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 4 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Amazing Spider-Man #798:  OMG, this issue is soooo effing good.  Honestly, I’ve been disappointed with Dan Slott for a long time, but I love that he’s going out this way.  Seriously, I can’t imagine a better issue.

Norman is a completely over-the-top threat here -- as he should be -- and Slott hits the right notes at every point to make sure we understand that.  When he threatens the lives of the "Daily Bugle" staff, it’s not an idle threat, as he actually has a bomb connected to the tritium.  (Of course he does.)  When the "Daily Bugle" veterans — Joe, Betty, and Ben — play a game of verbal hot potato to keep him distracted, he sees right through it.  (He seems almost offended.)  But, it’s when he pretends to be impaled (once again) to lull Peter into a false sense of security that Slott and the art team really hit the gas.  Norman Osborn has been with us for 53.75 years (according to Wikipedia), but he enters a whole new phase the minute he laughs that red laugh.  Red Goblin is terrifying in his first interaction with Spider-Man, and you can feel Peter’s blind panic, as he himself calls it, as he struggles to clear his mind and think of a way just to land a punch, let alone defeat him.  (Peter’s initial response to Norman becoming Red Goblin -- a censored “Fuck me” -- felt totally organic.  I felt the same way, Pete.)

Of course, it's all made worse by the fact Norman now knows Peter’s identity.  Slott doesn't sleep on this part, as he shows JJJ, Jr. desperate to free himself from his bonds to save Peter.  In fact, JJJ, Jr. is so desperate I wonder if he isn’t long for this world.  Through JJJ, Jr.'s desperation, Slott shows how deeply JJJ, Jr. cares about Peter and how much he wants to prevent him from suffering the losses he himself has suffered.  But, it's so convincing I'm now worried, and I hope they don’t kill off JJJ, Jr. just as we see him in this new light.

That said, Slott is so convincing you actually sort of wonder whether Peter is going to survive.  In possibly the greatest development of the year, Norman unveils Carnage bombs, extensions of the symbiote that verbally harangue Peter as they fly at him.  One grabs Peter’s leg and explodes, and I wondered if Slott wasn’t going to have Peter lose said leg.  Instead, Slott does one better.  Norman demands Peter stop being Spider-Man or he’ll kill everyone he loves.  Peter agrees, attaching his jersey to a flag pole, and Norman laughs in triumph.  But, Peter vows to take out Norman as Peter Parker.  Slott seems to be building to a moment where Peter redeems himself, at least in his own eyes, as Peter and I can’t think of a better way for Slott to end his run.

But, Slott also has other irons in the fire, as “Emma” incapacitates Harry, Liz, and Mark with tranquilizer darts and grabs the children.  It's still not entirely clear who her employer is, though we're led to believe it's Norman.  Moreover, Slott has shown Normie as extremely jealous of Stanley, and I have to wonder if he'll bond with Stanley through the kidnapping or if Normie will ally himself with “Pop-pop” to disastrous results.  Man, it’s a good time to be alive.

Avengers #687:  “We are all exiles from the divine.”  Jarvis, everybody.  Can the guy give a rallying speech or what?  I totally cried, along with Bruce Banner.  As the rest of the Avengers scramble to try to save Vision and figure out a way to handle Voyager, Jarvis finds a despondent Bruce Banner sitting by himself in a ruined courtyard.  We learn Nadia brought Jarvis to the Mansion because she thought it would help his recuperation, and Jarvis remarks -- mostly to himself -- that she apparently thought they would serve him.  He's clearly not having it (evidenced by his tuxedo and forehead bandage), and his response to a broken Bruce Banner is to serve him tea.  Bruce tells Jarvis he can't face the Avengers, particularly Hawkeye, after what he's done to them, and Jarvis quotes “Paradise Lost,” reminding him the mind can turn heaven into hell and vice versa.  He then succinctly boils down the essence of Avenging in a way no one has:  they are avenging their own crimes and faults.  They all know they aren’t heroes, but they try to be.  Jarvis encourages Bruce to keep trying to be, because it’s the only thing that matters; it’s not the evil he’s capable of doing -- the only thing he sees -- but the good he does (and most importantly, to Jarvis' mind, wants to do).  Man, Jarvis, I really needed to hear that right now.

It’s not just Bruce who gets a pep talk, though.  Lightning is despondent he couldn’t stop the Hulk and save Vision, and Simon’s pacifism here works well.  Lightning is particularly disappointed he wasn’t powerful enough to fight off the Hulk, and Wonder Man reminds him they would’ve kicked out Hawkeye on the first day if it was all about power.  The best part, though, is Simon is poised to dive into the inspirational part of his speech when Quicksilver tells him to be quiet so he can focus.  It’s the perfect snarky Quicksilver moment; in the 70s, he would've made some sort of arch remark about Simon's inane prattling.  But, it's all the better because he’s not wrong: he’s trying to find something whizzing around them.  (It turns out being the “mite” that’s keeping everyone in stasis.)  Emily enters the room at the fuss, and Pietro can’t face her.  But, she tells him he did what he thought was best and she got hurt; it’s the price of heroing.  (I hope at some point we get a deeper dive into Synapse, because she really deserves it.)  At any rate, it's a good thing the Avengers had a minute to regroup, because the Challenger has decided to take out his fury over the Gamemaster's cheating (and likely disappearance, not death) by destroying the board, i.e. Earth!

Batman #44:  I'm not sure how he did it, but King somehow makes Catwoman looking for a wedding dress -- by breaking into a bridal boutique at 3:00 am -- into a perfect character study.

Batman:  White Night #7:  This issue is remarkably solid, as everyone is called on their bullshit in some way.  Jack is forced to admit the drugs are starting to lose their effect, making his confrontation with Neo-Joker all the more precarious as it's unclear if she'll face Jack or the Joker.  Jack holds it together through the confrontation (barely), but she demands he bring back the Joker, dismissing Jack as the "sane man" she was always worried would take the Joker from her.  Jack laments to Harley that he played by the rules to try to prove Gotham didn't need law-breaking vigilantes to save it, but he's still faced with a law-breaking criminal holding it hostage.  Harley brilliantly calls bullshit, reminding him he didn't play by the rules at all:  he used the Mad Hatter's technology to hijack criminals' minds to scare the city into giving him power.  Harley then does what Bruce knew she would do all along:  she sends Jack to Batman.  Bruce agrees to work with him only if he provides a full confession:  he attacked the financial district, destroyed his own library, and created the Neo-Joker (if inadvertently, in the latter case).  Jack agrees, but only if Harley goes free.

Jumping into the Batmobile, Bruce ups the ante:  he asks for the Joker's confession about Robin, but Jack admits he's been fighting the Joker to get that information.  Under pressure from Bruce, he concentrates harder.  (Honestly, this part was the only flaw in the issue.  Jack claims he's been trying to figure out Jason's fate, but he literally just scrunches up his eyes harder here to get it.  It's a minor complaint, but I mention it because Murphy had other options here, like Jack simply confessing.  I'm not sure why he went this way.)  He eventually breaks through the Joker's walls and reveals the Joker tortured Jason to get Bruce's identity, something Jason surrenders at the final moment, saying he wish he'd never heard the name Bruce Wayne.  But, we also learn the Joker let Jason go free, because it was much more damaging to know Bruce would mourn his loss and then eventually learn Jason hated Bruce so much he'd let him think he was dead.  (Jack also tells Bruce he knew he was Batman after discovering Wayne Enterprises funded the Batman Devastation Fund, not taxpayers.)

The pair finally arrive at their destination:  Mr. Freeze reveals the existence of Thomas Wayne's tunnels under Gotham, which the Army used to help Baron von Fries build the weapon.  They return to GCPD, where Bruce provides the GTO with Batmobiles.  Jack struggles to control the Joker as Bruce shows Barbara and Dick a note Alfred wrote for him when he had Freeze save Bruce instead of him.  He tells them he can't read Alfred's last words to him yet, and he confesses the note he'd write the kids would tell them how he was no longer motivated by avenging his parents' deaths, but making Gotham a safer place so they could take off their masks.  They hug him, and, honestly, it's the moment for me.  It's one of the few explanations of his motivations at this point in his career that have ever made sense to me.  I hope someone adopts it into mainstream comics.  As everyone heads to war, Gordon tries to apologize to Bruce for arresting him, but Bruce won't have it:  he not only tells him he was right to do so -- that it all had gone too far -- but that he planned on revealing his identity once the caper is done.  (I assume that means he's going to die before that happens.)  He and Jack then head into the tunnels to find Harley as Jack, riding with Bruce, loses control for the final time.

Marvel 2-in-One #5:  Making it clear this title is leading to a reboot of the "Fantastic Four," Zdarsky does a great job using the alternate versions of them to make us hungry for the real thing.  Ben and Johnny learn Doom saving Earth as Galactus so broke this Universe's Reed Richards that he's done nothing to find a way to stop him, focusing instead of improving people's lives during the time they have left.  However, he comes to his senses when Ben and Johnny join this Earth's heroes in fighting Doom's legion of Doombot heralds.  The return of at least half of the Fantastic Four rallies the heroes, and Johnny saves Reed from one of the heralds.  However, Johnny's power misfires right then, and Reed saves him as he plummets to Earth.  Reed now realizes he has to do something.  Surprising no one, Doom from our Universe appears, having hitchhiked with Ben, Johnny, and Rachna.  Reed is momentarily distracted when learning of Ben and Johnny's plight, discussing his theory all metahuman powers come from a universal power source but admitting he never thought about an interpersonal one.  He starts to offer to help, but our Doom, offering his assistance, wisely keeps him focused on the task.  Ben and Johnny are sent to a farm where the Silver Surfer -- now human -- lives with Emma Frost.  We've heard a number of whispers about the terrible fate of this Universe's Johnny Storm, and Emma and Norrin's shocked reaction at seeing him shows how terrible it must have been.  At this stage, all we know come from Emma, who comments on how much Johnny and Norrin suffered.  That doesn't sound good.

The New Mutants:  Dead Souls #2:  Rosenberg does a solid job teasing out the team dynamics here, as Julio takes Boomer and Tabitha to brunch (with Shatterstar!) to ask them if they trust Magik.  Of course, she appears with Strong Guy right behind him as he admits he doesn't trust her and whisks them all (minus Shatterstar) to October Revolution Island off the coast of Russia.  They quickly find themselves in battle with a frost giant, and Julio takes charge in getting the team to flee to safety after Magik refuses to acknowledge they're overpowered.  They make their way into tunnels beneath the surface and discover researchers were digging for an old Norse battle whose participants were frozen in time.  The team finds one of the researchers alive, and we learn someone named Tran was interested in his research on the battle.  Dun-dun-DUN!  After that, he remembers nothing else, including the fact his excavation released the aforementioned frost giant.  Magik teleports Boomer into the giant's belly to destroy him, but it doesn't really resolve the situation.  Rahne tries to talk some sense into her about her erratic leadership, but it goes to a point Rictor previously made at brunch, when he wondered aloud why Magik (and not Dani) is running the team and why Shan hired them in the first place.  (In fact, other than the obvious Tran connection, I'm not sure what the ruse was to get the team to come to October Revolution Island in the first place.  Did Shan pretend her company owned something here?  I'm not sure if Rosenberg ever established that.)  The issue ends continuing the B story from last issue, with some kids in Connecticut daring an alleged mutant their age to prove he's not a mutant by approaching the Alone Man's house.  It turns out the Alone Man is...Warlock!

Spider-Man #239:  It's hard to believe we're where Bendis wants us to be for his finale on this title, but it is what it is.  If you put aside the pressure of next issue, it's actually pretty solid.  Aaron comes very close to successfully delivering the helicarrier to Lucia van Bardas, but he underestimates Miles.  Bendis shows us Miles learning about a safe Aaron kept in his closet a decade ago, and he breaks into said safe in the present, looking for clues.  He finds Aaron's burner phone and, searching through its history, finds out where he's going.  Miles arrives with the Champions, and a pretty great battle ensues.  However, von Bardas acts like an actual villain, ordering her men to open fire on Aaron and Miles as they fight.  Miles told his uncle he was trying to save him, because he believes he's better than a thief.  The front cover of this issue implies next issue Aaron will die, but I'm not so sure.  Also, Ganke's girlfriend gives him some sort of note, but we don't know what it says.  I have no idea how Bendis is going to wrap up all these threads, but we'll see.  (All that said, Miles comparing himself to Batman was great.)

Star Wars #46:  Man, this issue is awesome.  The plot is tight, as the team successfully executes its plan to swipe the Moff and use his bio-signature, with the codes Trios stole for them, to enter the prison where they're keeping Lee-Char.  But, it's all the little moments of characterization that make it a thrilling issue, from Han not passing up a chance to profit (even when posing as a bathroom attendant) to Threepio's anxiety (and titillation) when Leia leaves him in charge of making sure the shape-shifter stays in character as the Moff.  The Moff's shock the Rebels were able to get their hands on such sensitive codes furthers the sense the Empire is going to quickly realize Trios is the weak link.  Dissecting it further would be a disservice, so I really just recommend giving it a read.

X-Men:  Gold #25:  Guggenheim's storytelling can feel random at times, and this issue is a great example of that problem.  "Iceman" #11 promised Bobby a shot at leading a team of X-Men, and this arc was supposed to fulfill that promise, as Kitty and her team were trapped in prison.  But, it doesn't happen that way.  As Scythian attacks Paris, Bobby and his team head over there, while Kitty's team laments their imprisonment.  That part makes sense.  But, then, Storm breaks from her confinement, because apparently the mutant-canceling technology isn't all that good if you're really, really mad.  She threatens the warden into releasing them, as if the warden actually had the power to decide that.  They arrive in Paris thanks to Magik, and Kitty just simply takes over giving orders; we don't even see Bobby for several panels, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't get in a word edgewise after Kitty's arrival.  Also, Storm's distress in imprisonment summons Stormcaster, an Asgardian weapon I vaguely remember her using in the day.  However, everyone stresses how even an amped-up Storm can't put a dent in Scythian, so the plan is merely to distract him until Magik can send him to Limbo.  But, then Kitty slams the Blackbird into him and that apparently does the trick?  Yeah, I don't know.  It's Guggenheim, so what can you do?  Also, the X-Men's actions in Paris not only mean that the NYPD apparently just forgives them for assaulting its cops but the Senate majority leaders says the deportation act is stalled.  Hurrah!  Cigars for everyone!  Honestly, I could've dealt with a little less Stormcaster, a little more sense here.

Also Read:  Astonishing X-Men #10; Nightwing #42

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

Amazing Spider-Man #795:  OK, I may not be Dan Slott’s biggest fan, but even I have to admit the Red Goblin (Green Carnage?) is pretty fucking cool.  I love the idea Norman is so arrogant he thought he could control the Carnage symbiote, using it to conquer the world instead of it using him to destroy it.  Oh, well, Norman, you win some, you lose some.  Moreover, Slott really handled the end of Peter’s relationship with Bobbi in a believable way.  Once Peter became just the regular ol’ science editor for the Daily Bugle — and not the globe-trotting head of Parker Industries — Bobbi and he realized they didn’t have much in common.  In a way, it’s actually Slott admitting Peter has always been a street-level crime fighter.  In fact, Slott eventually made it clear he had no intention of permanently turning Peter into Tony Stark; he was setting up Peter for failure so he himself could have this epiphany.  With the boom lowered, we have our Peter back, and his relationship with Bobbi ends with that.  Also, Loki was great here, and I have to wonder if Slott having Peter vaguely remember his deal with Mephisto is a way of telegraphing MJ might be returning to these pages sooner rather than later.  I mean, if Marc Spector can have a kid, can’t Peter?

Avengers #679:  First, I didn’t realize last issue that Lightning was coming from Rome to warn the Peru-based Avengers of the Pyramoid's danger.  (If you recall, I was wondering how he magically knew touching the Pyramoid led (supposedly) to disintegration.)  Focusing on this issue, the authors do a spectacular job conveying how beaten the Avengers feel.  You can feel the air rush from their sails in Peru, with everyone going through the motions in the wake of Johnny’s apparent death.  Lightning is inconsolable for failing to stop him in time, and the creative team - both authors and artists - really convey that hurt, just as they do when Lightning arrives in Rome to tell Rogue.  They really use small moments to convey the breadth of the damage, like Hercules encouraging Falcon in sotte voce to talk to Lightning in his grief while he helps Simon with the lava flows.  The authors also convey Rogue’s fury at their situation (even before learning of Johnny's death).  She once again doubts why she’s with the Avengers, since they’re all strategy and tactics while she wants to burn everything to the ground.  (I can’t imagine how she’s going to feel after learning about Johnny.)  Moreover, the authors somehow manage to fit in here an explanation of the game itself:  Grandmaster is opposing the original Grandmaster.  They were brothers once, but Grandmaster became furious when he learned the Challenger, as he’s called here, started to call himself the Grandmaster as the other Elders (such as the Collector and the Gardener) started to chose names.  As the stakes of their games grew, Grandmaster finally defeated the Challenger in a game whose stakes were nothing short of exile from existence.  The Challenger waited in “the Far Shore” until time ended and (for a reason I don't totally understand) was then able to return to the present to challenge Grandmaster.  With the first round now concluded, the Challenger chooses the Air Pyramoid, leaving Grandmaster with Water (or, as he calls it, Ice).  He also reveals he's been keeping a member in reserve (explaining why the Black Order was down a member vis-a-vis the Lethal Legion).  Dun-dun-DUN!  Also, I love the idea Jarvis has the “Avengers flu,” because he’s been exposed to all sorts of weird stuff during his time with the team.  That said, I don’t get why it’s affecting him now.  I thought he was just hurt saving that kid?  Honestly, this series is kicking ass; it really does feel like the Avengers story to end all Avengers stories.

Infinity Countdown: Adam Warlock #1:  Any issue involving Kang and Adam Warlock is destined not to make a lick of sense, and this one is no different.  As we saw in “All-New Guardians of the Galaxy” #150, Kang has resurrected Adam Warlock.  Cool.  We learn he has done so at the end of time.  Um...less cool, I guess, just because, ugh, time travel.  Duggan then spends several pages (helpfully) reminding us of Warlock’s history.  In sum, he was the most advanced artificial intelligence humanity ever created, and he received a temporary soul after he lived inside the Soul Gem for a time.  Somehow, upon exiting the Soul Gem, he got his own permanent soul, though I didn't totally follow that part.

After telling Adam his own life story, Kang recalls Warlock’s stand against Thanos and informs him someone is again trying to collect the Infinity Stones.  Warlock wants Kang to rush him to the Guardians of the Galaxy, but realizes they’ve probably tried that and failed.  In fact, Kang admits they've unsuccessfully tried to change the past 112 times.  However, this time, he sends Adam to Rama-Tut in ancient Egypt, hoping it'll be a better staging ground from which to prevent disaster.  Kang instructs Warlock to collect the Soul Gem and give him (Kang) the Time Gem.  Shortly after Warlock departs, an unknown figure kills Kang.  If it’s possible, Rama-Tut is even more inscrutable than Kang.  He takes Warlock to a planetarium he's built, tells Warlock he has located the Soul Gem in 2018, and points out a planet where the heavens will crack.  Rama-Tut warns Warlock they have to be careful, because Kang’s death at the end of time means someone already possesses the Power Infinite (i.e., someone has assembled all the gems together).  As such, Rama-Tut can’t just send Warlock to 2018, since this person would know.

(OK, let's just pause here a bit.  This part makes no sense.  Somehow, the mysterious figure didn't know Kang sent Warlock to Rama-Tut, but knew Kang sent Warlock...somewhere?  After all, he killed Kang presumably for sending Warlock...somehow, but I don't get why he couldn't just trace where Warlock went.  His omniscience seems wonky.  Also, wouldn’t it have been a better idea for Warlock to get his hands on the Soul and Time Gems before 2018, when we’re allegedly at the point of calamity.  After all, Kang says - before he’s annihilated - he’s changed the past.  Why not change it all the way if the goal is to avoid the premature end of time?  Wouldn't it make more sense to send him to, say, 2017 when no one was looking for either gem?  Ugh, time travel.)  

At any rate, apparently Magus will be there to great Warlock.  Warlock is surprised, but not as surprised as he is when Rama-Tut stabs him in he back (literally, but not figuratively).  Rama-Tut informs Warlock it’s the easiest way to get him to 2018 without the mysterious figure's notice.  He won't die; they'll just slow his regenerative process so he awakens in 2018.  (I’m also not sure why the mysterious figure couldn’t notice that either, but whatever.  It's part of his crappy omniscience.)  At any rate, it’s probably best just to focus on the fact that someone successfully puts together the Infinity Stones in 2018 and brings about an end to all time, except Kang has now changed the past by successfully inserting Warlock into a more advantageous time.  Let’s just go with that, shall we?

Spider-Man #237:  This issue is supposed to be an emotional tour de force, as Lana is verbally beaten into submission by her abusive mother and Aaron tries to have a man-to-man talk with Miles.  But, something doesn’t work exactly.  The scenes with Lana are the most affecting, as I totally believe her evil mother uses her love for Miles against her.  But, Aaron and Miles’ interactions fall flat, as it’s Aaron monologuing and Miles sputtering.  Miles coyly admits he knows why Aaron was resurrected, but otherwise it’s mostly just Aaron pontificating like he’s a freshman hipster who just took his first philosophy class.

Star Wars #43:  This issue is an excellent conclusion to Gillen’s equally spectacular opening arc.  We pick up where we left off last issue, with Trios holding Leia at gunpoint.  However, Trios has Leia punch her and then blast out the camera feed so she can reveal she’s the one who leaked the Leviathan's plans.  She tells Leia about her hatred of the Empire given Vader’s murder of her father, and she’s excited about the fact the Empire is the weakest it's been in 20 years.  However, she also says she can’t jeopardize Shu-Torun any further, as they’re already being punished for their previous rebellion.  As such, she prefers, if you will, to remain strictly anonymous.  That said, she says the Empire is unaware of Shu-Torun’s true production and that they have quite a stockpile of material.  Leia notes the Rebellion is in need of a fleet, and Gillen gives us a hilarious moment where Threepio expresses excitement about being able to engage in diplomacy to negotiate the deal.  At that point, it’s just a mater of executing the plan to have the Leviathan walk into the hole the Imperials blew in Jedha.  Ubin offers to sacrifice herself and a rearguard to prevent the Imperial troops from taking command of the Leviathan before it falls, but Han has Ubin come with him to get the Falcon, using it to rescue everyone from the bridge before it plummets.  Later, Leia encourages Benthic to join the Alliance, noting the point of an Alliance is he can still do his thing while they do their thing.  The best part is Han giving Ubin his medal from “A New Hope” (though he denies it’s actually his medal).  He tells her the benefit of surviving is medal ceremonies, but he’s really telling her to have hope (i.e., to stop trying to sacrifice herself.)  Gillen’s done such a great job with their dynamic that this moment is really emotion.  It shows a new side of Han, not something easy to do.  I can only imagine how popular this TPB will be, but, honestly, Gillen never made it feel like he was writing for the trade.  Every issue was great and, like Voltron, they’re even better together.

Also Read:  Hawkeye #15

Not-So-New Comics: The January 3 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #150:  To overuse an expression, this issue doesn’t really represent an end, but a beginning. The Guardians and Nova Corps make short work of the invading Raptors.  Scott realizes they can see the Raptor's enormous ship through its force field, meaning light can penetrate it.  He manages to hitch a ride on a photon and then embiggen, wrecking the ship.  However, it's not all a win.  Peter’s inability to keep his mouth shut means several Corps members who weren’t exactly all that committed to the cause overheard him talking about the Power Stone to Rich.  They subsequently get out word to their various bookies, bosses, and masters.  Oblivious to this development, Peter drops off Drax at the planet where the Power Stone is located after Drax decides to quit the team (since he keeps accidentally killing people, as he did during the fight on the ship).  Afterward, the team plans on making its way to Telferina to take on the Gardener and his mad Groots.  (Gamora wanted to go after the Stones, but she lost that argument.)  The most significant development is Adam Warlock’s resurrection, as he busts free of a cocoon to find himself face-to-face with Kang!  Dun-dun-DUN!  Duggan has made it clear this story is the beginning of a much larger arc, likely leading to an Infinity Stone-related cross-over event this summer or fall.  I’m OK with that in theory, but he’s still got to dance this dance well.  Any long-time reader of Marvel Comics has been down this seemingly infinite (heh) road many, many times before.  It’s going to be a challenge to make it feel new, but we'll see what Duggan's got.

Astonishing X-Men #7:  Soule makes it clear a lot is going on here.  First, Xavier isn’t exactly Xavier.  He asks the team not even to call him that, preferring “X.”  He speaks as if he’s as young as his body, raising the question whether he’s really in control here or if he’s somehow blended with Fantomex’s mind.  To this point, Psylocke visits Fantomex in the Astral Plane to make sure he made this decision voluntarily.  He concedes Psylocke’s concern that X might've coerced him into doing it, but he also feels happy with the outcome, something Psylocke has to concede to X when she returns.  Soule drops several hints it's not that easy, though.  For example, Psylocke remarks to Fantomex that her Xavier wouldn’t coerce Fantomex into accepting his (X’s) proposal, but here X makes everyone in the British special-forces command room forget all about the Shadow King’s attack.  (Is X maybe more of a blend of the Shadow King and Xavier, rather than Fantomex and Xavier?  That said, I question Psylocke's certainty that "her" Xavier was so morally upstanding.)  X says erasing their memories is one of his “gifts.”  He delivers another "gift" when he draws the negative energy the Shadow King spread through London into one giant ball. (X apparently has gifts for everyone, like giving Warren control over his Archangel persona just like that.  By the way, Warren saved London when he successfully re-directed the missile the special-forces folks fired at it, giving X the chance to draw together the negative energy.)  The resulting energy ball is so huge Bishop searches his end-of-days database, which informs him the “green sun” over London presages the “Mindkiller Apocalypse,” which sterilizes 97 percent of the Earths in the multiverse where it appeared. We learn how that likely happens when X tries to disperse the ball, but it explodes instead, revealing Proteus has returnUIKeyInputDownArrowed with X. Bad move, X.

Batman #38:  Wow.  After firmly establishing Bruce’s relationship with Selena, King turns his focus to more typical storylines.  Of course, I mean “typical” in the “Batman” context as “disturbing.”  Here, we’re treated to a mentally ill pre-teen who has his butler kill his parents so he can become the next Bruce Wayne.  Yeah.  But, the most interesting part of the issue is King using the crime as a way to show how Selena accepts Bruce completely for who he is:  she sleeps through him waking up one night talking his way through the crime, she barely notices him swiftly leaving dinner after he realizes the pre-teen did it, etc.  In other words, King continues making the argument they’re in it for the long haul, these two, because they understand each other so well.

Batman:  White Knight #4:  The best line in this issue is one of the best lines of the year.  When a female African-American news anchor notes Napier’s social-media war on Gotham elites is working, her white male partner asks disillusionedly whether Batman is supposed to tweet back.  This exchange is insightful, because it helps advance the narrative Murphy is pushing, namely Bruce doesn’t know how to change with the times.  The main tension of the issue comes from Duke, here a former cop and community organizer in Backport, endorsing Napier for city council, embracing him as Backport’s white knight.  But, the real development is Jack convincing Gordon to embrace his plan:  getting Batgirl and Nightwing to join the Gotham Terror Oppression (GTO) unit, where they share their technology with the GCPD and join an elite task force of vigilantes and cops to take out super-crime.  Napier gets Gordon by noting the $3 billion a year going to the Batman Devastation Fund could’ve been buying the GCPD the equipment it needed if Batman had only shared his technology.  It’s a compelling argument, and it continues to isolate Bruce.  Not only does he not tweet, but his megalomania is being more directly exposed; it’s clear he wants to be in total control, even if it means GCPD lives.  Murphy also ups the pressure on Jack, too:  Other Harley turns herself into the Neo-Joker, getting the Mad Hatter (I think) to re-hack his control bands, instantly providing her with an army.  (I have to say, the only weakness I see here is how Napier took his eyes off the Hatter.  Given his control of the super-criminals relied on controlling the control bands, it seems an unforgivable mistake.)  It seems pretty clear we're building to, as they say, an "explosive conclusion."

(Update:  After posting this review, I re-read “Batman:  White Knight” #3, where Neo-Joker frees Mad Hatter.  I still don’t entirely understand how Harley found Hatter or, as I mention here, why it took so long for Jack and Harley to realize he and the super-villains were gone.)

Phoenix Resurrection:  The Return of Jean Grey #2:  Rosenberg spends most of this issue on Waitress Jean, revealing her world is populated by dead people, such as Jamie Madrox, Thunderbird, Annie (presumably her friend who died), and, as we saw last issue, Sean Cassidy and Scott.  We learn she's been suffering from bad dreams, including one where she died on the moon.  Meanwhile, on Earth, Kitty reveals all their psychics are either missing or incapacitated.  The only one left standing is Cable, but he's also taken off the board when he tries to use Cerebro to find the Phoenix.  However, he glimpsed some coordinates before the feedback rendered him unconscious.  Kitty sends Beast and Jubilee with teams to hunt down the psychics while she, Old Man Logan, Dazzler, Rogue, and Bobby lead their own teams to track down the Phoenix.  It all gets interesting when these storylines collide.  In Waitress Jean's world, Magneto appears in her diner.  Unless you count his disappearance from the timestream in "X-Men Blue" as him "dying," it means his presence in Waitress Jean's reality is an anomaly.  Rosenberg draws a line under that when he has an earlier version of Magneto confront Bobby's team.  During the fight, the team hears him ordering a cup of tea (clearly at the diner).  Rosenberg shows how these realities are blending together, at least in some way.  The issue ends with Magneto reappearing at the diner (after concluding the fight with Bobby's team) and asking Jean if she feels better.  She says she does as she sees an image of the Phoenix burning the town around her.

Spider-Man #236:  First things first:  when did Miles get glow-y webs that incapacitate people?  I've been reading this series for a while, and I do not remember glow-y webs that incapacitate people.  Venom blast?   Yes.  Glow-y webs?  No.  Beyond that problem, this issue is mostly solid, as Bendis is bringing a number of pots to a boil.  Ganke inadvertently reveals Miles' name to the Spider-Man fan he's dating, and Miles is shocked to discover his Uncle Aaron is still alive.  But, it's still hard to tell where Bendis is going with it all.  For months now he's been implying Miles is going to give up being Spider-Man and, if he's going to have that happen on his watch, he only has four issues left to do so.  Right now, it's hard to see how he's going to wrap up all the loose ends out there.  Beyond the ones I just mentioned, we also still have the status of Miles' parents' relationship and the reformed Sinister Six's now-numerous plots to steal the Helicarrier.  Bendis isn't the strongest at these sorts of complicated stories, and it seems a monumental task for even someone like Peter David or Nick Spencer to stick this landing.  We'll see how it goes.

Star Wars #41:  Jesus, everything goes to hell in this issue.  But, we learn lessons!  Luke and Chulco go to the Temple of the Central Isotoper at the edge of the blast crater, and the priests have them stare into the Abyss and meditate.  Luke realizes he's so desperate to understand the Force and the Jedi that he's risking his soul by walking down the path without a guide.  However, Chulco fails to learn that lesson:  he proverbially falls into the Abyss and to the Dark Side.  He attacks Luke, who is forced to stab him with his lightsaber.  Chulco awakens from his mania in time to warn Luke of the strength of the Dark Side and then dies.  Meanwhile, Ubin engages in a suicide mission to try to take out the Leviathan (the "Continent-class crawler" the Imperials deployed last issue).  She fails, but Benthic told Han and Leia about her plan so they're able to rescue her.  (Han delivers possibly the best line of this series:  "I'll tell you how we save the galaxy!  We don't all die before we save the galaxy!")  Meanwhile, Chewie and his shipmate arrive in Jedha space, only to fail to pass through the quarantine.  The Imperials open fire, and Luke arrives just in time to save them, thanks from a tip from the Central Isotoper priests who heard the ship's distress signal.  They arrive at the base, where Chewie gets medical treatment and Leia reveals he secured an item for Shu-Tron that could save the day.  I have to say, Gillen is really killing it here.  This entire story has been a joy not just because "Rogue One" is probably my favorite "Star Wars" movie, but also because he's really forcing these characters into difficult positions, even for them.  I mean, Luke is forced to finally learn an actual lesson and not whine about it.  Who would've thought it?

Also Read:  Captain America #697, Hawkeye #14, Iceman #9, Jean Grey #8-#10, Nightwing #36, X-Men:  Gold #19

Not-So-New Comics: The November 1 Marvel Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #146:  Duggan does a great job of establishing the status quo while also throwing us right into the middle of the action.  Someone’s sabotaging the Nova Corps from the inside, so the Guardians agree to help root out the traitor(s).  The Nova Corps' new commander Scott Adsit — yes, that Scott Adsit — sends Ant-Man and Gamora to a fleet of ships sending a distress signal, and they discover Ultron is spreading his virus through the passengers.  (It’s grim.)  Meanwhile, Peter discovers Richard Rider is still alive, and I can’t wait for that bro hug (and for Richard to ask why he’s blond and in possession of two real eyes).  I dropped this series during Bendis’ run after stories like "The Black Mirror,” where it just felt like he had no idea what he was doing with the team.  I like Duggan, though, so I’m excited to see what he does with this crew, particularly if it involves Richard joining.  Moreover, the Fraternity of Raptors presumably means the “Darkhawk” #51 issue Marvel is publishing in January is going to play a role here.  I almost literally can’t wait.

Captain America #695:  Waid makes the right call in starting from a place of hope.  He’s going to have to spend a whole bunch of issues detailing a world where not everyone trusts Steve anymore.  But, honestly, the world right now is grim enough.  We don’t need to lose all hope.  Waid has Cap travel to a small town in Nebraska he saved from a group of white supremacists called the Remnant right after he was unfrozen.  They renamed the town after him, and they hold a Captain America festival every year.  They believe in Steve, even if some people are mad he didn’t return from “the trap” earlier than he did.  Steve isn’t just there to soak in the adoration:  his intelligence sources discovered a reformed Remnant was going to attack the festival, so he’s on hand to stop it.  Waid clearly has big plans for the Remnant, and he seems to be inspired by the “debate” we had during the inauguration when someone punched Richard Spencer.  Waid is clearly on the “always punch a Nazi” side, and Cap is the living embodiment of that principle.  Waid sometimes gives short shrift to characters’ emotions (see his current "Avengers" run), but he’s pretty on target here when it comes to the townspeople’s adoration for Steve.  A grown-up version of the girl Steve saved ten years earlier is there, a stand-in for the reader when it comes to Cap inspiring us.  I hope Waid maintains a firm grip on those emotions as he has Cap navigate this strange new world.

Iceman #7:  After the OG Champions make short work of the Sentinels (since, after all, they're not fully programmed Sentinels), Bobby and Judah resume their date.  Grace makes the brilliant call of having Bobby refuse to dish the next morning after Angel tells the team he didn't come home that night.  I like the idea of Bobby having some privacy, even from us.  I don't need this series to descend into gay porn, after all.  (Hopefully someone'll just handle that on DeviantArt.)  Instead, Bobby tells the story about how he was a sexist asshole the first time he met Natasha and how she (unsurprisingly) called him on it.  The guys give him a gentle ribbing for his awkward attempt at hitting on her, but Darkstar tells him not to be embarrassed; he doesn't have to be, because it's part of the journey that brought him to where he is now.  Bobby holds onto his newfound sensitivity by visiting the Sentinel engineer and encouraging her to contact one of his old professors at UCLA, since she should be teaching mechanical engineering and not working in props.  It's a lovely moment:  he comments on the importance of having professors believe in you.  In the end, he finds himself at the Mansion enjoying life happening around him.  But, he also realizes the X-Men don't need him in the same way anymore so he decides to move to Los Angeles!  Hurrah!  My wish came true!  Complicating matters, his mom discovered his younger self (Lil' Bobby, as Warren calls their younger counterparts) is in the present.  Again, there are moments where I feel like we're off a beat or two in this series, but Grace seems to have a better handle on Bobby with each passing issue.  I'm definitely here for the long haul. 

Peter Parker:  The Spectacular Spider-Man #6:  I said a few issues ago this series is becoming my Spider-Man series, and this issue proved it.  It’s the most emotional Spider-Man issues in years, and it reminds me of the good ol’ days.  Zdarsky might’ve been hired to write a funny Spider-Man, but he delivers two amazingly multi-faceted characters in this issue as Jonah and Peter go head to head.  Each one gives as good as he gets, as Jonah argues hiding behind the mask makes Spidey a coward (noting cops have to live with the consequences of their actions) and Peter reminds him he’s used his power and wealth to try to kill him several times (and endangered civilians' lives in the process).  But, Jonah is left broken when Peter tells him he’s nothing, admitting his vendetta — something he promised Marla he’d get past, as Zdarsky reminds us — is the only thing he has left, since it’ll be the only thing to prove it all hasn’t been futile.  Zdarsky does a brilliant job building the tension to this moment, and it’s released when Peter reveals his identity to Jonah, to convince him he’s not alone.  Wow.  Just wow.  It’s really a spectacular (heh heh) issue, and every Spider-Man fan should read it.  For years now — really, ever since “One Day More” — Marvel has bent over backwards to make sure its characters’ continuities doesn’t change.  But, they throw off that caution with abandon here, and it’s well worth it.  Game fucking on.  Move over, Slott.  Our new Spider-Man storyteller is here.  #issueoftheyear

Spider-Man #234:  Wow, a lot happens here.  First, Fabio returns, and we learn he left because he’s in love with Lana and he figured Lana would fall into Miles’ arms after he beat up Hammerhead for her.  He’s thrilled to see Miles is instead dating Barbara, but Miles is a little stupefied when he learns Lana loves him.  For her part, Lana is having a rough time.  Her mother is someone called Bombshell (as I’m sure long-time readers know), and she’s just been freed from prison as the result of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s collapse.  But, Lana makes it clear she’s a hero now and tells her mother that she never wants to see her again.  Miles decides to follow an ambulance not in his uniform as part of his ongoing uncertainty about using the Spider-Man identity.  But, most importantly, Uncle Aaron is back as the Iron Spider, thanks to Ceres the weaponsmith.  He’s putting together his own Sinister Six (including Bombshell) to steal a decommissioned S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.  Interestingly enough, he outright says this Earth isn't his world, which again raises the question how much everyone here knows about their current circumstances.  Miles is going to have a rough few days.

Also Read:  Astonishing X-Men #5; Avengers #673; Darth Vader #7

Not-So-New Comics: The October 4 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Astonishing X-Men #4:  Detrimental to the story Soule is trying to tell, I’m not really sure what the criteria are for someone falling under the sway of Shadow King vice someone getting “saved” by Professor X.  Here, Fantomex, Gambit, Mystique, and Rogue all seem to embrace their hearts’ fondest desires, but it's Gambit who the Shadow King winds up possessing; Professor X is able to whisk away the other three.  It might seem nitpicky, but the whole point of this arc is Professor X and the Shadow King are playing chess for the X-Men's lives:  it would help if we understood the rules.  (It all feels more like checkers to me.)  But, we get a shirtless Angel with some chest hair here, so I’m not complaining all that much.

Avengers #672:  I stopped reading Waid’s run on this title because everyone was acting like assholes, and I have to say it’s unfortunately still true.  For a guy who just inspired Earth's mightiest heroes to unite against HYDRA, Falcon is a full-on jerk here, overruling Kamala like she’s a cadet Avenger.  Presumably at the end of this cross-over story everyone is going to learn something about respecting each other’s differences and seeing them as strengths, but it just makes me roll my eyes.  I'm intrigued a new satellite orbiting the Sun proved Counter-Earth doesn’t exist but also revealed a rift that belches a meteorite filled with an angry-looking bull dude at Earth.  You don’t see that every day.

Batman #32:  I really didn't like this story.  I mean, it says something when said story involves an artist as capable as Janín drawing Bruce in his tiny, tiny underwear all the damn time.  But, putting aside all the baggage, King delivers as close to a decent resolution as I could've imagined here.  First, Riddler reveals he engineered the entire war with Joker to get him to laugh.  It was the only interesting riddle left for him:  how do you make a Joker who doesn't laugh anymore laugh?  The answer was to create a foil like Kite Man and have him be the reason Riddler lost their war.  But, Joker doesn't laugh at this revelation, to Riddler's fury.  I loved the moment where Batman tries to interrupt Riddler's tirade and Riddler rebuffs him, telling him every story isn't about him.  (He also says they all don't kill him because he's fun, and it's probably as good of an answer to that existential question as I've heard.)  We now finally learn Bruce's deep dark secret:  he tried to kill Riddler in that moment.  He was so appalled Riddler callously killed Kite Man's son, whose last words to his father Bruce overheard, he couldn't take it anymore.  However, Joker stops the blade with his hand and finally laughs again.  Bruce is obsessed over this moment:  he tells Selena Joker "made" him because he "allowed" him (Batman) to be the guy on the right side of the line.  He asks Joker about it in Arkham and Joker tells him he'll understand why he did what he did when he understands the difference between a riddle and a joke (a confounding theme of this arc).  It's here where Selena shines and reminds us why Bruce loves her in the first place.  She tells him the answer:  who cares?  It's also her answer to Bruce's question if she can love him even though he tried to kill Riddler:  who cares?  Selena quite rightfully states that we're all the sum of our baggage.  If Joker made Batman, does it matter?  Is that all he really is?  This moment produces the single best page of the series since the two of them had sex under a starry night:  Selena has Bruce ask her to marry him again, but as a question and not a demand.  He asks.  She says yes.  I admit, I felt like a crowbar would immediately go through her, but hopefully the writers all do the unexpected and have them live happily ever after.  That would be something novel.

Batman:  White Knight #1:  Murphy does a solid job of selling us on a reformed Joker ready to take on Batman.  He has to use some sleights of hand to get there, but they mostly work.  He’s successful in doing so because everyone here is easily recognized.  Sure, Batman’s a little more violent than he is in “our” Universe, but we’ve seen him behave that way before.  As such, you can reasonably believe the set-up that starts the issue, of a careless and distant Batman single-mindedly pursuing Joker while Batgirl and Nightwing try to limit his impact on civilians.  The hand-waving part comes in the form of the pills Joker has Batman administer to him to “cure” him.  Here, Murphy is playing both sides.  On one hand, Joker seems pretty sane before he takes the pills.  He rails against Batman’s claim he doesn’t matter by stressing he only ever gave Bruce what he could handle.  In other words, he could’ve razed Gotham to the ground if he had wanted to do so, but he didn’t because he was really in it for the game.  The “cured” Jack Napier also echoes that sentiment.  He said he turned to crime from comedy because Gotham was a city so traumatized it couldn’t laugh; he had to start killing people to get a rise from it.  This continuity of thinking raises the question what exactly the pills cured.  The Joker we get here doesn’t seem like he’s suffering from a mental illness; he just seems like a guy whose moral code is different from everyone else’s.  Murphy might still reveal exactly that, so I’m not rushing to judgment.  After all, Napier’s first action is to sue Batman and Gotham for the disproportionate attack on him:  he stole a scooter, and, in chasing him, Batman drove a tank over rooftops, injured three construction workers as he blew past them, and knocked down the guard standing outside the factory where the pills were manufactured.  He then beat Joker senseless and administered the pills until Joker couldn’t breathe.  This lawsuit leaves the impression everything happening here is happening as part of a larger scheme; Joker might not be “cured” so much as playing a long game.  I’m definitely intrigued.

Darth Vader #6:  The Jedi at the end of this issue is so peaceful looking that I find myself wanting to cancel this series immediately.  After all, we’re about to watch Darth Vader and the Emperor’s Inquisitors stomp across the galaxy killing any Jedi who escaped their purge.  Soule and Camuncoli use this final image - of a Jedi petting her pet while sipping tea - as not only a sign of things to come but as a reminder of how completely Vader has embraced the Dark Side if he's willing to ruin this peace.

Hawkeye #11:  It’s rare for me to be 11 issues into a mystery and not feel confused.  Usually, I’m re-reading half the issues to try to remember all the breadcrumbs the writer left along the way.  But, Thompson has done a bang-up job of weaving enough clues into each issue that you remember where we’ve been and where we’re going.  As a result, Kate’s maturing in this issue feels hard won.  Thompson has revealed her father and Masque’s plans slowly but surely, even making sure to highlight areas where we’re not sure what the truth is, like whether Aggregate self-destructed or Masque detonated him lest he reveal his connection to her.  When Kate tears down her bulletin board and only tapes up the word, “Mom,” it isn’t cleaning the slate; it’s a sign we’ve moved onto the next chapter.

Iceman #6:  Grace almost went too far here with Judah, Bobby's love interest.  First, they meet cute.  Bobby and the Champions have assembled in Los Angeles to mourn Natasha, and this trip down memory lane leads Bobby to worry he's always just "trying stuff on to see what fits."  He returns to the college where Professor X sent him to get his accounting degree, and he buys some self-help books.  This part is fine.  In fact, Bobby's text conversation with Kitty revealing these concerns is really well scripted; it's a clever way to drag this information from Bobby "I don't talk about my feelings" Drake.  (This characteristic is a theme of the issue, with Bobby realizing a woman was building a Sentinel in her backyard just as Warren was trying to have a heart-to-heart conversation with him.)  At any rate, Bobby is reading his "Born to Gay" book on line to buy a new pair of sneakers, where he meets Judah.  (Bobby is into sneakers, apparently.  He also apparently wears size 12s.)  As Bobby said, Judah spouts the sort of cheesy lines Bobby would, and it pushes the boundaries of believability:  it's like watching a poorly written "Will and Grace" episode.  (He tells Bobby he can teach him more about being gay than a book (sigh) and invites Bobby to a WeHo bar that night.  Here, we go from poorly written "Will and Grace" to even worse written "Queer as Folk.")  But, Grace pulls out a win when he has Judah kiss Bobby on a dance floor and then admit he's tired of the teacher/student shtick.  He tells Bobby he only goes to a bar twice a year, and he invites him to his place to talk.  But, as usual, Bobby has to X-Man as the aforementioned Sentinels attack.  (The woman building the Sentinels is trying to go from building weapons for super-villains to running her own prop company.  Bobby and Warren's appearance in her backyard earlier that day inspired her to have the Sentinels attack the X-Men to drum up business.)  Initially, I felt like Grace was moving Bobby too fast here.  Most of us don't have a remarkably handsome guy pluck us off the streets of Los Angeles and usher us into gay life in a West Hollywood club.  But, as Judah himself says, most of us don't have Bobby's arms.  That said, the more I thought about it, the more similar it was to my own story.  You just have a moment where you throw on your light and get out there, making stuff happen.  See, I was all cynical until I realized Grace really knew what he was doing here.  Grace and Thompson on "Hawkeye" are really working on making Bobby and Kate Peter Parker's heirs, focusing as much, if not more, on their personal lives as their superheroing.  I'd really be quite happy for Bobby to stay in Los Angeles, and I can't wait to see where we go from here.

Nightwing #30:  I get why Raptor decided to announce his presence in Blüdhaven by attacking a Paul Ryan analogue.  After all, Dick would quickly put two and two together when someone attacked a blue-blood politician making a name for himself by cutting health-care benefits for the poor.  (That said, Higgins should leave the politics to Spencer.)  I don’t get why (or even if) Raptor involved the Kobra Lanceheads, since they’re apparently a chaos cult seeking to sow discord.  Blüdhaven politics seems a little...specific for them.  Dick is confused, too, though, so I get the sense Higgins will get there.  But, I don’t understand what the point of Raptor revealing himself to Dick is or why, as Dick himself wonders, he’s suddenly willing to risk the lives of blue-collar workers.  (Sure, he knew Dick would save the waitress he slung over the balcony to buy him time to escape, but, as Dick says, the Raptor we've previously seen wouldn’t risk it.  He’s usually so confident he wouldn’t need an escape; he’d just beat Dick silly and leave.  Why the ruse?)  I also don’t understand why the Run-Offs are wearing their super-villain costumes for their group meeting about not being super-villains.  I really don’t understand why Dick tells himself he can’t endanger his friends in trying to find Raptor when, in reality, his friends (including Detective Svoboda) rejected him.  Whatever.  Hopefully we'll just wrap up this arc soon.

Spider-Man #21:  Huh.  It turns out Cable, not Jefferson, gave Miles the suit.  Apparently Cable is a spy now?  He seems to be starting his own agency to fill the hole S.H.I.E.L.D. left.  I guess it's cool, but it feels forced to me. In fact, it feels like Bendis had an extended stay in Japan planned for Miles, but he was forced to cut it short because of the Legacy re-launch.  Tomoe was an interesting character, and she seemed to have a vision for her relationship with Miles.  Bendis made it clear Miles was also intrigued as he uses flashbacks to show how Miles' Uncle Aaron taught him not to lie to girls.  But, Miles somehow knows Tomoe is queen of the Japanese underworld, despite the fact I'm not entirely sure how he knows that.  OK, the underground casino is probably a solid hint, but a lot of people who aren't queens of the Japanese underworld run underground casinos.  Miles eventually calls his father and discovers Jefferson didn't give him a tuxedo.  Somehow, he winds up finding himself in conflict with Tomoe, who declares he can't leave the building alive.  It's all very...sudden.

Star Wars #37:  Based on Gillen's name appearing on the cover for next issue, this issue appears to be the last one for Jason Aaron, and he doesn't waste it.  He somehow manages to tour his greatest hits, reminding us just how brutal this galaxy far, far away really was.  It's one of the few times I'm sad we don't get a valedictory letter from a departing author, because I'd love to get Aaron's thoughts on his run.  But, I guess his work speaks for itself, really.  He reminds us how dedicated both sides are as Kreel and his men seek to redeem themselves in Vader's eyes by destroying a Rebel outpost on Horox III.  Kreel is fanatical in his devotion to the cause, a fanaticism stoked not only by enjoying the faith Vader shows in him by allowing him to keep his lightsaber but also by finding himself in the Emperor's presence when he comes to speak with Vader.  We get an amazing sequence where he's basically the Empire's own action hero as he and his colleagues take out the Rebel base.  Aaron also keeps his face hidden from us, even as he sits on his victims without his helmet.  Kreel believes the Empire brings protection, and SCAR Squadron's victory here hopefully means he'll continue to be a presence in this series.  But, Aaron reminds us the other side is just as dedicated as our crew (with Sana) arrives at the remains of the Rebel base, appalled by the brutality.  Kreel and Sana are probably Aaron's greatest contributions to the Star Wars mythos.  Given we don't see them in the movies (yet), it's clear their fates lie somewhere else, and I honestly find those stories enthralling.  Aaron concludes with a final entry from the "Journals of old Ben Kenobi."  Sorrentino's indistinct lines are the perfect choice for this dark story of an orphaned Tusken Raider trying to survive on Tatooine.  Ben provides a helping hand, and Aaron reminds us one last time just how difficult the lives of every day people in this galaxy are.  Although I didn't really like Chuck Wendig's "Aftermath" novel, this story reminds me how many opportunities we're getting to see these sorts of stories.   Thanks, Jason Aaron, for your amazing contribution to that effort, bringing life to Star Wars that I didn't think possible.  You come back now, ya hear?

Also Read:  Batman:  The Dawnbreaker #1; Journey to Star Wars:  The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #3; X-Men:  Gold #13

Not-So-New Comics: The September 6 Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Batman #30:  I’ve complained in previous reviews that I feel like King has bitten off more than he can chew with the War of Jokes and Riddles.  Previous issues have focused either too narrowly on fringe stories or too broadly with excessive narration.  We’ve rarely seen the actual War.  We still have that problem in this issue, but I'm happy to say it's not as bad as it's been.  King uses Kite Man as the reader's surrogate, showing us the changing dynamic of the War now that Batman has thrown in his lot with the Riddler in the attempt to bring it to an end.  We work through a series of vignettes showing Kite Man with one or another of Joker's captains -- the Tweedles, Mad Hatter, Mr. Freeze -- and I realized King should've been using Kite Man this way from the start.  If he had, I think we’d have a much better sense of the story he’s been trying to tell.  But, it is what it is:  we at least get that insight here.  In the end, Riddler reveals he and Batman kept Kite Man as the last of Joker’s men on the field because they knew he was the weakest:  he’d cave and tell them where Joker was hiding.  Along the way to this moment, King shows us a flashback conversation Kite Man had with his deceased son, who tells Kite Man his mother described Kite Man as a joke.  Riddler and Batman feel the same way, obviously.  Before Kite Man speaks with them, though, Janín delivers the best single page of this story, showing a handcuffed Kite Man moving from crying to weeping as he waits for Riddler and Batman to interrogate him.  Janín just spectacularly conveys Kite Man's devastation over the loss of his son, and I admit I’m 100% rooting for him to stick it to Riddler and Batman.  I don’t know if King wanted that, but it’s where I am.

Darth Vader #5:  As I hoped, Soule shows us a glimpse of Darth Vader before he fully became Vader as we know him.  The Emperor sends him to the location of his greatest defeat, Mustafar, to corrupt the kyber crystal.  However, Anakin -- not Vader -- struggles to do so.  The crystal gives him a vision of a world where he turns to the light side of the Force, slaying the Emperor and returning to Obi-Wan.  But, Soule has Vader reject this vision, declaring his only choice is the path before him.  Soule captures the petulance we saw in Anakin in the prequel trilogy, as he chooses the easier path that limits his vulnerability (even if it damns him).  Camuncoli, Smith, and Curiel then do a spectacular job of showing the operatic nature of Vader corrupting the crystal.  By the time he presents his fully red lightsaber to the Emperor, it's clear all hope for Anakin to return to the light side is dead.  As I said when this series started, I think we needed to see that story unfold, to gain insight into how Anakin fully became Vader (something we didn't get from the movies).  Soule clearly agreed, and Vader's origin story is now complete.

Generation X #6:  Exterminatrix!  The Fenris Twins!  Kade Kilgore!  Bi-curious Quentin!  I have to say, I really enjoyed this issue.  Benjamin, Nathaniel, and Quentin make for a great trio, as Benjamin mediates between the two more dominant personalities and said personalities might actually learn a little something about each other and themselves along the way.  But, it's the tour down memory lane that I most appreciated, as Strain reminds us where this story fits in the larger continuity of these characters.  Nathaniel is really a great addition to the cast, as he challenges Quentin in a way no one else does.  Also, does he maybe have a crush on Benji?  Bobby should ask him for advice.

Hawkeye #10:  Aha!  Madame Masque used a Kate Bishop LMD to try to see if it developed powers like Derek Bishop's LMD did!  That makes sense.  How did she get her hands on a Kate Bishop LMD, though?  It presumably has Kate's DNA if it's possible for it to develop powers.  Did Kate's dad give her Kate's DNA?  I'm sure we'll see.

Iceman #5:  Grace delivers in this issue, as we see the fallout from Bobby revealing he’s gay to his parents.  Thankfully, it doesn’t go well.  I say “thankfully,” because it wouldn’t have felt right if Bobby’s parents suddenly shrugged at the idea their son is gay.  His parents have always been portrayed as conservative Long Island Catholics, and their response feels authentic.  In particular, I thought Grace did a great job in having Bobby’s father saying Bobby was dead to him because he couldn’t give him grandchildren and Bobby’s mother expressing relief when Bobby tells her he’s never had sex with a man.  It reminds us how disruptive the coming-out process is to parents' narratives about their children, from their hopes for the future to their view of us as adults engaged in sex.  Bobby’s dad goes one further when Bobby says he’s always felt like something was wrong when he was with women and comments he shouldn’t feel that way if he’s in love; Bobby’s father demands he not talk about loving men.  Here, Grace shows us how difficult of a road Bobby has in front of him.  His parents aren't just upset at the loss of possibility when it comes to grandchildren or dealing with him having sex with men:  they reject even the idea that he is capable of love.  Bobby’s father can’t imagine a man loving a man, and Bobby’s mother is just obsessed with the idea of Bobby touching a man sexually.  (His mother is also obsessed with pinning blame on his father, something I kept anticipating as the story progressed.)  Again, it feels like you’re eavesdropping on an actual conversation and not just reading a comic book.  The most poignant moment is when Kitty gives Bobby’s parents the letter he was writing them; she comments no one has really cared what Bobby thought about being gay because he’s been too worried about everyone else’s reaction.  I remember that feeling all too well.  I almost didn’t believe the ending, where Bobby’s father stays behind to tell Bobby he loves him.  But, I remembered the story from "Uncanny X-Men" #340 where his father is almost beaten to death by anti-mutant extremists for defending him, and it rang truer.  Similarly, I didn't think the metaphor of Bobby turning himself into vapor was necessary (and his use of wings made almost no sense from a physics standpoint).  But, it does allow Bobby to express a feeling we've all had, the desire just to disappear.  In other words, I don't remember a comic feeling as close to my own coming-out story, and I really salute Grace for that.  Looking ahead, Bobby’s story is just beginning, and I hope we get to see him excited about that at some point.

Nightwing #28:  This issue works for a number of reasons.  First, Seeley gives us “Grayson” readers some closure, revealing Mr. Minos was nothing more than a program Project Cadmus and Checkmate's joint venture ("Business Solutions”) created, presumably to ferret out the identities of superheroes.  It’s really quite brilliant and so much of “Grayson” retroactively makes sense now.  Second, Seeley hits some great character notes here.  After stopping Mouse from almost killing Blockbuster as revenge for killing Giz, Shawn realizes she made a mistake in acting from a place of anger with Dick.  However, she’s too late:  Helena told Dick she was only comfortable with him, and we see them in bed together here.  Shawn seems (somewhat unjustifiably) furious, and Seeley implies it’ll finally push her over the edge into bad-guy territory.  (Stopping Mouse postponed that dive, much to Pigeon’s chagrin.)  Seeley returned Dick to Blüdhaven 18 issues ago, and it continues to be clear it was an excellent decision.  Dick has spent most of the DCnU bouncing from one modus operandi to another, and Seeley’s decision to ground him in Blüdhaven has made for better stories, deepening our emotional investment as his cast of characters finally stays stable.  I’m excited to see where we’re going from here, since this issue definitely felt like it was drawing a line under some previous stories.

Spider-Man #20:  This issue is...odd.  I can't quite put my finger on it exactly, but it is.  Bendis has Miles decide to take a break, using his Spider-Powers to hitch rides (including hanging on the outside of an airplane) to Tokyo, somewhere he always wanted to go.  He saves two girls from a mugging by goons who look like they're in the Goblin Gang.  But, they seem to work for someone named Tomoe instead.  However, she shoots one of them to save Miles, so I'm not really sure.  She takes an interest in Miles and invites him to visit her club.  Then, someone, possibly Miles' father, uses the "Alternet" to direct him to a drop-point with a tuxedo and a gun for him to bring to the club.  In other words, instead of going to Tokyo to take a break from superhero-ing, Miles finds himself smack dab in the middle of international espionage.  As I said, it's just...odd.  It doesn't help that Bendis uses a frequent flashbacks to tell this story, where a linear approach would've worked much better.  I don't know.  It all just leaves me scratching my head.

X-Men:  Gold #11:  MARC GUGGENHEIM, KITTY PRYDE ABSOLUTELY SPEAKS RUSSIAN.  I'm not sure I can get past this oversight.  He claims in every letters page he's a long time fan, but, OMFG, how do you not know Kitty Pryde ABSOLUTELY SPEAKS RUSSIAN.  [Sigh.]  It doesn't help that the script and the pencils are extremely rushed.  Instead of capitalizing on the return of Omega Red, Guggenheim treats him like just another henchman for all the challenge he poses to the team.  Logan defeats him without even breaking a sweat.  Similarly, Peter regains his ability to turn into steel just in time to save Illyana from the mysterious magic-wielding mobster.  I not only sort of forgot Peter had lost his powers, but it also doesn't help we never really get insight into the mobster.  He was apparently using her to keep Omega Red alive so he could conquer Russia.  Um, Russia is pretty big, dude.  You really think you could take over the whole place with Omega Red?  Also, if you're such a kick-ass magic-user, why do you need Illyana?  On a side note, is Storm even in this issue?  I think I briefly saw a flash of her, but I have no idea what she does here.  I mean, how do you make Storm forgettable?  [Sigh, again.]  I really, really want to like this series, but Guggenheim isn't making it easy.  (Did I mention Kitty speaks Russian?)

Also Read:  Astonishing X-Men #3; Champions #12; Journey to Star Wars:  The Last Jedi - Captain Phasma #1