I...have no idea what we're supposed to think here.
If you look at the "Flashpoint"-esque ending of this issue, it appears that the whole point of the "Age of Ultron" was to send Galactus to the "Ultimate" universe and to introduce Angela to the Marvel Universe. It also hints at the possibility that it will be easier for the various universes to blend into one another given the tears in the space-time continuum created by Wolverine, though it's unclear where Marvel really intends to go with that possibility. For the time being, Galactus and Angela appear to be the only concrete outcomes.
I know nothing about Angela, other than the fact that Neil Gaiman apparently won her in some sort of legal settlement with Todd McFarlane. Her inclusion here is suitably bizarre, since it forces the reader to be aware of (and excited about) a secondary character from another company to understand the impact of one of the two outcomes of this story. (It wasn't like an alternate Jean Grey suddenly sauntered into our universe.) Moreover, I'm pretty sure the settlement occurred well after Bendis envisioned the event. The obvious question, then, is whether Marvel originally intended the Galactus switch to be the only real consequence of this event but decided to shoehorn Angela into it or if her inclusion displaced some other outcome (such as the transfer of Spider-Man 2099 to our universe).
Either way, it feels remarkably anticlimactic. Sure, it was sort of cool to see how important "Avengers" #12.1 wound up being. But, if I'm not going to get Miguel O'Hara, why do I care? It reminds me of every Avengers story that Bendis ever told, ones that had all the trappings of an epic but never really delivered a story with any sort of lasting impact. Parker Robbins escaped from jail, obtained the Infinity Gauntlet, lost the Infinity Gauntlet, and returned to jail. In order words, everything ends where it started. The world was fine, Ultron invaded, the world was destroyed, the Invisible Woman and Wolverine traveled into the past to fix it, they traveled to the future to see the results, the world was destroyed, Wolverine traveled into the past to fix it, they traveled to the future to see the results, the world was fine. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Taking another tack here, the failure of this event to shake up the status quo shows how differently the Avengers line has fared when compared to the X-Men line. Events like "House of M," "Second Coming, "Messiah Complex," "Schism," and "Avengers vs. X-Men" provoked real change in the X-Men. Scott assumed leadership of the X-Men, moved them to Utopia, fought about the direction of the team with Wolverine, led the more militant group, tried to save mutantkind with the Phoenix but lost himself, and currently finds himself an outlaw trying to save the dream (as he sees it). We're talking change here. Other characters, such as Havok and Rogue, have had their own heroes' trials that organically moved them from one place to a significantly different place. In the "Avengers," Cap still throws a shield, Tony still makes wise-ass remarks, and Thor still speaks in a different font. That's about it. I'm hard pressed to find any concrete change that the Avengers have experienced over the last few years other than the constantly changing roster. Whereas the X-Men are the "Dragon Age" of the Marvel Universe, the Avengers are the "Street Fighter."
In other words, I think this event is my last "Avengers" event for a while. I know I'm supposed to be all excited about "Infinity," but, really, I'm hard pressed to find the energy (or money) to devote to another event that seems unlikely to change anything.
Showing posts with label Age of Ultron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Age of Ultron. Show all posts
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Age of Ultron #9 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
All right, so, somewhat as expected, Bendis uses future Tony Stark's time-bomb suggestion as the potential solution to the Ultron problem. He actually manages to sell it pretty well here, with the Logans and Sue convincing Hank that he has to allow all the other damage that Ultron does before the "Age of Ultron" to happen, so that they don't change the existing timeline. In this way, Bendis walks us to the brink of "Flashpoint" without actually seemingly crossing that line; if Hank does what he's told to do, nothing really will change in the Marvel Universe that we know. At this point, it would be easy to cry over spilled milk, lamenting how we got here that our best solution means the total preservation of the status quo that existed before this event started. But, taking the story on face value, this solution is probably the one that makes the most sense, so I'll give Bendis credit for that.
At this stage, the final question, of course, is if Hank does what he's supposed to do. The cover for the next (and last) issue shows the heroes battling Ultron, which raises several questions. After all, if Hank's plan works the way that it's supposed to work, we wouldn't see this battle: Ultron would suddenly self-destruct in the future, since it's from the future where he launches the attack. As such, it's unclear how the heroes would find themselves in some sort of face-to-face confrontation with Ultron (assuming the cover depicts actual events). Did Hank deviate from the plan? Or, is it just an unexpected consequence?
The real question post-"Age of Ultron" is what effect it will have on the Marvel Universe. The advertisement for "Age of Ultron" #10 A.I. says that it's the beginning of the Marvel Universe's "next evolution." If true, it would imply that we do actually have a Flashpoint moment on our hands. Something happens that permanently changes the past and the characters that we used to know are no longer the characters that we knew. I'd be surprised if Marvel totally committed to such a scheme, given that it hasn't really worked out that well for DC.
In other words, we need to see why Marvel bothered. Is it a "Fear Itself" type of event simply to boost sales? Or, are we really going to see something different? If so, how is that going to happen? This next issue could somewhat save this event, if it gives us a believable conclusion that leads to reasonable changes. If not, and we really do return to the status quo, hopefully it will bolster my commitment to stop reading all these events. I guess we'll see.
At this stage, the final question, of course, is if Hank does what he's supposed to do. The cover for the next (and last) issue shows the heroes battling Ultron, which raises several questions. After all, if Hank's plan works the way that it's supposed to work, we wouldn't see this battle: Ultron would suddenly self-destruct in the future, since it's from the future where he launches the attack. As such, it's unclear how the heroes would find themselves in some sort of face-to-face confrontation with Ultron (assuming the cover depicts actual events). Did Hank deviate from the plan? Or, is it just an unexpected consequence?
The real question post-"Age of Ultron" is what effect it will have on the Marvel Universe. The advertisement for "Age of Ultron" #10 A.I. says that it's the beginning of the Marvel Universe's "next evolution." If true, it would imply that we do actually have a Flashpoint moment on our hands. Something happens that permanently changes the past and the characters that we used to know are no longer the characters that we knew. I'd be surprised if Marvel totally committed to such a scheme, given that it hasn't really worked out that well for DC.
In other words, we need to see why Marvel bothered. Is it a "Fear Itself" type of event simply to boost sales? Or, are we really going to see something different? If so, how is that going to happen? This next issue could somewhat save this event, if it gives us a believable conclusion that leads to reasonable changes. If not, and we really do return to the status quo, hopefully it will bolster my commitment to stop reading all these events. I guess we'll see.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
The Fearless Defenders #4.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
To paraphrase Jermox from X's blog, remember when "Age of Ultron" was about Ultron? Man, those were the days.
This issue isn't bad. I don't read "The Fearless Defenders," so I know little about Hippolyta (other than the fact that "Warrior Woman" is a terrible name) and how this story fits into the storyline currently running through this series. But, Bunn does a decent job of setting up the central tension of this issue, namely how Hippolyta's need for revenge dovetails with Caroline Le Fay's, and to Doomstadt we go. Shenanigans, needless to say, ensue.
The oddest part of this issue is that it exists at all. With the switch to this alternate future, Marvel gave us this issue and "Uncanny Avengers" #8 AU to flesh it out a bit, similar to the previous tie-in issues in "Avengers Assemble," "Fantastic Four," and "Superior Spider-Man" did the same for the world when it was run by Ultron. But, at this point, when we've strayed so far from the central conceit of this mini-series, languishing in a second alternate history, it's hard to care. I mean, maybe if we had more than two issues left in the mini-series I could invest some energy into learning about this new world. But, given that the curtain is already partially closed, why bother?
Uncanny Avengers #8.AU (HERE BE SPILERS!)
Of all the "Age of Ultron" tie-in issues, this one is the most clever, advancing the story that Remender is currently telling in "Uncanny Avengers" while at the same time giving us a glimpse of the new future created by Wolverine after he killed Hank. Remender accomplishes this seemingly impossible task by focusing on Kang and the Apocalypse Twins, with Kang using this new future as a proving ground for the Twins.
We don't really learn anything new about the "Age of Ultron" storyline here, other than the fact that Thor died at some point, causing Odin to lead the departure of the Asgardians from Earth and ceding it to Morgana Le Fey. (Previously, it was unclear to me whether Thor was dead or departed with the Asgardians for reasons not yet revealed at the time.) Remender does confirm certain pieces of information that we've previously gleaned in the "Uncanny Avengers" storyline, such as the Twins spending time in Red Skull's camps after his onslaught on mutantkind and the death of Angel at Wolverine's hands. But, for the most part, Remender uses this issue not to advance the plot, per se, but to develop the Twins as sympathetic characters. Kang's the one who sent them to the camps (repeatedly) to crush the humanity from them, hardening them to serve as the saviors of mutantkind when the time comes. However, the Twins know that he's evil and it's clear that they're trying to find a way to reconcile their need to save their endangered people with their desire not to further his own personal agenda. Uriel in particular is shown struggling with the need to appease Kang (and keep his sister safe) while preserving his humanity and Remender uses Rogue brilliantly to tease out that struggle.
It still remains to be seen the role that Kang plays in this new dark future, particularly if the Red Skull is seemingly running the camps. Does the Skull work for him or is Kang just biding his time to take on the Skull, something that has happened by the time the adult Twins arrive in our world? But, that question is actually not an "Age of Ultron" question, but an "Uncanny Avengers" one, which shows how well Remender did in blending the two storylines together. In fact, if you're not reading "Uncanny Avengers" and got this issue only for the "Age of Ultron" tie-in aspects, you're probably disappointed. But, given how the reverse is generally true, it was a pleasure to be on the positive side of that situation for once.
We don't really learn anything new about the "Age of Ultron" storyline here, other than the fact that Thor died at some point, causing Odin to lead the departure of the Asgardians from Earth and ceding it to Morgana Le Fey. (Previously, it was unclear to me whether Thor was dead or departed with the Asgardians for reasons not yet revealed at the time.) Remender does confirm certain pieces of information that we've previously gleaned in the "Uncanny Avengers" storyline, such as the Twins spending time in Red Skull's camps after his onslaught on mutantkind and the death of Angel at Wolverine's hands. But, for the most part, Remender uses this issue not to advance the plot, per se, but to develop the Twins as sympathetic characters. Kang's the one who sent them to the camps (repeatedly) to crush the humanity from them, hardening them to serve as the saviors of mutantkind when the time comes. However, the Twins know that he's evil and it's clear that they're trying to find a way to reconcile their need to save their endangered people with their desire not to further his own personal agenda. Uriel in particular is shown struggling with the need to appease Kang (and keep his sister safe) while preserving his humanity and Remender uses Rogue brilliantly to tease out that struggle.
It still remains to be seen the role that Kang plays in this new dark future, particularly if the Red Skull is seemingly running the camps. Does the Skull work for him or is Kang just biding his time to take on the Skull, something that has happened by the time the adult Twins arrive in our world? But, that question is actually not an "Age of Ultron" question, but an "Uncanny Avengers" one, which shows how well Remender did in blending the two storylines together. In fact, if you're not reading "Uncanny Avengers" and got this issue only for the "Age of Ultron" tie-in aspects, you're probably disappointed. But, given how the reverse is generally true, it was a pleasure to be on the positive side of that situation for once.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
On "Age of Ultron" at This Point (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
The idea for this story came from the first arc of the previously relaunched "Avengers" series, where future Tony Stark and Kang recruit the present-day Avengers to convince Ultron to throw the final battle of the Ultron War, since it's Kang's repeated attempts to win said battle that break the time stream. (Did you follow all that? Trust me, just take my word for it.) However, at this stage, it's unclear the extent to which this original story is actually the same as the present one. In fact, all signs point to the fact that they're going to wind up having little connection to each other.
First, in the present story, Ultron engaged in a blitzkrieg attack that would essentially preclude this final battle that we saw in "Avengers" #4. The heroes never actually got a chance to face Ultron, because he took over the world so quickly. Moreover, even if they had faced him, the splash page their final battle with Ultron depicts a number of heroes in ways that they shouldn't be depicted based on the present story. For example, Vision is seem as completely assembled and Captain Marvel is still alive. As such, even if the final battle were to have happened in the present story and Bendis hasn't shown it to us yet, it wouldn't happen in the way that it was present in the original story.
So, the question at this point is whether Bendis is going to change the time stream again in the last two issues of the present story in a way that sets the stage for this final battle or if he's discarding this original story as a timeline that never happened thanks to future Tony and Kang's intervention. If Bendis is going the first route, he has to change the present story entirely, since the resolution that seems the most likely at this point -- Logan getting Hank Pym to insert some sort of time-released bomb inside Ultron's brain that would activate when he tries to take over the world -- would still result in his blitzkrieg approach and not the final battle. Whatever happens, for the original story to hold, it has to lead to this moment.
However, one thing bothering me throughout this storyline could actually be the deus ex machina that Bendis needs. In "Avengers" #6, future Tony hands present Tony some sort of device that he believes will help stop Ultron. We never really get details about this device, though I'm pretty sure it's mentioned again (possibly in issue #7). Through the "Age of Ultron," I've wondered why Tony hasn't used it. Other than Bendis forgetting about it (always a possibility), the only thing that I've been able to suppose is that the blitzkrieg attack made the device useless. Perhaps it had to be used on Ultron directly and, since he's not in the present, Tony never had a chance to use it. One way, then, to combine these two stories is for Logan to alter the past in a way that allows Tony to use the device, blocking the blitzkrieg attack and setting up the final battle depicted in issue #4.
(One entry point seems to be "Avengers" #12.1, where the Avengers witness the return of Ultron. If Logan could travel to that point and explain to Tony what Ultron is going to do, then it seems to set the stage for him to blunt the future attack with the device.)
I know I'm probably the only person who cares about this level of detail, but I can already feel that I'm going to feel betrayed by this mini-series if it doesn't somehow connect to the original story. It's already starting to feel like "X-Men: Prelude to Schism," which wound up showing a series of events that had nothing to do with the story that the authors actually told in "X-Men: Schism." Connecting the present story to the original story would be a pretty cool feat, rewarding long-time readers for their patience. Not connecting it to the original story by dismissing the original story as a timeline that never happened would leave you wondering what the point of setting up this story so early was, particularly if it ends with no actual consequences (as it seems like it's going to do). The latter possibility would just make my event fatigue all the more profound and make me wonder why I even bother forking over the money that I do for these storylines. The former possibility would at least give me some sense of accomplishment, though I think the likelihood of it happening is remote. We'll see, I guess. In the end, after so much build-up, it's hard not to feel disappointed.
First, in the present story, Ultron engaged in a blitzkrieg attack that would essentially preclude this final battle that we saw in "Avengers" #4. The heroes never actually got a chance to face Ultron, because he took over the world so quickly. Moreover, even if they had faced him, the splash page their final battle with Ultron depicts a number of heroes in ways that they shouldn't be depicted based on the present story. For example, Vision is seem as completely assembled and Captain Marvel is still alive. As such, even if the final battle were to have happened in the present story and Bendis hasn't shown it to us yet, it wouldn't happen in the way that it was present in the original story.
So, the question at this point is whether Bendis is going to change the time stream again in the last two issues of the present story in a way that sets the stage for this final battle or if he's discarding this original story as a timeline that never happened thanks to future Tony and Kang's intervention. If Bendis is going the first route, he has to change the present story entirely, since the resolution that seems the most likely at this point -- Logan getting Hank Pym to insert some sort of time-released bomb inside Ultron's brain that would activate when he tries to take over the world -- would still result in his blitzkrieg approach and not the final battle. Whatever happens, for the original story to hold, it has to lead to this moment.
However, one thing bothering me throughout this storyline could actually be the deus ex machina that Bendis needs. In "Avengers" #6, future Tony hands present Tony some sort of device that he believes will help stop Ultron. We never really get details about this device, though I'm pretty sure it's mentioned again (possibly in issue #7). Through the "Age of Ultron," I've wondered why Tony hasn't used it. Other than Bendis forgetting about it (always a possibility), the only thing that I've been able to suppose is that the blitzkrieg attack made the device useless. Perhaps it had to be used on Ultron directly and, since he's not in the present, Tony never had a chance to use it. One way, then, to combine these two stories is for Logan to alter the past in a way that allows Tony to use the device, blocking the blitzkrieg attack and setting up the final battle depicted in issue #4.
(One entry point seems to be "Avengers" #12.1, where the Avengers witness the return of Ultron. If Logan could travel to that point and explain to Tony what Ultron is going to do, then it seems to set the stage for him to blunt the future attack with the device.)
I know I'm probably the only person who cares about this level of detail, but I can already feel that I'm going to feel betrayed by this mini-series if it doesn't somehow connect to the original story. It's already starting to feel like "X-Men: Prelude to Schism," which wound up showing a series of events that had nothing to do with the story that the authors actually told in "X-Men: Schism." Connecting the present story to the original story would be a pretty cool feat, rewarding long-time readers for their patience. Not connecting it to the original story by dismissing the original story as a timeline that never happened would leave you wondering what the point of setting up this story so early was, particularly if it ends with no actual consequences (as it seems like it's going to do). The latter possibility would just make my event fatigue all the more profound and make me wonder why I even bother forking over the money that I do for these storylines. The former possibility would at least give me some sense of accomplishment, though I think the likelihood of it happening is remote. We'll see, I guess. In the end, after so much build-up, it's hard not to feel disappointed.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Age of Ultron #8 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
OK, here's the thing. This issue was actually better than the last few ones have been. I felt like Bendis built some real intrigue by not only making it unclear what future Tony's motivations were but also by revealing the tension between Tony and the Defenders. After all, if Tony really were the man keeping the world safe from Morgana Le Fey (as he believes he is), why do the Defenders seem to have reservations about him? I also thought that the idea that this world was destroyed by a war between magic and technology (where magic largely won) was an interesting counterpoint to the previous reality, where it was destroyed by technology run amok. It hinted at something Marvel hasn't really explored but perhaps should.
But, I don't understand why Tony was unable to see why Logan did what he had to do. Stark is furious at Logan for creating a world where he lost half his body and Thor departed Earth with the rest of the Asgardians, but, as Xavier himself notes, at least they're all still alive. Sure, I get that Stark is scarred (physically and mentally) by the experience, but, given that he has access to Logan and Sue's memories, it's pretty clear that even his broken world is better than a completely devastated one. I mean, I do get why he'd think that it was all a trick of Morgana Le Fey's, particularly when she (conveniently) appears with an armada to attack as Tony's interrogating present Logan. But, why think that Logan should've just left the world a devastated wasteland (and, by the way, Tony without even the half of his body that he has in the new reality) rather than create this new reality? It's these inconsistencies that just continue to weigh down this event.
At this point, it seems like Tony is going to send Logan back in time (again) to convince Hank to introduce that time bomb into Ultron, allowing us to see Ultron's actual invasion (which we haven't really seen) and give us the deus ex machina that we all know is coming when he explodes at the climatic moment. The obvious question is why didn't old Tony think of that, but I'll withhold judgment until Bendis actually tells the story.
But, I don't understand why Tony was unable to see why Logan did what he had to do. Stark is furious at Logan for creating a world where he lost half his body and Thor departed Earth with the rest of the Asgardians, but, as Xavier himself notes, at least they're all still alive. Sure, I get that Stark is scarred (physically and mentally) by the experience, but, given that he has access to Logan and Sue's memories, it's pretty clear that even his broken world is better than a completely devastated one. I mean, I do get why he'd think that it was all a trick of Morgana Le Fey's, particularly when she (conveniently) appears with an armada to attack as Tony's interrogating present Logan. But, why think that Logan should've just left the world a devastated wasteland (and, by the way, Tony without even the half of his body that he has in the new reality) rather than create this new reality? It's these inconsistencies that just continue to weigh down this event.
At this point, it seems like Tony is going to send Logan back in time (again) to convince Hank to introduce that time bomb into Ultron, allowing us to see Ultron's actual invasion (which we haven't really seen) and give us the deus ex machina that we all know is coming when he explodes at the climatic moment. The obvious question is why didn't old Tony think of that, but I'll withhold judgment until Bendis actually tells the story.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Avengers Assemble #15.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue is...odd.
First, it's slow. I mean, really slow. I was halfway through the issue and I felt like I should already be done with the story. I actually can't put my finger on why I felt that way, since Ewing actually does a decent job of working the exposition into the story as seamlessly as possible. But, it just felt like it was taking forever to get to the point.
Moreover, the point itself is also confusing. Carol rescues a guy who just sort of stands there when he's confronted by some Ultrons. We learn that he conveniently happens to be Computer Graham, a former child superhero who used to enter video games to prevent their villains from entering our world. He hasn't used his power since video games got too complex, but Captains Britain and Marvel recognize a chance when they see one. So, they go on a suicide mission, with Computer Graham managing to free part of London from Ultron's control. As Excalibur exposits at the end, it means that they should be able to call for help from Otherworld, since Brian deputized her Captain Britain before he left on the mission.
Did I mention that they were accompanied by a girl whose super-power is to kick goals? They were.
Anyway, something about this issue didn't click with me. Between Carol conveniently finding Graham and Ewing breezing past the fact that Ultron seems to be able to be stopped by magic, I felt like it was a little too manufactured to get to the end result. But, I do wonder at the larger impact that end result will have. It seems to be the first issue in this entire event where the good guys get something like a win. But, to make matters odder, I'm not really sure how it connects to the main title, since, in theory, the Ultron invasion didn't happen, since Wolverine killed Hank Pym before he could invent Ultron. It's just plain bizarre that it comes after "Age of Ultron" #6 and #7 and "Wolverine and the X-Men" #27 AU, where all these events transpire. I'm not sure if it's hinting at something or if it's just sloppy continuity. (With Marvel, you never know.)
Anyway, we have six issues left in this event and I feel like it's about five issues too many. This issue didn't really help matters much. It wasn't awful, but between its slow pacing and the fact that it seems months behind the events of the main title, it didn't do much to improve my impression of this event at this point.
First, it's slow. I mean, really slow. I was halfway through the issue and I felt like I should already be done with the story. I actually can't put my finger on why I felt that way, since Ewing actually does a decent job of working the exposition into the story as seamlessly as possible. But, it just felt like it was taking forever to get to the point.
Moreover, the point itself is also confusing. Carol rescues a guy who just sort of stands there when he's confronted by some Ultrons. We learn that he conveniently happens to be Computer Graham, a former child superhero who used to enter video games to prevent their villains from entering our world. He hasn't used his power since video games got too complex, but Captains Britain and Marvel recognize a chance when they see one. So, they go on a suicide mission, with Computer Graham managing to free part of London from Ultron's control. As Excalibur exposits at the end, it means that they should be able to call for help from Otherworld, since Brian deputized her Captain Britain before he left on the mission.
Did I mention that they were accompanied by a girl whose super-power is to kick goals? They were.
Anyway, something about this issue didn't click with me. Between Carol conveniently finding Graham and Ewing breezing past the fact that Ultron seems to be able to be stopped by magic, I felt like it was a little too manufactured to get to the end result. But, I do wonder at the larger impact that end result will have. It seems to be the first issue in this entire event where the good guys get something like a win. But, to make matters odder, I'm not really sure how it connects to the main title, since, in theory, the Ultron invasion didn't happen, since Wolverine killed Hank Pym before he could invent Ultron. It's just plain bizarre that it comes after "Age of Ultron" #6 and #7 and "Wolverine and the X-Men" #27 AU, where all these events transpire. I'm not sure if it's hinting at something or if it's just sloppy continuity. (With Marvel, you never know.)
Anyway, we have six issues left in this event and I feel like it's about five issues too many. This issue didn't really help matters much. It wasn't awful, but between its slow pacing and the fact that it seems months behind the events of the main title, it didn't do much to improve my impression of this event at this point.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Age of Ultron #7 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
So, we traded Ultron for Tony. I have the sinking suspicion that this revelation is supposed to be more shocking than it actually is and Bendis doesn't really have anything else up his sleeve. If I had to guess, Logan and Sue are going to escape from the Defenders next issue, then rally them to their side in issue #9, and set back everything the way it was before Ultron invaded in issue #10. I'm actually so sure that something along these lines is going to happen that I'm wondering if it's even worth spending the $11.97 on these issues.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Wolverine and the X-Men #27.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue gives a little more insight into Logan and Sue's journey from Antarctica to New York to stop Hank Pym from creating Ultron, as seen in "Age of Ultron" #6. It's reminiscent of "Wolverine and the X-Men" #11, where we got similar insight into Logan and Hope's journey from Antarctica to the Moon (as depicted in "Avengers vs. X-Men" #4). Unfortunately, it's not quite as good as that issue. Logan randomly gets all humanitarian, deciding to rescue a Brood hatchling but unwittingly helping the Brood adapt to his powers. Most bizarrely, Sue decides to warn Reed that S.H.I.E.L.D. is watching him, but, curiously, neglects to warn him about Ultron. After all, if she and Logan fail, wouldn't it make sense to let past Reed know what Hank's doing and why it's important to stop him? Right there, you have a great example of the problem with time-travel stories, since it's usually hard to argue that the actions that the characters take are the ones that make the most sense. Man, this event is going downhill quickly.
Age of Ultron #6 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue is a complicated one. On one hand, it's seriously ballsy, but, on the other hand, it was somewhat predictable and occasionally sloppy.
Bendis takes the interesting step of refocusing the past storyline on just Wolverine and Sue Storm. (Unfortunately, he never explains where the other characters who traveled into the past with them went or why a young Nick Fury just conveniently arrived at his Savage Land base when Logan and Sue desperately needed a vehicle.) Bendis uses this narrowed focus to have Logan and Sue argue the ethical dilemma at the core of the mission, weighing the life of Hank Pym against the lives of Ultron's victims. (On a continuity point, Sue mentions that Ultron killed her children, but, per "Fantastic Four" #5 AU, I thought they were just stranded in space. Did she just forget that she left them there?) However, the predictability part comes into play with the end result; it seemed pretty unlikely that Sue would stop Logan from killing Hank with all those lives on the line. (Continuing the parenthetical notations of sloppiness, one of my problems with this issue was the fight scene itself, since Bendis has Logan announce his presence to Hank. Although I get that it sets up Sue's moral dilemma later in the issue, it seems unlikely that Logan would've taken that chance. It would've been better to have an alarm sound or something.)
With Hank now dead and the future team defeated, it appears that we're going to be entering the Marvel Universe's version of the DCnU. (That's the ballsy part.) Assuming that Marvel isn't actually taking that step, Bendis now has two actions to undo to restore the Marvel Universe we all know. First, he has to unkill Hank Pym and, second, he has to stop Ultron before he invades. My guess is that Logan and Sue will serve the same role that Bishop did in "Age of Apocalypse," the institutional memory of the previous reality. Sue seems the most likely candidate for getting the MnU's heroes to undo what's happened, but I'll admit that I'm not sure how excited I am about it. It seems increasingly unlikely that anything from this event is going to persist after it concludes, sapping some of the energy from the book. I mean, I'm not saying that should be the measure of how good the event itself is, given that I am overall enjoying it. But, I'm starting to wonder whether the ending is going to be worth the effort.
Bendis takes the interesting step of refocusing the past storyline on just Wolverine and Sue Storm. (Unfortunately, he never explains where the other characters who traveled into the past with them went or why a young Nick Fury just conveniently arrived at his Savage Land base when Logan and Sue desperately needed a vehicle.) Bendis uses this narrowed focus to have Logan and Sue argue the ethical dilemma at the core of the mission, weighing the life of Hank Pym against the lives of Ultron's victims. (On a continuity point, Sue mentions that Ultron killed her children, but, per "Fantastic Four" #5 AU, I thought they were just stranded in space. Did she just forget that she left them there?) However, the predictability part comes into play with the end result; it seemed pretty unlikely that Sue would stop Logan from killing Hank with all those lives on the line. (Continuing the parenthetical notations of sloppiness, one of my problems with this issue was the fight scene itself, since Bendis has Logan announce his presence to Hank. Although I get that it sets up Sue's moral dilemma later in the issue, it seems unlikely that Logan would've taken that chance. It would've been better to have an alarm sound or something.)
With Hank now dead and the future team defeated, it appears that we're going to be entering the Marvel Universe's version of the DCnU. (That's the ballsy part.) Assuming that Marvel isn't actually taking that step, Bendis now has two actions to undo to restore the Marvel Universe we all know. First, he has to unkill Hank Pym and, second, he has to stop Ultron before he invades. My guess is that Logan and Sue will serve the same role that Bishop did in "Age of Apocalypse," the institutional memory of the previous reality. Sue seems the most likely candidate for getting the MnU's heroes to undo what's happened, but I'll admit that I'm not sure how excited I am about it. It seems increasingly unlikely that anything from this event is going to persist after it concludes, sapping some of the energy from the book. I mean, I'm not saying that should be the measure of how good the event itself is, given that I am overall enjoying it. But, I'm starting to wonder whether the ending is going to be worth the effort.
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Age of Ultron #5 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Well, the wheels went off this bus pretty quickly.
My first gripe with this issue is the sudden disappearance of Nick Fury's alleged master plan. At the end of last issue, Red Hulk, Moon Knight, and Black Widow arrived declaring that Nick Fury had a plan that they could use to defeat Ultron. I mean, their exact words were: "And we wipe even the idea of him out of existence." "Entirely." "And God bless Nick Fury, because we know just how to do it." We don't really have a lot of ambiguity in those statements. They know how to defeat Ultron, how to "wipe even the idea of him out of existence." However, that knowledge seems to be completely forgotten in this issue. Instead, all they seem to know is that Nick Fury has a secret bunker in the Savage Land. Moreover, when they eventually find the bunker and Fury himself, Nick doesn't actually have a doomsday plan. Sure, he has a plan to use a Doom Platform to go the future to take out Ultron. But, he only has that plan because he knows that Ultron is attacking from the future as a result of some data he was able to obtain when Ultron attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. Nothing in this issue implies that Fury had some sort of pre-existing plan that could have given the group some advantage in the fight with Ultron. Plus, even if the plan did exist, it seems likely that it was to go into the past to destroy Ultron, not to go into the future to do it, as Fury actually recommends here, given that it seems unlikely that Fury would've predicted that he was attacking from the future.
But, beyond even the sudden loss of a plan that happens between these two issues, I'm not entirely sure what Fury and his team are expecting to accomplish in the future. After all, if they defeat Ultron, they're still left with a completely devastated world. It seems unlikely that they could ever possibly rebuild Earth, given the destruction that we've already seen. As such, Wolverine seems to be on the right path, believing that they should go into the past to kill Hank Pym before he can invent Ultron. However, to give Bendis credit, he makes it clear why this strategy is so problematic. In a flashback, Hank Pym mentions to Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic that he wished sometimes that he could into the past and convince himself not to make Ultron. (Somewhat hilariously, Mr. Fantastic admits that he would go into the past and be nicer to Dr. Doom in college.) But, all three acknowledge that at some point you're going to go to "the Garden of Eden and smack that apple out of Eve's hand." Even beyond these ethical considerations, Spider-Man makes it clear that the Butterfly Effect of destroying an Avenger would be enormous. Wolverine, however, isn't exactly concerned with the metaphysical ramifications, convincingly arguing that it seems difficult to believe that a different present could possibly be worse. So, we're now facing down two time-travel stories in the coming months.
The problem, at this point, is that it's unclear where Marvel is going with this story. We do have the potential for a "New 52!" reboot here, if Marvel were to have Wolverine and his team be successful in killing Hank Pym before he invents Ultron. Moreover, it seems the only likely possibility since, as I said, even if Fury and his team succeed in the future, it's not going to undo the damage caused by Ultron in the present. On some level, I'm intrigued to see what they do, since I honestly can't tell how we're going to revolve this problem short of the creation of a MnU. But, the problem is that I'm not really hopeful that I'm going to like the answer, given the likelihood that it'll be a third option that leaves the pre-"Age of Ultron" status quo unchanged. Bendis is clearly struggling to keep control over this story and juggling two time-travel stories doesn't seem like it's going to make it an easier on him. Given the liberal use of deus ex machinas in last issue and the lack of attention to detail in this one, I am not hopeful that we're going anywhere good here.
My first gripe with this issue is the sudden disappearance of Nick Fury's alleged master plan. At the end of last issue, Red Hulk, Moon Knight, and Black Widow arrived declaring that Nick Fury had a plan that they could use to defeat Ultron. I mean, their exact words were: "And we wipe even the idea of him out of existence." "Entirely." "And God bless Nick Fury, because we know just how to do it." We don't really have a lot of ambiguity in those statements. They know how to defeat Ultron, how to "wipe even the idea of him out of existence." However, that knowledge seems to be completely forgotten in this issue. Instead, all they seem to know is that Nick Fury has a secret bunker in the Savage Land. Moreover, when they eventually find the bunker and Fury himself, Nick doesn't actually have a doomsday plan. Sure, he has a plan to use a Doom Platform to go the future to take out Ultron. But, he only has that plan because he knows that Ultron is attacking from the future as a result of some data he was able to obtain when Ultron attacked S.H.I.E.L.D. Nothing in this issue implies that Fury had some sort of pre-existing plan that could have given the group some advantage in the fight with Ultron. Plus, even if the plan did exist, it seems likely that it was to go into the past to destroy Ultron, not to go into the future to do it, as Fury actually recommends here, given that it seems unlikely that Fury would've predicted that he was attacking from the future.
But, beyond even the sudden loss of a plan that happens between these two issues, I'm not entirely sure what Fury and his team are expecting to accomplish in the future. After all, if they defeat Ultron, they're still left with a completely devastated world. It seems unlikely that they could ever possibly rebuild Earth, given the destruction that we've already seen. As such, Wolverine seems to be on the right path, believing that they should go into the past to kill Hank Pym before he can invent Ultron. However, to give Bendis credit, he makes it clear why this strategy is so problematic. In a flashback, Hank Pym mentions to Iron Man and Mr. Fantastic that he wished sometimes that he could into the past and convince himself not to make Ultron. (Somewhat hilariously, Mr. Fantastic admits that he would go into the past and be nicer to Dr. Doom in college.) But, all three acknowledge that at some point you're going to go to "the Garden of Eden and smack that apple out of Eve's hand." Even beyond these ethical considerations, Spider-Man makes it clear that the Butterfly Effect of destroying an Avenger would be enormous. Wolverine, however, isn't exactly concerned with the metaphysical ramifications, convincingly arguing that it seems difficult to believe that a different present could possibly be worse. So, we're now facing down two time-travel stories in the coming months.
The problem, at this point, is that it's unclear where Marvel is going with this story. We do have the potential for a "New 52!" reboot here, if Marvel were to have Wolverine and his team be successful in killing Hank Pym before he invents Ultron. Moreover, it seems the only likely possibility since, as I said, even if Fury and his team succeed in the future, it's not going to undo the damage caused by Ultron in the present. On some level, I'm intrigued to see what they do, since I honestly can't tell how we're going to revolve this problem short of the creation of a MnU. But, the problem is that I'm not really hopeful that I'm going to like the answer, given the likelihood that it'll be a third option that leaves the pre-"Age of Ultron" status quo unchanged. Bendis is clearly struggling to keep control over this story and juggling two time-travel stories doesn't seem like it's going to make it an easier on him. Given the liberal use of deus ex machinas in last issue and the lack of attention to detail in this one, I am not hopeful that we're going anywhere good here.
Avengers Assemble #14.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
"Avengers Assemble" is sort of Marvel's "Batman Incorporated," a series that seemed to exist outside continuity but suddenly exploded into it in a big way. Not only did a previous arc apparently re-incorporate Thanos back into the Marvel Universe, but this issue shows us how everything went bad for Natasha in San Francisco.
To be the honest, the issue started off rough for me and never really recovered. I'm not sure if it's Ewing or Guice's fault, but the two pages of dialogue between George, Natasha, and Richard was extraordinarily difficult to follow. I never read the "Champions," so I had no idea who they were, making it hard to know who was saying what. In fact, at first, I couldn't even tell whether George or Richard had been Stuntmaster. (George seemed the more obvious candidate, but Richard's name is on the business card with the words "Original Stuntmaster" on it.) I eventually sorted out everything after re-reading these two pages a few times, but, by then, I was already more annoyed than I was intrigued with where Ewing was going.
Moving past that introductory sequence, the rest of the issue still didn't click for me. We're supposed to feel the building terror as we watch Ultron's invasion happen from the perspective of Natasha and the people at the restaurant with her. But, despite this sequence being the only one so far in this event to show us the actual invasion, I never really felt the building hysteria that this sequence was supposed to convey. By the time the Ultrons appear, I was mostly ready for it to end. Ewing does manage to get in some emotion, such as Natasha describing that she was lying to the crowd when she told them that they were "saving" the wounded by running from the Ultrons in the opposite direction. But, I felt like this issue was too rushed to do what it could've done. It's a shame, too, because it could've really been a great story.
To be the honest, the issue started off rough for me and never really recovered. I'm not sure if it's Ewing or Guice's fault, but the two pages of dialogue between George, Natasha, and Richard was extraordinarily difficult to follow. I never read the "Champions," so I had no idea who they were, making it hard to know who was saying what. In fact, at first, I couldn't even tell whether George or Richard had been Stuntmaster. (George seemed the more obvious candidate, but Richard's name is on the business card with the words "Original Stuntmaster" on it.) I eventually sorted out everything after re-reading these two pages a few times, but, by then, I was already more annoyed than I was intrigued with where Ewing was going.
Moving past that introductory sequence, the rest of the issue still didn't click for me. We're supposed to feel the building terror as we watch Ultron's invasion happen from the perspective of Natasha and the people at the restaurant with her. But, despite this sequence being the only one so far in this event to show us the actual invasion, I never really felt the building hysteria that this sequence was supposed to convey. By the time the Ultrons appear, I was mostly ready for it to end. Ewing does manage to get in some emotion, such as Natasha describing that she was lying to the crowd when she told them that they were "saving" the wounded by running from the Ultrons in the opposite direction. But, I felt like this issue was too rushed to do what it could've done. It's a shame, too, because it could've really been a great story.
Ultron #1.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
This issue provides us our first real vignette of the "Age of Ultron" saga, with Victor from the Runaways trying to do his best to save kids trapped in the post-invasion chaos of Los Angeles. It's a sad story, but an important one, particularly as the main title moves onto other matters.
My knowledge of the Runaways is limited to their appearances with the Young Avengers, but Immonen quickly makes Victor accessible to the new reader. After all, he's the "son" of Ultron, so it's pretty easy to see why he's been seriously affected by recent events. Immonen makes real his guilt over his cyborg side, using it to get across how alone Victor feels, even surrounded by people. The story gives an emotional grounding to the event that the most recent issues of the main title have lacked. Issue #2 of "Age of Ultron" was probably the last one that focused on the impact of the invasion on the heroes, with the more recent ones focusing on their plans to stop Ultron. As such, this issue is a well-time story, keeping some focus on the personal side of the greater tragedy as the main title gets swept into the larger drama.
Along those lines, Jaime's comment that he knew he was in trouble when his father told him to find someone to follow (given that his father usually wouldn't let him go to the park by himself) reminded me of "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's heart-breaking, but Immonen doesn't dwell on it, making it clear that the kids have other worries at the present. Despite all his sacrifices, Victor realizes that his attempts to defy Ultron meant little in the end. As Cait and Cloudy's fate is left uncertain (and Jaime and Marcus certainly dead), Victor sacrifices himself to buy them some time. Although heroic, it's meaningless, underscoring just how complete Ultron's victory has been. Dark days, friends. Dark days.
My knowledge of the Runaways is limited to their appearances with the Young Avengers, but Immonen quickly makes Victor accessible to the new reader. After all, he's the "son" of Ultron, so it's pretty easy to see why he's been seriously affected by recent events. Immonen makes real his guilt over his cyborg side, using it to get across how alone Victor feels, even surrounded by people. The story gives an emotional grounding to the event that the most recent issues of the main title have lacked. Issue #2 of "Age of Ultron" was probably the last one that focused on the impact of the invasion on the heroes, with the more recent ones focusing on their plans to stop Ultron. As such, this issue is a well-time story, keeping some focus on the personal side of the greater tragedy as the main title gets swept into the larger drama.
Along those lines, Jaime's comment that he knew he was in trouble when his father told him to find someone to follow (given that his father usually wouldn't let him go to the park by himself) reminded me of "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It's heart-breaking, but Immonen doesn't dwell on it, making it clear that the kids have other worries at the present. Despite all his sacrifices, Victor realizes that his attempts to defy Ultron meant little in the end. As Cait and Cloudy's fate is left uncertain (and Jaime and Marcus certainly dead), Victor sacrifices himself to buy them some time. Although heroic, it's meaningless, underscoring just how complete Ultron's victory has been. Dark days, friends. Dark days.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Age of Ultron #4 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
My history professor is fond of saying that you need to ask not only why something happened in history but also why it happened when it did. In this issue, the first is a lot easier to explain than the second.
Every mini-series like this one has the issue where the author has to hit fast forward and get to the place where s/he needs to be to move into the next phase. This issue is that one for "Age of Ultron." Bendis brings the three groups together, but it's a somewhat bumpy ride. The most believable sequence is the primary story, involving the main group of superheroes. Jennifer and Luke learn from Vision that Ultron is attacking from the future, resulting in She-Hulk sacrificing herself to get that information to the heroes in the Savage Land. Bendis has some good moments here, from making it clear that Luke's rage over Jessica and Danielle's deaths drives him to succeed to showing how weary the superheroes are when they barely comment on the nuclear explosion that the Ultrons unleash to try to stop Luke.
The secondary story, with Black Widow and Moon Knight, stretches your credulity a bit. We not only learn that Nick Fury conveniently has a secret base in the Savage Land, but that he also has a secret plan for taking down Ultron in just this scenario. I'm going to reserve judgment on the plan until we get more details, but the fact that Nick has a secret base in the Savage Land is the "why it happened when it did" moment that I mentioned earlier. Although it's totally believable that he would have such a secret base, Bendis doesn't really make any attempt to address how remarkably convenient it was for Marc and Natasha to stumble across this information just in time to meet the other superheroes there.
It's the tertiary story, with Red Hulk and Taskmaster, that Bendis totally phones-in. Red Hulk not only survived the attack from a few issues ago, but he happens to recover just as Taskmaster is strolling by him. Moreover, despite having a distinct lack of allies, he decides to kill Taskmaster (who's doing exactly what he said that he'd do, escape Chicago with Ultron tech) and then somehow knows to go to the Savage Land.
But, I'm not going to spend too much time crying over spilled milk. Bendis could've gotten everyone together in a lot more eloquent way, but what's done is done. It's a transition issue and I'm willing to leave it at that. Looking ahead, the clear question to me at this point is if Bendis is going to bring us the battle that we saw in "Avengers" #6, where Kang and Earth's heroes attack Ultron in the future. In that arc, we learned that Kang and the heroes lose the battle and that Kang's repeated attempts to win it wind up fracturing the time stream, setting up the events of that arc. Looking at future issues, Kang does appear on the cover of "Uncanny Avengers" #8 AU, so it seems possible that we're going here. If so, most importantly, at the end of "Avengers" #6, old Iron Man hands young Iron Man a device to use to defeat Ultron. Given that he now knows where Ultron is, it seems like a good time for Tony to use that device...
Every mini-series like this one has the issue where the author has to hit fast forward and get to the place where s/he needs to be to move into the next phase. This issue is that one for "Age of Ultron." Bendis brings the three groups together, but it's a somewhat bumpy ride. The most believable sequence is the primary story, involving the main group of superheroes. Jennifer and Luke learn from Vision that Ultron is attacking from the future, resulting in She-Hulk sacrificing herself to get that information to the heroes in the Savage Land. Bendis has some good moments here, from making it clear that Luke's rage over Jessica and Danielle's deaths drives him to succeed to showing how weary the superheroes are when they barely comment on the nuclear explosion that the Ultrons unleash to try to stop Luke.
The secondary story, with Black Widow and Moon Knight, stretches your credulity a bit. We not only learn that Nick Fury conveniently has a secret base in the Savage Land, but that he also has a secret plan for taking down Ultron in just this scenario. I'm going to reserve judgment on the plan until we get more details, but the fact that Nick has a secret base in the Savage Land is the "why it happened when it did" moment that I mentioned earlier. Although it's totally believable that he would have such a secret base, Bendis doesn't really make any attempt to address how remarkably convenient it was for Marc and Natasha to stumble across this information just in time to meet the other superheroes there.
It's the tertiary story, with Red Hulk and Taskmaster, that Bendis totally phones-in. Red Hulk not only survived the attack from a few issues ago, but he happens to recover just as Taskmaster is strolling by him. Moreover, despite having a distinct lack of allies, he decides to kill Taskmaster (who's doing exactly what he said that he'd do, escape Chicago with Ultron tech) and then somehow knows to go to the Savage Land.
But, I'm not going to spend too much time crying over spilled milk. Bendis could've gotten everyone together in a lot more eloquent way, but what's done is done. It's a transition issue and I'm willing to leave it at that. Looking ahead, the clear question to me at this point is if Bendis is going to bring us the battle that we saw in "Avengers" #6, where Kang and Earth's heroes attack Ultron in the future. In that arc, we learned that Kang and the heroes lose the battle and that Kang's repeated attempts to win it wind up fracturing the time stream, setting up the events of that arc. Looking at future issues, Kang does appear on the cover of "Uncanny Avengers" #8 AU, so it seems possible that we're going here. If so, most importantly, at the end of "Avengers" #6, old Iron Man hands young Iron Man a device to use to defeat Ultron. Given that he now knows where Ultron is, it seems like a good time for Tony to use that device...
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Superior Spider-Man #6.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Why can everyone write Otto as Peter except Slott?
I loved this issue. No, really, I did. I thought Gage did a brilliant job of showing Otto realize that he had to extract himself from the Avengers so that he could stop having to waste time pretending to be Peter and focus on the problem at hand. As such, it explains why he seemed to have been acting like Peter in "Age of Ultron." But, we also see him get exhausted with the act in this issue and start behaving more like Otto. Slott vaguely touched on the fact that Otto is having some (unacknowledged) troubles being superior to Peter in issue #6, but Gage really gets across that point here as Otto is starting to buckle under the pressure of keeping up the act. Plus, I loved how he blamed Peter for the fact that he wasn't able to stop Ultron. He believes that he could've stopped it if he hadn't spent all that time trying to be superior to Peter. But, deep down, we also see that Otto knows that he's just as guilty, since he's also largely motivated by being superior to his old self. In just these few moments, Gage gives us more insight into the difficult that Otto is experiencing in being Peter than Slott has, to my mind.
Moreover, Otto is coldly brilliant here. Part of my problem with Slott in this title is that he seems to be playing Otto for laughs, setting up moments where his failures and successes show how ridiculously egotistical he is. Here, Otto shows himself to have a strategic mind, agreeing to go with Tony's plan only so that he can get into Horizon Labs and get his hands on the technology that he needs to take over Ultron's machines. I thought this twist was great, really showing Otto in control. He's not just improving on things related to Spider-Man, but actually using his experience as Dr. Octopus to do something different. Plus, I liked how he recognized and dismissed Peter's impulse to feel bad about Max Modell. It again shows him breaking outside the pattern of Peter that has dominated his portrayal so far in this title. Otto is his own man here and it's fascinating to watch.
Also, I loved that Gage really has Otto motivated by his sincere belief that he can do everything better than everyone else. He makes us realize that destroying and saving the world are just flip-sides of the same coin for Otto. He gets so obsessed with the end result, ruling the world as its savior (and making it superior as only he can), that he has to frequently force himself to focus on actually implementing the plan itself. It explains why Peter has been able to defeat Otto so often, because Otto often gets ahead of himself, not believing it possible for anyone to stop him. It's great insight into the character, not just as Spider-Man, but who he was as Dr. Octopus.
But, as it often does for Otto, it all goes wrong and here Gage excels. So much of "Superior Spider-Man" has been about Peter. Everything Slott does in this title seems to be aimed at Peter being forced to live with the consequences of Otto's actions when he resumes control. Neither Gage nor Yost in "Avenging Spider-Man" takes that approach, presenting Otto as Spider-Man, period. As I said, he's his own man, so his failures and successes are his. Here, Otto is forced to learn a lesson about teamwork when his plan fails and he has to realize that Tony's plan would've worked. Otto's psychotic megalomania had driven him to act on his own so that he could be humanity's savior. But, he fails and he realizes why he failed. Gage doesn't play up the moment for laughs, but instead shows how Otto is learning to be a superhero. He's not shooting bad guys in the face because he's decided that's what superheroes should do. He's realizing that his actions have consequences, often ones that he didn't foresee. It's a powerful moment, where Otto has to pull himself off the ground, just like he realizes that Peter did time and time again, and recommit to a fight that, in all likelihood, is probably hopeless. If only we could see more of this Otto...
I loved this issue. No, really, I did. I thought Gage did a brilliant job of showing Otto realize that he had to extract himself from the Avengers so that he could stop having to waste time pretending to be Peter and focus on the problem at hand. As such, it explains why he seemed to have been acting like Peter in "Age of Ultron." But, we also see him get exhausted with the act in this issue and start behaving more like Otto. Slott vaguely touched on the fact that Otto is having some (unacknowledged) troubles being superior to Peter in issue #6, but Gage really gets across that point here as Otto is starting to buckle under the pressure of keeping up the act. Plus, I loved how he blamed Peter for the fact that he wasn't able to stop Ultron. He believes that he could've stopped it if he hadn't spent all that time trying to be superior to Peter. But, deep down, we also see that Otto knows that he's just as guilty, since he's also largely motivated by being superior to his old self. In just these few moments, Gage gives us more insight into the difficult that Otto is experiencing in being Peter than Slott has, to my mind.
Moreover, Otto is coldly brilliant here. Part of my problem with Slott in this title is that he seems to be playing Otto for laughs, setting up moments where his failures and successes show how ridiculously egotistical he is. Here, Otto shows himself to have a strategic mind, agreeing to go with Tony's plan only so that he can get into Horizon Labs and get his hands on the technology that he needs to take over Ultron's machines. I thought this twist was great, really showing Otto in control. He's not just improving on things related to Spider-Man, but actually using his experience as Dr. Octopus to do something different. Plus, I liked how he recognized and dismissed Peter's impulse to feel bad about Max Modell. It again shows him breaking outside the pattern of Peter that has dominated his portrayal so far in this title. Otto is his own man here and it's fascinating to watch.
Also, I loved that Gage really has Otto motivated by his sincere belief that he can do everything better than everyone else. He makes us realize that destroying and saving the world are just flip-sides of the same coin for Otto. He gets so obsessed with the end result, ruling the world as its savior (and making it superior as only he can), that he has to frequently force himself to focus on actually implementing the plan itself. It explains why Peter has been able to defeat Otto so often, because Otto often gets ahead of himself, not believing it possible for anyone to stop him. It's great insight into the character, not just as Spider-Man, but who he was as Dr. Octopus.
But, as it often does for Otto, it all goes wrong and here Gage excels. So much of "Superior Spider-Man" has been about Peter. Everything Slott does in this title seems to be aimed at Peter being forced to live with the consequences of Otto's actions when he resumes control. Neither Gage nor Yost in "Avenging Spider-Man" takes that approach, presenting Otto as Spider-Man, period. As I said, he's his own man, so his failures and successes are his. Here, Otto is forced to learn a lesson about teamwork when his plan fails and he has to realize that Tony's plan would've worked. Otto's psychotic megalomania had driven him to act on his own so that he could be humanity's savior. But, he fails and he realizes why he failed. Gage doesn't play up the moment for laughs, but instead shows how Otto is learning to be a superhero. He's not shooting bad guys in the face because he's decided that's what superheroes should do. He's realizing that his actions have consequences, often ones that he didn't foresee. It's a powerful moment, where Otto has to pull himself off the ground, just like he realizes that Peter did time and time again, and recommit to a fight that, in all likelihood, is probably hopeless. If only we could see more of this Otto...
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Age of Ultron #3 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Holy effing crap, I did not see that coming.
First, before we talk about the surprise reveal at the end, let's talk about the rest of this issue. Looking over the course of the series so far, Bendis has done a great job of slowly building the plot step-by-step. (It's almost irrelevant at this point how Ultron took over the world. I find myself caring less and less about it, because I'm much more interested in watching the heroes react to this situation.) First, Hawkeye discovers Spidey on a patrol and takes a risk by rescuing him. Then, Spidey tells his story and it provides an opening for the heroes to get intel on Ultron that they haven't previously had. Then, we see that plan put into action in this issue. Cause and effect. We don't often get that clear of a chain of action in comics (and particularly not Bendis' comics) but you really understand why we are where we are by the end of this issue.
Along the way, Bendis pays attention to the characters, making sure that they're not just chess pieces (as he used to treat them when he wrote "Avengers"). Remember when I reviewed "Fantastic Four" #5 AU and said that we hadn't gotten confirmation that anyone had died? Well, we get it here. We learn that Hulk and Thor are dead, but, most devastatingly, we also learn that Jessica Jones and Danielle Cage are also dead. It's their death that motivates Luke to volunteer for the mission. Once again: cause and effect. Moreover, we even see Taskmaster mourn the death of Black Panther in this issue as he and Red Hulk give their lives to get their hands on Ultron technology. I mean, Bendis even managed to explain Ultron's motivations, reminding us that he has programmed himself to have human emotions, something that would lead him to keep around enough people to gloat about his win. I totally bought it, since, after all, why would Ultron even bother with conquering Earth if he wasn't driven by revenge? It helps set up a believable fatal flaw that the heroes can exploit.
But, of course, the scene stealer is the reveal that Luke isn't "selling" She-Hulk to Ultron, as planned, but to Vision. It seems entirely plausible that Vision has been put to work by Ultron as his middle man, though, given Vision's track record, it's also entirely possible that he really is in cahoots with Ultron. We'll see soon enough.
Bendis is definitely really building something here. This issue was tense; you really felt like you were in that bunker with the heroes, desperate to find any small edge. But, the idea that they've found that edge sets off a spark that we haven't seen and I love the idea that their moving bases to the Savage Land, a desperate ploy just to get them more time. Part of what makes it exciting is that Bendis makes it clear that it's probably unlikely that they're going to be able to get there without trouble.
All in all, this issue really kicks up this series a notch. Great stuff all around.
First, before we talk about the surprise reveal at the end, let's talk about the rest of this issue. Looking over the course of the series so far, Bendis has done a great job of slowly building the plot step-by-step. (It's almost irrelevant at this point how Ultron took over the world. I find myself caring less and less about it, because I'm much more interested in watching the heroes react to this situation.) First, Hawkeye discovers Spidey on a patrol and takes a risk by rescuing him. Then, Spidey tells his story and it provides an opening for the heroes to get intel on Ultron that they haven't previously had. Then, we see that plan put into action in this issue. Cause and effect. We don't often get that clear of a chain of action in comics (and particularly not Bendis' comics) but you really understand why we are where we are by the end of this issue.
Along the way, Bendis pays attention to the characters, making sure that they're not just chess pieces (as he used to treat them when he wrote "Avengers"). Remember when I reviewed "Fantastic Four" #5 AU and said that we hadn't gotten confirmation that anyone had died? Well, we get it here. We learn that Hulk and Thor are dead, but, most devastatingly, we also learn that Jessica Jones and Danielle Cage are also dead. It's their death that motivates Luke to volunteer for the mission. Once again: cause and effect. Moreover, we even see Taskmaster mourn the death of Black Panther in this issue as he and Red Hulk give their lives to get their hands on Ultron technology. I mean, Bendis even managed to explain Ultron's motivations, reminding us that he has programmed himself to have human emotions, something that would lead him to keep around enough people to gloat about his win. I totally bought it, since, after all, why would Ultron even bother with conquering Earth if he wasn't driven by revenge? It helps set up a believable fatal flaw that the heroes can exploit.
But, of course, the scene stealer is the reveal that Luke isn't "selling" She-Hulk to Ultron, as planned, but to Vision. It seems entirely plausible that Vision has been put to work by Ultron as his middle man, though, given Vision's track record, it's also entirely possible that he really is in cahoots with Ultron. We'll see soon enough.
Bendis is definitely really building something here. This issue was tense; you really felt like you were in that bunker with the heroes, desperate to find any small edge. But, the idea that they've found that edge sets off a spark that we haven't seen and I love the idea that their moving bases to the Savage Land, a desperate ploy just to get them more time. Part of what makes it exciting is that Bendis makes it clear that it's probably unlikely that they're going to be able to get there without trouble.
All in all, this issue really kicks up this series a notch. Great stuff all around.
Fantastic Four #5.AU (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Man, Fraction really nailed this one. It's the perfect tie-in issue, where you don't need to know all that much about the series' ongoing story and you can just slip right into a different take on the larger cross-over event.
Here, Fraction has the Fantastic Four receive a distress call from the Black Panther and leave Franklin and Valeria in space to go help Earth. We don't really get too much more insight into Ultron here, but we do seem to get some sort of confirmation that the events of "Age of Ultron" aren't going to last. Ben, Johnny, and Reed all seemingly die, something that seems unlikely to "stick" after the event ends. So far, if I'm not mistaken, we've seen people allude to heroes' deaths, but we haven't actually seen anyone die. With three of the four members of the Fantastic Four "dying" here, though, we seem to get some sort of confirmation that Marvel has something up its sleeve in terms of how "Age of Ultron" will wind up fitting into the larger continuity.
Overall, it's a strong tie-in issue. It's poignant with some good action and a clear connection to the event. It's totally not necessary to read in context of the larger story, but if you enjoy reading the Fantastic Four without all the baggage, it's a good stand-alone issue.
Here, Fraction has the Fantastic Four receive a distress call from the Black Panther and leave Franklin and Valeria in space to go help Earth. We don't really get too much more insight into Ultron here, but we do seem to get some sort of confirmation that the events of "Age of Ultron" aren't going to last. Ben, Johnny, and Reed all seemingly die, something that seems unlikely to "stick" after the event ends. So far, if I'm not mistaken, we've seen people allude to heroes' deaths, but we haven't actually seen anyone die. With three of the four members of the Fantastic Four "dying" here, though, we seem to get some sort of confirmation that Marvel has something up its sleeve in terms of how "Age of Ultron" will wind up fitting into the larger continuity.
Overall, it's a strong tie-in issue. It's poignant with some good action and a clear connection to the event. It's totally not necessary to read in context of the larger story, but if you enjoy reading the Fantastic Four without all the baggage, it's a good stand-alone issue.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Age of Ultron #2 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Bendis tells us the story of Ultron's invasion in this issue, revealing it to have been a lightning-fast raid that destroyed the major cities of the world seemingly instantaneously. We learn that Washington, DC was eliminated ("like it never existed") and Brian Hitch makes it clear that New York and San Francisco are in ruins. Bendis also shows that the heroes know little more than we do, separated in isolated pockets across the country without a master plan. But, it's clear that something about Spider-Man's story, about the Owl planning on selling him to Ultron, gives Captain America an idea, so we'll see where we go.
I'm enjoying this story so far, though, if I'm being honest, I'm enjoying it in part because I can still assume that it's not "real." For example, it seems doubtful that the Black Widow will appear after this event with a scarred face and Bendis doesn't even seem to be trying to pretend that Spider-Man is really Otto Octavius. (However, Bendis could be hinting at something in that regard, with Peter referring to the fact that he slept through the invasion and mentioning that he experienced a "flash of white" before he suddenly found himself tied to a chair. But, it seems unlikely that Slott would allow Peter to return in an issue outside "Superior Spider-Man," so Bendis might just be creating plausible deniability, as if Peter returned momentarily before Otto re-asserted control.) Moreover, Bendis is juggling so many characters here that it's really hard to focus on them individually. Sure, it might be devastating to hear Iron Man lose hope, but so many people are talking that it's hard to remember even if he said something. He's a little better with the Black Widow and Moon Knight, but we still leave them just as it's getting interesting.
I'm not really sure where I want Bendis to go from here. To be honest, I think it would be more fun for it just to be an outside-continuity story. I worry that it's eventually going to start to drag because Bendis is going to have to explain where the story fits in continuity, something that he generally doesn't do well. I think that it would wind up better just to read it as almost a "What If...?" story, but I somehow doubt that it's going to go that way, unfortuantely.
I'm enjoying this story so far, though, if I'm being honest, I'm enjoying it in part because I can still assume that it's not "real." For example, it seems doubtful that the Black Widow will appear after this event with a scarred face and Bendis doesn't even seem to be trying to pretend that Spider-Man is really Otto Octavius. (However, Bendis could be hinting at something in that regard, with Peter referring to the fact that he slept through the invasion and mentioning that he experienced a "flash of white" before he suddenly found himself tied to a chair. But, it seems unlikely that Slott would allow Peter to return in an issue outside "Superior Spider-Man," so Bendis might just be creating plausible deniability, as if Peter returned momentarily before Otto re-asserted control.) Moreover, Bendis is juggling so many characters here that it's really hard to focus on them individually. Sure, it might be devastating to hear Iron Man lose hope, but so many people are talking that it's hard to remember even if he said something. He's a little better with the Black Widow and Moon Knight, but we still leave them just as it's getting interesting.
I'm not really sure where I want Bendis to go from here. To be honest, I think it would be more fun for it just to be an outside-continuity story. I worry that it's eventually going to start to drag because Bendis is going to have to explain where the story fits in continuity, something that he generally doesn't do well. I think that it would wind up better just to read it as almost a "What If...?" story, but I somehow doubt that it's going to go that way, unfortuantely.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Age of Ultron #1 (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
I will admit to a certain reluctance to dive into a world where Bendis is writing the Avengers again, particularly since I've liked him so much now that he's writing the X-Men. But, given that I loved "Siege," I have to hope that Bendis manages to do better here than he did on "Avengers" and "New Avengers." Fingers crossed.
Bendis starts in media res, sidestepping the continuity question entirely. It's unclear, therefore, whether we're dealing with an alternative timeline, such as "Age of Apocalypse," or merely a future event that hasn't happened yet. Bendis hints that we seem to be dealing at least with a future event in that Spider-Man sounds like Peter Parker and not Otto Octavius and Emma Frost is part of the superhero resistance (and not presently a mutant terrorist), but an alternative timeline could also explain those continuity discrepancies. But, for the time being, Bendis doesn't address that question. Rick Remender has taken a similar approach in "Captain America," compensating for the ambiguity for telling an amazing story. It works there, since Remender's only dealing with one character, but I do feel like Bendis is going to have to address the continuity question fairly quick in this event, given that the entire Marvel Universe roster seems involved.
But, focusing on this issue, it's a pretty simple story, showing Hawkeye rescuing Spider-Man after he's been captured by Hammerhead and the Owl. In telling this story, we learn that the super-villains are paying some sort of ransom to Ultron to keep operating and that Ultron itself has some sort of virus that it uses to control people. We also learn that the surviving superheroes are completely without a plan, a situation shows in its profundity by the image of Captain America sitting essentially in the fetal position in a back room.
In other words, so far, so OK. It's not a spectacular issue, but it's a serviceable one. Although Hitch does a great job showing the magnitude of the devastation of New York, the prolonged action sequence that takes up 2/3 of this issue actually felt somewhat slow to me, lacking the sort of explosive energy that it probably needed. But, the stage is at least set, so we'll see where we go from here.
Bendis starts in media res, sidestepping the continuity question entirely. It's unclear, therefore, whether we're dealing with an alternative timeline, such as "Age of Apocalypse," or merely a future event that hasn't happened yet. Bendis hints that we seem to be dealing at least with a future event in that Spider-Man sounds like Peter Parker and not Otto Octavius and Emma Frost is part of the superhero resistance (and not presently a mutant terrorist), but an alternative timeline could also explain those continuity discrepancies. But, for the time being, Bendis doesn't address that question. Rick Remender has taken a similar approach in "Captain America," compensating for the ambiguity for telling an amazing story. It works there, since Remender's only dealing with one character, but I do feel like Bendis is going to have to address the continuity question fairly quick in this event, given that the entire Marvel Universe roster seems involved.
But, focusing on this issue, it's a pretty simple story, showing Hawkeye rescuing Spider-Man after he's been captured by Hammerhead and the Owl. In telling this story, we learn that the super-villains are paying some sort of ransom to Ultron to keep operating and that Ultron itself has some sort of virus that it uses to control people. We also learn that the surviving superheroes are completely without a plan, a situation shows in its profundity by the image of Captain America sitting essentially in the fetal position in a back room.
In other words, so far, so OK. It's not a spectacular issue, but it's a serviceable one. Although Hitch does a great job showing the magnitude of the devastation of New York, the prolonged action sequence that takes up 2/3 of this issue actually felt somewhat slow to me, lacking the sort of explosive energy that it probably needed. But, the stage is at least set, so we'll see where we go from here.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
New Comics - The Boom! and Marvel Edition! (HERE BE SPOILERS!)
Avengers #12.1: It's the Avengers turn for a .1 issue, and Bendis returns to a plot point from the first arc, planting the seeds of the return of Ultron. I enjoyed this .1 issue less than some of the other ones, mainly because it still has some of the flaws that annoy me every month in this title. Although we at least see some of Spider-Woman in this issue, Hawkeye and Spider-Man are criminally ignored. Hawkeye doesn't get in a word, and Spider-Man's reduced to one (pretty funny, granted) one-liner. Moreover, even Spider-Woman's appearance barely counts, since she's all Women in Refrigerators here. The think tank of evil geniuses was clever enough, I guess, and the Wizard and the Thinker actually had some decent banter. But, I had to raise an eyebrow when it's revealed that basically the entire plot of the issue was just to get the Avengers in the room so they could just happen to witness the return of Ultron. Ultron announces that he's not ready to fight the Avengers and disappears, destroying the mad genius' secret lair (while, miraculously and conveniently, not killing anyone) in the process. This bait-and-switch gambit left me feeling kind of cold. It's similar to what Bendis did with the aforementioned first arc, where we were told the Avengers had to go to the future to defeat their kids, only to discover it was a ruse to get them to convince Ultron to let Kang defeat him. Bendis apparently thinks these sort of bait-and-switch plots keep us on our toes, but instead they just leave me annoyed and disappointed that I didn't get the story I thought I was getting. Moreover, we see a great example of pet peeve #1 here with a clearly-Steve-Rogers-not-Bucky-Barnes Captain America appearing on the cover. I know that the point of the .1 issues is to project future storylines, and we know Steve Rogers will soon be Captain America again. But, it felt cheap.
Generation Hope #6: This series continues to be a surprising treat every month. Gillen has not only created compelling characters but, after only six issues, has also given them complex relationships with one another. Kitty is a great choice for a team liaison and I'm waiting for the inevitable conflict between Hope and her. I like how Gillen makes Hope not a 100 percent likeable character. You're rooting for her, but she's also obviously going to have a moment where she learns she's not as capable of a field leader as she thinks she is. Kitty has been fighting the good fight since she was a child -- just like Hope -- and at some point Hope is going to have to listen to her. Gillen's newest light also continues to be innovative and weird -- I mean, how do you fight a fetus? I can't wait to see how this fight goes down. All in all, it's a great book that's telling better X-Men stories than "X-Men Legacy" and, until recently, "X-Men."
Secret Avengers #12.1: This issue was so well done that I was about to congratulate Ed Brubaker for another excellent installment. But, then, I looked at the title page and saw it was Nick Spencer. Welcome aboard, Nick! This issue is a return to form, of sorts, for the title. I say "of sorts" because it's not like this title has been around that long to have a form to which it can really return. But, the Shadow Council has pretty much dominated this title almost from the start, so it's nice to see Spencer re-focusing it by embracing the .1 concept and giving us a self-contained story focused on espionage, the type of story I thought this series would give us (instead of the aliens and Nazis). We get the requisite amount of espionage here and Spencer hands the team a loss, something, to be honest, you just don't see that often. It actually may be my favorite .1 issue yet!
Starborn #5: I'm canceling this title. It's OK, but I find the writing to be a little too weak to justify $3.99 a month. It was a cool concept, but the author seems stuck just giving us scenarios where the main character acts like a rube. Did I mention the $3.99 a month?
The Traveler #6: I'm tempted just to say "see 'Starborn' #5" here, but I'll give it a go. This issue is odd. To be honest, I'm surprised I hung in here as long as I have, given that I pretty much hate time-travel stories. But, this issue is pretty much a testament to why I hate them. The whole Amelia Earhart schtick felt forced, and it's unclear to me why Abaris is holding her and the other people as prisoners. Daavi seems to imply that that Abaris doesn't know exactly why they're there, but that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. He might not care what the repercussions of them being there are, but it seems like he'd at least know why they're there and how the "random space-time warps" work. Similar to "Starborn," I liked the concept behind this story in the beginning, but I don't think it justifies an ongoing monthly series, particularly at the cost of $3.99 a month. Ciao, Traveler. Good luck.
Uncanny X-Men #536: This issue is stressful! Gillen does a great job here giving everyone dynamic personalities, taking them beyond just talking heads meant to move along the plot and instead giving us a subtle building of tension as they all interact. Kruun is both struggling to be a diplomat while at the same time planning his revenge. Colossus is trying to be compassionate toward the Breakworld refugees, but can barely control his hatred of Kruun. Scott is trying, as usual, to balance all sides and Emma, as usual, is skeptical (and right). I love that Kruun SCHOOLED Magneto, something you don't see every day. I didn't read the original Breakworld saga (though I'm inclined to hunt down a TPB), so I'm pretty sure I'm missing some subtleties. For example, I'm not entirely sure how Kruun got his hands on the formula that negates the mutant gene, and I'm not sure if it's meant to be permanent. But, for the most part, Gillen does a great job, just like last issue, of giving you what you need to know without over- or under-simplifying it. I really love what he's done with "Uncanny." It's gone from a book I more or less just got because it involved the X-Men to one of the books to which I most look forward each month.
X-Factor #218: Guido got shot last issue, and we see Monet struggling to shake off Ballistique of the Three Ladies Who Blow Up Things (or whatever they'll eventually be called) in order to get him to the hospital. Unfortunately, she's pretty much on her own, since JJJ, Jr.'s folks have Siryn pinned and the Black Cat is engaged in battle with Rococo. It's a pretty solid issue, with David, as usual, doing a great job keeping the action sequences tense. When we eventually get to the hospital, I actually thought they killed off Guido. But, the truth is a lot scarier: if Layla really did revive Guido, then, unless her power has changed, he has no soul. I can't wait to see what the repercussions of THAT will be. I think (hope) David is going to wrap up this Three Ladies Who Blow Up Things storyline in the next issue, because I'd really like to return to the Shatterstar/Longshot conundrum.
Generation Hope #6: This series continues to be a surprising treat every month. Gillen has not only created compelling characters but, after only six issues, has also given them complex relationships with one another. Kitty is a great choice for a team liaison and I'm waiting for the inevitable conflict between Hope and her. I like how Gillen makes Hope not a 100 percent likeable character. You're rooting for her, but she's also obviously going to have a moment where she learns she's not as capable of a field leader as she thinks she is. Kitty has been fighting the good fight since she was a child -- just like Hope -- and at some point Hope is going to have to listen to her. Gillen's newest light also continues to be innovative and weird -- I mean, how do you fight a fetus? I can't wait to see how this fight goes down. All in all, it's a great book that's telling better X-Men stories than "X-Men Legacy" and, until recently, "X-Men."
Secret Avengers #12.1: This issue was so well done that I was about to congratulate Ed Brubaker for another excellent installment. But, then, I looked at the title page and saw it was Nick Spencer. Welcome aboard, Nick! This issue is a return to form, of sorts, for the title. I say "of sorts" because it's not like this title has been around that long to have a form to which it can really return. But, the Shadow Council has pretty much dominated this title almost from the start, so it's nice to see Spencer re-focusing it by embracing the .1 concept and giving us a self-contained story focused on espionage, the type of story I thought this series would give us (instead of the aliens and Nazis). We get the requisite amount of espionage here and Spencer hands the team a loss, something, to be honest, you just don't see that often. It actually may be my favorite .1 issue yet!
Starborn #5: I'm canceling this title. It's OK, but I find the writing to be a little too weak to justify $3.99 a month. It was a cool concept, but the author seems stuck just giving us scenarios where the main character acts like a rube. Did I mention the $3.99 a month?
The Traveler #6: I'm tempted just to say "see 'Starborn' #5" here, but I'll give it a go. This issue is odd. To be honest, I'm surprised I hung in here as long as I have, given that I pretty much hate time-travel stories. But, this issue is pretty much a testament to why I hate them. The whole Amelia Earhart schtick felt forced, and it's unclear to me why Abaris is holding her and the other people as prisoners. Daavi seems to imply that that Abaris doesn't know exactly why they're there, but that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to me. He might not care what the repercussions of them being there are, but it seems like he'd at least know why they're there and how the "random space-time warps" work. Similar to "Starborn," I liked the concept behind this story in the beginning, but I don't think it justifies an ongoing monthly series, particularly at the cost of $3.99 a month. Ciao, Traveler. Good luck.
Uncanny X-Men #536: This issue is stressful! Gillen does a great job here giving everyone dynamic personalities, taking them beyond just talking heads meant to move along the plot and instead giving us a subtle building of tension as they all interact. Kruun is both struggling to be a diplomat while at the same time planning his revenge. Colossus is trying to be compassionate toward the Breakworld refugees, but can barely control his hatred of Kruun. Scott is trying, as usual, to balance all sides and Emma, as usual, is skeptical (and right). I love that Kruun SCHOOLED Magneto, something you don't see every day. I didn't read the original Breakworld saga (though I'm inclined to hunt down a TPB), so I'm pretty sure I'm missing some subtleties. For example, I'm not entirely sure how Kruun got his hands on the formula that negates the mutant gene, and I'm not sure if it's meant to be permanent. But, for the most part, Gillen does a great job, just like last issue, of giving you what you need to know without over- or under-simplifying it. I really love what he's done with "Uncanny." It's gone from a book I more or less just got because it involved the X-Men to one of the books to which I most look forward each month.
X-Factor #218: Guido got shot last issue, and we see Monet struggling to shake off Ballistique of the Three Ladies Who Blow Up Things (or whatever they'll eventually be called) in order to get him to the hospital. Unfortunately, she's pretty much on her own, since JJJ, Jr.'s folks have Siryn pinned and the Black Cat is engaged in battle with Rococo. It's a pretty solid issue, with David, as usual, doing a great job keeping the action sequences tense. When we eventually get to the hospital, I actually thought they killed off Guido. But, the truth is a lot scarier: if Layla really did revive Guido, then, unless her power has changed, he has no soul. I can't wait to see what the repercussions of THAT will be. I think (hope) David is going to wrap up this Three Ladies Who Blow Up Things storyline in the next issue, because I'd really like to return to the Shatterstar/Longshot conundrum.
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