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

New Comics!: The April 11 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Ben Reilly:  Scarlet Spider #17:  This issue is an uncharacteristic miss for David.  Ben prattles on all issue about his soul and his deal with Mephisto, and at some point I realized I just didn't care.  I'm OK with the existing supernatural component of this series -- Ben's need to repair his soul after his brush with Death.  But, the deal with Mephisto just feels like overkill at this point, as if Batman suddenly spent all his time hunting vampires.  Even David winking at us -- with Ben berating himself for thinking he's the only person dumb enough to make a deal with Mephisto -- made me roll my eyes.  David is usually great at playing the long game, but even the premise of Ben having to save Abigail is starting to feel old.  I feel like we could use a refresh here.

Captain America #700:  I’ll be honest and say I’m not sure Waid is the best writer for “Captain America.”  He leans into Cap's corniness in a way that makes him even more unbelievable than he normally is.  Cap stories are usually their best when he's forced to question his ideals, but for most this arc Cap spouted nothing but inspiration-poster bromides.  When he finally faces a seemingly unwinable challenge, he caves completely.  It's not my Captain America, to be honest.

We start several weeks after Steve and his allies defeated Babbington.  Liang and Banner want to send Steve to the present, so he can stop Rampart before it launches the missile and prevent the future from happening.  Steve refuses, saying he can't just abandon the future for Banner's "Hail Mary" pass.  However, this commitment to the future felt dishonest.  Waid never really explored the psychological repercussions of Cap finding himself displaced in time yet again.  In fact, Cap seems not even to remotely care he's never going to see Sharon or his friends again.  He's just a stalwart of dependability and determination and we leave it at that.  In so doing, Waid winds up undermining Cap's bravery in committing to this era, because he makes it seem like he doesn't care.

We watch as Cap and his supporters spend a year trying to expel the foreign invaders who have taken over large swaths of America while also rebuilding the agriculture and infrastructure of areas they control.  But, when someone nukes New York just as Cap and his troops liberate Philadelphia, Cap just surrenders.  He faces the reality he entered this conflict too late, and he accepts the only possible option is Banner sending him to the present.  It's jarring, to say the least, for him to go so dark so quickly.  (Even Banner is surprised by Cap claiming hope isn't a strategy, but, per pet peeve #3, I'm not going to give Waid credit for having a character point out the logical failings of the plot.)

Safely in the present, future Cap sacrifices himself to stop the rocket, and the ensuing explosion frees present Cap from the ice almost immediately after he was frozen.  It means present Cap doesn't take with him the lessons future Cap learned, and I'm not sure where we go from here.  Waid seems to be returning to Cap traveling America, but I don't really get why we detoured from that story for this one in the first place.  I think my main problem is I'm intrigued by this arc's premise, where Cap can't save the day.  That would've been a story worth telling.  We could've seen a story like Remender's "Dimension Z," where we watch Cap lose more and more ground and see how he handles that.  Instead, Waid essentially jumps to the end, and it cheapens Cap exactly at a time we're supposed to be celebrating him.

Detective Comics #978:  Whoa.  One of the advantages of Tynion -- beyond being a great writer with a clear sense of the characters he's portraying -- is that he's been working on Batman-related titles for years now.  He's been dropping hints for months about Tim's delicate mental state, given his alleged death, subsequent imprisonment, and Future Tim's subsequent arrival.  However, Tynion makes it clear we shouldn't have been worried, because Tim is still Tim.  Even in his weakened state, he rejects Ulysses' attempt to co-opt him, recognizing Ulysses is crossing a line that shouldn't be crossed.  In fact, Tynion takes a different perspective on recent developments than we've seen.  Previously, Tynion has mostly left the reader supporting Kate's position about some lines needing to be crossed to save lives.  However, Tim's resoluteness here reminds us how dangerous it is when someone like Ulysses -- and, by extension, Kate -- takes matters into his own hands.  Tim quickly realizes Ulysses is controlling the Colony soldiers while Bruce is at "stately Kane Manor" hearing from Kate and Jake that they didn't order the soldiers to open fire.  Watching the drama from afar, Ulysses wryly notes the Joker and the like have always had it all wrong:  the best way to take down Batman is to leave breadcrumbs to a mystery he feels a compulsion to solve.  Ulysses kicks up the crazy a notch here as he shaves his head and starts calling himself the General, using the Colony's integrated network to unleash the OMAC virus on its soldiers as well as Tim.  At this stage, the tension driving this story isn't just related to the (legitimately scary) rise of Ulysses and Brother Eye.  It also has to do with the sense Tim is quickly facing the moment where he will past the point of no return when it comes preventing his dark future.  We saw Future Tim was born when he kills Batwoman for killing Bruce for activating Brother Eye.  But, given the events of this issue, it's hard to see how that sequence of events would happen, particularly since Ulysses has already activated Brother Eye.  Does Kate take out Bruce because he activates it again at a later date?  Or, has Ulysses already changed the future (through his knowledge of it) by preemptively activating Brother Eye?  I guess we'll see.

Oblivion Song #1-#2:  In his letter in issue #1, Kirkland tells us he'll be telling a very different story at issue #30 than the one he's telling here, and it's easy to believe him when he says it's going to be a fast-paced story. As you read issue #1, you're pretty sure it's going to be a story about a man trying to find redemption by finding his brother.  Like Dr. Richard Kimble catching the One-Armed Man in the series finale of "The Fugitive," I expected Cole was finally going to find his brother Edward in the last issue and embrace him, a man at peace.  The only problem with that scenario is we've already met Edward, on the last page of issue #1.  It's a sign Kirkland means what he says; he's not going to dragging out stories too long.

The first two issues pretty convincingly lay out the basic framework of the story.  Somehow, Philadelphia and land from another dimension changed places.  Cole -- our main character -- was able to find the right frequency to access Philadelphia in this new dimension.  He and his team were able to save many people stuck on the other side.  However, at some point, Cole and his team stopped finding new people, and the government cut his funding.  We start the series with Cole in Oblivion (i.e., the transferred part of Philadelphia) finding and rescuing a married couple.  The couple reveals they were part of a group of 100 or so people living on the outskirts of the city; they only came into the city on supply runs, hence why Cole hadn't found anyone for a while.  Making matters worse for Cole, the couple have revealed their leader is named Edward, fueling Cole's anxiety over the possibility of finally finding him.  However, this group doesn't seem to want to be found, and we end the first issue with Edward observing Cole (not realizing who he is) and telling his followers to set a trap for him.

At this stage, I still don't think we know how people escaped Philadelphia after it was transferred to another dimension.  When Cole walks the couple through the museum dedicated to the "Transference," he explicitly mentions all sorts of people who escaped and survived in the first few days.  Did it take a while before the transfer was complete?  Cole shows the couple he rescued the barren area where Philadelphia used to be located, implying Philadelphia is (at least now) completely in the other dimension.  Moreover, we obviously don't know why the Transference happened, though it seems likely the government played some sort of role given their reluctance to keep funding Cole's excursions.  After all, why else would the government not want him locating people?  Cole is running everything using his own resources, so it's not like it would cost the government that much to give him a workable team.

Kirkland also doesn't sleep on the interpersonal drama.  Cole is supported by a married couple, Duncan and Bridget, though Bridget is carrying on an affair with the man she was dating before Cole saved Duncan from Oblivion.  Also, Cole asks Marco, one of his former team members, for help, but Marco refuses, commenting he has kids -- and sleep -- now.  It's an immediate refusal:  he doesn't even let Cole finish his beer before he walks into the house.  Cole himself is portrayed as a man possessed.  Although he's in a relationship with a woman who works for the government agency he wants to provide him funding,  Marco's comments on how Cole just appeared after a year of no contact imply he exists solely for the mission.

All in all, it's a strong début.  I wouldn't say I had the same visceral response to it as I did the first issues of "The Realm" or "The Wild Storm," but I'm definitely intrigued.

Rogue and Gambit #4:  Gambit and Rogue learn Lavish's powers here:  each time she drains someone of his power (which she then stores in a cloned body), she also steals his memories.  It's why Paraíso has so many mindless zombies wandering around the health unit.  Rogue realizes she and Remy have been getting along so well because, at this point in their stay, they've been stripped of almost all their baggage.  Disturbingly, Lavish can only access the power when she destroys one of the bodies (as she does here after Gambit injures her and she destroys a body with healing powers).  Rogue and Gambit make this discovery as they both take out one of the other's doppelgängers, resulting in them absorbing not only the other one's powers but also a specific memory.  (For Gambit, it's the love Rogue felt as he put the garter on her at Scott and Jean's wedding.  For Rogue, it's the hurt Gambit felt when Rogue didn't trust him enough to join the Avengers.)  They realize they need to take out only their own clones to limit their exposure to the other's innermost feelings and gain back their specific powers.  Rogue considers just standing pat, allowing them to leave behind their baggage by never reclaiming their memories.  But, Remy tells her essentially to have faith in them and their ability to find each other again.  Man, Thompson better keep them together this time.  I have a lot invested in this story.

X-Men:  Red #3:  I was sort of skeptical where Taylor was going with this series, but I have to admit he got me with this issue.  Trinary reveals she believes humanity is being programmed to hate mutants; someone (Cassandra Nova?) is using algorithms that push decontextualized stories and lies to people with known biases and concerns.  In other words, someone has essentially weaponized social media.  (Sound familiar?)  Gambit sees that first hand, as he tries to save a young woman who dared to defy an anti-mutant mob.  However, he fails to stop a gun-totting protester (similar to the ones we saw in India who Jean couldn't control) from opening fire.  In India, we learned the trio was able to resist Jean's power due to the presence of nano-Sentinels in their bloodstreams.  Taylor is taking a page from Spencer's playback in being obvious in his disdain for the far right; it doesn't take a journalism student to recognize the allusion to Charlottesville when Gambit makes fun of the protesters for using tiki torches in their march.  As folks in the letters page said, this series feels like it matches our time perfectly.  It's not trying to capture an old feeling (like Guggenheim on "X-Men Gold"), but instead tells an updated story about the persecution mutants face in the present.  It would be wrong just to repeat "Fall of the Mutants."  Taylor is telling a new story even if the theme is familiar.  The letters page also focuses on the fact Jean is finally standing on her own two feet; she's no longer defined by Cyclops or Wolverine.  Cyclops repeatedly got to spread his wings without Jean; it's time for her to do the same.  Finally, I totally agree with Tom from Columbus, who says Jean not knowing what to do but wanting to do something is all of us right now.

Also Read:  Avengers #688; Bloodshot Salvation #8; Darth Vader #14; Falcon #7; X-Men:  Blue #25

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

Not-So-New Comics: The February 7 DC and X-Men Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #40:  King really uses the premise of this story to full effect.  Bruce and Diana don’t kiss (as it seemed they were going to do last issue), but King uses that tension to tease out their relationship.  Bruce admits he loves and misses Selena, and Diana tells him that, as his friend, she’d kick his ass if he fucked up that relationship by kissing her.  :)  Perhaps the most delightful part is Bruce talking about missing Ace and Diana saying she misses her kangaroo, Jumpa.  No, really.  Also, Selena is amazing as always, forcing the Gentle Man back into the breach even when most people would’ve felt bad for forcing him to end his precious time with his wife.  It’s a reminder of how strong she is as a character.  Generally, I hate these stories that pretend decades pass and the character isn’t really any worse for wear.  At least Rick Remender had Steve Rogers age during his 12 years in Dimension Z.  I mean, he raised a child even!  But, here, Bruce is basically just like, “Wow, that was a long 34 years!  Can we get a burger?  I’m famished.”  (If you do, Jokerize the fries, Bruce.  It’s worth it.)  But, King throws in enough great moments to make me look past that original sin.  All that said, it's probably time for some detective-ing.

Iceman #10:  Grace does the best with the cards he’s dealt here, as he has to abort his plan to move Bobby to Los Angeles as a result of the imminent cancellation of this series.  That said, Judah not unreasonably decides Bobby’s life is too insane for him, recalling Colossus has punched him and Daken has stabbed him in just 24 hours.  Moreover, Kitty says she's failed as a boss, acknowledging Bobby has been underutilized; as such, she offers him leadership of a team.  All that works.  The problem is the fight between Daken and Iceman still makes not a lick of sense to me.  I just don’t understand why Daken had such a mad-on for Bobby, unless I’m missing some significant shared past beyond his appearance in this series.  Based on his comments in the letters page, Grace seems to be using this conflict to work out his own personal demons, with Bobby refusing to embrace nihilism like Daken does.  I'm all for that, but it would've been nice if the conflict itself made sense.  Is Daken just mad Bobby is happy?  But, this optimism, if you will, also has Bobby weirdly assert that he refuses to be mad at Daken over killing his boyfriend (as far as he was aware at that time) lest he stoop to his level.  Um, no.  Being sunshine and light doesn’t mean that you just let the murder of your significant other roll off your back.  I get Grace is essentially writing this issue under duress, but the whole problem this series has been trying to address is Bobby’s inability to live his own authentic life.  (Has Grace read the "Velvet Rage?"  I feel like he has.)  Artificially repressing his emotions to make sure Daken doesn’t “win” is the same as him staying in the closet lest he upset everyone else:  it’s still letting someone else dictate his feelings.  In other words, the resolution to their fight undermines the narrative Grace has been pushing, and I don't see how he resolves it in the last remaining issue.  (Also, in a case of pet peeve #1, Bobby doesn’t save Anole from a fire, not only remotely, in this issue, which is a shame, because I'm pretty sure Anole would've enjoyed that.)

Nightwing #38:  Sam Humphries, whatever you do with this series, thank you for giving us Dick Grayson as a stripper.  You really understand us.  (That said, I was devastated Guppy actually killed his father.  Humphries is really playing for keeps here.)

Rogue and Gambit #2:  I don’t have a lot to say about this issue, because it’s so great it really speaks for itself.  Thompson does a thoroughly amazing job of making you feel like you’re eavesdropping on a conversation between two real people.  Rogue’s confession to Remy that she doesn’t acknowledge the first time they met — under the sway of the Shadow King — is electric; she’s standing close to Remy in a dark room telling him she wants their first moment to be something only they own.  Remy is so overwhelmed even he’s speechless.  Also, the art is some of the best I’ve ever seen, honestly.  You can tell how much care Pérez put into each panel, and it augments the sense of reality Thompson’s dialogue conveys.  This series is one of the best ones of the shelves, and, if Marvel knows what it’s doing, they’d hand the keys to Thompson full time.

X-Men:  Red #1:  This issue is fine, as Taylor does a good job establishing Jean's team's modus operandi.  A young child is left in a car as it's carjacked, and his sonic scream manifests itself given the threat to his life.  It blows out the windows for a city block before Jean's able to use her powers to calm him, and she's later appalled when she sees a man on TV using the incident to suggest genetic testing in utero so mutant children can be aborted.  She decides the United Nations need to recognize mutants as a nation, since it goes badly when they try to become a state, so she gets Namor and T'Challa to recognize them.  However, during a conversation with the British Ambassador (in full view of video cameras), she comes face-to-face with a disturbing presence who lets Jean know she doesn't approve.  Brilliantly, it's Cassandra Nova, and she explodes the British Ambassador's head, making it look like it was Jean's fault.  It's an intriguing premise and a helluva start.  My only real (though significant) complaint is we're barely given any time with Jean.  I'd be thrilled if Guggenheim was using this premise, as we don't really need to get to know Kitty anymore than we already do.  Guggenheim could focus entirely on this intriguing plot at hand and Kitty's response to the threat.  But, we haven't seen Jean for years.  Kurt makes a comment about being thrilled Jean is back, and I felt the same way.  In fact, Taylor does a great job of conveying the sense only Jean would think up this plan to turn the mutants into a nation, making you realize what the X-Men have been missing in her absence.  But, given how big of a deal it is that we do have her back, you would've thought we would've spent a little more time focused on her resurrection, particularly in terms of what it means for her personally and for her friends.  Like, are we not going to get a girl's night with Ororo?  Instead, we're thrown immediately into a team dynamic and global plot, and it feel premature.  I assume Taylor is going to address these issues as we move forward, but it felt like a mistake not to do so right from the start.

Also Read:  Batman:  White Knight #5; X-Men:  Gold #21

Not-So-New Comics: The January 17 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man/Venom: Venom, Inc. Omega #1:  (Man, that’s a title.)  This issue is fun.  That said, I can’t say this event has been the best plotted one I've ever read.  I’m pretty sure if I re-read it I’d be able to find all sorts of glaring plot holes.  (Like, I still don't really understand how Maniac just happened upon his spitting power and how it didn't really require any effort or resources.  Also, I’m not sure I buy the idea Price could only possess someone once because they developed anti-bodies in their blood after the first exposure.  That just seems...convenient.  See?  Plot holes.)  But, Spidey is pretty hilarious in this issue, from his abortive attempt to rally Flash (only to realize Anti-Venom's healing factor would heal Flash's wounds and eliminate the need for Spidey to rally him in the first place) to Spidey tripping on his way to tell Flash about the anti-bodies.  So, overall, I’m going to call it a win.  As I said earlier, it recalls the excellent “New Ways to Die!” story from the “Brand New Day” era, and that alone is reason to give it a read.  Also, I’m glad to see Peter and the Cat in a better place.  I mean, it makes no sort of sense she'd suddenly stop hating him.  After all, it was Dr. Octopus (as Spider-Man) taking everything from her that inspired her to hate Spidey.  It doesn't make a lick of sense she'd be so blasé about it happening again, particularly when he's more directly responsible for her downfall this time.  (Again.  Plot holes.)  But, I'm just glad the feud is over.  Similarly, I’m glad Eddie convinced her to give up her attempt to become a crime boss, because I never really bought that either.  (Man, I have not been happy with "Amazing Spider-Man" for a while.)  Again, Eddie’s appeal doesn’t really make sense — in a way, he’s just mansplaining to her that she never wanted to be a crime boss in the first place — but I’m just glad she’s no longer a bad guy (#bringbackthecat).  In other words, Spidey is fun here and the Cat is who she should be, so I'll take it.

Avengers #676: The authors dive right into the mysteries the first issue of this event raised, namely who the mysterious Avenger is and why the Earth was planet-napped.  Color me impressed and intrigued.

The Avenger is revealed to be Valerie Vector, a.k.a. Voyager.  She was (allegedly) a founding member of the Avengers and (allegedly) stayed with the team for a long time, including the transition to the Cap-led team in issue #16.  However, in the "Let the Game Begin" arc (according to Comic Vine), the Avengers were forced into a competition as part of a wager between Grandmaster and Kang (as happened in those days).  In issue #70, Voyager (allegedly) faced Victory, the Electromagnetic Man, but her “portal field” reacted with his powers and she was (allegedly) thought lost in the ensuing explosion.  In the present, she tells the gathered Avengers she wasn’t lost, but “removed from normal existence."  She watched time pass helplessly from the void.  It was only when the Earth was stolen that she was somehow re-synced with the Earth again.

First, I have to give an incredible amount of credit to the art team here.  A lot of Valerie’s history is told through flashbacks to famous moments in Avengers’ history.  Valerie is inserted into these moments in the same art style as was prevalent at the time, and it’s fun to see.  But, the best moment is her depiction as lost in time, where she floats above a series of “Avengers” covers, showing the passage of time through the progression of issues.  It’s so remarkably clever.  It makes it clear the entire creative team is bringing its A game.  Moreover, the editors successfully use some winks and nudges in the “as seen in” boxes to hint it’s not the full story.  Everyone (allegedly) remembers Valerie when she appears, so it almost seems like her story is true.  But, her appearance is obviously way too convenient, and I can’t wait to see what the authors have planned.

Meanwhile, in Egypt, we get to the heart of the matter:  the Black Order and the Lethal Legion appear and immediately engage in battle.  However, two disembodied voices (who I wouldn’t be surprised to learn were Grandmaster and Kang again) remind the parties of the rules and send them to their respective corners until the “Pyramoid” appears.  (I again have to praise the art team.  The fight sequences are spectacular, so life-like you feel like you’re right there watching them.)  At the urging of the disembodied voices, the two teams go their corners, and we learn Earth was chosen as the location of their conflict because of its “designated obstacles,” i.e. the Avengers.  The Black Order decides to take out the Avengers preemptively, and they explode Avengers Mansion just as the team was coming to some agreement on how to survey the situation in a world without communications systems.

I can’t say I’m thrilled to see the Black Order, because I associate it with the terrible incursion storyline Hickman forced on us.  (I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I'm still not buying it.)  Looking at its previous appearances on Comic Vine and Wikipedia, I've actually read almost every issue where its members have appeared, from the "Infinity" event to "The Unworthy Thor."  But, I still don't understand anything about them.  They're all pretty much interchangeable amoral bad guys.  I’m not familiar with this alien Lethal Legion, and I’m doing my best to avoid going to Wikipedia to do research, because I feel like it could spoil the surprises the authors have in mind.  But, this initial fight sequence shows how great of adversaries these two teams can be, so I’m perfectly happy to give the authors a chance to rehabilitate the Order for me.

Given everything that happened, you’d be forgiven for thinking this issue was confusing, but it’s really not; the authors did a great job of keeping up the momentum while not rushing anything.  They don't address all the mysteries, obviously.  We have smaller ones, like why Beast was so concerned over Jarvis’ scans or how the folks pulling the strings decided which heroes to “pause.”  We also don’t know what the stakes of the conflict are.  But, after two issues, I have to say my expectations are high now for one of the best Avengers stories of all time.  (No pressure, guys.)

Generation X #86:  Strain is clearly clearing the decks before this series’ last issue, but she manages to do so in a way that doesn't feel rushed.  Jubilee visits Quentin on Krakoa and remembers Nathaniel’s warning, that Quentin wants to feel like he’s wanted even if he doesn’t admit it.  Quentin is terrible as usual, bragging to Jubilee the Phoenix gave him part of its power (in “Mighty Thor”) so he doesn’t need anyone.  But, when Jubilee learns the school has disappeared, he’s right there with her as they race to the scene.  Meanwhile, as Monet goes all horror-movie villain on the kids, hunting them like prey, Chamber and Husk try to buy the kids some time to escape.  Benjamin saves Nathaniel from falling debris, and the confluence of his heroism and their impending death inspires Nathaniel to kiss Benjamin through his shirt.  When Monet eventually touches Nathaniel, we see moments from his past, where he’s abused by his mother (with his father’s knowledge) and learns his boyfriend is attracted to someone else (even though he hasn’t acted on it).  Nathaniel has alluded to these moments in the past, so it’s nice to see Strain get the chance to make Nathaniel a fully formed character before the series ends.  Speaking of happy endings, Jubilee and Quentin arrive, and Monet strips Jubilee of her amulet and throws her into the sun.  Panicked at the thought of losing Jubilee and her promise to give him someplace to say, Quentin exhaust his Phoenix powers to cure her of her vampirism, probably the nicest thing he’s ever done.  I can’t wait to see how everyone rallies to take down Monet next issue.

Mighty Thor #703:  I haven’t written a lot about this series lately because it’s going so smoothly.  But, I had to compliment this issue.  Everyone is on fire here.  First, other than Peter David, I just don’t know if anyone plays the long game as well as Jason Aaron does.  The moment where Jane is standing in front of the hammer, with her friends standing there wondering what she’s going to do, brings together a storyline he’s spent years crafting.  I legitimately had no idea what she was going to choose, but I expected to see Jane as Thor saving Asgard from the Mangog at the last minute.  Seeing her return to her hospital bed instead makes me happy, because, as everyone keeps telling her, the world needs Jane Foster just as much as it needs Thor.  Dauterman and particularly Wilson bring their A game here, and it’s a helluva A game.  I didn’t know half the colors Wilson uses to show the Mangog’s march to Odin existed.  But, it all comes together spectacularly, as Odinson arrives to convince Odin to at least die wearing his boots and swinging his sword.  Father and son bonding time to come!  It seems pretty clear Odinson is going to prove worthy again by defeating Mangog.  But, Aaron has also been implying Mjolnir has its own agenda, so we shall see.  What a great time to be a Thor fan.

Nightwing #37:  This issue is...terrible.  In theory, it should be a great issue, because it’s the origin of Dick’s beef with the Judge.  But, it's just not.  We begin with Dick approaching a casino owner he knew in his early days as Robin; she was known then as Baby Ruthless, a teenager fighting crime in Blüdhaven to save her dad’s bodega.  Bruce and Dick were investigating a series in murders in Gotham committed by unsuspecting pawns in possession of the now-famous golden casino chips.  The people they killed were responsible for building Blüdhaven’s first casino, and we learn the Judge, at least then, was mostly focused on stopping the casinos.  The Dynamic Duo and Baby Ruthless foil his plan to crash a barge carrying radioactive material into the construction site (thereby rendering it uninhabitable).  However, Robin’s overeagerness allows the Judge to escape.  Dick also alludes to fighting him in college, a story I’m sure we’ll see.  But, the big development is Baby Ruthless reveals she quit her costumed career when King Sturgeon took over the Judge’s gang.  (I’m not sure why she quit being a crime fighter when Sturgeon took over the gang; she states it like they were connected, but I don’t see the connection.  Also, I'm not entirely sure why the Judge left either.)  Dick realizes Sturgeon might be the key to stopping the Judge, but Guppy is poised to kill him (his father) now that he's in possession of a certain casino chip.  Guppy's plight really infuses this issue with emotion.  We see some thugs bullying him into helping retrieve something from the bay, and then he's embarrassed when they won't give him a share of the take.  He tries to tell his dying father he's running his own gang, but he also doesn't have the money to buy the medicine his father needs.  But, Guppy's plight is overshadowed by the terrible narration Humphries uses throughout the issue.  In theory, we should believe Dick and Ruthless are having a conversation about the good ol' days, not just spouting text blocks as they are here.  It’s the problem when you try to retroactively create an arch-nemesis and ally for a character all in the same arc; you’re going to have to rely a lot on flashbacks.  But, the narration is so awkward it’s hard to focus on anything else.  We’re supposed to believe Dick feels great guilt for allowing the Judge to live and continue to kill people, but mostly I just rolled my eyes.  I'm not hopeful it's going to get better either because we still have to get through the college incident.  [Sigh.]

Rogue and Gambit #1: All I know is I would’ve loved to have seen the looks in the pitch meeting when Kelly Thompson suggested sending Rogue and Gambit to a couples retreat that may also be a mutant-conversion camp.  I honest to God cannot think of a better premise of any mini-series ever.  I love Thompson’s work on “Hawkeye,” so I’m so excited to see what she does here.  From the start, she gets down Rogue and Gambit’s relationship perfectly:  not too clear, not too vague.  The awkward space between those positions is front and center here.  It’s hard to do that, particularly with dialogue that sounds natural and not a recitation of talking points, but Thompson strikes exactly that balance here.  (I loved Rogue teasing Gambit that Deadpool is a better kisser.  But, I also appreciated the vulnerability Gambit showed when he told Rogue it felt like he was the only one trying to lift their mountain of baggage anymore.)  I was caught by surprise when Rogue said she’d lost control of her powers, because I don’t remember that from “Uncanny Avengers.”  (Wikipedia says I should've known that.)  Regardless, I can’t wait to see where we go here.

X-Men:  Gold #20: I’ve been hit or miss on this series for a while, and this issue is a good example why.  Guggenheim rushes the ending in a way that makes no sense to me here.  He’s got a pretty great “out of the frying pan, into the fire” scenario, with the X-Men trapped on a hostile desert planet somewhere in the Negative Zone.  Kitty is with a dying Peter in a sandstorm, Storm has to fight off a spider-like creature, and Logan is with the rest of the team in the ship trying to find a way off the planet.  Instead of drawing out the dramatic tension for two or three issues, we get deus ex machina after deus ex machina.  Storm somewhat miraculous stumbles upon Kitty and Peter in the storm, Ink has a healing touch that stabilizes Peter, Kurt finds an inter-dimension portal generator he just happens to recognize from his time on the Dartayan ship (even though I imagine he was in the brig and not the engineering bay), and Storm “digs deep” to summon electricity to power the generator (even though we firmly established her powers don’t work on this planet).  Despite everyone’s doom and gloom predictions, they’re basically in “danger” for 15 minutes or so until the problem is solved.  It’s all just too easy.  So far, everything about this series is like that:  we stop just short of something significant or profound happening every time.  Hopefully “X-Men Red” soars.

Also Read:  Batman #39, Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man #299, Star Wars #42