning Thunderbolt Ross sold out Sharon Carter to the Power Elite.  As Alexander Lukin's widow prepares to experiment on Sharon, Steve makes his way through the Elite's guards.  Along the way, Cap ponders how far the world has fallen when you can't even rely on a fellow patriot like Ross.  It sounds like a punchline, but Coates doesn't make it so.  Instead, he gives us a meditation on loss as Steve admits he's still struggling to accept a world that now doesn't trust him.  Moreover, Lukin brilliantly summaries the American heartland as a proletariat eager to greet the Russians as liberators.  Coates is as insightful as he's ever been, though I'd say he should probably give it a rest next issue with the long sequences of Cap's thought bubbles.  It totally worked here, but at some point we're just going to need a good ol' fashioned slugfest.

Iceman #2:  This issue is just...weird.  It's unfortunate, because it starts from the interesting premise of Grace addressing why Emma didn't out Bobby when she occupied his body.  I thought the answer was going to be her unusual sensitivity came from having a beloved gay brother.  Instead, we learn she had a mentally unhinged gay brother with telepathic abilities who murdered his abusive father.  It's...a lot.  Emma initially enlists Bobby's help not only because he's gay but he's apparently immune to telepathy in his ice form.  This part is news to me, particularly given his years of communicating with Jean.  I guess he can allow someone to read his mind?  He clearly developed this ability after young Jean outted young Bobby.  Emma thinks it's her father who has powers, but really it was just her brother pretending to be her father.  I think?  To make matters worse, the way Grace is going, I half expected Bobby to have sex with the brother in the room where he kept his father's body.  He thankfully doesn't do that, but he does just allow Emma to "handle" her brother despite the fact he murdered his own father.  Would Bobby really be OK with that?  I guess in Grace's world he is so long as his Grindr profile is there to distract him?

Spider-geddon #1:  This issue is short and to the point:  the Spider-People quickly make their way to Otto's hideout to warn him that his cloning technology is opening the door to the Inheritors' return.  Otto doesn't believe them, insisting that the clones only have his DNA and that he's never wrong.  (You know where it's going after that.)  However, a heroic alternate-reality version of Otto shows him the Inheritors have put his readings on a loop.  Otto realizes his error as Morlun, Verna, and Jennix arrive, killing Spider-Man Noir and Spider-UK in short order.  Morlun leaves to get his revenge on Peter in "Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man" as a depleted Spider-People roster finds itself face-to-face with Verna and Jennix.  It's clobbering' time!

The Weatherman #5:  LeHeup does an amazing job in this issue juggling several different competing narratives.  

The Pearl is auctioning off Nathan's death because he wants to use the money to track down other members of the Sword of God, as he -- like everyone else -- lost people he loved in Earth's destruction.  We learn Jenner has a telepath on his team who ferrets out M.S.A. infiltrators.  Cross' unwilling partner Garren successfully finds Orin Wetzel, the assistant to Dr. Nyseth, the woman who mindwiped Nathan.  LeHeup leads us to believe the Marshal is working for the Pearl and is going to kill Garren as he secures Wetzel; instead, the Marshal kills the Pearl just as the auction concludes.  Meanwhile, the Marshal's partner, White Light, tries to stop Cross from rescuing Nathan but only manages to force her to crash-land her ship.

At this stage, the only thing I don't totally understand is what Nathan could possibly know, in his evil incarnation, that Jenner would need.  Obviously, it's something, but I don't get how it could be that essential to Jenner's plan to destroy, presumably, Mars.  I guess we'll see.

(I edited the texts of my "The Weatherman" reviews in November 2024 as I occasionally called Cross "Amy" instead of Amanda and the Marshal as "Cowboy" or just "Marshal.")

The Wild Storm:  Michael Cray #12:  At the end of the day, I'm not really sure what we get here.  Constantine allows Diana a glimpse through the portal he opens.  Maybe she sees her gods, maybe she doesn't.  At any rate, the portal explodes, either because Constantine prevents her from ending the world or he loses control of the portal.  Cray gives into the Daemon inside him after Diana mortally wounds him, and he takes down Diana fairly quickly.  He brings Constantine to Trelane and resigns before saying good-bye to his father.  Hill certainly ends on a terrifying note, as I think we see his father's house in flames and Cray stares into the mirror at his Daemon chanting his own name.  To be honest, it's a more exciting issue than we've had in a while and a strong way to end a dragging series.  But, I still find myself confused about how it ties into the larger narrative before us in "The Wild Storm."  The only connection I can figure is that Cray is the only Daemon we've seen other than the one who approached Angie, and I'm not quite sure even he can take on Halo, IO, and Skywatch on his own.  Hill seemed oddly uncurious about the role this series played in the larger Wildstorm universe, and it dragged down this series throughout its run.  I'm eager to see Michael appear under Ellis' watch in the main title, because I think he can polish the edges of what Hill accomplished here in terms of developing Michael into a complicated hero.

X-Men:  Black - Mojo #1:  Who knew an issue about Mojo could be so charming?  Auckerman really brings out an unexpected side of Mojo as Blob Herman helps him ask out a girl he likes.  Seriously, it sounds crazy, but I was totally charmed by the whole enterprise.  I highly recommend.

Also Read:  Detective Comics #990; Infinity Wars #4; Ms. Marvel #35; Oblivion Song #8

Not-Very-New Comics: The October 3 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Infinity Wars:  Sleepwalker #1:  I picked up this series -- the only "Infinity Wars" tie-in miniseries I'm getting -- because it promised Darkhawk.  But, he doesn't appear here.  Instead, I had to make my way through Marvel's attempt to make Sleepwalker happen again.  The only upside to this issue is that I now understand a little better what Gamora did in the main title.  At first I thought Marvel was saying we always existed inside the Soul Gem, but now I realize Gamora's "first order of business was to combine and transplant the essence of every life on Earth into the Soul Gem."  The Sleepwalker Council for some reason finds this move less horrible than when Thanos did it, because for some reason it didn't inspire the same level of "unease and panic."  I'm not quite sure how it's true, but it is what it is.

Shatterstar #1:  Given how popular Shatterstar has been as a character over the last 27 (gulp) years, it seems hard to believe this miniseries is our first real look at him.  Peter David on "X-Factor" is really the only author that gave him a personality, with most other authors just treating him as a somewhat unhinged (or, at least, unremorseful) killer.  Seeley wisely decides to start at the beginning, focusing on Shatterstar's roots in the Mojoverse.  But, the good news is that he does so without undoing what David's excellent characterization.  Here, "Ben Gaveedra" is landlord of a building that provides refuge to other time-displaced persons.  It's a brilliant device, creating a motley crew of supporting characters and a solid motivation for a driftless "Ben" all in one fell swoop. We get a better sense of how the Mojoverse still frames Ben's outlook, as he sees the world through the lens of entertainment:  everyone around him is a character with his or her own plot.  For example, we learn Rictor tearfully ended their relationship because Ben had lost interest in him since they didn't fight enough.  We don't hear directly from Ben here, so we can only guess whether he believes that characterization is fair.  But, it definitely fits with the idea that he was a warrior bred and he misses the drama.  He gets enough of it here, when a former lover from his gladiator days kidnaps his tenants in some sort of revenge plot.  This device allows us to see Ben fully embrace his Shatterstar persona in what promises to be a Liam Neeson-esque spree of fury.  Obviously, I'd like him to be with Julio when this miniseries ends; if Shatterstar's ex-lover had swiped Rictor, I feel like we would've gotten to the heart of their relationship more quickly.  But I'm also happy to wait to get there.  Seeley is giving us the sort of street-level view of superheroes' lives that I loved in "Batgirl" and the too-short "New Mutants" reboot from a few years ago.  If Marvel were smart, they'd move all the New Mutants to Brooklyn and give us a show.  For now, I'm happy to see where Seeley goes from here. 

Star Wars #55:  This issue wraps up the "Hope Dies" story well, though I admit it's almost too well.  I would've preferred for Han, Leia, and Luke to have stayed stranded on this random moon a little while longer, to give them time to contemplate the events of "Hope Dies."  After all, Leia's overconfidence cost the Rebellion 90 percent of their ships and 50 percent of their just-built cruisers.  Gillen makes it clear her failures in this arc make her into the woman she becomes, but I think we could've spent a little more time seeing her actually process those emotions.  Moreover, Han almost single-handedly saved the Rebellion here.  His return to help Luke destroy the Death Star at the end of "A New Hope" is no longer a fluke; he's an honest-to-God hero of the Rebellion.  Leia dealing with her failure and Han dealing with his heroism while stranded on a moon together seems to me to be a story with some potential.  Instead, Gillen rushes us to the next phase.  Mon Mothma promotes the three of them because she has few options left, and they're all quickly on their way to locate the Falcon and Chewie, even though it's unclear how they're going to do so.  That said, I'm still more or less happy with the story as it ends.  In one of the better moments, Gillen uses the waning panels to reveal Meotri's name means "hope."  She plays a significant role here, as she's forced to pilot a ship to a cruiser to provide them with the codes Leia swiped.  It's a nice reminder of the supporting characters we saw throughout this arc sacrificing themselves for the greater good.  Gillen doesn't skip over the fact that the Rebellion's greatest losses from this debacle were its people, from General Draven last issue to General Dodonna in this one.  It reminds me of the end of "The Last Jedi," where we have to wonder how the Rebellion rebuilds after this incredible loss.

The Superior Octopus #1:  This issue is remarkably clever for how it sets up "Spider-geddon."  Otto is busy trying to establish himself as the protector of San Francisco, but finds himself increasingly frustrated as everyone associates him with HYDRA.  Underlining the point, he's surprised to find Arnim Zola in his HQ.  Zola views Otto as part of HYDRA and wants his help working on new cloning technology.  Otto refuses and Zola sics a LMD Gorgon on him.  Otto seems lost when Gorgon turns him to stone, but he reappears in a new body and defeats Gorgon.  Zola is stunned because mind-transference is exactly the sort of cloning problem he wanted Otto to help address; after all, the people Ben Reilly cloned only maintained their memories if they were cloned from the ashes of their previous body.  Otto defeats Arnim and reveals his secret:  he's using the Inheritors' cloning technology.  On Loomworld, the Web Warriors disband as they've returned all the loot the Inheritors stole.  But, Captain Britain and Karn are on hand to hear a beep that confirms the Inheritors' cloning technology is active.  Although they don't yet know it's Otto using it, Karn realizes the Inheritors can use the communications systems in the robots they've been sending to their location (as seen in "Spider-geddon" #0) to transfer their minds to new bodies in Otto's HQ.  Game on!  I love the fact that Otto's arrogance has once again blinded him to reality.  I wonder how he'll take it this time!

X-Men:  Black - Magneto #1:  As others have observed, the X-Men seem custom-made for our current era.  Claremont leans heavily into dialogue and narrative that initially seem overly political, except for the fact this story and these speeches happen every day in today's media.  Here, the immigrant children being taken from their parents are substituted with mutant children, with O.N.E. putting them in detention facilities "for their own safety."  Claremont has little work to do; he could've probably composed 95 percent of the issue's dialogue from comments talking heads have made.  But, it's a good sign of where Marvel (rightly) seems to be going with the X-Men.  It's been a long time since they faced the concerted efforts of the U.S. government to imprison them, and this era suits that story perfectly.  I'm excited to see where we go from here.