Not-So-New Comics: The July 11 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #1:  Since "Brand New Day" began, I’ve been bothered by two developments:  Mary Jane and Peter making a deal with Mephisto to dissolve their marriage (obviously) and Peter accepting the doctorate Dr. Octopus got for him.  Spencer unexpectedly fixes both of them here.  First, a new technology designed to identify plagiarism correctly pegs Otto as the author of Peter’s dissertation.  Later, Peter’s near-death experience fighting Mysterio inspires him to tell Mary Jane he needs her.  As thrilled as I am in Spencer addressing these issues, I can’t say it’s a fun issue to read.  As Kingpin himself says, Peter needs to be isolated to be defeated, and he is here.  Robbie is forced to fire him to protect the Bugle’s integrity, and Aunt May is appalled when he refuses to take responsibility for his mistake.  But, Kingpin didn’t count on Mary Jane.  My hope is Spencer doesn’t take Peter any lower than he is now.  After the events of the “Fall of the House of Parker,” Slott and Spencer have now taken everything (including Aunt May) but Mary Jane from Peter.  If we go much lower, we’re going to return to the terrible period during the “Clone Saga” when he turned his back on Peter Parker because his life was so terrible.  I just can’t do that again.

Infinity Countdown #5:  From the hurried art to the dropped plots, this issue is the definition of rushed, even at 36 pages.  We start with Black Widow appearing to Dr. Strange to tell him -- via a hand-written note she passes to him -- someone is listening to her through the Space Gem.  (Duggan never clarifies how Nat knew that, at least as far as I can tell.)  Dr. Strange chimes a "crystal that was grown in the lowest dimension known to exist," presumably to find the eavesdropper, though Duggan never makes that clear.  The frequency leads him to Turk.  (If Turk was using the Mind Gem to read Nat's mind, wouldn't he know what she wrote in the note?  Isn't the whole point of reading minds not needing people to say their thoughts aloud?)  At Oblitus, Warlock approaches the Guardians, hoping they can lead him and Kang to the Time Gem.  Gamora asks Warlock to show her the Soul Gem, and he agrees, but tells her he cannot open it without help.  Gamora demands he does so, and Drax tries to help her, punching Warlock and grabbing the Soul Gem as he drops it.  Something...happens when Drax touches it, and it results in Drax throwing in his lot with Warlock.  He tells Gamora no one can open the Gem and it's no longer the heaven it was.  Cryptically saying he "saw someone in the trees[;] they all died horribly," he follows Kang and Warlock through a portal after Kang realizes the Guardians don't know where the Time Gem is.  Peter, Groot, and Rocket then refuse to go after them with Gamora, who's becoming increasingly unstable.  (That said, she's not necessarily wrong that Peter leaving Rich in the Cancerverse was a good indicator of how he'd behave here.)  Meanwhile, in the Soul Gem, something traps Hank in a fantasy of his own making where the Avengers rescue him and greet him with open arms.  The issue concludes with Dr. Strange calling an assembly of the Infinity Watch; in this moment, we learn Peter has the Power Gem (even though Drax is shown as possessing it in the intro page).  In other words?  It's all just a fucking mess.  It's hardly an inducement to read "Infinity Wars," given how rushed even this 36-page issue is.  Barely anyone's actions are explained.  I still don't understand why Peter, Groot, and Rocket didn't support Gamora.  I have no idea why Drax threw in his lot with Warlock and Kang.  Again, we also never get confirmation it was Turk eavesdropping on Nat through the Space Gem.  Moreover, other than the Gems changing hands, nothing has actually happened since the start of this prelude.  Darkhawk, Dr. Strange, the Guardians, Natasha -- they're all essentially where they started.  I can't believe I spent money on this event (and that I'm still likely to get the main "Infinity Wars" series).

Infinity Countdown: Darkhawk #4:  Sims and Bowers again change a status quo here, as Dark Starhawk seems to evolve simply into Starhawk before our eyes.  He executes Gyre, announcing he’s evolved beyond advancing Gyre’s goals (which I’ll be honest weren’t entirely clear to me).  Now, he's dedicated to safeguarding order in the universe by taking out entities with special powers that threaten it (like the possessors of the Infinity Gems).  However, Chris takes back his amulet, destroying the nexus between his soul and Robbie’s body.  Robbie disappears, and Rich vows to imprison Chris if he sees him off Earth again.  To be honest, Rich is pretty true to character here:  he leaps to conclusions and doesn’t even pretend to listen to Chris as he explains Robbie willingly sacrificed himself to become Dark Starhawk.  We end the issue with Chris committed to staying on Earth.  However, that night, Sleepwalker pays him a visit, telling him he needs to become a Sleepwalker, too.  I mean, why not change everything all over again?

The New Mutants: Dead Souls #5:  This issue is really solid.  Tran manipulates Illyana into breaking into Dr. Strange’s house and drawing her Soulsword.  In so doing, she apparently (and conveniently) breaks the seals that prevent him from entering the house.  Rictor then inadvertently presents Tran with what he wants, a gem that converts him to his physical form.  Reborn, Tran is all the more formidable.  This series of errors seems to prove his point that this team is the B-team.  Guido grabs Tran and has Illyana send the two of them into Limbo.  This moment is significant because Rosenberg had earlier forced Rahne and Guido into a room in the house that seemed to show them their nightmares.  There, Rahne learned that her nightmare — Guido killing her son — is also Guido’s nightmare.  It brings resolution to their story as Guido tearfully begs Rahne for forgiveness and Rahne grants it to him.  (I totally cried.)  Reconciled, Rahne refuses to let Guido stay trapped in Limbo, knowing how nightmarish it would be for him.  But, Rosenberg also uses it as a bit of therapy for all of us, showing us how we remain stuck in cycles of grief and guilt that serve little purpose.  This series just continues to get better and better, and I think Rosenberg makes a great case for continuing it as an ongoing.

X-Men:  Blue #31:  Although the last arc was awful, Bunn rights the ship here, as the kids follow Magneto’s path of devastation as he makes his way to Emma.  Bloodstorm exposits that Magneto was driven over the edge when he was forced to kill the Mothervine-controlled mutants in his care who attacked him, though I’ll admit I don’t totally buy that.  Bunn seems to be arguing that Magneto is inherently unstable and violent (if not exactly evil), and the events of the Mothervine arc simply overrode his ability to control his behavior.  But, he is slowly but surely destroying Hellfire Club chapters along the way, so we’ll see where it all goes.

Also Read: Darth Vader #18; Detective Comics #984; The Hunt for Wolverine:  Adamantium Agenda #3; Ms. Marvel #32

New-ish Comics: The June 27 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Infinity Countdown:  Darkhawk #3:  Seriously how many times can Marvel ret-con Darkhawk’s origin?  We learn here the Gardener, one of the Elders of the Universe, created the Tree of Shadows.  He was obsessed with seeing where he could grow life, and he saw the Darkforce Dimension as a challenge.  He apparently forgot about the Tree after planting it.  However, millennia later, the Shi’ar and Skrulls somehow discovered it and fought over it.  A Shi’ar soldier gets to the Tree first and steals a seed, and it somehow transforms him into a set of “living armor.”  (I'm definitely not sure how that happened.  Did his armor take over his body?  If so, how and why did the Tree make that happen?)  Moreover, the soldier observes the Skrulls changing shape, which somehow allows him to change shape?  I don’t know.  At any rate, he seems to be the first Raptor.  Chris gets this information from Razor, who was supposedly dead but whose essence is apparently still rattling around wherever Chris’ consciousness/soul is.  Along those lines, I think the amulet is Chris' soul now?  He mentions how his soul is powering Starhawk; since Robbie became Starhawk when he got his hands on the amulet, the transitive property means Chris' soul is the amulet.  At any rate, Razor’s pep talk here means Chris can suddenly alter his armor again.  This time, he sheds his former armor like a skin and becomes a new set of armor that can turn into a ship.  I don't know.  This whole story just feels like a mess.

Multiple Man #1:  "Dammit, Jamie!  Stuff like this is why everyone finds you so annoying!"  Truer words, Beast, truer words.  The new New Mutants find one of Jamie's dupes in a sealed-off lab, though we're never told why they're looking for the lab in the first place.  It turns out this dupe had all of Jamie's science abilities and was trying to create a serum that would stabilize dupes and let them live independently from Jamie, in cases just like this one, where Jamie Prime is dead.  However, he's not as smart as Beast, so the serum only works temporarily.  As Beast works to stabilize the serum, Jamie swipes Bishop's time-travel device and heads to the future.  He returns almost immediately to stop something (we're not sure what yet) from happening, and he unexpectedly brings back versions of himself who are also Cable, Deadpool, Dr. Strange, and Hulk.  Yeah, it's confusing.  At this stage, Rosenberg hasn't hinted Jamie Prime survived the Terrigen Mists, so we're left to assume Jamie Prime is really dead.  But, that said, if Jamie could travel to the future, why not travel to the past, grab Jamie Prime, travel back to the present (skipping the Terrigen Mists), and have him reabsorb Jamie?  Anyone?

Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man #306:  I've said it before and I'll say it again: this title is the Spider-Man title.  From his fresh take on JJJ, Jr. to his introduction of new characters (like Teresa), Zdarsky is telling a modern Spider-Man tale, not entangled in all the usual clichés and tropes Spider-Man carries with him after 55 years.  But, it's still a Spider-Man story at its heart.  In the present, Daredevil leads Peter and the gang to the Resistance's secret base in the Baxter Building.  There, T'Challa analyzes the device the Vedomi scout gave Peter and reveals it's a capsule that connects a biological consciousness with the Vedomi's hivemind.  The connected person would then be able to override the Vedomi's directive, making them see Earth as an empty planet.  Before anyone can react, Peter opens the capsule and absorbs the programming.  It allows him full access to his memories, including his parents.  He's overwhelmed, but Teresa encourages him to embrace it, a reminder that he needs to save the people who love him.  (He sees MJ at one point, and I wonder if the editors would let Zdarsky have Peter remember the deal with Mephisto...)  At any rate, these sequences are what makes this story a Spider-Man story, grounded as they are in Peter Parker and his experiences.  He tells Teresa he's not going to survive this adventure, since his body is overheating due to the presence of the programming.  He makes his way onto the ship, but, before he can merge with the core, the Tinkerer appears.  (Earlier he had hacked into Ironheart's armor and used her as a ride to the ship.)  Dun-dun-DUN!  Zdarsky even manages to upgrade the Tinkerer here into a threat in and of himself.  I'll admit I rolled my eyes at the claim that Peter is going to die, but, otherwise, Zdarsky is telling a great story here.  Whereas I'm bored of the similarly long "Daredevil" arc about Wilson Fisk as Mayor of New York, Zdarsky has managed to keep this tale fresh as we enter the last act.

Star Wars:  Doctor Aphra #21:  Spurrier is clearly writing for the trade, because I had to re-read last issue and this one just to get a basic sense of the plot.  But, it's not just because there are twists and turns, because twists and turns are good.  It's because it's all lost in a variety of technical mumbo-jumbo that I find hard to understand but is unfortunately key to understanding the plot.  Moreover, the technical mumbo-jumbo consists of a string of overly convenient developments that even Aphra seems unlikely to be able to arrange.  This title keeps creeping down my list, to be honest.

X-Men:  Blue #30:  These two issues have just been uncharacteristically terrible.  I barely care about Jimmy let alone Jimmy as the central figure in a storyline that continues from a cross-over event I didn't read.  It's like a particularly bad hangover.  Like last issue, this issue focuses on Jimmy as a Poison, something we're supposed to believe means he's functionally dead.  Yet, Bunn has already shown Jean was able to resurrect herself, so it's clear Jimmy will be able to do so, too.  As such, I'm not sure why Bunn made the decision to extend this story, when he has much more interesting ones to tell.  Whatever.  This series ends in six issues anyway.

Also Read:  Marvel 2-in-One #7; Ms. Marvel #31; Old Man Hawkeye #6; Star Wars:  Lando - Double or Nothing #2; Thor #2

New-ish Comics: The June 13 Marvel "A-M" Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Darth Vader #17:  When Darth Vader tells you you’re an asshole, you’re really an asshole.  Barr reveals to Lee-char and Vader that he knew billions on Mon Cala would die, but he needed to set the stage for the Mon Calamari’s involvement in the Rebellion and thus the events we’re currently seeing develop in the main series.  (I assume it means Trios and Vader fail in their attempt to destroy the Mon Calamari fleet, but we’ll see.)  Lee-char is appalled (particularly after Barr admits to killing the Imperial ambassador, setting off the armed conflict), but his surrender doesn’t convince Tarkin to stop the bombardment.  It’s a tactical error on Tarkin’s part, as Raddus is left with no choice but to order the fleet to flee the planet, with three ships successfully breaking through the blockade.  In so doing, Barr succeeds, as the Mon Calamari who escape are clearly allied with the Rebellion from this point forward.  But, Soule makes Barr’s treachery clear; as he himself admits, Barr might not have been Sith, but he sure as hell wasn’t a Jedi.  An interesting loose end here is that Verla, Barr’s remaining apprentice, survives.  I wonder how she’s going to play in later issues.  At this point, though, all hope is loss; as Vader says to Lee-char, Mon Cala no longer exists; only the Empire does.

Infinity Countdown:  Darkhawk #2:  This issue is admittedly hard to follow, mainly because it once again descends so far into the constantly changing Darkhawk mythos that you feel like you’re reading a Wikipedia entry at times.  We learn the Fraternity of Raptors was created as synthetic versions of Ratha’kon, the Starhawk, allegedly the Phoenix’s predator (whatever that means).  The Fraternity has long been seeking the full power of the “celestial raptor” (i.e., Ratha'kon, I'm assuming), but it wasn't able to perform the necessary ritual, because it required a willing as well as forced sacrifice.  Enter Talonar and Darkhawk.  Robbie is perfectly happy to watch Gyre, the lead Raptor, seemingly kill Chris in cold blood by ripping the amulet from the Razor armor.  You have to wonder how Rich is going to respond (per “Infinity Countdown” #4) when he learns his brother is this far gone.  By taking the amulet from the Razor armor and giving it to Talonar, the ritual is complete and Dark Starhawk is born.  This part is fine, though I question why Gyre allows the host to be a human, given humans’ alleged incompatibility with the armor.  According to this issue, we learned in “Darkhawk” #51 that the Datasong was so overwhelming to Chris at times that his mind created false memories — “I saw things, remembered people and places that weren’t there.”  It was all presumably to ease the burden of the Datasong, though I’m not sure how it accomplished that.  I also don’t remember this part from that issue, but, as Sims and Bowers specifically mention it here, it’s presumably relevant.  If you’re willing to accept the Raptors' origin story and Chris' memory issues on faith at this point, it’s otherwise a solid issue.  I’m hoping Sim and Bowers put aside the exposition for now and give us the space opera Darkhawk always should’ve been but rarely seemed to be.  They infuse this issue with some rare humor for the franchise, and it makes it a much stronger read as a result.  They could really do a lot with Chris so long as they don’t repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.

Marvel 2-in-One Annual #1:  I’m not particularly a fan of Doom or Reed, so I’ll admit this issue was wasted on me a bit.  It was billed as containing the secrets of “Secret Wars,” and I was attracted to that, since “Secret Wars” never really explained how we wound up where we did.  But, the “secret” is really that Reed made Doom think he and Susan were dead so he could have a fresh start.  Robbed of his intense rivalry with Reed, would he become a better man?  The answer is...muddled.  At some point, Doom rants against Reed's imperiousness as he disapproves of Doom killing one of his alternate selves in combat.  In his rant, Doom focuses on Reed’s decision to let Ben and Johnny think him (and Sue and the kids) dead, a crime against the family he so allegedly prizes.  It’s a reminder to me that I probably won’t be collecting the new “Fantastic Four” series, because I still find Reed insufferable, in any iteration of him.

Also Read:   Hunt for Wolverine:  The Adamantium Agenda #2

New-ish Comics: The June 6 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Astonishing X-Men #12:  I like Charles Soule, but, man, this story was a mess.  We learn the Shadow King has been pulling the strings all along, using Proteus to seed the world with reality gardens that Farouk could then use to control the world.  (I still don't understand what these "reality gardens" are at this point, but whatever.)  Then, it turns out X was pulling the strings.  Surprise!  He teaches Betsy how to ask -- not demand, as they did last time -- every psychic in the world join their Psychic Friends Network, and Betsy somehow uses this energy to dismiss Farouk.  (It's not entirely clear the mechanics of that, but, again, whatever.)  Wrapping up loose ends, X finishes giving the X-Men his "gifts," wiping all memory of his existence from their minds...except for Betsy's.  Despite his claim to be free of Farouk's influence, he allows Betsy to retain her memory of him, just in case he isn't.  Um, OK, way to reassure us, X.  I don't really know what Soule wants us to feel here.  Xavier...I mean, X...could've easily just set up the Network the first time they tried it.  Why wait until now?  In other words, Soule doesn't explain why Xavier suddenly realizes permission is the key to harnessing the Network's power fully.  Moreover, X doesn't remotely feel like Xavier.  To be fair, he insists he's not Xavier, but then who is he?  He feels more like the latest iteration of Xorn, a convoluted plot device that future authors are likely to use and abuse for their own purposes.  It's just a mess, from start to finish.

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra’s al Ghul #1:  This issue is great.  Seeley draws such a good bead on the characters that every development flows logically from the previous one, as characters respond the way you think they would.  But, it doesn’t mean they don't surprise us with moments of growth either.  The issue starts slow, with Selena taking Damian to be sized for his wedding outfit and Damian rehashing his troubled origin for her as a way of saying he doesn’t need her.  Damian pops into the arcade to try to best his previous score on Cheese Viking, but he finds himself confronting Aion, who claims to be Bruce and Selena’s son from the future.  The conflict shifts to the future, where Damian from "Batman" #666 seemingly awakens from hallucinating the arcade sequence only to face Aion in his present.  But, the miniature Nightwing on his shoulder lecturing him about not killing Aion is his clue this moment, too, is a hallucination.  He then finds himself in the arcade once again, realizing his grandfather is his enemy.  He knows the drugs al Ghul used on him brought out his subconscious fear that Bruce will replace him with a "real" son.  For his part, al Ghul is here to kill Damian for allowing Catwoman to replace him.  Damian doesn’t win the fight so much as he persists.  Later, as Selina returns from her bachelorette party, he asks if she and Bruce are going to have children.  She resists answering the question as she doesn't see it as part of his business, but Damian puts his anxiety on display for her, a surprising sign of how deeply concerned he is.  But, Selina also surprises as Seeley allows her to be the adult we rarely see her be.  She tells Damian she can’t imagine raising a child, because s/he would have to carry not only her/his own baggage but also hers (and, implicitly, Bruce's).  Bringing a tear to everyone's eye, she then says she could never have a child who could overcome that baggage, because they'd never be as strong as Damian Wayne.  Damian is surprised and touched by this confession.  Selina tells him they need to stick together, as the only people in the house who aren’t goody-goodies.  She promises to have his back if he’ll have hers, and he agrees, with a smile that lights up his face.  It’s a lovely moment, and it feels hard-won.  Damian may be the bastard child Aion said he was, not raised from birth by Batman as Aion allegedly was.  But, Seeley makes it clear here he’s all the son Bruce and Selina need.  (That said, I’d be totally down with DC bringing back Aion!)  For all the cynicism I feel about this perceived money-grab series, this one is really worth the money.

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Nightwing vs. Hush #1:  This one is, too!  Man, who knew a tie-in series could be so good?  Seeley again nails characterization here.  Clark and Dick are taking Bruce to a pocket universe to go fishing for his bachelor party (after dinner at Batburger), but Hush unexpectedly attacks.  He and Dick tumble through the portal and find themselves in the Betwixt, a place where people without strong senses of self go to disappear.  The ghosts of these people attack Dick and Tommy, and their (convenient) guide to the Betwixt tells them to flee to Wayne Manor, since it’s where their identity is the strongest.  Seeley’s greatest twist here is to have Hush realize something he (and, frankly, we) should’ve realized long ago:  he wanted to be Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne’s best friend, not Bruce himself.  He reveals he’s changed his face to look like Dick, but the ghosts arrive and ultimately absorb him as he has no personality of his own.  Bruce and Clark rescue Dick, and, as he recovers, Dick overhears Bruce telling a departing Clark not to forget the ring.  Dick then asks Bruce if he made Clark his best man and Bruce awkwardly confirms he did.  When Bruce starts apologizing, Dick tells him not to do so:  Clark is always there for him, but Dick isn’t, because he left for Blüdhaven to find his own path.  Just as Selina is the unexpected adult in Robin’s version of this series, Dick is so here.  In other tales like this one, Dick could never accept this outcome.  But, here, he owns his decision to leave Bruce's side.  After the wedding, he makes Bruce promise they’ll spend time together, much to Bruce’s glee.  Like the Robin issue, this issue isn’t perfect.  Just as Damian’s recitation of his origin story was a drag, Hush’s insistence on becoming Bruce’s friend is so cartoonishly juvenile it's annoying.  But, it’s still a solid character study that reveals not really Hush’s fear, but Dick’s:  he, too, is afraid he’s being replaced.  But, like Damian, he realizes he needn't worry.  Meanwhile, Hush confirms it’s the Joker telling all of Batman’s villains about the wedding.  Oddly, we also learn Bruce and Selina themselves aren’t actually getting married, lest it raise too many questions about their secret identities.  After all, a billionaire marrying a criminal is a bit of a stretch.  (I still don’t understand how they’re going to keep that under wraps.)  Finally, can I make a pitch for Wilson drawing “Nightwing?”  Dick Grayson is often handsome, but he’s never been more handsome than he is here.  All in all, it's just a great issue.

Captain America #703:  I'm honestly just enduring this arc until we get to Coates.  Looking over the nine issues Waid has penned on this title, I'm still not sure what point he is trying to make.  First, I'm not sure it was a great idea to spend so much time so early in this run on two alternate-reality stories, particularly as one of them didn't feature Steve at all.  But, even if you put that aside, it also doesn't help that Steve's descendant Jack is a bumbling idiot.  He survives here only because his enemies -- first General Pursur and then the Red Skull -- very conveniently get so busy they ignore him.  Continuing with overly convenient plot devices, Jack gets out word that Pursur is using humanity as sleeper agents for the Kree via the Skull's apparently supernatural ability to manipulate technology to broadcast Jack's discovery to everyone.  Um, OK.  At this stage, we're also supposed to believe that Jack's son Steve is the key to somehow fending off the Kree, whose armada Pursur has dispatched to destroy Earth lest it successfully rebel.  We're supposed to believe Jack is a master strategist because he was "chosen" as a historian, but it's hard to believe he is if he didn't see Pursur taking this step, which he apparently didn't.  Unless we learn Jack's son Steve is the Phoenix, it's hard to believe he's going to single-handedly fight off the armada.  But, even if he does, I still don't get what this story tells us about Cap.  To repeat myself, it's a mess, from start to finish.

Dazzler:  X-Song #1:  I (heart) Dazzler.  I have every issue of her 1980s series.  Hell, I even read her cross-over appearances in "Secret Wars II."  Unfortunately, I'm sad to say she deserved better than she got here.  I'm not saying this issue is awful.  In fact, the premise is great:  Dazzler has to grapple with the fact anti-Inhuman mutants start appearing at her solidarity shows to make it clear that Inhumans aren't welcome.  However, Visaggio stumbles as every conversation in this issue dissolves into activist speak.  Although it makes sense, to an extent, that anti-Inhuman activists speak in talking points,Visaggio overdoes it.  Alison repeats her lines like a robot, particularly when it comes to rebuffing Piotr's oddly persistent attempts to get her to join the X-Men again.  If it were just a filler issue it would be OK, but it isn't OK when this issue was supposedly issue #43 of that 1980s series.  It's a disappointing color-by-numbers enterprise.

Infinity Countdown #4:  This issue is weirdly anticlimactic.  Surfer convinces Galactus to become the Destroyer once again, taking out Ultron's planet before he can spread his virus throughout the Universe.  (In exchange, Surfer becomes Galactus' herald again.)  Surfer's intervention helps Warlock get back the Soul Gem, though Ultron manages to escape.  After the Guardians squabble amongst themselves and with the Nova Corps over the Power Gem, Drax takes the Power Gem as Nova departs -- against Gamora's wishes -- to find his brother.  We also have a weird interlude where the Collector and Gamemaster present Peter with an Infinity Gem from another Universe.  That Universe's Phyla-Vell and Moondragon appear to collect the Gem, and we learn they're also looking for the identity of someone called Requiem, who seems to be the menacing figure in the intro pages these last few issues.  The weirdest part is how easily the Gems change hands throughout the issue; at one point, Adam Warlock literally just lops off Ultron's hand to grab the Soul Gem.  We'll see where we go from here.  Although the Gems have changed hands a few times, I'm not sure this mini-series is really bringing us to a different place than where we started.

Nightwing #45:  This issue is clever because it's so obvious.  Stories about AI and VR going haywire are rife at this point; Remender's "Tokyo Ghost" covered that ground well.  But, Percy goes one further here, as Wyrm -- the entity behind the Phantasm devices -- makes his play for Dick.  He comments how most people's information is useless, but some people's information is really important.  Figuring the former ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne is privy to a lot of secrets, Wyrm has uploaded a virus into Dick to steal them.  Meanwhile, Mirage -- the company behind Phantasm -- is rebuilding the train line destroyed as part of the "crypto-attack" we saw last issue (I think).  It's a project the mayor of Blüdhaven is (ominously) calling "Blüdhaven:  the City of Tomorrow."  It's clear we've got more going on here than just Wyrm making a play for cash, and Percy does a good job of building the suspense even as we learn more.

Star Wars #49:  The resolution of the Mon Cala rebellion is anticlimactic and rushed.  Despite an entire sky full of Imperial Star Destroyers, the Mon Calamari and Millennium Falcon manage to hold on long enough to allow some ships from the Rebellion fleet to join the battle.  Ackbar sacrifices one of the Mon Calamari ships to take out an Imperial Star Destroyer, somehow breaking the entire Imperial blockade.  (I guess the other Destroyers were only there for moral support?)  Initially, I thought Gillen was building to a long overdue defeat for the Rebellion; instead, they yet again miraculously pull out a win.  Moreover, I still don't understand the events of last issue, where Urtya goes from confiscating the video of Lee-char's call to arms to hurriedly playing it for all Mon Calamari.  Urtya claims he had to act quickly because the Imperials were imminently going to seize the Mon Calamari fleet.  Didn't he already know that?  I feel like their intent was pretty clear.  If he did know that, why not just explain the situation to Leia when she and the guys arrived on Mon Cala with the videotape?  If he didn't know that, how did he just suddenly learn that?  Did it happen off panel?  I don't feel like we saw any such revelation last issue.  At any rate, the good guys win.  Yay.  Gillen tries to make it interesting with the revelation that Trios has been working for Darth Vader all long and they intend on destroying the 12 fully crewed Mon Calamari ships.  I'm hoping Leia sees this treachery coming, because if she doesn't, I'm going to start losing some faith here.

Also Read:  Batman #48; Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider #19; X-Men:  Gold #29; X-Men:  Red #5

New-ish Comics: The May 30 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #800:  This issue is great.  Really.  The story is actually 80 pages, which makes it feel less like the money grab it still obviously is.  (Seriously, Marvel, stop with the $9.99 issues.)

I wasn't sure how Slott was going to pull off an 80-page story, but he really nails it.  The story doesn't drag, and the resolution feels hard won.  Each step that brought us closer and closer to the resolution felt well supported by the steps preceding it.  Slott accomplishes this feat (rare for him lately) by keeping everything grounded in characterization:  Flash sacrifices himself to allow Peter to keep the powers he needs to take on Norman, Peter uses his brains and not brawn to defeat Norman, Norman's ego undoes him, etc.  We even have Aunt May implying she knows Peter is Spider-Man and telling him she's proud of "Spider-Man" for saving so many people, herself included, over the years.  Peter’s speeches to Flash and Jonah carry the weight of almost 60 years, and Slott made us feel that weight in a good way.

I’m not saying it’s a perfect issue.  After all, JJJ, Jr.’s decision to shoot Norman feels like an afterthought, when it's really a huge deal.  First, Immonen (unusually for him) screwed up the positioning, as Peter takes the shot to his shoulder well above Norman’s head.  Given JJJ, Jr.s was firing nowhere near Norman's body, it actually reads more like he was firing a warning shot.  But, we can tell from the narrative he wasn't, and Slott really never addresses the idea JJJ, Jr. is willing to murder Norman.  Compounding matters, Peter just categorically forgives JJJ, Jr., an example of moral relativism that we don’t often see from a guy committed to making sure no one dies.  Sure, he let Clash off the hook for stealing, but it was because he was playing Robin Hood; attempted murder is something else entirely.  I get where Slott was going with the idea of Peter forgiving Jonah, as it's part of Peter pledging to Flash he'll stop engaging in his own form of bullying.  But, I still don't understand what Peter meant by that.  His wisecracks?  It's a pretty big leap to go from taking responsibility for making fun of criminals to condoning attempted murder.  Moreover, Slott is writing a check here he’s not going to cash; I’m not sure I understand how a more serious Peter (if a non-joking Peter is what Slott is setting up here) will play.

As I've said previously, I loved Dan Slott at the start of his run.  "Big Time," "Spider-Island," and "Ends of the Earth" were great Spider-Man stories:  they were ambitious, fun, and innovative.  They showcased the best and worst of Peter Parker, from the extended supporting cast that makes him who he is to the nagging self-doubt that threatens constantly to undermine him.  Then, "Superior Spider-Man" happened.  At this point, the wheels went off the bus.  Slott and his editor, Stephen Wacker, presaged the Trump era by dismissing anyone expressing confusion or disappointment with the poorly structured story as an enemy.  Slott's then seemingly lost his ability to tell large-scale stories as both "Spider-Verse" and "Dead No More:  The Clone Conspiracy" were complicated, sprawling, and tedious.  Then, Peter essentially became Tony Stark; it's no irony Slott is going to write him next.  You could've replaced Iron Man for Spider-Man for the entirety of "Amazing Spider-Man" volume 4 and likely not have noticed a difference.  At this point, it was increasingly clear it was time for Slott to go.

Slott wraps up his time next issue, and we'll see how that goes.  At this point, I'm glad "Go Down Swinging" brought back some of that magic "Big Time" had.  We could all use a little magic right now.

Daredevil #603:  I’ll admit this story is starting to feel too long, as if Soule is going to drag out this night for several years of stories.  I mean, Henderson’s art is great here, so I’m not exactly complaining.  But, the Hand’s ninjas retreating from the streets of New York so the Beast could unleash a toxic cloud on the city felt like an excessive escalation of the assault.  Wasn't a plague of ninjas enough?  Moreover, Matt seems completely incapable of doing anything believable in terms of fighting off the Hand’s superior force; releasing Black Cat, Diamondback, Hammerhead, and Owl doesn’t do much to stop a toxic cloud.  You’d figure Murdoch would’ve put someone (Dr. Strange?) in charge of finding a way to stop the Beast.  Moreover, it’s hard to believe this assault is just because Blindspot refused to kill Muse as part of his deal with the Beast.  It seems completely disproportionate.  It makes more sense for the Beast to get revenge on Matt by making him mayor and thus making him responsible as the Hand destroys his beloved city around him.  If the Beast is willing to destroy New York because of a teenager's broken promise, it makes you wonder why he hasn't already done so.  Someone somewhere had to disappoint him previously.  It’s all serves as a distraction from the great story about the Kingpin’s reign as mayor, making you wonder if Soule wouldn’t have been better off sequencing the stories rather than telling them overlappingly.  I know that’s how "real" life happens; “Batman” arcs are always at their best when he’s juggling multiple enemies a the same time.  But, again, it feels like Matt is going up against nuclear weapons with flint knives here.

Infinity Countdown:  Captain Marvel #1:  This issue is fine in terms of scripting (if a little too rah-rah), but it makes no sense in terms of the plot:  Carol’s consultations with the other Captain Marvels helps her learn how to defeat Blastaar in a less destructive way than she originally did, but she concludes her gut is a better guide (even though it, by definition, wasn’t).  It's not terrible, but it definitely feels like a cross-over event tie-in issue.

Marvel 2-in-One #6:  This issue somehow manages to wrap up this story quickly, without skimping on the emotions.  A freed Johnny Storm uses the Power Cosmic to sate Galact-a-Doom’s hunger in time for Emma to transfer her mind into his body.  Using a Trojan Horse code Reed wrote, she turns herself into a creator instead of a destroyer.  (You have to wonder why Reed didn't turn him into a creator the first time he appeared at Earth, but it is what it is.)  Johnny then uses the remaining part of his Power Cosmic to empower Norrin to follow Emma into the stars to recreate the Universe.  But, the best moments are saved for the team, as our Johnny encourages our Victor to trust him (and not prevent Emma from taking over Galactus) because it's what made the Fantastic Four great.  Then their Reed tells our Ben he knows his Reed and Sue are dead.  Overall, it makes for an unusually sad issue (particularly when we learn Galen died of madness, knowing full well what he did as Galactus).  Although Ben and Johnny might have helped recreate this world, as far as Ben knows, his universe doesn’t give him that same hope.

Spider-Gwen #32:  Gwen wraps up some loose ends here before Captain DeWolff arrests her.  She reunites with the Mary Janes, and Reed records their band practice as the source for a device whose sounds incapacitates Matt Murdoch.  It allows Gwen to swipe the Web-Watch and leave Murdoch for the Hand, whose leadership has declared war on him for his incompetence.  It’s hard to count out Murdoch, though; his pledge to get revenge on Gwen feels real.  Meanwhile, Gwen assures the Mary Janes that she knows what she’s doing.  Her father believed in honesty, but Gwen realized “honesty” was about emotions; George was trying to get the people of New York to see Spider-Gwen through his eyes, essentially asking them to trust him.  To Gwen’s mind, the truth (not "honesty") allows the people of New York to draw their own conclusions about her.  It’s a compelling case, though we’ll see if Gwen can live with the consequences.  In another note, Gwen seems to tell Murdoch the device doesn’t hurt her because it’s the voices of the people she loves, implying she’s found a balance with the symbiote.  (I'm not sure I'm buying that, but I think it's what Latour is arguing.)  In fact, she implies Murdoch believed the symbiote feared sonics because he feared sonics.  It’s a bit of a stretch but I get where Latour is going with it.  It goes to the idea of Gwen as a fully integrated person, not just the sum of all her various personas.  We'll see what happens next issue.

X-Men:  Blue #28:  It was always clear Alex was going to be cured, both body and soul, and Bunn takes care of that pretty effectively here, as Havok, Bastion, and Miss Sinister are defeated on several fronts.

First, Magneto calls Elixir and Exodus from the past (or future) to stop the spread of Mothervine:  Exodus uses his powers to teleport them from infection site to infection site while Elixir cures everyone who didn’t actually have the mutant gene to start.  Meanwhile, Emma is appalled as Miss Sinister tortures Jimmy and Bloodstorm, mostly because she doesn’t like the idea of mutants being manipulated.  (Sinister also confirms the mutants of Jimmy’s world were manufactured, and he carried the code — Mothervine — in his DNA.  I'm not sure if we knew that previously, but there you go.)  Emma turns against her, taking control of Mach-2 and using her magnetism to free Jimmy so he can slice Miss Sinister into ribbons.  With Emma’s control lifted and Sinister’s presence gone, Lorna, Daken, Gazing Nightshade, and Xorn are free.  They join forces with Emma, Bloodstorm, and Jimmy to take down Havok and the remnants of his Brotherhood (Bastion, Toad, and that white-haired guy, as far as I can tell.  Bastion tries to assert control, but Xorn releases his singularity, seemingly destroying himself and Bastion in the process.

All that’s left is for Alex to be saved.  Bunn does his best here to make it clear why it was only now that the specific confluence of factors necessary to heal him were presented.  Emma uses Lorna’s memories of Alex to punch through his defenses and invert him, lamenting the loss of his potential as a bad guy, and Elixir uses his powers to heal his face.  Alex is shaken from the experience, feeling as if part of his soul has been ripped from him.  If Bunn stumbles at all through this issue, it’s in Emma’s decision to become an unrestricted good guy.  I get why she turns against Miss Sinister, but it’s less clear why she finally decides to heal Alex.  Even if Lorna’s memories of (i.e., love for) Alex served as the necessary Trojan Horse to cure him, Bunn doesn’t tell us why Emma would actually turn the switch.  As she herself says, he would've been a powerful ally.  But, Bunn does a solid job with healing Alex’s scar. I never bought into the idea that Alex’s skin was somehow destroyed on a molecular level, as it really made no sense.  (We can resurrect people from the dead, but we can't fix Alex's scar?)  As such, Elixir healing him here felt like a logical fix to a problem that should’ve been solved a long time ago.

At any rate, I’m just glad to have Alex back.  “AXIS” was a pretty terrible event, and it made little sense to sandbag such a great character — particularly given what Remender did with him in “Uncanny Avengers” before “AXIS” — with that legacy.  (Plus, I’m not going to object to his handsome face returning.)  Now, I’m just exited to see Emma and a furious Magneto go to war.

Also Read:  Ms. Marvel #30; Pathfinder:  Spiral of Bones #3; Star Wars:  Lando - Double or Nothing #1; X-Men:  Red Annual #1

New-ish Comics: The May 23 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Detective Comics #981:  This issue is so good.  Tynion has everything completely and totally collapse.  That alone is a surprise in comics, but he goes one better by making everyone the better for it.

The end comes as Stephanie shows Tim the future that Brother Eye edited -- where Kate kills Bruce not because she's working for the President but because he had terminal cancer and killing him allowed her to pass Amanda Waller's psi-scans.  It's then a quick road to Tim reasserting control over himself.  The Belfry collapses, and the dream is dead.

But, Tynion makes it clear it should be dead.  Both Kate and Tim are shaken by the revelations about their future, mostly because they realize they both spent so much time worried about their futures that they've neglected their presents.  The team ends so everyone can take time to assess where they are.  The President pardons Jacob on the promise he dissolve the Colony, so he helps Kate as she becomes an independent Batwoman again.  Cass goes to live with Leslie, and Babs has agreed to tutor her.  Clayface (in human form) watches her happy ending from the shadows with a tear in his eye before leaving Gotham with Victoria.  Tim and Bruce embrace the fiction of Tim going to Ivy University as, instead, he and Stephanie head into the sunset (literally).  (Tim tells her he doesn't want to take the lonely path his future self took.)  Jean-Paul is left searching for his own truth while Luke dedicates himself to studying Brother Eye so something like it can never happen again.  In other words, none of them is in the place to be part of a superteam right now.

Tynion does a great job of showing of how each development is connected to each character's experience over the course of his run; they're not just left somewhere DC needed them to be because of some upcoming event.  Interestingly, it's Bruce who's possibly the most changed.  He's still smarting from Babs' analysis of his relationship with Kate, and, in typical Bruce fashion, he sees it as a problem (Bruce = bad at relationships) to solve.  (Tim even comments on how odd it is to see him smile.)  In other words, Bruce's lesson is the value of trusting his family and saying he's sorry.

It takes someone of Tynion's talent to leave everyone so broken but thus better, but he totally does that here.  This entire long arc has been one of the strongest Batman stories ever told, incorporating a supporting cast in a more profound way than we've previously seen.  I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Hunt for Wolverine #1:  I wasn't going to read this event, because, OMFG, I'm over events.  Also, Marvel is engaged in a cash grab of almost unprecedented proportions with four mini-series spawning from this issue.  But, when I saw one of the mini-series involved getting the New Avengers together, well, I just couldn't pass up the chance to see the old band again.  The goods news is Soule is as good as he usually is here.  He wisely chooses the Reavers to be the villains who go after Logan's corpse.  First, their motive is pretty clear:  their last few jobs haven't gone well (a nod to the general incompetence of villains), and they need money for repairs and upgrades.  But, they're also formidable enemies even in their weakened condition (a nod to their illustrious past of ass-kicking).  Along the way, we learn their attempt to extract Wolverine from the statue was always doomed to fail, because Kitty had phased his body from the adamantium months ago.  I've wondered why she hadn't done so numerous times since Wolverine "died," so it's good to see Marvel going with this approach here.  It also makes sense:  they wanted to keep it a secret so he could have a legitimate resting place.  Soule also wisely uses a framing device of Kitty telling Logan this story at his grave, not just because it's lovely, but also because it sets up her discovering he's not there.  The second story has Kitty recruiting help from all the corners of Logan's life, setting up the four (!) mini-series.  Soule is successful here because he spends a lot of time focused on the characters' voices and personalities; everyone sounds and acts like s/he should.  If the authors of the mini-series keep that attention to detail, it could be a good time, even if it is a cash grab.

Infinity Countdown:  Darkhawk #1:  I have two main questions after reading this issue, and I'm afraid only one is going to get answered.  The one I expect to get answered is how the Raptors are now able to survive without their link to the Tree of Shadows.  But, the question I don't think I'll get answered is how the Fraternity of Raptors went from a somewhat feared group to the hot mess it is here.  The Raptors are apparently mad at the Fraternity for stealing from them, but I'm not entirely clear what they stole.  In Chris Powell's case, he switched places physically with the Darkhawk armor.  If the Fraternity only opened a portal into the Nullspace for the first time in this issue, how did they get their hands on Raptor suits in the first place?  If I remember correctly, they're actually using knock-off Raptor suits but, if that's the case, what did they steal from the Raptors to make them so angry?  Moreover, why did Robbie wait until now to actually open the portal to the Nullspace with the Nega-Bands?  Shouldn't they have jumped on that opportunity previously?  It seems like they've maybe been waiting to collect the Power Stone and their failure to do so left them with no choice, but I'm not sure.  I guess I had more questions than I thought...

Star Wars #48:  I'm not really sure what Urtya's plan is here.  I get the idea that he wanted to be the one to broadcast the king's dying message to his people; as he himself said to Leia, it wasn't Leia's responsibility to do so.  In fact, Gillen does a pretty good job of showing Leia as too forceful here.  Urtya's right:  she's endangering the lives of his people, and she's not the one to get to make that call.  But, Leia's also right that his decision to broadcast the piece to his people almost immediately is absurd, since they're nowhere near prepared to rebel.  Why hold Leia and her allies at gun point to retrieve the video instead of working with her and her considerable resources to free Mon Cala from the Empire's rule?  I'm assuming Gillen has an ace up his sleeve, because this sort of loose end is unusual for him.  That said, Threepio's star turn is hilarious, as he and the Clawdite deliver an impromptu three-hour play after the Shu-Torun opera concludes to buy Leia and her team more time.  A big break indeed.

Star Wars Annual #4:  This issue is sort of fun, mostly for the fanwank moment where Darth Vader is impressed with Luke's ability to fly a podracer but then damages the racer to keep his legend (as Anakin Skywalker) for being the only human able to do so in tact.  But, despite Bunn having 30 pages, I still have a lot of questions here.  I don't get why Vader wordlessly destroys one of Darth Astrius' lightsaber.  I mean, assuming he somehow knows Luke destroyed its twin (though I'm not sure how), did it really not have any value on its own?  Also, was I supposed to recognize the items Sana swiped to fence?  It seems like I am, but I don't.  It's not a terrible issue, but I feel like Bunn skipped some steps here.

Also Read:  Falcon #8; Hunt for Wolverine:  Adamantium Advantage #1; Old Man Hawkeye #5; Star Wars:  Doctor Aphra #20; X-Men:  Gold #28

New Comics!: The May 2 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Astonishing X-Men #11:  I like Soule a lot, but I’m not sure what the story is here exactly.  If I had to guess, it sounds like the Shadow King created the X persona to win back his access to the psychic network Psylocke accessed at the start of the series (and accesses again here).  But, it's unclear to me at this point if resurrecting Proteus was an accidental by-product of this decision or a needed distraction.  Either way, we’re essentially where we started this series, with Shadow King in control of Psylocke once more.  It’s...anticlimactic.

Avengers #1:  To no one’s surprise, Aaron and McGuinness do an outstanding job here:  it really does feel like the band has gotten back together again.  They convey a certain excitement and scale that the Avengers have been missing for a long time.  In retrospect, even "No Surrender," for all its effort, failed to hit the marks that these guys do here in just one issue.  In a way, Aaron and McGuinness don’t have to use words to convince us how important Cap, Iron Man, and Thor are to the Avengers.  You can just feel the difference.  But, Aaron does actually use words to great effect.  The conversation that opens the issue reminds me of Bendis’ “Avengers Prime” mini-series.  In that series, they sat around a campfire and talked; here, they're at a bar.  (Don't worry, Tony has a Shirley Temple.)

In this conversation, Tony makes it clear he's not sure the Avengers need them.  He convincingly talks about how he could think of two dozen people that could take the Avengers to places they couldn’t.  Cap and Thor don’t disagree. Instead, they argue the opposite:  they need the Avengers.  Aaron and McGuinness really sell that idea, with Tony using their recent nicknames:  Nazi Cap, Coma Tony, and Unworthy Thor.  It’s time to get back their mojo.  The authors also give them a suitable threat:  dead Celestials start falling to Earth.  Carol Danvers manages to prevent one from falling onto Manhattan, but it’s obviously a problem.  Then, the Final Host arrives.  I figured they were just going to show up one day, but dead Celestials serving as their heralds is pretty awesome, to be honest.

Meanwhile, the Black Panther has called in Dr. Strange after a group of archaeologists died on a research mission.  The pair discovers a cavern buried deep in the Earth filled with green glowing pods.  The pods suddenly self-animate, attacking the pair; the new Ghost Rider has the same problem.  I’ve never been a Ghost Rider fan, but Aaron and McGuinness do a good job with the new kid; he's shades of the overwhelmed teenage hero Peter Parker once was.  When you add in there a Jennifer Walters trying to control her powers on the margins of the story, it’s a pretty great group.

Aaron is at his strongest when it comes to dialogue, and I’m really paying him a compliment there because, as I've made clear, the plot is great.  But, really, the scripting is even better.  The conversation between the guys at the bar really sets the stage, but other players, from Tony’s hilariously understated AI to Dr. Strange’s wonderful snarkiness, add to the fun.  Of course, I’m anxious for an entire issue dedicated to Carol and Tony having at each other over “Civil War 2,” but I’ll try to be patient.  In the meantime, it’s a great start to this series.  It’s one of the few times I believe restarting at #1 is warranted.  The Avengers are back, baby.

Captain America #701:  I can’t say I dislike this issue.  In fact, if it were the first issue of a mini-series like “Batman: White Knight,” I’d be pretty stoked, to be honest.  I love the idea of Steve’s great-great-etc.-grandson Jackson discovering Steve's legacy has been tarnished and finding himself in a moral quandary:  does he stop the President’s military advisor from using the Super-Solider Serum — now administered to every American as a matter of course — to turn America’s population into sleeper agents for the Kree, even if it costs him his son's life?  It’s the sort of dilemma even Captain America would struggle to resolve.  Waid implies the answer is going to come from Jackson’s son himself, whose inability to absorb the Serum now seems like a good thing.  But, I have to say, I really just want a Steve Rogers story.  I get what Waid’s been doing during his run, telling stories that highlight the philosophy Steve embraces.  You don’t have to read the ongoing discussion in the letters page about what Captain America means to the readers to know that.  But, Waid started his run in the midst of a much larger assault on the Captain America mythos:  Steve has to find a way to wind back America’s trust after the Captain Nazi business.  Waid has weirdly ignored that almost entirely, and I wonder when — if ever — it’s actually going to be addressed.  As much as I’m used to events being quickly forgotten, it seems unbelievable Marvel wouldn’t address the fallout of “Secret Empire” in “Captain America” beyond the brief fight with Rampart at the start of Waid's run.  Again, I'm not saying this story is bad, but I think we really should've addressed the Captain Nazi business -- even if it wasn't Mark Waid's mess to fix -- before getting into these sorts of hypothetical stories.

Infinity Countdown #3:  This issue is sort of silly, but a bunch of important things happen in it.  First, Rich’s brother Robbie tells him the Fraternity of Raptors put him in some sort of simulator and he subsequently realized the entire Universe is essentially a larger simulation.  (I don't think we ever learn why the Fraternity put Robbie in the simulation in the first place, but whatever.)  Robbie seems to be the only one to realize this Universe is different and, ipso facto, the Power Stone is different.  For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, he tells Nova how to control the Power Stone:  as the chart at the start of the issue says, it’s mind over matter.  The Guardians and Nova manage to control the Power Stone just in time to fend off the Chitauri, which delivers the pretty great moment of Drax playing a Power Stone-powered sax.  (This issue wasn’t all bad, obviously.)  Meanwhile, Adam Warlock heals the Surfer from whatever it was Ultron did to him.  Surprisingly, the Surfer immediately flees, and Adam fails to prevent Ultron from launching his surrogates to take over the galaxy.  Meanwhile, Norrin tracks down Galactus (now the Lifebringer) to ask for him to return to his old ways to destroy the planet Ultron controls.

Rogue and Gambit #5:  Man, this series was awesome.  Thompson had done a great job of explaining how we got to this point, so it was really just a matter of Rogue and Gambit landing their final punches before the kiss (which, honestly, didn't feel inevitable, to Thompson's credit).  Rogue realizes their therapist was one of Lavish's golems, and she destroys her to take on Lavish's powers to return people's memories and powers.  She then destroys all the other golems, absorbing everyone's memories and powers (as she can now later return them, given Lavish's powers).  She then discovers Lavish herself was just a golem, making Gambit wonder if they ever really faced Lavish.  Rogue then returns everyone's memories and powers, including Remy's, after giving everyone a chance to refuse them.  She also tells Remy the experience made her admit she's always been running from him because it was never perfect; she realizes it will never be perfect.  They kiss, and fandom cheers.  As the editor says, this series was clearly a passion project for Kelly Thompson, and I really hope Marvel just hands her the keys to the kingdom.  This mini-series and "Hawkeye" were two of Marvel's brightest spots of the last few months, and she deserves whatever she wants.

Spider-Man #240:  I really wasn’t sure how Bendis was going wrap up this issue, but it’s a testament to his brilliant understanding of Miles that he did so in the best way possible.  He manages to wrap up everything in a bow, from Ganke’s girlfriend confessing she loved him too much to sell Miles’ identity to a blog to Uncle Aaron sneaking into the hospital to tell him he was right that he could do better.  (I'm not sure the latter is necessarily a good thing.)  Bendis explains his thinking in the letters page better than I ever could in the letters page, so just read that.  I only joined Miles after “Secret Wars,” and I have to say I really felt privileged to get to jump on this bandwagon.  It's been a great journey.

Also:  Transformers vs. the Visionaries #1-#5; Star Wars #47; X-Men:  Gold #27

Almost-New Comics: The April 18 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #799:  Holy fucking crap, this issue is amazing.  In fact, this arc is so good I feel like Slott is redeeming himself for all the terrible storylines over the years.  (I’m looking at you, “Superior Spider-Man.”)  First, Slott reminds us how strong Peter’s “web” of “amazing friends” is:  the Human Torch is watching MJ, Miles is watching Aunt May, and Silk is on the “Bugle” team.  Peter asks Anti-Venom to keep an eye on JJJ, Jr., and Flash reports he already has JJJ, Jr. (as we saw last issue).  But, JJJ, Jr. bolts from Flash to run to his apartment and FaceTime Peter so he can tell him he slipped and revealed Peter's identity to the Goblin.  Peter’s stoney faced look is amazing (and handsome, oy), and JJJ, Jr. is panicked when Peter cuts off the connection.  JJJ, Jr. pledges to make it right, and I’m more sure than ever he’s dying next issue.  Meanwhile, Peter contacts Clash, letting him know he’s been watching him and approves of his Robin Hood schtick.  He then asks him to watch the Osborns like the hero Peter knows he is.  With all the players set, the game begins.  Harry, Liz, and Mark awaken to discover the boys are missing, but Liz reveals she had Normie chipped.  As such, they head to the Port Authority, where they find them with Emma.  Emma tells them they're idiots, as she was trying to save the boys before Norman found them.  On cue, Norman arrives and reveals “Emma” is Harry’s long-thought dead mother, Emily.  Dun-dun-DUN!  ("The Clone Conspiracy" maybe?)  Clash reports the Goblin's arrival to Peter, and the Torch arrives to work with Clash, hitting the Red Goblin (and, most importantly, the symbiote) with fire and sonics.  However, Norman reveals the combination of the Carnage symbiote and Goblin serum gives him all the powers of Carnage and the Green Goblin but none of the weaknesses.  He not only makes quick work of this pair, but also dispatches Miles and Silk without breaking a sweat.  Flash gives him more of a challenge, as he's surprised by Flash's ability to harm the symbiote.  But, he correctly plays to Flash’s sense of heroism, as Flash spreads himself too thin trying to heal the dying heroes surrounding him.  Norman overwhelms him, and Peter (with Immonen showing us a lovely shot of his abs) pulls on his costume and leaps into action, busted leg and all.  Norman chases after his family, and Peter arrives to marvel in the devastation.  Flash uses his last ounce of power to heal Peter’s leg, just as Norman does what I was worried he’d do:  he turns Normie into a symbiote.  When Harry suggested he take Stanley and Liz take Normie, Normie had once again complained Harry cared more about Stanley than him.  Norman clearly plans to use that rage against Harry.  It’s...brilliant.  Honestly, I don’t know how Peter wins here.  Norman is all-powerful, and it’s not in an unbelievable way.  Slott has built this story slowly, and the combination of Carnage and the Green Goblin really just feels like Norman may have found the key to winning.  You almost believe he really is going to kill everyone next issue.  Plus, Slott’s weakness is usually his scripting, but he’s solid here.  You can feel JJJ, Jr.’s desperation to make things right with Peter.  Moreover, Peter is legitimately scared, not only by what Norman may do to his family and friends, but also for himself.  It's legitimately exciting.  Throwing in the fact Immonen and the art team are on fire, this title is finally at the top of Marvel’s game where it deserves to be.

Avengers #689:  The authors do an OK job wrapping up the story here, though I'll admit I felt something missing.  Maybe it was because Lightning's gambit to save the Earth (as well as the Human Torch and Red Wolf) via a game of Texas Hold 'Em with the Grandmaster felt too self-servingly heroic.  He wins the game because he's willing to be forgotten.  In fact, it's probably more the narration surrounding the game that does it, as Lightning keeps telling us how heroes don't do what they do to be remembered.  Making matters worse, the fight with the Challenger was ridiculous at points, from Jan (and not Nadia) creating "nano-acid" arrows for Hawkeye to Sam connecting telepathically with the Challenger because Doreen guessed he evolved from birds or dinosaurs because he was an alien.  (No, really.)  In fact, the Challenger never really seems like a threat beyond the moment he seemingly obliterates Wonder Man; everyone else -- including Squirrel Girl and the Wasps -- easily lands punches.  In the end, Wanda casts a spell that seems to channel the Avengers' hearts and souls into a magic blast that destroys the Challenger, and it's so effective you wonder why she didn't do it earlier than she does here.  (I think we're supposed to believe she was inspired when Voyager rallied the Avengers by reminding them what being an Avenger meant to each one of them.)  I'm not saying the issue is awful; it's OK, due largely to the art team really conveying a cinematic scope to the fight with the Challenger.  But, if they dialed back Lightning's over-the-top narration and showed the characters really struggling with the Challenger, it would've been a lot stronger issue, where we would've been kept guessing from start to finish.

Batman #45:  If the goal of this issue was for me to find Booster Gold hi-lar-ious and subscribe to his series, it was a major fail.  His schtick was tedious by the third page, and I can’t believe I was subjected to an entire issue of it.

Infinity Countdown #2:  Holy crap, Robbie is Talonar!  No way!  This issue is insane, and I mean that in the best possible way.  Something about the Guardians lends itself to a certain amount of believable ridiculousness.  Duggan plays that card expertly here, from Rocket appearing on Xitaung in a Galactus suit to Groot wanting to murder everyone.  That said, it's still hard to tell where Duggan is going.  Last issue, he used the fight on Telferina as a stalling tactic, and, in this issue, the Guardians are still fighting to protect the Power Stone.  You have to wonder when something will...happen.  But, it's fun, so I'm game.

Ms. Marvel #29:  This issue is really, really lovely, and I’m just happy it’s out there in the world.  Bruno’s honesty with Kamala is bracing, and Kamala has to find a way to match it if they’re going to coexist (if not become friends) again.  Her initial response to his overture feels immature, as she blames Bruno for hiding Mike from her.  Bruno makes it worse for her by continuing to show how much he’s matured:  he reminds her that he found her kissing the Red Dagger on the Circle Q rooftop and confesses that he always thought he’d be her first kiss.  Her subsequent conversation with Sheikh Abdullah is an amazing testament to Wilson’s skills as a writer, as it perfectly encapsulates the divide between children and parents when it comes to love.  Amidst it all, Wilson also imbues the issue with humor, from Bruno’s roommate hilariously asking Bruno to be his cultural interpreter in a developing country like America to Zoe falling for the new meaner girl version of herself.  It's hard to imagine a better comic-book series than this one.

Nightwing #43:  Moreci does a solid job getting down everyone’s voices here, with Dick feeling overly responsible for this ad hoc team, Roy just happy to be throwing some punches with his bro, and Damian being...Damian.  It’s not necessarily the strongest issue in terms of plotting.  After all, Roy magically understands the complicated science behind the League of Assassins' plan to use a device to suck the oxygen from Gotham but doesn’t know what “subterfuge” means.  But, it’s still fun, and I honestly wouldn’t mind seeing more of characters like Arsenal and Damian in this series.  Higgins did a solid job building out a supporting cast for Dick with the Run-Offs, but something about having Dick’s old-school allies and friends appearing in an issue really kicks it up a notch.

Tales of Suspense #104:  As Rosenberg says in his letter at the end of this issue, Bucky, Clint, and Nat are three of my favorite characters, and it was a real joy seeing them together.  I loved that Bucky and Clint don’t develop a deep sense of respect for each other at the end of this issue; Clint thinks Bucky’s a homicidal maniac, and Bucky thinks Clint is an incompetent buffoon.  That feels right to me.  I also loved that Natasha is in charge from start to finish.  She has a mission, and she intends to complete it.  Rosenberg made it clear Natasha had to eliminate any possibility of her returning in another cloned body, because she couldn’t find herself under the Red Room’s control once again.  (My only real question is that I honestly didn’t understand the role Anya and Yelena played.  I thought all the clones Natasha used on her various missions were her own clones, and not Anya and/or Yelena's.  It’s probably the only instance of Rosenberg writing for the trade here, as I’m sure their roles would be clearer if you read all five issues together.)  I also totally bought that Natasha had to let go of Clint.  His vision of her as a better person might have worked before she died, but it doesn’t work any longer, after what she has to do here.  But, I also love that it pushes her to chose Bucky, at least as a partner.  (Rosenberg made it clear she doesn't actually need either of them.)  In other words, Rosenberg returns Natasha to the land of the living in a way that stays consistent with her character but doesn’t come without consequences.  I couldn't ask for more.

X-Men:  Blue #26:  Now, this issue feels like an old-school “X-Men” story.  The entire creative team in on fire here.  Alex and his cronies unleash Mothervine, and the new X-Men scramble to help the emerging mutants handle their powers.  They encounter Unuscione as she tries to fend off two Sentinels arriving to "help" her and two emerging mutants.  However, her secondary mutation proves to be unstable; Xorn and Daken try to calm her to prevent her from randomly blowing up everyone and everything around her while Lorna and the rest of the team battle the Sentinels.  (See?  Old school.)  The Sentinels claim they’re there to help, but no one believes them.  They shouldn’t, either:  it turns out Alex and his cronies can control everyone Mothervine affected.  Emma is appalled, but Alex assures her they’ll have taken out Miss Sinister before she can use that army against them.  (I’m...doubtful, as Emma is.)  Meanwhile, they send the Marauders after both the new X-Men and Magneto, while using their control of the emerging mutants to bolster the Marauders' numbers.  It’s a tough time to be an X-Men.  Bunn’s plotting isn’t just excellent; his scripting is great.  Lorna gets in a solid one-liner as she encourages anyone other than Bloodstorm or Daken to comfort the victims, and Jimmy is demonstrably upset over the idea his DNA (and the DNA of other mutants from his world) was somehow used to create Mothervine.  The art team is also great, delivering a kinetic battle with Sentinels and using unique perspectives — like showing Magneto and Ferris through the gauze of a hospital curtain — to keep you engaged.  This continues to be the main X-Men title for me, and I'm actually loathe for the kids to return.

Also Read:  Quantum & Woody #5

Not-So-New Comics: The March 7 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #797:  OMFG, I totally had chills.  Gage and Slott build so brilliantly to the end here, it’s like reading the Stern era of Spider-Man, where every panel seemed to advance one of several mysteries.  We begin with the Goblin holding someone hostage; over the course of the issue, you really keep changing your mind who it is.  Peter?  MJ?  Liz?  Aunt May?  Normie?  Meanwhile, we get our hearts crushed alongside Peter as MJ starts to take off Peter’s shirt and then stops when she sees the Spider-Man costume.  It’s honestly the first time since “Brand New Day” I can remember them addressing their break-up under the "new" conditions.  MJ tells Peter they both would feel guilty if he gave up being Spider-Man for her, and she admits the city needs Spider-Man more than she needs Peter.  It’s hard not to disagree with her, given how amazing her life is right now.  But, Peter’s life isn’t amazing.  When she sends him out the window as Spider-Man it’s hard not to agree with him that he’s hit a new low.  But, this issue is really all about Norman.  He implies he’s put Harry’s nanny Emma on the board for an as-yet-unrevealed reason, and he rips out Phil Ulrich’s heart after Phil mistakenly believes Norman is still powerless.  But, it’s the end that makes this issue so great.  Jonah is revealed to be the hostage, and he tells Norman Spider-Man will beat him because he even did so after Norman threw “his” girl off the bridge.  GAME FUCKING ON!  Based on the parameters of the spell Dr. Strange wove so everyone would forget Peter’s identity, Norman suddenly remembers everything now that he's learned Spidey's identity.  He calls it the itch he couldn’t scratch.  (Based on the web of connections he built on his serial-killer board, he probably would’ve guessed it if the spell hadn't actively been preventing him from doing so.)  I really didn’t expect the authors to kick it up so many notches here.  We really do seem to be heading toward a do-or-die battle between the two of them.  I’m so fucking excited.  This series hasn’t sung like it does here for a really long time, since possibly “Big Time.”  Combined with “Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man” — and particularly, at long last, the amazing art on both series — it’s a great time to be a Spidey fan.

Avengers #683:  This issue isn’t a miss exactly, but I can’t say it’s the same quality as the other issues so far.  As ghosts continue to rampage through the hospital, Nadia decides to sacrifice herself to touch the Pyramoid and save everyone.  She does so by shrinking Beast and sending him into Jarvis’ brain with an antidote to the alien parasite.  It’s a solid moment, and it's probably the first time I really thought about Nadia as an honest-to-goodness Avenger.  But, surprisingly, the Pyramoid rejects her, and she chases after Hank to save Jarvis instead.  The weirdest part of this issue is the authors go to great lengths to explain that people shrunk to microscopic size subsist on Pym particles (since they’re smaller than oxygen molecules).  But, they then defy all scientific reason by showing Hank as able to see Jarvis’ memories, as if the memory center of the brain is like a movie theater.  It’s odd, to say the least.  At any rate, Jarvis awakens and, as expected, confirms Voyager was never an Avenger.  However, before Hank and Nadia can stop her, Voyager uses her powers to grab the spirit Pyramoid and hide in a bunker within the hospital.  (At least, I think she does.  I originally thought she grabbed the Pyramoid so she could be transported to the Gamemaster and Challenger directly, as if it were her goal all along.  But, when I read the next issue, I realized it wasn't the case, that she simply hijacked the Pyramoid.  But, I don't understand how the hospital has a bunker.)  Beast's exposure to Jarvis' memories is what makes him believe Jarvis when he insists Voyager wasn't an Avenger, because Hank (conveniently) didn’t see her in Jarvis’ memories.  We’ll see where that goes from there.

Hawkeye #16:  OMG this series was, like, the bestest series ever and I’m truly heartbroken to see it go.  I had no idea how Thompson was going to wrap up so many loose ends, but she totally did it.  It was all so emotional, you guys.  I totally cried when Kate convinced Eden to bring back her daughter to say good-bye.  Thompson builds to the moment perfectly, as Clint offers to let Eden kill him because he understands what it’s like to lose someone who love so much, someone who serves as your compass.  (Seriously, I was a BuckyNat guy, but I think I'm now a HawkNat guy.)  Meanwhile, Kate uses Clint distracting Eden to swipe her suitcase of blood samples, and Eden panics because it has her daughter's blood.  She is then forced to reveal the truth to Kate; she hadn’t resurrected her daughter (a question we’ve all had), because the person only appears for a short time.  Later, when Eden dismisses Clint as a liar putting on a show to give Kate time to swipe the blood samples, Kate disagrees, saying (truthfully) he was probably the only person not lying.  She just gets these characters, you guys.  Eden is a great character, and I hope we see more of her.   Meanwhile, I loved the moment where we learn Kate’s mom has been watching from the shadows all this time.  In fact, Thompson leaves us with a new mystery here, as we learn Kate’s mom has some sort of deal with Masque.  Plus, her mom makes Masque abandon Kate’s body, which Masque agrees to do since it hasn’t developed powers and is “nothing special.”  (Kate’s mom disagrees.)  Also, Johnny is an Inhuman or mutant!  He even saves Kate’s life.  (You’d think he would’ve shown us that earlier, given the frequency of dangerous moments they've faced, but it is what it is.)  I’m not sure what I’m going to do without Kate and her gang in my life.  [Sigh]  Finger-guns forever!

Iceman #11:  As Grace admits in the letters page, he didn’t have a lot of time to wrap up the story he was telling.  Whereas Thompson in “Hawkeye” had been telling a very specific story over the course of her 16 issues, Grace had taken an arc-by-arc approach for this title.  As such, the cancellation of this series feels more sudden than “Hawkeye’s.”  All that said, he does his best, and it’s good.  Bobby asks out Rictor to lunch, and Rictor notes the ridiculousness of a lunch date, showing Bobby’s cluelessness persists even in his out iteration.  Rictor serves mostly as a sidekick here as Bobby’s mother calls him to ask for help as their reclusive neighbor starts displaying powers.  Through flashbacks, Grace shows us Bobby’s long struggle for acceptance as his parents tried everything — including a priest — to "cure" him, and you don’t have to be an English major to read that part of the story more than one way.  I admit I wish we would’ve seen the moment when Bobby met Charles Xavier and realized it was OK to be a mutant (or, at least, that someone thought it was OK to be).  But, Grace wraps up the story nicely enough, as Bobby realizes he doesn’t need time with a boyfriend or a team; he just needs some time for him.  Grace leaves him on as solid of footing with his parents as we’re going to get, and it’s a nice way to end a series that I sincerely wish had been longer.

Infinity Countdown #1:  Honestly, a lot doesn't happen here, but it doesn't really matter, because it's just fun.  Drax saying "Uh-oh" as he and Talonar witness the Chitauri arriving above Xitaung?  Awesome.  Groot curing the Gardener of Loki's poison and him restoring Groot to his factory settings?  Better.  Groot then hailing his friends and telling them it is time to kick ass?  Fantastic. Logan leaving the Space Gem for an alive Black Widow in the back of a toilet in her Madripoor safehouse (from "Uncanny X-Men" #268)?  Brilliant.  OK, I guess a lot did happen in this issue.

Rogue and Gambit #3:  My greatest fear right now in life is this series is going to end with Gambit and Rogue not remembering the amazing progress they've made in therapy.  Thompson gives us a step-by-step tour of their best and worst moments, including the Antarctica incident from "Uncanny X-Men" #350 that I still remember clear as day, 21 years later.  If they do remember, nothing could possibly stop them.  I mean, what better therapy is there than beating up former iterations of yourself and your partner?

Star Wars #44:  Ooo, Leia, you sneaky daughter of a gun.  I honestly had no idea where Gillen was going for most of this issue, as the Mon Cala regent refused Leia’s request to provide the Alliance with his mercantile fleet, given the risk the Empire’s response could have for his people.  (We learn the former king had rebelled against the Empire, and Mon Cala was still paying the price.)  Leia — a princess of Alderaan, as Luke himself notes — understands...and then contacts Trios about breaking out the Mon Cala king who rebelled.  I did not see Leia committing to regime change coming, and I can’t wait to see where Gillen takes us.

X-Men:  Red #2:  Taylor really nails it here.  It seems like the X-Men will just retreat into their asylum in Wakanda, but Jean receives a plea for help from Trinary, an Indian technopath who saw Jean's speech at the United Nations, and off they go.  We learn the message was actually time delayed, as Trinary has already been imprisoned for compensating all women in India for the 25 percent gender pay-gap.  She's in trouble because she took it from the bank accounts of India's 25 richest CEOs.  (As Honey Badger says, I think we all have a new hero.)  Jean telepathically hijacks Lakshay Singh, the douchey head of India’s mutant defense force, and the team uses his knowledge to make their way to Trinary.  Along the way, Taylor reminds you just how powerful Jean is as a telepath.  But, all obviously doesn’t go smoothly as a group of anti-mutant protesters rush the prison's gates.  Jean is able to put most of them to sleep, but three of them are able to resist her suggestion (possibly due to Cassandra Nova's influence, but I'm just guessing there).  Her need to focus on the gun-toting trio forces her to drop her hold on Singh, who activates a Sentinel.  The twists and turns show the attention Taylor is paying to this series, telling stories on multiple levels at different speeds.  But, he also succeeds in showing Jean as a unique figure among the X-Men, not just because of her power but also the loyalty she inspires.  After a lackluster first issue, I'm interested to see where we go here.

Also Read:  Captain America #699; Spider-Man #238; Venom #163; X-Men:  Gold #23